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goldarm-queen · 2 years ago

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OKAYYYY, so, I wanted to really flesh out the story for this blog of the Biodome season BUT SINCE the upcoming brawl talk is most likely going to have ONE OR BOTH OF THE REST BELLE'S TRIO INTEODUCED, I'm gonna speedrun the arc by outlining what I had planned.

(Addition after writing everything: I made up a lot of stuff on the fly, lol. Pun intended.)

Keep in mind, it's rough but it's still going to be canon to this blog's events. Sorry to the folks that wanted to see it play out, but TRIO!!!

(What I'm most likely gonna do is keep Edgar, Tara, Bandita Shelly, and Ricochet in the lineup, but in my hc, the Gang is allowed to come and go as they please anyway.)

-Byron, Bea and Meg would continue keeping guard and working on the cure.

-a few other Brawlers would join the cause, including Max and Surge (when they hear Meg is in there, half-affected) Ruffs and Kit (when Eve crash lands and her kids latch on, they pinpoint where the infestation started back to the Biodome.)

-Sprout is the first one recaptured by Bea. The poor plant bot is half aware of itself. Bea shuts down its main system so she can isolate Sprout's consciousness and the plant to experiment on it. She'll have to fix and make sure the programming isn't corrupted beyond repair. Hopefully, she can fix this. (Cue a scene where she cries on her own, the night reflecting through the glass ceiling. She wants her family back together. She's known and loved Rosa for years. Sprout is two years old and counting, but is its memories going to have to be wiped...?)

-Byron and Meg in her suit are traveling to the main lab to gather something Bea needs. (Ruffs and Kit are guarding Bea, and Surge and Max are patrolling.) They encounter Edgar and he's ferocious. Rico comes in out of nowhere to ward off Edgar's attack. The more sentient duo are skeptical.... and they're right to be. After bring beckoned, Rob abandons Byron and Meg to leave with Firebug Rico. (Keep in mind, Rob/Vendra wouldn't normally, but it's also half mutated. More feral/instinctive and it's acting on fond memory.) Meg wonders if she'd be inclined to her insect instincts soon...

-As Edgar is t i c k e d off about losing yet another meal, he's stomping through the overgrown ivy.... and he hears a "Hey, you. Kid."

-It's been a while. Maybe a scene with Bo at one point, and he simply attacks anyone who nears the Wasp nest diligently. Not even Belle can get him to work with her slowly growing crew.

-one night, Peep is coasting through the shrubbery. Sneaking. Scouting. Looking for... suddenly, he's caught by vines. Belle's silhouette is outlined by the moon's luminous rays. Nani can see Belle through Peep. But Belle's glasses reflect the night, and she can't read her expression. She tries to speak to her through the mic, but as soon as Belle recognizes her voice, she hisses. Falls back. And Peep is completely covered in layers of leaves and weeds.

-Soon, a cure is found. A type of "weedkiller" that manages to stun bugs--it's more of a multi-doses type of thing. It weakens the biology of both without harming the human part. It's really only works because of the green Bralwer serum too. And yes, they have to make a whole different type for bots.

-Sprout's bulb is cleared up, and they managed to get Mr. P as well.

-From there, they can get others.. though they are not easily subdued.

-Ruffs is targeted by Belle. She can kind of recall that she dislikes him. Wraps him tight in vines and carelessly offers him to Edgar who's ready to eat. He's struggling against the restraints, growling and angry at the impending plant bulbs mouth. Sharp teeth....

-Kit lunges forward to attack Edgar himself, robotic suit on and diamond-tipped claws at the ready.

-A brawl begins!

-Belle hurls Ruffs into Kit and is then attacked from afar by Bea.

-Ivy Belle frowns and points at Bea, commanding Firefly Rico to dive at her.

-Rob is there too, but it's actually not attacking... Meg asks it for help. Meanwhile Max and Surge jump into the fray.

-at some point, while Rosa is trying to attack Bea (since she's her partner and she's a Mantis-!) Eve ends up saying her and managing to splash Rosa with the serum. It's a temp solution, but they just need to knock her out.

-So while all these battles are going on, Belle is adding to all of it by making foliage rise and attack.

-then, suddenly. Poison. She feels nauseous. And she glares to where the attack came from. A familiar face, her brother.

-immediately, there's yelling in her mind. And the splitting headache prompts her to attack. So she does. She draws back every vine at her disposal, and aims it all at this pest. This menace. This... this... d u m b a s s.

-Byron... half expected it-- he barely jumps away from the first overwhelming swing, but is knocked back far for the second. Ivy Belle is ready to give him the beatdown of his life, (which would not be pleasant, given that healing is forever in this park--) No more floral rifle, only thick vines twisted tightly to sting and bruise and fling. All the Ivy knows is to obliterate.

-But this beating is necessary. Never let it be said that Byron lacks foresight and plans. Not like he can't handle pain.

-He had found Peep recently, and Nani could finally use him. And they communicated a plan together. Now it was being set into place.

-Peep comes along again and in pops Nani! With the teleportation gadget.

- Belle notices instantly and is ready to grab Nani with a vine. It wraps around her non-rusted arm, and yanks hard, ripping it off. As it sparks and Nani looks straight at her, Belle is frozen. In guilt, pain, shock and...

-...."Nani," Belle manages to say stiffly.

-"It's okay. ♡" Nani grabs Belle's hand. Belle feels numb, emotionally. And then, a sharp pinprick on her.

-Belle looks at her hand in shock. Disbelief. And then she steps back.,

-She looks at Nani. And frowns.

-and she departs up, way high up, out of reach, on a dark red flower.

-final boss Belle! (Though everyone has their own final battle, lol. Kit and Ruffs vs Edgar, superheroes vs Rob and Rico, Bea vs Rosa etc.)

-long story short, everything does come to an end.

-Things wind down... over the next few days, the multi doses are given to the affected Brawlers and they do seem to improve.

- Nani explains that Bralwers weren't allowed to enter, so that's why she was using Peep... Belle is DELIGHTED because this means!!! Nani was doing crime!! Nani blathers on that she WASN'T-- it was out of care-- "Rule breakin is rulebreakin, Nan! No matter what the intentions~"

-she huffs. The thanks she gets is an arm needed to be replaced and Belle poking fun at her.

-Belle chuckles, "I don't mean no harm...." she tries not to look at the missing limb. "I'm sorry..."

-Nani smiles gently at her. "There's no need to apologize... as long as you're okay."

- in all the excitement, Belle's nearly forgotten what she wanted to do the second she saw a certain flower.

-Belle leads Nani over to the section that amazed her the most. The area that blossomed with the colorful flowers. Nani is impressed, and Belle plucks a Prism Lily and hands it to her.

-Nani's mesmerized by the sheens and hues. "....is that allowed?" She mutters absently.

Belle shrugs with a smile that says 'couldn't care less', "It's gorgeous, ain't it?"

"Very." Nani admits. Later on, when it starts to wilt, she presses the flower, to keep it as long as she can.

Even more afterwards, Belle approaches Byron.

He's long since healed. But that merciless attack, arguably made things sorta awkward.

The last time they had met up, it was a fight and things were left unattended.

Since then, so much time had passed without even a word to each other.

Sure there were mutual friends. Somewhat the Townsfolk, Edgar, Tara, Lola... but they didn't really....

Well, it was time to change that. They were both too tired of the way things were currently to let themselves continue this way. Byron helped save not just her, but everybody. Maybe... he wasn't entirely what she once fully believed him to be.

"Hey. We've got way too much catchin' up to do.

"....Indeed."

#M&M #Nelle #Brawl Stars #overgrown ivy 🌿#LESSS GOO MY DARLINGS #MY ABSOLUTE LOVELIES #MY PRECIOUS STARS WHO FOLLOW ME!#Are you guys as excited as me??? x333 #I'm just so..... <<<3333

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minlout3heathlegs3ruffthrokfan · 2 years ago

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What’s in a Name | Part 3 | Ruffthrok

Other Articles in the “What’s in a Name” series:

(Minlout | Heathlegs)

So yeah, this got started far later than what I had intended. I apologize. Got sidetracked, busy, and the usual excuses. But now we’re here — the final article of the “What’s in a Name” series!!! How exciting! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been having a blast figuring out the name meanings of these characters! XD

So first off, let me say that Ruffnut’s name meaning took me a LONG TIME to deal with because Ruff- and -nut had A LOT of meanings! So I basically had to pick and choose the ones that most fit Ruffnut — which was pretty much everything that’s on the chart! I have to say that DreamWorks named her well!

