#this is going in my actual dq tag

[todayisafridaynight]

YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEE PRICELESS IS SO GOOD RIGHT... LOVE THE ENDING FOR THAT... and very much anticipating First Penguin's... which I am DETERMINED to continued today... I feel bad for falling behind because I ended up binging a whole anime yesterday since the secondary protagonist was based on Tsutsumi and lost track of Fucking Everything 😭😭😭he is so cute though😚

OH BUT YEAH I played DQXI's demo [the first ten hours of the game or so]... yeaaahhhh... definitely that kind of game for me too... but I hope whenever you get back to it you have a good time! I may not know a thing about Metroid but I am also happy to hear it was an enjoyable experience overall :] I enjoy the tag rambles very much :]

REGARDLESS... EPIC... I HOPE YOU ENJOY SP... OR AT THE VERY LEAST I HOPE YOU CAN STICK WITH IT UNTIL IT BECOMES ENJOYABLE...

AND YOU'RE JUST NOT GOING TO DROP THE TITLE so mean telling me about all these interesting things to watch and not sharin the title (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)

TEN HOURS FOR THE DEMO ??? long as hell demo... OH BUT NO i love the games a lot !! ive followed the series for a while since. i do have that dragon ball/toriyama fanatic in me unfortunately even if i dont like toriyama himself ☠️☠️ i only really got to actually start one of the games last year when my bro got DQXI for me and ive been loving it so far (*￣▽￣*)ミ|Ю

i've BEEN enjoying it so far !! i'm just about to start episode four tho i AM gonna lose my mind if this hospital arc goes on one more episode bro this half the series already ☠️

[general-cyno]

I sort of rambled about this in the tags of a post, but I wanted to make a proper one myself since I find it very fascinating (law backstory flashback you will always be famous). so one of my favorite scenes is this one:

it is a very meaningful moment for these two, a very clear turning point to their dynamic at that time, and it's made even clearer by how law starts referring to rocinante as cora-san afterwards.

now, there are several instances throughout dressrosa arc where the similarities between doflamingo and law are mentioned, with the former going as far as to call them both birds of a feather. and as it's shown in the flashbacks, reading about flevance was enough to trigger doflamingo's traumatizing memories of his and rocinante's childhood, which seems to motivate him to bring law into the family. the way law seeks to lash out at everything then is reminiscent of doflamingo's own worldview and experiences, at least from his pov:

rocinante noticed those similarities as well and though he tried to (questionably) discourage all kids from joining the DQ pirates by scaring them away, law's case in particular prompted him to bring up the topic with sengoku at some point, as seen during sengoku's conversation with law.

sengoku repeats what everyone says about the amber lead disease, that it's incurable, and warns rocinante not to favor law much for it could jeopardize his mission. whether rocinante's agreement here was reluctant or not ig is up to each reader but learning of law's real/full name (his relation to the D clan) reignites his initial worries and some more, considering the historic opposition/threat the D represents wrt celestial dragons and how this could endanger him if doflamingo were to find out.

so there's even bigger reasons for rocinante to not want law to become doflamingo 2.0. though as he later admits amidst his drunken speech, the will of D no longer matters to him when it comes to saving law, as rocinante's journey to cure his disease ends up making him feel genuine sympathy for law beyond that. he's forced to witness first hand how much discrimination and dehumanization law's subjected to time and time again, because of his disease and ties to flevance. before all this, law's mentioned his imminent death more than a few times and does it after too. and during the first disastrous hospital visit, he tells rocinante: see? I'm not even human anymore!

which brings me to this bit of dialogue:

for all of law's similarities and/or parallels to doflamingo, it's worth noting that rocinante experienced the same things his brother did and due to his younger age probably understood even less of what was happening or why they were being targeted in the first place. compared to doflamingo, rocinante also has way less dialogue in their backstory but one he does have is this:

this happens in the part where rocinante, doflamingo and their father are strung up on a wall and shot at with arrows. the villagers all express their anger, grief, the violence and suffering they've gone through because of celestial dragons like the donquixotes. albeit different in nature, along with doflamingo, rocinante experienced a kind of dehumanization as well.

so, again: for all that law might resemble doflamingo the most, I do wonder... how much of himself did rocinante see in law, though subconsciously? a kid who lost his family, subjected to the kind of violence that led him to resign himself to death (seek it, even) and was treated by others as inhuman because of circumstances out of his control? it might've not been what rocinante believed to be his own motivations to help law, likely never actually saw or realized the similarities they shared, but imo it adds some more depth to his kindness and sympathy towards law.

this also marks a stark difference between the donquixote brothers. whereas doflamingo got caught up in a very vicious cycle (which traces back to the existence of celestial dragons as a whole and was further enabled by others like trebol) that he planned to continue with law, rocinante was able to see past law's rage and acknowledge the pain beneath. after all, rocinante knows too what it's like to be hurt by others who've been terribly hurt first and became someone who wasn't exactly keen on returning the sentiment, unlike doflamingo, regardless of whether it was in his nature to be so or if it's something that was nurtured as he grew up. that's not to say rocinante was an endlessly kind saint (he had his own biased views) or that he wasn't capable of violence (he did beat up all those medical staff and burn down hospitals for example), but those incidents weren't caused by a sense of entitlement on his part or such. he didn't blame law for stabbing him or in general for seeking revenge against the world, ultimately chose to protect and save him instead - which, indeed, changed law's life. as law presently insists, he owes cora not just that very life but his heart as well.

lastly - law himself might not disagree with doflamingo insisting they're of the same sort, but law is also the kid who couldn't fathom leaving his dying little sister behind. who softened and lowered his guard after receiving genuine kindness/love/sympathy for the first time in years. who saved a little mink and risked his own neck later on to save a boy who'd just lost his brother in the worst way possible. who didn't even consider putting his crew in danger when he knew (and expected) he might die and his whole revenge plan against doflamingo was rooted in love and grief to begin with, the same upon which the foundation of his crew was built and is a tribute to. last we saw of him, law orders bepo to go back in winner island because can't leave the crew behind, etc etc, so there's that too. how much of it is law's own nature and personality? how much is due to the impact cora had on him? both? would've doflamingo turned out differently or made different choices if his parents had tried harder to school him out of those CD views or if he'd had more positive influences aside from them, instead of the people he ended up surrounded by? would he have become the same kind of person he is rn no matter what? interesting stuff to think about.

[puroresu-musings]

NOAH "THE NEW YEAR" 2024 Review (Jan 2nd, 2024, Ariake Arena, Tokyo)

1, GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Title 3-Way Elimination Match - Alpha Wolf & Dragon Bane (c) vs. Alejandro & Ninja Mack vs. YO-HEY & Tadasuke ***3/4

2, Jake Lee, Jack Morris & Anthony Greene vs. El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Titus Alexander & Vinnie Massaro **1/2

3, Masa Kitamiya vs. Tomohiro Ishii ****1/2+

4, Go Shiozaki vs. Satoshi Kojima ****

5, Great Sakuya & Nagisa Nozaki vs. Haruka Umesaki & Miyuki Takase **1/2

6, Takashi Sugiura vs. Ulka Sasaki ***

7, Hiroshi Tanahashi & HAYATA vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinari Ogawa ***1/2

8, GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship - Daga (c) vs. Eita ***

9, NOAH/NJPW vs. House of Torture 12 Man Elimination Match - Kaito Kiyomiya, Shota Umino, Daiki Inaba, Shuji Kondo, Ryohei Oiwa & Junta Miyawaki vs. EVIL, Ren Narita, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo ***3/4

10, GHC Heavyweight Championship - Kenoh (c) vs. Manabu Soya ****1/2

11, Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kota Ibushi *

This was my first full NOAH show I've watched in forever and it was a great watch. They pulled in a great crowd of over 5K, it had very good matches up and down the card, two fantastic bouts, but unfortunately it ended with one of the worst matches you're likely to see all year...

Things started hot with the Jr. Tag Title 3-Way. You know what to expect here; lots of crazy spots, not much in the way of traditional "psychology", and 100mph action. The crowd loved this and it was a great way to kick things off. There was confusion over the elimination nature of this one, and had it ended after after the first fall, I think I'd have liked it more, but it was a great little opener with the GLG duo of YO-HEY and Tadasuke eliminating both opponents at 8:48 and 12:24 respectively to win the straps. Things cooled down a tad with the next match, which was decent enough but just your standard 6-Man, which saw the GLG were victorious again.

