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thisisnotthenerd · 2 years ago

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one thing you can say about aabria iyengar is that any character she makes slaps so hard. any of them. hot powerful ladies with an innate sense of self and sometimes dubious morals. not a single miss. i admire the commitment to divorcing the cr cast, and her sitting with travis and sam again is so exuc to me. silly goofy table with super interesting character dynamics. this time it’s both of them that can kill her super easily, with sam as a new friend with fundamentally different beliefs and travis as the ex.

things we know about deanna leimert:

the coziest gnome--knits, wears a big blanket/sweater and uggs, and carries around stew.

unique laughter

reluctant cleric of the dawnfather

had a fling with chetney ~200 years ago

came to uthodurn, made a family with dustel? and then died after being attacked ~10 years later

still has a thing for chetney, but ~it’s complicated~

lowkey a monsterfucker

resurrected by a high level cleric of the dawnfather ~2 years ago, met FRIDA, and started adventuring with them? we still don’t know exactly what they were up to

lowkey dweomer & laerryn energy. if i had a nickel for every time aabria iyengar played a powerful divorced spellcaster with a loyal aeormaton companion who was present around an apogee solstice i’d have two nickels. which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice

was happy in an afterlife for ~200 years and got pulled from it. the implications of the rest of her life and family moving on are so spicy. i love the character concept. direct contrast to laudna in terms of the resurrection itself.

the idea of waking up to see your partner, older, wiser, and beyond you at this point in your life is so messed up. waking up, feeling like an obligation, a completed promise (to whom? may i ask), and a relic of a time long passed got me really hard. she had a relatively happy life, died, and came back only for everything from that period to hurt. she came back exactly the same, but the world changed in her absence. it’s like that one post that was going around about bringing back your dead wife and you’re insisting that she came back wrong but she’s just normal. coming back to a light type of magic and a connection that you can choose to pull on based on who brought you back.

vs laudna waking up alone physically and coming back ‘wrong’, combining innate magic and a pull from someone else. opposite side of the coin in magic style, all shadows and eldritch energy. no obligation to a past life, but being chased out of the places that you made for yourself. a deep trauma associated with your death and the place that you lived before. your body and countenance stuck in the same state that you died in, so your magic takes on more and more reminders of your death. your family sent you to your death and you never see them again except for within the confines of your mind.

i don’t know if we’ll get a laudna & deanna interaction soon, but i so want them to meet and talk about it at least a little. I want to see how imogen continues to react to deanna for these UBH episodes

fiercely defensive of FRIDA and quicker to judge chetney based on past experiences, even though the rest of uthodurn bell’s hells (UBH) did try to warn them

definitely in a weird place in terms of the gods. the thought of faith as batteries or food for the gods is very very similar to ludinus’ comments in that long monologue:

“The greatest lie ever told is that we need them. We are their gardens, their cattle. They created us to feed them with our faith, our hope, our souls. Lapping up their fables, give them form, purpose, control.”

also the concept of the gift of rest--while coming more from FRIDA than deanna, i think applies differently from two characters who experienced that and were pulled out of an eternal rest. very much self-projection energy that i’m getting. also, powering the gods off is distinctly different from eating them, but has a little bit of a similar taste.

thoughts for the future:

i think this is going to be an opportunity to introduce another couple of factions. that fact that we’re up to three clerics in a six person party is giving me inklings of getting into vasselheim or at least some religious drama, post-chetney backstory. there’s definitely some god-indifferent sentiments in the party, and BH’s most religious people (fcg, and to a much lesser extent orym) are separate and can’t compare notes. aabria and christian are taking them on some kind of ride going forward.

also the idea that D has been awakening and shipping aeormatons all over the world. the ones we’ve seen so far have had some interesting experiences with the gods--a holdover from aeorian thought about the gods? if aeormatons and other aeorian weapons/tools of artifice were being designed to kill the gods that has room for some fun and spicy exploration going forward, if UBH goes to aeor.

i hope that these trial of the take style episodes let us have these characters for a little while. they’re meant to contrast and be foils to chetney and fcg specifically, but the interactions with fearne and imogen have so much potential, and i can’t wait to see where they go.

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acrylicscore · 1 year ago

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So like, I felt like doing a little “My MCSM Choices and Headcanons” post, just as a like basis for my personal canon on MCSM while also additional letting people who read my blog know what to expect from me in terms of this silly block game.

I will place my choices in “read more” so those that don’t wanna don’t gotta.

Jesse Type:

Red-Suspender Jesse.

He’s just my favourite little guy. He just seems different. Like honestly, compared to Green-Suspender Jesse (who I’ve found people view as a gruff and bulky short-stack that has the most adorable puppy eyes, and I love it), I like to view Red-Suspender Jesse as this short skinny dainty looking thing that is somehow the scar-covered hero that saved the world. Anyone who is directly looking for him is like “Oh you’re the famous Jesse? I thought you’d be tougher looking”, and then they immediately meet their fate on the floor in the Family Guy dead pose. But of course, Green-Suspender Jesse is my second choice.

Jesse Personality:

Chaotic Neutral or True Neutral

Some days he’s a sweetheart, other days he’s a little shit. There is no telling what this man’s personality could be at any given moment. There is no pattern. But he’s naturally cheeky so who knows.

Also he’s one of those people that doesn’t process his emotions too well. So for my Jesse, he’s naturally sad at heart, which results in him finding it difficult to cope with extra sadness too well, but also having a constant longing feeling for happiness or moments of pure bliss. He finds that the best way to fill that void is helping people or being in the act of helping people. If left doing nothing for too long, he gets very unstable.

He also feeds off of other people’s happiness and joy, especially his friends. He’s his happiest around people he loves. If left totally alone, he can’t cope.

Prefered Armours:

Shield of Infinity

I adore Shield of Infinity! There’s just something about it that just makes my brain happy. It have this really regal/majestic vibe to it (which is also mentioned in game), and it looks to incorporate emeralds into its patterns. Not only that but spikes on the shoulders! Also its Lapis Blue in colour.

Tooth Chipper

I just really like how simple this one is. While the Underneath’s armours don’t get much love, I would just like to say I love this one. It doesn’t feel too cluttered compared to the other armours on offer.

Favourite New Order Member:

Olivia

I just can’t describe it, but I LOVE Olivia. She’s just that vibey bestie that’s not afriad to tell you you’re an idiot in the most serious or sarcastic tone ever. She’s also like that friend that is more like a sister and will annoy the hell out of you if given the chance.

I will say though, Jesse is normally my favourite NOOTS member, but he can be shoved to the side for favouritism punishment.

Favourite Old Order Member:

Ellegaard

Omg the redstoners are my favourites, what a surprise! But seriously though, for me Ellie is just really neat. She has that “I don’t like people” charm to her. Like, she’s very awkward in conversation and seems like she doesn’t realise what she’s saying until long after she’s spoken. She’s quirky, like me-

Ivor was also shunted to the side because of favouritism punishment. He can be a family in the corner with Jesse.

Favourite Side Character:

Gill

Why do I like Gill? Fuck you, that’s why. He’s just so goofy and huggable and “I don’t know wtf i’m doing” coded. He lives in my head rent free. He just wants to vibe but Aiden wouldn’t let him.

Also I project a lot of personality and ideas onto Gill, and I specialise in pairing him with Jesse in the most dumbass situations where Jesse progressively loses more braincells the more time he spends with Gill. I just love them <3

Favourite Villain:

Cassie Rose

I prefer Cassie overall. She’s mysterious, and she’s lashing out because of cruelty done to her in her shrouded past. You don’t know why she’s angry or why she resorted to murder, but you know enough to understand why she wouldn’t simply reach out for help. Also she’s a cat person, and I simply cat pass up a cat-person coded character.

Favourite S2 Character:

Jack

Personally I don’t like the Season 2 characters, with the majority of them just completely escaping from my memory until someone mentions their name. However, I do have my preferences in Jack, Nurm and Radar; the Beacon Town bois.

Jack was the one I got attached to the most, with Nurm followed very close behind. He radiates “cool uncle” energy that makes me smile every time, especially when he’s showing off or bragging. Even if people find his bragging habit annoying, I personally love it because it’s just a simple touch of world building and fun interaction. He’s just fun.

Leave or Stay:

Stayed in Beacon Town

This choice is basically “Be Gay or Do Crime” and I chose to be gay, just not gay for Lukas.

On a reasonable note, I honestly think the reason Jesse would have stayed in Beacon Town would be from a guilty conscience. He feels he’s to blame for the destruction and disruption of both Beacon Town and Champion City, and that everything that happened is all his fault because he was the one that first lured the Admin in, even if accidentally. He wants to fix his mistakes, not abandon them.

We are now entering more-so Headcanon territory

Ships:

Jesse x Gill

It’s a stupid ship, but its my stupid ship. I will love them till the end of time.

Lukas x Olivia

They have such nice chemistry, and also they’re both nerds that just click for me.

Ivor x Harper

We all know why.

Jack x Nurm

They are husbands, your honour.

Jesse x Cassie

This isn’t a very prominent ship of mine, and often takes a more friendship-like approach anyway. This is honestly just here because of AU reasons, as for some reason if I have an AU where Jesse and Gill don’t interact (either at all or really late) then Cassie is automatically Jesse’s best friend. This is the case for Lapis Swap and Ender Child.

