#EJ Strickland

[piratewithvigor]

AEW Roster Organized By Age (& events, for context)

Source: Smackdown Hotel

Jan 3 1952 - Jim Ross

Feb 8 1952 - Elizabeth II crowned

May 30 1955 - Jake Roberts

Nov 3 1957 - Laika becomes first animal in space

Nov 7 1957 - Tony Schiavone

May 13 1958 - Velcro is patented

Sep 20 1958 - Arn Anderson

Mar 20 1959 - Sting

Jun 12 1963 - Jerry Lynn

Jul 1 1963 - ZIP codes are introduced in the US

Oct 13 1963 - Don Callis

Nov 11 1963 - Daddy Ass

Apr 14 1967 - Jeff Jarrett

May 9 1967 - Kevin Kelly

Oct 11 1967 - Taz

Dec 6 1967 - First successful heart transplant

May 10 1968 - William Regal

Oct 30 1968 - Luther

Apr 10 1969 - Dustin Rhodes

Jul 16 1969 - Apollo 11 lands the first people on the moon

Mar 24 1970 - Christopher Daniels

Nov 9 1970 - Chris Jericho

Dec 18 1970 - Rob Van Dam

Apr 3 1971 - Alex Marvez

Jun 12 1971 - Mark Henry

Feb 8 1972 - Paul Wight

Oct 12 1972 - Karen Jarrett

Nov 29 1972 - Atari releases Pong

Oct 30 1973 - Adam Copeland

Nov 30 1973 - Christian Cage

Jan 1 1974 - Jim Ross starts his career in wrestling

Sep 23 1974 - Matt Hardy

Oct 8 1975 - Michael Nakazawa

Jan 23 1976 - Nigel McGuinness

May 8 1976 - First roller coaster with a loop in it opens

Oct 4 1976 - Emi Sakura

Feb 28 1977 - Lance Archer

Aug 31 1977 - Jeff Hardy

Nov 9 1977 - Alex Abrahantes

Dec 12 1977 - The Butcher

Mar 17 1979 - Samoa Joe

Aug 1 1979 - Prince Nana

Oct 3 1979 - Johnny TV

Dec 29 1979 - Justin Roberts

May 6 1980 - Colt Cabana

Jun 2 1980 - The Blade

Jul 16 1980 - Excalibur

Nov 17 1980 - Mercedes Martinez

Dec 27 1980 - Claudio Castagnoli

Feb 19 1981 - Shawn Spears

May 22 1981 - Bryan Danielson

Aug 1 1981 - MTV debuts

Dec 12 1981 - Eddie Kingston

Apr 7 1982 - Sonjay Dutt

May 21 1982 - Kota Ibushi

Aug 3 1982 - Nyla Rose

Oct 10 1982 - Tony Khan

Dec 3 1982 - Jake Hager

Mar 1 1983 - Mark Sterling

Mar 19 1983 - Matt Sydal

Apr 1 1983 - Scorpio Sky

Jul 26 1983 - Roderick Strong

Oct 16 1983 - Kenny Omega

Dec 7 1983 - Matt Menard

Jan 26 1984 - JD Drake

Feb 2 1984 - Brian Cage

Feb 17 1984 - Jimmy Jacobs

Feb 23 1984 - Serpentico

Mar 20 1984 - Angelo Parker

May 4 1984 - Orange Cassidy

Jun 30 1984 - Dax Harwood

Jul 1 1984 - PG13 rating is invented

Sep 19 1984 - Renee Paquette

Nov 4 1984 - Ryan Nemeth

Nov 8 1984 - Keith Lee

Dec 26 1984 - Pat Buck

Dec 29 1984 - Anthony Henry

Jan 17 1985 - Mark Briscoe

Feb 13 1985 - Truth Magnum

Feb 26 1985 - Penta El Zero Miedo

Mar 13 1985 - Matt Jackson

Mar 19 1985 - Luchasaurus

Mar 20 1985 - Matt Taven

Mar 23 1985 - CJ

Mar 31 1985 - First Wrestlemania

May 16 1985 - Mike Bennett

May 19 1985 - Malakai Black

Apr 20 1985 - Jay Lethal

Jul 15 1985 - QT Marshall

Aug 6 1985 - Tony Nese

Sep 9 1985 - The Bunny

Dec 7 1985 - Jon Moxley

Dec 25 1985 - Miro

Jan 24 1986 - Vincent

Feb 5 1986 - Madison Rayne

Feb 19 1986 - Shawn Dean

Feb 21 1986 - The first Zelda game is released

Mar 2 1986 - Bishop Kaun

Mar 4 1986 - Dalton Castle

Apr 8 1986 - Big Bill

Apr 22 1986 - Chuck Taylor

Jun 15 1986 - Cezar Bononi

Jun 29 1986 - Serena Deeb

Jul 22 1986 - Thunder Rosa

Aug 21 1986 - Pac

Oct 22 1986 - Taya Valkyrie

Jan 13 1987 - Ian Riccaboni

Feb 4 1987 - Aaron Solo

Mar 1 1987 - Kyle O'Reilly

Mar 7 1987 - Angelico

Mar 10 1987 - Alex Reynolds

Mar 17 1987 - Brody King

Mar 30 1987 - Trent Beretta

May 17 1987 - Cash Wheeler

Apr 21 1987 - Dutch

Jun 18 1987 - Brandon Cutler

Jul 20 1987 - Evil Uno

Sep 5 1987 - AR Fox

Jan 19 1988 - Wardlow

Mar 20 1988 - Josh Woods

Apr 14 1988 - Marina Shafir

Apr 17 1988 - Dasha Gonzalez

Jun 11 1988 - Hikaru Shida

Jul 18 1988 - RJ City

Aug 23 1988 - Metalik

Aug 28 1988 - EJ Nduka

Aug 31 1988 - Athena

Sep 26 1988 - Buddy Matthews

Sep 29 1988 - Rush

Nov 24 1988 - Anthony Ogogo

Jan 25 1989 - Stu Grayson

Apr 10 1989 - Juice Robinson

Apr 11 1989 - Ari Daivari

Jun 14 1989 - Peter Avalon

Jul 5 1989 - Adam Cole

Jul 27 1989 - Nick Jackson

Jul 31 1989 - Max Caster

Sep 20 1989 - Ethan Page

Nov 3 1989 - Andrade El Idolo

Dec 17 1989 - The Simpsons premiers

Aug 17 1990 - Danhausen

Aug 20 1990 - Mark Davis

Sep 30 1990 - Swerve Strickland

Nov 12 1990 - Stokely Hathaway

Dec 18 1990 - Anthony Bowens

Dec 30 1990 - Rey Fenix

Jan 9 1991 - Ruby Soho

Jan 23 1991 - Powerhouse Hobbs

Jan 30 1991 - Toa Liona

Feb 4 1991 - Mike Santana

Apr 22 1991 - Nick Comoroto

Apr 23 1991 - Dr Britt Baker DMD

May 18 1991 - Colten Gunn

Jun 4 1991 - John Silver

Jul 14 1991 - Diamante

Jul 21 1991 - Adam Page

Aug 23 1991 - World Wide Web starts up

Sep 27 1991 - Ortiz

Nov 22 1991 - Brandon

Nov 22 1991 - Brent

Jan 15 1992 - Preston Vance

Apr 7 1992 - Abadon

May 19 1992 - Kip Sabian

Jun 3 1992 - Red Velvet

Aug 17 1992 - Saraya

