#half tiger is Sterling

[milks-thoughts]

︳Question: ❔❓❔

Do you have a persona? Or an main oc?

Please answer! I wanna draw you! <33

Oh! I have like 30 ocs lmao, so I rolled a wheel and you got the choice between a few! (because Nilima is a bit complex and I couldn’t choose)

[scaryscarecrows]

Antoine waits for Muldoon’s footsteps to die away before flinging the door to his room open, marching down the hall to Jimmy’s, and flinging himself onto the bed.

“I cannot believe,” he says dryly, “that you’re still using that one.”

“Nobody’s called me on it yet.” Jimmy pops his back. “God, this is the nicest weather we’ve seen in months.”

It really is. It’s humid, sure, but it’s warm and compared to Gotham especially, it’s gorgeous. Lush and green. That was probably the real reason Jimmy brought this to the boss’s attention, and likely a good chunk of the reason said boss agreed to it. On paper, this is some kind of zoo. A very hush-hush zoo, and one that leapt at their sterling security track record.

So that track record was fabricated. Shut up. They’re in, and they got in fast enough that nobody’s gotten much of a briefing apart from ‘we’re now zoo security’. Antoine has no idea why Jimmy and the boss deemed this place interesting, and he was happy enough to see the sun again that he really didn’t give a shit.

“So?” he goes. “We’re here to fuck up somebody’s day. What do they have? Illegal tigers, kidnapped baby elephants, what’s the deal?”

“I don’t know.”

The world comes to a screeching halt.

“You don’t know,” he says stupidly. “You’re shitting me.”

“Uh-uh. Ingen’s secretive as hell, man. Everything is referred to in code, and there’s a few encrypted files that refer to lawsuits and settlements for deaths, y’know? No idea what happened or anything. Nothing specified. Big payouts, that’s all I know, to keep everything hush-hush.”

Well, that explains why this place was deemed interesting. Jimmy hates not knowing things. So does the boss, for that matter.

“What the hell?”

“I told you guys this place was freaky.” He pulls a bag of Skittles out of his backpack, tears it open, and pours five of them into his mouth. “And Ingen’s got money for this place, big backers from Japan.”

Weird. But, honestly, so’s the building. The rooms are identical, which isn’t weird–very hotel, or cheap accommodations–but there’s bars hastily welded onto the windows and the doors are awfully sturdy, with heavy-duty electric locks. The windows themselves are made of thick glass, more like the kind you find in a security room than in living quarters, and Antoine will bet it’s bulletproof.

“What do you think they’re trying to keep out?”

Jimmy just grins.

“Don’t know.” He pours more Skittles into his mouth, chews them into one big, gross, rainbow-y gob, and swallows. “Let’s go see if the boss found something neat.”

The hallway is charmingly generic, with heavy use of beige and burgundy, but the carpet’s got…snags, in several areas. Couple of small holes here and there.

Huh.

Jason’s crawled half-under his bed with a blacklight. Riley squeezes between them, finger to his lips, and jumps, landing squarely on the squeaky mattress.

“Motherfuck!” Thud. “What the hell was that for?”

Riley just cackles and splays out, bouncing a few times while Jason crawls back out.

Mind your surroundings, he mocks. 

“Do as I say, not as I do.”

“Anything interesting?”

“Mm-hm. This room has new carpet.”

“And?”

“Look at this.” He leans out into the hallway and shines the blacklight on the carpet there. There’s spots. Not big ones, and not a lot, maybe five, leading into the room. “Blood. Something got in here, must’ve made a mess.”

“Something?”

“It’s a zoo. I’m guessing something.”

“Watch, this place is gonna be some serial killer’s private playground,” Jimmy cracks. Jason shrugs.

“Quiet weekend, then.” He rubs the back of his head and shoots Riley an annoyed glare. “Rogers, I want you to–” He freezes, head swiveling towards the hall. “Someone just walked in, be normal.”

“My love!” Jimmy sweeps Antoine quite literally off his feet. “I had no idea you felt the same way!”

“Get off!”

“We must marry at once.”

Antoine tries to squirm loose without snapping Jimmy’s fingers and promptly gets dropped on the carpet. Ugh. Cheap, scratchy carpet–what’s that up there?

The skylight’s got bars on it too, hastily welded on like on the windows.

[strangeduckpaper]

Power Rangers Rewrite: Mighty Morphin'

Season 1 & Background

Because the Boom Comics actually expounds on their backstories, Rita & Zedd have their comics backstories. Rita is specifically from a planet known as Bandora, which has a lot of magical practitioners, including an organized order of witches.

Bandorans are taller than humans, and to a human eye always look a little sickly.

The Power Coins used to belong to a multi planetary team (the Zyu Rangers) with explicitly Alien Zords resembling the 2017 movie. Rita killed the Green Ranger and took that Coin, thus control of the Dragonzord.

The 90’s Zyu Rangers interpreted the Zords on the Coins as artistic renditions of Earth animals, thus minorly reformatting the Zords when they’re finally brought to bear.

Jason actually beats Tommy during their fight like in Zyuranger.

Season 2

Grace Sterling gets introduced, and Zordon tells the story of the 1969 Rangers.

The Stone Canyon Trio are introduced, giving an outside perspective to the Rangers.

Zedd doesn’t arrive…yet. He does send messages to Rita in the form of nightmares.

No Thunderzords, the Zyu/Dino Megazord survives, since I wanna keep the Dairangers (Thunder Star Rangers) in my back pocket.

In the same vein, Tommy doesn’t get the White Tiger Power Coin after losing the Green Power Coin, instead he gets a White Brachiosaurus Power Coin that ties him to Titanus, which itself is reformatted to serve as armor and weaponry for the Zyu Megazord.

Tommy’s Ranger Suit is white and gold, with the MM sculpted mouth helmet and Dragon shield, but with elements of the Dino Thunder Black suit, while Saba is literally just a repainted Bracchio Staff.

Before Tommy comes back, Rita launches the Dark Ranger’s scheme from the comics, which comes to an end once Tommy arrives, destroying the Dark Ranger’s Power Source (A Dark Mockery of a Zeo Crystal?)

The Rita putty escapes, albeit heavily wounded, to fight another day.

Kiya comes to Earth following the Dark Rangers, chasing the power source used. She sticks around for a while.

The first half of the season ends with a final confrontation with Goldar when he attempts to throw Angel Grove into the Dark Dimension during Jason, Trini & Zack’s graduation, and is struck down by Tommy and Jason. The Stone Canyon Trio helps.

Jason, Trini and Zack decide to take a gap year, and are given the Omega Morphers to help Kiya hunt down the source of the knockoff Zeo Crystal, while the Stone Canyon Trio take their places.

Rito arrives afterwards, with some new mercenaries to give the Rangers trouble, including Dayne. Scorpina, meanwhile, leaves, vowing vengeance against the Rangers.

Their adventures include a crossover with the Masked Rider of Edenoi.

The season finale is Zedd’s arrival, Serpentera in tow, and challenges the Rangers to combat.

He destroys the Megazord with Serpentera, before taking them on 1-v-6, rendering the Power Coins useless one after the other, until only Tommy is left with his powers.

Tommy tries, but Zedd captures him, and brings him back to the Moon Castle, leaving the other Rangers to lick their wounds and wallow in their powerlessness.

Season 3

With the Power Coins useless, the Omega Rangers out of contact and Zordon unable to access back-up Ranger powers, Zordon sends the Rangers to Ninjor to create powers of their own.

In the meanwhile, he calls for reinforcements, the Rangers of Aquitar (known as the Doron Rangers), with more on the way.

Zedd sends more monsters to delay the Rangers, and gathers forces fromDark Spector, including Master Vile, to attempt and summon the dark god Lokar from the Talus Dimension.