The next match was something of a Dream Match for me, one that's been teased for a good couple of years now as Ishii and Kitomiya, two of my favourite guys from their respective companies, had an absolute war that is a strong MOTYC only two days in! You know what to expect here, it was tsandard Ishii big match fair, which is always tremendous. They pounded each other with chops, Lariats, headbutts, forearms punches and suplexes for 15:04, before Ishii got the win with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster. Amazing. The next match too was excellent as Go Shiozaki went over ageless veteran Satoshi Kojima, in a battle of the Go-wan Lariats! This was great, and kept relatively short at 13:56. Shiozaki won after an exchange of Lariats. Go formed a new faction called Team NOAH in the post-match.

Next up we got a couple of interesting debuts. "The Great Muta's daughter" Great Sakuya (Riko Kawahata) debuted in a doubles clash which ended in a DQ after she blew the dreaded Dokukiri in poor Umesaki's face. This was very silly, and the crowd were dead for it, but whilst it certainly wasn't great, it certainly wasn't bad either. The next match was better as former MMA fighter Ulka Sasaki battled NOAH legend Takashi Sugiura in a nice little exhibition. Sasaki looked good here, and it featured some good sequences, before Sugiura naturally won at the 11 minute mark with the Olympic Yossen Slam.

After intermission we got the ZSJ/Ogawa vs. Tana/HAYATA tag match. This was really good, as you'd expect, though at nearly 18 minutes it was a little long. They teased a lot of stuff with Zack and Tanahashi for their TV Title match at the Dome tomorrow. Sabre Jr. won for his team when he submitted HAYATA with a crazy leg stretch. The GHC Jr. Title bout was decent enough, as Daga retained over Eita in exactly 13 minutes. I expected a bit more here, and it ultimatly came off as a bit of a squash as Daga dominated the whole thing, despite the crowd really wanting Eita to win. The 6 on 6 Elimationation match was actually a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it. Like everyone else, I'm at the end of my tether with this HoT stuff (and don't even get me started on Narita's inexplicably asinine inclusion in this nonsense), BUT, this match proves if done right, it can be pretty great. Obviously we got all the token House silliness like the never-ending stream of low blows, interference and incompetent refereeing, but it built really well as it boiled down to Kaito and EVIL, with Kiyomiya looking like a hero as he overcame the odds and sent EVIL to the floor with a Shining Wizard at the 26:14 mark to win for the babyfaces.

The first half of the Double Main Event; Kenoh's GHC Heavyweight Title defence against former tag partner Manabu Soya came next and it was another fantastic, hard-hitting war, and another early MOTYC. We all know Kenoh's great, and I've always been a fan of Soya since his All Japan days, but he's kind of lingered in the NOAH mid-card since arriving and gotten lost in the shuffle somewhat. Well this was a coming out party if ever there were one, both guys looked fantastic here, and I was worried someone was going to get legit KO'd at points, given how hard they were hitting each other. Kenoh missed a Moonsault knee drop by a considerable margin at the end there, but recovered well by devastating the big man with some headkicks and got the submission win at 28:36 with the Kenoh Special. Excellent, excellent match. Shiozaki came out in the post match and challenged Strong Fist to a title match, which will be happening on January 13th. Count me in as these two always have great matches together. And this is where I'd recommend everyone just turn this show off...

The Marufuji/Ibushi main event *sigh*... look I'm sure everyone already knows about this match, something that once upon a time was a dream match, but in the harsh realities of 2024, was an abject nightmare. This match was all kinds of bad, as Ibushi came into this thing banged up to oblivion and physically incapable of doing... anything, really. AND IT WENT 33:26!!! Which honestly felt like a good couple of hours watching live. Ibushi announced he was working through a broken hand and foot in the days prior, and when he made his entrance with tears streaming down his face, I feared the worst. The reality is this match shouldn't have happened, or if it did, have it go like 10 minutes maximum or something. And certainly don't have it be the main event! It was total insanity to book this to go north of 30 minutes. But even then, nobody made Ibushi try to do his signature spots in this thing. The guy couldn't even get himself up to go over the ropes on a backdrop, so what made him think attempting a Moonsault to the floor was a wise move? Well, he seemingly broke his ankle doing so, and the match only descended into more of a train wreck from there. The crowd were dead, almost like they were at a funeral, the "action" was a level lower than snail pace, and watching it was a profoundly sad experience. I never thought I'd see the day when the Keiji Muto of 2023 looked more mobile and having more business being in the ring than Kota Ibushi ever. Ibushi won with Kamigoye to put everyone out of their misery, none more so than the two guys in the match, then there was a totally bizarre post match where Kiyomiya and Jake Lee came out and seemingly banished Ibushi from NOAH. Ibushi could barely stand or walk on his way to the back, and this is a match I'll never watch again in my life. I had thought about giving this a DUD, but I couldn't be that harsh given the circumstances. Also, Marufuji did try his best out there, bless him. But the fact is Ibushi needs some time away from the ring to heal. I mean, this could be the end of his illustrious in-ring career, which is beyond heartbreaking, and he's looked a shadow of his former self since he returned to wrestling last Spring, but he wasn't even the same person out there on this show.

All in all, this was a great supershow from NOAH, marred slightly by a catastrophically bad main event, for obvious reasons. But I recommend everyone check it out up the fab Kenoh/Soya match, and just pretend the Ibushi/Maru match never happened.

NDT

[gendervapor14]

8. What song would make a great fic (to either write or read)?

9. How do you find new fic to read?

10. How do you decide what to write?

(if not answered already), and 37 & 38! Fanfic ask meme❤️

ooh hello!! thank you for these!! i did answer #38, but i'll answer #37 for sure!

8. What song would make a great fic (to either write or read)?

ooooo as a music nerd i love this question and i apologize for how longwinded my answer is XD i don't do many songfics or much song-related writing [*shoves the title of two fights for freedom under the rug*] but i do have a ton of playlists and songs that make me think of specific characters or fics. to answer this question, i'll just pick one called "Fever Dream" by Dirt Poor Robins. specifically the part starting just after the 4:00 minute mark. the lyrics make me go INSANE with this idea for a dark/horror dq bros fic where doflamingo realizes that corazon is just a false identity and he can't do anything to get his brother back and it drives him even more insane. these lyrics make me crazy Now here comes the liar (lion) Clawing at your door Drunk on the blood of your brother And he's back for more (apparently the lyric is actually "lion" rather than "liar", but i hear "liar" so therefore i declare it is "liar" for the sake of my own brainrot) imagine a fic where rosinante is the one psychologically tormenting doflamingo!! unsure if i'll ever get around to writing it, but it'd probably have a similar vibe to blood gone sour.

9. How do you find new fic to read?

i usually do a nightly prowl under the one piece fandom on ao3 and either filter by most recent fics with rosinante or bell-mere. otherwise i read recs that are bumped on discord servers, or stories friends write! i'm actually terrible at reading tho i don't read nearly enough. when i have free time, i usually use it to create.

10. How do you decide what to write?

excellent question. i make a list of priorities. sometimes it's disorganized lists on my phone, sometimes i use calendars. first and foremost are things with due dates, so zine work, or gifts for exchanges, birthdays or holidays. next i prioritize stories that are works in progress, but already posted on ao3. i hate having incomplete works posted on ao3, so i strive to get them wrapped up asap. then it's a rabid thunderdome of all my other wips and ideas all wrestling for victory for who gets to be created XD i'm constantly bursting with ideas i never get to work on, unfortunately.

37. Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?

i'm gonna go ahead and promote spitfire and ice because i busted my ass on this for the crackpair event and i was actually really happy with the result? i was assigned makino x kuzan, so i threw bell-mere in there too just to shake things up, and then i fell madly in love with bell-mere x makino and their flirty banter. it captured my heart in a way i was NOT expecting. i guess the tags aren't particularly interesting to most, so it's relatively unknown with only 4 kudos and 31 hits. but look at this!! “Hey, I’ve gotta ask you something.” She leaned over the counter once Makino settled herself and refilled the pitcher for the next round. “Would I still be wanted here…after hours?” With a tight smile, Makino rested her hands over the tabletop. “We’re closed for customers after hours. I need some time to tidy up the place.” “Right, right…” Pretty gray eyes wandered. “But in this situation, I wouldn’t be a customer.” With an amused chuckle, Makino folded her arms over her stomach. “What do you want me to say, Miss Bell-mère? Do you want me to welcome you to my private quarters upstairs?” That exposed chest filled with air. “I wouldn’t be against an invitation.” smh. well, at least i'm proud of it!

ahhh sorry i got so rambly XD i had fun answering these! thank you so much for the questions!! here's the list if anyone else has a question, or wants to reblog it for themselves!

