#martinez round 5

[marmiteprinter]

Once at the park, Domingo cooked some hamburgers for his family and they spent some time chatting.

"Is it very different here from the city where you used to live, Dad?" asked Julia.

Domingo nodded. "It is. It's much calmer here. Life is more relaxed and I feel like we can make our own decisions. It's better for us, healthier. I think you're both getting a better education as well. Mr Frume might not have all the fancy degrees but he knows a lot and can teach you all personally in small classes. When I went to school, there were 35 kids in my class and there was no chance of getting help from the teacher."

Everett smiled. He agreed with his dad, but he had also just noticed someone appear behind him.

Once they had finished eating, Everett walked up to Evelyn and leant towards her. "Fancy seeing you here!" he said.

Domingo, who was clearing the plates, rolled his eyes. He didn't know if his son had pre-arranged this meeting but it looked like their family afternoon wouldn't be carrying on as planned. Teenagers... he thought to himself.

As it was a warm Spring afternoon, Julia decided to take advantage and jumped into the clear pond for a swim. Domingo watched nervously from the side. "Be careful, sweetie!" he called, preparing himself to jump in at any moment.

[gleesongtournament]

Glee Song Tournament Round 1

[themultifandomgal]

Jay Halstead- Allergies

When Jay asked me out on a date I was so worried he would take me to a restaurant, luckily he didn’t, instead we went just went to Mollys and had a drink. After how well our first date went Jay asked me on another, which meant I couldn’t hide my allergies from him anymore. Thankfully he understood and so once again we didn’t go out to eat.

Now here we are married with a 5 year old daughter who fortunately doesn’t have as manny allergies as I do, except for the fact she’s allergic to cows milk. Anything containing said product could send her into anaphylaxis, this is why we have many vegan products just to be on the safe side.

I sit at my desk opposite Jays as I fill out paperwork from my last arrest when my works phone rings

“YN Halstead”

“Mrs Halstead hello, this is Mr Martinez I’m calling you to let you know that I will need you or your husband to come and pick up Layla from school. She’s unfortunately been sick and says her chest hurts”

“Ok” I sigh looking at the clock on my computer 12:34, “I’ll come down and get her. Has she eaten anything at lunch?” I ask standing up. Jay then looks at me confused

“Yes, she didn’t say she felt ill, in fact she ate all of her lunch”

“What was it?”

“It was macaroni cheese, but I’m not sure what Layla had instead. I’ll find out from the cook and let you know what it was when you arrive”

“Ok I’ll be about 15 minutes” I sigh putting the phone down

“Everything ok?”

“Laylas been sick, I’ll go and get her, you think Voight will let me bring her back here?”

“Never had a problem with it before. I’ll come with you” Jay says getting up “go get the car ready and I’ll let Voight know”

We arrive at the school, but as we park up there’s an ambulance with blue lights flashing. Quickly we get out of the car and rush into the reception area

“Oh thank goodness Mr and Mrs Halstead your here” the receptionist walks round her desk to us “please follow me”

“What’s going on?” Jay says worriedly

“After Mr Martinez rang you he spoke to the cook. They’re new and turns out that she gave Layla the macaroni cheese”

“What?!” My eyes widen and panic sets in

“She was given her epipen and we phoned an ambulance. She’s in here” we head into a room where I see my best friend Sylvie sat next to mine and Jays daughter

“Momma!” Layla yells crying

“It’s ok momma and daddy are here”

“Why the hell did the cook give my daughter something she’s allergic to? Do you not have a list of all the childrens allergies?”

“Of course we do Mr Halstead, but as this cook was new she didn’t know their allergies”

“How did she not know? Surly she would have see then list?”

“She never come to the office to get it” the receptionist states

“Then why didn’t you take it to her?” I shout

“I understand your both upset, but I have to remind you that we are still at a school” the headteacher now walks in

“And how are you going to make this better Hm?” Jay asks crossing his arms

“We have asked that she go to an allergen awareness course, and we will be making a list to stay in the kitchen”

“YN, Jay? Layla is ready to move to hospital. You know the drill”

“Yeah course. Babe let’s go” Jay sighs at Sylvie “but this isn’t over. I want to know how your going to prevent this from happening again”

Jay and I head to the hospital where we’re told that Layla will be ok but no school for her for the rest of the week.

[stateofsport211]

Know Your Talents: 2024 ATP NextGen Finals Introductory Post

The 2024 ATP NextGen Finals Class of 2024 (📸 NextGen Finals' official Twitter)

It is that time of the year again when the 8 best under-20 players of the 2024 season battle it out at the 2024 NextGen Finals, which will be held in Jeddah starting today (December 18). However, in contrast to being the season-ending campaign for them, it could be treated as one of their preparations to start the next season, as it is organized in transition between the end of the 2024 season and the beginning of the 2025 season (December 18-22, 2024), the timing when other exhibition tournaments take place.

Interestingly, the qualification window for this year's NextGen Finals ended at the end of the 2024 ATP Challenger Tour season (December 1) according to the rulebook, allowing the lower end of the Race to slightly heighten up, while no wild card is awarded due to no U-20 player standing out from the region, which meant all 8 players qualified through the Race. As a result, the last few names were attained at the end of November after several other names nearby got eliminated early in their pursuit to qualify for this event. As a reminder, they will play in best-of-five mini-sets (first to 4 games), with a tie-break to be played at 3-3, deciding points (servers' choice) every deuce without let on serve.

Featuring 4 players in the Top 50 for the first time since 2018 despite being U-20 only, hereby introducing this year's NextGen Finalists and their #JourneytoJeddah according to their seedings and respective groups:

Blue Group

1. Arthur Fils

Arthur Fils with his Hamburg 500 title (📸 Univers Tennis)

Arthur Fils' points to 6-5* 40-ad (latest set point) in Estoril (250) R1 (top left), to save a match point to 6-6(6-6), 2nd set in Tokyo (500) finals (top right), and his breakthrough highlights of 2024 (bottom) (📸📝BeIN Sports ID, ATP official website, and Tennis TV via Tennis Channel)

One of the front-runners of this year’s NextGen Finals, A. Fils enjoyed his further breakthrough after becoming the runner-up to Hamad Medjedovic in last year’s iteration 1-4, 2-4, 4-3(9), 1-4. Despite the slow start to the season, especially as he tried his hands in the Golden Swing (including a straight-set loss to Joao Fonseca in the first-round match of the Rio de Janeiro (500)) instead of his favorite European indoor-Middle Eastern swing, it steadily paid off as he won the Bordeaux (175) title rather than defending his Lyon (250) title, defeating Pedro Martinez 6-2, 6-3 thanks to a dominant play. Before that, he retired Joao Sousa 7-5, 6-4 in the Estoril (250) first round before bowing out to Cristian Garin 6-2, 4-6, 4-6 in the second round.

Performing even better in the second half of the season, A. Fils defeated Dominic Stricker, Hubert Hurkacz, and Roman Safiullin in the first three rounds of the Wimbledon Championships before being defeated by Alex de Minaur 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6 in the fourth round. He went on to reach his maiden 500-level final in Hamburg (500), defeating Alexander Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(1) for his first 500-level title. Not long after, he won his second 500-level title in Tokyo (500), snapping Ugo Humbert's perfect finals record after saving a match point, turning the match around with a final scoreline of 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3 in 3 hours and 4 minutes. Followed by a semifinal appearance in Vienna (500) (l. Ben Shelton 3-6, 6-7(9)) and being eliminated in the third round of Paris M1000 (l. A. Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 3-6), A. Fils enjoyed a career-high ranking of 20 to close his stellar 2024 season, qualifying him for this tournament right away.

4. Jakub Mensik

Jakub Mensik (right) as the Doha (250) runner-up to Karen Khachanov (left) (📸 El Mundo Deportivo via EFE)

Jakub Mensik's points to hold 3-3 in the 1st set of his Doha (250) final (top left), to 2-1* 15-15 in the 2nd set of his Rome M1000 1st round match (top right), and to break 3-0 in the 2nd set of his Vienna (500) second round match (bottom) (📸 ATP Tour's official Twitter via TennisTV)

After notably ending his season with his maiden Challenger-level quarterfinal appearance in Danderyd (d. Hamad Medjedovic 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(8) in the second round only to be defeated by his fellow #NextGenATP Alexander Blockx 0-6, 3-6 in the quarterfinals), J. Mensik began his season by becoming the runner-up of the Canberra Challenger (l. Dominik Koepfer 3-6, 2-6) before advancing to the second round of the Australian Open as a qualifier (l. Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(9), 1-6, 7-5, 1-6, 3-6). He then continued by reaching the semifinals of the Manama Challenger (l. Mikhail Kukushkin 3-6, 2-6), boldening his breakthrough by becoming the runner-up of Doha (250) the week after to Karen Khachanov 6-7(12), 4-6. However, he was sidelined due to an elbow injury, trying to come back in Madrid Masters 1000 only to retire at the start of the second set against Felix Auger-Aliassime 1-6, 0-1, forcing him to be sidelined for the rest of the clay season. He cited that the biomechanics of his serve caused the injury, making necessary adjustments for the rest of the season (apart from taking his final exams at school, where he got 4 As).

The Czech youngster then came back stronger during the grass season, reaching the quarterfinals of Mallorca (250) (l. Alejandro Tabilo 4-6, 4-6) before exiting early in the first round of Wimbledon to Alexander Bublik 6-4, 7-6(3), 4-6, 4-6, 2-6. Adding to his breakthrough year, he became the semifinalist of Umag (250) (l. Lorenzo Musetti 4-6, 1-6), partaking in his first Summer Olympics as he got eliminated against Tommy Paul 3-6, 1-6 in the second round. His progress became more evident in the other hard-court season, where he reached the third round of the US Open (l. Nuno Borges 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-3, 6-7(6), 0-6), as well as reaching the quarterfinals of the Shanghai M1000 (l. Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 1-6, 4-6). He then concluded his season with a stellar showing in Vienna (500), being a quarterfinalist to Alex de Minaur 7-6(2), 3-6, 4-6 before retiring against Corentin Moutet upon the conclusion of the first set in the second qualifying round of Paris M1000 (6-7(3), ret.) due to fatigue,  considering his Vienna run. He ended his season with a career-high ranking of 48, actually setting his goal to “stay injury-free,” considering the physical issues that often appeared from some thrilling matches. To top it off, he is deservingly being voted by his fellow players as the "Newcomer of the Year," announced right before the NextGen Finals.