The Rangers pass Ninjor’s trials and gain their Ninjetti Power Coins and Zords, with all new suits coming with them.

They have elements of the American Ninja Ranger uniforms, the Dairangers, with MM helmets remodeled to reflect their new Zords.

Meanwhile, Tommy is being held by the villains, where he strikes up a friendship with Finster, who eventually helps free him.

During this escape, he finds remnants of the tools used in the corruption of the Green Dragon Power Coin, and takes it.

The Rangers return to Earth and meet the Doron rangers. There’s some chafing, especially between Billy and Cestro, though that rivalry shifts into something more…amorous.

Tommy arrives, Finster by his side and arcane secrets in hand. Finster and Alpha duke it out at least once.

In the background, we’re introduced to new transfer students Tanya Sloan and Kat Hillard. Kat gets mind controlled but it gets broken.

Eventually, Finster, Alpha, Tideus and Delphine figure out how to reactivate the Dragonzord, dormant since the loss of the Green Power Coin, and Tommy uses the power of friendship to bring it back under control.

Master Vile attempts to interfere, but the Rangers strike him down with Ninjor’s help. 

Deciding to take advantage, the rangers attack the moon palace, reinforced by the Masked Rider and the Omega Rangers (Now with Yale replacing Kiya)

The Rangers win, destroying Serpentera, and wrecking the moon base, though Lokar is summoned.

In order to seal him, the Mighty Morphin Rangers sacrifice the Ninjetti Power Coins to do so, while Tommy’s powers once again become unstable.

In the aftermath, the rangers disperse. Kim goes off to pursue her gymnastics career, Billy leaves for Aquitar as a representative of Earth, NASADA, and Prometheus.

Aisha also leaves to join humanitarian aid.

Tommy, a bit adrift, decides to stay with Adam and Rocky, and possibly form a new team.

After all, while they did beat them up, they never saw Rita, Rito, or Zedd actually fall…

<-Prev/Next->

[fandomchokehold]

What My Tav’s & Durge’s Wild Shapes Would Be If They Were Druids

‼ TW: images of spiders ‼

Samson Silversten (high half-elf bard)

Japanese Badger, Ginger Maine Coon, Golden Silk Orb-Weaver, Maned Wolf (technically its own species, neither a fox nor a wolf, but who cares), Tiger, Barn Owlbear

Odette (duergar monk)

African Honey Badger, Egyptian Mau, Jumping Spider, Alexander Archipelago Wolf, Black Panther (Leopard with melanism), Burrowing Owlbear

Wren Donahue (human sorcerer)

European Badger, Siamese Cat, Flower Crab Spider, Himalayan Wolf, Jaguar, Striped Owlbear

Lior Sterling (dark urge aasimar)

American Badger, Ragdoll Cat, Black Widow, Arctic Wolf, Snow Leopard, Snowy Owlbear

[r0-boat]

Secrecy

Oc Oliver Sterling x Reader

Tldr:Fucking in a classroom

Cw: student/teacher relationship

Oliver has made many decisions but none could compare to being with one of his students. A decision he never regrets; he does love you. However, he has come to learn that you are pretty promiscuous... you are not a straight-A student, but he could tell you genuinely have an interest in his class. He always knew you were a risk-taker... he just didn't know how far you were willing to go.

Today during one of his long lectures, he almost choked on his words, a rarity for him when he just so happened to look down. You were playing with the bottom half of your uniform, intentionally flashing him...you had nothing underneath. He tore his eyes away and continued with the lesson, not wanting to draw attention. And Oliver swore he saw your lips curved into a smirk.

Thank God that's it the short that day he could feel your eyes on him burning into his head like a tiger stalking on its victim. You pretended to pack your things into your book bag as everyone else left the classroom to go back to home. You try not to show your smile as you see Oliver walk over to your seat.

As you were going to pick up your notebook Sterling's hand slams down on the desk right on top of your notebook his weight on it you could hear the Venom in his voice as he utters, "what were you thinking?"

" What do you mean?"

" Don't Play Dumb With Me. During my lesson you purposely flashed me, in class! What if someone saw."

"Buuut they didn't"

He leans back up his fingers on his temples. goodness gracious you're going to be the death of him..." Dear, if you wanted me that badly you didn't have to do that"

You look back making sure the door was closed before getting up to your seat and walking over Sterling's breath hitches when he feels your hands on his body. He asked what you're doing, and you respond. " I do want you, but I wanted to try something different." Almost immediately, he gets it. He covers his face with one hand, trying to hide the pink dust on his cheeks. You feel fingers on your back "here? I don't know, i-" your Professor stutters; too much risk...but the idea is doing something to him. The idea of punishing you of doing such a new Act right in this room excites him.

... have you been going without underwear all day...

Damn it...

"Ok... maybe this once... but you have to keep qu-!"

You practically pounce on him your lips slamming into his against you he is powerless his eyes slowly fluttering closed as you feel his hand running through the back of your hair and around your body attempting to pull you closer.

Funny... Oliver said you must be quiet, yet he's the one moaning and whimpering, feeling your hands slide underneath his now wrinkled collared shirt and sweater vest. Judging by how his hand slowly slides up your uniform bottoms, He must like this idea as much as you do.

Your tongue invades his mouth in an attempt to keep him silent. Only to immediately break the kiss, panting, "Get on the desk. I need to be inside you."

With a smile, you obey, leaning your body over your professor's desk messing up Sterling's meticulous desk. You couldn't help yourself looking back at him and shaking your butt. Only for you to squeak when Sterling slaps your ass. "Do that again, and you won't be able to come to classes tomorrow."

Sterling purrs, taking in the sight of you over his desk in your University uniform. His fingers danced across your sides, playing with the rim of your bottoms before slowly rolling them off.

He put his fingers into his mouth, coating them in his saliva before playing with your hole. Teasing you making them sink in and out, preparing your hole for something bigger.

You bite your lip, hearing him unbuckling his belt as his pants fall to the ground.

Sterling took off his glasses, setting them on the edge of the desk before slowly sinking his cock inside you. His mouth agape, grabbing at your ass and hips, his pace starting slow and deep. the feeling of his sensitive cock getting squeezed, milked by your tight walls. The rush knowing that anyone could walk in and see you, his student bent over the desk, and him your teacher balls deep inside, giving you pleasure that others could dream.

Pour Oliver shutters at the thought, quickening his pace; you feel his chest press against your back. Giving you Goosebumps as you feel his tongue and lips on your neck, nibbling and sucking. He hopes that hickey is visible he wants your classmates gawk at the marks he makes on your neck. Not knowing that the owner of those marks is the one silencing the distracted students.

They will never know that your bent over the desk getting pounded by the very professor whom they say is a stickler with the rules, and is very strict.

"please, Sir harder!" you beg pressing your ass harder against his moving hips.

Sterling exhaled in response giving you what you wanted. At the same time, keep in mind of how loud his balls are slapping against your body. Sterling covers your mouth with his hand, not wanting you to get too loud as he hits that spot inside of you that makes your toes curl. While your mouth is covered he takes the opportunity to sink his teeth into your shoulder hard, Sterling fuck you with a reckless abandon chasing his orgasm. Your eyes roll back letting out all your noises curses and pleads of his name all for it to be quickly silenced by his hand, ."I'm close! you're close to I can feel it you're milking my cock as if you hunger for my cum, cum for me. Fucking cum while your professor fills you up over his desk!".

Sterling gasps fucking you through his own orgasm. He only takes his hand off your mouth for a second, Nails digging into your sides as he bites into you one final time. Sending you over the edge cumming around his cock, trying not to be loud, but you cannot guarantee you've lost control.

Sterling stays inside of you wanting to completely fill you up before he pulles out.

