#also they can't show their faces in the markets for the next two weeks cause every time they go everyone keep giving them Looks

[yuu-kumeii]

A/N : I swear this is just a Kiyoomi drabble, the set up just got a tiny bit too long

Ok so imagine the MSBY 4 having to make a 'day in the life of' type vlog for a promotion for an upcoming game, event, or collab. Where everyone can take turns holding the camera and vlog about their individual days and routines, so the whole video would be like a compilation vlog showcasing the team in their purest form.

Shoyo and Koutaro will absolutely just ramble on camera about every little thing that happened to them, often getting distracted when it's their turn with the camera. At times both are just going on about their mornings when either one of them holds the camera while the other 2 members just walk in silence behind them.

Being able to capture moments like Kou forgetting he's supposed to put the camera on the bench to get good enough shots of their practice, so the shots of their practice were from far away with a clear blur to it or when Shoyo accidentally dropped the handheld, picked it back up quickly and immediately apologized to the coach while offering to pay for it despite nothing being actually broken. All caught on camera, blurry figures and a lot of fast camera shakes.

Out of the 2, Kou is the one who most likely forgets the next thing he's going to talk about because he was focused on the current topic. He may be older but that doesn't mean he changed all that much, it's still ok though, the marketing department in charge of the editing said it makes him look all the more approachable.

Meanwhile, Shoyo is the 'golden boy' of this vlog. He's energetic, humble, kind, encouraging and he has just the type of face that screams 'We look forward to your support! I promise we won't let you down!'. He also does the same things Kou does, but he gets visibly flustered when he forgets. Everyone would find that cute, the marketing team just knew it.

He and Kou are on the same basis in terms of the 'pure and lovable one people just can't help but support' but they're on different wavelengths.

Kou appeals to the crowd that just craves this type of whimsy and fast paced energy, someone who forgets to think before he does most things but will be the most visibly sincere about apologizing that you can't help but forgive him.

While Shoyo appeals to a more mellowed out side, much like Kou but he's a bit more aware of his actions and surroundings. He does have his moments though and that paired with his pure hearted nature just makes it sweeter to watch.

On the other hand, you have Atsumu and Kiyoomi. Two very different players with very different appeals on camera, yet able to have some of the best back and forths throughout the vlog.

Atsumu, to no one's surprise, will try to capitalize every part of the screen. Whenever it's his turn to hold the camera, it's his turn. So much happens in such a short amount of time that it felt like he was on a multi-week reality show and not a one day vlog, he would go on and on about himself and his life story that it's hard not to feel like you've known the guy your whole life at that point.

Not to mention the amount of mishaps he tries to shake off is enough for his fans to make an entire compilation video. It's so much fun to see Atsumu trip, stagger that clearly shows he was caught off guard, then going back to vlogging on camera like nothing happened while the others laugh behind him. Other notable things were Kiyoomi 'accidentally' serving a ball straight into the back of Tsumu's head while he was explaining his routine on camera and Atsumu also accidentally dropping the camera but instead of admitting it he just pretends nothing happened.

Too bad the editing crew decided to keep that little moment in the video.

One last tidbit that showed Atsumu being just as caring as the sunshine pair was his 'attempt' at subtly promoting Onigiri Miya throughout his parts, emphasis on attempt. Because he would say things like,

"I like ta' go to Onigiri Miya sometimes, cause' I gotta brag to Samu' about another win ya' know? The food 's also good,"

"Is this an ad for Onigiri Miya?"

"...No"

Yeah, no one believes him. But it's so cute, watching him deny every accusation that he wants to brag about his twin's accomplishments as much as his own. Samu definitely put in extra fatty tuna in Tsumu's onigiri for that, don't tell him that though.

And lastly Kiyoomi, your boyfriend and very captivating volleyball player of the MSBY Black Jackals.

Every time he's on-screen, it's just a whole different energy. Calm and collected with minimal words, a drastic difference from the many life stories you get from the others, Kiyoomi prefers to be as vague and general as possible. However, even if his talking is minimal, he still manages to have some of the funniest shots in the video. Courtesy of the other members helping to fill Kiyoomi's segments.

Though the one moment you can say will stick with you, and him, til the day you probably get married (hopefully, fingers crossed). So, each of the boys have a little clip that encapsulates each of their characters and dynamics with each other. Those moments include Shoyo and Koutaro having a little game of rock-paper-scissors in the corner of the gym, everyone trying to imitate Kiyoomi's bendy wrist, 3/4 of the MSBY 4 getting reprimanded by Meian while the rest just watch with smug looks.

All the best moments that show how close they are in a little montage. The moment you're referring to, is this clip of the Jackal's gym. Empty and quiet, the lights are still on and everything is in its place. There, in the corner on a bench, is Kiyoomi sitting by himself. Munching on some dried plums from this little white packet, just sitting there.

It's not something you can explain but seeing him there alone, not to mention the way it was shot that made him look teeny tiny, just about did it for you. The second that clip was shown, you were gone, sent to the sky never to return.

He just looked so small and alone, it's so sad but it's so funny to you. It gives you the uncontrollable urge to coo at him and kick your feet a little, the b roll of the shot just slowly panning towards his little big figure on that bench minding his own business.

He's so little, so cute, so by himself in that gym and he's so going to be your fiance because you want that clip played in your guys' engagement party as one of your reasons to marry him.

[freestyle-crocodile-trashpile]

Hi can I request 141 + Los Vaqueros + Konig with Dutch!Male reader who celebrates carnaval with them

Basically how the dutch celebrate is to dress up in costumes or be in the Prins/Prinses carnaval basically schools choose somebody to be a prince or princess and minister for carnaval.

Maybe the reader feels sad they can't celebrate it with their family/friends so they throw him a small party with the traditional carnaval clothing to make him feel better?

Anyways thanks for reading my rant I became prince carnaval last week so my dutch brain is breaking-

[A/n:I never knew the Dutch did that, that's super cool, and congratulations i bet that super exciting to be 😊. Thank you for requesting]

Summary:They throw you a traditional Dutch party since you can't be with your family

Type:Scenario:141 + Los Vaqueros + König X Dutch M!Reader, tad bit of König X M!Reader

Version:Mw2

~

The main reason they throw the party was because they seen how sad you looked when you realized you wouldn't be home. It was Alejandro's plan, and Alejandro knows how to party. Rodolfo did research on Dutch party's to tell Alejandro. The Los Vaqueros had everything planned, it would be ready tonight they just need to keep you occupied long enough to set it up. Price and Gaz would take you out for lunch hopefully making you alittle better. You three surprisingly hung out around 3 to 4 hours, due to Gaz asking you all about Dutch party's, to send more information to Alejandro. You were very excited to talk about it.

"Oh my God Gaz I'm gonna have to take you to a REAL traditional party with all my family, you'd love it, also did you know I'm the Prince Carnaval"

Next was Soap, he decided to take you alone. Bring you to walk around the center of town were all the fun stores are, he just picked you up from tour little lunch date with Price and Gaz. You guys almost spend like 500 dollars, in one store. You guys can't be taken to a mall, or free-market that's for sure. But it was so much fun, finding thing that not only reminds you of home, but thing you can decorate your room with, make it feel more homey.

"Oh my, SOAP! Look at this, see how it glows under light. Yeah, i wish I could show my mom, it looks like something she'd put in the kitchen"

Lastly, Ghost and König taking you in the longest way to get back to the base. Just so everyone else could get there on time. König was driving, that eas better for him since he doesn't know you all that well. Well, not as much as the others, he knows you but just enough to be invited to the party. The car ride was mainly silent, there wasn't much to talk about. But you sudden slide to the middle seat, leaning in between the two. Ghost didn't notice you at first but when he did he pushed you back.

"Put your seat belt on! And don't stick your head between the seats, what if we got into a reck?"

You rolled your eyes before buckling your seat belt. Once Ghost seen your seat buckled he sat back in his seat. Looking at König you noticed how he seemed go be voned out, taking this time to get a good look at him. Taking in every detail and small feature, you looked him over a few times just enjoying the view, you've heard he was eye candy before but you never took those people seriously. But know looking him over, seeing how his shirt wasn't covered by gear, and how it wasn't a tight fitted shirt like how Ghost had on, it was nice. His sleeves were rolled up too, causing you to have a great view of his arms. Looking into the mirror next to Königs head(I forgot what it was called)You looked at his mask covered face, all you could see was his eyes but you didn't care, his eyes were a blue, not necessarily dark or light, his long brown eyelashes making his eyes even more pretty with the way they kinda pop out. You wish you could see his whole face but you can't, either way he was still beautiful and you'd certainly tell him. Smiling a lovestruck smile at him through the mirror you continued to stare as you three drove. Soon enough you guys arrived, you still were staring at him tho. Hearing fingers snapping by your head you shook your head and looked over at Ghost.

"Done staring love bird?"

Was all he said before stepping out of the vehicle. You huffed and hurried out of the car. Talking their heads off about your day you didn't even realize what was happening. König opened the door for you causing you to blush abit saying a small thank you, as you three walked to the lounge. You were cut off by cloth being thrown at you. Taking it off and looking up. You gasped and covered your mouth with your hand.

"Hurry and go change, your a Dutch prince right?"

Alejandro said with a small laugh. His laugh was cut off with you crushing him in a hug. He let out a small gasp, not expecting a hug.

"Oh thank you Alejandro, het betekent veel voor me"

Alejandro wasn't sure what you said exactly but he's glad he made you happy. You ran off to your room to put the costume on, that Alejandro picked out.

"This was a good idea Alejandro"

Price said patting the mans shoulder. Alejandro gave a nod to the captain, and they all waited for you to return. When you did Gaz made everyone do a clap, for the Prince of course. Today was an amazing day for you. The lunch, the stores, the ride home, and then the party? It was amazing. You told them hundreds of thank yous but you couldn't help it. You'll have to get them all back eventually but how?

~

[A/n:I hope you enjoyed.]

[introspectivememories]

not to be nsfw on main but i need nomad!steve with his beard getting absolutely plowed by bucky. in wakanda or whatever. and i need them to be so disgustingly loud, that t’challa has to come over and be like “you two need to move farther away. we have 70 noise complaints from this week alone.” 

[ms-indifferwnt]

I’m Cold

“I'm cold"

"And?"

"Can't you give me your jacket or something?"

"Can't you accept my proposal and marry me already?"

