#it sounds like a name you would give a wrestler or warrior

[graves-yard]

I had a thought about Knuckles name not actually being Knuckles but instead it was a name he was given as a kid gladiator. Now he just goes by it like it’s his warrior name or something.

[blowflyfag]

Wrestling World presents Wrestling Maniacs: JUNE 1999

Sabu: THE SILENT KILLER! 

Alongside Terry Funk, Mick Foley, and maybe Sandman, Sabu is a hardcore wrestling legend. He has always been ECW’s most well-rounded performer, willing and able to make not only himself but any opponent look good.

By Chris Faust

[If you want to see hardcore wrestling, then Sabu is your man!]

EXTREME Championship Wrestling (ECW) has a variety of reputations. Some describe it as a slaughterhouse, a kind of Ultimate Fighting organization minus the sportsmanship.  Others are quick to note the technical, high-flying aspect to many ECW wrestlers’ styles. Unquestionably, ECW is violent, bloody, and bruising. But the acrobatic, high-impact, death-defying talents throughout the promotion are just as prevalent. One longtime ECW star has always performed with both of these objectives in mind. That man is Sabu, one of the most influential, mysterious, and entertaining wrestlers ever to compete in any federation.

Covered with scars from barbed wire death matches (his specialty during his early days), standing a modest 6-foot tall, and never weighing in over 225 pounds, Sabu looks like a man who has taken more punishment than he has handed out. He never speaks on camera, but communicates to the fans with his trademark index finger pointed into the air. He wrestles all the time and has a reputation for overbooking himself–some say for the money, but less cynical fans realize that very few men have surrendered themselves to the sport like Sabu.

Sabu’s wrestling style is better seen than described. He walks the line between fearlessness and complete psychosis. He is equally known for his vast arsenal of moonsaults, flips, and other top-rope maneuvers as he is for his various barbed wire, table, and chair stunts. He inflicts pain mercilessly, yet gracefully. At his ECW debut in 1993, he pinned Taz (then known as Tasmaniac) twice in one night, setting off a feud that still resurfaces periodically. His threshold for withstanding pain goes to an even greater extreme. Legend has it that once during a match against Chris Benoit, Sabu actually had his neck broken, yet still managed to finish the match.

[Sabu is one of the most downright brutal competitors ever to perform…and yes, those scars are real!]

The story behind Sabu’s rise in the American wrestling scene sounds like the stuff of legend as well. He was born in Bombay, India, the nephew of The Sheik. In 1984, after giving his nephew some training in mat technique, The Sheik announced that Sabu would compete against a mystery opponent in order to prove himself. The opponent was later revealed as The Sheik himself, but Sabu managed to pass his test one way or another. 

Sabu’s professional debut  came in 1985 when he defeated the Canadian Road Warrior. He then spent several years traveling the American independent circuit, making a name for himself as one of the most feared men in wrestling. He worked himself as much as possible, often wrestling six days a week, occasionally as much as three times in one day! In 1992 Uncle Sheik again helped further Sabu’s career, helping him make the jump to Japan’s FMW promotion. Sabu earned his first gold teamed with Horace Boulder (the same who now wrestles in WCW), when the two won the tag belts from Atsushi Onita and Tarzan Goto. At this point, Sabu’s growing reputation earned him a contract offer from the WWF, which he declined in favor of his interests in the Japanese scene, which included winning the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title.

Strangely enough, less than a year later, in October of 1993, Sabu made his ECW debut. Within less than a month, he had defeated Shane Douglas to become ECW World Champion. Weeks later, Sabu staked his belt against Terry Funk’s ECW Television title, defeating Funk and claiming both belts. Ironically, Sabu lost the World title to none other than Funk in December. Sabu held the TV title a bit longer, losing it to the Tasmaniac in March of 1994.

Taz and Sabu actually managed to reconcile their differences amiably, and formed a tag team. They won the belts in early 1995 from The Public Enemy, losing them a few weeks later to Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko. THe feud between the two reignited, culminating in a much-anticipated match between the two reignited, culminating in a much-anticipated match between the two at the first-ever ECW pay-per-view, “Barely Legal,” in early 1997. Sabu’s nose was broken early in the match, but this didn’t prevent the two from putting on the most grueling, strenuous match of the card. Taz, at that time managed by Bill Alfonso, won the match by choking Sabu unconscious. After the match, Taz extended a hand to a revived Sabu, but Alfonso ruined the moment by selling Taz out and instead offering his services to Sabu.

“Under new management, as the saying goes, Sabu once again claimed the ECW World title, again defeating Terry Funk. This time, in August of 1997, it was in a barbed wire match in Philadelphia, one of the most legendary matches in ECW history, so bloody and gruesome (even by ECW standards) that it has never aired on TV.The match ended with Sabu wrapping himself in barbed wire and using himself as a lethal weapon. He and Funk were so entangled in barbed wire that after the match they had to literally be pulled apart. Less than a week later, Sabu defended the belt in a three-way dance (against Shane Douglas and Terry Funk) at the second-ever ECW pay-per-view, “Hardcore Heaven.” The Sandman interfered, and Sabu was the first to be eliminated, with Douglas going on to pin Funk and win the title.

[Sabu is known for his vast arsenal of moonsaults, flips and other top-rope maneuvers!

Manager Bill Alfonso helped Sabu capture the ECW World title!]

More recently, Sabu has paired with Rob Van Dam to form one of the greatest tag teams ECW’s ranks have known. They defeated Chris Candido and Lance Storm for the tag team titles during the timer of 1998, before the ever-present tag threat of Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley won them in November at a Cleveland event. Since the loss, the two have regained the tag titles, and Sabu has set his sights on a third reign as ECW World Champion. His title shot was scheduled for January at ECW’s “Guilty as Charged” pay-per-view, a shot he earned by pinning current champion Shane Douglas in a non-title-six-man tag match at “November to Remember.” The two faced each other in Pittsburgh recently, where a bloodied Douglas retained his title when the match was declared a draw.

Some love him, some hate him, but no fan will deny Sabu’s influence on wrestling today. When he first hit the U.S. scene in the mid-’80s, promoters were more interested in cartoonish, buffoonish wrestlers like Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior. A wrestler like Sabu was too real, too violent, and too dangerous for mainstream audiences. So he remained in the ugly underground scene before breaking into ECW.

[Sabu walks the line between fearlessness and psychosis…and proves it with every brutal ring outing!]

Unlike many wrestlers who simply imitate their own heroes’ maneuvers, Sabu originated many of the complex moonsaults and flips in his repertoire. He brought chairs, tables, and barbed wire into ECW, and he was the first to use the chair as a springboard (like Al Snow) instead of a weapon (which is not to say he doesn’t use it as a weapon too–I saw him give One Man Gang a top rope legdrop on the face while holding a chair under the leg in question!)

Many of ECW’s top stars have recently left the promotion in favor of the big two (Bigelow, Candido, Whipwreck, Sandman), with more rumored to be on their way out (Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer). Nevertheless, some tough competition remains for Sabu in ECW, in the form of Douglas and Masato Tanaka. Tanaka’s pain threshold approaches (if not equals) Sabu’s, as evidenced by the battle on the chairs with Balls Mahoney. Come to think of it, a tag team of Sabu and Tanaka could be unstoppable (in ECW or the WWF), should Van Dam decide to leave ECW.

[Unlike many wrestlers who simply imitate their hero’s maneuvers, Sabu originated many of the moonsaults and flips in his repertoire!]

Much like Kanyon, Jericho, and even Austin, Sabu is among the performers who always put on a good match, regardless of the occasion or opponent. By the time you read this, Sabu could very well have given Douglas a lesson in violence at “Guilty as Charged,” and won the ECW Championship for a third time. He deserves it, and if he doesn't win it, he should consider going after the WWF’s Intercontinental title. Alongside Funk, Mick Foley, and mauve Sandman, Sabu is a hardcore wrestling legend. He has always been ECW’s most well-rounded performer, willing and able to make not only himself but any opponent look good. All fans should point to the sky when they hear “Huka Blues” and Alfonso’s whistle going off, out of respect. Who knows which of the Sabu legends are true, whether Benoit really broke his neck, whether Alfonso really superglued him back together after the barbed wire match with Funk, but one thing is for sure, the fact that these legends even exist makes Sabu one of the most intriguing, mesmerizing, and downright brutal competitors ever to perform. And yes, those scars are real.

[waywardscorpio]

The Demon King Has A Weakness. Chapter One

Taglist: @scuzmunkie​​ @phoenixoffiretwo​​ @luna-obscura​​ @braunstrowmangirl​ @callmekda​ @fanfiction-san​

{A/N: Here is a update guys. I’m so sorry it took so, long. Enjoy}

Warnings: Foul language, Violence (maybe), possible smut (not sure. Depends on how I want the chapter to be.), Pregnant Omega!Reader, Angry Alpha!Finn, Fluff possibly as well, A TWIST AND ADDED MATE. READ TO FIND OUT WHO. {A/N: If you don't like any of the wrestlers used in this story use names of wrestlers you do like.

*Finn Point Of View*

I was now on day three of the search for my Queen, my Omega whom is pregnant. I knew who took her and when I get my hands on him, I will torture him and cause him so, much pain instead of killing him. I know what makes Drew, pissed off. "Your Majesty?" The guard said to me as I was snapped out of my train of thought. "Yes?" I replied to him. "Your eyes are glowing Sir." He said to me as he looks at me concerned something is wrong. "Give me a mirror" I demanded. The guard took out a mirror and handed it to me. I lifted the mirror up and looked in it to see that my eyes are in fact another color. "Send a telegram back to the castle. Having my mother look for Y/N's, life line. Tell her as well that my eyes are red. I'm close to Y/N's life line but it is giving off different places and I can't pinpoint where." I said. The guards did as I asked as we set up camp for the night. I laid in my tent as a guard stood outside keeping watch. "My King" The guard said which woke me from my slumber. "What is it Sheamus?" I said walking out the tent in just a pair of trunks. "Your mother is here with your father." He said to me. "Okay bring them over it is okay." I said to him as I looked at him and walked into my tent to pull on some clothes. "Son are you decent?" My mother asked me. "Yes, I am." I replied. My mother and father walked into the room

"Let me see your eyes son." My mother said to me. I looked up showing my mother my eyes still red eyes. "When did this start?" She asked. Sheamus looked at my mother. "It was around noon before he ordered us to send you the letter" He said to my mother. "Thank you, Sheamus for telling him as soon as you did. I don't think it's Y/N, sending you her life line sos. I think it is one of the pups. This is never been heard of that an unborn Demon and Fairy pup has ever been able to send a life line sos." My mother said. "What is that going to mean?" I asked her. My mother closed her eyes and focused her energy on the life line. She smiled softly able to see Y/N, is still alive. But frowned seeing the bruises on her face and her weakened state. She looks inside Y/N's mind since the unborn alpha pup was using his powers to keep his mother's mind visible to only his grandmother since she was able to see things. She seen the fear of my wife and mother of my children. "She is weakened, bruised. But she is alive. Three out of the four pups are strong one is weak."

It enraged me hearing my pregnant wife and mate is hurt and weakened. "Keep heading north. She was captured by Drew McIntyre, The Scottish King." She said. I took my horse and ordered my men to follow. Sheamus was the first to follow me. "My Lord. We must wait for the rest of the warriors. I know you're enraged but we have to think about this smartly. If we just go by ourselves against him and his men we may not make it out." He said reasoning with me. "I'm a Knight of Hell Demon. There is only one thing that can kill me and that is the first blade." I said to him. "Yes, Sirer I know. But remember you can still feel pain and get hurt and it will hurt her to. She is already weakened if you take on anymore damage it may kill her or the pups." He said to me. I growled knowing he is right. 'What am I going to do?' I asked myself. 'How can I protect her without possibly killing her or the pups?'

A few hours later the rest of the warriors showed up with my mother and father leading them. "Son you must stay calm. I know you want your Omega and pups back safely and you're willing to kill anyone to get to them." My father said to me as I looked at him. "How can I protect her without causing her or the pups any damage?" I asked my father. "You already know but know you must remember letting that side out will come with great power." He said. I looked at my mother seeing the approving nod she gave me. "It's time son you use your full powers." She said. She knew the dangerous side of fine was the only way I could do this and that meant I would have to go against everything I would go against and let out The Knight of Hell. I was the strongest and eldest of all the Knights of Hell and held the most power of all. I kept my powers locked away for many reasons. But it was time I let them out.

I rode on with the warriors and Sheamus in tow. "Sirer are you sure that this is a good idea to let him out?" Sheamus asked looking at me. "It's the only way to do it" I said. Sheamus nods his head. Sheamus took off his charm that kept in his own powers. "Then I will fight with you my Lord." He said to me. "I will fight to the death to save our Queen and your wife." The warriors said. They all loved Y/N, and always listened to her better than me at times. "Whatever happens Sheamus, you save her life." I said to him. "Understood Sirer." He said nodding. "Are you ready for this?" I asked and they all hollered and charged forward.

*Third Person*

Finn, let out his dark side as him and the others roded on to Drew's castle. "He was ready for a war. "Infiltrate the castle. Kill anyone that stands in your way. But women and children." Finn, said as they busted down the gates of Drews Kingdom. Finn got off his horse and walked through the kingdom. The closer he got to Y/N, the stronger the life line would get. "Well well, what do we have here?" Drew said to Finn, with a deep and devious smirk on his lips looking at Finn. "Where is my pregnant Wife?" He asked seething with rage. "Oh that pretty little thing? I have her. Should here her scream for you, crying for you. Begging me not to hurt her or the pups in her beautiful round belly." Drew said to him. Finn growls. "Don't you dare fucking talk about my Queen like that." Finn said growling eyes black and red. Sheamus was looking around for his Queen while his King, kept Drew busy. "What are you going to do about it?" He asked Finn. "I'm going to make you bleed and hurt for putting your hands on my Love." Finn said taking his sash and cape off and tossing them to the side. Finn pulled his sword from his side as he watched Drew. "Lets see you try Balor." Drew said running at him with his sword in his hand. Finn, struck first. Drew's and Finn's swords colliding together with a loud clinking noise of metal on metal. Finn, kicked Drew in the gut swinging his sword at him cutting his arm. Drew, laughed darkly as he swung his sword catching Finn's shoulder. He didn't feel any pain as him and Drew, went toe-to-toe with each other.

Meanwhile Sheamus, was searching the castle for Y/N, as he fought off guards. Y/N, heard the all to familiar sound of the Irish fella Sheamus. Y/N, cried out happily knowing she has been found. She weakly stood up holding her swollen belly. "Sheamus?" She said as she looks up at the pale skinned man. "Yes, it is I, Sheamus. Can you walk My Queen?" Sheamus asked her. "Barely can stand. Where is Finn?" She asked. "He is fighting off Drew and keeping him distracted while I came to find you." Sheamus replied to her. He picked her up bridal style and carried her. She used what strength she had to put a shield around her and Sheamus, to keep anyone from trying to attack them while she and the pups were in his arms. "Stay awake for me okay? I know, you're tired Queen Y/N. But you have to stay awake as long as you can." Sheamus said to her and Y/N, nodded her head understanding what he was saying.

Sheamus got her out to the carriage where Finn's, parents were. "Oh thank the heavens, sweet girl." Finn's mother cried as Finn's father took her into his arms keeping her head up. "Here drink this please?" He said to Y/N, who weakly raised her head of Finn's father's shoulder and took small sips of the water, while his mothers hands glowed over her body and belly to asses the damage. "She needs food anything will do." She said when she was done. A women and small child from Drew's servants crew walked over slowly showing they mean no, harm. "Here miss, we have some fruits and veggies. Will it help." Finn's mother looks at them hesitant at first. "They won't hurt us. She and her son have been sneaking me food here and there when they could without Drew knowing they were." Y/N, said hoarsely. Finn's mother looks at them and nods softly gesturing them both over. "Bring it over. It will help a great deal." She replied. The small boy stood on his tippy toes to hand it to her as the boys mother handed some to Sheamus, too for the journey back.

"Where is she?" Finn, said walking over to Sheamus. "In the carriage with your mother and father. She is weak." He said to Finn, as he sipped some of his water. "Sirer you're bleeding" He said handing him a piece of cloth to stop the bleeding from his shoulder and side. "I didn't notice honestly." Finn said. He walked over to the carriage opening the door. He seen Y/N's weakened state as she is eating slowly and drinking water. He climbed in as he watched her. "Sheamus, you're leading us home." He said. "Fi-Finn" Y/N, crocks out softly. "Shh I got you, Baby" He said to her. She sniffles looking up at him reaching for him. He happily obliges in taking her in his arms. His hand went to her belly to protectively. Sheamus drove the carriage as he lead everyone home alive and dead.

*Two and a Half weeks after they got home*

*Y/N P.O.V.*

I was laying in bed with Finn, while he slept rubbing my belly. It was the first night out of the hospital wing since what happened. "Baby Girl?" Finn said softly in a half wake and half asleep state. "Yes, Babe?" I asked softly to him as I turned over to face him. "What's on your mind beautiful?" Finn asked opening his eyes to look at me. "I'm worried he will try it again and next time he will kill me." I said to him softly. "As long as I am still alive he will not be able to lay a finger on you." He said to me as he looked me in the eyes. "What if he gets the first blade?" I asked him softly. "The only way he can get that blade is to go to Kane himself. But even then the only way he can use the blade is if he has the Mark Of Kane. I can already tell you Kane will not give him the mark because he will know the bad inside Drew and the revenge he seeks on someones life." He said to me. "Are you sure the blade is useless without the mark?" I asked. "Yes, Baby Girl. I'm sure it is. I know for a fact that its useless with the Mark Of Kane. And even if he was to somehow get the mark of Kane he would have to have Kanes blessing to take the mark or else the mark will kill Drew or anyone who bares it without proving themselves to Kane first. I've seen many try and only five out of the millions that have tried have failed. Kane has only Five people he trust with something like that and three out of the five thats bared the mark have died." He said. I wasn't sure what he meant by only three of the five are living. "What happened to the three that died?" I asked. Finn, looks at me as he adjusted us both to lean on the headboard.

"One of them died from an Angel Blade by the hands of none other than the Angel Castiel, Two were killed by Eve because they betrayed her." Finn said to me as I listened to him talk. "What about the remaining two?" I asked looking at him. "Well one is a hunter named Dean Winchester, and the other one is Sheamus." He replied to my question. "There is only few who can bare the mark without it causing you to lose your mind." He added as he held me close rubbing my back gently. "Wait Sheamus, as in the guard Sheamus?" I asked. "Yes, he is the only none human currier of the Mark of Kane, besides Kane himself." He said to me. "Why would he take or want the mark?" I asked him. "Because before Sheamus, came back home to Ireland, he had found him a mate that he loved. A year before he came back and was going to bring her with him to live here; she was brutally beaten and murdered while still pregnant. He has not been the same. It's part of the reason he is so, distant yet protective of you. Because he doesn't want anyone else to every go through the pain he went through." He said. I began to tear up a little. Now I understand why he wouldn't really want to come near me at times since I found out I was pregnant. "He blames himself for it. So, when he became clear minded he went to Kane for the mark. Kane, knew what was going on and understood why Sheamus had went to him. Kane, knew the pain of losing the women he loved because of someone else. But Sheamus, didn't want the Mark of Kane to get revenge. He got it to stop the men from ever doing it again to anyone else." He said to me. "I didn't know why he looked so, upset on Halloween and All Hollows Eve. Now I know why." I said understanding now even more.

I got up carefully out of the bed and waddled towards the door to the hallway. "Baby?" Finn called out to me as he got up off the bed. "Yes?" I replied turning around to look at him. "Where are you going?" He asked me. "To talk to Sheamus." I replied. "I'll send a guard for him, you sit down." He ordered. I squeaked softly and sat down in the rocking chair as Finn, sent an on duty guard to go get Sheamus. "I know, what you want to talk to him about. You can't hide them thoughts from me, Baby Girl." He said looking at me. I frown feeling like he is angry with me or thinks the worst. "Do you hate me for it?" I asked softly looking at him as I bit my lip. He shook his head no. "Why would I be angry with you for something you can not control from happening in your heart?" He asked me. "It is normal for some Omega's to have more than one mate. It doesn't mean you don't love me any less than when we got together." He said rubbing my cheek softly.

Sheamus walked into the room. "Yes, My Lady?" He said as he closed the door walking into the middle of the room fear in his eyes he would hurt me. Finn, frowned knowing the male was having one of his moods. "Hold me?" I said softly. Sheamus froze up. "My Lady, I don't think that is appropriate for me to be doin'." He replied politely to me while looking at Finn. Finn, nods his head. "It's okay. I'm okay with it." He said to Sheamus. Sheamus swallows hard before slowly walking over holding his hand out to me. I took his hand softly and stood up. "It's okay you won't hurt me. I trust you Sheamus." I said to him softly as I looked at him. "I know you trust me. But every time I've been happy someone has snatched it away from me." He said looking away from me frowning while slightly growling. "Shhh. I'm not going anywhere." I cupped his cheek softly.  