So yeah... at first, I thought that they were willy-nilly with the name, but upon coming across these meanings, it turns out that Ruffnut couldn’t have been better named than this! lol XD

Needless to say, that’s pretty much it on Ruffnut, since, you know... there’s not really anything new or interesting or surprising, considering that we pretty much knew this from the get-go.

But... what DID surprise me was Throk’s name!

It was pretty difficult to find. In fact, since this was an original name DreamWorks made, I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to find it and just originally assumed that they borrowed it from Hrok, Thor, Thror and/or other Old Norse names, and didn’t think much about it.

That is... until I came across this on the Old Norse dictionary site I found (the link to it is here):

þrek — or threk — could possibly be where “Throk” originated — if Throk, as a name, existed at all.

(Of course, due to how hard it was to find this, it’s highly doubtful that DreamWorks knew about this, since the show has VERY rudimentary level of Old Norse and the like, period. It’s more likely that they made the name as a variant of “Hrok” or “Thror” or some other Viking name.)

What makes this such an amazing discovery is that its meaning is “fortitude or strength”, which fits Throk to a T (literally)!! Even more interesting is that Throk could be a variant of the name Thor, who is a god of thunder and strength, conveniently enough. And “-rok”, if Anglicized into “rock”, would be even more convenient, since, rocks are known for their fortitude and strength, which further strengthens (pun intended) the meaning and logic behind the Old Norse “threk” being the source of Throk’s name.

As you know, strength and fortitude might as well be Throk’s right and left arms at this point. Heck, even his middle name (even though Vikings never had middle names, even to this day [talking about modern-day Icelanders, not modern-day Scandinavians])! Throk, since his introduction in the RTTE series in the final episode of Season 3, has always been shown as an individual full of strength and fortitude — as one would need to be as a Chieftain’s second-in-command and general-cum-bodyguard.

So yeah, discovering the meaning of Throk’s name has really made me fall in love with Throk as a character even more! Can’t wait to implement this in some Throk-centric fanfics!! ^_^

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this final installment of the “What’s in a Name?” series. With this done, I shall do more articles on these three pairings in the near future. Thank you again for reading, and again, apologies that this took so long to finish.

Keep Calm and Ship Ruffthrok!

— Minlout & Heathlegs & Ruffthrok Fan

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what-arent-you-doing-in-my-swamp · 4 years ago

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I won’t lie, my favorite place in Wal-Mart is the five-dollar movie bin. Some of those movies look like I have a bigger budget than they do, and I’m a college student. But every once in a while, you stumble across a diamond in the ruff. Like Shrek! Some people might tell you that Shrek is not quite possibly the best children’s film ever, but those people are wrong. Shrek excels in entertaining both children and adults, and it provides a phenomenal positive message, two hallmarks to a quality children’s movie.

Shrek entertains and develops its message through the key element to making a quality film: character development through storytelling.

Our favorite big green ogre starts his first movie a monster, pun intended. At first, Shrek wants nothing more than the solitude of his swamp. Then one night, after begrudgingly sheltering the, very talkative and annoying, Donkey, Shrek finds that he has been graced with the company of just about every fairy-tale creature imaginable. Learning that one Lord Farquaad relocated these “fairy tale things” onto his land, Shrek immediately sets off to move them out. With Donkey as guide, Shrek meets Lord Farquaad and they strike a deal: Shrek gets him a princess, and Farquaad gives Shrek his land back. The princess, Fiona, turns out to be preppy and critical, precisely what Shrek expects. Shrek acts rude and brutish, precisely what Fiona expects. After a day of travel, the crew sets up camp; it is here that Donkey squeezes out the source of Shrek’s standoffishness: fear. Shrek ironically prejudges to avoid judgement, strengthening the stereotype that ogres are dumb, ugly, and mean. As the two of them talk, Fiona listens. You see, Fiona’s preppiness is an act; out of fear of what people would think of her, she puts on a facade. Fiona decides to open-up and Shrek does the same. The two of them begin to love and trust (especially each other) their newfound friends. It seems like it couldn’t be going better when a classic misunderstanding leaves them both feeling betrayed, recessing deeper into themselves than ever before. Realizing it was all a mistake, Shrek returns to save Fiona once more, this time from Lord Farquaad. It is here that true-love’s kiss transforms Fiona into her ogress form. The two love-slugs get married recognizing that true joy comes from accepting and loving oneself and others.

Shrek acted brutish to push away people who prejudge. Fiona acted prude so that she could not be criticized. Both feared getting hurt by letting someone too close. Both fed the others fear by fitting their stereotype. By acknowledging their faults and being vulnerable, they found, to their surprise, love.

Children and adults connect with either ogre, refreshed to see characters start apart and grow together. And it is made all the more refreshing since Shrek hits the two key pieces of good character-development: positive change and relatable characters.

Now let’s talk about how the story tells with Shrek’s visuals and dialog.

Visuals first! It is clear at the start that Shrek is an ogre that likes his privacy. Shrek puts up signs all around his swamp telling people to keep out, he frowns whenever Donkey (or really anyone) is around, and he is disrespectful to his sudden fairy-tale guests. By the end of the film, Shrek has welcomed the company back to his land for his wedding. Shrek is happy around his new friends, and warm to all. The animators went great lengths to define Shrek a nasty ogre that’s still lovable because of his roundness, earthy green color scheme, and organic lifestyle.

Don’t forget about dialog! Shrek starts harsh in tone, language choice, and delivery. He throws villagers out of his swamp, he tells Donkey to sleep outside, and he yells “What are you doing in my swamp!?” at the fairy-tale creatures. At the end, Shrek doesn’t yell, but speaks gently and lovingly with his new friends – even apologizing and asking for forgiveness! When Shrek says “I love you” to Fiona, the directors had Shrek’s voice actor bring in his wife to make the line more genuine. The writers of Shrek worked in all sorts of other tricks to make the characters more amusing, relatable, and organic. For example, voice actors would ad-lib material. Another great example are the puns, like Shrek calling Donkey a “jackass”. And the references, like when Shrek says, “that’ll do Donkey, that’ll do,” referencing Babe.

Shrek is the chief example of a quality kid’s flick. It manages to be especially entertaining while boasting an amazing message. Though some of the best storytelling techniques out there, Shrek teaches that true fulfillment is only obtainable by loving oneself and others. Suffice to say, Shrek is a darn good movie.

#movie #shrek #movie reivew #college #essay #fan #ogre #what are you doing in my swamp #real life #love #big brain #big man #big heart

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pearlplusau · 5 years ago

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Pearl Plus AU- The bright light part 2

Amethyst 8XWJ was one of the earliest to pop up from the Earth’s crust. When she first emerged off the kindergarten walls, she face-planted on the hard ground and was immediately greeted by a fellow quartz soldier, 8XWI. All gems she emerged with were great and fun, but 8XWI was special. When she saw others summoning their weapons, she was able to conjure her own with just one attempt. When she was taught about the Great Diamond authority and how the system works, she immediately adapted to the idea of higher power and understood her purpose of serving to live, living to serve. She was skilled, she was talented, she was… listening and attentive.

“What’s holding you back?” Holly asked in a sympathetic tone, her face twitched from calm to manic. “No idea where My Diamond’s pool is?” She brings back the whip once more, grinning to herself, “Shocker! (pun intended)”

She gripped the handle tighter, amplifying the static and electric current, causing an ear-splitting buzz to ring around the area, and flunged it towards 8XWJ’s arm. “Huh?” before she was able to react, electricity coursed from the handle to the tip and zapped her whole without warning, “Ahhhhh!” she screamed and trashed, but the whip won’t let go!

She kneeled down, and tried to resist! But it was too much, she thought of her comrades, her fellow amethysts losing the battle on Earth! Never will she be able to see them again! She didn’t want to give in, but…her form begged to differ.

The surge of destruction was too much! Being weak from her previous punishment, she couldn’t hold much longer, and…

Poof!

A purple quartz gem clinked as it landed on the platform, clattering as it stayed on its spot. 8XWJ was poofed and retreated into her gem.

Holly Blue Agate was smiling as she set her weapon down and thought to herself. ‘Finally, took care of the annoying purple upper-crust.’

“That takes care of that!” She claimed out loud as she dusted her arms off, and glared to the other gems gasping around her.

“Was that really necessary Holly?” Aquamarine questioned in annoyance, “Poofing gems in the open wide would be lead to…” She held her thought and snapped her fingers, realising her true intentions, “Ohhhh, I get it, you want us to report your little crime to the diamonds so you’ll be able to deliver the message, clever…”

“Yeah yeah, don’t get your hopes up, I know the rules around here.” Holly replied as she slipped the purple gem into her front pocket.

