#this dude has been in the works since like..... 2014 now that i think about it....

[skylarmoon71]

Raphael (TMNT 2014/2016)- Extra

“My left.”

You ducked, just barely dodging the fist that came hurtling in your direction.

Raph smirks.

“Not bad.”

You were both at a distance now, and he was watching you keenly. With all your training, getting the best of Raph was near impossible. He may have been a hothead, but he’s an incredible fighter.

Calculated.

It seems that he puts a little more effort when facing off with you. Because despite your size, you have the advantage. You’ve seen them train a million times. You know a lot of their movements. Their skills. In a battle, strategy is everything.

“Been listening to Leo huh.”

You grin, arms raised in front of your face as you mark him.

“If you’re trying to throw me off, it’s not going to work.”

“Is that right?”

You nod, still holding a defensive position.

“Ya know I’ve been thinking about it.”

“Yeah, what exactly have you been thinking about? If it’s you we’re talking about, it can't be good.”

He’s still wearing that confident smirk, and you narrow your eyes when his gait changes slightly.

“I’ve been thinking about what it would be like to kiss ya.”

The statement makes your eyes grow wide, and you falter for a moment.

“What..”

You let out a little breath, now distracted.

Raph moves closer, and you know you should hold your position, but that look in his eyes, it has you shifting in your spot.

You find yourself backing up and his smile becomes wider. Your back hits the wall and you jolt. Raph presses his hand against the wall.

“R-Raph w-we’re supposed to be training..”

“We are. Did ya know that kissing burns calories?”

You shake your head, licking your lips.

“Let's get in a good workout.”

Your eyelids lower as he moves in.

“Dude, wake up!”

The whispered yell made you jump, and you barely collected yourself. The nudge from your friend had your head turning and nodded, trying to straighten your form.

“Thanks.”

You mouth.

This has been happening a lot. Since that night in your apartment, you’ve been having constant daydreams about said mutant. It’s frustrating how much he consumes your every thought. Even worse that he hadn’t really made a move on you.

To be fair, they were crimefighters. Their night schedules were busy and your day plans were hectic. You tried to squeeze in as much time as possible, but there was always that point where things just didn’t align. Whenever you got to see them, you just had such a good time. You’d spend the time playing games or training. There was hardly a point where you could speak to Raph alone.

Heaving your duffle on your shoulder, you walked through the lair with a sigh.

“Hey (Y/N)!”

Mikey’s greeting had you smiling.

“Hey, did you just get done training?” He nodded happily.

“Raph and Leo are still going. Donnie and I got knocked out of the finals.” He joked.

“I’ll go and make sure they aren’t training all night.”

Knowing the two, it would never end. They were both too stubborn to let the other win.

As you walked into the dojo, you weren’t even surprised.

“Ready to lose Leo!”

“Not a chance!”

They rushed at each other, weapons drawn. The metal clinked and you just dropped your bag on the floor, waiting for them to take notice that they had an audience.

“Getting rusty.” Raph taunts.

They were both pushing against each other with no resistance. Leo did a backflip, obviously trying to reevaluate what the best course of action was. Raph played with his sais, flipping them back and forth around his wrists.

“Room for one more.”

They both turned at your voice and you waved.

“Sorry Leo, but it’s my turn.”

You pointed at your watch, and he straightened, looking at the clock on the wall.

“Wow, it’s only been three hours.” Leo spoke.

“Only, and three hours should not go in the same sentence. “ You laugh.

He smiled, sheathing his blades.

“Guess we’ll have to finish this later.” Leo stated.

“Sounds like ya quitting.” Raph calls. Leo just waved him off, giving you a pat on the shoulder.

“Good luck.” He offered.

Just like that he was walking down the hall.

Raph slid his blades into his pouch, and you did a stretch. When you felt satisfied, you slid your shirt over your head. You placed a right next to your bag, and when you turned back, Raph’s eyes were on you.

For a moment you felt a bit bashful. You’d literally done that a million times, but things were a little different now. You divert your gaze.

“L-Let’s get started.”

Hopefully the workout would distract you.

So you began.

Raph has never been one to hold back. You already know this.

So your body hitting the mat half a dozen times for the evening wasn’t a surprise.

You grunted everytime you were flipped over.

Each hit knocked the wind out of your body.

“Stop trying to flip me over, I ain’t ya college friends.” He was teasing.

You grumbled.

“It’s not my fault you’re so big.”

He just offered a smirk looking down at you and your cheeks tinted red at how unintentionally dirty that sounded.

“Stupid brain, focus!!”

He was kicking your butt. You needed to retaliate.

You jumped back to your feet, and Raph backed up, ready for you.

Rushing at him, you fired a few punches, all of which he evaded. He made a grab at your hand, and you just barely dodged to move. Dropping low, you used your leg to knock his feet from under him, but he jumped. You rolled to the side, shooting back upright. While you were trying to ground your feet again, Raph took advantage, tackling you.

“OOF!”

Your back hit the mat, and you huffed as Raph pinned you to the ground.

“C-Cheap shot!”

You complained, clearly out of breath.

His breathing wasn’t much better. You were still trying to gather yourself and you seemed to realize the lack of distance. Your chest rose and fell a bit more steadily.

“You can..let me up now..”

Even though it was your suggestion, you didn’t exactly hate your current position.

“Maybe ya should move me.” He taunted playfully.

You couldn’t stop the grin, wrapping your legs around his hips, you tried to use your weight to push him over, but he barely budged and the both of you started laughing.

“This is so unfair you’re as heavy as a truck.”

You whined, giggling. He straightened, pulling you up with him. The sudden tug caused you to fall right into his lap. You could tell from his reaction that he hadn’t planned for that. Your hands braced on his chest, and you looked up into his eyes.

Raph visibly swallowed at the adjusted position and the last of your restraint disappeared. You reached up, grabbing both of his cheeks as you kissed him. He was obviously caught by surprise, hands raised a bit awkwardly.

When he finally reciprocated, you let out a soft sound and Raph pulled you closer, hands smoothening on your hips.

“Finally..”

You’d been dying to just feel him.

Taste him.

You shifted, holding on just a little tighter. Raph didn’t mind.

When the both of you finally parted, you were smiling.

“That kiss is gonna cost ya.”

“I hope it does.”

You replied confidently, pulling him back in. 

[iwitch-plus]

Heya :) it's been a while!

Hi, my name is Dolly (she/her) and I've had this blog for quite some time! In the past I've done things like open up free readings, or create discord servers as a way to feel a sense of community, but this time around I think I'm okay with just being here instead of seeking attention and validation. A new era of this blog marks my first steps toward ACTUAL self-discovery and growth.

This was initially a side blog but now it's the main one I use. But since it's technically a side blog, if you see any likes/follows from @ibitch-plus that's me lol!

I just thought I'd make a pinned post sharing a little about myself, and I'll try to keep it brief but I'm bad at that.

The direction this blog is going to be going is ideally going to be personal, intimate, focused on my own growth as a person, and focused on my growth in my practice. I plan on being vulnerable and fairly open but not to the point where it's a burden on followers. I just want this to become a safe space for myself and others to share if they have been feeling like they're lacking in personal growth/their practice. You're not alone! And you're welcome to follow me and join me on my journey to help inspire your own journey!

I'm 23, I'm a Virgo sun, Gemini moon, Gemini rising, and I have an air dominant chart with a Gemini stellium!