I stepped closer to him as looks down at me. "It's okay to hold her. She trust you and so, do I. I see the way you look at her from afar because you're afraid to love again. But you won't know what will happen until you take that first step." Finn said to Sheamus, as he walked over to us and stood behind me while his hands rested gently on my belly. Sheamus raised a hand to touch my belly but stopped and looked at me as if I was going to object. I tenderly took his hand and placed it on my belly while one of the pups touched his hand through my belly as a sign they like him. Sheamus began to tear up. "I forgot what love felt like after I lost her." Sheamus knew why he was called here. "Sheamus?" Finn said. "Aye?" He said in response. "Join us?" He said to Sheamus.

"Are ye sure 'bout it?" He asks softly as he went to move his hand away from my belly. "Yes, we are sure Sheamus." I said softly while pulling him closer for a kiss but looked at Finn, for permission first out of respect. The Demon King, nodded his head in approval as he watched on, while I kissed Sheamus, gentle but let him have the control. After a few moments we pulled apart and looked at each other. Sheamus's breathing had caught a little when I, leaned my head to the side and moved my hair to bare the right side of my neck for him. Finn's mating mark was on my neck on the left side. Sheamus looks at Finn, for approval. "Go ahead. Me and Y/N, have talked about it already." Finn answered the silent question. Sheamus let his k-9 teeth extend before he bit into my neck. I moaned a little at the feeling. After a few minutes he pulled away from me panting a little.

Sheamus, Finn, and myself laid in bed, just talking to each other before we silently fell asleep tangled up together.

[coffee-n-bagels-comic-universe]

January 3rd or One's Beginning is another's end (Daughters of Darkness)

This passage contains potentially: Explicit Language, Depictions of Violence (including mentions of blood), Smoking, Slang and maybe some bad translations.

Summary: An introduction to the world of the Daughters of Darkness, through the eyes of series protagonist Kirby 'Gluttony' Lucifarian. The first day and night, from her perspective, of them working for the WWF.

Kirby's POV:

Tuesday. The first day of being 'on the job', Tuesday the third of January 1984. Damien got us into the WWF. … Damien, managed to get us into the quickest rising wrestling promotion, popularity wise. To be honest with you, Damien's given us free reign to get to know people, for now. I don't know anyone here. I've heard of people here, such as the most famous giant in the world, and … Hogan.

I'm not here because I earned it, I'm here because I'm a necessity for the team. That's how I view it. That's how I've always viewed it. Vickie needed someone to make fun of and, well, I'm the easiest choice. Then, in the midst of a darker path of thought becoming clearer in my mind...

WHAM

Both me and the figure I waltzed into thudded to the floor, "Oh, my good lord. I'm so sorry are you o..."

I looked at the figure before me, taking in how much trouble I had created in the last three seconds.

Taller than myself.

Head covered by a wild afro.

Around double my weight.

André.

André the giant.

Flat on his arse … because of me.

Oh … Shit.

"Are you alright, Mademoiselle…"

I could tell he was searching for a name but didn't know it. Too frightened to even speak I glanced away. I noticed his shadow move.

"Mademoiselle?"

His footsteps came closer, he sounded … worried, as if he didn't want me to get fired for this.

"Mademoiselle?"

He picked me up, not off the ground, but so I could stand. I whispered out a small 'thank you', or rather 'merci'. His hands still on my shoulders, he smiled sweetly and nodded, as if to beckon forth more words from me.

"I'm Kirby, or rather, Gluttony. I'm new around here."

André grinned, putting his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer before stopping upon seeing how much taller than every other woman in the company I am.

"Are you, uh …" he searched for the words

"A giant, yes, technically a giantess."

I feel I should summarise the next hour or so, but, André took me on a tour of the backstage area and we talked, about everything. Within an hour I had gained a new friend, a genuine friend, someone who didn't care about my height or looks. I know the only reason he didn't care is because he knows what it's like to be stared at just because you aren't 'normal'.

By the time André's tour had ended it was time for Vickie and Damien's interview with Mean Gene, which I was to attend. I said a goodbye to André and rushed off to perform my usual role.

The Enforcer, or rather, the intimidation device, that's my role in this group, to scare people, that's all I do. Before joining the group I was part of another group back in England, The Celtic Warriors, I was part of a championship winning tag team. Now what am I, a damned intimidation device, a human scare tactic.

The Interview:

Gene's first question for us, actually, Damien and Vickie (whilst I stood behind them and looked 'menacing'), was 'How are you doing so far?'

Damien began, "You know something, Gene, my girls have yet to have a match, but we are doing absolutely fine. In shape, ready to rock, ready to roll. Gene, every one of the Daughters of Darkness are doing fine."

Vickie followed suit, "Just look at us," She gestured to me and then herself, "Don't we look marvellous, Gene."

Gene smirked, "You could say that again, miss?"

"Pride, though you can call me Vickie."

Damien glared at the smaller man, almost as if he was daring him to try and flirt with her.

Gene readjusted and focused in on the prospect of new women in the WWF and the possibility of more matches. "Uh hum, yes, now how soon do you girls think you'll be seeing a match on the cards?"

"Soon, Gene, Soon." Vickie stated, ending the interview by walking off.

The first night after 'work' was surprisingly normal, Damien and Vickie went off in their rental car, taking Holly and Eli with them whilst the rest of us stood around backstage for a while.

Billie brought a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of her purse, lighting one up and walking over to me, sitting down on a box placed near by and blowing the smoke away from me she spoke up.

"What's up with you, Tall-ass."

"Thinking."

"Dangerous pastime hermana."

"I know, hermana"

"You collect phrases, don' cha?"

"They may come in handy, Billie, one day."

"You going to the gym tomorrow?"

"Of course. Gotta train. Gotta … gotta settle in somehow, right?"

"Right, mi hermana, I'll see you around, alright?"

"See ya, Billie."

She waved back at me as she walked away.

Billie was the only person who knew that I 'collected' those little phrases that seem like nothing until spoken. Language isn't my strongest aspect, more often than not I'm silent and I try to avoid other peo-

"Hey! watch where you're walking man!" I yelped out, shocked back into the present moment. Instantly regret flooded my mind as I realised who had barged past me to get out of the building.

Big John Studd.

One of the most disrespectful 'giants' in the world of wrestling. famous for being the one man who pisses André off more than anyone else, including the Iron Sheik.

He sneered back a quick, "Who gives a fuck." and continued to stroll away.

That … that fuckwit. Who does he think he is. I felt a gentle hand place itself on my shoulder. I turned, expecting to see Eli or P.G, I was face to, well, chin with André.

"Forget about him," He started, with that same sweet, friendly smile from earlier, "Damien said you may need a ride back to the hotel. I don't recommend you walk back now, too dark out for a young lady such as yourself."

The way his R sounds turned into faint W's and he missed off or faintly implied H's was calming. Almost in the same way that hearing a parents voice would calm a child after a nightmare.

"Oh, uh, it's okay André, I was going to get a taxi."

He nodded in response, somehow both downhearted and curious, as if he knew that I was either lying to him or if I did get a taxi, the immense pain my back would be in the following day. André sauntered off, leaving me, once again by myself.

I don't mind being alone, in fact most of my life I have been alone, always the outcast, it was only when I got into wrestling that it started to change.

I picked up my bag and started walking, buttoning up my shirt up to the top of my chest, my near-neon orange shirt covering down to my mid-forearm, hiding any noticeable tattoos, except the one on my wrist, when I turned eighteen, I got a small, runic 'R' on my right wrist, in remembrance of my uncle Rory, the tallest of my dad's brothers.

It took about an hour to get to the hotel, an hour of walking through a city I'm not familiar with, when I eventually got to the hotel I went straight to my room and locked myself in. All alone, I could practice or train if I wanted, so I did.

I took off my black shirt, shoes and belt and I stood in the middle of the hotel room and practiced punching, then I switched to doing my warmups and working out, push-ups, planks, squats. By the time I finished it must've been around midnight, maybe one or two am. I got some sleep, waking up at six, getting changed into some fresh workout gear and headed straight to the gym.

You meet all sorts of characters at a gym, or so I've been told. Back in England I would go to my parents house and use our home-made gym to work out. Not an option that I have anymore, however, the moment I got into the gym, I felt like I was in a whole new world, as if I was just getting into the business all over again. I scanned for any faces that I knew, Mr Fuji, Tonga Kid, Sgt Slaughter, Don Muraco, Lou Albano, Iron Sheik, Freddie Blassie, Tito Santana, Jimmy Snuka, Bob Backlund, Gene and Pat, David Schultz, and … who is that?

I walked over to David and this mystery guy, nodding at David and heading to the heavy bag next to them.

"Mornin' Gluttony, André's been talkin' about ya."

"Oh really, Mr Schultz?" I tried to keep my breath noises to a minimum as I continued to hit the bag.

The mystery guy snickered, quickly shutting up after Schultz glared at him.

"C'mon girl, you know you can call me David. An' yeah," He stopped punching and instead leaned on the heavy bag in front of him, forcing the other guy to hold it still "Giant's been talking about him havin' a new friend and how much he likes ya."

"He's a good man, it's good to have friends in new places. Who's your pal, David?"

He smiled and slung his arm around the shorter man, "This here, this is Roddy Piper. He's like you."

I tilted my head slightly to try and make him explain further.

"You are Scottish, right?"

"I'm a quarter Scottish. Anyway, Piper, Do you speak Gaelic?"

"Uh, no, I can play the bagpipes however." his eyes lit up slightly, a sort of mad fire behind a haze of brown or maybe dark blue.

"Well, I'll see you around I guess, I've gotta warm up for later though."

I tried to block the two men out and focus on my own workout but Piper seemed to stick around a lot longer than David. He was still there when my workout ended.

"What do you want?"

"You're a quarter Scottish, you're also a giant. How do you fight? Show me." He seemed to get more energetic the more he talked.

"Right now?"

He nodded, "Right now, c'mon."

He led me to a ring that some other wrestlers were using to brush up their skills.

From the looks of the ring, it was actually used for boxing.

Roddy entered the ring the same way as most six-foot-two guys did, through the top and middle ropes. I tested the ropes, and seeing that they had just enough slack, used them to jump over the top rope.

"I've never seen a girl do that before."

"Mistake number one, I'm a woman, not a girl. Mistake number two, you expected a giant to be normal."

He scoffed out a laugh and got ready to lock up.

We locked up and Piper hit me with a knee to the stomach.

I got him back with an Irish whip into the corner, accidentally winding him by being too stiff.

"You're gonna pay for that, lass." He snarled out, already getting pissed off.

I sized him up, trying to see how high I would have to get myself in order to dropkick him to the mat.

Piper tried to hit me with a running high knee strike but I countered with a dropkick, taking us both down to the mat and slamming my face into the mat.

The mat was a lot harder than I was used to, it felt like I had rammed my head straight into a cinderblock, I started breathing heavier than before.

I rolled over and put my arms up, making an 'X' with my forearms. Piper stopped and walked over.

"You alright?"

I shook my head.

He knelt down and pulled me up into a sitting position.

I hesitated, knowing I had to take my mask off to see what was wrong but truly not wanting to. Piper managed to unbuckle the straps of my mask and winced as he saw what was underneath. My mind went slightly mad not knowing if he was wincing at the injury I had caused myself or the fact that, compared to the rest of the D.O.D, I'm truly the worst looking, beauty-wise, that is.

Hitting my mouth so hard on the canvas of the mat below us, I had managed to hit my mask in a way that the bottom edge, which curved under my chin, cut into my flesh and made me bleed.

I put my hand up to the cut and Piper quickly held my arm by the wrist and shook his head, "Don't you dare."

By the time I received medical aid, which consisted of cleaning the cut and putting a band-aid on it, Piper had given me back my mask and asked if he could work out with me sometime. Knowing that he was currently on a different show, I said sure and we had split ways.

END OF ONE'S BEGINNING IS ANOTHER'S END / JANUARY 3RD

[mystiika]

   i mean you can read if you want? but it’s mainly for my own notes to refer back to.    hades in ovid metamorphoses book v & the orphic hymns

Bk V:332-384

Calliope sings: Cupid makes Dis fall in love

 ‘This much she played on her lute, with singing voice. Then called on us, - but perhaps you are not at leisure, or free to listen to a repetition of our music?’ ‘Do not stop’ said Pallas, ‘but sing your song again as you arranged it!’ and she sat amongst the light shadows of the grove. The Muse renewed her tale ‘We gave our best singer to the contest. Calliope, who rose, with her loose hair bound with ivy, tried out the plaintive strings with her fingers, then accompanied the wandering notes with this song.

 ‘“Ceres first turned the soil with curving plough, first ripened the crops and produce of the earth, first gave us laws: all things are Ceres’s gift. My song is of her. If only I could create a song in any way worthy of the goddess! This goddess is truly a worthy subject for my song.

 ‘“Trinacris, the vast isle of Sicily, had been heaped over the giant’s limbs, and with its great mass oppressed buried Typhoeus, he who had dared to aspire to a place in heaven. He struggles it’s true and often tries to rise, but his right hand is held by the promontory of Ausonian Pelorus, and his left hand by you, Pachynus. Lilybaeum presses on his legs, Etna weighs down his head, supine beneath it, Typhoeus throws ash from his mouth, and spits out flame. Often, a wrestler, he throws back the weight of earth, and tries to roll the high mountains and the cities from his body, and then the ground trembles, and even the lord of the silent kingdom is afraid lest he be exposed, and the soil split open in wide fissures, and the light admitted to scare the anxious dead.

 ‘“Fearing this disaster, the king of the dark had left his shadowy realm, and, drawn in his chariot by black horses, carefully circled the foundations of the Sicilian land. When he had checked and was satisfied that nothing was collapsing, he relinquished his fears. Then Venus, at Eryx, saw him moving, as she sat on the hillside, and embraced her winged son, Cupid, and said ‘My child, my hands and weapons, my power, seize those arrows, that overcome all, and devise a path for your swift arrows, to the heart of that god to whom the final share of the triple kingdom fell. You conquer the gods and Jupiter himself, the lords of the sea, and their very king, who controls the lords of the sea. Why is Tartarus excepted? Why not extend your mother’s kingdom and your own? We are talking of a third part of the world. And yet, as is evident to me, I am scorned in heaven, and Love’s power diminishes with mine.

 ‘“‘Don’t you see how Pallas, and the huntress Diana, forsake me? And Ceres’s daughter too, Proserpine, will be a virgin if we allow it, since she hopes to be like them. But you, if you delight in our shared kingdom, can mate the goddess to her uncle.’ So Venus spoke: he undid his quiver, and at his mother’s bidding took an arrow, one from a thousand, and none was sharper, more certain, or better obeyed the bow. Then he bent the pliant tips against his knee, and with his barbed arrow struck Dis in the heart.”’

“Venus of Eryx, from her mountain throne, Saw Hades and clasped her swift-winged son, and said: ‘Cupid, my child, my warrior, my power, Take those sure shafts with which you conquer all, And shoot your speedy arrows to the heart Of the great god to whom the last lot fell When the three realms were drawn. Your mastery Subdues the gods of heaven and even Jove, Subdues the ocean’s deities and him, Even him, who rules the ocean’s deities. Why should Hell lag behind? Why not there too Extend your mother’s empire and your own….? Then Cupid, guided by his mother, opened His quiver of all his thousand arrows Selected one, the sharpest and the surest, The arrow most obedient to the bow, And bent the pliant horn against his knee And shot the barbed shaft deep in Pluto’s heart.” ― Ovid, Metamorphoses

Bk V:385-424

Calliope sings: Dis and the abduction of Proserpine

 ‘“Not far from the walls of Enna, there is a deep pool. Pergus is its name. Caÿster does not hear more songs than rise from the swans on its gliding waves. A wood encircles the waters, surrounds them on every side, and its leaves act as a veil, dispelling Phoebus’s shafts. The branches give it coolness, and the moist soil, Tyrian purple flowers: there, it is everlasting Spring. While Proserpine was playing in this glade, and gathering violets or radiant lilies, while with girlish fondness she filled the folds of her gown, and her basket, trying to outdo her companions in her picking, Dis, almost in a moment, saw her, prized her, took her: so swift as this, is love. The frightened goddess cries out to her mother, to her friends, most of all to her mother, with piteous mouth. Since she had torn her dress at the opening, the flowers she had collected fell from her loosened tunic, and even their scattering caused her virgin tears. The ravisher whipped up his chariot, and urged on the horses, calling them by name, shaking out the shadowy, dark-dyed, reins, over their necks and manes, through deep pools, they say, and the sulphurous reeking swamps of the Palici, vented from a crevice of the earth, to Syracuse where the Bacchiadae, a people born of Corinth between two seas, laid out their city between unequal harbours.

 ‘“Between Cyane and Pisaean Arethusa, there is a bay enclosed by narrow arms. Here lived Cyane, best known of the Sicilian nymphs, from whom the name of the spring was also taken. She showed herself from the pool as far as her waist, and recognising the goddess, cried out to Dis, ‘No’, and ‘Go no further!’ ‘You cannot be Ceres’s son against her will: the girl should have been asked, and not abused. If it is right for me to compare small things with great, Anapis prized me and I wedded him, but I was persuaded by talk and not by terror.’ Speaking, she stretched her arms out at her sides, obstructing him. The son of Saturn could scarcely contain his wrath, and urging on the dread horses, he turned his royal sceptre with powerful arm, and plunged it through the bottom of the pool. The earth, pierced, made a road to Tartarus, and swallowed the headlong chariot, into the midst of the abyss.

Bk V:425-486

Calliope sings: Ceres searches for Proserpine

 ‘“Cyane, mourning the abduction of the goddess, and the contempt for the sanctities of her fountain, nursed an inconsolable grief in her silent heart, and pined away wholly with sorrow. She melted into those waters whose great goddess she had previously been. You might see her limbs becoming softened, her bones seeming pliant, her nails losing their hardness. First of all the slenderest parts dissolve: her dusky hair, her fingers and toes, her feet and ankles (since it is no great transformation from fragile limbs to cool waters). Next her breast and back, shoulders and flanks slip away, vanishing into tenuous streams. At last the water runs in her ruined veins, and nothing remains that you could touch.

 ‘“Meanwhile the mother, fearing, searches in vain for the maid, through all the earth and sea. Neither the coming of dewy-haired Aurora, nor Hesperus, finds her resting. Lighting pine torches with both hands at Etna’s fires, she wanders, unquiet, through the bitter darkness, and when the kindly light has dimmed the stars, she still seeks her child, from the rising of the sun till the setting of the sun.

 ‘“She found herself thirsty and weary from her efforts, and had not moistened her lips at any of the springs, when by chance she saw a hut with a roof of straw, and she knocked on its humble door. At that sound, an old woman emerged, and saw the goddess, and, when she asked for water, gave her something sweet made with malted barley. While she drank what she had been given a rash, foul-mouthed boy stood watching, and taunted her, and called her greedy. The goddess was offended, and threw the liquid she had not yet drunk, mixed with the grains of barley, in his face. His skin, absorbing it, became spotted, and where he had once had arms, he now had legs. A tail was added to his altered limbs, and he shrank to a little shape, so that he has no great power to harm. He is like a lesser lizard, a newt, of tiny size. The old woman wondered and wept, and, trying to touch the creature, it ran from her and searched out a place to hide. It has a name fitting for its offence, stellio, its body starred with various spots.

 ‘“It would take too long to tell through what lands and seas the goddess wandered. Searching the whole earth, she failed to find her daughter: she returned to Sicily, and while crossing it from end to end, she came to Cyane, who if she had not been changed would have told all. But though she wished to, she had neither mouth nor tongue, nor anything with which to speak. Still she revealed clear evidence, known to the mother, and showed Persephone’s ribbon, fallen, by chance, into the sacred pool. As soon as she recognised it, the goddess tore her dishevelled hair, and beat her breast again and again with her hands, as if she at last comprehended the abduction. She did not know yet where Persephone was, but condemned all the lands, and called them thankless and unworthy of her gift of corn, Sicily, that Trinacria, above all, where she had discovered the traces of her loss.

 ‘“So, in that place, with cruel hands, she broke the ploughs that turned up the soil, and, in her anger, dealt destruction to farmers, and the cattle in their fields, alike, and ordered the ever-faithful land to fail, and spoiled the sowing. The fertility of that country, acclaimed throughout the world, was spoken of as a fiction: the crops died as young shoots, destroyed by too much sun, and then by too much rain. Wind and weather harmed them, and hungry birds gathered the scattered seed. Thistles and darnel and stubborn grasses ruined the wheat harvest.

Bk V:487-532

Calliope sings: Ceres asks Jupiter’s help

 ‘“Then Arethusa, once of Elis, whom Alpheus loved, lifted her head from her pool, and brushed the wet hair from her forehead, saying ‘O great goddess of the crops, mother of that virgin sought through all the earth, end your fruitless efforts, and do not anger yourself so deeply against the faithful land. The land does not deserve it: it opened to the abduction against its will. It is not my country, I pray for: I came here as a stranger. Pisa is my country, and Elis is my source. I am a foreigner in Sicily, but its soil is more to me than other lands. Here is my home: here are my household gods. Most gentle one, preserve it. A fitting time will come for me to tell you, how I moved from my country, and came to Ortygia, over such a great expanse of sea, when you are free of care, and of happier countenance. The fissured earth showed me a way, and slipping below the deepest caverns, here, I lifted up my head, and saw the unfamiliar stars.