You pant coming down from your high. " that scream might have been too loud" Sterling finally pulls his softening cock out of you reaching for his glasses giving you a kiss on the head in between. " Don't worry if someone did hear something; I'll handle it for them; I'm a pure angel. We can try this again next time." he says, giving you a mischievous smile with his wrinkled outfit and disheveled hair. " waoh~ look at you taking risks" you gave him a light-hearted chuckle before getting up and reaching for your bottoms.

He Chuckles, pulling you close " I can't help it. You've ruined me, my dear,"

[caelwynn]

Spring is finally arriving in the real world, but it's quickly drawing to a close in Choices.

In Chapter 22, "The Jackass Parade," we get the first half of the Flower Dance. Or, I suppose, the lead up to the actual dancing. We flit through several points of view—a few of which we haven't had before—and get a sense of the general mood.

Sneak Peek:

“I look forward to trying it,” Emily smiled. Shane's aura brightened a little more. No one else’s aura made her worry the way his did. Anything she could do to help she did… well, almost anything. If only she could convince Shane to wear the tiger's eye earring she gifted him last year. “So, did you find someone else to dance with?” he asked. The hope in his voice stood in stark contrast to the way his aura darkened anew at the question. “Not yet. I’m afraid I’ll need your help again,” she replied. Shane grumbled and complained, but she could see his pleasure at this turn of events. Emily smiled. “You just want to watch my misery each year,” he accused, smirking. “Obviously. It’s the highlight of Spring for me.” Loud laughter drew their attention. Sterling was ranting in a completely over-the-top manner to Henry and Mia. Whatever had him going had the other two in stitches. Shane smiled as he watched, but Emily barely kept from frowning. Some people when they came together, their auras would blossom and shine. But Shane and Sterling, the two of them— “Callie, you made it! Are you intending to dance?” At the sound of Callie’s name, Shane’s head snapped in the direction of the buffet table. When he finally found her, he fumbled his fork.

[somewhereapart]

Abelia (get to know me ask game)

ABELIA ⇢ do you have a particular piece of jewelry you always wear or can’t part with?

I don't have anything that I wear *every day* at the moment, but I do have things I wear often. I got a white gold braided claddagh ring when we were in Ireland this spring that I often wear with my replacement wedding band on my left hand, and a sterling silver Celtic braid brand that I often wear on my right hand. I used to wear the gold and silver Claddagh that my husband got me not long after we started dating on my right hand all the tiem but it's a little tight now so I don't wear it anymore.

My most oft-worn earrings are a pair of small gold and black enamel hoops.

I have a Tiffany initial necklace that was a gift from a friend like a decade and a half ago that I wear pretty often, it's just a little round silver charm with an A on it.

And lately, I've been wearing crystal bead bracelets pretty often, altho which ones I wear the most vary. The rose quartz probably gets the most wear, but I also have obsidian, tigers eye, peridot, orange calcite, amethyst, sodalite and a howlite/lava stone combo, and which ones I throw on really depends on what the day has in store and how I'm feelin.

[kagsluvr]

hq boys wanting to match with you

a/n: i just thought of domestic hcs with samu and one of them being having matching aprons in the kitchen awajajjhs and i thought hm why not think about what matching things the other boys would want lol. enjoy :D

-

OSAMU would definitely buy you guys matching aprons for the time you spend in the kitchen cooking or baking. he claims the one that reads “He cooks”, while you have the one that says “They eat”. he thought it was absolutely perfect. regarding what your apron said, you argued that you did, in fact, help out in the kitchen a lot, being his little sous chef, and weren’t just eating his cooked meals.

AKAASHI would be more than happy with the idea of you guys getting matching manicures. you’d get all your nails painted pink except for your ring fingers colored black, he’d get all his nails painted black except for his ring fingers painted pink. everyone else who hangs around you guys always seems to notice the matching sets and compliment them.

SUNA would encourage you guys to have matching rings. it could be a fake, silver one from Walmart or a 18 karat gold one from a pricey jewelry store, it didn’t matter. but, with you two obviously not wanting to spend so much on such a simple accessory, you compromised to get sterling silver ones. he was very proud of coming up with the idea. once he sees how good the ring fits you both, he posts a photo of your guys’ hands intertwined with the rings showing.

NISHINOYA would suggest the idea of getting tattoos. but you both came to realize that that was too much of a commitment, permanent ink on your body. so y’all compromised and decided to get temporary tattoos! he bought a pack of minimalistic tattoos, such as hearts, stars, floral patterns, etc. he wanted to keep it simple by making you guys both get a small ‘♡’ on both your guys’ wrists. it’s simple, but cute.

MATSUKAWA would propose the idea of you guys getting matching phone cases. whether it's just a clear case with matching stickers on it or actual couples phone cases, he’d want to match with you. every time you guys are sitting on the subway or at the cafeteria next to each other, both on your phones, someone always seems to notice the matching cases and compliments on how cute the idea is. 

LEV would buy you guys matching onesies. he’d most definitely buy zoo animal ones, with his being a lion one and yours as a zebra or tiger. he’d make you guys wear it right away on the day he bought it and suggest you guys have a little ‘spa night’ in the bathroom with face masks and other skincare stuff. he would also carry you on his back and proceed to aggressively sprint and jump around the house, making you scared of falling off his back lol.

SEMI would definitely buy you guys those chains with the half-heart pendants, for couples. one for him and one for you. and when the two halves of the heart are near each other, they attract each other because of the magnet inside them. you thought it was cheesy at first but after seeing how thrilled semi was when he first gave it to you, you thought it was worth it.

-

[richincolor]

Fall TBR Pile

Summer is wrapping up for me (sigh), but that doesn't mean my summer TBR pile is going away. It's just transforming into my fall TBR pile, and of course, it's also a mile long. Here's what's at the very top of that list for September and October (if we're talking November, Our Violent Ends is #1 on my must-read-holy-crap-ahhhhh list):

A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix (Remixed Classics #1) by C.B. Lee [Out September 7]

Two intrepid girls hunt for a legendary treasure on the deadly high seas in this YA remix of the classic adventure novel Treasure Island.

1826. The sun is setting on the golden age of piracy, and the legendary Dragon Fleet, the scourge of the South China Sea, is no more. Its ruthless leader, a woman known only as the Head of the Dragon, is now only a story, like the ones Xiang has grown up with all her life. She desperately wants to prove her worth, especially to her mother, a shrewd business woman who never seems to have enough time for Xiang. Her father is also only a story, dead at sea before Xiang was born. Her only memento of him is a pendant she always wears, a simple but plain piece of gold jewelry.

But the pendant's true nature is revealed when a mysterious girl named Anh steals it, only to return it to Xiang in exchange for her help in decoding the tiny map scroll hidden inside. The revelation that Xiang's father sailed with the Dragon Fleet and tucked away this secret changes everything. Rumor has it that the legendary Head of the Dragon had one last treasure—the plunder of a thousand ports — that for decades has only been a myth, a fool's journey. Xiang is convinced this map could lead to the fabled treasure. Captivated with the thrill of adventure, she joins Anh and her motley crew off in pursuit of the island. But the girls soon find that the sea—and especially those who sail it—are far more dangerous than the legends led them to believe. [Image and summary via Goodreads]

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson [Out September 14]

The Haunting of Hill House meets Get Out in this chilling YA psychological thriller and modern take on the classic haunted house story from New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson!

Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper.

The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting between dilapidated houses, surrounded by wary neighbors has its . . . secrets. That’s only half the problem: household items vanish, doors open on their own, lights turn off, shadows walk past rooms, voices can be heard in the walls, and there’s a foul smell seeping through the vents only Mari seems to notice. Worse: Piper keeps talking about a friend who wants Mari gone.

