#their name will be immediately removed from the roster

[hearts4hughes]

sweet nothing | luke hughes

nora’s birthday celly | luke hughes x fem! reader

a/n: this is the first official writing for my birthday celly! it took me forever to write because i suffered from a lot of writers block 😔. but here it is (finally)!! sweet nothing is my favorite song from midnights. it holds such a special place in my heart. it’s so effortlessly beautiful and breathtaking at the same time, so i hope this lived up to the expectations 🫶🏻🫶🏻

luke couldn’t escape the headlines. everywhere he looked he was being blamed for the devils’ playoff performance. he didn’t understand it. everyone on the team reassured him- including you- that he did great considering he’s straight out of college. luke, himself, thought he did good; however, the lingering feeling of doubt and guilt stained his mind like permanent marker.

he sighed, shoving his phone into his pocket and exiting his car.

when he entered the shared apartment, he was met with the sight of you in the kitchen. you were swaying back and forth, humming to the taylor swift song that played quietly in the background. a wave of comfort immediately washed over the boy.

luke didn’t believe in love at first sight until he met you. the second you wandered over to the bar counter, asking for a shirley temple with extra cherries, he knew he had to get your number. you were skeptical at first. of course you knew who he was- every sane person in new jersey knew the devils’ roster by heart- however, the heavy feeling that you were just going to be another notch on his belt, held you back. after getting swept up in conversation with the hockey player, you caved in and gave him your number, sending him a text to confirm everything. he texted you all week and you soon fell victim to his infectious charm.

“hi, baby!” you beamed as your boyfriend removed his shoes and hung his keys on the key rack. he smiled, already feeling calmer in your presence.

“hi, my love.” his voice was soft as velvet while he walked up behind you, snaking his arms around your waist and hugging you. with your back pressed against his chest and your scent filling his senses, all his problems ceased to exist.

you giggled as his head fell into the crook of your neck, placing soft kissing on your sensitive spots. “how was work, babe?”

he paused, pulling away from you and leaning back against the marble counter, “hm, fine.” his eyes glued to the floor, a telltale sign that he was bottling up his emotions, tucking it away into the back of his mind, and hoping you don’t notice. except you did notice. you saw right through luke.

it’s not that he didn’t trust you. god, you were one of the only people he trusted. it’s just that he didn’t want to burden you, knowing you, as well, shared a stressful career.

“did something happen?” you asked, your hand reaching up to rub up and down his arm. he continued to stare at the floor, his words getting caught in his throat.

“nothing happen, i just said it was fine.” he snapped, pushing himself off the counter and walking into the living room.

sensing his turmoil, you gently followed him into the living room. you placed a reassuring hand on his arm, turning him to face you. “baby,” you cooed, tears of frustration brimming in his eyes.

“you want to know what’s making me so fucking upset?” he spat, tossing his phone at you. catching the device, your heart sank into your stomach. the screen illuminated an article with the title, ‘luke hughes - the real cause of the devils’ demise’. “oh and if that one doesn’t do it for you, you can just search my name on twitter. there’s plenty more.”

instead of responding, you placed his phone down and brought him into a comforting hug. “it’s ok, lu. i’m here for you.” your voice was soft and soothing. he clung to you, his grip tight.

as he nestled against you, the weight of his frustrations spilled out in quiet sobs. you held him, your fingers tracing soothing patterns on his back.

"i know it's hard," you murmured, your lips brushing against his forehead. "but it wasn’t your fault. the team does everything together, including loosing. those comments and headlines are just words, they don’t define you.”

he sniffled, his arms loosening their hold slightly. “i just wanted to prove myself, you know? i wanted to show everyone that i belong on that ice."

"and you will," you affirmed. "lukey, you've already shown your talent and dedication. you’ve got an entire team behind you, including me, who believe in you."

he pulled back slightly, his teary eyes meeting yours. the vulnerability in his gaze was heartbreaking. "i don't know what i’d do without you," he admitted, his voice raw with emotion.

you smiled gently, cupping his cheek. "you don't have to go through this alone. we’re a team, baby."

he leaned into your touch, his lips pressing softly against your palm. "i’m sorry for snapping earlier," he whispered, his voice laced with regret.

"it’s okay," you assured him, your thumb brushing away a stray tear from his cheek. "you don't have to apologize for feeling frustrated. just promise me you'll always come to me, even when it's tough."

he nodded, his expression a mix of gratitude and relief. "i promise."

[tonyspank]

TILL DEATH DO US PART

Summary: You keep coincidentally running into your ex-girlfriend, in the worst possible situations.

A/N: This reminds me of Heart. Like this one-shot is if Heart had a twin lowkey.

Warnings: death, stabbings, frankie, tara being a meanie at one point

Tara Carpenter x Reader

The first time you ran into Tara it was a complete coincidence. You were on the clock, and received a complaint about a leaking sink. Sam was actually the one who had made the complaint. She was standing in her kitchen, and pointed to the sink in frustration. She already knew how to fix it, and just needed a plumber to do the job. You had a look, and saw that the problem was a simple one. You took out your tools and went to work.

It didn't take very long. You gently removed the old drain seal with a pair of pliers. You applied the new adhesive around the bare drain, and finally replaced the seal, making sure to apply it centered around the drain.

You tested the seal to make sure it was properly seated. You then cleaned up the area, disposing of the old seal and any other debris. You were finished with the project. Sam, who had been standing there the entire time, arms crossed mumbled a thank you. You nodded in acknowledgement and turned to leave.

 But once you stepped foot out of the kitchen you were met with a loud gasp. "Oh my god! You're Y/N Y/L/N!" The person who had exclaimed was standing in the doorway, eyes wide. You'd be happy to be recognized in any other scenario, but you just repaired a leaking sink. Now you were getting noticed by Chad Meeks, your school's Quarterback for your football team.

Chad had noticed you because Blackmore University basketball team has you on it's roster. You have been rewarded with a full-ride scholarship. You've worked hard to reach this point and are grateful for the opportunity. You want to make the most of your time there and hope to lead the team to success. You are determined to make your family and coaches proud.

You average a shit ton of points, and have been on ESPN multiple times. You're glad to represent your school. Everyone is counting on you to lead your team to victory.

Mindy, who you knew from Tara (she didn't know you, though) rolled her eyes at her brother's reaction. Chad seemed at a loss for words, so you spoke up, "Hey, Chad right? Nice to meet you." He smiled, "YOU KNOW MY NAME?" Mindy groaned and walked away, shaking her head.

Then your eyes turn to the newcomer, likely confused by all the commotion.

That newcomer was Tara. She looked better than ever, God. How could you let her get away? You could feel your heart racing and your palms sweating. You wanted to approach her and say something, anything, but you knew it wasn't the right time or situation to do so.

 You met Tara at orientation, and immediately found yourself attracted to her. She was new at Blackmore, while you had a year to get settled down. You introduced yourself to the dark-haired woman, showing her the ropes around the school. You two started talking more and more as the days went on, and you found yourself quickly growing closer to her. Eventually, you asked her out on a date and she said yes. You were excited to start this new relationship and get to know Tara better.

Tara had opened up to you, telling you about everything that happened in Woodsboro. You had grown to love her and wanted to be there for her. You could tell that she had been through a lot, and you were determined to make sure she knew that she was safe with you.

She had also told you about Sam, and how protective Sam was about her. And also how she had basically followed her to New York. She admitted that she wanted to keep your relationship private, and that it was better to keep her friends and Sam away from all this. She was scared that if they knew it would affect your relationship with them in a negative way. She wanted to keep living her own life, free and happy.

You hesitantly agreed. You knew it was the right thing to do, even though it felt wrong. You wanted what was best for her, so you decided to keep your relationship a secret, even though it was hard to do.

No one knew who you were to Tara. Not Chad, not Mindy, not Sam, no one. It was like you didn't exist in her public life. But that was ok. Tara deserved her privacy and you wanted to respect that. And you knew that when the time was right, you would be able to tell the world who you were to her. That was enough for now.

Whenever Tara wanted to hang out, it would be at your apartment. You'd have dates out of town just to make sure anyone didn't spot her, and you barley talked on campus. A part of you felt like a dirty secret while the other part felt special. It was a secret that only you two shared, and it made you feel special to be chosen by her. You felt like you had something no one else did.

You turn back to Sam, who was watching you, with that blank face she always wore. "Um, I'm finished." Sam opens her mouth but is cut off by Tara. "You fixed the leak?" You nod. "Wait, you're a handyman as well?" Chad asks. You shrug, embarrassed. "Just part-time." You mumble, looking away. Sam clears her throat. "How much?"

"I don't wanna charge you. It was simple," you say. Sam shakes her head, "No, no. We wouldn't accept that." She pulls out her wallet and hands you a few bills. "Here. It's the least we can do." You smile gratefully and thank her before packing up your tools and leaving, but not before sparing a glace at Tara.

 The second time you ran into Tara was also a coincidence. It had been a few days since you fixed the leaking sink. You were sitting outside, watching people enter the frat house with crazy costumes on. You couldn't help but smile as you watched them. People just chose the silliest things for Halloween, huh? You noticed a few people wearing masks, although they didn't seem to match their costumes. You thought it was strange, but shrugged it off. After all, it was Halloween - anything goes!

"Dude, what the hell is your costume?" You hear your best friend, Junipter say from behind you. You turn your head, now showcasing your own costume, and say "I'm a pirate! Duh!" Junipter stares at you, a look on his face. "Was this on purpose?" You furrow your eyebrows at his lack of context. Junipter says, "I mean, she's a pirate as well." You think for a second and realize that he is referring to Tara. She did tell you she was planning on being a pirate for Halloween, but it completely slipped your mind.

 "Fuck." You mumble, you hope she wasn't going to take it the wrong way. You take a deep breath and try to explain the situation to Junipter. He looks back at you skeptically, but eventually he nods in understanding. "Let's just go inside."

You enter the house and you're immediately met with flashing lights and a bunch of drunk college students. You sigh and make your way through the crowd, eventually finding the kitchen. You spot an open bottle of vodka on the counter and quickly grab it. "Wait, Y/N! I think Zoe is here." Junipter says, his eyes attached to his phone. You nod and take a swig of the vodka. Zoe liked you, and you knew it. She liked you before you and Tara were together, but never offically gave her a chance.

 And when you and Tara started dating, you had shut Zoe out. You hadn't seen her in months, and now she was here. You couldn't help but feel a little nervous, wondering if she still liked you, would you even want to give her a chance?

 No. Probably not, especially since you're not even over Tara. It was a bad idea.

 "You should try and talk to her," You say to Junipter. He sends you a confused look, "She'll probably give your ugly ass a chance." You joke, Junipter laughs nervously, not sure if he should take your advice. He takes a deep breath and decides to give it a try. "Okay-- uhh, I'm gonna go find her." He walks off, heart pounding, and finds her in the corner of the room. He swallows hard and takes a deep breath before introducing himself. She smiles warmly and they start talking. You watch the situation with a smile on your face, and you're glad you encouraged him to take the leap.

 Your heart drops when two people block your view. It's Frankie and Tara. In an instant, you leave the bottle of vodka, and you make your way to the other side of the room, neither of them noticing you were there. You take a deep breath and wait to see what happens next.

You can barely hear their conversation due to the distance and the music that is playing. But you can see their facial expressions, and you can also read Tara like a book. She was hesitant, and you can tell she is slightly uncomfortable with the situation. She fights off her discomfort and gives a smile, trying to make the best out of the situation, following Frankie with a wobble.

It's clear she's drunk, so where the hell did this guy think he was taking her?

Tara decided to go along with it, to see where the night was taking her. As they walked together, she could feel her heart racing and her thoughts spinning. She had no idea what she was getting herself into. Mindy and Anika see the pair walking past them. You leave the kitchen following them but not too close for anyone to notice.

 Tara felt a tingle of excitement—and a hint of fear—as she followed. As Anika halts the two, you stand back and watch. Frankie tries to introduce himself to Anika, but she's not up for it, shutting him down. Tara doesn't help the situation though, reassuring her friend that she's okay which only makes Frankie smirk, happily.

 You quickly continue following the two. Mindy watches you move at the speed of light as you walk past her on the couch. You keep a close eye on the two, ready to step in if things get out of hand. Anika walks off in another direction.

The two only make it up one step before you interfere. "Frankie!" He turns around, confused. Tara's heart drops at the sound of your voice. You take a deep breath to compose yourself before speaking. "Why don't we just keep the party downstairs?"

Tara looks at Frankie, while Frankie laughs at your words. "I'm good."

You clench your jaw, looking at Tara who's already staring at you. "C'mon T, let's get you home." She takes one look at Frankie again before walking down the steps, placing her hands on your cheeks.

Wow, she was really drunk.

"Y/N, 'M good, okay?" She stumbled and almost fell. You quickly grabbed her arm to steady her. She looked up at me with a dazed expression and said again, "I'm good." She repeats, "You're not, let's go home."

