#to make sure my thoughts are fresh for the parts I haven’t liveblogged yet

[mxtxfanatic]

I’ve read so many books on my hiatus that I’ve been unable to talk about due to lack of internet and also packing, I think imma just start promoting them via mini-reviews and maybe liveblogging my favorite snippets when I finally have home internet again.

[veliseraptor]

I can't remember if anyone has actually asked you this. I apologise beforehand if you're repeating yourself. What are your three favourite scenes in The Untamed and why?

(Love how this took so long, mostly because I was waiting to get through all the listed moments in my rewatch. Anyway! It’s here now!)

Oh, fuck. 

Okay, I couldn’t keep it to three. I tried! I did! But I couldn’t. So here is a list of just general favorite scenes with the three scratched off. I realized belatedly that most of these are just painful because I love pain I guess??? but yeah that’s just who I am and I think I have to accept that.

Under a read more because Jesus this got long.

1. The entire scene at Nightless City culminating in Wei Wuxian’s death. Like, okay, honestly, if I could expand this into basically everything between Jin Zixuan’s death and Wei Wuxian’s, I’d do that, but that feels like too much even though in my head it is all sort of...one contiguous marathon of pain. But god!!! I have a whole thing for...characters hitting their breaking point, for breaking points in general, for seeing a character I love just...crack open, and that’s what happens here.

Like. Wei Wuxian’s been cracking for a while, and there’s a number of breaking points that kind of build on each other, but this is, obviously, where the real snap happens.

And on a narrative level, too, there’s the thing that...this is the point that we as the audience have been spiraling toward since first seeing the beginning of episode one. This is where the entire long stretch of flashback has been pointing - here’s where it culminates, where it falls into place, where everything circles back to where the show started and now you know exactly how it got there. 

Also I just. Love to suffer, and this entire scene is one whole long stretch of suffering. 

2. The golden core reveal. Oh man, I was waiting for this conversation for, like. Ever. I knew it was coming and I knew it was going to have to happen and I just kept being like. When will it be. When will it be and then it happened and god it was beautiful. Everything about this whole scene was just tailor made to hurt me and make me love it, from the confrontation in the ancestral shrine right down to when Jiang Cheng bolts in a panic. 

I hurt for everyone here. Wen Ning who has hit the end of his rope and is just fed up with everything. Jiang Cheng whose world is getting turned upside down and inside out and a whole lot of things falling into place all at once, his self-conception wrecked and his understanding of Wei Wuxian both opened and destroyed. Lan Wangji who is understanding what he missed and, I think, beating himself up about having missed it, and also the fresh understanding of just how ready Wei Wuxian is to throw himself under a bus for the people he loves. Wei Wuxian who doesn’t know any of this is happening but has just collapsed after running on fumes basically since resurrecting and is going to find out later that the biggest secret he’s been keeping and planned to keep for the rest of his life is now out. 

It’s just. Lord. It’s all so painful and it’s all so good, the payoff is so good, and especial mention here of Wen Ning’s done with your shit and I’m not taking it anymore face as he brandishes Suibian at Jiang Cheng not as a weapon, exactly, but a little bit.

(He doesn’t bite but he can hurt you in other ways!)

Anyway, this isn’t actually saying anything coherent, really, except just a lot of “ahhhhh” screaming about this scene and everything in it and everyone suffering in it and just. What a moment. 

3. The excruciating conversation between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian in episode 48. Oh my god. Ohhhh my god. Okay, so, I’m always going to be a sucker for extremely painful and difficult sibling confrontations where everyone is spilling their feelings everywhere and it’s just a lot, and this was like. I remember on my first watch when this happened and I was like. Holy shit. This. This was what I needed. This!!!! 

And then no real resolution after, orz. But that’s what fanfiction is for. And there’s glimpses of the possibility, for sure, I Believe.

But anyway! And on rewatch this conversation just gets better and also more painful because of the ways that while it is finally a conversation that Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng have sort of needed to have for, like, ever, it’s also one that rips open a lot of old wounds and it is also one that involves a painful amount of talking past each other. 

