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#Watching the vs one shot tonight reminded me of how much I absolutely loved him
skiitter · 3 years
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I am not immune to Liam O'Brien's D&D characters
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galadrieljones · 3 years
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The Walking Dead: Episode 4.12, “Still” Rewatch
So I rewatched “Still” in honor of the Stilliversary tonight. My thoughts are not related much to Team Delusional stuff, more so just thoughts and idle analysis, but I had fun and definitely did not cry.
Here we go!
Beth is already feeling it, right away, after the trunk scene, ie: what he must think of her. She’s just another “dead girl” who needs to be protected. It is both insulting and embarrassing at the same time.
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Daryl misses that squirrel and breaks an arrow! Dammit, Daryl. This is just another trial, but it’s interesting in how we see Daryl in like rote provider mode, and yet he makes a mistake.
The suck-ass camp begins with some Garden of Eden imagery: While Daryl skins and cooks the snake, Beth is admiring the beauty of a ladybug crawling on a leaf. The music is actually full of wonder. Beth sees the beauty in the natural world while Daryl sees it only for what he can use. It is an essential masculine vs. feminine moment, in terms of their individual themes, and what propels them and their actions. Their masculine and feminine energies will be subverted later though, and well-complicated, because the writing is good.
Beth brings up Hershel’s death early: “He’s not exactly around anymore so...” She wants to have a drink, maybe to rebel against her father, maybe to honor his memory, maybe to seal her own fate. It is a complicated choice for Beth. It’s not just some “dumb college bitch” moment. She knows this, but how is she supposed to communicate it to Daryl?
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Daryl is like an animal eating that snake while Beth tries to talk to him. Literally, out of body. I imagine being her and just like, Ugh. Gross, dude. Then, when she leaves, Beth totally expects him to come after her. When she doesn’t see him right away, she mutters, “Jerk.” She called him a jerk in season 3, too, after he takes off with Merle. I think Beth is used to being treated nicely by boys. Ofc, Daryl, while he may not be an overt gentleman in his scarfing of that disgusting snake, was there watching her the whole time. 
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“You wanna spend the rest of our lives staring into a fire and eating mud snakes? Screw that. We might as well do something.”
I sort of missed this before, the mention of “the rest of our lives.” It is a small acknowledgement that they are now “stuck together.” Ofc, Beth’s idea is to “make the most of it,” to go out into and DO something! Embrace the future! Daryl sees only the here, the now, and the past. He would prefer to stay still.
Unrelated but: God, Daryl is peak hot in this episode. 
Anyway, so, the state of Pine Vista, and what happened there. Jfc. It’s very ugly and very sad. The Dogtrot seems a reference to a dogtrot house, which is an old Appalachian style home. Basically like two shacks connected via a breezeway. I see some sort of backcountry types having moved in here and tortured the rich folk. There is evidence that “fun” was had. “Rich bitch,” etc. Maybe it’s the same psychopaths who tormented the OG Terminus crew, ultimately turning them into crazy cannibals.
Beth finds the Washington D.C. spoon. Why?? It’s such an odd, pointed shot, with a slow zoom. Is that where we’ll find her? Does anybody else know anything about this?? Anyway maybe this is a TD post lol.
Beth finds that bottle of wine and it’s a shame she has to break it! I remember feeling so bad about that the first time I watched this episode. Like NO BETH YOUR BOOZE!! She uses it to stab the shit out of that walker though, and to defend herself. She’s kind of pissed at Daryl for not helping her, again used to only the kindest of attention from boys. But Daryl isn’t like other boys (lol). He was there the whole time, once again, but he let it play out, because he knew she could do it. I like that her first (almost) drink here sort of has to become a weapon instead. Nothing is ever easy! And sometimes, the environment IS best observed, not in terms of its beauty or promise, but in terms of how its use can best be served to survive.
Tempus Fugit - Time flies! Oh, yes. Yes it does lol.
Daryl and Beth both need to escape their old selves here. Beth with her pretty cloths and Daryl stealing the cash and the jewels. They need to shake that shit off. Burn it all down, if you will. I think this episode we mostly associate with Daryl changing and having his epiphany, but Beth changes, too. She is just quieter at it.
It is 3 o’clock! The grandfather clock is this interesting motif that puts pressure on the situation literally while also bringing the symbolic pressure of time passing, running out, etc. It makes us feel detached from reality, like this is a purgatory episode. I like when The Walking Dead does this, like when they take us to a new place in which we become critically aware that this thing we’re watching is fiction, and by the rules of fiction, anything (ANYTHING) can happen.
“I know you think this is stupid, and it probably is, but I don’t care.” She just is who she is. She doesn’t give a shit what he thinks. I think that attracts Daryl to her in this moment and emboldens him. I think Daryl actually really cares what other people think of him, that he is keenly self-aware in this way. We see this fear manifest as Merle in Chupacabra, ie: that the rest of the group thinks he’s a “freak,” a piece of “redneck trash,” and that they’re all “laughing behind [his] back.” Meanwhile, Beth is just like, “You probably think I’m just some dumb bitch. But guess what, Daryl? I DON’T CARE.”
Beth sitting at that bar trying to clean out glasses: “Who needs a glass?” She clutches the bottle longingly and then cries. I would argue she is thinking of Hershel and the line of questioning that arises in this moment. Should she do this? Is she betraying him? This moment also contradicts what she tells Daryl in 4.1. “I don’t cry anymore Daryl.” This is the moment that breaks him.
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Beth keeps trying to make him feel normal, while they’re walking to the shine shack. She thinks he used to be a motorcycle mechanic. But Daryl’s normal is not hers, and he doesn’t really do small talk. In these little moments, we see him being who he is. Daryl is really good at being who he is when who he is revolves around passivity and silence.
They go from country club to moonshine shack. What we see is how a class divide might differ in longevity. A country club full of walkers, made out of humans who turned against each other, every bottle dry in the house vs. an empty shine shack, no death in sight, absolutely full of booze. When societal protections collapse around us, it is the ruthless and the bereft who will know how best to survive. It’s like Beth sad about Daryl, being “made for this world.” 
They are trapped! Tropes. So many romantic tropes! Lol at people who would like to ignore that any of this happened or that Bethyl was never canon.
This: 
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Anyway, I think Daryl is actually pretty mean to Beth toward the end here, out on the porch, like the way he treats her, kind of tugs her around physically. He doesn’t hurt her, but he is not gentle. This puts things into harsh perspective for Beth, as I do think that, while he is not right in how he handles her here, he is right in some ways about who she is. She is not naive but she is used to protection and safety and relying on others, the same way he is used to the opposite of those things. Both of them need to learn how to exist from the other side. 
Beth also sees what’s going on, however. I think she also might be used to this sort of quasi-violent, performative, drunken behavior. Her dad was a drunk. I think it’s interesting that so much of this episode hinges on alcohol in Hershel’s wake. I always thought this might be one reason Beth is drawn to and accepting of Daryl. We only really see Hershel while sober (I mean, mostly). We never saw him in his deep element of alcoholism, but Beth did. She is not innocent to vices or men spinning out of control. It’s why Beth responds to Daryl’s whole insane story about the tweaker and Merle with, “You miss him, don’t you?” She doesn’t care that Merle was a degenerate drug addict. He was Daryl’s brother who died. She has loved and lost an addict, too.
Before, Daryl was just “drifting.” In this episode, Beth gives him a quest. I think that’s very important. She also gives him something to look forward to:
“You got away from it.”
“I didn’t.”
“You did.”
“Maybe you gotta keep on reminding me of it sometimes.”
The hint at their future: “You gotta keep on reminding me,” he says, counting on them staying together. Beth is so kind to him here, too, even doting as she talks about him being the “last man standing.” I can’t imagine a girl has ever treated Daryl like this. I think she scares the living shit out of him.
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Daryl suggests they go back into the shine shack, but Beth says they should burn the place down instead. Again, stillness vs. action. See their complimentary traits: Daryl is passive. He needs someone to tell him this is okay. Beth is active. She does what she wants. It is uniquely antithetical to their gender roles and subverts the power dynamic we might otherwise expect from a relationship like this: Daryl is older and a man. Ofc he should be the more aggressive, assertive one. The actor. But he’s not. It’s Beth who makes their choices in this episode. Daryl follows her and protects her along the way. 
The ending is so happy. Oh my god. Anyway.
Thank you for humoring me. Happy Stilliversary!! 😭🥺❤️
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thoughts-on-bangtan · 3 years
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Let’s talk: RUN episode 130
by Admin 1
A week has passed and it’s time for the continuation of last weeks tennis episode, this time with BTS coming together on a tennis court to decide who the BTS Tennis Champion is, excluding Yoongi who was the MC and umpire due to his shoulder. He was joined by one of the coaches who’d previously given the members lessons at the club we’ve seen them at in last weeks episode. 
Before I truly get into it, and let me tell you, for those who haven’t seen the episode yet but are still reading this anyway (thank you so much for that), there is a lot to get into. Especially when it comes to vmin. It was a feast this week, I can tell you that much (so fellow vminnies prepare yourself to get annoyed and upset with you know who again this week as is tradition whenever we get a lot of vmin, am I being shady/petty?). But the other members were comedic gold as well, especially Yoongi with his amazing commentary, and fellow namjinists, we got a few nice things as well.
Funny thing is about an hour after the episode went live, the following ask appeared in our inbox and, at this point, I hadn’t seen the episode yet so reading this made me giggle but also very curious to see what exactly even happened that led to Jimin carrying Tae, as well as how Jimin did that since I immediately thought back to that moment at MAMA 2019 where he tried yet failed to lift Tae. 
From anon: Tonight's Run episode. Omg. When JM carried Tae and pretended to give him mouth to mouth, Tae gay panicked and said 'Hold on!' and swiftly got up and went back to the court. I cannot with these two. 😂It's always like someone is brave and then the other one panics. Come on VMIN you can both be brave hahahaha
But lets start...at the beginning (and make yourself comfortable because this ended up being a truly long one, also spoilers for who the winner is will be marked):
The episode opens with the members reminding themselves (and the viewer) why they are on that court again (as well as Hobi playing so much with his racket that he ends up dropping it, aww) and also letting us know that a solid 3-5 months have passed since the previous episode was filmed. Furthermore they talk about how, due to their schedules, they didn’t really have time for practice (as in they basically conclude they were bad at keeping up with this project and mostly merely went to practice once while Yoongi commented how they probably should’ve chosen something a little more approachable with a schedule like theirs), seeing as in the meantime Dynamite was released and they also had MOTS ON:E to practice for and perform. I do love how the editors flexed Dynamite’s BBHot100 longevity in the subtitles.
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Since the members all spoke toward the center, mostly turned around toward Jimin and Yoongi, Seokjin commented how they should also talk toward him, which Tae took as funny invitation to stand exceptionally close to Seokjin making him laugh with a big smile on his face. When I tell you I adore their dynamic and bond, I truly mean it.
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Yoongi is announced as MC and joined by Coach Kim, to whom the members apologize for forgetting everything he taught them. Next they move along to explaining the “rules” which basically ends with none of the rules actually being explained and the members making jokes about how headshots are against the rules. Then the order and pairings for the starting matches are chosen by chance by Yoongi and Coach Kim, though Hobi and Seokjin are separated so they won’t end up playing against each other since Hobi is the only one with past experience while Seokjin was the only one who actually went to practice four times between last episode and this one. 
While that’s happening, we get a wide shot of the court and the RUN crew giving us once again an idea of just how many people are involved to film these episodes and how many pairs of eyes are watching them. (this is something some people truly should remind themselves of more often when coming up with...theories.)
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The order is decided as Hobi vs JK, Namjoon vs Tae (can we please talk about how, when Namjoon is pulled as Tae’s opponent, Seokjin quietly comments how he wanted to play against Namjoon? Cute!), and Jimin vs Seokjin. After the pairs are decided there’s this small hilarious moment where Seokjin stands a little further back and pulls out his phone and is promptly snitched on my Yoongi. In his defense Seokjin says that his dad was calling him so it was a completely valid reason to check while the other members complain about him having brought in his phone at all. Namjoon even tells him that he shouldn’t use his dad as excuse to which Seokjin challenges him if he should show him his phone as proof. 
Then, finally, the matches begin. Yoongi and Coach Kim settle behind their umpire desk while Namjoon and Seokjin sit in the stands behind them to the left, thus on JKs side, and Jimin and Tae on the right, thus on Hobi’s. Who starts the match is decided in good old BTS fashion with rock-paper-scissors and we are treated to Yoongi calling Hobi a dummy which had me howling with laughter.
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We also get chaos immediately as Tae pretends to be the ball boy on JKs side, though quickly gives up his job and returns to his place. All signs point toward Tae being in a fantastic, comedic mood once again. We love to see it. As the match is happening, Yoongi comments on how it’s actually surprisingly fun to watch, with which Namjoon agrees (and so do I). They all get so into it making it double fun to watch and even easier to cheer along and get emotionally invested in what’s happening on screen.
During the second half of JKs match with Hobi, Tae asks Coach Kim what kind of player JK is to which he replies that he’s a passionate one, and upon prompting clarifies that JK always stayed longer after practice to practice some more. That certainly sounds very much like JK, and fits with what we’ve seen in the previous episode. Despite that Hobi wins the match!
Next up is Namjoon against Tae. Jimin playfully takes up the role of Tae’s coach, hands him a bottle of water and carries his racket while Tae ties his shoes and then approaches the net for rock-paper-scissors. Upon seeing their shenanigans, Seokjin jumps in as Namjoon’s coach, making sure he has spare balls and that he actually goes to the net as well.
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Before the match even begins we get Namjoon asking first Seokjin, who says he doesn’t know, and then Coach Kim if he’s even holding the racket properly which Yoongi comments upon saying he’s holding it the way you would a knife while cooking. Honestly Yoongi is on fire this episode with funny commentary. Then as they get to rock-paper-scissors, Tae as the most endearing human ever asks upon his angels (with Yoongi asking the editors to add in actual angel graphics for his sequence) to help him win, which he does. He gets to start off the match.
Namjoon is certainly the funniest tennis player among the members adding in little hops and spins making everyone laugh so, so much. Coach Kim comments upon how, because Namjoon was so busy, he didn’t get to learn how to do backhand and thus only knows how to do forehand (please don’t ask me what that means and what kind of effect that has because I have no clue). Speaking of laughter, at some point Seokjin is laughing so much and so hard Hobi turns to him and asks “why are you so happy?” but we never get an answer. Interestingly enough, as they announce a serve change, so Tae serving instead, Seokjin immediately stops laughing and looks focused again.
Also at some point they realize that Namjoon was playing with someone else’s racket, leading to Namjoon switching to his actual one, while Coach Kim says that Namjoon had left his racket at their gym which Seokjin comments by saying “that’s Namjoon”. We’re also treated to Nam-derer (Namjoon + Federer) and Tae-kovic (Taehyung + Djokovic) by Seokjin. Honestly, extra points for creativity. The match ends with Namjoon losing, ending up at the net and immediately being ready to bump elbows with Tae accepting his defeat. Absolutely hilarious match!
Next up is Seokjin against Jimin and it starts with Seokjin promptly loosing three points one after the other with the other members commenting that tennis is a mind game and Jimin’s mind is good. Jimin loses the next point, thus the members idea of Jimin potentially winning a “perfect game” (without Seokjin getting any points) is gone. Although it’s meant teasingly, this is still really cute:
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Upon being prompted by Namjoon to bring out his (Jimin’s) true tennis skills, the game turns around and Seokjin goes into the lead. Soon thereafter the score is 5 for Jimin and 9 for Seokjin which leads to Tae calling out the score to Jimin (saying Jiminie) as 5959 which apparently is both a lucky number and phonetically similar to something you’d say in a cutesy way to a child or someone you love in Korean, and on top of that it’s also 9595 backward. Unfortunately all that soulmate luck doesn’t help since Jimin still ends up losing the match.
Next up is Hobi against Tae with Hobi “teasing” Tae by claiming that he’s certain Tae will win. The match starts off with Hobi winning twice but Tae gets into it soon enough and they actually manage to get a few rallies going, as well as Coach Kim commenting on how you can tell that Hobi has prior training. As they reach 6:7 for Tae, Jimin and Namjoon start chanting KIM TAEHYUNG, with Jimin, Seokjin and Jungkook also doing some additional “cheerleader” moves. Very sweet and supportive! Look at their smiles, look at Jimin’s smile! He does that a few more times as Tae wins more points.
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Then we get to the moment that had everyone, vminnies and non-vminnies alike, in absolute shambles: Tae hurts himself (though I’m still not 100% certain if it was a joke or he actually hurt himself even if just a bit) and falls to the ground, Yoongi rushes in with a big smile while calling for a medic and Jimin runs over saying he’ll carry Tae. Which he does, just like anon said. Look at him! How is it possible that somehow Tae turns so smol whenever he’s in Jimin’s arms? Also just how strong, exactly, is Jimin that he can just pick up Tae like that despite Tae being taller, and therefore also surely a little heavier than Jimin?
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Also can we please talk about how Tae hooks his arms around Jimin, how he nestled his head against him, and also about that barely visible (from our angle and due to Jimin’s shoulder) smile on Tae face as he’s being carried? And also Namjoon’s face. Of course he’s there as well because what would be a vmin scene if Namjoon wouldn’t be there as well haha.
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That’s still not everything (truly this episode is a gift that keeps on giving) since Jimin puts down Tae on the stands and proceeds to give him pretend CPR and acts like he wants to also give him mouth-to-mouth which makes Tae giggle/laugh, but not just any laugh, it’s his Jiminie laugh. Catch me crying. After that Tae gets up and ends up winning the match giving us the following (it’s not too visible in the gif but my heart melts at Jimin’s happy/fond smile):
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And thus the final match is Kim vs Kim, place your bets now before continuing on. I do love how seriously Jimin is taking his “coach” job as he once again stands by Tae’s side before the match begins and carries his racket. 
Since this is already getting outrageously long (and there are still 16 minutes left) I’ll just mention a few highlights instead of a detailed commentary. Also, if you don’t want to know who wins, I’d recommend skipping this part. I’ll add a bold Match Over at the end so just scroll until you see that.
Tae and Seokjin tease each other which Seokjin delivering the following line “I’ll prove that the underdog can’t make it to the top”.
Tae fails his first attempt at a serve, but upon second try, wins his first point. 