She let's go of your face, before she could mumble more words to you Frankie grabs her arm. "She said she's good!" He yells, pulling her up the stairs. Tara winces, muttering an "Ow." You grab Frankie by his shirt, turning around and shoving him away from Tara. Chad and Anika are now here, and Chad watches the scene confused and unsure what to do. "Don't fucking touch her." A crowd crowds around you, cameras out.

Frankie shoves you back, His eyes full of rage. You step forward, determined not to back down. Tara takes this chance to escape, walking to Chad and Anika follow her, leaving you and Frankie staring each other down. You stand your ground, unblinking, and Frankie finally looks away. He takes a few steps back and turns, striding away without a word. You let out a sigh of relief, thankful that the situation didn't escalate any further.

 Some people from the crowd groan at the fact they didn't get to witness a fight, walking away and joining the party again.

You take a moment to collect yourself before turning to Chad, Tara, Anika, and now Mindy and Junipter. They look relieved, but you can still see the slight fear in their eyes.

 "Are you okay?" Junipter asks, breaking the silence. You nod, "Yeah, that guys a dick though." Tara walks away from the group, and you furrow your eyebrows quickly following her, leaving everyone confused.

 Tara is now marching her tiny legs on the path's of Blackmore University, in the direction of her apartment. "Tara!" You shout after her, "Can you stop? Please!" Tara stops and looks back. She takes a few steps towards you, an annoyed look on her face. "You embarrassed me." "I'm sorry." You admit, looking at the ground. "I didn't mean to, it's just that I worried about you." Tara stares at you for a few seconds, causing you to scoff. "He was going to take advantage of you."

"So!" She shouts, "So?" You repeat confused. "If I wanna hook up with an asshole that's my decision." You shake your head, glancing at Tara's friends and Junipter behind you. "It's not about you! I mean, Jesus! We broke up, move on! Cause I know I'm trying." You clench your jaw, "Tara." She stares at you, her eyes blazing. "Yes, it's your decision but that doesn't mean it's a good one."

She crosses her arms, her voice shaking. "It's my life, I'll do what I want!" You take a deep breath, trying to remain calm. "That's not the point," you say firmly. "You deserve better. You deserve respect, and that's what that decision was depriving you of."

Tara runs her hands down her face, upset. "Just-" She sighs, "Just stay out of my life, please?" You take a few steps back and look away. You're not going to make her do anything she doesn't want to, and if that means respecting her decision, then so be it. You stay silent as Tara turns and walks away.

You watch Tara disappear into the night, feeling a strange mixture of sadness and relief. You know that you have to respect her wishes, but it still hurts to see her go. You take a deep breath. Chad speaks up from the group, "You and Tara dated?!" You nod. The group falls silent, not knowing what to say. You turn away, hoping to hide the tears that had begun to form in your eyes.

Tara's friends say their goodbyes to you and began following their friend. You watch as they get farther and farther away, until they are finally out of sight. You take a few moments to compose yourself before turning back towards Junipter, who gives you a sad smile. You take a deep breath and try to put on a brave face, unwilling to show the pain and sadness you are feeling.

Junipter puts an arm around you and pulls you close. You rest your head on his shoulder and take solace in his presence. Together, you begin the walk back to your own home.

The third time you run into Tara was another coincidence. Quinn—who's in your math class asked you for help with your upcoming test, and you agreed to help. You requested to meet at the library because you were not interested in seeing nor talking to Tara again after your argument/disagreement. Quinn insisted to meet at her apartment, and you hesitantly agreed. When you arrived at the apartment, you were surprised to see Tara was not there.

Quinn was confused but she reassured you that Tara had left the apartment for the evening, you relaxed and settled down into your study session. You and Quinn had a productive evening of studying. You both discussed the upcoming exam and the best strategies for studying. Quinn offered to help review some of the material with you. After a few hours, you both said goodbye and left.

Later on in the day you realized that you left your laptop in Quinn's room, you had tried calling her to confirm that it was indeed in her room, but her phone was sent straight to voicemail. You decided the best course of action was to go to the Bailey-Carpenter apartment to check if your laptop was still there.

 You arrived at the apartment and just before you could knock on the door, you hear screaming.

You quickly step back and try to assess the situation. Suddenly the door flies open and Chad and Tara sprint out, nearly tackling you to the ground. "Y/N?" Tara says, scared and confused.

Though you don't hear her, you're in shock at seeing Ghostface tower over Mindy. You also see a dead Quinn, and a scared Sam and Anika. Your heart is pounding in your chest as you try to think of a plan. Your fight or flight response activates and you react immediately. Taking off your bookbag you throw it at Ghostface. He looks at you for a slight second before returning his attention to Mindy.

 Chad grabs Tara's arm, running down the steps with her. Anika grabs Ghostface's legs in an attempt to help her girlfriend. Sam gets up, running to the kitchen in search of a weapon while you run into the apartment. Ghostface quickly wraps an arm around Anika's throat, pinning her to the ground.

 You throw your body at the masked killer, pushing them away from Anika. Sam returns unsuccessful with finding a knife, instead she grabbed the knife holder, throwing it at his head. Anika grabs Mindy, bringing her into Anika's room, Sam following close behind the two.

Ghostface stands up, slamming the front door. "C'mon, bitch." You mumble, standing your ground. You take a deep breath and prepare for a fight. The killer charges at you, knife in hand. You dodge the attack and grab a nearby lamp, swinging it towards the killer in an attempt to knock them out. As the killer stumbles back, you make a break for it, running into Quinn's bedroom and closing the door behind you.

You and Sam press against the door as Ghostface bangs on it. Yours eyes scan the room and you do indeed see your laptop, "I knew I left it here." You mumble to yourself, but Sam hears and looks at you confused.

"My laptop." You say, using your head to point at it. Sam nods, but the furrow still on her in brows.

Anika is on the bed with Mindy who groans out, "Fuckkk..." at the pain throbbing in her arm.

Suddenly, the banging stops. You eye Sam confused, who looks back toward the bathroom doors, which are both open. "Anika!" Sam whisper shouts, "Bathroom door, hurry." Anika rushes to the bathroom. She screams out in horror noticing the dead body in the tub.

Before Anika has time to shut the door, Ghostface appears. He stabs her in the stomach and twists the knife causing her to yell in pain. You and Sam rush to her aid. Ghostface shoves Anika's body into Sam.

 Sam falls to the ground with Anika in her arms. Sam holds Anika's body, staring at her in disbelief. You turn to face Ghostface who creeps closer to you. Sam rushes up, pulling Anika into Quinn's room. You follow behind, closing the door just in time. Ghostface bangs on the door, trying to get in, but you're pressing harder. Mindy takes Anika from Sam, and Sam runs to help you. You look at the dresser in the room then Sam, she nods running to dresser and shoving it against the door with your help.

Ghostface continues to bang on the door, but it's of no use. You and Sam hold the dresser in place, the dresser blocking the door from opening. Sam takes a step back, relieved that the dresser is strong enough to keep Ghostface out. You and Sam exchange a glance, relieved that you are safe for now. But you know the danger isn't over yet. You must find a way to escape before Ghostface finds another way in.

Sam runs to the window, and you decide to stay back by the door. Just in case. Mindy gets up, helping you maintain the barricade. You see Sam's neighbour- Danny? You believe that's Danny, Tara had told you about him and how she thinks him and Sam are screwing behind everyone's back.

Guess it takes one to know one.

They exchange a few words before Danny passes a ladder through the window. "Anika! Mindy! You two go first," Mindy shakes her head, "What no?"

"Mindy!" Sam shouts. Mindy stands her ground. "Someone has to help Y/N hold the door! I'll send Anika next, go!" Sam reluctantly exits through the window, making her way steadily across the ladder. "Shit, Anika your stomach looks like Niagara Falls," You say, sweat now apparent on your forehead. Anika throws her head back groaning. "Can you please say something more positive?"

Mindy leaves you, wrapping an arm around Anika and bringing her to the window. "You have to go first. You have to go," Mindy nearly begs her girlfriend. Anika shakes her head and tears fall. "No! No, Mindy! I can't! I'll be right behind you, I promise."

Ghostface delivers a hard kick to the door, sending you a few feet in front of the dresser. You hurry and go back to your old position, pouring all your strength into holding the dresser in place. Mindy and Anika look back in fear, knowing that arguing who goes first was not going to help them survive this.

 Mindy pulls Anika into a kiss, all of her emotions going into it. Fear, sadness, and contentment. Anika holds Mindy tightly, feeling the same emotions. Mindy pulls away and looks at Anika with a sad expression, making her way onto and across the ladder.

 Your heart begins to pound even more if it was possible. You are completely scared shitless. You don't know if you can hold off Ghostface any longer. He was one persistent son of a bitch. Anika is now halfway across the ladder, and the dresser is shoved into your back, your barricade is now gone. You take a deep breath and steel yourself for what's to come. You're determined to survive this. You can feel the adrenaline coursing through your veins as you prepare for the fight.

Sam, Danny, and Mindy's faces dropped. Anika furrows her eyebrows confused. She turns around noticing Ghostface has made his way into Quinn's room. She rushes to the end of the ladder, safely reaching Danny's apartment. Sam watches you hold your ground to Ghostface. She doesn't know how to feel.

Were you about to sacrifice your life for her and her friends? 

 "Come on!" You yell at Ghostface who squeezes his way through the dresser. He menacingly approaches you, his knife glinting in the moonlight. You close your eyes and prepare for the worst, you knew he was stronger than you, but that doesn't mean you'd go out without a fight. You lunge forward, swinging your fists wildly in the hopes of pushing him away. Your efforts are in vain, however, and Ghostface easily knocks you aside. He raises his knife, ready to deliver the final blow.

You quickly move out of the way back onto your feet. You take a deep breath and focus on Ghostface, readying yourself for the next attack. He charges forward, knife raised. You prepare to fight back. You dodge the attack and punch Ghostface in the face. He stumbles back and you take the opportunity to run away. You squeeze yourself through the dresser and make your way into the bathroom.

Danny and Sam watch you. What the hell did you think you were doing?

Yes, he was stronger than you, but was he smarter than you? You were going to trick him. If he didn't follow you through the crack, he'd go the other way and try to cut you off. But you stayed in the bathroom. Not seeing him emerge through the small squeeze, you quickly and quietly squeeze back through and push the dresser to the door.

 You nearly dive out the window onto the ladder, which Sam and Danny hold onto, cheering you on as you make your way across. You get into Danny's apartment, and you let out of breath of relief. Danny and Sam help you through the window and you collapse on the floor, laughing. You can't believe you actually did it!

 It was now morning. Everyone had made it, except for Quinn. Chad and Tara was also there, Tara had engulfed you into a tight hug, sobbing into your chest. Chad stood beside her, his face twisted with worry. You gently patted Tara's back, feeling your own eyes beginning to swell with tears. You looked around at the group, noticing that everyone had the same expression of worry and grief. You all had made it through the night, but Quinn hadn't. You felt a deep sadness wash over you, and you knew that this was going to be a difficult for all of you.

Chad couldn't bring it to himself to hug you but, He squeezed your shoulder in a silent gesture of comfort. You appreciated the small gesture and realized that, in that moment, words weren't enough.

Tara hasn't left your side once, almost like she was scared Ghostface would just walk up and take you. You missed her, and your breakup had to be one of the hardest things you've dealt with in college. You felt like you had to protect Tara, like you could shield her from the world's dangers. You wished you could have been there to keep her safe and make her feel secure. You were determined to make up for lost time and make her feel loved again.

"Did you mean it?" You ask, you and Tara now alone in the back of an ambulance. She lifts her head from your shoulder, confused on what you're talking about. "About me staying out of your life? Do you really want that?"

 Tara shakes her head. She misses you. "I don't," she says, her voice heavy with emotion. "I want to be a part of your life, I want you to be a part of mine." Tears come to her eyes, but she quickly wipes them away. "But look what happens when you are." She mumbles, looking around at the damage Ghostface has done.

You take her hand in yours, and pull her close again. "It won't be like this forever," you murmur. "We'll figure this out, I promise." Tara takes a deep breath and nods, trying to compose herself. She wraps her arms around your waist, and you hold her close. You both sit there, embracing each other in the moment of comfort and understanding. You finally break apart, looking into each other's eyes with a newfound sense of hope.

You both smile at each other, and you lean in to kiss her. You both feel a glimmer of hope that you can make it through this together. The kiss is gentle yet passionate, and you both linger in it for what feels like an eternity, savoring the moment. You pull away, feeling a connection and an understanding of one another. You both hold each other's hands, knowing that no matter what happens, you have each other to lean on.

[claireelle18]

Let Me - Vince Dunn

Thank you for all the love on my Gem post! Another idea came to me for him…I hope you enjoy this one just as much!

It wasn’t a purposeful keeping the marriage unknown. All records are open to the public. She had her last name changed as well. Neither her nor Vince just announced the marriage. It was only three weeks since eloping. A beautiful day, some stunning scenery out in Toronto. Just the two of them, their photographer, and the officiant. The ring glittering under the arena lights. She was surprised she still showed up to the arena that night after the wicked nasty fight that occurred right before he was supposed to be at the arena for pregame. She had asked him about just continuing to keep their new status a little more private, but he said he was wanting to tell the guys on the team before playoffs started. They all knew her, but no one knew of the change in status for the couple. That was the reason they fought this afternoon.