A loud voice boomed from all around the area, “HOLLY BLUE AGATE FACET 2D CUT-22! YOU HAVE BEEN SEEN TO HAVE TEMPORARILY DISABLED AN AMETHYST, PLEASE REPORT TO THE HALL ROOM IMMEDIATELY! YOUR CONSEQUENCES FOR YOUR ACTIONS WILL BE JUDGED BY THE GREAT DIAMOND AUTHORITY. HOLLY BLUE AGATE FACET 2D CUT-22! YOU HAVE BEEN SEEN…” the voice repeated the same statement until the blue gem found her way to the hall room.

As she leaves, she glanced at the surrounding gems as they muttered their predictions, different coloured sapphires glanced around nervously and whisper information among themselves, but Holly took no interest in what the future holds, her plan of meeting the Diamonds will be worth all the negative impact on her image.

She went in search of a warp pad, the fastest way to the Diamonds, a white pearl was at the control panel and stated her crimes,

“Holly Blue Agate, you have been reported of dismantling an amethyst out on the open. As you know, you will be sent to the judgement hall and be set on trial by the Great Diamond Authority! Any last words dear?” The pearl asked before giving the confirmation code on the warp pad.

“Why yes Pearl! I look forward to be in the presence of the powerful Yellow Diamond, AND my glimmering diamond of course! This judgement will be a little talk between us don’t you worry.”

“We’ll see about that…” The pearl thought while typing in the code.

Holly was cuffed in glowing white shackles by two Topazes, her eyes widen as this is something unexpected.

“What is this? Handcuffs? Is this really nessasar-” Before she could finish her question, the shackles glowed and bounded Holly in a white bubble. Frozen in time, she was unable to finish her statement, her mouth was wide open but her facial expression remained annoyed.

“Huhu! This new law implemented is really rather convenient for us, don’t you think so Topaz?” The pearl had a smug face of enjoying these minor “punishments” while the topazes were unfazed with the statement. They proceeded by raising a control panel that resembles a joystick and monitored the bubble by sending it to the designated location.

Inside the orb, Holly could still see, but she could not speak, she could not move. The only sense she could control was her sight, but all she saw was the orb heading to somewhere no agate had been before. Her white boots were in uneven positions, this frustrated her, but she cannot do anything about it, she simply stayed frozen,

It was a long journey, but Holly can make out the structures and buildings leading to the black coloured cubed Courtroom. As she gets closer, she realised there’s still a chance the diamonds won’t even attend the trial for a Quartz soldier, she tried to have cold feet as she felt nervous but the atmosphere wouldn’t allow it!

The orb came to a halt, the front of the orb scanned the building’s wall, taking a sample of the colour to match the Courtroom building. The colour dripped down from the top like a small current of black ink being poured over. When the orb was fully covered in Black, it slightly floated up and went through the wall with the sound of electric current zipping through the air.

The black orb enters a dark room, where it finally dissipated away in a cloud of back dust.

“-ary…” She finally finished her sentence hung over her mouth during the entire trip. She sighed and readied herself, wanting to look as best as she could be for the Great Diamond Authority.

The wall opened up a door sized hole, a tense, anxious blue zircon came in mumbling with floating screens around her, she was just a bit shorter but also belonging to Blue’s court by her colouring. She looked around the room and spotted the blue agate, her face contorted in bewilderment and confusion.

“YOU’RE the one on trial? But you’re an Agate! When the files came in it says two quartz soldiers “roughhousing” in front of the Great Ballroom!” She examined the tall gem and retrieved a hologram picture from her monocle, it shows a purple gem being violently taken hold by the blue gem.

“Why yes! I did took advantage of that amethyst, you see, she had vital information about an issue of a colonisation process and asked me to inform the diamonds!” Holly tried to explain her actions, but Zircon just looked mortified while taking in the information given, she pulled out another hologram screen and typed in the new info.

“The door to the trial room will be accessible any second, do you have any more information to give before we proceed matters and actions to the diamonds?” The lawyer gem urged as she readied her equipment.

“That will be all, surely the diamonds would listen to what I have to say before deciding what to do with me!” Holly spoke with a dab of uncertainty.

The door to the courtroom opened up.

“Let’s go.” Blue Zircon led the way with Holly trudging behind her.

In the dark room, Holly stood on a glowing platform, waiting for the arrival of the three diamonds. A yellow zircon warped to the left of Holly, she took one look at her opponent lawyer and smirked, “New to this huh? First job and you get to defend an abuser? Isn’t that a bit, anticlimactic?”

“Being my first assignment, no, it’s not thanks for asking.” The tone in her reply was not at all thankful nor sincere, but before she could finish, two pearls warped into the room in front of them.

Yellow Pearl was the first to speak, “All rise for the luminous Yellow Diamond!” Yellow warped in and proceed to her throne with an expression of annoyance.

Blue Pearl continued, “The lustrous Blue Diamond.” Blue warped in and slumped into her throne in…. anger?

Both pearls synchronise for the last diamond, “And the Great, Magnificent, Brilliant White Diamond!” The brightest diamond warped in and shone the room so bright Holly was blinded for a moment, until the diamond dimmed her light and proceed to the throne in the midst of Blue and Yellow.

“Let’s just finish this so we can go back to our duties.” Stated White diamond before starting the trial.

Having the three diamonds present was not as glamorous as expected, in fact, it was intimidating.

The three diamonds stared down at the accused with annoyance and little patience.

It was VERY intimidating.

The yellow Zircon initiated the trial by stating the situation and the actions committed.

“…And so, here we are, at the end of this trial our great leaders will decide the fate of this Agate and end this case.” Yellow Zircon was about to proceed to her points and arguments but the diamonds up there were not at peace with each other.

“Is everything all right my Diamonds?” The lawyer asked with her arms saluting.

But the diamonds took no notice, Blue and Yellow Diamond were silently arguing about the topic beforehand, while White looked like she wants to just zap the accused and get things over with.

“This does not look good….” Blue Zircon whispered to Holly, “Why don’t you just admit your bad choice of actions and get it over with?” She suggested.

“Never! What I did to that gem was for a reason, and that reason will not be wasted from the inconvenience of the diamonds.” Holly protested but took one more glance at the diamonds, Blue diamond looked more unhappy and upset than usual, she looks like she’s trying very hard to hold in her sadness and frustration, Yellow diamond has her outfit to be slightly ruff and off placed, with her electric current leaking from her finger tips, not being her usual strict self. As for White Diamond, She just looked as same as before, her face says, “It would be so much easier to just blast this gem with my powers and have this all done immediately!” And it looks like she’s not having the patience to handle the current situation.

“Fine! Just because this trials wasting out leaders’ time, I’ll just present the information, but not without evidence.” Holly glanced at her pocket and checked the purple gem in place, and went into the confession.

“My Diamonds!” Holly saluted while addressing the leaders, “There is something I would like to confess.”

The diamonds paid little to no attention to the Agate, as they were occupied with their own matters.

Holly could hear some words mumbling amongst them, but could only pick up Pink Diamond’s name and nothing more.

Yellow spoke with a slightly louder voice, loud enough for Holly to get the picture.

“Blue, this is not the time to defend pink and her failing colony! You of all gems should have known her failure was inevitable, why struggle now to try and help her when you could help me convince this to White?” Yellow Diamond whispered, sounding infuriated but also trying her best to lower her voice for the sake of their reputation.

“This is the exact type of behaviour that will led her thinking we don’t trust her! You gave her a chance to prove herself, so you must stick with it!” Blue snapped at Yellow louder than she should, which tipped White into snapping back,

“Enough!” She demanded and glared, both diamonds froze and sat back down.

“Proceed this trivial little judgement so we can get it over with!” The diamond commanded.

“Yess of course My Diamond!” Blue Zircon saluted and summon some holographic files, she fuddled a bit, tried to pull the right file, but ended up dropping them to the floor like paper scattering around everywhere, but worse.

“Deepest apologise, I’ll just….uhhh…” Blue Zircon was dripping more tears than sweat, she tried to collect herself and the files, but she could feel the stares of the three powerful diamonds looming over, her anxiety is building up, it’s reaching the limit, she wasn’t ready for this!

She took on a desperate glance at Holly, hoping someone would help her out, but Holly had other plans in mind.

“My Diamonds!” Holly stood up, addressed and saluted in a clear, articulated voice.

The diamonds glared daggers at her for disrupting the defendant, but it was clear that she had caught their attention.

“I understand that this trial has interrupted your daily schedule, and I know you are all in a hurry of getting back to more important matters, I will be able to speed up this trial if you generously allow me to speak freely for just mere minutes. Hopefully, this can all be resolved as soon as it can be.” Holly explained to the diamonds and hoped that they would agree with her.

