#All I Ask Of You { Utamy. } | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

baretklap · 1 year

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TFV #3: Crusade

Attending the Tokyo Sports Puroresu Awards ceremony was supposed to be the easiest thing in the world. Exactly which part of the routine wasn’t easy to follow? Show up in a nice little suit, get into some conversations with your fellow wrestlers as if they mean something to you; then some photos for the press and at the end of the show, just accept your award and go home with increased prestige to your name. Simple as. You’d think that it would be nothing but a night of relaxation and validation of a year filled with grueling fights. No stakes, no action, zero chance of tomfoolery, right? Right?

Oh boy, was he wrong. The levels of fuckery that’d been reached were truly unprecedented.

Locked inside the janitor’s closet and handcuffed to someone else: It sounded like a new and badly written Hangover movie plot. Except this was no movie. He was perfectly sober and he assumed the same about the woman on the other side of the cuffs ... who stared at him and smiled like it was her birthday and Christmas at the same time.

Or maybe she was not sober at all. No sober woman would drag someone into a closet and handcuff herself to them. Then again, the execution was flawless. He had to give it to her, he was impressed. And it wasn’t like his current predicament was inescapable either. His desire to go for the obvious measures just happened to wane in comparison to his curiosity.

Stay put, The Foreigner told himself silently. Stay put and let her cook.

The road he’d followed so far came with its fair share of bumps and twists and turns before. He’d even gotten himself a trio of dumb idol slaves from the last time someone tried to throw a wrench in his plans. Surprise wasn’t exactly at the top of his list of emotions when it came to the events that were unfolding at the moment. As his harem grew, so did his actual wrestling career. More and more eyes were on him. He wouldn’t have been here in the first place if he wasn’t able to take the bad with the good.

Normally, he wouldn’t even consider a situation like this bad. But it was just so fucking annoying that Utami Hayashishita decided to pull this stunt during a national award ceremony. At least Mina had the common sense to arrange an empty warehouse beforehand.

“People must be looking for us,” he tried to reason with the Red Queen.

“That’s exactly why you should hurry, my hypno-lord,” Utami giggled, booping him on the nose as she teased him. “I don’t plan on uncuffing you with my free will still intact so you know what to do.”

The Foreigner found himself cringing at the nickname she’d used for him. He had his slaves call him plenty of things, ‘hypno-lord’ was not one of them and would never be one of them. Honestly, that was enough reason to enslave her right there and then but that would be playing right into her hands and he wasn’t sure what was her endgame here, so he refrained.

“Why?” he asked back, not an ounce of bafflement had left his voice.

“Ah, don’t panic. We should still have some time before they present the trophies,” Utami said in a cheerful tone. “That also means I can tell you all about ‘why’ if that means it will encourage you to do what you should’ve done already.”

“Fuck it, why not?” he said after a frustrated sigh escaped his lips. His body shifted a bit in the place as he tried to make himself comfortable in the claustrophobic room, as much as he could anyway. “Go on, please tell me what prompted you to do all of this.”

Utami gave him a look of pleasant surprise before letting out a giddy little giggle. She closed her eyes and turned her back, inadvertently causing the chain that bound the cuffs to yank on his wrist.

Then she started to recall and recount.

“It all started during my childhood. I come from a family of twelve and we all starred in a reality show about our big family, headlined by my father, ‘Big Daddy’ Kiyoshi Hayashishita. I always had to scratch and claw my way amongst my siblings to get my parents attention, even more so with the show going on. That made me quite the fighter an-”

“Hayashishita, what the fuck are you rambling about? Do you want me to be your hypnotist or your therapist? I can’t be both,” The Foreigner groaned. If Utami was going to tell all her life story then they’d be here for hours. “I already know about your family, anyone can go and read your biography. I’m more interested in the bits that actually are relevant to ... well, our situation.”

“Jeez, what a spoilsport,” the red-head pouted before conceding the point. “But okay, I’ll skip some parts, just for you, my sweet hunky ‘tist.”

The feeling of cringe did not dissipate, yet he still responded with a small nod anyway while Utami looked ready to abandon the dramatics and get on with the tale he wanted her to tell.

“The first time I saw you was after I had that time limit draw with Syuri…”

.......

Everything hurt. Bones, muscles, tendons, everything. Sixty minutes. A full fucking hour. Utami was in the ring for an hour, wrestling relentlessly in every single second of it. It would be unbelievable in any other circumstances but the pain and the soreness worked together to make sure she believed all of it. She carried the receipts all over her body. Today, she made history. She stood in the squared circle, faced one of the nastiest fighters to ever grace a wrestling ring, a former UFC alumna nonetheless. And she refused to go down. She didn’t fall, she didn’t lose. Utami Hayashishita was still the top dog in STARDOM. Still the world champion. Syuri couldn’t take that away from her.

Yet, Utami wasn’t happy in the slightest. Even though she entered the ring a champion and left a legend, she still wasn’t happy. Syuri couldn’t beat Utami, that much was true, but it also held up vice-versa. Utami didn’t lose … but she didn’t win either. That flimsy little detail was enough to tug at her after what should normally be a star-making performance. Apparently, this bother was noticeable enough for her to get called out for it.

“Utami, you’re so competitive.” Her ears picked up on the words of her best friend Saya Kamitani, appropriately nicknamed as Tall Saya.

Her length helped Utami greatly as she leaned on her for support after everything she had put her body through today.

“That competitiveness is what got you to the top,” Saya elaborated.

“Just don’t let this bring you down, okay?. You were amazing today. The old hag might’ve not gone down tonight, but she’s on the last limbs of her career anyway. She probably left everything she had in the ring today. But you’re in your prime, you have years of fuel left in the tank. Next time, you’re going to crush her and we’re going to laugh together at how needlessly sad you were when she managed to get a lucky draw against you.”

The Red Queen appreciated her kind words and she didn’t especially disagree with them either. Saya was a good friend but Utami was aware of Kamitani’s crush on her. It was a crush Saya utterly failed at hiding. It was also a crush that Utami wasn’t really sure she reciprociated. She even felt guilty at times for it, thinking that she was leading Saya on. However, the fighting prowess of the tall woman nearly matched hers and their chemistry in the ring was top notch. Saya was definitely the perfect tag team partner for The Red Queen. Her friendship was something she desperately wanted not to ruin. It was definitely not a conversation she looked forward to having; she wasn’t sure she would ever be ready to have.

“We can go and grab some drinks if you want to. We can definitely use some unwinding after such a long night, I mean. Even if you still want to sulk about your match, we can at least celebrate my tournament victory! What better way to celebrate than doing it together!” Saya offered with perky excitement in her tone.

Right, Saya had won her tournament today, right. That was actually a pretty big deal but Utami had completely forgotten about her friend’s victory until she brought it up a second ago.

“My father attended today’s show, actually. He’s going to come and pick me up, but thanks for the offer anyway, Saya. I’d love to do it later.” Utami answered that inquiry with a slight smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Saya responded with a frown that made Utami feel even worse. The frown didn't last long before it abdicated its place to a smile again.

“Oh, Big Daddy Hayashishita is here?” Saya asked, clearly intrigued by the prospect, though she easily let it go. “You must be very tired after wrestling for a freaking hour! Go get your rest, queen.”

After the tall girl helped Utami to the parking lot, she dropped her off, gently laying Utami’s bags next to her before taking her leave. With Kamitani gone, Utami Hayashishita found herself completely alone. Alone at the top, alone at the parking lot. It was in the middle of June but she felt chilly somehow.

She wished she hadn’t made up the lie about her father attending the show. Looking around, she looked for ways to go back to her hotel. Kamitani wasn’t the only friend Utami had from her wrestling group called Queen’s Quest, though she didn’t have a diversity of choices ready either. AZM was too young to drive, so she was out of the question immediately. Maybe Momo was still around? She was perfectly reliable when it came to things like this. Not to mention how she was probably the only acceptable option now that Utami had driven Saya away with a totally unnecessary lie. Her eyes continued to scan the area, occasionally interrupted by some people passing by her to congratulate her or whatever. In Utami’s eyes there was nothing to congratulate. She couldn’t find Momo, but she saw someone more interesting.

It was that bastard Syuri. She felt her blood boil again, as if staring at her face for a full hour wasn’t enough for a single day.

Leaning on a grey Hyundai, her rival was fully engaged in a conversation with a man. At first, Utami only focused on Syuri, who was smiling and laughing along. Needless to say, this only served to rejuvenate the anger Utami felt.

Such blatant disrespect. The older woman didn’t exactly have time on her side and this was probably one of the last shots she had at true greatness. Syuri couldn’t beat Utami, couldn’t get the job done, couldn’t win the championship belt that currently decorated Utami’s shoulders. Yet, instead of focusing or reflecting on her failure, she was freely flirting with a man as if none of that happened nor mattered to her? How dared she? Who gave her the right to act like that?

As angry as she felt, Utami ultimately decided against causing a scene by walking up to her and confronting her. She wasn’t that miserable. But still, it didn’t stop her from staying put and seething silently.

Eventually, Syuri’s fling opened the door to the grey Hyundai and the gleeful woman entered the car. The man closed the door behind the former UFC fighter. Then, his face turned and his gaze met Utami’s. His gaze was sharp, cutting, as if she was staring into Utami’s very soul. His stare only lasted a second before the man gave the redhead a knowing smile before cutting eye contact, turning back and entering the vehicle himself.

What had just happened? Utami didn’t know, but she could hear her own heartbeat as if it was the only sound in the crowded parking lot.

Loud, thumping, just as confused as she was.

.......

“Nothing was ever the same for me after that…” Utami concluded, her cheeks approaching shades of red that resembled the color of her dyed hair. It must’ve been a very powerful memory for her, The Foreigner concluded.

Who was he kidding? Of course it was, he wouldn’t be in this situation if she didn’t feel this strongly. The lack of oxygen in the closet must’ve been getting to him.

“So, you saw me smiling at you and felt weird about it, am I getting this right? Have you ever been attracted to people before? I’m not talking about love at first sight but something close to that maybe…”

He didn’t expect Utami to let out another giggle.

“Now, I thought you didn’t want to be my therapist,” she said, a finger reaching to boop him on the nose again.

“I haven’t hypnotized you yet so that choice is still up in the air.”

“If you don’t make the right choice then there’s no way we’re getting out of here before it’s too late, I’m afraid.”

In his mind, he was still trying to make sense of this game. It would be easy of him to say ‘fuck it’, coax Utami’s hot body and that devious little mind of hers with his aura, get her to happily free him and continue this evening as if nothing had happened. But the feeling that he was missing something continued to loom over, or maybe it was still nothing more than simple curiosity and he was trying to make it more complicated than it was. Either way, he needed more context, he needed to know more. For that, he had to keep listening to Utami’s stories.

There were worse ways to spend time, The Foreigner supposed.

“So, how did you end up getting back to your hotel that day? Did you call a taxi?” he asked, redirecting Utami to get back on topic.

Utami’s pleasant smile vanished after hearing that question. He probably knew why.