[veroinfaciem]

Hello! I'm here for the WIP Title Tag Game 🥳

May I acquire some information about 'DR st chrysanthemums' and 'DR st head', please?

Sure you can! :D Thank you for the ask @flamboyant-vampire ❤❤❤! 

Both belong to the I've seen you bundle - an AU in which Doflamingo rescues Rosinante from the Sabaody's Auction House - so they were both written as a part of said fic. I'll address only DR st chrysanthemums though, as the other one is actually a huge spoiler to the small climax of the series (if everything will go according to plan and not off rails, as it tends to do xdd) and I wouldn't dare to spoil the fun so much ;) 

I'll try to be vague anyway and put the leak under a cut. 

So! 

DR st chrysanthemums 

Big part of the fic deals with Rosinante's trauma and oh boy oh boy, our precious bean had it hard TvT 

Part of the PTSD can be compared to a constant loop that's hard to break from, it has its patterns. Title refers to a little detail Rosi remembers (among other things), that just keeps resurfacing from time to time under specific circumstances, all of that making him distressed anew.

One such episode finally prompts Rosinante to start a conversation with Doflamingo about a thing that bothers him a lot, which he never had neither the safe space, mental strength, nor self-permission to address directly before.

As it is now, the conversation ends, but the problem stays open with no real closure nor perfect solution behind it (being more of a shallow ‘rational-advice patch’ than anything) -  it's still too early for healing the years worth of damage and the trauma doesn't magically disappear because one opened up a little to another. 

That conversation creates a new trace of thought in Doffy's mind though, one he's not even fully aware of, posing a question - is Doflamingo really as okay after all that happened to them as he thought?

A small snippet from chrysanthemums to tickle your curiosity a bit (again - it may contain spoilers + sorry for all mistakes, English is not my first language TvT):

(TW: slight gore, DQ’s canon past)

---

The first person you killed. Do you remember them? 

Did he?

Doflamingo blinked.

What kind of question even was that?

Of course he did. 

Doflamingo thought back to the blown skull, sawed-off neck and the blond mustache clumped with blood and grimaced inwardly. What a jarring day that was. His wrists were hurting from all that strain, the bone broke only after a solid half an hour of work, that was such a hassle. Heat was pouring down from the sky, everything around was stinking like rotten garbage, Rosi was howling to the sky in utter anguish and the knife was constantly slipping from his blood-drenched fingers. 

Of course he remembered. Father's uselessness was unforgettable, as seas were long and wide. So were its consequences. 

Small flintlock still burned the wood at the bottom of Doflamingo's drawer, and occasionally his mind.

That's also the day when everything started anew, or rather ended. Both. Equal measure. (He never should have left.)

(...)

“I do,” he just said curtly, widening his smile into something more leisure-like and carefree. “Hair and eyes, skin and all- Why the question though? Are the goners even worth any of our precious time? They're dead anyway.”

Yes. Why are you asking, Rosi? What is going on in that head of yours?

Rosinante was wriggling the paper and biting his lip, mulling over an answer, most likely. A nervous gesture if he ever saw one, but the look in those rusty eyes was a growing fog of inner turmoil and it didn't bode well, at all. Pulling Rosinante out from another episode didn't align well with neither Doflamingo’s schedule nor his blood pressure. “You don't have to answer Rosi.”

Still though, he should. He brought the topic up himself.

Rosinante finally settled on some kind of answer, because the pages flew open and his brother started to scribble those blotchy scratches. He tossed him the notepad, gaze wandering around Doffy's face, almost, almost looking him in the eye.

How do you cope? 

Doflamingo stared at the drying ink.

With what, he wanted to ask, but that could be a tad insensitive of him. And besides, Doflamingo thought he could guess that rather accurately. 

Nothing to tell though.

There was nothing to cope with. 

(Right?)

[attackradish]

Hello my mental health is the worst it’s been all year. If not longer

I could verify this by going through my vent tag but I am not going to because that takes time. This trait of mine is part of the problem but I’m not in a place to fix that right now.

ANYWAYS why am I like this. I have some inklings as to why.

Work is now opening an hour sooner. Meaning I have to wake up earlier and I have been losing sleep as a result. This is not good for the Mental Health

Current drama with a coworker that I am not going to go into that because it’s complicated and rather stupid.

Today was supposed to be my Tax Day where I did my Taxes but I was hit by dread this morning so I didn’t get around to it until like 5PM and then realized I don’t have one of my W2 forms and I can’t go looking around for that because my dad will tell me how stupid I am and how I never care about anything and am doing this on purpose. And I actually can’t care about anything I feel, but it’s not like I’m not trying it’s just that I have no soul.

I cannot give my friends the attention they deserve. I am burnt out I have no energy left for being a friend and yet there are people who miss me. And I can’t be there often enough for them not to miss me. I am neglecting them and I am a terrible person but I need to be alone.

I really do feel that I have reached my full potential. There is simply not enough caring or gumption or whatever it is I’m missing in this body of mine to achieve anything further. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to move out or date or even get a job I like better than DQ. I’m done being closeted in my parents house and I’m ready to quit early.

I can’t quit early. Firstoff I have friends who care about me, and I can’t imagine what it’d do to them. I’ve got a baby niece in the house too who smiles when she sees me so I gotta live for her too. And that’s not mentioning how difficult and impractical non-painful methods of dying are. Seriously. Best option I have is locking myself in the walk in freezer with a CO2 canister, but I learned from a cool book I read that high concentrations of CO2 will make you feel like you’re suffocating, and the best gas for that purpose is Nitrogen. Which costs money and is very conspicuous.

I also don’t want to die. I just want the suffering to be over, and death really seems to be the only way out aside from Miracles like universal housing passing within the next year or two, or I attain Godhood and can just do as I please. I think about dying and it makes me want to cry. Being on the verge of tears for long periods of time really does something for my perception of my mental health, being that I haven’t been like this since the family dog died. Maybe crying would do me good.

I should probably get a therapist but I don’t have time or energy for my friends, scheduling these things takes time and effort and I don’t want to have to talk to my parents about it. I should probably get antidepressants. Also my laundry basket from yesterday isn’t even all the way filled up and it’s 9:58. And I have work tomorrow but no uniforms. God I just need to rest.

BUT HERE’S THE THING ABOUT REST. I’VE ALREADY HAD A WEEK OFF OF WORK BECAUSE OF THE FEVER. MY JOB IS UNDERSTAFFED AND I CANT MAKE THEM SUFFER THROUGH THAT AGAIN AT SUCH SHORT NOTICE.

Anyways I have been putting no effort into finding a place since like last year, or finding a therapist. Or really anything. I’m not sure if I can even do that. I have reached my limit. I’m simply not much substance. I’m nice to have around and talk to but quite frankly I don’t have it in me to actually survive on my own. I don’t have it in me to die either. So who knows what is going to happen. I’m going to rot forever. Dying a slow death with nothing but fantasy to dull the edges.

I have a friend who’s offered to let me crash at their place, but I can’t take them up on that offer because I’ll just be the same lifeless rock that I am. Forever. And I can’t do that to them. If I can’t break free on my own then I’m afraid I never will. My chrysalis will just stay gathering dust. Sapping resources. I need to grow wings but I don’t know if I can.

So here I remain. Closeted at my parent’s house. Probably forever. The brain does not engage. I’ve been dead for years but the body still breathes. This is all I am and it is not enough. I’m gonna pretend I live in Star Wars now until I forget the useless thing that I am. I have work tomorrow.

[melsie-sims]

Get to know a Simmer

Thank you so much for the tag @payte! I've gotten two different kinds of "get to know me" asks today and it's been so much fun to reply!

Show your wallpaper: I made this so that it matches my bedroom (where my gaming setup is located). It stretches onto my two monitors.

These are my 3 pets + I love Van Gogh. The blue-eyed kitty actually belongs to my brother but she's lived here for over six months now while he's in-between places.

Last Song You Listened to: Coming Home by Sheppard.

Currently Reading: The Killer Across the Table by John Douglas & Mark Olshaker. (For once I'm actually reading something... it's been a while!)