She groaned, “Vince, did you even think about that this could take away the focus on the playoff games?”

He scoffed. “No, I figured it would let them know another reason why I am so determined to bring home the Stanley Cup.”

If she was being honest, she was more worried about him being spotted with his ring on and fans speculating. Most fans were so sweet to her, but she did get the rude remarks and glares. He had always told her it didn’t matter what they said because he was her’s, but she still struggled dealing with that while he was on the ice. “Think about it Vin! People catch you with the ring and they will want to know so much more about that than how the game goes!”

“It’s been a few weeks already and no one has caught on! I think we will be fine!”

“I’m not sure if I’m ready to let more people know about our marriage! Do you not respect that wish of mine?” Some of the girls had not been very kind in the past to her after Vince once slipped up about their relationship. Vile to her about how she loved him for his money. Vile with comments about how he liked to flirt with other girls and cheat on her.

“What do you mean? Of course I do! No one will catch the fact I wear a ring.” He looks at the clock. “I better go before I am late. Will I see you there?” He asks, looking at her. He can see the tears rimming her eyes, threatening to pour down her face. It doesn’t sit well with him that they just fought before the playoff game, darkening his already anxious mood.

Game time rolls around, and every little chance he has to berate the opposing team’s players, he does. Before long, he keeps landing himself in the penalty box, every chance he gets too. His mind clouded with how she looked before her left for the arena. How she looked a little cracked, how she seemed so small for herself. After this next round in the penalty box, she hears the announcers comment. “I don’t know what is up with Vince Dunn tonight, but for someone who’s loud through the regular season, he sure has it out tonight to be in that penalty box more than on the ice.”

“You’re right there. If I didn’t know better, I may say that coach will be looking to remove him for the playoff roster.” Her heart plummeted into her feet. Removing him from the playoff roster? He played such an intricate part of the core defense that removing him could be an awful outcome. She yanked her phone out, dialing that contact she’s never used before. “Who is this?” The man’s voice questioned across the line. She explained to him that she just needs to see Vince immediately. “I’m sorry but this isn’t a way to see him. You have a better chance at going to the games or one of their open practices.”

“I’m not a fan. I need to see Vince Dunn now. You have to get me down to the locker room before the start of the next period.”

He laughed. “Why would I get you in to see him?” “Because I’m his wife.” She identified herself to him.

Commotion happening across the phone line. “Meet me next to the shop. I’ll see you in three minutes.”

She followed the man down the back halls to get towards the locker room. The sound spilling out of the locker room could be heard down the hallway. His manager talking with the defense coach. Coach motioned some number at her, she could care less how much time, she just needed the time, then let her slip past into the room. A defeated Vince sat in his gear cubby, eyes casted towards the floor. “You’re going to burn a hole into the floor, mister,” she teased as she crouched down in from of him. The whispers could be heard of ‘why is she down here’ and a few ‘who is she’ sprinkled in.

She knelt between his knees, putting her hand on his cheek. “Vin…Vin…Vince…,” she cooed. He broke out of his trance. “Breathe babe. It will be okay. You know fights happen, but do not get your ass kicked off this roster. Do not throw this chance for a second Cup for you out because you’re upset.” He melted into her her hand, taking a few breaths. “I’m sorry we fought. I just felt caught off guard. I get where you came from, wanting to share the news with the team.”

“Time is up Mrs. Dunn,” Coach called out. She went to stand, and Vince pulled her into a quick kiss. The room cheered, noise dying down as they made their way back to the bench.

After the game, she was brought back into the locker room to announce their marriage officially to the team, together.

[endless-summer-soldier]

ice ice baby - chapter nine

pairing: CollegeHockeyPlayer!Bucky x CollegeFigureSkater!Reader

summary: Bucky is a college hockey player, Y/N is a figure skater without a partner. What's happens when these two opposites start sharing the ice...

warnings: enemies to lovers trope, some alcohol use

word count: 1.3k

taglist: @sebsgirl71479 @whiskeyrosepoetry

series playlist

series masterlist

Y/N was pacing around her apartment. The press conference was scheduled to start in five minutes and she couldn’t sit still. A heavy knock on the door startled her and pulled her from her frenzy. She opened the door and found Bucky on her doorstep with two cups of coffee in his hands.

“I thought you could use some company,” he smiled. She gave him a small smile and let him inside. He handed her the coffee and they sat on the couch, waiting for the broadcast to begin. Her knee was bouncing up and down as she took a long sip of her java.

Bucky placed his hand on her knee to settle her down, “Maybe the caffeine was a bad idea.”

She shook her head, “No it was sweet, I’m just nervous.”

“Don’t be nervous about this. We have no control over the situation, so there’s no point in stressing.”

“I know, you’re right. I just don’t like all this anticipation.”

“Just take a deep breath and relax,” he said, rubbing her leg. The snapping of cameras drew their attention to the TV as the USFS president approached a microphone.

“Hello, we are here today to address some concerns over the scoring of the US National Figure Skating competition that took place recently in Chicago. After a thorough investigation it has been discovered that three of the judges at the competition accepted bribes from a competitor. The judges have been removed from the organization effective immediately. The competitor responsible for the bribes has been banned from all future competitions. As a result of this investigation, we have reviewed all scores from the competition. There are score changes for multiple skaters and the updated scores will be posted on the US Figure Skating website within the next hour. We apologize that this situation transpired. We will be reviewing our internal processes to ensure a situation like this does not occur again in the future. Thank you, no questions at this time.”

Cameras continued going off and they could hear reporters asking questions and trying to get more information. The statement was vague, as she knew it would be, and there were still some unanswered questions. But the figure skating community was small, and the real story would get out at some point.

“So what now?” Bucky asked. 

“We open up the website and we refresh until the new scores are posted.” And that was exactly what they did. They sat there and hit refresh until there was finally a change to the webpage.

Y/N let out an audible gasp and Bucky immediately focused his attention to her phone screen. And there were their names, at the top of the board. In the gold medal spot. Before Y/N could say anything, Bucky had picked her up and was spinning her in the air. She wrapped her arms tight around his neck and couldn’t stop smiling. He planted quick kisses all over her neck and cheek as she giggled.

“You’re going to the Olympics,” he whispered into her hair. 

“We’re going to the Olympics!” she corrected.

“Well I gotta make the hockey team first.” With that simple comment, she fell through the cloud nine she was briefly camped on. She knew it wasn’t rational for her to think he would accompany her to Seoul, but she was secretly hoping he wanted to go with her. 

“Oh, duh.” She attempted to hide her confusion, but it was evident in her voice. He gently put her down and looked at her, trying to read her expression.

“Don’t worry, Ace. I fully plan to be on that roster.”

She gave him a fake smile and desperately wanted to change the subject when a text came through from Natasha.

FUCKING SHARON! 

It took her a moment to figure out the context. And once the light bulb went off, she couldn’t hide the shock on her face.

“What is it?” Bucky asked. Y/N flipped back to the scores and realized Sharon and her partner weren’t listed.

“It was Sharon! She paid off the judges.”

“No fucking way. How do you know?”

“She’s not on the list at all. And they blackballed the skater responsible so it has to be her. Or her partner.”

“Damn, I mean I’m not exactly surprised. She’d do anything to get ahead.”

“Yeah she even sunk so low to flirt with you,” she joked.

“Woooooooow,” he replied, smiling and shaking his head.

“Like who in their right mind would flirt with you?” she layered on, teasing him.

“Oh you’re gonna pay for that one,” he said, giving her the mischievous smile she’d grown to love. He lunged towards her and she ran off into the kitchen, attempting to escape his advances. Her efforts were futile, as he easily caught her and trapped her in a bear hug. As he squeezed her, he planted a kiss on the top of her head. She looked up at him and he leaned in to give her another kiss, this time on her soft lips.

He eased his grip on her and placed his strong hands on her shoulders. He looked her in the eyes and seriously asked, “Are you excited for the Olympics?”

She nodded, “Yeah, I am.”

“It’s funny because you don’t seem excited.”

“I’m excited!”

“...What aren’t you telling me?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Tell me.”

She let out a deep breath, knowing she couldn’t escape his steely eyes. “This is going to sound stupid, I just…I had this vision in my head of skating at the Olympics with you. And I didn’t really think much more about it until today when I realized it won’t be you because, of course, hockey is your first love. This was always just a temporary arrangement.”

He looked at her with the sweetest eyes, “If it makes you feel better, you were never temporary to me. Just imagine how great you’ll be when you have someone who knows what they’re doing out there. And this is only going to motivate me even more to make the US team because there is no way I’m going to miss seeing you kick ass at the Olympics.”

She smiled up at him, “You always know the right thing to say.”

“What is this, you’re being nice to me now? What happened to the cute yet cheeky woman I fell in love with?”

That was not what she expected to hear. Her eyes went wide and her jaw nearly hit the floor. 

All the color drained from Bucky’s face as he realized what he had just said.

“Shit,” he murmured under his breath. He let go of her and put his head in his hands as he took a step back from her. “I’m sorry, I-”

“No, it's fine.”

Bucky was the one pacing now, his mind moving a mile a minute. “I’m gonna go,” he finally said.

“Okay. Yeah, I’ll text you,” she added. He nodded at her, gave her an uneasy smile and then walked out of her apartment.

“What just happened,” she whispered to herself once he was out the door.

The rational side of her took over and told her it was far too soon for love. They’d only known each other a few months. They didn’t even like each other until recently. They’d been on one date. They’d kissed a handful of times and everything was still so…new. 

Yet despite all those thoughts, things with Bucky just felt��right. She had very little experience with romantic relationships, but he was the one person she always wanted around. She felt butterflies in her stomach whenever he would brush his hand against hers. And that smile. It was infectious. Even thinking about it now, the corners of her mouth twisted upwards.

She was kicking herself for letting him walk out the door. She needed a minute to process what he had said but now her head was as clear as ever. 

She picked up her phone and scrolled through her contacts, looking for one name in particular. The phone rang briefly and the voice on the other line greeted her.

“Hey, I could use your help with something…” she started.

[marudeinusa]

how do i politely ask what junpei's problem is... does seiya being the older sibling effect their dynamic/junpei's obsession? is his name a reference to the 999 protagonist?

Thank you for being polite HAHAH well Junpei's storyline is definitely a sensitive but meaningful one considering that internet is oversaturated with either incest fetishism or complete refusal to engage with media or literature that even marginally touches on incest as its topic. Though more implicit at his conception, eventually I could no longer skirt about incestuous obsession being at the core of Junpei's character, and did my best to approach the topic as what it is: a facet of trauma unable to manifest itself in a way that isn't abusive. I felt it'd be interesting to reframe the "obsessive little sister" character archetype by making him an adult, predominantly heterosexual man.

I will speak roughly so that I don't spoil every detail of the story, but... Junpei's feelings were not (intentionally) fostered by Seiya, and Seiya spent the majority of his life paranoid and avoidant of facing them. Junpei and Seiya spent their childhood in immediate proximity to their mother's sexual abuse at the hands of Junpei's father, and at that age Junpei could recognize objectification and sexual humiliation without being truly able to grasp them, internalizing them in ways that did not immediately manifest. Seiya's return for Junpei in act 2 of their chapter - grown up into an androgynous figure, both motherly and boyishly cruel - cemented young Junpei's association between himself and Seiya and their mother and his father. There was the key difference of Junpei's fixation on Seiya seeking to uplift and protect him unlike Smith who only seek to make use of Hitomi for his own gain. However, with Seiya being narratively inseparable from objectification and sexual shame, it was inevitable that Junpei's constant silent witness to Seiya's commodification of his sexuality and body would result in an inability to feel either love or disdain - and he does have many reasons both to love and to detest Seiya - his brother in a way that is not rooted in base somatic impulses. Junpei is a good enough man to recognize these feelings as a perversion, and self aware enough to trace their conception back to their abnormal youth, but he is not good and self aware enough to direct his frustration at himself and unpack his feelings. He ventures into shallow, exploitative relationships with women as means of distracting himself and venting out his frustrations, and excessively dotes on Seiya in a platonic yet uncanny manner with a prominent fixation on the outward purity and wellbeing of Seiya's body which he regards with utmost reverence. He isn't able to go beyond envisioning the vaguest contour of Seiya's body in a sexual contest without it immediately slipping away in a flood of revulsion and self-flagellating thought processes, but he can't be rid of its fleeting impression either, nor of the constant background awareness of it.