“No, I eventually rode back with her…” Utami answered, though it almost came like a whisper. The name was spit with poison.

“Momo.”

.......

The cold steel of the folded chair met her flesh again. Utami lost count after ten. She could ask all the questions. God knew she had lots of those questions. How long had Momo been planning this? How hard was it for that Starlight brat and the rest of the Oedo Tai scum to convince her to do this? Why? Why? Why?

Starlight Kid had been provoking Momo for a while, trying to get into her head about the leadership of Queen’s Quest. She continuously taunted Momo about how she wasn’t the best anymore, how she wasn’t even the leader of Queen’s Quest like her predecessor wanted her to be. As if the leadership meant anything in a group that always strived to be the best version of themselves, as if.

Did Momo simply fall for those words?

Maybe she was feeling inferior for quite a while. Momo Watanabe was there before all of them, before AZM, before Saya, before Utami. Momo was supposed to be the future ace, yet she couldn’t live up to her full potential. Her shortcomings were never really discussed in the group and maybe it was their negligence that caused Momo to explode like that. In the worst way possible.

Did she hate them? Utami, Saya or even AZM, who was her best friend? Did Momo hate all of them? Did she grow too resentful due to feeling left behind?

Utami wanted to ask, she wanted to scream.

But she did none of that. She knew asking wouldn’t change anything. She would only get laughed at and eat another chairshot to the head for her troubles.

And truth be told, it didn’t really matter anyway. Whatever reason Momo might’ve had, it hurt all the same.

Her unresponsive body was dragged into the corner, near Saya and AZM. They were stacked up like a pile of trash, in the background as Momo celebrated her actions with her new group. Her new friends.

Momo Watanabe hadn’t been Utami’s best friend, but she was a good one. She was reliable, resourceful, a mentor to her when she first entered Queen’s Quest. If it wasn’t for her help, Utami would’ve never become who she was today. Now, she was gone. A friend turned into a foe. A traitor.

Mourning for a friend was honestly more painful than the combined sting of all those chair shots. She laid there, so did what remained of her group. Her head fell to the side, her eyes met Saya’s and then they shifted to AZM’s crying ones.

Did Utami really have any guarantees that they wouldn’t do the same to her once conflicts between them started appearing? Could she trust them to not turn their backs on her when jealousy reared its ugly head? Just how easy would it be for her enemies to manipulate the people Utami considered friends after Momo just proved that doing so wouldn’t be the hardest thing in the world? How co-

She stopped. She took a deep breath.

Utami felt shitty for thinking that way. This was a collective trauma they were going through. Her thoughts shouldn’t have been flocking around the notions of growing some distance away from the friends she still had and building a wall around her emotions. In fact, they should’ve gone the opposite direction. AZM and Saya needed her more than ever. She was the world champion, the ace of STARDOM, the ace of Queen’s Quest. She would endure. She had to endure.

When Oedo Tai left the ring, it was Utami who got up first, helping Saya and AZM to get back. The audience applauded them as they made their way back to their locker room, trying to console the betrayed trio. Not surprisingly, the cheers and the applause accomplished absolutely nothing.

Not a single noise emerged from the trio of women as they sat together in their locker room. AZM’s tears had dried up, Saya’s head was in between her hands. As for Utami, she eventually grew tired of the silence and the TV remote nearby was the solution to that little problem. The small television hung in the corner of the room has opened and on the feed … Utami saw Donna Del Mondo. The trio of Maika, Himeka and Natsupoi, to be more specific. She had seen them win another match early in the day, not to mention Syuri dismantling three opponents one-by-one in under ten minutes.

What did the Donnas have that Queen’s Quest didn’t? The hierarchy in their ranks was definitely more definitive than Queen’s Quest’s … yet everything was going all sunshine and rainbows with them. They had all the reasons for conflicts, for frictions, for jealousy, for defections, yet fucking 'Kumbaya' was all they sang. Their leader Giulia was clearly being outshined on a regular basis by Syuri. Natsupoi was basically a Cosmic Angels member in a DDM coat of paint. With all those glaring issues, what did they have that kept them together?

While AZM and Saya kept their focus on grieving over Momo’s betrayal, Utami’s eyes remained fixated on the scene.

DDM won their match. Because of course they fucking did.

Her mind reverted back to that time she saw Syuri with the man in the parking lot. Utami later found him out to be one of the New Japan guys. Truth be told, she’d been kinda intrigued by him ever since that day. She’d been doing her research, watching his matches, closely following his media appearances. He was close with Syuri, close with the whole Donna Del Mondo, actually. She didn’t even know why she was so fixated on him. Surely his good looks and promising portfolio of wrestling matches didn’t warrant borderline stalker-ish behaviour from her, did they?

She didn’t answer her own question as she felt a set of arms around her, disrupting her inner monologue. Saya was hugging her. AZM followed suit. Tension in her body released as she released another deep breath. It was clear. They needed her.

But Utami needed something too. She just wasn’t sure what … or who.

.......

“I’m guessing you’d found it, otherwise we wouldn’t really be here together, would we?” The Foreigner asked, fully aware that he was probably asking the most rhetorical question in the history of rhetorical questions. Well, unless Utami planned to pull a legendary plot twist, that is.

An overly sweet nod accompanying an overly sweet smile was the overly sweet redhead’s answer. The master hypnotist used his non-cuffed hand to wipe small drops of sweat from his forehead.

“Are you ready to claim me now?” Utami asked, lightly wiggling in her place in anticipation. “I promise to make your wait worthwhile, Master.”

At least she'd dropped the embarrassing pet names. He looked at Utami’s cute little face before grabbing the chain that bound their cuffs together. She was cuffed to him as much as he was cuffed to her and The Foreigner used that fact to yank the chain, pulling Utami towards him. They were real close now.

A cool smirk was on his face now, his smooth lips just inches away from Utami’s quivering ones. She was prepared from the start to give herself to him. Was the man who owned not one but two whole groups in Utami’s workplace finally ready to start worming his way up into a third one?

He saw Utami close her eyes, her lips slowly pushing forward, ready for the kiss of her life.

“Continue the story,” he said before gently pushing her away from that intimate position. He didn’t put much of his aura into the command, almost next to none, but Utami already had the obedience part covered even without him pushing for it.

He was enjoying this.

“Though I probably know what comes next.” he continued, there was an event involving Utami very close in date to Momo Watanabe’s betrayal of Queen’s Quest. He remembered it well, for multiple reasons.

Utami had recovered from the shock by that point and continued the story as he wished.

.......

The curtains that separated the backstage area and the entrance ramp parted in the middle and out emerged The Red Queen. She was in front of her subjects now and the champion of STARDOM was ready to carry her symbol of excellence into the future and beyond. It’d barely passed the mark of one week after the Momo incident but Utami had no time to dwell on that. The pyrotechnics went off behind her, amplifying the greatness of her already-grandiose entrance, hyping the fans even more for the arrival of the greatest professional wrestler in the world. Utami Hayashishita had beaten many opponents, defended her title against many pretenders. This time was going to be no different, no matter the circumstances. She was the fucking Red Queen. It had to be her, it couldn’t be anyone else.

Utami subconsciously continued to swirl her signature rose in her hand while her eyes met her opponent from a distance. A very familiar opponent.

The old hag stared back. Syuri was still in the game, stronger than ever after winning the biggest tournament of the year, granting her another shot at Utami and her world championship belt. Their last meeting ended with much frustration for Utami. Now was the time to make up for that misstep.

Instead of entering the ring directly and starting the match immediately, Utami took her sweet-ass time, circling around the ring instead. Normally, she would’ve given her rose to a random member of the audience by now, preferably someone sitting close to the ramp instead of someone from the sections around the ring. One of the commentators was fair game too, but they also failed to receive her rose today. Utami had her target plain in sight.

DDM’s secret prince was in the audience, perfectly unaware of how he drove Utami crazy. But it was all okay, Utami was never handed anything in life, she always fought for it. Today, he would see first-hand just how much of a fluke the first match was on Syuri's behalf. His existence was giving the DDM girls extra confidence and resolve, that was the conclusion Utami had come to as the result of her research. How else could Syuri win the biggest tournament of the year?

But it was all okay, if Syuri was going to go hard because of his presence, then Utami would have to go extra hard to compensate for that. She never backed down from a challenge.

Her forbidden fruit would have to watch her destroy his beloved Syuri. But Utami already had plans to make it up to him. In fact, she stopped circling around the ring like a vulture, finally standing in front of a section of fans. Giving Syuri one last glance, she turned around and extended her arm. The old hag wanted to steal her title, her crown from her. She could try. Turnabout was always fair play. Utami was going to steal her man’s heart in return.

Her heart started pounding as she offered her rose to him, praying that he would take it. Three thousand people were watching her in the arena with even more people watching it online. She didn’t care. Only for that moment, nobody else existed in the arena. Not even Syuri. Just Utami and him. To her absolute joy, he accepted her rose after offering back the same assuring and warm smile he gave her in the parking lot. That’s how Utami knew that everything was going to be alright. She turned back, climbed the steel steps and was in the ring immediately after that.

Last time, they went over 60 minutes, with no winners. But this time, there was no time limit in the match, meaning that there had to be a winner. Utami was going to win it. The ‘no time limit’ stipulation be damned, she wasn’t even going to let it go to 60 minutes this time.

And she didn’t, because it only took 36 minutes.

For Syuri to beat her.

She lost. Utami had lost. When she opened her eyes again, Syuri was already given the championship belt that used to be hers.

The former champion tried to raise her head, her eyes looking for him. He was watching with a proud smile as Syuri celebrated with the title she took from her.

She closed her eyes again, waiting for it to be just a bad dream. She would open her eyes again and wake up again. Maybe the belt would still be with her. Maybe Momo would still be with them. Maybe. Just maybe.

But when she opened her eyes back again, the reality didn’t change. She had lost and she had to live with that now.

Fuck.

.......

The Foreigner didn’t know which was sweeter, reminiscing about Syuri's big victory or seeing Utami pout at his amusement of said reminiscence. If Utami knew the full details of what happened after the show, then there would be no way she could blame him for letting a big dumb smirk decorate his face.

Giulia, Maika, Himeka and ‘Poi all worshipping Syuri’s body with their hands and their mouths. The all-conquering champion was handed the privilege to command her friends for that day like her Master did every single day. The expensive royal suite, the heavenly king-sized bed. The greatest orgy ever. The world championship belt. God. And after god, The Foreigner.

“For what it’s worth…” he said, laying smugly in his place. “...I did keep the rose.”

“Y-you did?” Utami asked, blushing like a maiden.

“Why wouldn’t I? The world champion of the time had specifically given me a rose, not many men can claim the same thing.” he shrugged, using simple logic.

“Sure, the world champion of the time didn’t remain that for long after that, but still…” he then teased, dealing another blow to Utami after she had to recall that experience.

“You’re right, I don’t give my roses to many men.” Utami responded, finding herself some flat object to sit on. It was a miracle how nobody had interrupted them yet, honestly. “But you’re not ‘many men’.”

