#I am too cowardly to put this in the main tag because its not even actually an oc for the fandom and all

[shiocreator]

I ended up toontownifyin my girl scarlette ghjvtyfftj

Also angle + expression test, i am real proud of em tbh though

[whatsyaname]

Hi.

I can't reveal who i am but i used to be a ex moot of tee (@/saetoru) and i don’t care if this seems cowardly to make a page just to call her out. after seeing lots of people share their experiences with tee i’d like to also add and show some of the stuff she’s done to remind people she’s not as angelic as she makes herself out to be.

me and tee weren’t close as she was with her little clique (they know who they are) and other people but the main reason we aren’t moots anymore is because i broke the mutual. after seeing a callout post about her way back in oct. 2023 with other people’s stories in the thread of reblogs / link (i’m sure you guys saw)

i simply didn’t wanna be associated with someone like that. i was just confused why tee was acting like it wasn’t her fault. she said she doesn’t have to provide proof because she doesn’t owe anyone anything when that doesn’t make sense. because if you’re gonna accuse someone, always provide proof otherwise it’s safe to assume you’re lying.

this was Tee’s response back in october to her being called out by one of her old moots also, she deleted this a few days before she returned to make it seem like nothing happened but oh it did. i’m putting this here for people to see again (if you already haven’t) because just look at this.

this is what a narcissistic manipulator sounds like!

the biggest thing that made me scratch my head was for her to immediately bring up past drama to redirect the situation and make herself seem like the good person, and address the other party as a “white girl who blackfishes,” and she tried taking the attention off her to bring up palestine.

are you serious? if she so called “blackfished” why were you supporting/defending her in the first place? shouldn’t you be in the wrong too? the party she was talking about didn’t even blackfish, from what i can recall it was a simple tan so again, this was Tee reaching and blowing things way out of proportion.

she keeps mentioning some random bnha blog but never gives the @ so she’s probably lying. how are you gonna accuse someone of plagiarism then your only evidence is “oh me and my moots saw the whole thing, so you know i’m not lying.” girl bffr. and for her to even say something as childish and stupid as “she’s stolen ppl’s skin tones and she’s stolen their ideas. not much to left to take besides your identity at that!”

you and i both read that right? this is a supposed 20+ year old, saying something as kiddish as that. she even exposed the persons @ in the tags and why did she do that? so she can make her thousands of followers / anons spam their inbox with threats, derogatory names, and literally anything else. and she has the nerve to say she’s not enabling that kind of behavior with her audience. she’s abusing her following and it’s showing.

and for her to sit there and say it’s not her fault for being in her own space and name dropping people without actually name dropping them is just absurd. subposting is the lowest of the low. If you’re gonna talk shit at least put the url while you’re at it. people can tell who you’re talking about even if you’re being discrete.

She has a private blog called @/clorindes where she uses it to "vent" and bash writers and laugh it off with her moots and even followers.

i know of this particular blog because like many others, if you followed tee that blog (her private) would appear in ‘blogs like…’ or ‘recommended to follow.’ after tee got called out, she privated it but it’s still up.

(i recommend blocking that blog) because i’m sure she’ll activate it again once things settle. i hope that’s not the case because how many drama, discourse posts, call outs does it take for her to fully leave this platform? this is chronically online mentality at its finest.

it’s been an ongoing rumor that tee has this tumblr 'burn book' to blacklist writers on this platform and it’s proven to be true. some of tees even own mutuals are in there, and its just embarrassing. you have to constantly remind yourself this is a 20+ y/o person acting like this, out of all platforms, tumblr…

i remember a while back tee drove off a few blogs just for having the same theme concepts as her. (is that even a thing?) like tee used to have instagram themes i think, yet when she found other blogs having the same, she’d send her thousands of anons to harass that person, and be so butthurt over a theme.

not gonna lie, her themes are generically basic and doesn’t even look like it takes much effort. so what is there to copy. i’m not saying copying themes are good and okay, but she takes things too far. i can see if it’s writing, but a theme or a layout? i just find it so mind boggling people stick by her side and support her still.

from her old blog she’d always say sneaky comments like these and laugh it up with her mutuals in the comments. it’s really…something, because why do you care what those writers do? she reeks of jealousy and envy, literally look at her tone.

“we all know yall just want the notes and numbers.” um, yeah? everyone wants recognition on their work, it feels good to know your works being appreciated. and her jab at shading writers who write half paragraphs was so unnecessary. because again, why do you care? how are those writers hyping each other up seen as ‘shady’ or ‘fishy’ behavior? just say you’re jealous and go.

she acts like she doesn’t do the exact same thing with her cult of friends on tumblr, spamming the tags with wtv.

miss tee, flat out you’re a nobody.

you have no right to judge how someone write. who cares if you have 30k+ followers on this old ass site. congrats ….i guess? in the real world, you’re just a miserable person who likes torturing people online.

she has this thing of coming after upcoming big blogs, if i’m not mistaken, the most recent one was a known jjk writer, kazu _____ another was a popular multi account munson____, and there were multiple others i’m sure. her following count boosts her ego a lot, that i can see. and she thinks it’s okay to say whatever and not get held accountable. well now she is.

notice how she came back to tumblr after a two month hiatus, turned anons on then back off. and shes been inactive for a few days. she’s running away from the drama because she knows exactly it’s no one’s fault but hers.

if you look through the long thread i linked earlier, actually read through the reblogs. if multiple various ppl are coming out to share their experiences (with receipts) chances are you should be able to tell who’s lying! she needs to be stopped and ran off the app, not those blogs who didn’t do anything. tee’s been involved with drama for a long time like i said before, way back in her tokyo rev/hq era in her @/hanmas era. so about three to four years ago.

it’s been said tee and her mutuals send anons to harass other writers and i wouldn’t be surprised if that’s true.

again, it’s a shame you have to remind yourself this is a grown woman in her twenties acting like this on tumblr. it’s sickening and she needs to grow up, and get the hell off this platform before she drives anyone else off.

thats all! thank you for reading

[imaginethathaikyuu]

dead end 

TRIGGER WARNING / CONTENT WARNING: mentions of non-main character deaths, this entire fic is about depression and existentialism and bad parts of life, an unhappy ending 

-

this is obviously very different than anything i’ve written for my blog and i apologize for that. writing has been extremely hard for me as of late in the wake of losing someone very important to me, who was always supportive and proud of my writing. and, to be completely honest, i’ve found it really hard to write anything knowing that they will never be able to read it. regardless, i’m trying my best, and even though this is nothing more than a journal entry written under the guise of a story about tanaka ryuunosuke, i want to share it. i’m not always happy and i don’t want to come off like i am, and my writing has always reflected my life. unfortunately that means the bad parts too. i hope you like it, and if not, i will have more stories out eventually - i can’t really say when right now. this isn’t a character x reader fic, so i know most of you probably aren’t gonna be into it - that’s okay.

AGAIN, this story touches on extremely sensitive subjects that some people may not feel comfortable reading. it is not happy at all. it has little to no narrative and it is generally upsetting. the only fanfic tag i’m going to put it in is the tag i use for all of my fics, all potential TWs will be tagged, and it will be under the cut for those of you who feel comfortable reading it! 

-

word count: 806 

There was a comfort in being alone. And for Tanaka, his life had to become a single player game in order for him to recognize that. 

He was lost in a maze with no one but himself. It was scary at first, before he knew who, or what, could be lurking around every corner he turned - before he knew how truly alone he was. 

And his entire life, he had been there, stuck in that maze making languid turns, going in circles and not caring about finding his way out because there was so much inside. He didn’t want to find the exit until he realized he was trapped. And he didn’t need to turn around until he ran into his first dead end. 

He was eight years old, only a kid, when he realized this trap he was stuck in. When he hit a wall and lost the biggest piece of himself in the process. And he still hasn’t had a best friend since his mother sat him down at the kitchen table and told him he’d never see his only friend, Mori, again. 

And he feels guilty, now, because fifteen years later he remembers the ache of that impact more than he remembers any precious memories with his first ever friend. He remembers the tears on parents' faces and a casket that shouldn’t be so small and bouquets of white lilies, and he remembers not crying at all. 

He remembers knowing, immediately, that this is what life was. That living was synonymous with losing, and he could either be okay with that or live the rest of his life being shocked by it. 

And he didn’t like surprises. He didn’t like losing. He didn’t like knowing that any day could be the worst of his life. And he couldn’t live happily because he was constantly anticipating the next natural disaster.

Every empty seat in class, every positive test result, every tragic accident were all just symptoms of being alive. People change and dogs die and life stays unfair and Tanaka had given up on trying to outplay it. He’d given up on everything.

He dreamt of a life with control, of an existence he had a say in. He could hardly afford to be alive and he had no right to exist. Every hand he reached out to, thinking it would pull him up, only weighed him down. 

So he stopped reaching out. He stopped letting others guide him down blind alleyways to dead end streets - he stopped pretending that he wasn’t alone in his very existence. 

And he was alone by choice. That would give life less chances to drop down on him, less opportunity to show him that nothing ever ends well. 

There were those rare times, though, when Tanaka could see a beautiful sunrise for what it was worth. He could watch the acceptance of a love letter without thinking about the heartbreak that would chase it; he could acknowledge the success of a peer without a gross envy in the pit of his stomach; he could get close to someone without thinking about what he’d say at their funeral in front of all of the people who didn’t love them enough - and still he is trapped. Still he is angry and lost and dreadful. A golden beam of light isn’t enough. Any amount of time spent with someone he loves would never be enough. Is he selfish to ask for more time? Is it wrong of him to expect life to change its rules for him? 

What were all of these things consequences for, anyway? What terrible thing did he do in a past life that led him to this one? 

He only had one answer for any question he stumbled across: he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know how selfish he is and he isn’t aware of how to change these rules, because he’s only a player in the game. He’s only a pawn to be moved at something else’s will. 

But at least he has some control in solitude. This way, he doesn’t have to worry about turning a corner to find bouquets of lilies left for someone he didn’t love sufficiently. 

And he doesn’t know when he’ll finally draw to the end of these tunnels, but he hopes that when he does it isn’t at the cost of someone else’s wrong turn leading to a dead ending impact. He hopes that it is as silent and cowardly and blameless as he has lived; he wants it to be as lonely as it can be. To look back and see no tears or flowers left. He doesn’t want to be the one to prove to someone who loves him how unfair everyone’s arbitrary time limit is. Most of all, he hopes that when he gets his game over, everyone else can keep playing without pause. 

