#state champs Time Machine

[fuckloveihavemusic]

State Champs - Time Machine

[marvelstoriesepic]

Tattoo Me in Flowers

Pairing: Tattoo Artist!Bucky x Florist!Reader

Summary: Bucky gave you a flower tattoo weeks ago. Since then, he keeps coming to your shop for the real ones - or just you.

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings: flirty Bucky; Bucky is smitten; tattoos; mentions of tattooing

Author’s Note: This was such a sweet request, thank you so much, my dear!! I hope you’ll enjoy ♡

2k Drabble Challenge Masterlist | Masterlist

The bell above the door sings your name again.

It’s late morning and the sun is inviting itself in and spilling all over the petals of your daffodils. The shop smells like spring came home and took off its shoes.

You’re wrist-deep in a bucket of eucalyptus, sorting stems by instinct, not logic, when you hear him.

The creak of boot soles against your old wooden floor.

The soft clear of his throat.

You don’t have to look up. You know it’s him.

Bucky Barnes, with arms like poetry carved into muscle and a stare that should be illegal in daylight. But seriously, the sun lights him up as if it doesn’t know how to behave around him.

“Hey, sunshine,” he greets you, as if you’re the bright thing in this room.

“Hey, Bucky,” you say lightly, brushing your hands on the hem of your apron, trying not to let your heartbeat spill out of your mouth.

With that charmingly crooked smile, he leans his forearm against the counter, careful not to touch the bouquet you made earlier, but close enough to smell the freesia.

In his other hand, he’s holding a small pot. Something purple and dramatic with curling petals. Clematis. A climbing thing. The kind of flower that grows fast and reaches high and needs something to hold onto.

“Someone’s got a green thumb now?” you tease, nodding to the flower.

His grin grows shameless. “Thought it looked lonely. Figured it might like some company.”

You laugh. Feather-light and blooming. And Bucky’s eyes sparkle. His grin widens.

He’s been coming into your shop more times than not since he spent those three hours giving you the most breathtaking tattoo on your shoulder a few weeks ago.

And every time he had a new excuse as to why he was here.

And every time he pretended as if he was only here for the flowers.

I think I need something for… a neighbor. She’s got a cat. Or a baby. I don’t really know.

My friend just moved into a new apartment. Thought he could use some decorative plant, what’d you think, sunshine?

Bucky doesn’t move, just watches you take the pot from his hands, fingers grazing his for one too-long second. Your skin remembers him, remembers the heat of his palms steadying your arm, the buzz of the tattoo machine, his voice like river stones rolling smooth and easy while he asked if the pressure was okay and wanted to hear you talk about your shop. How you fell in love with petals instead of people.

It was roses and marigolds and wild things inked across your shoulder blade, and he listened as if he was genuinely interested.

He was. He still is. That’s why he’s coming by so often.

“So,” he starts, leaning against the counter with a casual elegance that is anything but. “How’s it healing?”

And there’s the question you’ve been waiting for. Because he’s been asking every time he came into your shop.

You try to hide the smile, but your face doesn’t cooperate.

“It’s healing nicely,” you answer with a warmth in your voice. “It’s looks really beautiful, Bucky.”

He nods, pleased. There is a gleam in his eyes, in his smile.

“You took it like a champ,” he states earnestly. “Didn’t even flinch.”

“I did flinch,” you remind him, smiling a little shyly, taping down the wrapping paper and tying it with a silk ribbon.

But Bucky shakes his head, dipping it just slightly, maybe in shame, maybe in guilt, maybe in embarrassment. “Nah, that was my fault. Shouldn’t have flirted with you while tattooing your back.”

You could flirt with me now, is laying on the tip of your tongue but then you meet his gaze again. Mistake. Or maybe not. His eyes are the chaos that stirs the sky, steel and soft thunder, and he’s looking at you as if you’re the only thing in the room that’s blooming.

A breathless laugh escapes you and you turn back to the pot that is already nicely packed up. “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t mind the flirting.”

You feel Bucky’s gaze. The way he studies you, as if you’re one of his sketches, and he hasn’t figured where to draw the next line yet.

There’s a pause, but it’s not awkward or rushed. It’s just filled with things. The way he keeps finding reasons to stop by. The way you keep letting him. The way your shop smells of eucalyptus and fresh-cut roses and something more now - something electric that carries his name in the air even after he leaves.

“You’ve been taking care of it,” he says, something underlying his tone. Something soft. But he means the tattoo. You know he means the tattoo. It tingles at your back.

“Of course I have.” Your fingers adjust the bow, but your thoughts are tangled somewhere else entirely. “I’m not going to ruin your art.”

“Wasn’t just the tattoo I was worried about.”

And it’s soft, the way he says it. Not casual, not flirty. Just soft.

Something inside you blossoms wild and sudden and a little bit dangerous.

Clearing his throat, he picks up a single stem - a pale pink dahlia.

“This one. What’s it mean?” he asks curiously.

You swallow, letting yourself speak in the language that’s easiest for you. “Dahlia means strength. Grace under pressure. Inner dignity.”

He nods once. Slowly. Considers it. Places the information in a box inside his head.

Then he sets it down and picks another.

“And this?”

“Ranunculus. Charm. Attraction. Like…” You refrain from clearing your throat, but your breath is lodged somewhere and won’t come up that easily. “I find you captivating, but I don’t want to say it out loud”

He holds your eyes, something swirling in those too-blue eyes. “Good to know,” he hums. “Why don’t you wrap me up eight of those, sunshine, and three of the others?”

He says it casually. But you wrap the flowers deliberately, knowing this is a game he’s playing. A slow, drawn-out thing. He’s patient. You’ve learned that about him.

While you care for his flowers, he walks a slow, wandering circle around the shop, fingers ghosting over petals, letting them breathe around him. He’s gentle, always. Even with all that strength curled in his arms.

Brushing his fingers over a petal, he speaks up again. “You know,” he says, and it’s too nonchalant again. “I’ve been meaning to ask… You ever do custom arrangements? Like, if a guy wanted something special. For, uh, a friend?”

You raise a brow. “What kind of special?”

He doesn’t look at you. Just shrugs. Shrugs as if it costs him nothing. “Something that says, I hope your day is as pretty as you are, and maybe we should get coffee sometime, no pressure, just casual, unless you want pressure, then-”

You laugh, breaking it before he can go on and his voice can drift too much toward nervousness. “Bucky.”

“Yeah?” He looks at you now, but his eyes are shifty, his hands are flexing, his stance is wavering.

“You don’t need to buy flowers to ask me out.”

He stills. Then his smile grows slow and real and brilliant, blooming like the tattoo on your shoulder, like the petals he’s been coming back for again and again.

You breathe. You bloom.

“Okay,” he says, and he’s beaming. “But I still want the flowers.”

“You really don’t need to-”

“But I wanna, sunshine,” Bucky interrupts, returning to the counter and grinning at you with bright eyes. “They’re for you, after all.”

Your cheeks warm up.

And when you try to hand him the bouquet, he only closes his fingers around yours, squeezes softly, and guides your grip to a vase on the counter.

You feel his touch all the way to where your skin still holds the memory of his ink.

Bucky takes his time with placing the flowers in the vase between you two, large and calloused fingers staying on yours, thumbs brushing your skin. With another slow squeeze, he pulls back again.

Your cheeks are on fire at this point.

And with a smirk on his lips and a fond adoration in his eyes, he leaves with the promise that next time when he comes in - and you know he will - you’ll let him stay longer.

Long enough for coffee.

[sunarryn]

DP X Marvel #15

They were never supposed to be real.

Danny wasn’t born; he was built—stitched together in a freezing underground HYDRA lab from the broken DNA strands of James Buchanan Barnes, chosen not for loyalty or legacy but for blood. Something about Winter’s cells held a resilience no other subject had survived, even after decades on ice and countless mental fractures. Danny was Subject 077—barely more than a theory made flesh. A prototype for a new line of enhanced operatives. Something that could endure everything and obey nothing but the cold voice of a handler.

Jazz was worse. She was art. Red Room engineering at its most elegant and most horrifying. A near-perfect clone of Natalia Alianovna Romanoff, born of Black Widow blood but grown under their sharp hands and sharper scalpel. Jazz had beauty, poise, intelligence. But she was also an apex predator molded in ballet and murder, just like her source. She had been created to be the final evolution of Widow. A sleeper. An infiltrator. A masterpiece in patience and destruction.