“Oh, on that much we agree.” He was pretty bold with his words. He had all the reasons to be.

Not many men got roses from a beautiful champion like Utami. Not many men had two different wrestling factions bound to his will and worshipping him like obedient slaves. Not many men at all. There was much to be proud of in being unique.

“And giving you the rose wasn’t the only thing I did to appease you.”

“Do you remember the interview you gave to the Tokyo Sports magazine back in February?” Utami asked, her uncuffed hand running through her hair.

.......

“We’re finally here!” Saya squealed as they stopped in front of the hairdresser shop.

Utami was glad she was finally getting to do something nice for Saya. She’d promised to take the taller girl to her hairdresser and having the week off meant that the plan could finally come to fruition.

Tall Saya pushed the glass door and the two ladies entered the shop. Utami’s hairstylist was busy with a customer at the moment but she still took the moment to greet the former champion and her best friend.

“Let’s sit down.” Utami offered as it became apparent that her hairdresser wouldn’t have her hands free for quite some time.

Some magazines laid on the table as they always did. Fashion, home architecture, music and Tokyo Sports. Saya took the last one and gave it a quizzical look, which didn’t escape Utami’s eye.

“I’m a regular here so the owner puts Tokyo Sports on the table in case I show up.” she explained to Saya, who had opened the magazine and was in the process of going through some pages arbitrarily.

Utami let her do that while she didn’t particularly try to pass time with magazines. Her mind was already occupied enough. Quite frankly, the storms that brewed within her head were the primary reason she was having this relaxing outing with Kamitani anyway. It was a shame her stylist still had some work to do with her current customer, prompting The Red Queen to wait until the owner of the shop gave her the perfect opportunity to dispel those thoughts.

“So … “ Saya dragged the word out. “What are you going to do with your hair today?”

“I don’t know, really. Maybe refresh the colour? I’m not planning drastic changes, we’re here more for you than me, honestly,” Utami replied.

“Oh, good to know,” her friend smiled back. “Your hair is lovely like this, Utami! I think long red locks suit you perfectly. I don’t think you should change it at all.”

A nervous giggle also escaped Kamitani’s lips. It was an awkward enough sound to push her face back to her magazine and shut up for a minute. Utami found it endearing, however, despite not feeling any more ready to talk about Saya’s ongoing crush on her.

“That’s just great…” Utami heard her break her silence. Saya was rolling her eyes as well while gently slapping the page she had been reading to indicate her displeasure with it.

“Another article about Syuri’s championship reign. If those journalists love her soooo much then they should just marry her and be done with it.”

Utami really wanted to ‘thank’ Saya for not making it easy to stop thinking about her recent shortcomings but she elected not to. She was better than that. Hayashishita just closed her eyes instead and let out a deep breath. Maybe the magazines weren’t such a bad idea…

“Oh, they also have an interview with that New Japan guy you just don’t shut up about.”

“Give me!” Utami said instantly, hand reaching for the magazine.

And now Saya was giving her a weird look.

“... for the Syuri article … !” Utami was the least convincing person in the world right now. “I-I want to ridicule it, I swear! She s-sucks, yeah, Syuri sucks! Totally!”

Saya handed her the magazine anyway, though not without rolling her eyes again with greater vitriol this time. Then, her hands hastily grabbed another magazine. As her friend did that, Utami realized something. Talking about him annoyed Saya a lot more than talking about Syuri. Which was pretty telling of how Utami talked about him, she supposed. Even though she tried to keep the secret nature of her feelings to a minimum, like always talking about his match quality or whatnot, she guessed Saya was smart enough to get all the necessary hints from her tone and all that.

But reading the interview with him took precedence over trying to reassure her friend. Kamitani was quick to flare and her anger was quick to die down. She would forget about it soon and the issue wasn’t even serious anyway. Certainly not serious enough to bother her reading time.

He just looked so ravishing in his photo that covered both the pages like a poster. She licked her lips on pure instinct before hoping Saya didn’t see it.

He had such a way with words. He gave such eloquent answers describing his thought process on staging a coup against his former group leader, resulting in him taking over as the new leader of the pack. His primary goal was to win the world championship on his own promotion. Such noble desires, she always took him for a man who had no problems just taking what he wanted. As far as she had watched him, he hadn’t proved her wrong. The girls of Donna Del Mondo had a weird relationship with him, a relationship apparently nobody but her really noticed. She didn’t make it a big fuss out of it by talking about it to others either. Utami was sure he’d appreciate his privacy.

Tokyo Sports usually asked off-topic questions to the athletes they interviewed as well with him being no exception to the rule. Her eyes became glued to the pages of the magazine as she read a question about his taste in women.

‘I don’t know how cliche I can get with this but I do like confident and strong girls. Why wouldn’t I? I’ll also admit that I have a soft spot for short hair on women, I don’t mean buzzcut or anything but something around the neck-length would be ideal.’

His answer did not elaborate more than that and after a few more passages, Utami had finished reading the article. She laid the Tokyo Sports magazine back on the table, in front of Kamitani in case she wanted to pick up from where she was left off. She raised her head again after that, only to see that the customer that kept her hairdresser busy was preparing to leave. Now available, the hairdresser soon walked up to them, ready to take them away from the magazines and the unspoken crush dramas.

“Alright, Utami, I will have you first.” she asked her first, prompting Utami to get up. “So, what do you want me to do with your hair today?”

As she approached the chair, Utami had a smile on her face and crystal clarity in her voice.

“I want to try something new today.”

.......

“We had a big fight because of that haircut, you know? Saya didn’t talk to me for a month after that day,” revealed Utami. Even though she tried to cover it with chuckles, The Foreigner did end up sensing the tiniest hint of bitterness in his stalker’s voice.

“And I don’t think our friendship really recovered from that. Sure, we still joke around. We still tag sometimes. But she’s nowhere near as close to me as she used to be.”

His response didn’t vocalize immediately. Instead, he wiggled his way an inch or so closer to Utami, catching her by total surprise as his hand reached out to brush some of her crimson hair behind her ear. It would be pretty redundant to mention the intense blush making its return on her cheeks. Both her hands closed around his almost on instinct. They felt so soft, her grip was almost non-existent. It was easy for him to draw his hand back. From her hands, at least, the cuffs were still on.

“I think short hair looks perfect on you, Utami.” the compliment was accompanied with a charming smile. He had grown way too comfortable with playing the role of the dashing prince.

“T-thank you.” she said, no, squealed was a better term for it. “Then I’d say the haircut was totally worth it.”

“Of course.”

It was too bad he couldn’t find any suitable watch to match with the suit. He had no idea how much time had passed since Utami dragged him here. Well, the story hadn’t reached its conclusion yet, so he figured some more time would be spent as well.

“You cut your hair and suddenly we are here, is that it?” He questioned. “Feels like you still haven’t told me the most important bits.”

“Yes,” Utami nodded as she slowly lowered her hands back. They had hung too long in the air after the warmth of his hand departed from her skin.

“My feelings for you were hard to put into words, honestly. I’d never felt anything like that before,” she admitted. “I did find some clarity eventually, even though it was from the most strange of sources.”

.......

Stalking came in different shapes and purposes. Utami wasn’t proud to admit that her portfolio on that subject was quite diverse. She was already adept at stalking the prime object of her burning desire. She had been collecting tapes, magazines, memorabilia and all sorts of things. Everything that she could own or decipher to figure him out and make her way into his heart would help. But that was all for love. The goal was about something she could share with him.

As the former world champion slithered her way out of the locker room, she reminded herself that this was for her and her only. She didn’t sneak her way into the only female-only gym in the city at goddamn 4 AM without telling anyone for no reason.

The Red Queen wanted her crown back. If that meant she would have to resort to some extreme methods like stalking Syuri then she would be a fool to think even twice about it. The current world champion had recently expressed in an interview that her routine before title matches included working out dead in the night where she would have a whole gym by herself. Utami was going to stalk, no, scout Syuri from a distance. She would take note of every little detail in Syuri’s workout so that she could use them against her rival and take her world title back.

The plan seemed foolproof until Utami realized that Syuri wasn’t there alone. Old hag didn’t mention a sparring partner in her interview. Weirder was the fact that the woman near her was a part of the STARDOM roster and she wasn’t even from DDM. What exactly was Unagi Sayaka of Cosmic Angels doing in the dead of the night with Syuri?

Before Utami’s mind could jump to all sorts of conclusions, the unlikely duo continued whatever conversation they’d had before. Even with the distance, Utami could hear them perfectly.

“You can’t do this to me!.” whined the Cosmic Angel, her arms crossed. “Being up this late seriously messes with my own routine! Do you know how much extra beauty sleep I will need to get after this?”

Syuri didn’t seem to care at all, her smirk was borderline predatory as she eyed Unagi up. This clarified absolutely nothing for Utami.

“Why didn’t you ask someone from your own team to help you train?” Unagi asked. That was one of the questions in Utami’s mind as well. One of many, in fact.

“Because I wanted to play with you instead.” Syuri answered casually. “And because I know you will obey me completely unlike them.”

Utami’s mind had to do a double take after that answer. Was she hearing Syuri correctly? O-obey? What was Syuri talking about? Were they in a relationship?

Was Syuri cheating on the man Utami spent months obsessing about … with Unagi? The world had gone insane, Utami was sure of it, nothing made sense in her life anymore.

The list of questions only expanded when she heard Syuri utter a nonsensical phrase and Unagi’s body went stiff for a moment before relaxing completely. The Cosmic Angel had a blank expression on her face, her head tilted slightly to her side. She totally looked like she was in a trance. Her eyes were blankly staring into the distance. Her arms were slack to the point of slightly oscillating from side to side. Utami was sure that the mindless looking woman would fall down with a single poke. Syuri’s gaze grew even more hungry, her hands immediately grabbing the straps of Sayaka’s sports bra before roughly pulling them down.

And it only escalated from there.

Utami felt hot.

Watching them kiss and fuck over the gym equipment. Gazing upon their glorious naked bodies. Hearing Syuri be called ‘Mistress’ by the woman who was being treated, quite frankly, like a sex slave.

Utami didn’t exactly know how she managed to not touch herself and make her presence known to the two lovers(?), but she knew it was quite the miraculous task. Maybe it was her devotion to him that repelled her from pleasuring herself to the possible sight of him getting cheated on. Maybe it was a backlog of battles and hatred she shared with Syuri. But ‘maybe’s were irrelevant.

This was fishy. Utami had massive doubts that this was just some kinky roleplay sex. Unagi might’ve been more proficient at the acting side of wrestling than she was at wrestling side, but no actress in the world had the acting chops to act as if she’d suddenly gone into a deep trance without breaking the character for a single second as every inch of their bodies were used sexually.

The redhead silently uttered the gibberish phrase Syuri used to initiate Unagi’s ‘trance’ to make sure if she still remembered it. She had to get to the bottom of this. As she repeated the phrase once more, Utami realized that she had the means to do so.

.......