 ‘“‘So, while I glided underground down there, among Stygian streams, with these very eyes, I saw your Proserpine. She was sad indeed, but, though her face was fearful still, she was nevertheless a queen, the greatest one among the world of shadows, the powerful consort, nevertheless, of the king of hell!’ The mother was stunned to hear these words, as if petrified, and was, for a long time, like someone thunderstruck, until the blow of deep amazement became deep indignation. She rose, in her chariot, to the realms of heaven. There, her whole face clouded with hate, she appeared before Jove with dishevelled hair.

 ‘“‘Jupiter I have come to you in entreaty for my child and for your own’ she cried. ‘If the mother finds no favour with you, let the daughter move you, and do not let your concern for her be less, I beg you, because I gave her birth. See, the daughter I have searched for so long, has been found, if you call it finding to lose her more surely, if you call it finding merely to know where she is. I can bear the fact that she has been abducted, if he will only return her! A spoiler is not worthy to be the husband of your daughter, even if she is no longer my daughter.’ Jupiter replied ‘Our child is a pledge and a charge, between us, you and I. But if only we are willing to give things their right names, the thing is not an insult in itself: the truth is it is love. He would not be a shameful son-in-law for us, if only you would wish it, goddess. How great a thing it is to be Jupiter’s brother, even if all the rest is lacking! Why, what if there is nothing lacking at all, except what he yielded to me by lot? But if you have such a great desire to separate them, Proserpine shall return to heaven, but on only one condition, that no food has touched her lips, since that is the law, decreed by the Fates.’

Bk V:533-571

Calliope sings: Persephone’s fate    

 ‘“He spoke, and Ceres felt sure of regaining her daughter. But the Fates would not allow it, for the girl had broken her fast, and wandering, innocently, in a well-tended garden, she had pulled down a reddish-purple pomegranate fruit, hanging from a tree, and, taking seven seeds from its yellow rind, squeezed them in her mouth. Ascalaphus was the only one to see it, whom, it is said, Orphne bore, to her Acheron, in the dark woods, she not the least known of the nymphs of Avernus. He saw, and by his cruel disclosure, prevented Proserpine’s return.              Then the queen of Erebus grieved, and changed the informant into a bird of ill omen: she sprinkled his head with water from the Phlegethon, and changed him to a beak, plumage, and a pair of huge eyes. Losing his own form he is covered by his tawny wings, and looks like a head, and long, curving claws. He scarcely stirs the feathers growing on his idle wings. He has become an odious bird, a messenger of future disaster, the screech owl, torpid by day, a fearful omen to mortal creatures.

 ‘“He indeed can be seen to have deserved his punishment, because of his disclosure and his words. But why have you, Sirens, skilled in song, daughters of Acheloüs, the feathers and claws of birds, while still bearing human faces? Is it because you were numbered among the companions, when Proserpine gathered the flowers of Spring? When you had searched in vain for her on land, you wanted, then, to cross the waves on beating wings, so that the waters would also know of your trouble. The gods were willing, and suddenly you saw your limbs covered with golden plumage. But, so that your song, born, sweetly, in our ears, and your rich vocal gift, might not be lost with your tongues, each virgin face and human voice remained.

 ‘“Now Jupiter, intervening, between his brother and grieving sister, divides the turning year, equally. And now the goddess, Persephone, shared divinity of the two kingdoms, spends so many months with her mother, so many months with her husband. The aspect of her face and mind alters in a moment. Now the goddess’s looks are glad that even Dis could see were sad, a moment ago. Just as the sun, hidden, before, by clouds of rain, wins through and leaves the clouds.

Orphic Hymn 17 to Pluton

Pluto, magnanimous, whose realms profound are fix’d beneath the firm and solid ground, In the Tartarian plains remote from fight, and wrapt forever in the depths of night; Terrestrial Jove [Zeus Khthonios], thy sacred ear incline, and, pleas’d, accept thy mystic’s hymn divine. Earth’s keys to thee, illustrious king belong, its secret gates unlocking, deep and strong. ‘Tis thine, abundant annual fruits to bear, for needy mortals are thy constant care. To thee, great king, Avernus is assign’d, the seat of Gods, and basis of mankind. Thy throne is fix’d in Hade’s dismal plains, distant, unknown to rest, where darkness reigns; Where, destitute of breath, pale spectres dwell, in endless, dire, inexorable hell; And in dread Acheron, whose depths obscure, earth’s stable roots eternally secure. O mighty dæmon, whose decision dread, the future fate determines of the dead, With captive Proserpine [Kore], thro’ grassy plains, drawn in a four-yok’d car with loosen’d reins, Rapt o'er the deep, impell’d by love, you flew 'till Eleusina’s city rose to view; There, in a wond'rous cave obscure and deep, the sacred maid secure from search you keep, The cave of Atthis, whose wide gates display an entrance to the kingdoms void of day. Of unapparent works, thou art alone the dispensator, visible and known. O pow'r all-ruling, holy, honor’d light, thee sacred poets and their hymns delight: Propitious to thy mystic’s works incline, rejoicing come, for holy rites are thine.

Orphic Hymn 28 to Pluton

Daughter of Jove [Zeus], almighty and divine, come, blessed queen, and to these rites incline: Only-begotten, Pluto’s [Plouton’s] honor’d wife, O venerable Goddess, source of life: 'Tis thine in earth’s profundities to dwell, fast by the wide and dismal gates of hell: Jove’s [Zeus’] holy offspring, of a beauteous mien, fatal [Praxidike], with lovely locks, infernal queen: Source of the furies [Eumenides], whose blest frame proceeds from Jove’s [Zeus’] ineffable and secret seeds: Mother of Bacchus [Eubouleos], Sonorous, divine, and many-form’d, the parent of the vine: The dancing Hours [Horai] attend thee, essence bright, all-ruling virgin, bearing heav'nly light: Illustrious, horned, of a bounteous mind, alone desir’d by those of mortal kind. O, vernal queen, whom grassy plains delight, sweet to the smell, and pleasing to the sight: Whose holy form in budding fruits we view, Earth’s vig'rous offspring of a various hue: Espous’d in Autumn: life and death alone to wretched mortals from thy power is known: For thine the task according to thy will, life to produce, and all that lives to kill. Hear, blessed Goddess, send a rich increase of various fruits from earth, with lovely Peace; Send Health with gentle hand, and crown my life with blest abundance, free from noisy strife; Last in extreme old age the prey of Death, dismiss we willing to the realms beneath, To thy fair palace, and the blissful plains where happy spirits dwell, and Pluto [Plouton] reigns.

[your-highnessmarvel]

My Little Warrior

Requested by Anon: Hey lovely,I’m a wrestler in training , so could I have a one shot where Chris comes to a show to support them, it’s okay if not. Thank you xx

AN: wow that is so cool! i wish you’d tell me more about what it’s like to be a wrestler in training!? I did my best with a bit of research to makes this as credible as i could for you and the readers!

Warnings: none

*gif not mine

Enjoyed this and want more? Send in your requests!

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MASTERLIST

When you’d told Chris that you were training to become a wrestler, his first reaction was to smile so proudly and call you his little warrior. What he wasn’t aware of was that you were savage in the ring. You went in there for the win, to beat your opponent, and there was a certain viciousness with which you fought.

Chris had been adamant to come see one of your fights. At first, you hesitated. You weren’t sure you’d be concentrated enough knowing your boyfriend was in the crowd, cheering you on. But Chris assured you he wouldn’t bother you; he just wanted to support his girlfriend. 

You were facing off a rather ruthless opponent the first time Chris came to your show. Already, you were nerve-wrecked to win this, and now you knew Chris would be there.

As always, before a fight, you took a few minutes to yourself in the locker room. You had your gloves on, sports bra, and shorts, wearing your anxiety clear in the tension of your neck and shoulders. 

Chris knocked on the door, insisting to come and see you. When he walked in, taking you in and all your wrestling gear with the double braids in your hair, he gave you a wide grin. 

“You look kick ass,” he said.

You smiled nervously. “I’m fighting this like - really good opponent, and I’m just - uh - oh damn.”

Chris shushed you, bringing you into the warmth of his embrace. Pressed up against his chest, you could hear his breathing and heartbeat. Safe. Secure. Grounded. Your own speeding pulse seemed to slow. 

“You got this,” he mumbled, mouth pressed to the top of your head. “I know you do. What I’ve seen of your practices, you’re a solid fighter.”

“Thanks, babe,” you mumbled, smiling wide. 

In the ring, Chris’s words kept replaying in your mind in a loop. Replay. The crowd was roaring and the ring leader was speaking and the ref was circling the boundaries of the ring. Yet all you heard was your breathing and the soothing words of Chris. He believed in you so much. He believed in your strength and will, and now so should you. 

“Let’s go Y/N!” 

You swore you heard Chris over the crowd, and just that thought, that he was here, supporting you, believing in you, was enough to give you that last kick you needed. 

You were ruthless in the ring. You’d never fought this hard and this professionally, but you were knocking down your adversary with every chance you got. Admittedly, you suffered a few good punches across your jaw, bruises already forming. Left eyebrow bleeding. Ribs aching. Lungs burning. But by the end, when she law beneath you, and the ref whistled and pronounced her down, you got up with the fiercest smile in the world. You ripped out your mouthpiece, climbed onto the side of the ring, and searched the crowd. 

You found him quite easily; jumping up and down, yelling, waving a flag with your colors on it. You grinned, blowing him a kiss, and went back into the ring to let the ref put your hand up in glory. 

You couldn’t care less about the price. As soon as you’d snatched it, you all but ran off the ring. Standing by the ring was Chris, grinning wide, arms open, and you jumped into his arms. Happiness filled you like a balloon. The crowd roared. Your name fell of their lips, but all you cared about was the win and the fierceness of Chris’s arms around you. 

“You did it, babe!”

“Oh my God!”

He all but carried you out of the crowd, down the hall, into the safety and dimness of the locker room. Outside, the roaring crowd was but an echo, a dull boom of music beginning over the calamity. 

Chris took your face in his hands gingerly, careful not to harm you, and kissed you harshly. 

You winced. “Busted lip.”

Chris pulled away. “Shit.” But then he smiled and kissed your nose. “You were so awesome! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! I’m so proud of you.”

You laughed, coiling your arms around his neck and jumping into his arms. “Oh, Chris!” He held you to him, despite your sweat and blood and wounds, he held onto you. “Thank you so much for coming.”

He chuckled, the sound reverberating against your chest. “Thank you for inviting me, little warrior.”

[lildevyl]

Could someone explain the appeal of wrestling?? Not that I think it’s bad, I’m just confused how it’s just the most popular thing lately?! I can understand other sports but how is WWE so huge?? I’m so, confused? How would you describe it?

Well, I can’t really answer “How is WWE so huge?” because it’s been like seven?  Ten?  Years since I’ve watched WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment).

But I’ll glad to geek out about Wrestling!!!!!

Okay, so a little disclaimer here.  One, I am not in shape, way, or form, what someone will call a professional. I am a fan.  Also, this is just my opinion on this subject matter.  I’m a huge fan of wrestling going all the way back when I first started watching in ‘95!  And finally, I am not sponsored by any of these companies.  Ghoul, I wish!!!!

Alright so with that outta the way.  Let’s begin!!!!

Wrestling in itself is a very old and traditional sport going all back to the early eighteenth century.  Where wrestling in the Traveling Circus/Carnivals were very big and popular.  Now, during those days, they would have a very big and strong guy, usually around the 6 feet to (I think but don’t quote me on this) six foot six inches tall.  Now, back then that was extremely tall and big for man!!!!  Now, days the average height for a guy is around the five feet ten inches to six feet range.  During that time period, wrestling was a “Side Show.”  A way to draw in the big crowds by having their “Champion” take on any takers and see if they could defeat him or last I think it was five minutes in the ring with him.  If that won, they would win the big money.  I think it was a hundred dollars which would be around a thousand or so today.

Over the decades wrestling became more of a profession for a lot of people.  The 1940′s and 1950′s had so many legends during their days!  Some of the most famous ones are the Fabulous Moolah.  Moolah still to this day holds the World Record of the longest-reigning of the Women’s Championship.  1956 (when she first won it) - 1984 (when she lost it).  We also were introduced to Mae Young!  Another incredible wrestler then turned trainer for many young aspiring girls.  For the male side, we had Gorgeous George.  This man literally made the promoters of the 1940′s & 1950′s money!!!!  Buddy Rogers, one of the famous NWA Heavy Weight Champions and trainers there was.

Now, before Vincent McMahon Jr. came into the picture when he took over his father’s company in the 1960′s.  WWWF (World Wide Wrestling Federation), NWA (National Wrestling Association before was known as the National Wrestling Alliance), AWA (American Wrestling Association), ECWA (Eastern Championship Wrestling Association) and many others were known as Territory Promotions.  Meaning in many states you were only allowed to broadcast or work in that company and defend their Championship.

So, I don’t want to bore you with all these cool and fascinating details about all these companies and how some of them are still around and others faded out.  So, let’s fast-forward here.  Vincent Kennedy McMahon Jr. took over his father’s company and along the way literally re-institutionalized and re-visioned professional wrestling!  Now, we go to the 1980′s!

The 1980′s-1990′s we had quite a war!!!   WWF was literally the very first company to ever invent the term and the way to use it of pay-per-view!  And did their very first ever pay-per-view live!  WRESTLEMANIA!!!  I’m sure you know a lot of the wrestlers from that Era such as Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Jesse “the Body” Ventura, Ric Flair, The Four Horseman, Srg. Slaughter, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Sting, “The Brain” Bobby Heenan, Andre the Giant, “Classy” Freddie Blassie, The Ultimate Warrior, and many others.   But there was also another huge wrestling company that was also making its waves into the sport.

WCW (World Championship Wrestling).  This one you had many different wrestlers but the big thing that many people remember of WCW was the fans all-time favorite wrestler Hulk Hogan made a huge decision and it made headlines.  He left WWF and went to WCW (WWF’s competition).  When that happened many people started to tune in and watch.  Then Ric Flair also came by and the Four Horseman reunited.  Sting made his presence known and still many people remember his “Crow” face-paint and his vigilantly like style.

But the big thing that a lot of fans remember is when the “Face of the Company” the “Fans Hero” the “Face/Hero” turned on all the fans and joined the enemies!  Alright so let me fully explained this!  When Hulk Hogan left to join WCW two other wrestlers from WWF decided to give WCW a chance: Kevin Nash (aka Diesel) and Scot Hall (aka Razor Ramon).  When they jumped they truly made an impact (pun intended)!  When Nash and Hall came to WCW they were literally invading.  Crashing the broadcast booth, mocking the commentators “So, this is where the big boys play huh?  Well, we challenge any of the WCW guys to the two of us and our mystery partner”

Everyone including me was scrambling to figure out who the mystery partner was.  Every kind of theories was going around from another wrestler jumping ship to someone from WCW who was going to help Hall and Nash.  The big moment came at Bash at the Beach.  Hall and Nash cleaned house and Hogan came down the ramp and everyone including the announcers and commentators were cheering with fans upon seeing Hogan!  (I admit I was secretly bouncing in my seat).  But then, we all bared witness to the shock of all shock!  Hogan turned on WCW and joined Hall and Nash!  Forming the NWO (the New World Order) taking one anyone and everyone, taking over and seeking to bring down WCW.  This was a really good story-line and it was one the biggest swerve and one of the biggest story-lines that worked so well!

Now, I’m sure you saw me mention another wrestling company earlier in this post and might or might not have sounded familiar.  ECWA (Eastern Championship Wrestling Association) now, this company is still around.  It’s pretty big in the Indie Circuit (Independent Wrestling Promotions Circuit).  But in the 1990′s it was also known by another name thanks to the “Evil Genius” Paul E. Hayman.  ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling).  This was the first time that “Hardcore Wrestling” came about in the United States that was televised!  For the first time ever blood was actually seen on television!!!  Now, ECW was more than just the hardcore aspect and the blood.  It was all about giving the best show with very little money and minimal equipment.  Think, developing a fan-made movie and then post it on YouTube.

They didn’t have the money for lights, pyro, and all that jazz.  But what they did have was high-quality talent in wrestlers, best interviews, great promos that didn’t need a lot of effects.  Many of the fans really enjoy ECW and yes, the 2200 Arena is known as the ECW Arena.  That’s why when many companies perform out of there and they may have an ECW alumni wrestler, the fans will chant “ECW! ECW! ECW! ECW!”  ECW literally helped reshape wrestling today.

Okay, so that’s the history there.  As for why wrestling is so popular.  It’s basically a life story coming to life.  You have the faces (heroes) that the fans truly love to cheer for.  They’re the ones that you want to rally behind and believe in and are the face of the company in a way.  Then you have the Anti-Heroes.  They’re the ones that basically do what they want to do.  They’ll follow the rules if they wan too and at the same time they have no problem in breaking every single rule in the book!

Then you have the heels (the villains).  They’re the ones that break every single rule in the book known to man.  They don’t care about being liked.  They don’t care how they’re seen or portrayed.  They don’t care about lying, cheating and stealing they’re way to victory so long as they’re the ones on top!  Now, I’m not going to lie.  Sometimes, the villains are actually cheered when they’re not supposed to be.  Some examples are, Tripple H, The Undertaker, Kane, Abyss, The Main Event Mafia, LAX (Latin American Exchange) The Elite, Bullet Club, The Broke Hardy (although they were more the anti-heroes then villains), you get the idea.

Many, companies today like ROH, AAA, MLCW, New Japan, AEW, MCW, literally have sports of wrestling.  Where you get to see the pathetic abilities and the “Mic Skills” during promos and interviews and a combination of story-line to give the fans and viewers the best show there is.

Hope this helps.  And sorry for the long post.  If you can’t tell.  I’m a huge wrestling fan!

[andymull]

WWE TLC 2019 – Preview & Predictions

The Fiend (c) vs The Miz – Universal Title Match

Wait they are billing this as the main event?? It really is either this or Reigns/Corbin isn’t it, thatsssss not good.

But anyway, here’s a feud we weren’t expecting a month or two back. Looks like Daniel Bryan wasn’t too keen on having more matches with The Fiend, so Miz was moved from a bit part player in the feud to be the focus instead. I can’t remember the last time I was interested in a Miz match, and that isn’t changing anytime soon, his interview segments are poor, and the package filmed at his house was the only decent thing they’ve done so far.

There’s zero chance of Miz taking the title here, zero, the problem we seem to have is the lack of contenders ready for the next Fiend feud. Its basically between Roman and Braun (if he’s actually ready to return soon after his surgery) maybe even Sheamus when he returns, the problem is that Roman would have to beat him and isn’t yet I think they want Reigns in the Rumble so the title match there wont be him. Both Braun and Sheamus can’t afford to lose their next feud either, Strowman has had an awful time since before Crown Jewel in not winning the big matches and Sheamus cant come in to lose after his return. So does this mean we will be getting another Miz title shot after losing tonight? Doesn’t sound very successful does it, especially as it will need to be dragged to the Rumble.

Sadly have no faith in this getting a positive reaction from the fans, its been tough for fans with the red light during the match already…..and that’s with Rollins/Bryan in the match to support, Miz is a good step or two behind them in terms on fan support. If this main events with the red light there could be a interesting reaction throughout - FIEND

Roman Reigns vs The Baron King – TLC Match

The Baron King annoys me greatly, and not because he’s a good heel, he’s awful for me. And really this match has been built up to be a Dog Collar match surely?!? Having the TLC stipulation is one of their usually forcing a PPV name onto feuds even when it doesn’t fit.

I think this match quickly gets into interference with the lack of a DQ stip in a TLC match, Ziggler probably pops up A LOT but it will ultimately be someone else who costs Reigns the match, the person who was under the ring when Reigns was covered in dog food who helped tie his feet in place THAT NO-ONE MENTIONED!!!! And that’s Drake Maverick – THE BARON KING

The New Day (c) vs The Revival – Smackdown Tag Team Championship Ladder Match

Another match with an added stipulation that doesn’t really fit the feud or add to the match, there’s only really one of the four guys that can run up a ladder in Kofi, the others are more grounded wrestlers so some of this may be awkward.

I feel for Dash, after falling over the stage on SmackDown I have no idea how he won’t do his-self harm involving a ladder in the match.

In terms of who wins, it really doesn’t matter, there doesn’t seem to be much in store for the winners as there aren’t multiple other top contenders for the titles which means this may drag on again. This really feels a constant problem with the company in not having the next guy lined up, we then will wait till next weeks tv then they decide on who to push and start from there. Instead, they should be building up multiple guys at the same time as the current title feud so that its more visible and believable when the next contender steps up, and that really isn’t happening much with the current product – NEW DAY

Rusev vs Bobby Lashley – Tables Match

Such an awful feud, this match is going to be 60% Lana screaming at ringside isn’t it?

