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lizzybeth1986 · 5 years

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Quick Thoughts on TRFTP Book 1 Chapter 16

• Remember how I dubbed the book The Royal Fast-Track Pregnancy last chapter? Well, yeah. That’s my title for this book from now on.

• If you don’t want to see these posts on your dash, here are the tags to block: #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, #trh qt reblogs, #long post.

• We’re now in the MC’s third trimester, celebrating her baby shower. Her in-laws show up, she gets gifts, she barely notices that her corgis have had puppies (but why am I surprised, this is the same MC who didn’t care enough about her corgi in Book 2 to notice he was with Liam to help with his proposal). And a couple of nosy royals come to visit.

• Over here in India, we do this ceremony around the 7th month, and it’s called different names in different places but with similar traditions and setups. Up North it’s called godhbharai (which literally means “filling the lap” - since the mother’s lap features prominently here as a symbol of maternal care, therefore the gifts are placed on a cloth over her lap - symbolizing her fulfillment once she reaches motherhood and the blessings she takes with her), and mostly fruits and sweets are placed on her lap as a blessing for prosperity and luck. You have games…but the mother isn’t exactly expected to participate in them - she’s the guest of honour, she sits and enjoys!

• She definitely isn’t there to submit to such a thorough interrogation of her political choices either!!

• The rest of the world treats a baby shower like a time for the mother-to-be to relax and be pampered within an inch of her life. Cordonia treats it as an opportunity for her to beat non-pregnant people at their version of egg-and-spoon and pass personality tests.

• Screenshots:

Hana: The Universal Studio 77 YouTube channel

Maxwell: The rash rec YouTube channel

Drake: @thefirstcourtesan and The BizzysChoices YouTube channel

• Title: Great Expectations

Alternative Title: The State of My Bladder Is of Far More Importance Than Any of This Nonsense.

• Believe me, during your final months of pregnancy your bladder will be virtually non-existant (which is why you’re recommended kegel exercises early on). In medical terms they call this “urinary incontinence”, which is due to those muscles facing way more pressure than usual). At one point I recall joking about how we should add “The Bathroom” at the top of my home address, coz I was almost taking up permanent residence there 😐 I wouldn’t be worrying about politics and intrigue at a time like this, I’d be worrying about my kegels!

• Kiki doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to flex her diplomatic muscles in this story, but when she does, gosh does she deliver. Following her advice this time is what allows us to buy time for ourselves.

• Unfortunately that’s all the space PB will allow Kiara, we’re now back to our regular schedule of treating her like she doesn’t matter.

• Either Maxwell or Hana (in Maxwell’s playthrough) will lead us to the boutique to pick out an outfit.

• On a level of having more gold (therefore bling) than peach, that diamond option already wins. At least in the silhouette I can pretend the peach parts of this dress don’t exist. (I still wound up using the free peach outfit for my failplay of this chapter though)

• Me before meeting Hana: pls don’t make her wear that awful lbd again pls pls pls i beg

Me seeing Hana wear the silver one: …okay that’s not too bad. I’m just going to keep headcanoning this one as a gown though.

• Liam wears his official black tie outfit, Hana wears her silver dress, Maxwell wears his black suit and Drake his deep blue one.

• In everyone else’s playthrough besides Hana’s, she is the one in charge of this “planning committee”. Penelope is in charge of…throwing confetti, which annoys Olivia to end.

• Marguerite from THM steps forward with her good wishes, and asks us about the sex of the child - at which point the narrative lets us know that it’s tradition in Cordonia to not know until the delivery. Which makes sense, since we’ll probably be allowed to customize this in a different book? And in some countries (like mine, where it’s illegal to find out before delivery) there are really, really good reasons to not give anyone - especially the family - that information.

• We meet the rest of the royals: Eirik is as self-centered as he always was (either that or Khaan really desperately needs to make sure no one knows he’s that VR game developer from San Francisco who ran away from Eros), Lerato and Lesidi are cupcakes as always, and the Three Big Royals are shady as always.

• The good thing about the scene where Isabella tries to touch your belly is that it is established as out of line straightaway. You win or lose no points however you react, and while you’re expected to be diplomatic and impress them - the narrative is clear on how wrong Isabella is on doing this. And even if you don’t show a reaction, your LI most certainly will.

• PB is trying to convince me that Amalas has a better sense of boundaries, as if she didn’t stalk me in Texas and squeeze out every possible detail about my past life like an orange in a juicer. She only seems better because the Auvernese have all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

• Most of the LIs have lost a parent, but have a sibling (except for Hana, who is an only child with both parents living. Liam has lost both his parents, but has a stepmother in Regina so she fulfills that role here) - which means that in every case besides Hana’s, we see one parent and one sibling who has become a parent (optional, in Leo’s case).

- Liam: Regina and Leo (YOU EXIST! I WAS ALMOST CERTAIN PB FORGOT YOU WERE THERE). The two lightheartedly tease each other, which is phenomenal progress considering they were at each other’s throats in RoE! Leo comes to wish the MC in all playthroughs.

- Hana: Lorelai and Xinghai. Hana has sent them an invitation but wasn’t sure they’d make it, and depending on whether she is married or not their response varies. In the friendly playthrough, they respond positively but the focus is still very much on seeing the MC. In the romantic playthrough, however, Hana is allowed to show her nervousness and slight fear (how generous, PB!), reaches out to the MC for support, and the parents are tentative in their approach, with Xinghai even assuring Hana that they will cut short their stay if she wants them to. To which she confirms that she does indeed want them here. The two come to wish the MC in all playthroughs, as Leo does.

- Maxwell: Bartie Sr and Bertrand. Bartie Sr tops even King Eirik for self-centeredness (“make way for House Beaumont!”) and is…just plain weird in the way he greets the MC and his younger son (even Maxwell notices this, commenting that ol’ Bartie is “laying it on a little thick”). Bertrand is the more normal, sorted one, which is a sentence I thought I’d never say in this series. The team was pretty smart in how they scattered BertVannah between two LIs - Drake gets a visit from his sister, Maxwell gets a visit from his brother. Neither Bartie Sr nor Bertrand make an appearance in any other playthroughs which is just as well coz I saw PLENTY Bertrand for 7 whole chapters.

- Drake: Bianca and Savannah. Bianca asks the MC if Drake has been “pulling his weight around the house” while the MC has been “worrying about that baby” - nice to know she expects the same of her son as she did for her son-in-law (or perhaps a little less than what she expects of her son-in-law, considering Bertrand had to get back an entire saddle from the person she sold it to just so he could win her favour, after she allowed her sister to treat him like crap for his entire stay at her home). Savannah mercifully doesn’t get a lot of dialogue and merely compliments our glow. Savannah only appears in this playthrough, while her husband Bertrand only appears in Maxwell’s. Which is a good thing. I’ve had enough of that couple to last me a lifetime (sorry Bertrand). You see both Bianca and Savannah only in this playthrough, and I’m EXTREMELY relieved we don’t see Leona.

• It must be clear to anyone who has read all the playthroughs by now - only Leo, Lorelai and Xinghai make appearances across playthroughs, which could either be because they haven’t been shown at all in the books until now, or possibly because they may feature in Lythikos.

• Okay it’s egg and spoon time but with apples. This is Cordonia. It wouldn’t be anything but apples.

•

When you’re a new mom the last thing on your mind is grace and poise ok. Put really really simply and not in too much detail…your brain will feel more scrambled than scrambled eggs esp in the initial weeks, coz half the time you’re trying to make sense of your kid’s sleep schedule and the other half is your body just….feeling WEIRD (hormonal shifts, postpartum bleeding, and generally the overall effects of childbirth - whether it is vaginally or via C-section, both of which come with their own set of challenges). Your own sleep schedule is going to be all over the place and even after the kid starts sleeping all through the night, sometimes your brain has already been wired to wake you up at 2 AM or something. Your back is gonna hurt like a bitch. Your hair will become a hornet’s nest within the first two weeks coz what even is combing (okay, okay, that was probably just me 😅😅). And this is just when things go normally, okay.

You don’t need grace and poise to take care of a kid at this stage - you need stamina and a strong support system. Cordonia (I mean YOU, TRH team) you really need to talk to more pregnant people 🤦🏽‍♀

(on a more serious note…this is why I feel there needs to be more dialogue on parenthood. What it’s truly like and how it really feels, without the kind of fear that holds especially new parents back from admitting to their feelings about it. New parenthood with all its mess and stresses, its frustrations and confusions. No matter how prepared you are, no matter how much reading up you’ve done, there will always be something about that experience that will knock you sideways. I’ve learned that the less shame there is around admitting that parenthood can be messy, can be trial-and-error rather than perfectly executed every single time, can be imperfect, the better it is for everyone. And maybe this is a lesson that parents in some places have had the space to learn already - and that’s amazing - but there are a whole bunch of places where that’s not the case. And there is so much pressure to make it sound better, to convince people this is an easy happy journey even when it isn’t, or to believe that your well-being isn’t as important as that of your child, that many new parents don’t speak up…believing they’re the only ones who feel this way).

But I digress. I do know that “grace and poise” is expected of pregnant royals and even pregnant celebs. I do know that often they’re expected to step out looking picture perfect after having to battle lack of sleep and insane hormonal changes. They’re expected to have “fit bodies” just months after they’ve delivered. This happens in the real world. And the more we talk about it? The more we can help parents, esp new parents who might struggle more to articulate this experience.

• So…where was I? Oh right, grace and poise. In a race involving a spoon and an apple. A spoon and an apple. Excuse me while I facepalm🤦🏽‍♀

• My bladder would never survive this race in a real-life pregnancy situation, I just know it.

• Self-centered or not, at least Khaan-in-disguise points out the obvious: that everyone else has a physical edge over us. But Leo assures him that speed doesn’t help you in this game (does that make me the tortoise among a bunch of hares if I win? 🐰 🐰 🐢 🐰 🐰)

• Scarlett-Emerson-in-disguise is an angel coz she’s the only person apologizing for bumping into my bump.

• Now…if you bought the diamond scene where we drank wine with Isabella, you’d get intel about Bradfraud that could throw him off in the race:

Now…I really like this bit, okay. I like how thrown off he is that we know his secret. But I’m not entirely sure how wise of a decision it is to let him know so soon that we know, or whether it will bite us in the ass eventually. Could we have maybe waited for a better opportunity? Idk.

Anyway, so that definitely works. But IMO in a petty, inconsequential way that means little in the long run (or could be dangerous too idk). This is intel we could have saved for a better time.

• This is why it makes more sense for the MC to be told what Olivia (and possibly Liam) is investigating. Or at least for her to actually keep asking until one of them caves in and tells her. If she’d known about an Operation Swan maybe she wouldn’t openly goad him so easily (or maybe she would. It’s the MC after all).

• There’s a funny sequence in this where everyone falls on each other like ninepins. And another one where Olivia gets impatient and just throws her apple over to the finishing line, asking Kiara if she won and Kiki is like “non. You’re extremely disqualified.” Oh Kiki. Never change 😂

• ….exactly how large are these spoons. It’s an apple. That would cross over from spoon territory to ladle!

• Once the race is over, we’re back to our tables for lunch. The MC’s bump almost knocking a plate over sparks a conversation among the mothers in the table about their baby bumps, and then about labour. Lorelai in particular speaks about her delivery being “more…grueling than what I expected” but quickly assuring the now-nervous MC that once the child is placed in your arms it will all be worth it. That description could cover a whole range of experiences…from mildly stressful to extremely terrifying. I always hope it’s the former.

(I have another question though: so if Lorelai was so ecstatic over Hana’s birth, where and how during/after this euphoric period did Hana’s parents suddenly begin to feel “devastated” over not having a son then? Coz I distinctly recall Hana speaking about that in Book 1. Or is this another retcon?)

In any case…it’s nice to hear that at least for Hana’s sake.

• If you’re married to one of the guys, then it’s Hana who put together the tiny hors d'ouvres (“personally tested all the options for deliciousness and visual appeal!”). If you’re married to Hana, Madeleine is in charge of this part of the baby shower (“spent a week focus group taste-testing the sides for both aesthetic and delectability”). In any case, it’s all tiny food that’s too cute to eat.

•

…isn’t this the guy who constantly complained about tiny portions? Why wasn’t he just taking extra helpings then? (though he also still complains about food from another country looking like “abstract art”. First Hana’s meal in China, now this. No one cares for your uninformed, unwanted opinion on their cultural dishes, Drake. Good thing Maxwell shut that nonsense down immediately)

• Isabella and Bradshaw’s communications with us have always used strength, might, power as a central factor in their dealings with us. Amalas’ approach is no less insistent, but in a different direction. Culture, cuisine, these are the things that seem to stand out to me atm. If the Auvernese mindset reminds me somewhat of Lythikos and Olivia, the Monterisso one looks like it could bring to mind Castelserraillian, Kiara and her family, and Liam + Hana who are more inclined to explore art and culture.

• Everyone’s kid likes grapes, apparently.

• The dish Amalas presented for the guessing game is what they call a “Sweet Potato Surprise”, but you gotta admit the ‘mango’ option is the most entertaining 😆 (with the carrot option, she claims that she mentioned a root vegetable, which would be close enough)

• A pair of cute corgi puppies make their way to our table, and depending on whether you bought both adult corgis or not, the puppies are either theirs, or strays. Like…why are you paywalling the CHILDREN of two dogs if we actually bought the dogs. I could actually justify this level of greed if it were backed up by an equal amount of effort in the book overall, but it isn’t.

• Anyway, they only feature together, so you have to decide on two names that will fit in one space. It kind of reminds me of how they’ve drawn Merlin and Morgana - in one sprite. I’m guessing at some point there will be an option to allow Penelope to clothe them as well.

• Like most of the fandom has already said by now, Bastien and Mara can’t even be trusted with a pair of pups.

• If you don’t buy the pups, Penelope offers to have one of her friends “in the canine couture world” to adopt them.

• Here’s the parenting advice from all the in-laws!

Liam: Regina speaks of the importance of regulating sweet intake closer to bedtime which is true because a child on a sugar rush will transform into the Energizer Bunny and go on forever. Like, this is very much how a child on a sugar rush reacts to the notion of sleep:

Hana: This one seems to highlight Hana’s competitive nature, perfectionism and ambition, and I guess there could be a lesson there in that you need to give yourself time to grow into things you want to do, and that means allowing yourself the space to topple over or struggle once in a while, the space to make mistakes. But I doubt it because weren’t these the same people who deemed her a failure for things that were beyond her control??

Maxwell: Maxwell is sorta kinda called out in this one, both for being “peaceful looking” and for wrecking havoc with those House documents lol. I’m guessing Bartie Sr is here in our baby shower mostly to look suspicious. What exactly was in those House Documents, ol’ Bart?

Drake: Bianca gives us some age-old advice about sleeping while the baby sleeps, which is something my mother and aunt (who looked after me post-childbirth) swore by. They would insist I spent whatever time kiddo was sleeping to be when I got my shut-eye too, because if you don’t take that and pull an all-nighter feeding the child, it’s going to be near-impossible to function. But you really, really need to have lots of support around you during such times because that kind of schedule leaves you little to no time to do much else besides occasional eating, small routines and light exercise (thankfully the MC has staff and a strong support system who can help her). In this case Bianca quips that Savannah was the easy one, and Drake the really fussy one. Drake isn’t quite convinced (who are you kidding Drake you’re still fussy).

• You get two extra pieces of parenting advice from the rulers, pretty characteristic (at least in Auvernal’s case since we’re more familiar with their culture) of where they come from. Amalas’ is “know your baby’s moods, and you can spot a tantrum before it happens”. The Auvernese “pearls of wisdom” say “to show weakness is to admit defeat” - Jesus, these guys have lost already, then.

• Olivia now has plans for a dart playing game - where she plans to use her daggers instead. You can either refuse to join, or enthusiastically participate. The LI warns you to be careful in the second option.

• If you join in: Isabella and Amalas hit near-center, both claiming different things in the face of their defeat (Isabella claims Olivia’s dagger to be a “terribly balanced weapon”) and Amalas tries to throw Olivia off by claiming her “aim was off”. Both of them are clearly thrown off by the unfamiliar weapon. At this point Olivia counts on the MC to “show them what Cordonians are made of”. If you succeed, you get a glimpse of your LI going all John Mulaney on the foreign royals (“that’s my wife!”)

• If you don’t join in: the LI and the MC’s friends form a protective circle around her, and Olivia chooses to stick to the usual darts. Isabella and Amalas are both in their element, with tools they’re familiar with using on a dart board. Isabella’s is still just near the target, Olivia’s is even closer, and Amalas’ is the closest - almost knocking off Olivia’s dart.

• Either way, we’ve effectively pissed off Isabella who angrily asks for “best of two?” 🤭

• Time for presents!

• Uh oh. The rattle comes from Auvernal. And it’s the same rattle as the one on the book cover. Soooooo…what does that hint at? Will our hand be forced, somehow? And will we eventually have to make a secret pact with Monterisso to get out of it, since the narrative is really really trying to push Amalas as the better option? (maybe not, but it’s fun to theorize).

• I don’t trust Amalas but they clearly gave her the nicer gift (at least, a nicer explanation for her gift). It’s a blossom “from the oldest apple tree in Monterisso, a tree that Cordonia helped my people plant long ago”. She hints at a closeness that the countries shared way back and offers the gift as a way of asking if that could happen again. The story kind of reminds me of the Regatta one Liam told us in Book 1, where Cordonia helped its neighbours at sea with supplies, during a time when they were ravaged by storms.

• Eirik gives you a bust of his own head, Lerato and Lesidi give you glass bottles and Marguerite gives us money, which puzzles the LIs. (though culturally I’ve been accustomed to cash being given as gifts or even in blessing, esp by elders, and I know at least one or two other cultures where cash can be the norm for gifts too). Kiara confiscated Olivia’s gift which she argues would help with self-defence 🤭 which happens to be one of my favourite moments in this chapter, and reminds me of this post an artist made of the MC’s baby shower long back. Idk why everyone sleeps on Kiara’s sheer entertainment value coz that girl possesses it in droves.

•

From our in-laws, we get a gift for the nursery - a cot mobile to place above the baby’s crib. These things are incredibly useful in the initial few months of a baby’s life when their visual development, eye-hand coordination and control over head and neck muscles are just about beginning. (and it’s cute and fun. What’s not to like). Unfortunately…unlike the nursery itself and the crib, you don’t get a free option for the cot mobile. You get a royal and rustic option + plus a neutral one with stars that I liked, but you have to pay even for that lovely neutral one. I’m guessing that the first two things from our nursery were “essentials” and whatever else we get now will be considered additional perks, thus paywalling even the options that don’t fit into your “royal or rustic” theme.

