#also i want julia to be butcher

[youraveragecatastrophe]

We’ve talked in the past about Julia’s red shirt (in her season 1/season 4 outfit) showing her sympathy towards Carmen. What about other parts of her outfits?

First, to contrast with the red shirt peeking through her dark pantsuit, we have Julia’s ACME suit.

[ID : two cropped screenshots from the 2019 show Carmen Sandiego. The first one shows Julia Argent on the train in India, in her dark suit with red shirt outfit. The second one shows Julia in Rio de Janeiro, in her ACME suit. End ID]

The ACME suits, being uniforms, are all the same (the biggest difference being skirts for the women vs pants for the men), the same way the agents are asked for uniformity, conformity and following orders.

The suits have no color apart from a navy so dark it’s close to black - in fact, depending on the lighting they look almost black and white. Quite like their way of thinking.

[ID : a screenshot from the 2019 show Carmen Sandiego. Agent Zari and Random White Agent stand on either side of a door. They are in the shadows and their uniforms look dark and desaturated. End ID]

As I noted on a previous post, at the same time Julia receives her suit and as such lets go of her red shirt, she is asked to renounce her feelings that Carmen is innocent. Season 2, where she almost exclusively wears the ACME uniform, is the one where Julia briefly doubts Carmen and struggles to reconcile following her superior’s orders with her convictions. Ultimately, when she does not manage it, she resigns (season 3) and as such goes back to her red shirt outfit. It is in that outfit that she teams up with Carmen in a substantial way in season 4.

Other agents (and, notably, agent Zari, the most featured ACME agent apart from Julia and Chase) tend to wear black gloves. In line with their behavior, this suggests keeping a distance with their environment, refusing to feel things too deeply. Julia doesn’t wear gloves, however, not even in Stockholm where the weather would definitely justify it. Despite Chief's insistance, Julia keeps paying attention to her feelings.

Then, Julia’s glasses. Her glasses in seasons 2-3 are ACME regulation eyewear : once again, they’re part of the uniform, so the same model as the other ACME agents. Big, bulky, they’re almost rectangle in shape, all sharp angles : this suggests rigidity and an absence of flexibility in ACME’s mentality. Also note the dark lenses : they symbolically obscure the vision.

[ID : a screenshot from the 2019 show Carmen Sandiego. In Indonesia, Zari and Random White Agent stand against the sky. Their glasses' lenses are noticeably very dark. End ID]

And what about Julia’s original glasses, the ones she wears before joining ACME and those she returns to as she leaves ? They are the exact opposite of the ACME glasses : round and clear, what you need to look at the world as it is.

[ID : a cropped screenshot from the 2019 show Carmen Sandiego. In San Francisco, Julia wears her red shirt outfit with her round glasses. End ID]

#carmen sandiego 2019 #julia argent #if you think i'm reading too much into this. yeah. i'm me. reading too far into tiny details is what i do #(though tbh i keep going from 'this is reaching right?' to 'this is so obvious i'm breaking down an open door' so...) #and let me tell you i'm having the time of my life #you wouldn't imagine the glee i felt thinking about this #mentally i'm lying oin my bed giggling and kicking my feet as i type this #that post wasn't lying. the most fun a girl can have is analyzing making connections seeing patterns etc #anyway with all that (see: post) in mind if i had been in charge of the show i would a. have put julia in a uniform with pants #oh my god that skirt is the ugliest thing i've seen in my life. #also i want julia to be butcher #b. maybe more importantly i would have made julia wear her uniform sliiiightly wrong #like sometimes her tie isn't well fastened. or her vest is partially unbuttoned #or like that moment in rio where she says she still believes in carmen's innocence and her glasses are low and she has to recenter them #(they sort of have that with the gloves but she's not the only agent not to wear them so it doesn't really go all the way) #idk. like she tries to fit it tries to just put her head down and work tries to get into that mold acme wants her to be in #and she's. not terrible at it. she's used to being discrete and working well #with only a quick look you think she's perfectly in line with the other agents. a closer look however tells you otherwise #and shows you how she's not quite at ease with what's asked of her and it makes her miserable #which leads to her leaving acme later #do you see my vision

[bloodynereid]

https://www.tumblr.com/mlwriting5/712087716240801792/warren-and-camila-speaking-spanish-to-each-other

OMG WAIT-

OKOK concept!

(This kinda goes with your warren with bassist!reader story!!)

The reader learning spanish from cami or warren's mother or grandmother and recites her vows for him IN SPANISH !!!! 💗💗

(That story made me soft ~ and I cant get it out of my head 💗💗)

The Language of Love

pairing: warren rhodes/rojas x fem! reader

a/n: hi anon! i hope i ended up doing ur request justice cause it has potentially been one of my favorite things i have ever written. i may be biased cause i got to practice my spanish lol. also if anyone is a native spanish speaker ik that my grammar is like potentially off cause i haven't written much in spanish since i moved to the uk. hope you enjoy :) oh! and random fact but i actually have the vows written in the way they are described in my planning book cause i wanted to make sure i had an accurate enough translation (fuck google translate) 💗

tw: kissing, swearing, christian weddings (??), potentially butchered spanish grammar, mentions of sex

description: wedding vows are some of the most important parts of the wedding ceremony. they represent love, devotion and companionship.

Y/N (bassist for Daisy Jones & The Six): I always knew I wanted to be a bassist. It became ingrained in my soul when I was 13. That meant that most of the time I should have spent studying was instead used for learning and practicing bass lines. And as you can see it paid off. But that also meant I didn’t listen in Spanish class, so when I desperately needed to know it I didn’t have any idea what I was doing.

Your groaning could probably be heard across the country. You were sitting under one of the many trees that littered Cami and Billy’s backyard. An Oxford English to Spanish dictionary laid open on your lap as you fruitlessly tried to find the correct word for what you were looking for.

Who knew that the Spanish language held so many different versions for every single word? You set down the notepad defeated. On one side laid written in neat handwriting the vows you had been planning for the wedding in English. On the other side was an amalgamation of Spanish words that you weren’t even sure made sense when you linked them together.

Why the hell were there so many conjunctions?

“Hey sweetheart. How is it going?” Cami asked as she set down a jug of iced tea. Julia was playing with soil on one side of the garden and was basically engulfed in her own little world.

Today was one of the ‘writing days’ as the rest of the band had dubbed them because Daisy and Billy basically disappeared to do god knows what and somehow came back with another masterpiece of a song. So that left the rest of the band with nothing to do.

You had come to see Cami because she was the only other person that you knew well enough that spoke Spanish and could trust with something as delicate as this.

“Shitty. What do you expect?”

“Hey! Auntie Y/N said a bad word.” Jules said as she looked up from her playing, making you burst out laughing at her overly serious expression.

“Sorry honey.” You said between slightly frustrated laughter.

“Here let me see what you have so far.” You passed over your mangled notebook to Cami and watched with growing anxiety as her eyebrows were pulled further and further together before she let out a small laugh.

“Hey! Stop laughing, this isn’t funny.”

“It’s a little funny.”

“Oh god. I’m going to fu- screw this up so badly aren’t I?”

“No. I’m not letting that happen. Let’s start fresh okay?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Over the course of the afternoon, you basically ended up butchering one of the most beautiful languages multiple times. Even Julia, a toddler, was basically cringing away at your horrendous pronunciation.

“Okay let’s try this part again. Pu-”

“Pu-”

“Die-”

“Die-”

“Rrra.”

“Rrra.”

“All together now. Puudierra.”

“Pudeta.”

“Oh god.”

“I’m hopeless.”

“Ok maybe you’re a little hopeless.”

“CAMI!” You let out an outraged yell and then threw one of the outdoor pillows in her face, which only made her laugh even louder.

Over the next month, you basically had a daily session with Cami. Trying to nail down the perfect rolled r’s and getting the pronunciation perfect. Sometimes you did it on the phone and sometimes you were able to go down to their house. Warren was actively getting suspicious as to why you kept disappearing.

Warren: I honestly thought she was cheating or something. Which basically broke my heart in two but then I decided to be a mature adult about it.

Y/N: He asked me about it, yeah. And I'm incredibly shitty at keeping secrets so I basically just said it was a surprise for the wedding. I to this day think he thought it was probably a sex thing.

Warren: Definitely thought it was a sex thing but… I think what I ended up getting was arguably much better.

You clutched onto your father’s arm like it was a lifeboat. Quickly reciting all the lines in your head as you took a deep, steadying breath. Then you were suddenly standing in front of Warren, the big sap, cause you could definitely see some tears in his eyes. That instantly made you feel better as you listened to the priest recite all of the usual wedding prayers.