I started researching and learning about Witchcraft in 2014/2015, so I guess I’ve been practicing on and off for 8-ish years. Still feel like a baby witch though, and ready to keep learning.

While I do love witchy aesthetics, my witchy blog has always been more dedicated to research, resources, and text posts along with my own personal photos, anecdotes, spells, and journey.

My witchy interests include:

Tarot

Herbalism

Botany

Kitchen Witchery

Astrology

The Moon

Sigils

Glamour Magic

Low effort Witchcraft

Natural products (making my own salves, tinctures, balms, etc!)

Aphrodite

All Greek pantheon, honestly

Spirits/Entities/Demons/Deities of all kinds

Crystals

Pendulums, and most other forms of divination

Mixology

Probably so many more but I can't think of any more specific ones!

My non witchy interests include:

Video games! Mostly Nintendo Switch gaming and cozy games but I play a lot of stuff on PC and some on other consoles, too!

Cartoons! Kids cartoons, adult cartoons, anime. I just like it better when it doesn't have real people in it. I love Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, recently been into Bob's Burgers, I'm just a big cartoon fan!

Cats! I have 2 boy kitties, a little black one and a big ol' orange dude. They're my favorite, and I love pretty much all cats in general.

Piercings and tattoos! I work in a tattoo shop, currently working on my piercing apprenticeship!

Mixology! Again, lol! I find the art of making and creating cocktails to be very witchy, but also just super fun in non-witchy ways.

Fashion! I love clothes and shoes, and I can never stick to one aesthetic

Pool! Like, as in billiards! Super random but it's fun and I've gotten a lot better over the past couple years!

Pretty much any hobby ever! Soap making, candle making, baking, embroidery, hand sewing, cosmetic making, jewelry making, singing, makeup, playing instruments, I just love to do it all.

Okay that's enough about me, like I said I'm bad at keeping it brief but there ya go! Can't wait to get back into the community. <3

[quitefair]

From Sea to Shore: A Josephine Montilyet lore/meta project

Start reading here!

Hi, hello. I suppose introductions are in order.  

My name is Meera and I am a fan (derogatory) of Dragon Age. Have been since 2014, the moment my ears heard the Dragon Age Inquisition theme. (I’m a sucker for soundtracks, I can count on my hand the number of interests I’ve dived into solely because of the soundtrack.)

The reason I’m so fascinated with Dragon Age, as with many people on this site and beyond are, is because of the rich and complex lore that is contained within the world of Thedas. Whether it be within the games themselves, or the massive catalogue of supplemental media – books, comics, short stories published online, the massive hardcover bible of The World of Thedas, etc.

I think you can see where I’m going with this.

Dragon Age is known for… well. Not putting shit into their game. Which is arguably, the most important part of Dragon Age. Yknow. The games? Couple this with the fact that the writers are known to retcon things left right and centre… leaving fans with a, if you don’t mind my language, piss poor understanding of anything beyond surface level.

Now I’m not going to argue semantics about topics that I am clearly not qualified to talk about. I’m still learning things. So while I do read some absolutely delightful discussions on the Mage-Templar war, Tranquility, the Dalish, the Qun… I’m not qualified enough to write proper discussions on these serious and interesting topics.

Instead, I’m armed with having read too many books and watched too many shows. So, what I can do is to look at characters within Dragon Age that I have an unhealthy obsession with, and try to make sense of their stories.

And guess who I’ve decided to start talking about first?

[source]

I’m gonna start off by mentioning that I haven’t done anything like this before. My only credentials are having been unhealthily obsessed with this game franchise for coming onto 9 years now, and owning The World of Thedas 2. Which I haven’t read in its entirety. (Bioware please… put your motherfucking lore in your games, im beggin…) But I have been researching a lot of things recently while planning a frankly quite complicated Dragon Age fic, and after reading a lot of very well written meta on tumblr, and also realizing I enjoy writing my own, I thought I’d take a stab at it myself.

One of the main things I’ve been researching is Josephine and her backstory. On a surface level, it is easy to love her. She’s kind and sweet and absolutely adorable. Her romance fuels my entire existence. She is my Wife and I love her character to the ends of the earth.

But as with a lot of the characters newly introduced in Inquisition, she suffers from a scattered plot, a very superficial stance in the political scheme of things (despite being the political ambassador of Inquisition??? hello???), and is often reduced to several one-dimensional tropes that grate on my nerves.

I’m not discrediting people who enjoy her character as it is. Hell, I spent years loving her story as it is. But I am doing this as an aspiring writer and lover of stories, and a lover of complex, nuanced characters. I see Josephine as a character, much like many others in Dragon Age, who has so much potential to be more. I also see her story in the base game as being quite solid in itself, but is presented in a very scattered, messy way, that you as a player character, might not understand the full impact of.

This series is going to be equal parts laying down the lore of Josephine and the Montilyet family, in a way that people can easily understand and build their own meta and headcanons off, and also for me to speculate and build on my own meta that I’ve been working on. I’m not sure how many parts it’s going to be, we’ll take things as they come.

If you’ve made it this far, kudos for listening to this dude ramble for a thousand words. The real shit comes in a bit. Hope you enjoy.

(Josie in this picture is so me coded when I’m ranting in my Word document so I had to leave this here.)

[youwerenevermiine]

matty on taylor in the past few years

“She came to a show and we hung out. We fancied each other, but then we couldn’t have it go any further, because it would be like going out with Barack Obama.” He says there was nothing misogynistic about his comments, he was simply being honest: he didn’t like the prospect of two giant egos clashing and him coming off second best."

The Guardian, Nov 2016

"Now I may admit to being an idiot on occasion, but I am not a misogynist. This suggestion makes me really sad.

I was for a very short time immersed in a celebrity world that I found confusing and scary. At that time, I had fears of being 'somebody's boyfriend' (remember this is all speculation as we never dated!) before even being recognized for my music or presence as a person in my own right.

Now I don't pride myself on being more intelligent, or worldly, or wise, or progressive, or even regressive than the next man but I DO pride self on being honest. I was being HONEST about all the thoughts, feelings, and situations that come along when people ASSUME you are dating the most famous woman on the planet. I am telling you from experience it's an all-consuming whirlwind and something that for me elicited a lot of self-exploration.

Now if you want to talk about Taylor Swift, that is easy…. Since she came to my show in December of 2014, I would say that 90 perfect of journalists that have interviewed me have asked about either her as a person or what our 'interaction' was like. I have said on countless occasions that I found her to be one of the most gracious, hard working, creatively gifted, and beautiful women that I have had the pleasure to meet. I personally have a lot of respect and admiration for her. Why would I not?

Now imagine what it's like for her, bless her. I didn't even date Taylor, but the media's incessant and brutal obsession with her has meant that even a guy who DIDN'T DATE HER has been so battered by their never-ending questions that he's inevitably said something that can be lifted and molded into something that resembles 'shade'. It's really sad."

Twitter, March 2016

"I went over to her. I was like, ‘Taylor, we need to make the record.’ No, I didn’t. She said hello to every single person. Obviously it’s Taylor Swift so everyone was saying hello. She was just stood behind me. She was talking to people. I mean, I haven’t seen Taylor in years so it was actually a really nice room. But it, unfortunately, wasn’t the time for me to pitch my post-rock Joni Mitchell project to [her].

She’ll do it. She’ll do it. She’s smarter than both of us, mate. She knows what she’s up to. I mean, I mean she’s got stuff like Lover knocking around as well, which she was already making. We think that she’s going back there. That song’s good.”