[i-am-just-a-kiddo]

thank you for tagging me @vishcount​ 💕 this made me somewhat emotional tbh. the untamed will just always stay with me and it’s nice to dwell on it. am gonna put this under the cut too: 

Favourite Character: Nie Huaisang 

I did not want to mention wangxian two times in this post so my third child it is. i’m not sure if i just love the version of him i created in my head since canon does not give as much, or if i love him despite the little content we have. either way, he is everything to me. the most relatable character probably - clumsy, cowardly, awkward, not that skilled in fighting; AND YET. the decision to have him be one of the main players in this entire story is just so good. truly a wolf in sheep’s clothing and i love that for him. i could write novels about him here but am gonna spare ya’ll. with all his faults, all his vices, all his ruthlessness - he was broken so early and all he ever wanted was to live his life peacefully. i am sorry i project so much of myself onto you, son. Favourite Friendship: Nielan

i am surprised myself that i am putting them here but? apparently i am. i thought about dumb gusu trio that i adore, about junior quartet, about wangxian and songxiao, but suddenly? i realised nielan are the ones that make me cry so badly even though we have seen so little of them. i love this idea of childhood friends, of them supporting each other as they take on the duties of their respective clans, as they care about their tiny brothers (don’t think about big nmj petting tiny lwj’s head, don’t think about lxc gently braiding small nhs’ hair don’t think-), as they have to face the chaos in the world all by themselves. i love nie mingjue’s temper against lan xichen’s gentleness, i love nmj’s huge heart and lxc’s quiet care, i love the way they treat each other so much. if jin guangyao had not decided to be a bitch, they could have been a nice throuple. but well, instead we have pain and suffering for these two :)  also if my memory does not betray me, sunshot campaign nielan in the donghua was awesome and i wish we had gotten more of that.  Favourite Ship: Wangxian 

this is the pairing of pairings for me. i have written so much for them i don’t feel it’s necessary to elaborate on all of it. they just fit perfectly. their story, their character arcs, the angst, their deep affection for each other. they are everything to me? wangxian is love ya’ll.

Favourite Sect: Yunmeng Jiang

This was such a tough choice okay. i love gusu with its peace, with its secluded mountains and quiet places, the snow and the forests surrounding it. but i chose yunmeng in the end because i feel like this sect allows the most freedom? from all the sects, i think i would feel the most comfortable there. besides that, i love the piers, the little bridges and the waters surrounding it. everything is so green and lively, it must be so nice falling asleep and waking up to the sound of water - water always brings me a huge sense of comfort so i think being surrounded by it at all times would be so healing. i honestly wish i could stay there all summer and move to gusu in winter. 

Favourite Sword: 

i love the design of suibian so much, it has this wooden simple look that fits so well to my aesthetic. all the swords are stunning but i think suibian fits wwx so perfectly? very utilitarian and simple compared to all the glamour, and yet it is still so expressive somehow. also if i remember correcly the blade has this red streak right? which is so cool as well. i dunno what else to say, it’s just a very dope sword and it is the one i would choose.  honourable mentions is baxia because - simply iconic; and sandu, because of froggo. 

this was so nice sigh. am tagging @sassyassassy​, @cortue​ (i think i saw you blogging abt cql?), @tresi-world​  and anyone else who sees this and likes the untamed? i am unsure who else is there rn. have fun! 

[soyouareandrewdobson]

The first comic: Maturity or rather the lack thereoff.

Something I commonly saw within the last decade was people arguing that animation has reached a new peak by the amount of quality in storywriting put into them and some even claiming cartoons have become more mature, particularly compared to shows of the 80s and 90s. Dobson too joined the trend and as such made this little comic in 2015 titled “Mature”, in which he argues that cartoons for children are more mature and handle serious subjects better than any media tagged with an r-rating or not following the format of animation.

  While I admit that the comic is not the most offensive and insulting thing Dobson has ever created when soapboxing about nerd/american culture, I do think “Mature”  actually in composes quite a good insight in how Dobson does not understand concepts of storytelling and overhypes the achievements and merits of children entertainment to a degree that is hurting the “cause”. Which greatly annoys me as a fan of storytelling and animation in general and paints Dobson as incompetent in the field of work (cartoonist, comic writer/artist) he tries to engage in. And I can bring this lack of understanding by Dobson down by just one simple question:

What exactly counts as a mature subject here?

 Dobson randomly accuses any form of fiction that is not a children’s cartoon or comic to have no idea how to approach a “mature” subject, but he can’t even give an example of what he defines by this term.

See, for me a mature subject is e.g. an social, emotional or political issue we as humans can correlate to in the real world. Either as a result of personal experience or a bigger picture in our history and culture (such as racism, poverty, existential dreed, personal/emotional growth, any form of oppression etc.) Something that does not only drive a story forward as a source of conflict or a character’s backstory/arc for the sake of entertainment, but may even make us think afterwards.

 And as much as I like cartoons, I do not think this is something children cartoons do most of the time.

 And before I get accused of thinking cartoons are only something for kids or that a thoughtful story can not be told via the medium of animation, let me put a few things into perspective.

Unlike Dobson, I do not have an educational background in animation. However, I grew up with a lot of cartoons, animated movies and comics from all over the world and thanks to the wonders of the internet read up here and there on the different ages of animation and certain tidbits in what went into the making of certain works of fiction and why they may have been a huge thing in the time periods they emerged in.

As such I know that the medium of animation can be used to not only create “child appropriate” content, but also movies like Barefoot Gen, Fritz the Cat, Felidae, Animal Farm and so on, which tackled themes of social issues, political worldviews and personal/historical tragedies.

 Then there is the fact, that depending on the culture, there are very different interpretations in what can be considered “child appropriate” in certain parts of the world and therefore what themes a cartoon may tackle. Like how in European children cartoons such as Alfred J. Quack there was a story arc resembling the rise of Adolf Hitler in power, to tell about the heroes of the show working in the underground against an obvious fascist regime. Or how in certain Japanese children shows the subject of death can be rather common, while in American cartoons just mentioning the word “die” seems a red flag to some studio executives. Lastly, a lot of early animation, (particularly western animation) did not even start off as something targeted primarily at children. Animation started off as a technique to tell a story through “moving pictures” and some of the first animated shorts ever had a huge fanbase of adults and children. “Snow White”, Disney’s first animated movie back in 1933 was a technical marvel at the time. A movie we nowadays mostly consider a children’s movie with a slightly dull story compared to other Disney outings, was back then a risk that earned Disney multiple Oscars and was appreciated more by adults than it was by children, despite being based on a fairy tale. A type of story mostly considered “appropriate” for kids.  

 What I am trying to say is, that I am aware of how not all children cartoons are the same and can vary in terms of “maturity”. Something I think Dobson can’t, because he also can’t see that there is a huge variety of “children” cartoons.

 Despite his background and claims to consider animation an art, Dobson has shown a huge lack of knowledge or admiration for shows/movies that do not fit into the specific mold of “western animation primarily targeted for children and airing on american television”.

And that is not a claim I make half-heartedly. I have done research on the guy, I know how he likes to brag when he considers he found a great cartoon or something interesting. So I find it telling that aside of nostalgia for certain 80s and 90s cartoons we all know, Dobson’s recommendations and taste in shows seems to be primarily focused on just the most recent stuff everybody else likes/a very small pool of rather generic shows. I am not saying he should be contrarian on principal and e.g. dislike Gravity Falls, but he lacks initiative to look out for new and old stuff himself.

I in fact remember when he asked twitter first if he should give Wander over Yonder, one of the best cartoons of the last decade, a chance, cause it seemed he was too chicken to have an opinion on his own.

Then again, weirdly enough, Dobson actually tends to be contrarian for the sake of it, till someone he respects or sucks up to tends to have a different opinion on a show/movie. For example, while he acts like Frozen is a great movie franchise and defends the second movie to the point he becomes anti-feministic when a woman has a different opinion than him on it, he actually gave the first movie a terrible review on deviantart back in 2014. Accusing it of “same face syndrome” and a shame to the name of Disney. Obviously that was also before the hashtag #GiveElsaaGirlfriend became popular and he went so far as to hint he thinks an incest ship with Anna was great. And Legend of Korra? According to first deviantart posts by him garbage. Which was an opinion swiftly changed the moment Korrasami became popular in the fandom by season 3.

 The point I want to make with this digression is, that there are a lot of past actions by him hinting on the fact that Dobson kinda despises animation, when it does not fit within a very narrow niche of things he likes. Further indicated by his disdain for “adult” animated shows or hostility towards foreign animation, except the occasional movie by Studio Ghibli for example.

 Because of this lack of a bigger picture, I do not think Dobson is aware how in terms of story, cartoons can heavily vary. And when it comes to mature subjects, you can’t really engage with them if you lack a story carrying them in turn. Let’s look again at the comic. What cartoon characters do you see in it, when Dobson talks about how he believes children cartoons “treat these (non-defined) mature subjects with FAR more respect than the hardest “dark, grim and gritty” stories”?

Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony, three main characters of Spongebob, Steven Universe, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Blossom from the Powerpuff Girls and Mickey Mouse. You want my opinion on them? None of them are from any cartoons tackling mature subjects in a huge manner.

 However, they are from great shows. (Well, everyone but Steven, but I explain that later.)

See, this is where putting cartoons into perspective within the vast history of animation, comes in handy. Cause looking at them it is undeniable that people put effort into these shows. Effort in the animation and the writing in order to create an entertaining product, decent enough that not only little kids can enjoy it as a mindless distraction, but even older people can find merit in it, thanks to characters with decent personality, good humor, world building and even an engaging story. But all of that doesn’t make these shows or any story necessarily tackle a “mature subject”. Sure, the latest incarnation of My little pony was not as saccharine as its predecessor but rather cartoony as a good 90s show, but that doesn’t mean the new version is the Schindler’s List of animation (excuse the hyperbole). Same for the other cartoons, with Dobson also not acknowledging the fact that Spongebob e.g. had quite some dips in quality over the years (and even made pretty awful jokes about serious subjects such as suicide) or that Steven Universe, while tending to tackle mature subjects for its story (like trauma, war, abuse, self esteem issues, racism, rape and homosexuality) has failed multiple times over its run (even back when this comic was made) to treat these subjects not just as plot and drama points, but also with enough respect within the narrative, to the point a lot of former fans of the show turned their back on it, cause they had enough of the issues they could relate to being simplified and resolved in a cookie cutter manner so Rebeca Sugar could tell a whimsical story about gay space rocks and forgiveness.

 Let us not even forget the fact, that while there is a huge number of cartoons with decent writing and value to them (and that those were not only created within the last 10 years or so), there is also just a lot of garbage out there that counts as “kids animation”. Cartoons and movies that were written with not a care in the world and at times outright more mean spirited as some of the stuff Dobson likely hates in life action. Are you telling me those toilet humor driven garbage piles of creativity are mature?