“The very next show, I caught Unagi backstage alone. She was surprised to see me approach her. Before she could say anything however, I put her under by using her trigger phrase,” Utami explained. Her heart was beating faster and faster with each second, utterly unable to get a read on him. “I ordered her to tell me everything.”

“And she did,” he realized. His focus departed away from Utami as he pressed his fingertips together. He looked thoughtful.

His periods of silence usually meant that he wanted Utami to continue the story, but that was all there was to it. Utami was taken by his charms and after months of (not so) secretly and (not so) silently obsessing over him, she had grown to find that he could literally charm people to the point of brainwashing them. Everything had led her to this moment.

The moment was at hand for Utami. She had him where she wanted him. It would reflect badly on him in the eyes of the public if he were to not make it in time to humbly accept the award graciously bestowed upon him. Sure, that wouldn’t be the biggest scandal in the world, not even close. However, his career was still young and that meant even the smallest controversy would cause a big headache for the man she wanted more than anything else in the world.

She had accepted him completely. She had accepted his ‘abilities’. She had accepted his desires. She had even accepted the fact that she was going to share him with so many others including her biggest rival. Would she be asking for too much if she just wanted him to accept her love in return?

The silence really unnerved Utami. He should’ve jumped her by now.

“People must be looking for us,” she said, calling back to what he’d said before. Calling him to act as soon as possible. Calling him to claim her.

His head finally turned back to her again. He had a wide grin on his beautiful face, his piercing gaze sizing her up like a full course meal. Utami smiled back. A hopeful warmth had filled her body. Did this mean that he started to work his magic?

His free hand grabbed the chain binding them together and tugged on it, yanking her wrist with it in a rather harsh manner. He did it again and it hurt. Yet, Utami was happier than ever because his message was clear. He wanted her but he wasn’t going to go out his way to jump her. No, he wanted her to come to him instead. So, she did. On her hands and knees. Crawling to him to awaken further desire within the loins that claimed many of her colleagues.

When she got close enough, his arms reached and hugged her. Accepting her love. Utami let out a soft moan as she melted into his embrace. He smelled like a bouquet of roses. It felt so soft, so comfortable. So right.

She never wanted this to end and that made it way all too painful when he suddenly broke the hug. Before Utami could comprehend what was going on, his hands swiftly grabbed her by both shoulders. He turned her around and embraced her again from the back this time. His cuffed arm went around her and the long chain holding the cuffs together was now wrapped around Utami’s triceps, severely restricting the movement of both her upper arms.

Utami was confused and worried. Now it was him who had her dead to rights. As if the space he comfortably occupied in her head wasn’t enough, he had her physically restrained too with the help of the very same handcuffs she used against him. It felt humiliating … It felt hot. So hot. She’d been dealing with arousal the entire time they’d been locked together but this compromising position just turned that up to eleven. It was bad to the point where she had just realized that she’d been rubbing her ass on his crotch since the moment he turned her backwards.

This earned a chuckle from him … and an erection that pressed up against her behind. To know that she aroused him back only served to amplify her excitement.

“I think it’s time I tell you a little story of my own, Utami,” he said in a low tone, but it didn’t matter. His mouth was just an inch or two away from her ear. She could feel his breath on her skin, giving it pleasant little tingles.

She nodded, pretty much all she could do in her position. Her heart was going berserk inside her ribcage. She could barely take it anymore. The Red Queen was turned into a blushing and gushing little maiden in his hands.

“I’m really surprised though!” he said in an amused tone. “I thought you would’ve figured it all out after everything Unagi told you. Suppose not.”

Figure it out? Utami tried to turn her head backwards and try to look at his face, but a soft push from one of his palms blocked that. She was too weak to even attempt to fight. Despite her upper arms having very restricted mobility, the rest of her arms were free to move. He took advantage of that. Grabbing Utami’s free wrist with his own free hand, he gently guided the hand under her kimono … under her panties.

“Rub,” he commanded. Utami let out a squeal before immediately going to work. God, she needed this so bad. She needed him so bad.

“You’ve been hooked on me since the moment our eyes met at the parking lot.” he said with a laugh. “I was trying to charm you. It was the best I could do in that short time period and from that distance.”

He wanted her from the very beginning. It made sense. It made so much sense. He wanted her to want him. He planted the small seeds of desire and obsession within her and with time, they only grew and grew. This revelation only made her strokes more furious as the frequency of her moans increased.

“I really wanted to take my time with this one as well, my sweet Red Queen,” he teased. She leaned her head back to him. The ethereal sensation of his embrace slowly came back to her. He was doing it, he was turning his aura up. Utami heard enough details from Unagi to know that this was basically him ‘claiming’ his girls, making them his slaves. She kept on rubbing and rubbing. Her eyes rolled back into the head. She was close, so close…

“Stop,” he said.

No. He ordered. His voice had the conviction of a god. His power over her was so strong that it beat out her aching need for release. A gasping sound left her mouth as she shivered from stopping so abruptly.

Then, she nodded, acknowledging that she had and would obey an order. If this didn’t mean that she was properly being claimed, then Utami didn’t know what would. He was taking her, he was enslaving her. Her imagination was already running wild on what her new life as his slave would entail.

“You are not allowed to cum until I finish my story, understand?” he asked and she immediately nodded. “Good. Keep on edging for me, Utami.”

Yet another nod. Her hand found her needy pussy once more. She got to work once more.

“After that epic match you had with Syuri, everything kept going downhill for you, didn’t it?” he continued with the story. Her nods were almost automatic at this point. But she also couldn’t deny that he was right.

“You still think it was Starlight Kid who whispered all those sweet nothings into Momo’s ear? The girl was fiercely loyal to Queen’s Quest. Her change of mind was far from natural, if you know what I mean.”

Her eyes opened wide and her rubbing stopped for a second as she faced that realization. But then the warmth filled her again, as if a hand was pulling her back to the clouds. Softening her, surrounding her. Utami imagined him physically whispering into Momo’s ear as the traitor smiled and nodded, her mushy brain taking his words as heavenly gospel.

“How do you think Syuri won the tournament? How do you think she handed your ass to you and took your title? I trained her, I encouraged her, I made sure that beating you meant everything to her. You stood no chance against her, nobody could’ve beaten her on that night.”

She rubbed, she rubbed, she rubbed. She took everything in like a sponge and she rubbed. Fantasies continued to fill Utami’s dirty little mind. Him having Syuri work out naked in a gym, ordering her to do squats on his cock, promising to drown her in much love and affection if she were to beat Utami like yesterday’s trash. She rubbed and she stopped. She continued to rub again.

“What about poor little Saya Kamitani, the girl was your biggest simp, wasn’t she? And nowadays she barely even talks to you. Do I need to say why at this point?”

Oh fuck. Saya was in on it too. Her cute little face, devoid of any emotion but pure ecstasy, denouncing Utami in front of him as he gave Utami’s best friend all the pleasant sensations in the world before he made any move on Utami herself. The girl was in love with Utami, but his power was strong enough to turn her burning love into nothing but cold apathy. Fuck. She rubbed. She stopped. It was a real close call. She started again.

“Oh, and of course. The finale. You didn’t think it would be easy to notice another person in an empty gym at those hours? Syuri knew you were there from the very beginning. She texted me asking what she should do about it. I told her to trance Unagi and put on a show for you. I wanted them to let you in on the secret. I wanted to see what you would do with the information. You didn’t disappoint, making your way to me eventually.”

All his words, all these revelations, they were all dripped with honey, driving Utami crazier and crazier. Rub. Stop. Rub. Stop. Edge. Edge. Edge. She remembered all the details of their debauchery. She imagined how happy Syuri must’ve felt after getting permission from him to use Unagi as a sex doll just to bait Utami. Poor, helpless Sayaka probably had no clue what was going on. Then again, Utami’s been just as helpless and clueless as her all this time.

“Utami Hayashishita, you had everything. But I took it all from you and replaced them with nothing but me. Your title, Momo, Saya, everything. And now it’s time I take you too.”

“Yes. Yes. Yes,” she repeated, her voice hoarse. ”Please take me, please.”

He whispered into her ear.

“Cum.”

The orgasm shook Utami to her very core. For a moment, she forgot everything. For a moment, the world was nothing but blinding white. What followed was what felt like visions from the future. Her life as her Master’s obedient slave. Worshipping his divine body. Wearing a collar and a leash to signify her place as his pet. Fiercely making out with Syuri at his request, acting submissive to her fiercest rival because he wanted her to. Following his plans and using her own charms to gather more slaves for him. Being part of something greater.

When the afterglow of her orgasm has passed and she came back to her senses, she looked at him with the biggest smile one could ever muster.

“I am yours, Master. What can your humble slave do for you?”

“Remove the cuffs.”

“Yes, Master.”

Utami reached under her kimono once again. Instead of reaching down to touch herself once more, her hand snuck inside her bra. When it was back out again, she was holding a key. She used the key to uncuff her Master as he requested.

He rubbed his wrist for a moment before giving his new slave a kiss on the forehead. Utami giggled into the kiss, completely overjoyed by the events that had unfolded in this tiny janitor’s closet. He soon reached for the door.

“Can’t stay here forever, have an award to accept. And if I remember it right, you have one too. So, I wouldn’t be very late if I were you.”

Then, he was out of the room, leaving Utami alone in the closet. Alone with her own thoughts, the very same thoughts he owned.

Once upon a time, Utami Hayashishita had everything she could’ve ever wanted.

Then she lost them all and was left with nothing.

But now, she had everything once more.

.......

”Fuck, that was so hot,” were the first words that left Giulia’s mouth once her Master had finished recalling the story of how he recruited the mighty Utami Hayashishita as her newest slave-sister.

“I know you’re quite fond of using your influence on other people to enslave a certain target…” she recalled. He’d done the exact same thing to Giulia too. Maika, Syuri, Himeka, Natsupoi. They were all brainwashed by Master before her and they all worked together to bring Giulia under. She cherished the memories dearly.

“But did you really do all of that? Seems a bit excessive.” she said as she playfully snugged to him in the bed they shared. She’d won the bed privileges by winning her last match and she was going to use it to full extent. “How come I haven't seen Watanabe or Kamitani with you? I feel like you would’ve told us if you snatched those two, and well, you would've used them alongside us. I mean, is someone really hypnotized by you if I hadn't been ordered to eat them out?”

Giulia didn’t expect Master to let out a hearty chuckle to that, but his joy was her joy, so she laughed as well.

“Nah, I totally made the whole master plan thing up on the spot.”

Now Giulia understood why he seemed so amused.

“You can’t be serious!”

“Look, it doesn’t matter if I actually orchestrated all those events and enslaved her friends or not. The precious Red Queen believes that I did, and that’s all that matters. She believes that everything she’s lost is because of me and that means she can’t get them back without my approval. In her mind, everything loops back to me. I am all there is for my dearest Utami.”

“Master, that’s horrible!” Giulia said before another laugh. A playful jab landed on his chest. “And so hot.”

“Yes, it is,” he confirmed. “But Giulia, I thought you knew better than that..”