In which Prince Donghyuck's parents are forcing him to get married and he decided to propose to the first girl he sees to shut his parents up

Genre: Prince!Lee Donghyuck x Maid!Reader, Angst, Fluff, Arranged Marriage (kinda), Slowburn

Warnings: Curse words, Suggestive (I'll add more if there are)

Notes: Chapter 3 of Im Cold. Sorry this one took longer, hope you guys enjoy

WORD COUNT: 2.2k

Prev / Chapter 3 / Next

Y/n was screaming in frustration o to her pillow, Damn the Prince's good Looks, Damn the Prince's words, Damn the Prince's Kindness, Damn it all!

Y/n sighs after screaming on to her pillow, she flips over back against the soft covers, she couldn't help but think about how the evening end up like this. How could she say yes? After Prince Donghyuck has asked for two Weeks what happened?

"No" Y/n replied and stood up

Donghyuck grabbed her by the wrist, it wasn't forceful nor was it tight, Prince Donghyuck gave her an opportunity to pull away, to take her wrist away from the Prince, But why didn't she? "Please" He pleaded and Y/n's eyes widened "At least think it over, if you are still determined to tell my parents I will gladly assist you but please, at least until we're done eating dinner, think it over"

Y/n was shocked to see the prince pleading, asking her to think about it, was this that important to the prince? She nods, fine after dinner she'll reject him, she was getting fed up with how stubborn he is, it wasn't just messing up with the royal family's values, it was also bothering with her life, her own private life, how she is being seen, how people address her whole life went upside down just because the prince lost his temper

Donghyuck nods and stands bowing towards her, "I'm sorry, I know I have troubled you" He confesses and Y/n grabbed him by the shoulders to make  him stand straight but he wouldn't budge "I know that by making you do this I have placed you in a hard position" she shakes her head and tears start trickling  his eyes, it was all overwhelming, her feelings and the Prince' words being all too heavy on her conscience, the tears weren't necessary nor was it intentional but before she could realize, a sob leaves her lips and Prince Donghyuck's reaction was quick, he stood up straight hands out to hold her as she starts wiping her face

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm crying" she whimpers and keeps wiping her face with her hands, The prince pulls her hands away and uses his handkerchief to wipe her tears, no words were exchanged, not until she calmed down

Neither noticed it but the Prince'd hand always hovered near the girl's as if waiting for the right moment to hold her hand. The Prince looks at her and she was staring at the cloth in her hand, it was simple, laced in golden thread "Do you like sweets?" The Prince suddenly spoke making her look at him and she nods, he smiles softly and takes her hand in his "Let's go get some ice-cream"

       Morning comes and Y/n wakes up to the sound of Prince Donghyuck's voice "Hana, which one is better?"

Y/n opened her eyes to be greeted by Prince Donghyuck looking through her closet "Goodmorning" he greets and moves to kiss her forehead, Y/n still freezes at the action but smiled "I've chosen your outfit for today so we can match" Donghyuck pats his thighs to show off the color and smiles, standing up to hold her hand and help her out of bed, "Wear this" he shows a pretty blue floral lace Bardot dress, pattern adorned with white and pink roses while lace covers the edges the color matching the Prince's blue-ish dress pants "Get her dressed Hana"

And at the Prince's words, Hana leads Y/n to the conjoined bathroom, helping her clean up and get dressed fixing the way it hugs her curves, and Hana smiles, applying a bit of touch-ups on her skin and fixing her hair. She was done and Y/n looked into the mirror, Hana has fixed her hair into a half-up bun style making it look messy yet classy, the hairstyle complementing the dress

They both left the bathroom only to be greeted by the prince facing away from the bathroom door looking at his phone "Done? Can I turn and see?"

Y/n blinks, the Prince purposefully turned away to give her space and privacy, she smiles softly "Yes you can turn around now"

The prince turns around and he smiles at the sight, but then he wrapped one arm around his waist as a support for his elbow where he places his chin on his palm eyeing her "Something's missing" he mumbled

Y/n blinks and tilts her head as Hana turns to look at Y/n "Jewelry?" Hana offers and the Prince nods, with the Maid immediately reacting walking to get the Jewelry box from the vanity, "Milady has a wide assortment of jewelry here, my Prince" she says and turns only to gasp at the sight

The Prince had invaded Y/n's personal bubble, him being so close their chest could be flushed against each other, her hair was out of the way while the Prince had his arms around her neck as he tries and clasps the necklace. In all honesty, if he wanted to help her wear it he could've done it from behind not doing it while almost hugging Y/n

Y/n could feel the Prince's breath fan against her neck at the close proximity, she blushes and moved to hold on to the blazer in front of her until finally, the prince locks the necklace tracing a cold finger against the chain, she tried, she just couldn't help but feel the goosebumps rise against her skin where he had touched "There, you look pretty" he smiles his finger stopping at the pendant only to return tracing against her collar bones and down her arms. Y/n would be lying if she says the prince didn't have an effect on her, cause, oh how her heart raced at the action, silently willing them to stop, he traces lower 'till he holds her hand looking at her wrist "Let us get you a bracelet" he lets go of her only to look through the jewelry box

Hana stood there in shock, cheeks a shade of red at the display of affection, standing off to the side, knowing that she shouldn't react unless Y/n or the Prince might need her

The Prince would take time, looking through the wide assortment of bracelets and looking at the Y/n to look at her wrists and then dress, only to resume his search. Y/n on the other hand had examined the pendant of the necklace, it was a flower, a white flower pendant with delicate details on to its petals, making it look as if it is blooming "It's called a gardenia flower"

She looks into his eyes "what?" she blinks a bit surprises

He points to the pendant "That a gardenia flower, do you like it?" he asks and stands up fiddling with the cuffs of his sleeves

She nods shyly "It's a pretty flower" he nods and takes his watch  off, it was a simple watch, it had a golden chain strap along with its case, a black tint on the watch itself  "You have a pretty watch" she murmurs and the Prince smiles

"Good, cause you'll be using this today" he replies and walks up to her  so he can hold her wrist, placing the watch on and locking it in place "Its a bit big on you," he laughs as if finding the whole ordeal cute "Remind me later, lets go on jewelry shopping ok?" Y/n nods silently and he examines Y/n, nodding in approval at the sight he smiles and locks there fingers "Lets go, lets have breakfast together then we can go out to my schedules ok?" he says as he leads her out of her room and into the dining hall

Letting him lead her out, "I'm sorry, My Prince-" she starts but the prince cuts her off

"You should get used to calling me Donghyuck for the next two weeks" he murmurs and turns his head to look at her and smiled "What were you saying?"

She clears her throat and avoided eye contact "Why do I have to come with you on your schedule?"

He hums as if thinking of the right words to answer her question "well, It would be great to show my parents that I am 'serious'," He makes air quotes with his free hand "about you, a plus to make them believe that i need time to heal when we do break up. And, it gets lonely when I'm the only one going"

       "Where is this meeting being held exactly, My Prince?" Y/n asked as she turns away from the car window to look at the Prince only to get a raised eyebrow in return "Donghyuck" she corrects and he nods in approval

"At a café, we'll be meeting with someone, he claims that this project he proposes will help a lot of people"

"Then why must you be the one to interview them? wouldn't it be better for the King and Queen to address that matter themselves?"

"Well, Yes. But not everything will go through the King and Queen, first they have to go through me to make sure its worth seeing by them and then the decision is ultimately theirs"

"Ah" she hums softly and nods "I understand" she smiles and Donghyuck couldn't help but smile back

Once they arrive, The Prince leads Y/n by the hand to a man dressed in a fancy suit he stands and bows towards the new arrivals "My name Johnny, thank you for giving me a chance to speak to you your highness"

Donghyuck bows and smiles "Of course,. I'd like you to meet my Fiancé, Y/n this Suh Johnny, a dear friend and at the moment a benefactor" he smiles informs and Johnny bows in her direction with her mirroring the action, "Please sit." They all obeyed

Johnny was very convincing and honestly, the Prince liked his proposal but as Johnny excused himself to go to the bathroom, Donghyuck turned to Y/n "What do you think?"

She blinked in confusion "Sorry?" she tilts her head slightly and Donghyuck had resist the urge to grab her by the chin so that he can adjust it "But why are you asking me, my Prince?"

He frowns "Donghyuck, Y/n, please call me Donghyuck, you earned the title of being my friend in this predicament you and I are in" earning a nod from the girl and he hums "but to answer your question, its because you might know what's best" she watches him as he spoke "I have not once tried living as if I wasn't a prince, I've never went to the market or done house chores, but you have and you do, compared to me you know what can help improve the way my people work and move, so I'm asking you, what did you think of his proposal?"

Y/n lets the Prince's words sink in as she looks down at her lap, she never thought that it'd come to this, The crowned prince asking her opinion but here she was "Yes, It'll be of great help" she started and started explaining the points on why and how it could improve, stating facts and sharing little stories along the way with her explanation as the Prince attentively listened and nodded

After she spoke, the Prince nodded and smiled at her "that is great Y/n" he moves to hold her hand cupping them "Thank you" he beams he opens his mouth to speak only to be stopped by Johnny returning and the Prince drops her hand

"I'm sorry" Johnny says and sat down "May I continue?" and the prince nods "As I was saying adding homes, giving the people their own job that is cleaning up our parks can lessen our rate of jobless citizens and also lessen out the homeless-"

Johnny was cut off to the prince swerving to the side and looking at his Fiancé "What's your favorite cake flavor?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Cake flavor," he repeats and nods towards the different displays and grins "What is it?"

She looks at Johnny who smiles at her "Mocha" she answers and he hums "you really do have a sweet tooth hmm?" he raises a hand to flag down a waiter "and coffee?" he turns to look at her then stops "No, Sorry you hate coffee... One Mocha cake and," he hums going back to when he bought ice cream for her and smiled "two cups of Hot Chocolate please, would you like anything Johnny?"

"Just coffee" He replies

"Black Coffee for him" Donghyuck says and the waiter bows, "Sorry, continue" and with that Johnny continues

Donghyuck is now to make a decision, if he says yes, Johnny will speak to his parents about his proposal and he hums, giving his and Y/n's words to careful consideration, his eyes drifting to Y/n as she took a bite "feed me" he says out of the blue making Y/n and Johnny look at him surprised

"I can't think without sugar and I drank my milk, just one bite" he coaxes and, Y/n offered him a bit which he happily accepted, looking at Johnny he grins "I hope my parents like your idea as much as we did Johnny"

[dinner-djarin]

dar'manda (Mando x f!reader insert)

Prologue

(Inspired by this scene)

Summary: You've been working as a merchant on Nevarro for years now, only out of necessity. Life really wasn't going your way. At least until the Mandalorian came by your booth. Now he's all you think about, and soon he'll be even more.

