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kevinsreviewcatalogue · 2 years

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Review: Videodrome (1983)

Videodrome (1983)

Rated R

Score: 4 out of 5

Videodrome, David Cronenberg's first "mainstream" film made with the backing of a Hollywood studio, is a film that was years ahead of its time in many ways, especially given how it initially bombed at the box office. It was "analog horror" that's actually from the era that a lot of modern examples of that style are hearkening back to. It was a horror version of Network, a satire of where television's pursuit of the lowest common denominator was headed that's only become more relevant since then, especially with how its vision applies even better to the internet and what it became. It's an archetypal "Cronenbergian" body horror flick in which terrible, grotesque things happen to people's flesh beyond just getting torn apart with sharp objects. It's a film with a lot to say that knows how to say it, and while it can be uneven in a few spots, its vision of where communications technology was taking us not only stands the test of time but feels like an outright prophecy. It's a dark, grim, and messed-up little movie, and one that's genuinely intelligent and biting on top of it, one that I think deserves to be seen at least once whether you're into graphic horror movies or want something more intellectually stimulating.

We start the film introduced to Max Renn, the president of Civic-TV, a UHF station in Toronto on channel 83 whose programming is characterized by "softcore pornography and hardcore violence" as a talk show host interviewing him calls it. (It was based on the Canadian network Citytv, which in the '80s actually was famous for broadcasting softcore porn late at night like an over-the-air version of Skinemax. The rules in Canada are... different.) Searching for more fucked-up content to show, he and Harlan, the operator of Civic-TV's pirate satellite dish, stumble upon a pirate television signal coming out of Pittsburgh that broadcasts nothing but sex and violence, specifically plotless sequences of people being brutally tortured to death. Seeing something trashy enough for his tastes, Max looks into these broadcasts further, only to start having vivid, terrible hallucinations of horrible things happening. His journey leads him to a kinky radio host named Nicki Brand who he strikes up a relationship with, an eccentric professor/preacher who calls himself Brian O'Blivion who has Thoughts about where television is headed, and a conspiracy to shape the future of humanity.

This film having been made in 1983, it was talking chiefly about the awful, awesome power and potential of television, but the medium it predicted better than any other was the internet. We all remember the first time we saw 2 Girls 1 Cup, an ISIS or cartel execution video, livestreamed footage of mass shootings, or other online videos that went viral specifically because they were some of the most depraved shit imaginable. In the late 2000s and early '10s especially, before the rise of centralized online video and streaming platforms with strict content standards and no time for terrorist propaganda, there was a real sense that the internet was a bold frontier of daring new media and raw, uncensored reality that could never be shown on TV or even in cinemas. It produced a culture that proclaimed that all the old, outdated laws and morals governing humanity needed to be swept away so we could reshape our world in the image of the new medium of the internet, the apotheosis of the hacker and cyberpunk movements of the '90s that gave Silicon Valley its ideological core. Looking back, I have very little nice to say about this culture and what it's actually given us, a far cry from the utopian promises and dreams it loudly proclaimed. The world that the internet created is one in which antisocial behavior is elevated and celebrated, and those who reject it are scorned with various epithets: pussy, normie, cuck, libtard.

If I'm being perfectly honest (and without spoiling anything), I can't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for the villains here and what they seek to accomplish, as brutal and monstrous as it is. Brian O'Blivion, in light of what's actually happening, comes across like an '80s TV version of the various tech evangelists who, over the course of the 2010s, saw their faith in the positive power of computer technology and the internet crumble as they witnessed the creation they'd proclaimed would lead us into a new golden age instead feed our darkest impulses. He prepared himself for an age where his work revolutionized humanity, to the point of changing his name (eerily echoing the rise of gamertags, avatars, and pseudonymity online in the years to come), only to watch it get hijacked by people with a very different vision for the "brave new world" this work could be used to create that he'd never considered until it was too late. And when the villains explain their evil plan, I couldn't help but be reminded of a famous climatic speech in the video game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, which was explicitly talking about the internet in a way that suggested its director and lead designer Hideo Kojima understood human psychology better than anybody in Silicon Valley. Without spoiling anything, the villains are a group of people so disgusted by the state of the modern world and television's role in this cultural rot that they decided to do something about it, and came up with a rather sick but admittedly creative way of doing so. And here, too, the idea of stumbling upon some forbidden pirate broadcast via your satellite dish that could come back and cause you physical harm is an idea that's been reborn in this day and age with the many urban legends that exist about the dark web, where you can allegedly stumble upon snuff films and then find yourself targeted by their creators. This is a film that you could easily remake today, with Max now a streamer, Civic-TV swapped for a YouTube or Twitch parody, and the "Videodrome" broadcast turned into something from the dark web, and you'd barely have to change anything else.

It helps that this film is expertly told, too. Max's descent into madness, witnessing his body develop strange growths and orifices that may or may not be hallucinations, is conveyed wonderfully by James Woods, who starts the film playing Max as a sleazeball yuppie who ruthlessly pursues the lowest common denominator only to start crumbling mentally and physically as Videodrome slowly but surely claims him and does its work on him. Cronenberg, filming in his native Toronto stomping grounds, gives them a measure of grit and bustle that contrasts nicely with the electronic madness that Max descends into, and once the really weird shit starts happening, Rick Baker's special effects work will certainly make you cringe in disgust. There's a reason the word "Cronenbergian" has the associations it does, and this movie was mainstream audiences' introduction to why. Like a lot of mind-screw movies where you can't really tell what's real and what's in the protagonist's head, the plot does start testing the limits of the guardrails as it progresses towards its conclusion, and while it never flies completely off the rails, logical questions about what really happened and when do start to pile up as it goes on, without ever really being resolved. This is a film that's more about themes and visuals than about tight plotting, and I was left scratching my head at a few moments during the third act. (Even if it was gnarly to watch a man start turning inside out like his own guts and brain are trying to escape his body, all while he's audibly screaming in pain.)

The Bottom Line

This movie is an experience whose message is arguably more biting today than it was when it first came out forty years ago. It comes at the cost of narrative cohesion towards the end, but it's still a movie that I highly recommend. Long live the new flesh.

#videodrome #1983 #horror #body horror #science fiction #analog horror #david cronenberg #james woods #debbie harry #canadian film

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marvellfashion · 4 years

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So, another Hellfire Club fashion post, but this time about the Shaw family and adjacent characters. Now, Sebastian is an interesting character (terrible guy, terrible, but a better CHARACTER than he gets credit for in my biased opinion) but he does not have a good fashion history. Like. At all. It's honestly almost worse than his villainy. But you know who DOES have style? His son Shinobi. Sadly created during the 90s when it was acceptable to name Japanese characters things like Shinobi (and Lady Mandarin, and Kamikaze, YES REALLY) Shinobi Shaw has had some LOOKS. Like his father he's made some very bold choices and isn't afraid of color (Sebastian wore HOT PINK through most of the 80s, and once combined it with lilac and orange in the same look, it was hideous but I applaud his courage) but UNLIKE his father, who really should stick to business suits in neutrals, Shin has made it work! Okay sometimes he hasn't either but I love him anyway. While Shaw was all about pink in the 80s, Shin was all about purple in the 90s, whether it was blatant

Or something small, like a vest

This is from a trading card, and honestly I love it? Yes, the huge arm gauntlets and epaulets are PATENTLY RIDICULOUS but Shinobi is extra and I love how it is just the PEAK of how he keeps trying to channel the 80s New Romantic fashion that he was a decade late for. Seriously, the other Hellfire Men are dressing like it's the 1880s, but I think Shin is actually going for the 1980s, just the Adam & the Ants type 80s were people were taking inspo from the 1880s. If that makes sense.

I don't actually know what to call this AT ALL except he seems working very hard to draw attention to his ass and...that tracks for him. He can do "normal" business/upscale fashion well too, of course

This was his first appearence and it was in...'91? The 90s, anyway, and the cut of his suit was VERY on-trend for that era. The 90s mens suits were very baggy.