Tae asks for more balls so he can keep some in his pockets which is commented by JK as Tae being greedy for balls because his mom didn’t buy him the toys he wanted as a kid. Another member, though I can’t for the life of me figure out which, asks what he’s talking about, and then Namjoon puts an end to the antics.
Seokjin rolls up his sleeves (things are getting serious serious) and Namjoon wishes him good luck (we love a supportive leaderbf). This is followed by Namjoon wondering if Seokjin is Shapovalov and Seokjin wins the point.
Seokjin wins the first set and they switch sides.
Seokjin tries to pick up the ball by hitting it with the racket just like they’d been taught in the previous episode but hits the ground instead. Yoongi wants to give him a yellow card but only has a yellow pen which he holds up instead.
They get a fantastic rally going but unfortunately Tae loses because he hits the ball too hard and it goes OUT. JK says it was so good there should be a slo-mo to commemorate that rally which makes everyone laugh.
Tae hits the ball into the OUT and nearly hits Jimin and JK which prompts Jimin to chant something in Busan satoori along with JK but Namjoon stops them by saying that they’re in Seoul.
The ball gets stuck in Tae’s racket, something that happens very, very rarely and thus the members decide to give him that point simply because of that. Namjoon also tells Tae he should buy a lottery ticket.
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Finally, because “hard work never betrays”, Seokjin wins! He also wins, according to me for the cutest smile because honestly LOOK AT HIM, how can anyone not be endlessly fond, endeared and enamored with him? That’s scientifically impossible and should be a punishable crime. Am I exaggerating? Who cares!
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Also Hobi gently, so very gently, dabbing away Seokjin’s sweat with his sleeve. 
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Seokjin receives a skinny little gold medal, which Tae sneakily steals from him like a little squirrel while Seokjin gives a speech while being the most humble and very Seokjin. 
MATCH OVER
After the game the members gather at a restaurant with the bill being paid by Seokjin, which is something the members simply decide upon though Seokjin makes a joke about having forgotten his wallet at home. What a nice prize for winning, makes it totally worth it, right? The first dishes that are served are seafood which Namjoon comments on by saying that he can’t eat them, but he needn’t worry because there was plenty, and I mean plenty, more food to be tried and eaten.
Overall the dinner featured some funny and interesting moments such as:
Hobi, Tae and Seokjin playing the “tangsuyuk” game which Namjoon calls childish and yet makes a game out of him saying “child” and Jimin “ish” with a laugh and smile on his face.
Jimin and Seokjin having a funny/cutesy conversation in a mix of Korean and English which is followed by Seokjin saying they should now only talk in English, which Hobi accepts. The only ones who do it are Hobi and Seokjin (who shows off two sentences with great pronunciation) and then it’s over and they switch back to Korean.
JK saying “I wanna be a lobster” to the tune of “I wanna be a rockstar” from Interlude: Shadow.
An extreme closeup shot of Jimin trying Peking duck including some ASMR for those who like it.
JK and Seokjin reaching for Seokjin’s drink at the same time with Seokjin telling JK he should order his own instead of trying to take his (later we see JK still drink from Seokjin’s glass). Jimin also asks for a sip (though he might be talking to Hoseok since there’s a glass standing between them as well from which we see Jimin drink).
Tae wonders what they’ll be going through in the next episode of RUN which gets commented as “reasonable doubt” by the editors in the subs. 
Jimin tells the story of how he went to a hair salon with Yoongi though at first he can’t remember when it was. Tae and his vault of Jimin memories though does, saying that it was for their profile pictures before debut. The story goes that Jimin got an asymmetrical haircut which apparently was so bad/funny Yoongi couldn’t look at him and left him behind to meet with his friends instead. Once Jimin arrived at the dorm, Hobi woke up from his sleep yet, upon seeing Jimin, “fainted” because he laughed so hard.
As final dish they get mattang which reminds them of the mattang JK made in an older episode of RUN which ended up basically being completely immovable and stuck to his plate. “First is cleanliness, second is cleanliness, and third is adhesiveness.” I’m not surprised that we remember these things, but looking at how much they do, see, and have to remember, I’m always amazed by the fact that they remember such small things as well.
Jimin asked how long they’ve been doing RUN for to which JK says “10 years” making everyone laugh. Yoongi though comes through saying that they started in 2015, which is correct.
In the end they get some coffee and Tae asks if they should leave for their next shoot now, something it seems they’ve been stalling on doing since Tae already asked that twice before and they came up with things they should/need to do or eat before that.
And that concludes the episode! Wow, this turned out way too long. If you actually made it this far, I truly applaud you and also thank you sincerely. I loved this episode and I just had a lot to say, I suppose. This might be one of my new favorite episodes, which I have a feeling I’ve been saying for the last couple of episodes as well, but what can I say, these episodes have really been amazing recently.
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multimetaverse · 4 years
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HSM:TM:TS 1x01 Review
The Auditions was a great series premiere for High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and I’m very excited for all that’s to come. Let’s dig in!
Disney certainly got its money worth with this show. The gorgeous Utah scenery and actual on location filming really helps ground the series with a sense of realism. To that end, I really liked the little details, like the principal not wanting to spend anything on the musical, the kids social media use, and that the kids actually look like regular kids who live in regular houses and go to a regular high school
Such a talented cast! Olivia Rodrigo is a showstopper, what a wonderful rendition of Start of Something New that was and Joshua Bassett seems born to play Ricky. Sofia is an amazing dancer and I’m excited to see some of the productions they put on later in the season 
Miss Jenn reminds me of April Rhodes from Glee and I mean that as a compliment. Her delivery of, ‘’that is so fresh’’ still makes me laugh. I love that she cast Ricky as Troy on a whim for maximum drama and  of course she wants a Ms. Darbus song, she’s an agent of chaos and I’m here for it. I also liked her begging her mom for car loan payment money, you’re not really a millennial if you haven’t lived pay cheque to cheque at some point
Even though we’ve seen them in the trailer, Carlos’ first 15 minutes of both sequels and Broadway lines still made me chuckle
I like the glimpses we get of the kids home lives. Very refreshing to see Nini’s two moms and see that she has a mixed race family and with Andi Mack off of Disney Channel, tonight’s showing of HSMTMTS might be the last time any kind of lgbtq rep is seen on Disney Channel itself for quite a while. Her grandma looks too young to be in a nursing home but it was nice to see her helping Nini with her self-confidence. Poor Ricky with his parents marriage collapsing, that’s gonna be a tearjerker if and when his mom returns from Chicago to officially end things with his dad. Seems like Gina’s mom has high expectations of her which eventually lead to their scene we saw in the promo where Gina breaks down
We dove right into the love triangle at the heart of this season: Nicky vs NJ. As I was watching the first flashback scene between Nini and Ricky, I thought to myself that if they keep writing them scenes like this I just might become Nicky trash, I was trying to stay neutral but after Ricky’s audition I’m definitely team Ricky, that really was the #ultimatecomeback. Ricky singing ‘’I Think I Kind of You Know’’, the song Nini wrote for him was just too sweet; it warmed even my cold, black heart. And that shot of Ricky and EJ lighting Nini with their phones and forming a triangle? Poetic cinema
It really does seem like Nicky is the endgame ship with NJ just an obstacle in its path especially with Nini having been in love with Ricky just six weeks ago and only having met EJ four weeks ago. EJ is very supportive of Nini and I did like how sweet he is with her, that line about her being a cute chorus cow was great. I saw on Disney +’s twitter poll that the fandom is split about 66% team Ricky to 33% team EJ which is an interesting split but also reflects the writing tipping it’s hand, it does want us to like NJ but not at the expense of Nicky
One thing that I don’t like so far is the age gap between Olivia and Matt, she’s 16 and he’s 21 and they both look their age. I’m not saying that all teen roles need to be played by teens but that age gap is significant when they’re playing girlfriend and boyfriend and was an unforced error on the shows part. It reminds me of the problems GMW suffered by casting a much older Peyton Meyer to play Riley’s love interest. Matt Cornett’s age as well as EJ being the only senior of the main cast is another hint that he won’t be playing Nini’s love interest past this season
I do hope that however this love triangle ends that it’s done as cleanly as possible. Love triangles are rarely pulled off well because the show or movie or book will usually tip its hand fairly quickly as to which is the ‘real’ ship but they also usually end up damaging the characters involved. In this case Ricky is not just a rival for Nini’s affections but a would be homewrecker who’s set out to breakup Nini and EJ which if not handled carefully could make Ricky look like a bad guy
As an aside, Nini having a shirtless photo of EJ on her phone and her and Ricky hanging out alone in her bedroom in the flashback is spicy for Disney but does at least gesture more to the reality of teen life than the typical squeaky clean Disney fare
Carlos is the colour guard captain, that was in the original casting notice (back when Carlos was named Vikram) and Tim Federle mentioned in an interview that he based Carlos off of one of his best friends who was also a colour guard captain. I’ve been wondering for a couple of weeks now if Frankie Rodriguez was actually allowed to reveal that Carlos is gay because it hasn’t been talked about in interviews or mentioned in any reviews so far. His line about EJ not knowing who he is, seems like it could potentially be set up for an arc about Carlos trying to make himself known. He knew that Seb wanted to try out for Sharpay rather than Ryan so presumably he already knows him? We know that something is being teased between him and Seb but I won’t hold my breathe for getting very much from Disney, at least this season
Not much to say about the other characters so far. Kourtney is barely a step above the sassy black friend trope but I think some of it has to due with the fact that Tim Federle originally just wanted Kourtney to be a one off supportive friend for Nini but so liked the actress that he decided to make her a main. Ashlyn is supposed to have a powerful duet with Nini in the second ep so that is something to look forward to as is her relationship with her cousin EJ. Big Red is a nice supportive friend and that’s about it. Not much to Mr. Mazara either. It does seem like the dividing line between major and lesser main characters are those who have lead roles in the musical itself
I love that the mockumentary interviews happen even when they make absolutely no sense in universe 
We get some full character names from the cast list: Seb Matthew- Smith, Ricky Bowen, EJ Caswell, Gina Porter, and Nini Salazar-Roberts
Looking Ahead:
I read in reviews that EJ teams up with Gina to take down Ricky while Gina tries to take down Nini. That’s a pretty easy path to villainize EJ and sink NJ eventually while then using EJ’s panic attacks and Gina’s story line with her mom to build them back up. I sincerely hope that they don’t even try to go for one sided Gina and EJ as Sofia is the youngest cast member
Sofia did say that Gina would make things complicated for the love triangle and in a promo clip she said she was ‘intrigued’ by Ricky so we’ll see what happens
Miss Jenn supposedly left New York in unclear circumstances so I wonder where they’ll go with that. My own theory is that she used to be an extra on Law and Order: SVU and was having a torrid affair with Dan Florek before being exposed
I’ll try to have these reviews up Friday evenings but that’s dependent on when I can watch the eps. Because the pilot aired on tv we’ll actually get ratings either Monday or Tuesday which will be the only time we’ll get publicly released data otherwise all we’ll get is what Disney wants us to know and that will often just be spin. I’m very excited for this season and for season two and I can’t wait to see what’s ahead. Until next week wildcats
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fantastic-nonsense · 4 years
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Winners and Losers of the 6th Democratic Debate
Winners:
Biden: Surprised the hell out of me and actually sounded competent and actually put together tonight. Still had some really weird and skeevy af answers, but overall came out sounding pretty good. Points deducted for unnecessary shouting, being dragged by Bernie a couple of times on his foreign policy, his inability to articulate his record on military policy, and the really odd and awkward segue into the story about the kid with the stutter. 
Warren: Liz desperately needed a comeback night after her drop in the polls and god did she deliver. She sounded coherent and put together, was on message, was far more aggressive than she had been in previous debates (but effectively so and not needlessly so), and played as a very effective first round to take out Buttigieg so that Bernie and Yang could take the slam dunk shot and victory laps respectively. She was also able to effectively articulate pretty much everything, including a very well done answer on how she would exercise executive power in a divided Congress. 
Bonus points for her responses on corruption/how corruption keeps progressive policies from getting passed and her response to the “are you too old to be president” question with “Well I would be the youngest female president ever elected.” Points deducted for not being able to answer Buttigieg's ‘are you corrupted Senator’ question, the slightly odd repetition of the “selfie line” line, and the slight zone out during the closing statements.
Bernie: also sounded far better and more coherent than he has at the past few debates. Simultaneously played peacemaker/argument-finisher and agitator to great effect. Highlights: getting the slam dunk on Buttigieg after the Warren-Buttigieg fight, shutting the Biden-Klobuchar fight down, and his comments on Israel-Palestine. Multiple points deducted for giving the mods the complete runaround on healthcare and not saying what he would do if he couldn’t get his bills passed in the Senate.
Middle of the Pack/“Almost Winners”:
Yang: I will never be convinced to vote for him, but having fewer candidates on the stage definitely worked to Yang’s advantage. Generally speaking, he had fairly compelling points and was able to articulate his thoughts quite a bit more. However, I’m dinging him significantly for all of those times that he stopped and visibly waited for applause; it came off as very Jeb “please clap” Bush, and I’m not about that life. He also completely missed the point on multiple occasions and reminded me that he’s not a politician with no political experience, and thus no real practical understanding of how to wield political power. I’m glad he’s there for the issues he’s articulating, but I would never vote for him for a federal-level office before he has served at a local, county, or state level.
Amy Klobuchar: okay before I get into her performance can I just say how weird it is that she’s polling at like 2% nationally and has had the most/second most speaking time at 2 debates in a row now??? Anyway Klobuchar was basically…the same, which means that she was kind of obnoxious and inserted herself and her opinions into everything, as usual. Lots of focus on “I can get it done” and “we need a Midwesterner” and obviously forced jokes (like Amy, I get it, you’re the “hello fellow kids” candidate, but you really don’t need to go that hard by name-dropping the “Notorious RBG” on live national television), not a lot of focus on how to actually move us forward into the future. She got some good shots in and sounded forceful, but nothing particularly substantial was said. Highlight of her night was her absolutely ending Buttigieg over the question of his experience. So she did much better than she has in previous debates, but not enough to actually put her into the 'winners' category.
The Losers:
Buttigieg: tonight was Dunk on Buttigieg night and he was obviously not prepared for it. He was able to semi-effectively combat Warren, but he had no response to Bernie and Yang coming after him using the opening provided by her attacks and Klobuchar coming back around to solidly end him. Also the “wine cellar” moment is already meme-ing its way around Tumblr and Twitter, which is not going to help him a bit either. He gave his usual “sound good but incredibly vague with no concrete answers” spiels, and still doesn’t seem to understand why universal public services should be free to everyone and not just poor/middle-class people; I don’t care if I’m paying for a rich kid to go to college or get healthcare, because they in turn are paying for me to go to college and get healthcare. Public services are for everyone to enjoy and profit from, not just poor people. He had multiple good moments, but they were overshadowed by his bad ones.
Tom Steyer: the entire time I just kept thinking “why are you here and peddling your false ‘I am the only one who has done anything’ nonsense???” Steyer imo came off as passionate about the issues and willing to put his money where his mouth is but condescending, pretentious, and dismissive of the work that everyone else on stage has done to advance various issues. Not a good look, but also not terribly surprising.
General Thoughts:
This debate was so much better and far more substantive than previous debates. The moderators weren’t particularly great, but they asked really meaty and tough questions and did hold the candidates accountable when they were giving the runaround. I particularly loved how this debate focused more on foreign policy, the area over which the President traditionally holds the most direct influence. Still waiting on some substantive questions on women’s issues other than abortion and birth control.
I’m so tired of watching Bernie and Biden yell at each other. Someone please save me.
Booker, Castro, and Steyer need to drop now. I'm content to put up with Yang until Iowa (when he obviously needs to drop out), and obviously Buttigieg isn't going anywhere until the first four states (at least) have voted. 
As predicted, Biden, Sanders, and Warren are and continue to be the three frontrunners and the race is very likely to end up as either a three-way race to a contested convention or a Biden vs. Sanders or Warren (depending on which progressive candidate can garner more votes). I don't see Buttigieg managing to overtake Biden as the leading moderate in the race after tonight, which dings my original prediction that the race was going to end up as Biden and Buttigieg vs. Sanders and Warren fighting between whether the moderates or progressives were going to win the primary.
What really depresses me about Warren asking for forgiveness for getting too heated over issues is that it's such a female thing to do, especially female politicians, who constantly have to apologize and explain their angry words and confrontational speech where everyone accepts it wholesale from men and male politicians. That wasn't interview-level cringiness, that was a genuine belief that she should apologize for sounding angry.
Also the fact that the two women on stage both asked for forgiveness (and both for “getting too emotional over the issues”) and all of the men shrugged and were like ‘gifts! Buy my book.’ That last question is going to get analyzed quite a bit in the coming days, and it’s hopefully going to spark some conversation about the different standards we hold male and female politicians to
PBS noting in their post-debate discussion that Biden, Sanders, and Warren all came from less money than Buttigieg and that they didn't earn their money until their 40s when discussing the Warren-Buttigieg "you're worth more than I am" moment like lmao go off
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modern-sybil · 5 years
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Wholesome Entire Magicians Cast Fluff - Chapter Two
Okay, the response to this post was pretty sweet (thank you everyone, you rock!!), so I’m making my idea a multi-chapter thing. Chapter two extends below the cut (this bitch was over 2,000 words, haha)
AO3: In The Happy Pause of it All
Chapter Two - Thanksgiving Competition: Penny vs Eliot
Josh has reviewed the rules, made his changes, and they were ready to go- one week of prep until Thanksgiving. Kady started taking bets on the side as to who everyone thought would win, and was surprised when even Fen got in the game. Who was gonna turn down the High King of Fillory? Even if she bet two silver and jewel daggers, which was a little unorthodox and would be difficult to split among the winners. But they were really pretty, and bad ass (like me, Kady thought, and laughed), and Kady was certain she could figure out how to make sure she ended up with them.
Quentin decided that Penny and El could get two people each to help them make all the food. Josh concurred, a sous chef and a second assistant were well within their rights to have. It took Penny days to make his final decision, but Eliot knew instantly who he wanted.
Q was only a little put out when Eliot chose Alice (I mean, she can cook and all) and Margo instead of him. Alice agreed, albeit grudgingly, and Margo was pretty sure it was because Kady had talked last weekend about how Penny looked really hot when he was cooking, but of course Margo would never say that out loud… Except she did, because she is Margo. Alice blushed and left the room to go make some tea, happy that Kady was out dealing with Hedgewitch business.