I do believe that this specific type of fixation is influenced by Seiya being five years older, already a teenager at the time Junpei was a little boy, and already an adult by the time Junpei became a teenager himself. I really don't believe Junpei would ever have developed such a fixation on a brother who was younger than him, or closer to him in age - it explicitly centers on Seiya being adult in a way that he is not, knowledgeable on things Junpei is still too small for, "in" on some dirty joke that Junpei can't contextualize. Even as Junpei grows up, he remains juvenile in a sense when confronted with Seiya, who set the price of Junpei's body so high as though to render him untouchable, though not going as far as to entirely remove him from the roster of "bodies that can be bought with money". Being on the roster yet remaining virtually shielded from sex did not really cause him to remain an asexual, desexualized child, but an adult distinctly tortured and frivolous in his sexual appetites, oftentime unable to constrictively cope with the weight of them. In that sense, Seiya did unwantingly play his hand in Junpei's dependence on him. Though he is repulsed by Junpei's feelings and dismissive of them at every step, it can't be said that Seiya does not make use of Junpei's obedience and devotion. There might be no way to dissolve the convoluted mass of guilt perpetually hanging between them, but Junpei will die at 44 after being able to maintain a (decently) healthy relationship for a few years, and I think that was the best conclusion we could have hoped for.

Also, yes! His name (and stage name) are both referenced from 999 :) though they aren't exactly similar people, I wanted to pay homage to Junpei Tenmyouji

[senditcolton]

A Little Unsteady

Hugs from behind. Coming up behind their partner and wrapping their arms around their waist, burying their face in their neck or against their shoulder, just to be close to them for a moment.

part of my Valentine's Day prompts requested by anon 💜| word count: 0.9k | warnings: hurt/comfort

Quiet nights in were a rarity for you and Tyson, especially in the middle of the NHL season. However, the two of you had been experiencing more of them in the last few weeks. But the reason why you had more nights with your boyfriend by your side was something that you knew Tyson didn’t want to think about. Don’t get it confused, he loved being with you but he also loved hockey. And now, he wasn’t being given the opportunity to play.

Buffalo seemed to welcome with open arms him last year but this season…

Tyson had spent most of the year fighting for a roster spot – a spot that only seemed to be given to him when someone else was injured. It wasn’t what he had hoped when they claimed him from Minnesota and although you saw him more, it wasn’t what you wished for him. You loved your boyfriend and wanted him to be happy. And you knew that he was the happiest when he was playing hockey.

This dinner, like all the others, was a distraction at best. But it’s a distraction that Tyson seems to welcome.

Both of you are in the kitchen, laughing and singing along to one of his playlists emulating from the small speaker. You are in the middle of adding the last few ingredients before dinner needed to go into the oven while Tyson is elbow deep in soapy water, washing off the dishes. The smile on his face is one that you loved to see and one that you wished you could keep on him forever.

The mood is cheerful and lighthearted.

Until it isn’t.

The sound that shatters the illusion is the ringing of Tyson’s cell phone on the island next to you. You sneak a quick glance at the caller ID and feel your stomach drop when you see his agent’s name on the screen.

“Hey Tys,” you say, turning to look at him. When his eyes connect with yours, he clearly notices the concern on your face which causes the smile to drop from his. “It’s your agent.”

Those words eliminate any lingering joy in his expression. You watch as he removes his hands from the water, wiping them off quickly on the towel nearby before he grabs his phone.

“I’ll be right back,” he murmurs, disappearing from the kitchen into the living room.

You can hear the cadence of his voice wafting in from the other room but you are unable to make out the words. The only thing you knew for certain was that this call brought something bad. An agent calling in the middle of the season was rarely good news.

Eventually, you stop hearing the quiet tones of Tyson speaking – a sign that the call was ended. You think that Tyson would round the corner and return to the kitchen any moment. But when he still hadn’t come back even after you’ve placed the dinner into the oven and washed your hands, you wander into the living room.

Tyson is standing by the window, staring out over the city skyline, his arms crossed in front of him. You see his phone sitting on the couch, positioned in a way that suggested it landed there in an action of careless frustration. That coupled with his body language makes you hesitate on your words but you ultimately decide to break the tense silence.  

“What did he say?” you ask, your voice gentle, knowing to expect the worst but hoping for something better.

Tyson doesn’t give an immediate reply. Instead, you watch as his shoulders lift in a heavy sigh, his eyes locked on the horizon.

“They put me on waivers.”

His quiet words crash into you like a tidal wave. Waivers. Again.

You aren’t sure what to say, a dozen feelings swirling inside of you. But that was probably incomparable to the millions of emotions that you were sure Tyson was experiencing – a thought that was confirmed when he spoke again.

“That means that either I’ll get picked up by another team and have to uproot my life again or I’ll get sent down to the minors,” he explains, his voice heavy. “If only I – ”

His words trail off but you can easily fill in the statement: If only I had been better. If only I had done more. If only.

You don’t know what to say – you don’t even know if there’s anything you could say. So, for the moment, you just stand there, looking at his silhouette illuminated by the skyline. You can tell that he is upset, lost in his thoughts of what he could’ve done differently, replaying every moment not just from this season, but from the last two years. Every moment since he was traded from the team that drafted him.

You walk across the hardwood floors of the living room, making your way to him until you are right behind him. And you do the only thing you can think of; you wrap your arms around his waist, pulling him close to you, your head coming to rest on his shoulder. Within your embrace, you can feel a heavy sigh run through him, his body relaxing on the exhale. You feel his hands fall, landing on your arms. His thumbs rub gentle circles into your bare skin, the motion soothing both of you.

“Whatever happens, you’ll get through it” you whisper. “You always do.”

If you could see his face, you would see a soft sad smile appear on Tyson’s lips. You can feel his hands tighten around your arms, keeping your embrace locked around him.

“I love you,” he murmurs.

“I love you too.”

The two of you remain there, holding onto each other – a lifeline in the darkness.

[patchdotexe]

doip. / 7.7.23:

welcome back to dragon of icespire peak! now on the roster: jason! our party has now effectively doubled. we did it kids

the twitch chat in jorb's brain is green's tv

LAST TIME, ON DRAGON OF ICESPIRE PEAK: You guys fought a really big pig! [dead silence for the rest of the DBZ intro] IT JUST KEEPS GOING

one minute of silence as the dbz music plays. absolutely fantastic. my face already hurts

I AM GOING TO THROW JORB . oh my god. we start RIGHT OFF with a nightmare of alidaar back in the arena trying to take down his like - oh my god i havent written down any of this in my notes yet huh. alidaar is a runaway gladiator slave! and his owner/the arena master is a huge dick that alidaar spent most of his childhood trying to take down to win his freedom and failed every time. so alidaar starts off with a nightmare of trying that again and again, and then zasan the fuckhead turns into a cryovain hybrid, clones himself, and blasts alidaar with lightning. and then he wakes up! and i am not doing this scene justice! holy hell!

alidaar wakes up In An Actual Bed Holy Shit. also nameless is sleeping on him! adorable

alidaar is in the fancy guest bedroom! time to find kepesk

Alidaar Is Trying To Search For Kepesk With His Soul . he rolled a 16 and now believes he can find kepesk if he tries hard enough

kepesk located! the courtyard is being cleaned up, not much time has passed since Boar Problems

CORWIN IS BUTCHERING THE THUNDERBOAR . BY HIMSELF . LMAO

time to head out to see where the boar came from!

green: we're coming back, right? leo: we gotta, we gotta eat the pig! falcon: there'll be some pork for you. at least.. i think it's pork. i'm not sure it's a real boar. alidaar: meat is meat!

kepesk leads the way! big clearing with a burnt-out pine tree that has 10 little dolls at the base of it. normal. this is fine. hey wait

leo: …did we leave twigbias at the hunting lodge? jorb: did you? nyx: did we? green: i forgot we have a guy in a box.

OH GOD THE DOLLS HAVE HEARTS IN THEM. GROSS . OH GOD THE HEARTS ARE STILL BEATING, GROSS!!!!!!!!!

alidaar: should we start disposing of these - do we have fire? nameless: :| alidaar: ..oh right you do fire shit now. um, can you do fire shit to these? ………….please?

nyx: can i do an arcana check? jorb: for what purpose? nyx: to see if i can find the fucking purpose of this shit???

oh ew the hearts are Linked to something. i am still voting for fire

Nameless Is Being Gross (removed a heart and crushed it) AH OH NO WE ARE UNDER ATTACK FROM TREE

ZODIARK THE HORSE ROLLED A NAT20 TO DODGE THE OPENING SALVO. LOVE THIS HORSE

kepesk: do trees normally do that? alidaar: uhhh i've seen a couple trees and this is new, so nameless: only a couple??? [..] jorb: -first time seeing a tree with 10 hearts! green: or, 9 hearts now. jason: one more and it can pull the master sword from the stone.

green: maybe it's a nice tree! leo: HOW DO WE TALK TO A TREE, BESIDES THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF VIOLENCE

nyx: what are we supposed to do?! jorb: you could leave! nyx: is this where the trail ends??? jorb: the trail keeps going past this. nyx: WHAT ARE WE DOING leo: fuck this shit im out~

green: maybe it's like a pokemon team and it's team pig and team no-pig. jason: electric pig is the name of my philip k dick podcast.

jorb: you could use the necklace of fireballs! green: there's like 8, isn't there? jorb: you didn't use any on gorthok! green: the boar was weak. >:) nyx: like this tree!

we have stacked all the dolls and let kepesk smack em all at once . TIME FOR TREE

alidaar: [rolls 19] i'm gonna do the coolest backflip. kepesk: [rolls 9] i try to also do the coolest backflip and land on my face.

uh oh . there appears to be a problem (tree has grabbed people)! except then everybody immediately got free. including the horse. and now we don't know what else to do.

nyx: …why did we do this? leo: i dunno! [..] green: "i could've told you my whole life story, but you killed me!" jason: that would be a pretty good epitaph.

jason: take only photographs, leave only sociopathic violence? nyx: i can only imagine in toblerone's mind right now- leo: TOBLERONE?

alidaar: let's just leave, we did it. nyx: we did it! jorb: you did it! you solved my tree puzzle! your reward is nothing. leo: yaaay! green: let's never talk of that again. jorb: that filler episode was weird!

we have found a large ditch! aaaand on the other side of the ditch are some followers of talos! TIME FOR INITIATIVE

oh hey targor has a longbow! that's handy. i wonder if my crossbow still sucks

IT STILL SUCKS.

nyx is ALSO struggling to nail the guy with sacred flame so like at least we're in this together

TIME FOR KEPESK TO THROW A FIREBALL. BWOOSH

Jorb Now Has To Roll Like 9 Saving Throws

kepesk: i look at the rest of the team, "does this remind you of any trees we've seen recently?" :D jorb: the orc on the other side's eye twitches, like "really?" jorb: is zodiark still standing back? green: yeah-- he high-fives me because i'm so awesome.

Kepesk Gets Hit With Lightning green: i just stare at him unblinking the entire time while he's casting it and then i get bzbzbzbzbztztzt

ONE OF THEM IS RUNNING AWAY LMAO. GOOSDBYE . HE HAS 1 HP AND HE IS OUT OF HERE

taken two down, now it's just the spellcaster (and the running guy!) time for crossbow leo: i'm gonna use my crossbow again..

leo: [voice cracks] I'M GONNA BREAK THIS THING IN HALF jorb: you might've already broken something, that'd explain the rolls!

green considers Compelled Duel-ing the spellcaster into the ravine and chucking another fireball orb. it would be SO funny (but also a waste of an orb)

however she IS gonna compelled duel him! let's go!

jorb: how do you compell a duel with him? kepesk: you're so good at throwing stuff at us, i bet you can't come over here and throw stuff at us! bet you can't do that in the ravine!

WAIT NOOO IT HAS A RANGE OF 30 FEET AND HE'S 60 FEET AWAY…. MAN

jorb: you just insult him.

KEPESK IS NOW WITHIN 30 FEET OF HIM. COMPELLED DUEL

kepesk: I BET YOU WON'T FIGHT ME IN THE PIT!

god damn alidaar really does just wreck shop when he's in close quarters huh. got the kill and threw the spellcaster back up the ditch! also one guy ran away but he is On 1 HP and literally ran to the hills so i think he gets to live

ooh, stormclouds over stonehenge! The Circle Of Thunder! two people are having a dance party with More Twigblights

jorb: everyone make stealth checks! leo: [rolls a 6] oh. nyx: [rolls a 4] um. green: [rolls a nat 1] WHOO!

We Have Been Caught.

jason: GOD DAMNIT MARIO IF NOT FOR YOU WE WOULD'VE KEPT OUR COVER [..] nyx: mario you've fucked it up for all of us. what have you got to say for yourself you goddamn italian. i don't know if there's any italian slurs but i'm gonna-- jason: oh there are SO many.

jorb: they know you're here and they look hostile. kepesk: HEYYYY CMON GUYS! AHEH! AAYYYYYyyy i can come up with something better, hold on-- jorb: …roll a persuasion with disadvantage.

(We Are Now In Combat)

i'm rolling poorly for everything except my sword.

oh right the pcs have new tokens!

or well nameless had a new token but alidaar and kepesk have new tokens :D

(i actually. need to redo ali's because the contrast sucks. whoops)

oh? you're a chime?

