#now that i have a good hold of november it has decided to be december so fuck me i guess!!

[watermelinoe]

I've been watching the ranma remake and really enjoying it - I never watched the OG but I was obsessed with inuyasha and really wanted to be into """anime""" so I knew a lot about it. idk if I'm brave enough to venture into ao3 looking for fic yet because. man. I wish I could have been able to watch ranma before the gender fandom existed. I know you aren't so much an anime-watcher as manga-reader but you've reblogged ranma gifs so :3 got any ranma thoughts?

ohhh ranma 1/2 was baby's first manga that i read in its entirety.... i haven't watched the entire anime but i've seen select episodes and both feature-length films, hot take but i actually prefer the dub! especially akane's voice and ranma's later voice (they would later go on to do inuyasha and kagome's voices, a nice long career of yelling each other's names lmao)

akane tendo is one of my all-time favorite characters, i first got the idea to cut my very long hair short bc of her, she's still on a pedestal for me and in a better world she would have had a big power-up arc... the shounen curse of girls getting left behind ://

i've read quite a lot of fic over the years and it was probably the first series i ever wrote fanfic for. it's... interesting to consider it from a modern perspective, since the original series didn't exactly age well in some areas. i would say that the main theme could be described as "toxic masculinity" - the main conflict is ranma eventually having to come to terms with his "girl side" while still being considered a man among men. i guess the ~queer~ interpretation would be that he's some flavor of trans, which is funny because the whole series is about playing with gender roles... to the extent that a 30-40 something year old straight japanese woman in the 80s and 90s is willing to challenge gender roles. it's not perfect is what i'm saying, there's still misogyny and homophobia.

in the translation i read years ago, one of the antagonists straight-up insults ranma by calling him a transvestite. and there's a really unfortunate storyline where the protagonists are trying to "correct" a girl who's attracted to ranma in female form, but the punchline is actually it was a crossdressing boy! you can be gender non-conforming as long as you're straight :))

but it was a big deal to me when i first read it bc it depicted characters whose gender non-conformity was just part of them with the underlying message that that's just the way some of us are and it's fine. and ranma ultimately accepts that he's not any less of a man just bc of his "girl side" (which can be seen as one big metaphor for having a "feminine" side). i do get annoyed when people apply trans headcanons to these characters because it misses the point, it's basically saying well actually they ARE less of a man/woman and i'm like 😐 did we read the same series

but anyway yes i have lots of ranma thoughts 😭 too many in fact!!

[hekateinhell]

Welcome, Armand lovers! I’m so excited it's finally time to share my little project with you! 🖤

From November 1 - December 5, I'll be hosting Good to Embrace, Good to Love, a fandom event celebrating Armand's relationships with his four greatest loves—Marius, Lestat, Louis, and Daniel—from the book series The Vampire Chronicles.

Each week will be dedicated to one of these ships, with a bonus week of prompts that can be used for some of the many others Armand has loved in his long immortal life i.e., Bianca, Nicolas, etc.

There will be two prompts per day: a quote from the books that represents an aesthetic of the ship + a word/sentence prompt. Do one, do both, combine them—it doesn't matter as long as you have fun!

AUs and genderswaps are more than welcome!

𝕲𝖚𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖘

Submissions can include fic, art, meta, headcanons, graphics, playlists, crafts, whatever!

Submissions must focus on a romantic and/or sensual element of the ship. It is ship fest, after all!

Ship combinations (threesomes or more) are also welcome—you decide which week you want to post! For example: an Armand/Lestat/Louis fic can be posted either during Week 2 (Lestat) or Week 3 (Louis).

Bonus week prompts can be used for whatever Armand ship your heart desires! And if you want to use them for Marius, Lestat, Louis, or Daniel, go for it!

Tag your submissions #ArmandShipFest and I’ll do my best to reblog! 🖤

AO3 collection here!

𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖕𝖙𝖘 𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖔𝖜 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖚𝖙!

Day 1: “A blending of sadness and simple grace” / Love Affair with Damnation

Day 2: “You took my blood and it made you my slave” / Greedy Creature

Day 3: “I would have given all the world to see him white again, my marble god, my graven Father in our private bed.” / Paternal

Day 4: “My frankly carnal embraces” / Fateful Moment

Day 5: “I want to be a fool for you.” / Bruise

Day 6: “Be my challenger, be my questioner, be my bold and ungrateful pupil.” / Rebirth

Day 7: FREE DAY

Day 1: “Cinderella revealed at the ball” / Succubus

Day 2: “You break my heart, you little fool. You always did.” / Heartbreaker

Day 3: “Stinging insults and worshipful analyses” / Yearning

Day 4: “You look good to me, you damnable little devil” / Fatal Attraction

Day 5: “I wanted to polish him with kisses, clean him up, make him even more radiant than he was.” / Dress Up

Day 6: “I hate you as much as I have ever loved you.” / Enemies to Lovers or Lovers to Enemies

Day 7: FREE DAY

Day 1: “The only promise of good in evil of which I could conceive.” / Enchanted

Day 2: “You would yield to me now” / The Alluring Embodiment of Misery

Day 3: “I want you more than anything in the world.” / Evanescent Flush

Day 4: “A stranger to himself and to me.” / Withering Rose

Day 5: “To seek for grace once more” / Pillars of the Household

Day 6: “Elegant phantoms in our lace and velvet” / Flame

Day 7: FREE DAY

Day 1: “I like kissing. And snuggling with dead things” / Cold To The Touch

Day 2: “Let me be a lover in the Savage Garden with you” / Exquisite Monsters

Day 3: “The freedom, the power, and the luxury” / Million Dollar Man

Day 4: Dark-Eyed Cupid / Erotic Anguish

Day 5: “Say the word my love, I'll do it. We'll be in hell together after all.” / Unholy Consequences

Day 6: “There was never any innocence for us, there was never any springtime.” / Hunting In The Rain

Day 7: FREE DAY

Day 1: “These violent delights have violent ends”* / Cage

Day 2: “You look like an angel and hold forth like a tavern knave” / The Devil's Road

Day 3: “Not made by human hands” / Lotus

Day 4: “Yet he seems the naughty boy who mocks all things” / Careless Words

Day 5: “In the very depths of Hell, do demons not love one another?” / Home

Day 6: “Vile precocious child” / Drunk

Day 7: FREE DAY

*This is the only quote not directly lifted from the books, it’s taken from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.

**a huge thank you to the lovely @apoptoses for the graphics, and to the Morzoi Girlies (gn) for assisting me with the prompts and always hyping me up! Love you lots. 🖤

[melanated-writersblock]

OMGP Prologue

For those of you that actually appreciate some sort of plot😩🍸

For as long as you’ve known him, Toji Fushiguro has never been one to back down from a challenge. He’s always going out of his way to prove you wrong and it only got more frequent after you two got together. So when you made a passing joke about how Toji wouldn’t be able to survive the infamous No Nut November, he took that shit to heart.

And the challenge was set.

But it’s not like he was just doing it for the sake of novelty, there was a reward. You and Toji made a pact that if he completed No Nut November SUCCESSFULLY, then when the clock stuck 12 midnight on December 1st, he could have you. Whenever he wanted. However he wanted. You offered up more days, in case he’d need breaks. But he insisted, saying he only needed one. And when you two shook on it, Toji smiled, because he knew he’d win.

The month was long, and obviously it was a pain not being able to touch him and him touch you. The sexual tension that radiated off of the both of you when lounging in opposite sides of your apartment felt stronger than any cursed energy a sorcerer could possibly harness. It was almost concerning. Finally, November 30th came.

2:30 PM.

There was a certain…peace…that fell over the apartment, all day. You knew Toji was around, because you could hear his footsteps and movements when he went to do stuff….but it seemed like he was purposely avoiding you. Matter of fact, you KNEW he was avoiding you!

7:45 PM.

You were in the kitchen making dinner and needed something from an overhead cabinet above the stove, and SOMEONE decided to conveniently place it further back than you could manage. Toji watched you from the living room couch as you bent over the stove slightly, reaching as far back into the cabinet as you could for garlic salt that genuinely shouldn’t have been there. He studied the way the hem of your shorts rode up your ass cheeks and got caught between your thighs. He wanted to be between them so badly. He NEEDED to. He wanted to see you struggle for a bit, before he could put you out of your misery. At least in the only way that was allowed, for now. “Stop, before you hurt yourself. I got it.” You hadn’t even processed that Toji was already behind you when he leaned over you to grab the seasoning salt. Oh god he was so close. He smelled good, he FELT good, big and firm, like he’d gotten impossibly stronger or something. It made you wonder how many poor sorcerers had to suffer because of this silly little bet. His abs pressed against the folds of your clothed back, and maybe you were just that feral, but you swore on your soul you could feel his hardness right against your ass. You didn’t dare look him in the eyes…unless you were ready to throw your 30 day streak down the fucking drain. He knew what he was doing to you, and he enjoyed that it was working. Toji handed the spice to you, smiling to himself before walking off. You finally stopped holding your breath, and went back to cooking.

9:26PM.

Time was tormenting you both. You took your 2nd cold shower of the day and it didn’t help a damn thing. Toji flipped through channels to try to distract himself from even looking in the direction of the bathroom in your shared bedroom.

10:32 PM.

Toji poured a glass of water in the kitchen, and you watched from behind your phone screen on the couch as he drank, and droplets of water trickled down his chin…down his neck…down to his fitted SavagexFenty shirt that you actually regret buying for him right about now. This man had the actual BALLS to LOOK AT YOU while this was happening. Your eyes stayed locked on each other while he came back to sit on the other couch across the room. He was almost at the finish line.

11: 45 PM.

You laid in bed, dozing off. You decided to turn in after you felt like the tension between you and Toji started to die down. In and out of sleep, your eyes lazily swayed between the clock on your nightstand and the cracked bedroom door where faint light from the living room TV reflected on it. Everything was so peaceful that you hadn’t even noticed your clock inching towards 11:58 PM. You close your eyes for a mere few seconds, opening them to see Toji removing his shirt as he walks through the bedroom door tossing it off to the side as he walks towards you, undoing his sweatpants with a devilish smile.

It’s officially midnight. December 1st is here. And you’re in for a long day.

December 1st

[kaspenhoward]

The Queens Birthdays:

_Catalina, December 16th_

Catalina, peacefully sitting the living room at 7 AM enjoying her coffee:

Anne holding a box at the top of the stairs: Lina! Happy Birth- [Proceeds to tumble down the stairs and land at the bottom face first]

Anne: [Proceeds to stay still, appearing unconscious face down]

Catalina: [Slight concern about to get up to check on Anne]

Anne springing up on her feet suddenly okay again, holding out the box: -day! Happy birthday! This is for you.

Catalina: [Sigh of relief and disappointment] Thank you.

Catalina taking the box: Lord almighty it is going to be a day…

_Anne, November 19th_

Anne peacefully sleeping in her room:

The Queens, bursting open the door all holding presents: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNE!!!

Anne disturbed and annoyed from being awaken from her slumber, standing upon her bed and grabbing pillows: THOU SHALL NOT PROCEED WITH ANY EMOTIONAL THOUGHT TOWARDS SUCH A GESTURE, THOUST DOES NOT CARE OF TODAY NOR THE PLACEMENT OF TIME. THE SUN HAS NOT YET RISEN SO NOR HAVE THOU!!!! EXIT MY CHAMBERS!! [Throws a attack of pillows at the queens until they exit the room]

[2 hours later]

Anne rushing downstairs in a panic: Oh my goodness, Queens I am so sorry! I didn’t go to sleep til late last night and I was really tired!

The Queens: [Holding out presents to Anne with a decorated house behind them]

Anne: [Tearing up] You guys-

_Jane, July 17th_

[The queens take Jane out to a restaurant as per her request, Jane ends up drinking too much wine, and gets very drunk]

Jane, suddenly very sad as she’s dragged into their home with her Arm around Anna to stay standing: You guys love me right?