They were never supposed to meet.

But then Vlad happened.

Dr. Vladimirov Masterov—Vlad Masters—was a ghost in every way that mattered. Once KGB, always KGB. They said he’d died during a failed mission in Chernobyl. He hadn’t. He’d gone half-dead. Half-ghost. A twisted result of an experiment gone wrong, his molecules phasing just enough to slip between states. He’d taken the failure personally, refused to fade. Instead, he rose again in America, as Vlad Masters, eccentric billionaire and corporate ghoul. But behind every charity gala and mayoral campaign was a hunger to perfect the science that had torn him in half.

Vlad had overseen Jazz’s earliest combat assessments. He’d taught Danny how to fire a Glock at age six. His affection was obsessive. Paternal in that twisted, post-Soviet way that smelled like iron and vodka. “You’re my legacy, my little phantoms,” he’d murmur, his gloved hand stroking Danny’s hair, like petting a favorite lab rat. He loved them the way a butcher loves the knife.

Jack Fenton—Jakob Fentzen—was worse. A HYDRA scientist with a permanent manic grin and a knack for building machines that did things no machine should. Quantum destabilizers, molecular disruptors, spectral centrifuges—things that turned flesh to glass and time to mist. He’d been the one to isolate the Winter Soldier’s regenerative traits. He laughed through the process. He called Danny “Champ” while inserting tracking chips into his spinal cord. Danny screamed, once. Jack said it was music.

Maddie—Maja Vuković—was quieter. Colder. Her notes were written in blood and brilliance. She designed Jazz’s conditioning routines. Psychological torment dressed up as ballet recitals and etiquette dinners. Jazz learned to disassociate by age four. “You’re perfect,” She would say, brushing Jazz’s red-gold hair. “Natalia was the draft. You are the final copy.”

And then something went wrong.

It was supposed to be a routine exposure. Just a test of the ghost portal Vlad had constructed in the basement of the Fenton Works facility—a decaying front in the Midwest. But Danny fell in. Or was pushed. Or ran. The records blurred.

And then he came back…wrong.

Cells mutated. Energy readings off the charts. Intangibility. Invisibility. An ectoplasmic core that pulsed like a dying star. Not just an assassin now—an anomaly. A walking ghost. They called it a miracle. Vlad called it divinity. Jack wanted to vivisect him immediately.

Danny refused.

That was the mistake.

They underestimated the side effects of individuality. The ghost powers weren’t part of the program. And with them came emotion, conscience, defiance.

They tried to recondition him. Vlad struck him. Maddie drugged him. Jack built something with screaming blades.

Jazz broke protocol. She slit two guards’ throats with a dining knife and pulled Danny out of the operating room. He was barely conscious, bleeding green and crying. She whispered to him the way Natalia might have whispered to herself in a Red Room dormitory: “We go now. Or we die here.”

They went.

They ran.

For three years, the world forgot about the Fenton kids. Until they didn’t.

The Avengers found out during a HYDRA base raid in Belarus. Steve Rogers opened a data file and dropped it like it burned. Natasha Romanoff stared at Jazz’s image and fell silent for an hour. Bucky Barnes had to be sedated after reading Danny’s file.

“A clone?” Bucky rasped, restrained and shaking. “Of me?”

“HYDRA’s final Winter Soldier prototype,” Bruce murmured. “He’s a ghost. Literally. His molecular structure—”

“I don’t care about his molecules!” Bucky exploded. “He’s just a kid. My fucking kid!”

Steve looked pale. “They’re so young...”

“They’re us,” Natasha said quietly, staring at Jazz’s face on the screen. “Our blood. Our sins. Our ghosts.”

They scrambled, but the trail was cold. Danny and Jazz had buried themselves deep. They moved from safehouse to safehouse, mostly living like rats. Danny phased them through walls, hacked ATMs with his ghost energy. Jazz manipulated human behavior like a maestro. They didn’t speak much. They didn’t have to.

“You okay?” Danny would ask.

“No,” Jazz would say. “But you?”

“No.”

Still, they stayed alive.

Until they slipped up.

It was a gas station. A security camera. A moment of laughter—Danny made Jazz laugh, and her teeth showed. That smile ended everything.

Tony saw it first. “Is that the Fenton girl? She’s…smiling.”

Natasha was on her feet before the footage ended. “Get the quinjet.”

Steve was right behind her. “We find them. Now.”

When they did, it was ugly.

The Avengers cornered them in an abandoned church in Chicago. Danny nearly brought the roof down. Jazz went straight for Natasha’s throat.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Natasha pleaded, parrying the blade with bare hands.

“Then you’re already weak,” Jazz snarled.

Steve took a punch from Danny that shattered his ribs. Bucky didn’t fight. He just stood there, tears on his face.

“I know what they did to you,” he whispered.

“You don’t,” Danny hissed, half-ghost and glowing. “You don’t know what it’s like to be built to die.”

“I do.” Bucky stepped forward, arms open. “They made me too, and I remember every scream.”

Danny hesitated.

That was enough.

Jazz disarmed Natasha and froze.

“You look like my nightmares,” she whispered. “But quieter.”

“You look like a second chance,” Natasha said, and her voice broke.

That night, the church became a refugee camp.

Tony brought blankets. Bruce brought meds. Steve brought silence. Bucky and Natasha never left their sides.

“Don’t touch me,” Danny had growled at first.

“I won’t,” Bucky said. “I’ll just be here.”

Jazz refused food until Natasha force-fed her soup and whispered lullabies in Russian.

“You’ll kill me eventually,” Jazz muttered.

“No,” Natasha said, brushing her hair. “I’ll love you first.”

It wasn’t easy.

Danny screamed in his sleep, glowing and flailing. Once he phased into the floor and didn’t come back for three hours. Jazz stopped speaking for two weeks. She stared at walls. Cut herself just to feel.

Natasha stitched every wound.

Bucky sat beside Danny and read him books about World War II.

“You’re not him,” Danny said one day. “You’re not my father.”

“No,” Bucky agreed. “But I wish I’d been.”

Steve took them outside. Taught Jazz how to ride a bike. Let Danny fly circles around the compound.

But one day, Vlad showed up again.

He appeared in Danny’s room, phasing through the wall like smoke. “Come home, little badger.”

Danny shrieked and attacked. Vlad didn’t fight.

“I miss you,” he said, bleeding green from his mouth. “They won’t understand you like I do.”

“You’re not real,” Danny screamed. “You never were!”

Jazz shot him in the chest. He smiled.

“Perfect aim. I taught you well.”

He vanished.

After that, they didn’t sleep for a week.

One morning, Danny sat beside Bucky on the roof.

“Do you think I’ll ever be normal?”

“No,” Bucky said honestly. “Though you’ll be loved.”

Jazz, curled in Natasha’s lap, asked, “Was I always going to be a monster?”

“No,” Natasha whispered. “You were always going to be mine.”

They weren’t cured.

They were wreckage.

But they were surviving.

And for now, that was enough.

[montimer]

Postal dude x reader

Random hc's

Postal 2 ver, gn!reader

The only reason he doesn't murder you is because you seem to be the only person in this town who's nice to him. And that is enough reason for him to fall over for you.

At first he just seemed like a chill guy but later on you see him running from the cops with a shovel.

He is scared and doesn't want you to think crazy of him. You suppose in this town you must protect yourself somehow so, yeah you just let it go. Which will make him stare at you surprised but he'll quickly come back and spin you around in his arms smiling.

What you think of him matters a lot to him. So with compliments and such he'll get an ego boost.

While walking outside he'll want ya to hold his hand and will suddenly kiss you when he feels like it. Cuz ya just looked too sweet and he had to

He'll steal your shirts. Makes him feel closer to you when ur not around.

Tho at first he did follow you home and stalked you but shh he was just making sure that you're okay.

Hug hug. He loves to touch you.

Can you fix his car?....would you like to?

Can you hear his tummy grumbling? He might have forgot to eat. Get him anything, literally, this guy will eat anything

He sees that you are getting annoyed by ppl too. Would you like to get rid of them togheter..? No? Well no worries anytime you change yer mind, his spare gun is always available

He loves to just sleep on the couch almost all day, since you don't give him chores like his bitch ex wife. He can relax

He's quite the yapper machine with you. But also is more of a listener. But he will give feedbacks and state his opinion. Just keep talking he loves to hear your voice

Speaking of, he knows how much of a sucker you are for his voice, and he abuses this power ;]

He'll probably drags you with him to his adventures and sometimes Champ comes too.