 The point I try to make is, Dobson’s GENERAL statement that kids cartoons tackle mature subjects better than other form of media, is factually wrong, because a lot of shows don’t even try to be mature in the first place. Which however does not mean, there aren’t attempts made at being mature or tackle a mature subject.

 Growing up with cartoons since the 90s, I saw quite a few cartoons once in a while having episodes with themes to them that were surprisingly “dark”, dramatic or related to issues I and other kids could also see and relate to in the real world. Bullying going out of control, eating disorders, school violence (even school shootings), dealing with the passing of a loved one, to name a few basic ones. Gargoyles and Hey Arnold were two very important cartoons for me in that regard, with Gargoyles showing me how dramatic a good action cartoon could be when compared to other action cartoons at the time (like Ninja Turtles) and Hey Arnold episodes like “Helga on the Couch” giving me a rather somber look into what “therapy” looks like closer to reality, while normally being a show with the slice of life adventures of a kid in the big city.

And I do highly appreciate that nowadays there are more cartoons doing ongoing storyarcs and as a result of actually having more drama to them, adding tension and character development to their plots. Things we did not quite have to the degree we have nowadays back then in the average show. But it is debatable if those things are equal to “mature subjects” such as racism, abuse or trauma. Cause at the end of the day, a lot of kids cartoons tend to only scratch the surface of those things in order to flesh out a plot, instead of making the plot about those issues. Which at times is even for the best if you ask me. Cause we should not forget, these shows and movies are made for kids. And because of their age, a lot of kids lack at times the knowledge and experience in life to properly understand the themes and subjects some people may try to convey with their work. Particularly when you want to tackle subjects such as trauma, abuse and war which lets be honest, a lot of people can’t even comprehend in their complexity as adults. So how are kids supposed to comprehend them? One way, in my opinion, is by simplifying them and turning them into part of a narrative instead of the main focus of the narrative. But that in itself doesn’t always work and can have negative consequences in multiple ways. For example by making the story suddenly non engaging, delivering the subject in such a manner that people can get the wrong message of what you are trying to say or (at worst) simplifying it to such a degree, it becomes outright offensive to others.

A good example that comes to my mind for that would be how Captain Planet back in the 90s tried to tackle the subject of AIDS in one episode. On one hand, considering how the disease was a big deal back then but no one openly talked about it, you kinda have to give credit to Captain Planet to tackle it. On the other hand, is a subject such as a deadly disease that back then was barely researched and killed millions, really something you want to tackle on an overly preachy (but considering whose company produced it, also very hypocritical) kids show, where most of the time the solution to a problem was not even grounded in reality? And spoilers, the episode treated AIDS not even as the big deal it was, but as something the villain would exploit to spread a rumor on the ill kid, because that somehow equaled a chance to pollute the world more. Not really mature, if you ask me.

 What all of this ranting is boiling down to, is that Dobson failed to make a case for how kids animation is able to tackle mature subjects, by not putting his opinion in the bigger context of what animation is/can be and what he means by the term “mature theme”. All he did was just indirectly soapbox that he thinks every other form of media is incapable of being about a serious issue, in doing so also insulting the art of storytelling in itself by disregarding anything not expressed in funny pictures specifically made for children or manchildren on tumblr who want to act they are the big boys, cause a cartoon horse made them feel sad.

He did so by making a very weak argument, not being able to present it in a manner that was hard to debunk and by drawing a comic in which everything looks surprisingly lifeless and like the least amount of quality and effort (things I argued can make a great cartoon) was put into it.

 Which ironically, is the total opposite, of being mature.

And lastly, can’t believe I have to say that, but Dobson, the Pokemon’s name is Butterfree, not Butterfry. Butterfry is what you get when you make a statue of a Futurama character made out of something you put on your bread.

[runnfromtheak]

fanfic author’s tagging game (yay!)

Thank ya darling for tagging me!!!! @boyblunder-thedarkheir!!!!!

AO3 Name(s): LostandLonelyBirds aka RUNNFROMTHEAK

Fandom(s): Primarily Batfamily (so, Dick Grayson) and Young Justice (along with DCU obviously, but I also dabble into Miralculous Ladybug, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Harry Potter, and MCU (none of which I will ever seriously write for? Idk man).

Number of fics: 22 I will admit to (how do you have so many, my dear @boyblunder-thedarkheir​? What is your secret?)

1. Fic you spent the most time on: Are we talking writing or thinking about writing, cause those are two very different answers. I spent the most time writing this bitch of a fic I’m working on right now, and the most time thinking about the two latest installments of my main series, Death is But An Illusion (aka How Could He and How Could It Be). I agonize over every goddamn detail with Dick’s anger, Jason’s Jason-ness, and every person’s every move and word. I am a mess, and I’m going to be murdered if I don’t update them soon. I am not sorry about that XD

2. Fic you spent the least time on:  You Came Behind Me Secretly and Shattered Every Piece of Me (There's Blood On My Hands) aka my pick-your-own-canon clusterfuck of Dark!Dick Grayson and Dick Grayson being traumatized and tortured with no comfort (Some of them are so fucked up I question my own mind). I take less than an hour to write 80% of them, cause they’re short, and they very rarely take any time to plan. Fun and easy!

3. Longest Fic: At present, he had a chest full of heart and a body full of scars (pain became the only way that he could ever learn)  is my longest, but the fic I’ve been hinting at on my other tumblr, @lostandlonelybirds​ is easily double the length (why do I do this to myself? Why am I like this?) the long boi (named one, not the one I won’t shut up about) is easily my best fic at the moment, and I’m so excited to write a sequel whenever I get the chance.

4. Shortest Fic: With Bated Breath and Pain You See (We're Nothing More Than Memories) technically, I have one shorter than that, but it’s a collab that wasn’t my original idea so I’m not counting it :)

5. Most Hits: You Came Behind Me Secretly and Shattered Every Piece of Me (There's Blood On My Hands) why do you people like this trash-fire so much? I don’t understand

6. Most Kudos:  How Could He which does not surprise me.

7. Most Comment Threads: Technically, How Could He followed by the trash-fire AU title thing I’m too lazy to type again, but I’m gonna love on this one: Just Close Your Eyes (No One Can Hurt You Now) because it’s my baby, and it deserves it okay?

8. Fave Fic You Wrote: Ooo we are doing a top five.

             5. How Could It Be (Jason is precious and sad and Dick is oblivious, and I love one-sided pining wayyyy too much)

             4.  How Could He (I put my life force into this stupid fic, so ofc it’s here)

             3. I'm Scared to Live But I'm Scared to Die (I'm Numb Inside) (the suicidal boy, major trigger warning)

             2. I See Things That Nobody Else Sees (And It's Slowly Killing Me)  (the only fic I’ve ever written from Cass’s perspective, and definitely one of the creepiest and most fucked up. Bruce does not look good here)

             1. he had a chest full of heart and a body full of scars (pain became the only way that he could ever learn) (so ummm Bruce doesn’t look good here either? RHATO #25 if DC wasn’t cowardly and let Dick react how he actually would, aka fuck Batman is the new motto)

9. Rewrites?: Fuck. All my older ones? Everything? Who knows.

10. Share a bit of your WIP or share a story idea that you’re planning:

Let’s do two. I’m nice.

First comes from How Could It Be:

“You loved him,” Donna says, ignoring his barb. “You loved him, and no one’s seen you or heard from you and I’m concerned, damnit.”

 She punches his shoulder roughly, and he’s reminded of her strength, no matter how small she seems in her dead best friend’s sweater.

 “I’m fine. Peachy-keen. Couldn’t be fuckin’ better. Honestly, you should be more concerned with Replacement, don’t think he’s slept in—”

 “Jason.” Her voice is firm, even as her eyes swim with tears and she holds her arms tight to herself, breathing in the well-loved item’s scent. Jason wonders when Dick wore it last, if Donna had taken it from his abandoned Gotham Penthouse or his Chicago Apartment. He wonders if he’d left it draped over the couch, like the natural disaster he was, or if it had been folded neatly in a drawer.

For someone who prides himself on not being sentimental, Jason suddenly wishes he had something of Dick’s too.

 “I’m here because I care, and because if Dick was here, he’d be doing the same thing I am.”

 “But he ain’t here,” Jason snaps, “Is he?”

 Donna’s head falls, and he feels like a giant jerk. He just… reacts poorly to that name, hasn’t heard it spoken since the transmission and subsequent funeral, since the guy he’d had the hots for since wearing the scaly panties had his mask ripped away and his life taken in front of Bruce’s eyes (who, to absolutely no one’s surprise, failed to save his son).

In the aftermath, no one said Dick Grayson’s name, always Nightwing, or some inane nickname the superhero community had for him. Last time he said it was to Damian, a failed attempt at comfort. But even Jason’s form of mutual grieving had been better than any of Bruce’s shit ideas. Bastard immortalized the ripped costume from his own son’s corpse (not that it had been the first time) and hadn’t even had the decency to give it a plaque (No ‘Good Soldier’ or ‘Good Son’, just a bare glass case with a bloody suit). Which… was weird. Jason was far from B’s best friend, but even he noticed something seemed strange, off, just not quite right. Like the funeral he didn’t speak at, like the breakdown none of them had witnessed beyond a one-off rage fit

“B, what the fuck happened down here?”

The Batcave was a disaster, dents glaringly obvious in several vehicles and a large spiderweb crack across the Batcomputer. Bruce closes the screen down, but Jason manages to catch a spiraling eye.

“Nothing, just…”

Bruce looks at the spare Nightwing costume none of them had taken down yet, still clean and ready for use (too bad its owner died and would never wear it again).

“Dick?” Jason questions, and the way Bruce’s eyes snap to his face is almost suspicious, almost enough to arouse concern.

“Yes. I—”

Jason sits next to Bruce on the desk, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I miss him too, Old Man. Don’t mean you need to be an ass about it.”

 A memorial next to Jason’s own, but Dickhead’s is empty and broken from Damian’s fists and grief, and Jason’s is just gone. No one told him why, it was just gone.

Kind of like Dick.

He wonders if Bruce would have told him if the video hadn’t been broadcast, if he would’ve told anyone. B did love his fuckin’ secrets.

 “No,” she whispers, and he can hear the tears in her voice, can feel her grief as keenly as his own. It’s palpable, tangible, “He’s dead, and I’m alive, and I don’t know how to handle it.”

 And then, to Jason’s mounting horror, she starts crying openly.

…..

Second comes from my one I’m working on rn with Stray!Dick called I See Sunset In Your Eyes (I Hate This Part Right Here)

“Come on,” Wally says with a pout, dragging an overly amused Jason and Dick with him through the karaoke bar doors. “Donna and Roy are waiting for us, and Dick had to take forever to primp.”

 Dick shrugs with a grin.