[Very quickly]

Aragon: Yes.

Anna: No one I’d rather carry home while she’s drunk.

Kat: You’re literally my mom. You’re my favorite.

Anne: You feed us and you haven’t poisoned me yet, so yes.

Cathy: We would literally be dysfunctional and hysterical 24/7 without you.

Jane smiling at the sweetness, and getting teary eyed: I love you guys so much! [Starts sobbing]

The rest of the Queens hugging her: We love you too Jane.

_Anna, September (June? July?) 22nd_

Anna: [Walks into the house, holding six puppies in her arms, looking very proud of herself]

The Queens: [Holding a bunch of presents in their hands, all wearing the funny german stereotype hats that Anna loves because she finds them funny]

Anna:

The Queens:

Catalina: Is that six puppies-

Anna, running upstairs quickly with her puppies: I love you guys so much but it’s my birthday so you can’t be mad at me and I can keep them! I’ll be down in a second!

The Queens: . . .

_Kat, [Birthday so freaking unknown it’s a literal guess what year she was born]_

The Queens busting into the living room, as Kat is napping on the couch: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Kat very sleepily, sitting up: Uhhh, I don’t know when my birthday is you guys. Nice try at guessing though.

Jane: We decided to make today your birthday silly! You deserve a birthday as well love.

Kat still waking up: Deserve Birthday? I’ve never had a birthday celebration before.

The Queens: [Really shocked and sad but this revelation]

Jane, suddenly angry but doing her best to hide it from Kat: Well! Screw all of this historical jerks! You deserve a birthday and it’s gonna be the best birthday ever!

The Queens: YEAH!!!!

Kat, more awake and more emotional: Yeah I uhm- Okay. That sounds great. I really love you guys.

The Queens: We love you too Kat! [Proceeds to all give Kat hugs and presents]

_Cathy, August 26th_

Cathy: [Napping in the kitchen, facedown on the counter top, and abandoned half full cup of coffee next to her]

Cathy: [Stirs at a tap on her shoulder, puts her head up blinking the sleep away]

Cathy, now confused: [Notices the blanket around her shoulders, and the pillow her head was under that she did not fall asleep on when she first fell asleep]

Cathy, noticing the mass of presents in front of her on the counter top: ????

The Queens behind her: Happy birthday Cathy!

Cathy turning around in confusion: ???

Kat rushing up to hug her: Look at the clock silly!

Cathy: [See’s the time is 0:01 in the morning (12:01 AM)]

Cathy, smiling and slightly emotional from that fact they remembered: Thanks you guys. [Invites the rest of them for hugs]

[fagcrisis]

my friend ellis @jonny-dykeville wants to get into njpw, and i thought id write her a little summary of whats been going on lately! im posting it here in case its useful for anyone who wants to get into nooj but finds it a little too confusing (understandable) or has stopped watching in the last couple years and now wants to get back into it

this will include a list of matches at the end from 2023 that i think were good and/or are important to storylines! this is accurate to the day im writing it which is 2023/05/15

LINKS TO BE UPDATED

The landscape of New Japan Pro Wrestling has changed enormously in the past couple of months. For example if you told someone a year ago that Kazuchika Okada would hold a non singles belt, theyd laugh in your face.

So how did we get here?

google doc version

Your current champions

Sanada beat Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP heavyweight championship at Sakura Genesis, and has since defended it against Hiromu Takahashi, the current junior heavyweight champion. 

Hiromu won the belt at Wrestle Kingdom in a four-way match against Master Wato, El Desperado, and former champion Taiji Ishimori.

The IWGP women’s title was created last year and won by Kairi at Historic X-over. She lost the belt to Mercedes Moné, who was champion until Mayu Iwatani dethroned her recently.

Aussie Open hold the tag titles after defeating Bishamon, and they’ve gone on to win the Strong openweight tag team championships from the Motor City Machine Guns.

David Finlay is the NEVER openweight champion, bringing the belt back in to Bullet Club after Tama Tonga defeated Karl Anderson for it at Wrestle Kingdom.

Intergalactic Jetsetters (Kushida And Kevin Knight) finally ended the reign of Catch 2/2 (Tjp And Francesco Akira) as junior heavyweight tag team champions during the road to Wrestling Dontaku tour, thank god.

Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii are the NEVER openweight six man champions winning the titles from Strong Style (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki And Ren Narita). If you think that sentence is insane, don’t worry I’ll explain whats happening.

Zack Sabre Jr became the inaugural NJPW World TV champion, winning the tournament at Wrestle Kingdom by defeating Ren Narita, and he’s had some incredible defenses since (you might’ve seen him on ROH).

the KOPW trophy graduated to a belt after El Phantasmo broke it, and Taichi is the current provisional champion having defeated Shingo Takagi for it. 

Kenta lost the strong openweight championship to Hikuleo in the first defense of the belt in Japan, after winning it from Fred Rosser (with Juice interference).

at the time of writing this the Strong women’s title does exist but the tournament to decide its first owner has yet to be held (Resurgence may 21st).

Karl Anderson will pay for his crimes

Those who have been following me since november last year know that Suzuki-gun, a heel faction in NJPW led by Minoru Suzuki, has come to an end. I was inconsolable. There are multiple reasons for this happening, but the main one is Karl Anderson.

While Anderson is a member of Bullet Club, and in fall of last year was still the NEVER openweight champion, he is contracted to WWE and was on a handshake deal with NJPW, essentially promising he’ll appear at shows they book him for. There was a scheduling conflict with one of WWE’s saudi shows, and Anderson essentially ghosted the company not appearing for his title defense against Hikuelo, which meant I had to watch Yujiro Takahashi wrestle. anyway this all meant that New Japan lost faith in their freelancers, and because the majority of Suzuki-gun were on handshake deals, this meant the faction had to go. Their last match was on december 23rd (njpwworld) (bilibili link) and it was very emotional and beautiful, and I was incredibly sad.

Shota came back!

Shota Umino, who you may know as the protege of Jon Moxley, returned from excursion in the fall of last year. Young lions (NJPW trainees) are sent abroad to foreign promotions by the company to train and gather experience in different environments to Japan. Shota was in Britain for a time and he returned, challenging Will Ospreay for the US title he still held at the time. He lost but with this high profile title shot he joined the ranks of the young stars NJPWhas much faith vested in. 

This also includes Ren Narita, who you may not know because he was never adopted by a mean american man. he was trained by Katsuyori Shibata, earning the nickname Son of Strong Style and wearing similar gear to Shibata as well. The company seems to be trying to set him up to be Shibata’s successor, and he wrestles a similarly, clean technical style.

A recent addition to their ranks is Yota Tsuji, whose return I will explain later.

The IWGP women’s title

Women’s wrestling promotion Stardom and NJPW are both owned by Bushiroad. Because of this last year there was a crossover between the two promotions, which saw the first mixed tag matches in an NJPW ring. Great show, you should watch it. (njpwworld link) (bilibili link)

For this event, the IWGP women’s championship was created and won by Kairi. Now I have some thoughts about how Stardom is already full of accomplished talented women, and putting a women’s match on the card once in a blue moon isn’t a win for women in wrestling and you should maybe try watching Stardom instead (guide on how to do that). But I digress. Regardless of whether or not this is pandering, every match for the belt was undoubtedly incredible and I will be linking them all in the rec section.

A brief Wrestle Kingdom aside

You fucking know what happened at Wrestle Kingdom I shouldn’t have to explain this to you. Kenny Omega returned and defeated Will Ospreay for the US title, and Okada won his beloved IWGP belt back from Jay White, starting him down the path of leaving NJPW.

What you might not know is what happened at Wrestle Kingdom Night 2, which confusingly was held some weeks later. Wrestle Kingdom traditionally is a show between NOAH and NJPW, so Night 2 saw the two promotions pitch their most popular wrestlers against each other. Okada was set to fight Kaito Kiyomiya in a tag team match, but he thought this challenge beneath him and attempted to murder Kiyomiya ruling the match a no contest.

Later in february, at Keiji Muto’s retirement show, Okada did have to face off Kiyomiya in a singles bout, despite his protests that he is not some cheap whore (his words not mine). That entire show is incredibly good but not extremely relevant to NJPW storylines, as crossover events usually are not. (njpwworld) (unoffical link)

After Wrestle Kingdom, New Japan holds New Year’s Dash and the New Beginning shows where they set up new storylines that will likely last the whole year. Jay White challenges Hikuleo to a loser leaves Japan match, because he blames him and his brothers (Guerillas of Destiny) for Bullet Club weakening and his loss at Wrestle Kingdom. He promptly loses this match. Bummer. 

El Desperado refuses to accept that Suzuki-gun is over and joins Minoru Suzuki in defending Ren Narita from House of Torture’s dastardly attack, leading to the formation of their trios team; Strong Style. They then go on to defeat House of Torture for the NEVER openweight six man tag team titles. Now this is crazy but we dont have time to dwell on it because the other remnants of Suzuki-gun are also making moves that are considerably more insane.

Its time for: faction madness

There are a lot of factions in New Japan Pro Wrestling. like a lot. Every storyline is heavily driven by who is in what faction and where their allegiences lie. This might be confusing to you if you only watch AEW, a promotion where factions matter less than what Tony adds to commentary.

TMDK

Naturally ex-Suzuki-gun member and best technical wrestler in the known universe Zack Sabre Jr couldn’t simply remain in Hontai, the main body of New Japan where factionless members of the roster belong. Luckily he was a free agent for all of five seconds before his old australian buddies snatched him and his fresh tv championship up. TMDK, known as an australian faction despite a solid half not being from Australia, has suffered some losses in the past year. Jonah, their strongest member, a man who defeated even Kazuchika Okada, left Japan for WWE. Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls, founding members of the faction and a tag team under the same name, have failed to succeed in winning Tag League in fall of last year. Safe to say, they needed a win. Zack has teamed with them during his time in NOAH, so it was only logical that he would return to his old friends. They even recruited a young lion, Kosei Fujita, who became the first young lion in a faction if you don’t count Hikuleo which was a slightly different situation. TMDK also includes Bad Dude Tito (or Big Teets) over in the States.

The addition of Zack really reinvigorated the faction. Shane and Mikey challenged and failed to defeat Aussie Open for the tag titles, and Robbie Eagles left Chaos for more australian pastures, joining the faction when he challenged Hiromu Takahashi for his championship. Robbie also lost but TMDK didn’t let these setbacks stop them from cutting the weirdest promos after every match and staunchly insisting Fujita (who they’ve nicknamed Big Fooj) will be the first young lion to win a championship.

United Empire

Will Ospreay is no longer the IWGP US heavyweight champion. After losing to Kenny Omega he threw a hissy fit and declared that he would give professional wrestling one more year. He also entered the New Japan Cup, a tournament for the right to challenge for the IWGP championship. Unfortunately in a match against his friend and stablemate Mark Davis (of Aussie Open and ass size fame) he injured his shoulder which put him out of action until about last week. He won the 1pw world title though, so he’s fine.

Other than that, the faction has been doing fairly well for themselves. After a titanic struggle against Bishamon, Aussie Open won the tag titles and have gone on to defend them against TMDK and somehow, Best Friends on AEW television. They also won the Strong tag titles, and Kyle Fletcher managed to botch a moonsault in both matches. You’ve definitely seen them even if you don’t watch NJPW, their schedule is insane and they have a banger of a match practically on a weekly average. 

Also tag champions in the faction were Catch 2/2, who held the junior titles until fairly recently. They’ve had great defenses against YOH and his new tag partner, Lio Rush (more on that in a second) and Douki and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. What you need to know about Catch 2/2 is that TJP is a PragerU weirdo and Akira is good albeit italian.

UE also includes Jeff Cobb, who you might’ve seen challenging for Kenny Omega’s US title on Dynamite. He is incredible I don’t have anything else to say. He also kind of thinks flat earthers have a point. He’s really good though.