[distant WAHOO]

jorb: well it's a high dc but they're rolling well. nyx: have they considered not??? jorb: …ill let them know.

jorb: targor's turn! he's gonna tar and he's gonna gor

genasi: we've had intruders here before… let me show you how we deal with them. [HITS KEPESK AND NAMELESS WITH LIGHTNING]

leo: [spaces out thinking abt alidaar's nightmare sequence] leo: --hey why did they clone?? jorb: huh?? [notices one of the tokens got duplicated] oh. nyx: ALIDAAR, IT'S JUST LIKE YOUR DREAM! IT'S COMING TRUE! leo: AH NOOO

jorb: and he's.. gonna use his action.. to turn into a pig! why is there two of him also.

SURE. ONE OF THE GUYS WE'RE FIGHTING IS A PIG. boar time

jorb, struggling with movement: where's the ruler. nyx: he's just teleporting. jorb: he moves THERE. [token zips across screen] nyx: every time somebody moves like that i want to put in a slide whistle noise

Kepesk Takes A Moment To Heal green: i sit down and drink. nyx: chug chug chug chug jorb: it tastes like health. nyx: tastes like prion disease! jorb: tastes like prion disease! no, it tastes a bit.. cinnamon-y?

nyx: i'm going to explode [the boar] with my mind. jorb: you're going to cast prion disease.

i appear to have become a primary target.

the genasi cast Bless on themself, their friend… and then needed to do one more person, so they picked a twigblight. hey what makes this twigblight so special

Steven The Twigblight

genasi: this is my special boy! his name's steven! nyx: do the other ones have names? genasi: no! that's why he's special!

GOODBYE STEVEN.

leo: steven is gone. jorb: [steven universe voice] HE'S.. GONE! green: special boy was kinda asking for it.

yeah alidaar is continuing to be the anti-twigblight weapon of mass destruction as long as i have a breath weapon charge. rip steven 2023 - 2023

green: [cutting out] nyx: …are you barking??

kepesk is doing lightning stuff also! get fucked, our lizard is also storms

leo: h . hey guys.

leo: it's steven. [..] jorb, switching back into narration mode: seeing this-- not steven--

nyx: that's what you get for attacking my lizard!

genasi downed the boar and sent nameless tumbling away with a thunderwave but uh. nothing stops the kepesk and alidaar train!

kepesk: YOU GUYS FUCKING SUCK! Hey. [venomshocks the genasi to death]

alidaar, looking down at the bodies: hm. we probably shoulda tried to ask em what was goin on here before startin the violence.

DID WE EVEN GET THEIR NAMES? I DON'T THINK WE GOT THEIR NAMES. the genasi said the boar's name but i didn't write it down. the only one with a name is Steven now and forever

hmm. killing the talosers took out the storm, and this was definitely where the boar was summoned, but there doesn't seem to be anything here besides that? OH WAIT THERE'S TUNNELS

THERE ARE NO TRUCKS IN WORLD OF WARCRAFt

zodiark found a potion of greater healing we all forgot about. also kepesk found some ashes and a lame axe and is very disappointed

INTO THE PIT! I HAVE FOUND JASON

[STUDIO AUDIENCE APPLAUDS]

jason's guy is playing solitaire. alidaar is So confused. time to cut him free with fancy sword!

alidaar: I FOUND A MAN! kepesk: is that a treasure?

kepesk: do you need help fighting a man? alidaar: hopefully not! jorb: he is unarmored and unarmed leo: and kind of a dweeb. jason: that's what my mother calls me.

jason's guy: [..] one of my colleagues got incinerated [..] alidaar: did he uh- kepesk: did one of those guys have a lame axe?

OH MY GOD HIS NAME IS AREPO. (Arepo H. Legomenon!) AND HE'S DOING SOMETHING FOR A LONG NAME THAT SHORTENS TO WIKIPEDIA. (Wholly Inclusive Knowledge Index Project for Ensuring Dependable Information Access)

(also i missed the context and forgot to write it down at the time but there was a joke about us messing with the tree trap and arepo hearing the zelda dungeon unlock noise)

our party rules.

OH MY GOD NAMELESS HAS A NAME

DAUBLE

kepesk: this is zodiark, he's my horse :D alidaar: kepesk, buddy, bit hard to miss your horse. kepesk: and who would want to? :D

[jason googling what the outer layer of a bone is called]

Alidaar Finally Realizes How Fucking Cool His Sword Looks (i didn't realize dragon slayer has artwork! it looks cool as hell! oh my god!)

JASON'S FIRST NAT20! whoops arepo was intended to be a sacrifice. good thing we killed everybody!

finding trapdoors! [zelda dungeon appearing noise] arepo: that noise again..!

Always Split The Party! [citation needed]

second nat20! arepo drinks a weird potion! (it's a potion of invulnerability. he is not dead) jorb: 29, because your proficiencies are insane-- arepo: i went to college!

time for kepesk and alidaar to look around! there is not much in here. jorb: [scene description of a boring storage room with niches] nyx: i thought you were gonna say there's a bunch of talos guys in the niches

"oh, i didn't tell you about the second one?" "the summoning spell summons two!" "gorthok the thunder boar is my father"

GORTHOK JR

prison of gorthok (waterdeep night club)

arepo running full-tilt to tell kepesk and alidaar about a hidden compartment

arepo: SPEAKING OF FLOORS-- alidaar: we were talking about floors??? kepesk: floors! alidaar: FLOORS? I HARDLY KNOW ER--

leo: okay! i am become knowledge of floors! ………it's getting late

ali's found a cool shield with lightning designs! and immediately threw it at kepesk. it's very on-brand for him

The Entire Squad Stares At A Deer arepo: we have bacon at home, we don't need to kill the deer GOKTHOR THE THUNDER DEER! we have released a deer! it has run away

alidaar: we have affected the ecosystem. [long pause]

THE DEER WILL REMEMBER THAT. TOBIAS WILL REMEMBER THAT. DONJON RASKIN WILL REMEMBER THAT.

time to head on back!

FALCON

FALCON HAS GIVEN US JERKY!! YIPPEEEEEE

THUNDER JERKY

We Are Eating The Boar. It Is Tingly

jason: "i go for seconds" "alright take 2d6 thunder damamge!"

a new day dawns! targor leaves for neverwinter, but we have successfully bribed arepo with jerky.

WE STILL DON'T HAVE A PARTY NAME! :D

BUT IT'S OK BC DAUBLE DOES

jason: something something last name either ganger or lereffect

[gaenarirp]

hey, everyone ♡ some more housekeeping and important updates!

first off, we have a new skeletons page! you can use the filters on the left to see which are available, though i have also crossed out the names of taken skeletons to make it easier to navigate. on a related note, as we have over 75% of our skeletons taken, more are to be added this week!

our guidelines have also been updated to reflect some major changes.

the first one is in regards to our new activity requirements. it now goes as follows:

activity checks are conducted only on the first thursday of every month at 9pm est. to pass an activity check, you are required to have posted at least four in-character replies in the 30-day period prior to the activity check, or your muse will receive a warning. after receiving a warning, you have one week (until the second thursday of the month at 9pm est) to inform the main of your interest in keeping your character active or the muse will be removed from the roster. SNS posts, short meme replies, visual edits or any sort of reblog that isn’t a piece of writing with enough character depth will not count towards activity.

this better reflects the pace of our roleplay and my intentions to foster a safe space for writers to develop their characters. rather than writing short replies once a week just to pass an activity check, i much prefer my muns focusing on the plot and their own ideas for our little town's development. this change is effective immediately. as such, our next activity check will be on december 7 at 9pm est, and the activity check following that will be on january 4 2024 at 9pm est.

additionally, we now have acceptances on a rolling basis!

acceptances happen on a rolling basis: once accepted, you will be informed of when your muse is scheduled to be added to the roleplay, usually on the following day at 9pm est and subject to change according to the admin's availability.

i have also loosened up the rules on additional muses:

you can apply for up to two muses at the start, and you can have unlimited additional muses provided you have at least one active ongoing thread on all previous accounts.

and finally, i have added a note to the literacy requirements as a reminder that longer script threads do count as activity if you're looking for dynamic, quick fire threads:

proper literacy is not only encouraged but also required - gif icons, sns posts and special formatting are allowed, while one-line replies and gif wars are forbidden. that said, script-type replies with 50+ words are also allowed.

please let me know if you have any questions, concerns or feedback to share about these changes.

on a more personal note, i just wanted to share that i am going to make use of this quieter holiday period to plan ahead for our 2024 together.

gaenari is here to stay, lovely golden bells. steady and evergrowing. ❀

[yessadirichards]

Songs by Taylor Swift, Drake and more starting to disappear from TikTok

NEW YORK

TikTok may look (or sound) a little different when you scroll through the app going forward.

Earlier this week, Universal Music Group — which represents big-name artists like Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny and Drake — said that it would no longer allow its music on TikTok following the Wednesday expiration of a licensing deal between the two companies.

Now, the takedown of UMG-related music has begun, ByteDance-owned TikTok confirmed to The Associated Press. As of early Thursday, a vast roster of popular songs had disappeared from the social media platform's library.

The complete removal of UMG-licensed music might not be immediate — but chances are, avid TikTokers are already seeing the effects. Here's a rundown of where things stand.

The songs getting pulled from TikTok are those that are licensed by UMG — which carries an enormous reach across the music industry and, consequently, our digital diet today.

“Universal Music Group is literally the largest record label... in the history of the music industry,” said Andrew Mall, an associate professor of music at Northeastern University. An “uncountable number of tracks and sounds” would be impacted on TikTok, he added, significantly limiting options for creators.

TikTok users signing on Thursday will see that they are no longer able to search for many popular songs — including music from Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Olivia Rodrigo and more — under the “sounds” tab.

In addition to users no longer having the option of adding these songs to next dance craze and other trending content, past videos featuring UMG-licensed music will also be scrubbed. According to a UMG spokesperson, whether these existing videos are muted or taken down entirely will be up to TikTok.

Artists will also not be able to post the audio of their UMG-licensed songs on TikTok. If the music has a UMG license, it should be muted, the spokesperson said — noting the company will protect its copyrights.

Tour clips of artists could also be affected, if those songs are represented by UMG, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. This can become tricky if there are multiple songwriters, as recordings from other labels could also be affected, the person added.

Complete removal will likely be a process, so it may take a few days for TikTokers see the full effects. It's also important to note that music licensing is a complicated business and artists often have different songs that move through different labels. While a singer's UGM tracks will be removed, songs licensed exclusively with other music giants (like Warner and Sony-owned labels, for example) shouldn't be impacted.

The expiration of licensing between UMG and TikTok arrived after the two companies were unable to reach a new agreement — and soon shared heated exchanges.

In a Tuesday letter addressed to artists and songwriters, UMG said that it had been pressing TikTok on three issues: “appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikTok’s users.”

UMG said that TikTok proposed paying its artists and songwriters at a rate that’s a fraction of the rate that other major social platforms pay, adding that TikTok makes up only about 1% of its total revenue. The music giant also took issue with TikTok's promotion of AI music creation — which UMG says poses risks to human artists — and the platform's record with what it says is hate speech, bigotry, bullying and harassment.

TikTok pushed back against claims by UMG, saying that it has reached “artist-first” agreements with every other label and publisher.

“It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters,” TikTok said.

Despite the licensing deal's expiration, experts note that we're still a moment of negotiation between UMG and TikTok — and it probably won't last forever.

“We’ve seen this movie before. It’s a wonderful, theatrical stand-off between two very major corporations... who are wanting to assert their authority on the landscape,” said former president of UMG's Virgin EMI Records Ted Cockle, who now runs music advisory company called Mussel Music Management.

Users will likely find ways to adjust in the meantime, Cockle added, but he and others doubt that such a standoff will last long — noting that a partnership between UMG and TikTok is significantly beneficial to both parties. Historically speaking, Mall said, gaps for other licensing agreements in the 21st century's digital era have typically lasted just a day to up to a few months.

There will also likely be added pressure from TikTok creators, artists and their fans.

“This is a platform that’s really important for artists,” said Alexandra J. Roberts, a professor of law and media at Northeastern University. “It might not affect established artists as much, but some of them are going to lose revenue streams. And I think we’re going to see frustrated fans, right? Users who don’t understand or are angry about the fact that they can’t use or access or engage with some artists' work.”

Representatives for several artists with UMG-licensed music — including Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, SZA, Drake, Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish — did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ requests for comment.

Mall stressed the overall consequences of pulling music from social media platforms like TikTok — particularly for younger developing artists. In this situation, UMG’s revenue mostly comes from well-known artists who will probably be “just fine” if their music is no longer on TikTok, he said, but “smaller labels, smaller artists (couldn’t) afford to do something like this.”

Content creators and marketing experts are already preparing to pivot as needed. Jessica Henig, founder and CEO of music marketing firm Unlocked Branding who is works on campaigns involving UMG-licensed music, said it's not ideal, but that her team has grown accustom to working through delays across the social media landscape.

Still, Henig, who previously headed influencer marketing at Virgin EMI, said time will tell.