There’s a long meta post somewhere (sorry! I never know how to find the meta I’m looking for when I want it and I’m lazy right now!) about how what Jiang Cheng needs to hear is that Wei Wuxian loves and cares about him, and what he does hear is that Wei Wuxian is, once again, cutting himself off, that it was all always about debts and obligations and nothing more. And what Wei Wuxian is trying to do is release Jiang Cheng from being tied to him by those debts and obligations, to give him freedom, with I think the idea of creating a clean slate that’s not tainted by everything that went wrong before. He thinks Jiang Cheng needs to be released, but what Jiang Cheng needs is to be held.

(Both of them do! Both of them need that! Both of them need to feel loved and cherished and these things also specifically by each other!)

And I just. I just cry a lot.

But it is also beautiful, in the way that it captures so much about their relationship and the blood and hurt and tenderness and love all tied excruciatingly together, the ways that they hurt and have hurt each other, the ways they push and pull, all of Jiang Cheng’s anger and hurt spilling out everywhere in a way that I think has been building for 16 years. It’s not closure, but it is a catharsis. 

And for Wei Wuxian - I think it has to be, on some level, a relief. Even as it’s painful, even as it is exactly what he never wanted to happen, the secret is out now and he doesn’t have to hold onto it anymore. They are both - in his eyes - free. 

It’s just...a wrenching conversation that hits, like, sixty of my buttons at once and gives me a whole lot of emotions. 

4. asldkajsldfkj the flashback to Xiao Xingchen’s suicide in episode 39 and what comes after, just go ahead and kill me now. Like okay it’s probably obvious by now that I live in this hole called “Yi City, my Xue Yang feelings, and my XueXiao feelings,” and during this liveblog I specifically spilled several posts and screenshots worth of them, but god!!!! it’s just so much. Like, the entire Yi City arc is messy and painful as hell, it’s just like being put through an emotional wringer where I hurt for everyone in it, but this is the part that is especially excruciating because everyone in this emotional climax is suffering so much. 

And, like. We knew where this would end. We knew Xiao Xingchen died, and a-Qing was just killed, and at this point Xue Yang is dying. No one is getting out of this alive - but we haven’t seen yet exactly how things closed out. And the answer is “badly. it’s badly.” 

Both of these people in the very bad breakup scene are hurting. Xiao Xingchen is in agony, his life falling apart in his hands - everything he thought he knew has been a lie, he’s been tricked, played for a fool. And the hammer blows keep coming. It’s not enough that it’s Xue Yang, that Xue Yang has been fucking with him (as far as he knows), lying to him, for three years. It’s what Xue Yang reveals about what he’s done. And then it’s what Xue Yang reveals about what he’s done to Song Lan.

And on the other end - Xue Yang’s weird fake domestic life that he’s gotten attached to, Xiao Xingchen who he’s come to care about - it’s imploding, irrevocably, in front of his face. And first he tries to explain himself, sort of, but he must know it’s not going to work; and then he goes back to what he does best and lashes out. You’re going to hurt me? I’ll hurt you fifty times as much.

I think he expects a fight. Or maybe, at most, he expects Xiao Xingchen to break down, and maybe he has some vague idea that then he can say see, this is what the world is really like, now you get it and rebuild him in some kind of Xue Yang-esque image (though I don’t think he really thinks that’ll happen). He doesn’t expect Xiao Xingchen to kill himself. He doesn’t expect Xiao Xingchen to die.

And then he doesn’t expect to not be able to get him back.

It’s just. This whole arc is people destroying each other and themselves body and soul, and this is the climax of it, the breaking point. And it hurts, real bad.

And as we have established! I love to suffer.

5. Drunk Lan Wangji, take two. All of these are like. “Pain! Pain! Pain!” and here we are with some goofy antics instead. I mean, the intro to drunk!Wangji is sad in the way that it has to do with what happened to Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen (and Lan Wangji’s always feelings about those parallels ouch), but then...I mean, drunk!Wangji is just generally adorable, but here he is especially adorable. 

Chicken theft! Vandalism! Trespassing! His adorable little smile when Wei Wuxian asks if he likes rabbits and he’s like. Yeah. :) :)

And then we close out with more emotions, of course. Because it’s not The Untamed without a little bit of pain thrown in there. 