 “Beauty takes time, time I can tell you did not take.”

 Jason snorts, and Wally glares at him.

 “At least I don’t take five hours to finish getting ready.”

 “At least I can last longer than five minutes.”

 “Ouch!” Roy butts in, throwing an arm around Jason and Dick’s shoulders. “Claws are out tonight!”

 “Speaking from experience?” Jason asks, eyebrow raised.

 Dick smirks without comment, sauntering past the group towards the table Donna’s lounging at.

 “Hey gorgeous twin of mine,” He greets with a kiss to her eyes. She smirks, rolling her eyes at him.

 “You’re just stroking your own ego with the twin tacked on, Wonder Boy.”

 Dick bumps his shoulder against hers.

 “Can’t I stroke both our egos?”

 “You can stroke mine,” Wally mutters, turning red when Stray winks at his phrasing. Jason and Roy both facepalm, groaning. “Not what I meant guys!”

 “Why Kid Idiot,” Dick replies, hand on his heart, “I had no idea you could be so forward~!”

 Wally glares, waving over the waitress.

 “Round of shots, on this dick,” he jerks his thumb at Stray, offering up his fake ID. She doesn’t bother checking it, probably because this is Gotham, and they were all in uniform. “Whisky, please.”

 “Trying to get me drunk?” Jason jokes. It is, after all, his first big outing with the Titans for non-mission reasons. Stray had practically dragged him out of the Manor with a wink at Alfred and a middle finger for Bruce, saying that Jason needed to have fun outside of books.

Jason knows better than arguing with Dick Grayson-Kyle when he wants something, Stray trained him well.

 “Of course, Batboy,” Roy replies, “It’s not a Titans outing if Stray is fully dressed and everyone’s sober.”

 Dick shrugs.

 “You’ll have to get some real liquor in me if you want me to do anything like last time.”

 “Last time?” Jason asks, looking to Donna for an answer. Dick snorts. You get near naked one time…

 “Boy Blunder ended up in just his boxers in a dancing cage drunk of his ass. Everyone thought he was one of the strippers, and he made, what, three-hundred dollars in bills?”

 “Five-hundred,” Dick replies proudly, offering the waitress a twenty as she came back with their drinks. “Keep the change, darlin’!” He adds with a wink.

 She flushes, making Jason frown.

 Stray, of course, notices this and elbows Jason.

 “Don’t get jealous, Blue Jay, it’s not becoming.”

 Jason does not blush. He doesn’t, and that’s the hill he will die on.

 “I’m not. On an unrelated note, pass me a shot.”

Jason is the master of changing the subject, Stray thinks sarcastically, passing him a shot and downing one of his own.

 “Five bucks says alley cat blacks out,” Roy says smugly as Dick makes a face, the way he always did with heavier liquors. He glares at the redhead, who shrugs unapologetically.

 Donna eyes them both speculatively, taking a sip of her own drink.

 “Twenty says he gives a lap dance before he blacks out.”

 Roy snorts.

 “I’ll take it,” and to Dick, “Don’t do it, for me.”

 Dick bats his eyes innocently.

 “Lil�� old me? I would never do something so…” He trails a finger down Roy’s chest, making him swallow roughly. “Scandalous.”

 Donna grins victoriously as Roy groans, trying and failing to hide his excitement.

 “I hate you. I hate you both.”

 Tagging whoever sees this, I suppose? 

[littlehollyleaf]

Name ten favourite characters from ten different things (books, tv, film, etc.) 

Then tag ten people

Tagged (ages ago, whoops!) by @castiel-saved-me-from-myself 

(I’m sorry, I got distracted!)

1.Supernatural. Castiel.

Obviously. I may be out of the fandom now, but I’ve never loved a character as much as Cas, and probably never will.

2. Good Omens. Aziraphale.

Thought I’d put both my darling angels at the top :) I suspect that without Zira there to pave the way Castiel may not even have existed, so I love him double - for himself and for Cas as well :p 

While really quite different when it comes to their personalities (just think how Zira would SHUDDER at Cas’ trenchcoat), they share a lot of character traits and tropes (mini-series!Zira anyway, maybe less so in the book, or less obviously anyway), so, no surprise that I should adore them both. I’ve also said before, and I stand by it, that Aziraphale is sort of a combination of my favourite aspects of both Cas and Dean in one, with Cas’ struggle with Heaven/god and trying to be a good angel and finding he loves humanity/earth more, plus Dean’s whole ‘performing Dean’ thing and repression of queer feelings he is scared to admit to (out loud) because he believes they are somehow ‘wrong.’ 

...just to give a little insight into my feelings about these two that was neither needed nor asked for...

4. Hellblazer. NBC Constantine. Legends of Tomorrow. John Constantine. 

Aaaand the other guy I love twice because Cas, and indeed spn in general, kinda owe their existence to him. Though in turn his fabulous live action portrayal by Matt Ryan probably owes its existence to spn and Castiel’s popularity. So... there’s a weird ouroboros situation happening with my favs here that makes my head spin whenever I think about it, but I love it - stories within stories built on stories feeding off stories, which connects to wider themes of story and storytelling being vital and intrinsic to life and stuff.

Anyway, despite his wardrobe, Johnny is NOTHING LIKE CAS. He is, in fact, a lot like Dean. But I like him more. Maybe because he’s British :p He has the whole ‘repressing his feelings’ things, a bit like Zira, but it’s not because he thinks they are wrong, it’s more of a coping mechanism to deal with the constant tragedy/trauma his life/lifestyle/fate causes him to suffer. But whatever the reason, I like my characters facing that struggle :) (actually the British element is probably way more significant to my enjoyment of him than I’ve been fully aware of... that’s probably why I loved Zira so fast as well... obviously they are both a completely different class of British, literally, but the fact they ARE British is INTRINSIC to both their characters, and I guess a little, vaguely patriotic part of me is excited by that... :p)

4. Gotham. Edward Nygma.

Since I’ve started giving explanations - I love Eddie because he’s also got the whole ‘emotionally repressed’ / out of touch with (his) emotions thing going on (as seen in Zira and Cas), but with the addition of various geeky / ‘tech guy’ character traits that I also love.

5. Doctor Who (Classic). Vislor Turlough.

I waxed poetic once about how I liked Gotham’s Edward Nygma because he reminded me a bit of Turlough. That was early on in my Gotham days though and given how Eddie developed I don’t see as many similarities now. Turlough shares some of Eddie’s ‘dark’ traits however - self-centered, often lacking in empathy for others and nonplussed (sometimes even happy) to see them get into trouble or hurt. But ultimately his attempts to be self-serving and cowardly end up thwarted by him developing feelings for specific individuals despite his best efforts, which is what I enjoy about him (and actually that’s a lot like Eddie still, huh... their endgame’s are opposing though ofc - while Eddie goes on to embrace being a villain, Turlough gives up on villainy and even becomes a bit of a hero, now and then). Plus, Turlough is the ONLY Companion (IIRC?) to have joined the Doctor specifically in order to MURDER him and... idk, I just think that’s cool :P

6. Doctor Who (New). Donna Noble.

(I’m trying not to double up on fandoms/shows so I can cover more, but New and Classic Who count as different things, kinda, right...?)

Donna doesn’t really fit any of the character traits I’ve talked about above, though I guess her low self-esteem is something that all my other favs share in various ways (though it’s not such an EXPLICIT aspect of their characters and story arcs as it was for Donna I’d say). What I first loved about her was that after YEARS of New companions (and other randoms) being literally in love with the Doctor, she had a strictly platonic relationship with him. Yeah, I think maybe the show was a bit heavy-handed about it, but even so it came as a huge breath of fresh air and frankly a RELIEF to me. Not that I’m opposed to the Doctor having romantic/sexual  relationships, it was just that... coming from a childhood love of the Classic series where that just... didn’t happen (save a fleeting kiss in the TV Movie - which I actually enjoyed fyi!), it just... idk, was starting to stretch my credulity that EVERYONE seemed to be falling for him maybe? Or at least for me it was growing tiresome. So the fact she didn’t have that element to her character/story was a plus. Then I just adore how loud and brash she is when calling anyone, including the Doctor, out on their shit (I envy her that maybe). Plus I like the way she isn’t... traditional TV pretty, you know? (ie. young and slim, like a lot of other companions).

...or maybe I just like redheads *shrug emoji* 

7. Spartacus. Naevia.

(she has two actresses okay? and they both deserve kudos!)

Truth is I love FUCKING EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE IN THIS SHOW. Spartacus is like... my PERFECT SHOW. There isn’t a single moment, a single plotline, a single character that I don’t enjoy. I have never even CONSIDERED looking up or writing fic because the finished product is completely satisfying exactly as it is. God. But I wanted it represented in this list so I had to pick someone!

Considering the time period there couldn’t really BE a ‘geeky, emotionally repressed with low self-esteem’ character :p BUT nearly ALL of the characters have the whole ‘struggle to understand/discover who they are’ thing and the ‘who I am and want to be is counter to who I’ve been told I am / should be’ arc, on account of the main cast being rebelling slaves (though the other characters are equally complex and compelling and I love them too - Lucy Lawless in particular is incredible!). Anyone who’s seen me blog about the show before might have thought I’d pick either Agron or Nasir as my favs, since I do like to squee over their romance. But whenever I think about the show it’s usually Naevia who I remember first, because her character arc/development just BLEW ME AWAY. She went from someone I’d kinda dismissed at first as a typical het love interest to a WARRIOR GODDESS and you SEE all the key moments of that growth, you FEEL it, it makes ALL THE SENSE. And her romance with Crixus, which again I was initially a bit dismissive of as a typical, sudden, weak het romance, grows into, imo, one of the deepest, most developed, most believable love stories in the show. So yeah. Naevia. Amazing.

8. Due South. Ray Vecchio. 

(he’s the guy not the dog - gifs were limited! ...also the dog is actually a wolf, it’s a whole thing... that doesn’t need exploring at this juncture)

Ray was my first TV crush :P He had a bit of a sidekick vibe to him I guess, which I like (lead characters tend not to interest me as much). He wasn’t ‘geeky’ exactly, but he def had the ‘trying to look/act cooler than I am’ thing going on... also an obsessive attachment to his vintage car... meanwhile his partner Benny was the stoic, ‘British, stiff upper lip, keep emotions in check’ one who was always trying to live up to the ideal persona dictated by his people/employers, in this case the Royal Canadian Mounted Police... HUH, so... it’s actually SUPER WEIRD that I ended up loving Cas and Zira over Dean and Crowley when it seems pretty clear suddenly that my first big fictional fav was CLEARLY the Dean-Crowley to Benny’s Cas-Zira......?? Ray was FUNNY in a way Dean and Crowley aren’t though, I think? He def filled a ‘comic relief’ slot on the regular and I liked that a lot (it also made his serious, angsty moments EXTRA serious and angsty, and extra angst is something I always love!)