But “running from ghosts” is just a metaphor, right? As the house closes in, Mari learns that the danger isn’t limited to Maple Street. Cedarville has its secrets, too. And secrets always find their way through the cracks. [Image and summary via Goodreads]

 Jade Fire Gold by June C.L. Tan [Out October 12]

Girls of Paper and Fire meets The Tiger at Midnight in June CL Tan’s stunning debut, inspired by Chinese mythology, with rich magic and an epic slow-burn romance.

In an empire on the brink of war . . . Ahn is no one, with no past and no family. Altan is a lost heir, his future stolen away as a child.

When they meet, Altan sees in Ahn a path to reclaiming the throne. Ahn sees a way to finally unlock her past and understand her arcane magical abilities. But they may have to pay a far deadlier price than either could have imagined. Ferocious action, shadowy intrigue, and a captivating romance collide in June CL Tan’s debut, a stunning homage to the Xianxia novel with a tender, beating heart, perfect for fans of The Bone Witch and We Hunt the Flame. [Image and summary via Goodreads]

So what's at the top of your TBR pile for the next season? Share with us!

[busterkeatonfanfic]

Chapter 7

When Nelly opened her eyes, she couldn’t remember what day it was, what time it was, or most of all where she was. The bed sheets smelled like a man. Buster. She sat straight up, hardly noticing the clanging in her head.

She scrambled to the edge of the bed and tried to tear off the sheets that were twisted around her middle. She saw as she swung her legs over the side of the bed that her dress and girdle had ridden up around her waist, but she was still wearing her cami knickers. Whatever had occurred last night had not apparently involved their disposal. 

A wave of nausea and dizziness seized her before she was able to stand up. Her head ached so badly that she ran her hands over it, suspecting that she’d fallen and hit it. The exterior was intact, but the interior … It was in agony. Her very brains felt hot and swollen. 

“Hello?” she said. The suite seemed empty, but she couldn’t be sure. “Hello?”

When no answer came, she reached for the half-full glass of water on the nightstand and drained it. She had a raging thirst and scanned for the bathroom so she could fill the glass again and relieve herself. She had to pee like a racehorse. She got up and was forced to hobble on her way to the en-suite. Her misadventures had led to one thing at least: a twisted ankle. She remembered a phonograph and a rolicking jazz tune that made her feel the lightest and gayest and youngest she’d ever felt in her life. She remembered Tommy now, how good-looking he’d been. She remembered dancing for what seemed like hours. She was in such a good mood that she’d even danced with the men who weren’t handsome. She groaned at the memory of the other men as she relieved herself.

There was water in the round basin at the bottom of the skeletal shower and the bathroom felt slightly humid. A towel hanging on the bar confirmed that Buster had come and gone.

At least she thought it was Buster. That part she remembered too. Vomiting her guts out and Buster Keaton squatting opposite her in his white undergarments … doing what? It was fuzzy. She vaguely recalled a desire for a pillow, but he must not have given one to her because she woke up in the bed. She couldn’t remember how she’d gotten from the blind tiger to the hotel room. She tried and failed. It was a big black spot, a blight on a reel of film. Buster had not been at the blind tiger as far as she remembered. 

At the sink, she drank four glasses of water total, then rinsed her sour mouth. Her face was pale and haggard in the mirror. She looked about twenty years older. Suddenly, her heart hammered at an alarming thought. It wasn’t Sunday, it was Saturday. What had made her think it was Sunday? They were filming today! She was hours late. 

Her eyes scanned around the bedroom for a clock. She spotted one on the mantel and rushed to it. A quarter to noon. 

“Damn!” 

She ran into the adjoining salon, hoping to at least find her handbag. She did, half-spilled on one of the seemingly dozens of ornate chairs that dotted the room. The handbag held no powder or rouge, but at least it had lipstick and her tin of mascara. She dashed back to the bathroom to apply it. Her hair was another story. There was no hairbrush in the handbag, just a small backcomb that was impotent against the rat’s nest of tangles confronting her. She was out of bobby pins. Her dress was wrinkled and covered in lint, not to mention that she stank of sweat and stale booze. She would have to go back to 22nd Street unless she wanted to get fired on the spot for improper dress. Also, her stockings were nowhere to be found. She looked on the chairs in the salon, underneath the bed, on the mantel, and in the sheets and bedspread. Nothing. She even peeked, blushing, in Buster’s closet and his bureau drawers. She did find a sterling silver men’s hairbrush on the bureau. She also discovered a bottle of aspirin in the medicine cabinet and washed down four capsules without a second thought. 

As she considered the sterling silver hairbrush, she felt guilty. It was expensive and she didn’t want to get it clotted up with her long hair. Promising herself she’d use her own comb to clean it afterwards, she sat on the bed trying to get the tangles out. The hairbrush smelled like Brilliantine. It seemed important not to be seen wandering the halls of the prestigious Hotel Senator with the unbrushed hair of one of Macbeth’s witches. Maybe she could call and have some bobby pins brought up—but that would alert hotel staff to the fact that there was a Girl in Buster’s Room. From her first encounter with him in his dressing room, it was clear that he had dalliances, but she wasn’t sure how discreet they were. For all she knew, an enterprising maid might sell a story to the papers for some extra money at the first opportunity. She brushed her hair and tried not to think of how terrible her head felt. 

Her situation went from bad to worse when a doorknob rattled in the salon. Of course. The staff tidied the suite every day. She considered hiding under the bed, but it was too late. From her position, she watched an arm come through the door, shortly followed by a leg, shortly followed by Buster himself. 

Of all the things she might have expected to come out of his mouth when he saw her, it wasn’t, “You’re awake.”

Before she had a chance to do much other than stammer a response, he was in the bedroom. He took off his jacket and hung it in the wardrobe, saying, “How do you feel? Feel like eating?”

“I’m sorry,” she said, feeling rather weak and desperate. 

“I’ll order sandwiches and coffee. You look like you could use some coffee.”

As soon as he’d exited the room, she frantically pulled the strands of her hair out of his brush and padded to the bureau to return it. Job accomplished, she sat on the sofa rather than the bed, noticing for the first time that there was a rumpled sheet draped over the back and a pillow lying on one end. From them, she deduced that she had run Buster out of his own bed. 

“Relax,” said Buster, appearing in the doorway and startling her. 

“Am I fired?” she said, looking over at him. 

He looked surprised. “Fired?” A half-smile played on his lips as he realized what she was driving at. “Oh, for being young and silly and frivolous? No.”

“I am terribly sorry for last night,” she said soberly. “I kicked you out of your bed and you—when I threw up, you—”

He waved her off. “Don’t worry about it.” As if he’d peered into her mind that very second, he added, “Nothing happened between us, don’t worry about that either. Why’s your hair look like that?”

“Like what?”

“Brushed on only the one side.”

“I don’t have a hairbrush in my bag.”

He squinted, clearly confused. “How’d you get half of it brushed then?”

She flushed what she could only assume was a violent red. “I borrowed your hairbrush.”

“But you only brushed half?”

She was going to die of mortification right here in Buster Keaton’s hotel room. That’s how she was going to go, rest in peace Nelly Foster. “I didn’t want you to know I’d used it, when you came in just now. I hadn’t asked permission.”

He cocked an eyebrow. He strode over to the bureau, then to her, and dropped the hairbrush in her lap. “All yours,” he said. 

“Thank you. Do you think,” she said, not meeting his eyes, “you could have some bobby pins brought up?”

“Sure. Need anything else?”

She shook her head. “I’m just going to go back to my room to change before I head over to the set.”

He sat on the foot of the bed. “You’re not going to the set today, you’re going to rest. How far away is your room?”

She thought. “A mile, a mile-and-a-half? 1911 22nd Street. I didn’t mention it last night?” 

Buster grinned. Nelly had seen him smile, but never up close and never with full teeth. His teeth were very straight on top and he had a dimple in his right cheek. She was keenly aware in that moment of how extraordinary it was that she had ended up in the bedroom of Buster Keaton’s hotel suite, never mind that her methods were nothing short of disgraceful.