Also in the faction are Aaron Henare, men’s rights weirdo who challenged and lost to Shingo Takagi for the KOPW belt and Great O Khan who is somehow the Revpro champion. He is notable for having a nice bow in his hair and screeching. The most recent recruit to the faction is Dan Moloney, who unfortunately is fairly unknown to me. He joined the faction as a junior heavyweight and subsequently entered the Best of Super Juniors Tournament, which I will explain later.

Chaos

I’ve previously described Chaos as Hontai 2.0, because that’s really what it is. Lead by Kazuchika Okada, Chaos was the original heel faction in NJPW, founded by Shinsuke Nakamura. Nowadays it is a loose collection of allegiances that confusingly includes the entire Best Friends faction in AEW. Yes, that includes Trent’s mum Sue. Since becoming faces, Chaos members regularly team with Hontai because it all doesn’t really matter. 

Kazuchika Okada defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi at Battle in the Valley, and then asked him to tag together. They named themselves the Dream Team, and I only briefly pondered how well it ended the last time Tana teamed with a younger star. Anyways I’m sure this will go fine. They challenged Okada’s fellow Chaos members Bishamon for their tag titles they still held at that time, and sadly lost that match. They defeated the team of Shota Umino and Ren Narita, and then once again failed to obtain gold in a 3-way match against the Motor City Machine Guns and Aussie Open (who won). After Okada lost his belt, they recruited Tomohiro Ishii, who doesn’t like Tanahashi and doesn’t want to team with him because he isn’t in Chaos. Despite this, they managed to defeat Strong Style for the NEVER openweight six man championships.

Bishamon I’ve covered sufficiently enough I think, they are the team of Hirooki Goto who recently celebrated his 20th anniversary in professional wrestling and YOSHI-HASHI who used to be incredibly horrible and is less bad recently. They are fun and I like them.

YOH and SHO were a junior tag team in Chaos until SHO turned heel, joining Bullet Club. This left YOH in a sort of strange limbo, where he contemplated quitting wrestling and pursuing his more artistic ambitions (he is a musician and an artist). Rocky Romero, also a member of Chaos, got him and Lio Rush together to team for Junior Tag League, and they ended up winning the tournament! Although they failed to defeat catch 2/2 at Wrestle Kingdom, and Lio got injured, teaming with him seemed to bring YOH’s confidence back. He’s been wrestling slightly differently and with more self-assurence. The pair both separately challenged and lost to Hiromu Takahashi, two incredible matches that I will link below. Not even these losses brought YOH’s confidence down though, and he’s entered BOSJ alongside Lio although they are in different blocks.

Also members of Chaos are Rocky Romero, Best Friends (including Kris Statlander, Orange Cassidy, Sue, and I think quite possibly Danhausen), Toru Yano who is kind of a funny little man, and Tomohiro Ishii.

Los Ingobernables de Japon

Led by Tetsuya Naito, the tweener group is more of a loose collection of talented individuals than your regular faction. LIJ has a policy of letting their members forge their own paths and create their own success, instead of letting them fall back on the power of the group. 

Maybe the only exception to this rule is Hiromu Takahashi, who owes a lot of his success to the faction as well as his mentor Tetsuya Naito. Hiromu is very talented and has a very unique style both in his wrestling and his fashion sense. Unbiased corner ahead I like him a lot. He holds junior wrestlers in very high regard and recently organized the All Star Junior festival to showcase junior heavyweights from all around japan (njpwworld ppv) (vk link). He has a plush cat named Daryl. Hiromu is kind of the ace of the junior division right now, he is on his fifth title reign and is trying to defend the belt 12 times to beat the current defense record of 11 held by Minoru Tanaka. Currently he is 4 defenses into this streak, having defeated YOH, Lio Rush, Robbie Eagles and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. Despite being champion he entered BOSJ, a tournament he’s won four times, three times in a row. If he wins, he’ll get to hand pick his opponent at Dominion.

I have no clue what to say about Tetsuya Naito. To quote my friend Jay, “it’s naito. he is an indescribable force of non-functional knees and the driest hair you've ever seen. he takes ten years to remove his entrance gear. he is naito”. You fucking know who Tetsuya Naito is.

This year, the main thing he’s done is defeating his mentor Keiji Muto at his retirement show in Febuary (njpwworld link) (vk link). He has a very hands off approach towards leading his group, sort of letting everyone figure their things out, which is why he didn’t really seem worried about his match against his stablemate Sanada in the New Japan Cup. You can imagine his surprise when Sanada not only defeated him but then declared that he would be leaving the faction, but more on that later. He also recently had a singles match against DOUKI, which was incredible.

Also members of LIJ are Shingo Takagi, winner of KOPW 2022 and former KOPW 2023 provisional champion, and also living legend. He made his name in Dragon Gate, a different japanese promotion you should also watch (I’m not at all being held at gunpoint by people whose names start with J), Bushi and Titan, who are both junior heavyweight luchadors I don’t know as much about as I should. They’re really good and they are both in BOSJ this year.

Bullet Club

Do I even need to explain. Don’t worry I will. 

Jay White lost his loser leaves Japan match to Hikuleo, but there was hope. He promised Gedo he would go to America and wrestle on Strong and right his wrongs. So obviously he immediately lost a loser leaves New Japan match to Eddie Kingston, barring him from ever wrestling in a New Japan ring ever again. After weeks of radio silence, he showed up on Dynamite, forming Bullet Culb Gold (2 bullet 2 club) with Juice Robinson and you all know what happened after that.

It’s spring which means it’s Bullet Club infighting season. After Jay’s loss, his long time rival David Finlay waltzed into the ring all goth and angry, cutting a promo about how the japanese fans never appreciated him and he is an outsider wherever he goes. If this didn’t make it clear to you that he was the new leader, don’t worry it wasn’t clear to me or El Phantasmo either. 

ELP was friends with Jay White, and made the rest of the Club agree that they will let Jay ride off into the sunset. A peaceful transfer of power is however impossible in Bullet Club, which is kind of a Stanford prison experiment for closeted gay men. It started bothering Phantasmo, that everyone in his faction so readily accepted Finlay as the new leader, like they weren’t fully behind Jay only a week ago. And anyone who questions the leader has to go.

Then came a months long game of gay betrayal chicken. Every postmatch, Phantasmo would assure Finlay that they were doing it for the club, refuse to too sweet the new leader, and the two slapping eachother in place of a tag. Meanwhile the faces in Hontai were increasingly more accepting towards ELP, Shota Umino even gave him one of his bracelets. The tension came to a boil at Sakura Genesis, where in a tag team match against Guerillas of Destiny and Master Wato, Phantasmo refused to commit the clubs usual heel antics and was brutally kicked out in response. Despite his close friendship with Taiji Ishimori and Kenta, both men readily betrayed him for David Finlay.

Phantasmo returned as a face to beat Finlay up after he defeated Tama Tonga for the NEVER belt, and the two have a title match set at Dominion.

As I mentioned Kenta and Taiji Ishimori are both members of Bullet Club, and Finlay recently recruited Clark Connors to be the clubs newest junior. He entered BOSJ alongside Taiji. Gedo, the head booker of NJPW is also a member of BC but he mainly stands ominously in the background and in kayfabe doesn’t have a massive role in storylines.

HOUSE OF TORTURE

I have to explain what’s going on here. Bullet Club has sort of a subesction? Called House of Torture. They’re only really part of BC in name only, and merch sales. Their thing is gratuitous cheating, if one HoT member has a match, the rest of them aren’t far behind making every match a handicap. Their members are EVIL, the leader of the group and former LIJ member, Yujiro Takahashi the incredible slow motion man whose joints creak audibly with every move, Dick Togo and SHO, who joined after betraying YOH and turning heel. SHO is actually pretty good but the presence of HoT at every match really ruins. Everything. I try not thinking about them.

JUST 5 GUYS

NOW baby. The reason I’m even writing this. The worst faction name in the history of pro wrestling. This faction is made of four ex-Suzuki-gun members and Sanada. Originally called Just Four Guys when Taka Michinoku, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and DOUKI announced they would be forming a faction at New Year’s Dash. Taka made some baseless claims about how they will defeat everyone and change the landscape of New Japan. He also came up with their new catchphrase “You already die”. Commentary and everyone else immediately dismissed them as a joke that will last maybe a couple of months. Oh how wrong we were.

Initially, the group did not have much success. Douki and Uncle Nobu lost to Catch 2/2 in their title match against them, Taka kept getting pinned and they failed to deliver on their promises to destroy everyone who stood in their way.

Taichi, as their only heavyweight, entered the New Japan Cup. His first match was against Sanada, a man he’s had some history with when he was still tagging with Zack Sabre Jr as Dangerous Tekkers. Sanada was a man not really renowned for anything, he hasn’t seen any singles success since joining LIJ by helping Tetsuya Naito cheat, except for a US title run cut short with no defenses due to an injury. He had blonde hair and the best or the worst move in pro wrestling history, depending on if you ask my friend Ryan or me. He never hits a moonsault. I don’t think Naito even knew who he was.

Safe to say, absolutely no one expected Sanada to defeat Taichi, much less his superior Naito. What we expected the least is for him to announce he is leaving LIJ for Just 4 Guys, which was now to be renamed JUST 5 GUYS. With dark hair, a clean shaven face and soon, new gear as well, Sanada really found his footing among this motley crew, the way he never managed in his seven years during LIJ. He went on to blaze through the competition in the Cup, winning it and subsequently defeating Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP world heavyweight championship. Absolutely no one has expected this to happen, ever. Yet somehow, it is also one of the coolest things to happen, ever.

His former faction members in LIJ mostly seemed to just sort of accept he left, except for Hiromu. He said while he understood Sanada’s reasons for leaving, he felt betrayed. Hiromu challenged Sanada to a match for the heavyweight championship. No junior heavyweight has been able to defeat the heavyweight champion in the history of the company, although this match is not the first of its kind. 

When Sanada defeated Hiromu, the returning Yota Tsuji walked out into the ring and beat him up, held up the LIJ fist and carried Hiromu out of the ring. We don’t really know if this means he’ll be joining the faction, but it’s very likely, and the two have a match set at Dominion.

Obviously other stuff has happened but this is already 4000 words long and I still have things to explain to you. 

Whats happening right now

As I’m writing this, the 30th Best of the Super Juniors is just beginning. BOSJ is a round robin style tournament, just like the G1 where wrestlers are divided into two blocks and everyone fights everyone in their block. Usually, the winners of the two blocks face off against each other to win the tournament, but this year, the winner of each block faces off against the person who came second in the other block, and the winners of those matches are the finalists. The winner has the right to challenge for the IWGP junior heavyweight championship at Dominion.

This year’s participants are as follows.

I think this is absolutely the perfect time to get int New Japan. The junior division is full of incredibly talented wrestlers who focus more on fast paced high flying style matches and every one of them is easy to watch and very entertaining. The entire tour will be broadcast with full english coverage.

How do I watch all of this

New Japan conveniently has a streaming service called NJPW world, membership is 999 yen per month. Dont forget to toggle it to english in the upper left corner! Most shows have english commentary and in my opinion it is pretty good commentary. Even if you don’t want to pay for the site, it has a schedule page (upper right corner) which even displays multiple timezones, and links to the card for every upcoming show.

The site also has some free content, for example the backstage comments after every show. Backstage comments are essentially short interviews with the wrestlers directly after every match, which makes for very fun adrenaline fuelled nonsense. Search backstage comment on the site, or check the njpwworld youtube channel. The videos always have subtitles, but it takes the transcribers time, subs are usually out a day after shows air.

PIRACY 

In case you’d like to sail the high seas, you have a couple of options.

Watching show’s live I would recommend watchprowrestling.org for. They upload the shows and you can watch them live as well with a bit of delay.