For a long time he did not wanted to open up about him being a paranoid schizophrenic, but the more you open up the more safe he feels with you. Your accepting and patience means a lot to him.

You do know that you are the only person in his life? The only one who loves and cares for him. Well same goes for you, his the only one in yer life. So it works perfectly.

Just keep loving and being understanding with him.

[letsmakepoppunkgreatagain]

State Champs - Time Machine

[that-house]

can you tell us more about dronestrike & the campaign theyre from?

just read thhe post about it & immediately became obsessed

(context: Dronestrike is my warrior cats OC, an american imperialist robot cat the size of a horse and equipped with enough firepower to wipe out the clans if it seems like they're at risk of falling to communism. in the oneshot he accidentally fired a nuke at the city of LA and blamed "every other country" in a phone call with Bidenstar to avoid getting in trouble)

it wasn't a campaign, just an 11-person oneshot in the single most chaotic discord voice call I have ever been in. so i haven't played him since then, nor will i ever play him again

i can provide you a variety of facts about him i came up with after the fact though because he's a funny enough character that i can't stop thinking about him:

his brain is composed of three parts with an equal amount of control over his actions: the soul of a vietnam veteran, an AI replica of a cat, and every single super bowl halftime commercial

he comes armed with combat knives for claws, a machine gun in his mouth, a high caliber sniper rifle built into his spine, a pistol that he somehow uses with cat paws, and a douglas air-2 genie air-to-air unguided nuclear missile

transition could not save him because all trans people are godless communists who bully him on twitter

Dronestrike acknowledges every independence movement if only so that America has more countries to eventually colonize

he has read Marx so he can misuse quotes and flex on any marxists who haven't read theory

his greatest wish is for america to have won 'nam

doesn’t really have any physical possessions because he’s a cat who doesn’t have pockets or a permanent residence. he does however have $8.6 million in Shell oil stock

Dronestrike if he played League of Legends: only plays champs who have america-themed skins, but doesn’t actually own the skins because that would be giving money to a chinese company. plays all of them jungle to poor results. iron 4 two thousand games this season

has no mouth but wishes he did so he could taste the burgers that honest Americans have died to defend

Dronestrike's dream world is world war 3, with the stipulation that there is an american flag superimposed over EVERYONE'S vision instead of just his

if he had 24 hours to live he would start a “second american revolution” by attacking England

he isn't a good kisser: no lips, he's a cat, and also george washington famously said that romantic connections weaken your spiritual link with The State

response to being trapped in a maze of mirrors: breaks through the mirrors without noticing, but also can’t recognize his reflection. Thinks he has to fight these teleporting commie clones of himself to save the United States of America

he's on Santa's naughty list

on Halloween he dresses up as George Washington and “trick or disappears” journalists

Dronestrike hates the reds, the brits, women, and most importantly, himself

prefers fundamentals over schmovement

favorite board game is Monopoly because watching people go bankrupt or be imprisoned is one of his hobbies

his happiest memory is his first glimpse of an amazon packaging facility and the horrible conditions of the workers

favorite season is summer: 4th of July babey!!! the holiday where you're allowed to blow shit upppp!!! he also frequently sets off fireworks in the off season to scare dogs and people with anxiety

doesn’t date but he sends tech billionaires unethically farmed flowers sometimes

doesn’t play video games but he has a simulated CoD lobby’s chat going at all times in his head. they call him slurs whenever he misses a shot

relates strongly to Patrick Bateman

he was in ShadowClan. they picked which clan he would be deployed into by having him take the official "which clan are you" quiz

sometimes he doubts that he has the heart of a true warrior

[seireitonin]

What alternative subcultures the Creepypastas would be in!!(pt 1)

This was an ask I accidentally deleted! Oops! I also listen to all the music I put in here! So it’s also a small glimpse into what I listen to! Also as some of you know I’m in the scemo and goth subcultures! But I know a lot about alternative cultures period so this was fun to make!

LJ: VICTORIAN GOTH 100%!! / Victorian Circus Core

I mean he’s literally from that era

The feathered shaw, the black and white color scheme, the black lipstick and guy liner with the pale white face!!

Literally a goth king. That’s an outfit I would definitely see at a goth club!(I’ve been to many)

Another part of goth culture is liking horror/ monsters. Since LJ is a monster he’d fit right in!

He’d be accepted by most goths despite his looks bc goths have morbid dark fashion senses themselves!

So if they saw his swirly cone nose and sharp teeth they’d be like: omg! I love your look!

He’d definitely listen to classical music and other goth music Specifically Switchblade symphony and Cocteau Twins

He definitely listens to old PATD

I can see him wearing other Victorian inspired clothes too!

Like dis:

Jeff: Metalhead/ with 90s emo(for nostalgia.)

I mean look at him

He’d definitely shit on nu metal and still listen to it

The long greasy black hair, not showering, thinking he’s better than everyone else yeah sounds like a metal head to me/ hj

He listens Cattle Decapitation, Peeling Flesh, Suicide Silence, Cannibal Corpse, Avatar and literally anything with machine gun drums

He listens to some 90s emo but will never admit

Definitely wears band shirts especially the ones he got from concerts when he was a teen

He loves a good mosh pit

You know, the ones where you come out all bloody?

Yeah he loves those

He can hurt people in them and it’ll be fine? Sign him up! (Man has no pit manners smh)

Definitely a metal elitist

“You like SOAD? Ugh that not REAL metal”

Stfu Jeff.

Yeah. Metalhead to his core.

LJill (I love her, so underrated)

Victorian goth as well, but she leans more in the gothic Lolita side of it

Wears pretty gothic Lolita dresses with lots of black and white lace, buttons and she’ll have a matching bonnet and parasol to match when she’s feeling extra fancy!

She feels so elegant and feminine when she puts her multiple layers of petticoats on! She wouldn’t be caught dead without them!

Her makeup and lipstick is always perfect.

Her hair is always either perfectly curled or perfectly straightened

The goal is to look as doll like as possible ( also because she is one!)

She listens to music box like music if that makes sense?? For example Swan Lake by Fairy Lullaby or Porcelain Eyes

She, like LJ listens to classical music and goth music

But mainly classical and music box!

Will go to tea parties and knows how to make tea cakes and sandwiches

Just a lady all around!

Jane: Trad Goth/ Casual Goth/ Amy Lee

Since Jane is always on the move and doesn’t really have time to get all dressed up

So she’ll usually be in a simple black dress or black pants and a turtleneck

But when she does get a chance to dress up

She dresses trad goth mixed with Amy Lee

She’ll have her hair long with bangs covering her forehead

Trad goth makeup, but a bit more modern,big eyeliner and arched brows

She’ll be wearing corsets and waist trainers

Long skirts, ripped leggings

High heel platforms

She goes all out and she looks great!

Listens to music like The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, New Years Day and The Birthday Massacre

Can do goth dances very well

God she’s beautiful

Toby: Midwestern Emo/ early 2000s emo/ a tad grunge/ indie

He just looks like one tbh

But seriously he had a hard life and emo music gives him comfort

Toby wears flannel shirts, grandpa sweaters, simple tee shirts and pants that are loose but not too loose

Hiking boots, sneakers

He listens to Chidos, The Front Bottoms, State Champs, Real Friends, Nirvana, Yawning, Hail the Sun, The Used, A Lot Like Birds, Static Dress, Mild High Club and many many more

He can play the guitar, drums and sing pretty well

He needed something to keep him busy while he was homeschooled after all! And it took his mind off of the horrible things he was going through

Plus with him feeling no pain, he could practice his hands bleed so his hands are really calloused

He likes to sit in the woods and just listen to music sometimes

He’s a loner like that

Especially in the fall when the leaves are so pretty

He feels almost peaceful. Almost

EJ: Tbh I can’t put him in a single box I feel like he’d be everything

He’ll listen to whatever whenever

Except religious music it freaks him out

Ya know because of the cult that took his eyes

But I see him liking dark ,dreamy music if that makes sense

His taste actually lines up with Toby’s pretty well

Static dress, MGMT, YKWIM by Yot Club, Homage by the Mild High club, My Bloody Valentine, Grouper

Also anything with sad guitars like wish by sign crushes motorist (Toby likes music like this too)

Sometimes even lo-fi if he has to unwind

Jack wears all black most of the time. Just so he doesn’t look too dirty

Black hoodie, black shirt, black pants, black shoes

He also feels like any other color won’t go with his now grey skin

But yeah EJ is just a dude with a wide music taste

We love that for him

Nina: Obviously Scene+Emo= scemo

Do I even have to explain?