Each of the in-laws refer to a local/Cordonian craftswoman who made cot mobiles for the LIs. Leo gleefully tells us that Liam’s had “sparkles for days”, Bianca teasingly acts secretive about Drake’s. Hana never even knew she had a mobile coz she hasn’t seen a lot of baby photos of herself (I’m not sure what it’s meant to be an indication of yet, but I’m taking note of it). The one that really puzzles me is Maxwell’s. The writers don’t bother telling us what Maxwell’s is and instead make the bizarre choice to tell us what Bertrand’s cot mobile was instead. Why…the hell…would a Maxwell stan be interested in THAT. The writers don’t even specify if it was a hand-me-down (why was a family that rich and titled giving their younger one hand-me-downs) - nope, somehow it was a better choice to let us know that Bertrand’s was “silver grapefruit spoons”.

They should have done this for Drake also then, no? Talk about Savannah’s mobile instead of his? But noooo, Drake is too important, right. So let’s have his mother act all coy about his but make sure the sequence still centered around him.

At this point the writers should just nip this entire series in the bud if they’re not going even to bother writing equally good romances for all the LIs. One decently-done romance route doesn’t a good romance book make.

• In the middle of all this, the LI calls the MC into the hedge maze, presenting her with their own gift - a deep blue baby blanket with gold embroidery. How very Cordonia of them xD

• It’s a cute free LI moment where they show you how much they appreciate you, even in the midst of all this chaos and pandering of nosy royals.

• Once we’re back, it’s time to see if we passed our little diplomacy exam with these guys. Depending on the points you have with them, they will either back down convinced that even a normal alliance would work with Cordonia, or they will pressurize you further.

• Interestingly enough in the failplay, Amalas’ responses seem to imply that she would have more open to the idea of simply an alliance with the rulers sans marriage, but you can’t tell yet whether this is the writers trying to indicate to us that she is the choice, or whether she just isn’t being as ham-fisted as the Auvernese are. They lack subtlety, she’s more persuasive, but is she still someone you can trust? Since we’ve only seen her like twice before this sequence, I can’t quite tell yet.

• Kdjhshshsjssj @ Liam confiscating Maxwell’s armory access pass.

• The sales of “that book about us that has Maxwell’s face on it” are fantastic, and the publishers want Maxwell to do a book tour, the first signing of which is in Lythikos.

• We’re in Lythikos…for a book tour. Not even because Olivia found some information there or whatever (though I’m sure that will come up at some point next chapter), we’re there for a book tour that could have been done ANYWHERE.

• Places we could be having this book signing:

- Ramsford: Yknow, the author’s birthplace which we haven’t bothered visiting since our first Beaumont Bash in Book 1.

- Castelserraillian: Yknow, like the seat of art and culture and literature in Cordonia?? If there is one place in all of Cordonia I could easily picture as a literary hub it would be this one.

- No Valtoria coz we’ve seen plenty of it.

- Applewood: Yknow, that place that has many farmers, lots of commoners, who doubtless would have read this story of a commoner woman who climbed the ranks into royalty and glory. Applewood even has a public library that Queen Eleanor and her son regularly supported and visited. I’m sure many of the commoners in Applewood would have found that story even a little inspiring.

- Hana’s mysterious Cordonian homeplace: Just because the team is whack and we deserved better. They could have really made an effort to show her other home somewhere, yknow, considering they did such an awful job of Shanghai the last time.

• At this point we’ve seen Lythikos more than we have seen any other estate in this story. Sure, we can all spout out all sorts of excuses for why - plot, intrigue, Olivia’s character development (work on your own female LI first, PB!), but it all comes back to the same point: that the team is more willing to rob Hana of her rightful space and place it on Olivia’s lap. Setting this in Lythikos is re about the fact that, now that Drake has had more than his fair share of space, it’s Olivia’s turn to fulfill the role of secondary character but be treated like a main (all while Hana is thrown in as their token female LI + default POC LI, but treated with far less respect from her writers than even a secondary character).

• Overall, this is meant to be a light chapter - which most Chapter 16s (except for Book 2) are. Chapter 16 tends to be sandwiched between intense sequences, and is often seen as the point where the group and the LIs and MC can have fun but relax from court intrigue as well. It was the Beaumont Bash in Book 1, Vegas in Book 3, now a baby shower in TRH Book 1.

• Hana meeting her parents again (especially on her own playthrough), was nice, I guess. A little extra time is spent during the cot mobile scene having her parents acknowledge how they’d failed her, and the narrative shows us glimpses of her nervousness and discomfort while having the parents state that if she would rather they leave, they will respect that. It’s a tiny bit more progress compared to all the times Lorelai was continually repeating her mistakes and thinking they could be fixed each time with a paltry apology. But it’s still not enough.

• For one, we have just 4 chapters left in a book where half the time we were pandering to Drake’s family for chapters on end. We’re 16 chapters too late in addressing this. I have zero faith that things will improve.

For another, Hana getting this type of validation from her parents isn’t something that should be restricted to the playthrough where she is married alone. In both cases she invited them along, so in both cases they should be showing an equal level of caring and tentetiveness.

For a third, the whole angle with her parents seems to have such a disconnect. It’s almost like the writers were trying to prove something but didn’t do enough work to make it all sound coherent. Like you have this somewhat-healing relationship, but even then you have these moments that just don’t seem to make sense within Hana’s narrative, like Lorelai giving you that generic answer about your feelings suddenly becoming positive the moment they place the baby in your arms (which, btw, doesn’t always happen), or Xinghai talking about Hana’s ambition but there’s hardly any indication of how they controlled the directions her ambition would take. Overall they all sound like nice sequences by themselves but very disconnected to Hana’s actual story.

Why Hana hasn’t seen many baby pictures is something I want to see more of. I’m hoping that the fact that we see Lorelai, Xinghai and Leo in all the playthroughs, means they may accompany us on the book tour and perhaps we will get Hana-centric flashbacks and Liam-centric ones too.

• With next week, we’ll have only three chapters left, the intrigue is still in its nascent stages, the pacing is grossly uneven, and most of the LIs still don’t have a clear-cut arc. Some may claim that, well, it’s a series so maybe everyone else will get their “arc” in the next book. Except that if that were the case, Drake’s playthrough shouldn’t have been having the kind of focus on family that it’s been having this entire book. Others may claim that, well, it’s okay coz the story is about the baby and the romance - but they didn’t exactly do any justice to either of those. So what was this whole book about then? Besides Walker worship?

• The holiday special for TRR…is this going to be in Lythikos? Again??? Isn’t it bad enough that I will be going into TRM foolishly hoping to see Castelserraillian to get fair rep but know I’ll be confronted with with the reality of duchies like Lythikos getting a lion’s share of the story??

• That’s it for this chapter, guys. Until Saturday!

#long post #trh quick thoughts #trh qts #the royal heir #king liam #hana lee #maxwell beaumont #trr kiara #olivia nevrakis #drake walker

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darkobsidianquill · 5 years

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Harry Potter and the descent into Darkness..

Chapter 31

Severus came to stand before the gargoyle entrance to the headmaster's office and took a deep calming breath as he quickly locked away all of his conflicting emotions tightly behind his occlumency shields.

The last month had been both enlightening and trying on his patience. Going back to the Dark had brought an amalgam of emotions to the surface that he had spent a decade suppressing. But if he was being totally honest with himself, the most prominent emotion of them all had been... relief.

Potter had been right about one thing. Serving the Light had most certainly not been fulfilling. Everything about aiding the Light had felt wrong. It made his skin itch with disgust and frustration. He was a Dark Wizard and the Dark was where he belonged. If it hadn't been for his guilt and his strong emotional ties to Lily, he never, never would have gone to Dumbledore.

Allowing himself to become the servant to the Light Lord had been the one thing he had regretted most about his life, but he couldn't leave the man. He was trapped. Dumbledore's protection was the only thing that kept him out of Azkaban. He argued with himself that he had a decent enough life. He had a job that he could... tolerate, a regular income, a roof over his head, and freedom. Well, relative freedom.

But now with the Dark Lord back, he had an alternative. Before it was stay with Dumbledore or face the dementors. Now he had somewhere else to turn. Somewhere he felt far more at home turning to. He belonged with the Dark, and he held the Dark Lord with reverence and respect. True, he also feared the man. You would have to be insane not to. But he had always felt the draw to the Dark, and when the Dark Lord came into power during Severus's youth, he had been drawn to the Dark Lord like a moth to flame. His desire to remain by the man's side had never waned, but his love and loyalty to Lily Evans had been his one weak point.

A weakness that Albus Dumbledore had exploited to gain himself a spy and a servant.

Being the master of deception that he was, Severus had not had any problems concealing his conflicting emotions over the last month. But Albus had been utterly oblivious during that time. He had had no reason to give any of Severus's behavior any deeper analyzing. Now the Headmaster would know he had been to see the Dark Lord. Now he would be watching to make sure that Severus was remaining loyal. Now would truly test Severus's skill as a double agent.

Steeling himself he stood tall and spoke the password to the gargoyle. Peanut Butter Cups. He sneered in distaste at the old man's idiotic obsession with sweets as he stepped onto the spiral staircase and climbed up to the double-doors that entered the headmaster's office.

"Come in Severus," the old man's voice sounded from behind the door before his hand had even reached out to grasp the handle. He had expected this of course. He knew damn well that the headmaster had proximity wards that alerted him to when someone, and whom, approached his office.

Severus pulled open the door and stepped inside, quickly making his way to sit down in the chair opposite the headmaster's desk.

Dumbledore looked tired and his face was lined with worry, but Severus could see that there was something hidden behind his eyes. Something kept masterfully hidden.

"Severus, you were gone for a very long time. I was beginning to grow worried," Dumbledore said.

I'm sure you were... worried you would lose your spy.

"I am as well as could be expected."

"What happened? Has he... has he truly returned?"

"He has. Apparently he has had a body for quite some time, in fact. He has been preparing and warding his new stronghold while secretly making contact with a select few of his old followers. Tonight was the first time he called a group of us back to his side."

Dumbledore's eyes widened. "For some time? How long, exactly?"

"I am not sure. He was not specific."

"How strong did he appear to be?"

"Full strength. I haven't felt a magical presence so strong... since during the height of his last reign."

Dumbledore frowned deeply and looked troubled as he clasped his hands in front of him on his desk. "This is most troubling... Did you see who all was in attendance?"

"Only a very small number of his followers returned to him. In total there were only six of us there. They were all dressed in black with full masks, but I know that Lucius Malfoy and Royce Avery were both there."

"Only six?" Dumbledore asked with a hopeful air to his voice.

"He was most displeased by the low turn-out."

"Hmm..." Dumbledore hummed thoughtfully as he nodded. "You were gone more more than four hours – what all was discussed during the meeting?"

"He described to those of us who were there what happened to him during his time... away. He also expressed his intense displeasure that none of us ever sought him out to assist him in his return."

"Were you cursed, Severus?" Dumbledore asked suddenly as he sat up straighter and took on an air of worried concern.

"I was not. But several of the others were."

"I am most relieved that you were spared."

Severus chose to simply respond with a nod at that remark.

"What else, Severus?"

Severus went on to explain all of the various things that the Dark Lord had instructed him to relay to the headmaster. Next to none of it was actually true, but it was convincing, and sufficiently misleading, so it would serve it's purpose.

"Did he speak of any of his plans for Harry?" Dumbledore asked after Severus had reached a break in his information relay.

"He said that he had very specific plans already in motion and that we were not to interfere in them. It would seem that Potter's entrance into the tournament was the Dark Lord's doing, after all. However it was part of a failed plot that was apparently discarded several months ago. Bartemius Crouch Sr. disappearance is somehow related to it but I am unfamiliar with the details. Once the plan was abandoned, Potter's continued participation in the tournament was no longer important, but had become inconsequential. The fact that he survived it was apparently disappointing, but not unexpected. The Dark Lord said that he would have been annoyed had he been denied the opportunity to deal with the boy himself."

Dumbledore looked troubled and nodded his head thoughtfully. "Thank you for what you've discovered. Please do you best to discover what his plans regarding Harry might be."

"I will see what I can do, however he seems to be holding his secrets most dear to him at the moment. He was never one for trusting his followers with the details of his plans, and he seems even more secretive at the moment. Much of the time tonight was spent getting intelligence from the few of us who returned to him."

Again, Dumbledore nodded.

"There is one more thing," Severus said slowly.

"Yes, my boy?"

Severus let out a mild sneer at the endearment, but this was normal behavior for Severus, so he knew Dumbledore would not take it badly.

"There was one unknown person who is apparently staying at his headquarters with him. "

"Oh?"

"He was a younger man that the Dark Lord called 'Evan Harris'. He looked to be a little more than twenty and was wearing a half-mask instead of the normal full mask. The Dark Lord called the young man his 'apprentice' and instructed us that if he were ever absent from the manor that we could give any reports to the young man instead."

Dumbledore sat up straighter in his chair and looked legitimately alarmed for the first time that night. "Apprentice?"

"Yes."

"Evan Harris... There haven't been any students at Hogwarts by that name as I can recall. I will have to go looking through the records to make sure... Did he look or sound familiar to you?"

"I did not recognize him. Though his unique mask left more of his face visible than is normal, I was still unable to see much. From what I could tell he had blondish colored hair. It was long since it was coming out from under his hood."

"And you say he's living there?"

"That is what the Dark Lord said."

Dumbledore sat with his hand folded under his chin, and silently contemplating for a long, silent moment before he looked up again. "Thank you Severus, again, for all that you are doing. It will be a tremendous help to me. I cannot express enough how important your contribution to the cause is."

Severus's lip curled in distaste, but he kept it to a minimum.

"It would seem that I will need to call the old crowd back together. With Voldemort's return confirmed it is imperative that we act as soon as possible."

– –

It was nearly 5am before Harry crawled back into his bed in Gryffindor Tower. He had been sorely tempted to just sleep at the manor, but knew that would be reckless and not really worth the risk of people noticing him not having actually slept in his bed. The only consolation was that the next day was a Saturday, so he could sleep in without anyone having anything to complain about.

Exams were now done, for just about everyone. All that remained were some NEWT exams that would be held on Monday and Tuesday. Everyone else had the week to relax around the castle until the end of year feast on Thursday, and then the train ride back to London on Friday. That gave Harry only a few days leeway in speaking with Sirius again.

Harry slept in again on Sunday, and found himself annoyingly occupied all day. He even had trouble slipping away to pay Tom a visit, and hadn't been able to free up enough time to slip away to Sirius's cave so he decided to schedule a nice solid block of time to do it on Monday.

As of dinner on Sunday evening, Harry was positive that Draco had had recent correspondence with his father because the Slytherin was looking at him with whole new eyes. Despite their encounters, conversations, and the fact that Harry had clearly been using Dark magic, Draco had still been skeptical about the validity of his claims... until now. Now it had been confirmed by the Dark Lord himself, and it looked as if Draco were going to have a brain aneurysm from the mere concept.

Harry Potter really had switched to the Dark.

Harry shot him a secret smirk and winked at him, causing the Malfoy heir to go wide eyed and quickly look away. Harry snorted into his food, catching the attention of Ron and Ginny, but he brushed their curiosity off.

Monday morning Harry managed to slip away from everyone, with the excuse that he needed some fresh air, some alone time, and the opportunity to take a nice long walk around the castle before he had to leave it behind for the summer holidays. His friends all knew how sentimental he was about the school, so they accepted this easily.

He shrunk his broom and slipped it into his bag so he wouldn't have to make the long trek to the cave on foot, and slipped out across the grounds under his invisibility cloak. Once he had escaped the wards, he enlarged his broom, hopped on while keeping the cloak draped over him, and flew low across the hilly terrain towards the cave that Sirius had lived in for the last few months.

Harry was relieved to find Sirius there when he arrived. He was sleeping on a rough pallet bed with only a few rather dirty blankets for cover. The sight made Harry frown deeply, and only increased his desire to help his godfather. While deep down he really did wish that his godfather could accept the Dark Lord, somehow deep inside, he really doubted it would really work out. Sirius Black really was a Gryffindor, and he had an ingrained hatred of the Dark Lord.

He felt so conflicted in regards to his godfather.

Harry stepped deeper into the cave, bowed to Buckbeak and waited for the hippogriff to return the gesture, and then knelt down beside Sirius on the cold stone floor.

"Sirius?" Harry said, as he gently shook his godfather's shoulder.

It took a minute of prodding but Sirius finally startled awake.

"Huh-h... H-harry?"

Harry chuckled and sat back on his haunches. "For someone whose on the run, you're a surprisingly deep sleeper.

"Er... had a late night..." the older wizard grumbled rubbing his hand across his jaw and standing groggily to his feet. Harry stood up with him and pulled out his cypress wand. He spelled them a pair of comfortable chairs and sat down in one while Sirius left the cave to relieve himself. By the time he had come back in, Harry had pulled out a bag of food and supplies and enlarged it. Sirius eagerly began the eat and the two sat in relative silence for several minutes.

Finally Harry broke the quiet. "Have you been giving it some thought?"

"Of course I have," Sirius said with a heavy sigh. "You know I got an owl yesterday from Dumbledore. He's calling the old crowd back together. Apparently he knows Voldie's back."

"Yup. There was a really large meeting two nights ago. The Dark Lord had Snape go to Dumbledore before hand, letting him know that he'd been summoned. As was expected, Dumbledore asked Snape to resume his role as spy and return to the Dark Lord. After the meeting, Snape was instructed to go back to Dumbledore and make a report on it."

"And you all honestly expect Snape to be loyal? The guy is a dirty two-faced snake. He'll always play both sides. How do you know he isn't really spying for Dumbledore and telling him all about where your loyalties really lie?"

"Severus is loyal to the Dark. It's where he's always wanted to be. He went to Dumbledore because he loved my mum and was afraid that the Dark Lord would kill her."

"And he did."

"Yes, but now Severus knows that Dumbledore was the one really pulling the strings. Dumbledore not only used Severus to deliver the fake prophecy that ended up painting a huge 'kill me' on our backs, but then he used Severus and tricked him into indenturing himself to Dumbledore by playing on his guilt. Besides, Snape has made an unbreakable vow to protect me, and has sworn his loyalties to the Dark Lord under oath. We're relatively sure of his allegiances. We're also going to be careful of just what he knows in regards to me."

Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but paused and got a funny look on his face. "Wait, he's sworn an unbreakable vow to protect you?"

"Apparently he did it years ago when he first went to Dumbledore and offered his services as a double agent. It was how he proved his loyalties. He wasn't willing to swear a vow to Dumbledore, but he was willing to swear one to Lily's son."