Warren’s suit-covered arm under your fingertips was definitely easing the tension that had been building during the last few revision lessons with Cami. You had decided to forgo a huge wedding and so all of your close friends (the band mostly) and relatives were all sitting on chairs on the houseboat.

Then it was time for the vows. Somehow you were saved because Warren decided to go first.

“Y/N L/N. You are the love of my life and my entire world. These years that I have spent with you have been the best of my life and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. You hold some much love and talent that I can’t believe I have been lucky enough to call my girlfriend, my fiance and now my wife. I knew I wanted to marry you the second that I saw you. I love you, mi corazón (my heart). Thank you for agreeing to come along for the ride.” 

You took a deep breath in and tried to will away the tears of pure happiness in your eyes. Warren sent you a lovesick smile that you returned wholeheartedly.

“Warren Rojas. Tu eres el amor de mi vida. Y ojalá no voy a arruinar tu hermosa lengua, pero quería hacer algo para ti en este día tan importante. Tu eres mi fuego. Tu eres mi alma. No puedo imaginar una vida sin ti. Creo que yo no pudiera vivir si tu hubieras a desaparecer ahorita. Una vez tu me dijiste que todos somos estrellas. Nuestras almas se convierten en esas luces en el cielo después de nuestras muertes. Lo encuentro loco que yo te encuentre en este océano de estrellas. Tu eres mi estrella brillante. Mi amor por ti es tan grande que todas las estrellas en el cielo ni siquiera se pueden comparar. Estoy tan feliz por casarme contigo. No puedo esperar para todas las aventuras del futuro y para que finalmente te pueda llamar mi marido.” 

(Warren Rojas. You are the love of my life. And I’m hoping that I don’t mess up your beautiful language, but I wanted to do something for you on this important day. You are my fire. You are my soul. I can’t imagine a life without you. I think that I would not be able to live if you were to disappear right now. One time you told me that we are all stars. That our souls are converted into the lights in the sky after our deaths. I find it crazy that I was able to find you in this ocean of stars. You are my brightest star. My love for you is so large that all of the stars in the sky couldn’t even compare. I am so happy to be able to marry you. I can’t wait for all our future adventures and being able to finally call you my husband.)

Warren looked at you with tears in his eyes and with the greatest smile on his face that you almost didn’t notice when the priest said you were allowed to kiss. You were sure you had messed up a large amount of the words and the pronunciation but it was all worth it to see that look in his eyes when he finally kissed you.

A kiss to seal your future together.

i missed writing for warren so hopefully will be writing much more for him

oh! and if you understood the minor reference to that oscar isaac and pedro pascal interview in the title i officially adore you.

taglist: @yesshewrites1 @pinkdaiisies

#daisy jones and the six #billy dunne #graham dunne #karen sirko #daisy jones #camila dunne #daisy x billy #warren rojas #warren rhodes #eddie roundtree #taylor jenkins reid #amazon prime #warren rojas imagine #warren rojas short story #daisy jones and the six imagine #djats fanfic #warren rojas x reader #warren rhodes x reader #djats #daisy jones and the six x reader

[giulliadella]

Hellraiser: the Toll is dumb AF

You freaks liked my review of The Scarlet Gospels, so I'm here to deliver this short review of another garbage Hellraiser novel while I'm procrastinating with studying for the finals. Spoilers for the entire thing (and some funny fanart) below:

Hellraiser: the Toll is a novella written by Mark E. Miller that serves as a passage between The Hellbound Hearts/Hellraiser movie and The Scarlet Gospels. It sucks harder than a black hole.

Short summary (5 sentences)

Kirsty Cotton is a depressed fucked up person that is running from place to place because she's scared of "The Cold Man" which is a nickname she gave to Pinhead. She gets a letter from some random theology professor and decides to go visit The Devil's Island in French Guiana where she's told the Cenobite would wait for her. She goes to a hotel kept by an old lady and a butler named Walter, the old lady is skinned alive and the butler tries to kill Kirsty, but she smacks his face with a hammer and kills him. Then she enters the jungle prison on the Devil's Island and meets Pinhead, they chat, then argue, then start a fight which ends by Kirsty smashing his face with a hammer and taking out one of his nails. She returns home and keeps the nail in a jar on her night stand.

Endlessly confused plot

I honestly can't tell what universe does this book describe. It's a mashup of "The Hellbound Heart" and Hellraiser movie, but the second movie is not cannon, which is very weird. The author basically picked and chose whatever random thing he liked and made a senseless mashup. One of the worst things about it is the same fucking issue with the Boom! comics and that is that Kirsty hates Pinhead because he "killed her father and ruined her family". Which is pure bullshit from every angle. In "The Hellbound Heart", Cenobites only killed Frank and Julia and let her go. In Hellraiser, they also killed Frank and Julia and she barely escaped. Her father was killed by FUCKING FRANK. Pinhead didn't ruin Kirsty's family, Frank did. I don't think that Kirsty would hold any ill intent towards the Cenobites, in fact, in Hellraiser 2 she objectively doesn't. She wanted to save them for fuck's sake. And they all gave their lives for her. I really have no idea why would she have any reasons to hate Pinhead, but oh well.

Pinhead acts like a whiny little child

Seriously, what the fuck is with these books and assassination of Pinhead's character? Why the FUCK is he depicted as narcissistic, misogynistic motherfucker, when he couldn't be further from it? Also, why does he use his fists to fight Kirsty when he can summon chains with hooks by will and also has like 12 butchering knives hanging from his belt? The worst part is probably the dialogue, especially when he says "Jesus wept", like, come on, that's the dumbest thing I've ever read. Does the motherfucker who wrote this think that Frank and Pinhead have any parallels? Because if he does, he needs a hit on his head with a hammer, just to reset his brain.

Hell is shit - literally

The description of Hell in this book is even dumber than in Scarlet Gospels. It says that the floor in Hell is made of shit. And there's a hole and people in Hell worship the hole and throw babies in it. Like, what the fuck. Also, I fucking hate the fact that he described Cenobites as foul smelling. Do your research, motherfucker, they smell like vanilla! There is some stench of rot beneath, but nobody in the entire franchise never had the urge to vomit when they were close to the Cenobites, so it can't be strong. I don't know how did the author of this garbage come to the idea that Cenobites smell like shit and that Hell is made of shit, but it's literally like how a 13 year old would describe it. I don't know what is the reason, but maybe, just maybe, straight men have much different interpretation of what Cenobites are compared to queer women like myself.

Stuff I liked

There was one scene where a demon was running in the rain screaming FUCK!FUCK!FUCK!FUCK!FUCK!FUCK!FUCK! until he was struck by lightning. I laughed my ass off with that.

The fact that Kirsty kept the nail she knocked out of Pinhead's face by her bedside was so cute. Like, this book has some shipping, but it fucking sucks. Mostly because both Pinhead and Kirsty are very much out of character. But keeping the nail was definitely in character for her lol.

Overall, this entire book could be summed up by this illustration:

The Toll sucks. It doesn't suck as much as Scarlet Gospels, and, thank Goddess, it's only 40 pages long. But it still sucks. It ruins both Pinhead and Kirsty and their relationship and it's definitely not worth your time. If you want good stories about the Hell Priest and his human crush, go to AO3, there are many of superior quality.

#hellraiser #book review #rant #fanart #pinhead #kirsty cotton

[gotgifsandmusings]

Hi, been a fan since season 5 but was MIA during season 8 because life. I was wondering what you thought of Dany's descent as Queen of the Ashes? Do you think some of your earlier points i.e Hizdahr zo Sansa work in D&D's benefit unironically now (even though they have lost all credibility as writers)? Ignoring how it was butchered, of course.

Congratulations, you asked the very question that broke Julia and my collective brain and is the reason we never finished our S8 retrospectives, lol.

Because like...yes. This show had basically done a horrible job of distinguishing "good" vs. "bad" guys on the show in all ways other than marketing. It was just accepted that Cersei was the "most vile woman in Westeros," when we see the "heroes" do similarly awful things (e.g. Arya murdering the entire Frey male line, baking them into pies, and feeding them to Walder).

So enter Season 7/8 where it's I guess setting up Dany's descent (while also being an earnest love story for some reason), and we get this weird case of "it's only evil/questionable when Dany does war things." Tyrion can burn Stannis's fleet with wildfire, but Dany can't burn her enemies' soldiers with Drogon because...Tyrion is on a hill looking sad? Jon can execute a literal traumatized child who tried to kill him, but Dany can't execute the Tarlys who wouldn't have taken the black anyway?