Another match where the winner doesn’t matter, they should add that the winner gets a title shot against AJ Styles just to give this more purpose - RUSEV

The Kabuki Warriors (c) vs Becky Lynch & Charlotte – Women’s Tag Team Title TLC Match

This has been built poorly/weirdly with the changing of Nattie to Charlotte and no-one, even the wrestlers, having no idea why. This has been built to have the challengers go over strong once they work as a team but I don’t think people want new champions doing the same old same old gimmick of not liking each other. I would really prefer them to have the champions go over instead and make it clear they need a challenging team that really work well together, then over the Christmas period id have multiple teams do videos showing their teamwork or new teams coming together with the shared goal of winning the titles. I do think they go the arguing champions route though sadly, it’s the easy decision for them, then they drop the belts at the Rumble after arguing mid match – LYNCH/CHARLOTTE

Aleister Black vs Buddy Murphy

This should easily be the match of the night, fingers crossed they get a good 12-15 minutes and both guys are able to get all their moves in. I don’t see anything else than a Black win with the main aim being them putting on an awesome match to get both over - BLACK

The Viking Raiders Open Challenge

This looks to be a match with The OC, ignore the website coding leading people to believe it would be Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster as Andrews wrestled last night for Progress and they aren’t allowed to wrestle within a week or two of WWE shows if they are going to appear.

Should be a fun little match, hopefully the Raiders don’t drop their titles just yet but open challenges usually signify a title change is upcoming and really the more they run through the other teams on Raw the more problems arise in building credible challengers – VIKING RAIDERS

 This really doesn’t seem to fill me with joy about the show and will definitely be something I skip through and hardly watch many of the matches in full, seems to be common occurrence lately with their big shows as well as weekly tv. With the rosters they have its truly criminal that Raw and Smackdown can be so boring most weeks, you have a lot of the best wrestlers in the world under contract so why do we have to have Corbin and The Miz anywhere near the main event of a show.

The list of big names missing for this show just backs that up too. Rollins/Strowman/Styles/Ricochet/Nakamura/Cesaro/Bryan/Andrade/Lesnar/McIntyre/Owens/Orton/Mysterio etc etc. Now I expect them to throw together another match or two for the pre-show when the show begins but come on that’s criminal!

EDIT: Looks like another Andrade/Carrillo match is on the kick off show too

Bye for now

Andy

[thesportssoundoff]

What Happens When You Take A Bad Idea And Make It Worse? LET’S TALK ABOUT THE BRAWL FOR ALL!

Joey

March 11th

The Mother Fucking Brawl For All.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd actually get around to this but there are miracles around us and what better time than now? The Brawl For All is generally regarded as one of the worst ideas of all time in a business with an entire genre dedicated to grown men and women smashing each other with fluorescent light tubes and slamming one another on beds of nails and thumbtacks. In a business that up until the mid 80s featured nazis goose stepping around and up until 2003 or so regularly and routinely featured women wrestling in their bloomers, the Brawl For All is the one idea that every human being unanimously believes was a disastrous failure. It's the one unanimous tire fire that not even it's most ardent supporter can put out. Not even WCW's junkyard battle royale which featured multiple injuries due to WCW not gimmicking the cars and just having guys taking bumps onto cars and through glass windshields is hated this much. The Brawl 4 All is one of those things people can't even sum up with "It was bad!" and move on. You have to go through layers and layers and levels of badness. You have to view it almost as an affront to your sensibilities, as a personal attack on you as a fan. Hell not just as a fan but as a human being!

Vince McMahon and company have failed in previous ventures before and ventures after. The XFL, the World Bodybuilding Federation, the ECW relaunch, 65% of the undercard Attitude Era angles, their really expensive WWE Films attempts. Some could even argue that the brand split originally was a failure in some respects given that Smackdown never really got going on its own and Raw declined sharply from the brand split onward. That said those failures at least had SOME inkling and morsels of promise behind them. Not the Brawl For All. It was a bad idea from the start, a bad idea during and made even worse by what happened afterwards. Also? The Brawl For All is one of those things that every wrestling fan and every wrestling personality has a hard opinion on, the kind of shit that lends itself to so much gossip, rumor and conversation. Over the next few weeks, I want to discuss the Brawl 4 All a bit more. I want to delve into it because it's as close as we'll ever get to a universal no hope no spin failure by the WWE and because...well...it's one of my favorite fuck ups of all time. It's always been something that fascinated me from watching it live as a casual fan to laughing at it as a smart fan when I stumble across it to making a near yearly pilgrimage to youtube to watch every single fight of it I can find before it got yanked. It's one of those wrestling stinkers that like December 2 Dismember or the Heroes Of Wrestling card that I'm magnetically attracted to. Every wrestling fan FEELS for the Brawl For All even if those feelings are utter disdain for everyone involved with it.

The Concept And How Fucked It Was From Jump

To get why this even happened, you have to go back in a time capsule. Despite catching fire in 1998, the WWF (for the purpose of being as thorough as possible here, we're gonna call 'em as they were when this happened) is still struggling to keep track with WCW Nitro. They're in the midst of an 83 week long ass eating from Ted Turner's Atlanta based wrestling promotion and "good ideas" are running dry. Understand that at this point the WWF has the single hottest property in the business but that sole property isn't enough to get over the hump vs the NWO, the cruiserweights, an ascending Bill Goldberg, Bret Hart, the return of Sting and what was genuinely just a better overall card. Even if Wrestlemania 14 gave birth to so many great stories going forward (Austin vs McMahon, the hard reboot of DX as a faction, Kane vs Undertaker's first match), WCW is in the midst of its highest grossing year ever. Vince McMahon has James Harden putting up 50 points a night and winning on his back but he's still looking up to the Golden State Warriors. Making matters worse, both companies are in the pro wrestling equivalent of an arms race.  Remember how when the UFC and Bellator in 2014 and 2015 signed anybody with a pulse because they were trying to fill up two insanely bloated schedules? It's a bit like that. Anybody who is good (and not a walking flag factory so to speak) is either in WWE or WCW at this point which means if you ONLY have two hours of content, you've got a lot of guys doing nothing.

The Brawl For All on its surface and without malice seems like an awful idea to try and remedy that. Pit sixteen dudes in a shoot tournament and let them go at it with set rules in place. It gets guys on TV, gives them something to do and at the end, in theory, the winner doesn't just get a big financial prize but come out in the end as a star. It's a chance to do something with a section of guys who are doing absolutely nothing at all. Sounds good, riiiiight? Well now let's break into some sexy rumor mongering about what this really was about:

-We can start with the mastermind! Vince Russo is the man who apparently concocted this concept which should be somewhat redeemable if what I laid out above was entirely 100% accurate. It's not entirely the case, even according to Russo's own words. Per Vince Russo, a large reason the Brawl For All came to be was that he had a beef with one of the wrestlers (Bradshaw aka John Bradshaw Layfield aka that guy who got flattened by ring announcer Joey Styles) consistently bloviating that he was the toughest guy in the locker room. Right off the jump, any sort of noble designs are whittled away. Now often in pro wrestling, there's 100 different stories to the same single event often shared by people IN the same room. Imagine how pronounced it is that a) everybody agrees that it was Russo's idea, b) everybody is under the impression that it was over a tiff with a pro wrestling with no shoot fighting experience and c) EVERYBODY agrees it was one of the worst concepts imaginable. The Brawl For All's entire seed was planted not so much out of a design to get guys work and on TV but out of wanting to see a loud dude get punched up. That's insanity out the gate.

-The Brawl For All was by invitation only and depending on who you believe, the process to select wrestlers was rather...exclusive. Bruce Prichard discusses in his podcast with Conrad Thompson that he was the guy who had to round up the talent to fill enough spots in the tournament. Prichard says he had to play to the egos of wrestlers and in a separate interview, Bart Gunn talks about how he got recruited basically by another member of the writing team as well. The name Bart Gunn will become pretty important down the line so jot that down in your notebooks real quick. Wrestlers were recruited with what seems like a pretty easy enough pitch and one I'd imagine that the UFC uses today  with their fighters; basically a "I mean don't you believe you're the toughest dude here?!" and a "We'll pay you!" and we're off to the races. Despite this, the Brawl For All struggled to get people to fill in the spots in no small part due to the fact that no star is going to partake in an absolutely stupid concept like this when they can just make their money being a star. The Brawl For All isn't even a TUF; it's a PFL tournament where all the dudes nobody else wants are lumped into a tournament format with the golden carrot of a $100,000 prize at the end of it.

-Perhaps worth more than the $100,000 prize was the either legit or illegitimate golden carrot of the winner getting to work a program with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Understand that no one single act was as hot and drawing as much money at this time as Steve Austin was. He was the it guy, the biggest star in the business and noway near close to peaking as a talent either. The Brawl For All $100,000 prize? That's cool and all  plus that was basically the downside guarantee for a year's worth of work. The opportunity to work with Stone Cold on a pay per view? That's the big money ticket. That's the opportunity to be a made man like how working with Hogan in the 80s was. For top guys, that opportunity may come along at any given point. Again going back a bit to TUF and the PFL, imagine if the UFC offered eight of its guys the chance to compete in a tournament for $100,000. Enticing! Now imagine the winner gets to fight Conor McGregor on a PPV. Tell me if it doesn't get every guy not named Khabib and Tony Ferguson jumping into it. That would be a great no doubt can't miss opportunity!

EXCEPT

-It was probably a lie. Scratch that. We can factually tell that any sort of Austin match for the winner was a lie since every person involved (sans one) says it was real and the winner never actually got said shot. Imagine if the tournament wasn't build on anything truthful but instead on a "The winner will be in the mix" from Dana White. While Bruce Prichard says there was no official plan for the winner to face Steve Austin, everybody else involved from talent to wrestling guru Jim Cornette seems to suggest there WAS a plan in place for the winner to win. That is, assuming of course, the winner was the guy they thought was going to win all along. More on that in the future but just know that the Brawl For All's fighters were flirted with a hush hush unofficial promise of facing Steve Austin that was probably never going to be fulfilled unless won by a specific party. Bart Gunn says he was told the winner would face Stone Cold and well....more on that at another time. Let's just say sports entertainment and combat sports have a long storied history of perhaps listening to the matchmakers a bit too closely.

-The rules for the Brawl For All? Well those were a mess. According to Bruce Prichard, the rules were still being worked out the week of. According to Steve Blackman (a dude who Bob Holly admits would've won the whole thing), there were plans to allow leg kicks and those rules just happened to get yanked the week of. The glove size seems to change depending on who you ask as the WWF says they were 16 ounce gloves but Bart Gunn argues repeatedly they were 22 ounce gloves. Some of the guys admittedly didn't even think it was a shoot fight either and at least one fighter fought thinking it was a work. According to Bart Gunn, even halfway through the tournament he kept expecting it to be a work suddenly.  The "official" Brawl For All rules had points for takedowns, points for a knockdown and points for more punches thrown across three one minute rounds. The scorecard part doesn't even matter at this point. To be honest, it didn't even matter then.

So let's talk about the big problem here

So imagine putting together a tournament designed around the concept of "Who's the toughest guy!" in a show where the audience is conditioned to believe that the toughest guy is the world champion or if the champion is a heel, the toughest guy is the babyface chasing said champion. We already in theory know who the toughest guy is or at least we're willing to suspend our disbelief. Also if we're to believe that the winner of the tournament is the toughest guy in the company, why aren't the big name tough guys we've been told are the tough guys competing in it? The concept falls flat right there on its own but the hole isn't deep enough. We gotta go from six feet to nine feet so now imagine that you've come up with this concept that pees on the first rule of your product. Make it worse. Make it so that the audience is being told to believe that what they see HERE AND ONLY HERE is legitimate.  NOTHING is as frustrating in pro wrestling as "a shoot." For those not addicted to sports entertainment meth, a shoot is something on the program that the audience is led to believe is real. Now for something to be "real" on a show that's already "real" then that in turn means what we're seeing is fake, right? So a "real fight" on pro wrestling ultimately means that what we're seeing is fake. Now most wrestling fans since the 70s and 80s have probably believed wrestling in some form or fashion is/was not real. We accept it as entertainment and as Jerry Jarrett once lovingly put it "theater of the illiterate." The key is to not remind us that what we're seeing is clearly fake (a problem wrestling fans seem to be having right now with Ronda Rousey). Reminding the audience that what they're saying is predetermined scripted fakeness and then asking them to invest into the REAL portion of the product that breaks their illusion only works if a star is doing it. It doesn't work if a bunch of random dudes and mid carders are doing it. Imagine if in the middle of one of those UFC Embedded gimmicks, we saw Conor McGregor rehearsing the press conference lines and then he went out to try and sell his beef with Cowboy Cerrone as legitimate. You've already hurt the audience's feelings and the Brawl For All actively did that at a time where all WWF fans wanted was to watch Stone Cold kick ass and DX make inappropriate jokes. You've brought DOWN the segment.

So now we're nine feel into the hole. Let's go sixteen feet deep. Nope! Let's go from here to fuckin' middle earth on this bad boy; pro wrestling is a TEAM effort. It requires two or more able bodied people to work together to create a magnificent fake fight spectacle that tells a story and ends with you becoming emotionally invested in its finish and what's to come. That requires participation. Now come up with a tournament where guys are going to beat the holy shit out of one another FOR REAL and then have to go back to participating with one another as if nothing happened! Every single wrestler involved in the Brawl For All has spoken about the bad blood and residual effects the Brawl For All had. Also remember these are not trained fighters either. Some of these guys are amateur wrestlers who probably haven't done that for years. Some dudes dabbled in kickboxing or BJJ on their spare time or in years outside of wrestling had some formal combat sports . Some of these guys were bodybuilders by trade and some of these dudes were just pro wrestlers who happened to have a few "So and so cleaned out a bar room with one hand and six beers!" type magical fishing trip stories. So you're taking a bunch of ego driven (some chemically enhanced) guys and sending them out there to beat each other up on a Monday or a Tuesday and then magically get over it in time to make the house show loop where they're going to team together. We've officially come out the other end through China, folks.

And yet despite all of this very obvious right in front of our faces warning signs, the Brawl For All existed.

Next time we'll talk about who was in it a bit more---and why IF the Brawl For All had a true tertiary motive designed to elevate one guy to superstardom, it was an even bigger failure than humanly possible.

[squaredcirclesirens]

Lufisto Announces Retirement

After 22 years in the business “The Wounded Owl” Lufisto has announced that she is set to retire this year after finding out that her knee that she injured last week is much more damaged than previously thought.

Lufisto took to her official facebook account and wrote the following:

This is a long one… Please bear with me.This is a long one… Please bear with me.

I didn’t think I would write all this tonight but, here we are… So last week, I fell down the stairs (idiot!) and I sprained my right knee. It was definitely nothing major when you think about it as I have seen a lot worst in the past 22 years. However, I didn’t expect that this little injury would reveal a bigger problem.

In the past years, the same knee felt weird and sometimes weak but nothing alarming. I ignored aches and pains… Such behavior comes with being a professional wrestler from my generation.

Yes, it makes me sound old (well, I just turned 39) but back in my days, when you were injured, you didn’t talk about it. Being the only girl around and wrestling the boys, it was even worst. I just couldn’t mention anything about being in pain. If I did, you can be sure I would hear things such as “just a girl; she don’t belong; look at this weak moron or what a pussy!” So, when I hurt my knee back in 2002, I got it cleaned up and went back in the ring only 2 months after the surgery. I had no time to wait a year to reconstruct everything. I couldn’t say I was hurt and I wanted to prove wrong everyone who doubted me and laughed at me for wanting to be an equal to my male colleagues. Courageous or stupid? Today, I would say the latter. Different times, I guess.

Truth is that I’ve been wrestling with an empty knee since then… No ACL, MCL or meniscus, just bones. So you can only imagine what was going on in there. Looking back, I have to admit that somewhere deep inside, I knew I was on borrowed time… It just lasted a lot longer than anyone could have predicted.

When the orthopedist looked at my x-rays this past Monday, there were no breaks… But it really didn’t look good. There is so much arthrosis, or another name for osteoarthritis. What it means is that, because of the extreme wear and tear, my cartilage is deteriorating. The joint looks like an 80 years old knee. Things could get a lot worst if I don’t do anything about it. One thing is for sure though. I will need a full knee replacement before I’m 50, way sooner if I keep going the way I do. It could also affect my ability to walk and perform regular day to day activities. And it hurts. It’s been hurting for a while.

A part of me has always hoped that the sweat, blood, scars and the thousands of tears would pay off. So, I was fighting through the pain. You make bad decisions for a dream sometimes…The pursuit of the dream has also messed with my head and my heart.

Storylines and promos about me being “bitter” and that I was always complaining (even if I knew it was just for “the show”) or interview questions on why I didn’t make it started to be way too heavy on me. Even if it was part of the character, mainly my heel persona, I’ve never been comfortable with the concept. That this hurt me so bad shows you how messed up my mental state it. Why? Because it couldn’t be farther from the truth.

I love wrestling. I love it so much that I fought tooth and nail for respect. I got beat, stretched, called an asshole or a big head because I wanted women to be seen as equals and no, being a manager or valet wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to be a wrestler. That’s all I ever wanted to be. I’m not bitter. I’m heartbroken.

Heartbroken that I didn’t prove wrong all those people who were telling me that I was wasting my time, that I was a loser, that I wouldn’t go anywhere… Today, I feel like they’ve won. I’m grateful for every single opportunity and for all the promoters who let me step into their ring. However, I have that emptiness that there is something missing because I didn’t reach my goal of joining one of the major promotions. No matter how hard I try, it just won’t go away.

I am over sensitive and weak. I’m so tired, all the time. I feel like I’ve been buried alive. I’m there but I’m gasping for air… Therefore, because of my body tells me it can’t go on, because my soul is filled with darkness, because my heart is so heavy that there is no more beauty in anything, I have decided that 2019 would be the last year of LuFisto.

I have canceled many bookings already and might cancel more. There are few places I would love to wrestle at least one more time; opponents that are special to me that I want to share the squared circle with one last time… I’ve already started to sell my gear so if there is anything any of you would like to get as a souvenir, please let me know.

I haven’t decided when and where it’ll all end or against whom. That is something I shall work on in the next few weeks.

39 might be old for wrestling, but there can be many years of happiness ahead if I dedicate myself to something else, find a new passion or rediscover one from the past. I let go so I, as a simple human being, I can smile once again and accept the things I cannot change and control. I’ll leave you all on a quote that explains it all for me…

“Letting go doesn’t mean giving up, but accepting that there are things that cannot be…”

Forever grateful for your love and support, I thank you. LuFisto

Lufisto was inducted into the CZW Hall of Fame earlier this year. She was the first women to participate in the Best of the Best tournament and remains the only woman to ever step into the cage of Death and hold CZW gold when she beat Kevin Steen in 2006 for the CZW IronMan Championship. She has been behind promotions such as Femmes Fatales when it first started as well as ACW ROUGE Women Warriors.

She also has the distinction of being the longest reigning SHINE Champion holding the title for 529 days and having the most title defenses at 15 defenses. She never lost the belt, as she had to forfeit and vacate it due to injury.

She is the first female in the Province of Quebec to win a male championship and also the first woman in Canada to win the main championship of a male promotion.

Not only LuFisto fought in the ring but she also fought for all female wrestlers in Canada by lodging a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission against the Ontario Athletics Commission that prevented women and men from wrestling each other. Not only the OAC would have to drop the regulation but they subsequently dropped the vast majority of the regulations affecting professional wrestling in Ontario.

She is The First Lady of Hardcore… The Innovator of Intergender and we can’t thank her enough for all her contributions to pro wrestling.

website | twitter | tumblr | instagram

[fantroll-purgatory]

Kilius Koplan

I’ve been saving this boy up.

@ancientvacation usual disclaimer that I don’t have a lot to say besides oooh and ahhhh

Alternian OC

Name:Kilius Koplan - Kilius comes from Achilleus, also known as Achilles, one of the great Greek heroes. It also sounds close to ‘Kleos’, a Greek concept of glory. Koplan is from Adam Copeland, the real name of the wrestler Edge, who’s finishing move is The Spear, the same characteristic weapon of Achilleus.

Also indicates he might have a soft spot somewhere…

Strife Specibus:

grapplekind/2xspearkind - The spear is a common weapon for ancient Greek heroes to use. Furthermore, The Spear was the name of Adam ‘Edge’ Copeland’s finisher. He uses two as to be like a pair of beetle pincers. He mainly uses grapplekind as it’s what he’s trained the most in, but aspires to finally use his ancestor’s spears passed down to him, so he always keeps the card on him as a little bit of motivation.

Fetch Modus:Apronmodus - Kilius stows and fetches things from underneath a curtain-like structure, much like how foreign objects are taken from under a wrestling ring. This means that he can use the underside of his kilt as a kind of hammerspace. It’s very silly.

hlkgjkaerhwr yeah it is! I love it so much.