Warnings: Probably some swearing (real and in universe), violence (eventually), smut (eventually), No use of Y/N, slowburn/fluff (for the first little while)

Notes: Takes place at the end of season 1, and will mostly take place between season one and two. I have been sitting on this for a while due to some fear about reception by the fandom, but honestly I just need to stop thinking about it so here we go. She's going out into the world, and I hope you enjoy. (Also I wrote this prologue like 2 months ago so it isn't quite where I'd like it to be but if you read this please just stick with me, I swear my writing gets better lol)

You don’t know how long it’s been since you last saw him. Weeks? Months? But you can’t get that damn tin can out of your head.

You really have no reason to be this hung up on him. He’s barely spoken to you, you’ve never even seen his face, so it should be easy enough to move on from whatever childish infatuation you have over him. Right? Maker, what kind of person crushes on a mask and a suit of armour?

But there’s something about him, something that keeps him planted in your subconscious. You’ve tried to find the words to explain it, but nothing ever comes close. You can't even begin to understand how this man has completely overtaken your every waking thought.

He used to come by every couple of weeks, and you’d savour every delectable minute of the interaction, but that was all before shit hit the fan of course. You weren't there to see it but when you came back to work the next day it was all anyone could talk about.

“Apparently the metal man broke some Guild rule, and practically all of the other bounty hunters tried to kill him for it.” You heard over your shoulder. As much as you liked to keep to yourself, you couldn’t help form eavesdropping on a conversation between merchants. You did have a guilty pleasure for drama, probably to fill the uneventful void that your mundane life had now become.

“The Mandalorian? He broke their code then!” one exclaimed.

“I heard he went back for a bounty,” someone else whispered.

“What could make someone do something so stupid?” questioned a merchant lady you already didn’t particularly like.

“He doesn’t strike me as stupid,” you interrupt, trying to stick up for the man you were currently enamoured with. “If he did it, there must be a valid reason.”

“If he did it?” She sneered. “Do you not see the damage he left behind? People will be out of business for sure. It’ll take weeks to clean up the mess he made.”

“Then I guess I hope it was worth it. That it wasn't in vain.” You state, putting an end to the conversation. You hoped the man – that you already liked against your better judgement – wouldn’t cause so much harm without some justification.

In the wake of his rebellion, a covert of other masked hunters revealed themselves, shot up the town, and then vanished without a word. And so did your Mandalorian.

Woah hold on. Not yours. Just one random Mandalorian that you’ve said a handful of words to and have harboured a secret crush over.

From the second you saw him you pretty much knew you were screwed. Between the husky modulated voice, and the broad as hell shoulders, there was pretty much no way to quell the instant attraction that rose up in you. His presence alone was suffocating. Nothing could stop the way your vocal cords tightened to the point of forcing out a soft squeal at his sight. The whole time he talked to you, you could feel his visor latch onto your body – pinning you to the spot.

You thought you might find some relief when he left. Quite the opposite. You couldn't help but gawk at the way his body moved, like he knew he was hot shit. He took your damn breath away. And you were glad to know that he couldn't see your lips part to let out a soft moan, or the way they pursed back together as you unconsciously swallowed the suddenly copious amount of saliva pooling in your mouth. Fucking delicious, you thought, shamelessly.

Maybe it was the fact that you knew he could take anyone down in milliseconds. He was untouchable, and this latest defiance proved that. No one crossed the Guild. Well, no one crossed the Guild and got away with it. But if anyone could, it would be Mando.

And there’s another thing. You don’t even know his name. Which means that you’re forced to call him the colloquial slang that is commonly used by outsiders of the Mandalorian culture. “Mando”. You couldn’t help but think about how it almost sounded like an insult, especially when slurred from the mouth of other criminals. You hated the way people spat the word out at him, obviously trying to get him worked up; to see what he was made of. It made you desperately wish that you had a better name to call him, his real name. An intimate piece of knowledge that you could hold on to, something of him that no one else had.

Maybe that made you selfish. Even so, there was so much you wished you knew about him. He was a complete mystery.

To be fair, he probably didn’t even know your own name. You can't recall him asking for it, or if you ever introduced yourself. You were pretty much a bumbling mess the first time you met him. To the point where even if you had tried to say your name it probably would have sounded like you were speaking Huttese. Although, who could blame you. It wasn’t very conventional to introduce yourself to every customer. The people on Nevarro usually kept to themselves, especially the bounty hunters. There wasn’t much room for ‘customer service’. But damn you wish you had tried to make some sort of introduction. Even if it had come out as incoherent nonsense, you think it may have made talking to him later a bit easier.

However, none of that matters if he never comes back, and you bet he won’t. He’s smarter than that. To pull what he did, he’s probably on the other side of the galaxy right now.

Even so, you’ll miss the shared awkward silences and stolen glances that came with each of his visits. Whenever he’d come into the shop, he’d list off what he needed to stock up on, using the most deep and captivating voice you think you’d ever heard. If he hadn’t had that helmet covering his face, you’d swear he stared right into your soul as he did so. It almost made you weak in the knees every damn time. You’d then rummage through each supply crate and gather the best quality of every item, and finally – just to bring your humiliation to an all-time high – you’d give him a discount for absolutely no discernible reason. He took notice of the reduced price the first time and thanked you, only for you to be berated by your boss once he left. Eventually, to your dismay, the niceties came to a halt. Maybe he forgot what full price was, maybe he just couldn’t care less.

Either way, it looks like you’d risked your job for the last time. It’s a shame. For a planet full of bounty hunters and hardened criminals, there’s actually not a lot to entertain you. A shootout here, an escaped bounty there, but nothing that satisfied your desire for an exciting lifestyle.

The closest you got to that would be each time some wide-eyed, eager, wannabe-bounty-hunter strolled through town looking for a chance to weasel their way up the ladder of the Guild. They definitely thought they were more important than they actually were, and they always made a point of showing off for you. Not that you were anything special, just the closest thing with cleavage usually. They’d probably brag about their rank and their kill counts, things you could not care less about. A few of them actually had the balls to ask you out, but it usually only ended in a free meal or drink. To be fair though that was very intentional on your part. It was fun to play the part of a flirtatious girl from the market for a while, and almost exciting to think about how you were completely screwing over those assholes.

Over the time you’ve spent alone in the galaxy you learned exactly how to read those kinds of people. You knew just how far to go, just what to say or do until you got what you needed. As much as you weren’t a fan of physical affection, you often brushed your target's arm or thigh, played with their hair, or if the situation really demanded it – madeout with them behind the cantina. But you always made a point of stopping before things got too far. You may not be a complete saint, but you knew none of the scumbags you met were worth your time.

You wouldn’t have allowed things to go any further. Not with them. Going any further could only be a letdown, and you were fine to take those matters into your own hands…. literally. You may be a complete flirt, but only as a skill to survive in this grimy and dangerous galaxy. You learned early on that being young and female was a vulnerability. That was at least until you discovered how that vulnerability could be shaped into one of your most valuable strengths.

When you think about him though… well something about him made your entire badass facade disappear into thin air. You lost any cool you had the minute he walked past your vendor. Not to mention that there was something else about him that told you he’d see right through it anyway. Maybe it was the visor. Some special setting to read the level of bullshit.

As far as you’ve seen, he doesn’t take anyone’s shit. He definitely isn’t the type to make others feel comfortable in a conversation. He says precisely what he needs to get his point across, nothing more. Never once had you heard him use more than 10 words at a time.

On a few occasions you were lucky enough to end up in the cantina at the same time as him. Whether you were on a break or entertaining some dead-beat for free lunch, you remember how fast your heart would beat when the glint of his helmet met your vision. You wondered if he noticed your presence, or if he even recognized you away from your vendor at the market.

One time you were in the next booth over. Your spine straightened, and your whole body shivered when he slid into his seat and placed himself directly behind you. The proximity was electrifying. It made every neuron in your body fire rapidly and your blood vessels pump impossibly fast. You were probably supposed to be listening to the slimeball buying your drinks drone on about how impressive his last capture was, but the baritone emanating from behind ensnared every ounce of focus you had.

“I’ll take the highest pay” he muttered through the modulator.

“I do have other hunters, Mando. I can’t always guarantee you get the best of the lot.” replied his employer. A smile maintained on his face even when confronting an unforgiving barricade.

“I’m sure you do. But high price means high risk.” Mando responded. His employer’s confused silence forced him to continue. “Those skilled enough to take on the bounties know better than to do so.”

The Guild leaders' laughter bounced off the walls making many patrons turned their heads, while others continued their business, obviously being used to this behaviour.

You were left puzzled in that moment, completely baffled by this interaction. It wasn't until much later that night when it finally clicked. Although you didn’t know exactly how ranking in the Guild worked, you knew Mando was up there. He had the status to strike fear into almost every other bounty hunter he outranked. Mando had staked his claim long ago, and no one in the Guild was stupid enough to try and take a bounty from him. If he wanted something, he was going to get it.

You’d remember that interaction vividly. Not only because of how close you were to the Mandalorian as you overheard it, but also in service as a reminder to you, proving just how dominant he was in this world. He held power over every member of the Guild, including its leader, whether he wanted to admit it or not. You felt idiotic for not instantly understanding the control he wielded wherever he went. Sometimes it's a wonder how completely oblivious you could be.

Although you certainly were not oblivious to the drastic upgrade he got just before leaving. If you thought Mando was intimidating before, his new head to toe silver armour was sure to strike fear into any of his prey. You remember thinking you saw his reflection pass by earlier in the day, but he quickly dissolved into the shadows, as he often found a way of doing. However, later that night when you had just gotten off from work, he strolled back into the cantina for a new batch of bounties and all eyes were drawn to him. Most eyes were filled with jealousy since – as his employer made clear – he completed the job none of them could. They were probably even more enraged by the fact that he wore his reward back into the room, when most of them would have gladly taken that metal to the highest bidder and sold it for a hefty profit. However, you saw him differently than the rest. Your eyes were fixed on him in fear and in wonder. This metal man, already a force of nature, just became that much more impossible to defeat. As if anything could get to him before, it was clear now that no one could reach the Mandalorian.