She listens to Pierce the Veil, Sleeping with Sirens, Bring Me the Horizon, Paramore, AFI, FOB, Get Scared, Hey Monday, MCR, Ghosttown, Millionaires, Brokencyde, Medic Driod, Dot Dot Curve, A Skylight Drive, ISMFOF ,everything Toby listens too as well(and many more)

Nina wears either all black with colorful hair or has her signature black and pink with more colorful outfits

Cheeta print, skulls, DIY stuff, band shirts, tube tops, tutus, skinny jeans, brass knuckle necklaces, hoop earrings, black eyeshadow, big teased hair with raccoon tails

Yeah she’s 2000s emo fs

Goes to raves and concerts like crazy

But she’s not opposed to any kind of music and will do goth makeup for fun

And wear Jane’s clothes

She thinks goth is really pretty but it’s just not her

She’ll stick with scemo lol

Jason The Toymaker: Steampunk/ Victorian Circus Core

The copper in his clothes

The bright red hair

The long flowing jacket with intimate details

Yeah he’s definitely steam punk

Im not sure what kind of music steampunks listen to but I’d like to know!

Jason definitely listens to Emilie Autumn and old PATD

BEN: EDM

I mean…it was obvious

Skillix, deadmouse, xxxanteria, Luci4, old Flying Lotus albums, 9lives

He’s literally code so I think he’d like it

Not much else to say here tbh

I’m getting tired so lmk if you want a part 2 lol

[blowflyfag]

Inside Wrestling: Volume 26, 2009

wrestling timeline 

Samoa Joe

Inside Wrestling journeys back in time to examine the career of a superstar who has left a major imprint on the sport

MARCH 17, 1979: The future “Samoa Submission Machine,” Nuufolau Joel Seanoa, is born in Orange County, California.

DECEMBER 18, 1999: After only a few months of formal training, 20-year-old Joe competes in his first professional match for UIWA. 

MARCH 3, 2001: Under a developmental deal with WWF, Joe loses to Essa Rios on the company’s Jakked program.

MARCH 14, 2001: Joe wins first singles championship–the UPW heavyweight title–by defeating Christopher Daniels.

JUNE 14, 2001: Joe and Keiji Sakoda win the first-ever NWA Intercontinental tag team championship in Pro Wrestling ZERO1. 

OCTOBER 5, 2002: Joe returns to the United States and begins wrestling for Ring of Honor. He loses his first official match to Low Ki. 

JANUARY 11, 2003: In the first of what would be many epic battles, Joe defeats “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson.

MARCH 22, 2003: Joe captures the Ring of Honor heavyweight title by defeating Xavier.

NOVEMBER 29, 2003: One-time partners A.J. Styles and Joe square off with the ROH champion getting the best of the “Phenomenal One.”

FEBRUARY 14, 2004: At ROH’s second anniversary show, Joe retains the promotion’s championship by defeating Low KI. Dan Maff, and B.J. Whitmer in a “Fatal Four-Way” match.” 

APRIL 23, 2004: When he can’t defeat Joe in the ring during an ROH event, Homicide attempts to end the big Samoan’s career by hitting the champ with a fireball.

SEPTEMBER 18, 2004: In the final round of the IWA: Mid-South Ted Petty Invitational tournament, Joe and Bryan Danielson fall to A.J. Styles. 

DECEMBER 4, 2004: Joe finishes his trilogy of matches against C.M. Punk as the victor. These bouts would go down in ROH history as some of the best the promotion has ever seen. 

DECEMBER 26, 2004: The longest ROH title reign in the promotion’s history comes to an end as Austin Aries beats Joe to win the gold. 

JANUARY 15, 2005: A bitter Joe receives a chairshot to the head and a DDT for good measure from a visiting Mick Foley during a special appearance for ROH.

APRIL 1, 2005: Joe’s downward slide on the indy circuit continues when he loses a number-one contender’s match to A.J. Styles in Pro Wrestling Guerilla. 

MAY 7, 2005: In a fitting change of pace, Joe captures the ROH Pure title when he defeats Jay Lethal. 

JUNE 11, 2005: Joe is victorious in a fiercely intense and physically destructive match against Necro Butcher in IAW: Mid-South. 

JUNE 19, 2005: Only eight days after his match with Necro Butcher, Joe makes his TNA debut at Slammiversary, defeating Sonjay Dutt.

JULY 8, 2005: A very active Joe chokes out Chris Sabin for fun and defeats Shark Boy and Elix Skipper in a three-way match in his Impact debut. 

JULY 17, 2005: Moving to 2-0 at TNA pay-per-views, Joe handily defeats Chris Sabin. 

AUGUST 12, 2005: In another shot at capturing the ROH title, a surprisingly opportunistic James Gibson defeats Joe, C.M. Punk, and Christopher Daniels. 

AUGUST 27, 2005: Two weeks after failing in his attempt to win the ROH title, Joe drops the Pure championship to Nigel McGuinness.

OCTOBER 1, 2005: In a critically acclaimed match, Joe is defeated by a visiting Kenta Kobashi during an ROH event. 

NOVEMBER 13, 2005: At TNAs Genesis pay-per-view, Joe breaks the code of the X division by attacking Christopher Daniels with a chair. He appears in the months that follow with a towel stained with Daniels’ blood. 

DECEMBER 11, 2005: Joe captures his first X division championship by defeating A.J Styles at TNA’s Turning Point pay-per-view, still carrying the blood-stained towel.

FEBRUARY 12, 2006: In a three-way match with A.J.. Styles and Christopher Daniels, Joe retained the X division championship at TNA’s Against All Odds pay-per-view.

MARCH 22, 2006: In the culmination to their long-running three-way feud, Joe loses the X division title to Christopher Daniels as A.J. Styles looks on in an Ultimate X match at Destination X.

APRIL 22, 2006: Joe takes part in the interpromotional feud between ROH and Combat Zone Wrestling. Joe’s ROH squad is defeated in a six-man match. 

OCTOBER 12, 2006: A no-decision is the result of an unsanctioned ladder match for the NWA World championship between Joe and Christian Cage on Impact. 

JANUARY 14, 2007: After struggling with TNA acquisition Kurt Angle for several weeks, Joe loses to the former Olympian at Final Resolution. 

JANUARY 31, 2007: Joe announces he will no longer work for ROH full-time and embarks on a “Samoa Joe Farewell Tour.”

MARCH 4, 2007: In his final appearance for ROH, Joe defeats long-time nemesis Homicide.

MARCH 11, 2007: Another shot at the NWA World championship proves to be in vain as Joe loses to CHristian Cage at TNA’s Destination X pay-per-view. 

JULY 15, 2007: Joe gains the pinfall at TNA’s Victory Road pay-per-view and becomes TNA World tag team champion while simultaneously holding the X division title as well. 

AUGUST 12, 2007: Putting up his X division and TNA World tag team titles against the TNA World title and IWGP championship, Joe loses to Kurt Angle at TNA’s Hard Justice. 

DECEMBER 2, 2007: When Scott Hall no-shows Turning Point, Joe delivers an intense promo aimed at TNA management and his would-be-partner.

FEBRUARY 14, 2008: An unlikely partnership forms on Impact when Joe teams with Christian Cage and Kevin Nash in an ongoing effort to eliminate Kurt Angle’s Alliance from TNA. 

APRIL 13, 2008: Upon eliminating the Angle Alliance, Joe captures his first TNA World Championship by defeating Kurt Angle at Lockdown in a “Six Sides of Steel” match.

OCTOBER 12, 2008: Sting defeats Joe for the TNA World championship at Bound For Glory IV.

OCTOBER 30, 2008: Along with A.J., Styles, The Motor City Machine Guns, Jay Lethal, and Consequences Creed, Joe helps lead the team of the Frontline against the Main Event Mafia.

NOVEMBER 9, 2008: In a grudge match against former mentor Kevin Nash, Joe loses in a controversial finish that sees his opponent use the ropes for leverage.

