#kip-howls

[kippycoyote]

shoutout to the therians, pet regressors, kemonomimi, miscecanis, nonhumans, etc that have petplay kinks / kinks related to their identities

you’re allowed to enjoy something in both a sfw and nsfw way

yall are valid and i love you

[squishosaur]

ruining his reputation

[canidae-latrans]

🍂✮ -⃝⃤✮🌾🐾🪵✮ -⃝⃤✮🌲🐾🏕️✮ -⃝⃤✮⛰️

About Me!!

🐾 — Howdy! My name is Hound, Kipper, or Kip, and I’m a coyote and hound-breed dog therian!

🌾 — I use he/they/it pronouns, as well as canine neopronouns; I’m transmasc nonbinary, and a butch lesbian/neptunic :3

🪵 — I’m a minor!! NSFW/18+ only blogs need not interact, but I’m fine with chatting with folks of all ages as long as they’re chill with chatting with me.

🌔 — I’m ethnically, culturally, and religiously Ashkenazi Jewish; alongside my other queer identities I identify as נברא בין השמשות/Nivrah Bein HaShmashot (“born between the suns”), which is an umbrella term for queer Jews that you can learn more about here!!

⛰️ I’m an artist and (extremely) beginner quadrobist; my askbox is currently open for requests for therian/alterhuman icon edits, moodboards, and more!

Outside of my therianthropy, my interests include:

⭐️ Biology, genetics, canines/canids, and environmental science

⭐️ Linguistics and anthropology

⭐️ Indie/folk punk music (I love The Crane Wives, MGMT, The Mountain Goats, Modest Mouse, and Bronze Radio Return :3)

⭐️ Sci-fi and fantasy literature (my all-time favorite books are Neuromancer, Seveneves, Nettle & Bone, When The Angels Left The Old Country, Station Eleven, and the Inheritance Cycle!!)

⭐️ CoD: Black Ops, Black Ops Cold War, and Ghosts

⭐️ Supernatural (as in, the 2005 CW show :P)

⭐️ Legion (FX, 2017)

Feel free to send me asks or DM me if you want to chat!! I’m hoping to make more therian/alterhuman friends :D

(I follow and interact from my main blog, @yell-hound; if you want to hear me howl about Judaism and fandom stuff, you can find my posts about those topics there!!)

[blackjackkent]

A drabble dedicated to @rhysintherain because this has been living rent-free in my head since I posted yesterday about Rakha and Lae'zel going to shake down Zorru:

------

Karlach settles into camp quickly. She has spent a lot of time on the move as part of Zariel's army, and part of being a soldier is being able to make herself comfortable in any random bit of space big enough for a kip. Hells - having her own tent and space around it is practically palatial compared to the bunkroom full of cambions that was her primary resting place in Avernus.

Almost the first thing she does as soon as she's got her tent set up is sprawl out on the ground and stretch her arms and legs out as far as they'll go in all directions and let the sun beat down on her. It's not really home, not quite yet, but it's close. This is the happiest she's been in a long time.

She's halfway to dozing off for a comfortable nap when she realizes Rakha has wandered back and is just...standing there, staring at her.

Karlach opens one eye and peers up at the half-orc curiously. "Can I help you?"

She's already learning that her new friend is kind of a strange one, even without what she's been told about the other woman's memory loss and intrusive murder thoughts. Rakha doesn't always seem to know how to talk, and certainly not what normal conversation sounds like; she just says things, blunt and clipped, without concern for niceties. And she blinks just slightly too little, which makes her steady gaze a smidgen unnerving.

"I have a question," she says.

"Oh?" Karlach sits up slowly into a cross-legged position, jerks her head to indicate Rakha should sit down. "Well, let's hear it, then."

Rakha does not sit - does not, in fact, move at all. "Your race. Is it tiefling or teeth-ling?" she asks, with the same level of gravity she might have brought to ripping Karlach's head off.

Karlach blinks rapidly. "Sorry, what?"

"You are like those in the grove. The refugees," Rakha says. It's not a question, merely a collection of facts gathered for appraisal. "Gale called you tieflings, after we killed two rescuing Lae'zel. Lae'zel, however, pronounced it teeth-lings." She squints at Karlach intently. "I require your clarification."

"Oh." It's not really fair to laugh - and really, Karlach's amusement isn't at Rakha's lack of knowledge. It's the incredible seriousness of the demand, as if this question lies on par with all the unanswered ones about the worms in their heads. "Well, I can understand the confusion," she says, keeping her expression serious with an extreme effort of will.

"Yes." Rakha folds her arms. "Lae'zel would not mislead me, I think," she adds pensively after a slight pause. "She guided me from the nautiloid. She speaks with knowledge and without pretense."

"And Gale doesn't?" Karlach grins crookedly.

Rakha's expression twists with something like confusion. "I do not understand Gale," she admits slowly. "He knows much I wish to learn. But I feel foolish when he speaks."

"Too many words," Karlach agrees commiseratingly.

"Yes."

Well, it's almost an act of kindness, then, if that's how she feels about it, Karlach thinks to herself. A morale boost for her friendship with Lae'zel. It'd be doing her a favor.

But really, it's just the fact that it's the first time she's had the opportunity to do something funny in almost a decade, and she's not emotionally strong enough to resist that temptation.

"Well, I can tell you for certain, it's definitely teeth-ling," she says, serious as a funeral. "Lae'zel was right on top of it."

Rakha nods gravely. "Ah. Excellent." A pause. "Thank you."

She turns and walks away. Karlach crawls at once into her tent, curls into her bedroll, stuffs the pillow in her mouth, and howls with laughter.

-----

"This is your doing, isn't it?" Gale asks her several days later.

"No idea what you're talking about," Karlach says around a mouthful of the camp's latest attempt at "stew". It's a particularly unimpressive attempt tonight; the vast majority is carrots, and the rest is a very uninspiring cut of meat that is uncomfortably grey. And yet, somehow, it's still better than anything Zariel ever fed her.

"Rakha called Zevlor a teeth-ling to his face this afternoon."

Karlach lets out strangled giggle. "Oh, my gods. Seriously?" She drops her spoon back into her bowl with a clatter and gives him her full attention. "Tell me everything. What did his face look like?"

"Even my prodigious powers of description fail me on the subject. I think we may count ourselves lucky that he was too perplexed to be offended," Gale says dryly. "But most significantly to the point, any attempts to correct her afterwards have come to naught. She claimed that you were responsible for this particular crime against pronunciation and considered the matter irrevocably closed."

"Hmph," Karlach says cheerfully. "It was Lae'zel who came up with it. I just confirmed it."

He rolls his eyes. "You're enjoying this linguistic catastrophe, aren't you?"

"Listen, Gale - she's not hurting anyone, and the last time I had a little stupid harmless fun was 1481. Give me a break."

[sincerely-sofie]

Ruby anon here! I’m pretty interested in all this aura lore stuff! What kinds of aura do Twig, Kip, the future trio, Spindle, Opal, Ruby, Lucky, Sen, Manaphy and Bud have?

(Also what about Yeet’s and Delete’s, because I’m assuming Ark would be able to pick up on their aura and that would be a tell when they’re around).

(Referencing this post)

I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the aura lore! The way I’ve written auras is very personal to me, as its based on part of my experience with mental illness and psychosis— so to hear it’s interesting is very meaningful :> As for everyone’s auras:

Twig: The feel of sun on your skin, the taste of fresh greens, the smell of summer air, the sound of a crackling fire keeping the house warm, and the shock of cool water when diving into the deep end of a pool.

Ruby: The numbness and exhaustion that comes after a long cry session, sympathy for a pitiful looking inanimate object, a hug that holds you together when you’re falling apart, and the texture and taste of a sugar cube.

Spindle: The sting of antiseptic, the feel of velvet lining the inside of an antique music box, the taste of a slightly-melted candy bar, the weight of your favorite stuffed toy in your arms, and the feeling of being too cold but unwilling to get up and grab a blanket.

Opal: The smell of air at dawn, the slight burning in your limbs when you stretch them out as far as you can, the feel of mist on your skin, and the taste of a cold glass of water after a hard day’s work.

Kip: The taste of whipped cream, the weathered texture of your favorite childhood blanket, the warmth of a mug filled with a hot drink, the crunch of old parchment, and the prick of a thorn against your ankle.

Lucky: The ache in your eyes after staying up too late reading, the taste of hot chocolate, the weight of a hand in yours, curling up with a warm blanket, and the sound of a sigh uttered in your sleep.

Sen: The echo of your own voice singing alone in an empty cavern, the taste of cinnamon, the feel of an ice pack against sore muscles, the smell of coins held in your hand while rushing to try and pay for a toy as a child, the emptiness of a porcelain doll, and the hollow ache in your bones that comes with deep longing.

Manaphy: The smell of fresh air at the seaside, the cradle-like rocking of a boat on the waves, the warmth of sun-soaked sand beneath your feet, the sensation of wind whipping around you as you lean into the gale, and the feel of holding an ice cube in your palm.

Grovyle: The unexpected tartness of one berry eaten after a sweet one, the softness of lambs-ear plant leaves, the steadiness of an oak tree’s branches amidst a howling storm, an aching exhaustion that has gone ignored for too long, and a fiercely protective presence.