Sep 14 1992 - Penelope Ford

Sep 15 1992 - Dralistico

Oct 9 1992 - Jay White

Dec 27 1992 - Yuka Sakazaki

Jan 7 1993 - Darby Allin

Jul 28 1993 - Sammy Guevara

Jan 25 1994 - Willow Nightingale

Feb 21 1994 - Ricky Starks

Mar 26 1994 - Paige Vanzant

Apr 12 1994 - Marq Quen

Jun 6 1994 - Lee Moriarty

Aug 26 1994 - Austin Gunn

Sep 16 1994 - Kiera Hogan

Apr 17 1995 - Bandido

Apr 23 1995 - Jamie Hayter

May 29 1995 - Konosuka Takeshita

Jun 6 1995 - Tay Melo

Aug 7 1995 - Kris Statlander

Oct 19 1995 - Toni Storm

Nov 13 1995 - Boulder

Nov 13 1995 - Bronson

Nov 22 1995 - Toy Story is released

Dec 10 1995 - Satnam Singh

Mar 15 1996 - MJF

Aug 11 1996 - Lexy Nair

Oct 26 1996 - Wheeler Yuta

Apr 29 1997 - El Hijo Del Vikingo

Jun 4 1997 - Riho

Jun 15 1997 - Jack Perry

Jul 10 1997 - Isiah Kassidy

Oct 27 1997 - Leyla Hirsch

Dec 13 1997 - Lee Johnson

Mar 9 1998 - Parker Boudreaux

Jul 15 1998 - Anna Jay

Aug 4 1998 - Mariah May

Sep 7 1998 - Daniel Garcia

Dec 15 1998 - Komander

Dec 24 1998 - Kyle Fletcher

May 4 1999 - Hook

Sep 20 1999 - Darius Martin

Oct 2 1999 - Skye Blue

Mar 3 2001 - Dante Martin

Mar 23 2001 - WWF buys WCW

Nov 8 2001 - Julia Hart

Oct 13 2004 - Billie Starkz

Jul 10 2005 - Nick Wayne

Jan 17 2012 - Negative One

[braveclxrke]

Fanfic origin story

thank you for the tag @ravens-words 🖤

What was your first fandom (reading and/or writing)?

Reading: i believe that it was teen wolf and Spn

Writing: The first three fics I posted were Teen wolf, then Shadowhunters and then Spn

What was the first story you ever wrote?

It was a Teen wolf AU, i wrote it back in 2015 and never finished it (oops and apologies to the person who commented the other month asking if it will ever be updated…unfortunately not)

What's a piece of advice you would give your younger fic writing self? 

From looking back at my old work - separate your paragraphs lol, i have some massive blocks of writing.

But also, just write - even if it's not perfect and there are errors, just find your writing style and keep writing.

What's an early fandom interaction that stuck with you (be it a nice comment, a friend you made, a fic that got a lot of fedback)? 

There are so many people that have influenced my tumblr/fandom experience, i have to give a shout-out to two of the most important

EJ @ravens-words, my dearest and bestie, you have beta read soooo many of my fics and have pushed me to write when I couldn’t, you listen to my chaotic rambles that turn into the fics and are always there to brainstorm and help with ideas, most of my tarlos/malex fics wouldn’t be here without you.

Ashley @bellamyblakru - my amazing co-admin, from your sassanach sister across the sea, I can 1000% say i wouldn’t be writing Merthyr fics without you, you brought me into that fandom and have ALWAYS, supported my fics, no matter what fandom it's for and even for shows you don’t watch, I hope you know how much that means to me! in summary; these two amazing people are the reason I write/post and I love them 💛💖

Post a sentence or two from an older fic and a sentence or two from a newer one (if you want)

Your heart knows the truth

Merlin felt his lip quiver. For as long as he had known Arthur, he had never wished the man didn’t care for Merlin, he'd never wished that Arthur didn’t feel the same as he did.  But today he did. He wished with all his heart that Arthur just saw Merlin as some servant, someone who could be replaced.  Merlin closed his eyes, another tear escaping. For the first time, Merlin wished that Arthur didn’t love him like he loved Arthur.

False hope is a terrible thing, if it's the only thing keeping you alive you'll be dead by dawn.

TK glanced down at the phone next to him, “No word from Carlos?” She asked, her voice gentle. The Adam's apple in his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, the wood of the chopstick creaking from his tight grip. “No,” He lamented. TK went to take a bite of food, pausing as he found his appetite was gone. TK let them fall back into the box, TK sticking the chops in and placing the food on the table. TK rested his elbows on his thighs, his hands clasped together as his chin rested on them, “I fucked up,” He confessed.

tagging: @morganaspendragonss @marwani-strickland @lire-casander @tailoredshirt @bluenet13 @howlingsaturn🧡

[theloniousbach]

ALMOST LIVESTREAM: OBASI AKATO with Steve Wilson and EJ Strickland, SMALL’S JAZZ CLUB, 12 AUGUST 2024, 10:30 pm set

I often catch OBASI AKATO’s sets as they swing hard around blues and standards. He has a big woody tone and is very melodic. But he’s not that subtle and there’s just a bluster about him. Sometimes his bandmates are run of the mill and other times, like this go around, they are spectacular.

