#theresa solos

[vynnysvalley]

Ngl Class of the Titans is my Percy Jackson rn

[theresas-sound-world-blog]

Yesterday, I contributed choices to a fun Spotify Playlist of ‘Favourite Guitar Solos’ compiled by a musical friend & supporter of this page, Robert Clarke I went for ‘#13 Baby’ by Alternative Rock Legends (The) Pixies, with the mesmeric solo of that song starting just under a minute from the end…I’ve always found that guitar solo paints little surreal mind pictures for me each time i listen.

The other tune I chose was ‘Brendan #1’’ by Hardcore Punk innovators, Fugazi. This tune, which starts as a drum and bass-guitar dominated instrumental, showcases the unique musical talents of all four members of Fugazi. Whether this counts as a ‘guitar solo’ song is up for debate. Guitarists Ian Mackaye and Guy Picciotto always eschewed the notion of traditional rhythm and lead guitarist roles. The guitars mesh, yet the instruments yell and holler at each other rather than the mainstay of (Eagles-style) question and answer guitar lines. The listener is taken on a sonic exploration, the tune jumping from what resembles a guitar solo to a kinetic and furious wall of sound. The guitars have space though to individually exert themselves; neither guitar leads & there isn’t an anchoring chord structure for a solo to weave and dominate, (Listen to ‘Maggot Brain’ by Funkadelic for an example of this) more a solid, sophisticated rhythm foundation. The distinctive skills of the two Fugazi guitar players are as individual as their voices & like the more vocal-led tunes of this band, ‘Brendan #1’ encapsulates Fugazi’s energy, rage, power & passion. ⭐️

Listen to ‘Guitar Solos’ Playlist by Rob Clarke on Spotify, including my two choices, more tunes by (The) Pixies & selection of tracks by Alternative Rock luminaries including, The Lemonheads, The Breeders, old school 70s Rock from Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd & classic pop duo, The Carpenters. (To name a few) Just realised I forgot to suggest ‘Crazy Horses’ by The Osmonds…that’s from a very underrated guitar-solo driven album!

🎸Guitar Solos playlist by Rob Clarke: https://spotify.link/9aHF1PQoxDb

▶️Also you can listen to ‘Brendan #1’ by Fugazi by clicking here: https://youtu.be/akZ1CMqJdh4?si=8degCYFBDIoTLDfV

The only question left to ask is…what is your favourite guitar solo? 🎸

Remember to support Independent bands & Artists by listening & sharing’

James-TSW Alternative Music Blog❤️



[helyiios]

On danse pas

Or that one time Benji went on a solo mission.

Benji says “lol” and Ethan loses his entire fucking mind.

He’s staring at his friend through a screen, watches as he’s being reviewed by Alan Hunley, who looked extremely displeased, by the way, and he can’t help but want to make the room explode.

Or something.

“Did you just say “lol,” agent Dunn ?” the Secretary asks, closing his eyes slowly, “or did I mishear that ?”

“I don’t know what else to say ?”

“Oh, I don’t know. You could explain to me what the fuck happened during your mission, for example. Just for example.”

“Nothing went wrong with this mission.”

Ethan grimaces. With a kill count of fifty three, three civilians, a building in flames, collapsed on itself, and a few people straight up murdered, he wouldn’t say that nothing went wrong. He loves Benji, he really does, he thinks he’s a fantastic guy, truly, but they had to stop sending him on solo missions. Honestly.

“You caused an explosion in Central London,” Hunley states, spreading papers on the table, “do you know how many people got hurt ?”

“Some ?”

“Seventy six. With fifty three dead.”

“Don’t think that’s the biggest I can go,” Benji offers with a genuine smile, and Ethan slams his own head against the wall. “No but I mean, sir, no offence, but I didn’t let that building explode because I had planned it. They had extremely dangerous weapons stored there, and I can’t exactly steal a PHASR in my little purse and come back to the IMF.”

“So your plan of action was to destroy them. By fucking up the entire locals of ARCH.tech.”

“Yeah ? I mean, I stole the blueprints first, didn’t you read the report ?”

“Benjamin Dunn,” Hunley warns, voice low and dangerous, “you’re going to have to use another tone with me.”

“You’re acting like I did something crazy ! Personally, I only killed, like, ten people. Max ! The rest was the explosion.”

“Do you know how angry MI6 is about this ?”

“Well maybe if they hadn’t thrown me out back when I tried to get in they wouldn’t have had to worry about this,” Benji mumbles petulantly, crossing his arms. “Look, I’m sorry for the deaths. I didn’t mean it !”

“You’re not sorry, you don’t care !”

“It’s not like I can care about everyone in this world,” he protests with a grimace. “I’m not Mother Theresa.”

Hunley holds back a scream of frustration, choosing to rub his hands on his face instead.

One thing about Benji Dunn, is that he was efficient. When with Team Hunt, he proved to be resourceful and a master at tech related support. When alone…

Well, his first solo mission had been a breeze. He’d done his part, had come back, gotten slapped on the back, and all was great. Peachy, even. So he’d gotten cleared to get sent on more solo missions. Which always ended…correctly.

Until this one.

Where he’d gone completely looney, and pushed the big red button, and gotten a review as a thanks. And he had had the gall to be displeased about it.

“You were on the news, Benji !”

“Lol,” Benji says out loud again, like an actual fucking lunatic, “yeah, I saw. The BBC. I actually watched it from a bar. Made me blush.”

“Why aren’t you taking this seriously ?!”

“You’re making this a bigger mess than it is !”

“YOU BLEW UP A FUCKING BUILDING IN CENTRAL LONDON !” Hunley screeches, and Benji recoils a little, puckering his lips annoyedly.

“Bad foundations, what can I say.”

“I’m going to get you pulled away from field activities.”

“You can’t,” Benji notes, wiggling his index at him with a laugh, “you need me too much.”

“You’re over estimating your worth.”

“That’s mean.”

“Look,” the Secretary sighs, clenching his jaw and gritting his teeth, “can you at least admit you went a bit overboard with the whole thing ?”

The agent shrugs.

“Sure, if that makes you happy. At the end of the day, I picked up on Bailey’s fuckup at ARCH and I got the info needed. And destroyed their weapons.”

“Ah, yes, but agent Bailey did not kill fifty three people.”

“There’s no free lunch,” Benji just says, visibly very little interested in the whole thing. “Also, I made a very clear a nice report on the whole incident. You can’t even call me lazy.”

“Yes, your report was good.” A pause. “What ? That’s not the point ! Does your team know ?”

A frown.

“Why would they ? They’re not concerned by it.”

“Thought it would shock them.”

“I don’t really care,” Benji whines, “I did my bloody job and I’m getting lectured over it !”

“Well,” Hunley finally says, giving up completely, “do try not to do something like that again. Please.”

“Do you want us to, like, pinky promise ?” he offers, holding out his hand with a crooked pinky finger.

“Get out of my office, Dunn.”

The agent bursts out laughing but gets up all the same, dusting his shirt carefully.

“Oh, and Benji ?”

“Yeah ?”

“Why did you fail the MI6 entrance exam ?”

A pause.

“Psych tests,” he grimaces.

Hunley tips his head back, face in his hands.

“Yeah. Figures.”

[vampp-rc9gn]

MONSTER BONDINGG ^_^!!

So since im autistic I randomly had the idea, ‘What if my favorite characters bonded with their respective monsters?’, AND THIS WAS BORN.

1 / Theresa🌱; I feel like she was get along well with her monster (and totally not gossiping abt randy XD).