9. The Librarians. Eve Baird.

Remember this little show? It was... is... sorta ridiculous. Not amazing. Based on some... very cheap, very OBVIOUS Indiana Jones rip-off films, that were also ridiculous and... not... great (the third one is the best, with an awesome performance by Stana Katic aka Kate Beckett as a vampire, but I digress). But... idek, I am EXTREMELY FOND of the series for some reason :p

There are a WHOLE BUNCH of characters that fit my ‘type’ more than Eve tbh... in fact... probably every.single.other.main.cast.member (save perhaps Jenkins?) shares the traits above that typically make a character my fav. But... EVE! I just... think she’s neat! ...maybe it’s BECAUSE all the others are main/lead characters that makes me gravitate towards her? In a cast where ‘geeky, socially awkward, struggles with emotions’ is the norm, Eve being the no-nonsense, socially competent, badass soldier type therefore becomes different and thus more interesting to me? Also, much like with Donna, I appreciate that she’s an older woman who gets to have a full character and plot of her own. There’s also something about her romance with Flynn that... makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Jonathan Levinson.

(tumblr gif search failed me so I had to grab from elsewhere...)

Listen. Look. Okay. Buffy is pretty old school these days so, for anyone not in the know, as a character, originally, Jonathan... he wasn’t even a side character, he wasn’t even REOCCURRING, he was barely a background character. For several episodes he didn’t have a name and it wasn’t until several seasons after he became ‘Jonathan’ that he actually got a surname. Danny Strong was just an actor who happened to be occasionally on-hand when the script called for a random to have a line, until eventually that happened often enough for Joss to think ‘hey, you know what, let’s make this guy an actual part of the show...’ 

He got a couple of episodes focused on him in S03 and S04 respectively, but didn’t become a regular until S06 (and wasn’t in S05 AT ALL). Other than that he had a HANDFUL of ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moments here and there, not even full scenes for the most part, usually lasting no longer than the above gif.

I tell you all this so that when I say childhood me (well... somewhere between 12 and 14 years anyway) was OBSESSED with this character in the show, and I mean O B S E S S E D (to the point of spending hours painstakingly making VHS recordings purely of the episodes he was in), you understand how UTTERLY BIZARRE that was. Because this obsession pre-dated S06. Was, in fact, in full swing during the airing of his S04 episode - which was, like, a fucking DREAM COME TRUE for freakily obsessed me fyi, because the whole episode was constructed with him as the LEAD CHARACTER, because he’d performed a spell to make him super awesome. They even changed the title sequence to read ‘Jonathan’ instead of Buffy! And while other fans were no doubt just lol-ing at the random I was bouncing about on my sofa all ‘MY TIME HAS COME!’ and fucking SWOONING over seeing MY CHARACTER suddenly in the spotlight and getting to do crazy fun OOC shit like this -

Then when S06 rolled around and HE WAS A LEGIT REGULAR, omg, I was in HEAVEN! First TV boxset I ever bought that - Buffy S06 :P

So... yeah. A bit of a fav. Geeky. Outcast. Slowly grows more morally grey, what with that spell I mentioned and also the fact he was teamed with the ANTAGONISTS in S06. I guess you could say he was the beginning of a lot of my fav fictional character traits/tropes (though looking back - I think his ‘villainous’ teammates in S06, Andrew and Warren, are more my ‘type’ these days, and I did end up loving Andrew especially a whole damn lot, but at the time I’d been a Jonathan fangirl for so.fucking.long. there was just no chance anyone else in the show was ever gonna come close to my heart!)

THE END.

Sorry not sorry for the tmi. I got a bit too into this one.

Actually sorry I have so few women on the list :( Internalised misogyny/sexism is a real thing and I spent a lot of my life being... somewhat unfairly dismissive of female characters or at least prioritising male ones over them. I’m working on it.

Ten people is SO.MANY. to tag. But I might as well do this right this time, since I’ve come so far. But if you’d rather not play, no worries! <3

@enchantersnight @momecat @bold-sartorial-statement @vampirebillionaire @edwardnashtons @miss-olivia-cellophane @knightinpinkunderwear @supes9 @leaper182 @hamburgergod

Honourable mentions (because I CAN):

Gotham. Lucius Fox.

Gotham. Fish Mooney.

Gotham. Tabitha Galavan.

Doctor Who. The Doctor.

Doctor Who. The Master/Missy.

Supernatural. Hannah.

Supernatural. Naomi.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Andrew Wells.

[jeramiahsental2]

Oh hey look it’s another thing.

Ack, I kept forgetting to post this (and then when I remembered, it was either the crack of dawn or the dead of night). I mean, it’s only been (checks calendar) 20 days since I finished it? Oh, feels like it took longer. I mean, that’s a pretty long time between completion and posting, compared to the last two drawings (both posted pretty much same day)... ANYWAY.

Same thing applies as usual: more info on the drawing (and lots of rambling) will be under the "Keep reading”!

Start date: 5/30/19

End date: 8/15/19

Total time taken: 78 days (actually 56, since there were 22 whole days where I either did nothing with it or undid any changes I made after getting some feedback).

This was actually a birthday gift for my friend! That’s why it’s so much more complex than any of the others I’ve drawn... It didn’t have the little watermark at the bottom of course, but I kinda wanted to show it here, too.

Firsts: first time drawing more than one character, first time drawing characters directly interacting with things and each other (does it show?), first time drawing ANYTHING with the perspective Chikorita has, first time drawing that kinda fiery glow that Typhlosion has behind his back, first time giving the character an actual surface to stand/sit/lie on, first time drawing a character looking down, first time drawing a character without complete separation between their head and body...

In all seriousness, Typhlosion was the hardest part of this thing to draw.

Not only because I had to put Cyndaquil and Cubone in before I could draw his arms, and then figure out how to position everything so the arms weren’t super stretched.

Not only because I completely changed the position of his head about 3/4 of the way through, and it took me 1/2 of the remaining time to figure out how to position his body.

But the main reason it was such a pain - and this is the most infuriating part of any drawing I have ever done, to the point that I freaking cried - was because I could not for the life of me figure out how the heck to draw him sitting. I mean, I still don’t think it looks good. There’s just something off about it that I can’t put my finger on. But it wouldn’t look half as good if not for @possiblytracker​‘s help (although, it was... indirect help. I was a bit too cowardly to message them directly or send an ask off anon, so haha anon ask for the win *finger guns*).

(Also can I say holy shit I am really nervous tagging them. Like, FRICK this is the reason that I rarely send asks off anon, because I’m always worried about how people will react. Even when I am 99.57% certain that the interaction won’t be negative in any way, shape, or form.)

(Anyway back to drawing stuff.)

Chikorita! Let’s talk about the cute little bean. She was the last of the four to be drawn, so I guess I’m going in order of difficulty. For the most part, she wasn’t all that hard to draw. Except for the perspective. She has a back leg, I swear.

She technically doesn’t have a definition between her head and neck, which admittedly made it a bit more difficult to draw, but her collar made it a lot easier to differentiate between them. She also has leaf hair, which I love.

Onto Cubone! Technically the most complex of the characters, but the second-easiest to actually draw. Can I just say, holy crap his skull helmet has a lot of damage. Like, I wasn’t intending to put that many cracks and chips into it, but that’s how it ended up! Can’t say I’m unhappy, though.

He’s hugging his bone like a teddy bear. He’s also supposed to be leaning against Typhlosion, but I’m not sure how well that second part came across.

Finally, Cyndaquil! There’s a reason this little guy’s body is mostly concealed behind Typhlosion’s hand, and that’s because I had no idea how to draw his leg from this angle. I’ll figure it out eventually. (Side note, that’s also why Chikorita’s that close to Typhlosion, though she’s supposed to be leaning against him too.)

I’m honestly happy with the glow behind Typhlosion. It’s not supposed to be flames; he had his fire when I was first drawing him, but I figured it would be easier and probably better overall (both in terms of how it looks and because Chikorita’s leaning against him and Cyndaquil’s on his head) if I just made his dorsal vents glow instead of actually have fire come out of them.

Shading was a mixed bag. On the one hand, I had to completely ignore the glow because I tried including shadows from it and it just looked... bad. On the other hand, apart from that, shading was its normal fun self. It didn’t really seem to give the drawing as much depth as on the other drawings I’ve done, though (except maybe the headshot of my sona).

I’m still not 100% happy with it, but at this point I know that I’m not going to be. Better to move on to other projects, look back at this one as progress (and progress it is!), and maybe come back and redraw it in a couple years to see if/how/how much I’ve improved.

Whether you read all of that or skipped to this, I hope you liked the drawing!

[hazyheel]

Monday Night Raw 4/1/19

The very first segment of the night was a quick one, where Stephanie McMahon announced that the main event of Wrestlemania will be winner takes all. That makes sense, it will proabably unite the championships as well. I think its about time that happened, but too bad for Asuka, getting screwed again.

Next was the real opening segment, with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman getting out one last promo. Heyman said that the Universal Championship match will also be winner takes all, because he will take and destroy everything Seth Rollins has. He mentioned how Lesnar beat the streak and how he beat Roman Reigns. Heyman then finished it off by saying that he will absolutely destroy Rollins on Sunday. Rollins interrupted, and said that Wrestlemania 35 will house the biggest match of both of their lives. He told Lesnar that no one wants him in the WWE, which is fair enough. Rollins said that he will do anything to beat Lesnar on Sunday, before nailing a low blow. Lesnar responded with a German suplex, but slipped out of the F5 for another low blow. Rollins landed a superkick and a curb stomp, before holding the belt above his head and walking away. Walking around backstage, Charly told Rollins that if he hit the low blow on sunday, he wouldn’t win the belt. Rollins just shrugged and said that he had it coming.

Grade: B+. I haven’t been the biggest fan of this feud because Rollins felt pretty lost after his Royal Rumble win, but I was into this. Seth fought dirty, and he needed to. Even the part with him holding the belt above his head was good, and I don’t normally like that. But he is already an underdog, so I liked seeing it. This is definitely a match I am looking forward to.

First match of the night was an 8-woman tag match, with all of the Women in the Women’s Tag team championship match in it. Bayley, Sasha Banks, Natalya and Beth Phoenix took on Tamina, Nia Jax and the Iiconics. Banks and Phoenix were arguing early on in the match. Banks botched two arm drags early on in the match, but didn’t look like she got hurt during them, despite slipping off the ropes. The Boss n’ Hug connection argued with the Divas of Doom the entire match, but both teams had infighting. The Iiconics were in throughout the match, as Nia and Tamina refused to tag in. As Bayley was looking for a hot tag, Phoenix nailed Banks with a forearm and took her off the apron before tagging herself in. Phoenix had a good hot tag, culminating in spearing Jax through the barricade and hitting Peyton Royce with a Glam Slam for the win.