6. Joao Fonseca

Joao Fonseca celebrating his victory in the Rio de Janeiro (500), where he reached his maiden ATP-level quarterfinals (📸 Tennis.com)

Joao Fonseca's points to 4-2, 2nd set, in his Asuncion Challenger final match (top left), to break back 5-5 in the 2nd set in his Lexington Challenger second-round match (top right), and setting up his latest set point before taking the 2nd set 7-6(8) in his Brest Challenger quarterfinal match (bottom) (📸 ATP official website, BeIN Sports ID)

J. Fonseca’s big raw potential was spotted in the South American Challenger circuit as early as 2022, reaching his first Challenger-level quarterfinal in Sao Leopoldo at that time after stunning Mariano Navone 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(9) in the second round, bowing out to Facundo Bagnis 3-6, 4-6 in the quarterfinals. Since then, he has taken the world by storm, peaking through winning the 2023 US Open Junior Boys' Singles by defeating his fellow #NextGenATP Learner Tien 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 after a rain delay interrupted the match. The Brazilian then started the year by winning the Buenos Aires 2 (Argentino) Challenger title with Pedro Sakamoto (d. Jakob Schnaitter/Mark Wallner 6-2, 6-2 as alternates), preceding his bigger breakthrough in Rio de Janeiro (500) as a wild card as he knocked out Arthur Fils in straight sets in a talent-off and Cristian Garin in the round after, setting up a rematch of his second-round Sao Leopoldo Challenger from 2 years ago despite the loss against Mariano Navone 6-2, 3-6, 3-6 in his maiden ATP-level quarterfinals.

Afterward, J. Fonseca, who already enrolled at the University of Virginia at the end of 2023, forewent his eligibility and turned pro, enjoying notable milestones along the way despite the rollercoasters. He went on to reach his maiden Challenger-level final in Asuncion after saving 2 match points in the quarterfinals against Orlando Luz 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 before Gustavo Heide got the best out of him in the finals 5-7, 7-6(6), 1-6 in a battle for their maiden Challenger title. He reaped his rewards when he received wild cards to Estoril (250), Bucharest (250), and Madrid M1000, racking up experience despite the early exits. His moment then finally came as he won the Lexington Challenger, defeating Li Tu 6-1, 6-4 in the finals, followed by advancing to the US Open third qualifying round as he lost the tight match against University of Texas alumnus Eliot Spizzirri 6-7(8), 7-6(5), 4-6. Continuing his season indoors, he notably saved 10 match points across the second and the third sets before being defeated by eventual runner-up Benjamin Bonzi 4-6, 7-6(8), 4-6 in the Brest Challenger quarterfinals, surviving a talent-off by defeating Martin Landaluce 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(9) in the Lyon (Décines-Charpieu) Challenger quarterfinals before bowing out to one of the indoor goats Calvin Hemery 6-7(5), 4-6 in the semifinals. From here alone, he attained his career-high ranking of 145 by November 18, 2024, securing his qualification to the NextGen Finals thanks to his powerful play, crediting the Challenger Tour for his development.

7. Learner Tien

Learner Tien won his maiden Challenger-level title in the Bloomfield Hills Challenger (📸 Shankar Iyer/Cranbrook Tennis Classic via Tennis TourTalk)

Learner Tien's points to *2-2 15-15 in the 1st set of his Bloomfield Hills Challenger second-round match (top left), to break 5-3 in the second set of his Tiburon Challenger second-round match (top right), and to start the second game of the first set of his famous Fairfield Challenger final match (bottom) (📸 ATP official website)

Former junior World No. 4 (attained in 2023) Learner Tien, who is named after his mother's profession as a teacher, took the world by storm starting his runner-up to Alexander Blockx in the 2023 Australian Open Junior Boys' Singles, winning the U-18 National Championships in the United States two consecutive times (2022-23), which qualified him for the US Open Main Draw wild card. To add, he became the runner-up to Joao Fonseca in the 2023 US Open Junior Boys' Singles (with the final scoreline of 4-6, 6-3, 3-6), whom he will face in this group as well. He attended the University of Southern California in 2022/23, where he earned the All-Pac-12 honorable mention in a shortened season, going 3-0 in singles at the No. 2 position, and 6-3 in doubles at the No. 1 spot.

While his professional journey has had its ups and downs, Learner started to gain more attention in the middle of 2024, kickstarting what would be his 28-match winning streak by winning titles in ITF M15 San Diego (May 27 and Jun 3) before continuing with another title in ITF M15 Rancho Santa Fe (Jun 17). The streak did not stop as he won his maiden Challenger title in the Bloomfield Hills Challenger, defeating Nishesh Basavareddy 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an extremely dynamic affair, surviving all his previous rounds in 3 sets. It did not end from here as he went on to win the ITF M15 Lakewood (Jul 8) by defeating Govind Nanda 6-3, 6-3, but his winning streak was snapped by Yunchaokete Bu 4-6, 5-7 in the semifinals of the Chicago Challenger before reaching his maiden ATP-level quarterfinal as a qualifier in Winston-Salem (250) (l. Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 2-6). Learner then won the Las Vegas Challenger by defeating Tristan Boyer 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 before crushing Bernard Tomic 6-0, 6-1 to win the Fairfield Challenger title in 39 minutes, setting the record for the all-time fastest Challenger final both in game (13 games) and duration (39 minutes), as well as becoming the fourth American to win 3 Challenger titles before turning 19 right behind Taylor Fritz, Andy Roddick, and Sam Querrey. Learner then closed the season with a runner-up in the Knoxville Challenger to Christopher Eubanks 5-7, 6-7(9), reaching a career-high ranking of 114 to open up a possibility for a Top 100 ascension apart from qualifying for the NextGen Finals, inducting himself to the ITF Class of 2024 thanks to his rapid rise.

Red Group

2. Alex Michelsen

Alex Michelsen (right) before contesting his 2024 Newport (250) final against Marcos Giron (left) (📸 Tennis TV)

Alex Michelsen's point to 1-0* 0-15 (2nd set) in his Newport (250) semifinal match (left) and to 6-6(3-0) (1st set tie-break) at his Winston-Salem (250) first-round match (right) (📸 Tennis Channel and Tennis TV)

Also a repeater from the 2023 NextGen Finals (eliminated in the group stage) thanks to his rise that peaked with the Knoxville Challenger title last year, A. Michelsen became a direct entrant to the 2024 Australian Open, qualified for the third round before being eliminated to Alexander Zverev 2-6, 6-7(4), 2-6. He also notably forced the issue when he saved 3 match points before being defeated by Jordan Thompson 6-0, 6-7(1), 5-7 in the quarterfinals after recording one of his biggest victories by knocking out Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-1 the round before in Los Cabos (250). After a decent start to the hard-court season, the American accustomed himself to the red-clay season by partaking in the Oeiras 3 Challenger, defeating home favorite Henrique Rocha 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round before Dennis Novak knocked him out 6-7(3), 4-6 in the second round, but he ended his subpar clay season with an early exit to Alex de Minaur 1-6, 0-6, 2-6 in the first round of Roland Garros.

A. Michelsen then bounced back in the grass and hard-court seasons. Despite kicking off his grass season with a straight-set loss to a resurgent Paul Jubb, he continued by reaching another quarterfinal in Mallorca (250), where Alejandro Tabilo won 6-4, 6-4, but exited early in a 5-set first-round Wimbledon match against Lloyd Harris. The American then closed the grass season by retaining his runner-up position in Newport (250), where Marcos Giron got the best out of him 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-5 in the finals. He then became the runner-up of Winston-Salem (250) to Lorenzo Sonego 0-6, 3-6, but notably defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the first round of Tokyo (500) before losing to Tomas Machac 6-7(2), 3-6 in the second round. Indoors, he confidently knocked out Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of Paris M1000 before being eliminated in the round after, becoming the Metz (250) semifinalist by knocking out the likes of Richard Gasquet and Harold Mayot before a comeback Benjamin Bonzi bettered him with the final scoreline of 6-4, 0-6, 5-7. By November 11, 2024, he reached his career-high ranking of 48, qualifying himself for the NextGen Finals alongside his junior buddies (in his batch) Learner Tien and Nishesh Basavareddy.

3. Juncheng Shang

Juncheng Shang with his maiden ATP title in Chengdu (250) (📸 CFP via CGTN)

Juncheng Shang's point to save the second match point to 6-6(8-8) in his Hong Kong (250) first-round match (left) and to break 6-5 (1st set) in his Chengdu (250) final match (right) (📸 Tennis TV, ATP official website)

Also having immense potential to his name, Jerry became the first Chinese man to win the Australian Open main draw match in 2023 by defeating Oscar Otte 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-5 in the first round. Since then, despite some fitness-questioning moments, Jerry continued to make his mark, which was just the beginning of what could be a career. Fast-forward to the start of the 2024 season, Jerry qualified for the Hong Kong (250) semifinal as a wild card before bowing out to Andrey Rublev 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, also receiving a wild card to the Australian Open, where he knocked out Mackenzie McDonald and Sumit Nagal before retiring against Carlos Alcaraz 1-6, 1-6, 0-1 in the third round. He continued his strides in the Sunshine Double, where he notably reached the second round of the Indian Wells M1000 as a qualifier (d. Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-3 in the first round before being eliminated to Alexander Bublik 4-6, 1-6). On the clay-court season, he notably partook in the Madrid Challenger, defeating Alejandro Moro Canas 7-5, 6-2 in a tight match before being eliminated in the next round against Marc-Andrea Huesler 4-6, 6-3, 5-7 in a classic encounter. Right after, he reached the second round of Barcelona (500) and Madrid M1000 (l. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 5-7, 3-6 in a match famous for its double-bounce incident midway), ending his clay season with a semifinal appearance in Bordeaux Challenger (l. Pedro Martinez 5-7, 2-6) before suffering an early exit in the first qualifying round of the Roland Garros to Roman Andres Burruchaga 4-6, 6-7(5).

