#the boo swerve is real

[literary-illuminati]

Book Review #30 – The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

I honestly cannot remember when or how this book was first recommended to me, let alone who by, except that it was quite a while ago. Certainly I have zero clue who recommended it. So whatever details I might have known about this book were all long-since forgotten when I finally got around to picking it up – I came in knowing a) sci fi horror, b) caves and c) sapphic romance. With that (lack of) expectation-grounding going in, I found the book generally good but flawed and uneven, with an ending that tried to tonally swerve in a way that didn’t really work for me.

The story is claustrophobic from the world go. It follows Gyre, who has fabricated and edited her credentials to get the most lucrative caving job she’s ever seen. Entombed within a cutting-edge caving suit that turns her body into a closed system for the duration of the weeks-long expedition, she descends further and further into the dark with only her handler and employer Em for company. An employer whose exactly as suspicious as you’d expect from the setup, and might be just as deadly as the alien beasts who call the cave home.

So the book is spent entirely in Gyre’s head, with the literal only other character to appearas anything but a ghost being Em. With the exception of a tiny epilogue, it occurs entirely within the cave system Gyre is exploring. These are very restrained conditions to then write 400 pages of book within – the descriptions of stressful and technically difficult caving maneuvers all start to blend together after a while, with only the teased at mysteries of the cave really keeping things interesting. Everything outside the cave barely exists – the worldbuilding is functional, existing to get Gyre and Em where they are. It isn’t aspiring to anything else, and so I won’t judge it for failing at what it isn’t trying to dod.

The actual driver of the entire story – and for the vast majority it’s most compelling part – is Gyre and Em’s relationship. Specifically, Em being a fascinating mix of pathetic and monstrous in how she veers between latching onto Gyre and manipulating her towards her probably death, and Gyre seesawing between wanting to destroy Em and salt the ground she stood on for, well, everything, and desperately holding onto her for dear life as the literal only other human in her entire world, and someone she needs to rely on as her handler/mission control to have a chance of survival. It’s deeply tense, fucked up, and ambiguous and absolutely compelling – at least until the very final stretch. Tragically the genre constraints of romance kick in her, and by the end of the book Em is a wholly benevolent presence who has found closure and is now desperately trying to save Gyre from the stress/cave/fungal-infection induced madness. Boo and hiss. Much more interesting dynamic when she’s giving Gyre a double-dose of sedatives in her sleep ‘for her own good’ and wondering why this doesn’t make her any less paranoid.

There’s a turn towards a kind of heroic register at the end of the book that just didn’t work for me generally, honestly. It’s probably exemplified by the fact that Gyre actually confronts and kills the massive alien ‘tunneller’ that had been the source of this constant low-level looming horror throughout the entire book – something that’s not even really raised as a possibility at any point previously. It just felt cheap. Also, while I’m complaining about the ending – they really never dwelt on the fact that Gyre totally killed that guy, and besides that the mysteries of the cave just turn out to be very disappointingly mundane. With the sole exception of the tunneller the caves barely even feel alien. It’s all a bit of a missed opportunity.

It’s deeply unfortunate that the book was weakest as it ended, because up to then it was really a great read (if one that could probably been cut by a fifth or so without real loss). There’s one particular section where Gyre’s racing to get to a resupply point and grab a replacement battery before her suit locks up and turns off with her in it that was really a masterpiece of tense Man v. Nature writing – if you just cut it out and published it as it’s own short story, it’ d be an easy five stars.

Bonus points for at absolutely no point trying to redeem or lionize the idea of reconciling with Gyre’s shitty dad and deadbeat mom, though.

[finndoesntwantthis]

Awww look at Swerve discovering the consequences for his actions in real time ☺️

Yeah boo boo that was your Karma 😇

[aerodaltonimperial]

Bestie Prompt

You have to tell me why we are committing a felony before we do it

No it’s not going to stop us but at least I’ll have all the facts

(canon divergent, since i've altered the course of the FTW belt lol)

In the end, it's a surprise. It wasn't Lee Moriarty, or Swerve Strickland, or even one of the former holders, like Brian Cage. No, in the end, it was a surprise when the person to finally peel the FTW belt off Hook is Wheeler Yuta. Maybe it shouldn't have been. After all, the BCC has declared themselves the top of the roster, the best of the best. They're the ones out there attacking whoever they see as a potential shadow over their reign. And that meant that Hook, with his undefeated record and his steady rise, ended up flying too close to the sun.

Yuta is a real bastard about it, too; grabs Hook by the hair after the bell has rung, after Hook has already lost, after he's spitting out blood that's run down his nose and between his lips. He pulls Hook's head up and sneers in his face. It's an awful shot, right in front of the cameras: all it does is plaster Hook's loss, the belt, all over every single television tuned in.

"You thought you were untouchable," Yuta hisses in Hook's ear. "But we were forged in combat."

Mox and Claudio and Danielson, they're all ringside. They move in a pack, because the numbers game plays into their favor. Jack watches them from the opposite side, not because he's scared, but because starting anything now will only make things worse for Hook.

Yuta drops Hook's head back to the ring, and his forehead bounces on the mat, leaving a smear of red behind. Shit.

The others come out, as they always do, just to get their hits in. They kick his ribs, scream at his face. Jack launches himself through the ropes, and it's 1 versus 4. Mox ends up shoving him against the post and laughing about it. Jack never believe he'd scare them off, just that he'd take the heat. With his head ringing, he slides down onto all fours.

The belt is gone. Hook's legacy—stolen. As the BCC makes their way up the ramp to the thunderous boo of the crowd, and thank goodness for small favors, really, Jack touches Hook's shoulder. The muscles beneath his fingertips shudder.

"You gotta get up," Jack whispers, hair obscuring the shot of his face. "Get up and walk out, Hook. Don't let them take this, too."

Hook's hand shoots out, grappling, finally finding Jack's wrist and curling tight. He's hurting. Every inch he pushes himself up must be agonizing, but he fucking does it, and Jack helps him with a fierce rush of pride. He remembers this sensation: peeling himself up off the mats and knowing it's his own blood that's covering the square. He remembers feeling like the smallest piece of shit ever, snubbed beneath the heel of his opponent's boot.

They make their way backstage, one step at a time.

People are nice about it. Of course they are; Hook is beloved. He gets a few pats, and Chuck Taylor brings a wet towel to help him wash up, and Jack sits with him as Hook runs the terrycloth over his face. The fabric comes away pink.

"Can we go?" Hook asks, low. There's a tremor in his tone.

"Already got the keys," Jack replies.

When they get in the car, parked in the garage at the back of the arena, Jack pauses. From the passenger seat, Hook gives him a questioning look. Jack points up at the corners. "These cameras down here? They aren't actually turned on."

"What?"

Jack shrugs. "I passed by the security office a few times. Wondered if they were. Turns out, they aren't even connected. Just for show."

"O-kay," Hook says, slowly.

"And this side of the garage, this east side, see, it comes around the back of the assigned locker rooms."

Hook's forehead furrows. His tongue slips out, running across the lip that will be swollen for days. "The walls aren't brick."

"Naw," Jack says. "Just drywall and plywood. A few load bearing columns. This whole side was a later addition, and it was done kinda fast. Cut a few corners."

Hook scans the interior of the car. "You requested the Suburban?"

"Weirdly enough, nobody else had it reserved."

Hook looks at Jack, a cut over one eye and his hair plastered to his forehead. He looks like he went through hell, but you know what? He came out the other side still in one piece. And Jack is ready to burn the entire fucking arena down in vengeance for what Yuta and the BCC clawed into his skin.

"Thanks for telling me we're committing a felony before we do it," Hook says. "Won't stop us, but I appreciate the heads up."

"Yeah?" Jack asks.

"Yeah." Hook's expression goes a little watery. "Hey. Thanks."

"You don't have to thank me," Jack tells him. "I'd murder those assholes for you."

"This SUV is pretty big," Hook says, but he's smiling, and that's really all that matters, "so, you really might."

Jack throws the Suburban in reverse and steps on the gas. And boy does he hope the entire BCC is in that locker room celebrating when they fly through the wall in an explosion of debris and insulation.

[jaynahh]

Hello for your new event can i request Tartaglia + vampire costume and can you make reader a child?

Tartaglia with a Child!Reader

200 follower event

Strictly platonic.

a/n: Did you mean siblings or not?

If Childe had a vampire costume, he's bound to be playful. Well, he already is, but it gets ten–times worse.

He decides to go out early when the sun's still showing, to see everyone making preparations. Childe already has his vampire costume on. No one knows how he does well in this heat.

Along the way, he spots you sitting all alone, doing nothing. Maybe you were just waiting for someone? Tartaglia shook his head sightly. Either way, he shouldn't leave a child all by thereselves.

Childe quietly comes up behind the bench you were sitting on. "Boo!" He bends down to your ear. "Ah!" You flinched, instinctively jumping up from the bench and turning to face him.

"Well well well, don't get all scared now. I'm just here to suck your blood~" He pulled his cape to cover half of his face. Your ears perked up at the sound of his vampire accent. "Woah, a real vampire..."

Childe swerved around the bench to sit on it, indirectly offering you to sit aswell. You did, with much excitement. "Can I see your fangs??" You pronounced a couple words wrong, due to you speaking so fast.

"Now, why would I want to show you?" Tartaglia teased, resting an arm on the armrest. "P-please? I never met a vampire before! I... I think they can turn into bats!" You guessed.

He couldn't keep up the act anymore, genuinely smiling at you and showing off his fake fangs at the same time. Once Childe knew you were completely comfortable with him, he started asking questions.

"I have to ask, are you here because you're waiting for someone?" You shook your head no. "Earlier, a girl came up to me and asked why I was lonely. I don't know." Suddenly, Tartaglia gets a thought about his family, how he wasn't able to visit Snezhnaya during this holiday.

Of course he gets sad at the thought, yet he wasn't going to let his guard down further. "Aw. Well, I'm sooo lonely, too. You wouldn't leave such a lonely vampire all by himself, right?" Actually, it was the other way around. He would be the one never leaving your side tonight. Tartaglia pouted at you, secretly planning how to make your Halloween better–if not the best.

—

After the fun yet chaotic night trick–or–treating with Childe, you both came to a stop.

Childe faced you, examining both of your bags filled with candy. Before anything else, he has to ask this question. "Do you have a place to go back to?" He tilted his head to look innocent. After you nodded yes, a smirk returned to his face.

"You better enjoy all those candies. I prefer your blood sweet," One last impression to end Halloween. You stared up at him, nervously shifting your feet. "But I don't want to go home and leave you! I already miss you! And plus you'll be a lonely vampire again," It was your turn to pout.