It just becomes this crap pile of misogynistic implications, where it seems like our reasons we're supposed to be skeptical of Dany are because she does things unilaterally, and when women do that on the show it's bad. When men do it on the show, it's leadership. Then of course, her strafing to burn as many innocents in King's Landing was just comically stupid. We've SEEN Dany in power already...we saw her grapple with not being beloved by everyone in Meereen. We know what motivates her, and it's just not fitting that she'd suddenly want to kill all the innocents. Or that bells make her take things personally.

Really, what's sort of funny about this show is that we could have had a heel-turn for Sansa to be Queen of the Ashes, or for Jaime to be King of the Ashes, and because this show is so obsessed with everyone being motivated by revenge and having cool badass moments, there'd be equal seeding for any of these characters burning down King's Landing.

But no, the issue was Dany's..."liberation theology" (these guys are so, so stupid).

So like...yes? It does help retroactively sorta? But also no, it doesn't, because they don't get to have it both ways and argue her 'targ madness coin' just happened to land in S8, especially when Dany is arguably the character we've seen in a position of power the most, and understanding how she wields it.

This is getting rambly, so let me leave you with a snippet from one of our many failed attempts to write this retrospective (note it's a very rough draft):

"...After rewatching Season 8, the true point of Varys turning sides was hearing that Jon had a better claim to the throne. The Tarly executions in Season 7 kicked off his skepticism about Dany’s leadership qualities. However, in between those two events, the only beat we could point to was Dany being grumpy at a party. She did try to fire Tyrion a few times and Varys is a Carol Award-winning Tyrion-stan, but we never saw his reaction to that specifically. It had been Jorah that pleaded for Tyrion remaining her Hand this year. All we saw was Varys side-eyeing her sitting back in a chair at a party. 

We couldn't even adequately tie Dany’s actions to similar actions on the parts of Tyrion and Jon and make a solid sexism case, because it just became this horrible circular discussion of which actions counted vs. not. The fact is, Varys was in Dany’s camp until he wasn’t. He had concerns, sure, but the turning point was a grumpy party! Maybe her UberEats delivered the wrong latte and she’s lactose intolerant!

Taking this to the macro level, we simply never saw Dany develop into a villain. The narrative decided she was a villain in Episode 4 of the final season, and then chided and insulted us for ever thinking she wasn’t. We could spend a separate 6,000 words arguing whether or not her actions of previous seasons could have been framed as villainous (remember how Kylie kept saying how Cersei and Dany were kind of the same in their actions?), but it’s not productive. The writers were in Dany’s camp until they weren’t.

[first she came for the slavers]

Ignoring the just horrific implications of how they evoked Niemöller here, this Tyrion quote is just baldly ridiculous. You (dear writers) cheered for her when she burned the Dothraki, and we know because of the framing and the music and the things characters said about her afterwards. Also, you wrote an entire plotline about how nailing the slavers to the crosses had unintended consequences that she had to reconcile with, and it was part of her development as a leader. But then you decided learning was wrong, or opening the fighting pits was wrong, or Tyrion had to convince the red priests to worship her to re-engage commerce? Or something??

It’s almost like there was no coherent planning and Dany didn’t have a series arc at all! She was the cool, badass Khaleesi lady, until she wasn’t. She was the person in charge of Meereen until Tyrion came. She was the revolutionary who loved the smallfolk and wanted to reduce suffering until she was the paranoid narcissist who didn’t get enough praise. She was a feminist icon until she was a cautionary tale about ambitious women. She was a Marxist reformer that wanted to break the wheel which had harmed so many until she was Horde Prime who sought people’s liberation through their deaths."

[anticute-marshmallowmars]

i was super prepared to be really in despair with the ending

but actually?

it kind of makes narrative sense, as is my take with a lot of this show.

are there some characterization/relationship-related decisions that i am not 100% on board? absolutely.

but honestly? outisde of those issues - it's kind of an ending that DOES work, and like? no one died, dude. i was prepared for deaths. (zelda aside :c but even then she just goes to another branch anyway.)

esp with tHIS kind of show? where they DON'T let their charas be happy??? where they don't take care of their charas (and yes - i would say they still don't in some ways. but that's...another post.) like, they always dangle the solution/happiness carrot - only to take it away.

so, like - honestly.

it's overall oddly...positive, actually, in terms of an ending, in terms of the actual circumstances that played out and could play out? it's open-ended enough. and doesn't leave THAT sour of a taste in my mouth as i was prepared for. bc again - it mAKES sense.

there's potential and hope* they'll find their way back to each other.

no way they won't. there's julia and penny. and once eliot gets his footing. (tho my feelings about where they end up in terms of relationships are... meh. bUT newayz.) and kady's figuring out the circumstances amidst the moon madness situation.

and on the other end: alice? margo. and what josh can contribute.

so, yeah. there's enough talent between the two factions to make this happen. no WAY they won't figure it out.

(alice being realized as master magician in her would-be-initiation/graduation, suggests and implies the rest of them also became master magicians, in my mind)

this show never was gonna give our charas a happily ever after, and certainly NOT with them together under one roof. it wouldn't have FELT right in any case. it'd be too perfect of an ending, and this show? does not do perfect endings. and i do not expect it. it wouldn't have been in the spirit of the show. and this ending - DOES maintain that spirit. even if - again - i do have my personal conniptions.

this show, time and time again, separates the group, into factions. it makes sense they would end the show with them separated, for them to figure out a way to get back to each other again.

(do i want my polycule and somehow q revived - absolutely!!!!! but that's not what the show was ever going to give, tonally. right from s1.)

it's hard to give a satisfying ending in any show. and i wouldn't say this was satisfying bc again, there's things i'm not too happy about. but narratively it MAKES SENSE.

and i will say: in any given show - and specifically any fantasy show - the ending SHOULD be open ended enough, so that you believe that world and those charas continue on even after the finale. you don't get to see it, but you know it happens.

and that's really what we get at the end, actually!

it's an ending that does work, tonally, thematically, and again - narratively. is it the best? no. is it the worst? really, really, no. ESPECIALLY given how media has been effing up finales in the last few years.

(and i say this, as someone who LOVES eliot and margo. they were pretty much what i was leaning hard to survive, as i went through s5 in terms of invested relationships/friendships. but i GET why they separated them. that's a separate post.)

and as writers should - you SHOULD give the building blocks for your audience as a gift - a hope of 'hey this world continues even after the creator is done with it.'

i want to see it, of course. but at least they gave that kind of ending rather than completely butcher everything. i'm secure enough to believe that it DOES happen, mainly bc these charas are dogged as shit. and again. there's hope*

*HQ and hope and the themes of home literally embodied in a pregnancy plotline with julia (which i have conflicted feelings about). and of course, the world seed arc. i just wish they had done it a little better? but there's lots i would have liked to be executed properly**

**obviously no quentin is heartbreaking. and what could have been the would-be queliot situation. but arguably quentin WAS going to be that type of hero at the end of the day. that's a separate post too.

there's just SO MANY THOUGHTS.

#the magicians #the magicians word vomit

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 5/5

Book Blurb: Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle's Ebony Gate is a female John Wick story with dragon magic set in contemporary San Francisco’s Chinatown. Emiko Soong belongs to one of the eight premier magical families of the world. But Emiko never needed any magic. Because she is the Blade of the Soong Clan. Or was. Until she’s drenched in blood in the middle of a market in China, surrounded by bodies and the scent of blood and human waste as a lethal perfume. The Butcher of Beijing now lives a quiet life in San Francisco, importing antiques. But when a shinigami, a god of death itself, calls in a family blood debt, Emiko must recover the Ebony Gate that holds back the hungry ghosts of the Yomi underworld. Or forfeit her soul as the anchor. What's a retired assassin to do but save the City by the Bay from an army of the dead?