Sirius looked utterly gobsmacked and sat there stunned for a moment before he shook his head as if trying to clear it. "Alright..." he said slowly.

"So what are you going to do? About Dumbledore's letter, that is."

Sirius sighed and ran his hand through his dirty tangled hair. "I don't know, pup... I guess it depends on me going and joining up with your Dark Lord. If I do go and join Voldemort, then I guess it will be expected of me to go back to the Order. Thing is I'm not the actor that Snivelus is. I'm not cut out for spying. I also only have rudimentary occlumency training. I have to admit I'm hesitant to spend too much time around Dumbledore knowing what I know."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "That's reasonable."

"But..." Sirius started hesitantly, "Dumbledore suggested in his letter that the Order is going to need a new headquarters to hold it's meetings in. He asked if I still had control over my families old home in London."

"Home in London?"

"Yeah, on Grimmauld Place. It's probably a downright rancid old place by now. Been sitting empty about a decade, at least. It's the house I grew up in."

"And do you still have control over it?"

"Of course. Could go there anytime. It's already unplottable and had enumerable protections and enchantments on the place, which is what would make it so ideal for the Order's headquarters."

"Wait, it sounds like if you went there, even the Ministry couldn't find you."

"That's right."

"So why haven't you gone back there?"

Sirius grimaced. "I'd rather live in a cave than go back to that house. I suppose it..." he sighed heavily. "No... I hated that house. I hated my family and I hated the time I spent in that house. I just didn't want to go back there unless I had to."

"Alright. So Dumbledore is asking if he can use the house for his Order?"

"Right. But he'd also want to put a Fidelius charm on the house for added protection."

"And who would be the Secret Keeper?"

"Him."

Harry grimaced.

"He 'graciously offered it' so that it would be an added layer of security to keep the Ministry from finding me. He also suggested that if we can get Grimmauld Place cleaned up enough by August, we could possibly bring you to stay with me."

"Sounds like he's trying to sweeten the deal to get the house. I wonder if he really meant it..."

"Yeah..." Sirius sighed again.

"Well..." Harry said slowly, "mind you this is if you accept our offer, but one option would be that you agree and offer up your miserable childhood home to Dumbledore for his Order, but you don't stick around to help clean the place up. Leave that to him to deal with. You tell him that you're heading out to try and track down Pettigrew and you run off and disappear for a month. You spend that month hanging with me at the manor. During that time, we can keep Pettigrew unconscious down in the holding cells while the Dark Lord makes sure that the obliviate holds firm on him. At the end of the month, you take Pettigrew to the Ministry and get your named cleared."

"You make it sound so easy," Sirius said with an eyeroll. "I doubt I'll be able to just walk into the Ministry with Wormtail and get my named cleared. If you recall, Fudge has a standing order that I be kissed on sight."

"We can work with that, don't worry."

Sirius gave Harry an incredulous look. "We?"

"To–The Dark Lord. He's got several Death Eaters in the Ministry that even Dumbledore doesn't know about. Plus I've placed the seeds inside Minister Fudge's little mind that I'm a fan of his. I even offered to just happen to show up in some public venue over the summer and give him an endorsement for his re-election this fall."

"WHAT? Give that idiot Fudge a public endorsement?"

"Of course. He's an incompetent idiot. He would rather look like he's doing something than actually doing it. It will be far easier to dismantle the Ministry from the inside out if it's being run by a do-nothing moron who listens to Lucius Malfoy's every word."

"Oh Merlin, Harry," Sirius moaned as he let his forehead fall into his hands. "I don't know if I can do this... siding with Lucius Malfoy... trying to 'dismantle the ministry'? At the very least, you're helping the Dark Lord plan a coup d'etat, and at the worst, a war!"

"The Magical government of Britain is a corrupt, ineffective, and bigoted bunch of sycophantic morons. They're worthless at governing and they need to go."

"And you think that Voldemort will do a better job?"

Harry sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair running his hand through his shaggy black hair. "Look, I doubt we'll ever make any progress on this front. We each have an exceedingly different impression of the man."

"You may say that he doesn't care about muggles and muggleborns this time around, but do you honestly think he's going to treat muggleborns fairly in this new government he makes?"

"Muggleborns are just the offspring of several generations removed squibs. No human is just spontaneously born with magic. There has to be some creature blood in their lineage. Granted, muggleborns have a lot more muggle contamination, but we all have non-magic, human contamination, that's just a fundamental fact."

Sirius made to say something, but then came up short. "Wait, what?"

"Here... I'm going to tell you some things and you have to promise not to repeat any of it to anyone, alright?"

"Okay..."

"The Dark Lord is a 'half blood'. His father was a muggle. Not even a muggleborn – a muggle."

Sirius gaped at him in stunned silence.

"His father abandoned he and his mum while she was pregnant and she died right after he was born so he was raised in a muggle orphanage. He didn't even know he was a wizard until he got his Hogwarts letter, and his witch mum gave him his muggle dad's name, so he went to Hogwarts and was sorted into Slytherin with absolutely no knowledge of his ancestry. Everyone assumed him to be a muggleborn. I'm sure you can imagine how a muggleborn was treated in Slytherin."

"It would have been a massacre," Sirius murmured under his breath.

"It definitely wasn't pleasant. But he was a parseltongue, and when that got out, some of his house mates started to realize that there was clearly more to him than met the eye. He was also an exceptionally talented wizard and more magically powerful than anyone else in the school at the time. He got top marks in all his subjects. He's a genius. So he got respect, but it was a grudging respect and he had to work his ass off for it. He learned to work with and manipulate his house mates to serve his needs, and that meant using their prejudices against them.

"He knows the truth about muggleborns, but it's not an idea that is easily introduced. The old pureblood families would have trouble accepting something like that, especially since so many squibs came from long pureblood lines, and then got disowned and thrown out into the muggle world to fend for themselves. Most so-called muggleborn children are actually descendants of really ancient pureblood lines. If the old families recognized this, they could be faced with having inheritances threatened.

"He wanted to wipe out the muggles, and it was easy to get people to follow him on that goal because of the prejudices many old wizarding families hold against them, but those same followers are just as prejudiced against the muggleborn and would target them as well. It was easier for the Dark Lord to let them do as they pleased because as long as they were happy they were helping him further his cause."

"But isn't that the same thing you've been complaining about Dumbledore? Willing to sacrifice innocents if it's for his 'greater good'?" Sirius argued.

"I never said Tom was perfect!" Harry snapped. "I never claimed that he wasn't a ruthless murderer. He is. I know that. He did some seriously fucked up shit in the past, and he's going to continue to do more in the future. I'm not excusing what he did or what he allowed to happen, but he isplanning a different tactic this time around, and hopes to keep the bloodshed to a minimum. He also intends to slowly reintroduce the old knowledge about the creature lineage descent and eventually let that bleed into the realization of where exactly 'muggleborns' actually come from."

"So you're claiming that Voldemort is going to set up a magical government where muggleborns are treated as equals?" Sirius asked incredulously.

Harry sighed. "Look, it's not going to happen overnight, and unfortunately there's a huge anti-muggleborn stigma attached to his cause right now, which will make things difficult in the beginning, but in the end his goal is to create a government that properly serves witches and wizards and even muggleborns are are still witches and wizards."

"You make it sound like he's the good guy. He's not the good guy, Harry!"

"There's isn't really any such thing as heroes and villains, Sirius. Good and evil don't exist. Very few people get into this stuff because they're legitimately evil. People have goals and motives and when someone is willing to fight for their ideals it's because they believe in what they're fighting for. They believe that they are the good guys. Everyone believes that they're the ones in the right and the people fighting against them are the ones who are wrong. It's all about perspective in the end. History is written by the victors, which is why the history books are always able to peg one side as evil while the other side – the winning side – were the heroes and saviors.

"Everyone has goals and objectives that they believe in and are willing to fight for, and no one fights with the goal of destroying the world unless they're an insane sociopath or something, and despite what you've been led to believe, Voldemort is not an insane sociopath.

"Dumbledore's side is fighting to maintain the status quo. That's what he's fighting for. To maintain the easy, already-established, and vaguely-functional government that we currently have in place. My side is fighting to tear it down and rebuild something that isn't a pathetic, ineffective, worthless pile of hippogriff dung run by incompetent imbeciles!"

"You make it sound nice, Harry, but in the end, your trying to rebuild it into a dictatorship with Voldemort sitting in a throne on top a pile of bloody corpses!"

"A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past."

"Oh, you want to throw quotes at me? Here's one. 'Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.'"

Harry sighed heavily and fell back in his chair, pinching his nose. "Look... we're getting nowhere. You clearly can't do this. Forget it. You vow still holds true. You can't tell Dumbledore –"

"Harry! Wait a damn minute!"

"No, Sirius. I realize I was just deluding myself, hoping I could help you, but in the end, you could never be happy over here with me. You will never be able to follow Voldemort. It's just not going to happen. You cannot be loyal to a man who you fundamentally despise, and nothing I say is going to change your mind on the issue."

"Harry! Come on now! Look, I said that I was going to stick by you and I meant it, I'm –"

"No. Just no. Look Sirius, if you come with me – if you take up the offer and exchange yourself for Peter, then you're committing yourself to our side. You will be expected to work towards our goals, and I just don't think you could be able to force yourself to do that in good conscience. You'd be miserable and you'd start to hate yourself, and I'm not going to put you into that position."

Sirius groaned loudly and collapsed back into his chair grumbling under his breath.

"You know I'm right. You just aren't cut out for this. Not for the Dark. Even knowing how badly Dumbledore has fucked you over, and how bad he's fucked me over... you still can't bring yourself to side with us. But I can understand that."

"I just don't understand how you can honestly think that Voldemort is going to make the world a better place!"

"And you think that Dumbledore will?"

"Well, alright, probably not him either, but –"

"Well I'm not seeing any other options right now. I'm picking Tom. I actually trust him."

"And there you go again! How can you possibly –"

"Just don't, Sirius. I'm not starting this again. Let's just agree to disagree and call it done."

Sirius looked like he wanted to argue, but then his face shifted to an expression of exhausted defeat and he let out a slow breath. The two sat in silence for a long minute.

"So what are you going to do now?" Harry asked, finally.

"I don't know..." Sirius said with another heavy sigh. "I'm not joining up with Dumbledore, that's for sure. I don't honestly think I could even stand to be in the room with the man, knowing what I know now."

Harry nodded his head solemnly. "I know how you feel. It was a real struggle not to curse the man the first few days after I learned about what he pulled with the prophecies. And I have to look at the bloody wanker every day at meals."

"See, I just don't know if I could do that. People would start to notice that there was something going on. I'm not that good an actor when I'm angry, Harry. I don't think I could convince the man that I still look up to and respect him. I don't think I even could do the spy thing for you."

Harry sighed. "Yeah... I know. I knew I was just being an idiot, trying to set this whole convoluted thing up. Tom told me that this probably wouldn't work out, but I had to try."

"You really spend a lot of time with the guy?"

Harry leaned his head forward and grinned at his godfather. "I know that to you, it sounds unfathomable, but I really do consider him a friend. More than that really. He... he gets me. He and I have so much in common it's bizarre. Our childhoods, the way our magic works, the way we approach problems... He knows just how to explain something to make it make perfect sense. Whenever I'm stuck on some magical concept or spell and I just can't get it, he has a way of making it clear as day with the simplest explanations. I mean, we didn't even talk politics for the first month or so that I was spending time with him. We just talked about everything else.

"And a bit over a month ago we sort of... I guess we broke down a barrier, and since then it's like there isn't anything we can't talk about. Sometimes I'll ask a question he doesn't want to deal with and he'll change the subject, but 9 out of 10 times, if I ask a question, he'll give me a straight answer. And as I've gotten more comfortable with him, I've started asking pretty much whatever the hell comes to mind. We've talked about each other's childhoods, we've talked about each of our experiences at Hogwarts, we've talked about how we each first started dabbling in the dark arts... I mean, he's been willing to share really intimate, personal stuff with me and I just... it's... he's really..." Harry huffed in frustration and ran his hand through his hair.

"It doesn't matter," Harry finally said, leaning forward in his chair and resting his elbows on his knees. "Just because I can connect with him, doesn't mean that you ever will. I doubt he would ever willingly show you the side of himself that he's willing to show me. You'd never get to know him the way I've gotten to know him. And in the end, your politics and ours are just too different. This isn't going to work."

Sirius sighed and slowly nodded his head. "So what do you want me to do, Harry?"

"Do what you want. Just don't join the order unless you're willing to stand with Dumbledore, against me. Because in the end, the Order is my enemy. Dumbledore is my enemy. And someday, I'm going to be going to war with them, and it's probably going to be bloody."

Sirius looked defeated and shook his head slowly. "I promised I'd look after you. Promised I'd protect you..."

"I don't need protecting, Sirius. Hell, I've got the most powerful wizard in the world already looking out for me. I'm good."

"Yeah, but who will protect you from him?"

Harry huffed out an exasperated sigh. "Don't bother, Sirius."

Sirius sighed again the the two lapsed into another thick moment of silence.

"You do realize that I can't give you Pettigrew now, right?" Harry asked.

Sirius grimaced but nodded his head. "You'd really stand beside the man who betrayed your parents?"

Harry shrugged. "One of these days, I'm going to kill him. When he's worn out his usefulness. He's still worth something right now though. Plus Tom's hesitant to just outright kill the man when he played a fairly significant role in helping the Dark Lord get a body back after thirteen years as a spirit. Even though he knows that Wormtail only returned to him is because he's a coward, and only because he wanted Voldemort to protect him, not because he wanted to help the Dark Lord or because he believed in the cause... but still... Wormtail helped him, and he refuses to 'reward' such behavior by betraying the man outright."

Sirius snorted. "The Dark Lord has a code of ethics?"

"He does, believe it or not. A lot of it would probably seem harsh or even cruel to you, but I think they're pretty valid."

"Give an example."

Harry growled lightly and ran his hand through his shaggy black hair. "Alright. He refuses to ever leave a magical child orphaned."

"Huh?"

"If the parents are both killed, the child is killed too. If possible, he prefers at least one parent is left alive, so that the child doesn't have to die. Generally the mother. But if both parents have to die, the child has to die too."

"And that's a good thing? That's disgusting! Killing an innocent child?"

"Better than having it raised by fucking muggles in some orphanage or group home, or by muggle relatives who will be afraid of it!" Harry snapped. "There are no magical orphanages, Sirius. None."

"Not all orphans would be treated the way you were, Harry," Sirius said hesitantly.

"Muggles are afraid of things they don't understand. Parents of so-called muggleborns are more-often-than-not still good to their children because they are their biological children and they love them no matter how frightening their crazy supernatural powers seem to be, but there's no bond like that with an orphan. No mandate that says 'love me no matter how big a freak I am'. Magical orphans are way more likely to end up abused and mistreated by muggles than anyone else."

"Just because you –"

"Tom too! Did you know the muggle woman who ran the orphanage he was raised in was so terrified by the things he could do, she brought in a priest to exercise him when he was five? And then again when he was seven, and eight? Have you ever seen a muggle exorcism? It's terrifying! Imagine doing that to a five year old? Imagine being that young and confused and being told you have a demon inside you! How do you think that would feel? How fucked up do you think that would make you?"

"Alright! Alright..." Sirius said, holding his hands up as if in surrender.

"We're just running in circles again. Look..." Harry paused and began to dig into his pocket. He pulled out bottlecap with a hole punched through the center, on a long length of twine. "It's a two-way portkey. It will take you to the manor house if you ever change your mind, or if you're ever in any serious trouble. The activation word is Riddle Manor. It's keyed to only take one person, so you can't bring anyone with you. Even if you're holding onto someone at the time of activation, they'll still get left behind."

"How'd you manage that?"

"These aren't standard issue, Ministry port-keys. These are custom made by Voldemort himself. If you know what you're doing, you can put all sorts of specific little things into a port-key."

"I guess so..."

"Anyway, you take this," Harry handed over the portkey. "put it around your neck or something. You can keep it close. If the Ministry or the dementors get close you can always use it as an emergency get-away. Unfortunately, since it'll only take you, you obviously can't bring Buckbeak with you if you do come, but it's a two-way port-key so perhaps you could go back for him."

Harry sighed and stood to his feet. "I need to get going. People are going to start missing me if I'm gone all day. Getting mail to me this summer is going to be a bit slower. You can address owls to 'Harry Potter' and it'll get automatically redirected to a post box I've got set up, and then my mail will get collected every few days by a house elf."

"Huh? Why are you doing all that?"

"The manor has anti-owl wards on it. T–Voldemort doesn't like to take risks with tracking charms and other such things that can easily be placed on an owl delivering post. Or risk someone just following an owl on a broom. Honestly I'm shocked that the Ministry hasn't tried something like that to track you down. Just address a letter to Sirius Black and track the owl..."

"Ah, but that would be logical and intelligent," Sirius remarked with a weak grin. Harry smiled back, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He wasn't really feeling in much of a smiling mood. Who knew if he'd be seeing his godfather again anytime soon.

"Well... goodbye Sirius."

Sirius got up and stood awkwardly in front of Harry for a moment before he leaned forward and pulled Harry into a slightly stiff embrace. Harry hesitated but returned the gesture after a moment. His chest felt heavy. Sirius was the first person from 'before' that he had been honest with, and now he was basically all but cutting ties. Sirius had been just as royally fucked over as Harry, and yet the man still couldn't follow him down his chosen path. But if he was being honest with himself, he'd known that it never really could work.

Sirius was just too much of a Gryffindor at heart.

"Goodbye pup," Sirius said into Harry's shoulder and neck. "I sure hope you know what you're doing. If you ever need an escape... I'm here for you."

Harry chuckled and shook his head. "Alright Sirius. I won't need it, but thanks for the offer."

#Harry Potter #Dark!Harry #Harry Potter and the descent into Darkness..#Tom Riddle #Tomarry

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midnight-bn-blog · 2 years

Text

Creative Writing Workshop

Mr. Kiteley: So what brings you here?

Midnight: I would like to become better in writing.

Mr. Kiteley: That’s nice kid, have you ever written?

Midnight: Not really, I’m just in a new blog and I’ve published some short stories.

Mr. Kiteley: What about?

Midnight: Me and some of my experiences.

Mr. Kiteley: Oh dear, that is very interesting, your own life. Welcome to the Workshop. I guess that people is very interested in your life, aren`t they?

Sentía la mirada de todos los componentes del taller y no supe que contestar a eso. Supongo que es una de esas preguntas que a veces te hacen sin esperar respuesta alguna, una interrogación como forma de afirmación…retórica.

Midnight: Yeah, I don`t know. I`m beginning to put some time and effort in this thing. I believe in what I have and I thought it will be a good idea coming here.