New Music Daily on Apple Music with Zane Lowe, 2019

"You know what? I'll talk quickly about Taylor Swift, just about music because it's quite interesting and Zane Lowe is such a good friend of mine now. I thought that I'd nailed it with an idea because I was talking to him about records. I was like, 'Dude. I'm a genius. You know what I'm gonna try and do? I want Taylor Swift...she needs to do like...' and then before I said it, he was like, 'Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen?' I was like, 'No, but I was gonna say Blue by Joni Mitchell. Why did you say Nebraska? That's the exactly the same kind of thing.' And he was like, 'Of course man.'

Like, Taylor Swift doing a "It's me on an acoustic guitar" record? I can't think of a record that would sell more than that. Like, "Taylor Swift's intimate return to country". Of course you'd wanna produce that! Of course you do. But she wouldn't do that because it would age her. She's incredibly ageless and incredibly beautiful physically and she's got this thing of being very young. But as soon as you do that as an artist like that, it means you're like a woman. You know what I mean? So she's gonna sit on that idea. But Taylor, if you ever want someone to help you set up the mics for your little acoustic record, I'm there."

The Green Room with Neil Griffiths (32:09), Oct 2019

[ros13pos13]

So I just watch the FNAF movie (no spoilers) I thought it was both good and meh. I really can't complain that much since I've been in love with the FNAF franchise since the day it first dropped in 2014. I'm just so overwhelmed with joy that it actually got made in the first place

Things I loved about the movie

• the animatronics themselves! Having them be actual, PRACTICAL props was such an amazing call on Blumhouse and Scott as a collective especially with the rise of cgi.

• the mc

Having mike have the trauma that he does really makes it grounded and real for me at least. I've got two little boys. I know damn well that if someone did what happened to them with what happened in the movie I'd do what Mike did.

•Abby

I really like her addition to the FNAF universe. I understand that the movie isn't one to one with the games nor the books but more like a sliver in its own timeline. That's just fine. Abby is adorable and the way she acts is so reminiscent to those akin to possession. It's so good.

• Vanessa

Even tho at first I was a little sceptical with her addition at first. I really liked how she was in the movie. I think her and Mike work well together. I love her chemistry with Abby and all together seem like a cute gang.

Now things I didn't quite like. I will go into spoilers for the end of the movie so if you don't want to be spoiled SKIP THE REST OF THIS!

• LAST CHANCE SPOILERS AHEAD

⚠️ NOT KIDDING SPOILERS AHEAD!

•so....the bit twist at the end....

Ehhh....I didn't care for it all that much. I mean it deffo got an audible gasp out of me but....now that I'm not in movie mode. It was kinda...idk dumb? Remember these are MY OPTIONS on the movie. But idk I feel like how are they gonna go about explaining what happeneds or how it happenes later on

Like okay so In the established lore willy has 3kids

Mike

Elizabeth

Crying child

So his (Afton's) died bc of Henry. So that kicks off the events of FNAF. So with the twist that happens. Hooww are they gonna do this? Like I have faith in them. Especially bc it's going to be a trilogy. But I am confused.

•henry Emily

There was NO MENTION of him. Vanessa said that there was a co-owner but that was it. No name dropping no nothing. Are they gonna go back to Fred bears family diner in the 2nd movie a la FNAF 1 and 2? Or what.

• the spring lock failure. I LOVED how Vanessa demoed it with the broom handle. But then in practice. It went so slow. It's supposed to be a rubber band snapping. Quick. Boom. Dead. (Well not for willy) but like. It was SO SLOW and ugh no screaming just some light grunting? My dude you're not having sexy fun time you're literally getting impaled by multiple metal, sharp, rusty locks. Wheres the screaming. Ugh.

• Another thing I LOVED (jumping around here I know) is the bodies that where stuffed Into the suits. Loved that scene.

But that's pretty much all my options on the movie. Again done get pissed at me if you get spoiled I gave fair warning.

[gobbluthbutagirl]

last night my sister, who’s 21 with a 1-year-old son(whose father is a deadbeat pothead and contributes nothing financially to his upbringing), and who makes like $10 an hour working full-time in a daycare where she’s exposed to every disease under the sun, was like, “would you guys judge me if i quit the daycare and went back to working at wendy’s? wendy’s pays a little bit more and it’s way less stressful and if i could work part-time in the mornings only i could start taking college classes in the afternoons/evenings/nights.” and of course we’re all like No of course we wouldn’t judge you that sounds like a really great idea! Except for my fucking brother who was like, “why would you want to work at wendy’s when you could come work at dunkin with me?” and we were all like matthew we literally don’t even want YOU working at dunkin why in god’s name would she want to join you.

And keep in mind over the past few months dunkin literally demoted my brother from manager to assistant manager, reduced his pay, and brought over this insane woman from another dunkin to replace him. And she came to work high, did shots while on the clock, and was arrested back in 2014 along with several of her family members for keeping 15 children in a filthy trailer. And she hired this dude that everyone told her not to hire because he had bad vibes AS A SHIFT LEAD and literal weeks later(he didn’t even make it a month) he got fired for actually smoking meth on the job. and he also once got written up for leaving the sink running all night when he closed. And she also hired this 25-year-old white girl who never had a job before in her life who had a panic attack when they put her in the drive thru window one day and then like two days later suggested she should be in the drive thru window instead of her black coworker because “our tips will be higher if people see a white girl in the window” and then quit after less than a week of working there because “i’m not racist, and you guys are bullying me for my analytical mind.” And now that new manager has already quit and they’ve already brought in some old dude to be the NEW new manager and they’re paying him a dollar more than they used to pay my brother when he was the manager.

and my brother is like, “you wouldn’t even want me working there if i was the manager?” And i was like no because you already were the manager and you fucking sucked at it because you dedicated all your time to the job and totally neglected your actual life and you got in so much trouble for all the overtime you gave yourself that they literally demoted you. And then my dad was like, maybe you should go work at wendy’s with abby and he got SO offended. And yet he still didn’t seem to understand why she was offended when he suggested she work at dunkin with him. and meanwhile she’s still kind of outlining her reasons for wanting to leave the daycare, all very good and valid reasons, and my brother is over there acting like a fucking clown. Like making fun of my mom’s accent and trying to get her to say certain words so he can record it and all of this nonsense. and my sister is trying to have a serious conversation with everybody about her future and what she wants to do with her life for her own sake and the sake of her son, and she’s clearly thought about this a lot and is nervous to share it with us!!! like, now is not the fucking time! So i’m like, matthew i think you’re being kind of inappropriate right now. And one thing about me is if EYE have to be the one to tell you you’re being inappropriate, you are REALLY being fucking inappropriate. so he kind of shut up after that and didn’t say anything else. But he also didn’t say anything really in support of our sister and it’s like, what the hell???

Like, terminal case of dunkin brain rot over here. and just because you’ve worked at this one lame ass dead end job for a quarter of your life(he’s 24 and has been there since he was 18) doesn’t mean you can’t be happy for your little sister who is making the decision to take steps to improve her quality of life!! like what the hell man. i really don’t get it.

[femme-enby]

For anyone who isn’t into Doctor Who, or who hasn’t been active in the fandom or really engaging at all online… folks are STILL fussin over Doctor Who “turning liberal” “becoming a part of the left wing media” etc etc.