The three diamonds exchanged looks of uncertainty, but they also wished to get back to more pressing matters.

Finally White Diamond spoke, “Very well, you are given 5 minutes to prepare your explanation that will be brief and informative, no stuttering and mumbling will be tolerated and if so, you will be executed immediately! We shall have a short recess, Dismissed!”

Everyone retreated into their own rooms.

(First of all, i would like to thank @marzipanotaku16 for her amazing points and criticisms for making this work better than anticipated, we’ve known each other online and through the magic of steven universe. She’s also the friend that encouraged me to start a blog and share the writing for everyone to read, this blog wouldn’t be here without her.

Anyways, this story took longer to write and it would be concluded at part 3, I have some plans and ideas for more stories that may intrigued y’all but haven't really started drafting yet, so that’s gonna take a while to finish up.

And I would like to remind y’all that this is not completely a pink pearl oriented story, this blog is for me to express my ideas through the power of writing and the internet (lame lol)

This tells me you read the whole thing, so thank you, dear reader, and have a splendid day, happy reading and enjoy! )

#Diamonds #HollyBlueAgate #Zircons #Pinkdiamond #Corruption #yellowdiamond #bluediamond #whitediamond #stevenuniverse

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just-an-anxious-mess · 6 years ago

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Puppy Dog Eyes

Patton was well known as the pure, innocent, friendly trait but occasionally he could be quite mischievous.

He loved puns and, more importantly, pranks.

His pranks were never malicious or intended to cause the others difficulty, in fact they usually just involved him jumping out of random hiding places and hugging them or shouting compliments at them.

Sometimes though he did like to mess with the others.

One time he set out a paper trail of riddles to lead Logan towards the opposite end of the mindspace just so Patton could redecorate his room with pictures of himself that had puns written on the back.

Logan had just sighed and said "I liked the riddles but please don't do this again."

After a little while the others began to look out for Pattons pranks and would sometimes catch him in the act of setting one up.

However they never managed to tell him off for whatever he was doing because he had a secret weapon.

Puppy dog eyes.

It didn't matter if it was Logan, Roman or even Virgil. They could be midway through telling Patton not to do what he was doing and he'd look at them with wide eyes and a small pout, occasionally accompanied with a sad little noise.

It was potent. No one could ignore it or brush him off so Patton was free to continue his pranks without any resistance from the others.

One particular day Patton had managed to somehow make it so whenever anyone said anything bad about themselves they'd be showered with confetti and a small post it note would appear in their hands with a handwritten compliment.

No one understood how he'd done it, not even Logan.

They'd all asked him but he'd just smiled at them and said he had no clue what they were talking about.

Virgil was particularly affected by the prank as he usually cracked self depreciating jokes every five minutes and it wasn't long before he'd gone to Patton and asked him to stop the prank triggering.

"No can do kiddo, you'll just have to stop talking bad about yourself." Patton replied with a smile as he ruffled Virgils hair and walked off.

Virgil sighed and walked down the hall back to his room, he wasn't sure how much of this he could take.

He collided with someone as he wasn't looking where he was going and ended up on the floor.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Virgil said and looked up to see Roman offering him his hand.

"Don't worry about it, from the looks of the confetti in your hood I'm guessing Pattons little prank is hitting you hard." Roman said as he helped Virgil up.

Virgil frowned and looked down at the floor with a nod. "I asked him if he could stop it triggering for me but he just told me to stop talking bad about myself and walked off."

"Have you tried just not talking bad about yourself?" Roman asked.

Virgil groaned. "Of course I have, I'm not stupid. Talking bad about myself is just my humour so it's easy to forget about the confetti for a second and say something."

"Have you tried explaining this to Patton? Maybe if you explain he might remove it." Roman said thoughtfully.

"Ugh why didn't I think of that? Oh wait I know it's because I'm a failure." Virgil said then his eyes widened as he realised what he'd done too late. Suddenly confetti fell from above him and a post it note appeared in his hands.

"for fuck sake!" Virgil exclaimed and crumpled the post it note up without reading it.

Roman backed away as he watched Virgil tense up in frustration then slowly start to relax as he forced himself to breath calmly.

"Logan is working on trying to figure out how Patton managed this, do you want to maybe go talk to him and see if he's had any breakthroughs?" Roman asked when he was sure Virgil had calmed down.

Virgil opened his mouth to say something when he suddenly heard Pattons voice.

"Virgil! I have it on good authority that you swore!" he said in a disappointed tone and Virgil groaned.

He turned around to face Patton and looked down at the floor with a sad expression. He couldn't make jokes or even swear without Patton knowing now and that was kind of all he did. He didn't like the dad trait being disappointed in him.

Patton opened his mouth to tell him off for swearing when it seemed as if his voice had just stopped working. He stared at Virgil, opening and shutting his mouth for a few seconds before pulling him in for a hug.

"I'm so sorry Virgil, I'll remove it for you immediately." he said and Virgil looked at him in shock.

"You... You will?" he asked and Patton nodded.

Patton then walked off to who knows where to do whatever he had to do to turn it off.

"What just happened?" Virgil asked and Roman shrugged.

"He probably realised how much it was affecting you or something."

Virgil frowned. "I don't think that's it but what do I know? I'm not the intelligent one."

Roman gaped in shock when no confetti appeared and Virgil felt a pleased smile work its way onto his face.

"yes! I can call myself trash and useless again!" He said happily, his smile widening when still no confetti rained down on him.

Patton reappeared and smiled as he noticed how happy Virgil was. "Aw kiddo I'm sorry, I didn't realise just how much that would effect specifically you. I guess the others don't talk bad about themselves very often. I'll try something else next time."

"Can I help next time?" Virgil asked with a smirk and Patton beamed. "Of course you can."

"No, that is not happening. We already have to deal with Pattons pranks, I don't think we could manage if Brendon Misery here helped." Roman said shaking his head.

Patton and Virgil both had forlorn expressions and Virgil looked down at the floor with a small sad sigh. "I just wanted to be a part of something for once." he mumbled, looking back up at Roman.

Roman felt immediately guilty as he took in Virgil teary looking eyes and trembling bottom lip. "I... I'm sorry. You can help Patton." he said hurriedly.

Virgil immediately brightened up and Patton grinned. "Let's get down to business."

Roman couldn't stop himself. "To defeat the huns!" he sang and Virgil rolled his eyes as Patton joined in.

"Don't we have things to plan Patton?" Virgil asked loudly and Patton giggled. "Sorry, I got a bit carried away there... Almost like I was being swept away by the coursing river."

Virgil rolled his eyes and the two started to walk away, leaving Roman wondering how Virgil had managed to get him to give in so easily. "Am I just that much of a pushover?" he asked outloud and was rewarded by a burst of confetti and a note.

He read the note, smiling at the small drawing of the dog in the corner before a thought struck him.

He quickly dashed towards Logans room and burst in, not bothering to knock.

"Sweet Crofters Jam!" Logan exclaimed as Roman made him jump.

"What?" Roman asked, momentarily forgetting his epiphany.

"You may have... Startled me... Slightly." Logan said, his hand on his chest where he could still feel his heart pounding. "What did you want that made you act like such a mindless degenerate?"

Roman stared at Logan for a few seconds, still slightly amused at his exclamation but remembered why he'd burst in in the first place.

"We have a major problem!" he said with wide eyes.

"What?" Logan asked.

"Virgil has mastered the art of puppy dog eyes and somehow convinced me to allow him to help Patton with his next prank and now they're scheming somewhere and oh no we're doomed." Roman blurted out in one breath, panting once he'd done.

Logans face paled slightly. "Maybe... Maybe he isn't as good at it as Patton is and we don't have anything to worry about."

Roman shook his head "He managed to use them on Patton to get him to turn off the confetti prank just for him. We are well and truly screwed."

Logan gulped. "Well, that's... Definitely an issue."

"Logan!" a voice called from somewhere down the corridor and Logan took a deep breath as he prepared to go see what he was needed for.

"I'll remember you." Roman said dramatically and Logan saluted him before walking down the corridor to find Virgil waiting for him.

"You know how you're trying to figure out how Patton managed the confetti thing?" Virgil started and Logan nodded warily. "could you stop and just let him have a bit of fun?"

"I am curious as to how he did it, I need to know." Logan said and Virgil sighed.

"Surely the mystery of it is better than actually knowing though?" Virgil said, his voice getting quieter and sadder.

Logan almost caved in but said in a determined voice "No, I want to know how he managed it."

When Virgil didn't appear to react in anyway Logan wondered why Roman had been so worried. At least until he heard a soft sad voice.