Q put up some token resistance at not being chosen, but his heart wasn’t in it. At least this meant he could watch excitedly (and taste test a lot on both sides) and he did not have to worry about accidentally setting something on fire… Like he did that time he tried to make popcorn on the stove. Which was an event Eliot quickly reminded him about.
“Come on, El! It was ONE time!!”
“Yeah, but the loft smelled like burnt popcorn until Alice came home and spelled it away. We do not need a repeat when the stakes are this high, Q. Alice is gonna be too busy ensuring my INEVITABLE VICTORY to spell away the smell of burnt roast duck.”
Penny went with Julia (no one was shocked there). But for his second person, he chose Zelda, which was definitely a twist no one saw coming. Especially Zelda, but everyone could see how happy it made her. She took the time to adjust her glasses before agreeing, trying to act as though she had seen it coming.
He denied it, but Julia was pretty sure he picked Zelda to make her feel more like one of the group, rather than for a tactical advantage. He claimed that her speed reading would come in handy, and handed her a stack of cookbooks to memorize before the big day.
The night before, at a light dinner of salad and soup (everyone was saving room for tomorrow) El suddenly threw down his spoon - “Fuck!! We never decided on what the loser has to do!”
Penny looked up from his not-so-subtle staring at Julia, shaking his head “I thought we were just doing this for bragging rights? And to know for sure who is the best. Which obviously is me.”
“Well, yeah,” El scoffed “but that is for the winner. What will you… I mean, the-as-of-yet-unknown-loser… have to do when they fail miserably and get CRUSHED INTO DUST?”
Marina, who had been crashing the dinners so often lately they just set a permanent place for her at the table, smiled. “I know.” She said. “And it is perfect. Loser has to clean up all the dishes and the entire kitchen - no magic.”
It was agreed, this seemed perfect- completely in harmony with the spirit of the event. And Alice had agreed to be a sous chef, so it wasn’t fair to assume she’d clean the kitchen as well.
Josh dragged a chair over so he could watch the whole event “to prevent cheating/maintain his unbiased outlook and ensure no travesties against food were commited” but everyone knew it was because he wanted to enjoy every second of being valued so much for his skills, and it was kinda cute tbh.
Penny went with a classic Thanksgiving feast, the only time he ran into an issue was when he wanted to have canned cranberry sauce - Josh said that was a no-go because it was a cooking competition. After a quick team huddle Penny had to send Jules out for more ingredients and he thanked his lucky stars that Zelda had memorized 6 different recipes for the jellied berries, so they put their heads together to come up with the perfect combo recipe.
Quentin kept stealing marshmallows that were supposed to be for the sweet potato casserole, until Penny shot him a look that was so reminiscent of back when they were roommates that Q backed up all the way over to Eliot’s prep station and stayed there for a good fifteen minutes. Peeking out from behind El’s back he waited Penny was adequately distracted and swooped in again. Zelda was making candied nuts, and all the wrath in the world couldn’t stop him from sneaking a few here and there.
Eliot was going all-out. This was a gourmet feast that would make Emeril Lagasse quake in his boots. Alice was a whirlwind behind and around him, definitely not putting on any extra flair for Kady, who was watching while leaning against a pillar, smiling gently. Margo was the most focused she had been since her quest in the dessert, attacking each task Eliot gave her with a voracious passion that made Josh shift a little in his chair and Fen bite her lip and unconsciously twirl her hair around her finger.
Of course Eliot also had themed drinks which he was crafting with care, crushing the mint delicately and lining the cup rims while keeping an eye on Quentin to make sure he wasn’t eating all of the sugar crusted flower petals because those were for garnish goddamnit. But he had to smile, because thinking back to the start of it all, his plan definitely worked. Q was eating regularly and his clothes all fit again. Taking a quick pause to look around, El was filled with a happiness that he never had in the mind-palace-situation, even in the physical kids college, because this? This was home. This was a family that knew him and loved him for who he was. This was everything…
“Quit your fucking daydreaming and mash your goddamn potatoes, Eliot” Margo snapped, hands never stilling from perfectly slicing apples and arranging them into rosettes. But then she looked up at him and smiled, and he knew that she once again saw him and understood where he was at, what he was thinking… But that this was a competition, and they had priorities.
Soon the entire apartment filled with the scent of happiness and home and good cooking, the savory notes of rosemary and turkey mixing with the sweetness of apple and pecan pies, offset with the spiciness of cardamom and ginger. Q was hopping all over the place at this point from the sugar high of his taste-testing, and eventually both Julia and Eliot agreed they had to banish him from the kitchen because he kept getting underfoot. But even as she made him leave, Jules smiled and snuck him another handful of marshmallows to tide him over.
Quentin decided to use all this energy to set the table, and as he was setting down the last of the dishes, everyone started trickling in. Fogg had brought his record player, and got some mellow tunes going in the background. In the past, none of the group would have thought Frank Sinatra was thanksgiving music, but after today everyone would smile and remember every time they heard “the way you look tonight” on the radio. Alice even sometimes added it to the queue of the playlist they normally had softly going in the evenings, just to ease tensions. She thought the way everyone’s face lit up was even better than the taste of bacon.
Marina came with a box of little gifts for everyone, which made everyone think that the universe had flipped upside down and pigs had wings, until her girlfriend came in behind her, all smiles and happiness and Marina passed off the box to Fen with a smile and a muttered “the things I do for love,” shuddering slightly before going to collect her girlfriend’s jacket to put in the other room.
Harriet came with a couple other Hedges that only Julia and Kady knew, so they added in the extra panel to the table and set more plates, and made sure they knew about the competition and why there were two completely different but complete meal options currently being prepared. Harriet pulled Kady aside and told her that these Hedges had nowhere else to go, and Kady just smiled and said “well, it is good that we have enough food for an army, then!”
Tick followed Fen around asking questions about absolutely everything until she got frustrated, he was distracting her from watching Margo…. uh, hanging out with the whole group as they finished up with the cooking. So she set him in front of the TV and showed him how to work the remote and left him to his own devices.
Dinner was eaten, everyone was lazing about the living room in various stages of food-coma, and the time for judgement had come. Josh was making a big deal of it, which made Penny frustrated, but Eliot saw as only right given the seriousness of his task. As he ate Josh had been writing notes in a notebook and he spent a good thirty minutes in his throne, er, chair, listening seriously to the input of every guest before adding to the tallies he was keeping.
After an hour, Margo started impatiently tapped her foot, staring at him and caressing Sorrow and Sorrow with a meaningful look. Clearing his throat and nervously adjusting his collar, Josh spoke. Finally.
“This was a close one, and opinions were widely split between the contestants.” He started, as Kady pulled out her list of who bet and what they bet. “In the end, I had to step back a bit. I had to take taste alone out of the competition, and go back to what Thanksgiving is all about. How it is the taste of childhood, the memories of years gone by…”
“And for that reason, sorry El, Penny is the clear winner.”
Penny and Julia let out a whoop from the corner where they were standing, grabbing her around the waist Penny spun her in a circle. Then, catching himself, he put a solemn look on his face and said “well, if you are sure.”
Kady started making the rounds, collecting money. Fogg handed his over with equanimity, Zelda was sheepish, making sure she told the room that she placed her bet BEFORE being chosen for Penny’s team, and thought it wasn’t fair to the spirit of the competition to change her mind. Margo scoffed and sat back in her chair, eyeing Josh up and down as though she had never seen anyone more ridiculous. Eliot dramatically draped himself over the couch, putting his head in Q’s lap. “I’m ruined,” he sighed, placing a hand against his forehead. Q ran a comforting hand through his hair, soothing the taller man as best as he could in the moment of his defeat.
“Josh,” Margo said , “you better explain why I, I mean, Eliot, lost… Right fucking now.”
Laughing nervously, Josh continued “Well, you see, Eliot’s dishes were amazing, no doubt. But Penny’s tasted more like Thanksgiving, and after hearing what the people had to say” he gestured around, spreading the blame as best as he could “I had to go with the meal that best fit the theme. The actual flavors were too neck-and-neck, I couldn’t pick on that alone in the end.” Margo nodded, once, reaching behind her for her purse to pay up, and Josh sighed in relief.
“Fair is fair,” Marina said, her girlfriend sitting in her lap contentedly, “Penny gets the bragging rights and Eliot cleans the kitchen - no magic.” Quentin could swear her eyes were a bit extra gleeful at the outcome, but he couldn’t be sure how she would have reacted if Penny had lost, so he kept the thought to himself.
Pulling himself up from the couch gracefully, Eliot exclaimed “never let it be said that I am a sore loser!!” With a flourish he created a trophy magically, and presented it to Penny. As Margo laughed and rolled her eyes, Penny smiled and polished it a bit with his sleeve. “I now will go… wash dishes and clean floors.”
Walking away, after grabbing Q’s hand to pull him along, Eliot turned around “But rest assured, my friend… There will be a rematch.”
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taronfanfic · 5 years
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Rewind
Masterlist 
Chapter 18
Waiting for Wednesday had left you with a spring in your step. You’d managed to shake off the mortification of Sunday night’s miscommunication quickly, forcing it to the back of your mind as you woke on Monday morning. The three working days didn’t drag and your excitement built easily. You found yourself daydreaming about how you wanted the night to go, how Taron would flirt with you and kiss you, how it would feel to have his hands on you again. You thought a lot about how much worse the wait would have been if you’d organised it for the weekend too. A flirty, mid-week, tipsy night with Taron and all your friends always was going to end well.
You led the way into the pub, catching Taron’s eye instantly as he waited at the bar for his round of drinks. He stood up straight and smiled as he started to sing ‘Here Come The Girls’, only cutting himself off as he wrapped his arms tightly around your shoulders and gave you a long, warm hug.
“You smell nice.” You complimented him quietly as he released you from his embrace.
“Thanks, you’re looking lovely tonight. You all are.” He pulled his attention back from you and gave a quick hug to Gemma, Charlotte and Rosie before asking what they’d like to drink and then pointing them over to his group of friends who were stood chatting around the pool table in the corner of the pub. You stayed with Taron at the bar, hoping to make the most of the short time you’d have alone together without too many eyes watching your every move. “And how about you, what are you drinking tonight?” Taron asked as he leant back against the bar and turned his body in to face you.
“Vodka tonic. I’ll get drunk too quickly on wine and I’ve got to make a good impression on your mates.”
“Ah they’re fine. They’ll be watching me more than you anyway.”
“I can already feel 6 sets of eyes staring at the back of my head right now.” Taron lifted his gaze over your shoulder and then started to blush and look to the floor.
“You’re not wrong. God I feel like I’m 15 all over again and about to ask you to be my first girlfriend.” He giggled.
“Why are they doing this to us?” You giggled back.
“No, come on. We’re better than this. We’re adults.” He composed himself instantly and looked into your eyes again.
“Yup, mature adults, socialising with our friends, and trying to keep our hands off each other.”
“I’m totally going to fail at that last part after a few of these.” He picked up his beer and took a long sip. “Come on, let’s get the worst bit out the way and then we can relax.” You picked up a tray of drinks and made your way over to the group who were long past the polite introductions and clearly already discussing you and Taron as the conversation fell flat as soon as you were in earshot.
“Hi, I’m Y/N.” You smiled to Taron’s friends as the girls took their glasses from the tray and stood around waiting for Taron to join you again.
“Oh we know.” One of them replied smugly. “We’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Jack. This is Tom and David.” He introduced them and they both said hi before grabbing their pints from Taron.
“Right, so how are we doing this?” Taron asked as he placed his pint down and picked up a cue, trying to move things on before any awkward questions were probed in your direction.
“Play in pairs, round robin kind of thing with the losers buying the next round?” Tom suggested and everyone agreed.
“I want Rosie as my teammate.” David announced with confidence, much to Rosie’s delight as she stepped across to stand next to him.
“Charlotte’s with me then.” Tom was quick to make his selection and beckoned Charlotte over to help set up the table with him. You found yourself drifting closer to Taron, fully expecting him to claim you as his for the night.
“Let’s go then, Y/N.” Jack announced with a wink before pacing his arm around your shoulders and sweeping you away from Taron’s side. You could only laugh at his bold move and the look of annoyance that was left on Taron’s face.
“Bye, loser.” You called out to him as you moved to the opposite side of the pool table and picked up a cue. Taron turned his back on you competitively as he ushered Gemma in close for something resembling a tactical discussion. “I didn’t want to be on his team anyway if he lost the first game.” You joked to Jack as you waited to play.
“Sorry, I hope you don’t mind but I couldn’t resist winding him up. He spent more time watching the door waiting for you to arrive than he did playing pool earlier.”
“It’s fine by me, as long as we win. Did he mention anything to you about forfeits, other than buying the drinks?”
“Nah, why what’s he said?”
“Nothing specific, I just know he’s been planning and that’s what’s worrying me.”
“Ah you’ll be fine. I’ll make sure we come out on top and then he’ll be the one doing the forfeits.” Jack put his arm around your shoulders again just as Taron turned back to face you, so you gave him a sweet smile.
“Alright over there?” Taron commented.
“Never better.” You replied as you moved your arm around Jack’s waist and made him chuckle.
“You’re cruel.” He commented in your ear. “I like you already.”
Tom decided to start things off with you and Jack vs. Taron and Gemma before the banter took over. Taron stepped up to break and you watched on lustfully as he bent over and got into position, a pout of concentration forming on his lips as he lined up the cue and struck it powerfully to scatter the balls around the table. Jack sent you up to take a shot next and you thought the pressure of everyone watching you would get to you and make you nervous, but as you bent over you spotted their eyes moving to Taron instead. Your figure hugging high waisted skinny jeans must have been a good choice. With the shot played you watched on as the first ball rolled smoothly into the corner pocket and the girls gave you a cheer. You turned back to Jack in excitement and he was nodding happily.
“Your girl’s got skills, Taron!”
“Beginners luck.” He replied cheekily so you gave him a stern look and flipped him the middle finger as you moved around the table to take your next shot. The game continued with Gemma being utterly hopeless, missing completely and leaving Jack with an advantage. He managed to clear half the table and gave you a crisp, hard, high-five as he handed the cue over to Taron.
“Do your worst.”
“Watch and learn, my friend, watch and learn.” Taron stepped up confidently to the table and made sure he had your attention before taking his position and cleanly potting the first ball. The smug pout stayed on his lips as he walked around the end of the table and never took his eyes off you. Another ball was fired off into the pocket, then the next and another. He’d caught back up and looked to go into the lead as he sank the 5th ball. You had to remind yourself to close your mouth as you watched on in awe, utterly impressed despite knowing he was showing off purely for you. He missed the next shot but shrugged it off nonchalantly and made his way back over. “How about that, then?”
“It was alright, I suppose.” You did your best to look indifferent and made Jack and Tom crack up beside you.
“She’s gold, mate.” Tom commented as you placed your hand around Taron’s on the cue and pushed it down slowly, mimicking something entirely more sexual. “Oi, oi!” Tom jeered and you saw the blush rise to Taron’s cheeks. He was clearly struggling to keep face in the company of his friends and you absolutely loved it. They’d made you feel right at home and had been just as welcoming to your friends too, you couldn’t have asked for anything better.
“Behave.” Taron spoke deeply as he freed his hand from yours and guided you by the waist back over to the table. “You’ve got a game to lose here. Just aim for the black one, yeah?”
“Oh, the black one!” You replied sarcastically as you bent over and pressed your arse right into his crotch.
“Well that didn’t take long, get a room!” Rosie spoke up from the small table she was sat at with Charlotte and David. You expected Taron to jump away from you quickly but instead he lightly slapped your bum.
“Oh we will… we’ve not tried doggy style yet.” You stood up instantly and looked back at Taron with a face of utter shock.
“You little…” Words failed you as he smirked back, smug to have finally silenced you. The arrogance returned to his posture and you could feel yourself throbbing for him as he looked utterly irresistible.
“Devil?” He winked and you turned away with a huff in an attempt to control yourself and hide your true desires. Your next shot was awful as there was only one thing on your mind. As you switched places with Gemma you picked up your drink and did your best to avoid Taron’s eye contact, desperately clinging on to the last bit of self-control you had left.  
“Y/N.” He spoke softly as he stepped in close to your personal space. “Y/N, look at me.” He inched himself closer and hunted down your eyes, making you give in quickly and look back to him. “Was that too far?”
“No… I’m just annoyed you managed to out-flirt me.” You cracked under his proximity and felt the smile return to your face. “And I’m seriously turned on.” You added very quietly.
“Oh god, don’t say things like that to me. Not this early on in the night… Do you think we should rein it in a bit?”
“If you’re expecting me to have more than one drink and keep hold of my self-control, then yes.”
“Shame.” He fought against his own smile as he leant in and kissed you for the first time that night, reigniting the sparks he’d left behind on Sunday morning.
Tag List: @egerton-sweetie @amanda-tallmadge @lizziespidiepridie @leanimal90@anantheminmyheart22@aynsleywalker@bohemianrhapsody86@butterfliesslugswormsandothershi @manners-maketh-taron@livingincompletesilence@marvelmakeuplover@ohsosmutty@misspygmypie @manners-maketh-a-kingsman@courtmr@baileythepenguin@thomaslefteyebrow@witchymarvelspacecase @samanthasmileys
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Ep. 7: “[whoopi voice] You in danger, girls.” - Gian
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DeNara
Let the chaos start! Nicholas going home was a 10/10 tribal. 😈 Now I need to figure out who I can trust. I feel like I can keep working with the people on my tribe for sure. Can I trust my old warriors? Not sure yet. Elle says they havent been spoken too since tribal but who knows what happened over there.
Rachel
OMG. So glad Gian and Madi have made it through that tribal! I literally have so much to tell them, but I also have a feeling they have a lot to tell me.  This is going to be a crazy next couple days, but at least i don't work! I am also way too nervous to join this merged call right now, but i'm glad my homies are here and happy to meet some new ones!