Now, me, having ADHD, struggling a bit durin the winter months, I decided to start watching doctor who from the beginning. I’d never done that btw, I think in the end I’ve watched just about every episode OF (New) Doctor Who, but not in order. Just went through a time where every single time it was on I’d watch it. Didn’t matter if I sat there for hours watching BBC show Doctor Who reruns, I was watching.

But I digress, a bit, what I’m sayin is I have started watching it, in order, back to back episodes. I work third shift, ain’t much else to do since the world didn’t really go back to having “24 hour” stores and such, so I just gotta chill at home really.

But here’s the thing… the fuck do they mean Doctor Who BECAME liberal/leftist???

I’m watching this show and while sure there have been one or two moments that made me go “ah yeah, definitely still an episode from 2005” where they make a small comment about like, Mickey screaming “like a girl” (I’m seeing a frilly skirt, and pigtails!”)

Doctor Who has still been LARGELY progressive, since the first episodes of “New Who” in 2005.

We got Captain Jack in 2005. A dude who seems fairly masculine, could potentially “pass” as straight at first glance… until he turns that EXACT same charm he’s using on some woman onto the man right next to her. Because as Doc said, humans are… curious creatures. We find out there’s a whole bunch of other sentient species out in the stars, we go out and socialize and… we “dance.” Again, 2005.

Doc directly shut down a controlling misogynistic husband, in the 50s mind you, when that sort of behavior was the norm. Him and Rose even had a bit of fun with needling at him, puttin him down. 2006.

First direct mention of racial issues was 2007, very brief of course but it was still mentioned that Martha had concerns being black at a time where there were indeed enslaved Africans, and she even was like “wtf” when Shakespeare was “complimenting” her with outdated terms for a beautiful black woman.

Then we get to the Great Depression episode, and they’re in a Hooverville, and they have a man mention “they’ve got money to continue building the Empire State Building, while they’ve got hundreds of folks starving in the parks just below.” So still 2007, critiquing how money will go anywhere BUT the folks in need of help.

That’s as far as I’ve gotten in my binging, but let’s skip ahead a bit for now, the eleventh doctor, who btw if anyone has forgotten, thought for a moment he had regenerated into a woman bc his hair was a bit long. So yeah, we knew then it was a possibility for Doc.

2013, The General, (who apparently had supposedly always regenerated into a woman? AFAIK or remember these previous regenerations were unseen) an older bald, seemingly white man, regenerated into a younger black woman.

In 2014, we meet Missy and find out she is The Master’s latest regeneration. A character who was a man regenerated into a woman.

In 2015 Missy mentions having cared for the doctor since “he was a little girl.” So the doctor had been a girl at one point.

This is all “Pre Thirteen,” before the show “went terribly woke” as some folks have said.

Those are folks that clearly just could never get the undercurrent theme of Doctor Who, which was that we, as todays humans, are generally considered “behind the times” by most other planet’s and time’s cultures. Doctor Who has always been about the fact that on these adventures, plenty of times WE are the “aliens” who need to learn and adapt to these new cultures.

Another thing… the companions have always been there as a stand in for viewers. As folks gain rights and are more proud of who they are, yeah, you’re gonna see more marginalized communities represented as companions and human friends of the Doctor… bc they’re SUPPOSED to represent all of us, and new companions are gonna more closely resemble new fans, so they can have their turn traveling with The Doctor.

[evas-apartment]

Alright! So, I got a wrestling story, and it's gonna be a bit long, but I wanted to talk about it, cause I think it's wild. I'm gonna put it under a cut, just not to take up too much of your dash, but I hope you read it!

My favorite wrestler currently working is a guy named CM Punk. He's worked all over, been active from like '99, been around. Excellent promo, dude can fucking TALK, really good in the ring, can tell a great story. Without giving his whole fucking history, worked in a bunch of companies, signed with WWE in 2005, won basically everything there, THE biggest thing in wrestling in 2011, never main-evented Wrestlemania, felt some type of way about it, currently has the 7th longest WWE Championship reign of all time, dude's decorated. Punk was sick for a while, the WWE doctor misdiagnosed a staph infection he had, gave him copious antibiotics for it, it didn't work, Punk almost died, WWE killed his love for wrestling, he leaves, actually gets treated for his staph infection, gets fired on his fucking wedding day in 2014, sues WWE for almost killing him, wins.

CM Punk is out of wrestling from 2014-2019, comes back for a wrestling talk-show on FS1 for a bit, doesn't amount to much. In the mean time, another wrestling company comes up called All Elite Wrestling, it's excellent, awesome in-ring stuff, awesome stories, jesus fucking christ we actually have another wrestling company to watch cause it was basically just WWE for major American wrestling since 200-fucking-1. AEW CEO Tony Khan wants to bring in CM Punk, Punk is pretty sure he wants to come back to wrestling, but unfortunately it's now 2020. No crowds. We're not doing this. Able to hold off until August 2021, when CM Punk sells out the United Center in Chicago (famously his home town) based off the RUMOR that he signed with AEW, he hadn't been formally announced yet, cause he's the fucking goat.

Punk comes back, has excellent match after excellent match, excellent promo after excellent promo, a man who already had a hall of fame career was putting out some of the best stuff of his entire life, we were fucking EATING. I'm DYING to see the love of my life live and in person, things are going well.

My IRL best friend who also likes wrestling always said, hey, if they announce a joint AEW and NJPW (the top Japanese wrestling promotion, famous for extremely good wrestling) show, we're going. They announce it for June 26th, 2022. In Chicago. CM Punk's hometown. In May of 2022, CM Punk after months of teasing, is challenging for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship against Hangman Adam Page, another of my favorites.

May 29th, 2022, at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view, CM Punk wins the motherfucking World Heavyweight Championship, BASICALLY, my favorite wrestler beat my best friend's favorite wrestler for the grandest prize in all of wrestling, he yelled, I yelled, it was magical. We're going to Chicago, Punk's coming to Chicago, I'm going to see my sexy man with the sexy belt receiving a hometown reaction with the fucking GOLD around his waist.

Five days after winning the belt, CM Punk jumps into the crowd at a show, to be amongst HIS people, beloved. Punk bangs his foot against the guardrail went crowd dicing. My beautiful boy smashes his fucking foot apart. He's out of action. Punk isn't going to Chicago. I'm going to Chicago.

We go to Chicago, have some of the most fun I've ever had in my entire life, watch a supremely excellent wrestling pay-per-view live, loved it, would do it again. What a shame Punk couldn't be there. They crown an interim AEW WHC, Jon Moxley. That's okay, I really like Jon, he deserves it.

August 10th, 2022, CM Punk makes his triumphant return to AEW, I'm stoked, we have a big show coming up in September, time to unify the interim and world heavyweight belts so Punk can have his reign. Right?

August 24th, 2022. They jump the gun. Jon Moxley is from Cincinnati, Ohio. This show is taking place in nearby Cleveland. Oh no. The crowd LOVES Mox and HATES Punk. Jon absolutely squashes Punk in 3 minutes to become the AEW Undisputed Champion. Oh god oh fuck. But it's okay! The September show, AEW All Out is in Chicago! Cause it always is! Punk will get his win back, and we'll get the Punk reign we all want!.......................right?

Punk's coming to Chicago.