Dusknoir: The background sound of a vinyl record playing in the next room over, the smell of an apple pie baking, the glint of gemstones in a display case, the sound of a sleepy voice reading a bedtime story, and the feel of a hand placed over a forehead to check for fever.

Celebi: The feel of crabgrass, the smell of crushed basil leaves, raw-cut gemstones, the sight of rolling meadows filled with tall grass waving in the wind, and the sensation of laying down for a nap after a long day.

Bud: The sight of a pruned branch weeping sap, the smell of cut grass, the feel of a kiss over a bandaid placed with care, and the burning in your legs when running as fast as you can in a field full of other kids.

Yeet & Delete: (They’d have very similar auras, to the point one is easily mistaken for the other! Sharing similar emotions and experiences oftentimes does that to individuals’ auras) The surprise of biting into unripe fruit when expecting something sweet, the scrape of talons on bare skin, a glare when a sympathetic glance is what you expected, a keen awareness and fear of the fact that you can’t see directly behind you, and limbs that are shaking with fear and anger in equal parts.

[gryphye]

Where Wolf?

I had a new story idea I wanted to put down. I don't write as much as I did, so every good new story idea gets documented afore I lose it. Found this in my collection files. Thought I'd post it for some sweetness on your dash.

---

Where wolf? There wolf!

Sitting in the easy chair with the book propped up in the corner. She insists on larger print these days, and it’s a little hard to be neat turning the page, but she’s learned to manage. All the other wolf pups sit below her on the floor, keeping time, so I assume somehow she’s reading to them. Don’t ask me how.

They come up every full moon, sheepish young people and a couple lost souls who don’t know why, but feel compelled to come here. She’s always the last one to arrive, wrestling with her cane as she unfolds herself out of a rusty old pick up truck.

I had found her out in the woods, that first time. Laud has it been so long ago? She was just a young pup then. Had no idea about her other side. I brought her home just like all the other strays I find out here, set her up in the barn for the night. Came out the next morning with a bag of chow and there she was, naked as a jay bird. Human too. This was back in the early twenties, you know. So much we didn’t understand then.

Once she explained how she sometimes set out into the emptiness to roam, I felt more at ease. I fed her eggs and biscuits as she told the tale, all wrapped up in grandam’s old house wrap. That’s when I offered her my barn to start and end her run from, so’s she wouldn’t end up in the same situation again. I never saw a woman break down and cry so fast before. I think that’s when I lost my heart to her. For decades, she was the only one who took me up on the offer. Never did learn what she did out in our world. She’d bring me good cheeses and jams from the city when she visited, shared a bit of tech now and then. That’s about it.

Then all the pups started showing up. What the war and all, well, whoever was taking care of them before must have not made it through. My girl, she just adopted them. Took them out with her and ended up back in the old barn, nestled into the straw like the domesticated beasts they are.

Excuse me, forget I used that term. They are not beasts, in any form. As you can see, they are thinking creatures. Don’t you ever forget that. Say I called them domesticated darlings.

Afraid of them? Pshaw, never! Like I said, it’s been decades since this started. Not once did they try to bite me, or even growl. All that nonsense of the infection spread by bite is just total rot, just like them anti-vaxxers that rattled out lies about causing autism. Same load of bull crap. Yes, you can quote me on that part. It’s utter stupidity that anyone believes that stuff.

What do you mean, normal people like us? I ain’t normal, but no, I’m not one of them either. I’m just a friend, looking out for them. I know gun laws aren’t so loose as they used to be, but I still got my daddy’s shot gun. Buck shot is right painful when you get it in the seat. You remember that, got me? I don’t want no one coming up here trying to mess with our pups.

Maybe I shouldn’t have given you this interview after all. You know how to find your way back down to the main roa… Okay, that’s better. Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, the pups.

Like I said, that war ripped up a lot of families, and I figure they’re no different. They speak all sorts of languages, but the wolf language they share quite easily. I think that’s how they all found their way here. They home in on her, when she howls for them. Ain’t a single one of us alive would turn our backs on grandma, and neither would they.

Look, it’s starting to get a little late. They’re gonna be kipping out for the night, so we should wrap this up an let them get some sleep. The world out there is pretty rough on ‘em, so this is a good place for them. C’mon up to the house for a cup of coffee. Then I’ll see you on your way. It’s about time to get the headphones on, to drown out their howls. Trust me, thirty two wolves, three bears, and a cougar put up a pretty good racket.

Yeah I said cougar. What, you thought the condition hadn’t mutated? Of course it has. You want me to, I’ll do my best to explain it to you. It’ll only cost you another three hundred for the rest of the story.

[hampaanirvi]

Cryptid researcher NPTs

— Aiden, Terry, Mico, Milo, Richard, Kaahka, Eric, Crypt, Camo, Camera, File, Flash, Marlin, Marko, Kip, Kit, Rook, Magpie

— crypt/crypts, re/search/researchself, xe/xum, xe/xim, ce/cir, dae/daem, cae/caer, unknown/unknowns, unk/nowns, forest/forests, prairie/prairies, quiet/quiets, eerie/eeries, howl/howls, yowl/yowls, pen/pens, scratch/scratchs, blood/bloods, sample/samples, static/statics, camera/cameras, lense/lenses, 💉/💉s, 👁️/👁️s, 🧬/🧬s, 💽/💽s, 📹/📹s, 📷/📷s, 🧫/🧫s, 🧪/🧪s, 🥼/🥼s, ⚗️/⚗️s, 🥽/🥽s, 🔬/🔬s, 🏷️/🏷️s

— the researcher, the mauled cryptozoologist, the cryptozoologist, the camera man, the eerie adventurer, prn who researches, the therist, prn who has seen wildest things, the one who isn't scared anymore, the curious man/thing/etc, the

@npt-archive @id-pack-archive

[eternal--returned]

. . . many with their braids spliced up with the hair of other beasts until they trailed upon the ground and their horses' ears and tails worked with bits of brightly colored cloth and one whose horse's whole head was painted crimson red and all the horsemen's faces gaudy and grotesque with daubings like a company of mounted clowns, death hilarious, all howling in a barbarous tongue and riding down upon them like a horde from a hell more horrible yet than the brimstone land of christian reckoning, screeching and yammering and clothed in smoke like those vaporous beings in regions beyond right knowing where the eye wanders and the kip jerks and drools.

Cormac McCarthy ֍ Blood Meridian (1985)

[kippycoyote]

intro post ☆

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── hello hello!! call me kip (or lake), i'm a 20 year old transmasc :D

i’m new to the whole therian and miscecanis community so please be patient with me <3

i'm also the owner of @drippidog, i just wanted to make a separate, less nsft blog, although... this blog will occasionally have NSFT content! i'll tag these posts with kip-howls, so block that tag if you don't want to see! minors pls dni with these posts,,,

more under the cut!! ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

TAGS --- kip-yips: therian related posts

kip-barks: miscecanis/omegaverse related posts

kip-howls: nsft related posts --- ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── therian identity stuff! --- THERIOTYPE: partially domesticated sonoran desert coyote! (think of it like a stray who comes and goes when they like :3)

OTHER: i don't experience shifts, and i very rarely have species dysphoria. i heavily relate to canines (coyotes in particular), and see myself as one in a human body. i call myself a therian because i feel it's the term that suits me best! --- ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── as for my omegaverse identity and stuff like that, i go by omegai's misceverse "rules"! (here's their carrd with info!) --- DYNAMIC: psi omega :3

BIOLOGY: astra

SCENT: incense, campfires, sandalwood --- ───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───── my dms are open, and i'm always up for making new friends, although i would prefer you to be 18 or older if you message me!

might add more to this later......

[captainkurosolaire]

Dreamer of Dreams

 How important are dreams? Chasing things beyond us sometimes grant us strength to surpass limits, to courageously endure for our vision. Over time a Pirate’s own became misconstrued, failures, losses piled up and his grandeur became murky. Losing a partial, vital piece of essence. Children call them dreams, but upon nurture, it was called Ambition! Without having a strong-self interest, he couldn’t relate or jump the hurdle for others, initially sought.  Now rectification came to retrieve what was lost. The First-Stage to Healing.

By plucking his lost spirit within obscurity, a reversion of his zenith came. That horrendous fog vaporized to magnificent sunlight. Matured figure of the boy-to-be, extended his arm’s out, it was time to go home. In their embrace, unbridled warmth quaked from a reunion of resolve. A wide-spread grin surfaced externally Captain’s injuries stung, ached, nevertheless something swelled within himself, the belief to achieve, in absolution. He sprung a bounce to his soles, kip-up. With finesse, began reassembling his own mind-games against his Skull Brethren, since started off this way, donning his original attire, fetching dual-blade’s of Hingan that were sworn off to prevent incidental death. Black-blood face paint ran across his eyelids, not only repulsing the dead itself; used to aid him in becoming brave that required adversity, now just meant to trigger Sol's distress. Sol took aim to shoot-down Captain’s butterfly who came from the cabin’s keyhole to cause misdirection, the spirit-guide, named Perish, fluttered between his limbs, barely evading swatting and squishing attempts. Soon found himself pulverized by a door that flew off the hinges suddenly as the Seeker sprinted with full on collision from a drop-kick, then surfboarding it, trampling his rib-cage. “Always told ye t’ fix that blimey door!” Giving a befitting punishment to the Shipwright, squished with the cabin’s door on him, Kuro kicked Sol’s silver-wind pistol into the waters, then blitzed towards climbing to the top-mast where their sail-flag awaited. Mistbeard’s mask still onlooking their pirate-battle. The ex-Garlean conscript, struggled temporarily, wind knocked out of him, before angrily following pursuit, spare pistol <Live Free> brought out taking shots at the climbing cat-folk, who intelligibly utilized line-of-sight climbing alongside the mast’s with his heritage-expertise, forcing the gun-wielder to pursue, climbing up to the top with sheer agitation, this would be done in a duel-fashion now.