Indeed, Steve Wilson is a particularly intriguing player, an altoist who is linear but, not seemingly in the Lee Konitz tradition. And he doesn’t evoke Charlie Parker either. Bill Charlap said, no one sings a melody like Steve Wilson. He might back into a melody, particularly if his solo followed that of his leader’s bass and that added to his enigma. In any case, I keep looking for gigs that he’s on to try to place him. I am no closer to solving that puzzle, but I’m very glad to have heard him on this piano-less gig especially. Even if I ever do figure him out that will only be more reason to listen to him.

EJ Strickland brought plenty of subtlety to the drum kit. He was not intimidated either by Okato or the challenge of not having a piano. He filled those spaces with cymbal shimmers or crisp pings and tom tom figures. Above all, he was always playing the tune, even on later choruses of his solos.

Akoto was a force, but he’s too fine a musician to not recognize the strengths of the band he put together. His tunes were nicely chosen—Duke Peason’s Jeanine, Alone Together, a particularly twisty Monk tune, Comes Love (sung by Anna-Lisa Kirby—with just bass and drums and Wilson coming in after her), and a particularly refracted standard.

Quite a band and quite a gig. I liked Akoto’s work just fine, but Wilson and Strickland were even better.

[angrymarks]

Swerve Strickland, EJ Nduka, Hikaru Shida, Deonna, Collision, WWE Videos, No Quarter Catch Crew - Sunday Wrestling News #1

http://dlvr.it/T8yVwm

[rich4a1]

Jim Alfredson Family Business

Jim Alfredson Family Business Posi-Tone Yes, more organ music, but organist Jim Alfredson, on his first Posi-Tone release as a leader, invites three of the label’s horn players to join his trio of guitarist Will Bernard and drummer EJ Strickland. The three horn players should be familiar names, all leaders in their own right, who, like Bernard, have their own albums on the label. They are…

[mosaicrecords]

What Drummers Think About Buddy Rich

Andrew Gilbert sorts out an ongoing conflict among drum students. You must swing (play along with records then your high school big band. You learn to read and play the dynamics and cues of the arrangement. But what you can never “learn” is the ability to swing. Listen to every drummer you love and find the feel. That’s drumming (from Baby Dodds to Tony Williams)!

-Michael Cuscuna

Read and watch from JazzTimes… Follow: Mosaic Records Facebook Tumblr Twitter

[lire-casander]

from a boy into a man ~ chapter 2: how fast time walks and runs and flies by

[~2.6 words] [teen and up audiences] [beta'ed by @meloingly] [title from love like this by ben rector] [tk strand, carlos reyes, paul strickland, owen strand, mateo chavez, marjan marwani, original female character] [alternate universe — roommates, alternate universe — college, angst, drug use, drug abuse, mentions of an overdose, alternating pov]

[tk and carlos need to face the aftermath of an overdose while being separated]

[written for @ravens-words​ ’  birthday! happy birthday, my lovely ej! i wish you the very best and i hope you have all the happiness you deserve, all the happiness you spread into the world!]

from a boy into a man chapter 2: how fast time walks and runs and flies by | on ao3

<< part one

TK is only paying half a mind to what Paul is telling him. He hadn’t expected Paul to be the first to enter the room, after everything he’s heard the nurses tell each other. He’d expected Carlos, but of course he wasn’t going to get his wish granted, Lately, he hasn’t had such luck.

From what he’s gathered from the nurses, he’s coded twice and they’ve been trying to clean his system from substances for hours now. He’s lost track of how long it’s been, but from the dimming light outside the narrow window in this hospital room, TK would say that the whole day has passed.

He looks away from the door the moment Paul leaves the room. He knows what's waiting for him on the other side — who will set foot in the room after Paul bids his goodbyes — and he'd be lying if he said he isn’t scared.

He's terrified.

He knows he's let Carlos down. TK looks down at his fingers entangled on the seams of the sheets as the door doesn't immediately close after Paul, a sure sign that someone's held it open to step inside.

"TK," Carlos breathes out. TK can hear the shuffling of feet across the tiled floors of the hospital room. "How are you feeling?"

He shrugs with one shoulder, the other bruised from the fall he's taken back in their dorm. He winces at the pain that shoots through his muscles.

There's a scratching of metal as he thinks Carlos takes the chair next to the bed and sits on it.

"You don’t have to say anything," Carlos continues. "I'm sorry, TK. I've failed you."

At those words, TK finally looks up to meet worried brown eyes that are staring back at him with so much grief swimming in them that it's devastating to see.

"You—You haven’t failed me," he replies in a soft voice, throat raw from the tubes the doctors have used to pump the drugs out of his system. "It’s me who should be apologizing."

"You should be resting," Carlos tells him. He reaches out only to stop his hand a few inches from touching TK’s. "Can I?" he whispers, fingers curling in on themselves as though afraid of moving forward.

TK stares down at them briefly, his mind racing a mile a second. He nods, letting go of the sheets and offering his palm up. Carlos takes his hand and squeezes.

"We will talk in the morning," he promises. "But now you need to sleep. The doctors said you'd be exhausted."

"He's coming, isn’t he?" TK asks instead of following Carlos' advice. He knows he doesn’t need to elaborate — Carlos knows exactly who TK’s talking about. When his roommate sighs, TK leans back into the pillows. "Fucking fantastic."

"C'mon, TK," Carlos tries again, an attempt at being conciliatory. "Just close your eyes and sleep. We'll talk in the morning. I promise."

"He'll be here by morning," TK insists when a yawn assaults him. “I want to talk now.”

“It’s been an intense day,” Carlos reasons, squeezing TK’s hand. “Just sleep now. I’ll still be here when you wake up.”

“Promise?” TK says in a small voice.

Carlos nods. Despite his efforts to not closing his eyes, TK finally surrenders to exhaustion and he allows himself to fall prey to slumber.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

“I can’t believe this has happened again.”

Carlos starts awake at the sound of a grave voice filling the silence that reigned in the room before. He blinks quickly to chase away the remnants of sleep and rubs his eyes for good measure as he straightens up. His back and his neck complain at the sudden motion. He realizes two things at the same time.

The first one is that he must have fallen asleep on the bed, hand gripping TK’s finger as a silver lining and head on the narrow space between TK’s leg and the edge of the mattress.