But again – it doesn't matter. Not a single soul on Canto Bight would bet his shiny ass walks back into this sector. Not unless he has some kinda death wish…

Turns out he has some kinda death wish.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 1 is up now!

More notes: Hello there! I hope you enjoyed this lovely mess. I'm not the most proud of it, but I do want to continue this story (which I know we've all read 100 iterations of by now). Either way, I'm having fun writing it, so I might as well post it!

I'd love a like or comment if you'd be willing to share, I'm very new to writing so I'd enjoy any constructive criticism (especially on the first few parts, I know they need work, but at this point I just want to stop thinking about it and continue on with the story). Also this will be ongoing, so if you wanna keep reading feel free to drop your @ in my inbox or in the comments and I can tag you when I update!

So long for now my fellow helmet whores!

[bopinion]

2021 / 33

Aperçu of the Week:

"You must not believe everything you think!"

(Heinz Erhardt, German humorist of the 1950s)

Bad News of the Week:

Joe Biden currently faces as much criticism for developments in Afghanistan as any other leader in the Western "alliance against terror." One could have assessed the strength of the Taliban just as well as the weakness of the Afghan government and its army trained and equipped by the West. The estimates of the intelligence services should have been questioned, diplomats should have been listened to better. The predicament of the so-called "local forces" could have been avoided. This is obviously confusing cause and effect.

It was the Republican George W. Bush (or rather the hawks around Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz) who started the so-called "war on terror", first in Afghanistan, and invented the carte blanche of pre-emptive strikes with the Bush Doctrine ("National Security Strategy"). For those interested in the background, Bob Woodward's book "Bush at War" is highly recommended. And it was Republican Donald J. Trump who signed the virtually unconditional troop withdrawal agreement with the Taliban last year, which is now being executed according to plan. To now blame the current administration for the development is ridiculous.

Equally ridiculous is the current pretense that the Afghanistan campaign was a success. After all, its objective was to dry up the retreats of Al-Qaeda and, above all, to kill Osama bin Laden. Fun facts on the side: none (!) of the 19 attackers of 9/11 came from Afghanistan, Iraq or the African Horn, but 15 (!) from Saudi Arabia, like bin Laden himself. But especially for the Bush family the Sunni fundamentalists from Saudi Arabia have always been untouchable. And where was bin Laden finally caught and killed? In Abbottabad. And that is not in Afghanistan, but in Pakistan.

According to Time the rise on Taliban would have been impossible "without Pakistan's shelter and support". Associated Press writes about the role of Islamabad that it "does permit the Taliban leadership on its territory and its wounded warriors receive treatment in Pakistani hospitals. Their children are in school in Pakistan and some among them own property. Some among Pakistan's politicians have rebranded the insurgents as 'the new, civilized Taliban.'" To understand the complex relationship between the two states, it helps to look at the history books. Spoiler alert: it's not the U.S. that's to blame, but the British.

The hereditary enmity - yes, you can call it that by now - is based on the so-called "Durand line." The British colonel who gave it its name drew a border line between the two states, which had strategic reasons but completely ignored ethnic regionality. Thus, the West's ignorance of the cultural distinctiveness of this region already has a long history. The Durand Line cut right through the tribal areas of the Pashtuns. After the Pashtuns proclaimed "their" state Afghanistan, this border was of course never officially recognized. And independence or affiliation efforts of the cut Pashtuns, often on the brink of civil war, were actively supported. In turn, Pakistan has been trying to destabilize the Afghan state with political and economic measures for almost 70 years.

What do we learn from this? It has never worked when a Western power has tried to impose its values on a colonial people, ignoring their culture and history. Not with the British in Central Asia, not with the French in Indochina, not with the Americans in Korea or Vietnam. Or before that the Spanish in South America or practically all Europeans in Africa. So have we learned that by now? I'm afraid not...

Good News of the Week:

During the lockdowns, there was a real boom in Germany to get pets. The cat was supposed to replace the missing social contacts, the dog to guarantee the possibility to leave the domestic quarantine. So not the best conditions to ensure the welfare of the creatures - pets are not toys!

The thematically responsible cabinet member, Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner, now wants to counteract with new animal welfare regulations. Thus for example the chain keeping of dogs is to be forbidden, they must get daily at least one hour free run and also the puppy raising is to become more kind-fair. And also in the zoo specialized trade more expert knowledge becomes obligatory, in order to prevent among other things that domestic animals are given into a care, which could not be animal appropriate.

In the wake of recent developments such as the ban on chick shredding, the requirement for more species-appropriate housing with more space for cows and "employment material" for pigs, and the ban on imports of wild birds, this gives me hope. Of course, these are all just (too) small steps, but at least they are going in the right direction.

Sidenote: Tonight my son gets a "vacation dog" for two weeks once again. So the requirement "at least one hour of exercise in the fresh air per day" will not only apply to the dog Tzela, but also to the prospective professional gamer... ;-)

Personal happy moment of the week:

I could listen to music all the time. And of course, in a family household, I can't ruthlessly "acoustically dominate" everyone all the time. And I like good sound quality - so 5.1 surround sound for Netflix, DAB in the car and HomePods in the living room are a must. In addition, the increasingly digitalized communication in the home office with web conferences and Teams meetings demands a good headset. The solution for everything is - of course - good headphones. So last year I did a test run for several weeks with a pair of cheap Bluetooth headphones to see if I could live well with a permanent Mickey Mouse on my head. It made sense before investing, because after all, there were more and more rumors last year that Apple would eventually merge its experiences with AirPods and Beats by Dr. Dre into its own high-end headphones.

And then they really came on the market: the AirPods Max. When I finally went to order them as a birthday present to myself, my ears were shaking: more than three months of delivery time? OMG... No wonder that in that time span (and at my age) I had at some point forgotten that yes, there was still something in the pipeline. Until I finally got them last Thursday. And they also fully met my expectations. Now I'm happy, my roommates have their peace and everyone else has something to laugh about when I'm out and about with "Apple's purse" (because that's exactly what they look like in their Smart case).

I couldn't care less...

...that possible coalition partners of the German government after the elections at the end of September are already bickering about the typical German topic "speed limit on highways". As a driver of an electric car, I hardly ever drive faster than 100 km/h anyway. I prefer to stay in the right lane "attached to" a bus with cruise control and distance radar and ride towards my exit in a relaxed manner. And the famous, equally typical German driving pleasure? I get it from the barely comparable acceleration power - with which I can overtake practically everywhere and also make most of the big gasoline-powered cars look stupid at the traffic lights. Nice!

As I write this...

...I run every ten minutes first to the basement and then upstairs to the office. In the former, the freezer is defrosting and I have to constantly wipe up the new puddle of ice water from the floor. And in the second, the system update is running on the Mac and I have to keep clicking "Okay" - or read for what feels like the seventeenth time that the next step will take "about five more minutes". Every third time I go over to the neighbors, whose cat I'm taking care of for the weekend, to see if the madam has deigned to show her face, so that I can let her into the garden. Presumably the activity rings on the Apple Watch tonight will let me know I've had an athletic day.... ;-)

[ianthedisastrous]

Write your RPer Resolutions for 2021! (What are some goals for yourself as a writer? Improve descriptions? Plot with more members? Etc.)

Plotting! Mostly for Edward because the boy needs more to do! He's got an entire life to learn how to live. But, admittedly I have a habit of having two or three threads for a character at a time, which works best for me so far as my plot-intensive habits but not so great at interacting with a wide range of characters. I need to figure out a good midpoint because I have a lot plotted but I'm usually waiting to actually start things.

Win that battle with events. Because the truth is about 70% of my event threads become full fledged discord threads that keep going for weeks after the event. Probably need to work on focusing on specific plans for events in discord rather than scattering myself too much. It's more fun that way but I'm playing catch up a lot after the fact. And while I don't mind that, it probably gets things hung up for other people?

Meet the newer people! I'm slacking a bit on this and need to plot with several of them. Not for lack of wanting to, more for, again, that I have that determination to focus on a handful of threads at a time. Which is fine, except that with the sheer amount of characters in the RP it's going to take me years at this rate to make connections with them. So new people! Focus on them!

Write at least one resolution, or “goal,” that you have as an RPer for your character(s)

Ian: My earnest child, my endearing, emotional, confused boy. How I adore him. How much I put him through some real hell. But the next year is all about Ian growing up some, figuring out what he wants and trying to weed out some of the static of expectations on him. Also very much about him reaffirming his place in relationships, friendships and just with people in general.

I keep mentioning magic so that's a goal; he doesn't like it but he has to learn. And with so many new and upcoming magic connections possible it's the perfect chance to shake up his stubbornness.

Teach this boy how to stop being a hazard on social media. He doesn't even try to cause problems! But every time Ian does anything on Twitter he manages to start an argument - honestly his snarking with Tony doesn't even count but everyone else? Why are you such an instigator Ian! His social media skills are hilariously messy and he's so much with a screen to hide behind. Among Us is a whole other area too. Ian is always in the middle of some bizarre online drama and I love it...but somebody take his phone away though, please.

Edward: My over the top, entranced, confused child. He's so much fun, just so much everything. He's also blindly in motion right now and that's normal for him but not helpful. He's got plots for a job lined up, a few missteps along the way and a lot of the excessive sort of drive he tackles everything with.

I've got to get this boy to slow down a little, he's enjoying it all but responsibility is something Edward struggles with and that's a battle worse than dragons and curses he's going to have to face down.

Write at least one resolution IN CHARACTER for your characters. What do THEY want to accomplish or change in the New Year?

Ian: Struggling to come to terms with his own missteps in understanding himself. Fear has led him to hiding even being an elf and the next year he's determined to reconnect with that, even as nervous as he is to approach the idea of exposure given his childhood being so riddled with prejudice. The way he's handled some things have been wrong and he's starting to reach the emotional maturity to understand that.

Edward: As hilariously weird as it is? Edward is determined to learn enough about modern fashion to not require poor Barbie to pick out all his clothes. He feels bad asking her to basically dress him for every event. As much as he appreciates it he really does want to learn to do these things by himself.

List one or more characters you have never interacted with that you would like to do so.

Everyone my boys haven't met? Can I say that?

I guess more specifically? Ian needs to meet some of the more seasoned sorcerers out there, and I'd love for him to meet Howl because only knows of him but still finds him so intimidating. Ha.

Edward needs to meet more Magicks! He is fascinated by magic so he is very curious. I'd actually like for him to meet Marlin, because...fae and that's something Edward hasn't realized is real yet, and that man would probably find him frustrating. Same thing for Jun; really need to see Edward asking poor Jun a million questions around the market.