DeNara
Looks like Raffy, Steven, Ginnifer, Madi, Gian and myself are gonna try to take out Julia and Pietro. Hopefully we can plan that
DeNara
Lol, Julia and I arent even pretending to talk to each other. We both know it DeNara vs Julia lol
Elle
🎶MERGE, BABY MERGE (ᵈᶦˢᶜᵒ ᶦⁿᶠᵉʳⁿᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒ)🎶🕺🏾WE MADE IT :DDDDD
Honestly roll credits like right now for me 😂😂😂😂. I do Not have high hopes!!! I'm gonna be voted out with a quickness I just know it :')
So anyway Do Not Cry for me Argentina, winning for me was making it to merge and guys: ✨we did it✨
(Just to be clear I'm still going to try my darndest *to* win; I'm just not all that hopeful for the prospects)
Julia
I literally hate merge. I never do well at merge. This is going to suck so much. I just know raffy is coming for me
Raffy
Merge! I did what I, honestly, didn't expect to do this game. We love to see it. According to Madi and Gian, Julia has been spreading to her tribe that I am the one with the idol. Thankfully, I implanted the seeds into those two already, so they seem to really think Julia has an idol (which she does). However, due to this, I feel that I should play my idol soon to avoid any future hurt feelings from my lying. Thanks to my connection with Madi and Gian, Rachel and Anastasia seem to now not believe that I have the idol. Those two are doing the work for me which is fun. I want to bring in Elle and Moth to our little group to ensure numbers. I am unsure where Ginnifer's loyalties lie as she still seems to not trust me. Which is fair. Plus, she did vote for me which is..... Tragic. I think I will stick to the group I'm already in and try to get people to target Julia and Pietro for being far bigger strategic threats than me.
DeNara
Merge tribe is going well. Anastasia and Rachel apparently really like me, so I am hoping to use that to my advantage. Hopefully they arent just playing me for Julia. She is such a great player she could have them with her.
Gian
Winning both reward and immunity challenge makes complete sense with my fantasy 😌 -from a deluded gay
Gian
The merge being 4 winners vs. 4 warriors vs. 4 wannabes just screams chaos. The war is here!
DeNara
I have to say, I am super nervous for the first tribal council. Raffy and Steven have kind of been quiet since the merge and I am paranoid they might have flipped and joined the winners to get me out. Nobody seems to be talking strategy except Gian which is worrying me. I have no idea of our plan is to go after Julia and Pietro with the newbies, or with the warriors. Everyone could be playing each other. Honestly, I feel good with Rachel from the OG wannabe's tribe because we have connected well, but who knows if I can work with her. I am struggling between checking in with Raffyy and Steven about what to do, or try to start calling the shots now and make my own alliances. That could end up biting me in the butt so I am super stressing over what to do. Plus we have the auction today and that could either be really good or really bad for me.... guess we will find out 🤷‍♀️
Moth
Sooooo the merge is here
I have no clue what is happening I don’t wanna be the merge boot, so I’m hoping that I can glide by
DeNara
We just had our auction and I spent $500 on literally nothing. Oof, now to play it as something or to tell the truth....I am thinking I might say it is a disadvantage and I lose my vote at next tribal just to see what comes of it, but who knows. So many things I can do! Also I was giving Raffy a play by play of what was happening and he told me to stop, then immediately started asking questions about what was happening in other chats.... oof
Gian
The way I won absolutely nothing in the auction is... homophobic. How am I supposed to send these people home in caskets without an arsenal? 
Anastasia
so we merged and I just went to the auction and I bought some magic beans for like all of my money.. I don't really know exactly what to do with them but I did tell Madi about what they do so hopefully that will make her trust me more and she can help me come up with a plan to trick someone!!
Raffy
I wasn't at the auction, but Julia is already trying to pin that I have an advantage. Ginnifer is on exile, so that means Julia is trying to target me this round. I hope I win immunity so I don't have to use either of my advantages. Gian was trying to push me to reveal what I got, but.......... I don't like that. It's disgusting. Like, please back off. Otherwise, the plan should still be splitting between Julia and Pietro.
Madi
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PpAuWdOpVHtYEN6F8hFrr9M1gk0_J0rh/view?usp=drivesdk
Raffy
Right now, there should be a split vote between Pietro and Julia. Steven, Gian, and Madi are going to be voting for Pietro. Meanwhile, everyone else will be voting for Julia. Pietro and Julia will be voting for me. I am a little nervous. I want to use my idol to ensure I survive, but, based on how this game is going, I will most certainly need it for later. I just want everyone to be telling the truth here. Elle has come to me saying how she believes everyone should be voting Julia. If I have Elle, then I think I have Moth. If I have Madi and Gian, then I have Anastasia and Rachel. I want to confirm with people tomorrow without seeming as if I am coming too strong. People already see me as a Big Bad and someone with a chaotic play style. One wrong move and I am toast. For me, this is going to be the most stressful tribal of the whole season. No competition. However, I trust that I have rallied the troops. I have put it in the work. I will succeed. On a side note, I told Steven that I had a Safety Without Power. I know he can use this against me, but I really do trust Steven. I think he's my ride or die at this point. We were talking about how dangerously close the newbies were. It will present a big problem, especially with the Warriors and the Winners being so fractured. Final 9 will be the last chance to get a newbie out in my eyes. From the newbies, Anastasia would be the easiest out of them to get rid of. Plus, she is too inactive to be used as a flipper. After that, I would need to rally against Gian and Madi because Rachel is too tight with them. We need to fracture the newbies before we can go in for the kill. I think if any newbie (besides Anastasia) were to make it to the end, then they will win hands down. I know this is going to get me hate in the VL, but the newbies need to be taken down if I want to win. Right now, I am thinking of taking Steven and DeNara to FTC. This will, undoubtedly, change when I get closer to the goal. However, I'd be happy to see any three of us win the title at this point in time. Additionally, it'd be a great story arc for Steven and I. From enemies at the start to F3 ride or dies at the end. However, they would not crown us the winner. I get the vibe this cast may just very well come to the conclusion of "They have won before, so they should not win again." That's dumb. Should I not win a board game because I won it before? Should I never get an A if I got one already? It SHOULD be the most deserving (or at least most respected), but I have a sinking feeling that it won't be the case.
DeNara
There is soooo much going on, ohmigoodness.... Okay so we had the survivor auction and the thing I bought was a big fat plate of NOTHING. Rip the dream. Then we found out that Rachel won individual immunity so that is good because Julia and Pietro not winning it is the best outcome. After that is when we all really started to talk about tribal. I connected with Moth and Elle and they said they want to vote Julia out. Rachel feels super close with me and she said her and all the newbies have a fake alliance with Julia and are willing to vote her out too. So right now everyone is against Julia and Pietro (or so they say). So we are going to split the vote 6 on Julia and 3 on Pietro. I just don't know who I can truly trust in this game. If we only put 3 votes on Pietro and someone flips and Julia plays an idol, whoever those 4 vote for is going home. Plus if Pietro and Julia both have idols, then someone else will be going home. I am just really nervous this won't go the way I expect it to. Part of me wants to switch my Julia vote to Pietro and make it a 5 Julia, 4 Pietro vote just in case someone flips so we still have numbers on Pietro... the question is, who can I trust? I DON'T KNOW..... cries forever Don't even get me started on what happens after this vote if I am still here....
Elle
Ughhhhhhh I got a 10% DA in the auction which I just knew was gonna happen 😂 Chance hates meeee or at least is like a slightly annoyed ambivalent to me lol. Anyway tribal is tonight and I think Julia is going home if people have lied to me Again Im going to CRY like SOB on call this is a threat 😂😂😂😂 lmao I dont think Steven would lie to me or my tribe mates though and I dont think Raffy is lying in this case (I'm choosing to trust him, ik everybody says he can be a chaotic player but eh I'm not like, calculating enough to like analyze what could be deception so I am choosing Trusttt until choosing trust gets me sent home lol). Just in general I'm not smart enough at this to play it like a game of chess or anything (which reminds me I need to watch Queen's Gambit) so my strategy is: be genuine and hope people believe that I'm actually being genuine and somehow that bringing me to the end 😅 yes great strat i know
Moth
I don’t wanna go home tonight If Julia gets voted out I’ll feel so relieved
Madi
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PpAuWdOpVHtYEN6F8hFrr9M1gk0_J0rh/view?usp=drivesdk
Madi
NOT MY GF HAVING TO HOP ON A CONFERENCE CALL WITH JULIA BC SHE PICKED JULIA AS HER DRAFT PICK LMAOOOOO
Madi
jay I only know this bc she I trying to plan it only her calendar bc she is a busy boss bitch and we are always fucking together
Raffy
Julia thinks she some kind of master manipulator. She thinks that she can come in my DMs and act like she had nothing to do with my name being thrown out. Do not come to me with that BS and expect me not to smell it. Allegedly, she claims that she wants to work with me in this game (bullshit). Also, Julia revealed her idol to Anastasia which is going to put a major damper on things. Now, Anastasia is getting paranoid about the idol when she really shouldn't be. She's not the one in danger. Leave it alone. The only time you should care is if the idol will harm you in any way. Julia has successfully caused chaos which is going to put a damper on things. I feel, at this point, that I almost have to use my idol considering that the chaos could easily lead to people stacking their votes on me. Plus, I wouldn't be at a total loss considering I still have the Safety Without Power. I still want the majority of votes on Julia though because I need to get her to use that idol.
Julia
I think the newbies are trying to work with raffy to try to plan shit, especially madi. I do not trust her at all. She’s playing way too hard right now. I know I’ve said this every fucking round but idol is coming out tonight Pietro I think I’m in trouble tonight. Now with that stupid beans Anastasia and everyone knows about Julia’s idol, and I think they will try to pretend to be voting her out to make her flush her idol and get me out instead. I have been able to get closer to Rachel and Gian, I really like them, but they havent talked much with me on the most important day - tribal day. But god sent me to this earth to be the protagonist of everything I put myself into, so going home tonight or not, I can say, I made my own.
Moth
hahahahahahahahah Tribal is scary omg. I'm writing this in class so I dont have too much time, but maaan am I worried for whats to come. It still seems to be Julia Vs. Raffy so as long as its not my name I dont care, but from what I'm hearing there's a lot going on that im not seeing. So I am just gonna sit here and pray no one targets me
Raffy
I think I'll just play my idol to ensure my safety in this round. I still have the SWP. So, it should be good and fun. Julia seems to think I have an idol nullifier. She'll be in for a shock.
Steven
https://youtu.be/gXqEkdyHHgA
Gian
Pietro. Julia. [whoopi voice] You in danger, girls.
DeNaraCouple hours before tribal and Pietro is freaking out. I feel bad but it is also kinda funny since he hasn't talked to me before.
DeNara
This is the most chaotic first tribal and it is still hours away... scared....
Gian
Julia has two options: Play her idol or go home. Stay tuned for a crazy tribal guys 🌞
Rachel
OMG. what am i doing with my life. i really don't know who to trust. i can't trust the winner or warriors and really only have trust in my core OG tribe. thankfully we're in the middle and THANKFULLY i have immunity, but other than that, this vote will really show who's got ties with who. I am so nervous cause this will definitely draw the line in the sand. julia did make a good point. if raffy and steven are controlling this vote and play from the middle, we need to get them out before they can make it any further.
Anastasia
Our main focus this round is to get Julia out. We have the numbers but Julia has an idol. It will hopefully be Julia or Pietro if all goes as plan. I do still like Pietro and I hope he stays in the game but my alliance thinks they are a duo so one of them has to go. I'm pretty sure Julia will play her idol so it might be Pietros time  Unless something changes in half an hour.
0 notes
nickireadstfc · 7 years
Text
The Raven King, Chapter 8 – Epic Ass-Kicking, Pt 1: We Get Our Asses Kicked
In which – surprise! It’s Ravens vs Foxes Death Time™! Featuring: American colleges Doing Too Fucking Much, me thinking up crack AUs at the worst times, Kevandreil pulling some sweet (read: badass) moves, and Kevin being No 1 Proud Dad.
Sounds good? Then it’s time for Nicki to read The Raven King.
So, after the absolute sassfest two chapters ago and the gigantic dump of backstory last chapter, I thought this chapter would be a bit shorter, a bit more chill, a nice lil interlude before we get on with the fuckery again.
Well.
HO FUCKING BOY.
DOES NORA HAVE NEWS FOR ME.
           October arrived without warning. Neil knew their match against the Ravens was coming up fast, but it still startled him when he realized they were already a week into the month. The game was only six days away.
Where did that come from.
Seriously, a few chapters ago Neil was still angsting about having to leave the Foxes after the Raven game, it seemed like the absolute end of the journey, and now it’s just… Here?
I AM NOT READY I DID NOT PREPARE WHAT IS HAPPENING.
To start this ride off, we are once again reminded of how fucking extra American colleges can be.
For real. They do not fuck around when it comes to school spirit.
Lawns are trimmed. Floors are scrubbed. Banners are hung from every square inch. Cheerleaders don’t sleep for days. Neither do bands. They have motivation parties. The mascot disturbs classes just to promote sportsball. They clean the fucking pond.
Seriously, these two pages read like the textbook definition of Doing Too Much.
Fucking chill.
           Thursday was when Dan finally started to lose her cool. (…) Seeing people finally rally behind her and her team flustered her. She kept a brave face in front of the cameras, but she spent Thursday night in Matt’s bed.
My daughter :’(((((( you’re the best you’ll be fine don’t worry.
Hey, speaking of Doing Too Much: Remember when I was raving (hah) on about how Extra and Dramatic™ the Ravens were?
           Kevin tried explaining Raven synchrony earlier this week, but Neil almost wished he could forget that story. (…) They were all enrolled in the same undergraduate degree and took their classes together in groups of three or four. They weren’t allowed to go anywhere without taking at least one teammate with them. They weren’t supposed to socialize with anyone outside the team.
What the actual fuck.
Why is Extra and Dramatic™ always paired with borderline abusive in this series. Why.
           Their intense lifestyle, forced integration, and vicious punishments put them on a whole different scale than any of their opponents. They were, in short, the complete opposite of everything the Foxes knew and understood. Tonight’s game pitted a hive mind against a fractured bunch of rejects.
That last sentence is one of my favourite sentences in that book so far.
Also, what the actual fuck.
My dudes, I’m starting to get the sinking feeling y’all are getting your assess whooped big time tonight.
           “Can you do this, Kevin?” Abby asked, searching his face for any sign he was okay. “Can you play?”
           “If I am breathing, I can play,” Kevin said. “This is my game, too.”
Well, at least now we know what Tattooface McExtra over here is getting engraved on his tombstone.
If I am breathing, I can play, jesus fuck. My eyes are doing somersaults in their sockets right now.
           “Neil, get at least five points or I’ll have you running marathons every month until graduation.”
           Neil stared at him. “Five points?”
           “You got four last week.”
           “We weren’t playing Edgar Allan last week, Coach,” Neil said.
           “Irrelevant,” Wymack said with a jerk of his hand.
Gotta love him. What a dude.
           Wymack clapped his hands at his team until they fell in line.
           “Let’s do this,” he said. “The sooner we kill these bastards, the sooner we can get roaring drunk at Abby’s place. I spent all damned morning stocking her fridge.”
GOTTA LOVE HIM. WHAT A DUDE.
#dicksoutforwymack
           Neil looked up into a sea of orange. (…) [The Raven fans] had come in all black and took up an entire reserved section directly opposite the Foxes’ bench.
It is at this point that I have the idiotic realization that the Foxes and the Ravens together form the Wilde Kerle colours.
Why.
Why is my brain like this.
To all non-Germans reading this: Die Wilden Kerle (literally the wild guys/the wild bunch) is a German children’s book and film series about a ragtag football (meaning soccer) team. They are basically 10-year-old punks that stick it to the man, live and breathe football, and wear a lot of black and orange. They were huge around the time I was in elementary school and are probably the books that influenced me most as a child, aside from Harry Potter.
(The books were massively better than the films. Fight me.)
They look like this.
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If anyone writes me a Wilde Kerle AU of TFC I will literally pay you in Ben & Jerry’s. No questions asked. This is the most bullshit AU idea I’ve had in a long time and it works.
Alright. Shut up, brain.
TIME TO FUCKING GO.
           [The Ravens’ fight song] was a dark and heavy tune, an intimidating message of death and domination. The Ravens took their image seriously. Neil guessed they had a lot of intensive counseling in their futures.
Even in times like this, the Josten Sass™ cannot be tamed.
And they’re taking their spots, holy shit you guys, we’re actually doing this. I’m not ready.
           [Riko] stopped at Kevin’s side. He took his helmet off, but the cheer echoing off the court walls drowned out whatever he was saying. Kevin unstrapped his own helmet and hooked it over his fingers as he answered.
What did they say, what did they say, I need to know.
I also have the feeling I’ll find out soon enough and I will not fucking like it.
That Fucker™ also hugs Kevin shortly before the game starts. I want to punch him. 
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Get your dirty abusive hands off my dramatic idiot.
Alright. Is it starting yet?
           Neil closed his eyes and breathed. He locked away everything he was, burying his father and Nathaniel and the Moriyamas into a mental safe for later. (…) He wasn’t Neil right now. He wasn’t anything or anyone but a Fox, and he had a game to play.
IT’S FUCKING STARTING.
And from the beginning on, as expected, this game is not messing around.
           Neil almost lost track of the ball as it shot between the Raven strikers. (…) Riko moved in a blur, and the goal lit up red. The buzzer sounded to signal the point and the crowd screamed. (…)
           They were only two minutes into the first half; it was the fastest anyone had ever scored against Andrew.
Well – fuck.
Ain’t that motivating.
The Ravens have come to collect their aforementioned ass-whooping, I fear.
           Riko wasn’t going back to the starting spot but was headed for Andrew. Andrew moved to meet him and they faced each other with just the goal line between them. Andrew waved off whatever Riko said to him with a careless waggle of his hand, but Riko didn’t leave.
Seriously, what is it with That Fucker™ and talking to my boys at the most inopportune moments?
Fuck off.
The game continues, and I take back everything I said about orange sportsball games earlier: I bloody love this. I can’t quote anything because it is just too much, but this time I am actually invested in the game and it’s thrilling.
I mean, the Foxes are so, so outplayed by the Ravens. But still. Exciting.
I have to quote one thing, though, because it is the most awesome thing anyone does this chapter:
It’s Episode 1 of Kevandreil Pull Badass Sportsball Shit Together!
           It wasn’t against the rules for goalkeepers to leave their goals, but it was extremely ill-advised considering how big their goals were and how fast a ball could move. A goalkeeper only risked it in extreme cases. Apparently tonight was one of those nights.
Oh shit vas happening??