Review:

Female John Wick except with dragon magic set in contemporary San Francisco’s Chinatown? HELL YEAH. Emiko Soong is part of one of the eight premier magical families of the world, but unlike many others she isn’t that gifted with magic but rather blades. She became the Blade of the Soong Clan, or rather... she is known as the Butcher of Beijing before she moved to San Francisco. But Emiko is done with that life, she left her clan and broke her blade in an attempt to retire and finally get away from the killing... but when a Talon ( think of it like a blood oath marker that essentially is a debt- once called upon must be answered), is activated and she goes to answer it to save her younger brother who is the heir to the clan from having to deal with it... things are about to get bloody. To her shock Emiko discovers that her mother has given a Talon to a shinigami, a god of death.... and now Emiko finds herself being tasked with finding the Ebony Gate... a doorway that holds back the hungry ghosts of the Yomi Underworld and if she can’t retrieve it she will have to forfeit her soul as the anchor instead. Finding this door is going to be harder than ever and it means that Emiko has to go back to her past career as the Blade and not only try and make new allies but uncover the new enemies who are after the door as well. With her blades, her pet lion, and a ticking clock, Emiko will have to slash her way to uncovering the truth behind why her mother owes a Talon to a Shinigami and what Emiko wants to do with her future. This is the first book in a series and WHAT A RIDE!!! It was non stop action, adventure, and I absolutely adored Emiko so much and BAO!!! (he deserves all the scratches and treats).  I am so excited to see what the next two books bring and where Emiko’s relationship with certain individuals in this book goes, you get to see her open herself up to others and friendship in this book and it was wonderful. The quest was a fun one and the world setting was so interesting!! Definitely give this one a go if you like action fantasy with a bit of a twist and a contemporary setting!

*SPOILER*

Emiko becomes the Sentinal of the city, leaving behind her life as the Blade. She is now coursing with magic from the city. She discovers that her mother made the talon trade to save Emi and her father when she walked into the underworld and the death god brought her back. Emiko also faces her ex, Kamon, a tiger shifter who she broke it off with when she also quite her life as a Blade. They work together in this one and she assumes that he has moved on and is dating Fiona, the next in line as the clan head of the Tran Clan. It is shown that he still really cares and worries about her but she thinks she is not good enough for him and not what he would want as opposed to what Fiona could give him.  Emiko also befriends Freddy ( Fiona’s brother) and Adam ( a human collector who is now protected and claimed under the Soong clan by Emiko). It is hinted that Emiko has a secret Gao ( magic gift) that could destroy the clans if it gets out but we dont find out for sure. Emiko finds out that the Louie clan stole the Ebony Gate and tried to make a power grab and they are also close to having a feud with the Tran clan which will probably occur in the next book. 

*Thanks Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group, Tor Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

#book review #bookish #ebony gatee

[wrathofthestag]

5 and 11, for the book asks? 📚

Thanks for the ask! <3 📚

5.  where do you buy books? I generally try to buy books at used book stores.  Mainly because I love the smell and I love used books---they have so much secret history and love inside them. Also, someone who owns a used book store probably loves books as much as I do, and I want to support their dreams.  Otherwise, an indie shop is also somewhere I would frequent.  (I have a bookstagram, and post photos or used/indie bookstores there.)  If I order online, I order from Bookshop.org.  If I have to and it’s something my kid needs in a hurry, I’ll get it from Amazon, but it’s usually my last resort.

11. what non-fiction books do you like if any? I love non-fiction books written by chefs. I know it’s niche but there you go. My favorites are:

My Life in France by Julia Child (which I mentioned here)

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain (one of my all-time favorite books)

Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl 

Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton

I also like medical/science history books.  I love The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris.  It talks about the history of surgery.

#book asks

[survivorsfm]

*       NUTTEHWRITES   ASKED       :       MW roles / faceclaims / vibes ?

ohhhhh. are u ready for this ? okay. first, mw roles: the bloater’s manager, doctors, our communication tower’s maintainer, our clerk ( if they’re the clerk from the originals even better ), lit any role from the maintenance wing, a teacher, professors / instructors for the technical school, a blacksmith is also highly wanted, our head of training, our chief guard, farmhands and our butcher ! also any of the available roles from the originals being taken would be amazing *intense star eyes emoji* for face claims, i’m gonna leave you some of my personal favorites but also some of the names that have come up repeatedly among our members: mackenyu arata, idris elba, viola davis, havana rose liu, carla gugino, mena massoud, brie larson, julia dalavia, louis hofmann, ricky whittle, jessie mei li, rahul kohli, angela bassett, courtney eaton ( lit anyone from yellowjackets actually ), victoria pedretti, paul mescal, ayo edebiri, milly alcock, may calamawy, gabriel luna. if none of these inspire or convince you lmk, i have a fuckton of other names and we also have a most wanted tag and a most wanted sideblog you can always check ! finally, for vibes: i’d love to see the town clown or stoner ( or both ) ; someone shy whose shyness often makes them irritable, annoyed with themself even; someone mistrustful that doesn't really rely on anybody specifically because they come from a qz or another community where they were betrayed; an openly hostile but not bad person, just someone who’s not nice but they’re also very productive and hardworking so they actually give a lot to the community ( and care a lot about it ) even when they bark at everyone every other day; some flamboyant gays would be fun to have; people who don’t give a fuck about the end of the world they’re just chilling; someone who lost everything way before the outbreak so now they’re like meh, this is fine. and honestly i could go on for ages, but i’ll stop here because i have no intentions of rewriting the bible sjfjdkdk. hope some of these help you, my beloved ! and sorry for the late answer, i’ve been a lil bit busy irl. :(

#answered. #faq. #mw. #appless rp #oc rp #mumu rp #active rp #new rp #lsrpg

[murdochia]

OK, I'll give it to pm, that was a pretty satisfying first episode after all of the craziness of last episode. We also got watts in some very cute outfits. Him and Jack looked so cozy I'm so fucked up about the pi. Also Brax, come through! I was worried with the summary but Brackenreid was like nope, imma warn my friend and his butcher about you! Although now that may fuck him over, but still. Also now I see that the aunts just want some sort of inheritance money which makes sense. Julia coming in with peak mom energy and her roasts, I love her. Also EFFIE I LOVE YOU! And Louise, like guys, they had all my favs in this episode.

#mm spoilers #mm season 16

[murdoch-mooseteries]

WAIT WAIT WAIT IK I JUST SAID NO POST THEORIES BUT I NEED TO We all know the jackwatts raise baby foreshadowing fiasco, and for a moment I didn't believe anything could happen because they literally always kill off spouses that are in the way like this *cough cough* darcy but like Clara is dead dead (unless she has a tin we never heard about cause honestly that's possible.) ANYWAYS basically what if jackwatts raise baby dreams haven't died yet. I'm certain Jack didn't do it, cause they also always make it look like spouse-kill-spouse *cough cough* julia so basically Jack probably didn't do it and he run away because he no want to lose Samuel, he's being cautious (it completely backfired for him but whatevs) SOOOO after all that, what if Jack comes back and everyone's like "yay jack's not a murderer who saw that coming" but he said that he's the only father and is responsible for little sammy and then watts is torn between Milo and Jack *cough cough* just like darcy and julia and murdoch but he ultimately chooses Jack and they DO raise baby and then we'r e stuck with this gay butcher dude, which isn't terrible as long as watts is happy but i hope they give Jack more development.

#I think they're just replaying the darcy and julia thing if you didn't get that #just throw in a baby #baboom #A+ episode material #also if you're reading PM plz no change episode #that's mean #murdoch mysteries season 15 #murdoch mysteries #mm spoilers #mm season 15 #mmvx spoilers #detective watts #llewellyn watts #milo strange #jack walker #jackwatts #llewillo

[unabashegirl]

Pax Romana; Part I

Author’s note: Hey everyone, here is the first part of this mini-series. I hope you like it! Let me know if you want to be on the tag list. Also, REQUESTS ARE OPEN only for H. 

DISCLAIMER; I DONT KNOW ITALIAN! (only English, French and Spanish) I clearly used a translator. I am aware their translations are SHIT sometimes. Therefore I am sorry if I butcher it! I didn’t mean to!

masterlist 

----

Harry Styles, can still recall the first day he was enthralled by her conspicuous beauty. At first, he reckoned he had done the unavoidable. He had moved to Italy for the summer, and he had managed to fall in love with an Italian girl; that he had never spoken to. He had only observed her from afar — too shy to ever think of approaching her. Nonetheless, the young woman was a sight to behold.  He promised himself that he would only watch from afar. It felt forbidden and somewhat illegal. The feeling that bubbled within him was enough reason to continue his study of her.

After his first visit to Italy, he had fallen in love with the country. Hence, why he had rented out a house in a coastal town. The country’s natural and effortless beauty inspired him to write new music for his upcoming album. The beautiful sunsets, the sunny mornings, the art, and the food brought peace and tranquility to him. It was the perfect place for him to hide — for a while.  It was on one of his morning runs; he first noticed her. 

She wore a bright yellow bikini that exposed most of her olive skin to the sun rays. She sat on a striped towel that she had laid out on the hot sand.  Her hair was slicked back and wet after she had dipped in the ocean to refresh her body. 

Of course, she never caught sight of his dilated pupils or the way he had leaned forward — lured by her beauty.  Her attention was preoccupied with a hardcover of Pride and Prejudice; that she had brought along as a source of entertainment for the day.  The young woman appeared too indulged in the printed words to notice his existence. 