Grade: C. Pretty paint by numbers match, but it was good to see Phoenix wrestling again. That is the only thing keeping this out of a gutter grade.

After the match, Batista arrived in the arena for a promo. Batista got a big babyface reaction from the crowd. He showed a video package of all the times that he has pinned Triple H. The extent of the promo was just Batista saying “kiss my ass.” Not going to grade this because it was so short and didn’t have much actual content. But I liked it, I think their promos together have sucked, so I am glad they went for a “short and sweet” route. Weirdly looking forward to this match.

Elias then had a quick segment, where he was outside of the MetLife stadium talking about his big break on Wrestlemania as the musical guest. Not much happened here. 

Then we had Jinder Mahal vs. Apollo Crews in a random lumberjack match. Crews quickly won with a frog splash, and all the lumberjacks brawled in the ring. Titus O’Neil looked good in the scramble, but Crews was again the last man standing. Corey Graves kept saying that Michael Che will win the battle royal. Funny.

Grade: F. This match didn’t need a segment, I don’t think anyone cares.

Next was Kurt Angle’s final match on Monday Night Raw. Before he started, he was showered with “thank you Kurt’s.” He thanked the crowd, and looked pretty upset. They then showed a wonderful video package of Kurt Angle’s career. It detailed the ups and downs of his career, such as his second broken neck, his goofy heel phase, his milk truck attack, and his hall of fame induction. Angle was crying as the package ended, being showered with support from the fans, only for Baron Corbin to ruin it. He made fun of Angle for crying and leaving and such. Corbin said that he couldn’t hang with the wrestlers anymore. Corbin then heeled on the crowd for attacking him on social media. Angle challenged Corbin to a match, but he refuses. Rey Mysterio then came out to be in Angle’s corner. Mysterio then challenged Corbin to a match. He was going to refuse, but sucker punched them before getting overpowered by the faces.

Grade: C. The best part of this feud is when Corbin complains about how the fans say that he doesn’t deserve Angle’s final match. Its funny that it is actually part of the story. Other than that, this sucks. Corbin really doesn’t deserve Angle’s final match, but story wise it kinda makes sense. I liked the beginning of this though.

Charly interviewed Charlotte Flair about the main event of Wrestlemania, saying that the winner take all stipulation only benefits her. That was basically it.

Next up was the Revival vs. Aleister Black and Ricochet for the Raw Tag Team Championships. Why this isn’t on the Wrestlemania card is beyond me. In my opinion, they shouldn’t still be competing in NXT, and they should be on the main card of Wrestlemania. The Revival got a jobber entrance, but put on a mat classic early on in the match. Black and Ricochet actually have awesome double team moves together. Ricochet landed a series of rollups, but they all failed before Wilder sent him into the ropes, where Dawson hit a cheap shot and Wilder hit an awesome gory special for a near fall. Black tried to even the odds on the outside, but they then double teamed him to take him out with a tornado DDT, only for Ricochet to hit his awesome corner dive. Wilder ran back into the ring at 6, but Dawson tripped up Ricochet on his way back into the ring, allowing the Revival to win by count out. After the match, the faces assaulted the champions, with Black hitting a black mass to both of them, and Ricochet hitting Dawson with a 630 senton.

Grade: B. Good match, and I actually liked the finish. I never liked it when WWE treated countouts like dusty finishes, but this is a classic example of a time when it made sense. It was still a definitive finish, even if it was a countout. The heels kinda played dirty, but it came across as smart rather than cowardly. So good stuff to them for a good match and finish, but why are the faces attacking after the bell? That is stupid, and they need to stop doing stuff like that.

Backstage, Charly tried to interview Ronda Rousey, but she just said that she is gonna kill the Riott Squad, and Lynch/ Flair if one of them attacked her. She was shadowboxing very dramatically. Then we had Alexa Bliss talking to the returning Tyler Breeze and EC3. They hyped up the battle royal, and the odd SNL storyline. Braun interrupted and intimidated two guys who supposedly liked Colin Jost and Michael Che. He challenged the two randos to a match. One of the interviewers, whose name I can’t remember, interviewed Roman about whether or not he will be ready for his singles return, but he was quickly attacked by Drew McIntyre, and thrown into a barricade backstage. Love this feud, McIntyre looks crazy, and Roman actually feels like an underdog for the first time in years.

Then we had an interesting 6-woman tag, pitting the Riott Squad against Rousey, Lynch and Flair, but if any of the main eventing women betray her teammates, they will be removed from the Wrestlemania match. Before the match, Lynch said that she will defeat both of her opponents on Sunday, and she said that she made Rousey feel untouchable, which is when she is the most vulnerable (great line). Lynch’s promos have gone downhill since they started actively attempting to write her as a face, but this was pretty good. Tension was high amongst the main event team, jaw jacking with each other before the match started. Flair and Lynch did most of the work during the match, but Rousey forced the tag, and tapped out Liv Morgan. As soon as the bell rang, the three women started fighting, even beating down security before police had to separate them, and Rousey was taken away in handcuffs, only for Lynch to attack while she was handcuffed. She too was cuffed, shouting “again?” as she was. Then Flair attacked both women, and was also cuffed. Rousey and Lynch even kicked at each other in the back of a car, shattering a window. They all fought backstage, and Ronda crashed a car into another car.

Grade: A. The match did not matter to me, but the post-match segment was wild and suspenseful and cool. It gave a sense of danger to the match on Sunday, a type of unpredictability that it has lacked up until this point. I am glad that they didn’t try to say that the main event was in jeoprady, because that is unbelievable. But it was a fun segment.

Next, we came down with a tag match, pitting Bobby Roode and Chad Gable against Heavy Machinery. Lacey Evans did a catwalk in the middle of the match. Heavy Machinery won after an assisted powerslam. No reason for this to happen, but I’m glad they all got time on the show, and they looked good.

Grade: C+. Decent match. Everyone in it was good.

Strowman then had a squash match against a couple jobbers. Good times

Bobby Lashley came out for an interview, asking if he has any concern about the match at Wrestlemania. Lio Rush said that there was absolutely no reason to be worried. Charly then brought up the Demon Finn Balor, but Lashley said that he isn’t scared of it. Balor then announced, with a cool little fade effect, that it will be the demon at wrestlemania.

Grade: D-. I hate this feud. I hate Lashley having the Intercontinental Championship. I hate that they announce when the Demon is coming. Lio Rush is still good, but I hate everything else. It should be Rush and Balor. Rage.

Baron Corbin then took on Rey Mysterio. This was mostly a match for Corbin to be super dominant, while Rey sold his ass off. Mysterio may have tweaked his knee during the match as well. The match was actually half decent, but I just didn’t care. Mysterio hit the 619, but missed the followup splash. Corbin then caught Mysterio running the ropes and hit the deep six for the win. Angle attacked Corbin after the match, locking in the ankle lock.

Grade: C-. Decent action, no story. Definitely an odd main event.

Overall Grade: C-

Pros: Rollins attack; Raw Tag Team Championship; Wrestlemania main event angle

Cons: Lumberjack Match; Lashley Promo; lackluster feel overall.

[virtualenemypersona-blog]

Oozora Yuujin: Double Standard in Digimon/Appmon Fandom

Seriously, why is no one talking about this?

If you watch Tri and Appmon more carefully, you'll find that Oozora Yuujin has pretty much experienced ALL the Tri girls' main problems.  

1. Yuujin and Meiko: Being hurt both physically and mentally because of their cute, problematic partners.

But compared to Meiko who can only cry and run, Yuujin (despite his low self-esteem, just like Meiko’s) has guts to stop Shutmon using his own body.

2. Yuujin and Sora: Caring for others while neglecting themselves.

Worse, when they can't solve their own problems by themselves, they will pretend like they can handle everything on their own. At least, Yuujin finally opens up to welcome the others’ help, rather than throws himself into more trouble like Sora does. It's not all Sora's fault, though. Haru and the others are doing it right when they offer Yuujin help. While Taichi and Yamato can only complain and make Sora feel worse (Just imagine if it was Takeru who talked to her. The story would be different).

That being said, Yuujin still ends up diving by himself into danger to save Offmon, and needs Haru and Globemon to rescue them.

3. Yuujin and Hikari: Being possessed by god-like, balance-seeking yet destructive digital entities.

Hikari, while her body is being taken over, still manages to resist Homeostasis from inside. Yuujin? Indeed, he manages to take over half of his body when being controlled, to call Haru’s name. But when Leviathan finally takes full charge of him, he helplessly lets Haru do everything, until Leviathan offers Haru to save the world by killing them both.

4. Yuujin and Mimi: Being alienated in new environments.

We see Mimi get rejected by her new friends for her Daters Cafe, but still able to stay believing in herself and her ideal. While little Yuujin reacts to being rejected (even by someone he barely knows) as if no one would ever want to have him around again. Until Haru comes and helps him through it.

See the similarities and differences now?

This is only my guess, but the writers might intentionally put Yuujin through these "girls problems", to let us see the real Yuujin, which is not as perfect as he seems to be.

But why should "girls problems"? Why not giving him more masculine problems, such as unable to protect younger sibling, rivalry, or being a good leader, like Taichi and Yamato used to struggle with? Doesn't Yuujin resemble those two? An active, popular protagonist-like boy? They still can show Yuujin's flaws through "boys problems", right? So, why should "girls problems"?

I will try to answer this later, but let me get something straight first.

I enjoy Appmon. But I am sick seeing Yuujin being treated by the fandom as Taichi's expy (even after the plot reveals his vulnerability without Haru) just because he plays soccer, is a boy, and is said to be an ideal protagonist, when there is already Sora, whom Yuujin obviously shares more similar traits with, rather than with Taichi.

"But Yuujin can't be Sora's expy! Because Yuujin is portrayed as a popular, active masculine sportsman, and Sora is a girl just too motherly to be compared to one."

Yeah, right. You must forget how Sora was when she was a kid (she even played soccer too, for God’s sake!). And you didn't truly watch how Yuujin and Offmon's interaction went. If Yuujin can't be called as a patient, loving parent that is succeed in bringing up the cowardly Offmon to be a capable fighter, I don't know what he is to Offmon.

I'm not saying that Yuujin should have been a girl, to make his character and this show proper. I'm also not saying that Taichi is better than Yuujin, or the girls. The point is, Taichi is the base character for most Digimon protagonists. And Yuujin, if he was really modeled after Taichi, should have faced those "girls problems" above with much more protagonist-like ways, like Mimi or Hikari does (who are not even the protagonists).