Last Movie: I watched Frozen II with my one year-old goddaughter recently. It's her favorite! Personally I prefer the first one.

Last Show: The new episodes from The Witcher (yes I watched them all in one sitting).

Craving: Reese's Blizzard from Dairy Queen. Plssss somebody go get me one, the nearest DQ is half an hour away and I don't drive! 😭

What are you wearing right now: Spandex shorts and a black crop top. It's SO HOT here and I've been simming all afternoon so my computer is making my room ten times hotter! 🥵

How tall are you: 5ft3in and 3/4

Piercings: I had both my ears double pierced but I haven't actually worn any since early college days so they've probably closed back up by now.

Tattoos: None 'cause I'm broke and have better things to waste money on (plants... games...) but I REALLY want some!! I actually have 4 ideas/designs saved that I want. I actually really love tattoos on people, they're super attractive.

Glasses/contacts: No.

Last thing you ate: I had pork roast, potatoes and peas for dinner.

Favorite Color: Yellow!

Current obsession: I'm back on my Sims 2 bullshit right now.

Any Pets: Two of my own and a fur niece that's currently living with me!

Bella, my 6 year-old mini aussie. She's the sweetest girl and I'm obsessed with her!

Charlie, my 8 year-old asshole. He hates everything and everyone.

And my brother's cat Willow (it's an older pic, she's gonna be 2 soon... still just a baby!).

Favorite fictional character: Oh man! I have no idea, I love a lot of them... I guess from the shows I've watched recently it'd be Ciri from The Witcher.

Last place you've traveled: I went to Ottawa recently. I don't travel much and definitely nowhere cool.

Not gonna tag anyone specific but if you wanna do this go ahead!!

[insectsinsects]

December is always really vivid to me. I hadn't had a memorable July till this year but winter months seem to carry everything and more about a year. Maybe to it's detriment? It's overwhelmed with thoughts and greetings and travel and metamorphosis? I wonder if those guys who don't use the Gregorian calendar are forced to feel it too. Just the majority of people worrying and smiling and maybe it's a regular Tuesday for them?

Anyway 6 Decembers ago was my first Christmas away from home. I'd spent the summer carelessly and I was tired from boarding school. I think I've always been reckless and volatile, though I feel I am perceived as a stable element. Careless summer was spent driving around my hometown with a funny girl who I knew from choir and we were twitter mutuals. The brutal semester was spent with a person who'd patiently sit down with me and share the ways in which they loved physics. And of course, my parents came down and I hadn't been 4 months separated from them but I was used to their presence after 16 years so it was actually nice.

5 Decembers ago I was unknowingly allied with a future friend's enemy O_O She'd sit on my couch in my dorm and played the role of a wise confidant, as an upperclassman. I hope nothing was ever malicious but oomf did come to hate her next semester for fine reasons so? 😭 Her birthday is tomorrow, and I've always remembered that Saggitarian... And honestly by sometime that year I had begun avoiding physics person (on brand..) and I wrote a time capsule email about it (to myself in 5 year's time!) because I didn't have a blog and because I wanted to see if I could possibly get over it (I did!!!) I was a bit afraid of spotty wifi in the Philippines, so I submitted college apps 3 weeks early LMAO Victoria was waiting on a job offer from her boss who we'd come to learn was a little terribe, but that same night she was confirmed and moved to DC a week after we came back from that trip to the motherland.

4 Decembers ago?! I had met the newest crop of friends I was going to make. New York was so fun. Everything endless and memorable. Flying back used to be tough! They only introduced nonstop flights to Oklahoma like last year😑 But I flew out early and away from my beloved suitemates, my terrible roommate, my friends on other floors, classmate-turned-oomf, and so much more.

3 Decembers ago I'd been attending a different university since NYU was being stingy😭 OU actually treated me so well omg and my classes were fun. I guess by December I was wrapping up but I took a class on film music and I would joyously write an essay about some movie music each week and my professor just littered it with happy comments. I think she was glad I read the textbook and was enthused to learn. Also two weeks later, I got my whole head bleached and my hair was pretty long (not really, but Rapunzel-like to ME and probably if you've only ever known me with a bob/wolfbob). Also (2) I was in the Gensh*n pits (I don't want it in the tags...)

2 Decembers ago! My sister and her now husband were engaged and the three of us went on a mini-roadtrip to Dallas 😭 I like Garrett, he's like if a father figure was considerate... and Kathryn's got 17 years of light parentification on her belt ☠️ Garrett and I got XL Blizzards from DQ and almost died finishing them. Oh they also saw me get my roots done :O Barber cut it way too short but maybe it was cute. Junior year was so funny and cute💖 I worked hard and I was back home pretty late due to a stats final (Bombed)

Last December I spent my last week with my last set of randomized roommates and my friends! This was a funny time of year. I did a crazy amount that last week and in many ways it was a bender (Avatar in 4D cocktail☠️) but I do know oomf (yes you!) was the last person I saw. We played Minecraft on your Xbox after I obtained a second controller over Thanksgiving. We drank tall boys? I checked into my flight easily and I went home anxiously. I wonder if I could've seriously applied to school back then (Because it was lowkey not that serious lol) [actually I should be forced to reckon with my tantrums and the many times per week I was like IT'S OVER..] but I hadn't applied to school! And I was nervous to tell my parents that though I was a big investment, I was a failure. I cut my bangs too short on December 18 and hid it under a hat for a week till it grew a little more. I felt weird having red hair in Oklahoma, though it was cool to my contemporaries? My mom was sad knowing how much grief the thoughts were causing me. She told me I should rely on her more and talk to her. It's taken me all of the ensuing year to really be good about that advice. It's just easier to fail myself. I had tunnel vision— the potential for shame was only accompanied by a sense of pity and contempt. I genuinely couldn't believe my family would continue loving me. I drank with my dad so we wouldn't talk about anything real, and I painted with my mother to divert from the chaos.

[unlikelywrestlingfan]

Elle Goes to Shows: Chicago Heat Night 2

Notes under the cut! More spoilers for upcoming episodes in this one, so keep that in mind

Night 2:

When Tom Hannifan was doing his entrance, they started to play his normal music, then switched it to "SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake 😂. A fan asked him why they did that after the show and he was like "I don't know, I guess they like me? I'm not in charge of the sound" XD

Champagne Singh was on both preshows, and we had an excellent time chanting "CHEAP CHAMPAGNE!"

There was a random table with nothing but a tablecloth and like a water bottle on it in front of us and two random dudes that I'd never seen on staff before sitting at it. So we were like okay someone's going through this. We figured it was for the Bully Ray vs. Black Taurus no dq, but it was actually PCO murdering those two guys before putting Singh through the table RIGHT IN FRONT OF US ALKDJALDKJA. It was SO COOL!! Singh was bleeding a bit afterwards and I couldn't tell if it was a blood capsule, a blading, or accidental blood, but I hope he's alright.

I could not choose between Kushi and Speedy so I chanted for both of them and then thankfully there was eventually a "both these guys" chant. Their match was AMAZING.

They played a "live video" of Bully Ray up on the tron telling PCO he wasn't going to be in Chicago, so I started a cheer because yay no Bully Ray! XD

Eric Young's entrance is INTENSE AF in person.

There was a post match attack by The Design against Eric Young, and the ref ended up outside the ring, kneeling in front of us, and I think it was Deaner yelling that she sucked, so I yelled back "SHE'S COOL, YOU SUCK" and she turned back to look at me and went, "Right?!"

Ace cannot even move around the turnbuckle normally.

Partway through their match, Bey was legal, and he brought one of the Good Hands to the ABC corner and told Ace to put his boot up on the turnbuckle so he could smash the guy's head into it. The ref was like NO and so Ace stood back and smiled and was like she said no! So Bey was like, "okay I'll put my boot up" and did and the ref was like AALDKJADLKJ. Ace was so SMUGLY I'm good boy I'll listen to the ref! Then, once Ace was tagged in, if I heard him correctly, Bey said "Babyface? BabyACE! Put that on a shirt!"

Apparently Ace's hair needed to be pulled both nights.

Sabin was so intense in his match, serious faced the whole time. I fell harder for him.

After the show, we lined up for the titanium stuff. Deonna was casually handing out one of the things (signed pictures of Moose) and I was like !!hi!! and she smiled and hi!! XD

Then they handed out pieces of different signed table pieces from events. I got one that I think is signed by Masha and Jordynne from the episode where they had a table spot before a ppv match.