Furthermore, Jerry also shone during the grass season, having a competitive showing despite the loss against a rising Jacob Fearnley 5-7, 5-7 at the Nottingham (grass) Challenger quarterfinals, reaching the Eastbourne (250) quarterfinals as well, being eliminated to Taylor Fritz 6-7(5), 6-7(5) as it came down to some crucial points. He ended the grass season by going out of the Wimbledon Championships’ second round against Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-6(4), 4-6, 2-6, 4-6, peaking during the other hard-court swing by reaching the semifinals of Atlanta (250) as a qualifier (l. Jordan Thompson 6-3, 4-6, 3-6) despite the two walk-overs that occurred back in Washington (500) (retiring 2-3 down in the first set to Arthur Rinderknech in the second round due to his lower back injury) and Winston-Salem (250) (withdrew from his third-round match) and the first-round loss to Casper Ruud in another 5-set chaos (final scoreline: 7-6(1), 6-3, 0-6, 3-6, 1-6), before winning his maiden ATP-level title in Chengdu (250) (d. Lorenzo Musetti 7-6(4), 6-1, notably defeating Kei Nishikori (R1), Roman Safiullin (R2), and Alexander Bublik (QF) midway). Jerry ended his season Indoors by qualifying for the Paris M1000, bowing out to Marcos Giron 6-7(6), 6-7(6) in another competitive showing. Reaching his career-high ranking of 47 back on October 21, 2024, Jerry is looking forward to competing in the NextGen Finals, trying to stay happy on the court while maintaining his continuous learning spirit.

5. Luca van Assche

Luca van Assche after winning against Cameron Norrie in his Roanne Challenger quarterfinal match (📸 TennisActu via Roanne Challenger's official Instagram)

Luca van Assche's point to 5-2* 30-30 (2nd set) in his second-round Heilbronn Challenger match (left) and to *1-2 0-15 in his Roanne Challenger quarterfinal match (right) (📸 ATP official website)

Compared to his steady rise that qualified him for the 2023 NextGen Finals, Luca van Assche struggled to maintain his form, trying to balance his tennis journey with his undergraduate studies, currently majoring in Mathematics at Paris-Dauphine University. He kicked off this season with a second-round exit to Cameron Norrie 3-6, 7-6(5), 1-6 before notably recording back-to-back 5-set wins in his first two rounds of the Australian Open, bowing out to Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6, 0-6, 4-6 in the third round. Trying to find his form upon appointing Vicenzo Santopadre (Matteo Berrettini’s coach for 13 years), it was a rocky road for him for some parts of the year: suffering quit exits from the first rounds of Marseille (250) and Rotterdam (250), as well as the first qualifying round of Doha (250) before qualifying for Dubai (500), where Karen Khachanov got the best out of him 2-6, 3-6 in the first round. To continue, he reached the semifinal of the Phoenix Challenger (l. Nuno Borges 4-6, 6-4, 2-6), but another set of early exits occurred, reaching the second round at best in Miami M1000 (l. Casper Ruud 6-7(5), 6-1, 1-6), Barcelona (500) (retiring against Fabian Marozsan 0-6, 2-3), and Madrid M1000 (l. Sebastian Baez 4-6, 7-6(2), 3-6), topping it off with a loss to a comeback Denis Shapovalov 3-6, 4-6, 4-6 in Roland Garros, continuing with 3 consecutive three-set victories in the Heilbronn Challenger the week after before bowing out to eventual champion Sumit Nagal 2-6, 6-7(5) in the semifinals, continuing with a quarterfinal showing in Lyon (clay) Challenger (l. Raphael Collignon 5-7, 3-6) and second-round loss to Tristan Boyer (2-6, 5-7) in the Sassuolo Challenger.

L. van Assche was one of the Wimbledon lucky losers, after being eliminated in the third qualifying round against Lucas Pouille 6-7(4), 5-7, 2-6 in a French generational affair, but he was defeated by Fabio Fognini 1-6, 3-6, 5-7 in the first round despite stepping up late in the third set. Among the other quick eliminations occurring during the other hard-court season, he went out to Paul Jubb 3-6, 1-6 in the second round of the Lincoln Challenger, Gabriel Diallo 4-6, 3-6 in the Cary Challenger second round, Radu Albot 2-6, 6-0, 4-6 in the second qualifying round of the US Open, as well as to the eventual champion Gijs Brouwer 3-6, 2-6 in the first round of the Saint-Tropez Challenger. Seeing his Top 100 ranking is on the line, L. van Assche survived the season thanks to some tumultuous runs, starting from a second-round loss in Villena Challenger to another #NextGenATP in Justin Engel 6-3, 4-6, 0-6, followed by a semifinal showing in the Roanne Challenger (l. Benjamin Bonzi 4-6, 1-6 despite coming back from a set and a break down in the quarterfinals against Cameron Norrie 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, being a quarterfinalist of the Brest Challenger (l. Otto Virtanen 6-7(1), 4-6), had an epic loss after Jozef Kovalik came back and forth from the brink in the first round of the Bratislava 2 Challenger 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(0), then becoming a lucky loser in Metz (250) despite his first-qualifying-round loss to Gregoire Barrere 3-6, 4-6 as Cameron Norrie asserted his revenge in the first round 3-6, 6-3, 1-6. This resulted in the Frenchman being ranked 128 at the end of the season, but he is looking to end 2024 with a bang with a run in the NextGen Finals, taking the court first today against Juncheng Shang to start his campaign in this tournament as he drew from his last year’s experience, where he lost in the semifinals against Arthur Fils.

8. Nishesh Basavareddy

Nishesh Basavareddy with his maiden Challenger-level title in Tiburon (📸 ATP official website via Natalie Kim Photography)

Nishesh Basavareddy's points to 5-1* 30-40 (1st set) in his Tiburon Challenger final match (top left), to 0-0* 40-ad (2nd set) to set up one of his break points in his second-round Knoxville Challenger match (top right), and to *3-3 30-15 (bottom) in an exciting sequence at his Puerto Vallarta Challenger final match (bottom) (📸 ATP official website)

Notably a former junior World No. 3 (attained on January 3, 2023), Nishesh Basavareddy attends Stanford University, majoring in Data Science, where he also was awarded ITA Scholar-Athlete twice for his outstanding academic achievement before foregoing his remaining eligibility thanks to a standout season. Back in college, he was a two-time All-American and the ITA Fall National Champion in 2022, leading the Stanford Cardinals to a Pac-12 Championship earlier in 2024, as well as being an All-Pac two-time honoree, having a 41-11 record in singles (14-1 at the top position) and 29-14 doubles record, reaching a career-high collegiate ranking of No. 6 in singles. In addition, while still actively playing in college, apart from attaining his first ATP points in 2022, he also won his first professional doubles title in ITF M15 Vero Beach (Apr 25) with Ricardo Rodriguez-Pace, defeating Liam Draxl/Millen Hurrion 6-4, 6-3 in the finals and becoming the singles runner-up of the 2023 Fairfield Challenger (l. Zachary Svajda 4-6, 1-6) at his maiden Challenger-level singles final.

However, the Carmel, Indiana native started another rise, beginning with his ITF M25 Calabasas (Mar 18) runner-up when Trevor Svajda got the best out of him 4-6, 1-6. Since then, he had a tear in the North American Challenger circuit in general, starting from becoming the runner-up to Learner Tien 6-4, 3-6, 4-6 in the Bloomfield Hills Challenger (in singles) and partnering Ozan Baris, in doubles (l. Ryan Seggerman/Patrick Trhac 6-4, 3-6, [6-10] in the finals). He then reached the semifinal of the Lincoln Challenger (l. Coleman Wong 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 0-6) before reaching the third qualifying round of the US Open, where Hamad Medjedovic won 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1, with fitness being the main question of this stretch, including in his Columbus Challenger loss to James Kent Trotter 7-6(4), 1-6, 0-6 in the semifinals. However, Nishesh came back stronger with other final stretches, starting with a runner-up to Edas Butvilas 4-6, 3-6 in the Charleston Challenger in a battle for their maiden Challenger title, finally winning his maiden Challenger title in Tiburon as he double-breadsticked (6-1, 6-1) University of Texas alumnus Eliot Spizzirri as they contested for their maiden Challenger title as well. Somehow, within 2 months, Nishesh became a runner-up in 2 different Challenger-level tournaments, starting the Charlottesville Challenger (l. James Kent Trotter 3-6, 4-6), followed by the Champaign Challenger a fortnight later (l. Ethan Quinn 3-6, 1-6) while surviving various classics along the way, including the quarterfinal match against University of Virginia alumnus Chris Rodesch 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(5) in the quarterfinals back in Charlottesville. Despite the injury scare to end the season, Nishesh closed the season in the Puerto Vallarta Challenger with a title, defeating Liam Draxl 6-3, 7-6(4) after not being able to serve it out in the second set, thus achieving a career-high ranking of 138 on December 2, 2024, securing the last spot to the NextGen Finals, as well as becoming the basis of him turning professional by the end of this year thanks to the immense development in his point construction as reflected in some above samples.

[flagpeace]

Welcome to the Fictional President Election!