[majorasnightmare]

also i never post about it but dirges career path post epilogue utterly delights me. his warlock pact is specifically to find or produce novel information to be witnessed through his eye for his patron, so in return for providing the magic fuel source and after fully deciphering the necromancy of thay, dirge just skips the skeleton and zombies bit of necromancy and gets to the "blurring the veil between life and death" part, and sets about transmuting dead flesh into chimerical abominations animated by necromantic ritual and powered by eldritch strength from beyond the stars. theyre technically soulless, with primitive notochords instead of complex brains, and theyre linked to his will via blood bond, so the risk of having a creation go beserk and kill him is relatively low, and theyre all technically aberrations rather than undead, but despite skirting most moral concerns he can think of (NOT grave robbing OR killing people in baldurs gate! its imported! its not the enslavement of the dead because he doesnt even summon and bind a deceased spirit! theyre not undead theyre abberrations!), the end result is still that most everyone is made profoundly uncomfortable especially because dirge models several features after human anatomy for no real reason other than he likes the look.

but most importantly it means that dirge is TECHNICALLY a healer now, after an entire campaign of being a killing machine, and thats so fucking funny to me because the dark urge healer lines are SO funny. he uses the default durge voice too so they come out really menacing, and hes just out here healing people marcille dungeonmeshi style. dirge holding onto gales severed arm looming closer while gale tries to squirm away to get shadowheart and dirge is just drenched in gore happy to help a friend and gale is praying to every god he can think of because this is legitamate nightmare fuel before dirge is just like "dont worry, ill kiss it better" and forcibly revitalizes and melts the limb back onto gales shoulder, no anaesthesia no painkillers just rawdoggin this shit, reattaching nerves and muscle tendons right there on the street, and gales scream hitting a pitch only perceivable to specific breeds of songbird

worlds worst doctor. youll fully recover but at what fucking cost. walk away with your surgery costs 0 but your therapy bill skyrocketing. dude who got his anatomy training vivisecting kidnapping victims and his medicine proficiency through torture and graverobbing. the only time in his life hes scary on accident rather than on purpose

it goes without saying that minthara takes it like a champ and also thinks his horrible homemade blights upon gods creation is the coolest shit and people should just stop being moralizing losers about it. its also unironically fantastic for his mental health like the fleshwarped blasphemous nightmare creatures are really tangibly improving the state of things for him

[the-kr8tor]

Alr so since I had a shit day, I'm gonna make you have a shit day (joking- I hope you have a wonderful day..but I have served you some angst on a silver platter<3 ) Daily Hobie HC! In the CPMR au (Cyberpunk Motorbike racers), there has to have been some accidents, right?...yk...motorbike racing. There's bound to be accidents... Hobie visited you in the hospital every day when he could, telling you about the races and what happened. He never once even said that his win steak has finally been climbing once more, knowing you were in no shape ever since the accident. If he was going to win, he wanted it to be fairly against you. A week prior, the two of you had been racing in teams, with Hobie surprisingly keeping up with you this time (You'll never tell him that you were cruising just to see him) Turning and riding up towards a ramp, you rev up your engine and jumped it. However, luck wasn't on your side. Hobie still remembers the scene, engraved in his memory. Hitting a turn and wondering where you were, only to see you laying limp on the track, blood seeping out from your helmet with shallow breaths. He immediately skidded to a stop, riding towards you. Hobie remembers how quickly he through himself off his motorbike to get to you, trying to be fast yet gentle with your head as he took off your helmet. Hobie remembers how fear had struck his body, seeing thick blood streaming out of your mouth as you laid in his arms, eyes hazy and skin slowly paled as you clung onto life as hard as he clung onto you, talking to you with a wobbly voice to try and get you to pay attention to him. The ambulance's sirens was a sound he'd never thought he'd be so relieved to hear until you were gasping for life, fighting against the grim reaper that day. He waited the many hours outside the room, hoping that you'd be okay. Hobie wouldn't sleep until he knew that you were okay. And when the news that you would be okay came out, Hobie had never felt so relieved, letting out the biggest sigh, before being allowed to see you. The sight of your eyes having been fluttered closed, in the uncomfortable hospital gown, your face slowly gaining colour back as a machine was stuck inside you to help you to breathe. He felt so guilty, yet so relieved. The strong tsunami of feelings gave him a major headache, mixed with no sleep. Although you were asleep, Hobie gently held your hand in his, unfurling your fingers gently as the warmth of his hand seeped into your skin. Hobie softly kissed the palm of your hand, mumbling a soft 'i love you, stay strong for me'. He presses another kiss to your forehead, while his two fingers feel for your pulse as they slowly slid down from your hand to your wrist. Hobie continued to visit you in hospital after practice/every race, talking to you in your sleeping state, and leaving to let you rest peacefully with a kiss to your knuckles, his fingers lingering to subconsciously check for a pulse. Listening to your pulse while you were in this state helped him relax his mind, even if it was for a split second. I'm so gonna add this into my writing if I do decide to write it with my sona and him (very high chance lol) - 🐦‍⬛

Oh nooo I'm sorry you had a shitty day, I hope it's better for you tomorrow ❤️❤️❤️

Daily Hobie HC!!!!

Why you gotta hurt me like this? 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Is this revenge for all the angst I wrote? 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Hobie should be glad that this is set in the future and not current times bc that injury is not survivable!!! R is a champ for holding on tho

Him talking to you even tho you're in a coma 😢 also holding your hand to feel your pulse 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 bruhhhhhh 😭

I bet when r wakes up and Hobie shows them the scoreboard and sees him leading it now instead of them it's either a "I'm proud of you moment" or "dang, I had to go under just for you to win huh?"

Oooohh if you do end up writing it I'll be cheering you on!!

[ghostofasecretary]

weekend list!

- LOTRO w/Gem

- get groceries

- make dal more palatable

- wash gold sweater

- send Venmo requests for communal items

- finish All The Crooked Saints audiobook

- call F

- meds for the week

- wash blue shirt (attempt to allieviate stain)

- wash coral skirt (attempt to get stain out)

- wash striped sweater

- wash grey cardigan

- wash tights (stain check), socks, nightgown

- repair main slip

- wash white blouse

- eat lunch

- go to performance (figure out transport, take the bus, get ticket, pack meds, enjoy, see friends after? yeah! get dinner!)

- get back from performance

- paid PD

- timecard

- take out the trash in your room because you noticed it was full and thought "why not take this out now" like a CHAMP, good job!!

do tomorrow:

- make yogurt

- make granola

- make kale salad or sabzi

- make rasam + rice

i'm very happy with today! i Saw A Live Art done by one of my lovely and talented friends and did a ton of laundry such that, for the first time since before i moved, i do not have a Sad Pile Of Laundry. there is no sad pile. there is only definitely clean laundry and laundry that has not yet received a verdict of "dirty." (alas, i did not get stains out of my clothes. not sure what to do with that. an Oxy/Tide pen seems like the next step, i guess? but a) that's more money and b) good god they smell.) i got some good mending done and started/worked on Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye audiobook.

i feel like i am coming to the end of some of my tasks and it's time to take on new tasks.

my style word of the year for 2022 was magic and for 2023 it was flourescent. i haven't set one for 2024 yet, but i feel like i really have been flowering lately. i'm living on my own! i'm having so much fun picking groceries and cooking and sharing my food with people. i set goals and then met them. i've sent my work out into the world and i'll see how people respond. i'm, like, teaching kids??? if you told me i would be willingly working with kids and finding it meaningful and even enjoyable a year ago, i would have laughed at you. i have friends IN PERSON and have MADE NEW FRIENDS LATELY. fucking A. i really do love being alive.

i want to live a good life. i think my life is pretty good, actually, but i'd like to be less stressed and to do more engaging projects/actually feel on top of the projects i already engage in

so!

stressors:

- my fucking Arabic class and, like. my relationship with studying Arabic in general

- my job is. like. hard actually

- MONEY IS A CONCERN (putting off second job/increased freelancing for the moment but maybe i shouldn't because of:)

- i'm gonna run out of ADHD meds again and also, like, headache meds, if i do not secure an in-state PCP and psych. medical trauma has me shaking and trembling at the prospect of seeing a PCP but i would also. like to continue having meds. so i need to a) call a bunch of people b) find someone with availability soon and c) pay a bunch of money to feel bad to access care

- i should also get my teeth professionally cleaned and make sure i don't have cancer. uuggggghhhhhhh

concerns:

- my poetry collaborator is going to have a busy season so we have Limited Time to get work done, which means i need to be *on* Fridays, which also means being on Thursday evenings, which is. hard as fuck actually. how do i maximize this limited time to be Maximally Fun and also (ideally) useful? remembering that use requires, like, extra work on my end (that i'm behind on)?