September 4th, 2022. AEW All Out in Chicago. CM Punk defeats Jon Moxley in a great match to regain the AEW World Heavyweight Championship. I'm happy. Me and my bff watch it live in theatres like we do every PPV. We enjoy it thoroughly, we leave. I get home to all this news about the post show media scrum that took place, and the things Punk said. It's BIG. news. Oh god. Oh fuck.

CM Punk. Tired, bloody, battered, and your brand new AEW Champion goes on a BLISTERING tirade about his coworkers, wrestling, wrestling media, everything. It's bad. It's darkly entertaining, but it's bad. He's sitting next to AEW CEO Tony Khan saying things like calling executive Vice Presidents of AEW and fellow wrestlers, the tag team the Young Bucks guys who "couldn't manage a fucking Target". He accuses the Bucks, and people in their circle of feeding negative stories about Punk to wrestling media. Perhaps most damaging, he talk about the man he first beat to become world champion in AEW, Hangman Adam Page, a generally well-like and respected man. Page infamously said in an interview that he doesn't take advice from anyone, and likes to figure out things for himself. Alright Hanger, weird but you do you. On this, Punk called Hangman, and this is a quote, an "empty-headed fucking dumb fuck" who "never accomplished anything in this business". Really harsh Punk, genuinely not cool. This scrum hurt him, I think. It hurt the belt he just won, Adam Page's most prominent achievement, and it damages the company you work for. A black spot for us Punk fans, but.... I mean.... how bad could things be, right? Apologize, go into damage control...............................................................................................right?

Punk finishes the press conference by saying, essentially "if anyone has a fucking problem with me, say it to my fucking face. At the end of they day, wrestlers are people with feelings. You guys should be more respectful of that, and more mindful of the stories you guys put out. Thank you." It's over. Punk leaves, belt in tact. The Bucks take his advice, and go talk to Punk in his dressing room.

A fight breaks out. people get punched, a guy gets bit, chairs get thrown, I believe a dog was hurt, it was awful. There's so much misinformation, and mythologizing about what has been since known as "Brawl Out" that it's hard for me to reliably tell you guys anything about it, cause it's extremely hard to know who or what to trust. It was really bad. In that match Punk had with Jon Moxley, Punk did a dive to outside the ring and tore his triceps. He's hurt again. Due to this, and the backstage fight, CM Punk is forced to relinquish his world championship for a second time. He's held the belt twice, and only defended it one time. I'm apoplectic y'all. Oh god, oh fuck.

During ALL of this, during All Out, the show, they announce that the November PPV, AEW Full Gear is taking place in my homestate, the greatest place on earth, New Jersey, at the Prudential Center. I watch the show. Punk wins the belt. Punk is coming to New Jersey! I though, the absolute fucking fool I was. Punk isn't coming to New Jersey you stupid slut.

I bought tickets to Chicago to see my king CM Punk. Punk couldn't make it. I buy tickets to Newark to go see my babygirl CM Punk, Punk can't make it (sounds like my childhood lol).

CM Punk has yet to officially come back to AEW. He's been out mending his triceps injury. But. In the same way that he was TOTALLY signing with AEW, but not officially announced, it has been reliably reported that AEW is going to announce THIS WEDNESDAY that a brand new TV Show on Saturday's is going to be airing. There will be one roster of guys working the Wednesday shows, one roster of guys working the Saturday shows. It is widely speculated that CM Punk is going to be working on Saturdays. CM Punk on his insta, in between reels of him watching hockey, and reels of working out (working out for what, huh??? 👀👀👀), he likes a post about someone buying tickets to the AEW Collision shows, airing on Saturday. Ladies and Gentlemen, delusions aside, I believe. The king of my world, my favorite professional wrestler on the planet CM Punk. Will be returning to AEW to kick off this brand new television show. Do you wanna know how I know? They announced a couple of dates they're hitting, a couple in Canada, ONE IN NEW JERSEY, and one elsewhere, they haven't announced it yet. They're announcing it this Wednesday. Internet sleuths have figured out where. On the date in question, Saturday June 17th, The United Center is booked for a show. The same venue I went to see him initially. In CM Punk's hometown. Of Chicago, Illinois.

BABES IT'S HAPPENING. AND THE COLLISION TOUR IS COMING TO THE PRUDENTIAL CENTER IN NEW JERSEY. AFTER GOD AND ALL OF HIS BASTARD ANGELS HAVE CURSED ME AND MY FUCKING LIFE. STOPPING ME FROM SEEING MY FUCKING SWEETHEART CM PUNK LIVE BEFORE MY EYES. NOT ONCE BUT TWICE. THIRD'S TIME THE CHARM. I'M GOING. I BOUGHT THE TICKETS ALREADY. I'M GOING TO SEE CM PUNK AT AEW COLLISION SATURDAY 22ND, 2023. IT'S HAPPENING, IT'S HAPPENING, IT'S FUCKING HAPPENING. I HAVE FLOOR SEATS. SUMMER OF PUNK 2023 BABEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.

I mean, hopefully. lol.

If you read this, I love you dearly, and i would kiss you on the mouth. I know it's a lot, but wrestling is my thing. so. indulge me why dontcha. if you have any questions, or wanna talk about it, i'm more than willing. i'm not proofreading this, i've already spent 45 minutes writing this bye-bye love youuuuuuuuuuuuuu <3

[its-a-swift-kloss]

I'm sorry but Kaylor Tumblr is an echo chamber right now, and dumb echo chamber at that.

Everyone including Swifties have been bored of the pap walks Taylor has been doing with her friends since after the first two or three she's done after dumping Toe, nobody wants to see Taylor do the same boring pap walks with the same boring people at the same boring restraunts while the vast majority of people think that her current street style looks like complete crap.

Swifties were so bored of all this boring shit that Taylor's doing for the 1989 TV rollout that a lot of them were coming up with wild theories about how there is going to be a secret B-side to 1989 TV that has vault tracks with titles that don't sound boring as shit and collabs with actually cool and interesting celebrities. The excitement Taylor drummed up for Swifties with the Google vault puzzle didn't even last that long, the excitement all died off within two hours of Taylor announcing the vault track names and Swifties went back to coming up with "theories" to try and make 1989 TV and everything around it less boring.

Taylor bearding with this football dude was actually a good move for her to make because now Swifties aren't bored to death over how lackluster the rollout for 1989 TV is anymore and now she's got the attention of people who wouldn't be interested in her without this dude as potential new consumers of her products and the only downside of her doing this was pissing off a miniscule section of her fandom, Gaylors, who have a major issue with too many of them acting like awful over-entitled brats because she's her own person who handles her closet exactly the way she wants to instead of coming out of the closest for the benefits of others even thought Taylor's indicated in her most recent album Midnights that coming out of the closet just so others can benefit is something she has zero interest or intention of doing.