In this tournament, I will pit famous fictional presidents of the United States or fictionalized versions of real presidents against each other to decide who should be elected the official Tumblr President (of the United States). This tournament isn’t meant to be taken seriously, and I picked some rather ridiculous candidates for the election. Also check out my other ongoing tournament, @bisexual-monarch-tournament

Here are the brackets and candidates for the election:

Round 1:

Group A:

1. JFK (Clone High) vs. Merkin Muffley (Dr. Strangelove)

2. Abe Lincoln (Clone High) vs. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter)

3. Jamie Foxx (The movie where Jamie Foxx was president) vs. Morgan Freeman (The movie where Morgan Freeman was president)

4. Theodore Roosevelt (Night at the Museum) vs. Theodore Roosevelt (Epic Rap Battles of History)

Group B:

5. Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho (Idiocracy) vs. Lisa Simpson (The Simpsons)

6. Insane Clown Posse (Homestuck) vs. Max (Sam and Max: Abe Lincoln Must Die)

7. Domald Tromp (Chuck Tingle) vs. Kevin James (Pixels)

8. Richard Nixon’s Head (Futurama) vs. Richard Nixon (Black Dynamite)

Group C:

9. Funny Valentine (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run) vs. Thomas J. Whitmore (Independence Day)

10. Richard Martinez (Cory in the House) vs. President Hathaway (Monsters vs. Aliens)

11. Miku Binder Jefferson vs. Harrison Ford (Air Force One)

12. Solidus Snake (Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty) vs. Selina Meyer (Veep)

Group D:

13. President Curtis (Rick and Morty) vs. Betty Boop (Betty Boop for President)

14. President Sir Lord Quentin Trembley III, Esq. (Gravity Falls) vs. Josiah Barlet (The West Wing)

15. Coriolanus Snow (The Hunger Games) vs. George Washingtoad (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show)

16. ROBOTUS (Inside Job) vs. Lex Luthor (DC Comics)

I hope everyone enjoys this tournament! The first round will start sometime soon (possibly tomorrow). Let me know who you want to win in the comments!

[mostbelovednjpwtournament]

Wondering How Many Votes The Top 50 Wrestlers Got Across Both Promotions I've Run Tournaments For? Wonder No Longer!

Willow Nightingale - 1870 (AEW winner)

Eddie Kingston - 1617 (AEW Round 8/8)

Danhausen - 1358 (AEW Round 7/8)

Orange Cassidy - 1244 (AEW Round 7/8)

Athena - 796 (AEW Round 5/8)

Hikaru Shida - 755 (AEW Round 6/8)

Rhea Ripley - 742 (WWE winner)

Samoa Joe - 731 (AEW Round 6/8)

Sami Zayn - 720 (WWE Round 10/10)

Bryan Danielson - 711 (AEW Round 6/8)

Jamie Hayter - 653 (AEW Round 6/8)

Nyla Rose - 592 (AEW Round 5/8)

Kris Statlander - 586 (AEW Round 5/8)

Riho - 560 (AEW Round 4/8)

Hook - 552 (AEW Round 4/8)

MJF - 549 (AEW Round 4/8)

Jon Moxley - 535 (AEW Round 4/8)

Anthony Bowens - 529 (AEW Round 4/8)

Emi Sakura - 528 (AEW Round 5/8)

Mr. Brodie Lee - 501 (AEW Round 5/8)

Adam Cole - 490 (AEW Round 5/8)

Stokely Hathaway - 490 (AEW Round 4/8)

Wheeler Yuta - 459 (AEW Round 3/8)

Jay White - 450 (AEW Round 5/8)

Samoa Joe - 446 (WWE Round 8/10)

Christian Cage - 437 (AEW Round 4/8)

Penta Oscuro & Dean Ambrose & Naomi - 432 (AEW Round 5/8 & WWE Round 9/10 & WWE Round 7/10)

Bray Wyatt - 427 (WWE Round 9/10)

Shawn Michaels - 421 (WWE Round 8/10)

Eddie Guerrero - 420 (WWE Round 9/10)

Malakai Black - 414 (AEW Round 4/8)

Jade Cargill - 406 (AEW Round 4/8)

Dalton Castle - 402 (AEW Round 4/8)

Mick Foley - 392 (WWE Round 8/10)

Asuka - 389 (WWE Round 7/10)

Maki Itoh - 384 (AEW Round 3/8)

Nick Jackson - 383 (AEW Round 4/8)

Anna Jay - 376 (AEW Round 4/8)

Becky Lynch - 370 (WWE Round 7/10)

Billy Gunn - 365 (AEW Round 4/8)

Billy Gunn - 356 (WWE Round 7/10)

Mustafa Ali & R Truth - 354 (WWE Round 8/10 & WWE Round 7/10)

Kevin Owens - 348 (WWE Round 6/10)

The Undertaker - 342 (WWE Round 7/10)

Cody Rhodes - 341 (WWE Round 6/10)

Seth Rollins - 339 (WWE Round 6/10)

Juice Robinson - 338 (AEW Round 4/8)

Mercedes Martinez - 337 (AEW Round 3/8)

Damian Priest - 335 (WWE Round 5/10)

Toni Storm - 333 (AEW Round 3/8)

[all-risejd]

A New Judgment Chapter 10: Autograph Signing and a Makeout Session (Poly Judgment Day)

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8. Part 9.

Damien snoozes the alarm on his phone and reaches out for where Dom was supposed to be only to feel the cold of the empty side of the bed. He lifts his head to look around and calls out for him. There is no response so he does it again and picks his head up off the pillow to look around and only sees Finn in the other bed and he doesn't hear the shower running. "Finn, where is Dom Dom?" Damien asks, throwing the spare pillow at Finn for good measure to wake him up.

"Fuck off, he left at like 2 am after getting a text he is probably in the girl's room..." Finn trails off realizing what he said as Damien rushes out of the bed and into the hallway Finn follows close behind him the door closing shut once they are in the hallway. "Fuuuuuuck!" Finn moans and flings his hands up in the air

"What?" Damien asks, still half awake and focused on where and why his partner disappeared from their bed in the middle of the night and worrying about Nessa.

"You got us locked out of the room in only our boxers, you bloody idiot!" Finn smacks Damien's chest.

"Oh shit!" Damien realizes and runs his hand down his face. Finn and Damien stand there staring at each other for a minute before Damien breaks the silence, "Well go get a new keycard, and while you are at it get one for the girl's room too. I'm too noticeable."

"Oh no, you are the one that rushed out of here first and want to check on Nessa not just Dom. You go get the keycard. It's mostly just wrestlers here it's not that serious." Finn crosses his arms challenging Damien to argue.

Damien instead holds out one hand palm up and closes the other in a fist placing it in the open palm. "Fine, let's settle this like men. Rock paper scissors..." He states like Finn didn't already know just by looking at Damien's posture. Finn assumes the position as well.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot," They say in unison. Finn throwing paper and Damien throwing rocks. Finn does a little happy dance at his victory while Damien reassumes the position.

"Best two out of three!" Damien demands a rematch. Finn rolls his eyes but agrees and gets back in formation. This round Damien throws paper while Finn throws scissors and does a happy dance again. "Oh come on!" Damien growls in frustration.

"Hurry it up Damo, chop chop." Finn flings his hand in a shoo motion.

Damien slinks off, throwing the middle finger as he heads to the elevator. Damien exits the elevator on the main floor, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible but his height makes it impossible. The other wrestlers in the lobby snicker as he walks past, some snapping pictures and posting it on various social media. Damien approaches the front desk. "Hi, I'm uh... Very sorry to ask but me and my friend accidentally locked ourselves out of our rooms and need new keys. Martinez room 313 and Bennet in 314." Damien smiles charmingly at the lady behind the counter who eyes him up and down appreciatively as he is only in his boxers.

'Yes, right away sir." She agrees but takes her time activating new key cards just to keep looking at him. Damien tries to ignore the snickering and comments from his co-workers while he waits on the key cards, tapping his fingers on the counter. Finally, mercifully the hotel worker hands him the keycards.

"Thank you miss!" He thanks the lady and turns, walking quickly to the elevator, flipping off some of his co-workers on the way who were making kissy faces and laughing. Once Damien is back on the floor their rooms are on he sees Finn standing there arms crossed tapping his foot.

"Finally, let's go already!" He holds out his hand and Damien slaps the keycard into it. Finn rolls his eyes and opens the door to the girl's room and steps in Damien close behind him. They stop in their tracks when they see Nessa in between Dominik and Rhea in the full-size bed, oreos strewn everywhere but they are all clothed except for Dominik who is just in his boxers.

"What the fuck," Damien quietly exclaims, confused at the scene before them. Finn smirks figuring out what happened and how innocent it really was. Damien crosses his arms and starts pouting, acting all broody. "Why does everyone get to cuddle Nessa but me? Dom is the one that broke her heart." Damien complains to Finn who just pats Damiens's shoulder in a half-assed attempt to comfort.

"I don't cuddle her, I've barely had any physical contact with her..." Finn states matter of factly.

"Yeah, well your situation is different." Damien responds, still pouting.

Finn heads over to the bed after looking at the time on the alarm clock and attempts to wake them up, going to the side of the bed where Dominik is asleep. "Come on guys, wake up. We have to get ready and eat before the signing." He nudges Dominik which disturbs the women as well. Rhea scrunches up her face and starts to wake up blinking and looking around. She scoots up into a sitting position against the headboard and Nessa whines, rolling over and cuddling into Dominik's chest who wraps his arms around her pulling her closer. Rhea nudges Nessa's back, making the young woman groan again.

"Come on Bunny, I know last night was rough and you are tired but we have work to do. You can get up now and get ready so you can go to the signing with us or stay here sleeping. If you want to come with us to the signing still you have to get up and get ready." Rhea explains, moving hair off of Nessa's face which scrunches up at contact.

"Ok..." Nessa groans and opens her eyes and blushes seeing how close she is cuddled up to Dominik. She breaks out of his arms and sits up next to Rhea, her face and neck tinted pink and getting pinker when she notices the mess of cookies everywhere. She hides her face in her hands.

"What's with the oreos?" Finn asks, having an idea as to the answer.

"We fell asleep while having a late-night snack." Rhea answers honestly, trying to save Nessa the embarrassment.

"No, I couldn't sleep. I was still feeling stressed so I texted Dom who knows I stress eat so he brought cookies over. We woke Rhea up which I am so sorry for and we just ate them in silence until we apparently passed out." Nessa admits, feeling much better and able to handle the embarrassment better. Damien looks at the ground unable to make eye contact with Nessa, blaming himself.