Mr. Kiteley: Did you bring some of your stories kid?

Midnight: Certainly, I have them in my bag.

Mr. Kiteley: Keep them safe, we are not going to read them. We don´t know you, and maybe you have huge experiences to talk about, there’s no doubt. However, as readers, your life is not interesting for us, nobody will invest his time or money in reading about an unknown guy. If you really want to know what you’re doing when you are in front of a blank paper, take a sit please. Listen carefully to this workshop and at the end of it, I will give you an exercise. Next week you’ll read it for us, so that will be your test, you’ll show us if you can become part of the group or not. Is that okay for you?

Midnight: Yes Sir, fair enough.

La clase estaba llena, podría haber unas treinta personas, y no me fue fácil encontrar un sitio. Me sentí un poco confundido ante la hostilidad de Mr. Kiteley e intenté entender el porqué. Hacía un par de semanas que había empezado mis clases de baile y recuerdo que en la primera clase el profesor nos dijo que para bailar teníamos que ser amorosos, gentiles, amables y sonrientes. Y cada vez que cambiábamos de pareja, sonreíamos y dábamos un abrazo a la persona con la que habíamos bailado. El profesor decía que así el contacto físico se nos hacía más familiar y nos facilitaba el aprendizaje.

Pensé en si la razón por la que el Sr. Kiteley me había recibido así era por su forma de ser o porque para ser escritor tendría que ir familiarizándome con las críticas y la adversidad. Quise decantarme por la segunda opción, y ahí sentado me di cuenta de que probablemente tenía razón, y de que, si había llegado a publicar varios Best Sellers y a ser el director de uno de los programas de escritura creativa más famosos del país, no tenía ni que buscarle una explicación, simplemente sentarme y aprender.

Durante el taller me quedé impresionado ante el nivel de algunos de los que a lo mejor se convertirían en mis nuevos compañeros, ¿Qué podría inventar yo para la semana que viene?

Estaba impaciente por conocer las instrucciones del Sr. Kiteley y ponerme a escribir cuanto antes.

Al terminar la clase, me dio una ficha plastificada con las siguientes instrucciones:

Welcome to the University of Edinburgh - Creative Writing Workshop. Kindly see below the instructions for your first task:

Write a first-person story in which you use the first-person pronoun only two times (I, me, my). But keep the I (yourself) somehow important to the narrative you’re constructing. The point of this exercise is to imagine a narrator who is less interested in himself than in what he is observing. You can make your narrator someone who sees an interesting event in which he is not necessarily a participant, or you can make him self-effacing, yet a major participant in the events related. It is very important in this exercise to make sure your reader is not surprised, forty or fifty words into the piece, to realize that this is a first-person narration. Show us quickly who is observing the scene. 900 words.I”

Una vez escuché una conferencia de Mel Robbins en la que decía que a nivel físico era lo mismo la sensación de excitación y de nervios que la de tener miedo.

“In your body, being excited is the same thing as being afraid. Your body doesn’t know the dam difference. The only difference between excitement and fear is what your brain says. And the problem is that if you have the habit of worrying, guess what you’re going to tell yourself is going on? You’ll freak out, and if you are excited it will means that there’s something going wrong. And God! Why would you said to yourself that something is going wrong? Because you have the habit of saying that, all the time.

I developed a technique and I’ve researched… If you basically right before on doing some kind of public speaking which makes your heart racing, just tell yourself “I’m excited to give that speech” what happens is you give to your brain context, so your brain does not escalate the stuff going on in your body, your brain is not worried. So, said to yourself again and again, I’m really excited to do this, I am not afraid.

Lo intenté, nunca me había enfrentado a una lectura pública de nada que hubiera escrito yo. Lo intenté una y otra vez y me repetí sus palabras constantemente, me centré en la lectura y lo que había sentido al escribirlo. Y una semana después esto es lo que ofrecí al Sr. Kiteley y los alumnos de su taller:

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DODGERS

Los acontecimientos sobrepasaron incluso aquello que todos imaginábamos. Obviamente habíamos ido demasiado lejos esa noche, era el riesgo que teníamos que correr si queríamos el dinero. La verdad es que nos salió todo demasiado mal, e incluso Léa sospechaba que alguien nos había tendido una trampa.

LumberJack: ¿Who the hell cares Léa? Tell me who!? It is fucking brainless!

Léa: Shut the fuck up guy, this was your stupid idea! And look at us now, we’re damned losers getting in troubles.

LumberJack: They are just going to ask us a few questions, ok? Do not panic for God sake.

Léa: I hate you Lumber, I promise. I am fucking hating you.

Virtual: Can you please stop? The Police Officer will come shortly.

Midnight: Male or Female?

Léa: What´s the difference?

Virtual: Everything is different Léa, try to calm yourself please.

Supe que Virtual estaba pensando lo mismo que YO, y probablemente LumberJack también, pero si decidían interrogar a Léa en lugar de a uno de nosotros tendríamos problemas. Estaba demasiado nerviosa y no había invertido prácticamente nada de tiempo en nuestros talleres de Flipnosis y NLP. Ella incluso pensaba que nos estábamos volviendo locos con la idea de control sobre el mundo que nos rodeaba, y lo único que le mantenía en el grupo era su insoportable relación de amor/odio con LumberJack. Eso y el dinero que estaba ganando con nuestros nuevos negocios.

Sentados en el pasillo de la oscura comisaría y después de algunos minutos de silencio en los que todos estábamos pensando en nuestras opciones, vimos cómo se acercaban hacia nosotros dos policías.

Probablemente uno fuera un aprendiz o alguien que acababa de empezar, era muy joven. Al otro se le veía experimentado, de unos cincuenta años y con apariencia francamente altiva. No voy a mentir, daban la impresión de ser presas fáciles, manipulables.

Todos deseábamos que eligieran a Virtual, pues a pesar de los últimos acontecimientos, seguía siendo sin duda el más dotado de entre nosotros. Y lo más importante era que no nos interrogaran por separado, vendría bien que lo hicieran al menos por parejas y que nos colocaran en alguna posición en la que pudiéramos hacernos alguna seña. También que Léa se concentrara, pues viendo que eran dos varones y que era la que más nerviosa estaba, la posibilidad de que no la eligieran a ella era prácticamente imposible. Aun así, si conseguía seguir las pautas de lo que habíamos estado aprendiendo en estos últimos meses, ella era muy buena. Aun odiando algunas de nuestras ideas, había acudido a muchos de nuestros cursos y sabía bien cómo funcionaba nuestro sistema.

Al llegar, el policía nos indicó que le acompañáramos. Por el camino, LumberJack dijo susurrando “Shoulder”, sabemos lo que esto significa: cuando uno del grupo busca ayuda en alguno de sus compañeros, se toca el hombro izquierdo con la mano derecha, y empieza a contar hasta diez en silencio. En el décimo segundo, mira al compañero, quién le hará una serie de señas, cada una de ellas tiene un significado distinto. Es muy importante contar correctamente, pues las señas serán expuestas rápida y disimuladamente.

Hemos estado trabajando mucho tiempo en estas señales y este modo comunicativo entre nosotros, pero nunca ha tenido tanta importancia su puesta en práctica. Lo que habían encontrado en el coche era suficiente como para que, si las cosas se ponían feas, uno pudiera acabar en problemas de verdad.

Police Officer: Did you said something pal?

LumberJack: No sir, my apologies.

Llegamos hasta una sala en la que hay cuatro sillas, dos a cada lado de una vieja mesa de oficina con ordenador, tazas sucias de café y papeles desordenados.

Police Officer: Take a sit young lady. You guys stay where you are.

Léa: Yes Sir.

Profecía cumplida, han elegido a ella.

Los nervios en nuestra compañera son evidentes y necesitamos que todo salga a la perfección para poder salir de esta. La única buena noticia es que los dos policías se han sentado en frente de ella y al estar nosotros tres de pie, la posición en la que estoy haría posible hacerle alguna de nuestras señas. Ninguno tenemos claro que haya entendido a LumberJack y sus intenciones. Solo queda cruzar los dedos y esperar.

El policía comienza a formular preguntas acerca de nuestra presencia en esa fiesta y lo que han encontrado en nuestro coche. Lo preocupante no son las contestaciones de nuestra compañera, sino su lenguaje corporal. Sus pupilas están dilatadas, los ojos demasiado abiertos, al final de cada respuesta está juntando los labios con demasiada evidencia, se nota que está mintiendo. Su colocación en la silla tampoco es la mejor, tiene los brazos completamente apoyados en las barras de los laterales y necesita un constante punto de apoyo, lo cual es siempre un indicador muy peligroso para un entrevistador experimentado.

Supimos rápidamente que, si esos policías tenían algunas nociones acerca de aquello que precisamente nosotros impartíamos, estábamos perdidos.

Deseaba con todas mis fuerzas que Léa me prestase atención, aunque solo fuera una vez, sabía que si ella interpretaba las señas, podíamos salir de esta. Era una chica extremadamente atractiva y eso hacía que para una pareja de policías en el que uno es el aprendiz y otro (altanero y con aires de superioridad) el profesor, estábamos ante una situación que se había convertido en sencilla.

Después de todo ¿Qué puede haber más gratificante para un policía arrogante y de esa calaña que mostrarle a un novato que puede coquetear con una joven francesa como Léa?

Después de algunos minutos en los que indudablemente le están ganando la partida, sorprendentemente, nuestra compañera coloca su mano sobre su hombro izquierdo y la deja reposar durante tres segundos.

Sabía que había llegado el momento. Soy el único que está dentro de su rango de visión y sé perfectamente que me mirará a mí una vez cumplidos esos diez segundos. Tengo todas las señas preparadas. Hacerlas todas en una sola mirada es arriesgado puesto que se puede alargar demasiado e incluso resultar confuso para el receptor, pero dada la situación, ninguno de los policías podrá percatarse de mis gestos, como mucho podrían percibir que Léa mira. Y da igual, lo hemos hecho muchas veces, confiamos en esto. Solo hay una pregunta en el aire ¿Se acordará del significado? Sé que funcionará si lo recuerda:

5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

# Toco mi barbilla con la parte posterior de mi dedo índice

# Suspiro profundamente

# Parpadeo dos veces

# Mojo mis labios con mi lengua

Midnight

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arakhiin · 7 years

Text

Skyrim Romance Review

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, took the world by storm in 2011 with its free-roam method, legendary music, and dynamic environment; the game did pretty well despite being released in the same year as Batman: Arkham City, Portal 2, Dark Souls, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution; titles that are critically acclaimed and far superior in graphics, animation, and gameplay compared to the most recent Elder Scroll installment. Less than a couple of months after its release, Bethesda introduced the Creation Kit which allowed players to modify the game to their liking.

The Skyrim community has never been more alive with the accumulation of talented writers, programmers, modders, and designers; banding together to create free AND high quality content that enhances the user experience on the game. SKSE, RaceMenu, SkyUI, patches, and FNIS are essential mods to download as most aesthetic and immersion-enhancing mods support them, some would even require SexLab that can be downloaded from a separate site (Loverslab.com). One of the most downloaded mod of Skyrim is ‘Alternate Start – Live Another Life’ where the long introduction of Skyrim is replaced by the Racemenu, and the player beginning at a locked cell where they have to approach a medium-sized Mara statue to choose their origin story. ENBs may not be the most downloaded mod, but, everyone who has downloaded one can agree that it can improve people’s Skyrim experience, why not many people download ENBs is due to the complexity of having to download a third-party application, and altering the SkyrimPrefs folder, unlike the RealVision ENB where you simply have to download via NMM or Mod Organizer and voila. There are many impressive and large quest mods such as Bruma and Enderal that completely changes Skyrim, and there are the fair-sized quest mods such as Helgen Reborn and it is equally as amazing. The Skyrim modding community is also famous for unique custom-voiced followers, some hot and some that looks badass, most of these follower mods have personal quests that allows the player to better understand the characters like Inigo and Vilja. In 2014, a small team of ambitious Skyrim modders decides to create Skyrim’s largest follower mod focusing on character development and romance.

Despite having a marriage system in Skyrim, the game failed to deliver character and relationship developments between the player and NPC, a point in which the Skyrim Romance team focused on producing for this mod. Skyrim Romance has been founded by Mara (not the Skyrim Goddess Mara though), the newest (and their biggest) update on the mod was on May 2017 called Skyrim Romance 3.0 where they fully released an upgraded Bishop: new voice actor, outfit; added three major NPCs, post-marriage content, post-Alduin content, animations, and much more! The mod’s target audience is Skyrim’s female community and therefore all 100 newly added NPCs of the mod refers to the Dragonborn as “she” and would cat-call or address your player as a feminine i.e. princess. The mod completes every female fantasy such as: going to a magnificent ball with a handsome knight/(in this case) Paladin who pays for the expensive ballgown of your choice, a handsome and flirty bard that dedicates a song to you during his concert, and a ragged ranger who accompanies you which is the biggest mistake of his life due to the never-ending jealousy, and torment of not being able to bed your sexy ass-that is until after you’ve visited at least three main town and she finally agrees. The mod requires (like many major mods) SKSE, SkyUI, FNIS, Racemenu, SexLab, plus Realistic Ragdolls with Force, XP32 (mainly for physics and skeleton), Shape Atlas for Men/Schlongs of Skyrim, and UNP/CBBE (the last two are mainly for better experience of SexLab). There are sex options in the mod, however the player can simply turn Bishop down if they do not want to participate. There are always three choices for the player when responding to the characters of Skyrim Romance, this is to allow the player freedom to create the personality of their character and see how Bishop reacts to a sarcastic, nice or flirty Dragonborn.

To begin the mod, the player must meet Bishop outside the Sleeping Giant Inn at Riverwood and accept his request to help him find his companion, Karnwyr, a beautiful brown wolf with custom textures. The player can flirt, ask questions, speak, trade items, and disband with Bishop, however, the player cannot ask him to do something because it is against his nature. To progress the mod, the player must speak to Bishop recurrently and trigger events found in different cities of Skyrim. The player can show interest but not pursue romance of any npc from the mod except for Bishop. Over the course of your journey, Bishop realizes his growing feelings and tries to deny it though eventually he lets his lust for the player trickle out: complimenting her, kissing her, sleeping with her; eventually he admits that he “love[s] you”, and he wants something more than casual sex. On the 3.0 update, Bishop marries the Dragonborn and has a child with her, Bishop is still recruitable but the son, Julian (named after someone dear to him) is not. To prevent incompatibilities and problems in the marriage system, the mod does not replace the player’s current spouse (if they had one) or force the player to kill or divorce their spouse, instead it has a new NPC to wed the two characters in a private wedding ceremony at a chosen custom location completed with a bittersweet atmosphere, and sweet music. Upon having a child, the player can watch Bishop bond with the son through short cutscenes, the player can interact with the kid such as speaking to him, asking him questions, or getting him to go to bed. Outside the mod, Bishop reacts when the player leaves to defeat Alduin, you can find him back at the Sleeping Giant Inn after the quest where he will drunkenly patronize you. The following paragraph will contain spoilers on the mod.

Bishop is a rugged ranger who travels only with his trusty wolf. Not much is known about him except that he is sharp-mouthed, handsome, charismatic, and over-powered with the bow and dagger. Trust comes hard to the ranger considering that he grew up surviving for himself and his siblings with no support from his parents. He stole a dagger-the one he currently uses- when he was a kid, joined banditry, made trouble for a renowned Paladin, and crossed paths with a sadistic band led by Thorne -who you later stumble upon in a dungeon near Falkreath-. Upon marriage, he reveals that his parents cared little for his siblings and him, his father going as far as sleeping with one of his brother’s (Jack) fiancé then murdering the him after he tried to duel the father. Bishop trained so once he was 17 he avenged Jack along with the help of his half-brother, Jules; freeing himself and his nine siblings-who were none too pleased- Jules was the only one that truly followed Bishop away from the nightmare and stayed with him. The two brothers lived a life in poverty, they developed their charisma-which you’ll be able to observe when he barters for a room at whiterun- through days and days of bartering for food and money, used their skills in battle to become mercenaries and eventually banditry. One fateful day, Jules betrayed Bishop and their bandit group for the sake of his own family, unfortunately, it was too late that by the time Bishop realized his brother’s intention…he was gone, killed by the bandits, killed by him. The only memento of Jules that Bishop had was the wolf ring that he made; and when Bishop parted with it to the player, it’s a symbol of a new beginning for him.

There’s more to Bishop than meets the eye, he’s your typical Coodere guy; at first he is cold and distant, later he tries to act cool and rebellious, just to impress you. He does not understand the purpose of helping other people and ticks him off whenever you attempt to do pointless quests such as killing random npcs, or fetching heirlooms, this leads to him trying to seduce you into leaving Skyrim with him just to avoid the War and your fate as Dragonborn. Bishop is not just another Batman, he has his flaws such as being a terrible drunk, openly-jealous, always picks a fight, and has “Florence” for his middle name. To you he can be your knight in shining armour, your guy next door, your best friend, your guardian, he can be the light when you are at your darkest pit of loneliness and depression, he can be who you need him to be. But think what he can be to your child, a loving father who is willing to provide everything for his kid even if he has nothing, he spends his free days at home nurturing your child, he would make sure that he grows up to be modest, strong, smart, generous, and better than himself. That is who Bishop is, because he would never wish upon anyone to experience what he had when he was a kid, a childhood devoid of happiness, and surrounded only by the harsh realities that life would ever offer.

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For the last three years, the Skyrim Romance community have grown to thousands of active followers on their website (SkyrimRomance.com) creating amazing stories, beautiful screenshots, and artworks. With Skyrim Romance finally fully released, the following updates related to the mod are simply bug fixes, the team announces a long-time planned mod that centres one of the major NPCs in the Skyrim Romance mod, Cael, a young forsworn man and the chief’s son. The mod, called Forbidden Love, is currently in the works with the team looking for extra helping hands in writing, voice acting, art, animation, video editing, and textures. The SR team aims for the Forbidden Love mod to be “five times larger” than Skyrim Romance, with new enemies, music, locations, armour, and races being announced in the span of 2 weeks. If you prefer the knight, another team has taken upon themselves to join the Skyrim Romance community to work on a Casavir Romance mod which is currently on 50% completion, they are also looking for volunteers for graphics art and voice actors. With Skyrim Romance’s success, the team pushes on with greater motivation and innovation to expand the world of Bishop and Skyrim Romance, there is no doubt that the future of Skyrim Romance will strive.

Skyrim Romance mod website|Join the fantastic community!