And check out his bowler hat (with a purple band!) and his fancy cane here! My fave though is this. I can't decide if it's FABULOUS or RIDICULOUS but it is FLAMBOYANT and honestly the most "Shinobi" look to me Look at this. LOOK AT THIS. He has on a big violet pirate coat with contrasting lilac lapels and gold embroidery, a big deep red-pink blouse, and LAVENDAR PINSTRIPED PANTS. This is the exact level of Shinobi Being Extra that defines Shinobi. And, let's talk about the person on the left? Because she NEEDS to be talked about.

So this absolute beauty is Mindmeld. She's Shinobi's bodyguard/mercenary in one issue of X-Force in the 90s and she is short-lived but ICONIC. She's very cool, very tough, implied to be transgender (which would make her the first mutant to be written as trans, not counting stuff like shapeshifters and aliens, but trans like real people are trans), and like look at this LOOK? She's like channeling MAD military glam/army surplus chic with BLING here. I love the suspenders, and her piles of bracelets, and that style of gloves. I really think she should be brought back and updated. The jodhpur pants with extra buttons are like, they're not hot now, but that's another thing I think was high-fashion in her time? Another little-known Hellfire lady is Lourdes Chantel. Like a lot of bad guys, Sebastian has a dead fiancee from before he became a villain. Unlike a lot of bad guys, he doesn't whine all the time and announce it to everyone (and I appreciate that) so maybe that's why most people don't know her, but though she only appeared in two issues, Lourdes had SOME LOOKS.

Look at this QUEEN. She was from Barcelona, so she's rocking this very traditional Spanish look with a mantilla, which is what you call that style of black veil. And that's gorgeous already but I just love her EARRINGS and her BLACK LACE GLOVES like I don't know how a woman who clearly loved style could also love Sebastian Shaw. Speaking of that, I hope Lourdes stays dead, actually, she doesn't need to see what he became after her death. RIP baby. To Sebastian himself, he does not have a lot of good looks, fashion-wise or in general, but something I think is worth mentioning is that the few times he's dressing like a NORMAL PERSON in the 80s and it's NOT a business suit, it's a sweater, and I love that. Like, look how NORMAL he looks in that cable-knit turtleneck and shearling coat? Dude clearly liked soft warm textures and given he grew up in deep poverty during Pittsburgh winters (he was born in Pittsburgh) I get that. You'll also notice that Senator Kelly is in both of these. The blonde woman? Senator Kelly's wife, Sharon. Sharon used to work at the Hellfire Club as a waitress, so during Kelly's meeting with Shaw, she decided to surprise him by showing up as HIS waitress in her old uniform. I low-key think she was trying to facilate a threeway because like...she's saying she wanted to "please" Kelly....and she's doing it RIGHT IN FRONT OF SHAW (who found the whole thing HILARIOUS, which I love)....girrrrrl. And I include this to mention that Sharon Kelly is ALSO A QUEEN

Look at her. Started at the bottom and now she's here. You get that Kelly money, girl. Unfortunately, that did not save her---she ends up dying shortly after this, having gotten caught in the crossfire of an X-Men battle, and that's what started Senator Kelly thinking seriously about the whole "mutants are dangerous" thing. ....also what drove him into the waiting burly arms of Sebastian Shaw who also knows what it is to lose a wife, but that's just MY twisted fan theory. Anyway, I know this was big, but these characters are all connected and I thought submitting them all together would flow well as a sort of story, plus some of them really need to be better-known!

———————————————————-

Shinobi! We love a flamboyant man! 💁🏻‍♀️ don’t you think in that second image it kind of looks like a weird Torero outfit?! Like the shoulders and the jacket and like the accent on his waist, it gives me that vibe!

Mindmeld that is one ICONIC LOOK! I mean crop top with those pants AND suspenders!!! And we can’t forget the jewels!!! She looks fantastic

Lourdes it’s such a shame that we don’t have the spanish look in better quality because it’s wonderful! And Sebastian well the man is living his own fantasy let’s leave it at that 😂

#sebastianshaw #submission

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sayheykid · 4 years

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I have an idle question about baseball uniforms, are there any teams that you think have nicer away unis than home unis? I find the road greys kind of dull generally. I'm thinking mlb but go wild with any league/level, ramble about uniforms at me I dare you <3

ray, you already know i love you, but i love you even more for sending this and for thinking of me when it comes to jerseys.

I’m with you, the road grays are usually uninspiring to say the least. but aside from bland, i couldn’t have told you anything else about most teams’ road unis - that should say something about how memorable they are.

I used this article as a refresher, which i would recommend perusing: https://www.insidehook.com/article/sports/uni-watch-mlb-power-rankings. it’s just as bad as i thought- there are really no standout road unis, though I do really enjoy having the city name on the front instead of the team.

There are however many great alternate unis, some of which I do think are better than the home looks. It’s tough to narrow it down but here are my top five that i think should get more playing time:

1. Astros sunrise - the perfect jersey in my opinion. Nostalgic but still fresh, colorful while still tasteful. A classic.

2. Black Pirates alternate with Pittsburgh script - I don’t say this lightly. This jersey is SEXY. look at this. whew.

3. A’s green with the Oakland script - touted as the best jersey in sports, and that’s basically correct. the a’s actually have two green jerseys, but I like this one better because the green is fresher and I like the full city name.

4. Royals powder blue - by now, my love of powder blue jerseys is well established. While I do love the blue on blue look utilized by other teams, I really appreciate how fresh and simple this look is. Powder blue and white is so classic, whereas other teams make it too busy by adding red or other details.

5. That said, number 5 on this list is the Phillies blue on blue look. This is hands down the best phillies jersey. Love the piping and retro P, overall just solid.

Those are my Thoughts™ for now. I’d love to dive into other sports, but alas I have work to do right now and a midterm tomorrow. Hit me up next time, because you know I’ll always have some sort of jersey take. Thank you!!

#jersey saga #nothing fulfills my soul like being asked about jerseys thank you

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mulcahy4077 · 4 years

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A few thoughts on Father John Patrick Mulcahy. (or John Patrick Francis Mulcahy or Francis John Patrick Mulcahy depending on which book, movie, or episode script you’re looking at).

If you’ve watched some of the behind-the-movie interviews from M*A*S*H (1970) you’ll hear Rene Auberjonois talk about his inspiration for Father Mulcahy. He based the character off a friend who had been trying to become a priest, but ultimately never made it. He made him sweet and bumbling, which you can see first when he forgets that his rosary is wrapped around his hand when he goes to greet Hawkeye (he has to pull his hand back before they shake hands and slide the beads off his hand), and in the almost shy, very soft way he speaks to Hawkeye in the scene where he tells Hawkeye he’s concerned about Painless. It’s interesting to watch Mulcahy around the other characters vs how he interacts with Hawkeye. He’s always a bit bumbling, but he seems comfortable with Painless and the other boys, or talking to the nurses. With Hawkeye, he’s shy...almost like he’s intimidated. He’s present when Hot Lips dresses Hawkeye down about army regulations, listening--but appearing to be reading his prayer book--to their exchange. When Hot Lips asks how Hawkeye ever became an officer, Mulcahy’s not afraid to tell her “He was drafted” without any shyness or reserve.

It the original book, which the movie is based off, Mulcahy is from San Diego and spent quite a lot of time as a missionary. He’s described as a practical man of God, and spends time in the Swamp talking politics, surgery, sin, baseball, literature, and religion. One of the things I wish the movie had done differently is kept the way Mulcahy got his nickname “Dago Red.” (Side note: Since Dago Red is considered an insult to Italians, it was dropped when the TV show took off. You will only hear Mulcahy referred to as ‘Red’ less than a handful of times on the show. The rest of the time he’s Padre or Father.) In the movie, when Colonel Blake asks Father Mulcahy to introduce himself to the new cutters (Hawkeye and Duke), instead of introducing himself as Father Mulcahy, he introduces himself as Dago Red. This gets an amused chuckle from Hawkeye who quips, “Dago Red?” with obvious curiosity as to where the nickname came from (though it’s never addressed). Throughout the remainder of the movie, Hawkeye refers to him as just “Dago”. In the original book by Richard Hooker, it’s said that the name was bestowed on Mulcahy by Duke Forrest, but it isn’t until the fourth book in the M*A*S*H series (M*A*S*H Goes to New Orleans) that we get the story and it’s actually Hawkeye that gives him the name.