“If this is going to be a longevity thing, then we might have a different conversation," she said.

TikTok’s standoff with Universal isn’t the first time a recording label has gone head-to-head with a social media company over licensing terms. In late 2008, Warner Music Group pulled all of its music from YouTube, saying the payments it received from the video-sharing site did not fairly compensate the label, its artists or songwriters. Warner agreed to return songs and music videos months later after reaching a new deal with YouTube.

[thetoxicgamer]

Dota 2 Pro Admits to Wrongdoing in Match-Fixing Scandal—but Not to Throwing Games

With the publication of an exposé last week by a Russian content creator named Morf, claims of match-fixing rocked the Eastern European Dota 2 community. Anatoliy "Lefitan" Krupnov, a member of HYDRA, was expelled as a result of the scandal after it was discovered that he was using DotaPlus, a piece of third-party software. Lefitan has since admitted to betting on his team but claims it was only to win and not to lose while denying any direct involvement with the match-fixing kingpin, Anton Monetin. The former HYDRA player said that he was in rough shape financially, and he saw betting on his own team could be a quick way out of his tough situation. Lefitan claims he placed this bet with the help of a middleman who would turn out to be in close contact with Anton Monetin. At the time of the bet, Lefitan kept everything a secret, a decision he regrets today. Following the initial report released by Morf, the European Pro League also took action against some of the accused teams. EZ KATKA was effective immediately removed from the roster, and EPL said that it would consider taking further actions against HYDRA, YNT, and cybercats when more information regarding the matter becomes available. https://twitter.com/euproleague_/status/1643920942299578369 Aside from Lefitan, all players named in the first report have denied involvement and wrongdoing. In a follow-up video, however, Morf criticized the accused organizations for their weak investigative efforts. According to the content creator, some players were only asked whether they had cheated or participated in match-fixing, to which they answered with a no. While statements and accusations continue to pile up, it looks like Morf lifted a stone that Valve will need to take a better look for themselves to take the necessary actions and retain Dota 2’s integrity. Read the full article

[askclusteropia]

[WELCOME]

This is Cluster, a haven of many different characters from a multitude of worlds coming together!

Some guidelines to follow before asking/following below vvv

Understand that this is VERY headcanon heavy! Some characters and lore bits from original sources are rewritten heavily so they can fit into Cluster properly, or it's a matter of "Mun enjoys this character but doesn't like the source due to problematic things in the source".

On the "problematic source" bit, for any characters that are from sources that are either made by someone gross, and or have gross things in the source, I don't support them. I like the characters, I rewrite them incase of anything gross in their story/character, and that's about it.

There will be romantic ships, most of them being crossovers. Some will form as it goes on, others are pre-established.

Nothing too NSFW, please! While the Mun isn't a minor, a good chunk of the cast are. I'd prefer no suggestive asks either, but if one does get answered, it'll be tagged properly.

Same goes for anything that's potentially triggering! While this blog won't go into too much detail if possible, there is a chance of something being brought up.

Characters will be tagged like "character : (name)".

The Misfits also will be available for asks, namely because I'm still debating letting them be apart of the main roster.

Characters may be added and removed, if that happens, I'll edit the cast list.

Don't be rude or pushy if your ask doesn't get immediately answered. Art not only takes time, I only have so much time in the day.

Any bigoted or heavily political asks will be deleted. This is a funny crossover au ask blog! It's not the right time or place!

I'll block anyone who tries to send said bigoted asks, or anything gross (in a "I'm weird about minors" way). Do not interact if you're any kind of bigot or proship.

Cast images shall be posted shortly after this goes up. I hope you enjoy this account and the characters that are shown!

[lenasai]

okay now i have time so. i warned you in the hlockey server, i was gonna have an essay ready for you

AND BOY DO I HAVE ONE

okay first of all: this wiki page. have fun :)

i'll put the essay below a readmore so i don't annoy my followers

okay picture this: you're me, garages fan, just getting into actually watching blaseball. it's season 14, and we've been given the option to built an ominous looking stadium renovation that totally isn't plot related at all - not to mention it activates in feedback and reverb weather, and the garages have a really iffy relationship with feedback thanks to jaylen hotdogfingers and her constant team hopping, and also avila guzman to a lesser extent.

we build the renovation anyway, and....what's that? we got a free little guy added to our team! neat! so did 12 other teams!

yeah, so right before the season 14 latesiesta, the coin (the expansion era's Big Bad) tried to kill the guy holding the microphone (and potentially the other 13 copies of said guy with the microphone, depending on your interpretation of when that happened) by drowning them in immateria. this causes them to let go of the mic and kicks off the events of the season 14 latesiesta onward

anyway, we find out one game later that the funny plot modifier all 13 of them have lets them copy modifiers from random teammates in reverb weather and from random opponents in feedback weather. pretty funny, right?

so we spend a few in-game days getting attached to our free little guys, and everything's great.

fast forward to season 14, day 77. mills and mechs playing in feedback. things are going pretty normal, when--HOLY SHIT THE MILLS' AND MECHS' LITTLE GUYS FUCKING EXPLODED

the mechs' little guy? gone. didn't even get the chance to play a single game. they were scheduled for the day after. they were removed from the roster completely.

the mills' little guy? well. the sim did an oopsie and while he did get removed from the roster immediately after Fucking Exploding, he still had to pitch the rest of the game as a ghost on the mound.

yeah, turns out there's a little catch to that funny plot modifier: if two players with the funny plot modifier play each other in feedback weather and one tries to target the other, they just annihilate each other and both of them disappear. not fun when you just got attached to your team's little guy!

right, so i figured from one of your reblogs that you are at least somewhat familiar with the second wyatt masoning, so i will keep the summary to a tl;dr: we got thirteen little guys. eleven of them exploded

okay now let me tell you about the two that DIDN'T explode

the two little guys who managed to make it all the way to the end of the season without exploding were a pitcher for the la unlimited tacos and a batter for the seattle garages (yay, our little guy didn't explode!) we named them ivy and max respectively.

unfortunately, there was always the possibility that they were going to explode at some point in the future, so this is when i started checking the weather in advance

i mean it did help that they were in completely different leagues, but there were some pretty close calls.

...and yet. And Yet.

somehow they managed to never run into each other in feedback, despite how long they ultimately played in the league. they got really close when ivy got traded to the steaks, putting both of them in the same division, but not a single one of the nine games the garages and steaks played that season were feedback

instead, they took that funny plot modifier/instant explosion button and did the funniest shit imaginable with it (because it was also Super Busted and definitely not meant to be in play for more than a season at most)

max copied the elsewhere modifier off multiple players, effectively teleporting xemself out of the game entirely

both of them got themselves stuck in giant peanuts

upon escaping the giant peanut, which left them with a superallergy, ivy exploited the sim and tricked it into dropping their superallergy entirely

when asked to push the plot button, ivy said "okay" and pushed a different plot button entirely by copying the hard boiled modifier off one of the detectives, allowing them to take part in the detective plot

this is all to say they did everything except what the devs expected them to do

anyway fast forward to late season 24. a handful of teams have gone rogue and now have the ability to incinerate the coin, who's standing in front of the sun(sun) supernova like the asshole she is.

on season 24, day 82, the rogue teams, including the garages and steaks, unleashed an all-out attack that incinerated the coin and ended her for good.

and that's how max and ivy got revenge on the god who tried to kill them all those years ago.

i've got a couple of bonus headcanons if you're still reading:

-so elsewhere got lored as being a waffle house (the "wlaffle house" because it's blaseball) in the middle of the woods. players who get swept here often end up on the shores and might need help finding their way to the wlaffle house. since max didn't get swept the first couple of times and was therefore immune from scattering, xe conducted search and rescue missions during xer time elsewhere. xe actually did gain the seeker modifier for a brief time one season and kicked ass at it, so i think that compliments my headcanon quite nicely

-ivy spent the post-expansion era siesta studying the microphone, since their team ended season 24 in the vault and they had access to a huge library. they needed to figure out what happened to their missing siblings and whether there was any way to get them back. they doubled down on their efforts once short circuits started and the microphone (now held by parker macmillan iiiii but also acting on its own) started broadcasting other dimensions. ivy did not take the news that teams were choosing a player to sacrifice to the microphone at the end of the broadcast very well. i was....going to do something with this if we ever found out any more about the microphone. tgb did do something with it by swapping nan and sixpack dogwalker (who were at some point receivers) with nathaniel wilds and dimi wobbler (short circuits players who got exploded), so like. they know there is a way out of getting exploded. but then blaseball ended, so. it is what it is i guess. maybe i'll write a satisfying ending to that arc, but tl;dr ivy does some mic research and eventually figures it out with a little help from their friends

okay my brain is soup so i think that's all. have a cookie if you read all that 🍪

IN SUMMARY: i am insane about them. thank you for coming to my tled talk

I’ve only been told about one blorbo so far (they were from space) and I love them, y’all got any more people for me to rotate like a rotisserie chicken in my head

[imaginexwwe]

WRONG NAME 1|3 - Seth ROLLINS

Seth Rollins x Reader

Guest appearance by Cody Rhodes

•

Fun (random) fact : I'VE ALWAYS HAD THE BIGGEST CRUSH ON CODY RHODES 🥰

•

Reader's backstage watching her boyfriend, (Colby Lopez) Seth Rollins' HIAC match against his current rival Cody Rhodes

•

I winced, along with I'm sure, every one else that sat in the crowd, and maybe the rest of the roster that was watching as crowd favorite, Cody Rhodes slowly removed his jacket.

He had just returned a few months ago, and was set to face off against my boyfriend of almost three years Seth Rollins, yet again.

But unlike the many matches I've watched the two of them face off against, and I do mean the many times, considering that since Cody made his re-debut it was Seth vs. Cody, or Cody vs. Seth.

There was always some sort of interaction between the two men, every week, even in the last few pay per views of the last months, that followed this year's Wrestlemania.

Mostly because of Seth's unwillingness to take his L and admit defeat.

I mean, sure giving up has never been in his vocabulary but, c'mon, it's already Cody two and Seth zero.

But this one...

This was different.

Cody was going into this match already injured.

How is he going to get through this match as banged up as he is, when Seth hasn't even gotten his hands on him yet..?

Seth just may be able to pull out a win, I thought to myself in silence, as I tore my eyes from Cody Rhodes to focus of Seth Freakin' Rollins.

It's not like I doubted that my man couldn't win if Cody was a hundred percent, it's just maybe now that he's not, Seth could get his win, finally.

"He needs this," I mumbled, rolling my eyes, as I watched him parade around the ring that was being surrounded by a twenty feet cell, dressed in his new ring gear that was all too similar to the gear that Cody's dad, Dusty Rhodes wore during his legendary career in this very business. "He really needs this..."

•

After almost thirty minutes, I stood a short distance from the entrance of the ring, playing with my fingers, as I awaited my boyfriend's return backstage.

He lost.

He really lost.

Again.

Cody basically had one good arm, wasn't even able to give his full strength and still, my boyfriend lost.

This is gonna be a long ass night, I groaned to myself, jumping up seconds later after I heard footsteps getting closer from the other side.

"Baby." I forced out a squeal, ready to throw myself onto him the second he was in my reach.

Knowing how my boyfriend is when he loses, especially to the same person repeatedly, he was gonna need a lot of love and ego stroking.

Except the man who was now in my arms wasn't the man I had anxiously been waiting for.

And I didn't realize that until after my lips were on his.

I pulled back with a groan, running the palm of my hands across my eyes. "Look," I know you're pissed about losing to him again, but you could at least kiss me back."

"I know, and normally I would," I heard a man's deep voice respond, causing me to gasp as I immediately realized it wasn't the voice that belonged to my boyfriend. "I was just caught by surprise." I heard the man add, with a chuckle.

I can't believe I just fucking kissed him

How could I be so stupid?

Who runs up and kisses a man without even realizing its not THEIR MAN?

BETTER YET WHAT MAN JUST LETS A WOMAN RUN UP TO THEM WITHOUT STOPPING HER?

"Why didn't you stop me, Cody?" I questioned, slapping at his shoulder, forgetting just that quick about the scary looking bruise that covered most of that side of his chest, all the while, raising my voice but at the same time, tried my best to make sure the now wondering superstars and backstage workers couldn't hear the conversation I was having with my boyfriend's rival, I especially didn't want the ones that were friends with Colby to hear.

Cody sucked in a sharp breath, glancing down at his injury, then back at me. "First, ouch, Y|N," he mumbled, making me look down in shame for hitting him. "Secondly, I kinda did," Cody continued, before adding, "I didn't kiss back, remember."

"You don't have to mock me..." I huffed, slowly looking back up and him, taking in the beautiful features of his face. "And I'm sorry for hitting you."

"Really?" Cody questioned, his eyes playfully narrow. "Are you really sorry for hitting me?" He questioned. "Or just sorry for hitting my banged up shoulder?"

I shrugged, unable to hold in a giggle. "Sorry that I hit the banged up shoulder." I answered, causing Cody to laugh.