Atop the mast, where they’d wage their last-sequence as blood-brothers turned enemies. Sol finally arrives behind in his pursuit, seeing Captain more closely. He was unnerved, a deplorable golden-crest smile was on him, the markings of jolly, complete fulfillment, it always brought him anger. As if a Sun was looking beneath him, nothing he could do would discourage the heat, his traditional means to kill, erase, all left meaningless in pursuit. His brow twitched into a frown. That deviant-rogue staring across him spoke, “Thanks t’ ye mate. I found irreplaceable value in me. I’m afraid… I’ll b’ stealing n’ cucking ye, again of something. Could race to see who reaches ascension firstly or lastly there! Like ol’ times… But I’ve got t’ slay your dark-cloud, it’s cramping my vibes.” Candidly bringing back a memento, it’s like time-flowed back, to not-long-ago, they used to rock-paper-scissors for who rigged, or climbing up on the masts, doing contests to one-up another in brotherly competition. “Also – I’ve decided. I’ll become a King.” Calmness and overwhelming peace said with a matter-of-fact from the Scoundrel’s following words, after the storm-breeze howled.

Sol, overtaken by envy, frustratingly growled, “...Y-You can’t just decide that!” Where did this abundance of confidence come from? Teeth grinding and grating together blood rushing into his temple. His concentration was caught lacking and those winds nearly took him off balance, but Miqo'te remained perfectly still…

Energy shifted in an instantaneous, an explosiveness out-cried from Captain with a thunderous shout of his declaration. A Challenge against ALL of Destiny, Fate, anything in-between was committed, throughout the rumbling tides and passed air. “I’ll become King ov’ th’ LIVING!” A dream so far-above, outlandish, impossible echoed. Jolly laughter tantalizingly followed, against Sol’s ire, a splitting image of their own Founder was reminded. To know, Living is to understand the existence of infinity! There was no-one way to live. This particular Pirate knew this and had connection to everything that resided between the spectrum's, life to death, and was born from a Mother’s Light and Father’s Shadow. Be that as it may, he ambitiously stared at the path of transcendence. Unwavering determination highlighting his visage. Upon his crew and varied people across in adventuring, to most-natural or supernatural, soul’s encountered.  All uplifting and inspiring him to heights leaving their imprints, scars, traces upon his singular vessel, these were the stupendous keepsakes, to preserve! Wanting this stead. Survival was instinctual because this was his perceived ultimate treasure. A challenge traversed the realm, shaking with a bewilderment of unyielding certainty. An individual-cloaked frozen-between-time peered over to the skies and gave halt from galloping.

They who stood at the highest summit, a GIANT, woke from disruption. Hinted with Captain’s Presence, awakening. Enraged Sol, lashed out in foul spite, fear, quivering and whining jealousy, “Nonsense. Die, Die, Die!” Pulling his trigger, reloading with rapid-fire, pupils went bloodshot from crazed-fury. The amber-eye, determined Seeker, predicted the trajectory of every fired-shot just by familiarizing Sol’s aim, countering by sliding against bullets with his dual-blades shield, deflecting and parrying him, to having them shred against his flesh in minor grazes, fearlessness, continued forth closing distance. Where Sol was useless in. They battled akin to this when pint-sized deckhands, back then using bb-guns or slingshots versus wooden kendo, this entire scene felt like reversed-time. Captain with a blade-rising upwardly in the air, spun his blade with realignment allowing glaring-rays, letting what all others were seeing. Sunlight had broken throughout the canopies of those undesirable clouds, vanquishing them. His steel-reflecting light, brought a blindness causing the Raen to misfire, his last shot in the chamber, the Seeker predicting this response, taking advantage of his discombobulated state, gave a devastating cross-slash against the Raen’s bare-chest, secondary dual-strike following-through with momentum to strike his gun-slinging wrist, forcing a disarming in one flawless-swoop.

♫Undefeatable♫ - Reference - Last Chapter

[ehlnofay]

19 for the worldbuilding prompts + Torr?

the profound quiet of a small settlement at night

North Eastmarch is freezing cold all over, but it wears different outside the city than within.

Torr would never call Windhelm warm – not even in summer months, no matter how used to it they are – but what little heat it has it clings to with great determination. The walls huddle together, trapping the air so that it’s either still and muggy or a howling wind, like each close-knit house is breathing in tandem. The heat of the people run up and down its streets, blood through its knotted stone veins. The city is alive, an ecosystem unto itself; its snow, dark with footprints, runs sludgy down the roads; a fireplace is always burning somewhere.

Outside of the walls, surrounded by nothing but empty air and snow-laden trees, a slow-moving stream running with barely a burble – it feels dead, in contrast. Silent. Branches reach needle-sharp across the blue-black sky, the ground is gleaming white and undisturbed by anyone else’s footprints, and the nearest fire is the barely visible gleam of the Kynesgrove mining camp, up the hill and through the sporadic spindles of the trees. The breeze ghosts past Torr’s neck and whips the mud-stained snow into a flurry.

In the city, Torr’s comfortable sleeping almost anywhere – as comfortable as they ever get, anyway. Some of the buildings have great gaps under the porch where the snow can’t reach and no-one ever finds them; there’s places in the nooks of the walls, and sheds built into the side of the house that people don’t lock, and Torr knows a few people besides who don’t mind him kipping on their floor every now and again, as long as he doesn’t ask too often. The outside isn’t like that. There’s not many places to go. He’s lurking around Kynesgrove tonight – on his way back from a quick venture out to get some things done that pay better than running errands around the markets – and there aren’t many options. The inn, which he can’t afford – the mine, which would be warm but is very guarded – the miner’s encampment or someone’s house, both of which would most likely result in being chased off. Besides, there’s a performative element to meeting people, especially adults, in strange places, and Torr’s not in the mood to play to strangers. So much of his being is caught up in Windhelm’s grimy alleys, tangled in the hair and fingers of its discarded children; he doesn’t know how to be himself away from it all.

But they don’t have to, seeing as there’s the rickety old sawmill on the edge of a stream feeding into the harbour. It’s not bad, as shelter goes; no walls, so the wind rubs its fingers wraithlike down Torr’s cheeks and tangles them in his hair, but at least there’s a roof. It looks newly thatched, too, the floorboards free of rot, the water-wheel still chugging creakily along. There’s no wood to cut here, all the nearby surrounding trees too scraggy to be worth the bother. The only big ones are part of the grove up on the hill. There’s no point in keeping the mill running, but Torr is glad it is; he watches the distant firelight flickering through the scrub, and listens to the splashing of the wheel. It’s proof that people and the things they make do still exist – if not necessarily here.

It really feels dead, out in the cold, with the leafless trees and the wind that doesn’t even whisper. It always does. It’s a bit discomfiting, which is maybe why Torr doesn’t go on out-of-city endeavours as often as perhaps he could; but really, there’s not work out here enough to make it worth it. There’s always problems with bandits on the road, but Torr’s not a good enough fighter for bounty work; there’s collecting plants and things to sell Nurelion, but that’s easy enough to do on a day trip. (And, really, it’s more for Torr’s own enjoyment, besides. They never even venture far south enough to get to the sulphur pools, which is where the more interesting things grow.)

This trip, though, is an outlier. Unusually efficient. Just a quick job for Niranye, scouting a merchant’s cart on the road – almost definitely for something shady, but that’s not Torr’s business, and it was too much money too easy to turn down. And then – just earlier today, foraging out in the wilderness as best as Torr (a distinctly urban animal) knows how – they’d come across a giant’s corpse, stiff and white as the snow it lay in. Torr’s no master alchemist but they know the value of a cadaver when it comes to brewing alloys and admixtures, so they set to with their blunt-edged dagger and now they’ve got a sack full of what may as well be gold. (Long as it doesn’t start to rot before they can get Nurelion to preserve it, anyway.)

Torr’s going to be rolling in it when they get back to Windhelm. They could use that money for nearly anything – pay off a few things they borrowed, new warm things now that winter’s coming back strong, bedrolls, waterskins. Endless options – which, strangely, is more exciting than it is burdensome.

It’s all the sort of decision that would ordinarily feel life-or-death urgent but right now feels – not small. Not insignificant, not at all, but distant. A choice to be made at another time, by another person.