Despite this, this ship is either “They’re best friends” or “They are specifically romantically insterested”, which is why I’m listing it as a ship. There is only one of my AUs that’s somewhere in the middle, but other than that it’s between those two options. Although I will say, there are only a total of four AUs of mine that have Jesse and Cassie interact like this.

Other than that, I still think its funny if regular canon Jesse had an “Oh she’s cute” moment when first meeting Cassie. Basically Cassie was Jesse’s “Omg I’m not just gay” awakening but he won’t dare to admit it.

Jesse x Lukas

I don’t generally ship this one, but it’s the ship that I love reading about and viewing art for. I just love the fanfictions and art pieces I find, with pretty much everything being some of the best works I’ve encountered for any fandom. Its the ship that I just follow the fandom for, but I still have a great appreciation for.

Canon Event:

I’ve never watched Spiderverse so I’m just guessing if I’m using the term right.

In my canon of MCSM, the canon event is Jesse’s childhood home being destroyed when he was a child. Yes yes, I’m going for the “Jesse is an orphan” trope, but its fine. This event is what pushes forward a lot of my canon and also AU stories, and is altered accordingly when needed.

So info about this day; Jesse’s home is attacked by griefers when he was age 6, resulting in him fleeing from home (and dad’s death). However on this particular day there were multiple presences in the area; Sammy, Jack & Vos, who were coming to visit the family as Sammy was Jesse’s biological aunt; Ellegaard, who was heading back to Redstonia with a crew of miners who had come back from a mining expedition; and Ivor, who was travelling to collect materials to take back to his lab. Out of everyone to encounter, Jesse encounters Ivor, who then fended off any pursuing griefers to protect the child. He then takes him to the nearest town to ensure Jesse was a bit safer.

This event can be altered in many ways to suit my AU differences, like encountering Sammy’s group, or encountering Ellegaard, or simply Ivor taking care of Jesse himself. I have even changed the time that the event takes place, or removed it all together. Honestly, if I make an AU revolving around Jesse, this is the spot that I look at beforehand.

AUs (listed):

Lapis Swap AU

Ender Child AU (Son of Soren AU)

Engineer Jesse AU (Son of Ellegaard AU)

Alchemist Jesse AU (Son of Ivor AU)

Jack’s Nephew AU

Secret Elytrians AU

Origins AU

Early Daughter AU

“It Never Happened” AU

Permanent Champion AU

Admin Order AU

If there are any AUs that may intrigue you, feel free to ask. I’m always happy to chat about them and answer questions.

Little Side Idea I Wanna Share:

I’m giving Jesse a parrot.

Yes, I know Lluna exists, but she’s still technically Stella’s pet. And also yes, Jesse may not be able to fully get over Reuben, but sometimes getting another pet is the best way to move on.

Also the main reason I’m giving Jesse a parrot is due to my post-canon events. Long story short, the Order is severely injured but Jesse has it worse and is permanently out of commission. The rest of the Order healed to a reasonable health before Jesse could, so they could head back to their respective towns. Although, a couple of days before they do, Jack and Jesse find a young parrot fresh out of the nest without any feathers except one single lapis-blue tail feather. Jack recommends (forces) Jesse to take care of the bird while he was recovering, as Jack could definitely see that Jesse’s mental state wasn’t too good, but also the parrot’s lack of feathers was due to parrot depression too. While reluctant at first, after the first night he started connecting with the parrot almost immediately as the two found their similarities really quick, and helped each other into healing (physically & mentally).

Basically my whole purpose for the parrot is for the analogy and comparision for healing. Jesse is devasted that he can’t do what he loves anymore because of his injuries, so there would be every chance that he would spiral downwards, so give him the one thing he needs to prevent that from happening; company. The others, despite their efforts, are always going to have to leave, so Jesse needs someone who won’t leave. Not only that, but Jesse is someone who just feels the need to help people, to help others. So in my theory, you give him someone who won’t need his side but also someone who needs his help too. So I gave him a parrot friend.

Also the parrot’s name is Lazuli, because she has lapis blue feathers. She was named that because of the singular tail feather she had initially though before she healed.

She also acts as a messager around Beacon Town, because why the hell not.

Hope this opens up a but about my personal canon of Minecraft Story Mode. I’m quite happy with what information I’ve given about my brain, but if you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask.

Have a good day!

#score speaks #mcsm #minecraft story mode #mcsm au #mcsm ships #mcsm ship #mcsm headcanons #mcsm choices

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monaisme · 4 years ago

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One Week Later - Chapter Four

This is the sequel to my one-shot, “The Battle”

Going through a magical portal was definitely one way to distract from the nerves borne of having to step back into one’s life five years later and all the chaos that came with it.

The portal didn’t seem like a big deal after the fact, especially after spending the last days watching the successful use of them as those remaining in Wakanda were reunited with family and friends. It didn’t stop Peter’s brain from wondering for a quick second how Wong’s magic worked—if he was really just stepping through or if there was more to it?—Like the transporters in Star Trek. Maybe that ring he’d been wearing contained technology that manipulated the particulate in the atmosphere and—

His train of thought derailed as Mr. Stark finally came through the portal and the circle shrunk and fizzled away into nothing.

“Well,” he announced as he glanced back at the vanished means of entry, “That wasn’t my flashiest entrance, but it’ll do.”

Mrs. Stark rolled her eyes and stepped up to give him a kiss. “Yes, dear, whatever you say.” She teased as she caressed his cheek. “That exit, though...” She gave her husband a playful wink and then patted his face. “The Divine Miss M would be proud.”

Mr. Stark smirked, “Yeah, Wong will definitely pay for that later.” He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer then planted a soft kiss on her lips. He mumbled, “I’m so glad we’re home.”

Peter had watched as they did their flirting thing, but mention of home had him looking away pretty quick. He fought to tamp down his discomfort.

Five years ago, Mr. Stark had been freshly engaged and behaving exactly how Mr. Stark was expected to behave, all snark and sarcasm with the occasional emotional outburst.

And Mrs. Stark was, well—she was Pepper Potts, but not just Pepper Potts. She was Ms. Potts; CEO to Stark Industries, #1 on the Forbes list of “100 Most Powerful Women” in 2017, and MJ had just told him—he sighed as he mentally corrected himself, MJ had told him five years ago that she was creeping up on Oprah and Beyonce in terms of net worth. He’d met her a few times when she’d stop by the lab to make sure Mr. Stark was drinking more than just coffee and consuming actual food—not just the mystery smoothies Dum-E would make for him on occasion. She’d been intimidating, but always polite and kind and left the lab with a smile for Peter and a peck on the cheek for Mr. Stark.

And while he’d been stuck in that stone? Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts had gotten married, built a home... moved on, and here he was— Peter was getting tired again just thinking of it.

Five years later was weird.

Peter scuffed his toe against the floor, unintentionally drawing attention to himself.

Mr. Stark straightened the two of them up and turned to him immediately, making sure to grab his wife’s hand. “Yeah.” It was Mr. Stark’s turn to blush. “Sorry about that. I guess we’re all a little relieved to be back, right? We can finally get back to normal?”

Peter chuckled quietly and shrugged as he refused to look up at the pair. “I guess?” He replied, but in his head, he knew better.

“Well,” The pair moved closer to him and Mr. Stark put a supportive arm around his shoulder. “I’m not even going to ask what you want to do, kid.” Mr. Stark stated as he turned Peter around and started walking him through the living room of the penthouse, “but before we figure out when you can see May, I need to know if an in person visit is even in the cards for today. I’ll just pop down to the med bay and have a quick chat with the doctor and—“

Peter didn’t think before he stopped moving and the words fell out of his mouth, all desperate and pleading. “Can’t I just come with you?” Mr. Stark was opening his mouth to say no, Peter was sure of it, so he kept going, “I don’t even need to talk to her! I’ll stay back and out of the way and everything. Please? I just want to see her.”

Mr. Stark couldn’t hide the sadness in his eyes. “Pete, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

But Peter was determined. “But it’s May, Mr. Stark!” He begged. “And you can’t tell me she hasn’t missed me, I mean, it’s been five years for her and I know she’d want to see me—“

“Kid, that has nothing to do with it. I promise. You know what your aunt is like.” Mr. Stark seemed to hunt for his next words, “She’s a beast in the best possible way—but now? She’s not, and the last thing she’d want is for you to see her... less than one hundred percent because then she’ll get upset that you’re worrying about her and then you’ll end up getting upset and none of us want that either, do we?”

Peter tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice. “No. I get it, that’s cool. Just...” He trailed off before he said something stupid. He understood. He’d heard the doctor only a couple of hours earlier and he knew he couldn’t just go running into the med bay to throw himself at Aunt May. Stuff was going on and he wasn’t going to get in the way of it.

“Let’s give her chance to put on her game face, okay?”

“Okay.” Peter couldn’t have sounded more glum if he’d tried. He hated this.

“Hey, kid,” Mr. Stark pulled him into an awkward side hug as they all started walking again. “I promise you, we’ll get this sorted, but here’s what we’re gonna do. First, we’re gonna get you set up in your room,” they turned down into a hallway beyond the living room, “so you can take a nice, long shower—wash off all of those teenager cooties you’ve been sporting.” Mr Stark ruffled Peter’s hair as he attempted to lighten the mood. “Then, by the time you’re done, I’ll be back with all the information we need so we can make a plan, alright?”