2 / Julian🌀; It would be like a dream come true for Julian, because of his insane love of monsters, and they would easily get along very well, and I have a headcanon that they would scare off Bash and other bullies, and try to impress Julians friends.

3 / Bucky🎼; Bucky would be pretty scared at first, but they would both slowly warm up to eachother, and passionately play that deserved triangle solo.

4 / Levander🎸; Levander would probably bond pretty well, acting like distant friends would suddenly bumped into eachother like 4 years later. But it would totally annoy Levander when his monster would scare off others with his lightning powers and not sing properly.

[ancicntforged]

Giving me some real Final Lesson vibes wtf

GOODBYE

With Doctor's plan in hand, Theresis rushed to Londinium and left Kazdel, Doctor used this gap as pretext for Babel to strike KMC so they can recapture Kazdel, hence Babel deployed all of their elite units include Kal'tsit to every key strategic location, leaving only Theresa and Doctor on landship.

Doctor went to defense room leaving Theresa alone inside the command room, there he turned off the security system letting the assasins sent by KMC to enter the landship, Amiya inside her room hearing the strange noises went to met Theresa, Theresa told Amiya to wait and get outside the command room to solo the assasins, Theresa returned but Amiya saw her face covered with exhaustion due to her wounds.

Theresa: ...Amiya, it's okay.

Theresa: I'm here. The villains in those stories have been temporarily defeated.

What's wrong, Miss Theresia?

Amiya tries to wipe away the exhaustion from Miss Theresa's face.

But she can't lift her own hand.

(Theresa hugs Amiya)

Theresa: I'm sorry, I don't have the power to change the outcome of the story.

Theresa: But you can, Amiya...

Theresa: You will embark on a difficult journey.

Theresa: The only way I can help you is by giving you this black crown.

Theresa: For millennia, my people have wrongly used this crown due to the limitations of history.

Theresa: It's been tainted, bound. But it shouldn't be this way.

Theresa: If we're to break the curse, change our fate... I need your help.

Theresa: Are you willing to rewrite the ending?

Amiya wants to say "yes," but she can't make a sound.

She nods anxiously, thinking that at least this might help Miss Theresa...

Might save her—

Theresa: Although I don't have much power left now, it's enough to transfer its authority to you.

Theresa: I've sealed off most of its areas for you, to prevent the overwhelming flood of information from confusing your thoughts.

Theresa: Amiya... I'm sorry for placing the weight of this crown on your shoulders.

Theresa: I thought... I would have many, many days left to accompany you, to see you grow, to be there when you bravely face the departure of your parents, to be there when you can give your own answers—

Theresa: Answers to whether you're willing to continue for me...

Theresa: But the time left for us is always too short, Amiya.

Theresa: I've selfishly placed the burden I carry onto you...

Theresa: I'm sorry, my child—

Amiya tried to cry out, but she couldn't open her mouth, or even move her limbs. The black blade seemed to pierce through her chest. She should have felt pain. But what the blade left behind—was warmth. Warmth filled with anticipation.

Theresa: Amiya, it's hope, as well as pain.

Theresa: You'll be confused, you'll hesitate.

Theresa: But please believe, Dr. Kal'tsit will always be by your side.

Theresa: She'll help you explore, to approach the secrets of existence again.

Theresa: You can overcome it, right, Amiya...

Theresa: You've always been a child so strong that even I'm amazed.

Theresa: Ah...

Theresa: I'm really tired.

Theresa: Thank you, Amiya, for bringing joy to me these days.

Theresa: Now, let's rest for a moment. Sleep...

Sleep peacefully.

I'll be here with you always.

Theresa heard a familiar voice.

Doctor: ...Amiya!

Theresa didn't look up at the approaching figure.

The crown withdrew, then reunited. But her breath grew weaker.

Theresa: ...Doctor. Why did you come here?

Doctor: .....

Theresa: I sense... your emotions. I see, your past.

Theresa: But you could have stayed elsewhere, waiting calmly for my death. You know this time, I won't escape, nor retreat.

Theresa: Are you here to find Amiya? Or...

Theresa didn't need to hear the person's answer.

Behind him, assassins surged from the shadows, rushing towards Theresa—

Theresa: This is your answer, isn't it, Doctor...

*****

Theresa was relieved that Amiya had fallen asleep.

Amiya didn't witness the Doctor's betrayal, nor did she see Theresa's final sorrow.

As Theresa eliminated the last assasin, the black crown finally passed securely into Amiya's hands.

Theresa: It's okay, Amiya, it's all over...

Theresa: It's over.

She didn't look at the person who had frozen in place; she just gently patted the child's back and planted a kiss on her innocent face.

Doctor: .....

Doctor: Theresa. I can't abandon the opportunity that took billions of lives and thousands of years to obtain.

Doctor: I can't allow you to thwart the plans of the Originium. I can't allow you to turn this land into a beautiful but brief dream.

Theresa: So, you hurt Amiya.

Doctor: .....

Doctor: ...Since the Lord of Fiends has seen my memories, there's no point in saying more.

Doctor: Do you hate me?

Theresa: You hurt Amiya, and you're about to hurt Kal'tsit and those soldiers who trust you.

Theresa: Is this how you treat the lives of today?

Doctor: I'll do everything to ensure they don't perish in the upcoming conflict. That's also Theresis' promise to me.

Doctor: As long as... your death.

Theresa: Are you seeking the last peace before Originium destroys Terra?

Doctor ...I'm sorry. That's not going to change.

Theresa: You know it's futile... yet you still want to cure Amiya's illness.

Theresa: Even though in the not-so-distant future, Amiya's family, hometown, and those people and events that you might establish connections with in the future will all become immutable Originium.

Theresa: You can't bear to see the child in front of you suffer.

Theresa: That's your sincerity. Your purity. Your nature.

Doctor: .....

Theresa: Actually... I'm relieved, Doctor.

Theresa: I'm glad that the you Kal'tsit is willing to believe in, the you who's willing to believe in us, is real.

Theresa: You... the creator of Originium... Doctor. You're the poison that destroys everything, but you can also be the antidote to everything.

(Here Theresa call Doc by his name not title)

Doctor: ...What?

Theresa: I see you're crying, Doctor...

Theresa: Yes, that's who you are. You know your own vulnerabilities, you know that even in this moment, I pose a fatal threat to you... yet you still came.

Theresa: So, I still... choose to believe in you.

Theresa: Believe in the real you.

Theresa: Believe in you who brings rain and sunshine to us.

(Theresa delve deeper to dismantle every inch of the Doc's memories, to erase it, Doc's memories dissipate completely, leaving only the last fragment of the soul)

What are you doing to me, Theresa?

Theresa: Even though it's the end, I suddenly want to give it a try. Don't blame me, Doctor.

Theresa: I will tell you...

Theresa: "Go find yourself."

[tropes-and-tales-archives]

Whistle Down the Wind, Chapter Ten

Word Count: 4503

TW:  Idiots in love, angst, smut (PiV, protected). 18+ only.

AN:  Part of a series.  The series masterlist here.

You were late.  Again.

To be fair, though, it wasn’t your fault this time.  When your plane landed at LaGuardia, it ended up taxiing for forty minutes until it found an available gate, and then you had to sprint to baggage claim.  And then you had to find a taxi, and when you did, traffic was so bad that the driver shot into New Jersey and took I-95 to get to Staten Island.

It didn’t matter, as long as you got there eventually.  Sometimes you had to take the long way round.