           Neil only needed a second to realize Andrew was sending the ball to him, and his heart beat with savage triumph. (…)
All those long nights learning Raven drills had to pay off here. The perfect rebound wasn’t just about getting the ball to hit the right racquet; it was getting there at the right angle so Kevin wouldn’t have to aim. (…)
           It was the same trick the Raven strikers had been pulling all night, but the Ravens weren’t ready to see it from Neil and Kevin. (…) The Raven goal lit up red when Kevin slammed the ball against it.
FFFFUUUUUUUCCCKKKKK YEEEAAAAAHHHHHHH.
           Kevin’s smile was fleeting but fierce. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. It was the first sign of approval Neil had gotten from him since they’d met and Neil felt it like an adrenaline boost.
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After that, the game turns violent pretty quickly – which my brain thought to comment on with a brilliant rendition of the Weather Girls while reading.
It’s raining cards, halleluhja!
And then, it’s over as fast as it begun and sadly, yet unsurprisingly, the Foxes get #owned, leaving them with a thirteen-six score. Which, you know, sucks because that’s a seven point gap and that’s also thirteen points on a bastion of a goal.
But which also fucking rules because hello, SIX POINTS against the absolute Douchemasters Of Exy™ themselves.
           As Neil watched, Andrew leaned over to pick his racquet up. He tried, anyway. He only got it a foot off the floor before he lost his grip again.
           It reminded Neil of their first practice together, when Neil almost blew his arms out playing against Andrew.
Shit, that seems like lifetimes ago. Has it really only been a few months?
Man, time flies when you’re busy with angst, drama, and gay shit. :’)
           The Ravens had taken an incredible hundred and fifty shots on goal; it was unbelievable Andrew had only missed thirteen of them.
A FUCKING HUNDRED AND FIFTY.
Hello, I’d like to file a request to Andrew Joseph Minyard? I’d for him to formally LET ME LOVE HIM.
Nobody who doesn’t care about this game plays like this. Nobody. Don’t ever tell me Andrew doesn’t give a shit. He can’t move his arms anymore, for chrissakes.
Kevin, bless his idiot heart, knows exactly how to deal with the situation at hand:
           “So,” Kevin said, “did you have fun?”
           Andrew was too tired to put any heat in his words. “You are despicable, Kevin Day. I don’t know why I keep you around.”
Ma frickin BOYS. <3
Sadly, we are not left off the court to lick our wounds (with vodka, preferably) before That Fucker™ has added his irrelevant shitty commentary.
           “I cannot thank you for tonight’s game because I can’t call this debacle a game. I thought I knew what to expect when we came here tonight, but I am still embarrassed on your behalf. You have fallen so far, Kevin. You should have stayed down and saved us the trouble of forcing you back on your knees.”
I was about to go into a rant about That Fucker™’s endless shittiness and lack of any sportsmanship – but! But!! BUT!!!!!
           “I’m satisfied,” Kevin said.
UHMMM. What?
           It was the last response any of the Foxes expected from him. They forgot about Riko in favor of gaping at Kevin. “Not with their score or performance, but with their spirit. I was right. There’s more than enough here for me to work with.”
MY DUDE. MY BOY.
I’M SO???????
Kevin ‘Stoic And Mighty’ Day finally praising his team and being proud of them nobody fucking tOUCH ME :’)))))))))
If Kevin finally grows into the No 1 Fox Dad he was destined to be (after Wymack obvs) I might actually light myself on fire.
Y’know. I’m, like, cool with all this.
           Kevin only smiled, slow and sure and pleased, and offered Andrew a hand. Andrew looked at it, then at Kevin, and let Kevin haul him to his feet. Renee was ready when Kevin let go and looped her arms around Andrew in a fierce hug.
A HUG.
Renee you actual angel from the heavens, somebody finally gave this boy what I have been waiting for for chapters now – somebody hug that sad aggressive bean, and somebody did.
#hugsoutforandrew, this is the realest shit, get it trending, I’m not okay.
Is the irrelevant shitty Raven nuisance still there?
           “One man cannot carry you that far,” he said, sounding torn between incredulity and disgust. “Even you are not stupid to believe that. You should give up now.”
           It was a threat, not friendly advice, but Kevin said, “One is enough to start with.”
Okay. Okay.
Kevin Day, an anxious mess just two chapters ago, being openly threatened by his abuser and proudly sassing back right to his face, with the strength of his fierce ragtag team at his back.
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This may be my favourite Kevin moment of this series so far.
That Fucker™ fucks off after that, and the Foxes are left for traditional post-game pep talk with grumpy dad Wymack.
           “You should be pretty fucking proud of yourselves right now.”
           “Proud of that mess?” Aaron asked, tired and annoyed. “We were destroyed.” (…)
           “I’m proud,” Allison said, earning a startled look from Nicky and a half-smile from Wymack. She turned a condescending sneer on Aaron, looking more like herself than she had since Seth died. “This is only your second season with us. I wouldn’t expect you to understand what a game like this means.”
And welcome back, Allison! <333
Fucking finally. Nothing like a bit of good ol’ arch-enemy Exy smackdown to get over your dead boyfriend grief.
And to close things off, Wymack puts the cherry on top of all the good things that have happened this chapter:
           “Starting next week everyone’s finally back in their proper spots. If you two can run a full game against Edgar Allan, you’re ready to take on the rest of the season alone. Everyone else: thank you for your patience and cooperation while Kevin and Neil got adjusted. Renee especially – you’ve been a damn good sport this year. Welcome back to goal.”
YEAAHH BOOOOIIIII.
Nicki happy. Nicki out.
If you like what I do here and you want to help me continue writing, please consider buying me a coffee! Thank you so much <3
91 notes · View notes
thorne93 · 7 years
Text
Past Vs Present (Part 10)
Prompt: Imagine being best friends with Loki, but this wasn’t always the case, since you’d grown up with Anakin Skywalker. And when Anakin needs your help one day,it starts a wave of events.
Word Count: 3074
Warnings: language (later in series), drama,
Notes: This takes place like right before Thor 1 and after-ish Reveng of the Sith (without Anakin turning) Thanks a million to my beta @like-a-bag-of-potatoes I couldn’t have finished this without you. and @queendivaofthedark you were amazing, thank you so much!
Crossover of Thor (Loki) and Star Wars
Tags (let me know if you want added or removed): @phantomgirl2298​  @munlis​ @cocosierra94​ @ultrarebelheart @marvel-imagines-yes-please
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The day for the ball had finally arrived. It was the ball to commemorate Thor’s appointing to the throne. The same ball Loki had invited you. Prior to now you always attended the ball as a member of the guards, someone to watch over the royal family and their guests. You had no idea how to act as a Prince’s date. How do you dress? How do you behave? What do you say? What do you do?
 You decided you’d go to the royal family’s seamstress and ask for her help. Maybe she could whip up a dress or help modify an old one. Just as you were about to enter her work quarters, Prince Thor stepped out.
 “Oh, your highness, I apologize,” you said in a gasp as you bowed. Thor was your friend but not nearly as close as you were with Loki and he’d never given you explicit permission to not call him by his title.
“Oh, Y/N, just the person who I wanted to see.”
 “Oh?” you questioned, surprised and curious as to what Thor would want with you.
 “Yes, uh...Y/N, you’ve been a warrior here for how long?” he questioned.
 “A little over three years, your highness.”
 “And in that time, you’ve grown close to my brother, is that right?”
 You nodded, unsure where he was headed with this. “Yes. He and I are very close.”
 “And with the closeness, would mean you’d never want to hurt him, right?” the prince questioned in a light tone.
 “Of course not, I wouldn’t dream of it.”
 “Is that so? Because I have on good authority that my little brother has grown very fond of you. So much so, he stole a kiss from you.”
 Your cheeks blazed but you remained silent.
 “Which is fine. I know you’re his date tonight and I’m happy for him. But...I’m just wondering if your past is interfering with your feelings?”
 “I’m not sure what you mean,” you lied.
 “I saw a kiss take place between you and a man who was not my brother last night.”
 You swallowed.
 “Now, that’s none of my business. You may court whomever you wish. I am not your father, but I am Loki’s brother. His older, very protective, brother. Should anything happen to him or his heart, I will hold you responsible. Am I making myself clear?”
 You nodded quickly and fervently.
 “Yes, your highness.”
 “Good. I’m glad we had this little chat,” he said with a grin and a pat on your shoulder.  “Are you here to get a dress?” he asked with a warmer voice. Thor had never scared you. You knew he was capable of any sort of strength, so a threat from the soon-to-be-king was terrifying.  
 “Yes, your highness.”
 “My vote, is ask Esma for a green dress. It’s Loki’s favorite color.”  He winked and walked away. Once he left, you could breathe.
 --------------
 Esma was thrilled to help you modify an old dress that the Queen had donated years ago for her to work with. She also was entirely giddy to help you do your hair and curl it so it fell around you and she used a pretty dust to dress your collarbone, your hair, and face. She did your makeup for you, and eventually, the dress and jewelry went on. You looked like royalty, but you didn’t feel like it.
 You could hardly recognize yourself. Your hair had always hung straight, your clothing not fashionable but functional, your face usually plain and dirty from fighting. But now, you were clean, your hair soft and flowy, your dress showing off your feminine curves, the jewelry highlighting your bone structure and skin tone. But as much as you were dressed up, you’d never been in a royal event as a guest, you were the hired fighter. You were there to fight, kill, protect. You weren’t there to dance, laugh, eat lavish food, and sit in on gossip.
 A knock came at your door and you nearly jumped out of your skin. Your nerves were battering around inside you so badly you were shaking. Butterflies were hammering your stomach as your heart beat so hard and fast you thought you’d pass out.
 “Y/N? Are you okay? Are you in there?” Loki’s smooth voice sounded through the door.
 “Yes, I’ll be right out,” you called as you gripped your stomach and tried to calm yourself. You finally went to the door and opened it, terrified Loki would change his mind when he saw you.
 But when you opened the door, you got an eyeful of Loki in his formalwear, looking even more amazing, if that was even possible. Your breath hitched and your eyes went wide taking in his attire. His hair was slicked back, his suit was black, gold and green, complimenting your shiny emerald dress.
 Loki’s eyes widened at you, sending a wave of fear through you.
 “You look...amazing. You’re absolutely stunning, Y/N,” he complimented. “You always look beautiful, but tonight...I don’t know, something about the color of this dress seems to compliment your eyes, your skin...You’re glowing.” He smiled sweetly and offered his hand.
 “Thank you, Loki. You look better than ever yourself.”
 A small grin came to both of your faces as he lead you to the giant double doors before the ball room, Thor and Sif in front of you, and the King and Queen in front of them. Two guards opened the double doors and the announcing began. They introduced the King and Queen, then Prince Thor and Sif, and then you.
 Your heart felt like it had stilled entirely in your chest. Your palms began to sweat, scaring you to your core.
 “Announcing the arrival of Prince Loki Odinson and his guest, Y/F/N.”
 Don’t trip. Don’t trip. Don’t trip, you repeated in your head as you wanted to close your eyes and walk forward into the large floor, the sheer number of guests making your stomach do a flip. Thankfully, the Jedi had taught you how to dance for some undercover missions and you’d seen enough of the dances in Asgard to know how they danced. You just worried that in Loki’s arms, you’d become a fumbling idiot.
 “Don’t be nervous,” Loki whispered in your ear as you set up the frame of the dance and the music began, and all of the couples on the floor began twirling and moving to it. His advice soothed you a bit, and he was a fantastic leader who was light on his feet.
 Suddenly, as you twirled effortlessly with him, your eye caught one of the guards posted closest to the royal family’s area at the table.
 Anakin.
 He was watching you with a pained expression, eliciting a guilty feeling to spur up in your chest and stomach. The look on his face tormented you and as soon as your eyes caught each other, he averted his gaze. You bit your lip and tried to look back to Loki, he had asked you to this dance and you owed him your attention. And you wanted to give it to him
 “Are you having a good time?” he asked quietly in your ear toward the end of the song.
 “Yes, thank you for inviting me.”
 He grinned at you. “There’s no one I’d rather be here with.”
 After a few more dances, finally, it was time to eat. You sat with Loki as they served the first course and you tried your best to eat daintily. Queen Frigga complimented you and said you looked dazzling. You thanked her and blushed as Loki smiled at you proudly.  You were laughing and giggling with the women at the table, gossiping a tad bit while the men stared at you in awe and appreciation. The feeling of being adored and in the inner circle was intoxicating.
 But this was all new to you, the high heels, the tight dress, the constantly being under surveillance of the people at the table and the guards. Usually you were on the outside looking in, and it was just fine. But tonight, you were one of the ones to be adored, sought after, and you weren’t sure you were doing it right.
 All the while though, you couldn’t help but steal a glance or two at Anakin. Each time, he averted his gaze from you, masking the look of pain on his face. How could you do this to him? To Loki? You loved being here. You loved the feeling of being in Loki’s arms. The feeling of being part of the royal family rather than the warrior on the sidelines.
 Loki asked you to dance again and you happily accepted, joining the other couples. Soon, Loki had busted out his best moves and slowly an audience was forming around you two as he expertly twirled, dipped, and even picked you up, making you giddy and blush and giggle.  
 While you were having the time of your life though, Anakin’s blood was boiling. You didn’t notice that every time Loki dipped you, he winked at Anakin. You didn’t notice that Loki could’ve danced anywhere in the ballroom but chose the corner closest to Anakin. You didn't notice that when Loki had run his hand along your leg for a dance, Loki had shot a dark look toward Anakin.
 And all he could do was stand there and watch it happen. Anakin’s job was to stand watch, to  not move from his post, to monitor and observe the royal family and the outside for any sign of a threat. He wanted to leave. Hell, he wanted to run from there. He wanted to spare his heart from this torment of watching you be happy with another man. But he couldn’t. All he could do was watch. He never thought seeing you happy could bring him this much pain.
 After a long dance stent, Loki invited you out to a terrace, again, he chose the one closest to Anakin. You happily took his hand and he showed you out to the terrace that overlooked the breathtaking landscape. Loki couldn’t resist looking back at Anakin and giving him his best smile. The smile of winning. The smile of a trickster. The smile of man who’d won.
 The smile sent a jolt of anger through Anakin that he moved one foot from his post then reminded himself to stay put, his teeth gnashing as his jaw clenched.
 “I’ve had a wonderful time so far tonight,” you said quietly.
 “Me too. You’re an excellent dancer,” he commented.
 “You seem surprised,” you teased with a nudge to his shoulder.
 “Not in the slightest. I never underestimate you,” he said seriously, his eyes on yours intently. The comment and gaze making you motionless, your breath caught in your throat as his ice blue eyes bored into yours.
 The tiniest smile came to his face as he leaned forward, his mouth suddenly on yours and fireworks erupted inside you. His touch sent a jolt through you, but you wanted this to happen. All too soon, he pulled away slightly, breaking the magical kiss.
 “I have something for you,” he informed quietly.
 “Is that so?” you questioned, quirking an eyebrow at him.
 “Yes.” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small black velvet bag pulled tight with a drawstring.
 “What’s that?” you questioned with a small laugh.
 “This,” he started, taking a golden ring out, “was my mother’s. I wanted you to have it. I see a lot of her in you. I believe you have the same birthstone as her, yes?”
 You gasped lightly and nodded.
 “Loki, this is gorgeous. You really don’t need to give this to me,” you lightly objected.
 “I know I don’t have to, but I want to. You deserve it for being a great friend to me and a wonderful date.”
 “I don’t know what to say,” you gushed as he got down on one knee at put it on your hand, making you cry a little.
 Anakin had watched the entire thing unfold. He began internally screaming. All he saw was the Prince on one knee, sliding a ring on your finger, as you cried and had your hand on your chest. He had half a mind to storm over there and push Loki over the balcony. He had half a mind to storm over and demand what you were thinking.
 He hardly recognized the strangled sob that came from his own throat as he watched the horrifying scene display before him. Once Loki was done, he kissed you again and put his arms around you, making Anakin clench his fist and jaw in response.
 The rest of the night was thrilling and fun for you, with the typical ball festivities of drinking, eating, and chatting. Toward the end of the evening, Loki was pulled away by King Odin and Thor to talk to someone from a neighboring land. When he left, you took the chance to be alone on another terrace, letting the cool breeze wrap around you.
 “You look lovely tonight,” Sif said suddenly from behind you as she joined you and handed you a drink.
 “Thank you,” you said. “You look amazing as always.” You clinked glasses and laughed a little bit.
 You had always liked Sif, because why wouldn’t you? She was a female soldier who often had similar obstacles to overcome socially and politically. The only reason you and her weren’t quite as close as you and Loki was that you had magic or the Force, and she didn’t. She shared the braun aspect moreso with Thor.
 “And that guard, the one from the Jedi. He doesn't look half bad either.”
 Your head whipped to face her.
 “Who?” you said much too quickly.
“The one with the wavy hair. Anakin, I believe?” she noted. “He is very easy on the eyes.” Her eyebrows shot up in a gesture as she took a drink. You stood dumbfounded. Sif thought Anakin  was handsome? Of course she would. But...but she couldn’t. Anakin was yours. Not hers.
 This certainly put you in an odd situation.
 “Do you plan to ask him on a date?” you said with bite as you swilled your drink back.
 “Possibly,” she noted with a coy smile.
 “Has that drink gone to your head?” you demanded, turning more to face her. “His kind, the Jedi, can’t date.”
 “Oh, is that so? Then why have I heard that you and he have been more than friends?” she pressed. It wasn’t accusatory or even mean.
 “So you know about us?” you questioned with a  groan as your hands went to your face.
 “More or less. I just wanted to see if it was true.” She grinned in such a way that you knew she was only asking about him to get a reaction from you.
 “I see,” you said. “I don’t know what to do, Sif. I grew up with Anakin, he is like a brother, a best friend, we saved each other’s lives for years. But now we're both grown up. He’s matured in so many ways, but he's still the same goofball I’ve always known. And yet, I can’t ignore that I love being around Loki. Loki and I understand each other, share a love of books and knowledge. When I’m with one, I miss the other. When I kiss one, I only think of them. But...my heart wants two different things.”
 “But you don’t have to choose,” Sif said suddenly.
 “What?” you questioned, flabbergasted at your friend.