The second one is that Fire Captain Owen Strand has arrived.

“Sir, I must warn you—” the voice of a nurse trying to placate Captain Strand is barely audible over the older man’s booming words.

“I don’t care about your warnings, just let me in the room,” Captain Strand interrupts. It’s then that Carlos realizes that Captain Strand is outside the room, the loudness of his voice confusing him.

The ajar door opens completely and he hears heavy footsteps getting into the room. He stands up, ready to turn around, but before he can do it he feels TK tightening his own grip on Carlos’ hand, signalling that his friend is also awake. He turns to find green eyes boring into his face, fear etched in them.

“TK,” Captain Strand greets. Carlos looks up in time to see fleeting pain coloring his features before he manages to school them into a hard mask. “Carlos. I hadn’t realized you were here.”

“I’ve spent the night,” Carlos finds himself replying. He’s still stuck in place. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” both TK and his father say at the same time.

“Thank you for taking care of him tonight,” Captain Strand continues. “But I think it’s time for you to go back to the dorm and get some good-quality sleep, son.”

“Please don’t go,” TK begs. “Don’t make him go, Dad.”

“I think it’s better if I do,” Carlos tells TK. He looks away briefly. “I can be back later, if you want me to.”

“You promised we’d talk,” his friend whines softly. “Please.”

“TK,” Captain Strand says with a finality in his voice that doesn’t allow any retort. “Carlos seems tired. Let him go rest, and we will talk.”

“But—”

“No buts,” Carlos tells him warmly. “I’ll be back later. I promised we’d talk, and you know I never break a promise.”

He hears Captain Strand snort, and he blushes. Carlos is aware that he’s broken the only promise he’d thought he’d keep forever — he hasn’t been taking care of TK the way TK needed. He’s been slipping in his best friend’s duties and this is the result — TK in a hospital bed after an overdose that’s happened on Carlos’ watch.

He will never forgive himself, and knowing Captain Strand seems to feel the same isn’t helping matters.

“I should go,” he stammers. “It’s good to see you, Captain Strand. I wish it was under different circumstances.”

“Same here, son, same here.”

Carlos doesn’t wait to hear TK’s reply, because he knows that whatever leaves his friend’s mouth will be a plea to stay, and he lets go of TK’s hand as though it burns. He turns around and leaves the room in a rush, the guilt and the shame pooling in his gut alongside the dread that he’s ruined something, and he doesn’t really know exactly what it is.

Paul is waiting for him in the waiting room, looking like he hasn’t gone home either, and Carlos stumbles into his open arms. His mind doesn’t even register the words Paul whispers into his ear, as he finally allows his feelings to take over and he breaks down in tears.

Paul convinces him to go home and take a shower, never leaving his side — going as far as to wait outside the bathroom door as Carlos scrubs the pain off his skin. He even convinces Carlos to take a short nap in an actual bed, but he doesn’t rest long.

Four hours after having left TK to his father’s wrath, Paul drives Carlos back to the hospital. Carlos rushes his way up to the room, opening the door cautiously in case TK is asleep. He is greeted by an empty room.

Carlos asks at the nurses’ station. Nobody seems to be able to give him an actual answer until he spots the nurse who had tried to stop Captain Strand from barging into the room before exiting a room by the end of the corridor. He jogs towards him.

“Excuse me,” he breathes out once he’s close to the other man. “I’m Carlos Reyes, I came here last night with TK Strand. He was admitted for an overdose and he got placed in room—”

“Mr. Reyes,” the nurse cuts him, hands up in the air as if placating him. “I know who you are, and I know who you’re here for. I’m sorry, Mr. Strand has requested to be discharged and he’s left the hospital with his father around an hour and a half ago. They left this for you,” the nurse tells him, guiding Carlos back to the station and handing him an envelope.

Carlos’ brain short-circuits as the words sink in. He shakes his head, taking the envelope but not opening it. The nurse only looks at him with pity in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he repeats.

Carlos fishes for his phone in his front pocket, producing it in a trembling movement and punching the code to unlock the screen. He goes to his speed dial and clicks on TK’s name — the first one in a really short list. The line rings and rings until it goes to voicemail. He doesn’t leave a message, instead hanging up and redialing. This time, the call goes straight to voicemail. The third time he tries, a voice tells him that the line isn’t available.

Carlos leans against the closest wall and slides down to the ground, his free hand buried in his curls and tears spilling from his eyes.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

A week into his forced isolation, TK thinks he’s about to go crazy. He should never have agreed to this, but it’s not like he’s had any say on the matter — his father stormed into his hospital room, chased Carlos away and scooped TK out of the building and into a rehab center in the woods faster than he could have said his own name. By the time TK could even properly think about what was happening, he was registered into the center and settled in a room of his own.

Phones are forbidden in this place, and it’s been seven days since Carlos promised they’d talk. He can only hope that his father has thought of contacting his best friend and let him know that TK’s going to be off the grid for a whole month, finals be damned. His father only allowed him to scratch a short note for Carlos saying that he was going to get clean.

He isn’t sure whether that's enough.

"TK," he hears, a voice cutting through the calmness washing over him as he stares into the lake in the center of the gardens surrounding the building. He turns around to see Dr. Fridstar tapping her foot on the ground. "You've lost track of time again, huh?"

"Sorry," he mutters. He starts towards her. "I completely forgot we had a session right now."

"Fifteen minutes ago," she smiles. "But don’t worry, I knew where to find you."

TK shrugs. He moves forward but stops himself when Dr. Fridstar shakes her head and motions for him to sit down on the grass. When they’re both settled, she smiles.

"Do you like it here?"

TK nods. "It helps me calm down when I'm feeling like I'm losing my mind." He doesn’t elaborate but he knows she understands — during the first four days of therapy he went through the worst of the withdrawal, and the complete isolation he was subjected to in order to not disrupt the others' recovery while he expelled the remainder of the drugs from his system didn’t help either.

"Is there anything else that calms you, TK?" She’s writing down on her notebook, gaze alternating between the paper and TK.

"There used to be," he surprises himself by replying. "Not something, but someone," he adds. When she simply stares at him with a soft, encouraging smile, he sighs. "I've known him for just three years but it feels like we've known each other for our whole lives. He gets me, and he pushes me to be better. He even tried to tell me that I should stop, and would get so mad when I showed up high." TK swallows thickly. "I—he was so scared that day."