[background app season dread. i think if i keep myself busy enough i can ignore this till the first news breaks, which will hopefully be no earlier than February and, in an ideal world, will just take up one week of my attention in March. who knows tho]

aspirations:

- i need another cool skirt (RIP badly stained skirt) and i would love to *make one*

+ what is UP with my machine/how do i Fix It

- do more knitting

- do more independent language practice NOS

- host a proper Board Game Night with many yummy snacks (and caramel apple cake)

- replace laptop battery, holy shit

- make a mega batch of candied orange peel!!!

- keep baking nice breads for your work morning breakfasts, it really does help to eat something solid in the morning and yogurt/granola simply Does Not Work in this weather

- i sleep better when i take my meds before 9. i like to cook for 2-3 hours. i get home at 4. i want at least an hour to rest after getting home. how do i make the math math. cook at 5:30, end 8:30, take meds, go to bed? is that the path? then *how do i call friends*? (ofc i could cook less but i actually really like making a Feast. chutneys in advance should help some; i could freeze ginger + green chili cubes, probably; ???)

other thoughts:

- i really do not want to get sick. so. wear your mask more when it isn't essential that your students see your mouth, order more masks + reuse them less, eat a lot of vitamin C i guess, and try the saline spray your mom gave you!

- i still need floss before i run out. call the post office real quick tomorrow and maybe make a quest of it?? and if that fails. just. re-order it. alas. still. one must. you got a refund! you can ship it elsewhere this time! it's just all *so* annoying

- THIS FRIDAY THE FOOD BANK WILL BE ACCESSIBLE TO YOU SO FUCKING *GO.* try to get flour, at least. oil if possible. produce etc is great but staples are more expensive for me

- i really want my other art to feel Framed, actually, and i think it's been keeping my from hanging any of the stuff my friends have made for me up on my walls. consider options (cunty gallery wall; thrifting; raiding J+A's stock; ???)

little things:

- vacuum

- launder towels + yogurt-making towels tomorrow before making yogurt

- wash + style hair tomorrow afternoon, ideally

- mend glove trim!!

- canvas bags still need preventative care

- green dress still needs straps

- Venmo roommates for home goods (get the one roommate's info)

things coming up:

- cowork with friend Mon

- call mom + play long distance bananagrams Mon

- plan some school Mon

- make food

- THURSDAY GO TO MUSEUM + COOK FOR NEW FRIEND!!

- Friday CLASS RESUMES (= MUST PRINT + PREP MATERIAL)

might be beneficial to journal about my feelings re: Arabic. might be excruciating. can play it by ear!

[breesays]

Breesays' Favorite Songs of 2024

I make a concerted effort to listen to new music, mostly because of my job at Setlist. Thanks to Music League, this year I discovered some not-new music I loved. I was victim to the obsession of Taylor Swift's TTPD, but it didn't entrance me as hard as Fall Out Boy's SMFS did the year before. But, Tay did make the list several times, as did Glass Animals, Phantogram, Suki Waterhouse, Halsey.

I did listen to a lot of Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan. Shoutout to Music League for Childish Gambino and The Veronicas on this list.

Too Much - girl in red

High in Low Places - Beach Weather

All a Mystery - Phantogram

Wonderful Nothing - Glass Animals

Who's Afraid of Little Ol' Me? - Taylor Swift

Broken Man - St. Vincent

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want To Come - Wombats

Birds of a Feather - Billie Eilish

Good Luck, Babe! - Chappell Roan

Lithonia - Childish Gambino

Calling You Out - Charly Bliss

Too Sweet - Hozier

OMG - Suki Waterhouse

I Still Want To - State Champs

ATTENTION - Winona Fighter

Texas Hold 'Em - Beyoncé

I Can Do It With a Broken Heart - Taylor Swift

Take It Or Leave It- COIN

Sympathy is a knife - Charli xcx ft. Ariana Grande

$5 - Nico Vega

VULTURES (feat. PVRIS) - MisterWives

Keep Going - Taking Back Sunday

Ocean Eyes - Gaslight Anthem

Not Like Us - Kendrick Lamar

Dilemma - Green Day

Slim Pickins - Sabrina Carpenter

French Exit - Dua Lipa

Organized Chaos - MisterWives

Rat Race - Towa Bird

Wasn't Meant To Be - Phantogram

Watch The Fire - Dashboard Confessional ft. Boys Like Girls

Supersad - Suki Waterhouse

A Tear in Space (Airlock) - Glass Animals

Hell Of It - State Champs

The Architect - Kacey Musgraves

I'm Not A Machine - Bishop Briggs

Creatures in Heaven - Glass Animals

Hope - Vampire Weekend

Sunday Best - Lauren Mayberry

Navigating - Twenty One Pilots

Panic Attack - Halsey

That's How I'm Feeling - Jack White

Letting Myself Go - Børns

My Bile - Kate Nash

All In My Head - The Linda Lindas

The Bolter - Taylor Swift

Lonely Is The Muse - Halsey

Perfectly Alone (softer version) - K.Flay

U Should Not Be Doing That - Amyl and the Sniffers

Perfect - The Veronicas

Spotify link to LISTEN to this playlist - here.

Edit: Seems like tumblr is redirecting links. Text or DM me?

[thelediz]

Sonic Underground episode 37: Bartleby the Prisoner

I’m watching Sonic Underground in search of inspiration to finish a fic I’ve been writing forever. It’s a sad state of affairs. See the recap of the first three episodes here, if you're interested!

The plot (for want of a better word): Time is up for Bartleby’s cushy life on the thin line. Accused of helping the Resistance, Bartleby is put on trial. Will the Sonic Underground risk everything to save Robotnik’s greatest investor, or will Sonia turn her back on the greatest love of her life?

Dun-dun-DUNNNN.

Aleena is so unimpressed with Bartleby and the other aristocrats. Which. You know. We get it. Eat the rich and all that.

Mind you, Bartleby is chugging boiling tea LIKE A CHAMP. I pity his oesophagus, but a SWATbot barges in and arrests him before he can continue doing serious damage to himself. You immediately know something’s up because the SWATbot talks about a jury. Robotnik doesn’t normally bother with juries. So the audience immediately calls Trap. We’ll see how long it takes the characters to get there.

Meanwhile, Sonia is guiding the boys to a ruby mine Resistance Intelligence insists exists. Manic can’t see it, so he doesn’t think it’s there, but Sonia (very impatiently – apparently this is a repeated conversation) points out that illusions are a thing. She is immediately proven correct, with her calculations only off by a metre or so. Sonic asks us to be impressed with his sister. Brace for an episode of GRRL Power.

Apparently these rubies are very pure and will be very powerful in weapons. I am not certain rubies can be used for weapons, but whatever. The point is, this is an important operation for them to disrupt.

CYRUS! Cyrus gives them a new machine that will be used to dig through things. He also informs us that we’ll be meeting TREVOR this episode, so it’s all recurring OCs on deck!

While Sonia details her three-fold plan, the boys are making chilli dogs with the laser and not paying any attention. Because boys are irresponsible. But first, somehow, Sonia gets a live feed of Bartleby’s trial, and (correctly) assumes that he’s been arrested because of his association with her.

For the record, in the trial, Sleet is the prosecutor, Dingo is the defence attorney, a legion of SWATbots is the jury, and Robotnik is the judge. Archie comics had two legitimate kangaroos in their court and it was still a fairer trial, in case that’s not obvious.

Sonia sneaks off to visit Bartleby in his cell, but Bartleby insists she leave before she’s captured. Sonia insists she’s going to rescue him, but takes the opportunity to guilt trip him for not joining the resistance. Even though SHE only joined because she had no other choice. Just pointing that out. Don’t remember that.

And I know I’ve said it before, but I just want to draw attention to two things. One, Bartleby starts to say “if you’re honestly happier in the resistance –” and it’s pretty obvious this is him being a supportive little idiot. He loves his girl. Two, while Sonic Underground loathes its aristocrats and their willingness to follow Robotnik, I have to remind you of just how SCARED they all are. This episode, and what’s happening to Bartleby in it, is only strange because they’re bothering with a trial, and the series up to this point has made this VERY CLEAR. They DON’T THINK Robotnik can be beaten. They think joining the Resistance is a death sentence. People will do terrible things to survive. This series has no patience for the aristocrats but I love how well they showed why the aristocrats do what they do and arghhh this trashfire is so good sometimes!