Peter nodded even though he wanted nothing more than to disagree with everything Mr. Stark was suggesting and make a break for the med bay. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be. Five years ago, he was supposed to help get the gauntlet and then come home and train with the Avengers after May grounded him forever... and now, even his freaking homecoming was wrong. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to deal with all of this.

Mr. Stark steered him through a doorway and stopped. “So, kid. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Peter blinked, confused. “Um, what—?“

“You’re room, buddy, what do you think?” Mr. Stark gestured into the room they were now standing in. “We tried to make it exactly like your old one... got FRIDAY to...”

Peter tuned Mr. Stark out as he stepped further into what was definitely a space meant for him. Now that he was paying attention, it took a second to know that he was in the exact same room Mr. Stark had put aside for his use before half of the universe disa—

It was like a needle scratching across a record in his brain. NO.

He needed to change the thoughts in his brain—wished it was as easy to do for himself as it was for the schematics laying about the lab... a swipe of the hand and BOOM, a fresh start—the lab he hadn’t been in for five years because he was trapped in a stone.

NO. He scolded himself again and clenched his fists tight; thrust them into the pockets of his sweatpants as he tried to reframe it. He needed to make it something else before Mr. Stark ended up looking at him that pitying way again.

Okay.

It was the same room Mr. Stark had put aside for his use on those nights when they’d goof around with Mr. Stark’s tech until stupid late and then the two of them would fight over whether 80s horror movies were the superior movie genre when anyone with real taste knew that Star Wars and all things sci-fi was where it was at.

Yeah, that was better. He could do this.

He tried to relax his shoulders as he took in some of the details.

Peter was grateful that the room itself smelled as fresh and clean as the last time he’d been in it. The laundry detergent used to wash his bedding was even the same. His posters were on the walls and his books were back on the tiny bookshelf by the desk set up next to the wide expanse of window. The pens, papers, books, and even an unfinished lego project he’d left upon it during his last weekend were sitting in a box, waiting to be unpacked.

It was almost exactly where it was all supposed to be.

Almost.

And then—

Peter remembered an April Fool’s Day when he and Ned had been little. It had fallen on a Saturday, which of course meant a sleepover for the two new friends and, while May and Ben slept on, the boys had decided to be as diabolical as six year olds could be. It had taken all of three minutes, for all of the giggles and impromptu pillow fight, but they’d switched all of the red throw cushions from the couch with the brown throw cushions from the two armchairs in the living room. The cutlery tray in the kitchen was given the same treatment before Peter and Ned were satisfied with their first ever attempt at foolery.

It was insanity, and May and Ben were absolutely baffled at how something so strange could have happened while they slept!

Peter smiled sadly at the memory as he realized this was that moment, except it wasn’t a goofy prank by two silly kids. It was like everything in the room was six inches to the left and Peter was supposed to be confused that something wasn’t quite right—

Nothing was right.

He wondered if this would be the thing that pushed him over the edge.

“Pete?” Mr. Stark asked again, softer this time and laced with an undertone of concern.

He closed his eyes for a moment then pasted a smile on his face. “It’s great, Mr. Stark.” He turned to face him, hoped he’d buy the ruse. “You wouldn’t know that anything was different except that my desk is finally tidy.”

Mr. Stark chuckled, “Look, kid, I know it’s not quite ri—“

“No! It’s absolutely fine!” Peter couldn’t allow him to acknowledge the imperfection of it or he’d lose it. “I hadn’t even thought about... this. It’s just like I left it,” he lied.

Mr. Stark wasn’t convinced. Peter could see it on his face. “Peter? Tell me what’s going on in your head. I can see that something is—“

“No.” Yup. He really needed to not be talking about it, “Everything’s great... this is great, Mr. Stark, thanks so much for doing this for me.” Peter then looked behind him to Mrs. Stark still standing in the hallway. “And you, too, Mrs. Stark. I’ll try really hard to not be irritating while I’m here.” He kept that same fake grin going, hoped for the best.

And then Peter put an arm around Mr. Stark and ushered him toward the door.

Mr. Stark pushed back a little, making his desire to stay obvious. “Pete? What are you doing?”

“Just what you asked, Mr. Stark. I’m gonna jump in a shower now and get ready for the day.” He’d gotten Mr. Stark one step into the hallway when the man pulled free of Peter’s unintentional restraint, turned around and braced himself in the door frame.

“Peter, stop.” He tried to catch Peter’s eye. “What’s going on?”

The question stopped Peter cold in his tracks. He was absolutely not prepared to answer the question. “What do you mean? I just said—“ He glanced over his shoulder back into the room. “Everything’s great.”

“Yeah, Pete, I hear you. You keep saying it. It’s great, but that’s not what I’m picking up here.” His voice held nothing but concern and he stepped closer to Peter. “Do you want to try again?”

And his plan had failed in all of one minute.

Dammit.

An unexpected anger flared, “No, I really don’t.” He hadn’t yelled, but he was a near thing. “Can I please just take a shower now?” He tugged at the sweatshirt that wasn’t his, stalked toward the dresser he’d yet to inspect and pulled open the drawer that thankfully held his t-shirts. He’d hoped it would be enough of a cue that Mr. Stark needed to leave, but that was apparently too much to ask.

“Peter, c’mon. I need to know what’s going on in that genius brain of yours. Do you want to talk? Do we need to change something about the room?”

“NO! It’s already changed enough!” Peter snapped. He grabbed his favourite shirt and slammed the drawer shut with enough force that the dresser hit the wall behind it with a crash.

Mrs. Stark gasped at the outburst, bringing Peter back to himself.

He froze where he stood, his ears flushed with embarrassment at the loss of control-- being caught out. “Shit. I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

Mr. Stark stood silent as he waited for Peter to settle down, Mrs. Stark coming to stand beside her husband as the tension hung thick in the air.

And never before had he wanted Mr. Stark to leave him alone so badly.

“I think I need... can I just have a minute, please?” He whispered and fidgeted with the shirt in his hands.

“Peter, I don’t think we should--” his words cut off.

Mrs. Stark put a hand on Mr. Stark’s arm, effectively stopping him in his tracks. “Tony, wait a minute.” She gave Mr. Stark a ‘look,’ “It’s been a long week, and an especially difficult day for Peter. You go check in at the med bay while I check in with the others and give him a chance to catch his breath.” She addressed Peter next. “Does that sound like a good idea?”

Mr. Stark opened his mouth to protest, “But—”

Mrs. Stark didn’t bother to hide her glare. “I’m sorry. Did I pose that as a question?”

Even Peter knew from that tone that CEO Ms. Potts—um, Mrs. Stark was coming out to play, so he wasn’t surprised when Mr. Stark grumbled out a petulant ‘no.’

“Good.” She turned to Peter next, spoke kindly. “You take all the time you need, honey. I can’t imagine we’ll be longer than a half hour, but if you need more time than that, then you take it. We’ll meet up in the living room when we all finish. Does that sound good to you?”

Peter nodded a ‘yes,’ though he still refused to look at either of them.

She smiled, like the last minutes of Peter’s tantrum hadn’t happened, then continued. “Perfect. We’ll get out of your hair.”

She made to steer Mr. Stark out of the room, but he again stopped and turned to address his mentee. “Hey—“

But Peter refused to look at the man.

Mr. Stark tried again, “Hey, buddy. Listen to me. No one is mad. Okay?” He seemed to grapple with finding the right words for a second and then went on. “We all know this is messed up and no is going to blame you for not knowing how to react—but you have to talk to us okay?”

Peter couldn’t bring himself to respond.

Mr. Stark sighed, seemingly giving up on the moment. Peter glanced up, thinking he’d watch them walking out the door, but blinked in surprise at Mr. Stark waiting patiently for him to look up.

“If you need anything... if you need me, you let FRIDAY know and she’ll get me. Understood?”

Peter did nod at that, but kept quiet.

Mr. Stark sniffed and then cleared his throat. “Good. Go take your shower, sweetheart. We’ll see you in the living room when you’re done.” Peter thought he’d reach out to hug him, but he held himself back and Peter wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Instead, Mr. Stark grasped Mrs. Stark’s hand, gave Peter a wink and a nod, and the two of them left.

He waited a few seconds, listened for the concerned voices talking about giving him time to die away in the hall and then sighed in relief.

Finally.

Peter was alone for the first time since, well, he guessed five years ago.

He stopped the thoughts again. It was too much, and he had thirty minutes to pull himself together, so that’s what he was going to do.

* * * * * *

Peter took a couple of minutes to be still and hoped it would be enough to get through whatever came next.

It wasn’t.

He did the breathing exercises MJ had taught the decathlon team before that huge meet against Bronx School of Science.

Maybe that took the edge of a little?

Finally, Peter gave up, realizing that it wasn’t going to matter what he did, at least for now. He just needed to get up and move.

And so he did.

He grabbed the rest of his clothes from the dresser, consciously ignoring the drywall dust on the floor behind it, and stepped into the ensuite.

FRIDAY had already started the shower knowing that Peter’s preferences wouldn’t have changed, so he stripped and stepped under the hot spray. He closed his eyes and counted his breathing again, but now that he’d moved from the quiet of his room, the urgency to get done and get to the living room started pressing on him.