"Sounds like a caring boyfriend, TK."

"Oh, he's not—" he chuckles. "Carlos isn’t my boyfriend. He’s my roommate. We live together on campus. My boyfriend's Alex, but I don’t even know if I have a boyfriend anymore."

TK thinks about how suddenly he's disappeared, and how he only thought of leaving one note for one person — how that person wasn’t Alex.

"Could’ve fooled me," Dr. Fridstar says in a soft voice. "But I have the feeling that I'm not the only one fooled here, am I right?"

TK stares back at her with wide green eyes as he realizes that he hasn’t even thought about Alex one single day since he arrived, not until now.

But he’s missed Carlos every single second since the moment his best friend walked out of the hospital room.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Three weeks after TK vanished from the hospital, only leaving a scribbled note behind, Carlos believes he’s definitely going up the walls. He already knows the note by heart, having read it so many times in the last twenty-one days, but he has yet to hear from TK himself again.

Dad wants me to go to a center. No phone rights for a while. I promise I’ll be back. We need to talk. T

“Earth calling Carlos,” Paul says, snapping his fingers in front of Carlos’ face. “You’ve been staring into space for a while now.”

“Sorry,” Carlos mutters, sitting straighter on the chair he’s occupying at their favorite coffee shop. “I’m just distracted.”

“Distracted by thinking,” Mateo says with a sneer. “That’s so you. We’re talking important things here, Reyes!”

“Mario Kart is now important?” Carlos deadpans. He sits back against the chair, looking around as his friends carry on with their conversation.

Paul looks at him, studying him briefly before going back to the topic at hand. Carlos tries to follow their words, but he’s too easily distracted as his mind circles back to TK. He’s been wondering about TK, too afraid of contacting Captain Strand to get some information — that’s a task he’s charged Paul with — but also too invested to obsess about anything else. His grades have suffered from his distraction, even though he hasn’t failed any classes.

“TK’s fine,” Paul assures him in a whisper when Mateo and Marjan go to the bar to grab another round. “Captain Strand told me he’s going to retake his exams during the summer, and apparently he’s doing so well that he’ll be allowed phone rights and supervised computer time very soon.”

Carlos shrugs. “I don’t—”

“If you’re about to say that you don’t care, please don’t,” Paul tells him sternly. “We all know you care about TK way beyond your best friend duties, Carlos. And that’s fine,” he continues when Carlos opens his mouth to interrupt him. “You love him. You’re in love with him. Just man up and talk to Captain Strand about his son. He doesn’t blame you, you know?”

“How can he not?” Carlos blurts out. “I should have seen it, I should—”

“You’re human, and TK is his own person,” Paul cuts him off. “Nobody blames you, except yourself. You shouldn’t go through this alone, Carlos.”

Carlos is about to reply when the shrilling sound of his ringtone breaks the uncomfortable moment that’s built up between them. He looks down at his screen and sees an unknown number with a prefix from a different state. “I, uh, I’m taking this,” he rambles. He sweeps his thumb over the screen and lifts the phone to his ear. “Carlos Reyes.”

“Carlos?” says a voice he hasn’t been expecting to hear in a long time.

“TK?” he almost screeches, earning himself the glares of other customers from other tables as well as a curious look from his friends.

[santyjazz]

La Montaña Rusa #485. Tina Brooks. One Two Free Fall. Gary Peacock Trio. Victor Gould. Benoit Lugue. Ahmad Jamal.

La Montaña Rusa #485. Tina Brooks. One Two Free Fall. Gary Peacock Trio. Victor Gould. Benoit Lugue. Ahmad Jamal.

Nueva dosis de Radio Jazz Online desde La Montaña Rusa Radio Jazz. Abrimos este número 485 con nuestro Clásico de la Semana y esta vez le tocó el turno al saxo tenor Tina Brooks y su True Blue publicado en 1960 para Blue Note junto a Freddie Hubbard, Duke Jordan, Sam Jones y Art Taylor.

En nuestra sección de Jazz en Español, escuchamos uno de los trabajos del excelente catálogo de UnderpoolRecords

[burlveneer-music]

Brandee Younger - Soul Awakening - archival LP from jazz harpist

Surfacing six years after its completion in 2013, this eight track collection was recorded in 2012 under the direction of producer and bassist Dezron Douglas, and embodies the ambition, vigor and aesthetic ideals of The Brandee Younger Quartet, at and since its inception. A benchmark recording that captures the group’s collective brilliance in its infancy, Soul Awakening is a synthesis of the people, places and moments that impacted Younger most, ahead of the album’s creation. The very first album recorded by the ensemble, Soul Awakening marks the birth of Brandee Younger’s artistic signature and the reemergence of the harp as a pillar of modern popular music. Personnel Brandee Younger, concert harp Dezron Douglas, bass EJ Strickland, drums Ravi Coltrane, tenor sax, tracks 1,3 Sean Jones, trumpet, track 4 Freddie Hendrix, trumpet, track 2 Stacy Dillard, soprano sax, tracks 7,8 Chris Beck, drums, tracks 1,3 Chelsea Baratz, tenor sax, tracks 2,4,7 Nicole Camacho, flute, track 7 Antoine Roney, tenor sax, track 8 Corey Wilcox, trombone, track 4 Niia, vocals, track 6 Produced by Dezron Douglas

[fightsbck]

* HARLEY’S GENERAL TIMELINE  .

some are based highly on my previous headcanons i’ve gathered for the two years i’ve developed him,   and some are either improved and/or altered to further match how i’ve seen him.    i try to make it as close to the mcu timeline as best as i could based on this,   but eh.  mistakes are bound to happen.   feel free to correct me if you spot ‘em.

AGE ZERO,   YEAR 2001  —  Harley David Keener was born to the Keener couple at the wake of dawn on a cold November 11. Aside from his initial cry at birth, Harley remains a dormant newborn, slumbering till the evening until hunger forces his family to finally realise how loud of a crier he truly was.

AGE THREE,  YEAR 2004  —  Harley was cherished and spoilt by his then young mother of only twenty-four years of age. Dad started retreating more to his garage. Harley think it’s because Mom and Dad kept arguing so much lately. The one time Harley entered it without his permission, Dad got so mad and yelled at Harley for hours and Mom hugged Harley so tight because Dad was so scary, and Dad didn’t come home for four days afterwards. Harley never go to the garage without permission ever again.