Blood color:He’s an Indigoblood. The hex I use for his text is #0021bc whereas his blood, symbol and blood-coloured garments are a darker shade. I kinda run with the HC that there are set colours for each blood caste, but individual trolls type darker or lighter than those colours as a personal thing.

I think that tracks especially given that Equius used a markedly different text color than his blood color.

Symbol and meaning:Kilius’ symbol has gone through an evolution. The symbol I used for the longest time was the Hercules constellation, mainly because of it being a heroic figure and tying to him nicely. After the EZ came out, I redesigned a lot of aspects of my trolls, most importantly their symbols. As such, I recreated the Hercules symbol using the sign language of the Indigo caste. If I had to give it a name, I’d use Hercinius. The symbol also resembles a Greek pillar, which is neat.

Oh man yeah I love that.

Trolltag: perfectPankrator - A pankrator is just to describe someone who takes part in pankration, a gladiatorial style of combat where physical attacks with the use of punches and kicks are emphasised. Perfect is just to show Kilius’ ego and ‘better than you’ attitude. Instead of the negative words often found in trolltags, Kilius uses a positive one to stand as some kind of paragon to other trolls, fulfilling more ego-wankery.

Quirk:He replaces [hH] with ’]~[’ as to represent his symbol. Kilius’ ego would certainly lend him to shoehorn his symbol in wherever possible. As for his tone of voice he’s actually pretty verbose, but doesn’t use large words all that much. His kind of verbose is just being able to talk for ages and ages. He has a kind of mental rhythm when he speaks and isn’t averse to using spur of the moment rhymes. This is mainly to evoke the kind of promos popular in pro wrestling as well as thematically fit with the poems of the ancient world.

Design:I wanted to get a good fusion of Ancient Greek aesthetics along with modern professional wrestling outfits. So he wears a singlet, elbow and kneepads, and ring boots to represent the former, and over his singlet, a kilt commonly worn by ancient warriors, and atop his head rests his headband. His hair is meant to be a kind of unkempt curly mass, and his missing tooth is a reference to Chris Benoit, who I recommend not googling because it’s a nice day. The face plaster is mainly meant to exhibit a kind of roughboy demeanour.

“Don’t google it” you say, to a person who definitely googled it and now wishes they didn’t and has to pass the warning on to others. (note: it’s not just a minor thing it’s a major thing and will probably take you to a dark place)

Special Abilities (if any):Winning Smile. (Joking.)

Lusus: A rare lusus, the Bipedal Musclebeetle, named Beeteokles. His species have strong fatherly instincts, and Beeteokles in particular is doing his best to teach Kilius in the ways of the Palaestria, combat, and traditions. Which is impressive considering he has no mouth or discernible way of communication other than Beetle skrees and rhythmic flexing. His picture is a little inaccurate, as he should have the head of a Hercules beetle instead. His relationship to Kilius is meant to evoke the strong presence fathers played in Ancient Greek epics, as mentors and goals for their sons.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. I fucking love this and I have an addition because I’m still playing with the idea that indigobloods have hooved lusii so consider keeping everything the same except to change his lower half to a minotaur bottom. Oh my god I love this beetleman holy shit

Personality: Kilius is a pretty great guy to be honest. He doesn’t hold himself to modern-day hemorelations, instead finding solace in working off the ancient values taught to him by his lusus, more or less. He’s open and friendly to most, if not a little much to digest all at once. He often invites people back to his hive, all even before learning their name or where they came from. This is supposed to tie into the Ancient Greek value of ‘Xenia’, where a person is expected to be a good host to visitors, most of all strangers, and for visitors to behave properly when in a host’s home. This also ties into my interpretation of Kilius as a Knight ‘serving’ others in a sense by being such a good host.

However, Kilius may be friendly but he certainly isn’t a pushover. He’s up for a scrap or brawl often, and getting into arguments with him often results in the other party just letting things slide with how bizarre arguing with Kilius can get. He’s a very physical person, often acting on a whim, with enough cunning and battle training to be able to formulate plans under pressure. He’s also kind of a glory-hound, his acting on a whim for some more prestige often bites him in the ass, not that it dissuades him from trying some more.

He can be irritating to be around, as he can seem like he’s not taking things too seriously or genuinely. If met with someone who actively dislikes him and lets him know, Kilius will take it as an opportunity to gussy it up and make some long poetic speech about the fire of their rivalry or such. Going from his poeticism, that’s also a big part of Kilius. He has a flair for the dramatic, developed from both instincts and the theatrical nature of wrestling. He’s very well-read, so long as they’re either ancient epics or professional wrestling annuals.

Any other ideas or such would be appreciated!

I…I actually have one because you went and named him after goddamn Achilles. This dude could be a classical wrestler by day…and a heel by night! He could especially play up being the big, bad indigoblood beating up on the poor, defenseless lowbloods. He’s got the extra strength at hsi advantage and he plays dirty??? How dare he??? It’s a fun little contrast to his at-home personality and may get him some shit even when he’s out of the ring!

Interests: Wrestling, surprisingly. It’s his main hobby, passion and potential career in the fleet if he works hard enough. His passion for the classical world, which I’m not even gonna begin to try and explain for Alternia, is another major interest of his, specifically heroes and their glorious adventures.

Other than his two core themes, Kilius doesn’t really go for much else. Fitness is important to him, though that’s mainly to get better at wrestling, and epic poetry is more of the classical stuff. Some ideas would be helpful, as whilst his themes are strong and handy, I don’t want him to just be the wrestling and classics troll lol.

Hm.

I mean modern wrestling is commonly called “soap opera for men,” (whether the folks who watch wrestling like that comparison varies lol) and to tie back to both the classical version and the modern one how about he’s into nice-smelling soaps, classical opera, and soap operas? Gives him a little more dimension, and gives him something to do around the house besides watch wrestling.

Title: Remember, different verbiage and +/- skews. I have Kilius as a Knight of Hope, in that he passively serves others Hope. This kinda ties into how I see pro-wrestling, but I feel it works for Kilius even in the mindscape that Knights actively exploit.

This is kinda where I’m struggling honestly, to properly put into words why he’s a Knight of Hope. I’ll give it a shot, but I’d like to keep the classpect. That being said, I’m open for insight or suggestions/modifications to help him better fit this title or another similar one.

Kilius is kinda caught in an interesting quandary with his classpect. On the one hand, he has very strong beliefs that he has complete commitment to and uses them as a positive force in his life. On the other hand, as a Knight he’s being disingenuous in some form thanks to the mask he adopts for others. In the weirdest sense, Kilius’ mask is himself, that is, the idealised version of himself that he aspires to be, and presents himself as through his speech (the third person thing is a sort of showing of this, a trait that would be dropped as he goes through the revelations and lessons of his character.)

His main struggle is that he’s not living up to the idealised vision he’s made for himself. His mask is like a professional wrestling gimmick, Kilius the brave and bold, flexgrappler champion and future immortalised in epic tales of valour and etc etc. Some larger than life figure that he keeps stoking. He’s essentially made his mask some kind of Platonic form, the ultimate greatest version of him. This is why that he seems like he has it made from outside perspectives as he’s friendly, has conviction, goals, a sweet hive, etc etc.

Ugh, I’m really struggling with this honestly. So long I’ve mainly focused on the abilities part of his classpect, which is stuff like ‘serving’ others his faith in pro-wrestling conventions that he forces them to obey to them. I have a whole post on that which I’ll link here. Sorry if this kinda meanders, but Kilius is an older character of mine, and also one very close and dear to me, so I love the bugger.

Honestly I feel like the powers you gave him would work well regardless of whether he’s a Knight or Page? There’s a pretty fine line between the two.

I feel like maybe the “heel” storyline drives that home even further? Because now that conflict rears its head in multiple ways, both with his “Kilius the brave and strong” persona and the “Kilius the evil indigoblood” one. They’re both these really hamfisted attempts to shoehorn himself into a role that maybe doesn’t fit him all that well. And with the added interests I mentioned above, maybe those are things he keeps really private because they don’t mesh with either of those personas.

And I think I can make the argument even under the Knight verbiage CD and I use because this is a case where he’s so immersed in a profession that’s Hope personified that he’s feeling choked! It’s difficult to grow when you spend so much time doing something that requires you to suspend disbelief so much.

Land:Back when he was a Rage player, ‘The Land of Quakes and Kayfabe’, but since he’s Hope, I think I had ‘Rings’ as one of his words. The idea being that there were Hope-y wrestling rings around the planet, and upon entering them some shit happens. I’m not sure on this lol.

Hmmm. What about Land of Faces and Rings? Obviously referring to faces in wrestling, but the aesthetic could be that of Majora’s Mask-style makss that grant the wearer the abilities related to them upon donning one.

That’s the consort mythology, of course; it’s not actually real. Until Kilius believes it is.

Lots and lots of tournaments, with the promise that upon completing the necessary fights he will be able to reach his denizen. But that’s nonsense! Wrestling goes on forever and plotlines rarely have a conclusion! Kilius needs to will himself to the denizen if he wants to reach them.

Dream Planet:I think Prospit may be a given. Despite his struggles with his heroic fantasies, he IS very get-go and take-charge generally.

D/Ancestor: Kilius’ dancestor is Turnus Koplan. Whilst Kilius represents the Greek ideal of a hero, cunning, individual, glory-seeking, Turnus represents the Roman ideal a little more, in that he’s direct, professional and looks to the group more. That boy is here. Kilius’ ancestor was a great hero, aptly titled as 'The ]~[eroic’ (I love quirk-y ancestor titles). Upon a fall from grace, and enslavement into the gladiatorial rings, he quickly became known under a new name, 'The Crippler’, another reference to Chris Benoit.

Love this dude.

All in all, Kilius is a very special and sentimental fantroll for me, and one that despite working on a lot of stuff for him, hasn’t had much in the way of deeper personality or narrative arc developed. He’s mainly been used for roleplay, which doesn’t exactly support SBURB arcs. Plus I’m a very improvisational person in those types of settings, meaning I can often just roll with random info or ideas for Kilius without thinking about it. Hope you enjoy this boy!

i did! And tbh I think he’s basically good to go? I can’t even think of any redesign suggestions for him.

Thanks for sending him in. I hope the few extra details I provided can help!

TR

[scaredofheroin]

Captain N - Chapter 20: Round One

Finding his way to the entrance of the arena was simple enough. Directional arrows on the floor that seemed to have been recently painted guided Captain N to his first real fight. The closer he got to the match, the more sweaty his palms got and the faster his heart raced. He tried to distract himself by looking around the halls of the arena, keeping his mind busy. The hallways reminded him of sixth grade, where his dad took him to a Pro Football game. San Diego Chargers versus the Green Bay Packers. The muffled sounds of the audience cheering at the fight currently going on wasn't too different from that he heard at the football game. The Packers won that game, he remembered. He also remembered the incredibly long car trip and how he was too shy to ask the cheerleaders for their autographs when they were walking around the stadium during the halftime show. But these memories did little to assuage his worries. All these memories offered him were reminders that he was alone in this. Falco, Pit, Little Mac, Ryu and even Zelda had proven themselves to be more capable fighters than him. If it had just been him versus Dracula a few days ago, it certainly wouldn't have ended well for him or the world of Yamajiro. Apart from a few sideways glances by low-level workers in the stadium, Captain N didn't draw too much attention as he walked to the gate.

Then something occurred to him.

His name.

He told the receptionist that his name was Captain N.

The same name that the Koopa and the Waddle Dees and the Kremlings would be searching for.

And now he's about to fight in presumably one of the most widely-viewed events on this planet.

His heart sank to his stomach as he realized how doomed his situation was. Out of the corner of his eye, he could spot a pair of doors that lead somewhere at least resembling a way out. For the briefest of moments, Captain N considered bolting out those doors and running until his feet bled, and then keep running. But he swallowed those cowardly instincts. Zelda promised him she and the others would intervene if he was attacked by someone other than his opponent. Despite Falco being a little rough around the edges, to say the least, he had no reason to distrust them. Captain N took a moment to breathe, mentally went over the techniques he learned the day prior, and walked up to the gate.

On the other side of the wide concrete gateway lied a large arena of dirt with the limits of the ring laid out in white paint. The fight currently going on was between a large, muscular man wearing blue and black pants along with a blue mask that resembled a wrestler's, sparring against another muscular man wearing reed wrestling trunks and sporting a brown Mohawk. The sight of the two massive men facing off against each other made Captain N's knees feel weak. He knew he stood no chance against either of them. Their biceps were almost as big as his head. The two men grappled each other, their powerful forms locked in a standstill. But the match couldn't continue like this forever. The man in the blue mask weakened his stance just enough for the man with the Mohawk to take the advantage and sweep his legs. After a few moments of being pinned to the ground, the man in the blue mask drooped his head, having fallen unconscious. The announcer counted down from ten, which the audience soon joined in on. Upon reaching zero, a blaring horn went off, declaring the man with the Mohawk the winner. The crowd roared with applause, cheering at the display of might. The man posed and flexed his muscles victoriously, sending another chill down Captain N's spine. If the muscular man in the blue mask couldn't defeat this man, what chance did he have? He shook his head, remembering destiny was on his side. He could survive an encounter with Dracula, he could survive this.

"So you're, uh... Captain N?" The bored man standing by the gate asked him, snapping him out of his train of thought. "Yeah, that's me." He confirmed, clumsily shaking his head. "Y'know, a lot of people were expecting to see Ryu fight, so if you're gonna replace him, you better blow me away." the man warned him. "...I'll try my best." Captain N semi-confidently assured him, making him shrug nonchalantly.

"MATCH THREE WINNER: ZANGIEF DEFEATS CRASHER WAKE!" The announcer proclaimed from his booth in the press box. Crasher Wake is hoisted off the ground and onto a stretcher by two R.O.B.s, and is carried back into the underbelly of the stadium. After making a few more victory poses, Zangief peered at Captain N as he walked past him to the locker area. Feeling incredibly weak in the presence of Zangief, Captain N stepped back and watched him almost in awe as he lumbered by, like a lion patrolling the savanna. "You're not getting cold feet, are you?" The attendant asked Captain N. "Nah, don't worry, I'm good." Captain N shakily assured him, not meeting eye contact. "WE HAVE A NEWCOMER FOR OUR NEXT MATCH, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" The announcer proclaimed. This drew a noticeable reaction out of the crowd, who were clearly expecting to see Ryu. "NOW, IF THIS NEWCOMER'S GOT RYU'S APPROVAL, THEN WE OUGHT TO BE IN FOR A REAL TREAT!" The announcer assured the crowd. Captain N took a few deep breaths, mentally preparing himself for the beating he's surely about to receive.

"AND NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN WORLD WARRIOR HISTORY, GIVE UP FOR CAPTAAAAAAAAAIN N!" The announcer introduced him, fast-paced electronic music beginning to play right after. Captain N ran out onto the arena, in full view of everyone in the massive stadium. The stadium had proven to be far more massive than he had initially assumed, holding possibly thousands of men, women and children of various species. Humans, Toad people, animal people that resembled those living in New Leaf Town, and others he was unfamiliar with. The cheering from the massive crowd seemed more halfhearted, clearly unimpressed by this newcomer who was replacing Ryu. Captain N raised both fists in the air in an attempt to bolster his own confidence. The packed stadium was much more populated than any schoolyard brawl back in Midnight Lights. Atop the arena, Captain N spotted more Koopa, Kremlings and Waddle Dees, but they haven't taken action yet. He steeled his nerve, preparing to face the first man he'll be fighting mono a mono. "FACING THIS NEWCOMER, WEIGHING IN AT 110 POUNDS, IT'S GLAAAAAAAAAASS JOE!" The announcer continued, the music shifting slightly to introduce Captain N's opponent. Out stumbled a remarkably scrawny man from the opposite gate, wearing red boxing gloves and white/red shorts, and medium-length blond hair and a long face. The crowd applauded once more, about as enthusiastically as they did for Captain N. Upon seeing his opponent, Glass Joe visibly heaved a sigh of relief at not having to fight Ryu. Captain N almost laughed when he exhaled his built-up breath, easing his nerves a little bit. But he grew worried once more when he saw Glass Joe was wearing boxing gloves, while he wasn't.

Before he could do anything, the announcer initiated the match with "READYYYYYYYYY: FIGHT!". Captain N and Glass Joe moved towards each other. The closer he got, the more Captain N could tell Glass Joe was nervous about the fight, stumbling forward a bit. Once the two got into arm's range, he held his forearms up in front of him, taking a defensive stance. Glass Joe shifted slightly, which gave Captain N a window of opportunity to land a hit. He swiftly delivered a right cross to Glass Joe's abdomen, causing him to stumble back a bit. His defenses remained lowered, so Captain N closed the distance between the two and struck Glass Joe with three more jabs. Glass Joe grunted in pain with each hit, stumbling backward in an attempt to regain the advantage. Captain N wrung his hands out after punching Glass Joe. He had never punched anyone before in his life, thanks to his Zapper and two Boosters for getting him out of previous confrontations. His hands remained slightly sore as Glass Joe regained his footing and managed to cross Captain N across the face. The cushioned boxing gloves did little to weaken the impact, which made Captain N fall over. The announcer remained quiet throughout the match. The crowd started to get more into the match with the intensity emanating throughout the arena rising. Captain N regained his footing and managed to block another jab from Glass Joe. He tries to him him again, but Captain N dodges out of the way. Seizing the opportunity, he struck Glass Joe with four crosses across the face, slightly hurting his fists. Glass Joe then suddenly stepped back just as Captain N was about to strike him again, causing Captain N to fall forward and almost trip. He was quick to correct his stance, and weave out of the way of another one of Glass Joe's strikes. Captain N silently thanked his luck that he was facing a boxer, which he had the most experience from during his training. The dirt shifted around the two as they fought and maintained a short distance from each other. Captain N knew he could jut pull out his Zapper and shoot Glass Joe, but he felt confident enough in his boxing abilities to take him on. While he was reflecting on this, Glass Joe began to wind up a strong uppercut. Fortunately, this was incredibly telegraphed, and Captain N rolled out of the way before Glass Joe could hit him. Glass Joe stumbled forward awkwardly and almost fell on his face. His exhaustion was starting to show as he looked around for his opponent. Taking on a bolder stance, Captain N recalled his training session, yelled "Shoryuken!" and struck Glass Joe with a powerful uppercut. Glass Joe fell to the ground, unconscious. Captain N rubbed his right hand, now more sore from the continued punching. The announcer got back on the speakers and counted down from ten. The audience joined in counting down again. Once the number "one" was reached and the buzzer went off again, he felt a wave of relief wash over him. The audience cheered for him a bit more enthusiastically than when he first entered the arena. A smile growing on his face, Captain N pumped his fists into the air victoriously. It was only then that he realized how cut up his knuckles were. Two R.O.B.s came out and hoisted the unconscious Glass Joe onto a stretcher and carried him back inside the arena.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, THE FIRST VICTORY OF CAPTAIN N'S FIGHTING CAREER!" The announcer proclaims, earning another loud cheer from the audience. The minions of Bowser, K. Rool and Dedede atop the arena still haven't intervened, which offered some relief to Captain N. The immense screen beneath the press box displayed a massive bracket of other fighters, which then shifted to show that he had moved on to round two. Beneath the match up between Glass Joe and Captain N was a match up between Dan Hibiki and someone called the Urban Champion. Realizing the next match was about to start soon, he ran back inside the underbelly of the arena and made his way back to the locker room. Zelda was still waiting outside for him when he arrived. "That was incredible!" Zelda congratulated him, rushing up to greet him. Captain N smiled and waved it off humbly. "It was actually a lot easier than I thought it'd be, that Glass Joe guy wasn't tough at all." He remarked. "It was your first bout on your own! Take pride in your accomplishments!" Zelda insisted. He chuckled and relented. "As you wish, your majesty." He joked. Zelda rolled her eyes, and Captain N walked inside the locker room to find Pit, Falco and Doc Louis. "Not bad, kid!" Doc Louis congratulated him. "Yeah! That was awesome! Little Mac's out preparing for his match but I bet he'll think so, too!" Pit eagerly added. "Well, thanks, but it really wasn't that hard." Captain N waved off. "Well, yeah. Glass Joe's got a win loss ratio of 1-99." Doc Louis informed him. Captain N and Falco shared a brief laugh at this revelation, but Captain N quickly stopped himself. "Seriously?" Captain N asked. "Yup, he was one of Little Mac's first opponents when he was up-and-coming." Doc Louis explained. "You think that guy'd get the message by now." Falco snickered. "Well, I think it's cool to see him so determined to win!" Pit defended. "Any effort expended in achieving such a goal is commendable." Zelda chimed in from outside the locker room. It was only then that Captain N spotted Ryu meditating on a bench farther away from the conversation. Ryu seemed undisturbed by the conversation, so Captain N approached him. "So... how do you think I did?" He nervously asked his pseudo-mentor. Ryu didn't respond at first. As Captain N turned back to Doc Louis, Ryu spoke up. "Your technique is solid for a newcomer, but your stance is exploitable. You're lucky your first opponent was someone less skilled." Ryu bluntly stated. Captain N reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"You should protect your fists, too." Ryu noted as he noticed Captain N's cut-up hands. "Oh, right!" Doc Louis remembered, and tossed Captain N a roll of bandages. "Wrap those around your knuckles. It ain't gonna make 'em indestructible but it'll provide some protection." Doc Louis advised him. "Yeah, thanks." Captain N responded, wrapping a generous amount of the bandages around his hands. "You show promise in your skills, Captain." Ryu said to him. Captain N nodded at him gratefully, appreciating the compliment. Suddenly, Pit and Falco exclaimed in surprise. "What happened?" Zelda asked, still outside the locker room. "Dan Hibiki somehow beat Urban Champion!" Pit answered her. "This is the first time that guy's ever seen round two!" Falco added with a smirk. "Looks like you'll be fighting Dan next, Cap." Doc Louis chuckled. "Who's Dan Hibiki?" Captain N asked. "Guy's a joke, you'll be fine." Falco waved off. "It's not smart to underestimate your opponent, Falco." Zelda noted. "Correct. Hubris can easily lead to one's defeat." Ryu agrees. Captain N sat down on a nearby bench and joined Falco and Pit in watching the next match. Little Mac versus Vega. Doc Louis finished another chocolate bar when Pit suddenly remembered something. "Oh! That's not how the Shoryuken works." Pit informed Captain N.