If you’re looking for older stuff, you should try searching on bilibili (dont be intimidated by the language barrier, its quite easy to use) or this specific user on vk.com.

MATCHES TO WATCH

Title changes and defenses:

Kazuchika Okada vs Jay White (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Kenny Omega vs Will Ospreay (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Master Wato vs El Desperado vs Taiji Ishimori (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Zack Sabre Jr vs Ren Narita FREE MATCH

Zack Sabre Jr vs Tomohiro Ishii FREE MATCH

Zack Sabre Jr vs Shota Umino FREE MATCH

Zack Sabre Jr vs Tom Lawlor FREE MATCH

Zack Sabre Jr vs Jeff Cobb FREE MATCH

Catch 2/2 vs YOH and Lio Rush (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Catch 2/2 vs Intergalactic Jetsetters (njpwworld) (unofficial link 2:35:08)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Lio Rush (njpwworld) 

Hiromu Takahashi vs YOH (njpwworld) (unofficial link2:48:13)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Robbie Eagles (njpwworld)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Kazuchika Okada vs Shingo Takagi (njpwworld)

Kazuchika Okada vs Sanada (njpwworld)

Sanada vs Hiromu Takahashi (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Aussie Open vs Bishamon (njpwworld)

Aussie Open vs TMDK (njpwworld)

Aussie Open vs Motor City Machine Guns vs the Dream Team (Okada & Tanahashi) (njpwworld ppv)

Kairi vs Mayu Iwatani  (njpwworld)

Kairi vs Tam Nakano (njpwworld)

Kairi vs Mercedes Moné (unofficial link)

Mercedes Moné vs Kairi vs Hazuki (njpwworld)

Mercedes Moné vs Mayu Iwatani (njpwworld)

Tama Tonga vs El Phantasmo (njpwworld)

Tama Tonga vs David Finlay (unofficial link)

Taichi vs Shingo Takagi (njpwworld) (unofficial link 1:44:00)

Strong Style vs Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Hikuelo vs Kenta (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Story matches

Tetsuya Naito vs Sanada (njpwworld)

Jay White vs Hikuleo (njpwworld)

Jay White vs Eddie Kingston (njpwworld) (unofficial link 1:04:00)

Bullet Club (David Finlay, Kenta, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) vs Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga, Hikuleo & Jado) & Master Wato (njpwworld link)

just fun

Mark Davis vs Will Ospreay (njpwworld) (unofficial link)

Mark Davis vs EVIL (njpwworld)

Tetsuya Naito vs DOUKI (njpwworld) (unofficial link 2:11:32)

El Desperado vs Tomohiro Ishii (njpwworld ppv)

Shota Umino vs Tetsuya Naito (njpwworld)

Hiromu Takahashi vs Speedball Mike Bailey FREE SHOW

Taichi vs Will Ospreay (njpwworld)

[blowflyfag]

Pro Wrestling Illustrated: December 1994

press conference…

Every issue, reporters from PRO WRESTLING ILLUSTRATED will participate in an incisive press conference with a top wrestling star. The questions will be demanding. And the answers will reveal the innermost thoughts of the giants of the sport.

[Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster were WWF World tag team champions on three different occasions, but a neck injury is now limiting the “Million-Dollar Man” to broadcasting and managing. He says Schyster, who handles his financial affairs, is still a good friend.]

TED DiBIASE

WHEN TED DiBIASE suffered a neck injury in Japan last November, many fans probably thought they’d seen the last of the “Million-Dollar Man” for a while. But the three-time former WWF World tag team champion wasn’t about to drop out of the spotlight.

He returned to the WWF as a broadcaster in January 1994, but it became oblivious within a few months that he wouldn’t be content to remain in that relatively powerless role. If he couldn’t wrestle, the next best thing as to assemble a stable of wrestlers who could serve as an extension of his personal philosophy.

The first man he signed to his corporation” was Nikolai Volkoff, whom he claims to “own.” Nikolai had started appearing in the audience of every WWF TV taping, always wearing the same suit. When DiBiase found out Volkoff was nearly penniless, he hired him as a wrestler, but said he would only pay him if he followed his orders and wrestled more aggressively. So far, he is complying.

Next, DiBiase signed Bam Bam Bigelow and continues to aggressively pursue Lex Luger, a man with a well-documented rulebreaking past.

Senior Editor Bill Apter recently had a chance to speak with DiBiase. As usual, DiBiase was very willing to offer his opinions on his stable and other subjects. “DiBiase is a man with a plan,” reported Apter. “His corporation is already extremely powerful and he’s still looking to expand it. You might not like the way he treats people, but he is driven to succeed. I respect that.”

APTER: Why are you so intent on humiliating Nikolai Volkoff?

DiBIASE: Because the opportunity was there. Everybody knows Volkoff was a great superstar in the WWF years ago. He was also known for pinching pennies and saving money, but he didn’t have the mental capabilities to make the right investments. The bottom line is, he lost it all. He lost it all and there he is sitting in the front row of an arena, in the same old suit every week, because he’s got nothing else, nowhere else to go. It’s a very familiar story for these musclehead wrestlers who don’t know how to save their money, don’t make proper investments. Look, everybody says I’m a jerk, that I’m humiliating Nikolai Volkoff. I did the guy a favor.

APTER: What about the pair of tights you make him wear with a cents emblem on it. Isn’t that demeaning to him?

DiBIASE: Everything has a price. If he wants to work for me, if he wants to feed his family, his mother and father back in Russia, he’s just gonna have to bite the bullet. (Laughs hysterically.)

APTER: To stay in your good graces, what will Volkoff have to do that Virgil didn’t?

DiBIASE: He’ll have to do everything I tell him to do. If you’ll notice, he’s decided it’s not so bad to cut corners, break a few rules, and do whatever it takes to get the job done. I’m giving this guy an education

APTER: A Lot of people say you’re afraid to get into the ring and this is why you have hired Volkoff and also Bam Bam Bigelow and The Undertaker to do your dirty work for you.

DiBIASE: I have had some problems as far as my physical condition goes. I have a neck problem that may or may not keep me out of the ring forever. That’s neither here nor there. I don’t have to get back in the ring. I love to wrestle. I proved everything I had to prove. I held every major title there was to hold. Bottom line is I’ve made all this money. Other guys are out there busting their can every night because they need the money. I don’t need money.

APTER: You’ve been wrestling all these years only for money? DiBIASE: No, I wrestled because I had something to prove back then. But what else could I want now?

APTER: Bret Hart has the WWF title.

DiBIASE: So what? I had the WWF title, too.

APTER: Sort of.

DiBIASE: Did I have it?

APTER: Yes.

DiBIASE: Case closed. I had it.

APTER: You never beat anyone for it. You bought it from Andre the Giant. Andre had the belt for less than two minutes and you were stripped almost immediately after he gave it to you.

DiBIASE: You know, Apter, you can be replaced. Move on to another subject or I’m out of here. 

APTER: You used to team with Irwin R. Schyster as Money Inc. Do you two stay in touch as he wrestles as a solo competitor now?

DiBIASE: Irwin R. handles all my financial affairs. 

[“I have a neck problem that may or may not keep me out of the ring forever. I don’t have to get back into the ring… I proved everything I had to prove. Bottom line is I’ve made all this money. “]

APTER: Are  the two of you going to team against and go after The Headshrinkers’ WWF tag team belts?

DiBIASE: Irwin knows I have no desire to climb back into the ring. He is also a wealthy man–like I am–so he’s not going to rock the boat by asking me to go after tag team belts. We have nothing to prove, as I said before. 

APTER: Your buddy has called Tatanka a “Native American embarrassment.” Do you concur with Schyster’s feelings?

DiBIASE: Irwin’s gripe with Tatanka was very simple. He levied a tax for that ridiculous set of turkey feathers Tatanka wore to the ring. 

APTER: It’s a sacred headdress!

DiBiIASE: Feathers are feathers. I have the same feathers in my pillow at home. 

[DiBiase’s corporation now includes Nikolai Volkoff (above) and struggling super heavyweight Bam Bam Bigelow (right, battling Tatanka). He hired Volkoff, who at one point was so poor that he had to bring his own food to arenas with him, and delights in humiliating him.]

APTER: What about Lex Luger’s feud with Tatanka?

DiBIASE: Lex Luger is obviously helping his good friend Irwin. I can’t blame him for doing that.

APTER: You’ve said Luger is one of your new corporation’s assets.

DiBIASE: That will become obvious to you and everyone else very soon, my boy. Next  subject.

APTER: you’ve added Bam Bam Bigelow and an Undertaker to your corporation. Are you pleased with their performances?

DiBIASE: Now that they’re with me, yes. Bigelow was wasting his time wrestling Doink the Clown and Dink. Bam Bam is one of the best technical wrestlers in the world. He’s also one of the toughest and meanest. If you think that Luna Vachon was intimidating to Bigelow’s opponents, wait till they have me standing next to Bam Bam. Regarding The Undertaker, he had to get rid of Paul Bearer to get mean and back into contention again. That’s where I came into the picture.

APTER: Is he the real Undertaker?

DiBIASE: I brought The Undertaker to the WWF the first time. He went on to win the WWF title. Why? Because of the big break I allotted him. He owes me. He is one of a kind, the original. Don’t ask me stupid questions. 

APTER: Why are these two Undertakers set to battle at SummerSlam?

DiBIASE: Because Paul Bearer is bringing in a bogus one. It’s that simple. I have assured my Undertaker that Bearer’s guy is an easy win. He won’t have any trouble with him. How dare Bearer hire an imposter! It makes me sick to discuss what Bearer has done. Why don’t you ask questions like, what’s a typical day in the life of the “Million-Dollar Man”?

[The “Million-Dollar Man” started a huge controversy in February 1988 when he purchased the WWF World title from Andre the Giant. That didn’t sit well with WWF President Jack Tunney, who stripped him of the belt. 

APTER: Okay, what’s it like?

DiBIASE: I can’t think of anything more pleasurable than sitting in the vault, surrounded by the smell of money. I love to watch the little bank peon with his little spectacles on and his funny little hat, sitting in this corner and painstakingly trying to count it all (Again, laughs hysterically.)

APTER: What about your career as a broadcaster? DO you feel you are better than Vince McMahon and Randy Savage?

DiBIASE: Yes. No doubt in my mind. I never doubt myself. You don’t spit in the wind. You don’t pull on Superman’s cape. You don’t doubt that wealth and obvious broadcasting talents of the “Million-Dollar Man.”

APTER: Anything you’d like to add before we end this interview? 

DiBIASE: Peons like you, Bill Apter, have their price for the “Million-Dollar Man.” If I want to hire you to do whatever I choose, you have your price. (Laughs hysterically and leaves the interview area.)

[lnights]

At the beginning of 2023, I saw a challenge called The Year Of The OTP: 12 prompts. 12 months. One ship. I chose BC/BC because I write One Thing™️

Some are short one shots, some are multi chapters, two are pure smut 😌 links and summaries below.

January: Snow

Prompt: Snow, Rating G.

Summary:

He puffed out, smoke mingling with the steam of his hot breath as he tilted his head back, watching the softly falling snow.

February: Valentine's Day

Prompts: Valentine's Day and established relationship/long distance. Rating E.

Summary:

Their Valentine's Day plans were interrupted by bad weather. That's not going to stop them.

March: Fresh Starts

Prompt: Fresh Starts. Rating M. Angel/Demon au, sequel to Long Way Down

Summary:

The elders had always said falling was the most painful thing that could happen to an angel. As Tommi had hit the water and felt bones breaking he could only think they had been correct, pain shooting through every nerve endings and as he slowly sank he wondered how he was even still alive, being quite literally tossed from one realm of existence to another was like falling from a plane without a parachute.

April: Painting you Blue

Prompt: University AU. Rating G. 5 chapters.