He could do this. Whatever the world had in store for him, he’d manage. He’d done the whole starting over thing before, after all and hiding from it wasn’t going to change anything.

He wiped the water away from his face and grabbed the bottle of shampoo from the shelf, smiling to himself as he recognized the brand and scent on the label. He wanted to be quick, but he sound of the water beating against the ceramic tile and the soothing fragranced steam relaxed him more than he’d anticipated.

Maybe he’d be alright?

After a few more minutes of luxuriating in the heat, Peter finished washing up and stepped out to dry himself off, not bothering to do anything special with his curls. He slipped on his boxers then his jeans, keeping the towel around his neck so his hair wouldn’t drip everywhere. He finished off with one last vigorous scrub and tossed the towel into the hamper behind the door. He grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head, took a deep breath to center himself and caught a whiff of it...

He wondered how quickly Happy had been able to pull his stuff out of storage and how many times his clothing had been washed and washed and washed... all to try and get rid of that musty, unused smell that clings to old, discarded clothing. Except that the clothes hadn’t been outgrown or discarded—and below the layers of wash after wash he could still tell with his stupid enhanced senses that all that Peter was before was that stink of age and neglect.

An unnatural calm settled upon him as he pulled the shirt down from his face and left the bathroom.

He grabbed forgotten socks from another dresser drawer and sat himself on the bed to get them on.

He realized he’d get no reprieve from all of the reminders, and wondered why he wasn’t more upset.

It didn’t matter, though.

He looked at the clock on his bedside table. He’d already taken forty minutes and needed to get out to the living room. Mr. and Mrs. Stark were waiting—

And Peter figured that after five years, they’d waited long enough.

#fanfiction #Irondad and Spiderson #Avengers: Endgame #non-compliant #ao3fic #AO3 fanfic #OBlossom

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studying-mostly · 6 years ago

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Who do u ship ur mutual s with question mark ALSO WAIT WHY ARE THERE NEW POSTS ON UR BLOG I HAVENT SEEN YET

Alright, this took me,,,,,way too long because I figured, I might as well be thorough

So, DISCLAIMER: i changed the ask a bit; instead of who I ship you with, because I only know their stage personalities and the image they present, I instead went with who i think your vibe would get along really well with. You’ll see me using phrases like “someone like (name)” to help emphasize that this is rlly based off of the image they present ALSO in some cases, I didn’t pair you with your bias and that’s because, while I think you’d get along with your bias, I thought that you’d be more compatible (romantically or platonically) with someone else (sharpen your pitchforks elsewhere, these are the hills i choose to die on)

SECOND DISCLAIMER: I separated this into two categories; since most of my mutuals are my mutuals through Ateez, I’ll do one “ship” with someone in Ateez, and then an additional “ship” with someone else (all based on groups I know, so it’s a bit limited; if you want me to look into girl groups for you to see what I find, I’m more than willing to do that!) And, this is mainly for the mutuals that I interact with mainly because I’m able to give a more confident answer on who I think they should gravitate towards, I’ll probably update this post as I interact more (if you want to be added, msg me!)

Alright, so let’s get started

@jongholover:

1) Ateez ship: (drum roll please) WOOYOUNG : Okay so hear me out. I thought about someone like Jongho but honestly, I think you’d fit better with someone like Wooyoung. Someone a little bit more playful without being shy, and caring in a way that matches yours. You're both emotional people, but whereas for some pairings that'd be problematic, it's something that I think is crucial: someone emotional would understand you. The best example for why I chose Wooyoung was the mafia vlive, where he was tapping San's hand and being mischievous, and that fits you really well. For some people, I’ve paired them with someone who is a bit of their opposite, but I feel like you’d be most comfortable with someone who’s like you, someone who gets you without much worry and I think the person Wooyoung projects to be matches that really well, with just enough difference to keep it as a “match” rather than a “mirror”.

2) Misc: Jeno from NCT ; so this is a little bit more of your opposite, but I have the gut feeling that if you were to find someone like Jeno, you guys would get along really well ; he seems to be a little bit more on the quiet side which balances you out, while still being aware of those around him, which matches you quite a bit. It’s still someone similar to you, but with a little bit of variance (But out of these, I think someone like Wooyoung fits you much better)

@yunhos-gf

1) Ateez ship : (she’s gonna kill me) Yeosang! I think that you would get along amazingly with someone like Yunho, so I definitely want you to know that I absolutely see you with someone like him, but I think in terms of compatibility, you’ll feel at ease with someone like Yeosang. His bit of shyness would keep yours in check without feeling like you have to do something grand to prove yourself. Also there’s that little bit of opposites with his “quietness”, but he’s still playful enough that I don’t think it’d alienate you. At the end of the day, someone like Yeosang and Yunho came in at a tie, so I think it really depends on what type of person you’re looking for at that moment: someone a little quieter, or someone a little bit more goofy

2) Misc ship: Juyeon from the The Boyz: So, I already told her this, but it’s gonna be the hill I die on. Whereas with jongholover above, I said that the Ateez ship fit better, I’m saying that someone like Juyeon fits better than Yunho or Yeosang. He’s again on the quieter side while still having a sense of humor, which I think is crucial for you, but he also has a steadiness that I think you would pair really well with. Someone like Juyeon I think is bound to motivate/inspire/enamor you in some way or form. The simplest answer is that his vibe may not mirror yours, but it’s one that pairs really well with yours anyway. I also feel like you’d do best with someone “steady” without them being a leader, per se, and that’s exactly where Juyeon is. Passionate without being extremely in your face passionate, and more of a tempered sense of humor; I will die on this hill but find someone like Juyeon and prove me right

@shining-universe

1) Ateez ship: Yunho! So here was another ship where, instead of going with someone of your opposite, I’m going with someone that more matches you. I think that honestly, you’d feel best and fit best with someone bubbly and goofy and bright and in ateez, that’s Yunho hands down. But he’s not the only sunshine of the group so lemme explain ; Yunho is very bubbly and playful without it being “”savage””, and his type of humor fits yours extremely well. Also, big heart needs another big heart; someone like you with someone like Yunho is basically the sunshine pair

2) Misc ship: (i’m gonna cheat here because lbr,,,what else was I going to put) Shinwon from Pentagon! This was a no-brainer. Yunho might actually be too bubbly/bright for you, and that’s where someone like Shinwon comes in. Another sunshine, but definitely more on the caring side. And when I say caring side I mean heart bigger than body ; you guys literally care so much about the people around you while still being so passionate about what you believe in. There's a lot of overlap regarding wanting to improve the lives of others (whether through music or education) and that's something that I think you gravitate towards; you need someone with a heart as big as yours, without it being overwhelming. When I think of Shinwon, I think of a big heart and an endless amount of care for those close to him and that matches you perfectly! Again, I think you’d be most comfortable with someone like you, and Shinwon is it (there are some differences, but it’s more in terms of balancing rather than polar-opposites). Overall, he’s someone that fits you pretty damn well (also catch the endless giggling and quiet moments but also,,,hmmm,,, concert dates?) so my advice; find someone like Shinwon!!

@cutieyeosanggie

1) Ateez ship: Hongjoong! So this one was super difficult, because while I think you’d get along with all of them really really well, in terms of who I think matches you best,,,,it gave me a lot to think about, but I finally settled on Hongjoong and I think someone like him would fit really well. I can hear the confusion already ; at first, I hesitated putting you with a leader because of a variety of factors, but I think his passion and quiet determination would be a really good match for you; not quite your opposite. This is a pairing where I think both you and someone like him would come out a little bit different than before you met, in the best way. Ultimately, what made my decision was how caring he is towards his members, and how supportive and that’s something that I think fits really well with you overall ; find someone who matches how much you care, whether they’re your opposite or you’re mirror and I think it’ll be a really good match

2) Misc ship: I.M. Monsta X / Vernon Seventeen ; okay so, i’m pretty you’re the only mutual who i gave three ships and that’s because I really could not decide between Wonwoo or I.M. I think it genuinely comes down to whatever you’re looking for at that moment, but it was important to me to pair you with someone outspoken, has a little bit of “edge” to them, and someone extremely passionate, despite being a little quiet. Someone like that, who both IM and Vernon tend to present as, would fit really, really well with you. The outspokenness is critically important for how active you are in your community and you are literally so, so passionate that it was crucial to find someone who seems just as passionate ; the little bit of edge comes into, what i think might be, your personal preference. Pairing you with someone like the sunshine member, or the cutesy type was an absolute no-no for you. Additionally, I.M. and Vernon both tend to present as sort of the quiet types (lol Vernon, quiet, but stick with me, he also has that dry wit that i think would pair really well with yours) but they’re also readily able to be totally silly in a way that fits yours silliness rather than say someone like Jinyoung from GOT7 and that’s something that I think would balance well with you

@gothicmingi

1) Ateez ship: Mingi! Honestly, I debated pairing you with someone like San but this is one of those occasions where I’m going with your bias. In all honesty, Mingi’s sense of humor definitely fits yours; a little less wit per se and little bit more genuinely comedic and silly ; your sense of humor is one that I really wanted to match because it’s literally the first thing i think of when I think of you and finding someone ready to laugh at a moment’s notice was a must ; someone like Mingi with you would be more of the pairing that joking poke fun at each other rather than say how you actually feel and it works (that’s less Mingi and more what i genuinely see you for but whatever) another really important quality to me was his determination. it’s a little less intense than Hongjoong’s. I think putting you with someone determined is important because I can see that being a pairing that inspires/motivates you

2) Misc ship: Mark from NCT ; Laughy 99liner boy!! I think that honestly,,,,you’d work better with someone like Mark than with someone like Mingi. The humorous personalities match up and I can see this being a pairing that’s basically like being best friends. Pairing you in a more best friend dynamic i think fits perfectly, and mark has that vibe of working rlly well with you; you’re both so ready to laugh and have a good time, but in a brighter way than say, Lucas. I think Lucas might be a little bit too much for you, but anyway, back to Mark. Additionally, his determination and hard work!! Going back to the points above, that’s something that I think you’d gravitate towards, whether because you see yourself reflected in it or because that’s something you aspire to be, either way, i see this working out rlly rlly well. He’s also a leader, from dream, without being a Leader (like Taeyong) and having that middle ground between still being playful and childish without the vast responsibility and seriousness from being a full-time leader would keep the serious side of him from alienating you. Hopefully this has made sense so far, but find someone like Mark! I think it’d work really well!