"Well now we are all up lets get ready. Nes are you coming with us?" Finn asks, trying to herd a broody Damien towards the door.

Nessa starts to try to get out of bed, only for Rhea to pull her onto her lap. "Yeah just give me a bit to get ready." Nessa tries to wiggle out of Rhea's grip and Damien clenches his jaw and walks out of the room. "Mami let me go!" Nessa continues to struggle until she just falls off the bed and thumps on the floor. "I'm ok." She groans laying on the carpet before grabbing Rhea's outstretched hand and getting up, Rhea standing next to her.

"I'm gonna go get ready with the others," Dom announces to the room.

"Wait!" Nessa calls out and jogs over to where he is and wraps her arms around him and stands on her toes to place a gentle kiss on his lips. "Thank you Dom for everything yesterday. And you, Rhea, thank you." Nessa breaks the hug and goes back to Rhea doing the same.

"Anytime Nes. Whatever you need I am here for you." Dominik reassures, smiling.

"Please tell Luis I am not upset with him, nothing is wrong. I am fine now. And to please act normal." She asks Dom as he leaves the room.

"Yeah, Nes I will." He answers before closing the door.

"You shower first Bunny since you saved the hot water for me." Rhea bumps her hip to Nessa's. Nessa rolls her eyes and grabs what she needs and goes into the bathroom.

___________________________________________________________________________

Rhea and Nessa exit their hotel room to see the boys waiting in the hallway. Damien tries to make himself seem smaller when he notices the girls join them. "Oh for fucks sake!" Nessa rolls her eyes and storms over to Damien and throws her arms around his waist and he gingerly wraps his arms around her shoulders. "I'm fine Luis. It wasn't your fault. I don't blame you so don't you blame yourself." She orders, straining her head to look up at him from the hug. He doesn't respond, just tightens his arms to pull her closer.

"All right that is enough cuddling. If we are going to eat before the signing, which I do, we need to go." Finn points towards the elevator getting annoyed by the delay. Nessa breaks the hug and mouths sorry and holds her hands up in surrender. "It's ok." he mouths back as they make their way towards the elevator. With all five of them in the elevator due to the size of them, it felt a little cramped but Nessa wasn't uncomfortable. Instead, she is smiling and bouncing like she was the day prior making Damien look at her confused again. Thinking how could she be acting so normal after the events of the previous day. Dominik sees the look Damien is giving Nessa and rolls his eyes, all too used to her compensating and hiding what is in her head.

Nessa grabs Damien's hand as they exit the elevator and head towards the car trying to show she harbors no bad feelings toward him. "Hey guys there is something I wanted to add last night that I forgot." She states to the group.

"Yeah, what is it Bunny?" Rhea responds so Nessa will continue.

"No serious conversations in the car, there is no way to escape if it becomes too much and would make me feel trapped. My ex used to do that whenever we argued and would speed up threatening to kill us both." She admits and smiles trying to make it seem like nothing. Damien clenches his jaw and it takes everything in him to not squeeze Nessa's hand too hard hearing what she just admitted.

"Yeah, love, that is perfectly reasonable, we tend to not do that for that very reason so don't worry about it." Finn promises as they approach the car. Damien lets go of Nessa's hand and opens the passenger door for her trying to give her more space, worried that he might be too much to be around for her still. Nessa rolls her eyes again.

"Mami, will you take the passenger seat this time, I would like to sit between Luis and Dom if that is ok," Nessa asks and Rhea agrees getting into the empty seat. Damien closes the door for her and opens the back passenger door for Nessa who gets in with a quiet thanks and a smile as she slides into the middle and the boys get in on either side of her. Damien sits up against the door squeezing his legs together to give Nessa as much room as possible. Nessa mutters under her breath, "Unbelievable" and scoots closer to Damien and grabs his arm, putting it around her shoulders. "That can't be comfortable Luis, please just relax. I am fine." She snuggles into his shoulder and feels him take a deep breath before releasing some of the tension in his body and hums.

"So where are we going for breakfast," Dominik asks turning and throwing his feet on Nessa's lap.

"Some place Paul suggested." Finn answers, getting a chorus of groans in response from Damien, Dominik, and Rhea.

Nessa picks her head off of Damien's shoulder for a moment to ask, "What, what's wrong with his suggestions?"

"Every time he suggests somewhere the food fucking sucks, Mariposa." Damien complains, his deep voice having a comforting effect on her in contrast to the night before.

She smiles and snuggles back up to him. "I'm sure it will be fine. Give it a chance. Having an open mind is a good thing!" She tries to keep peace and agrees with Finn on where they are going. She sees him mouth 'thank you' in the rearview mirror and she smiles in response. Finn pulls into a parking spot in front of the restaurant. Damien gets out first and holds open the door for Nessa and takes a step back as she gets out giving her space.

"Are you sure you are ok Mariposa?" He eyes her warily, trying to gauge where she is at emotionally and she huffs getting annoyed.

"Yes, Luis I am fine as I said. Will you please stop treating me like I'll break at any moment and go back to normal please? That is what I need." She crosses her arms and stares at him expectantly. He sighs in defeat and nods his head.

"Fine mamita but if..." He starts but Nessa cuts him off.

"If I feel uncomfortable or triggered I will tell you right away I know. Can we please go eat now Papi?" She cocks her head with attitude, a mischievous glint in her eye but her face trying to look innocent. Damien cocks his eyebrow and nods ok before throwing her over his shoulder and lightly smacking her ass. "Put me down you...you... you tall ass!" She complains and gently kicks trying to get out of his grip.

"No can do Mamita, you wanted back to normal and decided to act like a brat so I'm going to treat you like one." He chuckles walking to catch up to the group with Nessa on his shoulder complaining the whole way until he sets her down at the doors of the restaurant and opens them. "Man, you weigh like nothing you...."

Damien started teasing Nessa only for Dom to cut him off, "Don't finish that sentence." He glances at Nessa who is excitedly walking up to Rhea and grabbing her hand not paying attention to Damien talking to her. She stands between Rhea and Finn who bumps up against her making her fall into Rhea the three of them laughing.

"Why Dom?" Damien asks curious, not thinking about why what he was about to say would be bad.

"Come on Papi you can't really be that dense." Dominik groans slapping his forehead.

"What, no, come on really?" Damien realizes why as they walk in, meeting up with the others at the hostess stand.

"Finally, I'm sorry they get distracted easily. We are ready!" Nessa apologizes to the hostess who leads them to a table and sets down the stack of menus. Damien goes behind Nessa to pull out her chair in the middle of the table, Dominik does the same for Rhea on the opposite side of the table so they sit across from each other. Damien sits down next to Nessa, Finn on the other side of Nessa, and Dominik sitting across from Damien.

"Hey Nes, I like the new tattoos." Dominik praises which makes Nessa blush.

"Thanks, Dom, I figured it was time." She takes a sip of her drink.

"Time for what a new tattoo? It's always a good time for a new tattoo." Damien jokes.

"She was talking about getting those for years, she finally did," Dominik explains to the group.

"I would say I had more free time to do it but that is a lie, I threw myself into work and one day just said fuck it and did it then dealt with the healing pain at work. Did one thigh one week, the next a few weeks later." She shrugs.

"Do they have any special meaning?" Finn asks trying to keep the conversation going.

"Yeah, it's flowers, using the language of flowers bitter regret, healing, and forgiveness just stuff like that with a butterfly thrown in for good measure." Nessa shrugs and catches Rhea's inquisitive look.

Rhea shakes her head and smiles, "Well, we all have things we regret and healed from. What is your favorite tattoo?" Rhea asks, nudging her foot against Nessa's.

"Oh uh all of them for various reasons..." Nessa answers, unable to pick.

"But if you had to choose?" Damien asks as he rests his elbow on the table and scoots closer to Nessa.

"Uh,... my sleeve I guess. It's full of my favorite nerd shit and space stuff, love space, and the stars and planets. Some of it Dom helped pick out." Dominik smiles at Nessa's answer and Damien playfully kicks him under the table. Only for Rhea to wince and kick back accidentally hitting Nessa.

"Ow fuck ok that's it, everyone keep your feet to yourselves, it was cute at first but I draw the line there!" She forcefully sets her cup back down on the table looking at everyone sternly. Both Damien and Rhea hang their heads muttering sorry. "I swear you are worse than children sometimes!" Nessa complains, sitting back in her chair and glancing at Finn who can't help but laugh.

"That we are, love, but it is fun and never boring." He bumps her shoulder and she rolls her eyes unable to hide her smile. Finn continues, "Space stuff is cool. What are some of your hobbies? I love legos and building Lego sets and love comic books." Finn offers up.

Nessa gets the mischievous glint in her eyes again. "Don't start that argument today Mariposa you won't hear the end of it from either of us." Damien chimes in knowing she was going to parrot what she told him when they went to dinner.

"Oh come on, that's no fun!" Nessa huffs and the table laughs. "Fine, I love books and reading. I'll read anywhere. Though in a nice armchair by the fire with hot chocolate is absolute heaven." She closes her eyes, picturing it before continuing, "I like building models, like the Titanic lego model, is goals, but so expensive and has so many pieces."

"How do you have a bit of all of our likes?" Rhea asks, more so to herself but she said it out loud.

"Neurodivergence. Comics and reading and music are an escape, building models is a hands-on textile thing that can help ground and guide focus. Plus the Lego thing came about working on the Peds ward with all the kids. You can't help but like the joy you give a sick kid when they don't have much going for them." Nessa shrugs unaware of how the question Rhea asks could have been perceived. The rest of the group nodded along in agreement about the making sick children happy thing she said.

The rest of the breakfast went by comfortably Nessa learning more about the individuals while seeing how they act and operate in public outside of work and it is no different. Damien pays for the girls this time around to Nessa grumbling about machismo and Dom kicking her playfully under the table before they stand up.

"Dominik Oscar Gutierrez what did I tell you about keeping your feet to yourself." Nessa chastises and he shrugs, holding out his hand for her to grab.