Summary:

but still… he was a teacher now. What the hell had he gotten himself into? He should have never let Niko and Joonas talk him into this Or Joel is a new teacher at the same university as his boyfriends and their good friends. He is not excited.

May: Flower Moon

Prompt: Flower language. Rating G. Part of my Wolfpack AU.

Summary:

Aleksi is learning a new wolf tradition and wants to surprise his mates.

June: Can You Hear the Silence Getting Loud?

Prompts: Soulmates. Rating M. 5 chapters, part of my Soulmate AU

Summary:

For years Aleksi has been happy with his soulmates, his family long cut off. Until a relative contacting him makes him question that choice.

July: Heaven (and Hell) on Earth

Prompts: Enemies to Lovers and Coffeeshop AU. Rating M. 5 chapters. Angel/Demon AU

Summary:

There were two men running the counter as he got there, looking at him with what could almost be called suspicion. One was tall, even taller than him, and muscly, while the other was rather short with curly honey colored hair. "Welcome," the shorter of the two said, "what can we get you this evening?" "Your strongest, largest espresso," Joel said bluntly. His insomnia had decided to kick his ass that night, at least he could try to stay awake and be productive rather than be in his half awake, half asleep zombie mode that it usually sent him into. The larger man chuckled a little and got to work on the drink while the smaller rang him up; there was something about them that kept Joel's attention on them, something about the shop that begged for his attention. Maybe it was the name, Sinful Coffee.

August: Weathering the Storm

Prompt: Storm. Rating T.

Summary:

Blind Channel and their crew gets stuck at an airport in their hectic tour schedule. Joel and Niko don't handle it well.

September: Beacon in a Storm

Prompts: hurt comfort, meeting the family, flood, shifter au. Rating T.

Summary:

Olli stared through the dark window of their home, trying to not panic. The rain was getting impossibly heavier and Joel and Aleksi still weren't back; the dirt road leading to town had to be flooded by now, they could be stuck in mud or washed away if they weren't careful. "We never should have sent them by themselves." Joonas mumbled, "we should have gone with."

October: Pop Princess, Hold My Hand

Prompts: Texting, couple costumes. Rating T.

Summary:

It's Joonas' turn to pick their Halloween costumes.

November: Be Careful What You Wish For

Prompt: Be Careful What You Wish For. Rating E.

Summary:

Tommi decides to show his boyfriends a new side of him

December: Opinion on the Season

Prompt: Holidays together. Rating G. Stand alone sequel to Rumors and Opinions.

Summary:

Niko sighed and exhaled the smoke from his lungs. Holidays were always an interesting time of year. They all had a lot of family to see and it could be a tad overwhelming; seeing so many relatives in a short period, let alone all the shopping they had to do, arranging travel, arguments over who's family home they will wake up in on Christmas morning…

[drstonetrivia]

Chapter 192 Trivia

Not much this chapter, since it's basically hot potato again with just as much gunfire.

Check out those wisps! I don't think we've seen them before, and there's a tiny line going straight down the middle (Whyman's command, perhaps?)

The lake shown here appears to be Pyramid Lake, which is around 200-250 km away from the Sacramento marker on the map.

I got really excited here that they'd confirm my calculations from last week, but Senku decided it wasn't the right time for math. (It's always the right time for math.)

In half a page, all the predictions I'd heard over the last couple weeks were dismissed. Oh well.

Interestingly, Senku confirms that the bigger the blast radius, the faster the wave is rather than anything to do with the battery!

Chrome doesn't even change pose here (note the position of his finger), so this happened super fast. That's also at least one bottle of revival fluid spilt all over the floor near Senku, so I wonder if that'll affect the speed of his revival (or stop it in its tracks?)

This is the point when the Americans first see the beam: start the timer for 56 seconds!

This is the first time we see Leonard holding a gun. I don't think he's normally a fighter at all, since he's never been shown during any of the other fights and didn't defend against Kohaku's attack on the phone.

Check out Ukyo's arrow! That's definitely used for cutting rather than piercing, and because it's flat like a razor, it was probably easier to sharpen. Historically, true rope-cutting arrows tend to be more crescent-shaped. Also don't look too hard at the angle Ukyo fired from…

I have no idea what this beep sound effect is. Either Ukyo has a receiver of some sort on him and in a single beep he established that the KoS lost their revival fluid, or he simply heard a bottle shatter between all the gunfire and realised they lost the bottle, the beep being irrelevant.

Xeno sure escaped fast! He was tied up and in the middle of the fort the last time we saw him.

I also thought it had only been around 60-80 days since Xeno got taken, as it happened at the end of November/early December and now it’s about mid-February (both estimates), so I guess I was slightly off about that! (Unless Xeno is rounding up a lot ~for the drama~)

Suika needs a new melon. She got shot in the "head", and by the looks of things her lenses are cracked. Hopefully when she revives she'll still be able to use them! (Glass can last a really long time.)

She also lost all her leaves, I wonder if she switches them out regularly?

Stanley, reunited with Xeno, no longer cares about counting bullets or accuracy judging by the lack of circles in his muzzle flash.

Another point about Stanley: he's been sitting with an unlit cigarette in his mouth until Xeno appears, immediately after which he attempts to light it but stops since they discover Suika missing.

Remember this tower has mics set up all over the fort: technically any sound too close to one of the mics will be received by the tower... I don't know how none of these explosions haven't affected this setup yet, if they're planning on using noises like lightning or animals.

It's possible even Stanley himself might activate it by shooting towards the tower before the beam hits, check out all those microphone cables!

Speaking of Stanley, what happened to this trio? They've just disappeared-- did Stanley shoot them?

How a girl who can't see her own feet and needs to feel around the floor to get herself into position is going to save everyone I'm not sure, but I do know Suika is one capable gal.

Also we have a callback to her introduction way back in chapter 20, which just breaks my heart in this context.

This is also the 5th time Ryusui's gotten petrified, so I hope he's having a good time.

I've got no predictions for next chapter because anything can happen at this point, but I do wonder if that single medusa will manage to envelop the whole world, or if the battery will die first. 🤔

[stepswowdsen]

【KagePro】 KuroEne AU: Art Ideas + Rambles 🖤💙

Intro Rambles

AHHH MY 10 YEARS (DECADE) OLD SHIP, AHHH MY CHILDHOOD OTP, I LOVE THEM SO MUCH... SHIPPED THEM SINCE I WAS 12, BABY!!!

I forget exactly when, but I first got into KagePro when I was 12 around October 2013 (or sometime around there), so I must've gotten into KuroEne in November ~ December 2013, or January 2014.

So I would've been 12 when I first shipped them and drew for them. KagePro is my first fandom and one of my earliest series interests, and along with KHR, one of the things that really got 12 year old me to start drawing so often in the first place, so it's very precious to me~

Back then, KHR and KagePro were the things I drew most as a kid, so I have SOOO many old doodles of them. My old arts are hard for me to look at tho LMAO

KuroEne will always be forever important to me. I cherish them dearly~ 💗

KuroEne AU Ideas (7/15/2024)

Btw I was just thinking about some KuroEne AU ideas so I'll talk about it more tomorrow? Some angst fuel ideas! I'm going to bed now. I came up with these on 7/15, but I'll post them now

The sense of loneliness that Ene has and her melancholy and insecurities and self esteem and desire for attention (from Haruka, and people she loves)

Which is what makes someone like Kuroha/Saeru a good match with her, she has trouble being honest about her feelings and wants/desires and keeps her "bad" feelings to herself.

And because of Kuroha's omniscience and knowledge of his S/O's insecurities and vulnerabilities and relationships and context and past, he knows how to "draw out" those desires and bring them to the surface.

KuroEne AU: Haruka and Konoha react to KuroEne's intimacy

Separate ideas where Haruka (whose consciousness is dead and trapped in the Kagerou Daze, can see and hear what Konoha can in the real world because it's Haruka's body) and Konoha (who has his body overtaken/possessed by Kuroha/Saeru), separately, reacts to KuroEne's intimacy by seeing it through Konoha's body (that Saeru is possessing as Kuroha) and feels a pang of jealousy and other bitter emotions.

KuroEne AU: Haruka reacts to KuroEne's intimacy

Haruka reacts to KuroEne's intimacy and Kuroha's admission of "Your beloved Haruka" and Ene wanting Haruka back and admitting to loving him

KuroEne Art Ideas

"Do you still love me?"

Kuroha holds Ene with a smirk while the comp is half split with Konoha's body half turning to Kuroha (Black Konoha) on one side, and the half is still Konoha's sleeves (Hasn't turned yet)

"Have a sweet dream. See you in the next route."

Kuroha lies next to Ene on a bed of Higanbana, the Red Spider Lily, (also known as the Corpse Flower, Hell Flower, Flower of Death), Ene has her eyes closed and her arms are folded while she lies asleep peacefully, and Kuroha has a smiling ^v^ expression. And possibly while he's covered in the blood (of the Mekakushi Dan members) over his hands and has splotches of it on his face

Even the Kuroha/Saeru colour illust by Sidu in KagePro LN: 7 -from the darkness- has Kuroha/Saeru depicted with black spirals that coincidentally look like the spindles of the higanbana.

KuroEne AU Ideas (7/16/2024)

KuroEne AU: Amusement Park

I didn't get to write all of what I wanted today but I got most of it down so I'll just post what I got for now

One of the ideas I had that I forgot to talk about was Ene getting Kuroha to take her to the amusement park. Ene gets excited talking about how, while she was surfing the web earlier when the android body was recharging, that she found out about an Amusement park attraction and wants to go with him.

I imagine that Kuroha decides to play nice prior to the fateful day of August 15th (in which he plans to enact the "plan" or "Tragedy." Like he acts more tame/normal on purpose, and holds back, and decides to go along with his partner's whims.

Ene goes like, "Take me to the amusement park!!!" And she gets excited when he agrees. I assume they're in a Route where he's made enough improvements that the battery can last anywhere from several hours ~ a full day instead of just an hour or few.

At some point during the Amusement park trip, Ene innerly thinks to herself with flustered, panicky thoughts, like, "W-w-wait why is my face getting all red??? Maybe it's because I'm just embarrassed by this guy's teasing??? Yeah!!! That must be it!!!"

She thought of it as going with like, a friend, before, but she thinks about the fact that it's just the two of them here and that this IS the person she has an intimate relationship with and thinks to herself, "HOLD ON!!! IS THIS A DATE!?!?" And cuz Ene is so easy to read, Kuroha can guess her inner turmoil and just gets amused.

Ene pulls him by the arm and makes Kuroha to come along with her to all the amusement park attractions, and he lets her. They probably go on stuff like the mini boat rides and other attractions.

Kuroha just reacts like (...) the whole time while on the roller coaster ride, like the completely calm type that doesn't react at all, he just watches Ene's excited reactions of "Yippee!!!" (>v<)

Kuroha comments that it's good that Ene seems to be enjoying herself, and Ene tells him that she's never had the chance to go to an amusement park before and that she's having LOTS of fun!!! And that she's glad that he is here with her.

Ene goes like, "Come onnnnn, carry me!!!" And he carries his fussy needy gf, while making a teasing quip that she acts awfully spoiled. And she just pouts like "It's fine, it's fine!!!" (>3<)

When he thinks about it, Kuroha picks up on the fact that back when she was Takane, she'd spend most of her time cooped up in her room at home playing video games, and probably didn't get the chance to go to an amusement park (also due to her chronic illness too). So the bright and peppy exterior Ene displays is over compensation for her regrets and an opportunity to do the things she didn't get to before

At one point, Ene wants Kuroha to win prizes for her at a booth/stand selling plushies by throwing darts into a target marker, and Ene tells him she wants him to win prizes for her. When Kuroha throws the darts, it hits the center (red bull's eye) perfectly.

There's probably also a game with hitting moving targets as well, and he hits them all perfectly and wins the prizes that Ene wants. And Ene's like, "Wow~ You're good at this! Throwing darts, I mean!"