Tartaglia's laugh was genuine as he pet your head, fangs showing. "You know I can't stay long, the sun is about to rise which would make me disappear forever." You gasped.

"Oh, one last thing." You watched as he reached into his bag, only to pull out one tiny piece of candy. "My name," he placed the candy in your bag, "is Ajax."

—

When Tartaglia reached his room, he tossed the bag of candy to the side while carelessly throwing off the fabric of his costume one by one.

He sighed, reaching his desk as he pulled something fragile out of his pocket. It was a picture he took with his Kamera, a picture of him playfully running away with your trick–or–treating bag while you were in the background, a bit blurred and seeming to chase him.

He smiled fondly at it, a nice thing to look at and remember when you two meet. The picture sits in a wooden picture frame on his desk.

[sheinthatfandom]

Tonight is the night!!! God the card for dynasty is so fucking stacked literally the only one I’m like eww no is Jericho and even then I’d be fine if he was on zero hour but whatever. Anyway time for me to make my winner predictions of who I want vs what I think is booked to win

Zero hour

Let’s start with Trent vs Matt sydal: I’d love to see Trent lose because I’m a Yuta girl and Trent should always lose lol. But more than likely especially cause of the best friend breakup storyline Trent would need the win far more and it would make sense for him to win over Matt who involved himself in the feud and helped orange.

Orange and shibata Vs Shane taylor promotions: it’s orange and shibata even if Anthony cheats and gets involved I can’t see orange and shibata losing ohhh unless Trent’s match actually does go first and he causes orange to lose… seems like a lot for a buy in though

The acclaimed vs bullet club gold: THIS SHOULD BE ON THE MAIN CARD!!! How tf is the unification of the two actual company belts not be put on the main card the actual FUCK!!! Tk I hope your pillow is never cool. I want BCG to win they’re fun, they’re entertaining, they’ll be insufferable as double champs, they will have a feud with anyone. Thanks to the win on dynamite though I think it’s gonna be the acclaimed who will be booked to win and make all the belts useless because they’re never on tv they have zero feuds going on and caster will continue to be a cunt online.

Main card time

Jericho vs hook: this should be on the pre show the ftw belt is not legitimate and there’s been no real build for this they didn’t even have beef until Wednesday. Anyway I wanna see Hook win cause Jericho needs to go far away but I feel like Jericho booked himself to win to hold the ftw belt and will probably have a run in from Sammy.

Rated R chicken Kings vs house of black: I have no idea if that’s their name they have no name and I love them for it lol Eddie and mark should never suffer losses ever actually. Plus it’s a team of champions sorry HOB

Julia vs willow: I think with the storyline and Mercedes and Julia’s injuries we’re getting a title change. Julia wasn’t a bad champ at all and honestly made the tbs title a big deal it just sucks she got injured and couldn’t be on tv every week fighting. Willow will be a great champion and Julia can still be spooky and get involved.

Okada va pac: okada stole Eddie’s belt no one should beat him but Eddie in my humble simp opinion.

The young bucks vs ftr: if the fucking bucks lose again I will be cursing tk to lose all the hair on his head and grow it out of his nose and asshole. The bucks shoulda NEVER loss at Wembley and they need their win back. Especially after seeing the video nope evps win hire me as the ref I’ll make sure to count correctly

Kyle vs rodrick: I know with the whole never able to pivot and the Adam and mjf injury thing we haven’t been able to do the Undisputed Kingdom storyline like everyone wanted but let it GO! Give Kyle his win give Kyle the belt give Kyle the fucking WORLD okay my beautiful sad eyed air guitar boo boo kitty man gets it all.

Toni storm vs thunder Rosa: the way I need Toni to go berserk on Rosa but also for deonna to get involved in a if I can’t beat her I’ll be damned you will story beat. Personally the only person who should dethrone Toni is Mariah and she’s not ready yet.

Will Vs Bryan: is it too early to call this match of the night i mean we all know that it’s gonna be right? Personally I’d love to see Bryan take the win prove he’s still the best (make zacks win that much more legitimate) and piss off don that his golden goose lost (3 days before his other teams loss when mox spanks Hobbs) and drive more a wedge between don and will forcing Kyle to make a choice (not my brain jumping right back to cakeys will Claudio Kyle fic high key rec)But this is tk and wills first PPV as a full time aew worker it’s probably gonna be him

Samoa Joe Vs Swerve Strickland: OUR FIRST EVER BLACK AEW MENS WORLD CHAMPION!!!!!!

[wrestlezon]

Forbidden Door 2023 PPV: I am now Reviewer Zon

Brought to you by: having thought about & chitchatted about the matches and wanting to collect my thoughts in one place

Overall: I was satiated by the ppv purchase, which is the minimum one can hope for, BUT! I also frequently went "wow! This is incredible!" while watching which exceeded my expectations. I skipped out on Forbidden Door last year because I have only a passing familiarity with njpw, and i didn't end up having regrets about that later. I'm glad I got it this year however, because the matches were good and I think the alternate-universe me who skipped on FB2023 is missing out.

more match by match rambling within:

i missed out on zero hour cuz I was busy u_u

mjf vs tanahashi

it was okay. Nothing stuck out as good or bad. Entirely average, no real takeaway. I also didn't have a takeaway from the swerve vs tanahashi match yesterday either, which is like uhh whoa? because I think swerve is cool and there's usually some sort of cool thing he does with someone in a match. like at least one memorable moment. But I also was kind of busy on Saturday so I could've just missed something. Maybe I'm just not familiar with tanahashi (because: I'm not) and just don't know what's cool about him? I certainly didn't stumble upon any such knowledge in this ppv match or the collision match. (shrug emoji)

I did like his look, and mjf's too, though! black and cyan looked good on mjf :)c

I noticed mjf's antics very transparently in this match, which I didn't mind too much because I usually like his antics. I don't know if it's accurate, but I'm going to pretend that his handshake kick spot is a callback to his indie-mjf days and that that ties in to his whole "njpw is an indie e_e" thing. I'm imagining more depth to this match, to enjoy it more?

Match: Eh

Fun: Okay.

punk vs satoshi kojima

im a huge punk fan and i was really excited for his slowburn descent into heeldom. then he got injured twice in a row and brawl out happened for reals. That was sad. But that was then and this is now, and now I am just very excited to 1) see him back and 2) doing heelish things. I think it is cool for him to get boos. Maybe he'll do a heel thing about it.

Satoshi Kojima seems like a cool old wrestleguy with prestigious history that I'm unaware of. I am vaguely aware that he is or used to be in a tag team called tencozy, but that's the extent of my wrestling knowledge. I wouldn't mind seeing more of him.

I liked punk's roh interview reference because I was wondering if he would reference it in the match somehow and then he did. I enjoyed recognizing it. I also enjoyed his goof at the end about being confused about which tunnel to walk into: the good guy tunnel or the bad guy tunnel. It's a good bit, in part because I think a lot of people have already made a solid opinion about whether or not he's a villain. I hope he keeps teasing about being evil or not, I think it's fun and cool because I think it's entertaining when he's a sarcastic dickhead in the ring. tee hee. cm punk!! hee heeeeee

Match: Okay!

Fun: yaaayy it's punk ha ha yayyyyy

orange vs zack saber jr vs shibata vs garcia

match of the night. match of all time. what a good fucking match. all four of these wrestlers were on the same page and had a shared vision. the funniest men alive and the wrestling was great too. naming all the spots would be a lil silly on my part but: everyone taking turns kicking orange's ass, and the whole zsjr vs shibata thing with garcia were two immediate standouts that made me give this match the seal of bigtime approval before it was even close to ending. And then the ending was also good and not bad. Solid match. Gold standard. Definitely on the rubric to judge all other matches by. I loved this match.

the all atlantic championship is the greatest title in wrestling. The highs are quite high, and I don't think I've been disappointed in a match yet.

Match: Incredible. Holy shit

Fun: HELL YES !!!!

sanada vs jungle boy jack perry

what I know about sanada: not a lot. I know he is a conventionally attractive guy and certain people* have publicly talked, at length, about how kissable he looks. he is in a group called just 5 guys, and is their leader, so I'd assume that makes him the most Guy of all time?

what I know about jungle boy jack perry: he has grown out of having his character being a tarzan from the jungle, which is too bad, because without that he's kind of just A Guy, which is a little boring personality-wise. But he's does have a little bit of style and panache when it comes to wrestling and doing acrobatic moves.

Like the mjf tanahashi match, this one didn't do much for me. I dunno if following the incredible 4way match contributed to it lookin kinda mid or whatnot. But I raised my eyebrow higher at the postmatch stuff than I did anything in the actual match. Curious to see what jungle boy jack perry's next moves are, as I thought they would've built this up more before pulling the trigger on him betraying hook. He certainly has the potential to be interesting as an evil guy, and I hope he can grasp it.

*aka chuck "doesn't everyone have a list of guys from New Japan they'd want to kiss?" taylor

Match: Eh

Fun: yawn

the elite + eddie and iishi vs bcc + takeshita and umino

This match was awesome. I'm a big fan of eddie so I really liked all the angles having to do with eddie: him teaming with the young bucks just to get to claudio, his endless beef with claudio, his relationship with jon moxley. I liked how there were a lot of those and all the bits that involved those angles ruled. The extended trading of chops between moxley and eddie was cool and also funny when other people tried to get involved.

additionally, I think the young bucks are alright but they did a lot of moves in this match that made me go "oh shit!!! that was fucking cool!!!" and I can definitely see why people are big fans of the young bucks because of that.

I especially liked the ending because while eddie sabotaged the elite a bit in the match, it was his guy that won it for them in the end. the elite are a little mad, but also concerned, and eddie's brushing them off. it's all very good. I love eddie.

Match: Wow!

Fun: YES!!!

toni storm vs willow nightingale

I needed to collect myself after the previous match, I don't like the antics of the outsiders or toni storm, and I figured they wouldn't let willow have the aew women's championship in addition to the njpw strong(?) championship anyway. All these points contributed to me not focusing on this match, at all. Sorry Willow :(

Match: sorry

Fun: not really...

will ospreay vs kenny omega

what I know about these two is that they're both top-tier proficient wrestlers who are best when they're up against another proficient wrestler they can go full tilt against. And they did indeed go full tilt in this match. It was a long match full of back to back violences. I swear the end was just them exchanging finishers on each other and hanging on by a thread.