AGE FIVE,   YEAR 2006  —  Dad told Harley that he can’t be so dependent on Mom anymore even though Harley wasn’t sure what dependent really means. He’s got a little sister now, you know. Her name is Aprilia Hope. She’s small and her cheeks are so pink and she looks a lot like Mom and Harley and her share the same blue eyes! This is the year Dad said he was gonna go out to get scratchers. Dad never came back.

AGE EIGHT,   YEAR 2009  —  Mom said Dad’s never gonna come back, no matter how many times Harley cleaned the garage or re-organised all of Dad’s tools or keep all of his Genius Science Quiz Under 12 Award clean in between the clear folders that he had to sweep Mrs. Lehmbeck’s dirty yard for to afford it. He starts tweaking with more old machines when Mr. Siever wanted to throw a lot of his old junks out. Mr Siever is very old and mean. Harley heard from Steven Strickland from English class that serving in the war was what made him so grumpy! But if it wasn’t for the old radio Mr Siever tells him which can still be fixed if Harley wants to try his hands at it, he wouldn’t have known otherwise that he would’ve loved it: building stuff.

AGE TEN,  YEAR 2011  —  Harley can’t believe E.J. is still picking on him even though he’s already well in middle school now. It’s hard finding friends in a small town who knows everything, and looks like they won’t ever forget, about your past. Harley doesn’t like how some people look when they talk about Mom. Speaking of, Mom looks more weary lately. The diner isn’t always full, but working in general, as Harley understands, can suck. He starts looking after Aprilia more for Mom’s sake. Maybe he should get a job too, so Mom could relax? No. Scratch that. When Harley told Mom this, she got extremely mad. Then she cried. And Harley lets Mom hug him for a very long amount of time.

AGE ELEVEN,  YEAR 2012,   EVENTS OF IRON MAN 3  —   The attack on New York happens. A few months later, Tony Stark was pronounced dead. He isn’t. He’s in Harley’s garage; bruised and suit falling apart, but alive. Real. Harley’s whole life changed. Harley knew he always wanted to get out of the small, suffocating town; now, he finally has somewhere to go to. New York. For New Year’s that year, Harley prints out brochures of university and hangs them in the improved garage. Dad’s shadow that Harley keeps seeking? Vanishes.

AGE THIRTEEN,  YEAR 2014  —  Tony’s presence in his life makes him slack off. Thought he was better than everyone else in school. He spent more time in the garage, building machines after machines, skipping classes after classes. Gets more isolated from his peers; gets disappointed looks by his teacher when his performance and participation in school lowers.  He gets frustrated when Mom can’t seem to afford to submit him to competitions that could potentially lead to early scholarships. Harley got into his first fist-fight with EJ.  He carries a black eye and and a bruised jaw for weeks.

AGE FOURTEEN,   YEAR 2015,  EVENTS OF AGE OF ULTRON  —  The Avengers are on the news, along with a flying city.  Harley tries to contact Tony through JARVIS. Nobody answers. For the first time, Harley felt true despair. True emptiness. School got worse. Money gets tighter. When Mom suggests pawning some of the things Tony gave them, Harley fought her. Hard. But he knows he won’t win. In the end, he sorts everything out with Mom, and Aprilia holds him tight when he breaks down later with his breath staining of cheap beers he stole from Ronnie, the eccentric chef who works at the diner with Mom.

AGE FIFTEEN,   YEAR 2016,  EVENTS OF CIVIL WAR  —   Harley gets more serious with his school career. He wants to go to New York, and while he had Tony backing him up before, he knows better now that he couldn’t rely on the billionaire forever. Harley frequently goes and meet the school’s counsellor,  talks more with the teachers.  He reaches out and begins taking miscellaneous jobs around town in hoping it’ll fund his future. Gets invited to a party this year. Didn’t know anyone, so he didn’t really enjoy it. Though he got his first kiss here. With shy Emily Prickett who has triplets as younger brothers. Whenever he sees Tony on the news, he wants to ask the old man how’s he doing.  But Harley can’t; doesn’t ultimately knows how.

AGE SEVENTEEN,   YEAR 2018,   EVENTS OF INFINITY WAR  —  His dream is getting steadier, taking its proper shape.  Harley is applying to so much scholarship via online,   cleaning up his portfolio profusely.  One day,  his telephone blares with news of an alien invasion in major city along with everyone else’s.  They’ve spotted Iron Man battling and then, nothing.  When Harley comes home,  Aprilia starts disappearing.  Harley discovers Mom had too. The world is quiet.

tba once source material confirms.

[theloniousbach]

BACK TO BASSES

ARI HOENIG with Tivon Pennicott and Gadi Lehavi, SMALL’S JAZZ CLUB, 29 APRIL 2024, 9:00 pm

OBASI AKOTO with Lew Tabackin and EJ Strickland, SMALL’S JAZZ CLUB, 29 APRIL 2024, 10:30 pm

MARCUS McLAURINE with Bruce Barth and Sam Martinelli, MEZZROW’S, 30 APRIL 2024, 7:30 pm

CAELAN CARDELLO/RUFUS REID, MEZZROW’S, 2 MAY 2024, 7:30 pm

Fittingly, the NYT ran one of their occasional “Five Minutes That Will Make You Love…” series with the Jazz Bass as the subject with the right mix of memories and suggestions for someone already smitten.

Unfittingly, the first gig of this week, ARI HOENIG’s slightly other trio with saxophonist Tivon Pennicott actually didn’t have a bass player. Gadi Lehavi played left hand bass lines on a keyboard above the piano. Still he played insinuating if somewhat simpler lines to go with Pennicott’s tenor, sometimes with MIDI effects, sometimes riffy and funky, other times lyrical. Hoenig is a favorite no matter what, but in this context he was even more groove-centric. The multidimensions and even melodicism (You Are My Sunshine actually) were still there, but there was a funky insistence. So the simpler bass lines fit and it took four tunes to fill the hour.

OBASI AKATO and MARCUS McLAURINE were the leaders of their very different trios and RUFUS REID was in an old style Bradley’s era duo.

Akato has a big burly sound as does Lew Tabackin on tenor. Both are self-indulgent so it was a good match. In fact they didn’t really get in one another’s way, as there’s lots of room in such a trio. But they too stretched tunes out and could have cut out a couple of choruses on each tune. But there was Miles and Monk in there in rough glory. EJ Strickland held his own but was deferential.