(Torr’s whole being belongs to Windhelm’s back streets. They’re someone else, away from it all.)

That’s the other thing about leaving the city, spending time in the discomfiting slow-paced ghost-world outside. It’s quiet. Torr sits surrounded by the wind in the trees, the lazy murmur of the stream, the creak of the water-wheel, and nothing else.

He’s been called a worrywart (mostly by Griss in a strop) but to tell the truth he doesn’t think that’s true. Torr doesn’t fuss for the sake of fussing, he just doesn’t like to leave things undone; can’t stop until he finds a solution. Out here, alone, in the empty cold, there are no solutions to find – same old problems back home, he knows, but no steps he can take at this time to right them. That’s never true while he’s in the city, so he can never stop thinking about it, every choice and action accompanied by a buzzing background chorus of everything else he really should be doing – that really should have been done by now – that should never have been left undone this long, what was he thinking? Everything is urgent when it’s doable. But here and now, there’s nothing to do.

So Torr sits hunched on the board floor of the ramshackle watermill, huddled among their heaps of bags and blankets, and thinks of nothing at all.

Not strictly true. They think of supper – haven’t eaten since an apple this morning, except for some snowberries they found around noon, and it’s been a long day. They nabbed some turnips from the garden of the Kynesgrove inn on their way to the mill. They’re fresh, if nothing else – also covered in dirt, so Torr rises reluctantly from their pile of stuff to crouch on the banks of the stream and dip the vegetables in to clean them off. It aches like hell, the frozen water turning their joints to ice – they almost drop the turnip they’re washing, so they scrub it as best they can with the frigid pad of their thumb and whip their hands out of the water soon as they’re able. They stick their fingers in their mouth to warm them back up.

Even after all that time spent warming up their hands, arraying all their belongings back around themself to conserve body heat, the turnips are still cold enough to hurt Torr’s teeth when he bites in. He eats them anyway, relishing a little in the unearthly silence and the aching of his lips and palms. They taste delicious.

With nothing else to do after, the gnawing of his stomach sated, he wraps himself in his shawl and stares up the hill at the camp’s fire until it goes out. The stars wink into brighter being. The wind whistles through the whip-thin branches of the trees. The water-wheel creaks.

Torr sleeps, but he feels like he hears it all – a silent observer, an echo, a beginning – until morning.

[mudkipsandmischief]

I can hear Lycanroc howling in the far distance from my hotel room. It’s getting pretty late evening around here, so it’s not too shocking. Sounds like there’s two different types of calls going on. Wonder if that’s the midday and midnight difference?

…I used to know a guy who had a Rockruff as his starter. Had a bit of a rivalry between us, back when I was ‘kip only. Wonder how he’s doing nowadays?

[fastepp]

1, 2, 8, 10, 11, 25 goooo

Hiiii maggieeee 😙

1, How many books did you read this year?

67 BUT ☝️ if I finish network effect tonight it will be 68. There’s no hope for 69ing it this year tho 😔

2, Did you reread anything? What?

A few things actually! <- a lot, apparently

The Murderbot Diaries, for the third time (probably not gonna finish/start System Collapse until after the new year but yk) Also Howls Moving Castle for the nth time.

The Others series (by Anne Bishop) for…the second or third time? I kinda just read the first and second books repeatedly, and I haven’t actually started the last book even though I bought it this year LMAO

I reread the first books in the Croak series by Gina Damico and Tattoo by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (YA guilty pleasures, although I did end up donating all 3 Croak books)

Aaand probably most impressively I read the first book in the Golden Terrace TWICE this year for no other reason than the yearning fucking got me bro.

8, Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?

I had a Goodreads reading goal of 30 books which I am proud to say I 200%ed 🥳

10, What was your favorite new release of the year?

HMMMMMM probablyyyy The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo or Everyone on this Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson. Leaning towards Brides because of the vibes tbh, but I just love the Singing Hills Cycle in general because Ms Vo just Gets It. She Understands.

11, What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

Does the Aeneid count as a book that’s been out for a while? The epic poem by Virgil? From BC? I think it does. Otherwise it’s the Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin because that was another book that got me.

25, Did you DNF anything? Why?

YEAH. everyone said hands of the emperor by Victoria Goddard was SOOOOOO good but it’s NOT!!!! It’s too long, everyone loves the main character too much, the worldbuilding and lore isn’t confusing so much as it’s NEVER EXPLAINED PROPERLY, AND!!!!! MOST EGREGIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE SECRETARY IS PROPOSING LEGISLATION AND ENACTING IT!!!!!! THE SECRETARY !!! I can’t say I know oodles about how imperial governments work, but I know for a FACT that Kip cannot be more than an advisor, this isn’t Scum Villain fic where SQH is running the northern kingdom Also there’s so many grammatical and spelling errors it was starting to wear me out. No wonder she’s self published. I got through 300 pages of the ebook before I bailed on my second try reading it.

And also i dnf’d a lesson in thorns by Sierra Simone bc the main character was annoyingly horny and nobody cared about the spooky magic shenanigans. -1000/10

[mayhemproduces]

Bryan Danielson (c) vs Riley Ishimori- 60 Minute Iron Man- MPW Stardust Championship

After another rocking night of passionate, violent wrestling, we settle in for a long main event. No matter what happens between the bells, we are going for sixty minutes straight. Sixty minutes of uninterrupted, commercial-free hard-hitting, technical affair, all in the name of the Stardust Championship. And Chicago is eating it up. You can feel the excitement, the hunger; they’re sitting on the edge of the seats as Tom Dunn calls for the bell, and we’re finally underway! The whole Auditorium is going nuts now, and both champion and challenger pause to soak up the moment. Riley, readying herself up, as Bryan smirks at her from across the ring. He’s more than ready for this. He’s born ready for this. Danielson has had multiple sixty+ minute matches before, while Riley’s longest match came at Darkness Falls, going a full 49 minutes with The Dragon himself, but she couldn’t last the full hour before succumbing to the LeBell Lock. The remnants of that epic clash are still present on their bodies, as Bryan has tape around his shoulder, and Riley has tape circling her neck, going down her back and to the right shoulder. But it went deeper than any physical scars. Their psyches are forever marked by the punishment they put each other through. Danielson may not respect his challenger, but he knows better than to underestimate her. And Riley, obviously, feels the same; Bryan Danielson may just be the best wrestler on planet Earth, but he damn sure is one of the smartest and most intelligent wrestler to ever lace up a pair of boots. Finally locking up, their struggle for control brings them into the ropes, Riley pinning the champion. Dunn asks for a clean break, but Riley doesn’t listen, as she chops Bryan right on the chest! Into another lock up, another battle for control, has Bryan reversing and pushing Riley into the ropes. He slowly lets go, and hits a round kick, landing directly on the ribs. Riley kips forward, swirling with an arm drag, and getting control of Bryan’s arm, before maneuvering into a headlock. Danielson is too elusive to be trapped for long and transitions into a hammerlock. On their feet now, Riley is trying to find a counter, but before she can, Danielson releases her against the ropes, and nails her with another round kick, landing directly on the unprotected abdomen. They’ve got a long, long way ahead of them, and Danielson wants to test her breathing, test her stamina, and maybe get her a bit worked up in the process. Notoriously hot-headed, Riley will have to try and match Danielson’s ability to keep it cool under pressure, as they tie up once more. Back into a side headlock, challenger in control, Danielson shoves her off the ropes, but Riley knocks him down with a shoulder tackle! Off the ropes, Danielson drops down, leap-frogging over her on the rebound. Danielson rolls backward, expecting Riley to somersault over him as so many have done before, but Riley doesn’t fall for the bait. Instead, she cartwheels beside him, so as Danielson rolls back to his knees, Riley blasts him with a dropkick! She drops the champion! For a moment there, Danielson almost looks impressed, but that look turns right back into indifference. Riley caught him once, but this is a war of attrition.