“You mentioned a lot last night, but I couldn’t get that address out of you to save my life.”

“Oh no,” she said, her stomach sinking. She shielded her face with her hand.

“You’re a lot of fun.” He stood up and squeezed her shoulder on his way out of the room. “I’m going to call for those bobby pins.”

As he used the telephone, she hastily brushed out the rest of the tangles, swiped her hair from the bristles, and set the brush on the nightstand next to the bottle of aspirin. Pretty soon there was a knock at the hotel door and she ducked into the bathroom, partly to relieve herself again, mostly to hide from whoever was delivering lunch. She looked in the mirror, tried for a moment to make her hair and her face more presentable, but gave up. The lipstick and mascara would have to do. She also gave her teeth a hasty brush with a finger and Buster’s toothpaste.

Feeling shy, she stepped into the salon where a silver tray sat on a cart. “Sit down,” said Buster. He handed her a small plate that held a chicken sandwich. “There’s soup here too. Something asparagus, I think.”

Nelly took a bite of the sandwich and found that she was ravenous. The sandwich gave her an excuse not to talk. As she ate, she considered how she would politely remove herself from Buster’s company and sneak away before he changed his mind about not canning her. Her bare legs made her self-conscious and she tucked them under her on the chair as she ate. The silence didn’t seem to bother Buster. He dipped his sandwich in his soup and ate, glancing at her once and awhile.

“I can’t find my stockings,” she said, after she’d finished her sandwich. “Do you know where I put them?”

“You threw them out the window.”

“I what?” she said, not sure she’d heard right. 

“Of my car.” Buster blinked without expression, the famous frozen face she knew so well from pictures.

She was bewildered. “I don’t remember that.”

“You were hot,” he said, with a small shrug. “By the way, I noticed the ankle.” He gestured. “You should ice it when you get back to your room.”

“I don’t remember turning it,” she confessed. 

“What do you remember?” he said, his eyes probing hers.

She told him about drinking and dancing in the blind tiger. She also told him about the gap in her memory between dancing and winding up on his bathroom floor. “I am really, terribly sorry about that,” she said again. More of the incident had come back to her and she remembered how he’d dragged her into the bathroom and held her hair back as she vomited. 

He waved her off. “I’ve seen worse. I want to talk to you about something serious for a moment, though.”

A hot-cold rush of dread ran through her insides at his words, but she kept her hands steady on her cup of coffee and tried to make her face cool and calm. 

Buster finished the rest of a second sandwich, dabbed at his lips with a napkin, and put the plate on the bottom of the cart. “You know that tall man, the one with the blonde hair?” He paused, looking at her.

“Tommy,” she said. Why she should feel so guilty about Tommy, she didn’t know, but under Buster’s gaze she somehow learned that consorting with him was a horrible mistake.

“Is that his name? Well anyway, I’ve fired him. If he ever comes around again to bother you, come straight to me.”

She must have looked as puzzled as she felt, because he went on. 

“When I walked into that speak-easy last night, they were trying to get you into a room with them. A whole gang of them, and he was the ringleader.”

She was horrified beyond words. Tears filmed her eyes, but she blinked them back. On top of the spectacle she’d made of herself the previous night, she was not going to cry in front of him.  “I don’t remember that at all,” she said, her voice feeling weak.

“I know you don’t.” He reached over and laid a hand on her knee for a moment. “They got you as drunk as possible for that very reason. Just be careful from now on, okay? Take a few girlfriends when you go out.” He withdrew his hand. “Here.” He took a red box out of his pocket and handed it to her. It was decorated in violets and labeled INVISIBLE HAIR PINS. “Do your hair up and I’ll drop you by your room before I go back to the set.”

Back in the bathroom with Buster’s brush, she saw she no longer needed rouge. Her cheeks were in a high flush now, partly from the effects of last night’s imbibing, partly from their conversation. There was no crimping iron to be found, so she made do with a hasty chignon, patting down the flyaways with Buster’s Brilliantine afterwards.

“Ready?” he said, when she returned to the salon.

She felt hot and ashamed walking through the halls of the Senator and down the stairs next to him, but he didn’t seem to care if they were spotted together. She kept her eyes on her feet as much as possible. Even though they hadn’t slept together, no one in the hotel knew that. No one in the hotel knew either that she’d almost been raped by a gang of men last night, but all the same it felt like she was wearing a scarlet letter. 

They waited in silence outside the grand hotel doors for the valet to bring Buster’s car around. He didn’t seem to have anything to say and she was too mortified to make small talk. When the green Duesenberge rolled up and the valet exited, Buster held open the passenger door for her. She assumed it must have been the car she’d ridden in last night, but her only memory of it was from the parking lot in River Junction. She sat beside Buster in silence as he took a right on J Street. When they had come to Joe and Maggie’s house, he went around to the door and helped her down from the car.

“Don't look so glum,” he said, before he let go of her hand. “Everything’s okay. And ice that ankle as soon as you get in, hear?”

[thecollegefootballguy]

The Top 25 Teams of the Decade: #6 Florida State

Hello everybody, we’re celebrating the arrival of the 2020′s by looking at the 25 best programs of the previous decade.

We’re on to the top ten to celebrate the #6 team from the 2010′s:

Florida State University Seminoles

Record: 96-37 (.722) Division Titles: 4 Conference Titles: 3 Bowl Seasons: 9 Major Bowls: 5 Playoff/BCS Berths: 2 Final Top 25 Finishes: 7 Final Top 10 Finishes: 4 Final Top 5 Finishes: 2 National Championships: 1 Best Season: 2013

Florida State just misses the top five. Given the way the Seminoles ended the decade, this comes as no surprise. The rest of the top 5 combined only produced a single losing season. That FSU made it so high is also a testament to how good the team was for portions of the 2010′s. The Noles spent most of the 2000′s asleep at the wheel as Bobby Bowden remained in charge but was unable to duplicate his past success that made Florida State one of the premier teams of the 1980′s and 1990′s. Bowden finally retired at the conclusion of the 2009 season, allowing Jimbo Fisher free reign to recreate the program in the 2010′s.

The Seminoles began the decade with tempered expectations. FSU entered 2010 ranked 20th in the AP poll, which was pretty reasonable for an underperforming blue blood. The Noles were blown out 17-47 by #10 Oklahoma in week 2 which dropped them out of the polls. Florida State was a pretty good team, just not good enough yet to hang with the big boys. The Seminoles rebounded with a nice five game win streak, including a huge 45-17 upset over #13 Miami. Beating an overrated Hurricanes squad would become a calling card for the Jimbo Fisher era. After climbing back to 16th in the polls, 6-1 FSU suffered back to back losses to NC State and North Carolina to tumble right back out. It was a setback to be sure, but the Atlantic wasn’t quite the division it would become in a few years when both the Noles and Clemson really put things together. Florida State won out with wins over the Tigers and Maryland, then jumped all over Florida, finally beating Urban Meyer 31-7 as he was on his way out the door in Gainesville. By virtue of their 6-2 conference record, the 9-3 Seminoles represented the Atlantic Division in the ACC Championship Game. #20 FSU faced off against #12 Virginia Tech, who lost their first two games then rallied to win out for the rest of the season. The Hokies won the scoring race 44-33, denying the Noles their shot at an Orange Bowl. The Noles were relegated to the Chick-fil-A Bowl, where they beat #19 South Carolina 26-17. Florida State ended their first year under Fisher with a 10-4 record, a division title, and a final #17 ranking. It wasn’t ideal, but it was a step towards greater things.