My brother made it over to the meet n greet before it ended, sadly I did not. He got a picture with ABC and he makes them look short XD. He told me that they were super cool to him and that he told Ace I love him, which is A) very embarrassing, and B) a lie.

My brother and I have loved Matthew Rehwoldt since his Aiden English days back in NXT. He was hanging around chatting with some fans after they wrapped the post show, so my brother decided to go up to him and get a selfie. I hung back, because I was scared. Then, I heard my brother putting me over to Rehwoldt and I was like aldkjadlkjadlkas and wanted to punch his arm so I went over and said hi and shook his hand. My brother and I were like we loved the Vaudevillains and I was like Shakespeare!! And Rehwoldt was like Yes!! and I was like I did my thesis on Othello and he was like that's awesome!!!! And I mentioned that people are always like "what do you mean you study classic shakespeare and watch wrestling?" and how I'm like they're the same fucking thing!!! And he was like yes wrestling is the purest form of theater, it's theater in the round every day!!! and we fistbumped. SO GOOD.

I told the owner guy my favorite person I haven't met is Speedball, and he was like "okay talk to me the first day of Bound For Glory and I'll introduce you to him" and shook my hand and I'm like ALDKA LDSK WHAT WHY but also highly doubt he'll remember that he said that and assume he will look at me like I'm crazy if I mention it. Another woman standing near us was like Speedball is so nice I do commentary with his wife for Effy's Big Gay Brunch and I was like ALKDJALDKJALDK HI.

[danwhobrowses]

My Highlights from AEW Revolution 2023

Another PPV has crossed the threshold as AEW Revolution enters the books. I've been adamant in avoiding spoilers for it, which is nervy since I saw it trending on tumblr, but the show had an air about it for sure.

On one hand, many were worried that some results would go to the winner they'd least prefer, and had already braced themselves to criticize it. On the other hand, there was the feeling that this could turn into a warzone, with 4 grudge-level feuds coming to a head.

For now, let's see what I enjoyed out of the show.

Spoilers for the PPV

Zero Hour

Danhausen in the Homer Simpson Moomoo

Mark Briscoe in general really

Mark Sterling announcing Ari and the Varsity Athletes

Clever nearfall to have Jay kick out of the weapons spot

Daddy 'tell me how my nipples feel' Magic, lads, give 2point0 a run at tag titles

Confirmation really on Final Burial, it is a classic buried alive match, minus Paul Bearer in cement of course

Adam Cole's promo was really good too

Main Card

For all the people who say they hate Jericho there's sure a lot who sing his theme song

Starks with the DDP energy ribs tape

'Throw Him Here' sign

Ricky has been selling the ribs really well, even between catches and landing big moves

Rock/Jericho parallels

Andretti flew at Sammy

Well-written finish as well, I do have qualms about Sammy showing up since the JAS was meant to be banned, so that should've been instant DQ, but having Ricky overcome the bat hit, block the Judas Effect and then win is good stuff

Christian Cage kept the fucking turtleneck XD

Immediately brawling, yes, it's a grudge match why would they lock up?

The old security guy happy as larry to let JB walk past him

Ooof the belt whipping, multilayered that given how Cage played the father figure to JB

JB finally hitting the Con-Chair-To, another full circle moment, because the Con-Chair-To to Adam Cole solidified his bond with Christian and led to their run that'd make him a tag champion, now it severs it

This is literally scrappy soap opera wrestling and it is great

Julia has a mask now!

Buddy and Kenny to start!

Malakai and Kenny!

Matt regretting calling out Brody instantly

Brody King doing Brody King things

Buddy's Knee cracking Nick mid-450

Brody's son getting to celebrate with the New Champions

Saraya keeping with the green aesthetic

Hayter always selling a crossbody like she's been wiped out

The match has done really well in blending the overlapping attacks

Hayter winning, granted the match could've finished more impactfully but there was more to tell, the key thing though is that everyone who was worried that Saraya would steal one and were braced to criticize AEW for it were W R O N G

Ruby swerve was good too, I know a lot didn't want it but they set it up, they got the reaction and now they only need 2 more 'outsiders' to get a Women's Blood & Guts; Tay Melo, Serena Deeb, Athena, Mercedes Martinez, there are some options there, pit them against Baker, Hayter, Shida/Riho, Willow and say Emi or Nyla and you've got a fight

Hangman's Entrance, just definitely has the right feel, and the red lighting - unlike a Fiendish guy - matches the feel of Texas Death

Again, Immediate Attack, why fucking wait?

Dude in the crowd who really wanted a selfie and got bonked for it XD

Moxley bringing out the fork, CZW energy

A fucking brick!?

Deadeye on a Barbed Wire Chair

Barbed Wire Back Rake!!!

Curb Stomp on the Brick

The finish was really good; Buckshot then a hangman choke with a chain

I also actually love the uncertain energy of the crowd, because it fits the brutality of the match

A baldfaced lie but at least gotta laugh at the attempt by Schiavone saying 'Revolution has never disappointed, ever', nobody wants to remember the end of the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch (though the match was great)

OC and Danhausen repping the Best Friends gear

Danhausen getting to WRESTLE

But still, the tomfoolery as well

Kurt Angle homage with the straps gesturing then an Angle Slam

Satnam Singh knows his role, I know we don't see him wrestle a lot but he knows what he's doing

The Gunns winning with a Big Rig-variant against Danhausen - the guy who coined 'Ass Boys'

FTR are back, settling any doubts otherwise

MJF getting an orchestral opening, to be honest I was half expecting him to bring them all out then play his music anyway, just for that extra dickhead heel energy

And Max is in SHAPE

Bryan Danielson showing where ZSJ got his whole shtick from

MJF threw water at a kid!

Much like Reigns vs Sami, while I didn't enjoy the pace of it, it's heelery by design from Max to waste time, and he is a poser, he told us all exactly what his reign would be like and how we'd react to it so I can't be mad that this is how it's going

The Powerbomb backbreaker was clean

MJF doing the Shawn Michaels pose after stopping Bryan from skinning the cat

Doing the pinfall rolls like MJF did vs Darby but extra extra

Max using the DQ to get quickfire falls to draw level

Bryan just leans back as MJF tries to slap him XD

MJF with a running tombstone through a table outside the ring

The constant water breaks: it's storytelling, because Bryan never pauses but Max always takes a water break, because it sells how unprepared he was for the Iron Man match

The sound the crowd made by MJF's gushing, we can joke all we like about AEW using blood a lot, but Christian, Mox, Hangman, Dax (accidentally) and Bryan bled on this event and yet we still got a reaction from this blood

The moment 5 minutes remained they cranked to 11

SUPER TOMBSTONE

Schiavone strutting down the ramp with glee knowing that Sudden Death is coming

MJF kicked out of the Buisaku Knee!

Bryan tapping to the LeBell Lock!!!

Overall

Match of the Night: Texas Death Match. A difficult choice, but since the Iron Man took a while to heat up, I went with the Texas Death brutality over it and the Trios match.

Best Performance: MJF. It was a three-way tie between him, Bryan and Hangman right until he kicked out of the Buisaku Knee, but given how the World Champion played the audience multiple times and deserves credit for that.

Best Attire: Brody King, mainly the face paint. Without Jade on the card and me not getting Kenny's reference this wasn't quite a good show for unique attires

Best Spot: Texas Death Finale, I was very close to picking Buddy's Knee Lift but the brutality and perfect finale to the match has to win out.

[wrestlingfaves]

Royal Rumble Marathon: 1998

The Rumble has made it to 1997.

Warning for past Rumbles.

The undercard:

Goldust (accompanied by Marlena) vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley (accompanied by Curtis Hughes) for the Intercontinental title. Hunter wins via the Pedigree. Hughes is no Chyna.

Rumble hype vignettes form Bret Hart and Mankind.

Farooq (Ron Simmons, accompanied by the Nation of Domination and other individuals) vs Ahmed Johnson. Ahmed wins via DQ and brawls with the Nation afterwards. This was an early version of the Nation of Domination that featured PG-13 and Crush.

Vader vs the Undertaker. Paul Bearer shows up mid-match and gets pushed around by Taker. Taker wins.

Rumble hype vignettes from Steve Austin (no longer the Ringmaster, he is now “Stone Cold”) and Davey Boy Smith who states he’s going to win the Rumble as he is “bizarre”.