"You said everyone keep your feet to yourselves, but you wanted to complain about Damien being machismo so..." Dominik blows raspberries at her.

"It's what my people do, you know this, it sparks joy to complain!" Nessa grabs his hand pouting as they head to the car.

___________________________________________________________________________

Together as a group, they approach the venue where they are to do the signing, Nessa's hand wrapped around Damien's elbow as he escorts her and Rhea and Dom holding hands, Finn waving at the fans like the lunatic he is, Nessa waving here and there, surprised at people yelling her name. It embarrasses her at points and she hides under Damien's arm and he guides her through the doors.

"Oh that is so cute!" Damien's chest rumbles as he rubs Nessa's shoulder.

"I don't know why they like me, I'm nothing special." She mumbles into Damien's chest who then grabs her shoulders and takes a step back, bending down to be eye level with her.

"You are every bit special, don't ever forget that" He then pulls her into a hug and kisses the top of her head. They get ushered to a long table where Triple H is waiting with his arms crossed.

"Uh oh," Nessa grimaces seeing the look on his face.

"What the hell was that last night?" He asks glancing between all of them.

"The dude grabbed me and wouldn't leave me alone asking me out and I was uncomfortable and they came to defend me..." Nessa speaks up in their defense.

"We can not behave like that no matter the circumstances, you should have gotten security instead of assaulting that guy." Triple H sternly tells them.

"Like you wouldn't do the same if he did it to Steph..." Damien bites back, annoyed at being admonished like a child for defending Nessa.

"Be that as it may, perception is everything. I have done similar things and had to pay the price. You will all be fined 5,000 dollars each, except for Nessa since she was assaulted first and did not put her hands on him." He announces to the team, disappointment evident in his voice. The members of The Judgment Day stand there staring at him. Nessa places her hand gently on Damien's chest to stop him from retorting again and making the situation worse.

"Hunter, sir, we are sorry for how our actions could negatively affect the company and it will not happen again!" Nessa plays the diplomat, and Hunter eyes her and Damien up and down and glances to the other three who are now nearly shoulder to shoulder with each other and nods approvingly before narrowing his eyes.

"Before we let the fans in, are you doing this for kayfabe or is something going on." He asks gesturing to the total group who turn to Nessa, letting her decide.

"We will do our best to keep it kayfabe, however, there is potentially something more going on between us. You wanted us to bond so you need to let us do so to work better together." Nessa admits looking at him wide-eyed afraid of getting them into more trouble but wanting to protect them. Hunter looks from Nessa to her hand still on Damien's chest to the others who are looking at Nessa like she hung the moon, even Finn who appreciates how fiercely she is trying to protect them. Hunter nods approvingly loving the backbone she is showing.

"All right then, do what is natural but you have to take the consequences if it goes south." He warns her before walking away.

"Let's sit down and get ready," Rhea suggests walking to the other side of the table where four chairs are laid out.

Nessa notices there are only four chairs and speaks up as Rhea sits in the second chair, Dominik in the third, and Finn in the last. "There isn't a chair for me?" She looks around trying to find a spare chair.

"Mamita, I am your chair." Damien leans down and whispers into her ear, gently grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the table as she bites her lower lip, blood rushing to her face wondering if he will ever stop trying to make her blush. Damien plops down into the chair and pulls Nessa onto his lap and wraps his arms around her waist and rests his head on her shoulder. She leans her head onto his as fans start lining up some of them cooing and taking pictures.

Damien frees one arm to get ready to start signing as the first fan approaches the table. Damien smiles and signs the picture put in front of him. Damien goes to slide it to Rhea and the kid speaks up. "Can Nessa sign it too since she is part of the Judgement day now?" He asks shyly and Nessa blushes, one of the security guards hands her a silver sharpie to sign it.

"Here you go sweetheart!" She uses the initials she used at the hospital and smiles at the kid who just beams back. The signing goes on like that for a few minutes until someone asks Damien for a picture. He kisses the side of Nessa's head and slides her over onto Rhea's lap who wraps one arm around Nessa's waist and Nessa pouts.

"Can't I just get my own chair?"

"No." echoes around the room from the members of The Judgement Day as well as fans who are loving the PDA. The same fan that took the picture with Damien wanted one with Rhea who promptly slides her over onto Dominik's lap and kisses Nessa's cheek as she huffs in annoyance. Fans take pictures and videos as Nessa gets passed from one member to another.

Eventually, she lands on Finn's lap. "Are you ok, love?" he whispers in her ear.

Nessa leans back to answer also in a whisper, "Yeah, are you ok with this? I don't want you to feel uncomfortable either." Finn's chest shakes as he laughs.

"Yes, love, this is perfectly fine." He answers while signing the next picture. Nessa's attention is caught by someone calling her name and holding out a Dominik picture that he already signed.

"You guys are so cute together and I want you to sign by his name. Will you get back together?" The young girl, early teens asks sheepishly.

"Well, sweetpea Dom is in a new relationship and I don't want to come between that." She smiles, well aware of the cameras and fans hanging on to her every word and not wanting to cause them to get fined anymore.

"But you were on his lap and he kissed you. Actually, almost all of them have kissed you and you are on Finn's lap too? What is going on?" The fan asked confused, a chorus of yeahs coming from the people behind her.

"Well, Damien asked me on a date and I said yes. We went to dinner. And they are all close and my love language is physical touch like this. All those kisses were innocent and on the cheek." Nessa answers as diplomatically as possible for the question.

"Well, what about sharing like a harem," the fan asks and Damien snorts. Taking a drink of his water to try and disguise his reaction. Nessa can't control hers and turns in Finn's lap hiding her face into his neck. She hears some of the fans start laughing some oohing and cheering.

"Finn pass Mamita back up here," Damien calls out from the end of the table, Finn tightens the arm he has around Nessa's waist keeping her on his lap.

"Nah Damien, it's my turn for cuddles" Finn rests his chin on Nessa's shoulder like Damien did earlier. Though it doesn't last long because a medium clear shoebox-sized Tupperware filled clearly with legos appears in front of them.

"All yours Damien!" He literally tosses Nessa back onto Dominik's lap who hands her off to Rhea and Rhea hands her back off to Damien.

"I can walk guys, Jesus H Roosevelt Christ." She complains once she is squarely back on Damien's lap.

"Yeah, but this is more fun mamita..." Damien comments nipping at her ear, his arm sliding below her waist, his hand squeezing her thigh making her blush again, the fans still in line cooing at how cute it is as she now hides in Damien's neck. Damien readjusts and gently guides her head off of his neck and angles it up. Damien brings his head to hers, gripping the back of her neck and pulling into a possessive kiss that she melts into and returns, the crowd going crazy. Damien is the first to break the kiss, Nessa breathing shallowly and looking up at him through her eyelashes, her hand gripping the collar of his shirt.

Nessa adjusts how she is sitting on his lap to where her back is resting on his chest and she grabs his hand that is still on her thigh and intertwines her fingers with his, unable to stop the giggle that escapes her throat, her face still flushed. They finish the signing like that, Nessa on Damien's lap glancing softly back at him occasionally and smiling, occasionally being passed from one lap to another when they had to stand up to take a picture, but always ending back up on Damien's lap. For the last few fans, she notices how Damien is tensing up and is acting more timid with his touches.

Once the last fan is gone and the signing is over Nessa jumps off Damien's lap and holds out her hand for him to grab to try and show him she was ok with the kiss, he gets up and gently takes her hand. As a group, they make their way to the SUV waving at the fans who hung back to get another glimpse of them.

"I hope I didn't get us in trouble again by shutting down at that fan's question." She vocalizes as they approach the SUV.

"If we do we will pay it, don't worry your pretty little head about it." Rhea reaches out and messes with Nessa's hair for emphasis. Damien opens the back door for Nessa who slides in and Rhea after her. Dominik enters on the other side. Damien takes the passenger seat this time wanting to give Nessa space. Nessa begins fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, worrying that he is upset about the kiss. Maybe he didn't like it, maybe he doesn't like her...

Nessa's thoughts are broken by Rhea grabbing one of her hands and Dominik grabbing the other both of them placing a kiss on the back of her hands.

Damien pulls down the vizor and opens the mirror angling it to where he can see Nessa. Guilt filling him, he just kissed her like that in front of people where she couldn't leave or respond negatively if she needed to. He forced her into a corner and he feels disgusted with himself. Mercifully they get to the hotel quickly, the tension between Nessa and Damien palpable. The rest try to ease it with jokes and small talk as they make their way to their rooms. Damien goes to enter the room he shares with the other men but Nessa grabs his hand to stop him.

"Can we talk please, alone?" She gestures to her room. Rhea, Dominik, and Finn share a knowing look and disappear into the men's room and Nessa pulls Damien into her room. Once the door is closed Damien starts rambling off apologies, switching between English and Spanish like his mind can't figure out what needs to be said.

"Damien, Damien!" Nessa tries to calm him down, "LUIS!!!" She raises her voice to get his attention and stands on her toes grabbing either side of his face.

"Go sit down so we can talk. Everything is fine, I am not upset at you, there is nothing to apologize about!" She lists off trying to make him understand not breaking eye contact. He nods and Nessa sighs in relief plopping back down on her feet and letting go of his face. Damien sits in the chair and Nessa stands in front of him.

"Can I sit on your lap?" She asks, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable. He nods and opens his arms for her. She sits and scoots up on his lap getting comfortable. "Now slow and calm, tell me what is going on in your head." Nessa instructs tapping his forehead.

Damien softly groans and buries his face in her hair collecting his thoughts. "I'm sorry for kissing you like that in front of the fans without discussing it beforehand. That was unprofessional and uncalled for. I am supposed to wait for your lead when initiating contact like that in private. And for work, it is always supposed to be discussed beforehand. You had no way to react the way you would need to or get away without causing issues and I think I made you feel trapped. I just couldn't control myself and I should have. I am so sorry Nessa."