With 2010′s team showing a lot of promise, expectations dramatically rose in Tallahassee for the 2011 season. The Seminoles began the year ranked 6th in the AP poll, and won their first two games against cupcake opponents. However, FSU hit a wall in mid-September. Losing to #1 Oklahoma by 10 points at home could be forgiven, but then following that loss up with defeats to #21 Clemson and unranked Wake Forest were not quite so forgivable. The Noles tumbled from the top five out of the rankings in three weeks, a feat that we’re lucky to see every few seasons only when an overrated team gets exposed very quickly early on in the year. Thankfully, the Atlantic really didn’t boast too many threats and Florida State was able to salvage the situation with another timely five game win streak which included the obligatory win over Miami. The Seminoles finally found themselves ranked for the first time since the loss to Wake, and they promptly lost to Virginia. 2011 was one of those years. FSU was able to beat Florida by two touchdowns for the second straight year, which is a great way to end the regular season even if the Noles didn’t win their division. 8-4 Florida State beat Notre Dame 18-14 in the Citrus Bowl to once again end the year ranked, albeit 23rd in the country.

2012 was when Fisher’s turnaround really began to take hold. Expectations were again high thanks to the strong recruiting of the previous few years. The Seminoles began the season ranked 7th in the AP poll, a pretty nice vote of confidence that this time bore fruit. FSU bloodied up a couple of nobodies before the now #4 Noles hosted defending conference champions #10 Clemson. It was the first of five epic showdowns between the two that would decide the ACC Champion every year. Florida State outpaced the Tigers 49-37 to vault themselves into serious national title consideration. However, as the calendar changed to October, the Seminoles suffered a serious setback. #3 FSU was upset by unranked NC State 16-17. It more or less crippled their national title aspirations in an especially competitive season among the BCS conferences. The Noles made quick work through the rest of their conference schedule, and were granted the Atlantic’s berth to the ACC Championship Game by virtue of their tiebreaking win over Clemson. #10 Florida State hosted a resurgent #6 Florida, but ended up losing to their rivals 26-37, ending the regular season on a sour note. The ACC Championship Game was probably a bit more interesting than it should have been. The Seminoles only ended up beating unranked Georgia Tech 21-15, but hey, that’s a ticket to the Orange Bowl all the same. #13 FSU was matched up against #16 Northern Illinois and the Noles easily dispatched the overmatched Huskies 31-10. Florida State’s 11-2 record and #10 final ranking was their best finish since 2000. The Seminoles were still trending up.

FSU put all the pieces together in 2013. Redshirt freshman QB Jameis Winston led one of the most talented teams of the BCS era onto the field in the last season of the Bowl Championship Series. The Noles blew through all of their competition, outscoring opponents 205-60 in September, with more than half of those points surrendered coming against a Boston College team that Florida State still beat by two touchdowns in Chestnut Hill. The Seminoles beat #25 Maryland 63-0 in the last game they’d ever play against the Terrapins, who were about to move to the Big Ten. Two weeks later, #5 FSU squared off against #3 Clemson in another titanic battle for the Atlantic, at least, it was supposed to be a battle. The Noles dismantled the Tigers 51-14 at Clemson, making no mistake in showing the nation who was in charge of the ACC. Florida State then dismantled NC State and #7 Miami en route to another Atlantic Division title. The now #2 Seminoles ended their undefeated regular season by crushing Florida 37-7 in Gainesville. FSU was now the only undefeated team in the BCS left standing, and cemented their place in the championship game with a 45-7 cakewalk in the ACC Championship Game against #20 Duke. The last ever BCS Championship Game was one of the more entertaining in the 15 year history of the contest. The #1 Noles pulled ahead of #2 Auburn to secure a 34-31 win. It was Florida State’s first national championship since 1999 and third in program history.

2014 was an interesting year. The Seminoles lost an insane amount of talent to the draft, but remained the best team in the ACC regardless (if you ignore the computers). As the defending champions, with Heisman winning QB Jameis Winston still guiding the offense, FSU was well positioned to be the first repeat national champions since, well, Alabama two years earlier. The #1 Noles began the year with a 37-31 win over Oklahoma State in the Cowboys Classic in Arlington. It wasn’t the most impressive win, but it got the job done. That was pretty much the motto for Florida State in 2014. The team that blew away all comers in 2013 transformed into a squad that still got the job done but just barely in 2014. The defending champs were taken to overtime by #22 Clemson but pulled out the 23-17 win. In mid-October, the Seminoles beat #5 Notre Dame 31-27. By this time, FSU had already been relegated to #2 in the AP poll despite not losing a game. That’s pretty extreme for a defending champion but Mississippi State of all teams looked that much better. The Noles managed to scrape their way to 12-0 for a second consecutive year despite almost losing to Miami, Boston College, and Florida to end the regular season. Florida State was pitted against #12 Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship Game. The Seminoles again came away with the victory in the 37-35 contest. Despite their overall competence and sterling 13-0 record, FSU was ranked a 3rd seed by the first College Football Playoff committee. The doubters were proven right. Any lack of competence can be masked over in the ACC in the regular season, but not in the Playoff against top flight competition. The #3 Noles were completely humiliated in the Rose Bowl by #2 Oregon. The Ducks dominated every aspect of the game in a 59-20 blowout. That Oregon didn’t even end up winning the national championship was another blow to the idea that Florida State was actually one of the best teams in the 2014 season. They got by thanks to a whole lot of luck. It’s a weird way to go 13-1.

After the craziness of the 2013 and 2014 seasons, it’s easy to forget the 2015 and 2016 Seminoles teams. They were both still very good, albeit not the world beaters we saw in Jameis’s first season. The vaunted QB was now in the NFL, and FSU was left to plod along without him. They did a pretty good job. The Noles started the 2015 season 6-0. Outside of the scrub games at the beginning of the year, they didn’t look particularly commanding, and never rose past 9th in the rankings despite starting the year 10th in the nation. Florida State suffered their first loss at the hands of a horrible Georgia Tech squad that would finish the year 3-9. It pretty much ended the national title hunt without needing a second loss to fully shut the door. Of course, Clemson shut that door anyway with a 23-13 win at home. The Tigers were now on their way to commanding the ACC Atlantic the way the Seminoles had done for the previous several seasons. #14 FSU ended the regular season with a showdown against #10 Florida. It should have been one of the most exciting games of rivalry week, but the Noles walked all over their rivals with a 27-2 smothering of the Gators. 10-2 Florida State was selected to the Peach Bowl as an at-large entrant. The #9 Seminoles faced off against #14 Houston, the G5 representative in the NY6 Bowls for that year. FSU was upset by the upstart Cougars, and finished the year outside of the top ten for the first time since 2012.

The Noles were again one of the best teams in the nation in 2016, but they were growing inconsistent. Expectations were high, Florida State began the year ranked 4th in the country. The Seminoles began the year with a 45-34 win over #11 Ole Miss in Orlando, a solid beginning to the season. However, just two weeks later, #2 FSU was absolutely blown out by #10 Louisville 20-63. The Noles had never surrendered 60 points in program history. Two weeks later, Florida State lost at home to North Carolina on a last second field goal. I’m kind of surprised that the Seminoles didn’t fall totally out of the rankings at this point, but Louisville was having one of its best seasons ever and UNC was 4-1 at the time. But, just when they needed it the most, Miami showed up, and FSU still hadn’t lost to the Hurricanes since Jimbo Fisher took over. The #23 Noles scraped past #10 Miami 20-19 to halt the skid. At the end of October, #12 Florida State played host to undefeated #3 Clemson. In a back and forth battle, the Tigers pulled out 37-34 win despite the best efforts of Dalvin Cook, who was now firmly established as one of the best running backs in the country. If you can call a loss a momentum-builder, then the Seminoles turned the momentum of nearly beating the eventual national champions into a nice little win streak to end the year. FSU defeated their last three ACC opponents and then once again made short work of the SEC East champs with a 31-13 victory over #13 Florida. The 9-3 Noles were selected to their fifth consecutive New Year’s Bowl. #10 Florida State would represent the ACC in the absence of undefeated Clemson, who were in Playoff. The Seminoles battled with #6 Michigan to a 33-32 victory. The Wolverines had very nearly made the Playoff themselves.