McLaurine’s tone was warm but also big with Bruce Barth offering sympathetic support on a fine set, four standards and two infectious and heartfelt originals. Lots of comfortable touch points to appreciate the invention they all brought to the proceedings. It was far from tame, but they were inviting and still energetic. I don’t see Barth frequently enough, so I can’t quite say, oh yeah,that’s him. But I do like his steadiness. It might well have been a one off trio, but they put in a polished set. Burnished, not burly.

CAELAN CARDELLO is significantly younger than RUFUS REID, but, properly honored by being able to play with such a master, he too could keep up nicely. Reid was so so solid, inventive and insinuating and tasteful. They each contributed an original and then offered tunes by Cedar Walton, Donald Byrd, Harold Mabern (Grace of God wonderfully gentle and open—Cardello was Mabern’s last student), and what I have to guess was a Kenny Barron tune (I was supposed to recognize it but it was from someone Reid had a history with). They knew what to play.

I enjoyed them the most and bet I’ll pick up their second set, maybe as the next one.

Leaving the Hoenig set aside, I had about 180 minutes that deepened my love of jazz bass with these show.

[biggoldbelt]

STREAM Fusion: Shane Strickland vs. Myron Reed | Davey Richards vs. Richard Holliday

STREAM Fusion: Shane Strickland vs. Myron Reed | Davey Richards vs. Richard Holliday

World Middleweight Championship: Myron Reed (champion) vs. Mystery Opponent Richard Holliday vs. Davey Richards World Tag Team Champions Hustle & Power (EJ Nduka & Calvin Tankman) vs. Budd Heavy and Red Pickins Myron Reed’s mysterious assailant finally reveals his identity when he walks the aisle to challenge “The Young GOAT” for the World Middleweight Championship! Myron Reed is gunning for the…

[wweallresultspage]

MLW Fusion Results - May 5, 2022

1. Richard Holliday def. Davey Richards in 9:39

2. Calvin Tankman & EJ Nduka def. Budd Heavy & Red Pickins in 1:20

3. Myron Reed def. Shane Strickland in 7:53 to retain the MLW World Middleweight Championship

[algunasnotasqueleer]

In Fabric (Reino Unido, 2018)

(C22) Crítica escrita por: Yuli G

Director: Peter Strickland Guión: Peter Strickland Actores: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Leo Bill, Fatma Mohamed, Jaygann Ayeh, Hayley Squires

Un vestido asesino. Es el eje de In Fabric, la última cinta de Strickland, que reúne terror y humor en un estilo que remonta a décadas pasadas. No es una película para todos, si no eres asiduo del director o del género posiblemente te parezca una mala decisión verla, pero si le das la oportunidad, resulta una grata sorpresa.

La historia se divide en dos partes: en la primera, la protagonista es convencida a comprar un vestido que usará en una cita, sin pensar que la prenda traerá consecuencias fatídicas a su vida. Una mitad cautivante, en la que la búsqueda del amor, la difícil relación de una madre con su hijo y la novia de éste, un trabajo complicado por los jefes y el acecho de la maldad a través de un pedazo de tela son suficientes para mantener la expectación. En la segunda, hay un cambio de protagonistas: un reparador de lavadoras y su esposa, quienes próximos a casarse se convierten en blancos del vestido. El final es insospechado. 

In Fabric lleva a los personajes y a las situaciones por lo inverosímil, absurdo, jocoso y atemorizante: una empleada a la que se le llama la atención por saludar a la amante del jefe sin el suficiente respeto, un hombre disfrutando al ver a una vendedora satisfacer a un maniquí, clientes excitados con la explicación de los desperfectos de sus lavadoras, un padre ridiculizando al vestir de mujer al prometido de su hija, etcétera. Cualquier semejanza con la realidad no es coincidencia.

La fotografía y la música destacan en la creación de un ambiente de suspenso que juegan con la mente del espectador. La ropa es fundamental, aire retro con revistas de modelos hechos a la medida y no para las masas, un manejo de atemporalidad. 

Una  no sutil crítica a la moda, las rebajas y la publicidad que te hará pensar dos veces lo que adquieres y lo que te pones. Porque nunca se sabe, quizás quieran matarte.

25.06.2020

[lire-casander]

from a boy into a man ~ chapter 1: never said no to a party

[1,614 words] [teen and up audiences] [beta'ed by @meloingly​] [title from love like this by ben rector] [tk strand, carlos reyes, paul strickland, original female characters] [alternate universe — roommates, alternate universe — college, angst, drug use, drug abuse, overdose, switching povs] [written for @raven-words​ as part of my lire’s 20 for the 20th]

[tk and carlos have been roommates for quite some time now. so when tk's life begins to derail, carlos is the one in charge of piecing him back together]

[my dearest ej! you probably don't know how much your presence highlights my days, and how talking to you is always so inspiring. i hope you enjoy this!]

from a boy into a man  chapter 1: never said no to a party | on ao3

The party is in full swing when TK resurfaces from his short trip to the kitchen to find another shot and pop another pill. Alex is across the room, talking to his friend Mitchell, and he waves at TK as he staggers his way through the maze of people.

The world is spinning around him; he knows it’s the drugs settling in. It's not his first rodeo, and this one's particularly good.

TK grabs another glass and downs its contents without even blinking. His mind fleetingly flies to Carlos, his roommate of three years who is most likely studying for some final or another instead of enjoying life.

TK'd mind blanks for a second as the alcohol kicks in with the pills, and all thoughts are forgotten as this new trip begins.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

The room feels so empty without TK. Carlos should be used used it by now; his roommate tends to spend his weekends — and some weekdays too — out, at his boyfriend's dorm or at a party, getting wasted and doing God knows what. Not that it's any of Carlos' business, but he thinks at some point TK has come back smelling like something other than whiskey, and Carlos believes he's started to use again.

But he can’t say anything, so he just goes back to his textbook and prays that TK knows what he's doing.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Carlos looks up from his textbook when TK opens the door to their shared room, stumbling inside. His arched eyebrow and his silent reproval are enough to sober TK almost instantly on any other given day, but tonight — after so many shots that he's lost count and at least a couple of visits to the loo to snort some of Alex’s most priced powder — tonight TK finds it difficult to focus.