Plotting Exercise! Pick one of the resolutions/goals in #2 and plan a rough guide outlining it. 

Vanessa's less than helpful (but admittedly effective) attempt to teach Ian what should be a simple spell.

Ian's complaints over his lack of ability to control magic gains the attention of Vanessa, who still is confused over his odd regents.

Vanessa convinces him (a bit forcefully) to let her show him a simple spell. Her end goal of course is bringing this weird boy into the coven she's building but first things first, right?

After demonstrating, several times, a basic telekinetic motion spell - Ian assures her that telekinesis is in fact where most of his magic lies - she urges him to try.

None of his attempts go anywhere. Literally. The glass he's supposed to be moving off the table in the common area outside the dorms where they've opted to practice this spell in doesn't move an inch.

Vanessa gets progressively more frustrated. Ian just stresses worse, leaving them both at a standstill. This becomes an ongoing project; day after day for weeks. No foreseeable end in sight.

Finally, a few weeks in, Vanessa hits a breaking point and can't help but yell at him over it, setting off a panic attack and, amusingly, causing his magic to flare defensively; the lash of it knocks the table across the room. The glass still doesn't move, aside from falling to the ground.

But it's close enough to a victory and Vanessa appoints herself to helping Ian with his ongoing magic studies, much to the inward dismay of Ian himself. But she isn't going to let him slink out of it.

Ian reluctantly adds yet another person 'helping' him to the list of ones who really do mean well but also kinda exhaust him.

[luv4fandoms]

Private show (Cecil L'Ively x Reader) {Part 1}

(So I have changed my mind about doing individual oneshots for kinktober, but I hope you all still enjoy this and let me know what you think 😊.) I haven't really seen any Cecil stories on here so I wanted to write some.

Original gif imagine by @itoldyounottodoit. And can be found here

You can also find this on ao3 if you prefer that.

(Part 2)

Day 1. Voyeurism

Character: Cecil L'Ively (x files)

Warning: Smut (kind of a given...It's for kinktober) talk of a cheating boyfriend.

Word count:3,916

https://ko-fi.com/luv4fandoms

When your parents offered you a spot in the old house they had just bought in Maine, you didn't need to think twice before you agreed, needing time away from your town, and your headache of a relationship. Some mountain air was sure to do you some good, so you quickly packed and drove, watching the sunny beaches fade behind you. The drive was around fourteen hours, but it was well worth it when you saw the house. A white three storey beauty with a wrap around porch, how did they afford this?!

"What do you think?" Your mom asked as you stepped out of your car.

"How the hell did you score this?!" You replied, hugging her

"It had been on the market for over five years so the price was super low, needed a bit of work on the inside but our lovely neighbors pointed us to their house caretaker slash handyman and he worked his magic" she explained.

"Awesome neighbors" you laughed.

"Oh they are" she smiled and pointed behind you, you spun around to see a face you never thought you'd see again.

"Margerete!?" You exclaimed, meeting the young girl halfway as she bounded over to wrap you in her arms. Margerete was a young girl you had met when you were little, she came from England, and from very wealthy parents, almost aristocratic you could say. She had been staying with her aunt in Florida when you two met, her aunt had been estranged from the family, but when Margerete's parents had gotten into a bit of trouble they sent Margerete to her for safety. She had been sent back to England when you both were sixteen, and though you two tried to stay in contact, your lives had drifted apart.

"It is so amazing to see you!!" She smiled,

"You haven't changed a bit" you smiled back.

"Why would I? Perfect the way I am" she laughed.

"Have you moved here than?" She asked, her voice hopeful.

"I will be staying for a bit, unsure if I will move yet"

"Well then I'll just have to convince you!" You smiled, you returned her smile, happy that even though so many years had passed, you two could easily fall back into place...When something, or rather, someone, caught your eye. You noticed a man painting the balau swing that sat in the front garden, he didn't seem too concerned about the possibility of getting paint on him as he wore a dark blue coat over his plaid shirt. His hair was short and brown, and you wondered what he looked like from the front. Margerete noticed your stare and smirked, before turning to stand beside you.

"That's Cecil, the house caretaker, I can introduce you two if you want" she stated.

"What?" You asked, still looking at the man, almost willing him to turn around, what color eyes did he have? Did he have facial hair or was he clean shaven?

"I'll call him over" she stated, breaking you out of your trance.

"No! No that...that won't be necessary, I'm….in a relationship anyways" you told her, your voice falling near the end.

"You sure about that? You don't sound like you want to be" she replied a bit concerned.

"It's...it's complicated" you sighed.

"Right! Well how about you go and get unpack, and if you're not too tired, you come back and we can catch up over some tea yeah?" She smiled, causing you to smile as well, she always had that effect.

"I'd like that".

It didn't take you long to unpack, having only filled a couple of suitcases, so you quickly emptied them into the dressers in the small room near the back of the house and freshened up before heading back over to Margerete's. You'd be lying if you said you didn't spare a glance towards the garden on your way up the path, but Cecil was gone already, and for a moment you felt disappointed. Ringing the doorbell you waited for Margerete to answer, glancing around the beautifully landscaped yard, you only turned back towards the door when you heard it open, but it was not Margerete that greeted you. Clean shaven was the answer to your question earlier, and eyes that were the rare kind that seemed hard to describe, they seemed hazel, but more on the brown side. He wore a smile that made him seem friendly enough, but something flickering in his gaze made you think that something was smouldering just below the surface...Either way this man was far too attractive for his own good. 

"Hello there" and he was British too?! Come on!

"You must be (y/n), Miss Margerete said she would be expecting you. I'm Cecil, the home's caretaker" he explain, stepping out of your way and gesturing for you to come in" 

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my mother told me about how you helped them with repairs, I can't thank you enough for that" you smiled at him, he simply waved you off.

"Was no trouble at all, your parents are lovely folk, please right this way, Miss Margerete is on a call with her mother right now but she'll be down soon" he led you to the living room where a woman came in with a tray of tea and cookies.

"This is Kathrine, she's the maid here"

"Very nice to meet you dear" the older woman smiled.

"Very nice to meet you as well ma'am" you smiled, she nodded after setting the tray down and left.

"Your mother tells me that your family always wanted a house here?" He asked, sitting in the chair next to yours.

"Yes, ever since my brother moved here"

"But she seemed surprised when you agreed to come," he added, to which you let out a slight chuckle.

"I'm sorry, that is probably personal, it's just your mother talks," he tried to backtrack but you simply shook your head.

"It's fine, really...They were shocked because my boyfriend recently proposed," you stated.

"Oh, congratulations," he replied.

"Yeah" you said with another weak chuckle.

"Except I told him I'd have to think about it"

"Oh?"

"Not really sure if I can marry someone I've already had to forgive three times for cheating on me" you stated.

"Why did you forgive him at all?" He asked, looking up you noted his look of disgust toward your boyfriend's actions.

"Honestly...I thought I loved him...But now...I don't know" you sighed.

"From the sounds of it you need to throw that wanker to the curb" a female voice rang out, and you both turned towards the doorway, Cecil went to stand but Margerete simply pushed him back down by the shoulder.

"No need to get up Ce, you can join (y/n) and I, she seems to enjoy your company" she stated, sending a smirk your way.

Conversation flowed easily between the three of you while you drank your tea, you caught up with Margerete, both she and Cecil agreed your boyfriend should be your ex, you learned a little bit about Cecil, about how he has been a handyman, caretaker, gardener, in the past but that was as much as he would indulge, Margerete seemed fine with this, but his closed book made you want to know more. He showed off a few magic tricks that had the two of you girls laughing before it dissolved into another conversation. Before you knew it, it had gotten late and you needed to get back over to your house for dinner, you and Margerete agreed to a dinner another time. Cecil though, insisted on walking you back, even if it was only across the street, according to him, it wasn't safe at night. When you reached the door you turned to him, a smirk on your lips as you looked back at Margerete's house.

"But who will protect you against the dark now good sir? You have to walk back by yourself" You asked, feigning concern. He smirked at you.

"Worried about me? We just met" you couldn't help but smile when he did, your character breaking. 

"Don't fret love, I'll be alright." He added, turning to leave.

"I hope we can hang out again..sometime" you stated, slightly feeling like a fool, he was right, you had just met, but there was something about him.

"I'd love to," he said, turning to give you one last look, a now lit cigarette hanging from his lips...odd..you hadn't seen him reach for a lighter.

"Until then love" and with that he made his way back across the street. That night you had gone to bed early, your body tired from the long drive, and as you drifted off you laid completely unaware of the eyes watching you from the window.

The rest of the week had pretty much flown past, when you weren't helping your parents around the house, or writing for your newspaper column back home, you were spending time with Cecil and Margerete. More so with Cecil as Margerete seemed to always be pushing the two of you together, not that you minded. Groaning you answered and ended the call quickly, having looked at the number to see your now ex boyfriend, you had told him you were through, having recently found out about yet another affair, but he hadn't seemed to grasp the concept and swore the two of you could work it out.

"Should I answer it next time? Kindly tell him to fuck off?" Cecil smirked as the two of you continued your walk through the park.

"No, that will just start him up worse" 

"I still don't understand why you haven't told him off yet"

"Mainly because all my stuff is still in the apartment he and I shared back home."

"Why not just go get your things then love?" He asked, God you hoped he didn't notice the shiver that ran down your spine every time he called you love, you would be lying if you said you didn't find the man extremely attractive, had in fact, since you first met him, and having spent so much time with him this week was only making these feeling that had began to flutter around worse. 

"I'm planning to, just have to figure out when" you sighed, coming to lean against a tree.

"Well, whenever you do, allow me to come along." He started, slowly stepping closer to you.

"That way if your ex is still too dumb to take the hint"he added, now right in front of you, so close the two of you were almost touching and you watched as he raised a hand to cup your cheek, turning your face up towards him.

"I can take care of him" he all but whispered, slowly leaning in, his lips so close as you felt yourself leaning in also, just an inch and the two of you would-

"Hello Ms.(l/n)!" A voice called out, causing the two of you to break apart, you looked over and saw Mr.Tucker, one of your other neighbors.

"Hello Mr.Tucker!" You waved.

"Tell your mother thank you for the pie will you? The wife and I loved it!" He smiled.

"Will do Mr.Tucker" you replied before the man turned and left, Cecil and you turned to look at each other before you both laughed.