#skyrim romance mod #Skyrim Romance #Bishop #Casavir #Cael #Skyrim #Elder Scrolls V #Skyrim Romance Mod Review #Skyrim mod review #video games #trying to get into writing team hence the mod review XD #forbidden love #casavir romance #Skyrim PC

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imamotherfuckingstar-lord · 7 years

Text

Likewise

Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: AU where reader and Steve meet at an art show.

It was eight at night, the wind blew against your cheek as you drove down a long highway. Once a month, you took the 20 minute drive to the small artist gallery, tucked away in a quiet street, surrounded by a Mexican market, a gas station and a thrift store.

The high desert night was cool, so you wore a pair of black jeans, a loose black blouse and a long green utility jacket. Nerves sprang from your toes, swelling up to your chest.

Once a month, you’d make the trip to the next town, hoping for a chance to see him. It was pathetically sad, you knew this, but still, it was something to look forward to. After long hours at a job you didn’t hate, but disliked, it was nice to have a little something to work towards.

Yes, it was ridiculous.

The two of you had never spoken, except once, when he stood in front of the large mason jar beverage dispenser filled with sangria. You asked him quietly to pass you one of the white styrofoam cups and he poured you a couple of the cheap wine, handing it over with a kind smile.

You couldn’t speak, stunned by the blue of his eyes, so you just smiled back and walked away. It was all very pathetic, sad, ridiculous and embarrassing, but still, you made the trip every four weeks. Granted it started off with the real interest of displaying your artwork, different themes each month - it was good practice and kept you sane. It was only when you finally encounter the man, that it became even more important to participate each month and somewhere, somehow, the two of you connected over social media- specifically Instagram. You realized it was probably the work of the art gallery’s own IG page, because they had tagged your artwork in a photo and you suppose that’s how he found you.

So, there was that.

The small indication that he at least knew you existed and possibly interested in your art, at least you hoped.

You came to the street and quickly found parking a few feet away from the small structure, where people stood around listening to a band play outside. You turned off the car and got out, grabbing your bag with you. Locking up, you swung the bag across your chest and proceeded toward the gallery.

Right away, you noticed how awful the music was. The singer’s voice was off key and he screamed a little too close to the microphone, but somehow, it all worked with the atmosphere. You smiled at a familiar face, the gallery’s owner, who was bobbing his head to the music. He waved and you waved back, motioning that you were going to head inside.

To your delight, it was pretty empty - mostly everyone was outside, listening to the band or ordering food from the taco truck that was parked in front. Unlike outside, where it was cool, but muggy, the room was air conditioned and felt fresh. The Arctic Monkeys played at a low volume in the background and you beelined it to the free wine, pouring a full cup. Taking little sips, you walked over to the wall of paintings and stood there, taking each one in, until you got to your own.

The media was digital, a print. It was of Princess Leia (the month’s theme was Star Wars) wearing the Endor outfit with the green camouflage poncho. It was a favorite of yours.

You heard the door open to the gallery, but didn’t look, instead you stood there critiquing your print - thinking of ways you could have made it better.

“Everyone always thinks of the gold bikini, but I like her best in that outfit.”

You turned to the admirer and are taken back by a pair of blue eyes, matched with a soft smile.

It was him.

“Yeah,” you managed quietly, fighting back the nervousness with a sip of sangria.

“This one’s yours, right? I saw it on your Instagram,” he nodded to the print and you said yes.

“You’re Steve, right?”

He was, you knew this, but he didn’t know you knew.

“Yeah,” he grinned, holding out a hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Y/N,” you offered and he said he knew, saw it on your profile.

“You’re stuff is really amazing,” he enthused, tucking both hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I really like your Star Wars stuff, especially that Jabba the Hut one.”

You thanked him and felt yourself relaxing, asking him which piece was his - as if you didn’t know. He motioned for you to follow him to the opposite side of the room and you marveled at the large canvas.

It was the Death Star in all it’s glory - dark, ominous, and powerful.

“That..that is amazing,” you gushed and Steve chuckled, a hint of red flushed his cheeks.

“Thank you.”

“Of course,” you offered with a smile.

Steve cleared his throat and asked if you’d like a drink, pointing to the small refreshment table next to the door. You laughed and held up the cup.

“Right, how about a taco?”

Your heart pounded as you agreed, as long as he was paying you said to him playfully, wondering where that bravery came from. Steve chuckled and said he was definitely offering.

The two of you went outside and walked up to the taco truck, both wincing at the live music.

“That kid needs to step a foot back from the mic,” Steve grimaced and you laughed.

“Or maybe we’re just too old to enjoy that sorta music.”

“Maybe.”

After ordering three tacos each, you waited patiently for the order, off to the side and away from the music. Steve asked if you were staying the whole night and you shrugged, telling him that you didn’t work the next day. He asked what you did and you sighed, telling him about the mind numbing retail job you worked.

“It pays the bills, right?”

“Sure.”

“Well, then it’s a job you should be proud of.”

“Maybe.”

He laughed then and shrugged. “What do you want to do then?”

At that moment, your order was called and you smiled. “I want to eat those tacos.”

Steve gathered the plates, while you managed the the drinks, including your sangria. You followed the man to one of the small picnic tables on the side of the building, and took a seat across from him. It was a little dark, but a lamp fixture above you gave some light.

“How come we never talked before?”

You looked up from the taco in your hand and didn’t know what to say. The truth? Which was simple, you were too shy, too nervous, to ever approach him. His eyes waited for an answer, so you shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, it’s not for a lack of trying on my end,” he pointed out and you chuckled.

“What?”

Steve shifted in his seat and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I’ve been trying to talk to you for months now.”

He has?

“You have?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “I know this might sound weird, but I saw you on the gallery’s Instagram and followed you.”

You relished in that fact and waited for him to go on.

“I guess..well...you just seem like a person I’d like to get to know.”

Your heart raced, holding tight to every word that flowed out of his mouth. He wanted to talk to you for months, wanted to get to know you. He blushed with embarrassment and you quickly drew up a hand in the air.

“I have a confession to make,” you said, bring the hand down. “I’ve been coming here each month in hopes that I’d see you.”

Steve’s mouth pulled into a wide smile and he quickly glanced at his lap, trying to hide his obvious amusement. The two of you sat silently for a moment, realizing the other had been doing the same thing - coming to the art show each month to catch a chance at seeing one another.

Your eyes finally met Steve’s and the two of you burst into a collective laugh at the predictability of the situation.

“So all this time,” you laughed. “All this time we could have been talking?”

Steve laughed too. “Apparently.”

Well,” you sighed, holding up the cheap wine. “It’s good to finally meet you, Steve.”

He grabbed his soda can and clinked it against the styrofoam cup you were holding.

“Likewise.”

Forever tags: @my-amazing-nerdyness @naih-reedus @maciiiofficial @casownsmyass @jade-taillia @fangirlextraordinaire @indominusregina @feelmyroarrrr @my-rainbow-wonderland @myhopeisinfinite @girl-next-door-writes @dontbeamenacetotheforce @melonberri @superisatomboyuniverse @xloudwhocares @crownie-sr @dracsgirl @moonlight53 @makemyownwonderland @dreamwhisper87 @trekken81 @barely-emily @winterboobaer @purelittleblueberry @goodnightwife @mishaissocoollike @stormyfandoms @foreverybodythatunderstands23 @gallifreyansass @flirtswithdanger @yana-tardis-drwho @myplaceofthingsilove @jchona @alyssaj23 @blackhoneybucky @urbanspacedecay @castieltrash1 @hannahsakorax3 @imagine-all-the-imagines @motleymoose @distinguishedqueenofbooks @kitkatgaming @fizzylollipop12 @iamwarrenspeace @darkmystress00 @lunarwolfrose @kapolisradomthoughts @sisinia13 @swiggityswagness @takemetoneverland91 @to-pick-ourselves-up-7 @sarah-mos @rubynationwins @padfootorionblack @kaywolves @wonderlace19 @yourxaveragexslythergit @purelittleblueberry @courtneychicken @rayleyanns @whatmakesmebeme-tblr @thewinterwitch @avengersgirllorianna @holywinchesterness @tatortot2701 @brewsthespirit-blog @seabasschino @barnesvogue @lame-lozer @ex-bookjunky @travelwithwords @corolux @supernaturaldean67 @maddieolivialove

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers au #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers #marvel imagine

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bridgetatwork-blog · 7 years

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How I did the DCP on a Budget

Well, to be fair the word “Budget” may be the wrong choice. I merely chose to blow my money on things like coffee mugs with Mickey Mouse on it and buy every person I ever knew a Christmas ornament because the discount was bumped to, like, 50% off.

If you’re reading this you most likely know what the DCP is. If not, no worries- I’ll tell you! The DCP, or Disney College Program, is an internship that caters to thousands of students from varying backgrounds and aspirations. It has two main seasons, Spring and Fall, and a smaller Summer season. These can break down even further to Spring/Fall Advantage (longer) or just the Spring/Fall (most resembles a typical college semester). Students live in Disney sponsored housing and work on property in a multitude of roles (jobs) such as merchandise, food service, custodial, entertainment, hotel services, etc. The program exists in both Anaheim’s Disneyland and Orlando’s Walt Disney World Resort. I participated in a Spring and Fall program in Orlando as a Merchandise cast member.

The pay for these roles are mostly shit unless you land an Entertainment gig or working in a premium location like on Main Street in Magic Kingdom. I think I made $7.25 my first program and $7.50 my second program working merch in the resorts right outside Magic Kingdom. I did earn a little extra when I worked the holiday booth in the Contemporary during Christmas time, which was nice. That costume was also super comfy- the pants felt like yoga sweats and I wore a Chef’s jacket that felt like a hoodie! The costumes at Disney are really hit or miss with the designs and how they fit. Mostly misses. The hours varied for me in these locations. I would typically be scheduled for 25-30 hours and would offer to stay late and would pick up a bunch of extra shifts. Disney has one of my favorite OT policies for interns: if your shift is longer than 9 hours, everything after that 9th hour is OT. If two different shifts are within 6 hours of each other (back to back) then the previous 9 hour rule applies. If you work more than 40 hours in a week than everything after that 40th hour is OT. This was how it worked in 2012- it may have changed since then.

So with that layed out it is safe to say that I was making enough money to support myself, but not enough to do that and have the fun I wanted. When it came time to choose between groceries or tickets to Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights you can guess which one I picked. Hint: I wouldn’t be writing this if I had a full pantry all the time.

FOOD The most important thing to have on your radar is where your next meal was coming from. If one of your roommates has a membership to Sam’s or Costco, coordinate your shopping day with them to take advantage! I signed up for a loyalty card to Walgreens, Winn-Dixie, and anywhere else I found myself visiting often. Winn-Dixie is a southern grocery store that sometimes can rival Walmart with their deals- like 10 Totino’s Party Pizzas for $10! I could make those things last for like 2-3 meals each when put with some cheap chips or something. Watching the weekly ads for deals from local places and Walmart helped me find variety so I wouldn’t notice I wasn’t eating right. And I could sometimes find deals on fresh produce, sandwhich meat, or meats that were about to reach their sell-by date! Something I always kept on hand was Popcorn and Pickles. They lasted forever, made quick snacks I could eat on the go, and would give me a false sense of eating a lot (especially the popcorn) which kept me from being hungry. If you skimp on the nutrition remember to buy a good multivitamin and drink lots of water. I was always moving so these bad eating habits didn’t really catch up to me until I got home from the program. I did drop 20lbs which was cool. **

Speaking of water: buy a case of cheap water, enjoy the fresh bottled taste at first, and save those bottles! Reuse them by filling them up with water at the drinking fountains. If you forget your water at home or throw the bottle out after many uses don’t worry. If you’re playing in the parks you can go to any quick-service counter and ask for a cup of water. It’s free!

Eating out is expensive. Pick where you eat wisely. We always went to Golden Corral, Siciliy’s Pizza, or Sweet Tomatoes where we would get a small discount and could eat as much as we wanted. Despite the discount Disney food is not usually your best option. Here are my exceptions: Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Magic Kingdom: If you’re playing make sure you bring a backpack to stow your “Ears” and pin lanyard. Wear plain clothes and have your cast ID handy. You want to appear as if you’re coming to/leaving work. Behind Main Street heading towards Tomorrowland on the right is an easy entrance to the Utilidors. Make sure you’re familiar with the Utilidors before venturing down there if MK is not your home park. If you get lost try not to ask security or upper management for directions. Stick to others in sweats or themed gear. You’re looking for the cast member cafeteria. There’s a Subway down there where you can get a $5 footlong and Aramark also has other options for snacks. I would always split this with someone and have one of my water bottles handy for a cheap meal. It’s also really fun to watch Cinderella and Gaston talk shit about someone (Peter Pan?!) while stuffing their faces with Hot Cheetos. You’re not supposed to be down there if you aren’t working so be careful. Pecos Bill in Adventureland has a little salad bar meant for the taco salads. It’s packed with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, pickles, and other toppings and condiments that you can create a make-shift salad with for free (unless a cast member decides to stop you, but they most likely won’t). Epcot: Make a bee-line to Japan in the World Showcase. The kids meal at the quick-service is like $6 and plenty of food to fill you up. Saves money for the important stuff- like Tequila in Mexico!

I was lucky to work at the Contemporary where we hosted Pirates and Pals, which is a fireworks cruise. They served these giant sheet cakes for the guests and there was always a whole cake left over. One of our supervisors was married to a man that facilitated the food for that shindig so it always appeared in our break room! We also had a popcorn machine (remember what I said about popcorn!) that we could rev up any time we wanted, and so I did during my breaks. Many nights my dinner was cake and popcorn! There was also a “Hungry Intern” box the other cast members would put stuff in that had stuff like easy mac, ramen, and granola bars. I had great coworkers. :)

If you happen to work in a place that has a merchandise cooler for drinks and food or sells candy keep an eye on the expiration dates! If you have a supervisor that doesn’t care or pays attention you could score things like boxed candy or frozen breakfast foods (in the hotels) that were on their way to being thrown out anyways. I wouldn’t recommend taking things like MILK that was expired- but who cares if the Goofy cotton candy was day over it’s mark?

Household Essentials Some of my “tips” here include theft. Cover your innocent eyes if you’re not into that. I would take things like toilet paper, soap, razors, and feminine products from the hotel’s supply closets. I didn’t want to spend my money on things like that when there it was behind this door I had a key to. Sometimes you could score stuff like candles or laundry detergent too. I only took what I needed and I shared with the other interns. Like Robin Hood! You could also grab essentials from the bathroms, like cotton swabs and toilet paper and paper/cloth napkins. The best place is the bathrooms in the convention centers like the one at the Boardwalk. This is conveniently located next to the cast member parking lot/bus stop!

If you’re purchasing buy things in bulk if the price is right! You know you’ll need it, it’s worth it to just get as much as you can when you can.

Entertainment This is where all my money went. I mainly spent my money on shows, alcohol, gas, parking, and food when I wasn’t using my free food cheats and comped park entrances. Before I even left home I bought an annual pass to Universal that got me discounts on Halloween Horror Nights tickets, food, and free parking. I knew as a Cast Member I would already be getting those same perks at Disney. This helped me save money while escaping the Disney Bubble often.

SIN Night at House of Blues - Service Industry Night is the best if you want to go clubbing. Admission is free with your Disney ID if you’re over 21 and ladies drink free until about 10 or 11. Jellyrolls - This is a dueling piano bar at the Boardwalk outside Epcot. Admission is free for cast members and they serve free... wait for it... POPCORN inside! This is a great show and the pianist are very talented. Each night is different as they play requests only all night. The staff is very friendly as well! The alcohol is expensive - like $7 for a bottled beer! We would usually just pool our resources and buy liquor from the Walgreens in front of Vista Way and pregame in the parking lot. If you’ve been keeping your water bottles from earlier handy you could smuggle in your own vodka and sip at your leisure! Buffalo Wild Wings - On Wednesday nights the BWWs in the Crossroads Center on SR 535 clears their dining room floor and turns the place into a karaoke bar on the inside and a latin club on the patio! Great prices on drinks, food, and admission. I can’t remember if there was a way to get in free or not. When they’d shut down you just crossed the parking lot to McDonald’s and ball out of control because it was just after 1 am on a Thursday and your drunk self just remembered EPCOT!! EPCOT - Every Paycheck Comes On Thursday. Direct Deposit, hell yeah! Disney pays you weekly!

Other ways we would save money is by splitting dryer time on small loads in the laundry rooms, carpooling, pregaming, rotating email addresses to get free trials on Hulu and Netflix, rotating which roommate would buy community use things, rotating amongst friends each week for a home-cooked meal, investing in things we would use over and over like board games and cards for entertainment, staying away from fast food whenever possible, and not being wasteful. This post may look like all I did was play and party, but I worked hard too. I took advantage of the OT regulations to where I would work 4 10-12 hour shifts each week. When doing this I would usually get an Early Release on my 5th day or could afford to give up the shift all together. I enjoyed being at work since most of my friends were already there! I had a great time with the guests and thoroughly enjoyed what I was doing every day! My two programs got me the job I have now and the above-average salary I’m making.

** Please be safe and treat your body right. This is no way advocates the usefulness of an eating disorder in any way. Do not skip meals. Do not starve yourself. Do not count popcorn as your only meal for an extended amount of time. I love popcorn, I really do, but it’s not a miracle food. Listen to your body and give it what it needs.

#disney college #disney #budget #dcp #disney college program #college #broke college student #broke college girl #work hard play hard

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paulbenedictblog · 4 years

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%news%

New Post has been published on %http://paulbenedictsgeneralstore.com%

News OANN threatened with removal from White House press room after correspondent Chanel Rion makes unauthorized appearances - The Washington Post

News

This time, it changed into once a fairly routine ask that Chanel Rion, a correspondent for One The United States Info Community, posed to President Trump for the period of Tuesday’s White Home info briefing: How many clinical trials wouldn't it take sooner than a possible coronavirus drug he has touted will likely be common? Trump wasn’t clear and turned the ask over to Anthony S. Fauci, his infectious-diseases knowledgeable.

Nonetheless the transient Q&A raised its be pleased ask: What changed into once Rion doing there in the first space?

Beneath strict suggestions collectively imposed closing month by White Home officers and the White Home Correspondents’ Affiliation, which represents journalists, access to the miniature briefing room is now restricted to about 15 reporters on a typical foundation to enforce social-distancing measures amid the coronavirus disaster, and a lot of other smaller info organizations can rotate in most spicy once every a lot of days.

And it wasn’t OANN’s spark off Tuesday. Nor on Wednesday, when Rion confirmed up in the room again — prompting the correspondents’ affiliation to vote to purchase OANN from the rotation.