"Huh?"

"It's not just saying 'Shoryuken!' while uppercutting someone."

"Well, I couldn't grasp the subtleties as Ryu almost punched my nose off, so forgive my ignorance."

Ryu chuckled softly. "If we had the time, I could instruct you in the way of the Shoryuken, I would.". "Maybe someday." Captain N smirked. "Shh! The fight's starting!" Falco interrupted, his eyes still glued to the screen. Captain N turned to watch the fight alongside the others. Little Mac came out when his name was announced, who was soon followed by a tall man wearing a simple mask that obscured his face, and was equipped with long claw weapons. Vega was noticeably taller than Little Mac, but then again so was everyone else. Once the fight started, Little Mac proved himself much quicker than Vega. Swiftly dodging around each and every one of Vega's slash attacks, placing strikes when he lets his guard down. Vega's initially calm demeanor weakened more and more as the fight went on. His frustrations at being unable to hit Little Mac even once boiled over. Little Mac took the moment of opportunity and, with a firm uppercut, defeated Vega. The crowd cheered as the match ended, more so for him than Captain N. While this wounded him slightly, he figured Little Mac had more of a reputation. Pit met the results with applause, and Doc Louis nodded approvingly at the screen. "I assume Little Mac won?" Zelda asked, still out of view of the screen. "Sure did." Falco bluntly answered. Ryu was still meditating. Captain N was incredibly impressed with his show of skill, far better than anything he'd seen even on Earth.

Not too long after, Little Mac returned to the locker room. "That was awesome!" Pit eagerly greeted him. "Heh, thanks Pit." Little Mac chuckled. "Not a single hit! You oughta be proud of yourself!" Doc Louis added. "I know, I know." He waved off with a smile. He sat down on a bench and wiped his forehead with a clean towel. "How come you weren't that good against me yesterday?" Captain N jokingly asked him. "I didn't wanna hurt your feelings too much!" Little Mac replied. They shared a laugh and turned to the next fight on the screen: Cammy White versus Akira Yuki. Both proved themselves to be exceptionally skilled martial artists, and the fight went on for longer than the previous two. In the flurry of kicks and punches, the blonde woman in the green leotard fought viciously against the man with dark hair in the white martial arts getup akin to Ryu's. This display of raw skill and power made Captain N uneasy. If Falco was to be trusted, and Dan Hibiki wasn't very threatening, how long could his luck last? This is the World Warrior Tournament, after all. Expecting all his opponents to be chumps would be pure ignorance. With a strong roundhouse kick, Cammy claimed victory over Akira. The crowd erupted in applause for the woman as two more R.O.B.s came out and carried the man back inside the arena. "She's really something, huh?" Little Mac remarked. Captain N nodded, acknowledging how attractive Cammy was as she walked back into the arena, especially in that green leotard. "Yeah, strong, tough, good-looking, she's like the opposite of Zelda over here." Falco teased. Zelda's face grew a bright red as she scrunched up her face, but then sighed, figuring it wasn't worth the effort.

More and more fights went on, and eventually it came time for Captain N to face his next opponent. "Well, off to get my ass kicked." Captain N remarked as he got up, semi-jokingly. "Remember, bold stance, remain firm in your strikes." Ryu reminded him. "Bold stance, firm strikes. Got it." Captain N repeated. "You got this, Cap! Eye of the tiger!" Doc Louis encouraged him. "Go Captain N!" Pit cheered. Falco only offered a solid nod at Captain N. As he left the locker room, Zelda wished him good luck before he left, and reminded him that they'll be watching over him. Smiling at her, Captain N thanked her and made his way to the entrance. He jogged along the way, feeling more confident in his skills, and more importantly, the supposed lack of skills in his opponent. He passed by a couple more R.O.B.s before reaching the gate, where the same attendant from before. "Gotta say, didn't think you'd see round two." He said to Captain N. "Thanks for the words of encouragement." he jokingly replied, jogging in place to pump himself up. "Well, let's hope your luck persists." The attendant wished him. He nodded at him, and soon after the announcer came back on. "AND NOW, FOR THE FIRST ROUND TWO OF HIS CAREER, GIVE IT UP FOR CAPTAIN N!" He almost yelled, signaling him to run back into the arena. The crowd seemed more enthusiastic to see him, as their applause was a little louder than the last time he made an appearance. Looking up, he saw the same Koopa and minions from before, but now they seemed to be whispering something to each other. He could only hope it was unrelated to him, and reminded himself that his allies are at his back. "FACING THIS NEWCOMER, WEIGHING IN AT 163 POUNDS, HEEEEEEEEERE'S DAN HIBIKIIIIIIIIII!" The announcer boldly continued, whereupon a man with long, tied-back brown hair and pink martial arts getup burst out of the opposing gate to greet the audience. His arrogance was immediately apparently, jumping around and trying to hype up the crowd, which only offered half-hearted applause. Dan didn't seem to notice or mind, and turned to face Captain N. "So YOU'RE my next opponent?" Dan loudly asked Captain N. Before he could answer, Dan gave a loud "HA HA HA!". "I'm one of the GREATEST martial-artists in the world, and I'm self taught! Some kid like you's got no chance! You might as well give up now!" Dan continued to brag. Captain N remained quiet, perfecting his bold stance as Dan danced about. "READYYYYYYY: FIGHT!" The announcer declared, initiating the match.

"Here, I'll let you have the first hit, just for-" Dan bragged, but was immediately cut off by Captain N punching him across the face. Dan was clearly not expecting this, and stumbled back clumsily. Captain N's fist was less sore than before, thanks to the bandages around his fist. "Heh, well, I let you have that one! Now the real fight begins!" Dan rebounded, his ego recovering. He approached Captain N, who maintained a safe distance between the two while maintaining a strong stance. Dan tried to fake him out with half-jabs, but Captain N kept his hands up and blocked the jabs. Suddenly, Dan then jumped back and launched at Captain N with several spiral kicks, yelling "Dankukyaku!". He jumped out of the way, but was hit in the side by one of the kicks. It wasn't a particularly powerful kick, but it still partially knocked the air out of him. Stumbling over, Dan took the opportunity to gloat further. "I hope you're ready for a beating!" He boasted, readying another attack as Captain N got up. He could tell the audience was getting more into the fight from the atmosphere throughout the air. "And now, behold my power!" Dan declared, shooting his hand forward and yelling "Gadoken!", shooting a ball of blue energy at Captain N.  He recoiled and braced himself for it, but it dissipated right before it could hit him. Dan looked down at his hand, confused by this. Before he could attempt another attack, Captain N delivered another strong right cross, knocking Dan down. He stepped back as Dan writhed on the ground, clutching his face. Dan tried to get back up, but Captain N quickly struck him back down with a punch to the back of the head. Now completely vulnerable, Dan fell victim to a flurry of Captain N's punches. He disregarded any technique and wailed on Dan, left hood after right hook after left hook. He tried to raise his arms in defense, but Captain N quickly subverted these defenses. With one final strike from both his fists, Captain N knocked out Dan. One countdown from ten later, the buzzer went off, and Captain N was once again declared the winner. He took a moment to catch his breath after the fight, and raised his fists victoriously. The crowd cheered even louder than before, now growing more fond of this young newcomer. "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, THIS YOUNG CAPTAIN N HAS JUST WON NOT ONLY THE SECOND FIGHT OF HIS CAREER, BUT THE SECOND IN A ROW! NEXT STOP: ROUND THREE!" The announcer proclaimed, boosting Captain N's ego somewhat. Two R.O.B.s came out to carry Dan off, and Captain N walked back to the locker room.

In the press box, in a dark, private room, a large man wearing a red hat and uniform was watching the match intently. As Captain N was declared the winner, he huffed to himself, displeased. A small portal opened behind him, where Kamek floated through to speak to the man. "Are you certain you don't want to move in on him now?" Kamek asked the man. The man stood up and shook his head. "If this 'Captain N' is who you really say he is, I'm certain his next opponents will be his undoing. His beginner's luck WILL run out, I'm sure of it.". "Dracula thought much the same, M. Bison. Vega already failed you earlier in the Tournament." Kamek reminded him. "I understand that, Kamek." M. Bison barked back. "You may have some sovereignty from the three kings because of Shadaloo supplying additional arms and manpower, but remember who's holding your leash." Kamek shot back at him impatiently. M. Bison snarled at this comment, but his eyes remained on the arena. "Rest assured I have my plans in place. If this 'Captain' can somehow survive the challengers to come, Shadaloo will ensure he'll never live to see the outside of the stadium.".

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Chapter 21; Two wolves in love

AWWWWWWWWWWW And now we get to some major fluff of romance. Now I took inspiration from a certain Irish ASMR youtuber by the name of Gaelforce audio for some of Rauri’s dialogue because since both he and Aidan are Irish I thought, wth not. Anyways I hope you guys are enjoying these updates and I’ve only got one more chapter after this before this book is complete. Enjoy my lovelies only warning is make out sessions. Picture is NOT mine and imagine both of them as black wolves.

_____________________________________________________

The next morning the sun began to rise over the land and peek through the curtains of my room.  Lying on the bed was Rauri and I, my head resting on his chest cuddled up close to him with his arms wrapped around me and my arms wrapped around him.  I woke up for a brief moment to see Rauri still asleep.

Oh my god he looked so handsome even in his sleep. His features so relaxed and at peace, he looked like an Adonis.  I felt my heart flutter and beat rapidly before I softly kissed his jawline and rested my head back on his chest right over his heart.  

It was then I heard him moan tiredly and his arms wrapped around me tighter so I decided to pretend that I was asleep.

“(Y/n)?” I didn’t answer him because I wanted to see what he would do exactly. “(Y/n)~, come on I know that was you, there’s no one else that would kiss me like that”. I felt him place a kiss to my forehead before slowly going down my nose, giving me a soft peck on each of my cheeks before finally teasing the corner of my lips. “You gonna wake up for me now, hmm?” I heard his coo. 

And his Irish accent made him sound even more attractive and make my stomach turn in flips.  I almost caved in right then and there but I wanted to wait just a little bit longer.

“Guess I’m gonna have to go to plan B”. Suddenly I felt his hands go to my waist and gently squeeze them which made me instantly wake up and he now ended up on top of me grinning down at me saying, “There you are”. 

“Who told you?” I demanded.

“No one, I just wanted to see for myself. Good to know I now have a leverage against you”.

“I swear to God Rauri if you ever tickle me I won’t be responsible for super barking you across the jungle”.

“Well we wouldn’t want that now do we?” The two of us smiled at each other before looking into each other’s eyes.  Rauri leaned downward and captured my lips with his. My heart fluttered at his soft lips against mine then he separated from me before saying.  “Last night was the best night I have ever had in years”.

“Me too”. I went to reach my left hand to cup his face when I realized I was using my metal arm.  I paused and went to hide it but Rauri took my metal wrist gently and held it tightly in his hand and gave my fingers soft kisses.

“You don’t need to hide this from me my love, I love this arm because it is a part of you, the part that makes you so strong. Plus I find it very sexy on you”. He winked at that last statement which made me blush.  I heard him chuckle and he pecked my lips lovingly and he continued, “In all seriousness though, you never have to be afraid of showing your arm to me, you’re allowed to be naked in front of me. And what I mean by that is, you can be yourself, show me the real you, every day for the rest of our lives”.

I reached up and cupped his face in my hands and I stroked his cheeks with my thumbs and he held both my hands with his as the two of us looked at each other like love sick puppies.

“Rauri I—I have something to confess”.

“Anything my love, you can tell me anything”.

“I—Last night it—”

“It’s okay, you can tell me mo chroí”. I took a deep breath in through my nose and said to him.

“My whole life ever since I was eight, I had never had the experience of doing things that normal teenage girls got to experience, their first boyfriend, first kiss or even first time having sex. Because Hydra had other plans for me, then of course I joined the Avengers and didn’t really have enough time to go out on the town and date. But last night—it was the most magical night of my life and then—when we kissed…..Oh my God I can’t even describe it, it was beyond anything I had ever read about or had been told about. But I—I still don’t know what I’m doing or what I’m supposed to do and I……I feel like one day you’ll grow tired of me because I’m technically a war criminal not to mention deceased to certain people and I—”

“You don’t have to explain anymore (y/n), I get it. More than you think, I was taken by Hydra too remember? I barely had time to date and even when I did, I was the dorkiest of dorks”. Rauri laughed softly which in turn made me laugh. He then stroked some of my hair out of my face and continued, “I don’t expect anything from you. All I want is your happiness and I hope I can be the best boyfriend and lover you could ever ask for your first time. And if I’m moving too fast for you, don’t hesitate to tell me, because I don’t want to pressure you into doing anything you don’t feel comfortable with”.

“Thank you babe”. I brought him down towards me and our lips connected again as we kissed each other passionately.  Just as the kiss was starting to get heated up, my door opened and Bucky’s voice rang out.

“Hey Wolfie Shuri wanted to know when—whoa okay off my little sister now Big Bad!” Rauri and I stopped and Rauri rolled off of me and I stared at Bucky wide-eyed.

“What the hell Barnes!? You can’t just go walking into my room like that! What if we were naked?” 

“Then I’d grab my rifle and chase that son of a bitch out of here while covering you up in all of your clothes plus the blankets”. I groaned in embarrassment as Rauri cleared his throat and said.

“It’s fine, I gotta go meet with Conner anyway, see you later this afternoon?” he said to me.  I nodded then he pecked my lips again and got out of my bed before walking out of my room but not before nodding to Bucky and leaving my room. Bucky shut my door as I got out of bed and he came up to me and cupped my chin and turned it side to side.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Looking for any love bites or hickies, just because I let you date him doesn’t give him the right to mark you, believe me I know how guys like him work”.

“Calm down Bucky bear, he was basically you and Steve combined, the golden boy any father or brother would be lucky to date their little girl. He didn’t pressure me or anything, we just shared a kiss and fell asleep cuddling together. He even said he wasn’t gonna pressure anything on me since this is my first real relationship”. He looked at me and he said. 

“Alright, but I’m still gonna look at the surveillance video from last night just to make sure he got you home at a reasonable time”.

“Fine so long as you don’t install a hidden camera or heat sensor in here”.

“How did you know about the heat sensor?” I looked at him in shock before he smirked at me and said, “I’m kidding!” I punched him in the chest and went to change out of my dress into casual clothes and headed towards the lab to work with Shuri on my armor. 

A week later, I was in the training grounds practicing my forms and combinations when I heard Rauri’s voice say.

“I definitely fell for a badass warrior Princess”. I smirked and said.

“Warrior? Yes, badass? Hell yes, Princess? Not likely”. I turned to face Rauri and he said as he walked up towards me.

“Why must you deny the endearments I give you?” He wrapped his arms around me bringing me closer to him before capturing my lips in his. I shrugged and as we separated Rauri asked me, “So what did Shuri want to see you for”.

“Oh just business”.

“What kind of business?”

“None of your business”.

“Ahhh c’mon baby can’t you even give me a little hint?” Rauri begged.

“Nope it’s classified intel that you can’t make me say”.

“Awww please baby, I promise I won’t tell anyone what it is. What’s got my smart and pretty girl so occupied almost every day in the mornings?” I hummed then I said with a smirk.

“I’ll tell yah, if you wrestle me for it”. Rauri looked at me flabbergasted and he repeated my statement.

“You want to wrestle for it? You’re serious yeah?”

“Dixie-chick serious, what you scared big man? ‘Fraid you’re gonna get your Irish ass whooped by an American girl?” I mocked playfully.

“Alright now you’re askin for trouble”.

“Rauri’s a scaredy cat! Rauri’s a scaredy cat!” I began to taunt then he said.

“Okay I accept, but just playfully cause otherwise this’ll turn into a wolf fight cage match for sure”.

“Great so ground rules. No wolf forms allowed, no powers allowed, and no hitting below the belt, make it a clear fight”.

“Deal, whomever pins who for three wins, so if I win you tell me what you and Shuri work on together”.

“And if I win, you have to buy my lunch till the end of the week, deal?”

“Deal” we shook on it then stood before each other and began circling each other.  “Come on bring it on, c’mon!”  The two of us then began duking it out like real wrestlers in the ring.

Throwing punches and kicks at each other and getting into each other’s faces gloating about how each of us was gonna pin the other down.  Soon Rauri just had to play dirty and loosen himself up by removing his shirt leaving him shirtless before continuing to come at me.

“Oh God you mean business don’t yah? I can hardly keep up with yah”. He said as I held his wrists in my hands tightly.

“When it comes to Intel secrets I’ll fight to the death”.  I then kicked him in the gut sending him a ways back before running at him and like Natasha I flipped myself onto him and used my momentum to pull him down to the ground and pin him.

“Whoo baby. Oh my god I should not underestimate you!”

“Learned that from Black Widow herself, now then where was I? Oh yeah. 1…..2….” Suddenly I was kicked off and sent rolling across the floor.

“Betcha didn’t see that kick coming huh? Ahahaha!” We both stood up and circled each other again as Rauri taunted at me, “Come on bring it on, bring it on bad girl”. I smirked and went charging at him but suddenly Rauri flipped over me and grabbed my arm and brought me into a headlock before kicking my leg in hard enough to kneel to the ground but not hard enough to break my leg.“You know I’m getting that information out of yah you know that right?”

“In your dreams” I stated.

“Yeah and I’m gonna pin yah for it, like this”. He then pulled another dirty trick and began kissing my cheek and going towards my ear and he began whispering Gaelic deep into my ear.   

I let out a moan and tried to get out of his hold but Rauri held on strong before I was sent down to the ground and Rauri was now hovering over me.

“That was low even for you”.

“You never said seduction couldn’t be used my love”. He then began kissing me with so much passion I almost forgot that we were in the middle of a match. “So you gonna tell me what you and Shuri do, hmm?” Rauri cooed softly. “What does my sexy and smart Alpha girl do in that big laboratory with the Princess of Wakanda?”

“Not….telling” I moaned out through Rauri’s kisses as they began trailing down my neck. I heard him hum and he whispered.

“Well then, let me take those hands,” he took each of my wrists and then pinned them over my head continuing, “And pin them down, just like that. One…..two…..” Rauri then leaned in and captured my lips in his. 

He moaned which sent a shiver down my spine as our kiss got deeper and more passionate.  His wolf growls coming out in his human form made my stomach do such flips and made my inner She-wolf come out and want more of him.

“Yeah I’ll get that Alpha girl out of you, I’ll get her out of yah” Rauri moaned as his hands began to wonder around my sides. At that moment, I pulled my own trick.

As I separated and began kissing down Rauri’s neck making him moan and chuckle softly as well as growl.  I wrapped my arms around his back and slowly clawed down his bare back making him arch and at that moment I made my move as I flipped him over with great speed and hover over him.  Rauri laughed and threw his head back as he said.

“Oh my god that was amazing”.  Then just to make sure he got who won this challenge, I gave him a couple of slaps across his handsome face and he just grinned up at me before saying, “Okay baby I’ll say it, you are the champion,” he sat up and captured my lips with his before whispering against my lips, “You’re my champion”.

“Damn straight I am, now I believe you owe me lunch for the next week?”

“As agreed and I’m not complaining”. I got off of him but he brought me back down beside him making me giggle and he hovered over me before capturing my lips again.  “God I love you so much (y/n), my beautiful She-wolf”.

“I love you too Rauri, my tall, dark and handsome black wolf”. He smirked and nuzzled his nose against mine and he phased into his wolf form which made me turn as well and the two of us nuzzled and licked each other lovingly before running off into the jungle together. 

As more weeks passed by, and the weeks soon turned to months, Rauri and I felt like we were on cloud nine together.  I had never been more in love with anyone and I thought having a romantic relationship was far beyond my reach and that I would miss having the one thing everyone wishes to have, but Rauri has been my saving grace and I couldn’t ask for a better man than him.