"Let's get you home, it's starting to get dark" he stated, grabbing your hand and leading you back down the path. To say you were once again wired that night would be an understatement, this seemed to be your body's constant state of self whenever you were around Cecil too long. Like you were a bomb, just waiting for someone to light the fuse. You sighed as you tossed your sheets off, the room suddenly too hot as you thought back to the charming caretaker across the street. It wouldn't be the first time the thought of him has caused a fire in your belly, he seemed to be what kept you up at night.

'Sadly not in the best way' you thought, thinking about him, you wondered what kind of lover he would be, would he be gentle? Take his time and worship you? Or would he be rough? Take what he wanted, pleasing you both in the process? You had a feeling he would be a mixture, that sweet smile always seemed to try to disguise the twinkle of mischief in his eyes. You sighed as you thought back to today, how close you were to finally feeling his lips on yours, you wondered how they would feel slowly working down your body, teasing you with feather touches, making you squirm under him as he worked you up. You sighed again, one hand slowly sliding down to grasp your breast, your thin nightshirt doing little to hide your already peaked nipples, your other hand slowly slid down to lightly caress the front of your panties. You thought back to Cecil, thinking about him taking your nipple between his lips, lavishing it with his tongue before giving it a gentle nip, his hand giving ample attention to your other breast before he switched. Your breathing picked up as you pictured his hand slowly sliding down your front, your hand mimicking your thoughts as you slowly pushed up your top before taking it off completely, leaving you bare from the waist up. You settled back down and was about to return to your fantasy, when the feeling of being watched suddenly came over you and you opened your eyes to look around but didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. You had been having this feeling since you arrived but tonight it seemed stronger, but upon finding nothing you closed your eyes once more and returned to your fantasy. You grasped your breasts, giving them ample attention before the fire in your core became too much to ignore, quickly throwing your panties off you pictured Cecil running his hand along your stomach, gently teasing you right above where you needed him most.

"Please" you whispered.

"Please what love?" You heard him say in your head.

"Please..touch me" you begged into the night.

"As you wish" and with that you slid your finger into your slick core just as your fantasy Cecil did, you knew your fingers weren't as thick as his, but they would have to do. You let out a low mewl as you bagan pumping them, picture Cecil above, giving you that knee weakening smirk as he watched you writher under him.

"You like that love? Like it when I touch you?"

"Yes! Please don't stop" you panted, making sure to stay quiet.

"I wouldn't dream of it, not until you've come for me" he told you, pressing another finger into your core and causing you to cry out, your hips raised off the mattresses as you continued to fuck yourself, the fantasy of him so vivid that it had you calling out for the man.

"Cecil!" You gasped, your movements slowing a bit, you were unsure why you opened your eyes, but when you did you noticed something. The old mirror that sat in the room gave the perfect view of the window that sat diagonal to your bed, and from that view you realised where the feeling of being watched came from. From the window you could see that a slight ways away from the window, partially hidden by a tree was Cecil, one hand gripping onto the tree while the other was hidden in his pants, the movements making it known just what he was doing. Now maybe it would have startled you, or caused concern if your brain wasn't so focused on getting off,  but the thought of him watching you fuck yourself sent a thrill down you spine and made you quicken your pace, your body stretching out so he could see more as you watched him through the mirror just as he watched you. You watched him bite down on his lip, his movements quickening along with yours, while his eyes roamed your body. You couldn't help the moan that escaped you as you focused on his movements, knowing he was getting just as much pleasure as you, and that thought seemed to be what drove you over as you came with a soft cry of his name. You slowed your breathing as you came down from your high, glancing at the mirror to see his head tilted down as he leaned against the tree for support, seeming having spent himself as well. You watched as he looked back up, eyes roaming your body once more before you decided to tease him a bit more and pull your blankets over you again. With a small smirk he turned around, pulled out a cigarette and left.

'So watching is his thing huh?' You thought, the slight thrill still running through you.

'Well then, maybe I should put on a private show'

Another week passed before you had an opportunity to put your plan into action, your parents were leaving for the weekend, so you had the whole house to yourself, you had gone shopping with Margerete recently and picked out a very sexy little black number, one she insisted you were going to wear for Cecil one day, she didn't know how soon 'one day' was. You had done your hair, donned your lingerie and hid it under a robe while you sat in bed reading. Truth be told you had reread the same sentence about five times and still couldn't say what it said, you were too wired, waiting to see some sort of movement in the old mirror, movement, that luckily didn't take that long. You had been flirting with Cecil a lot more this past week, not so much that one would think it was sudden, but enough to get him riled up, so when you saw the slight hint of him standing behind the same tree, you knew it was time to start. Closing your book you sat it on the dresser, slowly you went around and lit the candles that you had scattered around the room before switching off the light, bathing yourself in the soft orange glow the fire gave off. Sparing a sneaky glance towards the open curtain you saw him leaning against the tree, still slightly out of sight, but the orange glow of his cigarette gave away his position. Slowly making your way back to the bed you dropped the robe, giving him a full view of what lay beneath before climbing onto the mattress. First you sat in the middle of the bed facing the window, your hands running along your sides before stopping to cup your breasts, the thin lace only covering your nipples as they hardened under your caress. Your eyes closed while your head lulled back, the thoughts of him watching already had you dripping. Stopping, you slowly reached behind you and unclasped the bra, letting it fall off before tossing it aside, your breasts now on full view for your lone audience. Your hands ran along your thighs, before coming to gently rest on your panties, the wet spot clearly visible against the lace. Your legs spread wider as you slowly ran your finger along yourself, moaning at the feeling that wasn't giving you enough to dull the ache. Slowly standing, you took off the ruined lace before laying back down, your body angled as to give him the perfect view of your soaked core, while your head hung just off the other side, giving you the perfect view of the mirror. He was still out there, hand once again hidden inside his pants as he watched you, though when you spread your legs wider you watched him inhale sharply, before he quickly pulled his hand out and started to unbuckle his belt. Your hands wandered down to gently run along your folds as you watched him lower his pants just enough to free himself, the sight causing you to moan, he was definitely bigger than your ex. He slowly stroked himself as he watched you, his other hand holding his shirt up slightly to keep it out of his way, his eyes never leaving your form while you slowly pressed your finger in, noting how he stroked himself from tip to base at the same speed. You slowly began to pump your fingers, watching him take his own pleasure at the sight of you, his tongue darting out to lick his lips, almost as if he wished it was something else he was licking, and that thought caused you to moan out again, this time his name. Now you had left your window slightly open, enough so that sounds from inside could be heard, so when you called out for him, he heard it loud and clear, enough to make him cuss under his breath and speed up his movements. You quickly inserted another finger, matching his speed as you writhered on the bed, the feeling amazing and yet not enough. You added another finger, calling out his name once more as your eyes closed in bliss, upon opening them you noticed he had moved. Less hidden by the tree and now leaning against it, his back pressed against the bark while he took his pleasure in your form, his body now easily seen from the window. 

"Fuck! Cecil please" you begged, hearing a groan come from outside. You knew this dance the two of you were doing needed to come to an end, helping yourself was satisfying, but God you needed him, and watching him jerk himself was not helping that need. You sped up, watching as he did the same, his hips coming away from the tree as he thrusted into his fist, another groan leaving his lips. You moaned as you bucked into your hand, matching his movements, you were close now, and by the look on his face so was he. You watched as his head lulled back, hips quicking as he groaned, before they stilled and you watched him empty himself, the sight enough to send you over the edge with a shout. When you finally drifted back down from your post orgasam high you sat up and looked at the window, watching as he began to walk away, a lit cigarette once again between his lips.

"Oh no you don't" you stated, quickly walking over to the window and pushing it open.

"Only come for the shows? I should start charging for tickets" you spoke into the chilly night air. You watched as he stopped, slowly turning to look at your still nude form as you leaned out of your window. He opened his mouth to explain but nothing came out, after all, he had never been caught before. Seeing his flustered state you couldn't help but smirk.

"So tell me, wouldn't you rather be part of the show? Instead of just watching it?" You asked, a smirk on your lips while you watched his flustered expression slowly morph into a smirk of his own.

"Are you offering a role?" He asked

"Well you see, I'm in need of the male lead, think you got what it takes?" You challenged, watching as he put out his cigarette and headed for your front door

'Oh this is going to be fun'

There it is! I hope you all enjoyed it, let me know what you think 😊 part 2 will be posted tomorrow

[zealynstan]

Unmastered Interview Part 1

Emma: Hello and welcome to Unmastered. I'm Emma.

Gohar: And I'm Gohar.

Emma: And we are uncut and on the record with your favorite bands. So today, we're sitting down with someone who I'm really excited to talk to. A lot of my friends and people who have been on the show said great things about her. So, we're just gonna go ahead and jump into it. Can you tell us what's your name? We do a couple of ice breakers like we always do.

Zealyn: Okay.

Emma: So what's your name? Where you're from? Any strange phobias you have? And if you were any color crayon, what would it be and why?

Zealyn: Okay, you might need to remind me with the questions.

Emma: That's okay.

Zealyn: Thanks for having me! *all of them laughs* I'm Zealyn, what was the second question?

Emma: Where you're from?

Zealyn: Okay, I'm Zealyn, I'm originally from Boston and, you know, moved out to LA five years ago for music.

Emma: As we all do.

Zealyn: Do you say if I was a favorite color crayon?

Emma: Almost umm.. any phobias and if you were any color

crayon what would you be and why?

Zealyn: Okay. Well, phobias... gosh, I- guys this is so gross but I'm terrified of throwing up when people throwing up like it really freaks me out if I'm around it, I need to leave the room like right away. That's like way too- that's really gross.

Emma: Is it like sympathy like, no that we're talking about vomit? Is it like sympathy vomit?

Zealyn: It's like- No. It's like terrified like I hate it. If anyone even just mentions like, "I'm not feeling good." I'm like, "I'm leaving the room." I'm so scared of it umm... that's a huge phobia of mine. Umm... and if I was a color crayon I... right now, I think I'd be yellow because I'm incorporating a lot of color and lights into-

Gohar: Your brand?

Zealyn: My brand. Yeah, even though I'm wearing all black right now.

Emma: That's okay. People can't see it, I don't know.

Zealyn: But yeah.

Gohar: You're preparing for the rain.

Zealyn: Yeah, yeah, that's right. The next few nights. Yep.

Emma: Yeah, I know, your colors on Instagram like a big fan of all these.