"Hi," he says, way too loud if the way his voice makes Carlos flinch means anything. "You still studying?"

"I've pulled an all-nighter," Carlos explains, shrugging. "Pretty much like you did."

"I bet my night's been funnier," TK can’t help but retaliate, his words slurred. His grip on reality is slipping slowly but steadily, and he has to tamper down a wave of nausea. "I've been out with Alex."

"So I can see." Carlos turns his attention back to his book, muttering under his breath, "it's pretty obvious."

TK thinks that maybe those last words weren't meant for him to hear, but they catch his ears anyway. He closes the door abruptly at his back and makes a beeline for his bed, sitting on it before addressing the issue. "What do you mean?"

"What?"

"Don’t play dumb now, Reyes," TK says angrily. His head is clearing a bit, the alcohol dissipating in the haze that's taken hold of his brain. "You're always shitting on my boyfriend. He’s a nice guy."

"A nice guy my ass," Carlos explodes, turning around in his chair and pinning TK down with a leveling glance. "If Alex were a nice guy, as you put it, he'd be pushing you to do better at school instead of pushing you into drugs every single weekend."

"He doesn't push me," TK feels the need to defend his boyfriend hotly, hands lifting up in the air, but his body doesn't respond to him and they simply fall flat at his sides. He wants to frown, but it’s like the clear head from barely seconds before has been an oracle of worse things to come. "I can quit whenever I want to."

"So you do it because you want to," Carlos repeats. "And you can quit whenever you want to."

The world is swaying in place, and TK is starting to feel motion sickness kicking in. The bed is suddenly uncomfortable underneath him. He tries to breathe deep so he doesn’t surrender to panic, because he knows what's going on — it happened once before, back in New York City.

"I don’t think I like your tone here," TK manages to slur.

"That’s the problem, TK!" Carlos exclaims. "You don't like anything anymore. It's like nothing outside this Alex bubble matters to you anymore!"

TK stands up shakily from his spot on the bed, his limbs barely responding to his brain's orders. "Carlos—" he begins, but his roommate cuts him off. It seems like Carlos has a lot to get off his chest.

"This is just not you, TK. Maybe you should talk to someone about why you feel so compelled to do something so suicidal—"

But he isn’t listening anymore. His legs give out beneath him, unable to hold his weight any longer, and he meets the floor with a loud thump, the world dissolving in whirls of darkness as he hears Carlos calling his name over and over.

Then, there's nothing.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The ambulance ride to the nearest hospital is a nightmare for Carlos. He has to sit through TK coding twice on the way to the ER, and the paramedics don't even allow him to hold TK’s hand. He suspects that they let him ride along because they wanted to monitor him for fear that he would pass out from anxiety.

The waiting room isn't any better. He’s fidgeting in place, hands wriggling on his lap, eyes wandering through the room. It doesn't help that he's on his own — he hasn't thought about calling anyone. At least not yet. He's deeply ashamed of not having noticed how bad TK was using drugs. He's guilty of the overdose from tonight, or at least that’s how he feels.

"If I had said something," he mutters to himself in the solitude of the waiting room after what feels like days.

"This would have been the outcome as well, Reyes," a familiar voice finishes his sentence. When Carlos looks up, he sees Paul hovering in the doorway. "TK’s own path of destruction would have led him here anyway."

"Paul, how did you—I didn’t—" he stammers, trying and failing to get up from the chair.

"It's okay, Carlos, calm down," Paul attempts to assuage him. "I'm TK’s emergency contact after his father and yourself," Paul explains. "They couldn’t reach you because—"

"I've left my phone on the dorm," Carlos realizes with a start. "But it's silly because I was here with him all the time."

"Carlos," Paul says softly. "They've called his father," he repeats. "You know what that means."

Carlos blanches. He's been trying to avoid that particular thought, because if anything, Fire Captain Owen Strand is a force to be reckoned with. Carlos has been there several times when Captain Strand has flown down to visit his son, and he can't say he's enjoyed them. It’s evident that Captain Strand loves his son, but it’s also pretty obvious, at least to Carlos, that he doesn't know what to do with that love when the focus moved from himself to someone else.

"I guess that was bound to happen," he sighs. "Now he'll take TK away from us. Now he has a reason."

Paul pats his shoulder sympathetically. "Everything will turn out right, in the end," Paul promises.

"You can't know that."

"Oh, but I can," Paul states as a nurse enters the otherwise deserted waiting room. "I bet he's awake and asking for you."

As if on cue, the nurse calls out, "Family of TK Strand?"

Carlos stands up swiftly, Paul's hand still on his shoulder. "That would be us."

"Mr. Strand is awake but a bit weak from all the effort. The doctors have managed to pump every substance from his system, but we will keep him overnight. Would you like to visit him?"

Carlos nods and follows the nurse eagerly, but once they're outside the correct room, he panics. Fortunately, Paul saves him from his own dazed state — and the confused gaze of the nurse — by opening the door and motioning inside. "I'll go first, if that’s okay," he offers. "Looks like you need time to put yourself together, Reyes."

And that he does, as much as he hates admitting to it. TK overdosing has been one of the scariest experiences of his life, and Carlos isn’t sure he will be able to live with the memory of those green eyes rolling back into TK's skull, of his body falling like a dead weight on the carpeted floor. He isn’t sure if he will ever be able to forget the image of the man he loves sprawled on the ground as life escaped him with every slowing heartbeat.

The truth is, Carlos has been falling in love with TK ever since the moment they found out they were going to be roommates, three years before. There’s nothing he couldn’t love in his friend — stubborn as a mule and obsessive to worrisome degrees, TK's also caring and loving and amazing. Carlos has been loving him in secret for years now, and seeing him take the path of destruction that Alex so happily had led him to has only meant heartbreak for Carlos.

And now Alex hasn't only broken Carlos' heart — he's destroyed his best friend, and it's going to be a hot minute before Carlos even thinks about forgiving Alex.

When Paul exits the room, Carlos is ready to go inside. He spies TK on the bed, pale and slumped forward, and his heart soars. He just wants to go inside and comfort his friend.

So that's what he does.

TK's eyes avoiding him is something that he can't stand, but Carlos vows to himself to become a better man — to be there for TK whenever he needs it — just so he can never be subjected to the lack of attention on TK’s part.

The door to the room closes at his back, leaving them all alone.

part two >>