He watched her for a few hours. Now and then he would remind himself of the hundred reasons why he shouldn’t approach. He had even managed to take a few steps towards her. Harry eventually removed himself as soon as it became too much. He had beaten the temptation. 

The first time he spoke to her was at a local restaurant. Harry had taken himself out on a late lunch date. He had dressed up nicely and had walked to the bistro. He noticed her presence after taking his first sip out of his freshly served Chardonnay. She sat on the table across from him. This time she wasn't submerged in a book. He could finally admire her natural beauty up close. The fullness of the apples of her cheeks, her long dark eyelashes, her red-tinted lips, and of course light sunburn on her upper cheeks and across the bridge of her nose. 

A few minutes later, her order had arrived. It was ricotta and mushroom stuffed ravioli in a black truffle sauce. She was stuffing her face when they made eye contact. Harry’s lips curved upwards creating a lopsided smile as she scrambled to clean the creamy sauce off her face. He hadn't said anything to her, but she already felt embarrassed. 

”Sono deliziosa?” He had done it. He couldn’t just watch her and pray she’d take the first step. It was time to put his Italian to the test. He had been practicing his Italian and even though he already had a few weeks on the Amalfi coast; he still struggled to comprehend. Harry only hoped she would be able to understand him.

”E molto deliziosa” She smiled at him for the first time. She beamed, radiating an intoxicating wave of warmth and happiness towards him. Her lips parted open for a split second but before she could utter a word the waiter approached. 

“Hai bisogno di qualcos’ altro?”  He was asking her if she needed anything else. She understood what he was asking, but she couldn’t remember how to say cheese.

“Fuck” she said under her breath. “Queso. Fromage. Cheese” She had forgotten how to speak. All her languages had mixed in one and the wires had crossed. “How do you say it?” She whispered under her breath, her cheeks warmed in embarrassment as the waiter tried to comprehend. 

“Formaggio. Ha bisogno di formaggio parmigiano, per favore” Harry interrupted, noticing her uneasiness and her inevitable embarrassment. He knew that it wasn’t his business and he shouldn’t have been listening to the conversation, but he had to help her. 

The waiter turned his attention to the young celebrity. He was also a bit surprised that Harry had spoken for her. He had seen that Harry kept to himself. He usually attended dinner on his own and hardly even bothered to use his phone. “Inmediatamente”. 

“Thank you” She thanked Harry as soon as the waiter had left in search of the parmesan cheese that she so craved. Harry’s excessive focus on watching the server carrying out her request had prevented him from realizing that she spoke perfect English. He had to stop himself from gasping when processed her delicate voice. She had an accent. Slight. Gentle. Barely-there and it wasn’t Italian. He would later learn that her R’s made it more prominent. 

“It’s alright. It happens” She instantly recognized who he was. Her heart raced for a minute or two, but she restrained herself from making a huge scene. After all, it was Harry Styles. Whom she considered, the most stylish man of her generation. The man could wear a curtain and still pull it off. “I am Harry” He rises a bit from his seat, extending his right hand. 

“Catalina” She shakes his hand with a smile. “So, what brings you here?” Even her name was attractive — he wondered. 

“Is’not obvious?” 

“Not really. Enlighten me” The stranger gives him a small smirk while placing her napkin over her lap after crossing her legs under the table. Harry purges his lips as he uses his index finger and thumb to slightly tug on his bottom lip. 

His whole plan to stay away from her had failed. Did he regret it?. Hell no! He just hoped he had chosen wisely. 

“The art” He reveals as he watches her cut one of her ravioli before putting it in her mouth. She responds by only nodding; too indulged in the explosion of flavors within her mouth. 

“Music?” She hums as she brings the glass of wine up to her mouth. “ I thought you were more of a  dolce far niente type of man” her mouth curved into a smile. Dolce far niente means pleasant relaxation in carefree idleness. Harry instantly identified the phrase from Julia Roberts's famous movie — Eat, Pray, Love. She remembered reading somewhere that he was a rom-com fan. 

“Are you?” He shot back. There was no doubt that he was intrigued by her. 

“Si” She shrugged as she pushed around some ravioli. 

“Then we have more in common than I thought, Catalina” Her name rolled off his tongue without any strain. It was as if he had been practicing for months. She had never heard her name sound so attractively. Sure, he had an accent, but it was still beautifully pronounced. 

Harry’s order arrived moments later. He had ordered the classic spaghetti bolognese. He grabbed his fork and knife and right before digging into the plate, he looked up at her. Catalina had been watching him since silence had fallen upon them. His smirk grew into a soft chuckle as their eyes met. She giggled at him and first noticed his dimples. She now understood everyone's obsession with his smile. 

“Would you join me?” Catalina spluttered after a few minutes of mentally debating with herself. She felt her heart beating in her throat and her hands dripping with sweat as other parts of her body. It was all very hot. 

Catalina wasn’t the type of woman to initiate conversation. She rarely even texts first!. Her excuse is usually that she doesn’t want to bother or interrupt. In reality, she is scared shitless to make a fool out of herself. Therefore, she was quite surprised by herself to have asked him to have dinner together. 

Harry cocked his head with his lips pursed. To her, he looked very pensive as if he was making a big decision. She didn’t blame him. He was on vacation and the last thing he wanted was to be photographed with a random girl and for questions to be asked. Although, he had already agreed in his mind. He just couldn’t come across as desperate. Even though he was. Harry wanted to know more. 

His fingers tucked his clothed napkin into the collar of his shirt. A chuckle left his lips as he pushed his seat back and raised on his feet. He held his plate and utensils with one hand while his glass of wine with the other. 

“So, where are you from?” Harry was first to ask, as he twisted his spaghetti around his folk. Catalina leaned back on her seat, her fingers clenching around her wine glass as she finished swallowing. “I am English” he laughs as if his accent didn’t give it away. 

“Really? Bet my life you were Italian” Catalina bantered 

“What gave it away?” 

“The facial hair and the good head of locks” Harry grinned covering his face with his hands, feeling his cheeks heating up. He felt ridiculous for blushing at such a minuscule compliment. “But anyway, I was born in South America, but raised in Spain by my aunt”. She revealed playing with the small droplets around the cup of ice water that had been forgotten. 

“And what are you doing here?” 

“I study here” She had just finished her first semester. “Well not here, but in Rome. I am majoring in art history”.

The not so strangers sat for hours and indulged in one more bottle of wine. Harry encouraged her to pick but she politely refused. She said that she hadn’t spent enough time in Italy to know what was best. 

She told him about her parents. Her father had walked out on her mother after she had told him that she was expecting. Catalina also shared with him how she felt after losing her mother to cancer when she was only ten. She was quite surprised at herself. She had never shared so much with anyone. Let alone, someone she had met that same night. Harry brought her some kind of comfort that she had no idea she needed. 

Harry listened to her. She hadn’t finished speaking and answering his previous question and he already had another one formulated. He liked hearing her speak. She allowed him to pick at her brain and he liked what he saw. She was driven, independent, somewhat lonely, but incredibly smart. Catalina was also unbelievably wise for her age. 

“What about you? Is fame all you thought it would be?” Catalina asked moments after they had been kicked out of the restaurant. They eventually had to close. Harry held what was left of the bottle as they walked down the isolated streets. 

“That’s a heavily loaded question” He chuckled, “It’s way more complicated and difficult. I think I expected to never feel lonely by the continuous abundance of people around me. But in reality, sometimes it feels lonelier than when I was just Harry” Harry shrugged, masking the pain that the vulnerability that he suddenly felt.

“I get it. The screams and faces don’t match the number of people close to you” Catalina was not famous but she could understand where he was coming from. Sure, her aunt had raised her, but she had felt lonely for most of her life. Her mother's death had felt a gaping hole in her life that no one has ever been able to fulfill. 

“M’not ungrateful for my friends but I do feel lonely. I guess I haven't found what I am looking for” Harry flashed her a reassuring smile as they walked down to the main road. “Let me help yeh” He had seen her struggling to walk over the cobblestone streets. She wore low heel sandals that complemented the white satin dress that she has opted for. Unfortunately, the heels were thin enough to slip through the stones making her overly cautious where she stepped. 

Harry switched the bottle to his other hand and offered his hand for her to take. She stopped momentarily and stared at his massive hands. They were bare. His famous rings were missing as if they had gone on a vacation too. She took his hand and was slightly surprised at their softness. She had expected them to be rough but they were quite the opposite. 