“I have regret,” Lan Wangji says, a confession of fault, and of course Wei Wuxian can’t receive it, or won’t - and Lan Wangji reacts to his attempt at absolution by basically doing his usual “I don’t want to talk about this” routine of just bluntly changing the subject (in this case “going to bed now goodnight.”).

Also the entire bit where he goes from hopelessly drunk to fighting off an opponent and then back to hopelessly drunk, like. Even drunk!Wangji can and will kick your ass. 

And all of Wei Wuxian just like. Basically trip babysitting him? Gently trying to herd him around? The gentleness and fondness of it all?

Good. All good.

6. Qiongqi Path, take one. Emotional mauling! Terrifying evil flute Wei Wuxian! Dramatic face-off between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji! The beginning of Lan Wangji’s moral crisis! (Or, okay, not the beginning but this is definitely a major breaking point for his worldview, I think, and where his questioning really, truly begins.) 

It’s just...a lot of good. Everything with Wen Qing searching for Wen Ning’s body hurts so bad. Wei Wuxian coming stalking back into the camp with vengeance on the brain is as gloriously sexy as that vibe always is on him. And the confrontation between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian? oh man. 

Juicy. And also. Ouch. 

(And am I a sucker for everything about ‘former allies ending up on opposite sides and one of them saying something along the lines of ‘if I’m going to die then I’d rather it was you who killed me’ yes I sure am! I didn’t cry nearly as much on my third watch but this scene is another one of my points that I think of when I think of bits in The Untamed that make me cry.

And as we’ve established already, I just love to cry.

7. God like. All of episode 19? Is that cheating? But it’s all so good! We have suffering Wei Wuxian! Mouthing off while being tortured! The entire sequence of him grabbing the sword and that moment of choice where his life turns as he answers that question (do you want revenge?) with a resounding yes? 

Lan Wangji absolutely fucking up some Wens on a desperate quest for Wei Wuxian? Teaming up with Jiang Cheng? (Do I still want to see more of that team up in that time? Yes please!!) SPOOKY FUCKING FLUTE MUSIC STARTING SIGNALING EXTREMELY OMINOUS THINGS TO COME?

Anyway it’s all very “fuck yeah, this is all quite tailored to me and my interests, thank you.”

8. Jiang Yanli coming for Jin Zixun’s life. I feel like I should just link to this analysis of this scene that really breaks it all down in detail? But god so satisfying. I mean, Jin Zixun is truly one of the most hateable characters in this show, in my opinion, and seeing Jiang Yanli step up and politely and meticulously demolish him is like. So satisfying. 

The face of a woman about to murder someone. But with words.

I really wish we could’ve seen more of this Jiang Yanli, because before this point she’s all softness and gentleness and while that’s very true of her - this part of her is also there, always, and I’d love to have seen more of it.

But like. Getting it here? Stunning. Showstopping. Love it.

9. Wei Wuxian wrecks a party, but, like, sexily. I mean, he wrecks a few parties, but I’m thinking specifically of the one in episode 26 prior to Qiongqi Path, take one. Everything about that whole scene is gold top to bottom, but what really gets me going is everything from the dramatic entrance (I’m tempted to make a list of Wei Wuxian’s best dramatic entrances) onward to “sexy menacing countdown.” It’s just all so...I mean, I’ve talked about how much I love furiously angry and on the verge of losing it Wei Wuxian, and this is some prime that material. 

(Pictured: the sexiest way anyone has ever said the word ‘two.’)

And just! The tension of it all, how it builds and builds and builds and even when it finally releases when Zixun caves there’s still all this lingering “oh fuck! that’s bad!” dread...it’s just very good. 

And I also love it as one of those key plot turning moments where it’s like. This isn’t the irrevocable break, but it’s a big one as far as ‘no going back from this.’

And like. Not just Wei Wuxian, everyone else in this scene is excellent too. Just. Mm. Good.