Basically, Hawkeye loses a patient and Mulcahy wants to comfort him, but (at this point in time) Hawkeye and Trapper don’t really want anything to do with Mulcahy because of his religious affiliation. They tell him to get out if he doesn’t have any gin, so Mulcahy leaves and comes back with a bottle of brandy instead. When they finish the brandy, they move on to gin, and eventually finish off a gallon of Dago Red used for Mulcahy’s services. Mulcahy ends up black-out drunk, Hawkeye and Trapper play a prank on him which almost gets them court-martialed (Mulcahy tells the colonel he’s not pressing charges). Figuring Mulcahy would be too hungover to help out in the OR when casualties arrive, both Hawkeye and Trapper are surprised when they see Mulcahy gowned up, ready to help. After the last patient, Hawkeye tells him “...maybe you better stick around, Dago Red.” And he was considered one the Swampmen from that moment on.

It’s worth noting Dago Red isn’t the only nickname Mulcahy has in the books. Hawkeye’s also fond of calling him Losing Preacher, a nod to Hugh Mulcahy who was a Major League Baseball player for the Philadelphia Phillies (1935–40 and 1945–46) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1947). Hugh Mulcahy earned the nickname of "Losing Pitcher" owing to the fact that he lost 20 games in 1938 and 22 in 1940, and never had a full season in the majors in which he recorded more wins than losses.

One of the things I love about the movie is that the actors only had a read-through once and (other than the medical terminology and surgical dialog) everything was pretty much just unrehearsed. No take of a scene was ever really the same. It wasn’t ad-libbed, per se, but close enough. Also, fun fact: When Mulcahy is blessing the jeep at the end of the movie, that’s an actual prayer he’s reading out of the prayer book he has.

#M*A*S*H #Father Mulcahy #my thoughts

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essaysbyciara · 5 years

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(1) New Message | Yahya Abdul-Mateen II x Reader

Hey, favorites! I wanted to take a quick break and write something that’s been on my writing spirit for a minute lol. Lightweight based off Striking Vipers. Thinking about what it means to be in a relationship only in a virtual space. Told in (Y/N), first person perspective. Like always, a bit of a slow burn and smut thoughts. Oh and some light baseball references.

PART ONE

I’m afraid that you’ll see me and I’m not the girl of your dreams…

My wildest dreams can’t even compare to you. I know you’re more beautiful than I could ever imagine…

I fear the day when he asks me to take this off of the internet. I know he won’t like what he sees. I don’t look like the women he likes on Instagram, which wasn’t too hard to find. He uses the same screen name for everything. I cursed myself when I saw his face. His face, that stubble. Those bright teeth, that amazing smile. That tall, dancer’s frame. Yahya. What a beautiful name. That chocolate hue that wallpapers his skin. That New Orleans accent that crept through when he went home last year. Looked like he had a ball with his friends over the weekend. They look as fine and stable as he does.

He hasn’t asked for a picture or my page. I guess he doesn’t care to know about me beyond this digital world we’ve created for ourselves. This space where we can’t get enough of each other. This arena where we play house. He calls me wife sometimes, I call him “baby daddy” when I’m in my feelings. I call him “love” when I’m beyond my limits. He loves when I do that.

I wonder what’s taking him so long to wonder what I look like. We’ve been in this same baseball forum for years. That’s how it started. The Pittsburgh Pirates were playing the Oakland A’s. He asked about a player on my team and I responded. He kept asking questions and I kept responding. I felt like he was doing that on purpose. I knew myself to be right when he started asking questions inside of my messages. And then the messages turned away from baseball.

These messages turned friendly to romantic to sensual to almost sexual. He’d ask me about my day. He’d ask me to touch myself. I never got it. Never got why we couldn’t take this conversation to the phone or into real life. What was he afraid of? Or was he living a double life, afraid for his fantasies to bleed into his reality? Maybe there was another woman in the way. Maybe I was an escape.

But I’m not an escape. I’m a home. Home, sticky and sweet.

I bet he’s banking on me not asking to meet up with him so we don’t break up his happy home with our virtual one.

We actually met one day and he didn’t know it. I work at this bar that he frequents. He loves to sit at the end of the bar where my other coworker bartends. Slim frame, big curly hair. That same type he incessantly likes on Instagram. I can see him sex her with his eyes from where I’m standing. Jealous ain’t even the word.

I want to slip him a note to let him know that it’s me, hoping that he’d see me, smile and leave her in the dust. And we’d both leave to go consummate this online relationship. I see his long legs and know what that means. It’s been a while since I felt that touch. All I feel is my touch thanks to his existence. Since I know what he looks like, it’s not hard to fantasize. And he asks for me to do it.

I just wish he thought the same. Or did the same. Or wants the same. Or needs the same. I need his same.

Why do I feel as if I’m his nightmare? I’m nobody’s nightmare. My fluffy body, my curves, my curls. My legs, my thighs, my ass. Any man with a pulse would close his eyes just to dream about me. Why do I care about his preference? Why am I so pressed to be his preference? Any other man who didn’t want me, I wouldn’t waste time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dusted men who don’t give a damn about me.

But this one gives a damn about me but doesn’t want to meet me in person because, I think, he doesn’t want anything to do with a woman that looks like me. And it’s all conjecture and it kills me.

He doesn’t even know me.

The same bartender he eyefucks knows about us.

“(y/n), you just need to say something to him…”

“Nah, I rather keep me a secret. I don’t want to ruin it.”

“Feels like he’s keeping you a secret, (y/n)”

She’s right. I’m not a fucking secret. I’m not his internet girlfriend. I deserve to be seen, known and felt. I deserve to feel all of him…

So here goes nothing…

#yahya abdul-mateen ii #fanfic #thy neighbor #trevante rhodes #trevante rhodes x fanfiction #trevante rhodes x reader #yahya abdul-mateen ii x reader

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daggerzine · 4 years

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The Legends- S/T (LABRADOR)

The Legends are back! Or should I say Johan Angergard is back with another Legends record but he’s got friends this time. You know Johan from the many other (excellent) bands he’s been in and The Legends are yet another feather in his crowded baseball cap (hopefully it’s a Pittsburgh Pirates cap…..my longtime favorite team, but probably a fedora, if he wears one at all). This one is short (just under 20 minutes) and Angergard got several guest vocalists to come in with their special pipes and it totally works and most of this S/T effort is truly terrific. On the opener “Looking for Love” he gets his old foil from Club 8 , Karolina Komstedt to offer up her lovely vocals and it’s a gas while on the next cut, “Fascinating”, featuring Tan Cologne on vocals, and I thought from the opening words it was going to be a Felt cover of “Ballad of the band” (“Where ya’ been , I haven’t see you in weeks, you been hanging around with the nerds and the geeks….”). Another favorite on here is the upbeat “Up!” (with Vilma Flood on vocals and some great whistling, too!) and speaking of Club 8’s Karolina , she shows up on two other tunes, the softer, melancholy “On a Pretty Day” (another one of my favorites on here) and the sample heavy “First Prize.” Oh and the honey voiced Pernilla Andersson takes over vocals on a couple songs as well and both are very good (really digging “Save Yourself” which has some great guitar work from Angergard). Having a restless soul like Angergard is a win for us as it means more music from many different sources and this record is as good as anything he’s done previously, maybe better. www.labrador.se

PS- I was wrong about the hat (see below)