Rion and her employer, a microscopic conservative cable outlet is named OANN, appear to possess gotten particular permission from the White Home, in violation of the suggestions. The explanations, and the provision of the approval, are unclear, but OANN and Rion possess a history of reporting favorably about Trump. Rion herself has pushed conspiracy theories that stretch his political interests, such because the fake allegation that officers in Ukraine secretly manipulated the 2016 election to back Hillary Clinton. Trump, in turn, has tweeted reward of OANN’s reporting dozens of instances.

The White Home, in assemble, on Tuesday bent the foundations — which had been designed to clarify the health of journalists, the president and the nation’s high public-health officers — in granting access and a nationwide spotlight to a correspondent from an imprecise but Trump-friendly info outlet.

OANN changed into once founded in 2013 by Robert Herring Sr., a millionaire Republican donor from San Diego who made his fortune in the circuit-board commerce sooner than initiating over in media. His son, Charles Herring, president of One The United States’s parent company Herring Broadcasting, truly helpful The Washington Put up closing week that the channel “is designed to record appropriate the knowledge” and that “we would now not record our info reporting as shapely-leaning.”

Nonetheless for a 2017 memoir, more than a dozen worn and most modern workers described Robert Herring to The Put up as a heavy-handed unofficial info director who continually ordered protection favorable to Trump. It changed into once the first channel to back Trump’s 2016 marketing campaign speeches dwell, and interior emails confirmed Herring directing that other candidates’ rallies now not get the identical remedy.

Rion, who did now not acknowledge to repeated requests for remark, has socialized with the Trumps at Mar-a-Lago, in line with photos she has posted on Fb, and brags on her personal web residing about having “been aboard the Trump Put collectively from its first week” first and foremost assign of the 2016 marketing campaign.

At both Tuesday and Wednesday’s briefings, she stood in the motivate of the click room — and this, too, changed into once a violation of the suggestions: Journalists are required to resolve a seat, with out a standing in the aisles or in the motivate of the seating assign.

WHCA President Jonathan Karl said he alerted White Home press secretary Stephanie Grisham and the White Home press office on Tuesday that Rion’s presence changed into once “a clear violation” of precautions which had been strictly followed at the White Home for weeks.

“The solutions are clear,” said Karl, ABC Info’s White Home reporter. “Whenever you don’t possess a seat in the briefing room for your given day, you would possibly perhaps well perhaps possibly now not be there. The solutions are established to guard the health of the White Home press corps. We’re abiding by the [Centers for Disease Control’s] suggestions.”

Grisham declined to remark on Wednesday.

In an electronic mail, OANN founder and chief government Charles Herring said Rion’s presence “changed into once acceptable” and that she changed into once invited to back the briefing. He declined to boom who invited her or why.

Trump clearly has been pleased by OANN’s participation, calling on Rion and a colleague, Jenn Pellegrino, who handles weekend shifts at the White Home, a lot of instances one day of the final two weeks. “OAN. Very right,” he said after calling on Rion in a single briefing. “They treat me very successfully.”

Rion has attracted consideration at the briefings with weird or heavily loaded questions. At Monday’s session, she in contrast the sequence of coronavirus deaths to the sequence of “formative years killed by their mothers through elective abortions each day” and then requested the president: “Shatter you settle with states who space coronavirus victims above elective abortions?”

In a earlier briefing, Rion introduced up Trump’s controversial use of the timeframe “Chinese language virus” by rhetorically asking whether or now not he notion-about the timeframe “Chinese language meals” to be racist because “it's meals that originated from China?” After Trump amiably spoke back that he didn’t deem it changed into once “racist the least bit,” she went on to argue that “fundamental left-flee media . . . possess teamed up with Chinese language Communist Celebration narratives” to push criticism of the president for utilizing the timeframe.

Rion, who joined OANN in Can also, has pushed some unfamiliar conspiracies. In October, she claimed that worn FBI authorized professional Lisa Online page and worn FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe had had an affair — a memoir later retracted by OANN. She later traveled to Ukraine with Rudolph W. Giuliani, Trump’s personal authorized professional, to invent a documentary series for OANN about Giuliani’s claims in enhance of Trump’s actions in withholding militia back to the country.

Sooner or later of a particular record that aired on the network in mid-March, Rion truly helpful that the coronavirus came from “a biosafety diploma-three lab in North Carolina” and that it changed into once then smuggled into China by lab group and launched. She cited as her supply a “citizen investigator.” None of the claims had been confirmed.

In her earlier curiosity as a political cartoonist, she produced illustrations suggesting that Hillary Clinton changed into once in the motivate of the unsolved 2016 assassinate of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich — an proof-free conspiracy in kind in shapely-flee circles.

On her web residing, she calls herself “a fierce foe of one thing Clinton, of all the pieces Obama, and as a total and unrelenting enemy of academic left-liberalism and political correctness wherever.” She is engaged to be married soon to Courtland Sykes, an also-ran in the GOP foremost for the 2018 U.S. Senate creep in Missouri, who in immediate went viral that twelve months with a social media rant blasting feminists as “she devils” with “snake-stuffed heads” and explaining how he expects Rion to put collectively for him “a dwelling cooked dinner at six every night time.”

This, unnecessary to boom, changed into once sooner than Rion took a job that now not too lengthy previously has kept her at the White Home past 6 p.m. Neither she nor Pellegrino appear to possess had well-known journalism journey sooner than keeping the White Home for OANN, a network that most frequently attracts a fraction of the viewers watching Fox Info, MSNBC and CNN.

Outdated to joining OANN two months previously, Pellegrino changed into once an intern for Bill O’Reilly, a booker for the dwelling-having a detect network QVC, and a manufacturing assistant at Fox Info, interspersed with sales and commerce pattern jobs, in keeping along with her LinkedIn profile.

On Sunday, Trump known as on Pellegrino twice to ask a ask — surely one of which seemed as if it would possibly perhaps possibly well perhaps possibly please him immensely.

“Mr. President, your approval ratings had been the excellent they’ve ever been, as successfully because the ratings for your facing of the virus,” she requested. “But there are some networks which is probably going to be announcing they’re debating whether or now to now not back these briefings dwell. Shatter you specialise in there’s a hyperlink between the two?”

“Nicely, I don’t know,” Trump spoke back. “I do know that — boy, that’s a nice ask. Thanks very well-known.”

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welcometowcwmondaynitro · 5 years

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WCW Monday Nitro 26/08/1996

Note: It’s been over a year since I posted anything new, but this is still an active Tumblr so here’s something for the handful of people who I suddenly noticed are following this! Also RIP Mean Gene Okerlund. I may rag on him a lot in these retrospectives but he was a legend and will be missed. Onto the final WCW Nitro of August 1996.

So, this is curious. We start off with the usual intro, then as the fireworks are going off and Tony and Larry Z are welcoming us to the broadcast... there are already two people in the ring. We’re in a rush tonight, clearly.

Our combatants for the first bout of the evening are Juventud Guerrera and Billy Kidman. This is in fact Juvi’s debut on WCW Nitro. Hopefully he gets better treatment than poor Psychosis.

Juventud Guerrera Vs Billy Kidman

We’re not even a minute into the match and Tony manages to call our debutant “Juventud Guerrero”. That’s something else you can get used to, as this mistake happens frequently throughout Juvi’s time in WCW. In this instance Larry does correct Tony and note that it’s “Guerrera” rather than “Guerrero”.

As the match is in progress Tony informs us that the Horsemen will be facing the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express later in the program, a match that would have been good in the 80s but not so much in 1996.

Juvi and Kidman slap each other on the apron for a few moments, then Juvi flips over him and hits a powerbomb onto the floor.

Juvi dominates for a while with a few lucha flips, but then Kidman hits back. After a while Kidman attempts to hit the ever impressive shooting star press...

And he connects, but Juvi kicks out!

Juvi hits a hurricanrana off the top rope which Tony somehow calls a “reverse victory roll” - wut? - and gets the three count. Juvi screams “I am the best!” into the camera whilst Tony keeps trying and failing to pronounce hurricanrana with a spanish accent. Larry then says to just call it “the flying fajita” in a nice bit of casual racism.

Juventud Guerrera defeats Billy Kidman via pinfall.

Gene is in the ring, and they seem to think it’s a good idea to give this guy an interview.

As it turns out, it isn’t. The interview starts well with Gene saying Juvi isn’t “adept at English” and Gene admitting he can’t speak Spanish - “no comprende Espanyol amigo”. Always a good idea to have an interview between two people who don’t speak each other’s language. Gene asks about Juvi facing Konnan for the Mexican title. Juvi says something unintelligible in broken English before switching to yelling something in Spanish. The crowd start booing loudly and Juvi is confused by this reaction.

Juvi takes back the mic and screams “I am the best wrester Mexican”. Juvi actually manages to speak some fairly fluent English for a moment as he says he has one more thing to say - everybody in Mexico knows the New World Order, and then loses his train of thought and says something about nobody in mexico being scared of them or something. Crowd has started booing again, and Gene, realising this thing is dying a terrible death, cuts the interview with a condescending “give it a rest pal, you can take this up with somebody else”, walking away and shaking his head as if somehow this is Juvi’s fault and he’s too old for this shit.

Poor Juvi just stands there looking like a dope.

Juvi was very over at the end of the match. He was dead in the water after the interview. Good going WCW.

We get a Glacier commercial, and it’s a new one! After seeing the same promo for literally months, we finally get some fresh material...

It’s just Glacier spinning a stick around in front of a white wall with weird markings on it. He’s basically Star Wars kid before Star Wars kid became a thing. Maybe we got it all wrong and he was actually copying Glacier.

We get our first look at Tony and Larry...

Look at that multicoloured abomination on Larry’s torso. WTF kind of a shirt is that. I hope he didn’t pay too much for it.

Seriously. Dafuq. Looks like he’s wearing a child’s colouring book, with bad colouring in to boot.

Anyway, they talk about the Four Horsemen teaming up with Sting and Luger and we get a recap of the promo last week between these gentlemen confirming the agreement. The crowd are still booing at something, but not sure if it’s still Juvi or something else entirely. Rough audience tonight.

Larry starts babbling about King Nebuchadnezzar and the “five orders” and Tony’s face during this is absolutely priceless.

He’s literally staring off with this “wtf?” gaze for about ten seconds before turning back to Larry like, “u srs?”

He has no idea what is going on.

After Larry finishes his soliloquy on empires and other bullshit, Tony informs us that later on we’ll be seeing Mongo & Benoit Vs Sting & Luger. Can I ask why? Why the fuck would you do that with War Games coming up? Sting and Luger are teaming with the Horsemen at War Games, so why would they...? You know what, forget it. Next match is up. First up... AMERICAN MALES, AMERICAN MALES, AMERICAN MALES...

But Riggs is injured so it’s actually Bagwell teamed up with Jim “Jobber” Powers and his manager Teddy Long.

What a trio. Worth noting Dave Penzer calls Long “the Godfather”... Godfather of what? Jobbers? Where did that nickname come from? Does Long have some kind of Mafia history we haven’t been told about? Penzer also says they’ll be accompanied by Riggs but he’s nowhere to be seen. Guess he had better things to do.

Speaking of trios...

Their opponents are Sullivan and Big Bubba accompanied by Jimmy Hart. Oh boy. I can’t imagine this is going to be a match of the year candidate. Also the name graphic makes it look like it’s just “Taskmaster Big Bubba”.

Marcus Bagwell & Jim “Jobber” Powers Vs Kevin Sullivan & Big Bubba

Before the match we see a quick compilation of “tree of woe” moves and the double foot stomp finisher from Sullivan, after which Tony calls Sullivan “one of the most dangerous men we’ve seen in our sport for many years”. Yeah... but no. Just no. Larry then says in class he used to see kids pulling wings off flies, but Sullivan used kittens. Okay, first, where are these winged kittens that Larry is talking about? Secondly, if we assume he’s actually talking about Sullivan ripping kittens limbs off... what the fuck?

Jobber Jim actually surprisingly gets some early offence on Sullivan, during which Larry calls Jimmy Hart “a mental genius of the game”. OK.

This match goes on for way too long, but there’s a funny spot near the end where Jobber Jim is ramming both Jimmy Hart and Sullivan’s heads into the turnbuckle.

Still say the background illustration on Hart’s jacket looks more like Nash than the Giant.

Powers hits Bubba with a cross body in the wing and pins him for a three count. Everyone is shocked. But then Patrick decides the shoulder was up and restarts the match. Why did he even count the three if the shoulder was up? Don’t know.

Bubba hits his sidewalk slam and this time a three is counted for the Dungeon. Hah. Jim Powers can’t even win without losing. Honestly though, this match was better than it had any right to be considering the participants, just went a bit too long and the finish was really dumb.

Sullivan & Big Bubba defeat Marcus Bagwell & Jim “Jobber” Powers via pinfall.

Post match “the godfather” is yelling at Patrick but nobody cares. Maybe he’ll order a hit on him later. Larry calls Long a “buttinski”. I assume that’s an insult. They show a replay which blatantly shows Bubba got his shoulder up way after the three count, but Larry acts like it was a close call because he’s either blind or stupid.

Gene-o is in the ring with the victors.

Bubba says he should be getting all the title shots and should be in all the main events and he won’t be overlooked again, starting tonight. Good luck with that. Bubba also calls out Glacier, which is nice because other than the announcers nobody else has mentioned him despite two months of vignettes. Hart mocks Glacer’s “blood runs cold” tagline and says “the only thing that’s going to be running is you”. Burn.

Sullivan complains that if everybody has listened to him about Hogan then “all of this wouldn’t be going on”. No, instead we’d still have you running around with the Shark, the Zodiac and all of those other idiots in the Dungeon. Sullivan claims he saw Okerlund on a boat with Hogan a week ago. Gene says “that wasn’t me, that was Eric Bischoff”. Easy mistake to make. Love how Gene instantly tries to dump Bischoff in the shit. What a snake. Gene asks if the guy had hair, to which Sullivan says “the guy had a bald head, it was you”. Taskmaster ain’t bullshitting tonight. Not sure what the point of that was, but Sullivan transitions from this into saying the Horsemen aren’t the last line of defence for WCW. I hope he isn’t implying the Dungeon are because, if so, WCW is fucked. Gene implies Sullivan is “greasing the palm” of Nick Patrick, to which Sullivan replies “everyone’s entitled to a mistake, including you being on a boat with Hogan”. They’re really planting the seeds here with this Okerlund/Hogan stuff, but as far as I’m aware it doesn’t go anywhere so... why? Who cares if Mean Gene of all people is hanging around with Hogan anyway?

We come back from a break and now Okerlund is with Sting and Luger in the back. He’s all over the show again tonight. Lex is making a stupid face as usual. I’m starting to think he’s doing it on purpose. He looks like he accidentally sharted.

Luger says that he and Sting are “in the frame of mind to kick some behind”... what a slogan. Sting isn’t happy that after “everything was cool” last week that the Horsemen and now giving them a “gut chest” - I think he means gut check - and he says he doesn’t understand it and it means Flair and Anderson don’t trust them. Sting says that Flair should never question their “intestinal fortitude” and they’re making a mistake. Onto the next match.

Mike Enos comes out yelling “bunch of idiots”.

His opponent is Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Well, this should be a classic.

Mike Enos Vs Chavo Guerrero Jr

Enos starts the match by attempting to run into Chavo in the corner, but Chavo scrambles out of the way and Enos smacks his head into the turnbuckle. When you begin a match with that kind of strategy you know it isn’t going to end well. Literally less than a minute later Enos whips Chavo into the opposite corner, again tries to run into him, and again ends up slamming himself into the turnbuckle as Chavo moves out of the way. This Enos lad isn’t the sharpest tool in the drawer, is he?

By the way, the announcers seem even less enthused for this match than I am. They are literally acting like the match isn’t even happening, instead talking non-stop about the Giant, Macho Man and Hollywood Hogan. I mean, I get it, nobody cares about Enos and Chavo is still an unknown... but come on guys. At least act like you give a shit.

Enos ends up outside of the ring and Chavo leaps over the top rope with a cross body...

However, Enos catches him and walks around like he’s holding a child.

Watch those hands, mister.

Enos flings Chavo over with a fallaway slam - “nearly over to the guardrail” says Tony, even though it’s nowhere close.

As Enos dumps Chavo back in the ring “Dirty” Dick Slater appears at ringside.

“With a towel over his head” notes Tony. So that’s where Taz got the idea from. I’m not sure why Slater waited until now to come out.

As Enos continues to dominate we get a shot of Konnan in the crowd.

He appears to be having a nap. Tony suggests he’s “trying to be incognito”. yes, wearing that hat, that shirt and being picked up by the cameras straight away. Incognito indeed.

Enos is in the ring jumping around with Chavo across his shoulders.

It looks hilarious, although the visual doesn’t do it justice.

Enos tries a sit down powerbomb but somehow fucks it up and Chavo lands on Enos’ leg, which causes Enos to squirm in pain. Chavo then locks in a figure four, and as Enos is flailing around Randy Anderson gets “thumbed in the eye” which allows Dirty Dick to enter the ring.

Slater takes the towel off his head and puts it around Enos’ head instead. Enos rolls out of the ring as Slater beats on Chavo. Randy Anderson has apparently gone completely blind as he doesn’t notice that Dick Slater is now in the ring instead of Mike Enos. They look significantly different. Regardless, this ridiculous plan backfires when Chavo rolls up Slater with an inside cradle for the win.

Chavo Guerrero Jr defeats Mike Enos (technically Dick Slater) via Pinfall.

Enos and Slater are stunned that their idiotic plan failed. This kind of tactic is usually employed by two people who look similar, not completely different. As it turns out that part of the plan inexplicably worked - Slater is just a dunce who got beat anyway.

Okerlund is of course in the entranceway, accosting Chavo.

Chavo yells for DDP, asking where he is. Chavo claims he came out to “help” Eddie after DDP attacked him post-match at the Clash, but as we already saw Chavo was about as much help as the proverbial chocolate fireguard. Chavo says DDP tried to humiliate him by whipping him with Nick Patrick’s belt, but attests “that didn’t humiliate me, that just put coal in my fire!”

Gene looks befuddled by this. He advises Chavo to calm down and notes that DDP and Chavo have a match at Fall Brawl. Chavo says that if you mess with one of the Guerrero’s, you mess with all of them.

We get a very 90s advert with Okerlund and Heenan hawking the Nitro t-shirt.

Look at those background colours. So 90s. Gene says Heenan’s got the shirt on the wrong way around and that his “whole body is reversable”. Not sure what that means, not sure I want to know. Also unsure as to why Heenan has the shirt on backwards. It isn’t explained. Could they not have gotten anybody else to promote this? We see enough of Okerlund as it is without him shilling merch as well. At least get a wrestler to do it.