"Logan, please could you just let him have one little secret? It's not hurting anyone or anything." Virgils large eyes were staring directly into his soul, or at least they would have been, if he had one, given that he was an aspect of Thomas's personality.

"I... Uh..." Logan stuttered, trying to remain firm in his decision to keep trying to work out what Patton was doing.

"I guess I'll go tell Patton I failed then." Virgil said his eyes starting to well up with tears and Logan suddenly burst out "alright, alright, I'll stop trying to figure out what he's doing."

Virgil immediately brightened up "Thanks Logan, I'll go tell Patton the good news and he'll be ever so grateful to you. Who knows you may even..." he leaned forward and whispered the next part "Get a thank you kiss from him."

Logan went red as Virgil turned around and walked away. He had no idea how Virgil knew about his feelings for Patton but one thing was for sure. Roman had been right.

Virgil had mastered the art of puppy dog eyes as well and Roman and Logan were in for a rough time. Or as Patton would say... A ruff time.

Logans eyes widened in horror as he realised what he'd just thought and he quietly muttered "I give up, my life is over now."

There was a burst of confetti above him and as it settled on his shoulders he couldn't help but whisper "fuck."

Tags:@amethystdarkwolf @mcfreakin-childproof-caps @patchworkofstars @kitkat-doodles @unikornavenger @dolphin-squirrel @sympathetic-deceit-trash @starryfirefliesbloggo @cakercanart @neonb-fly @kaymischief25

#patton sanders #virgil sanders #just an anxious mess's fics #roman sanders #logan sanders #logicality #prinxiety #sanders sides

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vkelleyart · 6 years ago

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I love your nyc sketches and I was wondering what’s your technique? Do you go freestyle or do you draw ruff proportions and silhouettes and then go into detail ? 👀

*dances* Thank you so much! I’ve recently been trying to spend more time with my pencil (as opposed to the tablet), and I’m so glad that you like what I’ve drawn. :)

To answer your question, considering the NYC picture is a cityscape and the picture would ultimately become a gift for a friend, I did my due diligence and plotted everything out using my straight-edge after looking at a number of reference photos of the Manhattan Bridge and its famous vistas. (If I were just urban sketching, I’d start with silhouettes and just go to town. No pun intended. 😉)

So yeah, once I had a sense of how the buildings scaled next to the bridge in the distance, I established my horizon line and vanishing point, and used the ruler to outline the bridge and buildings, layout the windows, and plan the street.

After that, it’s sort of a meditative practice of adding in the basic structures like windows and brickwork so that everything is proportionate and fits properly with the perspective. Drawing a cityscape involves a LOT of lines, so all those need to be on the paper first, and then you can have fun with details.

(To answer your other ask, I took an online class on perspective drawing so I could do an image like this. It helped A LOT.)

Thanks so much for asking me!

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placetobenation · 4 years ago

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Welcome to TLC weekend WWE Universe.

There’s not a bad match on the card and yes, I’m including the Women’s Tag Team Championship Match into that statement as I’m very interested in who could be Asuka’s partner now that Lana is out. I’m betting on a returning Charlotte Flair taking the spot and the titles! Anything else for me would be a disappointment unless there’s a huge surprise we’re missing.

I love the top two title matches, but don’t like the fact that they have the same stipulation. They’ll both be good, but I’m predicting that Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens will be told better in the ring. Either way, we win. After all, we’re getting Drew McIntyre vs. AJ Styles for the very first time in history!

Could this be the downfall of Cedric Alexander in the Hurt Business? I can see THB winning the titles and then turning on Alexander the very next night on RAW just like Evolution did to Randy Orton way back when.

Speaking of Orton, we get our very first Firefly Inferno Match. I just hope they don’t make it too silly. The WWE’s track record of booking Bray Wyatt/The Fiend has not been kind to the maniacal one.

Sasha Banks vs. Carmella will be a standout too. Their SmackDown match last week was just the tip of the iceberg IMHO.

Predictions:

We should get new tag team champions for both the men and women and it would not surprise me if Carmella takes the SmackDown strap off Sasha with more to come down the road.

I don’t think McIntyre or Reigns lose at the top of the card. How will The Miz and/or Sheamus factor in though?

The Fiend fries Randy Orton.

TLC PPV – Updated Card

WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. AJ Styles

Universal Championship TLC Match: Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens

SmackDown Women’s Championship Match: Sasha Banks vs. Carmella

Firefly Inferno Match: The Fiend vs. Randy Orton

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler vs. Asuka & TBD

RAW Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day vs. Shelton Benjamin & Cedric Alexander

RAW

RESULTS

AJ Styles defeated Sheamus

The Hurt Business defeated The New Day & Jeff Hardy

Lana defeated Nia Jax

2-on-1 Handicap Match: John Morrison & The Miz defeated Keith Lee

MACE defeated Ricochet

Dana Brooke defeated Shayna Baszler by DQ

Riddle defeated MVP

Great start. Middling middle. Interesting final hour. That’s how I sum up Monday Night RAW this week.

Just a fantastic opening match with AJ Styles and Sheamus battling back-and-forth in an awesome match. Terrific way to set the tone of the night. There was a lot to unpack. Wonderful match in the ring for one. Styles and Sheamus could feud past the TLC PPV plus, how does Sheamus factor in to Sunday’s TLC PPV WWE Championship match? It was a good go-home for that match. Unfortunately for the rest of the show, that match was the best of the night.

The 6-man tag with The New Day, Jeff Hardy and The Hurt Business was just meh. I do like the story with the boisterous Cedric Alexander stepping out from his teammates’ shadow. It’s only a matter of time though until they beat down Alexander. It’ll seem very Four Horseman-like for sure when it happens.

Did @LanaWWE just DEFEAT @NiaJaxWWE on #WWERaw? YES! Was it worth it? Probably not. pic.twitter.com/YhMK5vxTFx

— WWE (@WWE) December 15, 2020

Thanks to the relentless attack by @NiaJaxWWE & @QoSBaszler, @WWEAsuka will need to find a NEW partner at #WWETLC!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/ugiIRCgcSP

— WWE (@WWE) December 15, 2020

Lana got an upset win over Nia Jax and got beat up so much, she’s out of the TLC Tag Team Title Match. Who’s going to replace her? I’m hoping a returning Charlotte Flair and I hope they keep it a surprise! I hope it’s NOT Dana Brooke or Mandy Rose. That would do nothing for me. It’s time for the Shayna Baszler/Nia Jax story to just go away. It’s not helping anyone at the moment.

RETRIBUTION continues to go nowhere. Turn Ricochet already and let he and Ali run roughshod for a bit. Drop the masks. Drop the silly names. Move on with some purpose.

Celebratory snack.#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/ct9hH00aOL

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) December 15, 2020

I would’ve liked to see more of Riddle and MVP than just a three-minute match. We do like BRO-Nuts and BRO-Nouns!

.@AJStylesOrg sends @DMcIntyreWWE through the table!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/U0s6RHd5Cr

— WWE (@WWE) December 15, 2020

In the final hour, after about 90 minutes of average fanfare, the hide and seek game with Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt/The Fiend worked better upon second watch than when I watched it live. Setting Wyatt on fire (again) gets compounded in the box when Wyatt turns into The Fiend. If he can do that, is there anything that Orton can do to him in the ring that would hurt him? Interesting but food for thought looking ahead. We got another ascension moment with Drew McIntyre and Styles to close the night. The physicality was nice, especially with AJ flying off the ladder onto McIntyre and through a table. The problem I have is that the WWE seems to always take one good idea and then just do it over and over again (i.e. ladder matches in NXT, DQ finishes, TLC Championship matches, etc.). It loses its luster after seeing a second and third time.

THE FIEND EMERGES.#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/Uh4WjkzZL5

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) December 15, 2020

It was a nice build-up for the TLC PPV, which at the end of the day, is what your go-home show should be. So, I’ll give RAW credit for that, but how they got there needs some work. Plus, there was one hell of Monday Night Football game going on between the Browns and Ravens at the same time!

NXT

RESULTS

Austin Theory & Johnny Gargano defeated Leon Ruff & KUSHIDA

Tommaso Ciampa defeated Tyler Rust

NXT Championship #1 Contenders Match: Kyle O’Reilly defeated Pete Dunne

Shotzi Blackheart defeated Indi Hartwell by DQ

Karrion Kross defeated Desmond Troy

Toni Storm defeated Rhea Ripley

This one just clicked! On every level.

"Hey, Priest! TIME'S UP."#WWENXT @WWEKarrionKross @Lady_Scarlett13 @ArcherOfInfamy pic.twitter.com/SMgebDqWQu

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) December 17, 2020

If you want star power, you got it. Karrion Kross returns with Scarlett for his first match since his shoulder injury. Best entrance in the biz. Squash match. Plus, Damien Priest’s ass is now his apparently.