Alright! so those are the mutuals I’ve had a lot of interaction with, and as I’ve said at the beginning of the post, I’m totally willing to keep this updated! (and, if you’d want a girl group pairing, just msg me and I’ll do some research!)

@jongholover this literally took me so many days to think about and mull over and y’all best appreciate my deep thoughts into basically the type of person I think you’d work well with

(remember me fondly, i typed so much)

#scorepio #3oz #mutuals #ateez #svt #nct #monsta x #pentagon #if reeta decides to ask any of you guys this same question u best remember me and my biases fondly insert emojis #nah i rlly wanted to do this justice bc i have thoughts #and i love yall so also like #not @ my matchmaking skills but @ my matchmaking skills find someone like who i paired u with and lemme know how well it worked

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snowgray · 6 years ago

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Some Trash

A trashy tale: My silly Sims 4 legacy so far.

I started off with an adorable romantic lady named Hope. She had curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and her default outfit was a white crop top and black scalloped shorts. She also wore big heart earrings to let all the menfolk know she wants love. Her aspiration to start with was the good parent aspiration. It happened to be Winterfest just as the game was starting, and I’d read that Father Winter’s children got a buff, so Hope put her moves on Father Winter and got knocked up. She also met a hunky jogger, Kane, and he seemed like a much better long-term prospect than Santa. Kane was built like a brick house, with curly black hair, dark skin and dark brown eyes. Hope got his attention and he was super into her, so despite the complicating pregnancy, Kane accepted Hope’s proposal and moved right in. Hope had her first baby, Chloe, who took after Father Winter in appearance. Kane was a doting step-father when he wasn’t at his job with the SportsTeam. Hope took up gardening. Kane couldn’t keep his hands off of her, so she was quickly pregnant again. Their first child together was a daughter, Nadia. While Chloe was a creative kid, Nadia just wanted to run and play. She and her father got along well. Hope had her heart set on one more kid, and she and Kane had another daughter, Tatianna. Tati always wanted to be like her big sisters, and joined the Llama Scouts just like they’d done. Most baby siblings are a bit wild, but Tatianna was a perfect student and a great scholar. Her parents had become expert parents, and Tati benefited from their wisdom. Feeling that her family was full (and because I have WhickedWhims), Hope began taking birth control pills. For Chloe’s first day of high school, her loving stepfather bought her a bottle of Insta-Lean. Chloe had inherited her biological father’s jowly cheeks, though her outgoing personality meant she was popular with the boys, as did her frequent trips “out” to meet her biological father, who generally wandered off to flirt as soon as he’d waved hello to his child. Chloe’s funny face, unfortunately, made her an unwise choice to inherit the throne. Nadia was a beautiful teenager, with her mother’s blond hair, ruddy bronze skin, and features as angular as a supermodel. But she was a listless child, and rarely accomplished what she wanted to do. She lacked the skills to inherit the throne. Tatianna was sad to be left behind in elementary school. Despite his busy career as a professional athlete, Kane made time to play with her. Together, they built a scarecrow, and Tatianna talked to him nearly as often as her mother did. He almost seemed like a real person, and Hope’s garden flourished as if twenty hands were tending it. Fate cannot look at a happy family and feel happy himself, but he was kind and gentle to Hope. Just when she thought that her children were nearly able to care for themselves, she found herself pregnant again! Arianna was born with rich brown hair and sun kissed skin, and everyone was charmed by her. But her parents’ careers and a full house meant that she never quite got as much attention as her older sisters had. She’d eventually look for that attention in all the wrong places... As soon as Tatianna entered high school, she started turning heads. She was as fit as her father, and nearly a perfect clone of him, save for her sparkling blue eyes. She’d studied hard in elementary school, but the memory of her humble beginnings made her eager to earn money. Perhaps too eager... Chloe wanted a family as big as her mother’s, and the day she graduated from college, she eloped with her high school sweetheart, Bennet. They settled in to a small home across town, and they graced Hope with two granddaughters in quick succession. Nadia took a while to decide on a boyfriend, but goofy looking Louis made her laugh, and she finally consented to marry him after she got pregnant. Together, they had two sons and a daughter. They lived just around the corner, with Louis’ brother. Tatianna worked hard throughout high school. She studied too hard to find time for dating. She achieved her dream of becoming a top level Llama Scout, and scored straight As. Often, her scarecrow friend Patchy helped her with her chores and homework. She spent hours discussing her dreams with him, and one afternoon, she confessed her love. Patchy whispered that he loved her back, and they embraced. But their love could never continue the family line, though they certainly tried. Each afternoon, he sighed a soft farewell and headed back to his tree. Kane retired from his job as a professional athlete, having achieved his lifelong dream. He began to take an interest in repair and rocketry, and soon the house was full of unbreakable appliances. Hope’s gardening research led her to discover a tree with fruit worth its weight in gold. She began to work from home more often, writing scientific papers and bonding with her beehives. Arianna never took much of an interest in gardening, but Tati learned everything she could from her mother. Unable to be with her lifelong love, Tatianna gave in to a classmate who’d fallen for her. Cedric called her every day, and she finally went on a date with him. He looked like her father, and even had the same haircut, though his chipmunk cheeks reminded Tati of her half-sister's wretched biological father. Cedric wore her down, and, eager to move on with her responsibilities as heir, Tatianna married him.

Cedric was not an ideal spouse. He dreamed of being a writer, but, no matter how hard he worked at it, his books were always awful. He took a job as a writer during the day, and Tatianna decided to find a nighttime job so that one of them would be home for the children. The allure of the criminal world called to her, because she wanted to become truly wealthy. When Tatianna's first child arrived, though, her husband was at work. It was Patchy who panicked in fear for her labor, and who cooed at the baby whenever he had the chance. Tatianna's first child was a girl, Jeannie. With rich dark skin and adorable braided pigtails, she was a winning child. Kane and Hope taught her as much as Tati and Cedric did, and they were thrilled to have another little one in the house.

Winterfest rolled around, and Arianna started high school. Though she'd studied hard in elementary school, when she became a teenager, the hormones kicked in. Romance was all Arianna could think about! She greeted Father Winter (not her half-sister's father) with a friendly face at the fireplace. But when she bumped into him again out in the neighborhood, she turned on the charm. Whether it was her hormones or his lechery (or the autonomous behavior that I had turned on), who can say for sure. But Arianna became another teen pregnancy statistic when Father Winter knocked her up.

Kane and Hope were furious that their baby girl had become pregnant. Arianna tried to move in with her baby daddy, but though he called her often, his abode was nowhere to be found in any neighborhood. Ultimately, her kind sister Nadia took her in. Nadia had plenty of parenting experience, and her brother-in-law moved out to be with his new wife to make room for Arianna and her daughter. Chloe was having difficulties, too. She discovered that her once-loving husband had a woman on the side, and, more than that, he had a whole second family! She sent him packing, and found herself a single mother to two teenagers. Chole's behavior took a turn for the worse after her husband was gone. She could often be spotted out at clubs in the evening, and before long, she found herself about to become a mother again- without knowing quite who the father might be.

Despite her illegal occupation, Tatianna was a good mother. She wanted another child, and she and Cedric conceived a second time. Their charming baby boy, Phillip, was welcomed into a warm, loving home.

But all was not well. Kane's gray hair and stooped posture had long spoken of his advanced age. His bride, though younger than he was by a great deal, finally became elderly herself. Only a day after her seventh grandchild was born, the Grim Reaper came to visit Hope. Hope's husband and progeny panicked! Cedric, usually so useless and doofy, finally came to the rescue. He pleaded with the Grim Reaper, and Hope was spared. Her husband, relieved and thankful, fed her a concoction of his own devising that would help her remain alive. Hope also researched further into the plant world, and discovered a flower that, some whispered, could save a loved one from death. She gave the stinky blossoms to her daughter and grandchildren, just in case.