On their feet, and into a Greco-Roman knuckle lock. Testing their strengths, Danielson decides to drop to his back instead, using a leg to kick Riley’s left arm away, and manipulates the right wrist as he rolls back to his feet. Turning the arm over, palm facing the mat, Danielson pins it to the canvas, before leaping up, and stomping directly on the back of the bicep! Riley’s arm caves under the pressure, and nearly snaps it at the elbow! As the challenger howls in pain, she gets placed into the corner, so Danielson can light her up with a chop, then a kick to the chest, Danielson alternating between the two variants of heavy shots. Until Riley finds her opening and switches their positions, firing off rapid round kicks, one coming immediately after the other, trying to cave Danielson’s chest in! Bryan stumbles out of the corner as Riley bounces off the ropes, but Danielson ducks her, sending Riley out to the floor! He runs the ropes himself, and wipes her out with a tope suicida! Riley gets thrown spine-first into the barricade! Back arched and legs curled, Danielson grabs her by the hair, pulling her up to her feet. Tucking the right arm behind her back, Danielson runs her shoulder first into the ring post! That’s steel straight onto the bone, and Riley screams out in agony! Bryan isn’t just targeting that neck tonight, oh no, he’s going to completely dissect her, head to toe, if that’ll help keep the Stardust Championship around his waist. To Danielson, that’s the only thing that matters now. And in doing so, he’s buttering her up for the LeBell lock. Riley has never really been one to tap out before, but if Danielson keeps this up, over the next fifty minutes, she may have no choice to. Especially as Danielson drives her shoulder into the ring post for a second time! Bryan returns the action into the ring, throwing Ishimori inside as the champion himself, climbs up to the top rope. Riley uses the ropes to help climb to her feet, but as she does, Danielson comes off the top, nailing the right arm with a shotgun dropkick! Riley drops to her knees, the pain shooting up her arm, into the shoulder, back, the neck, as Danielson stalks his prey. He has Riley where he wants her, and for the moment, he wants her in a Romero Special. A signature move of Danielson’s, and as such, Riley’s expecting it. Attempting to block it, Bryan simply decides to fishhook the nose, pulling back on it as Dunn demands he release, counting until four, as he puts his hand in Tom’s face. Reminding him, “I have until five,” before leaping up, and stomping on the back of Riley’s knees! That’s certainly one way to let go! Bryan and Tom Dunn get into a little verbal spat, with the champion just ignoring his intolerance, in the end, Riley finds herself in the corner. Back for more of those chops, those kicks, until she melts to the mat. Danielson keeps going with the kicks, landing several to the chest before he falls back. Wanting to pick up steam, but as Danielson comes charging in, Riley lifts herself and somersaults over Danielson, landing on her feet, and rolling forward. Danielson whips around, but gets caught by a dragonrana, and gets flipped out of the ring! Ishimori to her feet, off the ropes, and she crashes down onto Bryan with a huge Tope Con Hilo! Challenger takes to the skies, and it pays off for her big time!

Bringing them back inside the ring, Riley goes for a ripcord, turning for the discus forearm, but Danielson ducks under it, and rolls Riley up!

1… 2… Kickout!

Riley escapes, and gets Danielson in a roll-up!

1… 2… Kickout!

Danielson looks like he may want to reverse into another quick pinning predicament, trying to steal the first points here, but instead, he flattens Riley out, and traps her in the Cattle Mutilation! Another specialty of Bryan’s, and Riley immediately dashes to the ropes. She forces the break with it but also chooses to roll out to the apron. Trying to put distance between them, but Bryan isn’t giving her a moment to breathe, a moment to think, and knocks her to the floor with a running knee. Following her out to the floor, the Logan Square Auditorium is decked out in typical MPW decor, including a lengthy concrete rampway that leads directly into the ring, and Riley currently finds herself kneeling on said concrete, with Danielson lightly her up with a series of round kicks. With a wide base and perfect technique, Danielson lands several to the chest before backing up, the crowd shouting in anticipation, as he aims for the roundhouse. But he misses his target! Riley jumps up, wraps her legs around his head, and drops Bryan on the back of his head with a Poison Rana! There is zero give in that concrete, and we can see Bryan twitching after getting dropped on the back of his head! Whether Riley knows what she just did, or if she even meant to, she just created a huge opening for herself. Dragging Bryan to the ring, leaning him against the ropes, before Riley breaks the count, momentarily rolling back into the ring. She rolls right back out and begins the long trek up to the top of the ramp. Stopping there, with a look spared out of the Auditorium, an unexpected thirst for blood, for Bryan’s head on a stick, shining through before she sprints back down to ringside, and CRUSHES Danielson against the ropes with a bicycle knee strike! Holy shit! Danielson might be out! No time at all is spared as Riley throws Danielson back inside the ring. There’s a sense of urgency here, as we might be moments away from our first fall, as Riley connects with a corkscrew roundhouse kick to the back of the head! She flips Bryan over and covers!

1…2… Kickout!

We’re still 0-0 here with plenty of time left to go, but Riley may be inching in on her first points of the evening. Putting Danielson in a keylock submission, wrenching on the surgically repaired arm, as Bryan tries to shift his hips. Shift his legs, trying to counter out of this, but instead, it’s Riley who finds a counter to his struggling, and locks him into a grounded Octopus Stretch! Taking a page out of her mentor’s playbook! Danielson’s neck is cranked towards the mat, with the entire left side of his body curved at a whole different angle. As painful as it is visually impressive, Danielson groans out in pain as he tries to inch himself towards the ropes. It’s difficult to see in this position, but Danielson, is obviously, a master of the ring. He could find his way out with his eyes closed if he wanted to. With the right leg sliding, the hips guiding him towards the ropes, Danielson is finding his freedom, when Riley decides to roll him onto his shoulders!

1… 2… Kickout!

Grabbing the right wrist, Riley pivots into the corner, slingshotting over the top rope, and snapping Bryan’s arm across it! Bryan cries out from the pain as his shoulder nearly gets popped out of place. She'll have to play dirty if she wants any chance of regaining her championship tonight. Slingshotting back into the ring, Riley pops him with a back elbow! Bryan doesn’t see it coming, so he has no time to cover up, and he takes that elbow right to the jaw. Picking him up, on the top rope, Danielson fights back with well-placed headbutts as Riley joins him up there. Danielson shifts, moving his feet back on the turnbuckles rungs, as Riley starts to waiver. Danielson leaps, going over Riley, and bringing them both crashing down with a sunset flip powerbomb, from the top rope! Holy shit! While both end up needing a moment to rest, Danielson is up much faster, much more gungho than his opponent, who is struggling to even get to her feet. She has to rely on the ropes to do so, and Bryan has her pinned in the corner once more. More round kicks, more chops, pummeling not just her chest, but her sides, her shoulder, before he falls back. Creating distance between them, so he can sprint back, and nail her with a running dropkick! The heel of his boot lands underneath the chin, as Danielson follows up with his second dropkick! He goes for a third and manages to hit it, before climbing up to the middle rope, pinning her into the corner, and laying down some big right hands. The crowd counts along, but they’re stopped short of ten, as Riley manages to slip free, and tuck Bryan’s head against the top turnbuckle! The back of his head nestled against the padding, as the face meets the bottom of Riley’s boot, nailing him with a superkick! Bryan’s arms go limp for a moment, and Riley aims her second superkick, this one connecting to the back of the knee. It causes Danielson to slip, his legs getting caught in the ropes, stuck in a tree of woe position. Riley charges and leaps, sending him packing with a double foot stomp! Getting crushed by the boots, and flattened into the mat!

The champion is reeling after that one, but Riley can’t capitalize with a cover. The pins and needles in her shoulder travel into the neck, and she takes too much time trying to get the feeling back in it, that Bryan has already recovered. But the challenger is the first to her feet, sizing Bryan up. She goes after him, but Danielson ducks. He runs the ropes, but Riley ducks under him as well, and on the rebound, she leaps at him, flying through the air, and spiking him with a HUGE satellite DDT! Danielson gets drilled with that, and Riley rolls him over, leaning back into the cover!

1… 2… Kickout!

Bryan out at two! We’re still all tied up here, as the timer rapidly closes in on its first twenty minutes. Still plenty, plenty of time to go, and Riley knows she has to stay on top of Bryan while she has him down. She goes to pick him up, but Bryan suckers her into the LeBell lock! He’s trying to get it fully locked in, but Riley’s fighting it off. She’s able to turn the tables and get Danielson on his back, catapulting him into the ropes. Danielson flips over the top, but he grabs onto the top rope, stopping himself from falling to the floor. With the damage done to the arm, it’s going to make skinning the cat difficult, but Bryan tries it anyway - but Riley pops him with a superkick! That momentary hesitation gave her enough time to notice, and she sent him down to the floor! Every moment matters here, and Riley moves with a sense of urgency to the top rope. Bryan behind her, Riley takes to the skies, trying to take down the Dragon with a corkscrew moonsault, but the pool comes up empty! Bryan moves out of harm’s way, and out of instinct, Riley tries to land on her feet, but in doing so, her knee buckles. She cries out from the pain, but there’s no rest for the wicked, as Danielson wipes her out with a tope suicida! Bryan has been gradually softening her up for this moment. Starting with the Romero Special, stomping on the back of the knees, and every well-placed kick after that, and now, Riley has played right into his hands. Pretty soon, there may not be enough of Riley left to fight at all - or so Bryan is hoping for. After landing a chop and getting her back inside the ring, Danielson heads to the top. He stands up high in the Auditorium, a smirk on his face, before leaping - but Riley catches him! She rolls into a Fujiwara armbar, trying to get it locked in before she can bridge over, but Danielson does everything he can to prevent it from even being locked in to completion. To preserve his arm, he has to, and he’s able to roll through. Bringing them to their feet, Riley still has a hold over his wrist, and uses it to bring Danielson into her arms, and plant him with a Northern Lights suplex! She bridges up, floating to her feet and bringing Bryan up with her, planting with a huge Brainbuster! Riley rolls into the cover, hooking the far leg.

1… 2… Kickout!