WHAT. A. MATCH.

@KORcombat is headed to #NXTNYE to battle @FinnBalor for the #NXTTitle! pic.twitter.com/lnDuNIvbF9

— WWE (@WWE) December 17, 2020

If you wanted awesome matches, you got it. Kyle O’Reilly and Pete Dunne put on a war that easily could be one of NXT’s top matches of the year. Now, will Finn Balor get revenge on O’Reilly for breaking his jaw in three places or will it be O’Reilly’s first NXT Title run? Either way, we’ve got another barnburner to start the New Year. Rhea Ripley and Toni Storm gave us a very good main event (Holy Headbutt!), but I do still think they have another level to give us. Didn’t love the interference by Raquel Gonzalez as Storm and Ripley were doing just fine on their own, but it does keep the feud going with Ripley, so it makes sense. Besides, Storm has bigger (no pun intended) fish to fry as NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai is in her sights.

If you wanted fun to start the night, Johnny Gargano, Austin Theory, KUSHIDA and Leon Ruff gave it to us. The right team went over too as The Way tries to find their way to the top of NXT.

This punishment is becoming even MORE intense by the week!#WWENXT pic.twitter.com/1q342bn2nC

— WWE (@WWE) December 17, 2020

If you wanted another OMG vignetter from Xia Li and Boa, you ABSOLUTELY got it. I am SO intrigued to find out where it’s going but at the same time, I love the tease.

About the only thing that diydn’t quite hit it was the short DQ match with Shotzi Blackheart and Indi Hartwell. Kind of clumsy there and of course, way too short to see what they could really do. It was all about keeping Candace LeRae in the mix and busting that wacky trophy around Shotzi.

I do like the confidence from Isaiah “Swerve” Scott. Sounds like a heel turn for Mr. Scott as he gets a rematch with Jake Atlas this week.

#WWENXT #NXTNYE @DexterLumis pic.twitter.com/ZJlCPYLGE4

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) December 17, 2020

Lordy, lordy. Dexter Lumis is the New Year’s Evil Host! Interesting choice for a dude who rarely speaks!

Speedy recovery to Cameron Grimes – out four to six weeks with a leg injury. Just when he was hitting his stride to!

SMACKDOWN (on FS1)

RESULTS

SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match: The Street Profits defeated Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode

The Riott Squad defeated Billie Kay & Tamina

Otis defeated Shinsuke Nakamura

Bianca Belair defeated Bayley

#SmackDown @FightOwensFight @WWEUsos pic.twitter.com/qvJLNV3BAD

— WWE (@WWE) December 19, 2020

Apparently Friday night was deemed beat down Kevin Owens night. KO started the night looking for a fight with Roman Reigns and all he got for most of the next two hours was a back full of tables and chairs from Jey Uso and Reigns all over the WWE ThunderDome. That is until an ending we all saw coming right?!

#SmackDown @MontezFordWWE @AngeloDawkins pic.twitter.com/2lvIQ4pgUB

— WWE (@WWE) December 19, 2020

The Street Profits continue to look a little heelish lately. Pulling the tights to beat Robert Roode for the pin and successfully defend the tag team titles adds a little intrigue to the smoked wonders. I’m all for them having a bit of edge as their good guy, fun loving personas are a bit too much like The New Day for me. It would separate them a bit. So, we’ll have to wait and see if they really pull the trigger on it.

Billie Kay’s resume bit, always looking for a gig and a new partner is already old. The Riott Squad need something better to do to showcase their talents than beating up on BK every week.

.@CarmellaWWE’s champagne toast quickly spilled into a pre-#WWETLC brawl!

#SmackDown @SashaBanksWWE pic.twitter.com/2p5SZ8orda

— WWE (@WWE) December 19, 2020

Predictable was the Carmella toast to Sasha Banks. C’mon, did we really think Banks was at home? For the second straight week, we get a smashed champagne bottle across Banks’ back and yet there’s no blood. Silly, not believable and lacks common sense. Their TLC match deserved a better send-off.

The Alpha Academy delivers results! Otis takes down Shinsuke Nakamura for his first win under Chad Gable’s direction. Let’s give Gable more students please!

𝑯𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑾𝑾𝑬! Watch as 2020 get SLAMMED by @DMcIntyreWWE, @WWERomanReigns, @RandyOrton and more! pic.twitter.com/HMIwdPQDQ8

— WWE (@WWE) December 14, 2020

2021 kicking 2020’s ass was the laugh-out moment of the show. LOVED IT!

The SAMI goes to… @WWEBigE!?!?!#SmackDown @SamiZayn pic.twitter.com/tv7WptY1KK

— WWE (@WWE) December 19, 2020

Sami Zayn almost sweeping the first ever SAMI Awards was…well…very Sami Zayn. You could see Big E’s name coming up as an award winner from a mile away. The Superstar of the Year winner’s acceptance speech and proceeding throwdown of Zayn was hysterical. Let the feud begin as Big E finally has something to do on SmackDown.

Bayley vs. Bianca Belair was good, not great and a bit clunky at times. It was a good first effort but just shows they both have more to show against each other. Bayley was the right winner for their first outing. But, I’m sure we’ll see a few sequels in the upcoming weeks.

"At TLC I'm gonna take the Universal Title or I'm gonna die trying." – @FightOwensFight #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/n5ZSc4VSkI

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) December 19, 2020

Up to this week, I thought the WWE has done a very good job in showcasing Kevin Owens as a viable contender against Roman Reigns. Friday night, with a two-hour attack on KO, all they did is show that he can take a beating and get up. It didn’t give me any confidence he could actually beat Reigns for the title. Putting him through two tables, burying him under all the TLC plunder and then watching him rise from the broken booty to proclaim Reigns would have to basically kill him to keep him down proved that point. Now, don’t get me wrong, Sunday’s Universal Championship Match will be physical as hell and pure brutality, but there’s no doubt who will be holding the title when all is said and done. Roman Reigns is the King, the Face of the WWE, the Tribal Chief and the Head of the Table. Hands down. Period. End of sentence.

And then I watched Talking Smack. I wish the segment with Kevin Owens and Paul Heyman would’ve run on SmackDown. It was as intense and felt as real as it gets. It made me believe that Owens might actually have a chance against Reigns. With Owens telling Heyman to just listen as he was frightful of KO throwing him through a glass table, Owens reminded Reigns’ adviser of all the things he did before coming to WWE and how much he put his body through for much less than the coveted Universal Championship. Loved the segment. Loved the fact that it gave me a reason to watch the PPV. Loved that they made me believe in Owens again for Sunday night.

Heyman is so good on Talking Smack, it’s ridiculous. From the serious side with Owens to the indulging admiration for Bayley and the rub he gave to The Street Profits, he’s just the best at what he does.

Parting Shots:

As we head into the Christmas Holiday week, it makes me fondly remember the days of the Holiday Star Wars Classics back in WCCW at Reunion Arena. Remember this one from 1982 that started the Von Erichs vs. Freebirds feud as Michael Hayes was the guest referee for the Kerry Von Erich vs. Ric Flair NWA Heavyweight Title match. Talk about a match that ignited a storyline that lasted for years! Brilliant.

Coming up this week:

RAW: TLC Fallout

NXT: Jake Atlas vs. Isaiah “Swerve” ScottBronson Reed returns A Very Gargano Christmas

SMACKDOWN: TLC Fallout

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at [email protected]. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

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deadcactuswalking · 5 years ago

Text

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 14th July 2019 (Post Malone, Young Thug, Lizzo, Dave)

Top 10

This week, we actually have a new number-one, but I find it hard to be invested in “Senorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello hitting the top after moving up one spot from last week, especially because their limelight will be taken back by Ed Sheeran next week with the No. 6 Collaborations Project, although again, Sheeran has ran himself into a corner if he wants an album bomb (None of his singles released between “BLOW” and “Antisocial” could have possibly charted in the UK). This is Mendes’ second UK #1, his first since “Stitches” in 2015, and Cabello’s second as well, her first since “Havana”. It shouldn’t matter, it’ll be Ed’s next week.

After eight weeks at #1 since its debut, “I Don’t Care” by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber, a pretty pathetic song in my opinion but far from the worst on the project, is now down one spot to number-two. Once again, it’ll rebound, and if it doesn’t, there’ll be a Sheeran debut to replace both this and “Senorita” pretty quickly.

Oh, yeah, speaking of an Ed, “Beautiful People” featuring Khalid has surprisingly kept steady from its debut last week at number-three.