10. Wei Wuxian is sexy when he’s mean and that’s just the truth. Which is to say: the very bad breakup scene between him and Lan Wangji in episode 20. I’ve read two different analyses of this scene, both brilliant (by @hunxi-guilai here, and @neuxue here), and I feel like I can’t add much to that other than to reiterate that Wei Wuxian is very sexy when he’s mean, and the layers of everything going on in this scene are. Ugh!!! So good.

(I mean, also everything that comes before, I have put myself down firmly in camp “Wei Wuxian is also sexy when he murders people, you go Wei Ying, murder people as much as you want, it’s hot.” And the hug with Jiang Cheng! (THAT HUG. IT IS SUCH A HUG.))

But the confrontation between him and Lan Wangji in particular! it is so fuckin good. Honestly just read the linked analyses, I’ve got nothing I can say better that’s not in there, just a lot of “ahhhhhhh” about it all.

BONUS MENTIONS TO: basically every time Wei Wuxian Yiling Laozus, “stay and die with me.” 

[buttdawg]

New South: The Saga Continues 11/2/19 (1/2)

The main thing that got me to plunk down money for IWTV was all the hype ads I kept seeing for Warhorse vs. Rey Fury.   I was confused about how to watch Warhorse’s matches, which led me to IWTV, and they seemed to have a jillion indy feds on their site, so it seemed like a good deal.   The problem was that New South’s November 2 show didn’t go up on the site for like a month, so I wasn’t really sure what to do in the meantime.   I ended up watching the Beyond show where Warhorse defended the IWTV title against Orange Cassidy, and the Black Label Pro Turbo Graps 16 tournament where he won the title.    

But I decided to finally get back to the New South show.   I wasn’t sure if I should watch the entire thing, but the opening of the show is a Star Wars crawl, and there’s a backstage segment where it looks like BB-8 and Darth Sidious are spying on people, so I decided to liveblog it instead.

These are the guys BB-8 and Sid were watching.    They look like eighth graders.    I don’t mean to knock these guys, it’s just that I’m old and the young talent in the wrestling business looks younger and younger all the time, and my guess is that indy feds like New South are where a lot of the really new guys get their start.   Or maybe I’m just not used to seeing actual early-twentysomethings on a wrestling show.    They talk about Joey Janela like he’s a fresh young talent, and he’s 30.   Anyway, the bros on the right are the new tag champs, and I guess the ones on the left are the former champs, who somehow lost their titles without getting pinned, so they’re looking forward to a title match.  

Now, you might ask me why I didn’t take a picture of BB-8 and Darth Sidious, but that’s because BB-8 is a crappy-looking toy, and the Emperor is apparently played by a shadow in an empty corridor.    You’re not missing much.

The new general manager of New South comes out and he’s this huge dude with Flirtin’ With Disaster as his entrance music.   There’s basketball goals all over the place, and he hypes up being in Hartsville, Alabama.    There’s something romantic about these kinds of shows.   Not kissy-kissy romantic, but you know. 

Anyway, this dude became the new GM, but he’s announcing he’s stepping down after tonight so some championship committee can take over.    I get the impression that New South recently ended some “evil authority figure takes over” storyline, and theyr’re still figuring out what to do next.   This all feels like a CAW Fed on YouTube.    Not necessarily a bad thing. 

New South Tag Team Championship: Wasted Generation vs. Talladega Knights (c): Well, that’s cool that we’re following through on the opening segment.   Dueling “Tal-la-DAY-ga” and “Let’s-Get-WAY-sted!” chants.   Pretty impressive for a crowd this small.    The commentator calls it a “bona fide heatfest”, and I feel like he meant “spotfest”, since this is a face vs. face match where they run through like a million offensive manuevers in five minutes.   But maybe heatfest is a real term and I’m just out of touch.  