Phillip grew into a popular and gregarious child. Due to a hole in the space-time continuum (or a mod conflict), his sister Jeannie had a long and fruitful childhood. She was extraordinarily accomplished, and became unusually gifted in the creative arts as well as the mental ones. Phillip himself longed only for popularity. He befriended a classmate at school who was somehow, inexplicably (or because I just got the expansion) famous. Phillip loved the strangers who would appear out of nowhere to greet his friend. He dreamed of knowing as many people as his young buddy.

The pressure of Jeannie's young accomplishments began to weigh on her. When she started high school, she vowed that her life would change. Gone would be the days of slaving over homework and science fair projects! Instead, Jeannie had one goal: banging. She wanted to go on as many dates as she could fit in a day, and found herself tagging along with her brother and his famous buddy to look for "fans" to hit on. She dug through her grandmother's jewelry box, and, spotting a pair of huge heart-shaped hoops, decked herself out.

Tatianna continued to pursue a career in crime. Though she had no love for mischief, she found that computer programming was easy for her, and she could steal money from faceless corporations without compunction. But, in the end, it was her mother's efforts that paved the way for her to achieve her dream of wealth. Tatianna looked at the tree that bore golden fruit, and a golden idea was born. She propagated that tree until the front yard was an orchard of cash. Tatianna was rich beyond her wildest dreams, and the excuse of "gardening" gave her a reason to spend time with her true love, Patchy.

It was Jeannie's fourteenth birthday that truly set Tatianna off. When she looked at her daughter, the pouchy cheeks of her husband stood out as such a strong reminder that tears leapt to her eyes. This girl, once so full of promise, could not inherit the throne. Something must be done.

Tatianna attended her sister Chloe's birthday party out of familial obligation, but a handsome stranger caught her eye. He introduced himself as Wyatt. His build was just like her father's, though he was pale, with green eyes and dusty brown hair. Tatianna looked at her sister, whose once-happy marriage had crumbled, and whose jowls had only grown more prominent with age. Wyatt asked if she was single, and, slipping the ring off of her finger, she said, "It's complicated." A few drinks later, she found herself bent over in the bathroom, Wyatt pounding away as she imagined that he was a much, much skinnier man...

Tatianna didn't exactly expect to have a third child, but the morning sickness wasn't quite a surprise, either. She waited until Cedric went to work to invite Wyatt over to visit and to tell him the good news. Did she let him linger on purpose, to make her final decision easier? She couldn't quite say for sure. But Cedric came home to find Wyatt embracing Tati, and he was outraged. It took Tati a moment to find the words (or the option in the interactions wheel), but she asked Cedric for a divorce, and he agreed. He wanted to keep living with his children, but Tatianna didn't think that was a good option. Cedric left, but he stayed in the family. Ages ago, in high school, he'd made a pass at Chloe before he'd settled on Tatianna. When she mentioned that her home had more bedrooms than people, he took her up on the offer. He'd have started working on a revenge romance if Chloe weren't already pregnant.

Wyatt's life wasn't free of complications, either. As a very young man, he'd married an older woman, and she was now gray-haired and weak. His son was almost seventeen. He couldn't look at his wife and feel love anymore, but he felt wretched betraying his son. And yet, there was no room in his new life for this old family. Tatianna's rounded belly convinced him. He divorced his wife, and moved in with Tatianna. Wyatt's love of athletics made him an instant hit with Kane. They spent hours in the basement gym, Kane mentoring his future son-in-law in all the glories of athleticism that he could no longer enjoy himself, due to old age. Tatianna promised Wyatt that they'd marry, though she couldn't quite decide when (and the game is convinced that he's in her employ and therefore can't marry her, so idk). History repeated itself when Tatianna went into labor, and her baby's father was nowhere to be found. Instead, Patchy ran to her side, fretting over her safety as she delivered her third child. In honor of another impending Winterfest, she named her daughter Noelle. The infant looked like any other, though she'd inherited her mother's rich skintone, rather than her father's pale one.

Phillip was unhappy about his new little sister, and he missed his father. Jeannie had hardly a thought to spare for her new stepfather, beyond the fact that he was incredibly hot. Tatianna was torn. Her youngest child was a chance to pass the throne to a worthy heir, and to forget the error of her first marriage. But the baby didn't belong to her true love, and no baby ever would. Could she learn to love this child... or any child? She vowed to be a better parent to Noelle than she'd been to Jeannie. In fact, she swore to be the best parent ever, just as her mother was. Hope picked up Noelle, her eighth (or probably ninth but I didn't check to see if Chloe had her baby yet) grandchild. Was this newborn to be the queen that her mother and grandmother were before her?

#trash #omfg trash #so trash #sims4 #sims 4 legacy challenge

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redscullyrevival · 7 years ago

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Take You There: Vid Notes

This here post will mostly focus on inspiration, the process, and some technical stuff for my vid Revolutionary Girl Utena “Take You There”.

‘Cause I’ll tell ya what; I may have spent months working on this dumb thing but in a years time I will absolutely be like “LOL why’d I do that?”

I don’t even know where to begin talking about how I got to where this vid ended up. It’s a messy ball of so many things.

Finding a song was not even remotely difficult thanks to Mr. Baz Luhrmann. Dude always pulls through with soundtracks that I’m cool listening to for a full year non-stop every single time and The Get Down has been no exception.

Miguel’s “Cadillac” is a sampled and refitted version of Hot Chocolate’s “Heaven’s in the Backseat of my Cadillac” and is a complete euphonious joy. But while the lyrics are good for an amused chuckle thanks to the creepy car obsessed Akio Ohtori, they weren’t exactly enough of a pull to justify the amount of work required for the vid. Five minutes and fifteen seconds in life is nothing, but as far as a song goes it’s on the longer side of pop and in the vidding world it’s a goddamn eternity - and that’s after I had edited it down some.

The real reason I even bothered with this monster of a song is for it’s ending, which is jazzy, breezy, and just a little bit sad. I figured the later half of the song was were I’d put my vid’s soul. I, uhh, have no idea if I’ve actually pulled such a thing off mind you, but that’s expected.

For those of you who don’t fan vid, here is the thing: Eventually you get to a point of no longer being able to discern if what you’re toiling for is any good - which is horrifying but that’s just what working on a lengthy long term project is like a lot of the time. Your enthusiasm winds down and you enter the chasm, which is when you have to trust that your idea is solid enough to pull you through your own disassociation with having heard the same song and seen the same images so many times they no longer hold any meaning.

Going in I knew that hallow chasm feeling was going to be the hardest part (I’m an idiot who picked a five minute song after all) so I outlined the shit out of what I wanted to do. When in doubt, when lost, I’d consult my outline and notes. I even took extreme measures and only ripped the first few episodes and then the Akio and Apocalypse Arcs of the show. I didn’t want to be tempted to dive off from the planned idea and waste time combing footage (I already have to fight for editing time as it is). And that pained me and scared me. Having limited footage meant I needed to really prioritize and focus. Ugh, ew.

My biggest visual inspiration are those old VHS recordings of the Revolutionary Girl Utena musicals. Back in the days before youtube the best most of us could hope for peaking a glimpse at the stage productions was to wait a full day on dail-up downloading a horrible quality clip from a fan site. The humor of using all that new technology for mere glimpses of grainy off tracking glory wasn’t lost on me back then and once I ripped my beautiful limited edition DVDs I slowly became convinced the best idea I’ve ever had would be to take this pristine cleaned up footage, to make the best I’ve ever seen Utena look (until those blurays are mine anyways!) and drag it back down to fuck-all quality.

I stand by that choice but like many of my best ideas it was also kinda dumb. The process of making “from scratch” effects in adobe premiere pro is a doozy and I know from experience that that’s why Sony Vegas has such a following; it’s presets aren’t total shit.

But, eh, what can I say? Getting the footage to look how I wanted wasn’t hard necessarily, just a time consuming vacuum that created a rendering hellscape!

The majority of my footage has been adjusted to look “old”. Overlaying tracking footage onto images does not give an accurate feeling of “old”, what it does is make nice footage look like it has bad tracking on top of it. As such, the entire video has had a noise overlay added to it (in varying degrees of grainy, as needed) and the overwhelming majority of my used clips have been ‘adjusted’.

A quick rundown for posterity’s sake: I had to copy a clip three times and with each copy assign a RGB value, blend them together, then adjust the most bottom, the original clip, to be larger than those above it - a simple but somewhat tedious method of giving footage a saturated, worn, slightly off look.

The next big thing was to overlay that sweet, sweet tracking footage. Big thanks to the weirdos out there who are sharing blank footage of VHS players being shit. Love you guys. The easy thing would have been to simply overlay tracking footage in it’s entirety and let it be but I’m controlling as all hell and had in mind specific tracking visuals for every damn use I had for tracking. So, I amassed a sturdy collection of tracking footage and combed through them marking which squiggles and wiggles I liked best then found homes for them peppered throughout my vid. Yikes Scoob!

This vid took me a little over five months to complete from planing to final edit and in the end I’m pretty… Honestly, I’m pretty ambivalent about it. Mostly I feel kinda exposed. Again, this isn’t like the vids I’ve shared in the past, this is a lot more like the editing stuff I do for my eyes only and the natural feeling of showing others that is kind of weird? I feel weird. I like what I’ve done, I’ve gotten as close to replicating my idea as best to my ability (sans the instances of footage I made up in my head to fit my vid - the forever dilemma) but I don’t think it’s particularity what-people-want-from-Utena a lot of the time? So why am I even sharing it? Le sigh.