But, nah. Yuujin turns out to be a woobie, fragile distressed damsel. Something that Taichi would never become, but Sora and Meiko would.

And that is NOT a bad thing either. Personally, I never see any characters as bad. If they are written like that, then that's how they are. The only thing that can ruin the characters is either the writers' bad writing, unreasonable inconsistency, or the audience's high expectation. And those, of course, are not the characters' faults (I'm looking at you, 02-Sora).

However, Appmon writers are bunch of talents (or rather, trolls) that trick the audience to think of Yuujin as the Taichi for the un-Taichi-like protagonist: Haru. They also seem to be aware on how the double standard between boys and girls works, and use it to surprise the audience.

Writer A: Let's write a wimpy, shy introverted main character for the new Digimon series Writer B: All right, but sure he would overcome his weakness, take a level in badass, and save the world, right? Writer A: Of course. And that's why he would need “someone special” to be rescued from the baddies. It would mature him dramatically in no time. Writer C: Oh, a love interest! Interesting! *writes Ai-chan* Here she is! What do you say? Writer A: She's cute. But looks boring. Please make another. Writer C: *writes Eri* Here! Another one, but stronger and more confident. She would help the wimpy main character to grow a backbone. Writer A: Is she going to be kidnapped? Writer C: Well, maybe. That's how it usually works, right? Writer A: No, scrap that. It would reduce this show into another chickification trash. The older audience have had enough of that. Writer B: Hey guys, hear me out. Make another one like Eri. Strong, confident, and kind. But this time, change her into a boy. There wouldn't be any chickification if the victim was a boy. The older audience would never expect it either. They might not even realize.

I’ve seen some comments complaining about how Yuujin and Offmon had stolen the spotlight from Haru. But no one seems to ever complain about Yuujin’s “chickification”, which rendered him almost useless in the Ultimate 4 arc and the last arc (except for being Haru’s living emotional crutch and maybe, fetish fuel, as him being crucified under a time bomb, or put into bondage suit while being possessed/mind-controlled, seems to be well-received among his fans).

On the other hand, Eri impressively freeing herself from Knight is considered as a very compelling point that some even regard her as the best DigiGirl ever. If Eri ended up in Yuujin’s position, she would promptly be accused for being another chickification victim, like Sora, Izumi, and Nene.

Appmon cleverly avoids itself from being tagged with chickification trope, by subjecting a boy (Yuujin) to it. And not just a boy. He's (seemed to be)confident, active, kind, brave, protective, patient, one of the chosen ones, able to kick ass, in short: almost perfect protagonist-like boy.

If Yuujin was a girl, in this kind of kids/shonen anime,even with a "weak" protagonist like Haru; admit it.The way how she was treated throughout the series: being so much devoted to a boy, to the level being distressed, kidnapped, possessed, and finally sacrificed for the said boy’s character development, would be a “very annoying, yet unsurprising thing” to see, since Digimon has quite reputation in chickifiying its action girls.

Girl!Yuujin would be deemed as a Mary Sue subjected to the most severe chickification that Digimon series had ever done. No “female Taichi” would ever be tagged to her. Even if she played soccer and wore goggle.

Regardless of the special treatment Yuujin got from the fandom because of his gender, Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters, though might not be the best series, still nails at what it specializes the most. Surprising the audience while staying to be faithful to the plot and the characteristics of its casts.

No one would ever think that Yuujin being broken is the price that Haru has to pay, in order to grow himself as a real protagonist. Most audience might have expected that Yuujin would be Haru's mentor (or at least, rival) since he has already been a “protagonist” from beginning. But haha. Let alone mentoring, Yuujin has been always depending on Haru, like Haru is the whole world to him. Turns out Haru also feels the same way toward Yuujin. But instead of depending on, Haru chooses to be a protagonist (hero) that Yuujin can depend on, to make up for the fact that he can't save him from Leviathan.

Appmon last episode is pretty much an antithesis to what it appears to be in the first episode. "Yuujin the confident hero and Haru the kindhearted side-character" has been flipped to "Yuujin the selfless, sacrificial lamb and Haru the dependable, determined hero".

More impressively, this ending doesn't come out nowhere. Yuujin himself admits that he has always been saved by Haru, both physically and mentally. This pattern is used throughout the series, yet a bit contradicted in the last episode.

In the last arc, the writers makes Haru rise up with determination to save Yuujin as usual, only to be forced to kill him off, in order to stay being a real protagonist and save the world (very cruel scenario, if you ask me). 

Last but not least. Yuujin never sees himself as a protagonist, or a hero, or a leader. He is just forced to be seen as one, despite his fragile heart and weak mental, which people tend to shrug off because of his first impression as the polar opposite of the un-Taichi-like protagonist, Haru. And that explains why Yuujin is so easy to be destroyed, unlike Haru.

Yuujin is right. He's no protagonist. Haru is the real protagonist.

@firstagent @shetriestolive @mormon-nerd @jessicastar3 @newworldchild @setokaibaisboss @theanalyzersfanfics @yesyoshiposts @jackpo21 @eternal-angel15 @shadowrocket13 @longroadstonowhere @zzeno @digimumblr @birdboy2000 @adventurechronicles @tanaka04 @djinntotonic @boku-no-yuujin @tokyodirectdiary

@soliloquyer @infamousfj @kiya-minamura @noirharu @navirule @mormon-nerd @bubunet @metalempire @nightglimmer @seregkat @razorsaw @digihopes @digithoughts @appmons @digimonconfessions

[junker-town]

What we learned from WWE Money in the Bank 2017

WWE’s current strategy is to upset its fans, and it probably works better in some ways than others.

Money in the Bank has come and gone, and people are angry for a lot of different reasons. Some of those reasons are valid! Some are because their favorite didn’t win. We’re here to sort it all out and figure out what we’re supposed to have taken away from the SmackDown-exclusive, ladder-based show.

Carmella defeats Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Natalya, and Tamina thanks to James Ellsworth, who is not a woman, in the first-ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match

You’re going to want to take a seat for this one. So, I get what WWE was trying to do here. Carmella is a cowardly heel who often gets assists from her friend who is a boy, James Ellsworth, who is also a coward but knows his role as Guy Who Distracts Or Takes Punches For His Friend. Having Ellsworth climb the ladder, bring down the briefcase, and drop it into the hands of a barely-aware Carmella works in the sense that it gets everyone really mad at him, at Carmella for being okay with winning that way, and so on.

The problem here is that this was the first-ever women’s Money in the Bank ladder match, propped up repeatedly by WWE as a historic outing. Unless they’re very young, fans are aware that there is a writer making these decisions for who wins and who loses and how it all goes down. Because of that, people are much more upset at WWE’s creative team for having a man win this supposedly historic match for a woman than they are at Carmella or Ellsworth for what was clearly an unsportsmanlike act we’re supposed to be mad at.

It’s tone deaf, and they can never go back and change the fact they had a man bring down the briefcase. This moment in time is ruined: there’s no shining clip to flash back to on a future WWE Network special with a woman hoisting the briefcase overhead after taking it down from its harness, and that was what we were supposed to get here, even if that woman was heel Carmella. Even if she had climbed the ladder to take it down because Ellsworth had simply pushed Becky off the ladder instead of then climbing it himself. It still would have been her!

However... WWE also did this on purpose, and there is much more of this angle to come. All of WWE that isn’t Carmella and James Ellsworth is (story line) furious about this. SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon and general manager Daniel Bryan already said they plan to address this on Tuesday, and they might not have to if Natalya and Tamina and Becky and Charlotte and Sasha and Nia and so on all decide that murder is justified here.

So! While that moment in time is ruined, taken away from women who have waited far, far too long for even a shred of equality in WWE’s presentation of wrestling, the show has already moved on to the next stage. This can be an unfortunate (avoidable!) mistake and also include an entertaining and even satisfying conclusion to the story it started to tell.

Will that happen? It goddamn better.

What we learned: Besides the above? That this and other stipulation matches need to be a staple for WWE’s women, because they are killing it (and each other), even when the outcome is questionable.

Also, props to Carmella for rolling with it.

#CurrentMood http://pic.twitter.com/G5XoIRFprt

— Carmella (@CarmellaWWE) June 19, 2017

The Usos lost on purpose to the New Day because they are not dumb

This was hard for audiences to take because it meant Money in the Bank began with two goofy finishes meant to anger fans, but in a vacuum, this was the right end to this SmackDown Tag Team Championship match.

The Usos thought they were just going to crush New Day, and honestly, that was a fair belief. The Usos have busted ass both figuratively and literally while they’ve been heels on SmackDown, and New Day of late has spent more time making jokes than having matches where they look threatening. When it turns out that the New Day were apparently just resting up for the ass-whooping they delivered on Sunday, the Usos jointly agreed it was time to bail.

What we learned: This feud is not over, and if Sunday’s match is any indication, that’s great news. New Day looked as inspired as they ever have as in-ring performers, and that’s no small thing given how much of their popularity comes from their mic work instead. The Usos continue to be so much better as heels than they ever were as faces, and aborting this title match when they realized defeating New Day was easier said than done means we might even eventually get ourselves a situation that the Usos can’t walk away from.

Naomi defended the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Lana

Lana had some pretty old-school ring work going on, as she spent a lot of time trying to ground the high-flying, fast-paced Naomi. It was a successful strategy for much of the match, but it became clear that she didn’t have the second gear she needed to put Naomi away the longer the affair went on. It also didn’t help that she let herself get distracted by Carmellsworth as they came out with the briefcase mid-match to let both competitors know they were officially in the women’s main event scene whenever they felt like it.

What we learned: This was one of the only positive outcomes of a night devoted to heels doing heel things, as Naomi maintained her status as the only face champion in the entire company wait hold on seriously? Man, SummerSlam might be all faces all the time this year, just to restore balance to the galaxy.

We also learned that Lana is competent in the ring, and that given her performance and loss, probably isn’t going to stick around the title scene for long, if any longer at all. That’s fine, though! The announce team spent the entire match putting Lana over as better than anyone had any right to expect, so the lesson to be taken away from this match was that she’s ready to participate in a division that laughed at the idea of having her.

WWE.com

Also that her ring gear makes her look like she just came off the set of a 1950s space-themed B-movie.

Maria Kanellis returned to WWE with her husband, Mike Kanellis, and they are in love

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees I am so ready to hate these two hell I already do who is going to punch these wonderful bad people first

Jinder Mahal defended the WWE World Championship against Randy Orton because Orton let him take a nap in the middle of the match, have you never watched wrestling before, Randy, what the heck

This was shockingly a pretty good match, as Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton had their best interaction together to date. And also maybe their last interaction. Hopefully their last one. Listen, this was good, but I don’t want to get greedy, okay?