The match was very intense and materially good but here's the thing about that: I am a huge fucking weenie and it's actually too stressful for me. Also I yelped with actual irl concern when ospreay dropped kenny right on his head (was that by mistake or... is... that how you're supposed to do that move...?? Ospreay is so aggro by default I can't tell the difference). Mistake or not, the rest of the match was them out to kill each other anyway, so... Yeah.

Also! I dont know enough about either of these two's wrestle-histories to find the fun in the details and references. Only in the presence of learned Kenny Omega Experts did I nod, with only the barest of understanding, at the kamigoye implications. I am familiar with how protected one winged angel is and the connotations, so when I saw ospreay set it up I was like O_O!? NO WAY but the kickout at one was simultaneously a WHOA and a Phew... But it's like, not a fun kind of stress? Maybe it's because I'm also not really a fan of ospreay :/

Double also, and I do think this is personally interesting to consider the distinction here, but the way I go "grr, you nefarious heel!" at someone like punk or cage and the way I go "grr, you nefarious heel!" at don callis is totally different and I cant pin down why. I don't find it fun to hate on Don Callis for whatever reason, I just think he's dastardly! My suspension of disbelief breaks, and instead of enjoying the narrative I am left grumpy. Like come on, how can he get away with returning to the ring after being thrown out! Sure, the ref might have been preoccupied making sure these two competitors were still breathing, but still... grr! Is that not DQ worthy!? It is his job to be hated, and I do hate him, beyond all logic and reason. I also got genuinely peeved when I watched that orange vs pac vs omega match from way back when and him cheating was the reason omega won. Even though it's predetermined or whatever, still, I'm like: augh!!! No!!! I guess it's a testament to his heelish ability to work me through my various layers of detached irony. But it's not fun. Hmph!!! I'm still hung up on him returning after being kicked out!! Ugh!!! Boo!!!!!

(this is probably exactly how people feel about punk too, now that i think about it. lmao. I wonder how that works...)

Match: Holy shit! Intense!! O_O

Fun: No :(

sting, darby, and tetsuya naito vs jericho, sammy, and minoru suzuki

I actually tuned this whole match out because I was recovering from the previous one. Not even a single brain cell left to process this. That being said, I did end up rewatching it the next day.

I do not care for sammy or darby in general, and this match did not change that. I liked tetsuya naito being a goof at sammy in the beginning, if his character is this slow/casual/lazy disrespect I think that's really cool! Minoru Suzuki is just a total badass and I'm so glad he got a "murder grandpa" chant from the crowd lmaooo. Jericho was funny, jumping excitedly for suzuki to tag him in and his sting yell impression bit shortly after. Sting was cool, I hope he didn't get too hurt from the table spot because I thought it was strange he just hobbled away during the jericho-naito pin fall attempt instead of doing something about that.

Match: tis alright

Fun: a little, actually! yeah!

bryan danielson vs kazuchika okada

the big main event. The big serious main event. Because it's going to be so serious, I will point out that the part of intro vid where danielson is on a mountain and looking at the wrestling footage in the sky was really really funny and made me laugh.

The handful of brain cells I had recovered by ignoring the previous match were immediately burned up by the time danielson's entrance finished. I can't believe they got the song. Anyway, I was too burned out from all the wrestling to process this match (I remember a lot of dropkicks, and I didn't expect the finish) so I rewatched it again the next day.

There were indeed a bunch of dropkicks, and they were cool! This is a very wrestle heavy match where a lot of wrestling took place. I usually appreciate shenanigans and there weren't a whole lot of those in here, but that's fine, I still found things to enjoy (like danielson returning a dropkick to okada on the outside of the ring after he got 2x dropkicked?) This match was intense like ospreay vs omega, but unlike that one it was less stressful because it was more grapple-heavy and that's less risky looking to me. Also, I like both danielson and okada. Double also, this match was not as long as ospreay vs omega so it did not wear me out.

I've seen only a handful of recent okada matches and im a fan for when he goes sicko mode and looks like :| and starts overkill kicking people. He kinda had one of those moments in the match I think, which was cool! I also didn't realize how tall he was until he walked danielson back to the middle of the ring.

Danielson loves to sell. He will find any excuse to sell. I think i remember reading something about him thinking it's really funny to trick people and tell lies (and also dramatically sell fake injuries), which checks out because when his foot got stuck in that ramp that one time a whole back he toooootally seized the opportunity to pretend he was greviously injured. Anyway, that's all to say that he also pulled that in this match, which I think would probably come of as kinda weird and maybe off-putting if you were watching it in real time. But with the hindsight superpowers afforded to me by watching the match later I know his arm got injured at some point so I guess he did that seizure bit so he can sell his arm being incapacitated to the crowd? Thinking about it from that angle, I think its pretty cool that danielson and okada were adaptable enough to change the end section of their match to account for it. I will just continue to hope and assume every scary injury I see from danielson in the moment is just him overly selling. <:)

Match: they put the "professional" in "professional wrestling"

Fun: sure!

--

Anyway that's all my words about wrestling! I hope you also enjoyed the ppv, or at least had fun bits you liked from it. It was a lot of wrestling to watch! I wish we got Adam Cole vs Tom Lawlor, but hey, stuff happens. Apparently Cole was running a fever? I hope he gets well soon!

[angelfishofthelord]

number 10 for your birthday angst prompts!!

Prompt: you know I'm not real

(set in s11 after cas has said yes to lucifer)

They’re driving down the interstate at 3 am. Hannah has the passenger window rolled down. The shape of the Andromeda Galaxy shimmers off the slope of the front windshield.

“How are you?” Hannah asks, turning to face him.

“I’m fine.” Castiel tips his forehead into the base of his left hand.

The other angels hate you “That’s not true.” Hannah smiles sadly.

Castiel rewinds the scene further back. The Continental is parked at the side of the road. Zinnias are growing in the field behind them. The sun warms the space between the back of his neck and the coat collar.

Hannah rests a hand on his shoulder. “How are you?”

In the distance Lucifer stubs his toe on a corner of Heaven’s hallways.

“I’m fine.” Castiel raises his eyebrows for emphasis.

“No, you’re not.” She lets her fall down to his. He doesn’t feel a thing when her fingers fold over his. “You must take care of yourself, Castiel.”

He nods. “I know.”

“You’re dispensable,” she continues, her hold around his knuckles tightening. “You know that, don’t you?”

“Get thee behind me, Satan.” Castiel whips his head around and they’re back in the car, driving down the interstate. The road loops around like an endless banana peel. Hannah sits next to him and names every planet in the Andromeda Galaxy. She’s on number one billion and fourteen million two thousand five hundred fifty when Lucifer’s jaw cracks through the windshield glass.

“Peek-a-boo,” Lucifer hisses.

“Fuck off.” Castiel swerves sharply to the right, and the car crashes into a pine tree that’s sprouted suddenly in the middle of the road. Hannah’s head comes flying clean off with a slice from the windshield shards.

“The other angels. They hate you,” her bleeding neck stump says.

Castiel flees deeper into himself. He hoards fragments of scenes like stolen treasure. Tucks them into the smallest corners of his vessel and mind. He goes back to the gas station, where he and Hannah sit on the hood of the Continental and drink Blue Raspberry Slushies. The coldness gives him a headache.

Hannah dips her forehead against the side of his arm and laughs.

At the bottom of the plastic drink cups Castiel finds the one billion fourteen million two thousand five hundred fifty-first planet. He holds it between his thumb and forefinger for Hannah to see.

“What should we name this one?”

Hannah smiles lightly. “You know I’m not real.”

He rewinds the scene. They're sitting on the hood of the Continental, this time outside a Gas n Sip. There aren’t any planets in the bottom of his cup this time so he picks up a pebble from under the left car tire and holds it up

“What should we name this one?”

Hannah smiles lightly. “How about Iphigenia? It’s from a Greek myth, did you know that?”

Castiel knows who Iphigenia is. She was a human sacrifice killed by her father in order to appease the gods. He pulls his knees up to his chest and leans his head on Hannah’s shoulder. “I didn’t know that. Tell me the story.”

Some humans have a different version. Sometimes Iphigenia doesn’t die. She is saved at the last minute by a benevolent goddess who has mercy on her and swamps her place with a deer. Lucifer comes tearing through the fabric of the summer sky before Hannah even finishes the first sentence. There will be no deer to substitute for Castiel. He steps up onto the altar willingly.

[keithrm]

I Can't. I Know.

Originally Written and Posted on 1/12/2013, edited in 2024

Last night, as I fell through consciousness and floated toward dreamland, I found myself in a community.  The collection of homes and small buildings quickly morphed into a single, large communal dwelling.  I was in one of two primary living rooms within that dwelling.  There was a nameless, tall, thin, Nubian woman in the room with me.  She approached me seductively, leaning in for a kiss. As she did, several other people entered the room.  I gently backed away, saying, “I can’t.”

Then my eye caught a man.  He was also tall and thin, his skin a smooth mocha color, his hair short.  I was fascinated with his eyes. He was one of those African Americans with light color eyes that are always stunning.  I asked him what color his eyes were.  I could not tell if they were blue, grey, or green.  He said, “They’re blue.”  Slowly, like a fine film camera move, my vision floated in toward one of his eyes.  My view grew closer and close until all I could see was the iris itself.  It was beyond blue, a sort of soft pastel rainbow that shifted and flowed.  I was fascinated by it and asked, “How do you get that color?”  He replied softly, “Rainbow drops.”  Suddenly, but not in a shocking way, I realized he was preparing to kiss me.  At that moment, I heard some crying and bawling behind me.  I backed away and said, “I can’t.”

I turned to see what was going on.  Laying on a sofa was my last ex, Elizabeth.  Sitting beside her was a woman whom I recognized as a friend of hers, but I do not know the woman in real life, the knowledge of friendship tied strictly to the dream.  The friend had a large pillow over Elizabeth’s face and upper body, almost completely concealing her, but not smothering.  Only the maker of dreams knows how I knew it was Elizabeth.  She was crying and beating her hands against the sofa in a childlike temper tantrum.  The friend was using the pillow to keep her contained as she tried to soothe Elizabeth with calming words.  I got up and went over to Elizabeth, the pillow still covering her face and upper body.  I gently took her hand and she quieted down almost immediately, like a child who had just gotten a boo-boo kissed.

The dream swerved and I was in my private space in the distant back of the massive communal dwelling.  It was time for sleep, and within my dream, I dreamt.  In my dream within a dream, I wondered why I could not kiss the man.  I realized that, while I enjoy a close connection with males, a connection that I do not have, I am not gay, and I do not want that form of connection.  Then within my dream’s dream, I wondered why I could not kiss the woman.  My inner dream revealed to me that I couldn’t share physical contact without certain feelings and words.  My dreamed dream mulled over the idea that I can carry out the acts, but I cannot perform.  I cannot enjoy without the words and feelings.  I can’t.