Meanwhile, Robotnik admits to the audience that this is all a trap to get Sonia, and with her, her brothers. No one is surprised.

And at the 11 minute mark, Dingo runs his mouth to Bartleby about this being a trap. Bartleby is naturally horrified, but quickly decides he needs to find a way to save Sonia. He changes his plea to guilty so she has no reason to rescue him and get trapped.

BUT. While the triplets and Trevor are on their mission, Sonic has been watching Bartleby’s trial, and so hears the change in plea. Sonia is naturally horrified when he tells her.

But they have a mission, and it’s going badly. They’re basically surrounded, they lose one of their ships and nearly Trevor, and it’s all looking pretty dire, but egh. It works out after some drama, when they find the ruby stash.

Sonia attaches one of the rubies to her keyboard gun and uses it to destroy everything else. Day saved, Sonia immediately steals the digging machine and disappears to save Bartleby. Sonic is unimpressed with her walking into a trap and grabs Manic to run after her.

But, y’know, Sonic’s a bit faster than the machine, so they get there first and are very annoyed to realise that means they don’t get to pretend they’re only there to save Sonia. I admit I snickered at the delivery of “oh great! Now WE have to rescue Bartleby.”

Manic is remarkably useful in this fight, actually sneaking up to hack and disable some SWATbots! Sonia then appears, with her ruby-powered gun, and the triplets come together for

The Song: Justice Calling. Really, really nice drums. I mean, just… NICE beat. Like it a lot. The lyrics are “We’re not gonna take it” with the serial numbers filed off, but there is nothing wrong with that. This is some 80s rebellion pop-rock and I am not complaining.

They save Bartleby, but it’s all proven pointless because in the evening, Robotnik makes an announcement that ‘evidence’ came to light that Bartleby was innocent and always was. So, you know, the status quo is maintained if this episode is shown ahead of the others. BUT the episode itself basically implies that Bartleby IS leaving his aristocrat life to go into hiding. And I don’t think we’re going to see him again. LeDiz is sad about this.

And then we have a Casablanca reference, complete with ‘here’s looking at you, kid’, and it’s very strange.

But we end on Sonic and Manic telling Sonia she’s the best freedom fighter, and I just… nod and accept.

So. The counters:

Sonic implying less than 100% American heterosexuality: 7

Sonia in love with Bartleby: 7/37

Sonia in love with someone who is not Bartleby: 3/37

Sonia’s got super strength: 4

Manic’s thieving Is A Problem: 6

I do believe that's the last time they're going to be added to, but we have another three episodes to prove me wrong! I'll talk about why I've been counting at the end.

I… will also hold off on reflecting on Bartleby and Sonia, but I have to say, rewatching this as an adult, I have a lot more time for him and am a much bigger shipper than I used to be. I’ve always preferred them as a couple over any of her other potentials (as a kid, I would have said Raphie was a love interest but I just didn’t see it this time), but I have a lot of time for THIS star-crossed lovers trope. Which is funny, because I don’t think Sonia DOES. But that ISN’T getting in the way of my ship, and… hm. HMM.

Anyway, moving on.

[gerogerigaogaigar]

Ok so I did my selection of albums and that post blew up as much as any of my posts do so now everyone I live with wants me to review their favorite albums. Since I'm a benevolent overlord I have acquiesced and so here are ten albums that my husband Felix wants you all to listen to as reviewed by me.

Fire On Fire - The Orchard

I was polite with my choices, but my dear husband decided to open his list with a one off side project by members of Cerberus Shoal. If you don't know the sorta post rock-y sorta folk band Cerberus Shoal then understand that this album is obscure even by the standards of that band's fans. Gone are the post rock tendencies of the parent band and instead the focus is solely on new weird Americana. New weird america is a musical movement that takes American primitivist and psychedelic folk music and mashes it up into something that is inevitably either pretentious garbage or revelatory beauty. This album is the latter. The music plods along with the grace of a broken machine. The music sounds like it is rusting as it moves and the nasally vocals grind along with the hulking monstrosities that are the songs of The Orchard. The music I'm describing may not sound pleasant, but the cacophony comes together in a harmonic cohesion that does for folk music what Charles Ives did for the symphony. There are many more artists that have a similar sound to Fire On Fire, but this album has a uniquely lumbering quality that is not recreated nearly as well by most other artists in the scene.

Sweet Trip - You Will Never Know Why

You Will Never Know Why is a major departure from Sweet Trips usual sound. The glitch elements have been dialed back, although electronic sounds still populate the album, and it is basically a straightforward shoegaze album. It pulls ahead of competitors partly for the incorporation of electronic music but also for excellent vocals that capture a sterile whispiness. Plus the bass which is so bubbly and tends to rise to the top of mixes to add counterpoint melody on top of the dual vocals. As usual for the genre layering is the key to the beautiful sound. The songs will lily along as bright shimmering sounds plink into the mix and fade out only to be replaced by some other noise.

Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog

While I'm still a fan of the first two Iron & Wine albums Shepherds Dog is clearly where he comes into his own as a performer. The instrumentation is punched up a bit with the occasional touch of horn or honky tonk piano to give the album a more dynamic feel. And the style has incorporated a little bit more rock edge as well. Songs like White Tooth Man help balance the album so that slower number like Resurrection Fern can really shine. Lyrically I can't tell you exactly what is going on in any given song. Sam Beam writes in little snapshots of ideas and paint an impression of a feeling rather than tell a story. I get the idea that he is rather scared of Americana though. And there is something about dog metaphors that really makes this man's brain go brrrrr. Overall I think The Shepherd's Dog is the most balanced of all the Iron & Wine albums I've heard. Successfully towing the line between folk rock and art rock.

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

A legend among pretentious sadboys but always skirting the mainstream is Sufjan Stevens. Although he started out making indie folk his style quickly evolved and on Illinois (or Sufjan Stevens Invites You To: Come On Feel The Illinoise as the album cover says) he hit the first major stride of his career. Illinois features insanely elaborate arrangements that show a wide range of influences from minimalist composers to 70s singer songriters to show tunes. The songs all seem to be exercises in elaborate time signature and rhyme scheme or clever wordplay and in depth metaphor.

Now to address the obvious. This album is ostensibly about the state of Illinois. This is true in the same way that I said Beat The Champ was about wrestling. Some songs reflect heavily on things about the state. John Wayne Gacy Jr. Is a biography of the Illinois born serial killer, They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh! is about the abundance of ghost town in the state. Other songs make reference to the state but are a little more vague. Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!, Casimir Pulaski Day, and The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us! are really just personal stories that Sufjan Stevens has decided to set in Illinois. And the stories vary from very grand high concept things to very intimate and personal. Sometimes so personal that I am dubious of how much he stretches the truth to make these songs. But whether I buy it or not the arrangements are equally grand and intimate so the mood is always well designed.

Röyksopp - Melody A.M.

Some downtempo music is meant to get you up and dancing, some downtempo is trying to evoke complex feeling in the listener. Melody A.M. is aiming for something in between. It lays down tight grooves with bubbly bass lines and drops a variety of melodic sounds overtop with elements of downtempo, trip-hop, house, disco, and ambient music all present. It hits all the points for being a driving at night all contemplative style album, but it pulls back on the moodyness and leaves you with a gentle friendly sound instead. Lullabye melodies floating over house beats. The result is just an immensely pleasant listen. Melody A.M. is effective because it does more than just play on the current trends from when it was released, it pulls bit of electronic music from decades past from Tangerine Dream to Giorgio Moroder to Vangelis there is a lot of the past buried in this record. And the resulting love of slightly corny music makes the album feel so sincere without having to be deeply intellectual.

The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas

During the recording of The Coroner's Gambit John Darnielle's trusty Panasonic RX-FT500 boombox shit the bed and he started working with newer technology. All Hail West Texas is the album he recorded after that busted Panasonic miraculously came back to life one day.

To listeners who got into The Mountain Goats through Tallahassee and later the lo fi production might be a little hard to take, but you will learn to love the tape hiss that is a staple of early Mountain Goats recordings. Truly it becomes it's own instrument being the only sound on the album outside of Darnielle's voice and guitar.