********

It was a subdued Thanksgiving, which suited Sonny just fine.  Theresa’s daughters, since the divorce, had to split their holidays between their parents, so they were with their father.  Theresa herself had opted to stay in Connecticut and host her own wine-based, solo Thanksgiving for herself.  Gina and her latest boyfriend had stopped in for a quick dinner but had left to go to his family’s house on the other end of the island.  Bella and her baby – a little girl named Moira – were taking a nap upstairs in her childhood bedroom, exhausted by the baby’s awful sleep schedule.  That left Sonny parents and Tommy in the living room, watching the football game and dozing off from their respective turkey comas.

Sonny was so exhausted that he was having trouble sleeping.  It had been an awful year.  He had an undercover assignment with a men’s shelter that left him shaken to his core about the thin possibility of redemption for lost souls.

His sergeant had also been gunned down and killed.  They never replaced him, though, so SVU was running perpetually short-handed.  He rarely had time off, he never had time to recover from one case to the next, and his commanding officer seemed pretty cavalier about the mental wellness of her detectives.

If he ever needed his best friend, it was now, but he respected your choice to move to L.A.

He kept in touch with you, of course.  He called and texted, and the two of you had a few video chat sessions.  You showed him your cramped little apartment a few blocks from the ocean, and once you had a chat from London, where you were working on a limited episode run for a streaming service. 

He loved seeing you, but it left him heart-sore.  Seeing you on the screen of his laptop could not compare to the genuine article.

He held back a lot of his work struggles.  He didn’t tell you how lonely he was, how much he missed his friend.  He didn’t want to make you regret your choice.  All the same, you seemed to sense when he was at his lowest, because a new playlist always seemed to appear for him to bolster his flagging spirits.

The best playlists, though, were the ones he was able to buy after you started your stint on the west coast.  You got work – first with the limited run series, then with a bare-bones action film, then with a larger film.  You scored a documentary, and the haunting piano and string-based score was nominated at some film festivals.  Sonny bought every soundtrack and score that had your name on it. 

He set up a news alert for your name and got some traffic.  The best was a profile about new up-and-comers.  It was a group shot of everyone in the piece, but he was able to crop everyone else out on his computer.  You looked amazing in it:  hair down and styled, in a chic tuxedo tailored to your form, with a slight smile on your face.

Still, he missed you.  And on days like Thanksgiving, he felt your absence more keenly.

He sat with his parents and Tommy for a bit, half-heartedly watching the Lions play.  He wondered what you were doing.  Probably hanging out with your new friends, eating the authentic Mexican food you were always raving about.

He stood up abruptly and made his way down to the rec room in the basement.  Most holidays – and summers when you were in college – that’s where you and Sonny ended up.  It was your movie hub:  just the two of you curled up on the couch together, under his nonna’s scratchy acrylic crocheted blanket (because he cranked the air to an uncomfortable degree on purpose), watching a movie and ignoring the tension between the two of you.  Well, he knew it was tension now.  At the time, he had just thought it was him.

He sprawled out across the old couch and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels until he found something.  “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.”  Sonny smiled.  It was one of your favorite movies, and he settled down and watched it.  If his mind wandered, it wandered back to your final week in the city.  Those few final days you had spent together, mostly in his bed (and in his shower and on his couch and once on his kitchen counter).  He replayed those moments over and over, but the details had grown hazy over time.  All he could vividly remember was the feeling of completion and contentment when you had fallen asleep beside him.

The movie was about halfway done when he heard people talking upstairs – laughter and little shrieks of joy.  He guessed that Moira was awake and his mother was cooing over her.  Or maybe Tommy and his dad were really getting into the Lions game.

He heard the basement door open and someone take a few tentative steps down the creaky stairs.  It must be time for dessert and coffee, but Sonny wasn’t hungry.

“I’ll be up in a bit, ma,” he called over the back of the couch, focused on the screen in front of him. 

“I’m not your ma, stretch,” a familiar voice replied in a teasing lilt, and he shot up into a sitting position just in time to see you descend the rest of the steps. ********

Your first thought was that you broke him.  He stared at you over the back of the couch so long without saying anything, you worried that he had died in place.

Your second thought, as you looked him over was, Christ, he looks exhausted.

Sonny was as handsome as ever.  His hair was a little greyer, but it made him hotter, in your opinion.  It was soft and tousled, unstyled – your favorite version of his hair.  His eyes were as blue as the ocean.

But he looked pale, and he had dark circles under his eyes, and the lines around his eyes were deeper than the last time you saw him.  You knew that his job wasn’t easy, and you knew from Bella that it had been more difficult than usual.  You worried that you hadn’t made things easier on him either.

He continued to stare at you, and your eyes flicked to the TV.  It was one of your favorite holiday movies, and you made a little cry of delight.  You walked around to the couch and made to sit down to watch, but Sonny shot to his feet and pulled you into a fierce hug.  He wrapped his long arms around you and squeezed you so hard you thought your ribs would break again. 

“You’re really here,” he muttered into your hair.

“I am,” you replied.  Your face was pressed against his chest, and you breathed him in.  He wore a cologne that always made you think of growing things – a sort of fresh, green smell that combined with his soap and his own body chemistry.  “I would have been here sooner, but traffic was a nightmare.”

He squeezed you to him for another moment, then pushed you away, his hands firmly placed on your upper arms.  “No one told me,” he said, looking you over.  “You didn’t tell me.”

“I wanted to surprise you.”  You suddenly felt shy underneath the scrutiny of his gaze, and you ducked your head.

He moved both of his hands to either side of your face.  “It’s the best surprise ever,” he declared, and he leaned down to place a gentle kiss on your lips.  You sighed and kissed him back.  You had missed him so much.

He tilted your head, deepening the kiss.  You felt him part his lips and run the tip of his tongue along your lower lip, but before you could open your mouth to him, the basement door swung open again.  A voice – Bella’s – yelled down that coffee and dessert were being served.

“And stop making out, you perverts,” she added for good measure, and you ignored her cackling laughter with all the dignity you could muster. 

********

Sonny sat across from you at the dining room table as everyone gathered for pumpkin pie and coffee.  You immediately scooped baby Moira from Bella’s arms, claiming that you had to make up for lost time.  The baby grabbed at your hair and tried to shove her chubby fist in your mouth.  She was completely enamored with you.

Baby Moira wasn’t the only one.  Sonny felt like he would never be able to look at you enough.  Your hair was just a shade messy – he knew it was from your cross-country flight, but it looked exactly like your usual post-sex hair, and it made him feel more turned on than he would usually like while sitting with his family at the dining room table. 

You were in relaxed jeans and a button-down flannel shirt, partially unbuttoned and revealing a lace-trimmed camisole underneath.  You looked completely comfortable, and maybe for the first time since Sonny met you – completely comfortable with yourself.  You had a relaxed air about you.  Maybe it was all the sunshine.  More likely, it was all those tamales that you raved about.

Bella dished out pie while Dom Senior poured mugs of coffee and passed them around.  Sonny’s mother went to the kitchen and came back a few minutes later bearing a plate of reheated leftovers.  She placed it in front of you with a smile.

“I’m sorry I was late,” you said with a rueful shrug.  “Our plane didn’t have a gate and it took forever to get here.”

His mother waved off your apology.  “We’re just glad you’re here.”

You tucked into your leftovers one handed, your other arm cradling the baby as she dozed off against you.  It made Sonny smile to see it.  You were always such a natural with his nieces – even this one who had just met you.

“How long are you staying?” Dom Senior asked. 