“Thank you” 

“No problem” He wanted to spend more time with her. He wished that the night wasn’t ending. “I would invite you for some gelato, but it’s quite late. I doubt there is any place opened” 

“How long are you staying?” Catalina asked as she noticed them approaching the entrance of her hotel. 

“A few more weeks” the splendor of the lights of the entrance of the hotel illuminated her features. Harry couldn’t help thinking how lovely she looked. 

“I’ve had a lovely time. Will I see you tomorrow?” 

“M’not planning on goin anywhere” Catalina reached up, resting a delicate hand on his shoulder, she kissed his cheek. 

“I’ll see you around then” She gave him a little wave as she walked her way through the doors. She would later realize that she hadn’t only kissed him because it was part of her culture and tradition but because he managed to ignite a flame within her — that one had ever done before. 

#harry styls #harry styles #harry #harry imagine #harry imagines #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry fanfic #harry fanfiction #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry angst #harry blurb #harry fluff #harry styles angst #harry styles blurb #harry styles fluff #harry smutt #harry styles smutt #harry preference #harry styles preferences #harry x reader #harry x y/n #harry x you #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x reader #harry styles x you

[kanthypantsalltheway]

hi! Im so glad that you ship philioise😭i really dont want marina to die though especislly since they did her dirty on the show. Also its so disgusting how people are like "i love complex characters" but the next sec they are like "He is misogynistic because he was sad that he couldnt make marina happy and that his introvert ass was frightened by Eloise". Im all for bisexual eloise (or any character) as long as they end up with their endgame, we didnt wait so many years for the tv show to butcher this.

Hello nonnie! Its true, I dont want marina to die. Call me delusional, but I still want George to arrive out of nowhere and sweep her into their happy place. But if they do kill Marina, I really want her to die peacefully. I want to see her happy.

As for the mischaracterisation (is that a word?idk) of Sir Phillip, Idk where to start. I am not a hardcore philoise shipper, but I do love them. When I first read TSPWL I was frustrated by him, somewhere down the middle, I was curious, and by the end I was happy, but I craved a better development of their relationship. Idk if its a Julia Quinn thing, but she never gives a proper ending, a proper complete arc, it lacks something , and the show is no better as we can see in season 1.

I can understand his awkwardness , his frustration, his hesistance towards his children fueled by the rejection and torture from his father, and his dismay at failing to save Marina, HOWEVER, I do wish they wouldnt prioritize his grief of losing her over her own demise in the show, and actually show the damage that abused children face that leads them to question if they can be loved or can love. Also, I found him annoying at times, but not misogynistic, unless I missed some lines. His shock at her arrival, his befuddlement at her nonstop chattering was funny, actually. I would like Eloise to teach him a lesson or two more often. In ways, its funny that I resemble him at times,because I too would not be able to survive someone chattering non stop to my face.

Also, Eloise isn't a lesbian. Stop labelling every feminist woman passing by as a lesbian, stop trivialising lesbianism. Its very stupid and ignorant. And to tell you the truth, Eloise has a lot of growing up to do, she isnt even a feminist. She is still ignorant and has a lot to learn.

Lastly, I really don't care who ships whom, as long as you arent shoving it down someones throat. There are Philoise fans who have been waiting years for this to happen. If people ship Phillip or Eloise with anyone else then best write a fanfic. Its interesting and some authors there are better than the bridgerton writers, I am not kidding. There are people like me who don't like and find it absurd when Anthony and Sienna are shipped, similarly,understand the frustrations of others. Also bridgerton fans need do hype each couple up if they want eight seasons, thats all I want.

#i cant be anymore clearer than this #sorry not sorry #eloise bridgerton #marina thompson #eloise x phillip #phillip crane #bridgerton

[nocompromise-noregrets]

Maudie - 1,2 and 5 for the OC meme?

WOOHOO MORE MAUDIE thank you! :D :D :D

1. Who are they closest to? How did they meet and what do they like to do together? It's pretty much always been Bard. They were childhood friends, running round the walkways of Lake-town causing havoc, and they were more or less inseparable best friends right through Maudie's holy-terror-with-the-girls years, until Maudie figured out that everything she'd ever really wanted had been right there under her nose the whole time. I am going to have to censor her first answer for what they like to do together, because she is still a holy terror (she says they'd have had more than three children if she'd had the chance, and now they're getting a second try at things in Valinor she's not at all against the idea of having more XD ) but she is most enjoying having a lovely garden to walk in, and being close to the sea (swimming was always something they enjoyed, living on the lake, and now they're getting to do it again), and having two more people in their relationship to get to know and look after and love.

2. What were they like as a child? Were they quiet and reserved, outgoing, or a bit of both? Maudie was a holy terror from day one :D Very outgoing, an utter hellraiser, mischief from morning till night. (Bard was a lot quieter, and she brought him out of himself a lot, but he also calmed her down...but only a little bit, because she is irrepressible.)

5. How affectionate are they? What are their top love languages? I've answered this one here, but I'm going to go on a bit more :D Maudie is SUPER affectionate with everyone she loves (or even likes), she's a lot like a kitten - very cuddly, and very cheeky. She doesn't let anyone (by which I mean Thranduil) fob her off or keep her at arm's length, she just marches on in and gives them a hug. I don't understand the whole love languages thing but she's a great one for looking after her loved ones, making sure they're eating, and making sure they know she's there to talk to if they need her (and coaxing them into talking if they need it :D )

Thank you for asking! <3333333 Anyone else want to ask me questions about my OCs? (who are Auriel and Maudie - Thranduil’s and Bard’s wives, respectively - and Agnes, Anders the butcher, Jonty the fishmonger, Einar and Julia the owners of the Golden Dragon, Margery, Percy’s wife Greta, and a bunch of other Lake-towners/people of Dale in Empty Vessel-‘verse, and Anna and Katy - Thranduil’s and Bard’s wives, sadly no longer with us - and Bard’s archivist pal Stella, in All I Want Is You-'verse. Oh! And Niphredil, who is Arwen’s companion/adopted little sister in It’s Always Been You.)

#ask game #my writing #go on #ask me stuff! #maudie #lotr

[wrestlingisfake]

AEW Fake Rankings, 9/25/2021

Men's singles division - babyfaces

CM Punk

Bryan Danielson

Jon Moxley (GCW world champion)

Chris Jericho

Cody Rhodes

Darby Allin

Christian Cage (Impact men's world champion)

Eddie Kingston

Orange Cassidy

Brian Pillman, Jr.

Men's singles division - heels

Kenny Omega (AEW men's world champion, AAA mega champion)

Miro (AEW TNT champion)

MJF

Malakai Black

Adam Cole

Andrade El Idolo

Matt Hardy

Powerhouse Hobbs

Shawn Spears

Daniel Garcia*

Unranked: Brian Cage, Dante Martin, Dustin Rhodes, Frankie Kazarian, Feugo Del Sol, Jake Hager, John Silver, Lance Archer, Lee Johnson, Matt Sydal, PAC, QT Marshall

* Not listed on official AEW website roster

A big talking point lately is that AEW's roster has gotten pretty huge. One effect of this expansion is that it's a major pain in the ass for me to keep track of all the wrestlers who mainly compete on the YouTube shows. Going forward, I'll be focusing on the performers who have wrestled in the past 30 days on television or pay-per-views.

There's concern that the big stars from other major-league companies (mostly WWE) will crowd out the wrestlers who came up from the minors. That issue became more clear to me when I put together the above list. Twelve of my men's top 20 came to AEW best known for their WWE runs, and Omega made his name in New Japan. So if you expected AEW to be "the best of the rest," you're left with Darby, Eddie, Orange, Pillman, MJF, Hobbs, Garcia, and a bunch of guys in the background.

We'll have to see if this becomes a problem. I'm optimistic that AEW knows what they're doing, and wrestlers will be regularly cycled into and out of the spotlight. But WWE has conditioned wrestling fans to think that if a wrestler only appears on the C-show, then the bookers have totally given up on them. So I don't blame fans for being skeptical that AEW can find a better way. It's on AEW to prove that guys like Brian Cage, Pac, John Silver, Dante Martin, and Lee Johnson will get their day in the sun. And that's not even getting into the dozens of wrestlers that aren't listed above.

Men's tag team division - babyfaces

Lucha Bros. - Rey Fenix & Penta El 0M (AEW tag team champions, AAA tag team champions)

Santana & Ortiz

Jurassic Express - Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy

Evil Uno & Stu Grayson

Chuck Taylor & Wheeler YUTA*

Men's tag team division - heels

The Young Bucks - Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson

Men of the Year - Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky

FTR - Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood

The Butcher & The Blade

Private Party & Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy

2point0 - Matt Lee & Jeff Parker

TH2 - Jack Evans & Angelico

* Not listed on official AEW website roster

At any given time, AEW has about 16-20 active tag teams, but a lot of them are mainly on Dark and Elevation. Limiting the rankings to teams that have been on real TV in the past month gives us just twelve men's teams. Then again, that's still more than you'll see on most other wrestling shows.