As my dreamer’s dream focused on these questions, my dream dreaming self was awoken by a loud commotion.  In the top-layer dream, I sprang up and began running from my place of exile in the far back corners, out through the hallways, maneuvering toward the main areas of the large communal maze.  Bouncing off walls in a frantic dash, I fought my way into one of the living areas.  In the adjoining living room – more of a foyer – was Elizabeth.  She put down some luggage and began to cross the floor, entering the living room I was in.  I sat on the sofa, shaken and concerned, asking, “Are you all right?”  She said, “Yes.” I wailed, “Oh thank god,” and I began to weep.  My tears were a mixture of joy in her safety, and sadness at my loss.

She was suddenly in front of me, sitting on the floor.  As my tears flowed, I held her hand, kissing and caressing her fingers.  She has a small mole at the base of her left thumb, and while some see such a thing as a distortion, to me it is a sign of her uniqueness, and I kissed it gently.  She kept saying softly, almost weeping herself, “I am sorry. I can’t.”  I said sadly, “I know.”

My real life self was startled awake.  So deep and intense was the dream, I did not perceive the nearby train as it ran past, it feeling more like the opening roar of the apocalypse.  When my living mind finally recognized the normal event, I became aware of the dream and refreshed it in my mind, wanting to hold onto it, making a mental point that I must jot down notes when the intended beginning of my day arrived.  In that mental refreshing, I drifted off again.

I was outside.  The day was cloud covered and dreary.  Everything was lit well enough to see, but there were no shadows, that sagging grey feeling was all around me.  I recognized the area as a part of the university campus that I often traveled through years ago, but that recognition was twisted and dream woven.  It was both outside and inside, open, but not fully.  It was the campus, but also a commonly visited movie theater.  It was today, but it was another day, and yet another day.  It was all these things at once.

Elizabeth and I passed by each other, walking in opposite directions. Time and time again we passed.  My feelings were heavy and deep with sadness.  I fought back tears.  With each passing, one of us would say, “I can’t,” and the other would respond, “I know.”  Each taking turn with the negative greeting, and the other taking turn with the acknowledgment.

Then we both entered a movie theater, but it was not like any theater I have seen, as there was no screen.  We both looked for a seat not knowing the other was doing the same.  We took seats only to realize we were sitting near each other.  Elizabeth looked at me, and with great sadness said, “I can’t.”  I replied equally sadly, “I know.”

Her friend from the dream within a dream appeared, and Elizabeth’s sorrow turned to joy as the two clasp hands.  I felt her joy and was happy for her.  Again, Elizabeth said to me, though this time with a touch of comfort, “I can’t.”  I smiled at her and said with understanding, “I know.”  The three of us left the theater and entered an area that resembled the corridor of a large mall.  The friend, who I knew only in the dream itself, began to lead us all to a secluded spot. There was an unspoken understanding that the three of us would unite in a blood-brother style ceremony, with Elizabeth at the center. I woke.  The dreams connected together, their feelings and focus so crisp and sharp they seemed more like reality.

[captainconvey]

Joe Biden Is A Liar And Evil

The facts are that Joe Biden’s wife accidentally drove into the path of the tractor-trailer. She was killed, along with their baby daughter. His two sons were seriously injured.

For decades, Joe Biden lied about the cause of the accident as he exploited the accident to promote his candidacy.

He shamefully changed the details of the story, claiming the driver was drunk and responsible for the accident.

Alcohol was not involved. Somehow the police reports were lost. But, fortunately,  Delaware Superior Court Judge Jerome O. Herlihy, who oversaw the police investigation as chief prosecutor, remembered. He said there is no evidence supporting Biden’s claim.

“The rumor about alcohol being involved by either party, especially the truck driver (Dunn), is incorrect,” Herlihy said in 2008.

Police determined that Biden’s first wife drove into the path of Dunn’s tractor-trailer, possibly because her head was turned and she didn’t see the oncoming truck.

Dunn did everything he could to avoid hitting the car. He even overturned his rig while swerving to avoid a collision. He ran to the wrecked car and was the first to render assistance.

Police filed no charges against Dunn, who at that time lived in North East, Md. with his wife, Ruby, and their seven children.

Beginning in the new Millenium, Biden started to embellish the story, seemingly for political gain. During a speech in 2001, Biden told an audience at the University of Delaware that a drunken driver crashed into his family.

He told a similar story during a public appearance in 2007.

The vice-presidential candidate’s misrepresentation of Dunn found its way into major newspapers, including the New York Times.

It also has been repeated on radio and on television by major news journalists, including CBS anchorwoman Katie Couric.

A video of Biden making his unfounded assertion during a public appearance in 2007 was particularly disturbing.

Biden told the crowd, “A tractor-trailer, a guy who allegedly — and I never pursued it — drank his lunch instead of eating his lunch, broadsided my family and killed my wife instantly and killed my daughter instantly and hospitalized my two sons …

Mr. Dunn was tormented by the accident for years.

Biden continues the big lie in Hawaii. Makes sick jokes.

Captain Convey Note

Joe Biden is a 100% fraud.

He didn't win the 2020 election.

Jan 6, 2021 Dictator Installed Via A Preplanned Coup

A mail in ballot is not a verified vote.

Dominion Voting machines, in 29 states, software can move Trump votes to democrates!

Read it for yourself. 

https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/VotingSystems/DVS-DemocracySuite511/documentation/UG-RTR-UserGuide-5-11-CO.pdf storyreportscomments.blogspot.com/2020/11/dominion-operations-manual-on-how-to.html

Inside The Dominion Voting Machine Black Box

Sidney Powell was right. The 2020 election was stolen by democrates.

Joe Biden is a FRAUD president.

The FAKE news is lying to coverup the 2020 election FRAUD.

Corporations are being pressured to lie about the 2020 election especially fox news.

Lawsuits filed in the 2020 election were all denied.

Dominion voting machines were manipulated to steal the 2020 election.

Ballot fraud in many states because of the covid pandemic was also used to steal the 2020 election.

The Dominion systems manual can be found at the following link:

Here is what you can do to help prevent our country from being destroyed via national and local election fraud.

(1) Read and understand this post about Real-Time Analysis of voting.

(2) Urge President Trump to employ Real-Time Analysis in his election campaign strategy.

(3) Repost this important Real-Time Analysis of voting cure for election fraud everywhere!

MAGA votes only matter if Real-Time Analysis of voting is employed to keep elections from being stolen.

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (174): Mon 5th Sep 2022

Avoided going on my phone all day at work so I wouldn't have the results from AEW All Out spoiled for me. As soon as I got home I ordered a pizza and flung the pay per view on. Despite all my criticism of AEW (booking and backstage) this was still a stacked card and I was majorly excited to see the main matches which I was sure would deliver. The finals of the Trios tournament pitting The Elite against Hangman Adam Page and the Dark order was really action packed even though the Dark Order's involvement seemed like an afterthought. The highlight of the match was Jon Silver's great roll-through counter to the One Winged Angel. This guy is tremendous and personally although I'm sure the other Dark Order guys are really nice I would get this stable broken up, repackage Alex Reynolds and Preston Vance as a new tag team and give Jon Silver a singles run as I think he could get himself majorly over as a Mickey Whipwreck / Spike Dudley underdog type. I know AEW feels the need to keep Dark Order around mainly out of respect to Brodie Lee but it's just not working anymore. This stable (What's left of it) already feels like a relic of a bygone age and it's only three years old. As good as this match was it fell short of the next match pitting Swerve In Our Glory (Still an awful name) against The Acclaimed for the tag titles. The Acclaimed have gotten themselves massively over in the last two months or so and put on a great performance tonight, more than keeping up with Swerve and Keith Lee. It was evident that the crowd really fucking wanted The Acclaimed to win as they were full on booing Swerve and Lee but sadly they were booked to lose. They can't not be the next champions while I suspect Tony Khan might be reluctant to putting the titles on The Aclaimed because Max Caster is seen as a loose cannon I personally think it's worth the risk (He's certainly more trustworthy than Jeff Hardy). The match between Jungle Boy and Christian Cage turned into an angle rather than a match as Luchasaurus gave JB a nasty chokeslam onto a steel stage leaving Christian to pick up the pieces and win. First off I'm really happy that they've started referring to Jungle Boy as "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry as I think this is a much better moniker. Secondly although I was disappointed we didn't get the match I understand that Tony has realized Christian has mega heat at the moment and is trying to ride the wave which will make the eventual match between him and JB even better so bravo. The House of Black vs Darby / Sting / Miro was a fun brawl and the end with Sting spitting black mist into Black's face was really satisfying. I really hope Tony Khan sorts out the Malakai Black situation because he's so god damn talented and entertaining to watch and I would much prefer him to stay in AEW. The CM Punk / Jon Moxley match was really good with plenty of heat, near-falls, blood and drama. However the real drama didn't start until later that night in the post show media scrum where Punk let loose on Colt Cabana, Adam Page, and The Elite for spreading the rumour that Punk got Cabana fired from AEW. I think the first thing to point out is that no-one got Cabana fired as he still works for AEW and to be brutally honest the company has never really done anything with the guy. The second he arrived they stuck him in The Dark Order and if sticking a bright, loud, comedic character in a dark, villainous stable isn't a sign you have no creative ideas for them then I don’t know what is. I can remember Cabana competing in two matches for AEW: vs Chris Jericho, Bryan Danielson and they were spaced incredibly far apart so you can't really say Cabana was having a prosperous run in AEW before Punk showed up. Secondly, from all the reports I've seen about this situation I can't remember seeing one that alleged Punk said to Tony "You either get rid of Cabana or I' not coming", I don't think that's the rumour that's been getting spread for the last few months. I think the accusations were more aimed towards Tony Khan than at Punk, that he realized there coud be tensions between Punk and Cabana so decided to switch Cabana back to ROH so the two wouldn't encounter one another. Whatever the case Hangman Page clearly did feel as though Punk had something to do with Cabana being sent back to ROH as he alluded to it during his standoff with Punk a few months ago. Personally I didn't even catch the "worker's rights" line during his promo or if I did I didn't realize it was a reference to Punk and Cabana. I've got to admit I think I side with Punk on this one. If he felt that Cabana not being on AEW due to Punk was unjust then he should have aimed his comments at Tony Khan not CM Punk. Whoever is to blame it looks like the honeymoon period is certainly over for AEW. The fact that AEW is a fresh alternative to WWE is no longer enough to satisfy certain people in the company. Also Tony Khan clearly wants to be seen as a friend first and a boss second which I get is an attractive quality in a boss but such a mentality can occasionally lead to shit shows like this media scrum. I'm not sure how he's going to go about correcting this shit but hopefully it will all get resolved and at the very least will lead to more eyes on the product.