 “Think about it, Y/N. Loki isn’t allowed to choose his wife, that’s King Odin’s doing. Then, your friend Anakin, he belongs to the Jedi...as I’m told by you and everyone else, unless they leave the order, they can’t be involved romantically, right?”
 Begrudgingly, you agreed.
 “So see? You don’t have to choose, because you don’t have a choice in the matter.”
 “But, Sif, I am courting both of them. Anakin has asked me to dinner, and I see no time soon that I will say no to any offer Loki provides. He gave me his mother’s ring tonight,” you informed as you flashed the ring at her and she gasped.
 “That is gorgeous.” She sighed. “Y/N, I can not tell you what to do, but I can say what I would do in your position.”
 “What’s that?”
 “Go for both. Enjoy your tie with both until you can’t. Be with both until Anakin has to leave or Loki is told to take a wife. Life is much too short to not give yourself what you want.”
 “Sif--”
 “Just...think about it. Would you rather dwell on the inevitable and deny yourself some happiness? Or would you rather live as fully as possible?” She perched up an eyebrow at you and gave you a nod before leaving.
 This certainly gave you a lot to contemplate over the night.
 Loki had escorted you to your bedroom, following you inside to bid you a goodnight.
 “I had an amazing time tonight,” you thanked as you stepped into your room.
 “It was my pleasure. I’m so glad you said yes,” he sweetly responded with an adorable smile.
 You started toward your vanity to go take your hair out of its curls when you noticed something on the bed.
 “What’s this?” you asked curiously as you stepped toward a wooden box with a satin ribbon on it.
 “It appears to be a present,” Loki said with dripping sarcasm and a smirk.
 “Oh, does it?” you quipped back, rolling your eyes and grinning.
 “Are you going to open it?” he questioned.
 “Oh, right.” You stepped toward it and untied the ribbon and opened the box. Inside was a book, it looked a little older. You opened it and read the title and author and gasped, nearly dropping it. “It’s--it’s--”
 Loki came forward and took it from you gently. “It’s the first edition of Primrose by Lord Hedenswald. That’s still your favorite book, correct?”
 You nodded vigorously as he handed the book back. “Yes! I lost mine years ago...but I never had a first edition.” You gripped it and asked, “You got this for me?”
 He nodded, a smile on his thin lips. “Yes, do you like it?”
 “I love it. Thank you so much.” You leaned in and kissed him, the electricity strong between you two.
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Powerful Week
Tuesday
It’s 1:47 pm. My phone rings. It’s a call from Burbank, California. I’m on the fourth floor of the library preparing some slides. I let it ring.
Then I decide to answer because I wasn’t being very productive anyways.
“Hello is this Jeremy?”
“Hi, yes it is!”
“This is Mckenzie from Power 106. I’m calling about the internship, do you have time to talk?”
I am pretty excited right now. But I’m also kind of nervous because I’m on the fourth floor of a library so people are probably looking at me like “who does this kid think he is? Someone shut him up!” I don’t blame them. I walk down to the elevator and do my mid-elevator and the rest of it outside the library. I black out for half of it but I think I still do a good job.
“We should be giving you a call tomorrow!”
I text my friend Jeremy Morantz telling him I got the call from Power and he is really excited for me. I remember over Winter break telling him that I applied for the internship. I told him it was the only internship I applied for this semester but I had a good feeling about it. He told me he thought I would get it even with the 150+ people who apply annually, but that either way I shouldn’t worry too much about it because it’ll all work out how it’s supposed to. He was right.
Wednesday
It’s 1:24 pm. My phone rings again. Burbank, California. This time, I am expecting a call.
“Hey Jeremy, it’s Mckenzie from Power 106. So we would love to have you on as a part of our team for The Cruz Show.”
Friday
An Uber pulls up to my place and an extremely familiar face walks out. My friend Griffin is in town for the weekend. This is a guy who has been as important an influence as anyone in my life. We talk about life, love, success and everything in between, and I can always count on him for life wisdom and support. We have both grown a lot together this year.
“What’s up Hechtar?”
Griff meets John and we all go to Roscoes for some fresh Chicken and Waffles (Chicken Counter – 1). It was delicious. Still the best thing I’ve ever tasted.
We go up to Santa Monica to meet my prof, Jeff Fellenzer, who has been one of the most influential people to me out here and who is one of my biggest mentors. This semester I am TAing for his Sports, and Media Technology class. Griff is a big sports fan so we talk about the NFL in LA, Jeff’s career path and how everything we want in life is really possible. Jeff was meeting with another student before me, Ben, who happens to be a fellow Canadian!
Griff and I go to California Pizza Kitchen for a salad.. but we also split a BBQ Chicken Pizza (Chicken Counter – 2)
We go to my friend Sophie’s for a bit, we wander downtown and then I show him a couple of bars that I like in Hollywood.
Saturday
I give Griff a tour of USC campus and we walk past a lunch celebrating the empowerment of women. I ask what the lunch is for and the staff tells me we have to be registered. A lady comes from behind us and says, “come with me boys.” Sounded a little sketchy but when a woman at an empowerment lunch tells you to come with her, you follow. We go along with her and she places wrist-bands on us.
“Enjoy your free lunch.”
A big finesse move for the boys. We get free lunch and celebrate women. What do we have for lunch? You guessed it – Chicken. This time in the form of wraps. They are really good (Chicken Counter – 3).
Saturday Night
The Winnipeg Jets are in town tonight and we have tickets! Our tickets are $35 in the third level. We both wear Jets gear and meet up with my friends Alanna and Repski and his friend Brett. At the first intermission we meet up with my friend Kylie who is also from Winnipeg and we talk about how much different LA is and how we miss Greenroom (our former hometown bar).
After chatting with some really nice Kings fans on Facebook live and enjoying some chicken tendy’s (Chicken Counter – 4) we go down to meet up with Repski for the second intermission. Brett had made some new friends (after a few drinks), two older gentleman – one wearing a Jet’s jersey and the other wearing a light blue Hockey Night in Canada jacket. The guy in the Jet’s jersey knows our old elementary school gym teacher, Mr. B. He calls him Buck. Great guy. The guy in the Hockey Night in Canada jacket asks if we want to sit in their row because there were empty seats next to them. We say sure, can’t turn that down. The lady at the gate says that if we don’t have tickets we can’t go down. I say that our friends are saving the tickets for us in the row. 
We walk down to row 5 and see the third period and overtime from the best seats that I have ever sat in for a hockey game. The atmosphere is electric. A King’s fan – older dad – almost gets into a fight with Brett and is more fired up about a goal than I have ever seen anyone get – regardless of their age. Jets lose but the boys win big with another finesse move. $35 row 5 tickets at Staples Center. Big plays.
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Sunday
We play some basketball at the USC gym. There is one guy wearing a green shirt who is an absolute riot to watch play. It’s not that he is a bad player, he’s an okay shooter, it’s just that he likes to shoot from half court for no reason. Everytime we passed him the ball, everyone groaned in their head because they knew a half court shot was coming. We came away with a big victory and a couple of big losses. We meet a dude named Andrew - at least I think that was his name. Great guy.
We go to Malibu with John and have a great photo shoot on the beach. I’ll definitely be posting some big Instas from it. We have fish tacos and burgers (NOT CHICKEN - WOW!!!!!!!!) at this place called Duke’s which is great stuff. We watch some football and relax.
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Sunday Night
John and I have people over and host what turns out to be a really fun party (kickback – as they call it here). 2 noise complaints, one spilled drink and a frozen bottle of champagne is a successful night in my books. Some hilarious stories, but you’ll have to ask me about them in person.
Monday
We go to a place called Grinder for lunch. It is not in fact a place where people meet up from the gay dating up with the same name - instead, it’s a phenomenal lunch place. Reminds me of Sals, which reminds me of home. We talk about how being yourself and having self-awareness is the greatest thing you can have in life. And about how you can never get mad at someone for their reaction to your actions because their reaction is based on a completely different life perspective than yours.
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Monday Night
Griff bought me tickets to the Clippers vs. OKC game. Griff wears his Russell Westbrook UCLA jersey and I wear Griff’s Calvin Cambridge LA Knights jersey from the movie, Like Mike. I don’t get a single compliment. We see an incredible game from JJ Reddick and Mo Buckets!!! And Russ plays a tough game without much help from his team.
We meet up with John and grab some Asian food before bed. The mushroom chicken was really good (Chicken Counter – 5). We watch some Vince Carter highlights with Terrance and then go to bed.
Griff goes home the next morning and it’s back to reality. It’s been a really good break. I had a great weekend with a lifelong homie and I had a great time relaxing. But I am so ready to get back to work and hustle towards my goals.
Tuesday
I email Power.
“Thank you, I’m really looking forward to the opportunity.”
“We’ll see you Thursday.”
Lessons:
If Something Feels Right - Do It
I was stressing a lot this week because I had another potential opportunity on the table that would have made me unable to take the internship at Power. I was overthinking about future opportunities and what would come from each of them going into the summer here, but then when it came down to it, the opportunity at Power felt right so I took the job. Like my mom texted me, everything will work out. Remember that.
Things Happen for Reasons, Even if You Don’t Understand Them at the Time
After I met J. Cruz and worked on the Chance The Rapper interview at Power, I was disappointed that nothing else came from it. But everything has a way of working itself out. I gained other experiences, put the time in, and came back stronger than ever. And it all ended up coming back around. Trust that if something doesn’t work out for you right away, whether it’s with a relationship, job opportunity, friendship, or whatever it is - that is wasn’t mean to at that time. Keep moving forward and pushing towards your goals and you will see that things have a funny way of working themselves out.
Good Support Systems are Everything
If you find people who genuinely support you and make your life better, hold on to them, because these people are rare. Griffin has been one of my best friends forever but he continues to bring value into my life and support me even from all the way back home. I don’t take that for granted. He also told me that I have a great support system around me here. People like John, Jeff, Repski, Terrance and all of my friends here support me and want to see me do well and I appreciate that more than any of them know. Keep the genuine people around you who will keep you grounded and humble. Thank you to my friends back home and my new friend out in my new second home.
And remember, it’s your life -  so do what you want to do and don’t let anyone else tell you what’s best for you. Only you know. Have a great day and I’ll let you know how my first week at Power goes. Love to you and yours.
 `
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rassasassalin · 6 years
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Merry Christmas, everyone!  Especially for the poor folks that have to work during the holidays.
Dude, I'm gonna cry at the first fucking sign I see tonight being a get well soon Dean one.  I mean, I love it, but also I'm in serious emotional pain here.
On a totally separate note, Corey and Booker are looking Hella.
On an even separater note, what is with the bees sign.
Goddammit John Cena stop doing sweet things like this I want to be annoyed at how you're never going to be a fucking heel even though you should be.
...them doing Christmas in Chicago worries me.  Hopefully the crowd will be nice tonight?
WHOO, ELIAS, WHOO!!! -also happy rusev day to the dude holding that sign, a happy rusev day to us all- I love when he does his drifter thing.  I mean, I like him being in the center of the ring too, but I really like it when he walks and plays at the same time.
Elias: WWE stands for Walk With Elias Everyone else: Oh shit, he's right!
Welp.  7 minutes in.  Couldn't go for fucking 7 minutes with a CM Punk Chant.  ANd poor Elias is wrong.  Even when he's not here, Punk's gonna end up interrupting.
I really love Elias.  I can't believe how much I love Elias and Cena interacting.  Holy shit.  Holy shit.  I can't wait til that gets gifed.  Elias is a Gift. Chicago wasn't even booing about how shitty Chicago is.  Chicago knows.  Cena, nobody was booing, what are you doing- I mean, I know what you're doing, but still.  Cena, It's Chicago, they ARE jerks.
Are we gonna get a Christmas Carol with Elias?  Because I would hella watch an Episode of Raw where Elias is Scrooge and has to deal with various Ghosts of Christmas to teach him the true meaning of Christmas.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH MY GOD, ELIAS IS THE BEST, WHAT A MAN No, Elias you dumbfuck, don't keep going after Cena, he's down, leave the fucking ring before gets up and kills yo- oh no, not a match, Elias you were doing so good now you're going to loooooooooooose because you're being an asshole and it's Christmas.  Babe, you giant hipster asshole, why couldn't you have just given the suckerpunch and left while you were in control and winning?
Sometimes I forget how strong Elias is.  I don't know how I manage to do that, because look at the fucking man, but I do.  Maybe it's the scarves.  Or the cut of his jeans.  Probably the cut of his jeans.  If he wore normal jeans, I'd think he looks like a brawny lumberjack viking hybrid.  But his jeans are way too much something I'd see someone wearing in Starbucks.
Things I hope Elias doesn't do tonight: Tap.  He can get pinned, he can pass out, but I really don't want him to quit.
Yep, a pin.  Well, you know what, It was a good match.  Elias looked awesome in it, so I'll take it.  A heel, after all, is only as good as the Faces they can be beaten by.  Not counting the David and Goliath kind of flukes, which are great when they happen but not common.
Give Seth Samoa Joe, Kurt.  Jason, shut up, I appreciate you but let Seth have his revenge which is more pressing than your own. Kurt, don't make Seth team with Jason.  He can't team with that face. Fuck, I miss Dean. Seth looks so tired tho, seriously, is he doing okay? Holy shit Roman paid off Kurt so HE could get Joe all to himself.  Roman.  Roman, did you talk to your Shieldmate about thhhhHHHAAAAAAAA CRUISERWEIGHTS
Kendrick!  JACK!  KENDRICK VS HIDEO!!!!! Jack's little eye rolls are adorable.  I love heel Jack.  He's like an old Bond Villain.  I love posh and technically polite but definitely Heel Brits.  It's a cliched trope but it's so good when it's played right.  It reminds me of Regal when I was watching him and I was old enough to really appreciate his character.
Jack please, behave yourself so you don't get killed by a knee.  I'd really appreciate if you stay around because I love you and I don't want you dead.
Things that bother me about wrestling: when wrestlers roll down their kneepads or take off their elbowpads when they're about to hit a move.  I always worry about them hurting themselves when they do it.  Always.  Everytime.
I'm reminded now how much I really liked Steph's outfit last week.  I don't think I even really noticed it at the time, because I was thinking too much about what was happening in the ring, and what was to come, but now definitely, I can sit back and be like, damn, I wish I could pull that look off.
...oooooh nooooo the rumble's in phillllllly shittttt
AW THEY'RE SO FUCKING CUTE I LOVE BO AND CURTIS And.... they're actually not that bad at singing???  Wow.  I'd give them some figgy pudding.  Merry Mizmas, everyone, and a Happy Rusev Day~
I love when Paige's entrance is going, and she comes out and the lights hit her just right and she looks like she's tinted purple.  Makes her look like she could be a villainess in a comic book.
You know one day, maybe they'll actually go full circle with the whole story about Bailey not going to be able to really go all out like she should in the ring as far as going "hardcore" goes, and she's going to do it by murdering all the other female wrestlers around, beating them with kendo sticks until she breaks them- the sticks, that is, not the other wrestlers- and knocking them around with chairs and shit, and then she ends up ruling the women's division with an iron hug on ECW- which will totally exist again by this time and Dean will be the face of it so that he can let his mouth go and do the wrestling that he does best but just not quite as hardcore because let's be real I don't want him actually seriously getting hurt and/or cutting himself or his opponents open anymore, but there should be a nice balance that can be reached between nasty looking bumps and staying safe.
Things that always makes me wince with women's wrestling: when a chick just faceplants straight onto the mat.  It makes my tits hurt just thinking about it.
Oh wow, okay, I didn't think a heel would win tonight.  Curious.  But then, Absolution can't really loose right now, fair enough.  It'd kill their momentum.
STOP FUCKING SHOWING DEAN GETTING HURT.  Goddammit WWE why do you do this to me, I used to know that if someone actually got hurt, I'd know because you wouldn't show it.  Now you're like, hey no, let's watch it against thirty-two times, let's watch it again now in Slow Motion.  You did this to me when Enzo nearly died, you did this to me when Cesaro fucked up his teeth, you did it when Seth destroyed Cena's nose, I just really fucking don't appreciate this.
Renee: Hey Joe, you wanna apologize to me for fucking up my husband.
Joe: Dean can be home with those he loves the most. Renee, his actual wife, who is not at home with him at Christmas: ..................
Heath, baby, why didn't you get your kids christmas presents???  Rhyno, why are you trying to kill Heath?  This was not what I was picturing when you said you were going to toughen up Heath.  I was hoping for like, Rocky training montages.  Bring in Bob Backland again.  Maybe making him eat a whole bunch of crackers without anything to drink.  This is ridiculous, and by that, I mean not nearly ridiculous enough.
HELL YEAH RHYNO KICK HIS ASS OH NO RHYNO welp.  It was a good attempt.
Trying to figure out if I like the sound of *Merry* Rusev Day.  Like, it's not grammatically incorrect, but maybe it's like how you never say Merry Holidays because it just sounds wrong.  Merry Hollidays makes me flinch and cringe and want to cry out in confusion.  Merry Rusev Day doesn't kick me in the gut quite like that, but it also doesn't really roll off the tongue, so...  Hmm.  Must think on it.
Holy shit, Curt Hawkins.  Maybe give him a win as a christmas miracle???  Nevermind, It's Finn.
Jesus Christ, why are they having Finn fighting Curt on CHRISTMAS.  They really, honestly, don't know what to do with him, do they?
Concept:  They use the fact that Finn is obviously being misused and that we all know that Vince doesn't believe in him, to turn him heel.  But only heel to those who work for the company.  Like, the same but opposite of Roman, where everyone who works for the company treats him like a face despite when he does very heel things like TRYING TO MURDER A MAN WITH A MOTOR VEHICLE, I LOVE YOU ROMAN BUT YOU STILL DID THAT AND I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SUFFERED NO CONSEQUENCES FOR THAT, ATTEMPTED MURDER SHOULD AT LEAST GET A TITLE SHOT TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU.  Seriously tho, heels and faces are changing, they have been for a long time now, the fact that they keep making Heels that have valid points and grievances so the fans are actually sympathetic to them, and we have the people in charge to make that sort of stuff work.  It'd just be like, the next step up from what happened in the Attitude Era with Stone Cold and Vince- in that Austin was clearly NOT a GOOD guy, but he was the lesser of two evils, and if I had to choose who to cheer for between him and McMahon, I'd be cheering for the Rattlesnake every time.
One of the Bella's is so making a return during the women's royal rumble and I'm not really excited about it.