I think it's important that three of the heel teams (Butcher/Blade, Quen/Kassidy, Evans/Angelico) are in Matt Hardy's stable, so it feels like Matt is begging for one of those teams to break away and turn face. The Dark Order also features three teams (Uno/Grayson, John Silver/Alex Reynolds, Alan Angels/Preston Vance), but their storyline about internal problems could break up one or more of those pairings, if not the entire faction. Interestingly, they've started to set up a feud between the entire Hardy Family Office and the sort-of reunited Dark Order, which may be where they blow off a lot of these issues.

Women's division - babyfaces

Ruby Soho

Kris Statlander

Thunder Rosa

Anna Jay

Tay Conti

Hikaru Shida

Big Swole

Riho

Red Velvet

Leyla Hirsch

Women's division - heels

Britt Baker (AEW women's world champion)

Jade Cargill

Nyla Rose

The Bunny

Penelope Ford

Jamie Hayter

Abadon

Diamante*

Unranked: Emi Sakura, Kiera Hogan*, KiLynn King*

* Not listed on official AEW website roster

AEW doesn't do a lot of women's matches on Dynamite and Rampage, but because of the battle royale on the 9/4 pay-per-view some of the overlooked ladies managed to make the cut.

We've seen some alliances forming in this division, which has stoked talk of introducing a women's tag team championship. However, it looks like AEW has other plans, involving a new women's TBS title to complement the men's TNT title.

I don't think the women's roster is deep enough to support any new belts. That doesn't mean I don't want a secondary title or a tag title. I do. But I'm not convinced that introducing a new title will commit AEW to actually push more wrestlers and expand the roster. That commitment is what I really want; new belts are just gravy.

Part-time/semi-retired: Chavo Guerrero Jr., Homicide, Karl Anderson (Impact men's tag team champion), Luke Gallows (Impact men's tag team champion), Mark Henry, Minoru Suzuki, Rebel, Sting, Tully Blanchard, Paul Wight

I don't get the impression that Homicide and Suzuki will be sticking around for very long. Aside from them, all AEW is getting from the "forbidden door" these days is Gallows and Anderson, and all they do lately is stand in the back of Kenny Omega's entourage. These crossovers have been fun and all, but they've been more like Green Lantern/Silver Surfer than JLA/Avengers, if you get my drift.

The Dan Lambert/American Top Team storyline appears to be setting up some kind of match involving Junior dos Santos, Jorge Masvidal, Paige VanZant, and a bunch of other MMA jagoffs I can't be bothered to remember. We'll see if that actually happens, or if they just jerk around about it for another two months.

No TV or PPV matches in 30 days: Aaron Solo, Alan Angels, Alex Reynolds, Anthony Bowens, Austin Gunn, Billy Gunn, Colt Cabana, Colten Gunn, Griff Garrison, Joey Janela, Luther, Marko Stunt, Max Caster, Nick Comoroto, Peter Avalon, Preston Vance, Ricky Starks (FTW champion), Shawn Dean, Sonny Kiss, Wardlow

This doesn't include people like Julia Hart and Serpentico, who regularly appear for AEW but aren't on the official roster and apparently aren't under contract. Regardless, this gives you a good sense of which wrestlers would be the "AEW Dark roster," if we treated it like a separate brand or something. It'll be interesting to check in a few months which of these names are still stuck in this category.

No matches in 30 days: Anthony Ogogo, Brandi Rhodes, Brandon Cutler, Christopher Daniels, Leva Bates, Michael Nakazawa, Sammy Guevara, Yuka Sakazaki

As huge as AEW's roster is, it's impressive that only eight wrestlers are listed here. Guevara has a match set for 9/29, and Daniels is doing a little crossover thing on Impact Wrestling. Brandi just got back from maternity leave, and while I assume she plans to get back in the ring, that remains to be seen. As for the others, it's possible some of these people have injuries or are taking time off, and the details just haven't gotten out.

Inactive

Darius Martin (knee - unspecified ACL injury)

Hangman Page (paternity leave)

Kip Sabian (undisclosed injury)

Serena Deeb (left knee - unspecified injury)

Trent Beretta (neck - herniated intervertebral disc)

The big story here is Page, who was being set up for a major run for Kenny Omega only to suddenly lose his title shot and disappear from the show. That left everyone pretty anxious for Page to get back, especially since a wave of big new stars could crowd him out of his spot. I'm sure AEW knows when Hangman is scheduled to return, but there's no way for any of us to figure it out, which is frustrating.

Trent had neck fusion surgery, which has a notoriously slow recovery time; I don't expect him to be on TV until the middle of 2022. I haven't seen any kind of timetable for Sabian or Martin, probably because there are so few details available about the extent of their injuries.

Deeb had knee surgery in March, returned to the ring in May, and went back on the shelf in July. Evidently she came back too soon, and she's still rehabbing the original knee injury. I worry about that kind of thing when I see Britt Baker (or Impact's Chelsea Green) working through a broken wrist.

#aew #fake rankings

[henryobsessed]

The Widow and the Witcher  Chapter Two

Summery: Julia had purchased Geralt, but will she be able to heal him?

Word count: 2800

Warning: Mention of effects of abuse

A/N Eager for Constructive criticism :) 

Chapter Two

The trip home was longer than expected. Tobias after completing the sale helped to lead the men to the cart, Kias had insisted that the Witcher remain caged. "We use cow prodders to keep him in line, but if he's not in this cage then he's in the wagon cage, as he's too dangerous to be let out. I'm not sure what your mistress is going to do with him, but you'll keep in mind he was the Butcher of Blaviken." Making reference to the bloody fight that the Witcher had won against a gang of men in the streets of Blaviken. Tobias realised Kias was relieved to be done with the Witcher but also worried we would let him go. "Don't worry well not let him out of his cage, and you can get cleared of this place if that's your worry" Tobias laughed as Kias turned quickly at that statement and hurriedly started packing up his camp.

First, they stopped at the market to check on the other servants. Even though Tobias had wanted to go to Renee he knew that he would have to wait. He gave instructions on closing, and left a message for Renee to join him at the estate and re-joined the wagon. While he had been with his men, Julia had visited her husband's friends ordering more food, clothes and bedding to be delivered to the estate that afternoon. The merchants were curious about this new Julia who was exhibiting more purpose and energy than they had seen since Wilfred had died, but refrained from being nosy. They too had heard the slavers cry, and some had contemplated doing the same thing. This sort of slavery was frowned on in Wolnosci, but they all could see that this had lit a fire in their friend's beloved wife's eyes, and they hoped this would be the beginning of her healing from the loss.

Once they arrived at the estate Jolna and Petra helped take the 5 men to the bathhouse, leaving Tobias and Julia with the Witcher. Julia dismounted and went around to the back of the wagon. Tobias was hot on her heels but as she climbed in the back he waited outside knowing she needed to talk to the Witcher on her own, but he would be there if she needed him. Inside the wagon, Julia sat next to the caged man, his heavy breathing could be heard in the silence. Pulling her knees up under her chin Julia took a moment she felt a strange calm as she looked at the man in the cage. Her memories of him the tall proud Witcher who had sat at their camp filled her mind. He didn't look any older but his body spoke of the abuse he had suffered. After a moment of silence she spoke "I can't begin to understand what pain you have been through to bring you to a situation like this. But I remember a white-haired Witcher who risked his life to save my Father, and my 10yr old memory tells me that you are that same Witcher."

Julia waited, hoping that there would be some sign from the man to acknowledge that he knew she was not a threat. "I hear you" a deep raspy voice whispered into the silence. It was all Julia needed to give her the courage to continue, "I need to know what your injuries are, I don't want to move you until I know that it won't cause you more damage." Again, she waited, this time all she heard was a rumbled "mmmmm". Sitting in the stillness she had a thought of how she could assess his wounds without causing more. Getting up she said "I'll be back soon Geralt. Tobias my Loyal friend will be outside if you need something." Again, she waited not wanting to leave before he acknowledged her. Even raspier as thou it was thick with emotion, he breathed: "thank you."

Leaving the wagon, Julia spoke to Tobias "stay here and listen out for his voice. He's quiet so you will need to actively listen. I am going to go prepare the spring, I think the best way to assess his wounds will be in a weightless environment. I won't be long but if any of the men come back, see if you can work out a way to move Geralt into the healing room." At Tobias's nod, she ran to the dwelling.