This match is nuts.  I’ve seen sharpshooters, Falcon Arrows, moonsaults, superkicks, and that whole “I chop you now you chop me” bit they do in New Japan.    While I wrote this a guy jumped off the bleachers into the others, and it’s not that high off the ground, but it’s the thought that counts.    Part of the story here--maybe unintentionally, but I like it-- is that the referee just can’t keep up with these young’uns and their greased lightning anything goes style.   Wasted Gen’s finisher is called “Don’t Embarass Me in Front of Tyler Matrix”, whatever that means.   It gets a two count.  Canadian Destroyer, because of course they did.   The Talladega drapes a guy over the top rope and hits him with a double stomp, and that one gets the three.  Talladega Knights retain the gold, but Wasted Gen snatches the belts away... only to present them to the champs and raise their hands in a show of respect.   Hey this was good stuff.    

“The Hot Tamale” Daniel Perez vs. “The Unicorn Princess” Taylor Rae.   I wasn’t sure how I felt about intergender matches before I started watching all these indy matches, but I got used to it pretty quickly.   The only real insight I’ve noticed is that it probably has less to do with pushing boundaries or equality or anything like that, and it’s more about not having enough women wrestlers on any given show to do a separate division.    And that’s fine.   Part of my beef with AEW and WWE is that they underutilize the women because they’re in a separate division that usually gets demoted to the periphery.   

Perez is a Latin Lothario heel, and Rae thinks she’s a unicorn, I guess.   Perez tries to seduce her by offering a coupon for one free kiss, but Rae rips it up and goes to town on him.     I mean she starts kicking his ass, not “goes to town” in a romantic way.   Hot Tamale exposes the turnbuckle, which they really ought to do more in wrestling.   I say that and I see it all the damn time, but that’s not enough.    More turnbuckle exposing.    More!

Rae gets a lot of cool offense in, but it ends up coming back to the exposed turnbuckle, as Perez launches her into it and grabs a handful of tights to score the fall.    Nice match, but I’m noticing that I’ve only seen one intergender match where the woman wins.  Maybe I’m just not seeing the right ones, but my fear is that they do these matches and job out the gals, which kind of defeats the point of doing it.    

Backstage, this guy in glasses offers the Talledega Knights a spot in his stable, the Akuto Death Society.   They have T-shirts and get this, they’re black with a white logo.    The Knights decline the offer, and then they see something strange in a locker, which is ominously numbered 66.  Oooh.

“The Pittbull” Brett Ison vs. Baron Black (w/Shalandra Royal).  I think Baron Black may actually have a nobleman gimmick, as opposed to “Baron” being just his first name.   Fans bow to him as he makes his entrance.   Well, I’m down with it.   I don’t know what Ison’s deal is, but he wears a black towel on his head, so you know he must be a badass.    I thought I heard the announcer say they had a staredown at WrestleMania (?), but I haven’t watched WWE in over a year, so for all I know that might have actually happened.   

Both of these guys are presented as super-tough guys.   Ison, especially, but the Baron keeps taking it to him, even though he gets the worst of every exchange.    Finally, Black PULLS DOWN THE STRAPS, but he only gets a two count.   Ison reverses an ankle lock, and from there it’s all Ison.  He kind of looks like a young version of Corporate Kane, only he’s wearing a Death Row Records tank top.    I dig it.   Ison ends up outside, where he knocks out Shalandra.   Ooooh!   Baron goes nuts and clobbers him, and this lady walks by with a snack from the concession stand, which sort of kills the mood.   It looks like they just ordered a bunch of Papa Johns for this show.    That’s pretty cool. 

Black grabs a chair to take sweet revenge, hesitates for a moment, but then he goes for it and takes the disqualification.    Crowd chants “One more time”, and The Baron obliges his subjects, but Ison punches the chair as Black swings, and takes out Black with his own weapon in the process.   Crowd is furious at Ison.   This is the first DQ finish I’ve seen in months, and it’s pretty damn good.    If you’re going to end a match with a DQ, this is a good way to do it.   

Backstage, the New South champion is... in a gas station men’s room washing his face.   His shoulder’s all hurt and he doesn’t even know how bad it is yet.    The GM checks in on him and the champ cuts a promo about how he’s like a guy in a war movie who isn’t sure he’s gonna make it, but he’s gonna give it all he’s got.    This doesn’t really go anywhere.  