“Hold Me While You Wait” by Lewis Capaldi is up a single spot to number-four... why?

We also have our first and only top 10 debut, “Goodbyes” by Post Malone at number-five, featuring a verse from... Young Thug. I couldn’t tell you if this is Young Thug’s anything since his Wikipedia discography page is incredibly uncooperative, but this is Post Malone’s tenth UK Top 40 hit and seventh UK Top 10. We’ll talk more about it later, and I have some things to say about it to say the least.

“Crown” by Stormzy takes a two-space hit down to number-six.

Somehow, whilst now assisted by a (Pretty bad) remix with Young Thug and Mason Ramsey, the kid who yodelled in Walmart a couple years back, and a new animated music video about Area 51, “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, etc. is still at number-seven for like the fourth week in a row. We’ll see if this is in freefall or not next week.

Oh, and “Cross Me” by Ed Sheeran featuring Chance the Rapper and PNB Rock is down two spaces to number-eight. Whether this means it’ll rebound or be completely replaced by another Sheeran track like “Antisocial” or probably “Take Me Back to London”, again, we’ll find out next week.

“Wish You Well” by Sigala and Becky Hill isn’t moving at number-nine.

Finally, Mabel’s “Mad Love” has dipped down two spaces to #10 but I don’t think this is the end of this song, this can be a genuine summer smash; it fits all the requirements.

Climbers

We have a couple of climbers within the UK Top 40 but not many and none of these are even all that good. I mean, I’m not complaining about “Higher Love” by Kygo and Whitney Houston jumping up ten spaces to #26. Oh, yeah, and by not many I meant none at all, this is the only climber above five spaces in the entire UK Top 40.

Fallers

We have a lot more of these, though; in fact we have plenty here to talk about. “Kilos” by Bugzy Malone featuring Aitch is once again down ten spaces, this time to #40, so sadly Bugzy doesn’t get that summer hit he was expected to reach in terms of longevity but I’m sure a top 20 hit will look good down the line, and we should be thankful it didn’t drop out from the debut entirely, because honestly I expected it to. Elsewhere at #33, “Summer Days” by Martin Garrix, Macklemore and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy (Yes, that’s how it’s been credited since release) is down seven spaces, nearing “Piece of Your Heart” by MEDUZA and Goodboys at #32, down eight spots from last week. Billie Eilish’s “bad guy” is slowly making its way out now, down five to #23, with Drake’s “Money in the Grave” featuring Rick Ross doing the same, but prematurely at #22. Otherwise, yeah, there’s not much to speak of here, so let’s move on.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

There’s one drop out here that’s gone from the top 75 here and it’s unfortunate but seems to be because of streaming cuts, and it’s “Guten Tag” by Hardy Caprio and DigDat, out from #35 after nine weeks, but it had its run and never really exploded as much as it could have, but again, top 20 hit for a week, nobody’s complaining, The biggest fall otherwise is “If I Can’t Have You” by Shawn Mendes which probably also had that streaming cut in its tenth week, falling out from #19. Elsewhere, “Don’t Check on Me” by Chris Brown featuring Justin Bieber and Ink is out from the debut at #29, “Easier” by 5 Seconds of Summer is finally out from #37 and the deplorable “Heaven” by the late Avicii featuring Chris Martin is out from #39. Oh, and “Giant” by Calvin Harris and Rag’n’Bone Man is out from #40 AGAIN. It’ll be back next week or in a couple of weeks, but its chart run has been pretty interesting to follow recently. There aren’t any returning entries, so let’s get straight to the new arrivals.

NEW ARRIVALS

#37 – “Truth Hurts” – Lizzo

Produced by Ricky Reed and Tele – Peaked at #5 in New Zealand and #6 in the US

Our first two new arrivals are songs that are at least two years old and are just now charting for various reasons, and I’m just glad the UK Top 40 has no recurrent rule because there are some chart moments that could never happen in the US without Billboard getting a bit stingy and inconsistent about what’s allowed and what’s not. This song in particular was dropped in 2017 with a music video and didn’t exactly make waves, mostly because Lizzo wasn’t as known but she does well critically (And did at the time too with her two studio albums she abandoned once she blew up and the image changed), and it was never planned to be on an album. When the song was featured in a Netflix film, Something Great, it clicked with audiences, who would later use it as a TikTok meme because of course they did, and then it replaced “Juice” as the promoted single. Viral sleeper hits from years ago in your career breaking out in the midst of an album cycle is naturally pretty awkward. Anyways, this eventually debuted at #50 on the Hot 100 and became an unexpected massive worldwide smash for the rapper-singer, becoming a US Top 10 hit and now entering here in the UK charts, becoming her second UK Top 40 single after “Juice”. And now for the song itself, I’ll try and keep it brief because I don’t have much to say about it. My stance for now is that it’s pretty good, I like the gliding strings and synths that build up to a pretty fun drop, especially with Lizzo’s vocals and lyrics, which are about boy problems but in a way that’s very sassy and seems oddly personal, directed to someone from Detroit, who she replaced with someone on the Minnesota Vikings team. Some of these punchlines are pretty witty and especially well-delivered with her messy, off-key singing and constantly shifting flow, often with janky overlap between bars. The chorus is really catchy, like it’s not “Baby Shark” level infectious but it’s up there, especially with the little backing vocals accentuating the lyrics. I like the voice cracks in the second verse, and it demonstrates a point where I have an issue with the song, but that may be the point. For a song that seems so confident and full of braggadocio, everything around it wants you to think it’s a lot less stable, with synths that kind of just glide in, the off-key singing, and the badly-mixed trap percussion that’s especially noticeable when watching the video. That could be really clever as it shows the lyrics are mostly a front to cover how pained Lizzo is after this break-up, or maybe I’m completely over-thinking a trap-rap song about being “100% that b****”. Probably that one.

#36 – “Thiago Silva” – Dave and AJ Tracey

Produced by 169

Now, this is a less gradual rise to popularity. It was released all the way back in May 2016 by the two UK rappers who have later blown up and made separate names for themselves. It didn’t get much notice in the mainstream because of course it didn’t, it was 2016. British hip hop was only starting to get more chart presence, and the general public isn’t going to gravitate to two newcomers without an album out at the time, more likely a legacy artist who makes safer variations of grime and trap. Nevertheless, Dave and AJ Tracey are now pretty massive, so their collaborative single from three years ago was later certified Silver (No pun intended) in December of last year, and eventually charted because of a viral performance from Glastonbury 2019, where in the June festival, because AJ Tracey couldn’t make it, Dave called up a fan called Alex who knew all of the lyrics to recite them with Dave. He killed it, did an incredibly awkward interview on Good Morning Britain afterwards, and here we are, with Dave’s twelfth UK Top 40 hit and AJ Tracey’s sixth. I have no idea who Thiago Silva is or what his prominence is, but I know he’s a Brazillian footballer and that the song isn’t actually about Thiago Silva, it’s actually surprisingly generic coming from Dave, but you shouldn’t expect much substance from a grime track made for clubs, and he still has his typical puns that are almost so awful that they tread the line between being so bad it’s good and just circling back around to being awful again.

True say, I ain’t really a drinker / But I got love for brandy like Ray J

The beat is a re-work of influential grime group Ruff Sqwad’s song “Pied Piper”, and I always like when artists of a similar genre call upon some of the works that inspired them for samples... the instrumental takes that low-fidelity sample, add some bumping 808s and trading verses from Dave and AJ. AJ Tracey kills it, and you can tell he was perfectly prepared for “Ladbroke Grove” years later, because he knows how to flow on a grime beat, and actually sounds quite professional. You can’t really blame Dave since he’s very young at the time this was recorded and released, but his verses all suck here, his performance overall is often somewhat off-beat, and sounds really janky anyway, mostly because of how it’s mixed (Badly, if you couldn’t figure that out) and how Dave isn’t recognisable, he sounds like AJ a lot of the time and switches through a lot of different simple flows and cadences without ever keeping his character. The lyrical content is nothing to speak of either. I wish I liked this a lot more, to be honest, but it’s not bad at all.