And Kuroha tells her, "Naturally. This much is child's play? I am quite skilled at hunting down moving targets..." He has plenty of practice at it. Ene takes it as a video game thing cuz Ene makes him play video games together and her faves are shooter types, but ahahaha, there's a much darker secret to that. After that, Ene is carrying a fluffy bunny plushie.

It'd also be fun to think about the Amusement Park Scenario with KonoEne too? KonoEne where Konoha just noms on Ene's cotton candy and she just gets all huffy at him. Also with the darts scenario, Konoha wouldn't hold back (cuz of how dense and airheaded he is), so him throwing the dart just creates a mini crater in the wall. Like it plays out much differently with KuroEne ofc.

KuroEne Art Ideas

1st Idea:

I imagined the art of concept of Kuroha lying next to Ene in a bed of Higanbana (Red Spider Lilies), known as the Corpse Flower, Hell Flower, and Flower of Death. Ene has her eyes closed and her arms folded (similar to how Ayano is posed like a corpse in the Additional Memory MV), while Kuroha has a smiling expression on his face.

And it’s a deliberate reference as well to “The next” (次の, Tsugi no) in the Outer Science MV, with “The next, next time this comes around… I'll still sneer!”

While Kuroha (metaphorically) stands on top of the dead bodies of all the Mekakushi Dan members from previous Routes (as a visual representation), with a snake-eye pupil above him.

2nd Idea:

So I imagine Kuroha wrapping his arms around Ene, holding her in a tight embrace, while he has a smirk on his face. One hand is on her shoulder, and the other hand is either carressing her face or resting on top of her head. And he has snakes and a black aura and tendrils around him as well.

I didn’t imagine it as “Kuroha turning to Konoha’s appearance” using Awakening Eyes, but rather, the process that shows Kuroha possessing Konoha’s body, and using Konoha’s Eye Ability, Awakening Eyes to change the appearance of the body and clothes.

Since he’s using Awakening Eyes, his eyes are also glowing red. I was thinking of an art concept that shows the mid-way process of Kuroha possessing Konoha’s body, so Konoha’s body has been half-turned. So on the arm that’s resting on top of Ene’s head (or carressing her cheek), the sleeve on this side is still white, like Konoha’s.

Scan: @/ayara-resara

Edit by me

TAKANE/ENE IS SO SHORT COMPARED TO HARUKA, KONOHA, AND KUROHA... MY WIFE IS SO TEENY TINY. I think I'm like ~1 cm taller than her LOL

Takane: 157 cm (5'1")

Haruka, Konoha, Kuroha: 182 cm (6'0")

Since y'know, it's Haruka's body.

Kuroha's Pet Names for Ene

Takane's full online gamer name was “Lightning Dancer Ene” or “Dancing Flash Ene” (閃光の舞姫・エネ, Senkou no Maihime - Ene), where Maihime (舞姫) means "Dancer girl.” The name “Ene” comes from “Enomoto Takane”

Dancing Girl (舞姫, Maihime, lit. "Dancing Princess")

So he could take the 姫 (Hime) from 舞姫 (Maihime) and call her "Princess"

Since his usages of "Queen" (女王, Joou) and "My Master" (わが主, Waga Aruji) are used towards Marry and Azami

Kuroha's pet name for Ene would probably be something like:

親愛なるウサギちゃん (Shin'ai naru Usagi-chan; "[My] dear/beloved [little] bunny/rabbit")

親愛なる is something that's really only used at the start of a letter, like you wouldn't hear IRL lovers call each other that, since couples have different ways to verbalize affection (like giving your partner affectionate nicknames to indicate intimacy, like the shortening of a name, a play on the name, etc.)

But considering Kuroha/Saeru's origins as a character and how Saeru is ??? years old, like, older than the world itself in KagePro, the dude is fucking ancient, and so, I think he would use more olden and archaic speech/terms sometimes. Iirc the word 親愛なる (Shin'ai naru) was first created in the Meiji Era.

I do see 親愛なる (Shin'ai naru) used more in fiction like animanga and games, though.

This is mainly used in letters and texts, and rarely in actual conversation

Like you have to make up your own pet name like a variation on their name, shortened nickname or something else

Though JP hardly uses pet names like that in actual conversation and uses other affectionate nicknames

It's also old fashioned and archaic. Apparently, it originates from the Meiji period.

That's why if you see these kinds of phrases, it's mostly to translate from other languages.

Kuroha and KuroEne Misc Rambles

Kuroha flexes his knowledge to his S/O to prove just how much he knows about them, either by recounting memories of previous Routes to them or by recalling really specific details. That title was the gamer name Takane became known by. With the nickname "Little bunny" as a ref to Ene's cute twintails that look like bunny ears and also how a Snake can feed on bunnies as its prey.

And the general curiosity Kuroha has in wanting to add to his "knowledge bank," the excitement of either repeating or going through new experiences with his partner.

Like I think a lot of things are playing into their relationship dynamic. In the context of a Kuroha ship AU, I think what he feels is definitely obsession and a twisted form of affection. He wants to live forever (so he prioritizes his own goals), and he also sees it as like "I can be with you forever as long as I keep causing the time loop tragedy and we can keep meeting for eternity."

And there's a lot of other things too like the circumstances of HaruTaka and KonoEne's context, Kuroha's omniscience and knowledge, desire, and a craving/yearning for warmth, touch, and affection and validation on Ene's end, and the pull she feels for him because of the vessel he uses and his intimate knowledge of her. There's like that sinking realization that settles in, that the greatest enemy of the Mekakushi Dan knows her better than she knows herself.

Kuroha's "Knowledge/Wisdom"

He knows how to get under her skin and provoke her into acting (ie. Challenging Ene to make her want to rise up to the challenge and get competitive with him). He knows what to say to tease her to see her embarrassed, flustered reactions, since this guy would just be merciless at teasing

Like at this point in their relationship, he would know enough about her that he can read her reactions like an open book. In general, he savours seeing strong emotions being directed towards him.

He feeds off the desires and wishes of humans, which would include his partner in the context of a Kuroha ship AU.

Also dealing with Ene requires more patience than the average person would have imo, but good thing is, he's not an average person in the slightest, so he's perfectly content with playing the waiting game.

Like it would become obvious to him (after observing Ene throughout their interactions and encounters) is that Takane/Ene is very straightforward. Easy to read.

But also predictably unpredictable, so it keeps things fresh for him. Even if she can't admit it outright, he can guess her feelings pretty well. What's so interesting about Kuroha/Saeru is that this character is basically the manifestation of "Knowledge/Wisdom" as a concept, as a malevolent, cruel, sadistic, evil entity.

Takane/Ene gets flustered and embarrassed easily and really doesn't want to admit more honest feelings. The way that she holds onto her pride, and her bold haughty nature, feistiness and bravado, are some of the things about her that he finds amusing/interesting.

Also he knows how to steer convos into more tender territory and appease and flatter her, with Ene's impulsive nature and ever changing whims.

It shows the extent of his "advantage" or "edge" he has over his partner, like he holds the knowledge over them as a reminder that even if he relinquishes control in intimacy/roleplay, he is still in charge of and holds the power in their (bedroom) dynamic. And that knowledge is something he takes satisfaction in and gloats in.

Other Rambles

Something that I just realized is that a lot of my wives (the ones with softer, empathetic personalities) have this sense of melancholy and loneliness.

I need to talk more about this tomorrow or something…

Kuroha provokes Ene into getting more competitive with him

I feel like Kuroha often manages to goad Ene into getting competitive with him, but she doesn't fall for his provocations when he tells her stuff like how he wouldn't mind if she's rough with him in sex, even if it's painful, because he would still enjoy it.

Ene just shoots her sadistic/sadomasochistic bf's suggestions down right away, cuz unlike him, she is not the violent type, and she would still want it to feel good for him.

Also let's be fr, Kuroha is the only KagePro character that can manage to pull the kinky sex off (this character is a freak /pos), so the sex is just more fun to write for. I love writing meow meow mf charas with dark urges like that, cuz it makes ship interactions and intimacy (and sex) sooo much fun to write for.

[fala-alfredo-pasta]

Hello!! First of all, I hope you have been doing well! Second of all, I’ve been meaning to tell this to you for so long but I really like that one art you made for komanami week. The one where HPA Komaeda and Nanami kiss (But honestly I’m obsessed with each piece you’ve made for the week glhlh). It inspired me to have this headcanon: I like to think that they had something close to relationship back in Hope’s Peak but neither were good at the whole romance thing and human interaction in general so they never realized and thought that that’s just how friendships work. Probably had a sleepover once where they slept in the same bed and they always hug a lot and hold hands. So their classmates are just left confused whether they’re dating or not lol

That your art also gave me this idea: maybe Nanami would try to do something about it and make the first move so she tries to kiss Komaeda once while they’re doing homework together in the library, but she gets too embarrassed and scared of losing the friendship they have right now and just runs away after, while Komaeda is left embarrassed and confused too. But due to his self esteem the idea that someone, esp someone like Nanami-san, would be into him seems impossible so he decides that maybe she just wanted to use him as a practice for kissing someone else. So in the end neither of them ever bring it up again xD

And for the last: I’ve been very busy lately but I still would love to host a komanami week until the year ends. I can’t promise anything, but so far late October/early November seem like the most likely dates. Would you like to participate if I manage to host it and would this date be comfortable enough for you? :0 I wanted to ask all artists that might be interested so yeah, hope this is okay ^^

Awwwws you’re always so sweet 🥰

That headcanon of yours reminds me of this one komanami fic I read where Nagi and Chiaki are technically dating but Nagito is too lost in the self-depreciating sauce that he doesn’t want to acknowledge it lol. These two can be so prone to miscommunication due to their awkward social skills and that’s part of their appeal honestly. As far as another Komanami Week goes I would adore to do it again but my schedule this year has left me with not as much time to do as much art as I did last year 😭 I would most likely have the best time to actually get prompts done during late November, and December since that’s when things get a little slower at work—which means for me the ideal time for a Komanami week to happen would be probs like the beginning of next year so I can have the slow period at work to work on it. Though, if ya go ahead and make it sometime in late October or November I’ll see if I can manage to get a prompt or two in! I probably won’t be able to do the whole week like last time but I’d still like to make em a lil somethin’ somethin’ ^-^. Thanks for asking me again!

[sugar-coated-prat-dragon]

I missed A LOT💀 Tanner and Lizzie broke up?! Idk why or the circumstances but I hope Lizzie is okay! And Tanner and Mary seem to be pretty happy! I legit thought they weren’t dating till just now😭 anyways, I hope everybody has no hard feelings towards each other! I am quite surprised Lizzie and Tanner broke up considering how close and how long they were together😭

When I met Tanner and Mary in Orlando last May I started to wonder if they were a couple (mostly because the way they interacted with one another when they saw my object to autograph which was a picture of Sam and Robby with hearts around it).

I mentioned to one of my friends that I had a feeling they were together and she agreed as well, but since we had no real proof, she asked me not to mention it because I didn’t know for sure and I figured that was fair.

After Lizzes sister mentioned they were still together, I was kind of on the fence, because I didn’t want to say her sibling was lying (or perhaps she just really didn’t know?)

In November-December Tanners cousin started posting all the pictures of her, Mary and Tanner at Disney (where Mary was constantly holding the nephew) and where she and Tanner seemed very much like a couple.

Around that time, I started just flat out thinking that they had to be a couple, because Lizze not being with them on an outing like that was a little much even for good friends.

Than I saw post about the two of them having matching couples shirts in Disney.

On top of Tanner and Mary having matching necklaces at the Orlando con, Mary going to visit his family in Ohio, and of course the way they’re almost not even bothering to hide there affection anymore, ect…

And we’ll…. It’s pretty hard to deny now.

Lizze posted that she was single yesterday. Probably has been for a while.