Giulia’s genuine smile turned into an awkward one. She rubbed the back of her head. Did she displease her Master somehow?

“I’d rather have you sucking my cock than trying to poke holes in my fabricated master plans.”

She nodded profusely as she swiftly moved to give him another blowjob. He caressed her platinum locks as she did so.

“Such a good girl,” he purred. “And if you feel disappointed that I didn’t end up enslaving Momo or Saya, well … all in due time.”

“All in due time," he repeated.

Then he closed his eyes and let pleasure overtake him once more. There would be only one way to go from here: Upwards.

#hypnostory #hypnomanip

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stardomtrash · 10 months

Note

Wait, would you mind explaining why the way Giulia sold Kairi's backhand is bad (if that's what your reply was about)? Is it the sell being too silly looking and not making Kairi look good?

Apologies in advance Anon. You did not ask for this and yet I’m going to turn this ask into an excuse to talk about selling.

I’m gonna preface this whole thing with one big blanket of “in my opinion”, so take all the following as just my feelings on things and not that I’m talking from any consensus.

Everyone sells in different ways. There’s no one way everyone should take every move - that’d be boring. Mayu has her own magnificent brand of selling, and might be the best of the roster. Utami sells very well for a powerhouse. Starlight Kid and Natsupoi benefit from their smaller frames to do some great full body selling.

One of my favourite wrestlers of all time is AJ Lee because, in the same vein as SLK, she’s tiny and she sells like she’s been shot by a canon. That sort of ragdoll selling is, when she does it, believable and it works. Watch any AJ match and just look at how she takes moves compared to her peers. It’s brilliant.

Now, this is where I lose ALL my credibility… I like Ronda Rousey. Okay, put the swords and hammers away, lemme clarify. I liked her when she FIRST arrived. I don’t watch WWE now so any time after The Man era and I’m unfamiliar with her work. But I think it’s cos she’s from the UFC background, she KNOWS what moves feel like, she KNOWS how things ACTUALLY FEEL and how you ACTUALLY take that pain, and how that pain manifests, and she channels that when she’s selling. My guilty pleasure match is Nia Jax vs Ronda Rousey cos Ronda’s selling in it is top class.

So now that my opinion means precisely nought, let me talk about Giulia.

Selling has never been one of Giulia’s strong points. It’s always been a bugbear of mine that her selling has never come across as authentic, even when she tries. She never conveys that she’s in any danger, and it really takes me out of things. A great wrestler has to be able to sell, not just deliver moves, and Giulia is a great wrestler (this is me pointedly not mentioning the any drivers she does), but she can’t sell like her peers.

I joked that when she won the Red Belt and did that whole gauntlet match that she was giving herself a crash course on selling, just trying to cram years of knowledge and training into one match, but it still never clicked for me, and that’s why what could have been a really great enjoyable match just… wasn’t. Imagine Mayu in that spot and tell me you wouldn’t pay good money for that match.

Giulia’s facials never actually seem like she’s in pain. They kinda have the air of “Oh no. Oh ow, ooo that does hurt a bit, ooo”. Her body language never conveys it either. It’s usually too rigid, too ‘forced’. She’s tense, on edge. It’s like she’s just counting the seconds until she can move onto the next spot. It borders on the realms of no-selling, and THAT is a problem.

And then there’s the times she sells like this

(if you think that sell is good, this is the only time I'm gonna be bold enough to say you are flatout Wrong)

In regards to the Kairi sell, I’d class that in the type of OTT comical selling that can make your opponent look bad (like the SLK one above). I don’t think she’s doing it on purpose. She’s not TRYING to make Kairi look bad. It’s just that maybe she’s not aware of her own actions? I really, really don’t know how to excuse it, because Giulia has been around the block a lot.

The Kairi one isn’t the most egregious bad sell she’s ever given, but it’s part of a larger problem I have with Giulia’s selling, so thank you for giving me the chance to get this off my chest, Anon.

#asks #trash's trash rambles #giulia

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closetofanxiety · 4 years

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Stardom Factions, Explained

Someone on the Stardom Facebook group I belong to introduced himself as a new member, a new follower of Stardom, and asked if anyone could give him a quick explanation of the different factions. I don’t want to get banned, so I didn’t write this in response, but this here blog is a less trigger-happy zone. So, for the curious:

Queen’s Quest: Ruthless girlbosses led by a 20-year-old personal assistant to departed ace Io Shirai. Group pastimes include finding new ways to accessorize faux leopard print and kicking other people very hard. In addition to leader Momo Watanabe, key members include Utami Hayashishita, a “Blade Runner” replicant who was not programmed to feel pain, and murder teen AZM (pronounced “Azumi”). In Dungeons & Dragons, their alignment would be “lawful neutral.”

STARS: A Saturday morning cartoon show populated by a gang of magical friends who go on fun adventures. A gang of sparkling Care Bears, joyously tumbling down a rainbow slide together. Led by Mayu Iwatani, a mountain dragon in human form who is somehow almost lethally clumsy in any venue apart from a wrestling ring. Key members include Tam Nakano, a 5,000-year-old war panda assassin who looks like a J-Pop idol, and Arisa Hoshiki, who actually is a J-Pop idol. The only unambiguous babyface faction in Stardom.

Oedo Tai: Formerly the greatest faction, now a mud beehive full of scoundrels. The sweepings of earth’s prisons. Members include Bea Priestley (traitor), Saki Kashima (traitor), Sumire Natsu (sex pest), and Jamie Hayter (British). An unwelcome seam of poison ivy running through the Stardom garden. All factions should unite to obliterate them. Natsuko Tora is cool, though.

Donna Del Mondo: The three bad Heathers from “Heathers,” except in this version of the movie it’s the Heathers who want to blow up the school. Led by Giulia, a cross between the alpha cheerleader in high school and the surprise murderess at the climax of a giallo film. The other two members are hired thugs Maika and Syuri. In some ways, more despicable than Oedo Tai.

Tokyo Cyber Squad: A parti-colored pirate ship traversing the dancefloors of the world, crewed by a merry band of misfits and madcaps. Everyone is welcome, as long as you are (a) fun and (b) willing to wear a gas mask and carry a toy weapon. The leader is Hana Kimura, a glamazon raver with furry green boots and a light-up samurai sword. Key members include Jungle Kyona, an NGO worker turned wrestling powerhouse, and Konami, who is the old G.I. Joe character Storm Shadow, but real. There is also a tiny goblin who sprints around yelling “Death! Death! Death!” at everyone. Objectively the best faction.

#Stardom #joshi puroresu #official rankings

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nnkhld · 5 years

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Ceritanya Review: I'll be Right There

(opini. durasi baca: 15 menit. spoiler alert!)

Ini boong judulnya, karena post ini tercipta cuma karena ingin sambat habis baca sebuah buku, tapi karena butuh buku lain untuk pembanding dan rasanya nggak adil aja kalo cuma disandingkan, jadilah I’ll be Right There - Kyung Sook Shin di-review ceritanya.

Jadi, beberapa waktu lalu baca novel yg.. bikin ku menghela napas habis baca tiap 1-2 halaman, nutup bukunya trus feeling like I don't wanna open that book anymore. Buku ini salah satu karangan seorang penulis yg beberapa tahun belakangan cukup populer namanya fiersa besari. Sebut saja ini buku X nggak nyebut judul tapi ngasih nama penulisnya hhh. Nulis ini aku jadi inget reaksiku pertama kali dikasih buku ini,

me: berasa muda deh dikasih buku ini

that friend: lah situ dah nggak muda?

me: bukannya biasanya yg baca buku ini anak baru kuliahan yg msh unyu2

Iya aku anaknya judgemental. Aku sendiri mbayangin orang yang ngasih kalo mbaca buku X ini juga nggak cocok, haqqul yakin dia ngasih tapi nggak mbaca dulu. Habis beberapa halaman yang melelahkan itu, aku bertanya-tanya apa ketidakcocokanku ini cuma karena aku judgemental, berpikiran sempit, suka ngenyek genre romance, dan terutama karena nggak muda lagi?

Nggak ding, aku nggak setua itu. Tapi di halaman ke-sekian, tiba-tiba mendapat pencerahan. Sambat ini mungkin nggak berhubungan dengan usia, bahkan genre sekalipun. Maybe this uncomfortable feeling comes from something more spesific. At a particular page, aku nutup buku habis baca satu kalimat. Trus mikir, trus aku buka lagi, then i got the a-ha! moment. Aku nggak cocok sama how the author writes description.

Imho, poin penting dalam buku fiksi itu deskripsi. Pembaca fiksi tu harus translate cerita dalam dimensi tulisan ke sebuah gambaran di ruang pikirannya masing-masing. Buatku, penulis fiksi tu harus bisa ber-deskripsi dgn meyakinkan tanpa membosankan.

Ada manfaatnya juga sih gegara angot-angotan baca buku X ini, aku jadi semangat nyelesein buku nonfiksi yang dah pending 1 tahun hoho. Tapi habis si buku nonfiksi abis, aku pengen baca fiksi lagi, jadilah aku mbuka buku hasil BBW.

(sumber)

Nggak sengaja liat ini di BBW, trus ku taruh lagi karena sebelum ke BBW aku niat nggak akan beli fiksi, tapi yaaa apa mau dikata, this book was too tempting, ambil lagi trus bawa ke kasir. Sebenernya si tante Kyung Sook Shin ini lebih terkenal sama buku sebelumnya, judulnya “Please Look After Mom” yang recommended banget buat yang suka drama keluarga/tragedi.

Judul: 어디선가 나를 찾는 전화벨이 울리고 (english: I’ll Be Right There) Penulis: Kyung Sook Shin Penerjemah: Sora Kim-Russell ISBN: 9781590516737 Tahun: 2010

Ini genrenya apa ya? Kalo kata goodreads sih Historical Fiction. Kalo dah pernah baca Laut Bercerita-Leila S. Chudori, ini mirip settingnya. Di tahun 80-an mahasiswa Korea Selatan turun ke jalan menentang rezim militer yang berkuasa. Kalo pernah nonton drakor Reply 1988, peristiwa ini juga diambil buat latar ceritanya, ada akun tumblr bagus yang review drakor ini, sila baca di sini.

Bedanya dari novelnya tante Leila, kalo Laut dan tokoh-tokoh di bukunya itu emang aktivis, kalo tokoh di bukunya tante Sook Shin mereka orang-orang yang seakan terperangkap di masa itu. Kalaupun ikut turun ke jalan, mereka nggak bisa dengan pasti mengatakan motivasinya apa. Maybe the solidarity of demonstrators filled the hole in their hearts, mereka sendiri lagi berjuang menghadapi personal problem, dan itu yang jadi daya tariknya.

Nah sebelum lebih jauh ke novelnya tante Sook Shin, mari kembali sambat.