Some hair metal 80s guitar riffs hit and out comes “J. L.” - the cleverly disguised Jerry Lynn.

I have to admit I am unsure as to why Lynn was a masked wrestler in WCW. It’s not like they didn’t have enough luchadores wearing masks.

His opponent is the Cruiserweight champion Rey Mysterio Jr.

The enthusiasm in the crowd is off the charts.

J.L. Vs Rey Mysterio Jr

Throughout his entrance and indeed throughout the match JL is constantly adjusting his mask. It’s a bit distracting. Tony calls JL “mysterious” but then goes on to talk about his success in Japan and how he isn’t from Mexico, so I guess not that mysterious. It’s literally just because he has a mask on.

The match begins with various arm holds and JL keeping Mysterio in a headlock for a while. The contest has barely begun before Tony starts spluttering and says he’s been told Hogan is outside. The camera cuts to the back where we see Hogan, Hall and Nash.

Hogan grabs somebody who for some reason was randomly standing around outside with a spotlight and takes him over to the production truck.

They spraypaint the truck with nWo logos as Tony acts disgusted, like this is the worst thing that’s ever been done. You know, if you guys are so appalled by this behaviour you don’t have to show it on camera. You could just... not show it. Also that is some really shitty spraypainting.

“What are they saying here?” Tony asks. “nWo 4 life?”

Yes, that is literally what they have spraypainted on the truck Tony. Good reading skills.

Tony says that bills will be coming the nWo’s way from Turner and he hopes they “have insurance”. Yeah, I’m sure Hogan will need insurance to pay a fine for having some spraypaint cleaned off a truck. With that said I’m not sure you can get insurance to cover you in the event of you deciding to vandalise a truck, but whatever. Tony mocks the idea of the nWo having a fourth man and reckons they’ll go into War Games a man down. Sounds reasonable. He says Hogan has turned into a “street thug”. Sure, he’s running with the gangs now. A matter of time before he’s committing drive-bys and making rap videos.

Oh, there’s still a match going on by the way. Not that it’s anything exciting. It might be the most boring match in Rey’s history. I’m guessing on purpose, knowing that most of it is going to be cut in favour of showing Hogan and the outsiders. As we go to a break Tony is mumbling about the nWo being “jerks” whilst Larry says “it’s the 90s. Hogan happens”. No idea what he means by that.

When we get back from the break Tony apologises for his comments. What comments? Calling Hogan a thug and a jerk? Jeez, you better start relaxing a little Tony or you’ll start breaking out the “gosh darn it’s”.

Stinko appears in the entraceway, radiating with his usual charisma and charm. At least somebody is interested in this match. They literally focus on Dean’s static face for about ten seconds. Tony just keeps ranting about Hogan.

JL gets down on his hands and knees by his own accord. Odd strategy.

Rey hugs him from behind. I have no idea what is going on here. After some brief chain wrestling Rey then decides to get down on his hands and knees.

Seriously, what is going on here? Rather than give Rey a cuddle from behind, JL just boots him in the back. Tony says the fans have been “wowed” by Mysterio’s moves, which is a lie as he hasn’t done anything of note. Well, he might have, but we haven’t seen any of it thanks to Hogan and the commercial break. All we’ve seen are arm holds, headlocks and Rey and JL getting into doggy positions for reasons the announcers don’t bother to explain.

Larry claims that “a big neck is easier to break than a small, limber one”. Not sure I understand the logic there.

JL puts Mysterio in a boston crab in what has been a painfully slow cruiserweight match. Seriously, how is a match between Jerry Lynn and Rey Mysterio this fucking boring?

Fireworks go off as hour number two begins, and we switch to Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan. This is literally the most exciting part of this match so far, but the last thing it needed was another distraction.

The match spills to the outside and JL slams Rey into the barricade.

He also slams Rey’s head into the ring post. Bischoff and Heenan meanwhile pick up where Tony and Larry left off and continue complaining about the production truck being spraypainted. Seriously guys, get over it. Do you not remember a few weeks ago when the outsiders were literally trying to kill wrestlers with baseball bats? This is pretty tame in comparison. A bit of water and the truck will be good as new.

It’s kind of fitting that this match ends with a botch as Rey attempts to do his springboard hurricanrana off the apron...

But JL can’t rotate all the way over so instead his head just slams into the mat. Ouch. Rey gets the pin and Heenan advises JL to “go to your room”. OK. That was the slowest and most disappointing Rey match on Nitro to date. It might have been better if the announcers had spent more time telling the story of JL trying to ground Mysterio with mat holds, but instead they were just talking about the nWo, so... yeah.

Rey Mysterio defeats JL via Pinfall.

Mean Gene is in the company of the lesser known Horsemen, along with Woman, Liz (sleeping?) and Debra.

Gene tries to shill his hotline by talking about some rumour about Mongo going back to the NFL (if only), but Mongo isn’t having any of it, telling Gene he doesn’t give a shit about his 1-900 number. Mongo says that “in hindsight” Sting and Luger shouldn’t be going to War Games with Flair and Anderson, it should be Mongo and Benoit. So much for respecting Flair and Anderson’s decision last week. Mongo says they’ll prove it to the world, to WCW and to the nWo, then makes a fart noise. Gene says the nWo have been “having a little fun painting”. I love how the announcers have been so offended by what happened, and Gene is just like “whatever”. For once he has it right.

Woman is all over Gene and he tells her she has to “knock it off on television”. He’s definitely up for it once the cameras are off though. Woman says she can’t help herself (why?) and then asks how things are between Gene and Hulk Hogan.

Uncomfortable. Still not sure why everybody is obsessed with this Okerlund and Hogan thing. So what if Gene did join the nWo? Why would anybody give a shit?

Gene switches to Benoit, who immediately fucks up the start of his promo by struggling to pronounce “relinquish”. Benoit says tonight isn’t about vengeance or envy, but it’s about “security”. Strange word to use but OK. Benoit says to look into his eyes and asks if we can see “the hungry beast”.

Not really. He looks bored.

We’re thrown back to Bischoff and Heenan at the announce desk. Bichoff notes that Macho will have his chance to face Hogan for the title at Halloween Havoc, then we are shown footage from a couple of weeks ago where Hogan came out to whack Savage with a chair and help Flair beat him. We then see Savage’s promo from last week and the end of the match with Macho and Giant, with Macho making the mistake of cracking Meng over the head with a chair. After this Gene is in the back with Savage.

As usual there are random WCW shirts hanging from the lockers, and a towel. I hope that’s clean - kind of gross if not.

Gene tells Macho that Hogan “did you in”, as usual he isn’t mincing his words. Macho screams that he’s “quiet but deadly right now”. Macho says that he deserves to win at Havoc and that it’s for “all the marbles”, even though he only has one marble in his head. Macho says it’ll be “the scariest match of the century” and he’s going to take Hogan apart because nobody cares.

Gene disagrees and says that he does care, and Macho yells “I don’t care if you care!” - Gene mentions that Savage has the Giant at Fall Brawl - the PPV before Havoc - but Savage responds “I’m going to bowl through the Giant and that’s it” before storming off. “Randy Savage, do you have an extra chair?” Okerlund calls - can’t tell if he’s being a dick or not. You can hear Savage hollering something inaudible. Quiet but deadly indeed.

We go back to the arena and unfortunately Hacksaw is out next.

For reasons beyond my understanding he gets a ridiculous amount of pyro. Goldberg levels of pyro.

This guy’s expression says it all. He hasn’t been impressed with much so far tonight, not sure why the camera keeps showing him. Heenan admits he isn’t thrilled that WCW’s future lies with “a madman, a beserk individual who can’t put a thought together”. Brutal. He then goes on to say Savage will never give up and if anyone wants to beat Hogan, it’s Macho. So now I have no idea if Heenan is for or against the idea.

Duggan’s opponent is the Giant.

Happily I don’t foresee this ending well for Hacksaw.

“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan Vs The Giant

Hacksaw immediately gets a “USA” chant going and stomps around the ring like a child.

He attempts a shoulder block on the Giant but bounces off of him, which prompts Hacksaw to adopt this pose.

Duggan attempts another shoulder tackle but Jimmy Hart grabs his foot, which causes Hacksaw to sprint - or more accurately jog - after Hart on the outside of the ring. He manages to get Jimmy’s jacket but the mouth of the south escapes. Not exactly hard to outrun Duggan in fairness.

The Giant comes after Duggan, who tosses Hart’s jacket into his face and then throws a few punches to Giant’s chest before getting back into the ring, yelling “HOOOO” and getting another “USA” chant going. Giant gets up on the apron but Hacksaw knocks him off and then gets back out of the ring. Heenan suggests Hacksaw is “like a refrigerator” and doubts Giant can chokeslam him. Considering we have seen Giant chokeslam the much bigger John Tenta more than once I’m not sure this logic makes much sense, but whatever.

Giant whips Duggan back first into the ring post, but then Duggan moves as Giant charges him.

Imagine getting outsmarted by Jim Duggan.

Giant is finally able to get back into the ring and puts Duggan into a bear hug.

He can barely get his arms around Duggan’s thicc frame. He might be the only person in WCW who could wrap his arms around Duggan though, so it’s somewhat impressive. Hacksaw manages to fight out of the bearhug and stagger into the corner, so Giant goes over and starts slamming his butt into Hacksaw’s gut.

I think this picture says enough.

Duggan attempts to slam the Giant but can’t lift him up. Giant clobbers Duggan back down to the mat, and then...

Ted DiBiase appears in the crowd. Whilst he slowly makes his way down to ringside Giant and Hacksaw are cuddling in the ring again.

I have no idea why Patrick looks so terrified. It’s possible Hacksaw has farted. Anyhow, Hacksaw pulls out his trusty roll of tape - from the way he digs it out I think it sits somewhere underneath his balls, which is disgusting, then blasts Giant in the head with it.

It doesn’t really have much effect, although I dread to think what it smells like. Jimmy Hart gets up on the apron holding Duggan’s 2x4. Nick Patrick, Jimmy Hart and Hacksaw then have a tug of war over it.

At this point I’m quite confused as to whether the roll of tape is legal or not. Patrick did not care in the slightest when Hacksaw was whacking Giant with it, but I swear Hacksaw has been disqualified before for using it. WCW, where rules are as useful as Chavo Guerrero Jr. Whilst all this nonsense is going on Giant grabs Duggan and...

Chokeslam. Goodnight. Match over.

The Giant defeats “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan via Pinfall.

That match lasted a lot longer than I thought it would, and Duggan got in way too much offence. Giant did not benefit from this match at all. The camera immediately switches to DiBiase in the crowd who gives us the Four Horsemen salute.

A few things to note. Firstly the guy to Dibiase’s right doing it with him just looks bizarre. Secondly the guy to DiBiase’s left is booing very aggressively - unsure as to whether he’s mad Hacksaw lost or just dislikes Ted. Thirdly the guy behind DiBiase’s shoulder is screaming and looks like he’s popping out of DiBiase’s shoulder, like that character in MiB II.

DiBiase opens has palm for “five” and says “next week”.

Looks like he’s about to do the “you can’t see me” thing, but he doesn’t. The guy to DiBiase’s right is shocked by this, again copying the “five” hand gesture and yelling “five! Next week! Five!” at whoever is next to him and the camera.

Bischoff asks if DiBiase is playing games. Heenan says he’s known DiBiase for a long time and, exact quote, “he doesn’t play games, he plays games that are serious”. He does play games then. Bischoff says “maybe he’s the fifth horseman”. Yes, the fifth member of the four horsemen. That makes sense.

Because we can’t go one segment without Okerland, he’s now on the ramp with Giant and Jimmy Hart.

Gene says Giant is “in shock”, Giant replies “you’re roggone right I’m in shock” - I assume he means doggone but is for some reason channeling Scooby Doo. Giant, whilst talking, says he can hardly talk because he’s in shock. Giant’s face is really close to the camera and it’s really unsettling.

Back up a little, jeez.

Anyway, Giant takes exception with Macho blaming him for losing the title to Hogan. Giant asks why Savage wasn’t around to help out when Nash and Hall helped Hogan take the belt from the Giant. A fair point. Giant postulates that Savage was scared, and he “can’t cut the job”, whatever that means. Giant says Macho isn’t going to fight Hogan, he is, because he “is the world heavyweight champion”.

Giant looks like he’s about to cry. He also seems to be in denial over losing the title. He says he’ll beat either Hogan or Savage for the belt and that he’ll be waiting for Savage at Fall Brawl.

As Gene talks we can clearly see the Giant’s spit on the camera lens. Nice. Gene actually gets out a hankerchief and tries to wipe down the camera saying “for goodness sakes these guys are very messy”.

We come back from the break to find 80s rejects the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express coming to the ring.

Seriously, these shirts.

I hope they didn’t sell these. Looks like somebody literally drew the design on a white shirt for them with sharpies.

More enthusiastic crowd shots. Why is it every time they show this guy on the right he looks bored as fuck? Why is he even there?

This fella also gives one of the least enthusiastic “woooo”’s and thumbs up I’ve ever seen. Orange Cassidy would be proud.

Ric Flair’s music hits.

DiBiase is looking at Liz and Woman and likes what he sees. I’m with you chief. Heenan says that DiBiase is sitting in the crowd “inconspicuously” but then notes he made his way to his seat literally through everybody in the middle of the show. He’s contradicted himself within single sentences three times in the last twenty minutes. He’s a very confused man tonight.

Bischoff: “I’ve just thought of something. He could be the fourth nWo guy, and next week there’s a fifth”. Really, Eric, you’ve only just come to that realisation? I think everybody else probably came to that conclusion first, rather than assuming DiBiase was the fifth member of the four horsemen, but OK. Congrats on gaining such insight. He’s still pushing the fifth Horseman idea as the more likely outcome, though, so still a total dunce. Hogan, Nash and Hall - all arrived from the WWF, two of whom very recently. DiBiase left the WWF in May/June.

Obviously going to join the Horsemen and not the WWF-invaders-but-not-WWF-invaders nWo faction.

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express Vs Ric Flair and Arn Anderson

As usual the Horsemen end up getting their butts kicked early on. Flair takes a double dropkick out of the ring and starts squaring up to fans.

Ole has lost some weight.

The Horsemen surprisingly take control for a while, then a brawl breaks out between all four men in the ring. Arn eventually sneaks up on Morton and hits him with a DDT.

Gibson sees this happen, and is literally on the apron as Ric goes for the pin...

For some reason he is insanely slow and casual about getting in to break it up though, so the ref counts the three and your winners are the Horsemen.

Ric Flair and Arn Anderson defeat the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express via Pinfall.

I love how at the end of the match Gibson stares down so disappointedly at Morton.

I mean, he could have easily broken up the pinfall, but he made about as much effort as the people who designed he and Morton’s t-shirts. What a bell. This was a short match, not that I mind.

Bischoff says it looks like Arn Anderson could chew through the steel cage at War Games, “and no doubt he will” - erm, I think there is some doubt as to whether Arn will literally chew through steel, but OK.

Oh look, it’s Gene. What a surprise. He isn’t even waiting by the entrance anymore. Straight down to the ring, not even letting the Horsemen get a breather before shoving a microphone into their faces.

Gene complains about Woman molesting him again, and begs Liz to do something. Liz coyly says “there’s nothing I can do to control her”. It’s like the start of a creepy porno.

Gene asks Arn about the upcoming War Games match.

Arn: “There’s a time to ogle the women, Gene Okerlund, and this ain’t it”. Slapping Gene down to the ground. I like it. Arn says that the hourglass has been turned around, and the sand is running out on the nWo. Not even close Arn, not even close. Arn repeats that the nWo picked their spot about ten times before saying “when they shut the cage, and you look into our guts” - wait, what? Shouldn’t that be eyes? The only way I can think to look into someone’s guts without cutting their stomach open is... never mind. Arn says the Horsemen were in the first War Games and they’ll be in the last one.

Quick fact check on this - nope. If we’re talking purely WCW War Games 1997 was the last one the Horsemen were involved in. 1998 was Team WCW vs nWo Hollywood vs nWo Wolfpac and there was no War Games in 1999. They apparently had a random one in 2000 on Nitro but that didn’t involve the Horsemen either and who gave a shit about WCW at that point anyway? Back to 1996...

Arn says the Outsiders will be gone by now and we won’t see them again tonight. He says if you want to be a man in this sport you need to jump on a guy, eye to eye, nose to nose... uh...

Gene’s expression mirrors mine.

We see a clip from the Clash of the Champions - Flair has Hogan in the Figure 4 and Gene asks Flair if Hogan submitted. Flair claims that Hogan looked into his eyes and said “oh great Nature Boy, I give up, I quit, you are too much man, today”. Not only would that be a really strange thing to say in the circumstances, but we are literally watching footage which shows this never happened. Flair is screaming that the Outsiders better be ready because War Games “are not in the Big Apple, they’re not in Chicago, they’re not in LA, they’re in Winston Salem, North Carolina”.

Liz looks like she’s really enjoying this promo. Flair’s head looks set to burst. Woman is trying to molest poor Gene again. Gene thanks Flair, who continues to go absolutely nuts, flailing around like he’s having a seizure.

Totally insane. I love how Woman is so used to it she’s just looking on like nothing weird is happening at all.

Another Glacier promo. I’m sure this will all be worth it when he debuts... right?

Out next is Chris Jericho.

I can’t really make out what he’s yelling at the camera, but it sounds like “let’s go, are you ready WCW for lion”. Sure. Jericho is yelling to try and get the crowd pumped up.

Doesn’t appear to be working. These are the kind of expressions you’d get if you took a shit in the entranceway. What is with WCW showing totally unenthusiastic crowd members tonight?

His opponent is “Das WunderSwan” Alex Wright.

STOP PANNING TO BORED MEMBERS OF THE AUDIENCE.

WunderSwan does his usual backslip off the turnbuckle as he enters the ring.

Impressive until he blows a knee out on one of his landings, then stupid.

Chris Jericho vs “Das WunderSwan” Alex Wright

Bischoff takes credit for signing Jericho to WCW. Is this his debut? Just checked wikipedia and yes, it is indeed. Bischoff calls Jericho “an upstanding young man, and an outstanding wrestler”. Like a teacher’s report card. Heenan asks if Bischoff has co-signed for a house with Jericho. Bischoff suggests that Jericho and Wright “could be the backbone of WCW for years to come”. Jericho left in early 1999 despite being hugely over and Alex Wright became Berlyn, so, no.

Match starts off pretty slow with various mat holds. For some reason Bischoff takes this moment to shit on Big Bubba, mocking him for having a problem with Glacier - “he’s not even here yet” - and saying that he has a problem. Not sure what prompted that. Jericho hits Wright with a spinning leg kick, which Bischoff describes as an elbow for some reason, then does his trademark dropkick off the turnbuckle, sending Wright crashing to the outside.