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21ate · 5 years

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CLARIFYING PRINCETON

[google docs version]

so i wrote some stuff about emh again, but this time i think its actually a very necessary part of the story that needed to be discussed and clarified. this is very...very long. sorry!

~~~

The Princeton iteration of the everymanhybrid timeline is one of the hardest to consume, as dates and the chronological order of events is moreso implied through the context of the dialogue provided in the tapes rather than outright and plainly shown.

We know that the Fairmount era begins in 1971 with the first Corenthal Report, and ends in 1981 with the news that the last child of the mining town 4 had finally succumbed. We know that the Everymanhybrid era begins in 2010 when the youtube channel was created, and ends in 2018 with the deaths of Evan and Vinny.

We know that the Princeton era begins in December of 1987, just before Christmas, as evident in what Vinny tells us throughout the first few entries of the tapes. But...when did Princeton end?

It’s not as simple as just figuring out when Vinny himself died, because he isn’t solely reliable for when iterations begin and end. A big, very important part of it for sure...but Vinny has friends: Jeff and Evan. And to assume they died immediately following their disappearance from Vin’s life as described in TRAILHEAD would simply be jumping the gun a bit.

Why? Well the answer isn’t too hard. It’s because Evan was alive in 2005, and Habit used his body during the confrontation with Corenthal at Baldpate (described in house phone 2005, and referenced in an article from the microfilm collection). So what happened? How had Evan been alive in 2005? What happened to Jeff, Steph, and Vinny during the time period between 1993 (the year Vinny presumably died) and 2010? To answer this, we will need to cross reference between the Tapes, house phone 2005, and -.-. (the morse code video “C”) - as well as take a deep dive into the dates at which entries occur in the Princeton Tapes. In doing so, we will find a coherent timeline of events which will explain many details that before now have yet to really be discussed.

in the princeton iteration, vinny mentions that evan and jeff have disappeared on him (TRAILHEAD), and in the entry following (SHOPPING), he reiterates a sentiment about being abandoned...and ends with stating the Phillies won. if the listening order of these tapes is to be believed as entirely correct, then these two entries MUST take place before MOVIES, which we know was recorded in 1989 because that is the year Pet Sematary was released and when Vinny saw it.

lets take a look at the phillies 1983 and 1989 seasons. in 1983, the phillies won the national league east title. in 1989, it was the phillies 107th season. they did not win the title - in fact, they placed last. they only played 163 games in the regular season; in the june 5th game against the pittsburgh pirates, the score was tied 3-3...however, rainy weather caused the game to be interrupted. thus, a replacement game was played at a later date. this would mark the last regular season tie game for the phillies as playing rules changed in 2007 allowing tie games to continue from the point of interruption at a later date. on june 8th 1989, against the pittsburgh pirates for the second time, the phillies won.

If the tapes begin in December of 1987, that only leaves a few years time between then and TRAILHEAD/SHOPPING. FRIENDS & GAMING takes place in 1988, which we know from the reference to that year’s presidential election with Dukakis. Thus, its pretty indisputable that Jeff and Evan must have disappeared between FRIENDS & GAMING in 1988 and TRAILHEAD/SHOPPING, 1989. With that being the case, we can then assume that Vinny was indeed referencing the June 8th Phillies win against the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1989.

So Jeff and Evan were gone from Vinny’s life before June 1989, but what happened to them?

The short answer: they had to have died at some point, of course. but we can get more specific than that. Let’s take a look at Jeff.

in -.-., jeff says, "nineteen years go by...you forget...for a moment i thought it was all real."

-.-. takes place in 2010 (we know this because evan states its been 5 years since corenthal and habits confrontation which we know for certain takes place in 2005.) 2010 - 19 is 1991. jeff may not necessarily be referencing how long he has been in the candleverse, but there is a connection worth making here. in box 7 there is a labyrinth books bookmark with dates written on the back, written by vinny presumably. 1989, 1990, and 1991 are present

1989 is crossed out, and 1990 and 1991 have a question mark to the side. there could be a few ways to interpret this, but my assumption is that this note was written in 1989 around the time vinny received the zine (explained in detail below:)

1989 is the year TRAILHEAD takes place, as we’ve figured out earlier. later entries will suggest they were recorded in close succession:

in trailhead, vinny's dialogue tells us that he had just sat down at the diner before pressing record, we're listening to his reaction to the zine and the girl in real time on a tape recorded in 1989. he talks about evan and jeff going dark on him, and ends by saying that he's going to find the girl to ask about the zine

in SHOPPING, vinny reiterates his current distress about feeling abandoned by those closest to him, obviously meaning evan and jeff again. he buys his groceries and ends by mentioning the 1989 phillies win (likely the june 8th game)

HOMELIFE is misplaced as entry 15, as the news report recorded on the tape is about hurricane hugo. this storm took place around september 1989.

if we assume the tapes are in order, this creates a discrepancy because in the next entry MOVIES, vinny sees pet sematary which came out in april 1989. shopping takes place around june 8th when the phillies won, and in movies vinny references back to the strangeness from "earlier this week", meaning the zine and the girl. thus, trailhead, shopping, and movies take place in the same week in june 1989 (and homelife, for some reason, is out of place. we can gloss over this though, i dont think it changes much)

So with that said, jeff must have died at some point in order for him to be present in the candleverse in 2010, pre-emh iteration. he could have died anywhere between 1989 to 1991, since we can't say for certain that his death was immediate, or even the direct cause of his absence.

so ev and jeff disappear around 1989. they may not have died immediately, only separated from vinnys life. in 1993, vinny dies and we know it must be around this time because he had been in contact with Davidson, whose law practice only just begun in 1993 (both versions of his death take place in the same time frame, per soft reset rules). in -.-., jeff talks about nineteen years going by. since this takes place in 2010, nineteen years prior would have been 1991. given that 1991 is written on the bookmark and made light of, and given all this concerns the iteration cycle, i think it'd be fair to say jeff died that year and entered the candleverse, two years before vinny bit the dust.

So, what about Evan?

evan was distanced from vinny around 1989 alongside jeff. vinny dies in 1993, and in one version of this event, its habit who kills him at fairmount. of course, habit was not using evans body to do so, instead apparently possessing doctor peters instead. that doesnt mean evan was out of the picture though, he simply wasnt what habit used in this particular instance to get at vinny and have him make the north star. this may be because habit was still ironing out the details of his grand scheme, with this particular method being a test of sorts. or, perhaps separately or in conjunction to this, habit planned to keep evan alive intentionally for whatever reason habit needed him for.

that reason, i conclude, would have been to get to corenthal. with jeff and vinny dead, and steph somewhere being irrelevant, habit and the other monsters all flocked to corenthal and plagued his life wherever he went. 3 deaths described in the microfilm collection, which contain news articles about corenthals activities from 1984 to 2005, match the MO for habit. the victims were described as all having been involved in an intense struggle with the assailant, one case "lasting a few hours, at minimum."

the articles in question are dated october 11th, 2002 and march 2nd, 2003

as far back as 1998, elizabeth was an active player as a psychic solving crimes through her special ability. as i said earlier, i had my doubts about her having been the offender to these crimes through habits actions. until 2005, elizabeth really is just a psychic, or at least she had been gifted her ability by one of the monsters for their own nefarious purposes. regardless though, she was not being controlled...yet. with that being the case, of course habit would have needed another vessel in the meantime.

on june 11th, 2005, elizabeth's place of business burns to the ground. on august 26th, corenthal had been set up by habit using elizabeth to lead him into a trap. we even know HOW habit did it: using elizabeth, s/he had contacted adam roberts. adam then relays the information to corenthal. according to house phone 2005, adam mentions the meeting a month prior to it occurring. thus, in july, elizabeth and adam decide to meet with corenthal in august and of course they do - except corenthal was lead to the wrong place.