Gohar: It's super vibrant.

Zealyn: Thanks.

Emma: It's really vibrant and like a lot of like the color play is super fun to like look at.

Zealyn: Thank you!

Emma: I was like going, "Oh my gosh, I just feel so like light and airy looking at this" and I'm like "Wow, I want this to be my closet".

Zealyn: That's good because if you looked at my Instagram two years ago, it was all black. Like black and gray and like just really moody and with this new wave of music, I

just wanted to add color and light and yeah, so.

Emma: There you go. I love it. I can't wait to see how it keeps up, I'm like a big like, I love photography. I love seeing how people kind of take a brand idea and like market themselves and just like be themselves through like visual art as well as like you know the music you create that's seeing how people yeah corporate that is always really fun so I'm like such a big fan of like oh like go through someone's Instagram and I'm like, "Ooh! Colors here. I see what you're doing, it's mysterious, I like it like..." I love that stuff.

Zealyn: Same. All artists that I love and I'm inspired by, I go to their Instagram, check out their branding, their photos, and stuff. Unfortunately, it makes a big difference, social media nowadays you know, and branding and everything. But it also is great so...

Emma: It's just another form of expression like if we wanna stop calling it branding, we can always call it expression. Creative expression.

Zealyn: Yeah. That's better.

Emma: It's like a way of expressing how you're feeling in whatever moment of your life that you're in so it's fun to see what people do. We really love it. So, you two met.

Gohar: Yeah. That's right.

Emma: Holiday party, give me the details cause I don't know.

Zealyn: Yeah.

Gohar: Okay I- I'll start.

Zealyn: Go ahead.

Gohar: Umm... I went to the We Found New Music, Grant Owens presents Holiday Party.

Zealyn: Mhm.

Gohar: Uhh... Back in 2018. Wow, it feels like such a long time ago.

Emma: All I'm saying-

Zealyn: It feels like a month in a half ago.

Emma: All I'm saying this has been a long January.

Zealyn: Yes.

Gohar: It has been. I think, every year we say January last an eternity and then the rest of the year zooms by.

Zealyn: Yeah.

Emma: This is the first year I've like fully felt that cause I'm like, "oh my gosh." like I mean, by the time this comes out, it will be like the first week of February.

Zealyn: Yeah. *laughs*

Emma: But like still like, it's been a long January.

Gohar: So I was there, there were maybe one of two people before you performed and then you went up and then I was there with my team and we were just like *gasps*

Zealyn: Aww.

Gohar: You can't see my expression but it was, you know that emoji that's like-

Zealyn: Yep.

Gohar: Me and Art went up to you and we introduced ourselves and you were just phenomenal. And I remember you telling me cause I introduced myself and then Arpita introduced herself and you're like, "Whoa your names are so unique."

Zealyn: They are. They really are. I've never heard them before.

Gohar: And yeah. That was a fun experience and I knew I wanted to get you on the show like then and there.

Zealyn: Thank you for that because you guys are doing something really cool here. I saw that you did Disco Shrine and LeyeT and just you're getting really cool artists on the show.

Emma: Disco Shrine does say hello by the way. I talked to her earlier.

Zealyn: Aww. Hi!

Emma: Shout out to Disco Shrine!

Zealyn: No, I truly loved what you guys are doing. And talk about branding, I love your guys' branding and the three photos you posted each artist.

Emma: Aww man.

Gohar: Emma, Absolutely fantastic but bad aesthetic.

Emma: I'm trying. We'll get there.

Zealyn: I'm really glad we met at that show. I just remember when you guys came up to me, it was so- just like welcoming and you guys had such like warm hearts like you know what I mean?

Gohar: Aww. I'm so glad.

Emma: Yeah, it's what we're trying to be.

Gohar: If I could put a smile on anyone's face, that's a win for me. Yeah.

Emma: I think my biggest thing is when I go to shows like- I kind of like get a feel for like if the artist is someone

who like wants to talk or doesn't want to talk.

Zealyn: Oh yeah.

Emma: 'Cause sometimes you can just tell like they're just not down for it but like... I can at least make someone like... feel like not pressured because I know sometimes like observing people like go up to artists and act a certain away I'm always just like, "What's up?" Just kind of get that like just warm- because we're all people. I try to get down with that like people level.

Gohar: You know what you're right we are people.

Emma: Shut up

*All of them laugh*

Zealyn: No, I know what you mean though. Because, especially in LA, it's super hit or miss.

Emma: Exactly.

Zealyn: Lots of people have egos, lots of people try to be too cool or you know, yeah.

Gohar: Dude, what the heck? I just like umm... not too long ago, I saw a prompt that said, "You can be successful and nice" and I'm like, "That's it! That's the key!"

Zealyn: Yeah.

Gohar: You could be successful and nice.

Emma: You just have a billboard on one of those in every block in LA just like, "You can be successful and nice!"

Zealyn: They should. A lot of people need to be constantly reminded of it for sure. Umm... But yeah. I feel super lucky whenever I'm at a show and all the other people playing are so nice like cause that doesn't happen often. Usually, there's at least one person with an ego or whatever but umm... yeah, it's really cool when you meet the people in LA that are genuine and just friendly.

Emma: I feel like there's a lot there once you start like-

Zealyn: Yeah.

Emma: Cause you know like there's like the whole six degrees of separation and like you know everyone kind of has their own circle?

Zealyn: Uh-huh.

Emma: Once you find that kind of like one person who has that, you get introduced to their circle and their people and then you realize like a lot of these really like kind and very wonderful people all kind of like hang out together and flock-

Zealyn: Yeah. So true.

Emma: You know like they're in their own flock of people and that's really cool because once you meet one, it kind of like Domino effects. You start meeting-

Gohar: Exactly.

Emma: A ton of people and I think that's really great because we met LeyeT, Disco Shrine, now you. So it's just like this fun Domino fantasy where it leads.

Zealyn: Yeah. Absolutely. I agree.

Gohar: That's cool. We're super glad- I'm super glad you guys met and I'm super glad to hear that.

Zealyn: Yeah! Me too. Thanks.

Emma: Let's go ahead and kind of get a little bit of background about yourself.

Zealyn: Okay.

Emma: How was music a part of your childhood and like how was it incorporated in you growing up and all of that?

Zealyn: Uh so I, fortunately, was having(?) a super musical family. My dad sings and plays piano, that's where I started playing the piano from him. My mom sings beautifully and plays guitar, I learned everything about singing from her. And then my brother picks up anything like he plays piano, guitar, bass. He's mainly a drummer, he also sings so well like he plays everything. He's so talented.

Gohar: So like your family has more talent than I have in my parents?

*All laugh*

Zealyn: My family together- they're so awesome umm... but yeah. We- I'd you know grow up in Boston and just did music there and all- a lot of my friends did music so I just kind of grew up around it and always was inspired by you know what other people were doing and umm... When I was 19 and I moved out here for music and... which is so young when I think about it. Like, it's kind of terrifying.

Emma: Did you move out here with your family or yourself?

Zealyn: No, it was me and my best friend.

Emma: Wow.

Zealyn: And when she was younger, she was 18.

Emma: Wow, good for you guys.

Zealyn: Our parents must have been like, "What are you doing?" but yeah, I'm so glad I did though, it was you know. It takes a while to love LA and I'm glad I did at a younger age and then.

Gohar: Oh good.

Zealyn: Yeah

Gohar: I have a follow-up question.

Zealyn: Yes.

Gohar: You said you grew up in Boston. What's the music community like there versus here in LA?

Zealyn: Umm... well I'm not super experienced because I did move out here when I was 19.

Gohar: Mm-hmm.

Zealyn: So a lot of the... you know. I just did a lot of like music theater in high school and stuff so I didn't really get to see a lot of the Boston scene but my brother is in the band called Valley Heart and umm...

Gohar: Hold on. I'm writing this down.

Emma: Take note everyone.

Zealyn: Yeah just exactly how it- you know sounds, Valley Heart. So I kind of see what the Boston scene is like through them and it's very different than LA. LA is super pop, electronic, R&B like very-

Emma: Oh okay.

Zealyn: And Boston, there's not as much.

Gohar: I feel like there would be a lot more rock and roll.

Zealyn: Yeah. A lot of rock and roll and lot of I don't know if it's rapper/R&B but like yeah, it's a lot of really underground stuff. Where LA is very- you know all the big people come out of it, you know.

Gohar: Which is kind of strange to me because there's a lot of places in LA like the Viper Room whiskey a go-go, places like that are catered more toward rock and roll because those clubs were extremely popular 60, 70s, 80s when rock and roll started you know becoming a thing and now, they host a whole bunch of rock stuff it's- if you go in for example to the whiskey go-go, it's like I-I-I think rock and roll throughout here because-

Zealyn: Oh yeah.

Gohar: And every once in awhile, they have pop sets, some jazz sets, and whatnot because you know you have to have variety but I feel like it doesn't fit the environment.

Zealyn: I mean they're definitely- yeah like you're right, it was definitely still like a rock scene here, it's just different. Yeah, I don't know.

Emma: Well, what you said kind of like stuck out to me was the comparison I hear there's a lot more like electronic and like synth-like in pop and like I never actually consider that thought about that cause now that I'm thinking about it like, "Wait like so much of these artists like they are here in their based here," like I've never even considered to think that you know that the other side of the country wouldn't like connect with that as much. But now I'm like, "You're right oh my gosh."

Zealyn: So to put it into perspective, planning a show out here, I can very quickly come up with oh at least eight people that I can picture playing on a bill with like all

these people are similar to me similar sounds let's play a show together, awesome. But in Boston, it's really

hard to find like an electronic pop artist out there and I know that they exist, they're just harder to find. So the Boston music scene is definitely still great and awesome and that there's a lot of music but it's harder to find the electronic pop artists and maybe I'm way off cuz I don't live there anymore but that's what it seems like being over here.

Part 2 coming soon.

[grapsandclaps]

GRAPS AND CLAPS REVIEWS - TIDAL CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING 'SUGAR RUSH'

Hello and welcome everyone to another edition of Graps and Claps, this time taking me once again to dirty Leeds for Tidal Wrestling's second to last show this year at The Temple of Boom, with the return of reigning champion Sugar Dunkerton being the hot topic of conversation in among what pants a certain Mr.Brady Phillips would be wearing on this evening after his Rupert the Bear efforts of last month.