Hello, anon. So, let me see if I got it right. You think everyone was bored and that's why Taylor had to get a beard? That he'll solve all the problems by keeping swifties occupied and boosting her sales? I don't even- lol first, if your fanbase is so thirsty for news or entertainment that they can't sit still for a few weeks, something is wrong in the way you handle them. She's either sending the wrong signals, spoiling them with too much content to the point that when one thing happens (like the vault to solve), they're already antsy for the next thing. Did they forget about the year she spent away?? Maybe they need reminding. If you kept up with her during 2014-2015, you'll remember what it was like the 1989 era - she did promote that album a lot. It worked and she didn't need a guy for it, how crazy. What I think most ppl around me are saying, is that she's the Taylor Swift. She doesn't need a man to boost her numbers. Sure, she's reaching a new territory and a new audience with this stunt, but she doesn't need it to make big bucks. She's at the top of her game, she's reaching a new high every day. Just check the charts or how her concerts are sold out. Not to mention that 1989 is an era based on her being single and happy, her preaching all around about having fun with her friends and enjoying life without a relationship. That seems to have been thrown out of the window now. She could do better promo if she wanted to, bc we've seen it before. Now it seems like even if she just dumped her last beard in the first semester, she can't go more than a few months without a guy. What message does it send, anon? Ppl have every right to be annoyed, even if we do understand she's doing it for even bigger numbers and to have a wider audience. Most of us have been here for years keeping up with her story. As far as I've seen, no one is being an asshole demanding her to come out or whatever. They're just wondering why this same old story again. You're allowed your feelings and opinions, anon, but remember, so are we.

[breesays]

Life is a highway?

I forgot how much I loved driving to think, driving to work things out. When I (finally) got my license (21) and I lived in OC, I would drive up and down PCH - sometimes to silence, sometimes to music. Or maybe I didn’t forget, I just didn’t have access to it. Everything has been maps and efficiency and $20 for parking since I moved to Los Angeles. 

I do walk and hike to think. But I lost driving and I think the clouds and the air and the surroundings lend itself to a certain mindset.

I thought a lot today, during our 6-hour commute from Mountain View, about how I quit nostalgia in 2015. I met Tim in 2014, and I really thought it was the best thing to do at the time. A lot of my life as a writer has been digging into and drawing from past experiences, but I decided to make a hard line. I stopped reflecting, I didn’t listen to older music, I changed my name. I thought I could make a new me, a new future. 

I packed away those journals, made new playlists. No one told Tim that when I was asked if I wanted to get married, I replied, “I want a wedding.” 

I’ve thought so much about the time I begged my Dad for some connections for Jeff (1st bf) and he said, “I thought you didn’t like people.” I’ve thought about it so much I’m pretty sure it was woven into my wedding speech. My Dad is gone, but maybe he knew me better than I knew myself. He had three daughters, a whole family before us. He knew I was different. 

The frustrating thing is, I knew I was different. 

I thought I could fake it til I made it. I thought I could dull, water down my personality enough that I could just pass for someone else. A thread of apathy. Fatigue. It was a disservice to Tim and to all the relationships I tried to create or maintain before it, but I didn’t know any other way. I knew I wanted to share experiences, banter, to secure some kind of a bond. 

There was never any opt-out for sex, do you understand? That was the pinnacle of intimacy, all you have left. 3 dates or 3 months or 7 years past, it was an offering, a bridge. Why did the ace have sex? To get to the other side of the relationship.

I’ve forced myself into so many relationships because the dude made me laugh and that released some kind of chemical in my brain that said “spend more time with this human.” One of the humans I wanted to spend the most time with was one I felt I worked well with. I’ve never thought, “I want to have sex with this person” and it was alarming to me that this thought occurs to other people. I like that he had a language and I had a language and he could translate mine -- that brought me so much joy. “bree speak”

When things are sharp and clear,  I don’t want to negotiate with my bodily autonomy. But, it’s a tool. And so is blackout drinking. 

The thing I want to do is be there for those 5th graders who know their own mind. I’m not saying a detour is not worthy. Desmond has an incredible origin story now. But I’m choosing to view my experiences through a lens of humor and philosophy. I’m reframing. The journey is not without its pain points. We didn’t know any better, but now we do.

[fahrni]

Saturday Morning Coffee

Good morning from Charlottesville, Virginia! ☕️

Erik Pedersen • Deadline

James Earl Jones, the revered actor who voiced Star Wars villain Darth Vader, starred in Field of Dreams and many other films and Broadway shows and is an EGOT winner, died this morning at his home in Dutchess County, NY. He was 93.

My favorite James Earl Jones film is Field of Dreams. When he gave his speech about Baseball I teared up. He as a great actor and by all accounts a kind man.

Julio Merino

Over the years, I’ve repeatedly heard that Windows NT is a very advanced operating system and, being a Unix person myself, it has bothered me to not know why. I’ve been meaning to answer this question for years and I can do so now, which means I want to present you my findings.

A great analysis of Windows NT. I’ve been a fan of the OS since it shipped and even got a chance to work on the Windows NT Stress Testing team during the development of Windows NT 3.51. The last time I used Windows as my daily driver was in early 2014. It’s been a minute.

I own my career to Windows and my Visio mentors. All of those lovely people were exceedingly kind and taught me how to write Windows apps. It was a magical, golden, era of software development.

Anywho, NT is a great OS.

Lawrence Hodge • Jalopnik

Hoonigan Files For Bankruptcy With $1.2 Billion In Debt

This is a real shame. If you’ve never seen the Gymkhana series of videos you should they’re incredible. Ken Block was an amazing driver — yes, that Ken Block.

My favorite of all the Gymkhana videos is the first one I saw. It was GYMKHANA SEVEN, in LA.

Marta Biino • Semafor

The European Court of Justice took aim at both Apple and Google on Tuesday, ruling that the tech giants owe billions in taxes and fines in two key cases.

A lot of hot takes on this subject this week. When you get as big and powerful as Apple and Google you’re bound to attract the attention of regulators. Just ask Microsoft.

Jillian Frankel • NBC News

Former President Donald Trump, who makes frequent false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen through rampant fraud, warned Saturday that he would attempt to imprison anyone who engages in “unscrupulous behavior” during the 2024 race results.

Unhinged, unfit, and mentally inept. A perfect combination for the Office of the President, right? 🤬

This dude can go straight to hell.

Louie Mantia

How much is enough for Apple? When will they have enough money? It seems to me there’s nothing they can’t have or build with the money they’ve accumulated.

I think a lot of us Apple fans think this way, Louie. Unfortunately Apple is beholden to good old capitalists. They want their quarterly profits. That means brining home the bacon! 🐷

Apple will eventually have their downturn. It happened to Microsoft after they got too big for their own good, but they adapted and turned things around.

Apple is entering their “all regulatory agencies have an eye on us” phase. I suspect it’ll get worse before it gets better.

Andy Kalmowitz • Jalopnik

Abandoned Tesla Cybertruck Becomes Tourist Destination In Seattle

I mean most people should abandon their Cybertrucks. They’re $100,000 Space Karen stan garbage.

Menachem Z. Rosensaft • Newsweek

Several NASCAR teams have come forward with accusations of coercion and threats during recent charter negotiations. This revelation has cast a shadow over the ongoing discussions, sparking controversy and raising serious concerns about the sport’s governance and financial stability.

The business side of NASCAR has become interesting. Teams have to re-up their charters every few years. That seems wrong to me. I’d love to see them change that system to a franchise system like the NFL. You buy it once and hopefully the value rises so if you sell it you can make a profit.

I fantasize about running NASCAR and all the changes I’d make. That would be the first change. Help the teams stay profitable.

23XI — pronounced “twenty-three eleven” — is one of the two teams who didn’t sign the agreement. Michael Jordon is a co-owner of that team.

Yahoo Sports

Tua Tagovailoa suffers another concussion from hard hit in 31-10 loss to Bills

Mr. Tagovailoa is very young and has a lot of football left in him, but if I were him, I’d retire. CTE is a real thing and it may result in a mush brain later in life.

Retire and enjoy your family.