corenthal encounters evan on a bench near the meeting place, a diner. This means evan is ALIVE at this point AND being possessed by habit, because in -.-. evan recalls being shot in the face. he recalls the confrontation that occurred, and he knows what year it took place and how long ago it happened relative to 2010, when -.-. was recorded. in true habit fashion, this encounter is brief as corenthal describes evan having been gone like he evaporated into thin air

corenthal gets to the diner and receives a call from elizabeth. this elizabeth is the real deal, and she calls to try and warn corenthal about having been set up. it was too late of course, and corenthal is ambushed by the patrons of the diner all possessed presumably by habit. corenthal struggles but manages to get out, heading towards baldpate now. he could hear sirens as he fled

at this point, elizabeth calls the house phone - now possessed by habit once more. habit mocks corenthal as elizabeth, "missed you at the diner, but you sure as hell bit it with me!", as if to imply corenthal intentionally skipped out on their meeting and had disappointed elizabeth in doing so. however, its pretty apparent the true intention is to mock him for falling for a trap. habit as elizabeth tells corenthal that s/he will see him at the park, obviously meaning balpdate to which corenthal would be currently fleeing to at the time of this call. we know this to be the order of events thanks to the inclusion of the siren detail and the order of habit/elizabeth and corenthals voicemail as they were recorded to the house phone.

we dont know what happened to elizabeth following this last bout of possession. it could be possible that habit brought her along to the park in addition to evan, given habit can and had just proven he could possess more than one body at a time and hop between them. however, i find it more likely that habit only confronted corenthal with evans body alone.

habit may have had company of a different sort, though. corenthal mentions that he felt like he was being watched, and his dialogue implies there being two distinct entities involved. the first, corenthal says, "knew it would end up like this", and corenthal says this shortly after mentioning evan from the bench again - therefore this is habit. the second entity corenthal describes as a "spectre" and the monster that took his children - Man, of course

whether man had any involvement with habit and corenthals confrontation is unknown, but we can at least say that he was around. corenthal and habit presumably have a fight, which for certain results in habit being shot in the face and corenthal ending up in the candleverse/eden

evans body dies there in 2005, leaving habit without him as a vessel in this plane of reality. with evan dead, the candleverse then had jeff and vinny and now evan. this aligns with what we see in -.-., the boys together while steph was nowhere to be seen. however, there is a five year gap between the events of 2005 and the candleverse conversation in 2010. this means steph was still alive, since the next iteration cannot begin until all four of them are in the candleverse...

Therefore, Steph had been alive since the Princeton iteration starting back in late 1987. the reason she lived so long? she never met vinny, evan, or jeff in the princeton iteration. or at least, she was distant enough from them to survive as long as she did. this reflects the nature of her role in that she does not have one, not like the boys do. she is different because she knew how to stay alive through ignorance. while we dont know the specifics of stephs relationship with man during the princeton timeline, it stands to reason that she was aware of him just like before during fairmount and after during the emh iteration. thus, her survival tactic of willful ignorance and aversion kept her alive for two decades.

Simply put, the Princeton iteration did not truly end until 2010, just before the beginning of the Everymanhybrid channel and its iteration cycle…

Making the Princeton era span a total of 23 YEARS. Jeff died in 1991, Vinny was next in 1993, Evan’s death is third in 2005, and around 2010, Steph perishes and the EMH Iteration begins.

Below I have written a more condensed timeline of events based on everything ive broken down here. There are a few details missing date-wise, but for our purposes we dont have to delve into them in order to understand with satisfying accuracy about what exactly happened in the years between 1987 and 2010.

DECEMBER, 1987: the princeton iteration begins.

BEFORE JUNE 8TH, 1989: jeff and evan disappear from vinnys life.

FIRST WEEK OF JUNE, 1989: vinny despairs over the loss of his friends in conjunction to the strange going ons of his life and a peculiar zine. trailhead, shopping, and movies all take place within this week.

AROUND 1991: jeff succumbs and appears in the candleverse.

BETWEEN 1989 AND 1993: tape 3 is recorded

DECEMBER 14TH, 1990: corenthal has a premonition about linnie heading off to find her siblings (noah release 1)

BETWEEN 1990 AND 1993: vinny encounters linnie (tape 3)

SOMETIME BEFORE OR AROUND 1993: vinny speaks to patrick andersen from mlandersen0 (tape 3).

AROUND 1993: vinny dies at fairmount, joining jeff in the candleverse. evan and steph remain alive at this time.

JULY 22ND AND JULY 23RD, 1995: corenthal encounters milo asher.

SOMETIME AFTER 1995: corenthal sends the piece of cloth found by milo’s house to his colleague adam roberts, who then creates the black box device.

BETWEEN 1989 AND 2002: evan is possessed by habit at some point, maybe as the reason for jeffs death in 1991, and go after corenthal alongside man and the rake.

OCTOBER 7TH, 1998: an article is published regarding elizabeth solving her first case.

BETWEEN OCTOBER 1998 AND JUNE 2005: corenthal discovers elizabeth and writes to adam roberts to listen for her name on the news, claiming she can help

MARCH 22ND AND JUNE 11TH, 1999: elizabeth solves two more cases.

OCTOBER 11TH 2002 AND MARCH 2ND, 2003: habits MO is apparent in three deaths following the appearance of corenthal at the homes of two families.

AROUND 2002 :elizabeth starts teaching classes at bucks county community college.

ON JUNE 11th 2005: an article is published regarding elizabeths place of business burning down

JULY, 2005: elizabeth is possessed by habit and using her body, s/he contacts adam roberts to arrange a meeting with corenthal in august. soon after speaking to a possessed elizabeth, adam roberts leaves a voicemail for corenthal telling him of the meeting.

AROUND AUGUST 26th 2005: corenthal heads out to his presumed meeting with roberts and elizabeth - only to find out he has been set up by elizabeth (habit). he sees evan, whose body is still alive at this time. habit has control over evan, and ultimately he and corenthal have a confrontation at baldpate. corenthal shoots him, killing evans body but not habit, and corenthal ends up in the candleverse/eden

AUGUST 2005: evan dies, joining vinny and jeff. This makes steph the sole survivor for the time being.

2010, PRE-EMH: evan jeff and vinny meet around a cluster of candles as seen in the video -.-.. evans dialogue suggests that while he had died in 2005, it hadnt been until 5 years later in 2010 that he has been able to meet up with jeff and vinny together properly since his death. further dialogue in -.-. suggests that steph is still missing from their group. presumably this means she hadnt been killed yet. jeff remarks about having no idea they were even looking for her, which falls in line with the idea that steph was not around the boys much if at all during their time alive in princeton, further solidified by her...well, lack of existence in the tapes.

BETWEEN 2005 AND 2010: before the start of the emh iteration but after evan died and came to the candleverse, evan and jeff work together making trips to a powerline in order to have a chance at making contact with the outside world (as in, us the audience).

this results in the phantom tweet telling us to stop watching, which appears in 2011. vin is of course dead at this point too, but its apparent that meeting up is risky and kept to a minimum. it may not be intentional that vin isnt present here, but jeff and ev WOULD have good reason for excluding vinny from this particular plan of theirs, given that vinny is the cog that powers the emh iteration (and a lot of what happens before too, frankly). perhaps they couldnt trust him, which would make sense since at this point, ev and jeffs recent memories of vinny would be from the princeton era and fairmount + whatever glimpses they get when they bump into one another in the candleverse. vin's involvement with their plan could cause a hinderance, and they wouldnt want that to happen

also note that jeff and evans powerline plan is also something corenthal is closely involved in, at least as shown in the day the world ended (2018). i dont think its too much of a stretch to imagine he was also involved in coming up with the plan years prior, between 2005 and 2010. this further highlights vinny's absence in the general affairs of the candleverse, despite the fact that he had been around since 1993. again, theres credence to believe he was intentionally excluded by jeff, evan, and corenthal

AROUND 2010: steph dies and rejoins the boys, and with all four now in the candleverse, the princeton iteration finally comes to an end.

MARCH 21st, 2010: the everymanhybrid channel uploads their first video - marking the beginning of the emh iteration

MARCH 17TH, 2011: the unsigned phantom tweet sent out by Jeff and Evan from the powerline tower in baldpate finally surfaces