[seventeen-scenarios-blog]

74 + Seungkwan + fluffy fluff for the drabble game? Thank you and congrats on 2k!! I loove the writing you guys always come out with :')) ♡♡♡ - jam anon

74: “I wanted to see you so much” (Say Yes)

A/N: YAY!!!! finally got around to posting this, (admin wooed is a very strong motivator), I hope you enjoy this jam anon!! 

- hoshit 💕

Genre: fluffy fluff floof fluffffff

Word Count: 895

Warnings: none!

It’s raining so hard, you think to yourself, the loud thundering of the skies sometimes making you jump. It’s another late night for you, since you had to rush out an essay due the next day that you put off till the last possible moment. Luckily, it’s mostly finished, and all you had to do was to rearrange and format it.

The kettle whistles, and you brew yourself a cup of tea, your thoughts turning to your boyfriend and his grousing of having a late night of practice, smiling contently because while he complained about practice, it was obvious to see that he loved being an idol and everything that came along with it.

Ready to get back to work, you head out of the kitchen, when loud hammering on your door startles you and you hurriedly put down your mug of tea before sparing the clock a quick glance, checking that yes, it really is 1AM and there really is a lunatic banging on my door now.

You move quietly to the door, not wishing to inform whoever it was that you were still awake, even though the light that can be seen under the door would have given it away. Tiptoeing, you look through the peephole, and see absolutely nothing.

Idiot, you cursed, it’s 1AM of course there’s no light outside, why did I even think that I was going to see anything?

You debate switching on the light outside your house, when you hear a familiar voice from behind the door.

“It’s me, open up! It’s cold out here!”

Of course, the madman would be your boyfriend Seungkwan, and you hurriedly fling open the door to reveal him in all his wet glory.

“I wanted to see you so much,” Seungkwan huffs, the rain dripping down his head, trickling down and making a puddle at your doorsteps,

“You’re insane,” you grin, wrapping your arms around this beautiful, half-drowned boy who ran through the rain just to see you.

“Stop, I’ll get you all wet,” he complains, struggling to get out of your grip while you laugh and tighten your hug for a moment, before pushing him away playfully.

“I’ll get you a towel first, just stay put,” you instruct him, running back into your apartment to get the biggest towel you have, returning quickly to engulf him in it and drag him into the toilet, his change of clothes already waiting there.

His grateful smile gives you pause, and for a moment you two stand there smiling at each other, the ridiculousness of the situation forgotten in each other’s proximity.

He boots you out of the toilet, “I’m going to change now and you’re welcome to watch,” the back part of his sentence muffled as you kick the door shut quickly in his face to avoid hearing the rest of what would definitely be an inappropriate statement, and his loud boyish laughter, definitely audible even with a closed door, drifts by your room.

You retrieve your tea from the living room and return to your work, only to be interrupted minutes later by a clingy Seungkwan who insisted on staring at your work from behind you. Playfully, you kick at his legs and he wails as he topples onto your bed, flopping around as if he had been hit by a truck, before settling, knowing that you really had to do your work, and contents himself by playing a mobile game.

There is blissful silence for about ten minutes, before it is broken once again by Seungkwan.

“It’s been 84 years, come here and cuddle with me,” Seungkwan whines from the bed, his legs and arms outstretched towards you, flailing wildly and somewhat resembling an octopus, and you stifle your laugh at how childish he was being.

“I’m still checking through, just give me a few more minutes,” you sing, your mood inordinately cheerful at that time of the night. The presence of Seungkwan was probably to blame for that, as well as the knowledge that once you finished your work, you could rest until the afternoon as the essay was due then.

You quickly finish up, sighing happily at the sound of the printer that was printing out the last pages of your essay, and put everything away neatly before jumping into bed and crashing into Seungkwan.

He pulls up the sheets and the two of you lie in content silence, the sound of the rain soothing to your ears, before something that he said previously sinks in.

“84 years? We’d be old and wrinkly then,” you snort, poking his sides as he squirms away from you while trying to poke you back.

“So? We’d still be the same, just that I’d have to chase you around in your wheelchair and you’d probably knock around into things and then we’d get kicked out of the nursing home for being too rowdy,” Seungkwan smiles fondly, tangling your legs with his.

Your reply was a mutter of assent, eyes having closed in languor, a hand around his waist and your head on his arm. It would hurt in the morning, but Seungkwan really could not care less at this point, tucking a strand of hair behind your ears. He snuggles closer to you, and closes his eyes, smiling.

“I’m glad I have you,” he whispers out loud.

“Shut up and let me sleep.”

[onthecourtbugs]

i’m absolutely obsessed with the way you write jason, so anything jason silver lmao

Checkered Shirt

Pairing: Jason Silver x Reader

Warning(s): Stingy Jason

A/N: This is SO random but I had too much fun with it. 😫  

Summary: Jason didn’t like sharing food, this we all know. But who knew he was stingy with clothes too?

————-

You had fallen back into a Ciara phase, and currently had “Like a Boy” playing while you were in your room trying to think of what to cook.

Trying being the keyword here, because you kind of got distracted while singing and dancing around your room.

You stroked your chin with one hand as you sing-flirted with the mirror that sat on your dresser.

“Tell you I love you, but when you call, I never get back!”

Even now, listening to the song was still guaranteed to get you in that mood.

But something wasn’t quite right. You eyed Jason’s side of the closet and grinned when you spotted what you were after: One of his checkered shirts.

Sure, you practically drowned in it, but you just rolled up the sleeves and left it unbuttoned.

You stole one of his hats too, then strolled back to the mirror, keeping your movements fluid and unbothered. Like you’d seen Jason do a million and ten times.

You checked yourself out now, humming to the music and twisting your wedding ring around to hide the gem.

“What if I, had a thing on the side?”

“Made you cry?”

You tilted the hat down over your eyes, then jutted your chin out and curled your top lip as if you were disgusted with the mirror.

“Sometimes I wish I could act like a boy!”

You got so caught up in your “heartless player” role, that you didn’t notice your husband in the doorway. He came up to ask you what was taking dinner so long but now he was just enjoying he show.

Jason watched you goof off for a hot minute, trying not to crack up.

Your little behind in his gigantic shirt, grabbing your crotch and mean-mugging the mirror was too much.

You were in the middle of swerving your imaginary hooptie when he couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“Bae, what are you doing?!”

You pinched the brim of your hat between your thumb and forefinger, twisted it around to face the back, then pointed at him while you body rolled aggressively.

You weren’t bae. You were boo and he’d do well to get it right.

“Sometimes I wish I did act like a boy!”

————-

He had a good time kee-kee’ing it up, but it wasn’t funny anymore when you ended up getting attached to that shirt of his.

You weren’t sure what it was made out of, but it felt amazing and you kept stealing it much to Jason’s annoyance.

Which, whatever, he doesn’t even wear it all that often.

But now that you’d gotten attached to it, he had to pretty much wrestle it off your body whenever he wanted to wear it.

If he didn’t snatch it from the dryer before you did, there was a tussle.

So when he searched the dryer for his checkered shirt today and couldn’t find it, he knew what was up.

“Bae!”

“What?”

“Where’s my checkered shirt?”

You poked your head out the bathroom. “Huh?”

“Huh?” He mocked. “Where. Is. My. Checkered shirt.”

You thought about it. “W.....which one?”

“I only got one checkered shirt and I know you wearing it.”

Your guilty response was to duck back into the bathroom and lock the door.

“Y/N!!!”

“Bro, just find a different shirt!”

“Girl what? You better gimme back my shirt!”

That door came back open real quick.

“I don’t think I like your tone!”

Jason rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry. You know I love you.”

He offered a hug, which you accepted even though you gave him squinty eyes first.

The minute he got his arms around you, though, he hooked his fingers under the hem of your(his?) shirt and yanked it upwards, taking it clean off and ran with it.

“JAY! UGH!”

“You find a different shirt! This mines!”

————-

It didn’t end there, and Jason was beginning to realize it never would.

He was chasing you down the stairs one day, since you got brave and put on his checkered shirt again.

He so close to grabbing you but in a last ditch effort, you vaulted over the banister at the last moment, twisted around like a cat mid-air, and landed on the ground below in a rather crisp superhero landing.

Jason stopped on the stairs for a minute, not really believing he saw what he just saw.

Was he married to a stunt double, what kind of Iron Man/Black Widow mess was that?!

All this time he been trying to get you to exercise and this is when you choose to give a hundred ten percent?!

You threw him a sly look over your shoulder before sprinting off.

You were never going to give up your precious.

Jason sucked his teeth, waved you off, and went back upstairs. This was not worth it. Not for no damn shirt. Maybe later he could hide it or something…

[cheelduh]

How to bet your way into someone’s heart. (Highschool AU)

Pairing: Childe x fem!reader

Warnings: Fake weed. Poor Signora smh. Oh yes, lots of swearing. UNEDITED ASF IM LAZY BYE.

Synopsis: Childe is being an infatuated idiot, Lisa has eyes for vending machine chocolate, and Kaeya is desperately in need of a pencil. With all these distractions, there’s no way in hell you’ll be able focus on the task at hand.

This is crack.

I don’t have time.

You think as you race down the hallway, shoes slapping against the floor as you expertly dodge multiple students in your way.

Bullet. You're as fast as a bullet, because everyone around you is a blur and you don't stop, can't stop, not until you meet your target.

It's funny how one can accomplish many challenges and feats they were unable to, merely due to pressure. Pressure is a twisted ugly thing that can gnaw its way into the pit of your stomach and grow like a parasite. Pressure is a parasite that can either bring the best in you, or the worst, but at the cost of one's peace of mind.

"Move it Signora!" You shouted a warning at the senior blocking your way. There wasn't any time for you slow down at that point, and you'd risk bumping into the breakfast club's stall if you swerved to the side, sending juice flying everywhere.

Signora's eyes widened momentarily, getting the gist albeit her anger, and choosing to back up flatly against the locker.

Her lipstick nearly slips from her fingers as you swerve past, a thick gust of wind in your wake.

It messes with the hair she woke up two hours early for.

Signora plots her revenge. You still don't have time.

You nearly kick the door to your home room down, but you can't risk the perfect image your teachers have of you. So you pat down your t-shirt, take five tempting deep breaths, and tentatively knock the door.