BOYS LEAVE GOLDUST ALONE It looks like they got that DVD out of the dollarbin, omg.
Titus, you're beautiful, never change
Oh god, here we go, time for me to love and cry and be uncomfortable and laughing all at the same time.  Nice to know that Sister Abigail was a scrooge. More things I don't really like- how they keep doing promos but they're not going at in or around the ring.  I feel like they're hyping it up and it's never going to live up to OH MY GOD NEVER MIND BRAY'S ACTUALLY HERE, BRAY MY LOVE, MY DARLING SWAMP SANTA CULT LEADER God I hope when Bray and Matt have their showdown- which obviously must happen on neutral grown between their home compounds- they have like, an actual army on both sides that they can lead.  I want a whole hoard of sheepmasks and people wearing clothing made out of brocades and couch covers and shit using shields made of old broken down rowboats. Things I miss from TNA: Matt being able to teleport and shit.
...Guys, I love you, I adore the Bar you set, but that's messed up guys. oh ouch guys, come on, Kurt obviously wants him as his kid, that's harsh, dang.
Oh MAN I HOPE MUSTAFA'S IN THAT STREET FIGHT HE WAS SO FUN DURING THE HALLOWEEN MATCH DUDE.  ALSO, maybe a return of Street Drew?  Pff, ehehe, "street" drew.  What a dweeb.  I love him.
....WHERE IS Oh my god.  Oh my gooooooooooooood....  Drew.. Drew, why do you let him do this to you?  I mean, I like the jacket, it's much nicer than Davari's, but- HE"S GOT NAUGHTY AND NICE ON HIS TAPE AND NOW I ACTUALLY WANT TO CALL HIM SUGARPLUM, dammit Enzo don't make me- LOOK AT DREW APOLOGIZING FOR ENZO TALKING SHIT ABOUT COLE, EVEN THOUGH COLE WAS SO MEAN TO HIM WHEN HE WAS A GUEST COMMENTATOR!!!!!!
New Year, new cruiserweight Champion?  One can only hope.
Elf Drew half standing on the second rope, le gasp.  What a brave bab- TOZAWA'S WEARING CHRISTMAS COLORS
Aw, Gulak lost his jacket. I really do wish that they had Davari wrestle more. I love hating his character, and it feels like I never actually get to see him do shit anymore.OH SHIT DREW, NO!!!!! CEDRIC, I LOVE YOU, BUT WHY DID YOU LET DRWE RUN INTO ENZO LIKE THAT, DREW'S GONNA GET IN TROUBLE FOR THAT, STOPPING GETTING DREW IN TROUBLE, HE CAN GET INTO ENOUGH OF THAT BY HIMSELF. That camera work was honestly not great during this match tho, honestly, I feel like I missed so much during it???  But we can ignore all that and be thankful for being able to see Drew Gulak with his naughty and nice fists, and getting to see Tozawa being festive, and Cedric getting a win over Enzo, and most importantly, Mustafa getting a win in his hometown.  Savor it, because that shit doesn't happen every day in the WWE.
Why do they gotta fucking hamfist this fucking shit with Nia and Enzo?  Why couldn't they like, ease into it?  I can't.  I literally can't even watch this shit, I can't, I'm embarrassed by it all OH THANK GOD ALEXA, BEST COCKBLOCK thank you from saving from that.  I think I wouldn't hate it quite so much if they didn't both "How y'doin'?" to each other so much, there's something about how it clearly doesn't come easy to her to say it and it the script is so hokey and it's not like, charming hokey.  It's less well written than the stuff they did between Enzo and Lana, and that's saying something.
Roman kills me when he holds the belt like that.  If he was an actual heel, and treated like a heel, and he was doing it because he doesn't give a shit about the title, then that'd be fine.  That'd be good character work.
Nice drive by by Roman tho.  That's good shit.  That's what I came to see. Also, i could totally be wrong, absolutely wrong here because I don't have the volume up very high, but was the crowd chanting for the Bruiserweight?  I might just have UK Wrestling on my mind and am hearing things wrong.  God, I want a weekly UK show.  Even a monthly one.  I'd put up with once a month as long as at least every three months, I get to see Dunne and Bates fight. Joe does such a great Uranage.  And the way he flies through the ropes.  Who gave such a hoss of a man the right to be so nimble? Yes, thank you Book, nine months without Dean, that's fucking great.  On the plus side, when he comes back, oh the Pop.  He's gonna get such a pop.
Ah yes, see?  Roman doing heel things despite being a Face.  You can't go messing with the ref's, my sweet.  If he was just going to go and kill Joe, he might as well have invited Seth to join in with him. SHUT UP COREY DEAN'S CAREER IS FINE They've been using the steel steps a lot lately.  And fucking with people's throats.  Does somebody on the writing team have an odd kink?  I mean, I'm not super complaining- well, I'll complain about the throat things just because I feel like it's too easy for mess up and really seriously hurt someone like that, and also because the coughing gagging noises the guys tend to make afterward sets off my own gag reflex and I hate that-, because it could definitely be worse.  It's not a something on a Pole match, at least, but... eh.
Beating the Bah, Seth? What a cute.   YOU WHAT MOTHERFUCKER????  JASON OFFICIALLY HEEL, OFFICIAL HEEL Also glad to see, upon closer inspection, that Seth doesn't actually look totally exhausted, it's just that he has a bit of a lingering bruise around the eye.  Maybe a bit of a shiner.
Welcome Back, Bo and Curtis, you lovely gifts you.  WHOO!  Singalong~ NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MY BABIES!!!!!!!!!! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO MY BABIES THEY AIN'T BEEN DOING NOTHING BUT SINGING NICE CAROLS AND GIVING OUT GIFTS TONIGHT Rip, Bo, you were killed by a beautiful clothesline. Curtis is going to break his neck again, gonna have to go back to wearing the brace. Okay Braun, you won, no please just leave the ring and not continue to murder my boys, don't be a grinch, don't be a grINCH BRAUN PLEASE STOP LISTENING TO THE CROWD, DAMMIT just leave my trash boys lay there dead, you're making this a very bad Rusev Day for them.
Bliss looks like she's gonna cry, awwww... Ah, yes, there it is, there's my Asuka's Gonna Kill You chant.  Love that chant.  Probably more than I should. YES!  YES!!!!!  I always want Asuka to kick people in the face after she explains to them that they ain't ready for her, and HERE WE ARE!  She made me wait for it, but I forgive her.
I give about as much of a fuck about what Brock feels about anything as Brock gives a fuck about Slater's kids. But I'll look forward to seeing Paul
STOP.  FUCKING.  SHOWING.  THAT.  SHIT.  WITH.  DEAN.  THANK.  YOU.  KINDLY.
So, it's not that I have a problem with Jordan turning heel.  It's pretty much the clear turn, you know.  But I don't like how there doesn't seem to be a reason... why?  Like he went from "I'm gonna prove myself Dad!" and going toe to toe with some hella talent, to "Daaaaaaaaad, gimme a maaaaatch...!" to "I'm the best in the world, you should be honored to get to wrestle with me" with like...  Well, between the first two there was a reason-ish, with him trying to fight even though he was hurt and because he kept losing and kept getting hurt he had to start whining to get his way.  But there was no lead up to this point now.  We haven't got to see anyone telling him how good he is, inflating his ego- like, a female who maybe wanted to get better chances at the belt so she starts hooking up with Jordan to try and get good with Kurt or get back at him, like Emma had threatened that one time, that would be something that makes sense- or him getting some cheap fluke wins that he makes out to mean more than they are and he starts to think he's an A superstar instead of a C+ to B one, you know?  Now he's all swaggering around talking about how he's better than Ambrose?  Who was just hurt last week?  To the man's tag team partner who is also his brother?  Are you shiting me???  It all feels so inorganic.
I hate when Sheamus doesn't do all ten beats.  Like, I know so many other people are ingrates, but I've always adored you Sheamus, why are you punishing *me*, personally?  Because that's what that is.  It's a personal attack against myself.
Crowd's looking at something, what are they- Ah, yes, Jordan got up, okay. Jordan is definitely physically impressive.  I'm looking forward to the point in time when they make his character less obnoxious.
Fuck me, I love when Cesaro does the sharpshooter.
I...  um.......... So what I'm getting out of this is.... When Deano comes back, he's going to come back as a well beloved, Austin-like Heel as he makes Jason Jordan's life a living hell for having the balls to take his title?  This is... interesting?  hmmm....
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grizzlefur · 7 years
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WWEm - M. Night Parablamyan
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You’ll be pleased to hear that Comic Sans has gone on indefinite leave. Also, the formatting has now become single line spacing, until I find I don’t like it or something. Let me know if you like it/love it/don’t give a monkey’s butt.
As ever, Emma can be found on Twitter as @Waruce, usually during PPVs.
Transmission date: Monday 12/Tuesday 13 June 2017.
all up in this bitch, cos it's SATURDAY AFTERNOON RAW! raise your hands if you can't remember thing one that's been happening on raw shit, can't type with my hands raised rescind that last advance warning: if i make more mistakes than usual in this writeup, extend me some leniency on account of i can barely see straight, because it's fucking summer so my eyes are full of TREE SPERM and MUCILAGE and THE DEATH OF ALL THINGS seriously, it's a party but oversharing aside, let's watch some wrestlemans and wrestlewomans, although the raw wrestlewomans' division needs to figure out what the fuck it's doing
we open with a recap of joe talking shit to an absent devil who i think is going to be turning up this week? i say that like i care and also him choking the life out of a small portly jewish man and being the most well-spoken kind of psychopath snapping into the present, we're apparently in the cajundome and immediately hit brock's music hey, they know what the fans want now i just need to figure out why they want that so yes, the championship is here, attached to the walking embodiment of technically-legal masking agents but thankfully, only paul has a mic apparently this is the day of joe's fuckupening i paraphrase, but i wish i wasn't "Like a shark luring the chum into his domain..." paul, i think we need to take you to seaworld or some shit apparently joe was somehow abusing brock's ring, despite the whole bit where he hasn't been here in a couple of months paul is hastily retracting everything complimentary he said about joe last week and now throwing shade about the fact that joe's not part of the anoa'i dynasty? that's certainly an esoteric burn the angle is that the coquina clutch would probably fuck brock up, but joe won't be able to get it on him because he ain't shit related note: can we have a moratorium on white dudes calling poc a 'mutt' or similar? leaves something of a bad taste joe arrives, him and brock immediately unload on each other kurt sends in security, brock kills them all, so paul calls in the whole roster to pull them apart and they kind of suck at it leave security to the pros, guys all the faces are clinging onto joe like he's the messiah and end thing, apparently tonight's main event is kkb/hardyz for the title round #34982, but this time it's two out of three falls cut for ads, and we come back on a recap video of the exact thing we just watched i know i say my memory's bad, but seriously booker's still here, because shut up with your reasons
but now, here's elias and his guitar and his array of scarves weirdly, this crowd seems pretty split on him he's written a song about the brave inhabitants of the cajundome asks the crowd to be quiet while he plays, cole immediately starts talking so yeah, this is a song about how louisiana and dean ambrose aren't collectively shit so here he comes elias, please never try and rhyme 'breath' with 'darkNESS' again recap video of the deep strangeness of miz's championship celebration aka, The Day Mike Fucked A Clock With A Chair (and offended his wife) i did like the ending of it, though it's nice to have the cameramen acknowledged as something that exists in-universe elias samson is present, so naturally corey is immediately salty as fuck he hates dean, too, but seriously "The man has the vocal stylings of a pigeon that's been stepped on!" (fun fact: i would probably listen the hell out of an elias samson album) (just do acoustic covers, whatever, i just like his voice) so far, this match consists mostly of dean trying to trashweasel his way out of trouble and elias shutting him down duelling chants seem a bit harsh: "You can't wrestle!" "YOU CAN'T SING!" dean gets his usual comeback sequence comprising a strange mix of real wrestling skill and just running in the vague direction of your opponent and hoping they fall harder than you do elias stands far too close on a suicide dive, basically just grabs dean and walks backwards like oh no i am defeated dean gets the upper hand of a super slow turnbuckle spot, miz runs in to bother him elias still can't even pick up a distraction pin maryse is backing miz up, so at least they're still okay dean goes for miz, he does the wife-shaped shield thing it doesn't work at all, miz gets beaten on a lot dean gets back in the ring, elias does a nasty knee drop on his back as he comes in, swinging neckbreaker for the pin "By hook or by crook, a W is still a W!" are you in a fucking ionesco play, corey
but now let's have more of goldust doing his thing his thing, of course, beign sitting in a chair at a terrible frame rate and quoting films dude, if you just turned that chair a bit, you wouldn't have to crane your neck like that can't be good for you but yeah, vague threats in the vague direction of r-truth
but now we're backstage, and an angry kurt has words for the miz those words basically being FUCKIN' QUIT IT he has enough trouble with big samoan guys named joe miz insults kurt, alludes to his indeterminate personal problems, you could chew the tension demands dean be suspended or fired, kurt retorts with a) shut the fuck up, and b) no maryse is apparently still angry at her husband kurt walks off, miz splutters, end thing cruiserweight time now, after this video to remind yiu just how good cedric alexander is, since he's been away for a while and here's noam dar arguing with his phone backstage cedric comes in to remind noam how done he is with him and his girlfriend's collective shit she is, of course, on the other end of the phone she's injured, but she wants her scottish sleazeball to beat cedric right the fuck up tonight cedric's like fuck, fine, whatever, i'll fight you tonight, but then can you please go bother literally anyone else
so yeah, now it's time for that match noam is still on his phone on speaker as he starts his entrance they're having a barely-audible argument and the phone's casting to the tron for some reason also, noam has a new jumper, and it's nowhere near as good alicia wants to be on the line through the match, noam does not want this the ref's like dude sort your shit out we've got a match to have finally puts it down in the corner, bell rings, lumbar check, end alicia is piiiiiiiiissed that's still an absolutely vicious finisher noam is trying to salvage this telepresence argument while also going oh holy fuck my spine hype no. 58 for the main event
but up next, bray wyatt...does a thing, i guess? he's certainly present and i'm ok with that but now a video package of roman, because god knows we haven't seen so much of him see, this package makes him look good, cos it's just the big spots and not all the slow-ass bullshit between them next week, roman has an announcement about summerslWYATT CUT bray fills the screen, tells us cheerfully that the world is ending does the i'm here thing, and now he is after a randy-based wyatt cut, for some reason did someone click the wrong file? corey calls bray 'bizarre', somewhere goldust is like wait a fucking minute bray's going to kill everyone who sins, sits in apathy while people sin, or blaspheme against him apparently seth lives in a house where his architect's blueprints cover the windows and block out the sun this may just be a parable, but it's a fucking great image oh, apparently bray shattered it because it was a glass house? did you mention this before, bray? bit of a shitty twist other wise m. night parablamyan and now seth will be picking splinters of glass out of his soul for eternity that's a fucking greek god level of ironic fate so yeah, anyone who takes the dark lord's name in vain will get fucked on speaking of, here comes seth to get fucked on/pick glass out of his soul i'd be good for either he's like wait a minute dude you cost me my match because i called you names that seems disproportionate but by the way, you suck seth claims he's here to pipe bomb some truth at us, calls bray a coward don't insult him, he has a backwards tractor bray takes the opportunity to give a sermon on pride, tells seth he, too, ain't shit like lol kingslayer ain't that cute *teleports backstage* bray claims he'll win because gods live forever think we need to read you some egyptian/norse myth there
but now, charly has the hardyz in the led interview backstage corridor whatever thing the hardyz would like you all to remember that they're awesome and that jeff has an unhealthy predilection for jumping off things but now, enjoy this montage of what cena's been up to and remember that he'll be back in an episode i am unlikely to blog
but now we have kalisto vs titus, through the medium of his younger, happier dude and akira tozawa is standing in the front row, because titus wants him on brand apollo beats on kalisto, titus stands by the barricade shouting at tozawa like DUDE LOOK AT MY BOY ISN'T HE GREAT tozawa is like please stop shouting at me kalisto goes for an excessively flippy handspring springboard stunner, apollo counters to a spinout powerbomb for the win titus drags tozawa into the ring for an uncomfortable selfie with them he's just like dude stop hugging me
but now, HARD CUT TO CLOSEUP OF RHYNO PUTTING CHEEZ WIZ ON CRACKERS we all needed that miz has come with a proposal for heath to become part of his entourage rhyno is like dude i'm standing right here miz promises to make all heath's dreams come true, heath's like well i've always wanted to be ic champ hmmmmm miz offers him a shot if he joins the dark side rhyno's like you know what fuck you dude i'm gonna go find kurt to give us a match against you maybe rustle up a friend we're out *aggressively eats crackers* so yeah
spot about that theme park competition thing, but now here's alexa our resident wrestlewoman with her shit together oh hey, a recap of last week's match so it did happen after all no, alexa, don't kick off by mentioning your match at extreme rules we're all trying to forget on saturday, we've got the first women's mitb match, but fuck that noise, tonight's about me but here's nia to take issue with the fact that alexa offered her a title shot, then whined about it and cheated out of it alexa's like i know right we should have had a great match but those two fucked everything up so here come those two mickie's redesigned her gear to play up the Native elements again chest dreamcatcher and everything mickie and dana try to remind everyone how much of a bitch alexa's been to nia in fornt of everyone alexa's like lol no i think your eyesight's going ah, cheap ageist jokes but now,...hit emma's music not that i'm gonna complain fucking love that music *beep boop beep boop* emma announces her dramatic return, demands a shot for the title alexa's just like um do you even go here and now here's sasha fuck it, everyone in the division in the segment that's how we do wrestling, right? so wait, are alexa and nia the only heels on the show? seems unbalanced sasha mocks alexa for literally everything she does, punches her in the face, cue brawl and hard cut to an advert for the episode of smackdown i'l be watching later back from ads, and we've got the 6-woman tag match we all saw coming so yeah, emma's still a heel, just one with a problem with the even heelier champ so yeah, emma's back, with weird shoulder things and boobface and everything although following a gear redesign, the boobface has gone from :) to :o it's great that she's back because she's great, but it does mean i have been once again demoted to the second coolest person to bear the name formulaic tag, sasha hot tags in to beat on emma, alexa decides to just walk off instead of letting emma tag out, bank statement for the tap this is not how you make friends
confirmed, later we have slater/rhyno vs miz/[NAME]
but next, corey talks to bayley about her utter lack of extreme after this advert for gold bond and MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY cole massively hypes it, then is like wait what the fuck am i saying that's the wrong brand smoothly done and now, have a package about how great finn is, and that is THE ONLY ORDER THOSE WORDS GO IN complete with lots of shots doing the arms and telling us how good he is
but yes, now we have corey/bayley just by his existence, corey must remind her how extreme she's not for the love of god, woman, get a tatt bayley's like hey i've never been in that situation before i'm a normal person i don't want to hurt people corey's like um have you ever wondered why you're in this business bayley does this whole motivational self-improvement thing which doesn't really work on its own cena does that, but with the understood subtext that if you get in the way of him being his best self, he will fuck your shit right up and bayley says her next thing is to get the belt back manageable steps slightly awkward hug, end interview so that was a thing