A six-man tag team match features the following wrestlers from AAA: Hector Garza, Perro Aguayo, and El Canek vs Jerry Estrada, Heavy Metal, and Fuerza Guerrera. An attempt to counter the luchadors of WCW or an addition due to the pay per view taking place in Texas? The team of Aguayo, Garza, and Canek won. Unsurprisingly, this is the most athletic and fastest-paced match of the undercard.

Once again the Rumble is not the final bout of the pay-per-view. While I would normally agree that the World title match should end the ppv, the Rumble is the exception. The Rumble should always go last.

The entrants in order of appearance:

Crush (accompanied by Clarence Mason)

Ahmed Johnson

Fake Razor Ramon

Phineas Godwinn (accompanied by Hillbilly Jim)

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin

Bart Gunn

Jake Roberts

Davey Boy Smith

Pierroth

The Sultan (Rikishi) (accompanied by the Iron Shiek)

Mil Mascaras

Hunter Hearst Helmsley

Owen Hart (accompanied by his Slammy trophy)

Goldust (accompanied by Marlena)

Cybernetico

Marc Mero (accompanied by Sable)

Latin Lover

Farooq

Savio Vega

Jesse James (aka Road Dog)

Bret Hart (Steve Austin’s “Oh Crap” face when Bret’s music was fantastic

Jerry Lawler

Fake Diesel (aka Kane)

Terry Funk (3 months from now Funk will be headlining ECW’s first ppv – Barely Legal)

Rocky Maivia (pre-the Rock but not yet drowned out by “Rocky Sucks” chants)

Mankind

Flash Funk

Vader

Henry Godwinn (accompanied by Hillbilly Jim)

Undertaker

First-time Rumblers: Ahmed Johnson, Phineas Godwinn

Surprise Entrants: Pierroth, Mil Mascaras, Cybernetico, Latin Lover, Terry Funk

“Oops! I ‘accidentally’ eliminated my friend” spot: Owen eliminates Davey Boy

Commentator joins the Rumble: Jerry Lawler, first time this spot is used in the Rumble

Winner: Steve Austin (though Austin had been eliminated by Bret but the refs didn’t see it). Bret has a hissy and asks Vince when he’s going to do something about it – one of the few references to Vince’s actual role in the company before he adopted the “Mr. McMahon” character.

Most Eliminations: Steve Austin with a total of 10, tying the previous record held by Hulk Hogan.

Quickest Eliminations: Jerry Lawler, Fake Razor Ramon

Highlight of the Rumble: Bret vs Steve (the pair has around 4 minutes to themselves in the ring and then focus on each other for the rest of the Rumble)

Feuds in the Rumble: Bret vs Steve, Mankind vs Terry Funk, Hunter vs Goldust, Ahmed vs the Nation), Vader vs Taker

The Road To Wrestlemania: Bret vs Steve

The WWE’s roster was thin at this point as 5 of the 30 participants were not members of the roster and another 6 participants pulled double-duty on the card.

Shawn Michaels (accompanied by Jose Lothario) vs Psycho Sid for the World championship. Shawn defeats Sid to regain the championship but will forfeit the title soon afterwards due to “losing his smile”.

Wrestlers and others who have passed on: Jacques Rougeau Sr., Crush, Vader, Paul Bearer, Hector Garza, Perro Aguayo, Fake Razor Ramon (Rick Bognar), Davey Boy Smith, Iron Shiek, Owen Hart, Terry Funk, Jose Lothario, Pat Patterson

Total number of deceased individuals: 13 (up 3 from the previous Rumble)

[iffoundreturntosea]

July 7, Day 188/189

Day 188 2015

Working on the swing set this summer evening!

#swingset #summer evening #drilling #outdoors #craftswoman #picoftheday #project365 #day188

Day 189 2016

Sorry sonicdrivein but my "triple chocolate" blast was severely lacking.

#wasteofmoney #braumsalltheway #redwhiteandblue #shadesoffreedom #july #picoftheday #project365 #day189

In the original post I had actually tagged sonic but I decided to leave it off since 9 years has past! haha...though I'm not going to let DQ off the hook when the day comes.

Day 188 2017

Took my pickles off and this creep was happy to see me.

#founditthisway #burger #braums #smileyface #smile #food #dinner #hiddenface #july #picoftheday #project365 #day188

Day 188 2018

They won't all be sunsets...haha

#texas #summer #heat #driedwildflowers #texasflowerbaskets #nature #outdoors #sunset #sun #sky #silhouette #july #picoftheday #project365 #day188

I think I might try to print this one. It's very texas summer.

Day 188 2019

Those are some crafty noodles 😏

#fun #create #imagine #doodles #faces #funnyfaces #noodles #macaroni #nationalmacaroniday #july #july7 #2019 #nationalday #nationaldaycalendar #picoftheday #project365 #day188

This one was so fun to make.

Day 189 2020

Grand finale! 🎆

#boom #flash #sizzle #fireworks #color #bright #grandfinale #celebrate #pretty #nightphoto #july #july7 #2020 #picoftheday #project365 #day189

Man, this week was great to look back on and I got some incredible shots! Not so much this year.

Day 188 2021

My winning cards from tonight's game 🤣

#cah #cardsagainsthumanity #gametime #laugh #fun #takingabreak #july #july7 #2021 #picoftheday #project365 #day188

Day 188 2022

Taken the other evening.

#pelican #moon #evening #coast #lookup #july #july7 #2022 #picoftheday #project365 #day188

Day 188 2023

Peeping Tom cat

#meow #art #momscreations #beadedspools #home #july #july7 #2023 #picoftheday #project365 #day188

Day 189 2024

I wanted the Witches Moth to look like it’s pinned in a case. Not bad.

#symmetrical #dailytheme #witchesmoth #art #create #july #july7 #2024 #picoftheday #project365 #day189

[heartsoulrocknroll]

NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam 9/4/2021

Momo Watanabe and Saya Kamitani vs. Maika and Lady C -- Good tag match. I am impressed by Watanabe, Kamitani, and Maika. I'd love to see more of them. Winners: Watanabe and Kamitani

Hiromu Takahashi and Bushi vs. Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask -- This was a fine, short match. Hiromu uses Eagles' Ron Miller Special finisher on Tiger Mask. Love it. Eagles taps out Bushi with that same move, while Tiger Mask holds Hiromu back. Winners: Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask

Yoh vs. Sho -- I am actually pretty excited for this. Let's go. Yoh jumps Sho before the bell. This is aggressive and personal. They throw one another into the guard rails outside. Sho wraps Yoh's arm around the ringpost and then around the guard rail. Dragon Screw smoothly into Stargazer by Yoh. Sho escapes and goes right back to Yoh's arm, yanking it over his shoulder and nailing it with a kick. Big lariats by Sho. Sho goes for Shock Arrow, but Yoh reverses back into Stargazer. Dragon suplex into the corner by Yoh on Sho!! Sho pummels Yoh with elbows and stomps to the head! But Yoh responds with a series of big elbows of his own, taking Sho down. Big lariat and dragon suplex by Yoh for a near fall!! Yoh goes for Direct Drive, but Sho shoves him into the ref! Big spear from Sho!!! Sho grabs a chair while the ref is down and swings for Yoh, but Yoh ducks it and lands a superkick. Yoh now has the chair in his hands and threatens to strike Sho with it, but throws it aside and lands another superkick instead. Low blow by Sho!!! Sho grabs the chair again and hits Yoh over the head. Sho covers Yoh, but pulls him up by the arm before the ref can count three and puts him in a triangle choke. Yoh passes out and the ref calls for the bell. This match was really well executed, highlighting the differences in Sho and Yoh, and how Sho has the killer instinct that Yoh lacks. Winner: Sho

Evil, Togo, and Yujiro come out after the match and present Sho with a Bullet Club t-shirt, which Sho puts on. I am rolling my eyes so hard.