The door opens and you're met with a young man, familiar amber pupils welcoming you.

You try not to huff and puff at the cost of your stamina. Thinking back, there's no way in hell you could have physically been that fast.

"Good morning Y/N," Your homeroom teacher gives you a small smile, moving aside to let you in. "Class is just about to start."

You check your watch, then turn to him with an apologetic tone, trying not to crack under the eyes of your classmates. "I'm so sorry Mr.Zhongli, I slept through my alarm."

Your idiot ass forgot to set one because you studied till four in the morning.

"You're like thirty seconds late, cut the shit." Beidou boos from the back, causing your stance to stiffen.

"I don't wanna hear it Beidou. If anything, you're two periods earlier than usual." Ningguang calls her out for you, but you have a feeling it's more so on behalf of a personal vendetta.

Ignoring the two bickering, Mr.Zhongli gives you the handout. "Take a seat. Do not fret over such minuscule things dear."

Relief washes over you. Your impeccable attendance is not on the line.

Childe tries to flag you down next to him but you send him a pointed glare and sit next to Lisa instead.

"You should give him a chance you know." Lisa doesn't even have to open her eyes to know what's going on.

"Please," You scoff, digging through your bags to collect your notes. "As if I have the time to fool around with a shady kid like him."

Your friend sighs in disapproval, and makes no move to take out her own notes as Mr.Zhongli begins the lecture on the Archon war.

"You should really pay attention." It bothers you that she doesn't, but then again it's not your place to tell her what to do or not to do.

"I don't need to." She yawns, blinking an eye open towards you. "I have you after all."

"I'm tired of saving your ass." You groan and pull a pen out of your pocket to get started on the exercises as Mr.Zhongli talks in the background.

The course outline contained all the topic, and you made sure to teach yourself as much as you could before class to stay ahead.

Immersed in the worksheet, you blinked away your sleep and tried to answer as many questions as you could at the moment. You didn't hear the slight shift next to you, and the change of breathing, or the rate of which time went by.

A familiar scent makes its way into your nostrils.

"Lisa. Why do you smell like mango juul juice." You know the scent from when Signora blew a mango flavoured fog in your face yesterday at lunch when you said you were hungry.

A chuckle erupts and you freeze in place. "That's because I'm not Lisa."

You blink. Once, twice, and then crane your head to the side to meet a pair of teasing cerulean eyes.

Fingers loosening in shock, the pen drops on the desk with a short thud.

You whisk your head towards the front of the classroom, and Mr.Zhongli is nowhere to be seen.

"There's no saving you now." Childe's smirk widens, and he scoots closer to you. "Mr.Zhongli had to get something from the staff room. The staff room is near the cafeteria."

"Which is also near the merch stall." You grumbled, bringing both hands to massage your temples as a headache is beginning it's reign.

"Tsk tsk. Smart girl. I'd like to add that he's forgotten his wallet in his office as well, which is in the south wing."

"Son of a..." You mutter underneath your breath, and opt to scoot further back, but your efforts are futile because your desk is in a corner.

Your next beacon of hope is Lisa, so you scan the room full of chattering students, only to find her pestering her crush, Jean.

Shit...there's nothing getting you out of this one.

"What did it take?" Is your only question, the despair starting to brew. How much did it take for your best friend to betray you?

"A dollar and fifty for vending machine chocolate."

You take a moment to breathe, calming your nerves and burying down the urge to screech. "What will it take?"

"For what?" Childe replies back innocently, and you can't believe how fast he can change masks. You almost give in.

"For you to leave me alone."

"Aww come on girlie," He whines, closing in the distance. "Don't be so cold."

What did your mom tell you that one time? Oh yes. That if you were ever backed against a wall, then just break the damn thing down.

Too bad it's figurative. You're just about ready to sock him in the face if you didn't know he was into that sort of thing.

"I'm serious about you," He says, and it sounds so real, so genuine, nearly makes you sputter. "See? I've even bought school supplies.

He unzips his light backback and spills the contents on the table.

A lone piece of paper flies out, a lighter, and a mechanical pencil with no lead that follows straight after. There's also a pocket knife that you choose to ignore.

You're not the least bit surprised.

"First of all, how the fuck are you passing this class. Second, do you really think I'm into nerds?"

"Well, considering that you are a nerd—"

"You're making things worse."

"My bad, my bad." He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "But on a serious note. I'll do anything."

You cross your arms. "I'm not just another one of your conquests Childe. It's not like I have the time. There are better things to do."

"You need to relax." He says so simply, with complete disregard as to what you are trying to say.

"I am relaxed." You reply, picking up your pen to continue your work. If he's going to annoy you, then you might as well get shit done while he's at it.

You're not wasting any more time.

"When was the last time you got a full eight hours of sleep?" His voice is soft, too soft, and it's not at all like the Childe you know.

Your pen stops momentarily, but you will yourself to continue writing. The words look fumbled, but you don't care. The best thing to do is get your work done and ignore the idiot next to you.

"C'mon, Zhongli won't be back for another half an hour at least. Let's go." He kicks the bottom of your chair to urge you.

The pen shakes in your hand, and you narrow your eyes at the paper, digging holes into poor question eight. "I'm trying to work here. Let me work." You'll say anything to get him off your back.

"Fine fine fine..." He raises both hands in mock surrender. "I'll stop bothering you."

Your ears perk up at that, and you turn to him so fast he has to hold in his laugh. "Really?"

"Yeah," Childe nods along, bringing your hopes up. "If you win a bet, that is." And they're back to ocean level.

You roll your eyes. There's always a catch. That doesn't mean you're any less interested.

"What's the bet?" You ask curiously, all your focus now on him. Just as he longed for from the very start.

He flicks a thumb towards the door, leaning closer to whisper next to your ear. "We bet when Zhongli comes back."

"Are you kidding me?" You aren't bothered at all at the close proximity, mainly because you're too tired and only care about the freedom that will come with your win.

Childe, however, is a completely different story. His heart is beating a thousand times a second, but his face doesn't show it. Not one bit.

Kaeya leans in from the seat behind you two, interested in what's going on. "Ooooh secrets."

"Shut up Kaeya." Childe and you monotonously drone in sync, still having your little staring contest.

The captain of the skating team smiles, about to ask—

"No. We don't have an extra pencil. Even if we did we wouldn't give it to you." Childe finally breaks his gaze to scare off Kaeya.

Kaeya raises a smug brow, and leans back in his chair like the jerkwad he is. "Then don't let me keep you two love birds."

That's all it takes for him to earn Childe's unwavering respect and loyalty for as long as he lives.

After the two are done creating an elaborate handshake as a mark of their newfound friendship, you decide to just forget about the handout. It's not like you're getting anything done anyways.

"Anyways, back to the bet." Childe says, resting his cheek on his fist as he stares at you dreamily. You try not to break under his gaze.

"If I win, you have to go on a date with me."

"No way in hell—"

"Then I'll bother you for the rest of highschool."

Highschool is eternity. You don't want to live through an eternity of this.

"Fine." You answer, and for the first time he sees genuine fear in your face, it makes him waver slightly. Not enough for him to pity you.

"If I win..." You trail, thinking loud and clear as you ignore the excited chatter of your classmates. "I want you to pay attention to class."

"What?" He exclaims incredulously, blinking in disbelief. "I thought you'd get me to stop talking to you altogether."

"If you're paying attention in class, you don't bother me as much and your grades go up." You grin smartly, and oh archons it livens his entire day up, and it's only nine in the morning.

"You care about my grades?" Childe bites back a smile.

"Not at all." You lie, and quickly look away. Woah the floor tile looking trippy.

He decides it's better to get on with the bet without causing you any more distress. After all, you've given him such cute facial expressions today. He's feeling quite generous.

Pulling out his cracked-as-shit latest model phone, he unlocks it and tinkers with it a bit before turning the screen towards you.

"We'll be using this to time both of our predictions at the same time. Whoever has the closer time to when he finally swings by is the winner." The rules are simply put, no room for error.

You tilt your head in confusion. "Why am I seeing a slime review?"

"SHIT!" Childe fumbles with his phone, aggressively tapping on the screen. He lowers his head and voice as if he's been through fifty consecutive hits in the face. "It's uh, Teucer's account."

"Yeah...okay." Is all you can say.

"Ok what do you bet?" He changes the topic to unfuck the situation.

Putting a finger in your chin, you think for a minute, calculating the average of all the times Mr.Zhongli has left the classroom for a considerable amount of time.

"Fifteen minutes." You're sure of it. It's like clockwork every day.

"Hmm..." Childe crosses his arms, seemingly in deep thought. "Five minutes." He places his bet, and both timers start simultaneously.

Five minutes?! Is he serious?

You laugh inwardly. This challenge is in the bag.

The sense of victory you feel dulls when your ears pick up the echo of footsteps nearing the classroom.. Both your heads snap up to the doors.

There's something scary about Childe once his competitive side comes out. "Looks like I've won." He turns to you, eyes darkening evilly.

"What? There's no way in hell a ginger is right." Your palms are clammed up, eyebrows furrowed in panic. You calculated every single variable, how could this be?

You race to the front, Childe right on your tail as the entire class clamps up. The footsteps get louder, causing even whispers to become total silence.

Then it hits you. The shitty music about getting bitches and bars playing on the other side.

The door is swung open by Childe, and you're face to face with an idiot sophomore with a speaker in his pocket.

Childe’s grin is long gone, and you sigh in relief.

The false alarm encourages the class to return back to their idle chatter.

"Scaramouche?" Childe spits, narrowing his eyes at the unamused boy. "I thought it was Signora's shift today."

By "shift" he means being a complete dickwad and scamming fake weed to students in return for their souls. It only really works on the freshmen.

The only reason the club still runs is because Signora threatened the principal with some sus pictures she snapped of him and his assistant.

"Apparently she had an emergency." Scaramouche explains, lowering the volume on his outdated beats pill. "Something about a hair appointment because she got ran into by a, and I quote "lecherous imbecile.""

You steer clear of the conversation, finding the whiteboard far more fascinating and worth your while.

A loud cough is heard from behind the kid, and you're met with a crestfallen look on your beloved teacher's face.

You go through a whiplash of emotions, becoming completely numb towards your loss.

"They were out of slow cooked bamboo shoot soup." He sighs, handing a stack of papers to Childe, who is wearing the fattest smirk on his face at his victory. "Please hand these out to your classmates Childe, and we will begin shortly."

You check down at the timer despite knowing who’s won. Five minutes and twenty five seconds. Somehow, you don't feel as dejected as you thought you'd feel.