The fact that there’s now an official announcement that Lizze isn’t dating him anymore just makes the possibility of it easier to accept and I don’t think Mary’s been dating her ex-boyfriend for quite a while.

I have no idea why Tanner and Lizze broke up, but they seemed like they were trying to reconcile in December of 2022 when they were in Hawaii, but maybe that’s when they couldn’t and decided to just be friends?

I remember seeing a video during that time of them kind of side hugging and walking together at night while in Hawaii. That could have been when they decided to merely be friends? But it’s impossible to know for sure.

Lizze seems ok. She stopped smoking and I see her posting a lot with her friends. She seems like she’s doing alright.

[allansnightsky]

A Sojourn in Italia - Catchup on Day 54 & Some Climate Stuff

On the 28th of December, we decided to go to a little village called Cagli to look at a Roman bridge which I’d found details of on the web. Cagli is about 40 minutes from Sassoferrato. All around Umbria and Le Marche you can still find remnants of the ancient Romans.  In fact, the whole area around Sassoferrato was significant during the reign of ancient Rome, the town was better known then as Sentium.  The decisive battle of the third Samnite war was fought in 295 BC near Sentium. In this battle, the Romans overcame the combined forces of the Samnites, Etruscans and Umbrians and the Senone Gauls. This battle paved the way for Rome’s complete victory over the Samnites - a battle that had been going on for over 60 years. Over the subsequent five years, the Romans gained control over much of central Italy and a significant part of southern Italy.

So back to the bridge.

As you can see in the images it is solidly constructed with large stone blocks and no mortar. It was clearly built to last. The area looks messy because this whole area was impacted last September by a significant rain bomb event. The region suffered a downpour of 350-400mm in about 1.5 hours. This is unprecedented. As you can see, this bridge that is over 2000 years old survived.

As we were looking at the bridge from near a driveway into a house (the original pathways and museo are damaged and closed), a man stopped to talk to us. Well mainly to Luisa as she can communicate, I still struggle to hold a conversation in Italian. He owned the house about 200 metres in and talked about the damage done by the event. The stone house withstood the torrent although the complete contents of the ground floor were ruined. One of his comments about this was “this is because of the changing climate and we made this happen”.

This brought me to reconsider some photo’s taken early in our first visit into Sassoferrato, around the 11th of November. Sassoferrato was also involved in this rain bomb event, as three rivers converge within its immediate vicinity. (The road we take into Sassoferrato has an area with significant damage and we can see must have been under water). Sassoferrato was at the centre of this disaster with loss of life and significant trauma to the people of the town. These images show the damage to a complete section around the area where we often park, in a carpark that sits over the top of one of the rivers.

BTW, if your interested in seeing the flood of the area in these photo's above look at https://youtu.be/kKsQf27Vir4

Of course given Australia’s recent experience of flooding, we’re not unaware of the impacts of flooding and rain bombs, but to see this up close and to realise that areas that have not been impacted by such flooding before are now experiencing unprecedented damage is to highlight the impact of the changing climate.

While on the subject of climate change, some of you may be aware that Italy had a serious drought this last summer with it’s largest river, the Po almost drying up. While rain has built it back up, there was concern about food production in Italy this last summer. Further north, central parts of Europe, around France, and Switzerland and some surrounding regions have seen unseasonable record winter heating impacting the snow fields that provide the water for the coming summer - and of course the ski season. This has helped with the lack of gas due to sections on Russia, but it comes with a cost. Italy has had a better run of this, not reporting record temperatures, and the ski fields largely remaining open. Nevertheless, the weather has been quite warm, far warmer than we expected. This has been pleasant but of course concerning in the long run. I discovered yesterday that some 300 ski fields in Italy have been permanently closed over the last 30 years due to lack of snow. That’s 300 separate ski fields!!

At the same time as I drive down the autostrada in our hybrid Renault I’m struck by the constant row of trucks transporting goods north and south. Imagine a 3 lane highway with the right lane almost completely dominated by an unbroken stream of trucks. I look at this and wonder how Europe can ever hope to convert 1000’s of trucks to batteries or restructure its transport system to one that's carbon neutral.

I don’t want to leave this post sitting on a depressing note, but also felt a need to highlight the impacts that we’re seeing in the area. Perhaps the hope stems from a little Roman bridge in the middle of a small town called Cagli that withstood the extremes of what has been thrown at it. If the Romans could build a bridge that can do that after 2000 years, then surely we can take the actions we need to stop and eventually reverse climate change. I’m heartened by an older man’s comments about “we caused this” and the implication that we can change it. 

[consistantly-changing]

[Image descriptions in order: a screenshot of an ad for a kids toy. The ad shows four small coloured plush spiders on a wooden table, with four kids screaming at them. The toy is called "Yellies!," and the tagline is "The louder you yell, the faster they go™!"]

[Three five star reviews of the product:

Lacey Helmuth on October 30, 2018: Oy.

Buy this if you hate someone with kids]

[Trish on November 7, 2018: CHAOS

I've been looking for something to make my kids play louder! I'm so glad they now have a toy they HAVE to yell at! My kids are so well behaved they definitely won't decide to play with these at 3am. Great invention guys!]

[Casey Lynn on November 9, 2018: A great gift to give people you hate that have kids

FINALLY a toy that will make other parent's miserable. Where have you been all my life?!]

[A comment which says "Question: Does this come with headache medicine or do I need to buy it separately?

Answer: by Annie's Alley, the seller on December 6, 2018: I am not aware of it.]

[A tweet by @MelissaMythical "Bobson Dugnutt" which says "Whoever invented this "Yellies" toy is obviously a sadistic asshole who hates parents.

Quote, "I know! I'll invent a toy whose sole purpose to make children scream super loud! How could that possibly not suck?" Unquote."]

[A facebook post with a photo of a crying child hiding behind a decorative pillow while the photographer holds a Yelly up for the camera. The post says "Let me share with y'all a massive mom fail I experienced tonight. So about a week ago, I noticed this toy for sale on Amazon. They're called "Yellies" and the whole concept is that the louder you yell at it, the faster it goes. Being the mother of a naturally loud and boisterous kid, I thought it would be the perfect Christmas present... well I couldn't wait for Christmas. So I crack it open tonight, and get a good look at it. I test it out. I'm amazed at how powerful the little motor is... how fast the little legs move... how its creepy little eyes glow a lovely shade of radioactive green. So I call Leo in. He looks at it, cocks his little head to the side. And then, obviously, I yelled at it. The spider ran for it. Leo starts screaming... the louder he screams, the faster the spider pursued him. He runs. And this is when we discovered the fun little feature in which the spider has a tendency to stop abruptly... pause for a couple seconds... spin in several erratic circles... and then turn towards wherever it senses sound... and take off in that direction. More screaming. Spider runs faster. Leo is backed into a corner as murder glows green in the eyes of little "Skadoodle." So, in short, maybe a little electronic spider thats power source feeds off of screams of terror... is not the best Christmas gift for your small child. 10 years from now we'll be discussing this in therapy🤦🏻‍♀️. #merrychristmas #ontheseconddayofchristmasmymamagavetome #nightterrorsandalifetimeofanxiety]

[A comment on this post by ritesofspring which says "if you read some of the reviews though, parents say they help in speech therapy and teaching their kids to talk because the come towards you when they speak, being instant results/gratification".]

whyyyyyy

[charmsoloved]

72 days sober.

for 2024 i decided to give up alcohol. The thought crossed my mind in November. I remember being afraid of telling people I cared about for fear of judgement and fear of not being able to accomplplish it and fear of missing out.

but something struck me in December and I decided to commit to it.

i decided to do it as a fast. not many people know that it's a fast but I really want to see how much I grow while abstaining from alcohol. I want to see how my body changed. I wanted to see how it could get me closer to God.

now, i'm 72 days in. I tell people so that they don't offer it to me. It's changed things for sure. I'm not as invited, i definitely don't feel as fun as i used to. sometimes I really feel like it but surprisingly i'm okay not drinking. I'm good at substituting. thankfully i hate to hold things when we are out so it makes it easier for me to be hands free. I think the fact that it's becoming more common in society that people are making mockails and having more non-alcoholic options.

...

i think that it feeds a certain part of our inner child to finally be able to have something we were forbidden from having. it makes you feel like you're apart of a cool kids club. It's labeled as such everywhere it's marketed. it's in almost every tv/movie you watch. it's mentioned more in music than it isn't/. there are songs telling you to consume more and more. it makes you feel like you're just trying to reach this peak of coolness. but -- that feeling never comes. you never actually feel cool; if anything you feel shame afterwords. shame for doing or saying something you shouldn't have. doing something that is completely out of your character. all bets are off.

things sobriety has taught/showed/i've noticed so far:

the difference in my face is wild. also, i don't seem to put on weight so quick no matter how i eat.

my sleep is struggling a little bit right now

i handle tragedy a little better without drinking to cope

i'm a lot more productive than i used to be; house is always pretty picked up.

i take care of myself a little bit better

i'm pretty fucking strong

my faith is stronger

clearer mind

more focused in what i'm doing

i feel clearer that i know what i can do and accomplish

it makes me see others a little better because i'm not wrapped up in my own stuff

i have more energy to get things done

i haven't made it to the gym yet, but i am still pretty strong

i'm cleaner

[alwayscraftynight]

Salutations it is I, Jacob Hopkins redemption fic writer person.

Even though I don’t follow you I still regularly look at your tumblr for Jacob Cringefailloserman Hopkins content (your art’s very good by the way). To respond to the post you made about me, I’m not at all disappointed with your response and it’s been really helpful with characterizing a character with a total of 5 minutes of screen time in the show, and whose only purpose is to make plot happen and to make fun of conspiracy theorists.

The reason that I don’t follow you, remain anonymous, and didn’t initially respond to your response is as you have guessed because I am uncomfortable with the proshipping. It’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a while and I’ve come to the conclusion that as long as it’s kept to a fictional space and it’s not taken to an extreme it’s something I can tolerate and I’m fine interacting with people who do partake in it. I promise to not harass, insult, or be nasty in general to you or anyone else in the pro ship community, and will go by the golden rule of don’t like don’t interact. Still gonna keep things anonymous though.

With that being said, progress on the fic has been slow. It’s my first time writing outside of a school setting and I’m not that good at it to boot. Putting my thoughts and ideas into words is like pulling teeth, and I have gained a tremendous respect for people who write regularly either professionally or as a hobby. 

I’ve rewritten the first scene five times now (though the one I’ve most recently came up with I’m pretty sure I’m going to stick with), and I’ve only got a good four or so chapters planned out definitively. But mark my words I’m getting this written. 

This man has been in my brain since November 2021 when I thought it would be funny if he was in dead cells because both Jacob and Dead Cells person use traps. Eventually in December 2022 I decided to start writing a fic about Jacob getting a redemption where he’d go on the infinity train but that was scrapped pretty quickly. Then it was about his experience in prison, but I don’t have the write something as nuanced as that and I’d need to study the hell out of prisons. Then finally after the owl house finished and the human realm was never made aware of the demon realm’s existence, the fic that I’m writing now started to take shape.

What I write will have its problems because of my inexperience. There will be plot points that are confusing, dialogue that sounds artificial, descriptions that are bland, and a number of other problems that I don’t even know I’ll face. But I promise you this, I’m going to put my fucking soul into this thing. 

People who forgot about Jacob entirely, who are neutral about him, or hold animosity towards him will read my fic and they will feel a fraction of the emotions that I feel about this middle aged cartoon man. And it will be glorious. And we will no longer be so alone.

I can’t promise that the fic will be released anytime soon as I want to get at least an outline of the whole plot completed as well as a sizeable number of chapters before I do so, but I’m going to promise to work on it every day (as long as daydreaming is included in the definition of working).

Good luck on making your AU, other drawings, and whatever else it is you’ll pursue. I’ll make sure to link you to the fic whenever I get the first chapter out. 