But this is Mountain Goats you are here for lyricism. John Darnielle has said that he writes songs of love and redemption for people that would never listen to his music. All Hail West Texas starts right off with one of the best examples of this. The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out Of Denton is so simple and so beautiful, and maybe the most emotionally affecting songs to feature the refrain of "hail Satan!" The album is about outcasts, toxic couples, traumatized kids. According to the cover it is "fourteen songs about seven people, two houses, a motorcycle, and a locked treatment facility for adolescent boys." The cryptic interconnectedness will drive you insane if you try to hard to figure it out so I'm sorry Felix I will not be analyzing the characters and storylines that are supposedly here. That's your job.

DJ Yoda - How To Cut And Paste Country Western Edition

You press play this album. The first thing you hear is backing beat from Fix Up, Look Sharp and then Thank God I'm A Country Boy by John Denver starts playing and then Dolly Parton's Nine To Five and then it transitions into a country version of Rapper's Delight. You are in the unhinged world of DJ Yoda who is trying to prove a point here. The point is that you can make a DJ mix out of anything if you are creative enough.

DJ Yoda is known for his use of humor and this mix is one of the more obvious instances considering that the whole concept is a bit of a joke. He puts a beat over I'll Fly Away and that is funny. He uses a sample of Johnny Cash on sesame Street. He uses a country cover of Gin And Juice. It's weird, but because Yoda is a master DJ he manages to never lose the flow, often transitioning songs by losing the beat and just playing the country music straight before dropping a beat in. He also frequently transitions between different versions of a song like Johnny Cash's Ring Of Fire seamlessly turning into a reggae cover by This Kid Named Miles.

The beauty of DJ mixes is already the way they can recontextualize songs in a way that is interesting. I think it goes without saying that you will have a lot of songs recontextualized for you if you listen to this mix.

Mariya Takeuchi - Variety

There was a time when the internet became really obsessed with the song Plastic Love. This was based partially in the fact that the song is a banger but also that people were sharing the picture sleeve for her Sweetest Music single as a lesbian thirst trap. So the Tumblr City Pop era was short lived but I never forgot.

The first thing you might notice about Variety is that it's very retro. The production is a mix of Phil Spector and Motown Styles. And musically it often follows suit. But the old school rock ballad style is also met with bits of 70s adult contemporary and disco. The result is songs that sound like Ronettes tracks with a Donna Summer bass line as the backbone. Songs that sound like James Taylor started using synths. Takeuchi has a voice that perfectly melds these styles into something cohesive so that the dance music style of Plastic Love can flow into the 60s girl group sound of Honki De Only You (Let's Get Married) without missing a beat.

City Pop may have been a niche phase for westerners with an internet addiction but it was one of the most dominant musical styles of the 70s and 80 in Japan. I had strongly considered this album as a 'should have been on the list' pick. If you listen to this album because of my review and like it do seek out more city pop, the genre is a goldmine that the West has barely scraped the surface of. Hell if you like this album DM me and I will rec you more Japanese pop from the 70s and 80s.

Murder By Death - Who Will Survive, And What Will Be Left Of Them?

With a name like Who Will Survive And What Will Be Left Of Them? by Murder By Death you would probably expect this to be death metal, but nope it's a gothic country rock album. Who Will Survive tells the story of a small Mexican border town that is cursed by the devil. The meat of the album is made up of songs that describe the ways that the townsfolk respond to the curse and their inevitable demise. The theme that runs through the album is mainly how people respond to mortality. Some people try to escape the town like in Pillar Of Salt which tells a sorta Orpheus and Eurydice adjacent tale. Some people think their tough like the narrator of The Desert Is One Fire who scoffs at the people sleeping in the shelters. Others give in to despair like the suicidal narrator of Three Men Hanging.

Along with the individual stories the narrative trickles out details about the nature of the curse. We quickly learn that the dead are rising from their graves as zombies, crops start to fail, the earth becomes unworkable, at least one person either physically or mentally decays as they approach the town border. The horror themed lyricism is backed by country rock music that creates the ominous atmosphere needed with the help of an ever present cello that takes a lot of melodic duty. It's a solidly spooky album that demands multiple listens just to parse out more of the story.

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi - Rome

Danger Mouse is an interesting figure. Producer and musician interchangeably he can be found both as a featured performer, solo artist or as a producer credit nearly anywhere you look and he runs the gamut from extremely mainstream projects to the highly personal and artsy. Rome is most certainly the latter. On it Danger Mouse works with Italian composer Daniele Luppi to create a pop album inspired by the soundtracks to spaghetti westerns. In addition to Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi additional vocals and songwriting are added by Jack White and Norah Jones. White and Jones are natural fits for the slightly polished slightly lo fi sound of the album which is accomplished by recording on vintage equipment and working with musicians who had actually recorded on spaghetti westerns, notably The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.

While it has a lot of musicians and equipment used to record these classic soundtrack the music itself is a little more in the vein of traditional pop veering in the direction of spaghetti western on the instrumental tracks. This keeps the album from feeling strictly like an imitation and let's it be it's own thing.

[rooksmoor-manor]

The Engineers; or, A Dream of Spruce and Brass!

Through all of its history, the Manor has never been a neat and tidy place. Forgotten belongings, mementos, and memorabilia fill the cabinets, wardrobes, and bookshelves, from the attics to the basement, long after their owners have passed away. One of those items is the photograph shown above, which has a single sentence in the Founder's distinctive, angular penmanship, written in emerald ink on the back:

Lebaudy 'Le Jaune' - Thursday, November 13, 1903.

Although it may be nearly impossible to determine why the Founder might have kept this annotated photograph, it is not difficult to envision him that cloudy afternoon, darting through the wide promenades and narrow alleyways of Paris, immersed in his own thoughts while he pursued the enormous airship headed for the Eiffel Tower.

By the time he arrived at the Champ de Mars, the dirigible had already started its descent, and a crowd of curious onlookers was slowly forming around it. Between pushes, apologies, and the occasional toe-stomping, the Founder slowly made his way through the gaggle of sombrely dressed men towards that marvellous contraption. As he approached, he could discern three figures descending a ramp from the gondola, hurrying towards the impressive building of glass and steel located beyond the landing point.

Those three gentlemen were still deep in the long conversation they were having even before landing, as the gates of the Galerie des Machines closed behind them. "This will go down in history, I tell you!” one man exclaimed excitedly, wiping his glasses off on his waistcoat. “We left Moisson at noon, and as of just now, we have landed in Paris! Before suppertime! If we leave in the morning, tomorrow we might—"

"Nonsense!" interrupted another man, adjusting his top hat. "Until my brother and I decide otherwise, the dirigible will remain in Paris. Have you noticed the throngs?".

"This will be an excellent opportunity for some publicity, brother!" The third person spoke, grinning at the previous speaker. "It was quite a stunt to land the airship in the middle of the city; it will surely pique the interest of investors, who will undoubtedly see the potential our airship offers as a means of transportation; and, of course..."

"And, of course, its potentially endless military applications," interrupted the voice of the Founder from the mezzanine. "Such a shame," he continued, oblivious to the gentlemen's startled looks and wary glares. "Though undoubtedly not for all of you, I daresay that was one of the major driving forces behind this project. Am I in the wrong?"

The two brothers exchanged a quick look of disbelief before shouting angrily at the Founder, as if they had been deeply offended by his remarks in some way. After being politely ignored when they demanded that he identify himself, they hurled insults and accusations at him, claiming that he was nothing more than a rude interloper, possibly a spy from a rival company or even from a foreign power. Without even bothering to defend himself against such allegations, the Founder kept monologuing, now focusing his attention on the quieter gentleman, who simply looked at him puzzledly.

"What I am stating, gentlemen," he followed, "is that I simply refuse to believe that among the many factors that led to the creation of that wonderful machine parked outside, there was not even a hint of yearning involved. Someone here has dreamed of the day humanity could soar across the blue and see their own insignificance in the ground below, free as the proverbial bird in the sky. This person has felt the calling not of fame or wealth but of a dream. I am merely curious to know who among you has experienced such a thing and found the fortitude, the perseverance, to follow his dreams out up until this point."

"And why would it be like that? Why do you even care about such a thing?" asked the bespectacled man, clearly intrigued.

"Because," answered the Founder, "I do have an enterprise that only that person would be able to understand. I do believe they might even be able to consider it a potential act of atonement for their life's work, as soon as airships like this one you have outside start to rain fire on unaware civilians in the middle of the night."

"And what is this project of yours, this alleged chance for absolution?" One of the brothers retorted from behind the Founder's back.

"The building of a house," he replied nonchalantly.

[letsmakepoppunkgreatagain]

State Champs - Time Machine