Toru Yano vs. Chase Owens No DQ I Quit Match -- Lmao at Chris Charlton saying that the crowd isn't clapping for Yano because they are "stunned into silence by what they are seeing." That's a funny way to say "bored as hell by what they are seeing." I did pop for Owens' package piledriver on Yano on the two tables, which did not break! And the finish rocked. Yano threatens to stab Owens in the eye with scissors, forcing Owens to quit!! Loooool I am going nuts. Winner: Toru Yano

Kazuchika Okada vs. Jeff Cobb -- Hyped for this!! Okada stands on Cobb's back on the outside and mocks Cobb's Aloha Maker pose. Cobb with a huge overhead belly-to-belly suplex on Okada, throwing him across the ring!! Cobb picks Okada up over his shoulder and rams his back into alternating corners of the ring repeatedly! Okada goes for an elbow to Cobb in the corner, but Cobb catches him out of mid-air and then powerbombs him with one arm!!! Great strength from Okada, lifting Cobb up for a neckbreaker over the knee! Three DDTs in a row from Okada!! Flying cross body from Okada to Cobb over the guard rail, but Cobb catches him and lifts him into vertical suplex position and drives him down on the floor!!!! Cobb throws Okada into the ropes, looking for Tour of the Islands, but Okada grabs the ropes to stop it and sends Cobb over the top to the outside. Okada goes for a plancha, Cobb catches him and goes for another vertical suplex, but Okada reverses into a DDT on the floor!! Three dropkicks, a tombstone, and the Money Clip from Okada! Big blow to Okada's back, followed by a reverse piledriver of sorts by Cobb! Okada reverses another Tour of the Islands attempt into a drop kick! Cobb hits a tombstone and uses the Rainmaker wrist clutch to attempt to wind Okada up into Tour of the Islands, but Okada reverses again!! Okada hits a tombstone! Okada escapes another Tour attempt! Cobb backs Okada into the corner. Okada is sitting on the top rope, when Cobb climbs the ropes and lands a headbutt!! Tour of the Islands finally from the top rope!! Tour of the Islands again in the ring!! 1, 2, 3!! Boooooo!!!!!!! This was a great match. These two work super well together. Loved the story of Cobb trying over and over again to hit Tour of the Islands, and Okada having an answer every time, until Cobb catches Okada off guard with the headbutt to give him an opening for an unexpected Tour from the top rope. Good stuff. Winner: Jeff Cobb

Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP United States Championship -- So good to see Ibushi back. Ibushi is in tears as he enters the ring. Here we go! Good start on the mat. Early work on Ibushi's legs by Tanahashi. Quick strikes and kicks, standing moonsault, golden triangle moonsault by Ibushi!! And Ibushi points to Shingo on commentary! Hype!! Ibushi gets Tanahashi down on the mat, hammering forearms to the back of Tanahashi's head and shoving the ref away! Tanahashi goes for High Fly Flow, but Ibushi gets the knees up, grabs the wrists, and hits Kamigoye!! But he can't follow it with a pin. Boma Ye by Ibushi!! Kamigoye attempt, but Tanahashi stands up! Jumping knee by Ibushi instead! Another Kamigoye attempt, but Tanahashi keeps his arms crossed to block it. Slingblade by Tanahashi and Ibushi kicks out at one!! Two High Fly Flows land and Tanahashi gets the three count for the win. This was a really great match and super short for a NJPW main event (18 minutes), which is incredibly refreshing. Ibushi looked amazing. I understand Tanahashi retaining here, but I don't like Ibushi losing in his first match back, especially if he is going to be wrestling Shingo for the World Heavyweight Championship soon. Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi

[rickygoldman34]

Hi everyone Ricky Goldman here.

Its TNT:Ignition High Voltage.

1st match is Soner Durson vs Tu Byt in an iron man match. This is my 1st time ever seeing an Iron man match live. 30 mins is on the clock and the bell rings as Tu Byt goes right after Soner looking to get the advantage early on and does so with a roll up out of nowhere. They go at it until Soner makes it one a piece. The clock is ticking and the pressure is on Soner to keep it at 1-1. The action momentarily spills out the ring where they brawl before entering the ring again. Tu quicly targets and zeros in on Soners knee forcing him to tap out,2-1 now. Tu now wants to stay on Soners knee but Durson fights him off,they go to the top rope and fight off. Tu makes Soner pass out picking up another win here. Now its 3-2. 5 mins to go and Soner picks up a dub to make it 3-3. The fight is on and both of these know it,tick tock goes the clock with other 60 seconds remaining Soner gers the final win and there's nothing Tu can do about it. After the match Tu raises Soners hand.

Next up we got Chase Alexander and Tate Mayfairs vs Crash Boat. This was a good match and the story throughout was Tate and Jack Bandicoot fighting over Tate's briefcase. Tate controlled the action in this one,we saw frequent tags from Crash Boat and even a suicide dive to the outside from both men. Back in the ring now Chase looks to get back into but Tate wants the glory for this one. Jake Silver is thrown out rhe ring,Tate and Jack fight over the briefcase but its a roll up from Tate that gives Tate Mayfairs and Chase Alexander the victory.

Onto the next match and its Gia Adams vs Harley Hudson vs Lucy Sky vs Aurora Tevez in a fatal four way number one Contender match. This was Ok and actually went fairly quick. Gia took a seat in the crowd,Lucy was thrown out the ring whilst Harley and Aurora fought in it. Both Gia and Lucy got in on the action and all 4 women fought but its Lucy Sky with a pin on Gia Adams making her the number one Contender.

This was supposed to be Big Guns Joe vs Simon Miller but Simon isnt here. So this match instead is Big Guns Joe vs Issac North. Issac was very much in control for this one,Joe tired to keep getting back into it even putting the big man into a Boston crab which he fought out of. This was a quick match as expected,Issac hits a power bomb and puts Big Guns Joe away for the W. After the match Issac attacks ring crew.

Here we go with the next match LJ Cleary vs MVK,my 1st look at LJ here who seemed to have a comedy gimmick and he actually impressed me,he actually put down the bigger man of the 2 for a while but MVK soon got back into it,LJ comes flying off top rope but is met by a super kick followed by an attitude adjustment from MVK to defeat LJ Cleary. After the match MVK hits a 2nd attitude adjustment on LJ.

And now its the MAIN EVENT! it be Shreddy vs RP Davies for the TNT Ignition title. Jimmy Jackson comes out and Shreddy blind sides RPD and clocks him with the title but the match is restarted and is now no DQ. The fight is on, they brawl around the venue smashing each other into the bar and wall. RPD temporarily takes care of Jimmy cracking his head on the bar. Back in the ring now and Shreddy and RPD go at it,Shreddy hits a spear but doesnt go for the cover instead he wants Jimmy to use the title on RPD but instead RPD chases off Jimmy backstage throwing him off the top of the stage into the ring. RPD hits his finisher on Shreddy,pins him and takes the title from him.

It was a good show and I give it 6 stars out of 10.

Dont forget to add me on Facebook Ricky J Pate,follow me on Twitter @ricktherock30,go and check out WWA world wrestling alliance on Facebook and go to my YouTube channel the people's wrestling channel and like and SUBSCRIBE for month long shout outs.

Ricky Goldman out.

[fatal-3nvy]

I do think BEFORE All In, Adam Cole being The Devil would have been interesting. But now, it doesn't really sit right with me. Like, it's better than Jack Perry as an option.

I actually prefer Wardlow being The Devil (despite it being hardcore unlikely). Considering,

Max's past attitude towards him

The "no showing" the fan event the night before their match at DON

The pipebomb that you could argue snuffed the heat of that match

Wardlow being bumped down the card, while Max rises to the top DESPITE dipping before All Out

The "premature" end of The Pinnacle (which Max openly admitted after the tag match with FTR was due to his arrogance)

Wardlow's overall spotty booking and not getting booked for 4 month while BTYBB powered through as the strongest storyline of the summer

That could make someone snap, someone sick and tired who was previously hurt by Max's actions. So he "became the devil" to beat the man that he thinks tainted his career. Adam had 2 title shots, has gained respect for Max and even (for some god awful reason) offered to defend his championship at Full Gear WHILE INJURED. Just feel like people are stuck to their theories pre-All In and won't let them go.

I do think a more plausible option could be Roddy or a returning Kyle O'Reilly. Wardlow is my personal pick as I said (I'm a Wardlow girlie what can I say? That I'm constantly disappointed, correct). Jack Perry is more likely to return to help Adam Copeland in the no DQ match.

The idea that The Devil schtick being a rouse for Adam and Max to fool everyone, and become so dependant on each other is actually a pretty good shout. I mean Max only beat Samoa Joe at Grand Slam with Adam's encouragement and shenanigans. Adam is Max's strength and weakness. Then you could open up the idea of a more devastating turn later down the line (maybe a no1 contender match or Max being a "threat" to the Undisputed Era reunion).

I'm just hoping for 2 of the goons to be revealed at New Year's Smash (maybe 2 likely fan picks), and a Devil reveal at World's End after a beat down.