Arriving in Leeds for 2pm, after spending the morning drinking countless cups of coffee and watching NXT Takeover it was time to get back on the horse and first visit one of the lesser visited places in Leeds that I go - The Brewery Tap which is home to beers from the Leeds/Leodis Brewery range, first off was a pint of 5% Dunkel Hefeweizen Stottie from Camerons Brewery (£4.60) which is a drink made from reused bread, on reflection this was an OK drink that lacked a strong wheat flavour which you tend to get from wheat beer's like Erdinger and other brands of that type. Second pint in here whilst we were all thinking up songs related to Baby/Lady, was a pint of Leeds Brewery Midnight Bell (£4.05) Stout that would accompany a good steak if you are having food or in fact just as a session beer for a winter's afternoon.

A change of pace next, as instead of going to a pub we made a visit to the Leeds Christmas Markets on Millennium Square for the usual overpriced Bratwurst and gassy ale which usually frequents the Manchester Markets which is like hell on earth. Thankfully the Leeds Market are much quieter with more room to move which made it instantly better for that fact, here I had 2 bottles of Hofbrau Dark Wheat Beer (£4.50) and something called Knobi Brot (Not Knob Rot) which was a thick piece of bread topped with Garlic Sausage and Garlic Sauce with Cheese involved as well costing £5 - tasty as anything but obviously the garlic smell would mean I wouldn't be kissing any ladies of the night tonight (standard with my track record of 1 relationship).

Fully filled up, we moved on to a newish pub on the way called the Social which is one of those student type bars in the way it looked and home to a very cramped toilet with not much room to swing a cat. Only the one drink in here with a £4.60 pint of Kirkstall Brewery Providence that was a fruity tasting ale but not as smooth as the Double IPA that our Geoff was drinking which tasted like a dream. Final pub was a swift visit to Brewdog for 2/3rds of Wiper and True Plum Pudding, now with Wiper and True I fully recommend you try any of there drinks in bottles which are widely available in your local beer shops. So with that said, let's get into what went down at Tidal Wrestling 'Sugar Rush'!

With a packed crowd of about 120 in attendance, we were first introduced to El Ligero who wasn't wrestling on the evening due to the WWE UK deal where they can't wrestle a week before one of there shows, instead though Ligero came out to thank the crowd for their support over the 5 years that Tidal has been going and trumpeting the thoughts that I have penned in this blog over the last year or so of why Tidal has proven to be one of the highlights of the undergraps scene.

First match of the evening was H.T Drake fresh off a win against Crater at the last show taking on Rocky Mac who even though he is Irish, plies his trade exclusively in the London area for Frontline Wrestling and the London School of Lucha Libre. One thing that our section of the crowd was trying to work out was - who was the famous Collins on Mac's tights, in our own judgement we decided it was Phil Collins and began to sing Phil Collins/Genesis tunes at Mac. In a good opener, Drake had hit a Coast to Coast dropkick on Mac before following up with a springboard kick for a 2 count, Mac however did make a comeback and was looking near the end at using his hurling stick to floor Drake, but as he did he walked right into a lung blower by Drake who picked up the 3 count. Drake with this victory now goes on to a 3-way title match on the 16th December vs Sugar Dunkerton and Soner Dursun.

Next up we had a women's contest between Ruby Radley and Natalie Sykes, the latter who impressed in a 5-way match 2 months ago against some of her male counterparts. In a back and forth contest, Natalie Sykes looked on her way to victory her but out came Ruby's tag team partner Ivy to sneak up from behind to wallop Sykes round the head with a stick to cause the DQ and then to add insult to the head injury - a sustained beatdown much to the disgust of crowd. These 3 competitors are now involved in a 5-way Women's title contest at the December show, which could play into Ivy and Ruby's favour using the numbers advantage but we will have to see.

Third up was for the TCW Tag Team Titles currently held by long time champions and fan favourites The Lion Kings (Nsereko & Sebb Strife) taking on The N.I.C (Charlie Carter & Oisin Delaney) who you might have seen grace a Progress pre-show match or two in the last year and a bit, but as ever in settings like this, wrestlers you don't tend to think of as brilliant, turn out to catch a spark in venues/promotions like this. Early part of the match was the N.I.C cutting off the ring in half laying the beat down to Nsereko whilst using swift tags in and out, Nsereko tried to fight out of this predicament hitting a headbutt to Carter but Delaney managed once again to cut him off at the pass, 

Nsereko did eventually manage to get the hot tag to Sebb who is one of the best hot tag wrestlers around in the North, cleaned house leading to the Lion Kings eventually finishing off there plucky opponents when they hit the Neckbreaker/Powerbomb combination to Charlie Carter to retain the titles in a really good match. The Lion Kings now go on to face another set of fresh challengers in December as they face what looks an interesting team on paper in the form of B.A Rose and Will Kroos.

Half time main event now in the form of who would leave the Temple of Boom as the new TCW Women's Champion with 'Session Moth' Martina defending the vacant title in the honour of Mia Yim who has moved off to pastures new, Martina's opponent for the evening was none other Rhio who has been picking up win after win in recent months at Tidal beating the likes of Chakara and Little Miss Roxxy. Martina who has just returned from another successful tour of Japan in STARDOM, showed off some newly picked up wrestling skills including the use of a bow and arrow submission to Rhio which Rhio was lucky to escape out of. An inspired chant to the tune of 'Hall and Oates' Maneater was heard during this match:-

OOH HERE SHE COMES! WATCH OUT BOYS SHE'LL DRINK YOUR CANS! OOH HERE SHE COMES! IT'S A MARTINA!

Anyway back to the match, with Martina seemingly on top and on her way to victory she hit what looked like a match-winning headbutt but she hit it with so much force that she fell flat on her face, with a dazed Rhio picking up the scraps to pin Martina to become the new TCW Women's Champion to cap off what has been a great 6 months or so for the Preston native. On reflection from a wrestling standpoint this was maybe my favourite match of the evening, with Martina now looking a world away from the Veda Scott debacle at WXW and looking excellent in the process, also give Rhio her due she has gotten over well as a fresh faced baddie in this promotion which has added another layer to her character which can only be good for the future - top work ladies!

Back from half time and sadly once again no Vegan Curry, but the Vegan Chicken Burger has won a few fans locally so give that a try if you are visiting next time at the Temple. We returned in the second half with a rematch from last month's show with Sean Only trying to avenge his loss of last time taking on Will Kroos who was looking to stake his claim for a possible title shot in the future.

Kroos was on top early hitting a slam for a two count, whilst also countering a sleeper from Only into a suplex and a cannonball for a 2 count. Only was then put in an arm submission but managed to get to the ropes, Only recovered from this setback though to hit a curb stomp and a ddt to the man mountain Kroos for a 2 count, this though must have really got to Kroos who soon had enough and walked out on the match seemingly wanting to save himself for another time, your winner then by countout - Sean Only!

Match six of the evening was for the TCW Openweight Championship with the challenger Little Miss Roxxy taking on don't say it too loud but our 'Secret Favourite Wrestler' of the Undergraps scene and crazy pants wearing champion of Kettering - Brady Phillips. As ever Phillips was wearing an interesting set of flowery pants topping the Rupert the Bear pants from last month, lots of singing in this one with the aforementioned songs involving the words of Baby/Lady. Even though we didn't have many songs for Roxxy, the crowd were in full favour of the geordie starlet to dethrone Phillips, despite last time when Roxxy lost to Chuck Mambo but I guess she has proven herself more than capable against the chaps.

The big talking point about this match will no doubt be the finish of this match, where it was first thought that Phillips who tried some underhanded tactics behind the referee's back to pin Roxxy to supposedly retain the title, but that was until chief commentator Colin got on the mic to say he had enough of Phillips trying to sneak away with his title and ordered a restart of the match which involved a replacement referee due to the initial official getting flattened by an angry Brady. Brady's frustration at this decision soon proved to be his downfall as Roxxy pinned Brady to capture the TCW Openweight Title in a chaotic finish to end what seems like a 1 year title reign and a very successful one at that as well, but with this defeat I can only see Brady turning his attention to the TCW Heavyweight Title in 2019 but we shall just have to wait and see.

Semi Main Event now with the Leeds darkness setting in outside, we had another American on a U.K excursion with Darius Lockhart taking on everyone's favourite - Rampage Brown coming out to the bellows of the crowd singing 'I Will Be Heard' which is still a banger to this day.

Lockhart in this his Tidal debut impressed early on as he got Rampage in the mount to get in some strikes and punches landing on the big Yorkshireman, but it would be Rampage who soon got back on top in a hard fought contest near the end when he used his considerable size and strength to hit Lockhart with a three move combo or a Brainbuster followed by a Powerbomb and then finally finishing the plucky Lockhart off with the Piledriver of Death to get the victory. Rampage next month now goes on to face The Great O-Kharn in what should be a hard hitting contest, then not so long after he get's a TCW TItle opportunity in February against Sugar Dunkerton in Newcastle which is certainly a 50/50 pick 'em contest for the fans.

Main Event time now with Spike Trivet taking on the TCW World Champion Sugar Dunkerton who as ever had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand to the Archies hit 'Sugar Sugar' which has also spawned a t-shirt celebrating what has been a whirlwind year for Sugar who is on his 3rd tour of the U.K this year despite being a relative unknown to a lot of people, so he deserves a lot of respect for taking a chance on himself which has so far worked out a treat. The first 5 minutes of this match was the usual crowd antics singing for Sugar, whilst Spike sat on in bemusement from the front row, once back in the ring with Trivet getting the Tory hating chants from the crowd, both men had a feeling out process in the form of a dance off and a push up contest which Sugar got the better of. Even though Trivet had his moments in this contest, it was The Leader of the Band Sugar who eventually put away Trivet with the match-winning Brainbuster to send the Leeds faithful singing and dancing long into the night celebrating their charge's victory to end another successful night's worth of action in The Temple of Boom.

As seen on this evening, the word of mouth of people to check out Tidal is spreading with them packing out the Temple of Boom on this evening and with one show to go this year, it has certainly solidified itself as one of the best kept secrets on the Undergraps scene that I wholeheartedly recommend that you go and see just the once or maybe more.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this review as ever and while I am at it go and give Andrew Gibney's review of the Futureshock Wrestling show on the same evening a read (he did a sparkling job in my absence). Give that and also reviews the usual likes and retweets and I will see you next time for reviews from Liverpool of NXT UK plus also NGW in Keighley, so until then - BYE!

#grapsandclaps

@oggypart3