<rob.crabapples.net/uploads/2…>

[37-children-of-the-dreams]

Hello there

I'm back, and I'm surpised I survived this week. I my university, whole week we were just sitting doing nothing, at all, almost for 7-8 hours a day, and having Phone but you can really watch anything, maybe only messaging, it wont help. Also, dude in laboratory who was supposed to help us ruined my work. We were making tearose experiment, and if you put one more HCl drop in liquid it would turn pink, and not peach like colour. There should be in the end 3 bottles with almost simmilar tearoses. I finaly made one, and showed it to this dude, and he said it fine, but by any reason added one drop of HCl and it turned bright pink and it was ruined, and he said to remake it. Ok, I did it, but other two ruined bottles at the end of lesson from bright pink turned back to tearose, so at first I had 1/3 success and in the end I got 3/3 success.

Also, they said us to pour into smaller bottler concetrated HCl from canisters without anything, any protection. Only I brought one, cause I'm allergic to anything, but damn, thats shit. Also, these teachers themselves were pouring acid on their hands.

Also, about monsuno, I was in one store, which is still selling things from early 2000 until 2014,and all by same price, but it's so Unknown place, so I mostly know about it) and it had monsuno, a lot, but not exact toys, but gear and a lot, A LOT of metal capsules. It also had "in my pocket" old toys, twisty animal bracelets, old ones, and even bakugan. I'm obsessed coming here. And it's all New and very cheap.

Well anon, at least you managed to salvage your experiment. That’s the important part, though sorry that your class seems boring or unhelpful, that is something all students have to find out the hard way.

I know, I have a family member in the same college right now and our old organic chemistry teacher has retired so they’re dealing with a new organic chemistry teacher, and my poor family member has to deal with his unreliable teaching methods to the point that she became the class tutor despite being a sophomore and just learning about organic chemistry this semester. She is so not qualified to be a tutor and they’re learning on the fly with her helping them since the teacher can’t teach them what they need, and I can’t help her either because I had the old organic chemistry teacher and I don’t even know what they are learning in that class. I don’t even know what they’re doing in the Chem lab and that’s lifesaving grade giver. I hope her next class will be better because she gained insomnia from this class and had a stress induced stomach ache from the first test.

Also anon. At least you didn’t have a lab that involved a flood due to years of college chemistry lab work poured into the sewer system and had to mop the floor because you were the one who pointed out the flooding. And then get to hear that if you didn’t point it out that the janitors would never known that the flooding went to three other connected chemistry labs. That was me. I had pointed out a leak thinking it came from an ice cooler my class was using only for it to be coming from the drainage hole. My partner and I still salvaged our experiment despite some issues due to the flooding, but my shoes had to be cleaned and I took a very long shower.

Anyway, that’s so cool that you found those Monsuno figures! Hope you got the ones you wanted because you earned it since chemistry lab work isn’t all safe for people who are just learning how chemistry works or even those who have been doing chemistry for years. Unless you’re the chemistry teacher since my chem professor loves showing the class cool chemistry stuff that includes fire. So get you some Monsuno!

[mikeywayarchive]

David Debiak & My Chemical Romance’s Mikey Way Talk New Project, Electric Century, & Overcoming Addiction

In a rare interview, former My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way discusses future plans with post-MCR project Electric Century, a collaboration with longtime friend David Debiak, which has already…

By Maria Sherman

May 24th 2017

Full interview under the cut:

Four years ago, My Chemical Romance disbanded. Since then, each of its members have pursued solo music endeavors in some capacity: Frontman Gerard Way and lead guitarist Ray Toro have unveiled solo LPs, and rhythm guitarist Frank Iero released two — under frnkiero and the cellebration, later adopting his current moniker, Frank Iero and the Patience.

The odd man out is bassist Mikey Way (Gerard’s brother), who, right after MCR’s dissolution, actually seemed to be the the most active musician. He quickly announced a new project, Electric Century, with longtime friend David Debiak (Sleep Station, New London Fire) and in Feb. 2014, released a debut single, “I Lied.” Almost as quickly as they began, things went south for the band, or so it seemed: when Way thought he was meeting his pal to finish their debut album that same month, Debiak had other plans, and drove Way to a rehab facility where he received long-needed treatment.

Electric Century’s journey has been a complicated one of personal growth, loss and addiction. They released their debut LP, ForThe Night to Control as a freebie in a 2016 issue of U.K. magazine Kerrang! The album will get an official release for the first time ever July 14 via New Jersey indie label Panic State Records. It’s an unusual approach to introducing a new band to the world — while Electric Century has been around since the end of My Chemical Romance, they’ve actually just begun.  

Confused? We were too, so we asked Way (EC’s multi-instrumentalist and backing vocalist) and Debiak (lead singer and also, player of several instruments) to break it down for us. Below, listen to the band’s New Order-channeling single “You Got It All Wrong” and read their first in-depth chat in years:

You guys have known each other for a long time now. How did you meet?

Mikey Way: We’ve known each other for 15, 20 years. Dave’s brother works at Eyeball Records [My Chemical Romance’s label] and we immediately hit it off. 

David Debiak: We shared a rehearsal space. The first conversation I ever had with Mikey, we were talking about music and I said, “Dude, want to play some bass?” He said, “Last week my brother asked me to start playing with him, so I think I’m going to give that a shot.” 

The course of history could’ve changed!

Way: New Jersey, like every scene, is incestuous. A bunch of my friends who went on to start bands that are still playing asked me to play something in their band. I was always like “Me and my brother, we’ve got this plan.” There are so many instances of like, “Wow, what would’ve happened?” 

When did Electric Century officially start? Was it right after My Chemical Romance called it quits?

Way: It did. I was doing a lot of soul-searching at that time. I still had a lot to say, musically. I had a lot of riffs and vocal melodies lying around. It was pretty seamless jump. There was no time between. 

Debiak: We started talking about doing something together when Mikey was on the last leg of the last My Chemical Romance tour.

At that time, were you aware My Chemical Romance was breaking up?

Way: If anything, I thought we were taking break. I thought, “Now is the time because we’re taking a break.” Eventually we all decided it should be more than a break. We initially thought it was going to be a break, then we all did some soul-searching and decided, “No, this is definitely the end.”

When you started writing together, did you know that this is the sound you were going to pursue? It’s different from My Chem — pretty goth-y, ’80s, English…

Way: Yeah! Britpop, new wave. I always wanted to scratch that New Order itch. Since I was a teenager, I wanted to do my version of New Order. I was in middle school when I came up with the name Electric Century. I was in science class, I remember. I used to write band names on my notebook. I came up with Electric Century and was like, “Whoa, I like that, I’m going to remember that one!” 

Did you immediately consider Electric Century a serious endeavor to pursue?

Way: Oh yeah. There was a ton of label interest. It got very serious very fast. We started getting attention that I didn’t see very often. Alternative Press had given us a cover at some point and we hadn’t ever played a show. MTV was talking to us as it was unfolding. People were excited.

“I Lied” is the first Electric Century song you released, back in Feb. 2014. That’s also when you conducted the MTV interview where Mikey told them, “I’m a drug addict, I’ve been a drug addict my whole life.” Lyrics aren’t always transparent but in that song you mention darkness, filling veins, lying — I think lying is a dead giveaway with addiction. Was it meant to be autobiographical?