Aku inget aku pernah nulis gitu di post Bacaan 2018, tentang bukunya Ayu Utami yang Saman. Emang pada dasarnya dari dulu seleraku berkutat sama bagaimana penulis berdeskripsi berarti. Waktu baca buku X itu, tepat di kalimat yang bikin aku menyadari ini, dia nulis kalimat dengan struktur S-P-O untuk mendeskripsikan karakternya. Deskripsi karakter tokoh itu penting, tapi aku memasalahkan caranya, buatku ada banyak cara untuk explore karakter, nggak sekedar penulis bilang (contoh) “Ani rajin menabung.”.

Deskripsi pake sekedar kalimat S-P-O gitu emang singkat padat jelas, nggak ngganggu plot dan dragging cerita ke mana-mana, tapi buatku itu mbosenin. Tricky emang, kalo bikin deskripsi panjang trus ceritanya jadi mbleber ke mana-mana. Tapi buatku lebih menarik kalo gini,

“Upah Ani hari ini dibaginya menjadi beberapa tumpukan di meja. Satu tumpukan ditaruhnya di bawah kasur, satu tumpukan dimasukkannya ke kaleng roti penuh receh, tumpukan lainnya ia masukkan ke kantong tas untuk ongkos esok pergi. Disisakannya satu tumpukan di meja, lima ribu rupiah besarnya, yang akan ia belikan semangkuk bubur kacang kalau perutnya berbunyi lewat pukul enam. Jika ia sanggup menahan lapar, akan dimasukkan juga tumpukan terakhir itu ke kaleng roti.”.

Trus habis baca satu paragraf itu aku sendiri yang menyimpulkan, bahwa “Ani rajin menabung.”

Ribet betul, yang gampang aja ada tapi nggak suka.

Coba ya bandingin sama Kyung Sook Shin mendeskripsikan tokohnya masih merasa kehilangan habis ibunya meninggal, she didn’t write, “I’m still grieving” atau “I can’t move on”, instead she wrote,

“There was no medicine for me to pick up on Wednesdays, yet every Wednesday morning I could be found sitting in the waiting room of that hospital. It was my Wednesday routine. I no longer had a number to wait for, but each time the pager dinged, I looked up and watched the display change. After a while, I would tell myself it was time to get to class, and I would leave the waiting room.” (hlm. 19)

Emang kepanjangan dan rasanya nggak efektif, tapi the positive side is paragraf itu bisa di-incorporate buat jalan cerita. Kaya Ayu Utami di Saman, dialognya jadi punya lebih dari 1 fungsi. Kaya penggaris 30 cm gitu, bisa buat nggaris bisa buat nggaruk punggung haha.

Aku bilang sambat ini bukan masalah genre, karena ku juga inget penulis populer lain, sebut saja namanya Tere Liye. Aku belum pernah baca semua judul bukunya sih, tapi kalo ada yang tanya rekomendasi bukunya, malah aku suka ngasi yang judulnya “Kau, Aku, dan Sepucuk Angpau Merah” yang mana adalah romance. Mungkin aku terkesan sama karakter-karakternya sih, jadi cara menulisnya kurang aku inget.

Meanwhile, aku sangat terganggu sama cara berdeskripsinya di serial “Negeri Para Bedebah” sama serial “Pergi”, yang banyak scene action nya. Itu bukan deskripsi karakter tokoh bahkan, tapi mbacanya jadi kaya liat film action yang koreografi berantemnya nggak pas. Cringy. Tapi over all dengan beberapa judul lainnya yang pernah kubaca, ide ceritanya Tere Liye emang menarik dan konsisten ada nilai humanity-nya.

Ngomong nilai humanity, jadi inget sama bagian dari bukunya tante Sook Shin. I love how she captures the complexity of the situation that time, apalagi karena berpusat pada tokoh anak-anak muda bimbang. Sehabis pembubaran paksa massa oleh aparat, dua tokoh utama mlipir ke sebuah toko taneman yang digambarkan jualannya dah pada layu. Well.. siapa juga yang butuh bebungaan di saat jalan penuh keributan dan takut keluar rumah. Di situ wanita tua pemilik tokonya tetiba bilang,

“When you get home, transfer the plant to another container and water it. I’m sorry we couldn’t leave you a world where no one has to riot... I’m so sorry.” “This is going to sound as ridiculous as telling you that a cat hatched an egg... You kids may be in the right, but if you keep this up, the rest of us will have to protest as well. We’ll have to protest all the protesting.” (hlm. 96)

So many POVs cramped in a book hoho. Sukak.

Yang mana juga mengingatkanku sama penulis populer lain yang kalo berdeskripsi sungguh bertele-tele dan tidak efektif, karakternya bejibun pula, tapi sangat amat menyenangkan hati, Andrea Hirata namanya.

Dia banyak make majas metafora (iya bener bukan? cmiiw ya) dibandingin sama taneman-taneman misalnya di “Laskar Pelangi”, dan satu aja bisa panjang banget karena detil. But somehow, itu jadi semacam ciri khas, banyak tokoh dengan karakter distinctive (saking detilnya deskripsi) berkelindan jadi cerita yang unik. Nggak heran sih di buku terakhir “Orang-Orang Biasa” banyak yang kecewa, kesannya buru-buru banget bukunya, karena nggak detil.

Ekspektasiku nggak nyampek, bang andrea.

Dah segitu. Panjang kan sambatnya. Mari mengulas bukunya tante Sook Shin soalnya kasian.

Buat orang-orang yang pengen plot cerita yang dinamis, mungkin nggak akan suka sama buku ini. Buku ini diceritakan dari sudut pandang orang pertama yang hmm.. pemikir (?) I don’t know the exact word to describe Jung Yoon’s character, pokoknya isi kepalanya kira-kira gini,

“What are you doing with your life? When I was twenty, each time I asked myself that, I left the university and walked for hours around the city, eyes streaming from the sting of tear gas in the air. Has nothing changed since then? Even now, whenever I picture his eyes, I have to get out of my house and walk-I pick any road and follow it to the end. Neither society nor I have changed for the better; we have only become more imperfect in different ways.” (hlm. 7)

“Viewing the world from a different angle made it all look strange and dynamic, as if seeing it for the first time-the sycamore and ginkgo trees planted along the road, the small, shy-looking flowerbeds, the hand-painted theater billboards. From the overpass, and especially through the thick tangle of power lines, the sky looked vast and endless.” (hlm. 43)

She is a person who can dive really deep in her own thought, gitu.

Karena ku dah baca “Please Look After Mom”, ku nggak mengharapkan cerita bahagia yang berbunga-bunga. Ini ada romance-nya, but it’s kinda dark. Tentu tidak happy ending, it’s kinda hanging sad ending. Dah ketebak dari awal sih, dari chapter prolog aja pembaca dah dikasih tau kondisinya si tokoh gimana. Alurnya mundur, jadi di prolog itu itu waktu sekarang, sekitar 2000-an. Ceritanya dimulai waktu Jung Yoon dapet kabar tentang orang di masa lalunya, trus dia jadi kelingan sing mbiyen-mbiyen.

Latar waktunya ini menarik, walaupun unsur penting dalam cerita, tante Sook Shin nggak pernah menunjuk tanggal atau tahun spesifik, cuma sekitaran. Kaya di prolog, pembaca nebak itu sekitar tahun 2000-an, karena Jun Yoong menyebutkan peristiwa 911 dan terbakarnya Sungnyemun Gate. Peristiwa demo mahasiswa Korea Selatan di tahun 80-an juga nggak menyebut momen tertentu. Beda sama tante Leila yang bahkan secara samar menyebutkan tokoh-tokoh yang ada dalam dunia nyata di tahun 90-an.

ini foto Chun Doo Hwan, presiden Korea Selatan (1980-88) yang didemo pada waktu itu (sumber). If you’re interested tentang siapa Chun Doo Hwan, bisa baca biografi singkatnya di sini, atau kalo pengen tau sejarah singkat Korea Selatan bisa baca di sini.

Tante Sook Shin kayanya nggak pengen lansung nunjukin situasi chaos, dia kaya ambil cerita dari orang yang terkena dampak tidak langsung dari situasi negara saat itu.

Tokoh utama kedua, lakik, namanya Myungsuh, pembaca dikasih tau hubungannya dengan tokoh utama Jung Yoon sejak awal. Uniknya, Myungsuh di dalem buku ini ada dalam bentuk catetan jurnal hariannya. Jadi di akhir tiap chapter yang diambil dari susut pandang Jung Yoon, ada tambahan sub-bab yang ditandai dengan gambar tangan megang pena lagi nulis, itu ceritanya tulisan tangan Myungsuh di jurnalnya.

Myungsuh sama kaya Jung Yoon, anak daerah pinggiran yang baru tau situasi chaos sejak kuliah di kota, tapi Myungsuh memahami lebih awal dengan cara yang lebih tragis. Dia punya sahabat masa kecil, namanya Miru, Myungsuh ikut pindah ke kota tinggal sama Miru dan kakaknya. Pacar kakak Miru, seorang aktivis dan demonstran, hilang, dan setelah desperate nyari nggak ketemu-temu, kakak Miru bunuh diri as a protest. Dia menjatuhkan diri dari gedung tinggi sambil membakar diri di hadapan demonstran. Then Myungsuh wrote,

“After her sister died, Miru took up the search for her sister’s boyfriend, and I joined her. That was how I found out that there were so many people who had gone missing. Some of the disappeared were later found dead in crashed cars, or with the skull cracked open from accidental falls, or with their stomachs swollen with water in reservoirs they had no business being.” (hlm. 197)

Bukan cuma Miru dan kakaknya, yang berperan jadi tokoh pembantu dengan latar cerita dan karakter yang unik,

Ada Dahn, sahabat masa kecil Jung Yoon, yang pada akhirnya meninggal saat wajib militer tanpa investigasi yang nggenah, kemungkinan bunuh diri tapi dilaporkan akibat human error. Ada Profesor Yoon, dosen Myungsuh dan Jung Yoon, yang nyentrik karena punya rak yang semua bukunya ditata punggung bukunya menghadap ke dalem untuk mengenang para penulis yang mati sebelum usia 33 tahun, tapi juga bijak tanpa banyak omong. Sepupu dan ayah Jung Yoon yang nggak bisa ngerti jalan pikiran Jung Yoon tapi tetep berusaha diam-diam. Beberapa teman kuliah mereka yang jadi geng suka jalan bareng keliling kota sambil belajar sejarah tiap tempat.

Semua orang yang ada di circle mereka diceritakan dari pengalaman Jung Yoon dan Myungsuh berinteraksi sama mereka.

Aku dah mbayangin banyak yang mati di cerita ini, dan emang bukan itu yang tante Sook Shin taruh sebagai plot twist. Bukan tentang siapa yang akan mati, tapi gimana Jung Yoon dan Myungsuh tau mereka mati jadi pembaca pun tau mereka mati. So intriguing,

Jung Yoon dan pembaca nggak pernah tau kakaknya Miru dah mati lama, bahkan setelah Jung Yoon temenan lama sama Miru dan Myungsuh. She always under impression kalo kakaknya Miru masih nyari pacarnya yang hilang.