It’s not enough to score that elusive first fall, but she has chipped away at Dragon’s armor. It’s Bryan who’s on the defensive now, as Riley gets him up for another move, across the shoulders. But Danielson slips free, landing on his feet. Riley tries to swing at him, but Bryan ducks under, bounces off the ropes, and nails her with a flying elbow to the chest! Sweeping Riley off her feet, but he might’ve done more damage to the arm, as he grabs for the upper bicep and shoulder area. The kinesio tape gives away the lingering damage done, but at this stage, it’d be harder to find a match where Bryan wasn’t walking in banged up, but it hasn’t stopped him from winning before. Or, at the very least, giving them the beating of a lifetime. But for the moment, it has Bryan down and resting, as Riley’s knocked for a loop. Dunn checks on both before beginning the ten count. In the event that one of them can’t answer the count, the other would earn a point via countout. It would be rather disappointing if that was how we saw our first tally added to the scoreboard, but Riley gets up before they get that far, and gets suckered into a small package!

1… 2… Kickout!

Bryan holds on and gets her in a side headlock, but Riley pushes him into a headscissors. He kips out, and this time it’s Riley who gets a side headlock. He rolls her over, trapping Riley on her shoulders!

1… 2… Kickout!

Riley kicks out and turns things around, trapping Bryan in a backslide!

1… 2… Kickout!

Bryan counters with a sitout pin!

1… 2… Kickout!

Riley reverses the leverage, sitting on Bryan’s chest, as she reverses the sitout!

1… 2… Kickout!

Bryan kicks out, and pushes Riley back into the sitout!

1… 2… Kickout!

Riley counters back, and they go rolling around the ring, Tom Dunn barely able to keep up with the rapid one second flash pins before the other takes over, until Riley once more has Danielson pinned!

1… 2… Kickout!

Danielson throws Riley off of himself to break this sequence, and gives himself space to charge, leaping over Riley, and trapping her shoulders to the mat with a sunset flip!

1… 2… Kickout!

Riley reverses it back, and once more gets a quick pin before Danielson counters. Again, they roll back and forth, until Riley gets some extra oomph, leaning all the way forward…

1… 2… Kickout!

Bryan throws her off, but Riley rolls through, and gets him with a jackknife!

1… 2… 3!

And just like that, Riley earns her first point, and the first point of the whole match! Holy shit!

You can feel the anger rising off of Bryan in that moment, as Riley can’t even believe it. She actually caught him. But Bryan regains his composure. Grabbing Ishimori, reminding her that this is still a long way from over, and tries to whip her into the corner. Riley’s able to reverse, however, and Bryan climbs the turnbuckle pads, backflips over Riley, and goes to run the ropes, but Riley cuts him off with a rocket kick! Bryan gets flipped inside out, but it’s not enough to keep Danielson down, as he’s able to get right back to his feet, and uses his last bit of momentum to deck her with a clothesline! Challenger goes head over heels, and both wrestlers are down! Dunn, as always, checks on both before issuing another ten count. But Bryan is not down for long. The Dragon rises and tells Riley to sit up, before ramming her with a firm, painful kick to the chest. One full of resentment, and he goes for a second, but Riley catches it! Punching up, Riley wallops him with a forearm! Danielson stumbles back, but he recovers quickly, nailing her multiple kicks to the ribs, stunning Riley, before he moves to run the ropes. On the rebound, Riley nails him with a moonsault kick, then an enzuigiri! Danielson is out on his feet as Riley runs the ropes, only for her to run right into a rolling elbow! Danielson elbows the taste out of her mouth, and follows it by scooping her up, and planting her with a Regal-Plex, bridging up into the pin!

1… 2… Kickout!

We’re rapidly approaching the halfway point of this match, and with the challenger up one point, Danielson is going to close the gap and close it quickly. He’s gonna amp up the offense tenfold, and starts with a shotgun dropkick off the top rope, sending Ishimori to the venue floor. Following her out of the ring, Danielson stays on top with some well-placed kicks to the chest, alternating for some chops, as Riley tries to cover up. Grabbing her by the hair, Bryan slams her head directly onto a steel chair, assumedly left by a security guard or one of our hands at ringside, but now it belongs to Riley, as Bryan tells his opponent to have a seat. Another chop keeps her in place, while Bryan decides to take a quick roll into the ring, stopping Tom Dunn’s count, before rolling out the other side. He uses the extra space to pick up steam, charging after Riley, but she cuts him off with a rocket kick, Bryan’s momentum sending him head over heels! Bryan does a flip, and gets a taste of his own medicine, as Riley puts him in the chair and chops him on the right pec. Taking a quick second to wring out the knee, trying to fight through the pain, as Riley puts enough distance between herself and the champion to get a running headstart, screaming out, “FUCK YOU, BRYAN,” before trying to squash him between a rock and a hard place with a Meteora - but Danielson moves! Riley knees both the chair AND the barricade! A pain-filled scream turns to cries of pure agony, as Riley clutches her knee against her chest, having possibly just fucked herself over even more. Leaning against the barricade, a sharp pain shooting up her leg, Bryan once more breaks Dunn’s count and gets a running headstart, and nails Riley with a big running dropkick, crushing her back into the barricade! Bryan grabs her and throws her upper half into the ring, but holds onto the ankle, pulling her lower half under the ropes. He grabs her by the shin, and slams the back of the knee into the ring post! Yikes! A bad neck, a bum shoulder, and now Bryan is tearing apart what little functionality remained in the knee. But that won’t matter at all if Bryan can’t score a fall, or even worse, gets himself disqualified here, as he locks in a hanging kneebar from the apron! Riley screams out in pure AGONY as Dunn rapidly counts, and Bryan releases as close to five as he’s allowed without risking a disqualification. Even if Riley has to get stretched out of Chicago, if the scoreboard stays as is, she’ll be leaving with the Stardust Championship.

With another vicious slam against the ring post, Danielson allows his whimpering opponent to roll fully back into the ring, to where she thinks it is safe. The sound of her cries is like music to his ears. Knowing he has another injury to exploit, and with the punishment she has earned at his hands, she may never even think of crossing the Dragon again. Wrenching on the knee, Riley wails, trying to fight Bryan off, but he gets her into a full figure 4 leglock, with Riley positioned as close to the center of the ring as he can. Riley curses loudly as she leans back, the hyperextension and the pressure on the knee already getting to her, and Dunn drops down to count!

1… 2… Riley sits up! She has to be careful about leaning back, to ensure she won’t be caught slipping. She sits up all the way, reaching forward, and slaps Bryan across the face! It won’t get him to let go, in fact, it makes Danielson smile, but it does help her release some frustration. Another slap to the face, but this time Bryan decides to lean back to get out of her, rather limited, reach, but in doing so applies even more pressure to the hold as he leans onto the hyperextended leg. Riley curses again, and Bryan slaps her across the face! She desperately tries to shift her hips. Trying to roll over, or maybe even reverse the pressure. Bryan raises his own body off the mat, amplifying the pressure, and making it even more difficult for Riley to move. “Come on, Riley,” Bryan says, but it’s a disparaging, deadpanned tone, as Riley starts to roll to the left. She’s able to keep the momentum going and reverses the pressure, but it’s only for a split second, as Bryan pushes them right back through! Riley’s able to quickly grab onto the ropes, and she’s free! But as he must, Bryan holds on for as long as he can, before putting his hand in Dunn’s face, “I have until five, referee.” But Dunn isn’t taking the disrespect. As Danielson releases his submission and stands, Dunn reminds him to respect his authority, to respect the stripes, or Dunn will disqualify him. Bryan just smirks, waving him off, but it buys Riley enough time to get to her feet and charge. Bryan moves out of the way, and she ends up going knee-first into the turnbuckles! Riley drops, clutching her knee, and Danielson knocks her down with a buzzsaw. Riley slumps face first onto the mat, and she might be out after that kick. But Bryan is looking for the killing blow. The big one to seal the deal. Leaning against the corner, Bryan waits for her to rise, with his arms jutting up into the air….

“YES!”

“YES!”

“YES!”

“YES!”

With Riley finally on her feet, Danielson charges, looking for the Busaiku knee - but Riley catches him, and plants him with a HUGE spinning powerbomb! She rolls Bryan back to his knees, and BLASTS him with a bicycle knee strike! It lands directly under Bryan’s chin, and his head snaps back! He could be out, Riley hooks the far leg!

1… 2… Kickout!

Dragging Bryan into the drop zone, Riley makes the ascension to the top. Between the leg, the exhaustion, and the pins and needles feeling encompassing her spine and shoulder, climbing the ropes isn’t as easy as it is most nights. But she has to try. She has to find a way to score another point, to make it impossible for Bryan to even things up if she wants any chance of wearing that white belt once more. And she could score that second point here, taking to the air with a beautiful corkscrew shooting star press - but nobody’s home! The big risk doesn’t pay off this time, as Danielson avoids it, and now the Dragon is back on the defensive. You can see him momentarily grab his wrist, still dealing with his own injuries, but now the barrage of kicks begins. Low kicks to both legs, some extra oomph on the right side, before battering her on the chest with one. Ishimori powers back with an elbow, landing it precisely on the jaw, and Bryan fires one back. Trading elbows back and forth, middle of the ring, Chicago hanging on the edge of their seats, unable to move their eyes from the action. Danielson hits a fierce elbow, a round kick, and a low kick to the side of the knee drops her down, before he knocks her out with another roundhouse kick, this one landing right on the top of the skull. Riley’s down, Riley’s out, and Danielson is ready to finish her, all of the Auditorium shouting along,

“IT’S TIME TO KICK HER FUCKING HEAD IN!”