You chewed a forkful of stuffing and swallowed before you answered.  “I fly back on Sunday morning.”  Sonny felt his stomach drop.  You were only here for a few days, and it already felt like time was slipping away too quickly.

You glanced over at him and caught his gaze before you continued.  “I have a few more months on my sublet here in New York, but after that, I’m going to move back.”  You gave him a smile.  “I’ve made great connections, and I’ll probably have to travel back to L.A. more than I’d like, but plenty of composers and musicians live elsewhere.”

Bella scoffed and gestured to the window where an icy rain was pattering against the glass.  “You’re trading in warm weather and sunshine for this?”

“Aren’t you the one who gave me a list of reasons why L.A. was worse than New York?” you teased back.

“I just liked living vicariously through you,” she shot back.  “How many friends run into one of the Marvel Chrises on the way to the bathroom?”

You nodded and took another bite of stuffing.  “True.  But I can’t keep up with the people out there.  Too many diets and workouts.  Everyone assumes I’m a wannabe actress and critiques me accordingly.”  You scowled at your plate.  “One producer told me that I was a ‘New York five but an L.A. two,’ and that was after he realized I was there to score his garbage movie.”

Sonny felt a flare of hot anger to hear that some guy made you feel bad about yourself.  “You’re a Staten Island eleven,” he blurted, making the table erupt in laughter.  He felt his face growing red, and his dad reached over and clapped him hard on the back.

“Smooth, son,” he chuckled, but Sonny’s mom reached over from the other side and smacked her husband. 

“Like you ever did any better,” she teased.  Dom Senior snatched her hand as she tried to draw it back and kissed the back of it.

“I did good enough to get you,” he said with a wide grin, making Bella groan in embarrassment.  Sonny, though, could only watch you across the table.

********

Sonny’s family was old-fashioned, despite having a grandchild out of wedlock and a daughter who had recently divorced.  As such, you and Sonny put up what you hoped was a convincing charade about how he was going to drive you to a friend’s place where you were crashing for the next few days. 

The reality, of course, was that within seconds of returning to his apartment, he had you pressed against his door, the two of you kissing fiercely and pawing at each other like you were each drowning.  There were too many sensations and emotions:  the feel of his warm hands as they untucked your shirt and camisole to touch your back.  His mouth on yours, his lips impossibly soft.  His thigh, as it pressed between your own legs and parted them.

You reached down and tugged at his grey Henley, breaking the kiss long enough to pull it over his head, ruffling his hair even more.  You tossed it aside and then his mouth was back on you, kissing the sensitive spot at the junction of your neck and shoulder, sending chills through you.

“I missed you so much, doll,” he whispered against your neck.  His breath was hot and sent another tremor through you.

You ran your fingers through his hair.  “I missed you more,” you breathed back.

Sonny fumbled at your shirts.  His fingers scrabbled at your button-up, and he mumbled curses when he couldn’t get it undone fast enough.  When he did get it unbuttoned, he tried to pull it off of you, but your sleeves got caught and he cursed again as he unbuttoned the cuffs. 

You pushed him off of you so that you could handle it, so he shifted his attention to his own clothes.  He tugged his undershirt over his head, but slowed and then stopped completely to watch you as you removed your camisole.

You bent over and pulled your boots off, then straightened up to unbutton your jeans.  You looked up at Sonny and laughed at him.  His chest was rising and falling with his shuddering breaths, and his mouth hung slightly agape.

He moved swiftly to you.  He pressed you back against the door, latching his mouth on the pulse point.  You laid your hands on his bare chest and tugged on his sparse smattering of blond hair there.

Sonny’s hands drifted down to your hips and finished unzipping your jeans.  He unlatched his mouth from your neck and worked his way down, pushing your pants down over your hips, down you thighs.  His ran his warm palms over your bare legs before he pulled your jeans over your feet and tossed them aside.

He knelt in front of you, and you laid your hands on the top of his head.  You tangled your fingers in his hair, tugging it gently, trying to get him to stand back up.  He looked up at you, in just your underwear, while he was still half-clothed.

“You need to catch up, Dominick,” you said.  You loved the way his sunny blue eyes turned dark when you called him by his first name. 

Instead of responding to you, he slid an arm behind you, cupping your ass in his large hand and pulled your lower half towards him until his face was pressed into your lower belly.  You ran your nails over his scalp, drawing low groans from him that vibrated through you.  His hot breath made the throbbing between your legs increase almost painfully.  You felt dangerously close to losing your legs underneath you.

“S-Sonny,” you stuttered as he moved his mouth a fraction lower.  “I need you.”

“You have me,” he murmured against you.  He licked along the lace waistband of your panties, making your knees buckle just a bit. 

You tightened your grip on his hair, drawing another groan from him.  You felt almost dizzy with desire and had to press the back of your head against the door and take a few deep breaths to calm yourself.

“Sonny, we have plenty of time,” you told him in a strangled voice.  “But right now, I really need you.”

His other hand landed on your hip, tugging at the edge of your panties and pressing wet kisses on each new inch of exposed skin.  He didn’t reply, too focused on moving his mouth closer and closer to his target.

“Damnit, Dominick!” you yelled, and you pulled his hair hard enough to get his attention.  He looked up and shot you a wounded look, like a puppy that had been scolded, but whatever he saw on your face made him stand up and press the length of his body against yours.  You pulled his face to yours and kissed him breathlessly, without any art or ability.  Just his mouth with his soft lips against yours, tongues sliding against each other, breathing each other’s moans.

“I need you,” you repeated, panting against him.  He shifted his head back to the nook against your neck.  “Please.  I…I’ve waited for this for months.  I’ve missed you, Sonny.  So, so much.”  You wrapped your hand along the back of his neck, stroking between his hairline and the knobs of the top of his spine.  You felt rather than heard Sonny sniffling against you, and you felt the first tears when they hit your shoulder.

“I missed you too, doll,” he said.  “And it’s been a tough year.”  His voice was watery, and you tightened your grip around him, pulling him as tight as you could.  He took deep breaths against you as he tried to regain his composure, and once he was calmed, you took his face between both of your hands.  You forced him to face you, and you looked into his brilliant blue eyes, now rimmed and swollen from his tears.

“I love you, Dominick,” you said solemnly.  “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you.”

He shook his head gently between your hands.  “I’m glad you went, doll.”  His eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled at you.  “I’d never want to hold you back.”

You couldn’t help but smile back at him – his namesake sunniness was contagious.  “I’m here now though.”

“You are.”  He reached down to grasp the back of your thighs, and you jumped up into his arms.  You bit back a moan at the sensation of him pressed against your core, and you wrapped your arms around his neck as he carried you into his bedroom and laid you down on the bed.

He stood at the foot of the bed and removed the rest of his clothes, and you wriggled out of your underwear so that when he crawled over you, you were both completely naked. 

You could feel the conflict in him – you knew that Sonny was gentle and probably wanted to take his time, but you also could feel how badly he missed you.  He settled on an uneven middle ground, pressing slow, wet kisses to you while his hands roved wildly over your form. 

His mouth drifted a lazy path from your mouth to your jaw and down your neck, across your collarbones and back to your mouth.  His hands wandered down your sides and up your front to cup first one breast and then the other.  He stroked your nipples until they were peaked and hard under his caresses. 

Spurred on by your moans and your squirming underneath him, his hand glided further down until it was pressed between your legs.  He slid a finger between your folds and groaned at how wet you were.  He pulled his head back to peer down at you, and your face felt red-hot.

“I told you I needed you,” you muttered at him, avoiding his gaze.