Jinder looked like he was going to lose — Orton even got a visual pin, but Mahal’s cohorts, the Singh Brothers, made sure to put their main dude’s foot on the ropes to break the count. They were kicked out of the match, so instead of making their way to the back, they made sure to cause enough damage to allow Jinder to recover: they taunted Orton’s dad at ringside and grabbed him, causing Randy to exit the ring and throw them around like they weighed nothing. Which, to 6-foot-5 Randy Orton, they probably do not.

Orton got back in the ring after Mahal had time for a nap and a massage and a refreshing drink, and immediately ate Jinder’s finisher, ending the match.

What we learned: Randy Orton has been around forever, but the voices in his head can still convince him that losing matches is worth the distraction of harming someone else.

We don’t know who Jinder will face next — maybe Orton again at Battleground, allowing Mahal a fresh feud for SummerSlam? We’ll probably have a better sense of this on Tuesday, though.

The Fashion Police defeat The Ascension, who took credit for destroying their office

I gotta say, I don’t know if I believe The Ascension actually destroyed the office of Breezango and attacked them, or if they just want to claim that they did because it was an easy way to make it onto a pay-per-view. My money is still on American Alpha turning heel and beating the hell out of both teams to let everyone know who is actually responsible for all of this.

What we learned: I’m still incredibly happy when the Fashion Police are allowed to thrive, even if it’s against The Ascension in a cooldown match buried during the back-end of a pay-per-view.

Baron Corbin defeated AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn to win the men’s Money in the Bank briefcase

This match was perfect. Baron Corbin didn’t make an entrance, instead opting to come in behind Shinsuke Nakamura to beat the heck out of him during his own. That took arguably the most dangerous opponent out of the proceedings until late, which accomplished two things: everyone else got to shine before super-powered Nakamura returned late in the match, and it helped build up the idea of an eventual feud between Corbin and Shinsuke.

WWE.com

Nakamura had an opportunity to win when he reentered the match, too, but decided instead that he wanted to regular wrestle AJ Styles. Now, Styles vs. Nakamura is really anything but regular, but you’re supposed to climb the ladder, boys! Man, even James Ellsworth understands that.

Corbin took advantage of everyone else being destroyed by each other and Nakamura and brought down the case for himself. Nakamura should feel cheated, Styles should feel cheated, and the fans should feel cheated — except, like, in the good “he’s a bad guy who won” way, not the You’re Ruining History way they feel about Ellsworth winning for Carmella.

What we learned: Corbin is unlikely to challenge Jinder Mahal for the title, but then again, Corbin has no love for either heels or faces, and if any heel were to go after another heel for the title, it’d be Baron. Plus, maybe that would give Jinder an opportunity to flesh out more of his face side — he’s been a bit of a tweener in some promos, and you’d have to think the crowd would side with him over Corbin if he leans into it. Right?

Chances are good that Corbin will hold onto the case for some time, which will inevitably setup Corbin vs. Nakamura for the WWE World Championship even further down the road. Now there’s a sentence that you never would have imagined seeing just two years ago.

[junker-town]

WWE Extreme Rules 2017: Full rundown and why you should care

Get ready for a show with some extreme (and not so extreme) stipulations.

Welcome to WWE’s annual tribute to 80s hair band, Extreme: Extreme Rules. I briefly considered making a reference to Extreme songs in every match preview, but let’s be real, I can only stretch my knowledge of “Play With Me” and “More Than Words” so far.

Anyway, here is Extreme Rules, a show that looks a lot different than whatever WWE had previously planned for it before Braun Strowman’s elbow needed fixing. As much as we miss Braun, this Fatal 5-Way main event they have planned to determine Brock Lesnar’s next victim opponent seems like it’s going to be pretty great. So, let’s dive in.

Rich Swann and Sasha Banks vs. Noam Dar and Alicia Fox (Mixed tag team match)

What am I looking at here? Gotta admit, we’re not off to a very extreme start. A mixed tag match is a tag match with additional rules, meaning the only thing extreme about this is how many rules there are. More like, uh, Extratreme Rules, right?

...right?

Sasha Banks and Alicia Fox had beef, and Noam Dar is Fox’s plaything, so he joined in on the action. Then Rich Swann showed up to back Sasha for some reason even though Cedric Alexander has returned from injury and has previous unfinished business with ex-girlfriend Fox and the Fox chose over him, Dar.

Why you should care: The coolest thing about this match is that WWE is trusting RAW regular Sasha Banks to get people to watch their cruiserweight show, 205 Live. Mixed tag matches can sometimes be a lot of fun — see Fandango and Summer Rae vs. Emma and Santino — but that’s when they’re played with the purpose of being fun. Too often we’re getting singles matches that happen independently of each other since intergender wrestling is not a thing in WWE, and it can be a drag. Hopefully this is closer to fun than yawn.

Also, I’m sorry that by clicking that link you were exposed to Alex Riley on commentary. There is no cure.

Neville (c) vs. Austin Aries for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship (Submission match)

What am I looking at here? Neville has been Cruiserweight Champion since winning the belt at the Royal Rumble, and has the longest reign in the title’s youthful history. Most of the time that’s just because he absolutely overpowered his opponents, but against Austin Aries, he’s had to resort to some rule-bending and cheating.

At WrestleMania 33, Neville thumbed Aries in the eye when the ref wasn’t looking. At Payback, he got himself disqualified when it appeared he was going to have to submit. So now, these two will face off in a submission match, meaning it’s a no disqualification situation where the only thing that ends the match is tapping out to a submission.

WWE.com

Why you should care: This feud has been wonderful, with both Neville and Aries bringing it every single week on the mic and even more so when they lock up in the ring. Is Aries finally going to wrest the Cruiserweight Championship from Neville here, or will Neville finally pull out all the stops — even the ones the fans he loathes like seeing — in order to finally put Aries away for good?

The Hardy Boyz (c) vs. Sheamus and Cesaro for the RAW Tag Team Championship (Steel cage match)

What am I looking at here? We’re still trying to figure part of that out. The Hardy Menz — hey, they’re adults now, and it’s not the 90s — are known for their ability in ladder matches, so when they got the chance to pick the stipulation, they naturally chose a steel cage match. So that the two big beefy dudes who recently turned heel with the express purpose of beating the Hardys to death now have a cage to assist them in their goal, I guess.

To be fair this has been a very one-sided feud in favor of Matt and Jeff so maybe they’re just trying to help Sheamus and Cesaro get back in the game.

Why you should care: Sheamus and Cesaro are dope as heck, and like 500 pounds of pure muscle and beatdowns waiting to happen to the Hardys. The Hardys are still kind of on the nostalgia portion of their return, where we haven’t been given much character other than “Hey, remember these guys? You used to like them!” — that could change with a loss of the titles, especially if, say, Jeff Hardy decides to do a reckless flip off the top of the cage instead of exiting it to win the match and retain the titles and it somehow backfires in the Hardys’ faces.

Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Bayley for the RAW Women’s Championship (Kendo Stick on a Pole match)

What am I looking at here? All you need to know about the setup is that this feud is built on the idea that Alexa Bliss keeps calling Bayley a child and Bayley’s reaction to this is to pout and stamp her feet and deny it while doing things like lashing out at Alexa Bliss with her fists or attacking her from behind. You know, mature adult stuff and not the emotional outbursts of a petulant child.

The Bayley we love might be dead, y’all. Or at least in a deep slumber, waiting to be woken by someone who can effectively write and understand her character.

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Oh, also, there is a kendo stick on a pole and the two women are going to try to reach the kendo stick on a pole in order to take the kendo stick down from the pole and beat the other woman with the kendo stick from the pole.

Why you should care: Alexa Bliss has been incredible since showing up on RAW, awful Monday segment that WWE should never employ in any capacity ever again aside. She’s already beaten Bayley clean without cheating to take the RAW Women’s Championship away from her, so don’t be surprised if she also manages to win a match where she does not have to wrestle fair.

Or idk maybe Bayley wins and then screams “I’M NOT A CHILD” while sticking her tongue out and going “neener neener neener” to Bliss.

Dean Ambrose (c) vs. Miz for the Intercontinental Championship (No Champion’s Advantage)

What am I looking at here? So you might be wondering what the champion’s advantage is and why it’s not happening in this match. Basically, a champion can get disqualified and normally, the title will not change hands when that happens. For heels, taking away the champion’s advantage is a way to keep them from cheating their way to retaining. Ambrose is a face, though, which means in this situation, the focus is on what ridiculous things Miz has to do to goad Ambrose into getting disqualified.

Why you should care: One of my favorite matches has this same stipulation, and the heel in that situation was Christian, who is every bit as needling and annoying as Miz. He tried to get Randy Orton to beat him with a chair and slip up and get himself disqualified in a number of ways, and none of them worked... until Christian SPIT DIRECTLY INTO RANDY ORTON’S OPEN MOUTH while the two were in the corner. Orton did not, uh, take that well, and kicked Christian right in the beans as hard as he could, which cost him the title.

So, seeing how Miz causes Ambrose to similarly snap and forget himself long enough to drop the title should be great.

Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt (Fatal 5-Way to determine No. 1 contender for the WWE Universal Championship)

What am I looking at here? Well, this is something. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Bray Wyatt are former WWE World Champions. Rollins, Finn Balor, and Samoa Joe are all former NXT Champions. Finn is a former WWE Universal Champion, the first one ever, actually, and he faced off against Rollins for that belt in its inaugural match. Now all five of these dudes get to wrestle each other for the right to face Brock Lesnar at, I kid you not, an event named “Great Balls of Fire.”

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Yeah we were probably supposed to get Reigns vs. Braun Strowman in an Ambulance Match as the main event of Extreme Rules but as dope as those two are Ambulance Matches are just okay. This is better, especially if Strowman returns from injury soon and is ready to maim whoever is in his way again, anyway.

Why you should care: First of all, there’s basically no wrong choice for the winner here. Roman Reigns vs. Lesnar would only be wrong in the sense that it’s already been a WrestleMania main event and should be again someday, so the timing is off. Rollins as a face taking on Lesnar instead of fighting him as a cowardly heel could be a lot of fun. Samoa Joe deciding he doesn’t want to be suplexed, actually, and is going to choke Lesnar out would be wonderful. Finn Balor showing that the Demon can take on the Beast even if he’s significantly lighter and shorter than Brock is a thing I need injected into my veins.

And man, even though Bray Wyatt’s shtick has gotten pretty old, him vs. Lesnar could be something special just for the weird factor.

Whoever wins this match probably isn’t beating Brock next month, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they need to lose, either. And that’s a problem for Great Balls of Fire (lol), anyway. All we’re concerned about at the moment is what should be a great main event, which, by the way, should be great.