“The Kings Road Slayer” Derek Neal vs. Adam Priest.   Priest blindsides Neal during his entrance.    He works Neal over, then goes for a dive to the outside and catches his foot on the middle rope and basically lands face first on the floor, which is pretty awkward.  I guess he’s okay, but that looked pretty bad.   Crowd seems to be solidly behind Priest, which is weird since he ambushed Neal, but he’s the little guy in this match so maybe he’s the underdog in this thing?    Neal manages to pull off a superplex, but AT WHAT COST?   They get up and start trading blows, but Priest is just about spent.    Derek Neal picks up a leather strap like that’s a big deal, but Priest manages to hit him with a Death Valley Driver while he argues with the ref.    Now Priest has the strap, and the ref tries to take it from him, and that gives Neal an opening to hit a kick to the balls and a powerbomb, and Derek Neal wins.   What is a “Kings Road Slayer” exactly?

Backstage, the T-Knights show the GM the haunted locker, but he plays the whole thing off as a prank.   Camera finally pans to the locker to reveal... a lanyard with a card that reads “GM1″?    What does that even mean?

Kung Fu Donnie Janela vs. “Magnificant Michigan Muscle” Cody “Vanilla” Vance.  Weren’t Cody and Vance the two cousins they brought into replace Bo and Luke on Dukes of Hazzard?   Donnie Janela looks exactly like Joey Janela, except he’s billed as the “Kung Fu King Master of All Martial Arts.”   So is he doing an homage to Joey, or are they related or what’s the deal here?   I don’t want to shovel more dirt on the grave of Jim Cornette’s reputation, but I’m pretty sure Joey is red hot if he’s inspired imitators.    Which sort of leads me to suspect that maybe Jim Cornette is completely out of touch. 

Cody has two nicknames, but Vanilla is printed on his ass, and he’s got an ice cream cone on the front of his tights, so I feel like that should be the primary on.  I like the M3 on his kneepads though.   He looks like someone WWE would be interested in, though I can’t tell how big anyone is on this show.   Cody looks like he’s 6′7″, but he could be 5′5″ for all I know.  

Donnie takes control and starts whipping out his kung fu skills.  He’s got Chinese characters tattooed on his flank, so you know he’s legit.   THey fight evenly for a while, until Vance hits a spinebuster and a ripcord cutter for a two count.   Then Donnie hits a One-Winged Angel?    The announcer doesn’t call it, but I’m pretty sure that’s what I saw.   It gets a two count.   This show is wild, I tell you what.  Cody finally hits a Bicycle Kick and that ends the match.   They do a handshake at the end, and I gotta say, I’ve seen a lot of respect endings to matches this year and I’m still not sick of it.   

Donnie cuts a promo after the match and puts over Cody, but the crowd keeps heckling him.  Is Donnie a heel?   Because he thanks the crowd for supporting him.    Then Brett Ison lays him out and Kris Krunk comes out to make the save.  Okay, so Krunk was the guy who invited the Talledega Knights into the Akuto Death Society earlier on.   And Janela has an “ADS” armband, so I guess he’s in the group too.     But then Krunk betrays Janela and hits him with a chair, so I guess Janela’s out of the group?  He blames Donnie for something, and orders Ison to finish him with the Go2Sleep.  Then the good guys show up to help and Krunk and Ison withdraw.  

IWTV Championship: Rey Fury vs. WARHORSE (c).   NEVER MIND THAT SHIT, HERE COMES WARHORSE!     Rey Fury intrigued me because he looked like a pissed-off Rey Mysterio on the ads, but now that I see him in action he looks like his own guy, which is probably for the best.    Some guy in the crowd tells the ref to check Rey’s mask along with the rest of his gear, so the ref does it.    Then he checks Warhorse’s hair in the spirit of fairness.    Then both guys do a fist bump to start the match.   Yeah, we ain’t fuckin’ around here, Maggle.

Fury takes it to Warhorse to start off, and he rolls out of the ring and into one of the seats.     Fury tries to go after him, but Warhorse drives his face into the chair and takes back the initiative.   I think that pizza is free?   Cool.