“I told you that you have me,” he replied thickly, and he pushed his finger into you slowly, making both of you moan.  Your face grew hotter, which didn’t seem humanly possible, as he stared down at you through half-lidded eyes.  He slid a second finger into you, then shifted his hand so that his thumb was circling your clit.

You huffed out a breath through your nose and tried to calm yourself, but you felt a liquid heat pooling deep in your belly, and you knew you weren’t going to last long. 

“Sonny, stop,” you whispered.  You felt him hesitate and pull his hand away from you.  You looked up and saw the question in his eyes.

“I want to…finish,” you stammered.  “With you, you know.  Inside me.”

He nodded and shifted his weight off of you to reach into his nightstand for a condom.  You used the moment to try and steady yourself again, squeezing your eyes shut as you heard him rip the wrapper.  Then you felt him stretch himself on top of you again, and you felt his hand cup your face, the thumb stroking your cheekbone.

“Hey, look at me,” he said softly.  You opened your eyes and looked up at him.  He gazed down at you as if you were the only other person in the world.

All the years of frustrated longing, all the other people you’d each been with, every conversation and glance laden with unrequited love – it all fell away when he looked at you like that.  You smiled at him and reached up to cup his own face in your palm, and he leaned into it, touch-starved.  After a moment, you simply nodded at him, and he reached down to line himself up with your entrance.

He pressed the tip of his erection into you with a groan, and you felt dangerously close to the edge.  He slid into you slowly – way too slowly.  His position on top of you made the angle shallow, and his length dragged along your sensitive clit as he pressed himself into your molten core. 

You wanted to make it last, but every single sensation was too much:  the friction on you bundle of nerves where the two of you were joined.  His hot breath, panting praise in your ear.  The scent of his cologne and your perfume mingling along with the headier scent of sex. 

He was only halfway inside you, but it was too late.  You gasped his name once, and then shuddered underneath him with a whimper, your legs wrapping around him to pull the rest of him into you in one thrust.  He started to reply to you, but he growled instead as your sheath gripped him, your orgasm ripping through you.  You shut your eyes as you came, moaning his name over and over.  You were distantly aware of him cursing above you, and he gave a single thrust until he came too.

He collapsed on top of you completely, and his weight pressed you into the mattress.  He groaned again, in frustration this time.  You stroked his hair at the back of his head until you both recovered.  He lifted his head to looked down at you.

“I’m sorry,” you each said at the same time, and you both laughed.  He leaned down and kissed you firmly before he shifted his weight and pulled out of you.  He left the room for a moment to dispose of the condom, then he came back into the bedroom.  He laid down beside you, and you each turned on your sides to face each other.

“I’m sorry I came too quickly,” you said with a rueful grin.  “I was too worked up, I guess.”

He pinched your chin lightly between his fingers and kissed you again.  “It’s all well and good for girls,” he grumbled good-naturedly.  “But I didn’t last at all.  Now all my street cred it gone.”  You laughed at this, and he pretended to look angry.

“It’s your fault,” he continued.  “You set me off.”

“Well, I owe you then,” you replied.  You tried to look contrite.  “Since your street cred is gone and all that.”  You snuggled up against him, enjoying the feeling of his skin pressed against yours.  He wrapped a lanky arm around you and pulled you tighter.

You felt comfortably drowsy, the net effect of your flight, Ma Carisi’s dinner, and being back in Sonny’s bed.  He hummed above you contently, and you started to doze off until your cell phone chimed from the other room.  You roused a bit but settled back against him.

Then it chimed again, and a third time.

“You need to get that?” Sonny asked.  His voice rumbled through his chest.  “Your west coast boyfriend, maybe?”  You knew he was joking, but there was still a jealous undercurrent to his tone.

“There was no west coast boyfriend,” you murmured against him.  “Unless you count my detachable shower head.”

He snorted at this but you could feel the relief in him as he relaxed against you. 

Then his phone chimed, one after another after another.

“Is that Nicole?” you asked, only half-meanly.  He snorted again before he untangled from you and grabbed at his pants at the foot of the bed. 

“Be careful,” he said as he pulled his phone out of his pants pocket.  “If you say her name three times, she’ll turn up and haunt your house.”  You laughed at this and sat up.  You wound his blanket around yourself.  Sonny unlocked his phone.

“Is it work?” you asked.  You felt your stomach dip.  You wanted to stay in this little bubble with Sonny for the entire weekend.  A little sex bubble, maybe with the occasional movie and homemade pasta break.

He just chuckled in reply.  “No, it’s Bella.”  He held up his phone so that you could read the screen.  “She tried to text you and you didn’t reply.  Now she’s of the impression that you’re here with me, corrupting her chaste, virginal brother with your wanton ways.”  He typed out a reply, then turned off his phone and tossed it on the nightstand before lying back down.  He grabbed you around the waist and pulled you down beside him.

“What did you tell her?” you asked.

“The truth,” he said.  He kissed you chastely, then tilted his head to deepen the kiss.  He broke away to look down at you, and his blue eyes were glittering with unshed tears again.  “I told her that you’re home.”

[sarplays]

Safe to say Theresa enjoyed her solo vaction to Tartosa...

Restaurant by me, villa by @bojanastarcevic

[masterofdemise]

Theresa Nordberg Reference.

The dinosaur OC based on the therizinosaurus is finally complete! I had her concept since January but I decided on impulse that I would have her finished by today. She, like the Titan Squadron, also works for the Defense Department at the Hades Gate Corporation but unlike the Squadron, she has been assigned to Nifilheim base to be a solo agent. She and Nadim were also in the same graduating year for their military training, working together for about four months before being assigned to separate placements. Since they still maintain a close friendship, the two often do favors for each other at work when Theresa occasionally reports to main base.

[masterofdemise-doodles]

Theresa. Had her concept around since maybe January, finally decided to plot down some of her colors though. She is another dino OC, specifically a therizinosaurus.

She is not a member of the Titan Squadron, but she does work at the Hades Gate Corporation in the Defense Department just like them. She works solo most of the time, but every now and then she will work together with others.

[ruggiethethuggie]

for @bunnwich - Jan 19 * reference is this post cause i have a big ole birthday encyclopedia. post is not original thoughts. excerpts will be cited.

January 19th The Birthday of Originality | "I see the world in a grain of sand."

Life Lesson: Coping with routine and boring details. The Way Forward: To understand that the devil (and the potential for success) is often in the detail. Luck Maker: Find out what you love to do and what you are good at. Then think about how you can use your passion and talents to help others.

January 19-born are often honest and direct, with a genuine appreciation for beauty. There is an endearing, sometimes childlike, energy and wonder about them; they are blessed with genuine originality. Independent and free-spirited, they really don't care too much what people think and don't take well to rules and being told what to do, so they often rebel with immature behavior. Even if they appear respectable, they soon show what truly unique individuals they are, as anyone who gets to know them soon appreciates. Destined to shine brightly and attract others to them like magnets, they become unhappy if they try to repress their originality. Born movers and shakers, they tend to do better in solitary positions but can work well in groups that allow them to freely use their imagination. The fields of literature, art, engineering and science appeal , and they may be drawn to sports or other physical types of work, as well as careers as experts, advisors and consultants. They can be engaging online experts and video or social media influencers. Bursting with energy, they need to pace themselves: otherwise they risk depression or burning out, so positive thinking and practicing meditation and yoga is strongly advised. For self care, think like a solo mountain climber. Don't underestimate the value of the small and steady steps you need to take to succeed. At the end of the day ask yourself if you gave everything you did that day your very best. Prone to extremes, these people make intense lovers and need a partner who can keep them balanced and give them the occasional reality check. They are intuitive and can often sense what others miss, but it isn't until their early thirties that the emphasis moves towards nurturing their inner life, and herein lies the secret of their success as they age. Once they learn to rather than repress their intuition, and pay attention to the small as well as the big things, their destiny is to inspire others with highly original ideas and make an unforgettable and often exceptional impact on the world.