Cheers

PS 

To repay the seratonin you have given me by making content about Jacob that doesn’t make me reenact the homelander in hallway scene, here are a list of songs I’ve put in a Spotify playlist that reflect either themes of the fic, the general vibes of it, or both. 

Love I need / My Ordinary Life : The living tombstone

The main character / Against the kitchen floor / …well better than the alternative : Will Wood

Coffee : Jack Stauber

Le festin : Camille, Michael Giacchino

Under pressure : Queen, David Bowie

World’s smallest violin : AJR

The mind electric : Miracle Musical

Once in a lifetime : Talking Heads

Gats : Susumu Hirasawa

Space song : Beach House

Undertale : Toby Fox

I'm a bit tired and I keep putting off my needed break so this probably won't be as long and comprehensible as it could be I apologize 😭

Hello anon, it's cool seeing you again! I wanted to clarify I didn't mean to come across as rude if I did in my post, it's completely understandable to stay anonymous if that's what you feel more comfortable doing, and thank you for being civil about my weird opinions lol.

It's so easy to get stuck on the beginning of stuff, I'm also in the rewriting stage if that makes you feel any better. I'm not experienced in writing specifically but I can share some advice I've heard if that helps. Writing and making stories in general requires a lot of brainstorming, so don't feel like your writing is inadequate for going through a lot of rough drafts. I like to save my drafts to add to other projects later (most of which take place entirely inside my brain but I digress)

Just remember that this stuff is supposed to take time and to just be patient with yourself y'know? I hope you're happy with what you decide to stick with and you can achieve what you want to achieve with your fic 👍

Also LOVE the music I definitely get the feel you're going for! I know quite a few of the songs already but I'll be sure to check out the ones I haven't heard :]

Cheers! And good luck!

[aita-harshgroupmate]

Hello, just wanna address a couple of questions I saw in the comments as of right now. Under a read more because it's very long - sorry, I'm a wordy bitch. There's probably some stuff that reads a bit wrong too (I did a bit of editing while I was typing this), but it should otherwise read clearly.

Has A tried contacting any uni support systems for his mental health? As far as I'm aware, no. The uni has tried to reach out to him ever since the beginning - not just for mental health reasons, but for general attendance reasons. There's a system I think that's like, once you reach a certain amount of emails/letters/whatever, I think you automatically fail your semester or something along those lines. I recently discovered that he has a few of these letters, so if he has been contacted by the uni... he hasn't responded. Adding on to this a bit - there are some mental health facilities he can use. I haven't used them myself, but the uni in my experience has been pretty reliable when it comes to doing certain opportunities, meeting specialists who can help you with stuff, all that jazz. One of our group mates has some major health issues, and when those became apparent in our lectures, the uni was quick to try and help them. (they aren't officially diagnosed, so the uni was not aware of said issues at the time) While I can't guarantee the quality of its mental health facilities, I can attest that the other stuff I have been in contact with have been pretty good, so I'm assuming that it'd be the same for those too.

Can you try to reach out to him? I wrote the ask back in late November, on the edge of turning into December. Yknow when I wrote that he hadn't read my messages still at that point? Yeah... still the case. I know he received them, but he hasn't read them still. We also as a group tried contacting him again since, and he hasn't responded. Even if we did want to reach out to him to check up on him, it's very unlikely he'll respond.

Does it matter if he were to share your grade? How is grading handled? It matters in some areas, but not in every area. See, this year the uni decided that this specific project would be peer reviewed, i.e. we'd all talk about how the other people contributed to our project. I think it was specifically to avoid a situation where someone can just, not do anything in a project, but still get the same grade as everyone else. Depending on what everyone says about you and what you say about the others, your grade is influenced by that, as well as the quality of the actual piece you all made. So, while obviously A can't say much about us, and so our grade isn't massively influenced by his opinion - well, none of us are gonna lie about the fact that he's been unavailable for the most part. Sure, we wouldn't be screwed by him specifically, but we won't lie about the fact that he's done very little. Going into this a bit further - we all had to assign ourselves roles that we'd have in the group. Ideally in a group of 8, that would mean a couple of people would share a role (like a group leader + co-leader) so workload would be shared + generally be easier. By the time we had to decide our roles, A had never even appeared in our lectures, and he came in so late that we couldn't just assign him a role that would suit him (and he didn't know what to do either). We knew about the fact that he was trained in specific mandatory courses/activities, but he didn't specify what he wanted to do/had interest in doing besides just help out where he could. Here's some things I wanna clarify too that I can't put under a general question:

We haven't been able to meet since that day. That was also the only day any of us have been in contact with the guy properly. One of the members knew him a tiny bit and met him briefly once, but otherwise that was our first and only in-person interaction.

Since the meeting, we have given A another chance. We have to hold another meeting about this at some point soon to check on this, but because he hasn't talked to us or shown up to any lectures since, I'm pretty that chance is gone now.

Our meetings wasn't the only time we did our work - those meetings would usually just be a discussion of what we individually did within the last week (since these meetings were usually weekly, or maybe twice a week) and what we'd do next week. For the most part, we did our work on our own time, seperately. Obviously if people needed help they'd get it, but we knew what to do and we just did it - we were working smoothly and effeciently before he started attending lectures, there was genuinely no issue of workload balance or getting stuff done before then. It was a minor annoyance there was only five of us but we were getting shit done, and in fact were ahead of a bunch of other groups, apparently.

'bulk of the work' was poor phrasing on my part. We had done a bunch of work up until that point - that work was just pre-planning on the activity we needed to do. Sorting out health stuff, booking rooms and tools, making sure people were available that day, coming up with the thing we even wanted to do, what we would do specifically on certain days we had booked rooms and such, all sorts of things. I won't be too specific just in case one of my group mates come across this (I doubt it since none of them use tumblr, but better safe than sorry) - but essentially, we were creating a podcast of sorts. When I say 'bulk of the work', I meant that on that day we were creating sound effects that'd be used. At that point, that was the most practical, hands-on work that we'd have done so far.

Expanding on the 'do our own work seperately thing' - if he has produced his own work for this group, he hasn't shown us. Plus, he hasn't been accounted for in a lot of necessary files/health stuff, so whatever work he could've done probably can't be counted because they haven't been assessed for production safety and handling and the like. If he turns out he's a really good sound recordist, great, but he needs to do that alongside us, otherwise it doesn't count.

Someone mentioned it was a bit odd to do a one-on-one meeting with him for something that seemed like just needed to be an email, and that's perfectly fair. But this was because this was not just a meeting, but a 'test' decided by our group leader. The day or two before, A said he'd attend every meeting and try his best to take part in every activity he could, so our group leader decided (with everyone else agreeing to the idea) that I'd hold a small meeting with him to try and see his engagement with the project. When I spoke to him about it in person, he specified the time and date he'd be available, and said he'd be there. The fact that he didn't show up was essentially an automatic 'failure' of said test. So yes, while this kinda stuff would usually be covered in our normal meetings, considering we had no idea up until that point whether he'd genuinely try to show up and participate meant we had to check if he was serious.

I saw someone mention that this decision is the instructor's decision and not ours, so I wanna clarify that we have to come to a mutual agreement between the group if we want A to have the grade or not, and then tell our professor our decision. Depending on our answer, the professor will either let A share the grade or not. They've emphasised that this is our choice.

At this point, despite A struggling and probably needing a lot more sympathy from me, he is kind of fucked by now, even if he did pull through and start getting better. Editing is about to start, and one person is gonna be focusing on that while the rest of us just help out with whatever needs to be done. Even if he were to help out in the latter part, the work he would have done by the time the project is finished is... made some sound effects to be recorded, and maybe sorted some files out. He doesn't know enough about the project to help out with much of anything. Even if he shares our grade, not only do we know he's not done much, but our professor knows as well. As I said, they've tried to get in contact with him multiple times and he hasn't responded. Even if he 'shares' our grade he's going to fail. I'll admit, when I wrote the ask I was pretty angry, and that might've blinded me a bit when I was writing, and since then I've tried to take a more sympathetic approach and not be so judgemental. But the best that can happen to him right now is he 'shares' the grade, fails, and has to retake the semester (and maybe year? Not sure on that though). I understand where some folks are coming from when they say that I need to mind my own business and just let him take the grade while he's trying to get better, but that's not really how our grading system works, so. It sucks! Genuinely! But the uni knows he's done fuck all in terms of work, so.

Most people seem to agree I'm not the AH, or at least understand where I'm coming from, but honestly I could've handled this a lot better myself. On the other hand, though... he needs to help himself. The resources are there and the uni has tried to get in contact with him multiple times, but if he's not reaching back then there's nothing we can do, really.

If there's any further questions that might need answering I'll try and answer them, but hopefully that's not necessary. I also apologise if the wording is a bit vague - while I doubt my group mates are on tumblr I don't wanna be too specific anyway.

AITA for being harsh to one of my group mates?

(📳🎓)

For context, this is in uni, and most of us are between 18 to 20 years old. We've been assigned a group project we need to do basically, and while there were originally 8 of us, for the longest time there were only 5 of us. The other 3 were unavailable for a variety of reasons - until within the past two or so weeks, one of them (I'll call A) started showing up to some lectures. Not all of them mind you, but a couple of them.

Initially I was a bit 'ehhh' on A, simply because he hasn't shown up until now. However the rest of the group wanted to give him a chance, and for the sake of fairness we did. And for the most part, imo, he's been unreliable. He showed up recently to one of our more important sessions (the session essentially being producing a bulk of the work we'd need to do) and was genuinely helpful, but for me the pressing issues I have with him are that

1. He's inconsistent. He only got to that session because we prodded him about it on WhatsApp, and I'm sure that if we didn't he wouldn't have turned up at all

2. He rarely if at all communicates with us. He responded to one person (who I'll call D) twice and another person once. While in person he's a lot better, getting in touch with him otherwise is essentially impossible.

The kicker recently is that in person, we agreed to have a one on one meeting where we'd talk about what we've done so far and what he'll be able to help out with in the future. I arrived to the location, and waited... He never showed up. I texted him multiple times to let him know that if he's late he needs to tell me, and as I'm writing this he still hasn't even bothered to read the messages at all. I let D, who's our group leader, know and they believe he shouldnt share our grade. I agree.

However, the reason why I feel I'm the AH is because he says he's been having some mental health issues. He didn't specify what, just that it's 'been hard getting out of bed' and the like. He may have mentioned depression, but I also can't 100% confirm it. The rest of the group believe we should give him another chance, saying that depression is hard and that we can't expect him to be fine 100% now, and they've even said that D themself is inconsistent when it comes to showing up to meetings, which is true. They say that they themselves have had similar struggles in the past and they sympathise.

While that's fair, I'm also of the opinion that well... He hasn't even done a lot of work. Like at all. He helped during that session but has otherwise done fuck all. From a practical standpoint he doesn't deserve a grade simply because he's done essentially nothing since we started, even if it is because he's been having a bad time. However, he also hasn't had much time to prove himself that he is capable of helping, so it could be that I'm just pre-judging him out of cynicism.

It might also not help that I'm a very practical person when it comes to mental health - I deal with my own shit, tend not to burden anyone with my issues if I can, and just get on with things. My anxieties were rough before uni, and while it's gotten better in some areas it's gotten worse in others. Yknow, stuff like money, if I'm even eating properly, general life, personal circumstances, all that shit. However it might be that A is the type to get buried in his feelings, and my more practical viewpoint is me being way too harsh on someone who is struggling.

While I understand where my group is coming from, I still don't think A should share our grade. Imo he hasnt shown much initiative if at all for the group, and even if he was struggling the fact that he just generally hasn't done anything means I don't think he should share our grade. AITA?

TLDR: Guy in a group has done not much in terms of participating in our group project, because he's been struggling mentally up until now. Group is mostly sympathetic and wants to give him another chance, while I think otherwise, believing he's had enough chances already.

What are these acronyms?