Nessa draws circles on the back of his hand and sighs. "If that was strictly for work I'd understand and be ok, and as for personal, that is still ok. You do an excellent job reading my body language and making sure I am ok. I enjoyed that kiss if you couldn't tell by my reaction. Luis, I thought you didn't like it or changed your mind about me." Nessa explains, shrugging.

Damien's jaw drops and he tightens his grip around Nessa's waist, his voice dropping as he responds, "I very much enjoyed that kiss and I very much like you. I have not and will not change my mind so don't think that."

Nessa places a kiss on his jaw to make him unclench it. "Then stop acting like everything you do is wrong or that you've hurt or upset me. If you have I will tell you like I have promised ok?" She asks gently rubbing her palm on his cheek and turning his head to face hers and kissing him with the same force he kissed her with earlier his soft lips parting allowing her to be in control as she moves to straddle him her head tilted to one side. She wraps her arms around his neck and plays with the hair on the back of his neck and he rests his hands on her ass pulling her closer.

Nessa inhales deeply taking in his scent, his cologne, his breath, and the way he tastes committing it to memory as she breaks the kiss resting her forehead on his since he is basically holding her up by her ass, both of them breathing heavily. "Papi, can you put me down?" She rasps out, trying to catch her breath, he shakes his head, and Nessa wiggles making him growl..

"Mariposa if you don't stop we might cross a boundary that we set last night." Damien almost begs, his voice deeper than she has ever heard it. She meets his gaze and notices his pupils are huge and his eyes flicker downward to his quite obvious source of discomfort.

Nessa flushes for a different reason and wiggles about again. "You can put me on the arm of the chair then and we can join the others?" Nessa offers, her arms still around his neck until he does as she suggested and sets her on the arm of the chair and grabs her hand kissing it much like Gomez does for Morticia. Nessa giggles and takes back her hand.

"Thank you Mariposa for being the kindest and most understanding and also forgiving. You don't know how much Dominik needed your forgiveness." Damien tries to change gears to make his erection go away so they can rejoin the others.

"You don't need to thank me Bombon, you've done nothing wrong so there was nothing to forgive. Thank you for being understanding and patient... sort of and letting me try to get my bearings with all this..." Nessa reaches forward and grabs his hand again wanting some form of contact.

"Take as much time as you need Mariposa we don't want to rush a decision for you. It is a big decision and commitment I'm not going to lie. You agree to join us completely it is a different ball game, we can be intense, more than you've experienced and I don't want you to regret it." He warns her and pulls her into his lap, his former issue taken care of.

"I think I can handle it Bombon, I've handled a lot in my life and an excess of passion is a non-issue." She looks up at him and smiles.

"I am glad to hear that Mariposa." He gently kisses her forehead.

"Do you think you are ok to go be with the others now?" She asks while playing with his fingers. He smiles and just lets her continue playing with them.

"I like just the peace like this. No misunderstandings no pressure." He intertwines their fingers to stop her from playing with them and kisses her head again.

"I know but they are going to start to worry, and don't we have to train tonight too?" Nessa reasons and Damien scoffs.

"Yes, but training isn't for a few hours we have time. I just need a little time of peace and no expectations." He explains and Nessa immediately starts nodding.

"Yeah of course." Nessa agrees and cuddles up to him, laying her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes taking another deep breath and just relaxing in his arms, his head resting on hers. Damien does the same as Nessa, taking a deep breath and taking in the floral scent of her perfume and something else distinctly her that just fits. They fall asleep like that in the chair.

__________________________________________________________________________

Finn uses the key card to quietly enter the room, not wanting to scare Nessa. He steps in to see Nessa and Damien asleep. He pulls out his phone and snaps a few pictures, selecting one to post to his Twitter. "Look at this, our newest member and second oldest member cuddled up and napping after an excitement-filled autograph session. I think the old man was tired. 😍" He captions and posts it tagging the two asleep in front of him as well as the other members of The Judgment Day. Finn leaves the room, leaving the door cracked open to go get Rhea and Dominik who are both looking at their phones as he walks in.

"That is the cutest shit!" Rhea comments out loud

"I know, that should make Paul happy. Especially after the signing. Let's wake them up the fun way!" Finn bounces up and down about to run out the door.

"Let's not go too far, Nes is still raw from last night, she has been compensating. Trying to make sure we are all ok." Dominik explains trying to stop Finn from doing something too crazy.

"Yeah ok, got it!" Finn waves off the warning running into the hallway kicking open the other door, Dominik and Rhea right behind him trying to stop whatever is in his chaotic mind.

Nessa jumps at the sound of the door slamming against the wall, she falls off of Damien's lap and onto the floor and groans, "Whyyyyyy I was having the best drrreeeaaamm!!!" She whines slapping the floor and just laying there pouting. Rhea kneels down to where Nessa is pouting on the floor.

"And what were you dreaming about Bunny?" She asks, grabbing Nessa's arm and helping her up. Nessa stretches and pops her neck before answering,

"We were on a beach somewhere having a picnic, just relaxing with some fresh fruit, fruity alcoholic drink in my hand while we just lounged on the blanket in the sun. The waves were just crashing on the sand, a big cuddle pile." Nessa sighs wistfully and Rhea smiles, a plan forming in her head. She is going to put some things in motion for Backlash in Puerto Rico.

[disabilityshowdown]

We've nominated characters. We've made some choices on who we want to see. I've done a fuckton of character sorting. It's time... to start voting on characters!

I have here, in my chest of mystery, 64 characters, as ranked by all of your nominations to contain the most disability swag known to man, alien, robot, or anywhere in between.

And they shall have their time to shine! But before we can start revealing who they all are under those question marks, we have to know who each of them is up against. And for that, we turn to my other chest of mystery, containing 132 more of these fuckers.

The rules are simple! There are 64 seats up for grabs, and 64 preliminary polls. All of these characters were nominated roughly the same amount, so by the preference of approximately 62% of you, we shall be matching them up by fandom, or failing that, the closest match in genre, tone, or vibe that I could find in a brief google. Every character who wins their respective preliminary poll will compete in the tournament!

(See HERE for previous round winners)

(And HERE for our "campaign" winners - Explanation in the post)

PRELIMINARY POLLS: FINAL ROUND

1. Haruka Sakurai (MILGRAM) vs Jono Saigiku (Bungo Stray Dogs)

2. Bojji (Ranking of Kings) vs Morris Martinez (Psychonauts) vs Floofty Fizzlebean (Bugsnax)

3. Demoman (Team Fortress 2) vs Fuse (Apex Legends)

4. Goro Majima (Yakuza) vs Ignis Scientia (Final Fantasy XV)

5. Sunny (OMORI) vs Gu Yun (Sha Po Lang)

6. Lothric & Lorian (Dark Souls) vs Dunban (Xenoblade Chronicles)

7. Millicent vs Malenia vs Latenna (all Elden Ring)

8. Peter Sqloint (Just Roll With It) vs Tristan (Just Roll With It)

[screamingforyears]

IN A MINUTE:

A NEW MUSIC ROUND_UP…

“ALL WEEKEND” is the lead single/track from @cindytheband’s forthcoming EP titled ‘Swan Lake’ (10/4 @toughloverecords) & it finds Karina Gill’s San Francisco-based project, rounded out here by guitarists Oil Lipton/Stanley Martinez, bassist Will Smith & drummer Mike Ramos drowsily dream_poppin across a hazy 3:42 clip of jangled Indie.

“MOURNING HAZE” is the first taste of @glare.tx’s forthcoming debut LP (TBA: @sundaydriverecords@deathwishinc) & it finds the Texan quintet of Austin Barrientos, Chris Rez, Homer Solis, Jes Morales & Toni Ordaz dream_gazing across a 3+ mins of spaciously surging & six-string slangin AltRawk.

@nat.walker.music is here w/ a brand new standalone single titled “BLACK DIAMONDS” & it finds the Los Angeles-based artist setting the nighttime vibe, w/out overstaying its welcome, across an economically sound 2 min clip of instrumentally intoxicating, moodily minimalistic & boom_bappin LoungePop.

“CLICHÉ TOWN” is the second single from @sunsetrubdown’s forthcoming LP titled ‘Always Happy To Explode’ (9/20 Pronounced Kroog) & it finds the British Colombian quartet of Spencer Krug (keys/guitar/vocals), Camilla Wynne (keys/Omnichord/vox), Nicholas Merz (bass/vox) & Jordan Robson-Cramer (drums/guitar/vox) bringing the balladeering goods across 6 somberly sprawled minutes.

“YOU ARE COVERED IN BROOKLYN AMBER” is the lead single/title-track from @wanderingyearsmusic’s forthcoming EP (9/12 @candlepin_records @betterdayswillhauntyou) & it finds the Brooklyn-based Gene Stroman (vocals/guitar), Martin Besa (guitar), Kenny Hamilton (bass/vox), Justin Hla-Gyaw (guitar) & Alex Alfaro (drums) EMOtionally folking & slow_coring across 5 earnestly plaintive minutes. 📷: @kasey___k .

[ravensdecent36]

🎶✨when u get this, list 5 songs u like to listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your favourite followers (positivity is cool)🎶✨

Sunroof by Nicky You’re and Dazy (need I explain?)

It’s Too Late by Carole King (it’s amazing stop judging meee)

Merry Go Round by Kacey Muskgraves (it’s the vibes ok)

Killer Queen by Mad Tsai (I’m sorry okay 😭🖐️)

Wheels On the Bus by Melanie Martinez (if ykyk)

[marmiteprinter]

When Everett returned from school, he sat down with his dad on the sofa and attempted to persuade the older man to let him go on another date with Evelyn Burkett. Unfortunately, Domingo was now starting to catch wise to his game.

"Everett, you are not having another late night out. No. Your mother is sick and we're going to give her a break and go out to the park, just the three of us. We're going to have a nice family afternoon, okay?"

Once Julia was back, the whole family (except for Victoria) climbed into a taxi to spend the afternoon at the park.

Meanwhile, Victoria's cold had got worse once more and she had retreated to her bedroom to quarantine and not spread it around the town again.