Grabbing both wrists, Danielson rains down vicious stomps. Usually so methodical and purposefully placed, Danielson fires off some aggressive, emotional stomps this time, before rolling right into the LeBell Lock! Riley tries her best to fight it off, but Bryan gets it fully locked in! Wrenching back, he’s got the neck twisted up, the arm tucked away, and Riley is in deep waters now. But she will not give up, she can’t, not now. Not after she’s come so far. But on her trek towards the ropes, she begins to fade. Her movements slow to a stop, the twitching in her hands ceases… Dunn checks for signs of life… but with one last burst of energy, Riley gets a hand wrapped around the bottom rope! She clings on like her life depends on it, and at this point, it just might! As is typical, Danielson holds on, putting his hand directly in Dunn’s face, and releasing when he chooses to. Danielson waves him away as he swivels to his feet, watching as Riley clings to the ropes still. Danielson kicks her in the side, “Come on, Riley,” another kick, kicking her under the ropes, “Show me that heart.” We get another look at the scoreboard, still 1 to nothing, with less than twenty minutes on the clock. We’re in the home stretch now, and Bryan is kicking it up into second gear. On the apron, Danielson holds Riley upside down, thinking of dropping her on her head, but she’s able to block, safely returning to her feet. Danielson nails her with a few low kicks to the side of the quads, a sharp kick to the knee, and Danielson hits an uppercut to the arm. Riley has to release her hold on the ropes as she tumbles to the ground, trying to shake off the stinging pain, but she doesn’t get the chance, as Danielson comes flying off the apron with a knee! She’s able to move out of harm’s way, and Danielson skids to a halt. He whips around, and gets sent over the barricade with a rocket kick! Danielson spills into the lap of Steve Guy and the timekeeper! Riley drops to her good knee, a proud smile on her face, as the crowd cheers her on. But her momentary victory can not be celebrated just yet, she still has to get Bryan into the ring and try to capitalize, which may be easier said than done with the current state of her injuries. Nonetheless, Riley goes to the barricade to pick him up - WHEN DANIELSON HITS HER WITH THE RING BELL?! What the hell?!

Dunn saw the whole thing, and he DISQUALIFIES Danielson! Riley goes up 2-0 as Danielson throws her back inside the ring, and hooks both legs!

1… 2… 3!

Danielson gets his first fall of the night, and IMMEDIATELY covers Riley a second time!

1… 2… 3!

Just like that, we’re all evened up! It’s 2-2, with twelve minutes to spare!

The Auditorium doesn’t quite know what to make of what just happened; one on hand, that was an exciting development, but what a dirty, sneaky way to score two points. Whether you loved it or hated it, it was genius. Danielson did what he thought was best; maybe what he thought he needed to do to tie things up. And Riley is hurt. As she starts to sit up, we can see the heavy flow of blood cascading down her face, turning parts of her hair into a dark shade of purple-ish red wine. Danielson stalks her, telling her, “I told you this would happen,” as he kicks her on the chest. On the arms, the legs, but Riley tries to get up. He steps on the knee to make sure she stays down, telling her to do so with a firm slap on the cheek. He backs up, telling Riley to give him her best shot, and Riley does so in the form of a vicious slap, dropping Danielson on his ass! Riley almost collapses, but she manages to remain standing, albeit barely, as her overflowing blood adorns the champion’s body. A visible display of everything they’re willing to give up tonight, as Riley has Danielson hooked in by the trunks. Lifting him, holding onto the wrist. Riley flips him out, but Bryan nails her with a rolling elbow instead! He spins for another, but Riley does too, and nails him with a tornado enzuigiri! Both wrestlers drop to their hands and knees after that one. Dazed from getting kicked in the head, and perhaps, exhaustion starting to rear its ugly head. We’re almost fifty minutes deep into this thing, but Bryan is showing no signs of slowing down. He headbutts Riley, and Riley headbutts him back. They come face to face, forehead to forehead. Slap for slap, delivering shots back and forth with everything they have left in the tank. Bryan gets the better of this exchange, nailing her with four unanswered kicks, and knocking her down on the final one. But Riley doesn’t stay down, she quickly gets back up, and nails him with a discus forearm! Danielson stumbles, but drops the challenger with another huge roundhouse kick! Riley hits the mat like a sack of bricks, and Danielson moves to the top rope. Before he can act, Riley cuts him off with a forearm to the face, halting his progress, and joining him on the top. After a brief exchange of forearms, Danielson slips out the back door, and crotches Riley on the turnbuckles! Danielson buys himself a few extra moments as Riley gathers her bearings, turning herself around, and Danielson climbs back up there with her. With his legs hooked behind the ropes, Danielson grabs her, and tosses Riley to the mat with a spider suplex! Danielson saves himself from having to take the brunt of that fall, and uses his core strength to pull himself back to the top, a hearty cry from the Dragon aiding his plight. Standing up on the top, his arms raised, Danielson leaps, and nails Riley with the diving headbutt! Bryan covers!

1… 2… Kickout!

Calling Riley up once again, wanting to finally hit that patented knee strike. But Riley sees it coming. She gets out of the way, but it looks like Bryan may not have been trying to hit her at all! He flies right past her, and bounces off the turnbuckle pads/ Riley whips back around, and he DECKS her with the Busaiku knee! Riley flips, and lands high on her shoulders! Danielson has her stacked up deep!

1… 2… 3!

Bryan takes the lead!

Danielson tries to lock Riley into a submission, both to wear down her injuries, but also to waste some time. He’s got the lead now, it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t earn a single point for the rest of the match, as long as he keeps Riley under his thumb. But that may be easier said than done. Whether it’s by design or on autopilot, Riley finds a second wind, countering Danielson’s submission with one of her own, trapping Danielson into a Fujiwara armbar, and bridging over to have full extension on the arm! It’s hard for Riley to post up on the bad knee, but it’ll be worth it to inflict half as much damage as Bryan has done to her, onto his banged up arm. Only, she doesn’t get it in for very long. Danielson is a master of counters, and counters the armbar by rolling through, pushing Riley onto her stomach, and trying to put her in the LeBell lock! With all the blood loss, she’s quite slippery, and Bryan is having difficulties fully locking his hands together. This buys Riley some time to claw her way towards the ropes, moving on instinct. Moving on desperation, but Danielson rolls her back once she gets too close, and fully locks in the LeBell lock! It’s locked in tight, and Riley’s hand wavers in the air, close to giving it up - when she rolls Bryan back onto his shoulders!

1… 2… Kickout!

Riley keeps hold of Bryan, and locks him into the bridging Fujiwara again! Danielson cries out from the pain, as Riley wrenches back on the right arm, getting full hyperextension of it. Danielson inches towards the ropes, using his legs to crawl towards them. With Riley unable to properly place her right foot, it makes his journey a bit easier, but she doesn’t slack up on the hold until Bryan gets too close to the ropes for comfort. Using them as an aid, Riley pushes them away from the ropes, and shifts into her own LeBell lock! Imagine tapping out Bryan Danielson with his own move - THAT would be poetic justice for everything he’s put her through tonight. The weeks of torment, attacking her friends, embarrassing and belittling her at every chance. But Bryan is inching. Towards the ropes, towards a break, and Riley wrenches back with everything she has. Trying to pry Bryan away from the ropes, trying to force Bryan to tap out - but he does neither, and forces the break. Riley releases and rolls to her back, staring up at the lights as exhaustion takes over. The crowd is as white hot as ever, chanting, “THIS IS AWESOME!” complete with clapping and all. This is awesome, and to think we’re getting it for free on live TV! That’s the type of action you can expect from MPW, and this is what the Stardust Championship means to them and the rest of the locker room. Stirring, crawling forward, forehead to forehead, as we are reaching the summit. The intensity grows in the arena as champion and challenger go forearm for forearm, back and forth, the crowd reacts in kind, as they start trading headbutts instead! They get to their feet, Danielson’s right arm slumped against his side, Riley limping, but they’re both still fighting, as they continue trading forearms. Danielson gets sent stumbling back, and fires off a huge elbow! They explode with rapid fire shots, not taking a breath, until Riley shoves Bryan to the ropes. On the rebound, they both have the same idea, and collide with forearms to the throat! They’re both down! They practically fall into each other, as we see a far gone look on Riley’s blood covered face, but Bryan, oh, Bryan is laughing. Riley’s almost in tears, and Bryan’s laughing.

“Five minutes remain.”

The announcement from Steve Guy is like a wake up call, as a new sense of urgency has them firing off rapid punches, that delves into a chop fest! They take turns chopping each other, two and fro, neither backing down. It looks like Danielson knows his tank may only be at half capacity, but Riley’s may be depleted, as she runs the ropes. Bryan decks her with a huge roundhouse kick! She wobbles, and Bryan knocks her down with a rolling elbow strike! Bryan picks her up, but Riley counters, slipping under Bryan, and dropping him with the Kakugan! Holy shit, she hits it! Riley may tie this up right here!

1… 2… Kickout!