Maybe the date will be fun. Maybe Childe isn't so bad. Maybe...you do have time to indulge in these sort of things. If he’s so hell bent on getting your attention, perhaps it’s possible that you can make some room in your heart for him.

However, all those thoughts fly out the window when Childe hands you the new worksheet.

“I hope you're ready for our date tomorrow. We'll be sparring till sundown, and after you’ll be feeding me with chopsticks." He winks, and it makes your heart flip even though all you want right now is to go to the bathroom and barf your guts out.

Feelings are complicated.

You smile back at him nauseously, tight lipped and all, then you pull out your phone, go on maps, and search for the closest cliffs to jump off of.

After he's done, Childe slouches back in his original seat with a different kind of enthusiasm, and opens up his messages. He texts Zhongli a "thank you <3".

[wrestlingisfake]

AEW Fake Rankings, March 17

Men's singles division - babyfaces

CM Punk

Adam Page (AEW men's world champion)

Eddie Kingston

Sammy Guevara

Wardlow

Keith Lee

Swerve Strickland

Christian Cage

HOOK

Wheeler YUTA

Men's singles division - heels

Chris Jericho

MJF

Adam Cole

Scorpio Sky (AEW TNT champion)

Andrade El Idolo

Ricky Starks (FTW champion)

Daniel Garcia

Powerhouse Hobbs

Ethan Page

QT Marshall

Unranked: Cezar Bononi*, Erick Redbeard*, Fuego Del Sol, Jake Hager, Lee Moriarty, Nick Comoroto, Tony Nese

* Not listed on AEW's official roster

Six months ago it felt like AEW had a lot of big names from WWE coming in, and I was curious how that would shake out. Interestingly, quite a few of those big names have moved into the tag division, so there's way more room now than I expected for the talent that came up through the minor leagues.

Even so, it's unmistakable that CM Punk and Chris Jericho are the stars of the show right now. Adam Page may be the top champion, but to truly be taken seriously as the top dog he's going to have to put the title up against one of them, and my guess is it'll be Punk. As for Jericho, he's already put over Kingston, but I think his first one-on-one loss with this new heel run will be where he really gives someone the rub. Could be Eddie again, or perhaps Guevara.

Men's tag team division - babyfaces

Jon Moxley (GCW world champion) & Bryan Danielson

The Hardys - Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy

Darby Allin & Sting

Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy (AEW tag team champions)

Penta Obscuro & PAC

Santana & Ortiz

Top Flight - Dante Martin & Darius Martin

Alex Reynolds & John Silver

Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta

Varsity Blonds - Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrison

Men's tag team division - heels

The Young Bucks - Nick Jackson & Matt Jackson

reDRagon - Bobby Fish & Kyle O'Reilly

FTR - Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood (AAA tag team champions)

Malakai Black & Brody King & Buddy Matthews

2point0 - Matt Menard & Angelo Parker

The Acclaimed - Max Caster & Anthony Bowens

Private Party - Marq Quen & Isiah Kassidy

The Butcher & The Blade

Colten Gunn & Austin Gunn

Unranked: Alan Angels & Preston Vance, Anthony Henry* & JD Drake*, Bear Boulder & Bear Bronson, Brock Anderson & Lee Johnson, Evil Uno & Stu Grayson, Peter Avalon & Ryan Nemeth*

* Not listed on AEW's official roster

AEW helpfully got nearly every tag team booked in a couple of battle royales recently, which showed off the division in full force. But all of those teams have been overshadowed by three supergroups: Moxley-Danielson, Allin-Sting, and the reunited Hardys. Any of these teams would have to be considered heavy favorites against Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus, but none of them have gotten in line for a title shot yet. I'm real curious how AEW will keep them all from crowding out the rest of the field.

The heel side is a little light right now, and it may get lighter if the FTR storyline actually leads to a face turn. We should probably see a face team turn heel before too long. Mox and Bryan already seem kind of heelish, but nobody's going to boo them right now and AEW seems to accept that, so we'll see if that leads anywhere. It feels like something's up with the Dark Order, or at least with Alex Reynolds, but I can't imagine all three of its teams (Reynolds-Silver, Uno-Grayson, Angels-Vance) going heel.

Women's singles division - babyfaces

Thunder Rosa (AEW women's world champion)

Kris Statlander

Tay Conti

Red Velvet

Mercedes Martinez

Women's singles division - heels

Britt Baker

Jade Cargill (AEW TBS champion)

Serena Deeb

Leyla Hirsch

Jamie Hayter

The Bunny

Unranked: Angelica Risk*, Kayla Sparks*, Leila Grey*

* Not listed on AEW's official roster

There's still a lot of work to be done here, to get more women on TV regularly. It's a positive sign that we've been seeing two non-title storylines (Deeb vs. Hikaru Shida, Hirsch vs. Statlander & Velvet) in addition to Baker vs. Rosa and Cargill's winning streak. That's a good demonstration that creating more spots for the women isn't just a matter of rolling out new championships. At the same time, though, it's kind of absurd that Nyla Rose and Ruby Soho haven't been on TV in a month. It's also perplexing to me that a lot of top female talent that WWE cut last year hasn't shown up in AEW yet.

No TV matches in 30 days: Aaron Solo, Abadon, Anna Jay, AQA, Brandon Cutler, Colt Cabana, Diamante*, Emi Sakura, Frankie Kazarian, Jack Evans, Jay Lethal, Jora Johl*, Josh Woods* (ROH pure champion), Kiera Hogan*, KiLynn King*, Lance Archer, Luther, Marina Shafir*, Matt Sydal, Michael Nakazawa, Nyla Rose, Ruby Soho, Serpentico, Shawn Dean, Skye Blue, Sonny Kiss

* Not listed on AEW's official roster, but won at least one AEW match

Fans have been increasingly frustrated that a lot of wrestlers have been "demoted" to Dark and Elevation, the Youtube shows. Thing is, as long as AEW produces these shows, there will always be lower-tier talent that primarily appears on them. The only question is which wrestlers should be considered "lower-tier."

Archer, Lethal, Nyla, and Ruby are obviously just simmering and racking up wins to build to a TV push later. Cutler, Cabana, Diamante, Sakura, Kazarian, Evans, Luther, Sydal, Nakazawa, Serpentico, and Dean seem to be positioned as journeymen who are there to do reps with the developing talent. The rest are presumably considered "in development," for better or worse.

No AEW matches in 30 days: Anthony Greene*, Anthony Ogogo, Dustin Rhodes, Billy Gunn, Hikaru Shida, Joey Janela, Julia Hart*, Leva Bates, Megan Bayne*, Penelope Ford, Shawn Spears, Zack Clayton*

* Not listed on AEW's official roster, but won at least one AEW match

Here's the group that isn't even wrestling on Youtube. Spears and Shida have been appearing on TV recently, so that's fine. Rhodes and Gunn are basically player-coaches so I don't expect them to be around much. I expect Ogogo has travel issues getting into and out of the UK. Janela is planning to leave when his contract expires. Bates has reportedly taken on more of a backstage role, although she did return to the ring not that long ago. Greene, Bayne, and Clayton each have wins in AEW, which generally signals plans for a continuing relationship, but that's not a guarantee.

So of this group, the only ones I'm really scratching my head about are Penelope Ford and Julia Hart. But for all I know they could both be injured or taking time off.

No AEW matches in 2022: Angelico, Arjun Singh*, Brian Cage, Danhausen, Marko Stunt, Paige Vanzant, Ryo Mizunami*, Yuka Sakazaki

* Not listed on AEW's official roster, but won at least one AEW match

Angelico has appeared on Dark recently. Cage has (unexpectedly) had his contract extended, so I figure he'll be returning soon. Danhausen appears to be walking around okay after breaking his leg in October, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's cleared to wrestle. Vanzant just signed so I expect her in-ring debut within a few weeks. Marko is reportedly already out of the company, but AEW still lists him on their website roster. I keep thinking Mizunami and Sakazaki are gone for good, but they still manage to get back to the US once in a while.

Part-time/semi-retired: Christopher Daniels, Mark Henry, Paul Wight, Rebel, William Regal

Regal is listed on the official roster with a win-loss record, just like Sting, Henry, and Wight. That suggests that they expect Regal to have a match someday, although Henry's been here for nearly a year and still hasn't. I really can't imagine Regal working a match in 2022, but then again I didn't think I'd be seeing Sting doing big table spots either.

Inactive

Jake Atlas (left knee - ACL tear)

Kenny Omega (various injuries)

Kip Sabian (shoulder - undisclosed injury)

Miro (right thigh - hamstring injury)

Orange Cassidy (left arm - unspecified injury)

Rey Fenix (left elbow - dislocation)

Riho (right arm - unspecified injury)

I haven't seen any updates on any of these injuries, except that Omega reports that his recovery is taking longer than he planned. Sabian has been appearing for weeks in the audience with a box on his head, so I assume that means he's about to return, but he sure is taking his time with that. I predict Miro to return without warning, when we all least expect it. I also predict Orange will be on TV with that sling for months, and then one day they'll do a gag where he admits he forgot to take the sling off, and he's been medically cleared for weeks.

[1dsource]

This list consists almost entirely of recent fics, so please show them some extra love and leave a kudos, and even a comment if you have the time. It’s important we also give the newer, unknown authors a chance so they keep having motivation to write more amazing stories for us all to read <3

loving you's a bloodsport by @rosesau l 106K l Royalty AU l Soulmates

harry is a bratty prince, louis is a guard who works in his palace, and niall is the only who's got his life in control.

as someone once said: this is not a love story, but love is in it. that is, love is just outside it, looking for a way to break in.

Fearless by @suspendrs I 97K I Childhood Friends I Famous/Not Famous

“You’re my best friend, Louis,” Harry says, barely above a whisper. Even if he was yelling, Louis wouldn’t be able to believe his ears. “And I know it’s been a while, but you’re still the person I consider my best friend,” Harry says.

Louis blinks, and then blinks again. “I honestly cannot say the same, Harry,” he says.

Or, Harry left home without a word after high school, and a lot can change in ten years.

Kill Me/ Heal Me @millionlittletings I 92K I Royalty I Dystopia

The kingdom of Scotland hasn't been in peace for decades now. In the heart of the country lies the rivalries, hate, and struggle of power. Amidst the chaos, five young men discover the meaning of life, friendship, love, hate, and heartbreak through their journey. Louis, who is struggling to find a place where he belongs. Niall, who will protect what belongs to him with his life. Zayn, who is learning to navigate through life. Liam, who knows when to use his heart and when to use the brain. Harry, who is set to kill anyone who will come into his way of finding the truth about his mother. From dealing with their personal issues to finding out the real culprit who changed the course of their lives, these five men are set to uncover the deepest and the darkest secrets of the kingdom.

adjudication @bottomlinsons I 75K I Royalty I Arranged Marriage

Harry's been engaged to Princess Charlotte of Ryde for as long as he can remember. He's come to know her, to love her, through the letters she's sent him over the past three years.