Every day with him is something new, whenever I wasn’t busy training or working with Shuri on my armor (and that day after the wrestling match between us, I went ahead and told Rauri what he wanted to know and he wished to see it once it was completed) he’d always have a special little picnic out or leave a beautiful flower in the lab or in my room for me with a cute little rhyme or poem.

Tonight, Rauri and I were out in the plains staring up at the Aurora Borealis dance across the sky.  The sky glowing a beautiful violet and blue which made Rauri appear more handsome.  He turned towards me and he asked me.

“What is it?”

“Just you” I reached up and brushed a stray curl of hair out of his face and said, “and all your Adonis glory”. 

“Nah not really”.

“Oh so I can’t be insecure of when you compliment me but you can when I compliment you” I mocked.

“It’s different”.

“Bullshit how is it different?”

“Because I’m always looking at a true beauty inside and out, me on the other hand……” I took notice that something was off about him tonight so I said to him.

“Hey, you know whatever it is you can tell me right?” He looked at me with shameful eyes but he leaned towards me and captured my lips with his in a kiss as he cupped my face.  I wrapped my arms around his neck and brought him deeper into the kiss.

*3rd Person POV*

Unbeknownst to (Y/n) they were being watched from beyond the plains.  A man with slick, short black hair, a beard starting to grow around his jaw stared at the two of them saying.

“Do it. What are you waiting for Rauri? Do it already!” He clenched his fists tightly only to see Rauri and (y/n) separate from their kiss and cuddle up to each other.  The man growled then took off running but surprisingly he turned into a big black dog. 

Hidden within a warehouse, a fearsome cry was heard and there stood Conner himself.

“You’re sure Russo?”

“No question, I saw it with my own eyes”. The man known as Russo said to Conner.  Conner snarled and turned his back on Orion and snarled out.

“Rauri cannot betray us!” His eyes suddenly phased snake-like as a snake hiss came from out of his throat. 

Later that night, after Rauri had dropped (y/n) off at her room and kissing each other goodnight, Rauri snuck out of the facility and ran in wolf form into the woods. 

He stopped at a clearing and he heard Conner’s voice hiss.

‘You’re stalling mate!’ Rauri phased back into his human form and said.

“I know I keep saying this will be it but I still need more time to win her trust….”

‘YOU’VE HAD PLENTY OF TIME!! You’re doing this on purpose aren’t you?’

“No Conner I’m…..”

‘Stalling Rauri. Tomorrow, bring her out here to me and we settle this once and for all. Do it or I will do it tonight in her sleep!’

“YOU LEAVE HER ALONE CONNER!! We agreed it has to be me, I promise you tomorrow first thing I’ll bring her here”.

‘You better, wouldn’t want my best mate’s girl to suddenly fall into a terrible accident late at night, now would we’.  Rauri hissed in pain as revealing itself from his neck was a symbol of a snake and his eyes suddenly turned wolf gold but instead of full blown black pupils, they were straight and dagger like, almost like a snake.

“No Conner” Rauri stated soullessly like he had no conscious anymore.

‘Good now get back there so no one suspects anything, and remember Rauri. No stalling this time’.

“Yes”.

[angrybell]

Where does the word “Palestine” come from? I know you didn’t ask...

But I feel compelled to do this because apparently I have nothing better to do. Don’t tell Mrs. Angrybell, she will find something. 

So it starts with @halalbarbiee and @baconcourse supporting the following statements (screen shot only, they seem to have locked this one or deleted or whatever because Tumblr won’t let me reblog it):

The origin of the word Palestine is actually a Hebrew word. The modern word Palestine is a gift to us from the Roman Empire. When they had finally subdued the Jews in what was then called Provincial Iudea (Province of Judea), the Romans decided that they were going to try and erase the Jews from existence. So they picked the name of the greatest enemy in Jewish history. Who was this enemy? They are now, in English, called Phillistines. So where did the Romans get this word? Well, probably from the Greeks, since the Romans did that quite a lot. But where did Herodotus, the Greek writer where we find the earliest mention get the word?

Well that’s where it gets interesting. Who were these Philistines greatest enemy? That would be the Jews. What did they call them? They called them the Pelésheth. The Hebrew writing for the word is:

As an aside, the words Palestine, Palestina, Palastia, and Palash all have something in common. They all have the sound of “p” to start them off. Hebrew has that sound. Arabic does not. If the Arabs were actually from “Palestine”, they would have retained it. There is a modern movement to create a “p” sound in the Arabic language, but it is a recent event as the New York Times recounts. The claim that “Falasteen” is the proper pronunciation flies in the face of all evidence. Falasteen is the word that the Arabs use because they had no other way of saying. Interestingly, the Israelis tend to use that pronunciation themselves these days because they are dealing with an Arabic speaking people.

So is the Hebrew word Pelésheth a transliteration of what the “Philistines” called themselves? Most likely, no. Why? Because the word Pelésheth has a Hebrew root. That root word is Pelésh. The word in Hebrew is here:

After all this, we get to to the question of what does Pelésh translate to? The word palash, means “rolling” or “migratory”.  And this fits with what we know about these people.

We have earlier writings which identify the people living in the strip that you are claiming was Philistia. The Egyptians identified them as one of the Sea Peoples who invaded the Levant. They called the the “Prst”. Why do I call them part of the Sea Peoples? Because archaeological discoveries have pretty much established that whether you call them Phillistines or Prst, they did not originate from the region and were, in fact, invaders who had come from the region we now call Greece. The archaeological record is pretty substantial at this point that the people there were clearly Mycenaean. Based on this, they arrived in the region sometime around the 13th Century BCE (late Bronze Age).

Now, this enemy of the Jewish people had not existed in centuries. The latest that these people, existed is sometime in the 7th Century BCE, almost two centuries before Herodotus starts using the word to describe the region. What happened then? Well, that is when Nebuchadnezzar came in with the Babylonian army and destroyed the First Temple. Wanting to make sure that he had uncontested control over the region, he also went through and destroyed the Land of the Philistines.

How do we know that?

Well, in recent years, there have been new archaeological finds that have helped increase our knowledge about the region you are referring to as Philistia/Palestine. Here is a link to a PDF of an article written on the subject. ).

One of the things you should realize is that this region was not a united region. In fact, when Nebuchadnezzar came to put down the challenge to his authority, he was not dealing with a unified state. He was dealing with several entities that I will call city-states (that term may be scholarly inaccurate). He was not putting down a rebellion by the king of the Philistines. He was putting down a rebellion by the king of Ashkelon.

That means that there was no unified “Philistia”. The most the archeology supports for the extent of Ashkelon’s reach was the city itself and two small villages near the walls. Ahskelon, in a quick review of the literature, seems to be the most studied of the five city-states identified as Philistines.

An interesting thing though, there is no evidence as to what they themselves called themselves. The name comes from the culture and the people who survived: the Jews.  

Now remember how I mentioned that the Romans got the word from the Greeks? The Greeks used the word. But they did not always use it to mean the same thing. Sometimes, they meant it to refer to a region. Sometimes they meant it to refer to a people. Often times, the two did not correspond. In fact there is evidence that the use of the name “Palestine” by Herodotus and other Greeks was not meant to denote the land of the Philistines. They also used it as a pun. He was using it to refer to what Jews call Eretz Yisrael.

How do we know this? Well Herodotus, who apparently travelled to the region, recounts how the men there were circumcised. Guess which people in that region practice circumcision? The Jews. Guess which people did not practice circumcision? Pretty much everyone else who was not Jewish or Egyptian.

Herodotus writes in The History

“The Phoenicians and the Syrians of Palestine acknowledge that they learned the custom from the Egyptians, and the Syrians of the valleys of the Thermodon and the Parthenius, as well as their neighbors the Macrones, say that they learned it lately from the Colchians. These are the only nations that circumcise, and it is seen that they do just as the Egyptians”

Who are the Syrians of Palestine? Well, they’re not Philistines. They’re not Falastines. They’re Jews, who around this time would have been known as Judahites because they were part of the Province of Judah in the Persian Empire which had conquered the region.. How do we know this? Well, the last time the Phillistines were mentioned prior to this was when

What other evidence do we have that Herodotus meant Palaistine to mean Eretz Yisrael? Well, he never calls it the Land of the Philistines for one.  For another, we need to look at the meaning of the Yisrael or we would say it in English in modern times, Israel. Israel means “wrestling with G-d” or “wrestler with G-d”. What was the word Herodotus would have used for wrestling? The word is “palaistês”.  Wow, that’s really close to the what Herodotus named the region in his writing, Palaistinê.

So is it more likely that Herodotus translated the name for the region for the people who lost in the conflict between the Jews and the Philistines. Or is it more probable that he named the region in his works after the hero who wrestled a god (i.e. Jacob) and spawned the people who still inhabited the land?

If we look at other texts left to us by the Greeks, we find that other writers were using the same word, Palaistinê, to describe the region, not the nation. Aristotle wrote about the Dead Sea and places it in Palaistinê. A few centuries later, Josephus, who chronicled the First Roman Jewish War, also uses the word Palaistinê to describe the region where the Province of Judea was. There were clearly no “Philistines” there then, only the Jews and other groups that existed. None of them were Phillistines.

So lets see, are you going to believe that a Jewish man captured and enslaved by the Romans is going to call his home country by the name of his people’s enemy? Or is it more likely that he chose to use the Greek word because it meant Israel.

Basically, the rest of your argument that there was a mythical kingdom/country/state of Palestine is bogus. Effectively, the term “Palestine” until the 1960s, was akin to when Americans refer to a collection of states as “The South” or “The Midwest”, or when British speak of “The Midlands”. Both refer to regions of territory where there may be political districts, but which do not identify either a sovereign state, a national grouping, or an ethnicity.

Now, when you give a timeline for your fictitious nation of “Palestine”, you are doing violence to history because you are substituting a modern fantasy for historical evidence.  

If you want to try and argue that “Philistines” were native cannanites, you’re going to be sorely mistaken. As noted earlier, the evidence shows that they were probably from the Sea Peoples. Again, how do we know this? Well, we know from the pottery that they left behind. The pottery is generally described as being Myceanean. The alaphabet used by these Sea Peoples have been identified as Myceanean Greek, Linear B.  

Then lets consider what the Bible tells us. Even though the Bible has problems as a resource, it is one of the few contemporary texts to a) survive the era and b) have a description of the Philistines. Take the description of Goliath. In 1 Samuel 17, the Bible states

So that would mean Goliath looked like his armor would be similiar to 

In case you didn’t know, that’s a Greek hoplite. Warriors from the region of Eretz Yisrael did not wear the type of armor Goliath is reported to have worn. Arabs certainly never did. 

What happened to the Philistines? They disappeared. Their society and culture did not survive the destruction of Nebuchadnezzar’s campaign. Some scholars believe that some of the surviving Philisitines were taken to Babylon when Nebuchadnezzar went home, along with the Jews he took with him. The Jewish people survived Babylonian captivity and reclaimed their land. The Philistines did not. 

Their region ceased to exist. New people came in to fill the void left by the Babylonians. Ashkelon was never a part of the Hasmonean or Herodian Jewish kingdoms of Israel. However, under the Romans and Greeks, it was made part of Syria. 

Going back to where this started, when Emperor Hadrian (May G-d grind his bones) attempted to destroy the Jewish link to Eretz Yisrael, he inadvertently renamed Judah, Syria Palaestina... Syria The Land of Wrestler with G-d.... Syria Israel. 

TL/DR version: Palestine means Israel. 

[janikbesendorf-blog]

Handpicked by our travel experts (who also happen to be parents!) for scoring high on fun AND learning, our list of the best family destinations in the world is your starting point for creating memories, strengthening bonds and really, just having the time of your lives.

Best Family Vacations in Africa

1South Africa

An African safari is a wonderful way to get your kids up close and personal with nature. And honestly, we can’t think of a kid (or an adult, for that matter) who wouldn’t love to watch a graceful giraffe walking across a reserve, or spend a day observing the antics of baby elephants. South Africa, with its family-friendly safaris, sets the stage for an unforgettable vacation.

Watch your kids become junior rangers and go on Bug CSI treks around the lodge, spotting and identifying creepy crawlies.

South African safari lodges have a number of kid-friendly activities.

Be witness to moments such as these!

Go on a family safari drive and catch sight of animals – big and small.

The Eco House at the Madikwe Safari Lodge.

With a number of malaria-free game reserves and activities centered around kids, South Africa is truly one of the best family vacation destinations. Madikwe Safari Lodge, for instance, takes the concept to a whole new level. With spacious accommodations, private game drives and a host of activities to keep the little ones engaged and entertained, this lodge is our top pick. Watch your kids become junior rangers and go on Bug CSI treks around the lodge, spotting and identifying creepy crawlies. And then, there is the dung tracking expedition that they can participate in. Because when you are a kid, the grosser it is, the bigger the laughs, right?

Best for ages – The malaria-free game reserves welcome kids of all ages, and activities are planned by age. Kids who are eight years and older can go on game drives and kids 12 years and older can go on game walks.

Best time to visit South Africa – May to September are the best months for wildlife viewing. Read more on the best times to visit South Africa.

EXPLORE OUR SOUTH AFRICA VACATION PACKAGES

2Kenya

With its rich wildlife, unforgettable cultural experiences and kid-friendly activities, Kenya is among the best family vacation destinations you can go to. At the Elephant Watch Camp in Samburu, you can expect friendly and knowledgeable guides. Meet the superstars of the Samburu National Reserve – Spice Girls, the Butterflies, the Swahilis, and the Acacias –  members of the 66 elephant families that reside in the region! A trip to the Save the Elephants program, a pioneering conservation charity located in the reserve, offers a real-world understanding of how conservation works and who knows, may just inspire the next Jane Goodall for elephants!

The Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp, located in the heart of the Masai Mara, also offers authentic cultural experiences with Maasai people and is worth checking out.

Spend time at a Maasai community interacting with the villagers.

Africa’s gentle giants.

Explore the wilderness together and take back unforgettable memories.

Little warrior-in-training at the Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp.

Extraordinary moments assured!

Kenya is home to at least 40 tribes, offering rich cultural and heritage experiences. At the Tassia Lodge in Laikipia, kids can take part in the Tassia Olympics, learning and competing in spear throwing, archery, shot put and rungu (a wooden throwing club used by Maasai warriors) throwing. The winner, of course, walks away with bragging rights for a lifetime! For us though, the highlight of a trip to Kenya is experiencing the warmth of the Maasai tribe on a tour through a Mukogodo Masai village. The Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp, located in the heart of the Masai Mara, also offers authentic cultural experiences with Maasai people and is worth checking out.

For those who cannot imagine a vacation without hitting the beach, Kenya offers the most pristine white strips of sand, warm waters, and spectacular coral reefs to explore. Perfect for swimming or snorkeling, Diani beach was voted one of the best beach destinations in Africa by CNN Travel and is a short drive from the city of Mombasa. The unspoilt Kenyan coast makes for an ideal beach stop and the perfect end to an eventful family vacation.

Best for ages – Most safari lodges allow kids 8 years and older to go on safari drives.

Best time to visit Kenya – Wildlife viewing is good throughout the year but the best months are June to October and January to February. October to January is considered a good time to visit the Kenyan coast. Read more on the best times to visit Kenya.

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Best Family Vacations in Asia

3Singapore

Clean, organized, and easy to get around, Singapore is the perfect destination for families with young children. Along with a plethora of entertainment options, Singapore boasts a blend of Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Eurasian influences – a rare combination.

Ask any Singaporean the must-see places in the city and Sentosa Island will be right on top of the list. We highly recommend a visit to the S.E.A Aquarium, one of the largest in the world. Of course, Universal Studios is also located in Sentosa Island as are Adventure Cove Water Park and Dolphin Island, all attractions that are a big hit with families.

A thoughtfully built city, Singapore balances modern and natural elements to give you a family vacation that is effortlessly fun.

The Rhapsody Sound and Light Show that happens at the Supertree Grove is spectacular!

Marine life in the colors of the rainbow and more – at the S.E.A Aquarium.

Take in the sights and colors of Singapore with a walk through Chinatown.

Modern Singapore makes for the perfect family vacation destination.

Another must-do in the city is Gardens by the Bay. With a climate controlled Cloud Forest, a superbly designed Children’s Garden that will bring out the child in any adult, larger than life art installations at the Art At the Gardens, the fascinating Dragonfly and Kingfisher Lake, and of course, the iconic Supertree Grove and OCBC Skyway, there is never a dull moment at the Gardens by the Bay. A trip to Singapore is incomplete without a stroll through Chinatown. Plan your visit around the Chinese New Year and you will see Singapore, and Chinatown, in particular, at its festive best.

Best for ages – 0-99! It’s the perfect place for the young and young at heart!

Best time to visit Singapore – Singapore is good to visit year round though if you want to avoid the crowds, we suggest you stay clear of December, January, and June.

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4Japan

With its cutting edge technology, pop culture, anime and manga, samurai sessions and UNESCO World Heritage sites, there is so much to see and do in Japan. Its ability to impress the tough-to-please teenage demographic makes Japan one of our best family vacation destinations.

Surprise your teen with tickets to a sumo wrestling match. Watching these wrestlers is a thrilling experience for any age group.

Dress up in traditional kimonos.

Witness how tea making is elevated to an art form.

Tokyo – A city where the past co-exists harmoniously with the future.

Kyoto in autumn – at its most beautiful!

Learn to wield a sword at a Samurai session in Kyoto.

Don’t miss the chance to witness a Sumo wrestling match.

In Tokyo, you could enroll for a kimono and tea ceremony and be witness to the passion and precision with which tea is made, a process that has been elevated to an art form. For every parent with a teen, a trip to Harajuku is a must. Known as the center of Japanese culture and fashion, a walk around the neighborhood, with its uber cool boutiques, cafes, and parks, is something your teenager will absolutely love.

A visit to Akihabara, a neighborhood in Tokyo and home to Otaku culture, has to be part of the itinerary of every parent who has an anime, manga, gaming or cosplay loving teenager. Or maybe, you could surprise your teen with tickets to a sumo wrestling match. Watching these wrestlers is a thrilling experience for any age group.

No vacation to Japan is complete without a trip to the jaw-droppingly beautiful city of Kyoto, home to 17 (yes, you heard that right!) UNESCO World Heritage sites. And if your teen tires of visiting the temples, you could always have a true “Samurai” experience there. Dressed in traditional Samurai gear, wielding a sword, your teen will soon feel like a hero out of a Ninja/Samurai movie. Display some of your best sword-wielding moves and while we can’t promise that your teen will be impressed, we can assure you of a few shared laughs.

Best for ages – While Japan is perfect for kids of any age group, your teen will find the country particularly interesting due to the popularity of manga, anime and cosplaying pop cultures.

Best time to visit Japan – You can expect mild temperatures and clear skies from March to May (spring) and September to November (autumn), making it the best time to visit Japan. Read more on the best times to visit Japan.

EXPLORE OUR JAPAN VACATION PACKAGES

Best Family Vacations in South America

5 The Galapagos

It was at the Galapagos Islands that Charles Darwin developed his theory of natural selection. This may not impress your curious toddler, but a close encounter with a 100-year-old tortoise probably will. A walk on the beach can become the most talked about event of the trip when your kid gets to spot creatures with really cool names, such as Sally Lightfoot crabs! And of course, how fun would it be for you and your child to go swimming with sea lions and sea turtles on Black Beach. Older kids can snorkel with black-tip sharks and rays at Tortuga Bay.

There’s a whole new world to discover at the Galapagos.

A cruise to the Galapagos is a fabulous way to explore the island’s diverse flora and fauna.

The very colorful Sally Lightfoot crabs!

Say hello to the blue-footed Booby while exploring the Galapagos.

A trip to the Galapagos is a chance to get close to nature – really close!

A cruise to the Galapagos is a fabulous opportunity to see animals, birds, insects, and plants that are unique to the region and of course, have one-of-a-kind shared experiences with your kids.

Best for ages – The recommended minimum age for kids for a Galapagos cruise is 6 years.

Best time to visit the Galapagos – There is something interesting to see throughout the year but the best times to visit the region are December to June. Read more on the best times to visit the Galapagos.

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There is nothing quite like seeing the world through the eyes of your child. It provides one with a whole new perspective. When you travel together, you create bonds and memories that last for a lifetime. Armed with a few handy tips, this could well be one of the best decisions you ever take.

We understand that traveling with children requires a lot of planning. Which is why we are here to take the stress out of it by creating tailor-made itineraries that match the interests of your family to the destination/s of your choice.

Create unforgettable memories with your family! Let us design your fully customized family vacation.

CLICK HERE

The post The 5 Best Family Vacation Destinations In The World – That You AND The Kids Will Love! appeared first on Enchanting Travels.