It seems it was not Riley’s destino to tie up the score there, but she looks to do so by putting Bryan on the top rope. She goes to climb up with him, but Bryan is lying in wait. He rains down those infamous hammer and anvil elbows, a staple of the Blackpool Combat Club, until Riley’s beaten in submission. With her slumped over on the top rope, Bryan steadies himself, before tossing her from the top with an avalanche hurricanrana! But she sticks the landing - only for the knee to buckle! The knee goes out, and Bryan comes charging in, Busaiku knee to the back of the head! Riley’s out! Bryan flips her over, he’s got another point!

1…. 2… KICKOUT!

Riley survives the second Busaiku knee! Bryan sits up, and flashes of disappointment cross his face, but in the end, it all works out. He looks up at the titantron. It’s still 3-2 in his favor, and we’re down to the last two minutes of this iron man. All he has to do is stay in control, and the Stardust Championship stays around the waist of the American Dragon for another week - and, perhaps, forever.

RILEY GETS HIM IN A CRUCIFIX!

1… 2… 3!

HOLY SHIT! RILEY’S TIED IT UP! There’s still a chance!

Bryan sits up in surprise, pissed off he got caught, but he has no time to react. Riley shoves him onto his stomach and ties up his legs, slipping the left leg in between his crossed knees. Reaching up, she grabs Bryan’s right arm, and wraps it around his own throat, as she locks in a modified version of Beyond Oblivion! Not only is she adding more pressure to the arm like this, but she’s limiting Danielson to only using his left arm to find a way out of this! The only thing Bryan’s got going for him is the bad knee, as Riley has trouble keeping her right leg under her. But Bryan is in deep, deep trouble now, as we arrive in the last 50 seconds of the match. Bryan is trying to claw to the ropes. He has to get out and find a way to get his lead back. 30 seconds left. Bryan is fingertips away from the ropes, but Riley rolls them away, wrapping her own arm around Danielson’s throat, and yanking back with every bit of strength in her body. 20 seconds left. Bryan’s face is turning purple. 15 seconds left. 10 seconds. Bryan’s hand is wavering in the air, fist shaking. He doesn’t want to give up, but he’s being wrenched in half! 5……  4…... 3…... 2…... 1! It’s over!

A feeling of disappointment settles in the air as Riley releases the hold, falling back, and Danielson lays against the mat, a tired, but pleased smirk on his face. They’re 3-3, and a draw can only mean one thing…. With the Stardust Championship in his grasp, Steve Guy walks up to the ring and whispers something in Tom Dunn’s ear, before handing him the title.

“As the result of a draw, Bryan Danielson is still your MPW Stardust Champion.”

It’s safe to say that Chicago did not like that, and they let their displeasure be heard loud and clear. But Danielson is overjoyed. He crawls to his title, grinning wide, as Steve puts a hand up to his ear… and suddenly Steve is smiling too.

“I have just received word from Paul Heyman, and he says this match will NOT end in a draw!” Oh HELL YEAH, “This match will officially be restarted, and it will be contested under SUDDEN DEATH RULES.”

Bryan has only just touched the edge of the championship when Dunn starts to pull it away, but Bryan tries to grab it and pull it back. Dunn has to rip it away, barely able to toss it out of the ring as Danielson tries to fight him for it, declaring that the title is HIS, “I won the match! This is over!” WHEN RILEY ROLLS HIM UP!

1….

2…

KICKOUT!

Bryan NARROWLY survives! We are in overtime, and sudden death means the first pinfall or submission will end this once and for all. No second chances, no do overs. It’s one and down now, and Bryan could be done here, as Riley clobbers him with a huge jumping bicycle knee strike! It spins him around, and Riley spins him with a Poison Rana! Riley covers!

1… 2… Kickout!

Back on their feet, Bryan nails her with a roundhouse kick! Riley drops to her knees, and Bryan starts in with those round kicks. Hitting several square on the chest, the ribs, before popping off a roundhouse kick. Riley falls, landing on her face… but she’s not done. She powers up, sitting up, asking for more! Another round of kicks, another roundhouse kick, but Riley will not die! Not tonight! Not now! Shaking her head, she rises, going head to head with Danielson, before chopping him! Danielson fires off back, and Riley throws a forearm. Forearm from Danielson, and they go back and forth once more, until Riley rears her arm back, and crashes her elbow into the crook of his jaw, nearly dropping Bryan where he stands! He does drop to a knee, and Riley nails him with a buzzsaw, slamming the bad leg into his temple. She hobbles on it, but manages to underhook Danielson’s arms, spinning for the Godkiller - but Bryan turns it into a backslide! He shoves her through, back to her knees, and nearly decapitates her with another buzzsaw, but Riley has the wherewithal to duck! She rolls to her feet, going for a rocket kick, but she might’ve gone to the well one too many times, as Danielson sees it coming. He avoids it, and Riley overcommits! Danielson is able to bounce off the turnbuckles and charge her, full head of steam, as Riley whips around, and Danielson hits his third Busaiku knee off the night! Riley put up one hell of a fight, but it’s over!

1… 2… KICKOUT!

Riley survives another Busaiku knee, her third of the evening, who knows how many this month, but the writing is on the wall. No moments are wasted as Bryan turns her over, pushing Riley onto her stomach, and locking in the LeBell lock. Bryan’s got it fully locked in, no mistakes, no excuses, and wrenches back on the face, the neck. The arm locked away tight. Riley can’t really use her legs to spin towards the ropes anymore. She’ll have to claw her way out of this, but she may not have the energy left. They’ve been going for over sixty minutes straight now. No water breaks, no time to rest. This has truly been a war of attrition, and as much as Riley dreamed of this moment, and yearned for it, it may not come to pass. Her movements slow, her eyes falling shut, and Dunn grabs her wrist. He lifts it up, and drops it… he tries again, no response…. But on the third go, Riley comes to life! She stops her hand halfway from hitting the mat, her hand shaking, refusing to die! She’s still got some fight in her, some life, and she uses it to keep fighting. Trying to survive this. She hunts for the ropes, trying to get close enough to them to force the break. Bryan wrenches back, Riley reaches out…. And she taps!

“Here is your winner, and STILL the MPW Stardust Champion, The American Dragon, Bryan Danielson!”

And this time, it’s official! Bryan releases the hold, sitting on his knees as Dunn presents him with the Stardust Championship. Bryan can barely stand, wobbling to his feet, but the Dragon remains your Stardust Champion. But will anybody be able to take it from him?

[recordstellar-official]

Sandwiched in Time

Scene 2: Echoes of Week Past

Y 227 8th of Thermidore.

Day three of our sea voyage. Nothing of note since we splashed off of the coast of Dragon's Crest. Kellarin keeps us engaged with stories about his travels. He was pleasantly surprised by Kip's surprise shipment of liquor. We still don't know what was in the package in the airship that caught up to us once we were in the air. Why he didn't tell us that he had gotten pin-tracking for it, I'll never know. Dulni made sure to call him out on it though it wasn't pleasant. It seems like our employer enjoys fighting. I hope it extends to physical aggression too. I'd hate to find out that his bark is worse than his bite.

As far as Dulni is concerned, it turns out she's as good a cook as her mother or so Kellarin claims. He and her have been taking turns at the cook pot. Kip has volunteered his nutritional mix as a required ingredient. It's quite sour so the two have been busy being creative with it. They've had me "test" their creations and surprisingly they've been able to make Kip's mix edible. Well in all truth it was always edible, but I couldn't help myself with many of the dishes that I ate so far. We are still a long ways from the tears of Abymalm, but Kip insists we should be halfway to our destination by day 15. He's been using the solar sails to speed up the boat. We've been sailing very fast. I'm still wondering where he keeps all of the food on this worn down excuse for a boat. Dulni has her own-

"Oy there, mind giving me a hand?" asked Kellarin, snapping Sherezin from his writing.

"What do you need?" he called back. His tone came out pointed as he was annoyed at being interrupted.

"I just need you to help tighten some rope. We're sailing into a storm."

"Anyway we can just sail around it?" Shezerin yelled back.

"Are you crazy! Do you want this to take three times as long?!" Dulni shouted as the wind picked up,"We voted to get there quickly! We only have so much food!"

"You voted? Why didn't you ask me?" Shezerin yelled.

"You were busy! Didn't want to interrupt you!" she replied.

"Reef the sail!" Kip yelled from the wheel.

Sherezin shot Dulni a confused look, to which she answered, "Roll the edge of the sail onto one of the spars," she said pointing at the mast.

Sherezin barely heard her over the howl of the wind. He started rolling up the rigging.

"That's enough," Dulni said as she pointed him towards the cabin.

"Stay in there. It's going to get a bit shaky."

She grabbed a coil of rope while Shezerin headed toward the lower deck.

"I'm going to tie everything down. Just stay below-decks until we call for you."

Shezerin nodded, patting himself down and making sure he brought his pen and journal along.

What a long and boring day.

[frogbearwhatever]

Very Short Story- Cold

The cold rain hitting his face woke him up a little.

Bob nocked an arrow. He'd grabbed a few hours kip. Too long, the enemy was here.

He waited until he saw it clearly, gliding through the rain filled air.

Bob loosed, reaching for another arrow even as the angel howled.