Way: When we were writing that song, Dave saw what was happening. Drug addicts are notorious liars and at the time, I was a notorious liar about my addiction, that I didn’t have a problem. I was in denial for decades. It was fitting that it was the first song anyone could listen to and that it was released while I was getting admitted into rehab. All of it was this weird cosmic joke — art imitating life imitating art.

Electric Century spent most of that year in the dark. Later, Mikey, you revealed that it was because you went into rehab.

Way: I came home [to New Jersey in February] but I wasn’t there to record. [Dave] was going to take me to a facility. I thought we were going to finish the album. I woke up at Dave’s house, we went for coffee and I said, “When are we starting?” and he said, “You’re not here to record.”

Debiak: I lured you out here with the thought process that we were going to record and on your way out I researched what facilities were available and who had room. I drove you that day and not for a second did you put up a fight. It was more important for you to get help than for us to finish the album.

Way: It was a relief. It was something I put off for a very long time. That’s the thing about Dave, he cares about me like we’re from the same parent. You don’t run into many people like that in life. 

Mikey, do you think the end of My Chemical Romance, something so tied to your identity, acted as a catalyst for your self-destructive behavior?

Way: 100 percent. The band ended, and I was going through a divorce at the same time. I do the most stressful things in clumps. The way I knew how to deal with that, through life, was to self-medicate so that’s what I did. The tail end of My Chem was so dark for me — I was in a fog. Life caught up with me at that point, and I was getting by. I was in the ocean with the water by my lips. I was trying to stay up and I was failing. I had always self-soothed through narcotics from an early age. 

When you get out of rehab, especially as much damage as I had done to myself, you’re basically starting over. You’re standing outside of this house that you built, you’re lighting it on fire and you have to start over again. You have to learn how to get back what you had without being high. For me to be me, sober, that was the true journey afterwards. When you get out of rehab, that’s when the real s–t starts. 

Debiak: I came up to visit you in rehab and we did “Let You Get Away.” We borrowed someone’s old school boom box to play music on and we talked about that song a lot.

That song is the next one you shared, in 2015. Then you released a self-titled EP for Record Store Day — it reads like you were easing back into the project post-rehab. Were you testing the waters, gauging interest, or is that how you work — you release things when you have songs to release? 

Debiak: Both. Watching Mikey come back together again — he had to rebuild his life — I was in no rush to make him do that faster than he needed to. As he started feeling better, we starting talking more Electric Century. There was a period were we didn’t talk at all because he was going through the pains of growing and learning how to be sober. That was more important than Electric Century.

Last year you released your debut LP, For theNight to Control, through U.K. rock publication Kerrang! It seemed like you wanted to make something temporary because it’s limited edition and only a few people would ever hear it. 

Way: I was trying to emulate the excitement of when we were teenagers. Like, “Ok Computer comes out at this time, let’s go to the city and wait in front of HMV and we can buy it at midnight.” The only way to do that is to couple it with something. I wanted to give it away. The money thing isn’t a factor. I thought it was more of a statement. We’re releasing it to one part of the world. It’s still not out yet, technically. If you bought the magazine, you have a copy, but it’s not out.

Why give it an official release now?

Way: I was waiting until my life finally made sense again. I woke up one day last summer and it was like, “Yo, there he is!” I had finally gotten myself back 100 percent. Prior to that, I started to creep back into it. I did the Alternative Press Music Awards where I played bass with [Black Veil Brides’] Andy Black. Over the summer I had secretly gone out and played bass with Waterparks on their U.K. tour. I was doing things again. I was re-establishing myself with music again. We didn’t immediately jump back into the machine, which would’ve been a mistake. It’s purely for the joy of it.

What’s in store for the future?

Way: Me and Dave are working on the second Electric Century record. We’re planning two shows: one in New Jersey and one in L.A. It’s a matter of when. I think, down the line, I would love to play the U.K. and Japan with this. I could see us touring this, but I don’t want to jinx it. The project has been around so long, but it’s still new to us.

For The Night to Control is available for pre-order here.

You can read the interview here

[dirt-grub]

oh hey hello here he is!!! my gemsona!!!

he’s an emerald and a rebel starship pilot :3c

[twpsyn-who]

I love the fact that this month I have been talking and going places for this new job I'm meant to start on Monday, but apparently I have done absolutely nothing this entire time only because I had to wait for them to call me so I could go sign the fucking contract (:

This ungrateful piece of shit that now is also doing absolutely nothing to 'bring money in the house' because that's what we should give a fuck about, not your child being able to make a goddamn future for themselves when they literally panics while talking with people.

I really hope everything works well and this job will last at the very least a few months, just just to see his reaction when he will notice that I'm contributing with absolutely nothing to this house. Fucking hell, I can not believe all my childhood I actually felt like a blight to these people and tried my best to ask for as little money as possible (ending in me lacking things that could have made my school period a lot easier).

Now I feel bad that I didn't ask for money every fucking day in the past 10 years.

[ladiemars]

Hello ^^! I hope you’re doing well!

I came by to say I absolutely LOVE your art in general but the Wayhaven content has been keeping me afloat waiting for book 3 xD

I would also love to learn more about Frankie :3

1. If she had to make a road trip playlist and could only pick 5 songs what would they be?

2. What is Frankie’s favorite movie

3. If Frankie ended up on a deserted island what 3 books would she have with her?

4. What would Frankie’s hobby(s) be?

I hope you have a lovely week thank you again for all your work 💖

EEEEE THANK YOU! <3 this is like the nicest compliment ever. i was yearning so bad for wayhaven content myself, and if i’m helping another person get their fill during this hiatus, then i must be doing something right.

(i was a senior in high school when i first discovered wayhaven, and i remember going to my prom for 45 minutes then getting bored and going home to play book one in bed again like, “i wonder what this adam dude’s problem is!” now i’m going to be a senior in college, and i realized it’s been over two years since book 2 released, which is the longest wayhaven hiatus i’ve ever experienced as a fan of the series. i needed to see those little idiots get themselves caught in another supernatural mess.)

anyway, thank you so much for asking about frankie—i was smiling so hard when i got this. answers are below the cut!

1. this is suuuch a good question. i listen to a ton of genres and i love thinking about a character’s specific sound. frankie is atmospheric indie with heavy guitar, and i think her five picks would be:

-> cloudy eyes by covey

-> mind over matter by young the giant

-> do you love by machineheart

-> green eyes by joseph

-> no woman by whitney

2. her favorite movie is probably either gone girl (2014) or midsommar (2019). i can’t decide, but i like to imagine unit bravo watches them with her one night, and as the marathon goes on, they all throw increasingly concerned looks in her direction.

3. i think the three books she would bring with her are wuthering heights by emily brontë (“he’s more myself than i am. whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”), the handmaid’s tale by margaret atwood (“nolite te bastardes carborundorum. don't let the bastards grind you down.”), and brute by emily skaja (“he said i didn’t always love you / he said i didn’t want to tell you to wait for me / but wait for me”). they probably really resonate with her, and all those lines i added are things that she has violently annotated.

4. frankie would probably say, “my hobby is my job,” which is absolutely vile. i would say chess. she was a really big chess player back in high school—however, that’s a hobby that she kind of abandoned once she went to college and her life became career-oriented. she still loves it though, and makes lame ass chess jokes like calling the overly complicated coffee machine in the office “deep blue” that no one laughs at. she also probably loves word games, like the daily crossword in the newspaper. a tragedy, given that her ex-boyfriend is bobby.