Warhorse keeps chanting “Yee-yee” at Fury, which I think is Fury’s deal, so I don’t know if he’s trying to psych him up or taunt him.   Dueling chops, and I like how Rey’s mask has tassels in the back like hair, so they whip around when he moves.   This one really hoarse woman keeps rasping “Warhorse!”, and it sounds kind of creepy, but I appreciate her energy.  Maybe she wore out her voice chanting for Wasted Generation.

Warhorse takes the lead and lies on the top turnbuckle a la Shawn Michaels while Rey gets back into the ring.   I’m pretty sure Rey’s homegrown New South talent, but he’s having trouble keeping the crowd on his side.     Sometimes it’s half-and-half, and sometimes it’s like 80% Warhorse.    Rey fights back, goes to the top rope, but Warhorse counters with a top rope double-underhook suplex.    Isn’t that like a superplex?    

They fight outside for a while, then Rey tries another top-rope move, which Warhorse reverses in midair-powebomb.   It gets two, and Warhorse starts to despair.   Rey ducks the clothesline, hits a cutter, but only gets two.    That’s probably as close as he came in this match to winning the title.   Later, kids call out to Fury not to give up, so he’s not totally alone out here.   But Warhorse finally hits the double stomp off the top rope and retains the title.     After the match, Warhorse cuts a promo to put over Rey for putting on a helluva match.

They need to sign Warhorse with AEW and give him full creative control so he’s allowed to just run roughshod over the Dark Order.    Then they should make a midcard belt and let him hold it for the duration of his contract.  

There’s still the main event to go, but there’s like forty minutes left on this show, so I think I’ll cover that tomorrow.    Oh, it’s spelled “Chris Crunk”, not “Kris Krunk.”    Good to know.   

[ghosty-schnibibit]

i liveblogged the live show because why the hell not, let’s do this!

thoughts before i even hit play: this is gonna be wild listening to because a) we've already had the finale, which i'm sure is going to make certain things a lot more funny/tragic in retrospect, b) i'm personally doing a series re-listen r/n and i only just got to the first part of petals to the metal this morning so it'll be fun trying to remember what items they have lol, and c) the description has got me really curious right off the bat so i'm feckin jazzed, lets do this thing

this is a brand new episode and yet i feel so nostalgic hearing the theme music again :’)

i take it this is the one they did during stolen century judging by the hard candies lol

justin you are the best

oh my god what the hell is going on

everyone screaming zone of truth is the best

aww, these boys are adorable

AWWW BABY

dorm... room? wait holy shit is this is og plane? is this the ipre???

what the absolute fuck is going on griffin

okay so this is a nightmare then

wait, is this before suffering game then? i am gonna have a hell of a time trying to figure out where the fuck this fits in the timeline of the show

griffin i love you holy fuck you dorky ass baby

oh my holy hell travis you dork

aww merle :'(

awwwww yeah merle B)

i don't know who they are either clint lol

please be angus please be angus please be angus

WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH YOUR VOICE ANGO

old ango sounds so fucking weird oh my god

my bet right now is we're all in a dream w/ ango and this is how he imagines himself as a grown-up (in which case, that is super fucking cute)

maggie you dumbass ilu

TAAKO DON'T BE MEAN TO YOUR BOY

the twist is they've all gotten into robbie's potions and are hallucinating

who the fuck is brody

the minute griffin started describing the colors all i could picture in my mind was dippy fresh, i think my brain is just conditioned to think of gravity falls whenever i read anything in the same vain as ‘mindscape’ lol

i love that griffin has to clarify it isn't barry

I'M SCREAMING IT IS FUCKING DIPPY FRESH

okay, based on his reactions to brody alone... new headcanon: taako totally had a goth phase in whatever the elven equivalent of his teenage years were on his home plane, something lup teases him about mercilessly (she has pictures, and shares them with the whole ipre gang like they’re embarrassing baby photos)