#34 – “Castles” – Freya Ridings

Produced by Dan Nigro, Mark Crew, Dan Priddy and Yves Rothman – Peaked at #3 in Scotland

Remember Freya Ridings? I sure don’t, she’s boring and unrecognisable from a set of “genuine, down-to-earth” singers, and not just female singers; she’s very much from the same strand of bore as Lewis Capaldi. Her last two singles, including UK Top 10 hit “Lost Without You”, were pretty, I guess, and that’s the main reason I tend to give her a pass over Capaldi – her singles actually sound decently produced and competent, despite overly breathy singing and mostly consisting of a few piano notes and string loops. Her writing isn’t recognisable at all as I said and she doesn’t have a signature style, but she doesn’t need to be. Just deliver it well, and that’s all that should matter, but she’s not convincing. She’s also not everywhere like Capaldi, so I guess that explains my preference. Anyway, this is her second UK Top 40 hit and I don’t care. It’s cut from the same cloth as a lot of indie-rock, which I’m surprised by, but it lacks any weight and gut, it feels like it doesn’t have much grandiosity in its production as a build-up until that chorus comes in, and to be fair to her and her writers, it’s a pretty incredible chorus. I feel like Ridings’ vocals aren’t mixed all too well, they’re a bit quiet until they become multi-tracked in the pre-chorus. That’s enough complaining though, because honestly this is a pretty good song. The use of Ridings’ vocal runs as a synth that goes from the left to right channel in the post-chorus is inspired, the addition of the children’s choir is nonsensical but as a kiss-off that is not grounded at all, hell, I’d be surprised if Freya Ridings literally didn’t build a castle out of this guy’s love, or whatever she’s saying, she has a bit of indie girl enunciation syndrome. Overall, it takes a while to get going and there a couple of nitpicks but this is pretty above average at least and it might grow on me.

#20 – “Home P***y” – D-Block Europe

Produced by Pro Beats

These guys suck. Young Adz and Dirtbike LB, because, yes, those are their names, are pretty painfully bad singers covered in cheap auto-tune with bland trap or Afroswing beats leased off of YouTube, and have a name as a collective that they’ll probably have to legally change after Article 50 kicks in. I don’t hate these people directly, obviously, but their music bothers me mostly because British hip hop is peaking right now in critical acclaim and popularity, and there’s a bunch of these no-names like B Young and Aitch taking advantage of that. Aitch has charisma and unwarranted enthusiasm, B Young is an awful songwriter and is unintentionally pretty hilarious because of that... so what do these dudes have? Anyway, this is their third UK Top 40 hit (Second UK Top 20) and I feel like I should explain the name first, and that’s because this song is about getting all types of girls as you’re on the road touring, but the sex from your girlfriend, or alternatively, from people in your hometown, keeps you “safe”. That’s kind of creepy and also kind of... sweet(?), but who cares? This is trash appealing to the lowest common denominator with barely any thought put into it that’ll be out of the charts in four weeks and that’s being generous. What’s funny enough here to mock then? Well, they start the song with “This ain’t no love song, this is a thug song”, in a childish inflection with a lot of reverb as if it’s some kind of dramatic profound quote, before he makes an incoherent noise and the producer tag shows up, and it’s one of those tags you can get for cheap, I imagine, it’s that robotic female voice you hear on a lot of no-name producer tags. The way Young Adz says anything is in a very childish manner, so it’s always really odd when he says he’s got hitters, or just the words “home p***y” in general. It fits when he’s shouting “skrrt skrrt” ad-libs over the whole track, because his multi-tracked vocals clip and there are no dynamics here at all. Dirtbike LB gives up his rhyme scheme with an Auto-Tuned moan two bars into his verse. Here are some stupid lyrics.

This the last time but not the last time like befooooooooooore

Is that a sentence?

Talkin’ on the net, you’ve got a voice now?

Why are you angry? It’s a sex song about people you trust, why would you go off on women you don’t trust? This is a pretty toxic attitude to have too, that people can’t speak up about relationships after they’ve ended because they stayed quiet and subservient throughout, and that’s not just women, that can be anyone in a relationship.

I hate your friends, I think they’re fake, I hope they all down

Oh, Jesus, okay, well, on that note, I’ve got to stop talking smack about Young Adz.

#11 – “So High” – MIST and Fredo

Produced by Preditah

Okay, this is another trading-bars cut from two British rappers that are very similar musically and in terms of media personality, image, popularity/status and everything else. Essentially, this is our third twin-rap cut that debuted in the Top 40 today, and it’s MIST’s second UK Top 40, first Top 20 and highest-peaking song ever, as well as Fredo’s sixth UK Top 40 and third Top 20. I’m not expecting this to be anything good but I am expecting it to be much more professional in comparison to our last song, and I’m really not surprised that I have next to nothing to say about this song, like at all. It’s not bad, and I love how Fredo flips Fred Gibson’s “Fred again” producer tag in his voice, with the vocal sample acting as the refrain being actually pretty crisp, but MIST is kind of off-beat and the lyrical content is really uninteresting, it’s about treating a woman right but still being a boss or whatever, I don’t know, it feels very much like an early-mid 2000s rap/R&B fusion. I don’t care, though, because I can’t tell MIST and Fredo from each other and wow, this write-up is short.

#5 – “Goodbyes” – Post Malone featuring Young Thug

Produced by Brian Lee and Louis Bell – Peaked at #1 in Belgium and #3 in the US

This is the new surprise smash single from Post Malone, “Goodbyes”, and I said on Twitter the day this was released that it was exactly what I expected from Post as I follow his career path, becoming less of a trap-R&B crooner and much more of a massive pop star who incorporates a lot of hip-hop flows into his brand of depressing, alcohol-induced bouts of strained vocal performances, as well as trap percussion into his often kind of bubblegum pop hits. He hasn’t walked too far away from trap yet, so I think this is where he takes himself away from the SoundCloud rap scene he burst out from, as he uses somewhat of a rap flow in the verses but it is definitely infused with melodic inflections and some syllable-stuttering that reminds me of an awful emo-pop or pop punk song that Post probably would have been into.

Me and Kurt feel the same / Too much pleasure is pain

Yeah, emo-rap guys tend to cite Kurt Cobain although I see more resemblance in Sum 41 than I do Nirvana or any grunge band for that matter. “Need to take off the e-e-edge,” “I’m addic—I’m addicted to you”, it’s one in the same. Anyway, after an unnecessary bout of silence, the song starts with some wavy, dreamy synths, before Post comes in with that “rap” flow that sounds great in that raspy voice he can put on, but that pre-chorus that slowly quiets down and drifts off at the end of each line is perfect as it shows a muddled mindset when a break-up happens, and that’s why some of the lyrics here are janky or even toxic, it’s the initial jerk reaction and all of the awful flaws that Post can think of are coming up at once because he’s confused and just wants this woman out as soon as possible so he doesn’t do something on impulse that can be dangerous, and he knows that he’s not in a place where he’s safe and he could hurt someone, he’s mentally unstable, and is almost scared for the girl he’s breaking up with, which is all heavily implied by the chorus, which by the way when that hi-hat kicks in and later the sub-bass with the contrasting synth melody, oh, man, that’s great. The drop is effective too, and I love how Post flip-flops tonally, from the silly e-e-edge refrains to precision f-strikes in such a way that is as messy as the relationship. God, and then Thugger comes in. Now, I thought he was jarring at first but after having this in rotation, oh my God, this verse is incredible. Thugger’s verse is more generic about these struggles and uses some... questionable language about slicing and dicing this woman, but those first two lines are perfect.

I want you out of my life / I want you back here tonight

It demonstrates greatly in an almost bipolar fashion how unstable this relationship and by extension, Post himself, is in this song, and pretty much sums the whole song up. Then Thugger starts belting about not wanting her to turn the TV off because he’s watching a fight, because, he’s Young Thug. The way he just yells all this mundane problems he has with this woman is cathartic in a way I didn’t initially expect it to be, and it’s actually really powerful, especially that last “YEA YEA YEAH”. It’s a bit dodgy structure-wise, though, and the mixing is actually pretty awful, with the trap percussion sounding quite cheap, Post’s wailing sometimes being overproduced, the clipping on nearly every instrument here showing how rushed it was and it’s essentially unfinished mixing and mastering-wise, but God this is a perfect song otherwise. I love this, I hope it gets a remix but when everything’s peaking in the mix, honestly, it might just add to the power of the lyrics. I’ll be talking about this more in my best list, I’ll elaborate then.

Conclusion

It should be pretty obvious that Best of the Week is going to Post Malone and Young Thug for “Goodbyes”, with Honourable Mention being Freya Ridings’ this week for “Castles”. I know, I’m surprised too, but it’s slim pickings and while I think “Truth Hurts” is probably a better song, I want to shout out the lesser-known song. My goal here is to talk about British pop music critically because there’s not many people who do as regularly as I do, and honestly I’ll be biased to British artists due to this. Lizzo is still cool though. Worst of the Week goes to D-Block Europe for “Home P***y”, with Dishonourable Mention going to... okay, well, there’s none this week and the Honourable Mention is tied with Lizzo for “Truth Hurts”. I forgot most of this stuff was just kind of okay. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more musical ramblings and I’ll see you next week!

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