Bischoff calls it an “inverted dropkick”. I have no idea how you would even invert a dropkick, but OK. Springboard dropkick would be more appropriate. Wright manages to get back into the match and hits a cross body on Jericho from the turnbuckle.

Heenan says Alex Wright has “more experience” than Jericho which is definitely not true.

Jericho:

Alex Wright:

Enough said. Get your facts straight Bobby.

At one point Jericho is outside of the ring and Wright gets up top...

So, what’s the plan here? A double sledge, Macho Man style? A flying cross body? A dropkick?

No. None of these. He just jumps down and smacks his arm/head onto the guardrail.

...

What a helmet.

Jericho rolls back in the ring and Wright gets counted out. For some reason Jericho tells the ref he “doesn’t want to win this way” and it gets declared a No Contest. WTF? If it’s a count out then it’s a count out, Jericho can’t decide to call it a No Contest just because he feels sorry for Das BlunderDunce.

The crowd boos as Jericho checks on Wright.

Chris Jericho Vs “Das WunderDunce” Alex Wright ends in a No Contest.

Are you kidding me? Gene is out there AGAIN? I hope he isn’t getting paid by screen time because he literally gets more of it than anybody else on the show. His face should be front and centre of all promotion items.

Wright is stumbling around, seemingly concussed, but Gene coldly says they’ll get him on his feet and then says that Jericho’s debut was a “breath of fresh air”. It really wasn’t any better than a lot of the cruiserweight matches we’ve already seen, but sure, whatever.

Jericho says he came to WCW to fight “to the best of my ability”, as opposed to only some of his ability, I guess? Jericho says he respects Alex Wright, for some reason, and then says whilst he wouldn’t take a victory like this, he knows somebody who would... Hulk Hogan and the nWo. OK. Not sure why Jericho feels the need to shit on Hogan, Hall and Nash right out the gate but there you go. Jericho says “me and Alex are going to fight with all of our hearts... for WCW!” - possibly the cheesiest and lamest thing I’ve ever heard. Wright is still staggering around in a daze. He stumbles towards Okerlund who bluntly tells him there’s no interview time left and he should go to the back and get his wits together. No fucks given from Gene.

We come back from the break to find the next match about to begin, with two teams in the ring.

Looks like Scott Steiner (w/Crazy Huge Arms) and Rick Steiner (w/Clinical Lycanthropy) facing off against the Blue Bloods. Earl Robert Eaton and Squire Dave Taylor if my eyes don’t deceive me. Where’s Lord Steven, dammit?

The Steiner Brothers Vs The Blue Bloods

The Earl and the Squire start the match by arguing about who is going in first. Normally both want to start, but in this instance neither of them do. Eaton complains he always starts. Squire keeps yelling at Eaton to get in the ring. The Dog Faced Gremlin soon has enough of this bullshit, sneaking up behind these idiots and slamming their heads together.

Eaton now does get in the ring, but Taylor is still shouting at him, so the Earl pushes the Squire off the ring apron.

Rick Steiner gives Eaton a hip toss and barks. After smacking Eaton around for a bit Taylor comes into the ring. Both Blue Bloods get clotheslined and roll out of the ring to continue arguing, whilst Rick and Scott do their pose with Rick barking again.

Rick crawls over and bites the rope.

This is who you’re losing to, guys.

There was no tag but the Squire is in now. He actually gets some offence and hauls Rick up onto his shoulders, as Eaton dives from the top rope.

As you might expect this doesn’t end very well, as Rick appears to get dumped right on his head.

But for some reason Eaton is the one who is knocked out.

The Steiners win. I don’t think Scott Steiner or his arms did anything in this match. Hold on, wasn’t Dave Taylor the legal man here? How did Eaton get pinned? Maybe it... oh, no, it’s just WCW. Rules only apply when required.

The Steiner Brothers defeat The Blue Bloods via Pinfall.

The Squire is understandably annoyed that Eaton somehow managed to lose the match despite not even being the legal man, and slaps him in the face.

Should arguably be slapping the ref for counting the wrong man, but whatever.

The Blue Bloods get into a fight, which Eaton gets the best of. We suddenly hear Rick Steiner on the microphone saying “Eaton’s going crazy! Get him, Bobby, beat him up!” - that’s not helping.

Okerlund again, of course. He asks Scotty what he makes of this and he replies “I don’t know Gene, they’re going nuts! I thought they were supposed to be friends? Partners?” - because no tag team has ever had an acrimonious split before.

Nick Patrick is trying (badly) to stop the Blue Bloods fighting, whilst Gene asks them to calm down and Rick Steiner continues trolling them and telling them to keep going. Hah.

Once the Blue Bloods are finally gone, Gene asks Rick about their match with Harlem Heat at Fall Brawl. Rick says “you know, Gene, being a dog (Clinical Lycanthropy, this man needs a doctor) I prey on my opponents. You see, in the dog pound, it’s the be a hard times (?), when you boys get to Halloween Havoc, I’m going to be Peter Peter, the Pumpkin Eater and it’s gonna be my party!”

Just... what? I couldn’t help but laugh at this. You really have to watch this promo to understand how hilarious it is. Rick is absolutely insane.

Scott reminds Rick “it’s not Halloween, it’s Fall Brawl” as Rick barks. Scott says something inaudible about hens going “cock-a-doodle-do”. Scott says when the Steiners get to Fall Brawl they’ll be “getting radical” and the Heat will be “going down”.

Mental.

It’s main event time. Out first is Chris Benoit and Mongo, accompanied by the females, of course.

Woman has decided to put some shades on, even though she wasn’t wearing any before. We get another shot of Ted DiBiase looking on.

Here come Sting and Luger.

Chris Benoit and Steve “Mongo” McMichael Vs Sting and Lex Luger

No messing around here, we go straight into a brawl with all four men dogpiling into the corner.

For some reason Randy Anderson rings the bell to start the match, despite both teams still brawling and nobody in their respective corners. I guess it’s a Tornado Tag now!

After a couple of minutes things settle down a bit, with Luger and Mongo in the ring and Benoit and Sting on the apron. Embarrassingly for Luger Mongo gets the better of him, then tags out to Benoit. Heenan suggests that at War Games the cage could be upside down. Logistically I doubt that’s possible.

Luger gets beaten up by Mongo and Benoit for a while before the old double clothesline spot sending both men down.

That clothesline is literally the first move Benoit has taken, but he acts like he got shot and Luger somehow starts getting up before Benoit. Maybe this is why Ric and Arn don’t want you at War Games, Chris.

Luger manages to tag in Sting, who takes charge.

Sting goes for the Scorpion Deathlock on Benoit. Mongo runs in to break it up but ends up getting dropkicked out of the ring.

All of a sudden, Hollywood arrives.

Hogan backs up around the ring as McMichael stalks him, then Scott Hall flies in out of nowhere to knock Mongo down.

Heenan flees the broadcast booth. Nash has also appeared and along with Hall he rams Mongo’s head into the post. No harm done I’d imagine. Mongo gets tagged, and the official title of being the first person to be spraypainted by the nWo. The Production Truck obviously holds the honour of being the first object to be tagged.

Benoit gets hit with the Outsider’s Edge.

Whilst Sting eats a Jacknife Powerbomb.

Luger got rammed into the ring post earlier by Mongo, so he’s still laid out on the floor somewhere. Hogan tags Benoit and Sting.

Ric Flair and Arn Anderson finally come out, albeit a bit late.

Ric and Arn initially have the advantage, but then both get spraypainted in the eyes.

Hogan tosses Flair to the outside and spraypaints his hair like a skunk.

The crowd begin throwing garbage in the ring as Hogan and the Outsiders celebrate.

Seriously, these guys are getting pelted with cups of drink. Hogan spraypaints the back of Nash’s shirt for some reason. I think he’s a little too excited about this new hobby.

Check out the amount of trash that’s in the ring.

Gross. The nWo commandeer the announce desk and run off Eric.

“Heeeere’s the nWo!”

“Anarchy! Anarchy!” says Nash whilst Hogan yells “anything less would be too civilised!”

The show ends with a look at the carnage inside the ring...

And a replay of DiBiase holding up the five fingers.

Awesome ending to the show. This was peak nWo and when people really started to take notice of what was going on in WCW.

#nwo #wcw #horsemen #sting #luger #jericho #flair #hall #nash #hogan

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xanadontit · 8 years

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I’m having a Not Great Day work-wise today.

1.) One of the Sr. Art Directors I work with has asked me not to talk to her designer because...reasons. It basically boils down to her being a control freak and normally I wouldn’t care, but my peer feedback (which this AD and the designer participated in, I presume) specifically called out a.) that I need to take control and confidently convey info and b.) that I should be mindful of proactively communicating project and timeline info. I was really only doing the latter and wasn’t trying to derail the designer (who is working remote today, otherwise I’d just swing by her desk and have a chat) in any way (basically letting her know no action required at this time), so this seems kind of unnecessary. And it’s just going to strengthen the narrative that I’m too passive and don’t take control but I’m so worn down having to constantly fight clients that I am too tired to fight my own team.

2.) My manager called out Evil CCO via hipchat regarding the over-budget projects we just wrapped and called me over to read what she was saying, thinking I’d be amused by her response. Evil CCO wrote that I “didn’t do a good job informing the project team about the budget and allowed out of scope work to be completed.” I about barfed and passed out. My manager was HORRIFIED. I have emails and hipchats and witnesses to conversations where I did exactly all those things to her and her response was to wave her hand at me Jedi-mind trick style and tell me, “Just get it done and bill it so we can move on.” My manager knows and said she’d deal with that later, but Evil CCO has the ability to fuck up my career big-time and if she’s willing to use me as her

I’ve been fighting back tears most of the day and really didn’t want to go to lunch but gave in because again: just so tired of fighting so I went and didn’t eat much and drank water and just kept thinking “I just want to go home.” I might leave the office early and wrap the day from home. E and I have plans this evening to walk to one of the new neighborhood places and get some apps and relax from this batshit crazy week. That’ll be nice.

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dailynewswebsite · 4 years

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What went wrong for Clippers? And where do they go now?

9 months earlier than the Nuggets ended the Clippers’ season, they had been sending their guests from Los Angeles to their sixth loss in 13 video games on a crisp January evening. By the tip, Doc Rivers’ endurance was as skinny because the Rocky Mountain air.

After voicing his frustration over two choices by the officers, the Clippers’ coach was whistled for 2 technical fouls, ejected and led off Pepsi Heart’s court docket with simply over a minute remaining.

The loss capped a stretch that includes a few of championship contender’s most head-scratching play of its extremely anticipated season, together with a 26-point loss on Jan. Four that led backup heart Montrezl Harrell to infer that “we’re not an awesome crew.” They weren’t ok to win in Denver, both, Rivers acknowledged, saying the crew had waited too lengthy to start enjoying. Nonetheless, he insisted the crew was on the identical web page.

“None of us in there are panicking or something like that,” Rivers stated. “It’s an extended season. And we’ll be prepared.”

The season would final 4 months longer than ever due to the interruption brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. But all that point couldn’t assist the Clippers be prepared, when it mattered most, to wash up the streaky play that was a trademark not solely throughout early January however a lot of the season.

Pushed by the Nuggets once more in a Western Convention semifinal, the Clippers noticed their commanding 3-1 collection lead disappear in a run of missed pictures, missed stops and missed alternatives that exposed that their inconsistency was nonetheless current months later. They flexed their championship potential whereas constructing leads of 16, 19 and 12 factors in opposition to the Nuggets within the collection’ last three video games. Additionally they regarded helpless when Denver started its rallies.

“They bumped into an actual crew that performed collectively, not despite one another,” stated one league government.

The sooner-than-predicted exit retains the franchise from realizing its said aim of a claiming a championship and leaves them watching because the rival Lakers proceed to pursue their very own.

Chris Webber, the TNT analyst and former All-Star, was among the many many who picked the Clippers to win the West primarily based on the tantalizing promise of including two-time Finals most useful participant Kawhi Leonard and former most useful participant candidate Paul George to a lineup of established, resilient, versatile gamers who excelled of their roles.

“You thought that chemistry would simply be of their effort and protection each evening,” Webber stated.

As a substitute, a scarcity of chemistry was repeatedly cited by gamers after Recreation 7 as a key consider why they fell brief when their sheer expertise did not overwhelm opponents.

The Clippers averaged solely 45 factors and 39% capturing in second halves in opposition to Denver, figures that ranked final amongst all eight convention semifinalists. George and Leonard took 11 pictures and missed all of them within the fourth quarter of Recreation 7 and mixed for simply 5 factors after halftime.

“We begin lacking pictures and you’ll see us trusting much less and fewer and fewer,” Rivers stated. “I imply, pay attention, clearly I may have completed one thing extra.”

From the beginning of the Leonard and George partnership it was understood that integrating face-of-the-franchise stars recognized for lead-by-example types into a longtime locker-room hierarchy would take time. Probably the most influential voices from the earlier 12 months, resembling Lou Williams, Patrick Beverley and Harrell, remained. They sought to kick-start that course of. Earlier than coaching camp started, the Clippers had already performed pickup video games for weeks, chartered a ship for a deep-sea fishing journey and watched a Rams recreation from a collection on the Coliseum. Contained in the league’s bubble final month, gamers stated they grew nearer whereas debating whether or not the crew ought to proceed the season due to considerations over racial injustice.

Nonetheless, meshing proved harder than anticipated as gamers’ roles modified.

“You go from final 12 months, we had been the crew that wasn’t anticipated to make the playoffs to going and being a championship-caliber crew whenever you usher in two high-level guys, that is an adjustment,” Williams stated. “[Harrell] and I we needed to alter our video games. I believe everyone needed to sacrifice and put themselves in a special place and that kind of factor takes time, particularly whenever you’re doing it for years at a time.

Story continues

“For Kawhi, he simply gained a championship with a totally completely different group of men, to return right here. Paul was in a special scenario. There was so many alternative shifting elements.”

That included their rotations too. Their first recreation with a wholesome roster was Christmas. They performed with a full roster 19 occasions. A typical downside, Williams stated, was discovering gamers used to completely different methods of offense and protection within the incorrect spots. Leonard stated the crew wanted “higher basketball IQ” getting into subsequent season.

But after the January loss in Denver, the Clippers gained 9 of their subsequent 11 video games and gained seven of eight by the primary week of March, together with a blistering efficiency in opposition to Denver at Staples Heart. Simply as they had been rolling, with midseason acquisitions Marcus Morris Sr., Reggie Jackson and Joakim Noah within the fold, the coronavirus shut down the season.

The Clippers implored one another to “win the wait” throughout the league’s 4 months off, however the anticipate rhythm continued even when the NBA reconvened in Orlando, Fla. Heart Ivica Zubac and guard Landry Shamet arrived greater than two weeks late after testing optimistic for COVID-19. Williams, Beverley and Harrell all left the bubble to mourn the lack of family members. Harrell was gone for almost one month, returning simply earlier than the playoffs.

“Guys needed to go dwelling for rightful causes,” George stated. “We simply missed a whole lot of time being along with accidents within the common season and contained in the bubble. So we did not get a lot time to be collectively. This was the longest stretch I believe that we had performed collectively. But it surely simply wasn’t sufficient and I believe on this collection, it confirmed. Denver is a crew that been enjoying collectively for alongside time. When issues received tough, once they wanted this or wanted that, they only know one another.”

Reggie Miller, the Corridor of Fame guard and TNT analyst, stated Wednesday that George “wants to start out himself” partly for his postgame remark that the previous season had not been thought of championship-or-bust.

“This crew was constructed to win this 12 months,” Miller stated. “You’ll be able to’t inform me it was all about chemistry. Their cross-town rival has a brand-new coach in Frank Vogel. They’ve received, what six, seven new gamers as properly? Avery Bradley just isn’t even within the bubble? … So everybody’s coping with chemistry within the restart.”

Following Tuesday’s loss in Recreation 7, Rivers acknowledged clearly falling wanting expectations and that he would “take any blame for it.” Rivers was lauded for his impassioned postgame speech in August decrying racism. Extra lately, nonetheless, he has been closely criticized for his lineup utilization and changes.

Regardless of the Clippers’ early exit, their roster remains to be top-loaded with expertise and anticipated to be among the many high contenders within the West subsequent season. The league government believed the Clippers would carry again a lot of the identical crew into 2021, calling it the course he would take, as properly. The Clippers can use a midlevel exception in free company.

The Clippers, the chief stated, ought to pair Leonard with the standard of point-guard playmaker he performed alongside whereas profitable championships with San Antonio and Toronto. It’s certainly one of a number of upgrades wanted if their championship goals are to change into actuality in 2021.

“Working it again is nice, however the Clippers are beatable,” the chief stated. “They want a degree guard. They’ve received to get one. They want higher chemistry. They’ve received to do a greater job scheming and adjusting.”

Who’s again:

G Patrick Beverley (7.9 factors, 5.2 rebounds, second-team all-defense)

F Kawhi Leonard (career-high 27.1 factors and 4.9 assists, 7.1 rebounds, second-team all-NBA and all-defense)

F Paul George (21.5 factors, 5.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists)

G Terance Mann (2.Four factors, 1.Three assists as a rookie)

G Rodney McGruder (3.Three factors, 2.7 rebounds)

C Joakim Noah (2021 contract is nonguaranteed)

G Landry Shamet (9.Three factors, 37.5% three-point capturing)

C Mfiondu Kabengele (3.5 factors in 12 appearances; rookie spent most of season in G League)

G Lou Williams (getting into last season of contract)

C Ivica Zubac (8.Three factors, 7.5 rebounds, career-high 10 double-doubles)

Who may be gone:

F Marcus Morris Sr., unrestricted free agent (10.1 factors, 4.1 rebounds, 42% capturing)

F JaMychal Inexperienced, $5-million participant possibility for 2021 (6.Eight factors, 6.2 rebounds, 38% three-point capturing)

F/C Montrezl Harrell, unrestricted free agent (18.6 factors, 7.1 rebounds)

G Reggie Jackson, unrestricted free agent (9.5 factors, 3.2 assists)

F Patrick Patterson, unrestricted free agent (4.9 factors, 2.6 rebounds)

What concerning the draft?

The Clippers traded their 2020 first-round choose to New York, in February, in trade for Morris, and traded 5 draft picks by 2026, plus two choose swaps, in trade for George.

Greif reported from Los Angeles.

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/what-went-wrong-for-clippers-and-where-do-they-go-now/ via https://growthnews.in

#Growth News

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