Things were looking up at the beginning of 2017. FSU began the year ranked 3rd in the country on the back of their strong finish to the previous season. In one of the most anticipated Kickoff Games in years, the Noles went up against #1 Alabama. Florida State held their own against the fearsome Tide, the biggest difference maker being the 3 turnovers given to Bama. QB Deondre Francois ruptured his patellar tendon, ending his season with 6 minutes left in the 4th Quarter of a 7-24 loss to the eventual champions. And that’s just about when the season ended as far as many fans are concerned. With the QB position compromised, other problems began manifesting across the board. Florida State lost to 0-1 NC State in their next game, falling from #3 to unranked in two games which is basically unheard of in college football. The Seminoles rebounded with a win over Wake Forest to stop the bleeding somewhat. #13 Miami came to town for a win FSU needed desperately. The Noles hadn’t lost to the Hurricanes all decade and a win would hopefully salvage a bad start. Well, it didn’t happen. Miami left Tallahassee with a 24-20 victory and suddenly things really started to fall apart. A touchdown win over Duke was offset by a three point home loss to Louisville. Florida State hit rock bottom the next week, getting absolutely run off the field by Boston College of all teams. The Eagles beat the Seminoles 35-3 and suddenly Jimbo Fisher was coaching for his job. #4 Clemson naturally won, this time the game meant nothing in the ACC Atlantic race. Fisher, who was finding his situation increasingly untenable, left to coach Texas A&M before the end of the season. FSU still beat a Randy Shannon-led Florida because the Gators also managed to collapse the same year (lol) and the Noles were able to skate into bowl season with a 6-6 record. Florida State beat up on Southern Miss in the Independence Bowl, but that was cold comfort for a program that had completely imploded in the span of three months.

Not many teams are put in this situation. Jimbo Fisher elegantly reinvigorated a flagging--but by no means bad--program when he took over the reigns in 2010. When Willie Taggart was brought in to replace Fisher, the situation was dire. Obscured behind all the winning from 2014 to 2016, the program was somehow falling apart on the inside. Perhaps Fisher was aware of the damage and was eager to leave, either way Taggart was dealt a horrible hand. The offensive line was under-recruited to the point that a stiff breeze could knock them over. The Seminoles were so deficient on the offensive side of the ball that they didn’t have the ability to compete with teams they couldn’t roll right over. I mean, how does that even happen at a blue blood school? FSU began the year ranked 19th in the country because how bad can they really be? Well, after losing to 24-3 to #20 Virginia Tech, that was the last the AP poll has had anything to do with the Noles. Florida State was crushed by Syracuse, Clemson, NC State, Notre Dame, and Florida. One of the few close games the Noles played in all year was a gutting 27-28 loss to Miami, which made things all the worse when their end of season record was 5-7. Florida State managed to beat #22 Boston College, but that team really didn’t deserve to be ranked and finished the year 7-5. It was just a mess of a season from start to finish. It still boggles my mind thinking about how a program can fall off this quickly.

2019 saw a slight improvement to the team as the offensive line started to slowly stop being completely terrible. The Seminoles beat every bad team they faced, of which there were plenty in the ACC in 2019, but they also lost to every good team they came up against. That evened out to a 6-6 record after everything was said, but getting back to the postseason wasn’t good enough. Willie Taggart was fired after FSU turned in a miserable performance against Miami for the third season straight, this time a 10-27 loss, the worst of the decade against the Canes. Taggart was slowly turning things around, but ultimately he over promised how fast the team would rebound and under-delivered considering just how bad the ACC was outside of Clemson. I seriously think he’d still be there if the Noles didn’t lose to Virginia early in the year. Nobody knew the Cavaliers would be any good. Oh well, either way, Odell Haggins was tabbed with cleaning up the mess for the second time in three years. Florida State lost to Arizona State in the Sun Bowl. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I have no idea what’s in store for the Seminoles in the 2020′s. It all depends on what new head coach Mike Norvell can get done. FSU is still a blue blood, and in the ACC Atlantic they can probably get better faster than many other teams in other conferences.

It may be a bit strange seeing a team that so publicly flamed out in the past few years so high on the list. That really speaks to everything the Noles were able to accomplish from 2010 to 2016. They stuffed a decade’s worth of accolades into six or seven years.

One thing Florida State can hang their hat on is that they were the most dominant team in the state in the 2010′s. The Seminoles hold 7-3 records against both rival Florida and Miami in the span. For what it’s worth, FSU went 4-6 against Clemson as well, and most people would probably say that the Tigers were the second best team this past decade. Not a bad showing all things considered.

[gdwessel]

Lion’s Break: Project 2 Night 1 - 12/7/2019; World Tag League Final Match Order Set

The first of two exhibition shows at Bushiroad’s CharaExpo convention in Anaheim, CA, took place earlier this afternoon.

Lion’s Break: Project 2 - 12/7/2019, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA

Alex Coughlin d. Barret Brown [FREE] (Boston Crab, 6:51)

Alex Solow [FREE] & Misterioso [FREE] d. Logan & Sterling Riegel [FREE] (Misterioso > ?, Backstabber, 10:16)

Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG] d. Clark Connors (Half-crab, 7:45)

El Desperado [SZKG] d. Ren Narita (Pinche Loco, 11:23)

Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo [Bullet Club] d. Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero [CHAOS] (Ishimori > Taguchi, rollup, 15:47)

El Phantasmo cut a promo on the crowd, declaring that the Bullet Club hates anime. Earlier in the day, there was an exhibition match with wrestlers from Bushiroad’s newest wrestling acquisition, STARDOM, as Mayu Iwatani & Tam Nakano beat Sumie Sakai & Nicole Savoy, when Iwatani hit a moonsault on Savoy. I believe they are running this same match tomorrow as well.

Here is tomorrow’s Lion’s Break lineup:

- 12/8/2019, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA

Alex Coughlin v. Alex Solow [FREE]

Barret Brown [FREE] & Misterioso [FREE] v. Logan & Sterling Riegel [FREE]

Clark Connors v. El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]

Ren Narita v. Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero [CHAOS] v. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru [SZKG]

Meanwhile, the match order for tomorrow’s World Tag League final show has been set. This will be live on NJPWWorld.

- 12/8/2019, Hiroshima Green Arena (NJPWWorld)

World Tag League 2019: Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima v. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi

World Tag League 2019: Toru Yano [CHAOS] & Colt Cabana [FREE] v. Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]

World Tag League 2019: Jeff Cobb [ROH] & Mikey Nicholls [CHAOS] v. Shingo Takagi & Terrible [Los Ingobernables]

World Tag League 2019: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare v. Hirooki Goto [CHAOS] & Karl Fredericks

World Tag League 2019: Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer [SZKG] v. KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club]

Kazuchika Okada, SHO & YOH [CHAOS] v. Kota Ibushi, Jushin Thunder Liger & Tiger Mask IV

World Tag League 2019: Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club]

World Tag League 2019: Juice Robinson & David Finlay Jr. v. EVIL & SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

[coffehousecreations]