[gleesongtournament]

Glee Song Tournament Redemption Round

[mechanicalowls]

howdy folks, here is, completely unprompted, my top 5 terrornoss songs with my explanation why they're terrornoss-y to me

5. Somebody That I Used to Know (pgp cover) by Mayday Parade

I feel like this one speaks for itself, but if you aren't aware;

The way Brian and Evan met over YouTube was through a parody of this song that Brian made for Black Ops 2 called "Tryhard That I Used to Know". According to Brian, Evan liked the song so much he slid into his dms and asked to play together, and the rest was history. I've specifically chosen the Mayday Parade version because I just need to feed the little edgy emo kid I wanted to be when I was younger lol, and I just think it fits them better anyways.

4. Wonderwall by Oasis

Yea yea, get wonderwalled. But I do have a reason. In the past, Brian recorded a cover of Wonderwall. It's lived rent-free in my head ever since I heard it, and naturally my brainrot associates it with bird boy and robot man. One of the biggest reasons for this is based on an old fanfic I've read hundreds of times (which I will not be naming due to the contents of said fanfic being less than ok). The opening chapter refers to Evan as Brian's "savior", due to his part in making him quit his job and become a full time youtuber. And although it's obviously exaggerated for fanfictions sake, I can't help but feel it's partially true, and Wonderwall kinda defines it perfectly in my humble opinion.

3. You Spin Me Round (cover) by Dope

I'm gonna be honest, I don't really have a reason for this one, despite being in the middle of my list. Just this particular cover makes me think of them. Maybe partially because of them being a disaster couple in my opinion.

2. Play Date by Melanie Martinez

Cringe culture is dead ladies and gentlemen, we can admit to liking Melanie Martinez now. Play Date is my pick here because it really strikes me as a good jealousy/pre-relationship song. On the pre-relationship end we have Brian's constant tsundere-esque pining for Evan, who has the most minimal relationship experience so he doesn't realize until he's told directly that Brian likes him. On the jealousy end we enter the post Lui return era, where Brian is completely and utterly jealous that Lui has essentially took his spot in Evan's life; feigning disinterest and hostility while also being a salty and jealous bitch that just wants his bestie (and boy crush) back.

1. First Date by blink-182

Considering I just named my most recent fic after this song, it should be no surprise that this is my top pick. It just screams their name to me. Both care alot about what each other think of them on their first official date, despite knowing each other back to front for years. And the song just kinda sounds like back and forth internal dialogue to me.

"Is it cool if I hold your hand?"

"Is it wrong if I think it's lame to dance?"

"Do you like my stupid hair?"

"Would you guess that I didn't know what to wear?"

Anyway yea, cringe posting hours who up, feel free to reblog with your own thoughts and your own ships

[tma-entity-song-poll]

Flesh Masterpost:

Links below the line.

Submissions

Playlist

Round 1:

Entre Caníbales (Between Cannibals) (Soda Stereo) Vs Devil in the Camp (American Murder Song)

Ængus, the Prize Winning Hog (The Toxhards) Vs The Body Terror Song (AJJ)

I Deserve to Bleed (Sushi Soucy) Vs Skeleton Appreciation Day in Vestal, NY (Will Wood and the Tapeworms)

Big Town Banky Blaine’s Rockabilly Barbecue (Bear Ghost) Vs Knives Out (Radiohead)

An Interlace of Bones (The Forgetmenauts) Vs Adipocere (Rusty Cage)

Body (Mother Mother) Vs The New Knife Game Song (Rusty Cage)

64 Little White Things (Cake Bake Betty) Vs Modify (Lemon Demon)

Cryptid (Ratwyfe) Vs The Red Means I Love You (Madds Buckley)

The Dismemberment Song (Blue Kid) Vs Meat (Poppy)

The Lost Teeth Song (Rhett and Link) Vs God of Bones (The Revererent Marigold)

I'm All Bloody Inside (Liam Lynch) Vs Cannibal (Tally Hall)

Round 2:

Eat Me (Ozzy Osbourne) Vs The Lost Teeth Song (Rhett and Link)

Eat Your Young (Hozier) Vs Cannibal (Tally Hall)

Entre Cannibales (Between Cannibals) (Soda Stereo) Vs The Body Terror Song (AJJ)

Eat You (Caravan of Thieves) Vs Skeleton Appreciation Day in Vestal, NY (Will Wood and the Tapeworms)

Knives Out (Radiohead) Vs An Interlace of Bones (The Forgetmenauts)

Cake (Melanie Martinez) Vs Body (Mother Mother)

Modify (Lemon Demon) Vs The Red Means I Love You (Madds Buckley)

Blow My Brains Out (Tickle Me) Vs The Dismemberment Song (Blue Kid)

Round 3:

Body (Mother Mother) Vs Modify (Lemon Demon)

The Dismemberment Song (Blue Kid) Vs The Lost Teeth Song (Rhett and Link)

Eat Your Young (Hozier) Vs Body Terror Song (AJJ)

Skeleton Appreciation Day in Vestal, NY (Will Wood and the Tapeworms) Vs An Interlace of Bones (The Forgetmenauts)

Round 4:

Body (Mother Mother) Vs The Dismemberment Song (Blue Kid)

Eat Your Young (Hozier) Vs Skeleton Appreciation Day in Vestal, NY (Will Wood and the Tapeworms)

Round 5:

Eat Your Young (Hozier) Vs Body (Mother Mother)

Champion Post

[rwbyfictivebracket]

Penny

Age: Approximately 18

Pronouns: She/her

Gender: If a weapon was a girl

Height: 5' 5"

Species: Android/dragon faunus

Favorite food: I like to eat clementines whole.

Quote: "This is so exciting!"

Favorite song: Hard Feelings by Poppy

Favorite sysmate: Ruby 🍪

Pyrrha

Age: 18

Pronouns: She/her

Gender: Female

Height: 6'

Species: Human

Favorite food: Eggplant parm

Quote: "Oh, I didn't know I would make it this far!"

Favorite song: DEATH by Melanie Martinez

Favorite sysmate: Rhythm

[disregardcanon]

woke up and started thinking about the yellowjackets and birth order, so. here’s the Thoughts TM. i did literally every person who’s slightly relevant to the plot other than adam, shauna’s dead boyfriend, so i hope y’all enjoy

our crop of DEFINITELY onlys are- jackie (her parents were and are so obsessed with her. like, they could hypothetically do that if she weren’t their only but they don’t seem like two or more children kinda folks) shauna (her social insecurities just feel like a kid who grew up very lonely before she met jackie, and even though siblings don’t always get along... they would have made her a bit more socially adjusted) natalie (independent in a way that she wouldn’t be if she either had little siblings to protect or older siblings to protect HER), lottie (oh god her parents. they were like We’ll Have One Perfect Princess! and then... well, they weren’t about to try and “screw up” again...) tai (her leadership style screams only child. not in a bad way! just in a way) and then van (it seems like she was an out of wedlock oopsie that wasn’t going to be repeated) and misty (i think that her parents were distant and that she wasn’t really wanted. they were a lot better about making sure it didn’t happen again after misty was born)

i would also add jeff, lisa, and walter to this list. jeff is mainly because i feel like if that guy had any siblings he’d be very clingy with them and have them over like ALL the time. walter just has the vibes. lisa’s mom is obsessive in a way that strikes me as mother-of-an-only.

oldests- travis. we see his little brother and nothing gives us the indication that there’s a secret older sibling off at college. with the exact pressure it looks like his dad puts on him he’s GOTTA be the oldest.

laura lee- i feel like she has one younger brother who’s somewhere 3-5 years younger. they don’t interact a ton but they get along fine

coach martinez- i just have a feeling. i’d say he has a single mom and younger sisters, so he never had much masculinity that wasn’t His Own modeled for him, so when he sees travis he’s like NO YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG

middles- mari! i’d say that she’s either the middle out of three sisters or the third oldest out of four. she gives me vibes of growing up in a bit of a dog-eat-dog world with LOTS of girls around fighting, but her being close to the bottom of the pile

coach ben- he just feels like a middle? like, of course his behaviors could be the result of a LOT of things, but i think that both being able and willing to try to take charge but also to just. completely give up and let shit happen around him? feels very much like he grew up with someone who dragged him along and took care of him but ALSO someone who he could drag around and take care of. i’d say he has a brother who’s 3 or 4 years older and one that’s slightly younger, and they’re both Normal Nineties Level of Homophobic, which makes things harder on him with the idea of coming out because he does love them.

melissa- i’d say she has an older sister she doesn’t get along with super well (very stereotypical girly girl) and two younger siblings (a brother and a sister) who she DOES get along with and they do sports together. i dunno, it’s just vibes.

youngests- akilah! we know that she has an older sister with a baby that she’s close to, but she never mentions other siblings so i think that they’re the only two in the family. i also think, though, that akilah had a lot of interaction with a lot of kids growing up too. she probably has a slew of cousins that are both older and younger than her and hung out with some neighbor kids. she’s a very well rounded youngest

crystal- i don’t think that crystal is probably close to her older siblings, but i’d say that she was an oopsie on the far end of her mom’s child-rearing years. her older siblings (i’d say a pair of sisters who are like eight and six years older) think of her as an annoyance and her parents didn’t pay a lot of attention to her once they got her to proper school age, so she got all the downsides of having siblings but few of the advantages.

gen- she’s got one brother who’s basically a year older and they’re very close. that kinda relationship you get when the kids are almost twins but not quite

javi- if javi weren’t the baby, then we would have seen a younger sibling in the brief scene with mrs. martinez. also.. he does not seem like he’s got anyone younger around

allie- i am so sorry to stereotype youngests but... allie is the youngest. i’d say that she’s probably the only treasured girl with four or five older brothers too. a ginny weasley kinda situation.

OH WAIT I FORGOT TO DO DOUCHEBAG COPS

kevyn- i feel like this guy’s the baby. he’s got older sisters so he like, knows how to talk to girls? but he’s also constantly teased by them so.

the cop that groomed callie- an oldest. this guy has younger sisters and he seduced all of their friends.