but now, here come A ONE MAN BAAAAAAAAAND (and his friend) rhyno should rebrand as a one man road crew miz and maryse arrive, wearing the mania jackets again, because all the best people read this blog (hey, mike) apparently he approached elias during the advert break, who said yeah fuck off dude so here comes his partner with music that sounds like the laughing fucking gnome of something and on a tricycle it's the bear although this bear is much taller and walks like dean ambrose corey christens him Big John Cubb crowd chant for a tag, miz is like i'm not a moron do you think i don't know who this is corey is just spamming us with spurious life facts about the bear because of his refusal to tag in a large mammal, rhyno is just fucking miz up all over the place cole makes a reference to the jbl and cole show, to reward dedicated weirdos bear tags himself in heath tries to take his mask off, bear punches him in the face good to know bears follow lucha tradition does a bearhug (naturally), heath nearly taps miz tags, then starts beating the piss out of the bear at ringside rips off the mask, revealing some dude, once again and rhyno spears miz into the netherworld throws him back into the ring, bear follows, heath tries to convince him to turn on his master, bear hits heath with dirty deeds, excessively long realisation beat, he unmasks and is in fact dean did...did we just get twin magicked by a bear? IT WAS ME ALL ALONG, MIZANIN! ahem dean goes for miz, he jumps and knocks maryse off the apron she hobbles off with a dark look dean stands there with a magnificent ooooooops look until miz turns around, when he hits him with dirty deeds and puts a still-unconscious heath on top of him for the pin slater and rhyno leave, dean puts the bear head on miz and walks off this just became strange this feels like it should be on one of those serial killer warning sign lists miz eventually rips it off, glares, end segment
hopefully we should have the main event next, if they want to give it the time it deserves oh, looks like we actually are huh was not expecting them to do the whole sensible booking thing recap video of the most beautifully-executed surprise return at mania and also this entire feud i'd forgotten how good their heel turn was, as well oh wait, never mind, neville's here phew if wwe started booking things in a sensible, organic way that gave things room to breathe, i wouldn't know what to do rich swann enters, does his usual dancing, gets punched in the back because neville's taken a bunch of levels in twat oh wait was that the neville level i get it beats swann all over the place, rings of saturn until he stops twitching demands his belt and a mic neville crouches by swann, recites a list of pretenders he's fucked on, kicks him out of his ring starts a monologue like it's good to be the king but will all you usurpers just fuck away off namechecks tozawa, hopefully kickstarting a feud that i am down for like you would not believe apparently titus tweeted that selfie and suggested tozawa might win the title the king is less than amused but now, charly interviews the kkb cesaro has a copy of the hardyz' autobiography so they can laugh and throw it away they keep getting more things on their jackets including they live OBEY patches, which is cool
and next, enzo/cass vs anderson/gallows seriously, you should really logically need more time for a two out of three match than a normal one this show has like half an hour left and we still have to see enzo do a thing or not, who knows with this angle douchebag joisey music hits, nobody is here cut backstage, cass is on the floor under some girders the revival walk past in the background, no reason cass says he went down with one blow to the head, emphasises how HARD they hit enzo doesn't want him to fight, but he insists but in the ring, gallows and anderson are here to trade secondary school burns and muttley laughs about enzo and cass hit twat music again, long beat, and here they are accompanied by a bunch of refs like seriously dude this is a terrible idea if only we had some power to stop this match happening alas, we are only lowly wrestling officials, all we can do is point and harangue corey calls enzo a trash fire masquerading as a human being, which i'm like 80% sure is a john oliver line? sort your material, dude cass beats on anderson through weaponised staggering, finally ags out enzo's 3am-behind-a-hollister style works for a bit, until anderson just kicks him in the head a bunch and tags gallows in cass is lying on the floor outside and magic killer for the pin turns out going into this match with a recent head injury was a terrible idea who knew they set him up for another magic killer, but here comes a big shooooooow to help at which point the heels run away and enzo and show awkwardly hug which is what cass comes around to see fuck daggers, he's glaring broadswords show leaves, cass comes up to his partner like the fuck dude, cut to ads
main event next, fucking finally
ok, no, we have to watch an r-truth reaction video first these have a solid frame rate at least, but that's come at the cost of things like 'colour film', and 'not having r-truth' truth quotes network, forgets to cite it, promises to get goldust got get got got get, end and now in the corridors, enzo comes up to show like dude, the clues all kind of point to you, so i have to ask show's like what the fuck you twat i...oh wait, it's your partner, what a twat calls cass sawft, walks off, end
but now we have a recap video of brock and joe from the start of the show why the fuck do we even need to see this just get to the main event already less than 20 minutes left this is not enough time for a properly-paced best of three match with build and everything oh, and now we get to see joe talking to mike mcmikemike backstage apparently this whole debacle has been exactly according to joe's plan this plan has never been clearly stated which is probably also exactly as planned we are all dancing on a large samoan's palm
but now, here come the hardyz fucking finally oh, and an advert break and that package for how great roman is again siiiiiiiiiiigh thing i didn't quite catch before this cut: is matt hardy wearing a fucking button-fronted short-sleeved shirt? that makes no sense for anyone whose gimmick doesn't include the words 'Caribbean', 'dipshit', or 'Caribbean dipshit' cut back, and now he's wearing no shirt ah well guess some things can just never be known and here are the kkb they've kept the jackets, but gone without shirts to maximise the orbital terawatt laser effect of their entrance bell rings, just over twelve minutes left in the show fucking hell, wwe trust your talent the teams clearly know time is against them - sheamus tries to open with a brogue, then immediately takes poetry in motion and a twist of fate for a nearfall and then sheamus basically just punches jeff in the face for the first fall? this match had so much potential sigh and now, let's cut away for an ad break and naom, gallows and anderson advertising pizza hut buy pizza from us, so twats can take it off you and back to the match recap of the first fall - jeff went for a twist of fate, sheamus countered, threw him into the corner, and did a slightly underwhelming kick to the face for the pin and now we have sheamus just kicking the shit out of jeff jeff mule kicks sheamus into a blind tag, matt hot tags in and starts mashing cesaro's head into all the turnbuckles does a delete, on the grounds that anthem probably don't give a shit, right? kicks sheamus off the apron, twist of fate on cesaro for the win i hope this narration is giving some sense of how perfunctory and artificially quick this is that's two falls in just under five minutes in a fucking championship match sheamus kicks jeff off the apron, kicks matt in the face, knees matt in the face, still can't get a pin turns out all my problems cannot, in fact, be solved by kicking jeff breaks up a pin, sheamus throws himout of the ring, cesaro goes for a neutraliser on matt, matt counters, cesaro counters that back into a sharpshooter, rope break nice sequence then matt goes for a small package, which kind of just seems like a dick move double hot tags, jeff does his usual spots, twist of fate to sheamus, cesaro breaks it just in time sheamus drops jeff on the ropes, cesaro uppercuts him, still no pin jeff bullfights sheamus into the ring post, hits a lovely swanton, cesaro pulls sheamus out of the ring just before 2 cue brawling at ringside aaaaaand double countout with which the cajundome is just so fucking satisfying brawl continues, because fuck you and your matches and your belts and we fade on the hardyz shouting from the ring while the kkb pose with their questionably-retained belts
so yeah that's it that's the show the fuck, guys? i mean obviously it was meant to be unsatisfying, and they're going to be doing it again, presumably at GBoF, but still you could still have done it without that shitty tease match but who knows maybe it'll be narratively significant
anyway, let's clean out that bad taste with some SATURDAY AFTERNOON SMACKDOWN! oh wait it's the setup show for a ppv roll on the shitty tease matches! setting up for mitb, so everything is ladders and tonight we have 6-man tag of the men's mitb contestants and randy and jinder 'face to face'
but now, the new day being played to the ring by their very own marching band, because we're in new orleans, so why the fuck not they could probably take shinsuke's violinist, but i'd watch it kofi opens by thanking the band even before doing their own introduction, which is good form the usos interrupt their gyrating to angrily enter and be thug at them and they can't even finish that before the fashion police turn up fandango claims to have compelling evidence hat their day one is not so h after all "If anything, your day one is...G." tell em tyler tyler gets to finish his sentence before the colóns enter to talk shit about breezango's policing skills (psst, guys) (they're not real detectives) so yeah, we're getting an 8-man tag match here although it's not immediately clear how the fashion police are allying themselves with three men wearing about 17 strings of beads between them the levelling for the announce mics is just fucked to hell tonight does smackdown even *have* a tech team, or is that how they run such a streamlined, modernised show? i do love that this push has given tyler and dango the opportunity to remind us how good they are at wrestling jbl, please stop making bead string jokes *brief shudder* xavier and tyler do a weird-ass combo move consisting of tyler doing a rana-style headscissors on xavier, then stopping at the top so xavier can throw him at primo followed by xavier joing the burgeoning dropkick to the back club the faces take everyone else out of the ring, stop for a brief trombone break and now we get to watch more american adverts i am officially tired of this shit i would much rather be watching this match than adverts about how cigarettes will fuck your mouth or this enormously fucked mountain dew advert and i can't even watch the tiny version in the corner i am very easily distracted oh thank fuck, we're back tyler's in trouble thanks to those dastardly usos jbl reminds us again how the usos are the greatest tag team in the world, and somewhere jason jordan is crying i mean, that's statistically likely at any given point, but still yeah, tyler's just getting the piss knocked out of him including a simultaneously dull yet impressive vertical suplex from epico comes back by throwing a bent-over epico at primo, then clotheslining primo so he ddts him nice, if making no sense whatsoever kofi tags in, kicks everyone, hits jimmy with a boom drop and trouble in paradise for the near-fall and tags in xavier for upupdowndown for the pin and taunt the usos as they retreat in failure
but later tonight, we have charlotte/nattie
but now, aj talks to shinsuke backstage and sami walks in like hey guys what do you want to do in this match asks for ideas, then talks over aj with his usual overthinky ring general thing does a they don't want none, goes for a high five, aj just stares, asks if shinsuke likes the plan, he just stares, sami answers himself and walks off to get warmed up long beat Shinsuke: "...I like him." AJ: "Of course you do." some lovely chemistry between those two which shoudl really surprise nobody
but now, dasha interviews mojo in some random corridor hey mojo, how did it feel to fail and not achieve your dreams last week? mojo is still wearing his watermelon hat magnanimous in defeat he's kind of happy he lost, because he responds to adversity with HYPE and we haven't seen the last of him and as he says this ZACK FUCKING RYDER appears the crowd are as stoked about this as i am he is officially back, and the hype bros are back together get the fuck in so yeah, this tag division's kind of huge
but now, here's naomi who we are reliably informed is amayayayayzing although the same cannot really be said of this new flourescent halter top she's got and she's fighting everybody's favourite leather-clad lunarian (shut up, i'll stop making that joke when and only when it stops being really fucking funny to me) bell hasn't even rung when the trash jazz begins just look at that woefully impractical dress and that super fucking awkward walk down the ramp we couldn't have brought her up through nxt and moved billie and peyton up to perform exactly the same purpose because... jbl explains the incomprehensible ascent of lana with leicester city, neglecting the fact that leicester had in fact played premiership football before that season anyway, tamina and naomi are just beating the hell out of each other tamina like i'll see your bouncy moves and leg lariats and counter by PUNCHING YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF YOUR BODY try punching her leg off of her leg i hear that works against people with legs i don't think i will ever not love that somersault facelock escape naomi does although it does kind of pose the question why she doesn't just commit to it and do a shiranui and split moonsault for the pin good match lana blindisdes the champion incredibly slowly, does a weird-ass glam slam type thing, then gets the belt off an official just by asking for it didn't know you could just do that and all jbl can say is how the belt matches her dress siiiiigh
but now, here are the singhs to introduce their boss he comes in wearing the sharpest fucking blue suit you will ever see next up in entrance music i like way more than i feel i should... the ring is sporting a fucking lovely carpet jinder briefly calls out randy, then goes straight in to calling him a coward and insulting his father maybe ramp the smacktalk up there? and now we're up to the 'promise to dismantle your enemy's legacy backward through history' step this curve feels like it's going to end up in actual bloodshed very soon starts his promo to his people/shouting at the crowd in punjabi, gets partway through, randy's music hits sends the singhs down the ramp to head him off, only for randy to run in out of the crowd and rko jinder on that lovely carpet and then he just fucks back off throught the crowd who love him for being a dickbag but somehow also a babyface dickface? yeah, let's go with that even if it wasn't in his hometown, they could not be setting this up for a 'shock' randy loss any more cue several seconds too long of randy posing and glowering in the stands
and now we have kevin coming into the locker room to brief baron and dolph who don't give the slightest shit what he has to say he's just like guys, i don't actually like either of you, but it's mutually beneficial to work together to take out the babyfaces rather than being dicks for the sake of it and shooting ourselves in the foot which...actually makes sense? dammit, kevin, stop bringing logic and game theory into my wrestling leaves to let them process this, cut to ads
up next, charlotte/nattie
but first, renee interviews randy backstage and he's just like have you even been listening talk less hit more i'm win the thing and leaves well, at least he's sticking to his epiphanies
but yes, now we have the women's match natties back to her old gear, and i'm not thrilled jbl just used the phrases "most likely" and "statistical certainty" right the fuck next to each other in a sentence dude, words mean things and you need to stop just saying whatever but yes, charlotte is here too, with new gear patterned off the terrible moulding on your grandparents' bathroom fittings shot of becky watching the match backstage pull up a fucking chair for once, someone
more wrestling in a minute, but first, YOU WATCH THIS ADVERT BREAK MOTHERFUCKER including an advert romanticising the fact that people need stimulant shots to participate in capitalist society see, this is what happens when you make me watch adverts whioe i'm freestyling i just end up veering into political/economic philosophy, and it's hard to come back from that oh thank god, we're back
we come back on natalya surfboard stretching charlotte like fuck you, i'm a real wrestler charlotte moonsaults nattie for a nearfall as we pan out to carmellsworth watching the match on a tv bigger than either of them again with fuck you i can wrestle, nattie powerbombs charlotte out of the corner for a nearfall (don't tell anyone, but this is actually a good match) naturally, as i say that, it turns into a series of cheap rollup attemtps, then natural selection for the pin but it made charlotte look desperate, which it's always nice to see side note: they've recoloured the GBoF logo so BALLS is the least eye-catching part
time for fashion files noir bitches dango opens with a gritty monologue about his terrible parents cut to him admirin his pecs in a mirror and cut to tyler, lying in the trashed fashion police office dango gets a description of their attackers "One arm....No, two arms!" dango sketches something, tyler confirms that it was them who attacked him dango hustles tyler off to get help, and we slow zoom on the pair of stick figures as the segment ends
but now, let's have an inspiration porn segment about a kid not dying of liver disease let's not get into my ranting about disability politics
moving on, dasha grabs lana backstage for an opinion lana's like i don't actually give a shit what any of you think byeeeeeeee
but now it's main event time opening with kevin's massive distorted face it's like neville and tjp selling their names for power, this is clearly a 'you can be champion if we can reveal how you look like hodor when viewed from below' situation and now here's baron, accomnpanied by a vt of him being a twat last week (but which instance? we may never know) dolph's entrance is mostly overridden by an advert for talking smack, which i won't be watching because jbl's on it sami and aj enter with less fanfare, but they still don't want none to leave time for the best music in the company but how will he enter tomorrow night the suspense whoever the tommaso ciampa-looking dude in the corner is, he is freaking the fuck out about being within reach of shinsuke cut for ads, during which the match apparently started and as we come back, i realise that i didn't fully appreciate the awfullness of those godawful cyan tights dolph iswearing only emphasised by putting him in the ring with shinsuke shinsuke counters dolph's elbow drop through his signature technique of 'being elsewhere', hot tags aj in, and he opens by basically hitting dolph with the bitter end and then an ushigoroshi, except we don't say that any more ooh, nice counter goes for a styles clash, dolph counters to a tornado ddt everyone else gets involved, cut for ads, and we come back on dolph/sami natursally, kevin immediately comes in as i type that sami counters kevin's senton with his knees, basically turning it into a self-inflicted lumbar check as often happens, this heel team seems much more concerned with shouting at everyone within range than having the match sami gets the shit beaten out of him by kevin, counters to a blue thunder bomb, can't quite flop fast enough to make the tag takes some more punishment, pulls out a big lariat and then bullfights all three heels out of the ring in succession sloooooowly flops to his corner, and just as he gets there dolph and kevin pull aj and shinsuke off the apron lovely bit of timing so sami just goes fuck it and helluva kicks baron for the pin maybe lead with that general fighting ensues and now kevin has a ladder he and dolph hit sami and aj with it "Unforgiving impact of that ladder on your flesh." byron's freestyling for his upcoming black metal album meanwhile, baron gets the ladder and fucks on everyone with it sets it up under the briefcase, climbs sloooooowly enough for shinsuke to push it over and somewhere, randy orton began to bleed kinshasa to baron, and shinsuke dramatically climbs the ladder himself and retrieves the most important business supplies in the world and we fade on him posing
so yeah, setup show, but that was pretty good and it looks like mitb should be good better than extreme rules, at any rate and certainly less of a misnomer unless it suddenly becomes clear that shane's accounts were frozen long ago and there was never actually any money but in any case i'll try and get this up tonight (Saturday), and then it's mitb tomorrow hmu on twitter @waruce if you want to see me struggle not to fall asleep and also to reconcile my excitement for MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY with the failings of late-stage capitalism (shit, it happened again)
anyway, that ends this week's show, but up next, it looks like it's gonna get a bit finnegans wake
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