Trus, waktu Dahn mati, kita cuma bisa baca kalo tetiba Jung Yoon pengen bales surat Dahn. Pembaca tau pas Myungsuh nulis di catetan jurnalnya, berbulan-bulan setelah kematian Dahn. Ternyata waktu itu Jung Yoon saking grieving-nya bahkan pikirannya dah lupa kalo Dahn dah mati, her mind was already in dangerous denial state dan Myungsuh nggak menyadari itu. Shocking.

“The four of us laughing gaily and eating every last bite. As much as I enjoyed spending time alone with Miru, it was better when Yoon joined us, and better still when Dahn was around. Had things been to perfect, and we had to suffer for it?” (hlm. 245)

Belum lagi, waktu Miru mati. Waaaaah.. sangat twisty. Jung Yoon, setelah berbulan-bulan desperate karena lost contact, akhirnya tau Miru meninggal kelaparan karena menderita anorexia sendirian di rumah almarhum neneknya di desa, dari ibunya Miru. Paling mencabik-cabik hati, Jung Yoon meluk ibunya Miru, terus beliau balik nepuk punggungnya, bilang,

“Thank you for not asking why I left her there.” (hlm 280)

I cried my eyes out T_T not ready for these kinds of detailed sentiments.

Ah, then I may not recommend this book for you if you have some kind of mental breakdown triggered by stories like these. Nanti move on nya lama, tapi kalo pengen enjoy your suffering ya silakan.

This book kinda reminds me to “The Catcher in The Rye” karena aura gloomy-nya. Juga mengingatkanku sama nonton drama korea “Mr. Sunshine”, karena dari premisnya aja dah ketebak bakalan pada mati, dan mungkin malah aku marah kalo cerita-cerita ini happy ending, tapi pas bagian sedihnya tetep nggak kontrol nangisnya karena cara berceritanya ngena banget. Mungkin dari cerita-cerita fiksi gini lah, yang bikin audiens jadi sangat terpikat sama Korsel hhh.

That’s all. Ini dah panjang banget sambat dan pura-pura reviewnya. Buku ini ada versi bahasa Indonesianya setelah aku cek di goodreads, tapi belum pernah liat karena mungkin dah lawas. Dulu pun aku dapet buku “Please Look After Mom” di obralan gitu soalnya.

Happy satnight.

140919 17:00

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danwhobrowses · 3 years

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NXT Takeover: Stand and Deliver Day 1 - Review

It is Wrestlemania Week, and every company wants their shot

but alas, I can only do so much, so we’re gonna be sticking with Mania and Stand & Deliver for now. I do also have some other WWE post-mania stuff planned which I’ll also do for AEW Double or Nothing in May

but in spite of Dynamite still doing a decent ‘not gonna try to top it’ show, the night belongs to NXT so let’s get into it

Spoilers for Stand & Deliver Day 1, you have been warned

Pre Show I had to add this in because Sam Roberts really laid in thick the bravado, NXT is great but chill man. Seeing Io and Raquel enter the building was a good touch though. The Samoa Joe interviews were good too but damn I miss this man in the ring, it kinda threw me how well-spoken WALTER is, he’s kinda giving me the same vibe as Daniel Bruhl’s Zemo currently is in Falcon & The Winter Soldier, also interviewing Io proves that if the company’s hot on you promo game isn’t necessary to be a great champion, also Io has put Rey over more than the main roster has in the last 3 years. The shoehorned Prince Harry comment was not needed that’s not gonna get a pop but mercifully we moved on to other interviews, LA Knight still does a great promo and hearing that Mickie James will be on commentary for the pre-show match was interesting.

Zoey Stark def. Toni Storm (Pinfall via Inside Cradle) Zoey Stark has been making quite some noise since her NXT Debut, similar to Utami Hayashishita’s start in Stardom and Leyla Hirsch in AEW it was mainly revolving around Zoey getting over even in defeat to big names. She started fairly even with Toni Storm with some solid chain wrestling, Toni was able to keep Stark grounded with submissions, which worked well for Zoey to feed off the babyface comeback, landing a big superplex. A flurry of an exploder and running knee hit two but then Toni came back with an electric chair facebuster, Toni tried Storm Zero but failed, so went for the Germans, tried the Storm Zero again but Stark counters it into a cradle for 3. It was a decent pre-show match, Stark gets a rub from winning but I get the feeling the rub should be bigger, Toni Storm is still good but her stock has dropped since her heel turn designed merely to lose to Io, the match finished a bit abruptly too.

Main Card Nita Strauss then guitars the anthem, ‘Merica and stuff on a PPV themed around Pirate and Highwayman motifs, as well as an Adam Ant song. The Skull is awesome though.

Pete Dunne def. KUSHIDA (Pinfall via Bitter End) Technical masterclass would of course be an understatement for this match. A minute in it was quickfire joint manipulation and reversals. Dunne took the early advantage after catching KUSHIDA and landing an X-Plex onto the apron, the injured arm didn’t slow KUSHIDA too much who did the handspring elbow and the Muta pele kick on the ramp. Dunne tried for the Kimura and the Bitter End but KUSHIDA escaped twice over, the latter catching a Back to the Future (small package driver). Dunne resumed control though in handling the arm, it might just be me but the audio was cutting out at this point. Cross Armbreakers traded and escaped as the arm began to slowly come into play, but KUSHIDA started handling Dunne’s arm too, a Top Turnbuckle Hoverboard Lock Spanish Fly also led to an armbreaker escaped by the ropes, another Hoverboard lock almost led to a pin. Dunne manipulates the digits of the other hand, which hurts KUSHIDA’s punch attempt, stomps on both hands twice over and then a Bitter End finishes the night.

That did not feel like 10 minutes, it was a great and well-paced match, wish it went longer. I anticipated that Dunne would win but one has to worry for KUSHIDA, even on his best WWE run he’s not able to win a feud, he didn’t leave NJPW for that.

Bronson Reed wins the Eliminator Gauntlet (Pinfall via Tsunami Splash on Isaiah ‘Swerve’ Scott) At first I thought Leon Ruff had botched his entrance until Swerve showed up, looking far different to the Killshot of Lucha Underground. Before the bell rang Ruff got hit into the barricade a lot and then an ad!? Dude, come on, the bell rings and they’re outside the ring again... Of course, it’s hard to start a pace for a Gauntlet, Ruff hit a lovely twisting Cutter as commentary ignored how his NA Title win was mainly a segue in the Gargano/Priest feud, a super frankensteiner was the big move before the next man came in: Bronson Reed. Ruff’s dive is caught and thrown back in the ring, Swerve planted with a combo suplex/crossbody before Ruff foolishly tried to attack Reed again, getting sat on a few times before Reed german’d Ruff and Swerve at the same time. Grimes came in next, delaying his entrance to distract Reed and land a moonsault, he bribes Swerve for a partnership which works for a decent while, Ruff got a big ouch suplex on the turnbuckle pads after some very slippery escapes. The arrival of Dexter Lumis involved super creepy eyes inside the Skull model but we missed most of Swerve finishing off Ruff. Lumis cleaned house until Reed recovered from the ramp DDT, Lumis even lifting Reed on the second time of asking before another big ouch ring-out with Grimes. LA Knight was last, his diss promos not as good as his earlier promo as Reed cut him off short and cleaned up house himself. Knight does get a good spur including a quickfire superplex but pauses when Lumis shows up, Grimes’ cheap shot misses and the Silence is locked in, but Knight rolls him for 3. Bit deflating that really, Lumis was the only one with story against Gargano and he kinda got chump pinned because he didn’t wanna release his finisher. Knight fell quickly after though, Grimes and Reed teaming up to end him, Lumis then locking the Silence onto him - probably setting up a feud there.

The final three ended all chance of alliances, Reed comically flattening both men when after a delayed fall from a superkick. Grimes and Swerve both try a handful of tights to pin each other, but Swerve’s one pays off. Swerve also powerslams Reed onto the apron and then hits a 450 for 2, two House Calls don’t drop Reed, a third gets 2, but a slap wakes Reed up. Powerbomb, Beach Break (idk the technical name) and Tsunami Splash for 3.

Liked the match, Reed is a worthy winner but I just wish they dealt with Lumis and Grimes better, Gargano came out the ramp to stare down his opponent and we moved on to the next.

NXT UK Championship: WALTER (c) def. Tomasso Ciampa (Pinfall via Knife Edged Chop) Reminder that the UK title is WWE’s best looking active belt because good god it’s glorious.Ciampa stayed on the turnbuckle to stare down WALTER, completely unafraid of the mountain he faces. They lock up but WALTER uses his muscle, looking for those monster chops, one on the turnbuckle preludes a messy drop for Ciampa, Walter’s hand is injured though by the chop of the announce table gimmick breaking, Ciampa works on it but the champion’s big boot earns a reprieve, his submission attempts are futile with the injured hand though so he applies his power and weight to keep on top. A flurry of lariats finally chops WALTER down for an Air Raid Crash, but it’s only for a 2. WALTER northern lights reversal’s a Fairytale Ending for 2 but could not escape the second, still a 2 count though. WALTER’s submission attempts neutralized by the fingers again as Ciampa continues to lay into WALTER’s hands and head, an Avalanche Air Raid Crash then hits for 2 as well, Ciampa at a loss for what he can do, opting to throw his own blistering chops, WALTER gets nasty with a neck twist and two powerbombs but it’s 2 again, Sleeper Exploder and one massive chop gets the 3.

I had heard great things from this match, and it was very well done narratively and physically, but a chop as the finish? Dunno, Ciampa had already taken chops, 2 powerbombs in succession and yet what ends it is a chop from an injured hand? Feel like it could’ve ended more emphatically.

No Thatcher present either, instead we get a Franky Monet (Taya Valkyrie) promo and a Reed/Gargano backstage argument.

NXT Tag Championship: MSK def. Grizzled Young Veterans & Legando del Fantasma (Pinfall by Wes Lee on Zack Gibson via combo Spinebuster/Spinning Blockbuster) Another ad break during LDF’s entrance was disrespectful, the mask was awesome though. Gibson likely not in the best of moods with Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champion’s League first leg but he still flies the colors. LDF control the match at the start with tag offence, Gibson going for MSK off the bat until LDF get in the way. Drake and Carter get some time in the ring but Lee remains on the apron awaiting the hot tag, after a dive LDF comes back to do a dual dive themselves, double Coast to Coast on Carter is broken by Gibson who gets dumped out by the duo and another commercial break (wtf come on!). LDF were getting some great combo moves and rotating in quick tags as Carter continues to be the feeder, Drake almost catches Wilde with a roll up though and Lee gets another hot tag, first clear the ring, then out the ring to Gibson, then to LDF, somersault Pele Kick, combo move for 2. Gibson and Drake almost catch Carter with a Doomsday Device on the outside but Lee nails Drake with a knee, GYV neutralize Lee by hurting the hand as well, Carter holding Lee’s hand to prevent a tap as LDF come back in. They clear the ring, hit the combo move but it’s 2! GYV and MSK take out LDF leaving the two left to fight, a double cutter by Carter takes Drake out of the ring, leading to MSK finishing Gibson with a twisted blockbuster/spinebuster combo. Very much earned for the new champions, exciting match, LDF got a lot of shine too I hope they win the titles later down the line.