For someone who's I'm sure in a lot of pain, after going through a match like that, being hit with whatever my boyfriend could get his hands on, thrown into steel steps, and a cell, he's in a pretty good mood.

"That's what I thought." He replied, his laughter slowing dying down, right before my boyfriend became visible backstage.

"What's so funny?" I heard Colby say as he took his place right beside me, wasting no time to pull me closer.

"Oh, nothing." I quickly spoke up, shrugging. "I was just apologizing for my embarrassing moment with Cody." I added, turning to face my boyfriend. "It was nothing."

Colby shook his head, looking from me to the man he just finished up a match with, less than five minutes ago. "You were laughing so it must've been something." He responded, forcing a laugh of his own.

But like I said, I knew him, and this annoying laugh of his wasn't out of amusement, and all though they both sound the same.

I knew this one was of jealousy.

The look in his eyes helped give it away.

But what was he jealous for?

He didn't have any reason to be.

If he had saw what happened a few minutes earlier sure he'd have a reason, but he was still out in the ring or taunting some fan in the audience, so clearly he didn't

Ugh, you know how he is, Y|N

And judging by the look Cody's giving, he must've already picked up on what my boyfriend is giving off. "I was just trying to laugh off an embarrassing fan girl moment from your girl." He spoke up, trying to save me from Colby's questions, throwing a wink at me.

"Oh..." My boyfriend replied, nodding his head. "I never knew she was a fan." He said, before adding. "I've never saw her watch anything AEW related. Let alone, mention anyone from there, and she's never even wat-"

"Um, I know Jon." I interrupted, crossing my arms as I fought the urge to roll my eyes at how ridiculous Colby was being.

Colby shrugged, quickly telling me Jon doesn't count because I know Jon from being with Colby.

I shook my head. "No, I didn't just know him from being your friend, I knew of Jon from being a fan of WWE, which just so happens to be where Cody worked before leaving and coming back." I responded, correcting my boyfriend of his ignorance.

I hate when he gets so worked up like this

"Why are you acting like this?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest, not really giving the man in front of me a chance to speak.

Colby huffed, his chest rising and falling from his heavy breathing.

Was it from the match he just had?

Or just him letting his jealous ways get the best of him again?

Probably both

"I don't..." My boyfriend, mumbled, his words trailing off. "Babe, you know me," He began speaking up again, running a hand through his half frizzy, half damp hair. "I'm not a good loser, for one, then after I do, I see my girlfriend," Colby paused for a second, reaching his hand out to grab at mines, "the love of my life being friendly with the guy I just loss to and it just struck a nerve with me I guess."

I sighed, my eyes making contact with Colby's.

Basically searching his.

"You're right," I nodded, agreeing with everything that my boyfriend had just said. "I do know you," I added, before shrugging slightly, a half smile forming on my lips. "And I knew exactly why you're acting the way you are, even before I asked. I just wanted you to admit it out loud so I could tell you how stupid you are acting."

"I am pretty stupid, huh?" Colby asked, with a grin.

"Very stupid." I corrected, grabbing and pulling Colby's face closer to mines. "And you don't have to be, because you are the love of my life too, baby. And no matter how angry you sometimes make me," I paused just long enough to plant a soft kiss on his lips. "Nothing will ever make not love you, Cody. I will always love you."

As I leaned in for another, this time, longer kiss.

"What the hell did you just call me?"

I frowned confused as to why all of a sudden it felt like I was back at square one with Colby.

"What do you mean? I called you Cody." I said as a matter of fact, not realizing that I had did it again.

Oh shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit...

"Cod-" I huffed, wanting to slap myself. "Colby, I didn't mean to say his name, I swear. It's just bot-"

Colby shook his head, pointing a finger in my direction. "Drop it." He said, those two words filled with pure anger as they left his lips.

I swallowed hard, biting my lip as I fought back tears.

"It was a mistake, Colby." I half yelled as I slowly followed behind my boyfriend as he started walking away from me, heading in the direction of the locker rooms, I assuming. "Colby and Cody is just so similar, like that's the only reason I got mixed up and I know I shouldn't ha-"

"You're damn right, it shouldn't have happened Y|N." Colby replied, his teeth clenched as he abruptly stopped, making me almost bump into his chest. "You don't mix up your boyfriend's name with someone else." He spoke again, adding. "I've never done that to you."

I nodded, childishly pouting. "That's because you've probably never met someone with a name that sounds so much like mines, and if you have, you've probably never been in the same room with them while you were in the same room as me and so you've never had this problem." I rambled, before quietly adding in almost a whisper. "But if you did, I'd forgive you because I know you love me and you didn't mean it."

"Are you done?" Colby asked, and I simply nodded in response waiting in silence for him to say something.

Anything.

But instead he just stared me down once again before silently turning his back to me and walking away.

I fucked up.

Big time.

"That was quiet the show." I heard from behind me.

I rolled my eyes, fighting the urge to turn to face the man whose name I had mixed up with the name of my boyfriend. "Shouldn't you be getting checked on?" I questioned, trying to make my words as bitchy as possible.

"Yeah," Cody answered, his touch sending shivers down my spine as he let his hand run down my back. "I was actually on my way to the medic while you were talking with your boyfriend but then before I got too far down the hall, I heard you confess your love to me."

"Confess my love? For you?" I scoffed. "I don't love you Cody." I spat out of anger from what just went down between me and Colby.

It's like I wanted to blame Cody.

For what thought?

Having a name that's similar enough to my boyfriend's to where I was dumb enough to get them mixed up?

"That's a shame." I heard Cody sigh, finally removing his hand from off me. "Cause I still love you, Y|N." He resumed speaking, before leaning closer to me, his lips so close to me that if I turned we would practically be kissing one another again. "And when we kissed, it reminded me of the good times. And I'm not afraid to admit it." Cody confessed, before he too, left me in the hallway alone with my thoughts.

•

This is just a random love triangle (ish) one shot ☺

[insertpoetryhere]

If it's alright with you may I ask for Akito for the headcanon thing? Your hcs are SO fucking good 🙏🙏

I’ve almost collected all the Ootoris. Time to show some love to my favorite middle child.

1.) Fuyumi and Akito are twins, and refer to themselves as a “buy one get one free” deal since Yoshio very transparently wanted two sons and Fuyumi is just along for the ride.

2.) In school, Akito was the one who got in trouble most often. Or rather, he’s the one who stayed in trouble the most often.

3.) Akito was a complete stoner in high school, but he made good grades so very few people noticed and just assumed that was his personality.

4.) He’s harder on Kyoya than the others are because he remembers using things like “I’m going to study” and “I have club stuff” as code for doing something stupid and assumes all teenage boys think the same. He was a little terror, so clearly Kyoya must be the same.

5.) He can and will snitch on everyone except Fuyumi. It’s the Twin Code of Conduct.

6.) He has always looked up to Yuichi and spends most of his time trying to get his attention.

7.) Akito is queer, and when he was in late middle school he fell in love with the president of class 3-B. The two of them had a friendly rivalry as the presidents of their respective classes. This boy was the one who taught him how to bend the rules a little and how to use your reputation to get away with things. They “dated” until their third year of high school when Yoshio threatened to remove Akito from the line of succession and give his spot to Kyoya if he didn’t start taking the family image more seriously. Deciding that Class 3-B’s president was too much of a distraction, Akito called it off.

8.) Akito claims to be a tea person to seem more mature, but he usually chugs an energy drink before going into work since he developed a far-too-high caffeine tolerance in College for tea or coffee to wake him up anymore.

9.) Akito doesn’t want to get married, but feels he has to since Yuichi still isn’t married and is showing no signs of ever finding a wife.

10.) Akito has been described as the least charming Ootori, not even bothering to try wit most pleasantries. His demeanor is why Yoshio is pretty insistent on dividing his assets between two of his sons instead of giving the entire company to one. The idea is that Yuichi is pleasant but lacks a cutthroat nature, and Akito is vicious but can’t hold a decent conversation. He’s hoping they will balance each other out (assuming they both stay in his favor).

11.) Akito is great at braiding hair, since Fuyumi never trusted anyone else to do it.

12.) Akito and Fuyumi are the reasons why some of the teachers at Ouran saw Kyoya’s family name on the roster and immediately moved him to the front of the class.

13.) Akito feels a mix of pride and resentment when it comes to Kyoya that makes it hard for him to interact with him. On one hand, he’s really proud of Kyoya’s accomplishments (including the ones he shittalks) but on the other, he also resents how Kyoya has always been his fathers replacement for him if he screws up. It’s complicated.

14.) Akito organizes his favorite siblings into categories: the one he admires the most is Yuichi, the one he connects with the most is Fuyumi, and the one he worries about the most is Kyoya. And if any of them were to ask him who his favorite sibling was, he would answer that it was himself so he wouldn’t have to say “all of them”.

15.) Akito is a spreadsheet bitch. He makes spreadsheets for everything in his day to day life and spends chunks of time editing them.

16.) Akito is a very gifted soccer player, but doesn’t get many opportunities to play ever since he graduated school.

17.) Akito is the only sibling with any domestic skills, mostly because of his distrust in anyone organizing his stuff except for him since they don’t “do it right”.

18.) Akito has diagnosed autism, but Yoshio didn’t see it affecting his school work at all so he decided to leave well enough alone.

19.) Akito is very interested in science, but not in a “getting your hands dirty” kind of way. More in the academic, observed from afar kind of way. He likes knowing how things work.

20.) In the future, Akito is the one to suggest partnering with Kyoya’s business to Yuichi, almost like extending an olive branch after a pretty messed up childhood. He’s also really proud when Kyoya decides to decline the offer.

[jace-the-writer-guy]

You're given immediate control over the WWE. What do you do in order to make it better in your eyes?

After answering this, send this question to another wrestling fan you know.

Probably a lot more I could think of if I gave it more thought, but here are a few things (40 points) I thought of.

Book believable heels and faces to the best of my ability

Give Big E the push he deserves without it being cut short because of Vince's love for a part timer

Give Lashley a long, dominant reign as champion that isn't cut short because of Vince's love for a part timer

Let Roman be more of a dominant champion rather than being one that has to be helped by his family in most cases

Have Roman go against more than just part timers

Book a believable face (maybe Sami) to go against the Bloodline and let it go for a year, have him win the Rumble, and finally dethrone Roman at WrestleMania

Give Sami his old entrance music back

Give people memorable entrance music again.

PUSH CESARO

Give Ricochet a good push with a midcard title for a while

Turn Sami Zayn face and give him a good push

Give Kevin Owens a push he desperately deserves

Let Shinsuke Nakamura just vibe

Return NXT to Triple H's control

Stop trying to fight AEW, just try to improve the product given to me

Stop bringing in part timers that take away the spotlight from younger talent deserving of opportunities

Stop giving championships to part timers

Give people a basis for promos, and let them speak as themselves and not by script

Stop giving Charlotte every opportunity in the world just because she's Ric Flair's kid

Let Becky be the face that fans want to see rather than force her to be heel

Give Shayna Baszler her old entrance music back and book her to be a killing machine again

Book Rhea Ripley to be the dominant bad-bitch she should be, rather than someone who cries after losing to Charlotte

Stop with the super hero shit for Nikki Cross

Give a certain amount of creative control to the roster

Healthcare

Rotate who are active and who can go home to their families for a while instead of everyone being on the road all the time

Stop 50/50 bullshit booking all the time

Stop splitting up tag teams

Stop shortening names

Stop with DQ finishes all the time

Stop with "surprise roll-up" finishes all the time

Remove a bunch of PPV's and return to calling them that instead of "Premium Live Events"

Stop using Hell in a Cell for a long time so it could hopefully return to it's status as a feud ender instead of just a match

Listen to the fans (not do everything the fans want)

Let wrestlers have their Twitch accounts or other side things they do

Remove the no-compete clause for released wrestlers

Release those who request to be released

Forge bonds with other companies rather than try to poach talent from them

Knock on the Forbidden Door

End Saudi shows

[bog-o-bones]

Who the hell is CM Punk and why is he “All Elite”?

If you’re reading this post, you’re most likely somebody who’s heard the latest buzz around the wrestling world: CM Punk is back! But who exactly is CM Punk? You’ve probably heard the name before, either in the context of pro wrestling or as part of his time in UFC, and have always wondered what the big deal is about the guy. You’ve also probably seen or heard about All Elite Wrestling, up-and-coming wrestling promotion airing live Wednesday and Friday nights on TNT. But what exactly is AEW as well? That’s where this post comes in. In this long-ass post on Tumblr, you’ll be given a crash course on the history of one of pro wrestling’s most iconic superstars as well as the abridged history of AEW, the premier wrestling promotion in North America, allowing you to (hopefully) understand the significance of Punk’s return to the squared circle as well as give yourself significant knowledge of AEW enough that you can begin to enjoy the weekly shows they put out!

Okay, so who the heck is this CM Punk guy anyway?