Basically, I’m having a lot of doubt and I’m hoping that has more to do with me feeling uncomfortable putting something so full of ME out there and not because I’ve actually made something shit. And, of course, some overall massive overthinking.

My thematic goal was to try and simultaneously capture both the goofy and emotional side of Utena - which in reality are one and the same. The general over-the-top-ness of Revolutionary Girl Utena isn’t a up and down experience traveling hills of emotion down into zany valleys; it is an all around extremely level experiment in information totality, with the absurd meaning just as much as the emotional.

I like to think I’ve pulled off my silly song choice hitting emotional home runs. A very Utena-like goal.

BORING TECHNICAL STUFF: Footage - Ripped from Nozomi’s Limited Edition DVD release of Revolutionary Girl Utena (plus a few sneaky shots from Adolescence of Utena) Original Footage Dimensions - 1440x1080; beautiful and transcendent tumblr Dimensions - Who the fuck knows; eyeball garbage Audio - "Cadillac" by Miguel (from The Get Down soundtrack Part I) Completion Time - Five-ish months

#vid notes #vidding #editing #mine #revolutionary girl utena

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scrawnydutchman · 8 years ago

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Samurai Jack Review

NOTE:

This review contains spoilers. They will be highlighted in bold letters for readers convenience. If you have not seen this show yet or have yet to catch up on it, particularly the finale, skip over the bold lettered sections and come back to read them when you have.

My friends, the long awaited conclusion to the story of the Samurai who gotta get back, back to the past, has come to a close. The series concluded last weekend and much like the series as a whole, it did not disappoint. It had all of the heart, all the goofy humor, all the well choreographed action, all the calculated artistry and color that makes this series so great. But let’s take a step back a bit and take a look at the entire series, all 5 seasons, and see how the show holds up with all the sums of it’s parts. Before we do so, however, I feel obliged to claim minor bragging rights.

I CALLED THE ENDING!! . . . . sort of. Those who follow my blog know that before saturday came around I made a post predicting how the series would end (you can read the whole thing here: https://scrawnydutchman.tumblr.com/post/160827392693/samurai-jack-finale-prediction) but in a nutshell, I predicted that Jack would give up, find allies with everybody in the lands he liberated, they would all go on all out war against Aku, Jack would have a showdown against corrupted Ashi, Ashi would liberate herself from Aku’s control and realize she has all of Aku’s powers including opening time portals, she would fling Jack into the past the moment he was flung into the future by Aku and kill him right there.

I was mostly right. Jack’s allies go on all out war? Check. Jack has a showdown with corrupted Ashi? Check. Ashi frees herself from Aku’s control? check. Ashi flings Jack into the past at the moment Aku flung him into the future to kill him? Check. Though my prediction had a FEW miscalculations, which we will get into in a bit, frankly I’m just so proud of myself that I came that close to predicting it spot on.

Okay, now that my bragging is out of the way, let’s tackle each aspect of the show, starting with Story.

Story:

One of the major strengths of Samurai Jack is it’s beautifully simple premise summed up nicely by the voice acting legend himself, Mako.

“Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the shape-shifting master of darkness, unleashed an UNSPEAKABLE EVIL. But a foolish samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in time and flung him into the future, where my evil is law. Now the fool seeks to return to the past and undo the future that is AKU.”

I’ve said before many times that this premise is brilliant, because it’s so broad in it’s explanation and it’s setting is ripe for storytelling possibilities. The future is a distant mysterious place, and as such you can tell any story you want in it. A bunch of rave kids falling victim to mind controlling music? Go ahead. A strange homage to Alice in Wonderland? Go for it. A hilarious quest to quell the troubles of a flatulent dragon? Yes, even that. But on the flipside you can also tell stories more heavy in drama, culture and lore, and you can really up the emotional weight of the situation Jack is in. It’s a premise that’s practically destined to become a beloved television series, and so it has.

Characters:

To compliment this ever broad ever expanding world Tartakovsky has created we have a great likable protagonist who is just as much a curious fish out of water as we the audience are, so it’s very easy for us to project ourselves onto good ol’ Jack. But the best thing about Jack is that he’s motivated: He’s gonna get back to the past even if it takes him over 50 DAMN YEARS. Much like I said in my other and most popular blog post “Why Boyscout Characters are Underrated” It’s more important for a lead to be motivated then relatable, because that’s what ends up driving the story and the drama.

*side note: ever since this show ended the most wonderful gifs have popped up, and it fills me with glee*

Being the stellar lead Jack is however, many would argue that the best part of this series is Aku, hands down. And I would agree with that. Aku. Is. AWESOME!! Easily one of the most entertaining antagonists in all of animation history. He’s the embodiment of evil and does some truly despicable shit, especially to Jack. So much of this series is just painful to watch because it’s Jack coming SOOO close to defeating Aku but Aku causes him to fall just short. He’s just so gleeful about ruining peoples lives and subjecting them to horrendous sadness and frustration. He is what every great character is tenfold . . .motivated (because again, motivated > relatable).

That said, Aku gets to be really goofy in this too, which is a huge part of his charm (arguably the biggest part). He’s just so hammy and joyful about being so evil; I love it.

This show has a whole SLEW of great supporting characters though. The Scotsman is charmingly brash and loud and boastful, but a very loyal friend to Jack (admittedly after a rocky start). Scaramouche is a hilarious villain from the 5th season that relieved me when he came up in the first episode and proved to me that the 5th season hadn’t lost the silly charm of prior seasons. The characters from one shot episodes like the “Jump Good” guy, the British dogs, the rave kids, they’re all delightful and charming. Demongo was a great one time villain. But by far, the best supporting character . . .3 syllables . . . SAH . . . MOO . . . RHAI

*Side-Note: One of the predictions I made about the finale was that Sah-Moo-Rhai would help in the fight against Aku and prove to be a competent swordsman. I was sadly wrong.*

Now all of these are well and good, but one of the most interesting and integral decisions made in season 5 was the introduction of Ashi to the Samurai lore. She is also very entertaining and, while her character growth isn’t as well developed and paced as say Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender, She is still a solid and likable contribution to the shows final season that I welcome with open arms . .. even if many of the fans disagree with me on how things turned out. Yeeeah we should probably address that real quick.

Many people, certainly fans on Tumblr, were very disappointed with the revelation that Jack and Ashi had a romance. They felt it was incredibly forced, they felt a non-platonic relationship between a man and a woman in a show was beyond cliche, and they thought it stripped Ashi of her agency and her being her own character because in the end all she proved to be was a trophy for Jack, the male protagonist of the show, to win. They’ve even gone as far as boasted shit like “GET THIS HETERO-BULLSHIT OUT OF MY SIGHT!” (replace hetero with homo and suddenly it seems like a real asshole thing to say doesn’t it?). I suppose I agree with the sentiment that blossoming relationships between male and female leads in a show is a cliche as old as time. But there’s a reason why it is so . . . . it’s because heterosexual relationships THEMSELVES are as old as time. Cliches are a product of evident truths that mankind has known about to some degree ever since literature first began. fit and well toned people are attractive, love triangles are just oozing with drama, and capes, while a practically useless accessory, look FUCKING AWESOME. It can be nice to break these stereotypes every once in a while for variety, but it shouldn’t be necessary every time. And an audience that would LIKE to see Jack and Ashi together shouldn’t have to have their little ship ruined because you “can’t stand hetero-bullshit”, (as if the relationship would somehow be more tolerable and less contrived and forced if Ashi was a man and they were a gay couple) because surprise surprise the show creators aren’t just trying to entertain YOU and YOU alone. Just like how Legend of Korra fans shouldn’t be able to ruin Korrasami for you, you shouldn’t shit on anyone for liking Jashi. Whatever happened to “love is love” anyway? As for the point about Ashi being stripped of her agency, 1. She CHOSE to engage in a romantic relationship with Jack. She CHOSE to join his side after being proven wrong. She’s not stripped of agency just because she fucking loves a dude and is just as competent a fighter as him, okay? She even plays a major role in how Jack ends up defeating Aku. 2. She’s not even a prize for Jack in the end anyway, because she ceases to exist after all of that . . . we’ll get to that in a bit.

Design:

Much like the story itself, the design is beautiful in it’s simplicity. It’s composition and color choices are BREATHTAKING! Not a single black outline in sight, everything is angular with defined shapes so you can tell which character everyone is even in silhouette, and the scenery . .OH MY GOODNESS the scenery. The colors compliment each other majestically, whether they need to blend together or create contrast. the imagery is awe-inspired; the show never lost it’s touch in terms of how everything is shown and communicated. This show is the literal definition of “every frame a painting”.

The sound and directorial choices of this show are great too. Genndy bases this show heavily on the suspenseful and quiet epics of samurai movies (as you can probably tell) and to an extent westerns. The show really challenges kids to have patience and sit through to the well-worth-it pay off, and it makes for some edge-of-your-seat excitement complimented with spectacular action choreography and animation. This show has some of the most imaginative and dramatic fight scenes ever put in western animation. The first and second episodes of season 5 were perhaps some of the best fighting animation I’ve ever seen in anything EVER.