STATS:

FAIRMOUNT: 1971 to 1981 (10 years) PRINCETON: 1987 to 2010 (23 years) EVERYMANHYBRID: 2010 to 2018 (8 years)

Steph lived the entire 23 year period for the Princeton era. Evan lived 18 years. Vinny lived 6 years. Jeff lived 4 years.

Jeff spent the longest amount of time in the candleverse post-Princeton at 19 years. Vinny spent a total of 17 years. Evan spent 5 years. Steph spent less than a year.

#everymanhybrid #long post #emh

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americanah-tropicana · 5 years

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Hi friend! Saw your tags on a reblog and thought I should clarify - the Pirates probably won't ACTUALLY move. But often, when a team is struggling and a change in their contract with the city is in sight, speculation abounds. In this case, the chatter exists mainly because Pittsburgh is kind of small to have a baseball team and the Bucs have been mismanaged recently. Regardless, though, it won't be a major consideration for the better part of a decade. I doubt the team will go anywhere. :)

hello i am DEEPLY SORRY that i forgot about your message for so damn long!

thanks for informing me on the ins and outs of baseball management gossip and jockeying. I truly know nothing beyond I Like To Watch The Fun Sport. Here’s hoping for better management for the Bucs!

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iamchikara · 5 years

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Results for Chikarasaurus Rex under the cut. As with yesterday’s results, only point gains will be recorded. Point totals will not be touched, as they are still in flux due to the Regency Furniture results fiasco. A full update to the point standings covering all three shows, as well as any others that happen in the interval (next one is in October so I really hope this isn’t dragged out for a month) will be done once those results are released.

Match #1: Singles Contest John Francis of Coronado vs. Jakob Hammermeier w/Der Wildebeest John Francis is starting to morph into this weird mish-mash of previous American-hero types, as he used the big boot and legdrop, several of John Cena’s moves, the Angle Slam, and the ankle lock. I’m not sure how to feel about that. Anyways, the ankle lock made Jakob submit. WINNER: John Francis of Coronado (1 point) Match #2: Tag Contest, Campeonatos de Parejas Defense #1 Travis Huckabee and Tony Deppen vs. Lucas Calhoun and Stray Kat First fall went to F.I.S.T. with a small package on Calhoun after a corner kick doubleteam...and then the second fall went to them as well, as Deppen hit a double stomp on Kat while Huckabee had her in the stretch muffler. For how long we had to wait for this first defense, F.I.S.T. taking it in two straight is a bit of a disappointment for me, though at the same time it also conveys the renewed dominance that F.I.S.T. has displayed lately. WINNERS: Travis Huckabee and Tony Deppen Match #3: Singles Contest Missile Assault Man vs. Kobald MAM got the win by submitting Kobald with the Sharpshooter, then was attacked by Hallowicked and Frightmare. Lucas Calhoun and Stray Kat came to MAM’s aid, with Calhoun telling MAM that he couldn’t fight the world alone before they shook hands. Trio #15? WINNER: Missile Assault Man (1 point) Match #4: Singles Contest Fire Ant vs. Cajun Crawdad Crawdad spent the entire match trying to blind Fire, but got put away with a brainbuster after Fire got sick of that. WINNER: Fire Ant (1 point) Match #5: Singles Contest BLANK vs. Penelope Ford This is prob’ly Ford’s last CHIKARA match, as she’s full time with AEW starting next month. Accordingly, BLANK ended his obsession with the Color Wheel. Post-match, he called out Still Life for King of Trios. Considering that we haven’t actually gotten much of a reason for the breakup of the Nouveau Aesthetic beyond BLANK’s obsession with Ford and Still Life having other things to do, it’s weird that we get to this point right now and not, say, at the Season finale or something. WINNER: BLANK (1 point) Match #6: Singles Contest, Grand Championship Defense #1 (as undisputed champion) Dasher Hatfield vs. Mick Moretti Lot of interesting notes described to me from commentary. Technically, this is Dasher’s eighth defense, though first as undisputed champion. Moretti’s facepaint resembled that of one of the Baseball Furies from The Warriors, with suggestions that he was using it to get under Dasher’s skin. Most harshly, Sidney Bakabella claimed that Dasher asked for the match to go on early so he could go home and be with his kids...even though Boomer’s match was on later. See? Toxic! Described as a hot back and forth match, and Dasher successfully retained. WINNER: Dasher Hatfield INTERMI...no, not quite, pre-taped interview from Ophidian hyping up Matt Makowski. Someone possibly jumped the gun with that, but considering how disruptive the Crucible’s been lately, it fit right in with their modus operandi. Then INTERMISSION. It’s time for the Crucible’s presence on this show, as the ropes are down and Ophidian brings out his entire cadre including their referee. Match #7: Crucible Exhibition #1 Matt Makowski vs... Thief Ant is out to answer the challenge, but is shut down fairly quickly and made to tap out with a cross armbreaker. WINNER: Matt Makowski (1 point...I guess? If our esteemed Director of Fun is legitimatizing this whole thing...) Match #8: Crucible Exhibition #2 Evan Matthew Demorest vs... Still Life answers this one, to a huge reaction from the crowd. Unfortunately for Still Life, they didn’t fare any better than Thief, and the match was stopped after they were knocked out with the Demoralizer (a variant of the Last Ride powerbomb). WINNER: Evan Matthew Demorest (1 point...I guess? It’s being treated as a legit part of the show...) Ophidian issues a third open challenge on the behalf of Tunku Amir... Match #9: Crucible Exhibition #3 Tunku Amir vs... ...which is answered by a voice in the crowd screaming “I WILL!” and Jawbreaker Josue/Joey, accompanied by Xavier Faraday and Josh Wells, appears. Joey scored what looks to be the first actual victory against the Crucible cadre, forcing Amir to submit, then racing out of the building with Wells and Faraday, leaving Ophidian to fume and berate Amir before leading his followers out. WINNER: Jawbreaker Josue/Joey (1 point...I guess? Didn’t go Ophidian’s way...) INTERMISSION AGAIN Mike Quackenbush is out to address the crowd. As he apparently suffered an injury at Earning The Lucha Libre Merit Badge, he’s withdrawing from his match on here, and has handpicked Hallowicked as Joey Janela’s opponent. Match #10: Singles Contest Hallowicked vs. Joey Janela In what’s prob’ly Janela’s last CHIKARA match as well (same situation as Ford), he scored the victory with a top rope elbow drop. I don’t get why that happened, but it did. Hopefully some kind of deal can be worked out with AEW, so that he can at least come back and not sit in the inactive part of the standings. WINNER: Joey Janela (1 point) Match #11: Trios Contest The Crucible (Lance Steel, The Whisper, and Devantes) vs. the Creatures of the Deep (Oceanea, Merlok, and Hermit Crab) Bouncing back from their utter humiliation earlier in the show, the Crucible returned to form here, as Devantes pinned Merlok after a TKO. Post-match, the Queen of the Deep was not happy in the slightest with her charges, berating and hitting the big fish in her fury, then told her subjects that they’d regret it if they kept losing. Oceanea, I love ya but they’ve been losing all along and you haven’t done a thing about it, what makes you think they’re going to take that threat seriously? WINNERS: The Crucible Match #12: Singles Contest Princess Kimberlee vs. Solo Darling Kim returned to CHIKARA in strong fashion, defeating Solo with the Alligator Clutch after a Ganso Bomb. Post-match, she shook Solo’s hand, then addressed everything that has been going on. (Below is the transcription, provided by Freakin’ Awesome Network forum lildude8218) "This is just Kimber Lee here for a minute. I need to get real with you guys. Everybody has a past. Every single person here. And in Pittsburgh mine hit me smack in the face. It's something I've ran from for SO LONG and so far even to the point where I gave up my crown to keep this hidden from you. I was a different person in the past, everything you heard it wasn't wrong. I did use Lance Steel as a stepping stool to get where I am. But here's the thing: in life we all do things we regret but it's what you do afterwards that defines who you are. And I am a different person now. So this crown jewel is going to do whatever it takes to make things right." Ophidian interrupts her. "I know how you can make peace with your past. You call yourself the Princess. The Crown Jewel. But you have no kingdom. You have no purpose. The way to make peace with Lance Steel and the Whisper is by becoming a resource of the Crucible." He tells the Whisper to get in the ring and pay his respect. He tells Kim to do the same. She does. "Your new purpose is to lead me and my team to victory at King of Trios. Leave!" So yes, the deep, dark secret that Princess Kimberlee has been harboring for years, the one that she left CHIKARA to protect, the one that she let herself be first blackmailed over and now outright conscripted, is that she was a jerk to Knight Eye 4 The Pirate Guy years ago. This is something that everyone paying attention to Wrestling is Fun! at the time already knew, that anyone not in the know could easily look up, and that I’ve never seen anything even remotely resembling an outcry over. The past is past. People change. We all know that. Dwelling on regrets and holding onto things long past their relevance isn’t healthy. Why Kim let herself be bothered by something like that this far into the future from it is...concerning. Perhaps she’s weaker-willed than we all thought. Who knows? WINNER: Princess Kimberlee (1 point) Match #13: Singles Contest Volgar w/Professor Hugo Nicodemus vs. Boomer Hatfield Boomer tried his best to fight back from the underdog position, even nearly surprising Volgar with a bulldog off the top, but Volgar scored the victory in the end. WINNER: Volgar (1 point) Match #14: Tag Contest Xyberhawx 2000 (Danjerhawk and Razerhawk) vs. Cornelius Crummels and Sonny DeFarge Danjer scored the win for his team with an O’Connor Roll pin on Crummels. Man, those legitimate businessmen can’t catch a break lately, can they? WINNERS: Xyberhawx 2000 (1 point) Match #15: MAIN EVENT, Singles Contest, JKI Finals Green Ant vs. Ophidian Green Ant attempted some psychological warfare by coming out with an Ophidian mask on over his own, but Ophidian wasn’t having any of it and bumrushed him (and even rolled out of the CHIKARA Special) before tapping him out. Post-match, the Crucible paid their respects to end the show. WINNER: Ophidian (1 point...JKI is one point per round adding up to the three)