© Excerpt Cite: Francis-Cheung, Theresa. “January 19.” The Encyclopedia of Birthdays, Thunder Bay Press, San Diego, CA, 2022, pp. 20–20.

[ladybelubelle]

Me pregunto cuantos fankid de Leona habra ,en fin estas niñas son las mias , Diana la mayor y Theresa la menor

(Por ahora Theresa es solo una idea , en cambio Diana es la hija "canon" en mi au de Leona Kingscholar y Belle)

(Aqui una vercion sin Theresa)

[shuttershocky]

I finally finished reading Arknights Chapter 9, Stormwatch, while waiting for the Ling event.

I must say, the now standard political drama aside, I actually like how Stormwatch was noticeably more... Visceral. We see Bagpipe's team get picked off one by one, the last one Cello specifically getting holes bored through her by Mandragora's rocks, we see Reed carry out executions, with the narrative from the point of view of the executed describing the feeling of being hit with Reed's sword and then burning to cinders, we even see what Hypergryph didn't dare to fully commit to with Wei Yenwu: the power of the state devastating its own citizens when the Victorian Army grew frustrated with the Tarans hiding in the citizenry which led to them shelling the entire city with its own cannons using active originium shells. As a war story, Arknights was always violent, but this felt like for one chapter they really wanted to write how horrific this war could really get.

With the final cutscene setting up multiple different rival factions from Dublinn to Theresis' own forces all converging on Victoria, the emerging conflict feels like it's going to have even harsher stakes. The biggest change Reunion made in terms of the story was ultimately having Ch'en leave Lungmen, as Ursus was noted to have freely abandoned Chernobog to die, while Wei Yenwu easily annihilated them in Lungmen. For the Victoria arc however, it feels like what happens next is going to have major changes for an enormous part of the setting.

I also really liked the scene where Reunion remnants attack the Rhodes Island landship to capture Talulah as their prisoner, because it gave us a glimpse as to how Theresis might have been driven off from destroying Rhodes Island completely despite Theresa's death. Reunion executes the perfect plan, simultaneously takes down all of the security systems while attacking when no Elite operators (apart from Blaze) were on the ship, and yet when Kal'tsit finishes the surgery she was working on and comes out to fight, all hell breaks loose.

Even Nine, who defeated Amiya and was Ch'en's former colleague (so you know she's strong), goes "Holy shit what IS that thing?! We gotta go!" when Mon3tr emerges and starts smacking Reunion around without a care. If Talulah didn't assist in her own capture and help Reunion escape, Kal'tsit would have soloed everyone AND taken down their getaway plane.

Doctor only being able to just sort of cover Amiya with their body while Mon3tr was ragdolling everyone and making the attackers piss themselves was probably quite satisfying for Kal'tsit. Just a little.

[bbygirlky18]

Ships Updated!!!!

Here are the ships for my fanfic Mami's Breakthrough. You'll meet the main character in the ship list so be prepared. I'll use the wrestler's real name. You'll see repeated names so don't get spooked. Let's get into it.

Demi (Rhea) & Gretchen (Eliora)

Stephanie (Stephanie) & Paul (Hunter)

Jonathan (Jimmy) & Trinity ( Naomi)

Fergal (Finn) & Masami (Iyo)

Dominik (Dominik) & Gionna (Liv)

Luis (Damian) & Elizabeth (Beth)

Bianca (Bianca) & Carlisle (Luigi)

Joseph (Erick) & Victoria (Lilou)

Rebecca (Becky) & Ulysses (Ron)

Natalya (Natalya) & Jeremy (Elijah)

Maryse (Maryse) & Richard (Jules/m)

Cheree (Dakota) & James (Jackson)

Theresa (Zoey) & Leon (Brett)

Brianna (Cora) & Dexter (Mustafa)

Logan (Logan) & Donna (Stephanie)

Randall (Randy) & Conner (Brian)

Keith (Keith) & Lucas “Luke” (Mick)

Sydney (Maxxine) & Jessica (Gilda)

Brittany (Britt) & Carmen (Lola)

Milena (Rosa) & Taylor (Lilou)

Ashley (Shotzi) & Gisele (Rhonda)

Allyssa (Kayden) & Spencer (Gabriel)

Aoife (Lyra) & Dominic “Dom” (Roddy)

William (Christian) & Emilio (Kevin)

Trevor (Ricochet) & Rosalie (Anastasia)

Macey (Lacey) & Sebastian (Grayson)

Sarah (Valhalla) & Jasper (Riley/ m)

Elizabeth (Scarlett) & Luke (Vince)

Stephanie (Mia) & Enrique (Dash)

Ron (R-Truth) & Angela (Asahi)

Shayna (Shayna) & Kate (Mia)

Simone (Ava/Ava Raine) & Sammy (Itsuki)

Layla (Layla) & Dion (Gabriel)

Catherine (Cathy) & Titus (Aiden)

Michael (Shawn) & Mick (Nathan)

Kira (Taya) & Suki (Hawk)

Victoria (Raquel) & Velvet (Asahi)

Mark (The Undertaker) & Clarissa (Paige)

Taylor (Jacy) & Theodora (Lilou) 

Windham (Bray) & Austin (Tyler)

Priscilla (Gigi) & Elizabeth (Kanna)

Patricia (Trish) & Eric (Terry)

Eduardo (Eddie) & Renesmée (Riley/ f)

Jeffrey (Jeff) & Edward (Ted)

Kiera (Kiera) & D.J. (Mustafa)

Mercedes (Sasha) & Quil (Jackson)

Steffanie (Tegan) & June (Gayle)

Serena (Serena) & Embry (Luigi)

Ettore (Big E) & Ashley (Emma)

Adam (Edge) & Royal (Roddy)

Amy (Lita) & Charles (Lucas)

Samantha (Samantha) & Becca (Nastya)

Živilė (Aksana) & Jonathan (Logan)

Kristen (Kris) & Gisell (Becky)

Dwayne (The Rock) & Jasmyne (Olivia)

Daria (Sonya) & Lauren (Olga)

Brodie (Luke) & Rob (Rio)

Kevin (Kevin Nash) & Samuel (Wally)

Bryan (Daniel) & Flynn (Mickie)

Catherine (Lana) & Tara (Gilda)

Jake (Jake) & Vixen (Mario)

Amanda (Mandy) & Beth (Christy)

Joseph (Solo) & Eleazar (Chris)

Kenneth (Montez) & Sam (Mantaro)

Celeste (Kaitlyn) & Matthew “Matt) (Jimbo)

Sarona (Tamina) & Luna (Kanna)

JoJo (JoJo) & Arianne (Falcon)

Kacy (Katana) & Paul (Brett)

Nicola (Nikki Cross) & Bronson (Kaito)

Adam (Braun) & Garrett (Gabriel)

Phillip (CM) & Sean (Mickie)

Rena (Sable) & Roman (Grayson)

Anriel (Lash) & Colleen (Dahlia)

Allen (AJ Styles) & Leah (Lilou)

Renee (Renee) & Jason (Ron)