But to be fair the fighting compliments the humor of the show at times too, and I ain’t complainin’

Conclusion (+thoughts on the ending):

Overall, this is a very satisfying show that’s praised over and over for all the reasons listed above and rightfully so. Genndy Tartakovsky has created something beautiful and has easily cemented himself as one of the greats of American animation. What else can I say . . . . OH! how about the ending??

So like I said above in one of the bold lettered spoiler sections of the review, I pretty much predicted what would happen. And setting aside my pride for a moment the ending is only . . . .okay. Yes it’s a big climactic fight, yes it’s a good twist and surprisingly it ends on a pretty somber note, so it’s by no means a horrible ending and this turnout makes the most sense all things considered, it just feels a bit rushed is all really. I wish it was twice as long as it ended up being quite frankly but eh, what you gonna do? I WAS surprised by a twist they end up going with about Ashi not being able to be with Jack because she fades from existence after Aku is defeated . . .right on their wedding day. Fucking OUCH. Jesus, Jack goes through decades of torture in the future only to finally get a final fuck you by having to let go of the woman of his dreams? That’s just cruel man. For a while when she remained in the past I was thinking “wait . . shouldn’t she fade from existence by now? how is she still here? and now they’re getting married? are they seriously going with this ending? I mean it doesn’t make a lot of sense but--” and then she falls over in her wedding dress and I was like “OHHH FUCK YOU! THAT IS NOT COOL! THAT IS JUST MEAN! GIVE THIS DUDE A BREAK!” Needless to say that was the most trolly ending we could have gotten. I can’t help but feel like the non existent Aku is having his last laugh.

But yeah, Samurai Jack . . . it’s really good. Go watch it. Now. You fools.

#review #show review #tv show review #samurai jack #jashi #cartoon network #adult swim

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andymull · 8 years ago

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The WWE Superstar Shake-Up Review - Raw

Welcome all, after the recent big shake up between the two brands its that time where we can take a quick look back and review the moves that occurred, the right and wrong decisions made as well as the potential this has promised us viewers. First we shall examine the Raw side of the shake-up and the talent traded, then a following piece will focus upon Smackdown with a write up to end, wagon’s roll.....

Dean Ambrose

The IC champion makes his way to Monday nights with his title in tow, first thoughts are that this is a good move for Dean to freshen his act up as well as getting new competition as he’s become stale on Smackdown.

Then came the next two points, first that he is being moved away from Renee Young his wife which would be awful for anyone. And the second is that he is back to seemingly feuding with Miz again on Raw, the same guy that bored me silly to see him feuding with on Smackdown, where’s the new matches?!? But after a quick look at the Raw roster there really arent that many new heel’s for the guy to work with, Samoa Joe and Braun? Really may be time for Dean to go heel his-self to work with Balor, Rollins, Reigns, Cesaro, sounds like a much better idea now doesnt it.

The Miz & Maryse

Initially I dont see this as a good move, both have improved greatly this past year since Maryse returned to give Miz a more well rounded character/gimmick/act. Their program with John Cena and Nikki Bella saw them both become the stand out performers on Smackdown, just a shame about the fact they were booked into an engagement angle they could never come out of positively. All of this for me would see The Miz hold the Smackdown world title later this year no question about it.

But, moving to Raw he has to contend with being on a show where the champion isn't even on tv anymore (quickly in 3 seconds name the Raw world champion..........they wont mention him until they come up with his next dates/match), so going for the world title soon isn't an option as well as the fact he now drops behind Braun, Wyatt, Joe in the heel rankings and also the champion when he returns.

The benefits for Miz on Raw are that he will definitely get more tv time being on the 3 hour show to attempt to get his-self higher up the card, him having Miz tv will be vital for him in staying in peoples minds and providing new ways to start/progress feuds as compared to others who cant talk as well as Miz. He should get more ring time too which is his big opportunity to show his improvement over the past year to those who may not watch every Smackdown episode, not just fans but also higher ups in management who dont pay the show the same respect, infact the word respect is something that Miz will vitally need to demand to get his-self back to his previous Smackdown position and demanding to be in a feud with Balor instead of Bray getting it first could be vital.

Bray Wyatt

In a way Bray faces alot of the same issues that Miz does, moving from being the big fish in a small pond to Raw. His gimmick is awful and boring now and has been for awhile, thankfully for him the key people backstage in the company think his act is great.

Hopefully we see him get more ring time to show his skills, rather than just his ‘spooky’ promo’s then appearing from the dark to attack whoever he’s in a feud with. Sadly I see this staying as is, his first Raw feud is seemingly going to be with Finn Balor (although that may have been altered this week) which should be good match wise but the build is going to be all kinds of goofy interviews leading to Balor becoming the Demon.

Truthfully Wyatt remains over until they get bored of his gimmick or viewers turn over on Raw when he comes on, which could be a key factor, but really he needs a face turn just slightly tweak his act and let the fans get behind him more.

Alexa Bliss

My favourite female in the company gets shook up to Raw, she has shown so much growth since debuting on Smackdown from the level she was at on NXT, both in terms of ring work as well as her skills on the pole (mic) and a move to Raw could be seen as well deserved move for her.

The benefit of the women’s division on Smackdown was that they were able to keep everyone fresh and didnt just produce the same old matches like Raw, so Bliss will bring more than just herself to the Raw scene in that sense. As she will be in fresh matches with Bayley, Sasha, Paige (???), Emma, Dana, and also will get the chance to work with and learn more from Mickie James.

The only slight negative for her could be the potential Sasha Banks heel turn over Bayley, Id imagine that would occur whilst Bayley is still champion and will be focused around the belt which could deter a big Bliss push as the lead heel on the show and see her positioned as the firm second heel on the show.

Mickie James

An interesting pick for Raw as she was originally placed on Smackdown to help give some legitimacy to their women’s division as well as helping some of the new girls there, looks like the helping out factor could be needed on Raw with her working the likes of Jax and Dana possibly to try and see them improve on the job.

Im not quite sure if Mickie is a heel or face and to be honest I doubt they've made their minds up on how they want to book her yet on Raw, a heel probably works best but if the Banks turn occurs then she will be able to get a higher spot on the face side as well as being able to work more with Jax which I think is her key reason to be moved.

Apollo Crews

A vital time for Crews and his future in the company, not in terms of him losing his job but more in him coming back to Raw and instantly impressing fans and showing his true ability in the ring. Its needed because the guy has just gotten lost on the roster, hasn't been in long tv matches allowing him to shine and his promo skills arent at the level where he can keep people engaged well enough. If they dont quickly inject him in fun matches and think of ways to allow him to connect better with fans on the mic he will be lost again, he really was brought up too early from NXT.

So far they let him have one backstage segment with Tozawa, a former tag team partner of his, who he has fun with and may be the key in getting him to produce more in promo’s or just in backstage segments.

In looking at who he should feud with there comes the problem, the Raw side has main eventer’s, upper mid card guys and then the big drop to guys who arent being used and guys who are just bodies on the show. Crews should really be made a pet project for one of the booker’s backstage, similar to how Steph/Hunter/Vince have taken guys previously in that kind of a role and only they book their segments with the main focus of getting them more and more over and used well.

Kalisto

At last the guy gets moved to Raw, meaning at last he gets placed on the roster where he can perform on 205 Live (the best hour of wrestling on tv......that isnt on tv), and then he isnt used on the show and gets used with Braun? I mean they gave him a win over Braun, just that it was a meaningless one where people solely remember the angle after the bout.

This should be simple, move him to 205, let him wrestle with Neville, TJP, Metalik his natural environment and the place he can produce the best results from, easy.

Heath Slater & Rhyno

They needed a team to be moved to Raw with The New Day going to Smackdown and this team got picked, that’s it sadly, no idea of moving them for greater things or planned storylines, just that they needed a team. Infact they were planning on breaking the team up awhile back with Rhyno blaming Heath for losing the titles on Smackdown, then they gave up and decided to leave them together.

They will quickly slot theirselves in above the likes of Goldust/Truth with the odd tv match and defeat, as well as being seen in backstage segments for other people, not sure of the possibly positive outcomes for either guy on Raw as once they slip to the backburner its all lost.

Curt Hawkins

Brought back into the company at the time of the draft as a face that people knew to help put over and establish some of the newer/ younger talent, he really hasn't much room for anything outside of that as his ringwork isn't anything that great and to be honest he hasn't been able to out over people to the point where they improve by doing so.

This really is the case of how long can he stay employed by not doing much instead of how can he affect the Superstar Shakeup

David Otunga

A guy employed and used on tv for two reasons, his wife and the colour of his skin, sad but true, each commentary team on WWE tv has to contain at least one person of colour it seems and Otunga has that role. He isn't around for his excellent wrestling knowledge, his awesome mic skills/ talking ability, it really cant be denied can it

Overall the top few picks can be a positive for the show over different areas, with the last few picks just being harmless trades which isn't what was needed in getting the show some solid depth. Spoiler, but Raw got the short end of the stick when it came to the shake up.

Smackdown review coming soon

Bye for now

Andy

#wwe #WWE Raw #wwe smackdown #Smackdown live #wwe superstars #shake up #dean ambrose #the miz #maryse #bray wyatt #alexa bliss #Apollo crews #kalisto #mickie james #heath slater #rhyno #curt hawkins #david otunga

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