MAGNUS I LOVE YOU

this is so fucking dorky and i love it

wait is this a real world au, omg

maggie you dork i love you, holy shit

i am one of those people justin :T

why do i feel like this prison metaphor... isn't a metaphor

glad magnus also picked up on the dream demon vibes coming off this creep

"three ruffians of varying sizes" oh please be who i think it is

MARVEY :D

i for one love the fan service thank you very much :P

MAGNUS CHILL, HOLY SHIT

"I DIDN'T GIVE MARVEY HP" I'M DYING

holy hell i need to draw some of this shit

taako ilu

magnus is wrecking shop holy shit

BRIAN BRIAN BRIAN

aww, not brian :(

hawthorne is such a villainy name

TAAKO YOU LITTLE FUCKING NARC

maggie you little dork baby ilu

i love justin's irrational hatred of nathaniel hawthorne

music appreciation class... if johann shows up i'm gonna cry

"arrive with spell cards, leave with immortality"

HIGH SCHOOL AU SWEET FLIPS :D

“are you on party drugs?” KILLIAN I LOVE YOU OH MY GOD

i need art of taako and magnus singing that together holy hell

this is so god damn in character and i love it

...merle please don't fuck the plants in botany

LUCRETIA :D

ms. ariel sounds vaguely like jenkins

TEEN MERLE SOUNDS SO CUTE I LOVE THIS

i just listened to the god damn vine-fucking episode on my way to campus this morning, this is surreal

what is going on

"don't fuck this plant" too late

justin freaking out is the best and i love it

MERLE ARE YOU REALLY DOING THIS IN FRONT OF LUCRETIA

“AND YOUR SAP” JESUS FUCK MERLE

I CAN HEAR JUSTIN YELLING FROM THE AUDIENCE

"i'm pretty sure it was a D for DONG" g r i f f i n

thank you in advance travis

i have zero idea what is going on

REN :D

taako being so excited to see ren makes the finale even fucking happier and i love this

i don't even know how to spell that to google it

n/m i found it and it looks delicious, i want one now

"TAKE A BITE RICK"

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH

oh no, this is foreboding as all hell

wait who

griffin has some god damn good improv skills

"y'know it's like, good at basket ball" t a a k o 

TAAKO WHAT THE HELL

GLOBE TROTTER STYLE

YEEEAH GO MAGGIE!!! :D

HOLY SHIT MERLE

griffin you forgetful shit ilu

YEEEEEAH GO FLIP WIZARD!!!!!

this is so weird omg i wanna know what the fuck is up with the bell

maggie you lil baby 

woohoo, ango's back :)

oh no oh no oh no

WHAT IS THIS SHIT

WHAT THE EVER LOVING FUCK

this is gonna be sweet as hell and but i really wanna know wtf is going on: who cast the dreamscape? why??? what is this?????

ANGO NO

taako you fucker

i need to draw this so bad omg

"END ZONE OF THE COSMOS" 

fuckin railsplitter bats

"two fencing foils with the tips broken off" so you mean swords

badminton was the only sport i was ever good at in high school so i'm high-key lovin taako’s aesthetic r/n

SWEET FLIPS FUCK YEAH

just listened to the ad break for old time’s sake and i am so worried for the end of this episode now what the hell

"highchorch"

aww merle

HOLY FUCK MERLE

AWW FUCK YEAH, GO MAGGIE!!!

i love this, i love this so much

magnus you dummy ilu

STOP THROWING YOUR WEAPONS YOU DUMBASSES

"WAIT A MINUTE... I WON?" merle ilu so much

WAIT WHAT THE FUCKING SHIT IS THIS

DON'T YOU DARE LET THIS THING HURT ANGO

ZONE OF TRUTH

magnus is going to fucking kill dippy fresh holy hell

"YOU'VE SOLVED MY HIGH SCHOOL PUZZLE"

this was griffin's trial run for john's final form wasn't it

"THEY'RE ONLY CHILDREN"

how the fucking hell are they going to finish this in five minutes

THIS IS SO GOD DAMN COOL OMG

YEEEEEEEEEEAH MOTHERFUCKING WONDERLAND ROUND 3

GO ANGO!!! YEEEEES!!!!!

what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck

oh god it's not dippy fresh it's sansy fresh

AND THAT'S THE END

final thoughts: fucking hell someone needs to write a fic explaining how the shit they got into the underdark if they haven’t already, if i don’t find any i might just write it out myself lol