To put it simply, CM Punk is one of the most significant pro wrestlers of the 21st century as well as the history of the industry itself. While he’s not on the level of mainstream recognition as Hulk Hogan or Stone Cold Steve Austin, Punk’s contributions to pro wrestling are arguably as important to the industry. To understand Punk’s significance, you need to have a little history lesson about the industry in the early-to-mid 2000′s.

When you think of professional wrestling, you probably think of one name above all: WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment. WWE was, and still is, the most mainstream wrestling promotion ever. People associate all wrestling with WWE, no matter what. But what about what’s below WWE in terms of recognition? The Minor League Baseball to its MLB? To that, we have to look at the independent scene.

The independent scene is, simply put, the underground punk rock of pro wrestling. It’s where the stars make the names for themselves to rise to the success. Indie wrestling is important because it’s where Punk began. CM (the initials jokingly standing for whatever is on his mind at the moment, ranging from “Cookie Monster” to “Charles Montgomery” or “Chicago Made”) Punk began his career in the independent scene around the turn of the millennium. He rose to significant prominence in the promotion Ring of Honor, one of the most premiere indie leagues in the United States. This prominence was brought on by Punk’s oozing charisma and wrestling talent, making him one of the best known “underground wrestlers” at the time. Then, in 2005, Punk signed a contract with the major league: he was WWE bound.

To regale you with Punk’s career in WWE would require an entirely separate post, so I’ll spare you the specifics and get to the good stuff: Punk was over in WWE. “Over” of course meaning the fans loved him. And why shouldn’t they? Big time wrestling fans knew Punk from his days in ROH and to see him rise to be on national television broadcasts and pay-per-view was rewarding. To those who were introduced to him, he was a fantastic talent and provided immense entertainment because of his talent in the ring and outside it.

Later on in his career at WWE, Punk provided one of the most scathing promos of all time, criticizing the company for its horrific decision-making and idiotic management. The promo was a “worked shoot”, wrestling lingo for a promo that seems like it’s breaking character but is all planned out (Punk was allowed to say anything he wanted, no matter if it was in character or not) but it was still extremely satisfying for the fans who agreed wholeheartedly with Punk about the state of WWE at the time. This promo (now known as the “pipebomb promo”) is just one of the many reasons why CM Punk has remained an immense fan favorite. The idea of a wrestler taking the mic, airing their grievances, and showcasing how a major corporation treated their employees with disdain and damnation is utterly unlike anything seen since Stone Cold Steve Austin back in the late 90′s. Punk, to many people, was one of the first of many “indie stars” that WWE had “poached” from the independent scene, turning them into corporate icons, stripping away their unique qualities as a person and transforming them into recognizable brands to sell merchandise with. To see Punk spit back at the WWE made a lot of people realize that enough was enough for them. Punk was the voice of the voiceless, a wrestler echoing throughout the halls that he wasn’t just a brand to slap onto a cheap mass-produced product, that he was a wrestler (in the mid-2000s at WWE, the term “wrestler” was seen as an irrelevant term, the terms “sports entertainer” and “superstar” preferred by management) in this business to prove himself as the Best in the World. And like clockwork, on July 15th, 2014, Punk was removed from WWE’s active roster after he had effectively walked out of the company weeks prior.

One of the most significant events post-WWE with Punk was his appearance on close friend Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast. Colt’s podcast was known for featuring “shoot interviews”, basically interviews with wrestlers out of character detailing backstage information and telling stories. Punk’s episode of the podcast is significant as it eventually led to a total legal dispute with one of WWE’s doctors whose misdiagnosis of a staph infection was one of the reasons for Punk’s departure from WWE. Along with that, Punk’s general dissatisfaction with the “WWE Machine” as it’s been coined was another reason, with him even mentioning at times post-retirement that WWE was responsible for him never wanting to wrestle again. And so it seemed, as Punk later on signed with UFC in an attempt to get a MMA career off the ground, that the legacy of CM Punk ended with his tenure at WWE.

Until, that is, the wrestling world got a little...elite...

Okay, so I get who CM Punk is now, but what’s this All Elite Wrestling business?

AEW, All Elite Wrestling and the sole reason you’re reading this post right now, is the second biggest wrestling promotion in North America and quite possibly the world. Its inception begins with a group of wrestlers signed to the aforementioned Ring of Honor and a little bet made with wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer on Twitter.

Meltzer had proclaimed on Twitter that ROH did not have the capability to sell 10,000 tickets to an arena-run wrestling event. ROH-signed wrestlers Cody Rhodes (son of Dusty Rhodes and brother of Dustin Rhodes f.k.a. “Goldust”) and tag team brothers Matt and Nick Jackson (known as “The Young Bucks”) took Meltzer up on the bet and immediately scouted an arena for such an event. Partnering with Ring of Honor along with other wrestling promotions around the world such as Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, Impact Wrestling, and New Japan Pro Wrestling, the trio promoted the event as All In and managed to sell out the arena in less than 30 minutes, even exceeding the goal by an extra thousand or so, becoming the largest attended wrestling event not held by industry leader WWE since 1993.

Naturally, the success of such an event caught the attention of many leaders in many industries. The idea that an independent wrestling event could create such a huge success in a time where WWE was kingpin of the industry was unprecedented. It was clear that the wrestling world was ready for a change and the numbers didn’t lie.

On the 1st of January 2019, All Elite Wrestling was announced with the running of All In’s sequel event Double or Nothing which would also be the inaugural pay-per-view event for AEW itself. Backing the company financially was Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan along with his son and co-owner of the Jaguars Tony Khan, who would lead the company as president, CEO and head of creative. The announcement of the company was peppered with signings of some of independent wrestling’s hottest stars such as “Hangman” Adam Page, Joey Janela, Britt Baker, and Kenny Omega, often cited as the greatest wrestler in the world with multiple 5 star+ matches under his belt. Also announced were some of the most interesting inclusions: former WWE stars Chris Jericho and PAC (f.k.a. Neville) had joined as well. At the premiere event of Double Or Nothing, the most shocking addition to the roster made his debut as well: Jon Moxley, formerly known in WWE as Dean Ambrose, one of the highest-profile stars in recent history had jumped ship from top of the card in WWE to the newest promotion. Ripples in the wrestling world had turned into immense shock waves.

Alright, I kinda know the history now but why is AEW so important?

AEW’s significance today cannot be understated. Before its inception, the world of professional wrestling consisted of two pillars: WWE and the independent scene, and the two could not be less equal. WWE was seen by many as the top of the line, the area where a wrestler could be seen by the most eyes and where they could be paid top dollar moreso than any indie promotion. But it was also seen, as detailed earlier by CM Punk, as a place of dull, corporatized profiteering. WWE does not treat its wrestlers as characters in engaging, eventful stories. To the WWE, the wrestlers are no more than brands, recognizable faces and repetitive phrases that they can slap onto t-shirts and other merchandise to sell for a quick buck. WWE as a company does not care about the world of professional wrestling, even recently going so far as to call themselves not a “wrestling company” but an “entertainment” company. Wrestlers in WWE are not given the opportunity to come up with material they think will best suit the story of the match and appease the fans, they are given pre-written scripts of dialogue to act out as if they were in a movie and storylines meant to tell the story the writers want to tell rather than what the fans want to see.

For many wrestlers, the art of wrestling is a finely tuned craft. WWE’s corporate micromanagement of the whole process is utterly disrespectful and soul-crushing. At AEW, the story is different.

AEW’s creative team allows its wrestlers to do whatever they think the fans will like. While not necessarily allowing the wrestlers full creative control (Tony Khan, after all, has the final say on things), AEW at least allows the wrestlers flexibility to try new things without being railroaded by storylines. This results in characters like Orange Cassidy (see above) a wrestler whose entire gimmick is that he just doesn’t care. In his matches, he’ll lazily loaf about the ring, putting in the bare minimum effort at attacking his opponents except when the opponents REALLY strike back at which Cassidy explodes into an array of athletic fury while simultaneously never losing his cool. And it works! The gimmick worked insanely well on the independent scene, away from the strict guidelines of a major corporation who probably would not understand it, and fans adored Cassidy’s laidback, lazy attitude. And in AEW, Cassidy’s gimmick transfers flawlessly due to the company’s trust in Cassidy to make it work. And so, AEW remains a place where wrestlers can succeed not at the whims of an out-of-touch old man playing with his action figures in a way that satisfies only himself, but at the whims of creative people who believe in the equally creative minds out in the squared circle who themselves believe in the hearts of the audience, understanding full well what it is they want to see when they come to or tune into a wrestling program.

There are a multitude of other reasons AEW is probably the best wrestling promotion on the planet (ease of access, LGBT diversity among the roster) but the creative freedom it allows its wrestlers remains one of the greatest.

Okay, now I kinda get the appeal. So where does CM Punk tie into this?

As with any new promotion heavily allowing for greater creative opportunity for its wrestlers, fans are gonna want to see their big favorites join the roster. Names like Daniel Bryan, Aleister Black, Adam Cole etc. known from their time on both the independent scene and at WWE have been tossed around a lot during discussions in the past as far as who should jump ship to the promotion that will best suit them. But one person has always been the biggest “what-if” when it comes to joining AEW: CM Punk. As laid out earlier, CM Punk’s dissatisfaction with WWE was wholly responsible for his greater retirement from the pro wrestling scene. And when there’s only one really significant promotion on the market, why bother? Punk has been vocal in the past on Twitter, in interviews and many other places that his love for the business of pro wrestling was soured and that something truly significant would be required for him to return. It seemed natural to fans that, should AEW prove to be a significant competitor to WWE that, somehow, some way, it could lead to the in-ring return of one of the best to ever step foot in it. And when AEW announced it would be running the second episode of its brand-new show Rampage at the United Center in Chicago, Punk’s hometown, the rumors began to fly.

Punk himself is known for joking about and debunking rumors, hearsay and other lies about his potential signing with any wrestling-related outlets. So when the rumors began to fly that Punk was signing with AEW...the man himself stayed uncharacteristically quiet. And the wrestling world began to gasp...was it true, then? Teasers were thrown about here and there on AEW programming, small things that could go either way but to hardcore fans seemed to understand were plain as day. Punk himself even got in on the action, posting cryptic videos on his Instagram that fans eventually linked to the United Center and a return for the Best in the World. It’s been known as wrestling’s “worst-kept secret” and today, it was revealed in all its glory.

CM Punk, one of the original independent wrestling superstars, one of the few men responsible for changing the culture of professional wrestling in the 21st century, had finally returned home.

Okay, that was pretty explanatory. So now, where the heck can I watch all this?

Excellent question! AEW currently has three methods of airing content:

- Through their network TV shows aired on TNT

- Through their YouTube channel

- Through pay-per-view events

AEW Dynamite is the company’s flagship show airing Wednesdays at 8:00 EST/7:00 CST on TNT. All the company’s major storylines are told on Dynamite and the show usually runs for ~2 hours. There are over 90+ episodes of Dynamite and its not really required that you see every single one though there are many episodes that have aired in the past that feature matches, promos, and other segments worth checking out.

AEW Rampage is the company’s second show and currently only has two episodes aired. It also airs on TNT, Fridays at 10:00 EST/9:00 CST. Rampage has been given the description of being a little more “action-packed” than Dynamite, with shows only lasting for a single hour and featuring little promo time instead focusing primarily on matches themselves.

The company’s biggest stories tend to culminate in one of its four annual pay-per-view events. AEW pay-per-views are available via WarnerMedia's B/R Live service in the United States and Canada, and on FITE TV internationally. Additionally, AEW PPVs are also available via traditional PPV outlets in the United States and Canada and are carried by all major satellite providers. AEW PPVs generally cost around $50-60 and run for about four hours or so.

In addition to the two TNT shows and pay-per-views, AEW also runs two weekly shows on its YouTube channel, AEW: Dark and AEW: Dark Elevation. Both shows are generally referred to as AEW’s “developmental” shows, created mostly for unsigned or up-and-coming talent to showcase themselves in a taped format that forgoes the traditional network TV deals for easier access online. Dark and Dark Elevation’s differences are negligible but both tend not to crossover too much with the main shows, although some stories definitely do. Both shows run for ~an hour and a half on Monday nights at 7:00 EST/6:00 CST (Dark Elevation) and Tuesdays at 7 EST/6 CST (Dark).

AEW talent also provide a few extra sources of entertainment through their own YouTube outlets as well. The Elite, a popular stable in AEW consisting of current champion Kenny Omega and current tag team champions the Young Bucks, feature themselves in their own weekly travel vlog/comedy sketch series Being the Elite while other individual wrestlers like Sammy Guevara, Allie “The Bunny”, and Ethan Page provide more individualized backstage looks at the company through their own vlogs. These aren’t necessary to enjoy regular AEW programming but they definitely add to the atmosphere and you can tell through each how much the locker room loves and respects each other.

Wow, this was really in-depth and definitely not a small task at all. Thanks for the help!

No problem! If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message, though its doubtful I’ll receive it since I barely check Tumblr anymore! If you know me on any other platforms, the message still applies! Thanks so much for reading! I really do hope this helped you understand the situation a little better. Enjoy wrestling!