So let's recap the Better Than You BayBay Saga so far and see who makes sense as the Devil and what the potential plan was before Cole's injury:

PHASE ONE: ALL IN

● Before the match at Wembley Adam insists on teaming up with Max to win the ROH tag belts, some people especulate that Adam is doing this to weaken MJF for the main event, but nothing happens in the match and they win despite many people's prediction.

● At the main event they both wrestle like their usual self before the double pin, only after that Adam gets frustrated and tries to win through nefarious means, he has couple of chances to beat Max up with the belt or low blow him, he even had hit Max with a belt in their first match despite being a babyface, here the first time Roddy comes out to help him he doesn't cheat.

● After the match Max throws his world title aside to calm Adam down, he very explicitly picks Adam over the most important thing in his life, and when Cole doesn't even look him in the eyes, Max gets angry, throwing the world title at Adam and proves once again that he cares about their friendship more than the belt.

● This is where Roddy comes and yells at Cole to hit Max with the title, but despite his history, Cole doesn't betray MJF. This could mean 2 things:

1. Cole sees his own benefit in staying with MJF.

2. He genuinely cares about Max

-> His previous action of refusing to cheat in the match is a proof that the first option is more likely but again, he might still be the same bastard as he he was before only that Max is really growing on him and Adam just simply respects their relationship enough to not fuck it up by cheating.

PHASE TWO: GRAND SLAM

● The Dynamite following All In, Roddy and Kingdom call Adam selfish and opportunitist (rightfully considering his background) and Adam just stands there talking about friendship and says he is a better person now and says Max is his best friend for the first time.

● On the built to Grand Slam, Roddy continuously tries to manipulate Adam by his fake injury. We see Adam by Max’s side whenever he's there, and Joe hurts Adam to get to Max. Everything's is very normal post All In.

● Before the main event of Grand Slam Adam gets a call from Roddy, and doesn’t show up to help Max until half through the match, people assume that Cole is playing Max by leaving him, but this theory makes zero sense considering how Adam genuinely was trapped in a house with Roddy and the Kingdom as they ordered him around later.

● So Adam shows up, and the two win by cheating. Again, why would Adam want Max to win by helping him? not to mention this contradicsthe possibility of Cole not showing up with Max to mess their plans up.

There are two possibilities:

1. He sees Joe as the tougher opponent and wants to keep Max as the champion, thinking he would win if he gets another chance.

2. Adam really cares about Max and is helping him to win.

-> The first option seems like a stretch since later Cole pushes Max to accept Joe's help in exchange for a title shot. Again, there are two possibilities here:

1. He wants Max to lose to Joe (why he helped him at Grand Slam then).

2. He doesn't want Max to be alone while he is injured and helpless himself.

PHASE THREE: FULL GEAR

● Immediately after Adam announce his severe ankle injury Roddy comes out asking for help again, Cole gets 'kidnapped' for several weeks and after he leaves that house he doesn't want to do anything with Roddy and Kingdom, so if they all are in one group why Adam is getting bullied in these segments?

1. They all are in one group clowning around as Max is left alone being attacked left and right.

2. Adam is genuinely a good person and wants to help Roddy not knowing they are abusing him.

-> I can't find a strong justification for Comedic Skits discontinuation besides:

1. They were getting creatively lame.

2. In kayfabe, Adam realizes Roddy is full of shit.

-> I mean, the second option also makes sense since he doesn't want to talk to Roddy every time Roddy tries to get his attention. But it all still can be an act while they work together behind the scene.

● Full Gear comes around, and Max gets distracted by Cole at ringside as The Gunns attack him to take him out of the match, probably knowing the 'clause in the contract'.

There are two possibilities here:

1. Adam is working with Jay White and helps them injure Max before the main event.

2. He does nothing wrong, and Gunns just use MJF's distraction to weaken him.

● Lots of nonsense happen here. They say there's a clause in the match contract that says Jay White becomes the champion if Max is incapable of wrestling. Adam sacrifices himself and stops this from happening by representing Max in the main event.

-> This contradicts the theory of Adam working with Jay White, so we got that out of the way, too.

● In the main event Max shows up driving an ambulance, selling his injury, in the match Adam tries to help Max cheat by giving him the Dynamite Diamond Ring and ROH tag belts, but the two objects end up in Jay White's possession. People assume Adam is fucking up Max on purpose again. This theory contradics with the fact that Adam stoped the belt being handed to Jay by volunteering to represent MJF in the match, unless he was going to lay there and take the pin since he is injured.

-> So this is all an overelaborated plan to strip Max of his title at the end, and Adam is working with Jay.

-> This all contradicts Adam=Devil story since the first person to be attacked by the Devil is, in fact, Jay White himself.

PHASE FOUR: WORLDS END

● We barely hear anything from adamjf as a team, Max doesn't even mention Cole past the first Dynamite post Full Gear. He just goes around accusing people of being the Devil.

_

■ All In all so far Adam being the Devil makes ZERO SENSE, and most people are assuming that's the case because that's how previous storylines in pro wrestling were written, but Adamjf isn't following the traditional wrestling story telling so far, with them getting a happy ending at Wembley and fighting as friends first in their match at All In, wearing matching merch even, the story was full of surprises so far.

-

■ So, what was the original plan?

-> I think originally, btybb were supposed to have a match against the Kingdom for ROH belts, after Adam realizes in a different way that Roddy is manipulating him.

-> Cole might be one of the names that supposed to be in C2, and that would have kept him busy while both of them solved this Devil storyline.

-> I still think the main even of Worlds End is supposed to be Joe vs. MJF since at Grand Slam Max only beat him by cheating.

-

POSSIBLE ANSWERS:

■ A wild possibility is that the injury is fake and this was a very over complicated plan to mind fuck Max? But then again why? Why attack Hangman, White and Joe? All of them potential treats to MJF? Only to frame MJF? But nobody is buying that anymore?

■ Another wild possibility is Adamjf turning heal together by loyaly mind fucking everyone by pulling all this tomfoolery, this is one of my favorite scenarios.

■ The most probable and logical answer is: The Devil has many followers like Wardlow, Roddy, the Kingdom, even Kyle O'Reilly, Alexander Hammerstein, and Richard Holiday can be a part of this super group. Basically, all the people that were wronged by Adam Cole and MJF.

[zahroreadsthings]

15. Location, or, Zahro’s headcanons time

I’ve had a long-standing headcanon that Rithmere’s the only major settlement in lapis territory partially because during the pre-Adin invasion years, it was hit particularly hard and to me this = a lot of towns were destroyed and not rebuilt. (Tales of Deltora mentions that the wall around the city was built around this time to keep out greers, too.) So a lot of people moved to Rithmere, and with a wall surrounding the city the only way to build was up. (Side note: looooots of ghost towns round the territory)

So, anyway, (over a lot of time) I like to think that houses and stuff start spilling out of the walls, but the buildings in the city tend to be much taller, and in comes the Yemen-style architecture. (Bla bla bla changes in styles over time I’m focusing on traditional mud brick houses right now.) Point zero real quick: I picture Rithmere as having tall, straight buildings with no balconies crowded together.

The first neat thing about this is the buildings are old as balls and several storeys tall, which is how I imagine Rithmere - an old-timey city with old-timey skyscrapers. Check out Shibam (idk how old this picture is but when we drove through a few years back there were some more houses and shops outside the walls):

Second cool thing is they’re designed to be easy to build up - check out the tops of the buildings. They’re raised to about window height in preparation for the next floor, perfect for a population that’s rapidly expanding and in a walled area. (I tried to find an alternate version where they’re raised higher, with gaps for windows, but no such luck.)

Third cool thing is they can get decorative, and that’s also how I imagine Rithmere. Exhibit A: Wadi Dawan, some very bright and colourful and cool buildings (if you look up ‘wadi dawan/do'an’ you’ll know. You’ll know.)

Exhibit B: In general the patterns on some of the buildings I think are neat to translate into charms in Rithmere (if they wear charms and have all those superstitions you can’t tell me they don’t also work something into their buildings), but in particular this building that’s got a phrase to deflect the eye* near the top:

Fourth cool thing, not necessarily related to Rithmere: They got flat roofs so u can have dinner on them under the stars and it’s very very nice. I dont have any pictures on me but just trust me on this one

*not like, strictly deflect the evil eye, but more of a reminder for people to not accidentally dunk on them. Also that building’s not mudbrick but you get my point