[imwastingmylifeinhere]

Magnus Chase and the Obligatory Hogwarts AU Ch12

On ao3

Having the Ilvermorny students at Hogwarts reminded Magnus a lot of the fourth year when Alex was still the new kid. Most of their free time was devoted to showing Percy and Annabeth around the castle and exploring every knock and cranny. Both Americans were very into it, for their own reasons. Annabeth was very interested in the architecture of the castle and how everything worked. She especially loved the sifting staircases and Magnus noticed her making a note in her notebook. When he walked by her and sneaked a glance to see what it was, the note turned out to be a reminder to herself to ask about the spell cast on the stairs.

Percy on the other hand was really into all the secret passages and rooms the school had to offer. He seemed set on pushing every single brick in the wall to see if any of them opened hidden corridors, especially after they told him that even the Headmaster himself didn’t know everything about Hogwarts.

“We better keep an eye on him,” Sam whispered to Magnus and he nodded back. There was a reason why first years weren’t allowed to go to a lot of parts of the castle; when you were new to Hogwarts it was amazingly easy to get lost with how vast the castle is. They didn’t want new students to get hurt somewhere where it would be hard to find them.

They were turning down another corridor and Alex kept talking as she was giving them the grand tour. She was really enjoying this, maybe as much as she had when she was the one being shown around Hogwarts. Telling Percy and Annabeth everything she knew about the castle made her feel strangely proud. She was no longer the new student, she was a sixth year Slytherin. She had made this school her home, she belonged here, and she was going to show these two what made it so great.

“And this is the armor of Sir Reinhart of Baltimore, who died from a humongous dump after eating his mother-in-law’s cooking,” Alex said as she gestured at a random armor. From the corner of her eye she saw Magnus look at her in a ‘I see what you did there’ way and she smirked back at him. This wasn’t the same armor Magnus had showed her in her fourth year (she wasn’t even sure how to get back to that corridor) but the joke he had made back then was too good to pass up.

“That must have hurt,” Percy winced, looking at the inanimate knight with sympathetic eyes. “And what about this one?” He pointed at another suit of armor further down the corridor that was holding a big axe. “Did he die a tragic death too?”

“Oh, this guy?” Alex said, hooking her arm around the armor’s waist. “This is Sergey and he fought bravely at a war only to die when he tripped and fell in a puddle of mud in which he drowned.”

The rest of their group chuckled at Alex’s random story, some exchanging glances wondering what exactly even gave her the idea for such a scenario. They didn’t pay much attention to the fact you probably couldn’t drown in a puddle of mud because they were too busy giggling over the name ‘Sergey’.

“Remind me to mention that name to Nico the next time he brings up his card game,” Percy told Annabeth who rolled her eyes at him.

“You know he will probably kill you, right?”

“Maybe, but it will be worth it. And at the very least Will will use it as a name for his knights.” The thought must have been very funny to Percy because he started chuckling again. Why exactly, Alex didn’t know, but she didn’t bother asking.

“Do they play Knights and Demons?” Magnus asked Percy with an excited glint in his eyes. Alex mentally rolled her eyes. Magnus was instantly all over anything nerdy and it was kind of adorable.

“Mm? Yeah. Nico was really into it when he was younger.” From the way Percy spoke to him, he guessed whoever Nico was he was very close to him. His tone reminded Magnus of how Mallory would speak about her siblings and cousins. “He pretends he’s grown out of it but he still plays, especially since his boyfriend is into it as well. I thought he’d appreciate a new name for one of his knights.”

“I’m still saying he’s going to kill you for it,” Annabeth said with a smile. Something in the way she smiled told Magnus that a part of her wanted to see what would happen if Percy did suggest the name.

Alex stopped them in front of a painting, doing a sharp turn on her heels to stand in front of it and face her crowd. The painting behind her was done in oil paints and it showed a man and a woman embracing underneath the bed sheets.

“Here we see another beautiful piece of art hailing from the 17th century,” she said in her best tour-guide ascent (which pretty much meant that she made herself sound like an old man who smoked three packs of cigarettes a day). “It depicts the passionate embrace of two lovers in their secret meeting. You see, Miss Abigail Birdwhistle was married at a rich merchant at the time this painting was created. Yet her husband was more loving towards his job than his wife and cast aside as she was, poor Abigail found comfort in the arms of their gardener, Brian. This painting shows one of their many sexual meetings at the small hut Brian lived in on their estates grounds.”

Much like a teacher who kept going on even when his students paid no attention to him whatsoever, Alex kept talking even when her friends and boyfriend were barely holding themselves from laughing. How did she even manage to keep that ridiculous ascent going for so long?

“However,” Alex kept going, “I would like to point your attention to this part over here.” She pointed to the back of the painting, where a figure was visible. “Many have claimed that this is Abigail’s husband who happened to stumble upon the meeting. Even if he is, whether he’s there to ruin their fun or join in on it is still a bone of contention among art critics. Regardless, what they do agree on is that Abigail and Brian were a beautiful love story.”

That seemed to be the last straw as all of them burst out laughing together, Alex included. Mallory was swaying from side to side and Magnus had bent over as their laugher boomed across the empty halls and it sounded as loud as a thunderstorm.

The occupants of the painting said nothing and stood still, as if they were from a Muggle painting and listened to the stories the weird green haired one made up about them. It took everything in their painted bodies not to start laughing too.

Once they finally stopped laughing and remembered how to breathe properly, they kept moving down the hallway. What they saw was pretty much still the same, armors proudly standing guard and paintings hanging from the walls. But they decided to make up another game where they tried to mimic whatever a specific painting they passed by depicted. They never set down the rules about what it would take to win, but it didn’t seem to matter. With every new painting they acted more and more over the top.

At one point, they passed a painting where a warrior was raising another man in the air while letting out a battle cry. Halfborn had grabbed Mallory by the waist and held her up, doing a gorilla scream. It was funny, especially with Mallory’s startled expression. Conall tried to do the same but failed miserably (the boy was a scholar, not a wrestler). Alex had managed to hold him up for a little but eventually her arms gave out and she had to put him down.

“Won’t you give me a kiss for holding you up?” she asked and Conall was quick to comply, whispering something along the lines of “my warrior” to her. Magnus had to look away to keep himself from vomiting.

What they hadn’t been expecting was for Annabeth to put her hands at Percy’s wait and just raise him up like it was nothing. Everyone gawked at her, especially when it seemed like she wasn’t struggling at all with it. Percy appeared calm too, holding his chin up and throwing his arms wide open like he was in the Titanic.

“I’m flying, Jack!” he said in a lovesick high-voice and they all laughed at that.

They started dancing in front of a painting of a ballroom, at first doing a really bad imitation of waltz before they started doing whatever random dance move they could think of, from the Macarena to freaking dab. Magnus, T.J and Sam had linked hands to create a wave and Alex was leading Conall in a very over the top tango. (Magnus had to admit it was funny but it still left a sour taste in his mouth for some reason.)

After about a dozen of paintings and getting spotted by students who looked at them as if they were on crack, the group decided the better start heading to the Hall of the Slain for dinner.

“Hey, isn’t tomorrow the day we’ll go visit Hogsmeade?” Percy asked when they passed by a group of fourth year girls who were talking about what they would do tomorrow.

“Oh, yeah! I really want to visit it, I’ve heard a lot of things about it!” Annabeth’s eyes glittered at the thought of getting to go to a new place and learning about it. They more time he spend with her the more Magnus realized his cousin still had the same thirst for knowledge she had when she was young.

Alex’s eyes, on the other hand, glittered a in mischief as she thought of all the things they could do tomorrow at Hogsmeade. “We’ll give you the premium tour, don’t worry,” she said with a smirk and amidst the weird loopy thing his stomach did at the sight, Magnus had time to think only one thing.

Oh oh.

//////////////////////

And ‘Oh oh’ indeed. Why, you ask? There’s a lot that can go wrong when you have nine teenagers left to their own devices in a village. They were lucky they didn’t burn it down (though they might have scared a little girl for life).

When they stepped into Hogsmeade, Percy and Annabeth had the expression every student has on their first visit -- wide-eyed awe and glee at all the possible places to explore and have fun in.

“I feel like I look like one of those stupid tourists in New York but I don’t care,” Percy whispered to Annabeth as he looked around. Or maybe he was meaning to whisper it and forgot because everyone heard him

Their first stop was obviously the Joke shop. They had headed there immediately after they arrived at Hogsmeade so the crowd of students that was always around the entrance every time they visited hadn’t fully formed yet. They walked into the shop, easily making it feel more crowded by the size of their group.

They walked around the aisles, looking at different pranks and touching them. Magnus knew that just touching a magical prank that did God-knows-what wasn’t such a good idea but he couldn’t help himself. The Joke shop just did something to him that made him want to touch everything (yes, even that weird green mass in a jar).

When he turned down another corner, he found Alex, Halfborn and T.J grouped around the fart pillows. They each held one between their palms and they stood with determination as if they were about to have an epic rap battle.

Then Alex pressed her palms together, making the little pillow fart. She did it again and again and Magnus realized surprised that she was farting Darth Vader’s theme (that sounded wrong).

“Let’s see if you can do that,” he said with a smirk to Halfborn.

“Oh, you’re on.” Magnus was somehow able to get most of the melody down, only missing a few notes (farts?) here and there.

“Puh-lease,” Percy said after Halfborn was done with his recital. “Watch this.”

What followed were intricate hand moves and twists along with the fanciest farts Magnus had ever heard. Percy’s tongue stuck out from the corner of his mouth in concentration and by now the rest of their group had gathered around to watch as well as some other students.

When Percy finished, he took a deep bow and sent Alex a completive look.  

“Was… was that Beethoven’s ninth Symphony?” She asked, sounding equally confused and awed.

“Yep. A friend showed me how. Nobody beats Leo in musical farting.”

Magnus turned to Annabeth who was standing next to him,  his expression practically yelling ‘what’. She had a smile on her face that just barely pulled at the corners of her mouth. Yet, even though it was small, it radiated warmth and happiness and turned her eyes from stormy grey to a cloudy sky just before the sun broke through.

Whatever comment Magnus might have had about the recital never made it past his lips. He remembered how his mum used to say that loving someone was like spending a day outside during the summer. It might be hot and the heat and mosquitoes might be annoying at times, but you still enjoyed bathing in the sun.

The way Annabeth looked at Percy, it looked like she really enjoyed it.

“Okay, I think you showcased your musical talents enough today,” Mallory said as she cut through the little crowd that had gathered around the ‘musicians’ to get to Halfborn. She took him by the arm. “Why don’t we go look over there?”

Alex’s boyfriend soon came by too and he and Alex wandered off in the store together. Magnus felt a weird bitterness in his throat but he kept moving through the store. He played around with the samples, which, again, he knew wasn’t such a good idea but it was fun. (So what if he had gotten glitter thrown at his face? He looked good in it.)

He stumbled up Conall and Alex at the optical illusions aisle. A large mirror hang over the wall above a series of accessories that gave you weird features, like real life snapchat filters. He browsed through the samples and watched the couple from the corner of his eye as they tried on glasses that made moustaches grow on their faces and bowties that gave them cute dog ears. Conall leaned closer and woofed before fake licking Alex’s face. She giggled and pushed him away but barked too.

Magnus turned away and decided to check something else out. He wasn’t feeling like optical illusions at the moment.

He lingered around near the cheap tricks at the front near the register until the others were ready to leave. Percy and Annabeth had bought a few items, thought Magnus didn’t know what. When Magnus sent his cousin a questioning glance, she replied with, “Gifts for friends back home. They love pranks. Maybe it’s a bad idea to get Leo and Piper prank materials, but at least they won’t use them on us.”

Magnus nodded, thought he made a mental not to ask Annabeth about her friends from Ilvermorny later. They sounded interesting.

They decided to try a different variation of the game they had played back in fourth year. They headed to Blitzen’s Best, where each person would have to pick an outfit for their significant other. Since Sam’s wasn’t here and they had an odd number of people, she would be the referee. Magnus and T.J ended up playing together because they were the Forever Alone members of the group.

They stood near the entrance of the store but not directly in it because, you know, they didn’t want to be gits and annoy the other customers. “Alright,” said Sam, her hands on her waist. “Since you all know what you have to do, let’s start. Get set,”

All members of the group turned their backs to Sam so they could face the inside of the store, their eyes scanning over all the racks to see where everything was.

“Ready,”

They got into position, one leg in front of the other and their weight leaning slightly forward. Magnus glanced out of the corner of his eye at his friends. They all looked ahead with determined expressions that would have lead you to believe they were about to partake in an important race rather than a dumb game. Thought they did have only thirty minutes to go around the store and find the perfect outfit, so he couldn’t blame them for wanting to be fast.

“GO!”

The group of teenagers rushed forward and run into the rows of clothing stands, racks and mannequins. Magnus barely didn’t hit a lady that was looking at a cute yellow skirt, managing to steer clear from her in the last minute. He looked around frantically, trying to see where the kind of clothes he wanted were suited. When he found them, he run to them like the Flash and started going through them. Part of him wanted to just through them around as he searched for what he wanted, but he felt sorry for the poor employee who would have to clean up after him.

Putting everything he took out back in its place cost him quite a bit of time and he had but a minute to get the final piece of his outfit. Dashing back to where he had almost hit the lady, he grabbed the skirt and headed for the dressing rooms.

He was the last one to arrive. Everyone else had exchanged clothes and were waiting for him to arrive before they changed into them.

“Here,” Magnus said as he handed T.J his outfit. He took his own lump of clothes from T.J’s arms and after Sam’s command, they all went into their respective changing rooms.

After fumbling with the clothes for a good ten minutes and at least a dozen “How are you supposed to put this on?” exclamations, they were finally dressed.

“All ready to be in the spotlight?” Sam asked, doing her best to sound like a TV game host. It was pretty bad but funny at the same time.

“Yes!” was the unanimous answer from the group.

“Alright. Come out, then!”

Eight curtains were simultaneously drawn back and the three couples and two Forever Alone boys came out. Some, like Alex, T.J and Percy, stroked up poses to look like models and others, like Magnus, looked very awkward in their new clothes.

Percy was wearing a short jean skirt that reached his mid thigh and bright pink flip-flops with seashells on them. His shirt was ocean green like his eyes, with two purple shells at his chest. When he posed again, Magnus saw that ‘Mermaid off-duty’ was written across his back in black letters. A shiny pink purse that had to be very impractical with how small it was hang from his shoulder and a pair of sunglasses rested in his dark hair. Percy seemed quite comfortable in the look, even though the arm holes in his shirt were so big they showed his chest.

Annabeth was dressed… relatively normal, weirdly enough. She wore a flowy white summer dress with silver sandals and a big straw hat with a sunflower on it. A long pendant with a little clock hang from her neck. The look wasn’t without its random touches though, as she also wore a rainbow colored choker with a daisy charm hanging from it, heart glasses that had stayed behind from Halloween and colorful socks inside of her sandals.

Halfborn wore one of those leotards that looked like shirts. The laces that strung together the deep V-cut at the front were so stretched they might as well have not been there. He wore frayed short shorts over it that were so small on him he couldn’t zip it all the way up. A flowery shawl was draped over his shoulders and he looked at the group with a sultry look that was more hilarious than seductive.

Mallory was dressed in her worst nightmare. Every color in her clothes was obnoxiously bright, borderline neon, and they all clashed horribly. Her sweatpants had “Work” written in the back in bold black letters, her shirt was something only a grandma or someone with the fashion style of a grandma would wear. She had a bunch of different necklaces around her neck like a nineties rapper.

Conall emerged from the dressing room in a long, lace appliqué midnight blue dress that reached his knees. It puffed out at his waist and made him look slimmer than he actually was. He was struggling to stay standing in a pair of red six inch pumps and a necklace of giant pearls rested on his collarbones. Magnus wasn’t even sure if pearls could be that big.

Alex stood next to her boyfriend in a green crop-top that had a little monster, though whether it was an actual crop-top or just from the children’s section he didn’t know. She wore a pair of tight black jeans and Magnus had never noticed quite how lean her legs were, clearly fit from Quidditch but they still had some curves and the high-waist jeans made them look so long and they hugged her form in a way Magnus didn’t know clothes could and she looked really good in them, especially her as—

Maybe he should look elsewhere.

T.J wore the lacy yellow skirt Magnus gave him, the white blouse tucked in. Underneath the fabric of his top you could see the bright magneta of a sports bra Magnus had picked out clear as day. A bow hairclip was barely holding on to T.J’s short hair and his legs were covered by cat stockings. He seemed to be quite enjoying the look.

And, weirdly enough, Magnus looked… normal. Not like Annabeth, were the main elements of her outfit were ordinary and the accessories made her look like something out of a carnival. He might not have picked out these clothes on his own but they weren’t weird and they suited him.

A pair of jeans as tight as Alex’s hugged his legs and he had to admit he looked good in them. He wore simple black shoes and a plain black button-up. The clothes had come with a message to slick back his hair, so for once he didn’t have blonde locks in his eyes.

“I think I look fabulous,” T.J said and examined his stockings in the mirror. “These are pretty comfy, you know.”

“It’s breezy, but nice,” Conall as he moved his hips around to feel the fabric of his skirt shift against his thighs.

“And you look great in it,” Alex added and kissed him on the cheek. Magnus quickly turned his eyes elsewhere. (‘Elsewhere’ being a stolen glance at Alex’s legs.) (Alex had nice legs.) (Why was he thinking about Alex’s legs? Stop it.)

Too busy trying to convince himself that he hadn’t been checking out Alex, Magnus didn’t notice the knowing look Annabeth was sending his way.

“Oh, by the way,” Alex said, “it’s he/ him now.”

“I feel like Ariel,” Percy noted as he turned around to look at himself in the mirror.

“You better not start singing ‘Part of your world’,” Annabeth warned him in an affectionate tone that made Magnus thing that if Percy burst into song she would likely join him.

“I’m going to need a psychiatrist after this.” Mallory was staring at her reflection in horror, hugging her body like a teenager in a horror movie (though her clothes were a horror movie all on their own).

Her boyfriend ignored her, simply throwing his shawl around his neck like a Hollywood starlet and made kissy faces at his reflection.

“This is strangely normal,” Magnus said as he looked at his reflection. He felt weird saying this (well, more like thinking it) but he looked good.

Alex turned around to look at Magnus and the smile on his face momentary faltered. It happened so quickly you wouldn’t have noticed if you weren’t paying attention, but his eyes widened just a little bit when he looked at Magnus in his new outfit. It really suited him. Like, really suited him.

“You look good,” Alex said. He hoped his voice sounded normal enough. Damnit, what did his heart do just now?

“Black button-ups are a classic,” T.J said with a smug smile. He, Annabeth and Sam were the only ones in the room that had noticed the look in Alex’s eyes and the way his voice sounded just a little bit strained.

A handful of magical pictures later, the gang was back in normal clothes and exiting the shop. They didn’t have much time before they had to leave for Hogwarts and since there was nothing else they wanted to do they decided to just wander around the village. Magnus was trailing at the end of the group, walking slower that the rest, when Annabeth fell behind and started walking next to him.

“You have pretty good taste,” she said simply.

Magnus scrunched his eyebrows together. “What do you mean?”

Annabeth grinned at him and gestured in front of them where the rest of their friends were walking. Magnus’s eyes immediately landed on Alex. Annabeth sent him a knowing look and Magnus’s cheeks burned when he realized what she was insinuating.

“I-I don’t… what makes you think that- I don’t, not like that, I-” he stammered out, cheeks bright red. He-he didn’t like like Alex. They were just friends. What if he was too flustered to look at him when he wore shorts and crop-tops in summer and had been gawking at his legs just moments earlier? What if Halfborn constantly joked that he was jealous that Conall was dating Alex? What if Annabeth wasn’t the first person who had thought Magnus liked Alex?

What if his heart almost stopped when his eyes fell on Alex play fighting with Halfborn, flushed cheeks and ruffled hair, a beautiful smile on his face that made his eyes shine? What if Magnus wanted to reach out and smooth down Alex’s hair and hold his hand and kiss him?

… Fuck.

“I think I like Alex,” he said absentmindedly as he still looked at the green haired boy in front of him.

Annabeth couldn’t help but smile at the helpless expression on Magnus’s face. He had it bad.

Soon enough they were back at Hogwarts. The students started splitting up, heading to their own dormitories for the night. Mallory kissed Halfborn on the cheek as goodnight (which made the big oaf blush like a tomato) and Percy pecked Annabeth on the lips.

“Don’t I get a goodnight kiss?” Alex said teasingly, a clear invitation for Conall to kiss him, but the Ravenclaw run off with a quick hug because “I forgot to do some homework”. Alex stared at him leaving with a hurt expression and a pout on his lips.

It didn’t last long because Sam and Mallory dragged him of quickly. Something Mallory said made him laugh as they walked away and Magnus hadn’t realized he had been staring at him leaving until a young Gryffindor bumped into him.

He walked back to the Hufflepuff common room in a daze, Alex’s laughter ringing in his ears and his heart beating fast because I like Alex I like Alex I like Alex.

Fuck.

Ah, yes, he finally admitted it. And yes, T.J choose those clothes on purpose. Once a matchmaker, always a matchmaker ;) Stay tuned for the next chapters because BOI do I have things planned for you! >:3