NXT Women’s Championship: Raquel Gonzalez def. Io Shirai (c) (pinfall via One-Arm Powerbomb TITLE CHANGE) If Raquel Gonzalez doesn’t win rookie of the year for 2021 it’ll be a travesty, her current run has been built amazingly. Before we started though we see Steph in the crowd with Sarray (Sendai Girls and SEADLINNG’s Sareee). The tunnel cam of the two competitors and the names on the LEDs sold the huge Main Event feel of this match. Side note though, while NXT does tout the most stacked Women’s Division out of the major wrestling companies they shouldn’t peacock themselves, most of their talent are ready made acquisitions with a few like Ripley, Belair and Gonzalez who gritted to the top, just because your division is stacked doesn’t mean that there aren’t cracks, and let’s not forget that ROH barely has a women’s division and NJPW doesn’t have a division at all, if we’re comparing the actual competition Stardom still gives WWE a run for their money having made their stars in Natsupoi, Guilia, Utami, Konami, AZM, Tam Nakano and others.

The match kicks off with a flurry, picking up where they left off last NXT of Gonzalez just boomeranging Io with her size and strength and Io flying back with vigor and athleticism. The champion takes control with a dive out the ring but Dakota rakes her eyes, leading to Dakota being kicked out of ringside immediately. Io hits the apron moonsault but Gonzalez lawn darts her into the ring post, a lovely Dominator-esque move with extra flip brings the advantage fully in the hands of the challenger. Io uses her flexibility to frustrate Raquel and hits a picture perfect hurricanrana, misses the 619 but arm drags into another 619, Yoshi Tonic for 2, tries for the Moonsault but Raquel sets up the One Arm Powerbomb, Io wriggles it into a crossface which is ended by a rope break, Moonsault on the ramp and then a running meteora leads to Io doing the ‘jump off the NXT arena prop), after slowly rolling Raquel into the ring it’s the Moonsault, but it only gets 2! Raquel flattens Io with the One Arm Powerbomb outside of the ring, rolls Io in with some trash talk, Shotei is responded with a Lariat, One Arm Powerbomb and that’s 3!

That was a solid main event, recurring problem though: it was too short! That match went under 15 minutes and while it was jam packed with high spots and power moves we could’ve had more time with Raquel’s crowning moment. I feel like Io could’ve resisted more offence seeing as her Skull crossbody and Moonsault should even out Raquel’s two One Arm Powerbombs. Also they overdid the smoke on her celebration we could barely see her. That being said, this was definitely a worthy usurper to Shirai, Gonzalez at the top of the division will be an interesting new landscape after a year of Shirai as champion. She’s had a good run, I do wish it didn’t involve the Charlotte skulfuckery at the start but she has done well to keep on top of the division during the COVID era and she’s done a good job in making sure the next champion is over.

Conclusion Good wrestling is all you need, and NXT Stand and Deliver stood and delivered strongly on Night 1, there is of course room to top it but that may be the intention. Do wish that some matches went longer but I’m not mad at all with who won, so once more a job well done as NXT end their Wednesday Night Campaign on a high.

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footballwritersprofile-blog · 6 years

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Football Fic Writer Profile - Utami (thebluesideofmyworld)

Hello lovely people! We hope that you all are having a great week so far. We meet again in another article, featuring one of the fic writers from the football fandom.

Have we told you before that we felt like there are so many fic writers who were born on February? Here’s another one who was also born on February. On February 14, to be exact.

People, please welcome Utami. And yes, people. It’s her birthday today!

Happy birthday, Utami!

You can find her on her Tumblr ( @thebluesideofmyworld ) where she posts her M/F fics, or you can also go to her AO3 account where she posts her slash fics.

Now let’s refresh our memories about her writing by reading an excerpt from one of her fics

She curled up on her couch, staring at the TV without really looking at it. It was one of her favorite TV shows, yet she could not seem to get excited about it anymore.

Her phone went off. Mats name flashed on the screen. She stared at it for a while, the ringtone sounded so loud, too loud in the living room.

After a while the phone went silent again.

She stared at her phone, thinking that maybe Mats would just be like the other people. Those people who would leave her anyway at the end.

(People always left her anyway. No one wanted to stay with her anyway.)

(Can You Hold Me)

Utami is originally from Indonesia, but she has been in the US since 2013 to do a postgrad degree in Environmental Engineering. She is currently having a massive crush on Asa Taccone, the vocalist from Electric Guest, and spends her times listening to songs from Troye Sivan and Fall Out Boy while waiting for Voltron S05 to be released. She is a supporter of Manchester City and Real Madrid. Those of you who might have checked her blog out would not be surprised to find that her favorite player is David Silva.

She started writing by writing her thoughts in a diary since she was 8 years old, because she said that it had always been easier for her to express what she felt by writing it. In late 2009, she found a fansite for a talent show in her country where she found some fanfics posted there. Out of curiosity, she tried to post the first chapter of a fic there. She ended up writing more and more for that fandom. She said that even though the fandom faded out slowly after the talent show ended, she would still remember it as her first experience in writing fics.

Writing is something that she enjoys because she said that it’s really a good way for her to express herself. She has always had a wild imagination since she was a kid, probably because she loved reading so much. She often has imaginary scenes and conversations in her head, and writing them out is something she find to be soothing. “Lately, I also try to remember what my therapist once told me, that I should see writing as a self-care method and coping mechanism for me, as I feel through writing, I can be a better version of myself.”

Even though she has been watching football ever since she was a kid, the first time she encountered football fics was in 2012. She read the fics and started wondering whether she could also do one. In December 2012, she decided to give it a try, and her first football fic was about David Silva with an OFC. “I cringed whenever I read it,” she said. “I changed the POV every 2 paragraphs, the dialogue was unnatural, and the description was so so bland.” However, she said that it was her fic that was written in English so she felt like it’s something that she should be proud of.

Besides one-shot, she also used to do requests where she would write 100-word drabble based on a song requested by someone. “I love the challenge of trying to understand the meaning behind the songs, then put it into a limited number of words,” she said. Since 2015, she also started writing slash fics. She personally found that it had a different kind of challenge. “In slash fics, the pairing usually already had some sort of chemistry that’s shown through their interactions in real life. So the real challenge is how to put those chemistry into words.” Besides the football fandom, since last year, she has also written for the riordanverse fandom. For this fandom then, she said that there is another kind of challenge, which was how put the characters into her story and head-canon without making them OOC.

Her inspirations mainly come from songs, and music videos. Whenever she found a song that she liked, she would look up the meaning of that song and try to analyze each line of the song. “I love MVs that have some sort of story line,” she said. “Some of my fics for the riordanverse fandom were inspired by MVs, like Wildfire from Seafret, and First Time He Kissed a Boy by Kadie Elder.”

Once she gets an idea for a fic, she will jot down some things that she thought would be essential in the fic in her journal. Music is a big must whenever she writes a fic, along with a cup of coffee. One of her strategies in writing is by making herself write at least 500 words every day. She finds it to be quite effective, especially when she is working on a multi-chaptered fic.

While she really enjoys writing fluff, she said that she can’t write some angst. According to her, real life is already hard enough, so she doesn’t want to put more sadness into something that supposed to be an escape. She particularly loves AU fics. “It takes quite a lot of imagination to put the characters into a whole different set of universe, yet you still have to write them as who they really are canonically. I enjoy both reading it and writing it.” When it comes to the kind of AU that she likes, she said that she is a sucker for Soulmate!AU fic and Coffee Shop AU (Well, considering that she drinks at least 4 cups of coffee a day, we was not really surprised about this). She also mentioned that one of her favorite tropes is Fake Dating. She told us that one of her fics that she’s most proud of is The Thin Line. “It’s about David/Joe which is one of my favorite pairings, it’s an AU fic, and it’s a fake dating one. And somehow I managed to squeeze in Fernando Torres to give a shovel talk in the fic.” Here’s an excerpt of that fic:

David looked up at Joe and his eyes were wide and warm. But the look in those caramel eyes were a mix of longing and sincerity and something vulnerable. Joe absently thought whether it was the same kind of look that David found in his eyes. Joe cupped David’s cheek with one hand, gently ran the pad of his thumb over David’s jaw. They were still swaying along with the music but their feet moved slower and slower, like the way the final notes of a symphony faded away before it ended. He slowly leaned forward and everything was starting to blur into slow motion. Joe could see each and every single one of David’s lashes. A little part of his mind realized that at some point they had stopped moving but at the moment Joe also felt like they were inside an invisible bubble, mist and cloud around them. Joe stopped moving right when the tip of his nose touched David’s. David’s breathing was warmly ghosting, almost like teasing, against his skin.

David’s eyes fluttered closed and his hands slid up Joe’s neck, threading his fingers between Joe’s curls. Joe closed his eyes but behind his eyelids he saw the cherry red of David’s cheeks, the rosy red of David’s lips.

In her writing, some of the lines can come in such a lyrical, almost poetical way, even when she was only using simple words. For example, let’s have a look at an excerpt from one of her fics here:

They were close enough that their shoulders sometimes brush each other. But the silence between them stretched like an unbearable distance.

They were so close, Marco could reach out for her hand to hold it.

He didn’t.

(He knew he wouldn’t be able to let it go had he done it)

She never asked him to stay anyway. So Marco left.

(That night Marco dreamt about winning the Champions League with Real Madrid. He won the cup and brought the cup home with him. The home was big and beautiful but it was empty. Marco hated the dream)

(Dream)

Utami said that one of her biggest insecurities in writing is her English. She said that she always finds her grammar is all over the place, especially when it comes to tenses. She also admitted that she felt her vocabulary is really limited, and she often scared whether she’s using the right word with the right context. “But I guess, one of the ways that I can do to improve is by reading even more and just keep on writing,” she said.

At the moment, she is working on two fics for the riordanverse fandom, in which one of them is a Musician!AU. She also mentioned that she has started a Creative Writing challenge last year, and she is considering to continue the challenge this year for the football fics.

We asked her for one tips she would like to share with us, and this is what she gave us.

The best way to improve in writing is just by doing it. It would be much better if you like, really write something, anything, other than just keep on saying that you want to write. Start small. Having 100 words scribbled on a piece of paper is still much better than nothing.

Well people, it has been a great pleasure to know more about Utami. And we hope that you also enjoy it as much as we do!

And as always. Let’s close this with another excerpt from one of her works, that she claimed to be one of the fics that was really dear to her

“So,” James said as they both standing on the pavement. “Well… It was… Nice…” he said, turning his head to look at David.

“Uh. Yeah,” David said, nervously smiled back at James.

His heartbeat started racing like crazy.

Thump thump thump.

He couldn’t do this. He shouldn’t do this. It was barely two weeks ago he had his heart broken. He was not ready for this.

(What was this, anyway?)

( The Color of the Sky)

#football fic writers #football fanfiction #football rpf #football fanfic #thebluesideofmyworld

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