The Playlist Party

Could you do one for a character named Tabitha Sterling? Or a black and white circus only open at night? (submitted by @silastterrathings)

~~~~~~

If you give me a lil background on your character I can getcha a playlist! I couldn’t find the perfect playlist on spotify for the circus one so I made it myself! It’s more modern but if you want classic creepy carnival themes you can check out The Tiger Lillies

Old Fashioned//Panic! at the Disco 

It’s A Trip!//Joywave

Choke//I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

Social Cues//Cage the Elephant

Behind the Sea//Panic! at the Disco

Graveclothes//Birdtalker

The Attractions of Youth//Barnes Courtney

The Walker//Fitz and the Tantrums

Fred Astaire//Jukebox the Ghost

Roaring 20s//Panic! at the Disco

still feel//half alive

Join the playlist party!

[quietya]

31 Days of quietYA: 2019 YA Fantasy Books You May Not Have Heard Of

Hello friends! In continuing my posts for 31 Days of quietYA, I’m posting about some upcoming books you can pre-order. I haven’t read any of the books mentioned in this particular post, but these are all books on my wish list for the year. There are so many other books coming out that aren’t on this list, so feel free to keep poking around! But this would be a good place to start your research.

SEVEN DEADLY SHADOWS by Courtney Alameda and Valynne E. Maetani THE CANDLE AND THE FLAME by Nafiza Azad THE LAST WITCHDOCTOR by Rena Barron WE RULE THE NIGHT by Claire Eliza Bartlett THE BEHOLDER by Anna Bright CASTLE OF LIES by Kiersi Burkhart WICKED FOX by Kat Cho INTO THE CROOKED PLACE by Alexandra Christo THE NEVER TILTING WORLD by Rin Chupeco THE CIRCUS ROSE by Betsy Cornwell HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROW by Erin A. Craig THE QUEEN’S SECRET by Melissa de la Cruz EMBER DAYS by Alexandra Duncan WINTERWOOD by Shea Ernshaw THE CERULEAN by Amy Ewing WE HUNT THE FLAME by Hafsah Faizal STRONGER THAN A DRAGON by Mary Fan BEWARE THE NIGHT by Jessika Fleck WHEN WE WERE MAGIC by Sarah Gailey A COURT OF MIRACLES by Kester Grant EIGHT WILL FALL by Sarah Harian DARK OF THE WEST by Joanna Hathaway DESCENDANT OF THE CRANE by Joan He GUARDIANS OF DAWN by S. Jae-Jones DARK SHORES by Danielle Jensen THE AFTERWARD by E.K. Johnston A RIVER OF ROYAL BLOOD by Amanda Joy ALL OF US WITH WINGS by Michelle Ruiz Keil A DRESS FOR THE WICKED by Autumn Krause THE HALF KING by Melissa Landers SPIN THE DAWN by Elizabeth Lim KINGDOM OF BACK by Marie Lu SERPENT & DOVE by Shelby Mahurin THE NAMELESS QUEEN by Rebecca McLaughlin WE SET THE DARK ON FIRE by Tehlor Kay Mejia ECHO NORTH by Joanna Ruth Meyer NOCTURNA by Maya Motayne THE MERCIFUL CROW by Margaret Owen NEVER-CONTENTED THINGS by Sarah Porter CROWN OF FEATHERS by Nicki Pau Preto BONE GRACE by Kathryn Purdie THE BLOOD SPELL by C.J. Redwine SORCERY OF THORNS by Margaret Rogerson THE KINGDOM by Jess Rothenberg FAR FROM AGRABAH by Aisha Saeed THE ANTIDOTE by Shelley Sackier BLOODLEAF by Crystal Smith THESE WITCHES DON’T BURN by Isabel Sterling BEYOND THE BLACK DOOR by A.M. Strickland THE TIGER AT MIDNIGHT by Swati Teerdhala AN AFFAIR OF POISONS by Addie Thorley THE MERMAID, THE WITCH, AND THE SEA by Maggie Tokuda-Hall THE COLD IS IN HER BONES by Peternelle van Arsdale THE GRIEF KEEPER by Alexandra Villasante THE WAKING FOREST by Alyssa Wees SHATTER THE SKY by Rebecca Kim Wells THE GIRL KING by Mimi Yu SPECTACLE by Jodie Lynn Zdrok BLOOD HEIR by Amélie Wen Zhao

[ask-jack-hammer]

Phyrna Hammer ref sheet

(Zak-mun lost interest in her as a muse, and transferred ownership to me, figured I’d write up her ref sheet. Hex and rgb codes for colors in tags)

Race: Purestrain Human

Appearance: Burn scars on right side of body, stopping mid-thigh. Fair skin tone, healthy weight. Scar border drifts from midline to following femur at navel, navel is untouched by scarring. Scar tissue is a sore red, with minimal actual scarring outside of right ear losing definition in structure.

Right eye is cybernetic, tiger orange, left eye is ocean blue and organic in appearance, cybernetic as well.

Hair is ginger in color with copper highlights irregularly mixed in, semi-wavy, stops at mid-upper back. Burn scar means right scalp has a higher (~45 degrees angle from midline) hairline.

Body ratios: 33 inch chest, resultant in 38 band size, 40 inch bust (Melissa McCarthy has a 40 inch), 29 inch waist, 36 inch high-hips, 38 inch true hips. 610 cubic centimeter breasts, 34Ds. Breast weight is just over two and a half pounds, so around 1.3 kilograms.

Height: Five foot one inch, or 154.94 centimeter.

Relationships: Father:

Mother:

Siblings: N/A, single child

Partners: One

Children: One, unborn. Current gestational progress is two weeks. Humans start showing at six weeks.

Marital status: Married, Jack Hammer.

Personality: Steadfast yet progressive, won’t back down easily, assassination attempts don’t faze her. Caring towards those she takes interest in, abhorred men attempting to court her. Likes the uncommon, the irregular in regards to sentients (Part of the reason she got with Jack in the first place.) Prefers peace and quiet when relaxing, especially enjoys cuddling with Jack when relaxing. Adores baked goods, especially bread with cheeses and meats. A fan of Jack’s equipment, despite it leaving her bow-legged in the morning. Prefers mostly-conservative clothing for daily wear, mostly shirts like kaftans and others with wrist-length sleeves, and ankle-hem pants/skirts.

Has a keen interest in animals belong to the Corvidae taxinomic family

Personal History: Has had several attempts on her life by those who wanted her father’s position in the Hive City she called home, one of which giving her the scars she bears. Severity of burns necessitated Mechanicus interference for survival, 60-75% of vital systems are augmetics, skeleton sporting Skitarii techniques.

Met Jack a month after burn, flirted with him shamelessly. Managed to be convinced to shift her rights for abhumans movement to Terra Alia after he showed willingness to support her in the cause. Came to like life on the world after spending two weeks after their union three months after she flirted with him. Was offered the chance to become an H.S. Corax, an anthropomorphic Raven, by Jack, hesitant to take it up due to the injuries the flames did to her.

Equipment: A dagger from her mother, (design pending), several pieces of jewellery from Jack, one being a Pocahontas-style necklace forged from spring steel for the main wedge, the portion sitting on her sternum, and mild steel. Main wedge sports a blue temper, where as the rest sport a straw temper. Main wedge has four scrolls engraved/set in it, two being sterling silver and the other being brass, one of each on both sides of midline. Three gems are set in it too, two at a 90 degree angle, the third following midline, set at 45 degrees in relation to the two forming the 90 degree angle. Those two are amethyst, representing Jack, the central one is fire opal, representing Phyrna.

Other data: Uses pet names (Things like hun or Kitten, words used as pronouns by those in a serious relationship to refer to their partner instead of using their actual name.) frequently, can’t get enough of how Jack looks.

[tigergemstones]

Absolutely gorgeous! 😍✨ The 3.5 ct radiant solitaire with the art deco half eternity band set and an additional Art Deco band from Tiger Gems. Available in sterling silver and 10k white gold. . 💍 Shop now by clicking the links in the photo. . ❤️ Handmade with Love 100% Happiness Guarantee Free US Shipping & Free Returns https://www.instagram.com/p/Cc_3XrOOSOv/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=