As she entered the healing room Julia set about preparing the spring. Many years ago Wilfred had hired a man to help work out a way to empty the stagnant water and replenish it with the fresh waters from the spring. Moving the leavers to set in motion the refreshing of the waters she moved to get the additional minerals to add to the spring to aid in the cleansing of Geralt's wounds. After this she went to her books seeking out the one that her mother had handed her on her death bed. It was a special book describing the elixirs and potions used by Witcher. Quickly looking through the pages she found what she needed the recipes for adding healing. Grabbing the herbs she quickly made the appropriate elixir, as well as a tea to aid in a deep sleep.

A sense of calm and purpose filled Julia as she worked on her preparations, not only for Geralt but for the other men who she knew would also have ailments. As she mixed her herbs she realised this was the premonition that she had had this morning. She felt alive all her senses tingled with life, senses that had become dull and silent over the last 3 years since Wilfred had died. As she kept working the other servants were led into her rooms, along with a cart pulling Geralt and his cage. The 5 men looked clean and now dressed in clothes that would be warm, a better protection than the rags they had been in before.

Julia addressed the men, "I don't know what situation has bought you to a place of being with Kias, but I want to get to know each one of you more in the coming weeks. First, you need to know that here you will be safe. You will be fed, clothed, and given a warm bed to sleep. I am a healer, so in a moment I will be talking with you individually about how you are in your body, and if there is anything that is causing you pain. I will do my best to keep you all healthy. In return, all I expect is that you respect me and my servants, that you are honest with me about your circumstances, and when we work out what you can do best to serve this household, that you will do it to the best of your ability. If you do this, we will work well together."

As much as Julia wanted to go to Geralt, and help him right away she instead saw to each man. She assessed their health, and talked to them about where they were from, and their situation. All but one had indentured themselves to help family financial problems. The last one named Harlan had been kidnapped as he was travelling to Temeria. All agreed to stay and work for Julia. She dressed some wounds and dispensing small herbal supports for malnourishment and stomach ailments. Julia directed Petra to take them to the eating room as Nessie had prepared a small meal to help them gain their appetites back. As they left, she turned to Geralt he seemed to be asleep his eyes shut head bowed.

As she approached, he turned and looked at her, the pained look in his eyes caused Julia's heart to clench, "We are going to lower you into the Spring Geralt, but before that, we need to remove your clothing. Can you tell me how long you have been confined like this?" Tobias and Jolna waited with Julia while Geralt found his words. "I have only crawled for the last 8 months so I don't know if I can walk. I had just fought a particularly strong Bruxa and had taken a healing elixir when Kais came across me. I was not yet strong enough to fight him. They kept me in this cage during the day and in a wagon cage that I could crawl into, but it was only tall enough that I could sleep stretched out." his words were slow, measured, and Julia could tell that even this small amount of conversation was wearing him out.

Inspecting the cage Tobias found the latches and carefully removed the side. Julia trying to see the best way to remove his disheveled and dirty clothes concluded she would need to cut them off him carefully. Kneeling next to him Julia put her hand gently on his arm pulling his attention to her face, "I'm sorry I know this may be painful but just touch my arm if you need a rest or for me to stop." He nodded and closed his eyes a tenseness setting in his face as he prepared himself.

While Julia proceeded to start cutting along the seams of his shirt Tobias and Jolna disassembled the rest of the cage to allow more access to the big man. All that was left was the last piece that seemed to be holding Geralt up. As each layer of clothing was removed more and more Julia could see the scaring and abuse that Geralt had suffered, sometimes Geralt would groan loudly in pain as she had to shift a limb or mumble a curse word but he never once halted the action. It showed Julia that even in this state his will was strong, giving her hope that his spirit was not completely broken.

As the last of the layers of clothing was freed from his body, she looked up at Tobias, tears silently running down her cheeks. This was the first time treating a patient that the extent of abuse caused her grief, pulling herself together she spoke with a soft voice "Right let's get you over to the spring" his eyes opened at her words gazing at her wet cheeks, Julia stood quickly and went to get her pain relievers taking a moment to compose herself, while the two silent men pushed Geralt towards the water's edge. Julia touched Geralt on the shoulder his eyes glassy with pain met hers "I want you to drink some of this it's a pain relief and healing elixir it will help you to move and with the pain." Lifting the cup to Geralt's lips he drank slowly.

The warm water felt good on her tired body, Julia had been running on adrenalin and even now could not relax as they wheeled the cart into the water. As the water began to cover Geralt's body she heard him groan again but this was less of pain and more of relief. Once the buoyancy of the water made it possible Tobias and Jolna lifted Geralt from the cart, and floated him toward Julia. His body was in a crouched position being supported by the two assistances, she started to run her hands lightly over his skin making mental note of the old scars compared with the wounds. His body was malnourished. Julia remembering how Geralt had looked when she had seen him with her father, remembered that he had once been strong and muscular. She hoped with time he would regain those features. The trauma of the last 8 months had caused his skin to sag with loss of weight and his muscles held no strength. There were many wounds that would need cleaning and some burns that had turned into blisters along his torso.

Placing a supporting hand on his lower back she massaged along the spine feeling for any damage. Thankful that it seemed to be just stiff and not out of alignment she moved to his hips. The smallest pressure as she felt around the hips brought on a cry from Geralt, pausing she gently manipulated the joints and muscles assessing each action until she was confident that nothing was broken. Once she was sure the hips were loosened, she pushed the right hip up releasing the thigh and leg to straighten out. Seeing more scars and wounds as she straightened out the other leg Julia felt a sense of great sadness and anger. How could anyone treat someone so badly, even our animals were not treated with such cruelty.

She now had him fully stretched out, bringing a flat board and towel over she placed the towel over his pelvis to give him some privacy and floated the board under him. When she saw it took his weight without sinking, she spoke. "We are going to let you float here for a while Geralt, the water will not grow cold but Jolna will stay just in case you need anything. I'm going to get you something small to eat and then we will move you to a cot here in the room. Your wounds will need dressing, but I will do that once your dry and laying down."

Julia ran her hand over his brow which had lost some of its tension. Without opening his eyes he mumbled a thank you and fell silent. His breathing seemed to even out as she watched the silver medallion, the only thing she had not cut off his body rise and fall with each breath. Almost hypnotic in its action she stared for a moment mesmerized by the medallion. A sound from Jolna made her pulled her eyes away from the sleeping form. Taking a deep breath, she turned and moved out of the Spring. She was caught between wanting to stay by her patient and the need to gather food for herself. He stomach made a grumbling sound making the decision for her as she moved out of the room and away from the sleeping man.

Tobias made note of the hour, it was dark outside, and the house was quiet. During the evening Renee had arrived and seeing the chaos jumped into action. She helped set up the beds for the new servants, helped Nessie in the kitchen and had seen to the clean-up. Tobias was so blessed to have met this beautiful caring woman. Having no memory of his mother he had instead looked for a woman like his mistress, knowing if he found someone with a similar character that he would be blessed, and he had found her. Walking out onto the balcony Tobias watched Renee, her sandy coloured hair blowing about in the evening breeze. He walked up behind her and pulled her into his arms. "Thank you for tonight my love, your willingness to see a need, and jump straight in to help has only accentuated my love for you."

Still looking at the stars but now resting her head on his chest Renee chuckled, "Well if you had walked into a house and seen what I saw you would have done the same. Anyway, poor Nessie was beside herself. Her planned meal had jumped from 7 to 13 people in just minutes of your arrival at home. However, all I did was just take orders. She truly is a master in that kitchen." Turning around in his arms Renee looked up at Tobias. His eyes taking in her soft round face, freckled nose and sea blue eyes, which seemed to sparkle with love. His eyes shifted to her small pink lips and that was his undoing. He bent down and kissed her deeply.

Julia looked down at the sleeping form, she had spent most of the afternoon and evening dressing his wounds, applying salves on the burns, and feeding him. His amber yellow eyes had watched her silently apart from the groans of pain as she had treated him, but Julia had not felt unsafe or in danger as the slaver trader had said. Instead, she felt something different, like a cry from deep inside him that called out to her. Her only hope was that he would learn to trust her enough to talk to her. The sleeping tea she had prepared was working, his face relaxed, his breathing steady. Relaxing into the day bed she had pulled over to be closer to Geralt in case he needed her in the night. Julia fell into an uneasy asleep filled with just one picture in her mind, those piercing amber-yellow eyes.

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#geralt #thewitcher