But when the wedding finally arrives, Harry quickly learns that nothing is as it seems. With his crown and country at stake, Harry must decide who to trust in this strange new land. And the sly Crown Prince of Ryde doesn't seem inclined to make things easy.

The Devil In My Brain by larryshares I 74K I Devil Harry

“Jesus Christ!” Louis yells as he jumps back in reaction to Harry once again popping up out of nowhere.

Harry doesn’t even flinch.

“Quite the opposite.” He jokes, holding out one of the drinks for Louis to take. A freshly sizzling vodka Red Bull; his favorite.

Louis’s initial reaction is the thought you remembered.

His rational brain says, “No thanks.”

“Louis.” Harry says it like a concerned parent, the tone of it matching the way his mum used to say Boo Bear, you have to eat your vegetables to grow up big and strong, and that ignites something feral within him.

“Satan.” He counters, same tone coupled with a glare and a pair of arms crossed over his chest.

-

Louis used to be good friends with Harry, until he woke up alone and immortal with no one to blame but The Devil himself.

Under your skin, Over the moon by @indiekissy I 35K I Royalty

If there was one thing Harry didn’t expect the day before his uni graduation, it was for his long lost grandmother to show up and tell him he’s actually a prince thats next in line to rule Genovia. He also didn’t expect to fall for his royal advisor, who happens to hate his guts. A Princess Diaries AU.

robbers and cowards @adoredontour I 33K I Enemies with Benefits

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d almost think that you’re enjoying yourself.”

The familiar voice immediately gets Louis’ blood boiling, shoulders tensing as he calmly spins around, trying not to draw any suspicion to the pair.

“You don’t know me at all,” Louis spits, managing to maintain the polite smile he’s been wearing all evening. “You’re just some asshole who always ruins my nights.”

“If I keep ruining your nights, why do you keep going home with me?” Harry asks, taking a sip from his own wine glass.

“I don’t go home with you by any choice of my own,” Louis says. “I think you’re annoying and I have no idea how I keep ending up in your bed.”

“You end up in my bed because you knock on my apartment door at two in the morning.”

Louis wants to punch the smirk right off of his face. “Maybe you should move,” is what he says instead.

or a modern day robin hood au where louis and harry (don’t really) hate each other but they hate greedy billionaires more

Strong Enough by @jacaranda-bloom I 20K I Exes to Lovers

“So…” Liam starts, and Louis instantly knows where this is going. He’s actually glad it’s Liam that's dragging the subject out from the shadows and into the light. Louis turns to face him, mirroring his position on the couch and nods, ready for him to continue. Liam takes a deep breath. “Have you spoken to Harry recently?”

Five years after Vertigo goes on hiatus, the band comes back together for a benefit concert. Can Louis and Harry work through their complicated past, or are some wounds too deep to be healed?

solid as a stone (when everything is gone) by @onlyforthebravee I 20K I ABO

“Why’d you take me with you?”

Louis startles at the question, the car almost swerving off the road in the process. He holds his breath as he waits for the twins to wake up and start wailing, but they don’t. They keep sleeping on peacefully, covered in the family blanket.

Harry’s looking at him with an unreadable expression.

Louis takes a minute, mulling it over. He answers quietly. “I hate to say it, but as much as we hate each other, I can’t bear to leave you alone to deal with this whole thing all by yourself.” and I wouldn’t be able to bear it if you died, he adds in his mind.

or, it's the zombie apocalypse and Louis is stuck with Harry, with whom he shares a complicated relationship.

once bitten and twice shy by @pinkcords I 19K I Christmas Fic

This time as his stomach rolls, there’s no doubt about it. He’s going to vomit. And if he does, it’ll be on Louis’ shoes, a nice little parting gift to go with the embarrassment he’s caused the both of them. “I’m gonna throw up,” he says just as Louis turns to look at him, blue eyes swimming with shock and confusion, and asks, “Is that true?”

Or, in a rush of bravery only senior year can bring, Harry confesses his feelings in a letter to his neighbor and best friend, Louis, only for the entire school to hear it and laugh him out of their small town in Wisconsin. Ten years later, Harry's a successful lawyer at Columbia Records, coming home for Christmas for the first time since he departed for college. He plans to work his way through the trip, eat his mom's cooking, and avoid everyone from his past for as long as possible. The only problem is best laid plans hardly ever go as intended.

Equals by onlythebravekat I 12K I 1970′s AU

Louis and his family work for the Styles and live on their property. Louis has dreams of traveling the world and never having to associate with Harry in any way.

The Boxer by heyidkyay I 4K I Uni AU

At the age of twelve Harry’s life is turned upside down. After a traumatic experience, he leaves school and finds comfort in boxing. Six years later and Harry finds himself facing some of his former demons.

Again, if you read, please remember to leave kudos and/or a comment so we keep motivating our lovely, talented writers and make them feel valued

[kaigarax]

Perfect Storm

Series: BNHA various x reader

Title: Of Shared Secrets, Stolen Kisses and Silent Hearts

Chapter: 7

Fanfiction / reader insert / 1st person P.O.V.

Quote: “I wonder if people truly do love each other as much as they do in romantic stories?”

Many knew of her, but I doubt anyone really knew her. Apart from the one who broke her heart; and him who pieced it back together.

From the moment I had met you, I’d known that you’d be nothing but a nuisance. Just another extra step on my journey to the top. You had ranked average, if not below, in the class assessment; you were so calm and carefree, as if nothing here mattered to you. Why in the world had you even decided to come to a hero school if you weren’t ready to give everything your all?

Your skill in hand to hand combat was unexpected. The only good thing about you. Your quirk, ‘Balance’, or whatever you called it, was mediocre at best. It allowed you to have really good balance which made your motor skills only slightly above the average teenager.

As if a second rate skill like that would ever come in handy when it came time to fight the real big bad villains. The people who could breathe fire or manipulate water would render your slightly above average hand to hand combat skills useless when you engaged in real battle. Really, you should’ve just given up before you even started.

Not only had you come off as someone who just went with the flow but you were annoyingly good at academics. You scored as highly in practical tests as you did on exams and quizzes.

Everything about you was just… irritating. You had somehow managed to find a way to linger in the back of my head despite barely ever saying anything to me! That was what made it so much more enraging!

Your attention (not that I really noticed) had rarely lingered on someone for more than a week. You bounced around between different friend groups but always ended up by yourself. The lack of friendships you shared with your fellow peers wasn’t due to any of our classmates either. You placed this barrier around yourself, trying to keep everyone else at arms length despite trying to seem as if nothing bothered you.

The only person you kept around consistently was the invisible girl.

To you, I was just another classmate. But I’d show you that it wasn’t me but you who was just another classmate! I’m going to be the best of the best in this class and make it all the way to the top! You would want to keep your eyes on me!

The school festival had been the climax of the rising tension in our classroom. Challenges and declarations of war flying left and right and ‘go with the flow’ you just happened to be in the center of it all. Your stupid motivotinal words and kicking of desks seemed to have lit a fire underneath the butts of everyone in our class. Suddenly everyone was trying harder in classes than they had before and it was irritating.

It was annoying how you could inspire the people around you to work harder with just a few simple words! Even when it seemed that you didn’t care about things you still managed to do decently.

“Please welcome the girl that’s been surprising us all today, (L/n) (Y/n)!” Announced Present Mic.

Your above average motor skills had managed to get you through the first and second rounds and into the semi finals. You took most of your opponents by surprise. Staying and fighting near the edge of the line, taunting them to just try and come closer to you. You would be acrobatic in one fight but could quickly switch to a fighting style seen more often in military places.

But different fighting styles wouldn’t do much against me.

What was tricky was how you seemed able to push your opponents out of bounds with the slightest of touches. Sometimes it looked as if you didn’t even contact them when you fought. There was definitely something more to your quirk then you let on. I just needed enough time to figure it out.

“And, everyone’s favourite explosive boy, Bakugo Katsuki!”

The cheering echoed through the stadium as I entered. You had already taken your place in the center, standing beside Midnight. There was a carefree smile on your face that I immediately wanted to wipe off.

You held your hand out for me to shake, something you did in the beginning of every fight, but I declined. I noticed how your eyes darkened slightly when I declined. It must have had something to do with your quirk! The crowd booed as I ignored your outstretched hand. Of course you just had to have them wrapped around your finger with your ‘good sportsmanship’ mentality.

But I’d show them who you really were!

“Begin!”

I had charged forward, expecting you to sit back on the back line.

You had charged just like me and slid with your back on the ground as you came near me. I had tried to charge myself into the ground towards you but an invisible force between the two of us stopped me.

My explosions sent me crashing into the ground the very next moment!

Pieces of cement flew in every direction.

You jumped towards me and I suddenly knew that if I didn’t move I would be out.

With my hands outstretched, I managed to propel myself backwards towards the edge of the line when you had landed where I had previously been. You deepened the crater that I had caused.

Where in the world had you gotten all this explosive power? Did you have two quirks?

I had managed to propel myself forward. It gave me just enough time to react to the pieces of cement you sent flying in my direction. It looked as if you were playing soccer with the pieces of cement as you kicked them towards me.

Each explosion was getting harder than the last! I would need to find some way of approaching you if I wanted to stop reacting and start attacking.

When the chunks of cement had stopped flying towards me I realized you had stumbled further back than you had been before.

This was my chance!

I had been able to force you to the edge of the line with explosions. If not for your stupid balance quirk I would’ve already knocked you back!

My hand neared your face. This one would knock you back for sure!

But before I could even ignite an explosion you had swerved to the side grabbing my wrist and shoulder about to force me out of bounds when Midnight had called for the fight to end. You immediately stopped all movements and let go of me.

“The winner is Bakugo as (L/n) has stepped out of bounds.”

Both of us were in disbelief but the edge of your foot had crossed over when you turned to pivot.

You had dropped onto the ground in relief, a smile on your face as you laid down on the shattered stadium.

The crowd cheered loudly, but I knew they hadn’t been cheering for me. A slight miscalculation from you had resulted in my victory. If this had been a real fight I might’ve lost right there so why the heck did you look so happy?

“Good fight?” You asked, meeting my eyes for the first time all year.

I scoffed, turning away, “as if.”