Angela (Zayda) & Tanya (Olivia)

Kia (Kharma) & Lee (Mick)

Kaori (Kairi) & Theo (Brett)

Todd (Ivar) & Riley (Jules/ m)

Danielle (Willow) & Jane (Riley/ f)

Stephen (Sheamus) & Tara (Ember)

Ashley (Dana) & Sue (Emma)

Jazmin (Mercedes) & Bridget (Alexa)

Melina (Melina) & Han (Mustafa)

Franklin (Bobby) & Bree (Lola)

Faith (Nikkita) & Archie (Haruto)

Ronda (Ronda) & Makenna (Kanna)

Pamela (Bayley) & Samantha (Emma)

Gail (Gail) & Vyolette (Kanna)

Colby (Seth) & Leann (Donna)

Skye (Skye) & Alice (Katya)

Karen (Wendy) & Mariana (Nastya) 

Steve (‘Stone Cold’ Steve) & David (Alexander)

KiLynn (KiLynn) & Kirk (Logan)

Austin (Xavier) & Elle (Gilda)

Alexis (Alexa) & Jakob (Lucas)

Adrienne (Athena/Ember) & Esme (Riley/ f)

Matthew (Matt Hardy) & Earnest (Mario)

Stephanie (Nikki Bella) & Bella (Anastasia)

Thea (Zelina Vega) & Deckard “Deck” (Terry)

Glenn (Kane) & Priya (Olga)

Mary (Maria) & Mae (Anastasia)

Jillian (Jillian) & Aro (Shane)

Michelle (Michelle) & Nicole (Katya)

Lisa (Victoria) & McKayla (Nia) 

Mickie (Mickie) & Kate (Stephanie)

Lilián (Lilian) & Esmeralda (Candice)

Leva (Leva) & Clara (Itsuki)

Toni (Toni) & Nicholas (Jimbo)

Gary (Angelo) & Murray (Mario)

Shinsuke (Shinsuke) & Jennifer (Olivia)

Saraya (Paige) & Lauren (Ember)

Karlee (Maxine) & Ashely (Jules/ f)

Cody (Cody) & Jacob (Jack)

Shelly (Ariel) & Aaron “Hotch” (Louis)

Tom (Aleister) & Emily (Sasha)

Carla (Roxanne) & Alec (Ron)

April (AJ Lee) & Sam (Roddy)

Victoria (Alicia) & Marissa (Chyna)

Danielle (Summer) & Kendall (Jack)

Matthew (Matt Riddle) & Tarrence (Nathan)

Jessica (Billie) & Whitney (Beth)

Stacy (Stacy) & Allen (Alexander)

Joan (Chyna) & Sasha (Hawk)

Jonathan (Dean) & Ophelia (Amelia)

Natalie (Eva) & Tatum (Reo)

Jade (Jade) & Jennifer “JJ” (Riley/ f)

Joe (Roman) & Marcel (Roddy)

Oscar (Rey) & Xavier (Shane)

Kimberly (Piper) & Annelise (Mia)

Leah (Carmella) & Rebecca (Gilda)

Torrie (Torrie) & Irina (Emma) 

Tenille (Emma) & Noel (Nathan)

Dori (Ruby) & Rachel (Gayle)

Eve (Eve) & Ettore (Logan)

John (John Morrison) & Brian (Riley/ m)

Andrew (Drew) & Mary (Candice)

Rami (Sami) & Edythe (Chyna)

Katarina (Katie) & Lance (Luigi)

Cassie (Peyton) & Vera (Lilou)

Kofi (Kofi) & Vallie (Becky)

Laura (Allie) & Annissa (Sasha)

Chelsea (Chelsea) & Jess (Zoe)

Joshua (Jey) & Elyssa (Ruby)

Raymond (Erik) & Russ (Kid)

Ashley (Charlotte) & Leticia “Letty” (Lilou)

Deonna (Deonna) & Logan (Wally)

Kanako (Asuka) & Vince (Mario)

Barbara (Kelly Kelly) & Julyanna (Rhonda)

Lina (Nia) & Eleanor (Stephanie)

Brianna (Brie) & Jared (Ted)

John (John Cena) & Jack (Haruto)

Mike (The Miz) & Henry (Jackson)

Debrah (Alundra/Madusa) & Douglas (Ron)

Claudio (Cesaro) & Laurent (Vince)

Ariane (Cameron) & Stephen (Tyler)

Brandi (Eden) & Erica (Stacie)

Kevin (Kevin Owens/KO) & Derek (Luigi)

Jessika (Jessika) & Jesse (Logan)

Candice (Candice) & Anne (Olga)

John (Johnny Gargano) & Ben (Jimmy)

Debra (Debra) & Jessamine (Jules/ f)

Seth (Riley/ m) & Tyler (Aiden)

Rowena (Donna) & Victor (Kid)

Tej (Elijah) & Sullivan (Mustafa)

Penelope (Becky) & Emily (Stacie)

Evangeline (Olga) & Beth (Stephanie) 

Carine (Layla) & Emmett (Wayne)

Alex (Emma) & Jedidiah (Shane)

Gina (Anastasia) & Mia (Nastya) 

Presley (Louis) & Edward (Kaito)

Gabriel (Brett) & Cain (Alexa)

Ramsey (Katya) & Katie (Nia)

Rubie (Emma) & Eloise (Katya)

Mike (Louis) & Cherylyn (Becky)

That's the full ship list. Hope you guys enjoy it.

[ktkat99]

I don't know where I'm going with this and I'm aware that I might be making something out of nothing, but now I've got questions.

Archie is the only hero we have ZERO backstory on. We didn't see him get recruited like we did Jay, Atlanta, and Herry. We didn't get a run down on his abilities like we did the others. With Theresa, Herry, Jay, and Atlanta, we got to see their family members. Odie went back to his own house a few times, and Neil's manager likes providing minor details about Neil's life.

When we first see Archie, he's solo on the training course with Ares absolutely FLYING through every obstacle, shows no surprise at the fact that he's talking with several gods, acknowledges his and everyone's superhuman abilities, has no fear or second thoughts about fighting monsters several times his size, and yet almost ditches everyone because he doesn't believe he was chosen to be a hero.

At the beginning of the show, everyone has a bit of a curve where they're still getting used to the fact that they have powers and monsters and gods are real and they have to fight them. Archie doesn't. He takes everything way too much in stride.

And speaking of stride, it's implied that his ankle brace is something he's been wearing for a while. NAME ONE DOCTOR WHO WOULD USE A METAL BRACE ON A KID.

Archie was the first one to notice they were being watched here and while Atlanta grew up hunting, the episode with Artemis and Orion prove that he's not got her tracking experience. No. He shines when it comes to combat. And as the Warrior, that's not much of a surprise, but then we get to the thing I noticed that I'm most likely reading too much into.

Archie and Chronos both have anger issues, both have that discolored double-spiked bangs look, and according to Archie's wiki page, both have naturally black hair. What if Archie and Chronos are related?

What are the chances that Archie's reluctance to believe he was destined to be a hero stemmed from believing he was supposed to be a villain? What are the chances that Chronos had some sort of link to the outside world while he was in Tartarus?

That being said, I'm also 16 chapters into a story where Chronos adopted and raised Archie and Neil as his sons so I recognize that my interpretation of these things might be a bit skewed, but this is my headcanon now and no one can stop me from rewatching the show with this in mind.