#CHIKARA #Chikarasaurus Rex #Results

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musicprincess655 · 5 years

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Mei leaned forward in his chair, elbows resting on his knees as he focused harder across the bullpen. Maybe he was making the new first years nervous. One of them let out a frustrated noise as he threw the ball in a nasty curve that had his catcher scrambling.

“Keishi,” Mei said, getting to his feet. Amari Keishi was almost ten centimeters taller than Mei, but he still quailed when Mei approached.

“I’m sorry, Narumiya-san!” Keishi squeaked. “It just slipped, I won’t let it happen again!”

“Relax your fingers,” Mei said.

“Huh?”

“You’re squeezing too hard with your fingers, that’s why it’s not following the course you want it to,” Mei continued. “Try again, and this time, just hold it enough so it doesn’t slip. The motion of your body should be enough to direct it.”

“I…oh. Oh, that makes sense,” Keishi said. “Thanks, Narumiya-san!”

“Try again,” Mei instructed. Keishi did, and while it was far from Mei’s usual standards, it was an improvement. With enough practice, he should grow into a competent pitcher. Probably.

“Any words of wisdom for me, Narumiya-san?” Akamatsu had an eyebrow raised from where he was practicing with Itsuki.

Despite how respectful he was, Mei had never really been sure if Akamatsu liked him or not. He certainly preferred Itsuki, even if he’d gone on about how excited he was to play with a pitcher he respected.

“Listen to Itsuki,” Mei said. “He’s the one you’ll be working with, so he’ll tell you what he wants.”

Mei almost felt like he’d passed a test with Akamatsu, although he wasn’t sure what it was about or how he’d done it.

It was…strange, to say the least, to sit in the bullpen, unable to pitch, and to bite down on his tongue time and time again. Despite his admittedly childish personality, Mei set high standards for himself, and it frustrated him in the extreme when others didn’t do the same. He’d only recently accepted that high standards might look different on other people than they did on him.

But even with how much it hurt to be here but not on the team anymore, Mei still came. And to the best of his ability, he was helping. He wasn’t a good enough person to not realize part of it was for the look Itsuki always gave him after practice was over.

“You keep surprising me,” Itsuki said. “I never thought you’d be good at coaching.”

“Please, I just offer them a few tips, that’s not coaching,” Mei said, but he preened.

He and Itsuki were tucked in a far corner close to the field, away from the regular foot traffic of their teammates. They could’ve just gone back to Mei’s room for more privacy, but Mei wasn’t quite ready to go back inside yet. The night was cool, and the soft breeze across his face was too much to pass up. Summer was slowly dying, but there was still a warmth in the air of the cooling nights, and Mei wanted to hold onto it for as long as possible.

“You’re helping,” Itsuki argued. “I never thought I’d see you do that.”

“Well,” Mei shrugged. “Hirano and I both graduate this year. Akamatsu is good, but he’d not ready to be the only good pitcher on the field. You need the rest of the first years to step up.”

“That’s very mature of you,” Itsuki said, only a slight lilt of teasing to his voice. He sounded so sincere.

“I want the team to succeed next time,” Mei said. It was a position that surprised even him. He was so sure he wouldn’t care about what happened after he left. Inashiro was always supposed to be one of many stepping stones on his journey to becoming a pro, but somehow, this one had wormed its way into his soul. “You guys should be able to take Koshien again. You need more than one good pitcher for that.”

“What happened to the Mei-san who wanted to pitch entire games because he was the best?” Itsuki asked, a little laugh in his voice.

“Well, that’s me,” Mei said. “I’m just superior to everyone. It’s a gift and a curse. And,” he sighed, “I think we’ve seen it proven that I shouldn’t really pitch entire games, anyway.”

“Eleven innings is more than one full game,” Itsuki pointed out. He laced his fingers with Mei’s, slowly, hesitantly, like he was waiting for Mei to rip his hand away. When Mei didn’t, Itsuki rested his head on Mei’s shoulder. “Still, thank you. The new pitchers are doing much better with you helping them. Even the catchers are performing better. And…it means a lot to me that you want to help the team even though you’re leaving.”

Mei squeezed Itsuki’s hand and let them fall into companionable silence. Just as Mei was working out whether he could kiss Itsuki here and get away with it, or if Itsuki would push him away from embarrassment, and whether Mei could keep going anyway because a flustered Itsuki was cute, Itsuki spoke again.

“You’ve been in Coach’s office a lot lately.”

Mei had. He’d been talking to university scouts.

“Waseda is very interested,” he said, trying to sound offhand. “Apparently, they had two of their pitchers leave unexpectedly. One got drafted earlier than they thought he would. They’re trying to get their bullpen back up to speed.”

“That’s a good school,” Itsuki hummed. “You could easily be the top of Tokyo again. And they have good academics, too.”

“You know I don’t care about that.”

“You should.” Itsuki headbutted Mei’s shoulder. “Even if you just want to go pro, it shouldn’t mean you don’t care about school.”

“Have you ever known me to care about school?”

“Mei-san!”

“Well, I wouldn’t fail out, anyway,” Mei said, and Itsuki relaxed, appeased. “University…might not be the worst, I guess.”

“You mean that?” Itsuki asked, picking his head up to look at Mei, faces so close their breaths mingled. “You’d go to Waseda, or some other school?”

“It might be the best option,” Mei hedged. Itsuki’s face lit up. “Why does that make you so happy? Nerd.”

“No, it’s just…” Itsuki trailed off, looking down. “You’d be closer, if you went to university.”

“Like physically closer?” Mei asked. There were both major and minor league teams around Tokyo.

“That, and…I feel like you’d be easier to reach, if you were in university,” Itsuki said, cheeks obviously pink even under his bangs. “You wouldn’t feel so far ahead.”

“Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought,” Mei said, nudging at Itsuki’s forehead until they were pressed together. “What, did you think I was just going to graduate and never speak to you again?”

Itsuki’s silence spoke volumes.

“Come on, really?” Mei complained. “We talk all the time, we text all the time. Did you think I would just go radio silence one day?”

“They say most high school relationships don’t work out,” Itsuki said. “And if we want such different things, maybe it makes sense that you would leave me behind. But if you’re still close, if you’re not so far ahead I can’t reach you, then…”

“You should learn to go with the flow more,” Mei said, but he leaned in. Itsuki still didn’t know how to kiss, not really. Mei had to remind him to open his mouth, to relax, to use his tongue. He was learning, though, and it wouldn’t be all that hard to mold him to Mei’s preferences.

Itsuki’s eyes were lidded and hazy when Mei pulled back. He was almost surprised Itsuki had let them kiss in public, hidden away as they were.

“I still have a few months before I graduate,” Mei said. “Why not just enjoy the time we have left?”

“You’re too carefree,” Itsuki said, but he seemed pleased anyway.

“Hey, Narumiya-san!” Itsuki squeaked and jumped away, pulling his hand out of Mei’s. Mei didn’t much care what other people saw of them or what they thought, but Itsuki obviously did. So Mei just tried to not level a glare at the first year coming around the corner, oblivious to the whole situation. “Coach wants to see you.”

“Now? Isn’t it kind of late?” Mei asked. The first year shrugged.

“I’m just the messenger,” he said. Then, job fulfilled, he left.

“Do you think it’s another meeting with a scout?” Itsuki asked.

“Maybe,” Mei said. “It feels like I’ve already talked to everyone worth talking to.”

“You should still hear people out,” Itsuki said.

“Yes, Mother,” Mei groaned. Their conversation up until now had been particularly heartfelt, especially for what Mei was usually capable of, so he graced Itsuki with a kiss on the forehead on his way out just to watch him blush one more time.

“Coach?” Mei called as he opened the office door. Kunitomo was talking softly with a man who was very clearly not Japanese. “Oh, um…”

“You must be Narumiya Mei,” the stranger said, Japanese accented but otherwise fluent. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Mei said with a glance over to Kunitomo. His coach just nodded and gestured for him to sit down.

“I’ll get right to the point,” the stranger said. “My name is Adam Richards. I’m a recruiter for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and I’m here because the Pirates are interested in recruiting you.”

Mei glanced at Kunitomo again.

“They’re a major league team in America,” Kunitomo explained. “Their record recently has been, well…”

“We’ve sucked!” Adam Richards interrupted brightly. “No need for the classic Japanese politeness about it. But there’s new management now, and we’re trying to build a team to last. I’m in charge of looking for foreign players, and you stood out immediately.”

“You want me to play for your team?” Mei asked. The American’s enthusiasm was infectious. Mei could feel his heart rabbiting faster, hope and fear threatening to overwhelm him.

“I’m sure you’re getting a lot of offers, but I do hope you’ll consider ours,” Richards continued. “Obviously, we can’t put an untested eighteen year old on a major league team immediately, but I don’t think you’ll have to worry about staying there for more than a few years. Maybe even a year, if you perform like you have here.”

Mei was speechless, but Kunitomo cut in for him.

“Could you explain what you mean by that?” Kunitomo asked.

“Well, if you’ll pardon me saying so, you’ve been in a bit of a rebuilding period since last year, haven’t you?” Richards pointed out. “After your third years from the year you almost took Koshien graduated, it was a bit of a rocky road? But before that, Narumiya was performing well with that team. It might take several years to get a team established enough to show results, but that’s why we’ve been looking for younger recruits. We want to build a better team for the long term, and we’re willing to work and wait for those kinds of results.”

“Your offer is certainly generous, and something to consider,” Kunitomo said. “We’ll discuss and-”

“Yes,” Mei interrupted. Richards look overjoyed and Kunitomo looked like he’d swallowed a lemon.

“This is something we should discuss before you go agreeing to it,” Kunitomo said tightly. “This isn’t the only offer you’ve received.”

“But it is the best one so far,” Mei said. Richards was right. They’d been rebuilding since they lost the generation ahead of Mei. He was so sure that if they’d had just one more year, they could’ve come back. They could’ve been champions again. He’d be in for years of hard work if he went to America, but it would have an end in sight, and that would be with him on the mound of a major league team.

“I won’t come between you and your coach for now,” Richards said. “I’ll put both of you in touch with Ueda, he’s an agent that’ll take great care of you. We can hammer out the details later.”

Richards almost forgot to bow to both of them on his way out. Mei turned to Kunitomo, so excited he was almost vibrating.

“You need to think this through,” Kunitomo told him. “It sounds like an attractive offer, especially compared to what you’ve gotten here, but have you really considered what it means? You’ll be working hard for no guarantee of a team that deserves you.”

“He’s the only one so far who’s offered me a path to the major leagues,” Mei countered. “I know it’ll be a lot of hard work. Do you think I’m afraid of that?”

“I think you should be more afraid of moving across the world when there might be something left for you here,” Kunitomo said.

“There’s a summit there,” Mei said. “I have to chase it.”

Kunitomo considered him for so long Mei started to squirm.

“Promise you’ll think about it,” Kunitomo said at last. “Really consider it, what you’ll be giving up to get this as well as whatever you think the payoff will be. Understand all of it before you agree.”

“I will,” Mei said. He wasn’t stupid, after all. But he didn’t think the answer would change.

Mei was about to explode with nervous energy, and he had to tell someone. Itsuki would still be awake, probably, and Mei had his phone out of his pocket before he stopped, message half composed.

They say most high school relationships don’t work out. And if we want such different things, maybe it makes sense that you would leave me behind.

If Itsuki thought Mei getting too far away in the Japanese pro leagues would end their relationship, what would he think about America? And would he wait until Mei left to end things, or would he wait?

Was there any point in ending things now, when Mei had almost half a year left before he’d go?

He didn’t have to tell Itsuki right now and lose a good thing. Kissing was good, Itsuki’s company was good, and Mei could already feel another growing hunger for something he’d started largely as a distraction.

Of course he’d have to tell Itsuki eventually. But it didn’t have to be now.

#itsumei #daiya no a #dna #my writing #bos

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espanadiarywriter · 5 years

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Turning Leaves and Fresh Starts

Yesterday I walked Nate to the morning bus stop, and both of us were ridiculously happy with the clean, crisp fall air. He ran his finger through the condensation on the car and said “I love this.” And as I went for my short morning walk (a now regular habit after bus drop-off), I thought “Oh yeah, we missed a whole fall. No wonder it feels so good.” I think Fall is my favorite season (although Spring comes a close second). The smell of trees in the air is palpable as the leaves turn colors and fall. I like Thanksgiving and Halloween, and settling into a little more normalcy with school starting. But mostly I love the air.

We are finally making progress on unpacking now that the house renovations are mostly finished. I have unearthed some clothes, so I don’t have to be wearing the same things on heavy rotation. And at the same time, I am sending a handful of clothes directly to charity donation instead of putting them back in my closet. In fact, we did that with some other stuff as well: small glasses we used once a year, old toys and games that Nate never plays with, 80s-looking picture frames.

It feels like there’s more space in the cabinets, especially in the kitchen. The fridge is not so crammed that I can’t put away the groceries, and the pantry has space on the shelves. In fact, I think I can simplify where we keep all our dry goods so it’s not as crazy as it used to be. I think getting used to the smaller spaces gave me a better sense of what we want to keep in stock in the house. Our one small cabinet in Valencia for dry goods was good training for having less stuff. And the fridge and freezer also feel spacious—although we freeze food to keep it from going to waste, so that fill up eventually.

We still haven’t found all our things. We gave away our spice rack, and have no idea where it is. (If you are reading this and have it, let me know!) Other people have some art or kitchen stuff or were storing some valuables. So that is all still trickling back to our house. But even with that, I think we will be in a happier have-less-junk space.

At the same time that I am enjoying the different weather, I am noticing the similarities between Valencia and Portland. We walk to the farmer’s market on Saturday mornings as a family when we are in town. Sure the produce is triple the price, but like Valencia markets the food is local and sustainable and delicious and we chat with people.

The people here are so friendly. The other day we sat at the market and ate our breakfast burritos (not available in Spain BTW). My son saw a hat with a P on it and commented it was for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and I pointed out the Portland Pickles had the same P. The next thing I knew we were deep in conversation with a stranger about sports teams and logos and recalling how fun it was going to live games growing up. He was from St Louis and used to go to Cardinals games. So I explained to Nate he meant Cardinals baseball, not the football team. When I said I was from NY, we talked about the Rangers “cheer” (if you can call it that) that basically chanted the name of an opponent’s player followed by the word “sucks”. He turned to my son as we were leaving and said, “You’re really lucky to have a Mom like this. She really knows what she’s talking about.” Anyway, thanks to my Dad for giving me enough sports knowledge to have conversations with strangers in markets. He was for sure looking down and smiling at me that morning.

People are nice, but for sure they are more rushed. I attended a celebration lunch that was scheduled for an hour and I thought: how un-Spanish. A regular lunch in Spain is 2.5 hours, let alone a celebration lunch. We also have fewer holidays, but really that’s true almost anywhere outside of Spain.

In Spain, we would always say “Let Europe come to you.�� We really had adopted a wait and see what the week or the travel brings. I have found that holding onto that philosophy has been extremely helpful as my son starts up the school year and I look for a day job. I’m waiting to see what the universe brings—it should be an interesting year. Here’s to cool weather and green everything.

#fall colors #markets differentyetsame

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