[justforbooks]

As the leader of the New York band Television, Tom Verlaine, who has died aged 73, was a key figure in the coterie of musicians – Blondie, Talking Heads, the Ramones, the Patti Smith Group – who made downtown Manhattan a laboratory of new sounds and new styles in the mid-1970s. Although each of those groups pursued a very different musical path, together their impact would shape what became known as the punk movement, while Television’s debut LP, Marquee Moon, released in 1977, would secure a place among the most admired and enduringly influential albums of its era.

In Smith’s recent publication, A Book of Days, she chooses a photograph from 1974 in which she and Verlaine, then lovers and occasional collaborators, are holding hands in a tableau of sweetly defiant thrift-store chic: a flimsy child-bride’s gown for her, a patchwork leather jerkin for him. But among the artfully distressed apparel, defiant haircuts and painfully skinny silhouettes of their milieu, none of those serving apprenticeships in CBGBs, Max’s Kansas City and other New York clubs showed more concern for the music itself than Verlaine.

“Attitude,” he once said, “will only take you so far, which for me is never far enough.” Instead the career of the visionary singer, songwriter and guitarist, including solo albums and appearances as well as various Television reunions, seemed to represent a constant quest for the perfect blend of musical eloquence and some form of spiritual elevation.

Fittingly for a man who appropriated his stage name from a great French symbolist poet, Verlaine wrote striking lyrics, such as the opening lines of Marquee Moon: “I remember how the darkness doubled / I recall lightning struck itself.” In another early song, Venus, he sang of how “Broadway looked so medieval” – a description both improbable and indelibly perceptive.

But it was his exploratory guitar solos that spoke of his early interest in, and deep knowledge of, the avant-garde jazz of the 1960s. Somehow he managed to find a language midway between the speaking-in-tongues improvisations of the saxophonists John Coltrane and Albert Ayler and the more functional styles of such rock’n’roll, R&B and surf-rock guitarists as James Burton, Steve Cropper and Dick Dale, as well as the expansive psychedelic guitar improvisations of Jerry Garcia and John Cipollina, and to make the result match his own era.

Verlaine’s tightly wound stage presence was compelling, but his personality – his cool reserve, fugitive manner and inherent suspicion of others’ motives – made him a figure of mystery, and worked against his chances of the mainstream success to which, in any case, he never seemed committed.

The son of Lillian and Victor Miller, he was born in Morriston, New Jersey, into a middle-class family who moved to Wilmington, Delaware, when he was six years old. After classical piano lessons, he switched to saxophone upon discovering jazz and then took up the guitar. At Sanford, a private school in Hockassin, Delaware, where he was a day pupil, he met a boarder from Kentucky named Richard Meyers, with whom he bonded over a love of poetry and a mutual desire to escape the confines of the establishment in which they found themselves. The first attempt ended with both being brought back after being arrested in Alabama for setting a building on fire.

They had made their separate ways to New York by 1971, where they teamed up again on the Lower East Side, changed their names to Tom Verlaine and Richard Hell, scuffled for work and wrote poetry together under the nom-de-plume “Theresa Stern”. But Verlaine, working as a clerk at the Strand bookstore in the East Village, was determined to form a band. He taught Hell the rudiments of playing the bass guitar and together with the drummer Billy Ficca they performed as the Neon Boys before adding another guitarist, Richard Lloyd, and changing their name to Television in 1974.

Verlaine’s songs, the compositions of Hell (including the anthemic Blank Generation) and the soaring interplay between the two lead guitarists quickly earned them a following among New York’s scene makers. Endorsements came from David Bowie and Nicholas Ray, the director of Rebel Without a Cause, whose crisp epithet – “Four cats with a passion” – appeared on their promotional material. Smith, then beginning her rise to prominence, was another early supporter, and Verlaine played on her first single, a version of Hey Joe, in 1974.

Richard Hell, whose spiky hair and ripped T-shirts would inspire Malcolm McLaren’s styling of the Sex Pistols, had already been sacked by Verlaine on the grounds of heroin-induced unreliability by the time Television made their first single. A Verlaine song called Little Johnny Jewel, it was released in 1975 on a label created by their patron, Terry Ork. The following year they signed a deal with Elektra Records and began work on Marquee Moon. The album was co-produced by the studio engineer Andy Johns, who had worked with the Rolling Stones, Free and Led Zeppelin, and who helped Verlaine achieve the clarity of sound for which he was searching.

If the album’s sales were disappointing by the standards of the biggest rock bands of the time, their music was warmly received by the rock press in the US and Europe, and by audiences on their first tour of the UK, with Blondie as their support act. A second album, Adventure, made less impact and the band dissolved in 1978 after disagreements between Verlaine and Lloyd.

Verlaine’s eponymous first solo album was released in 1979, followed two years later by Dreamtime and then by several others, including Cover, completed in 1984 while he was briefly living in London. Two albums of instrumental pieces, Warm and Cool (1992) and Around (2006), showed his gift for creating tone poems inspired by film noir. In 1995 he appeared as a guest with Smith’s band on a US tour with Bob Dylan.

Television briefly reformed in 1992 to release a new self-titled album of the highest quality and toured occasionally both before and after the second departure of Lloyd, who was replaced from 2007 by Jimmy Rip. Their last appearances came in 2013.

🔔 Tom Verlaine (Thomas Miller), guitarist, singer and songwriter, born 13 December 1949; died 28 January 2023

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[criminalhobbit]

People I'd like to get to know

Thank you to @luv-not-hate for tagging me in this! I'm not used to posting anything on here but this seems fun :).

Last song: Lady Writer by the Dire Straits. It has a KILLER guitar solo that isn't as well-known as the one in Sultans of Swings and I'm absolutely living for it.

Favorite color: There aren't that many colours that I don't like! I tend to go for deep blue, but forest green is a close second. Pink is just about the only colour I'm not a fan of.

Last movie/TV show: I recently finished Bodies on Netflix, and it was...ok. Not a bad show, just not as good as it could have been in my opinion. Now if you're looking for a mind blowing time travelling show of amazing quality, I HIGHLY recommend Dark on Netflix!

Sweet/spicy/savory?: YES/ Yes / Yes. I LOVE anything sweet! Baking is a hobby of mine so you'll often find me in the kitchen making banana bread or brownies when I should really be doing something else. It's my way of procrastinating. I like spicy food! I like to think that I can handle it pretty well? At least as well as a white person can handle it ;). As for savoury, who doesn't like savoury food?

Relationship status: Single, and perfectly happy. While I do find the idea of partnership appealing, I don't crave it or need it to be happy. I've got friends and family and I am quite pleased with my situation.

Last thing I googled: How chocolate was brought into the French court during the 16th-17th history. I'm a sucker for history and always looking for fun party facts :). If you were interested, it was through King Louis XIV's wife, Maria Theresa of Spain, who loved hot chocolate and made it popular in France :).

Current obsession: I sold my soul to Larian. I'm deep in Baldur's Gate III these days (though who isn't??) and loving every second of it. It really reminds me of Dragon Age Origin in the best of ways. I love how you can gather allies and get them to play a meaningful part of how your story will end, as it did for the DA:O ending. I haven't finished the game yet but I'm in Act 3! My other obsession is the Legend of Drizzt series. I've been playing DnD since I was 17 and I've recently made the switch from player to DM, and so I picked up the Drizzt series as a way to familiarize myself with the lore of DnD. So far I'm on book 5 (of like 40??) and adoring it!

Here's hoping the following folks enjoy these questions as much as I enjoy sharing. Please include me in the mention so I can receive notices of your response if you decide to play.

@americankimchi @azdesertwillow @miraamell @saltybiowarefantears