#a vote for swerve is a vote for women

[disformer]

people voting for prowl in the polls like ‘ooh im only voting for the animated version! Fuck IDW prowl!’ Shame on you! You’re going to snatch victory away from poor sweet beloved swerve with a man you need a footnote next to because you’re embarrassed of him. Automatic L.

#i’m mixmaster propaganda team but #this ain’t right #a vote for swerve is a vote for women

[wrestler-smash-or-pass]

Weekly Wrapup 3/10/24

This Week's Rankings:

Utami Hayashishita - 88.9% smash

Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose variant) - 84.6%

Eddie Guerrero - 80.5%

Edge and Beth Phoenix - 75.1%

KENTA - 75.1%

Unholy Union (Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn) - 74.3%

Carmelo Hayes - 71.6%

Bear Boulder - 69.1%

Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson) - 59.9%

Minoru Suzuki (Current Day) - 51.8%

Randy Orton with a mustache - 50.9%

Sami Callihan (CZW Era) - 26.4%

Gangrel - 24.1%

Gorgeous George - 21.4%

Average smash rating this week: 61.0%

More stats under the cut, along with my observations, commentary, and some of my favorite tags...

Most total votes this week (most enthusiasm)

Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose) - 364 votes

Minoru Suzuki - 361

Utami Hayashishita - 343

Edge and Beth Phoenix - 338

Eddie Guerrero - 303

And least total votes this week (least enthusiasm)

Sami Callihan - 178 votes

Gorgeous George - 187

Unholy Union - 206

Bear Boulder - 217

Carmelo Hayes - 222

The closest poll was Randy Orton with a mustache, who won 115-111

Top Ten Overall

Kris Statlander - 91% smash

Athena - 90.2% smash

Hikaru Shida - 89.7% smash

Utami Hayashishita - 88.9% smash

Minoru Suzuki (Young Variant) - 88.7% smash

Swerve Strickland - 88.3% smash

Toni Storm - 88.1% smash

Hiroshi Tanahashi - 87.7% smash

Hangman Adam Page - 86.4% smash

Bianca Belair - 86.4% smash

Bottom Ten Overall

Vince McMahon - 3.9% smash

Ric Flair - 4.6% smash

Kane (Corporate variant) - 10.1% smash

Miracle Violence Connection - 11.8% smash

Gene Munny - 12.4% smash

Spike Trivet - 12.% smash

Kevin Sullivan - 13.1% smash

Triple H (Terra Ryzing variant) - 18.6% smash

Eric Bischoff (NWO) - 20.0% smash

Gorgeous George - 21.4% smash

Top Women Overall

Kris Statlander - 91% smash

Athena - 90.2% smash

Hikaru Shida - 89.7% smash

Utami Hayashishita - 88.9% smash

Toni Storm - 88.1% smash

Bottom Women Overall

Eve Torres - 47.1% smash

Carmella - 47.8% smash

Nikkita Lyons - 48.2% smash

Julia Hart (Cheerleader Variant) - 49.8% smash

Kelly Kelly - 50.3% smash

Top Men Overall

Minoru Suzuki (Young Variant) - 88.7% smash

Swerve Strickland - 88.3% smash

Hiroshi Tanahashi - 87.7% smash

Hangman Adam Page - 86.4% smash

Hikuleo - 86.0% smash

Top Tag Teams

The Golden Lovers - 80.4% smash

Unholy Union - 74.3% smash

Best Friends - 66.7% smash

Motor City Machine Guns - 65.5% smash

Roppongi Vice - 62.7% smash

There were some new additions to the overall lists this week. Utami Hayashishita earned a spot on both the top overall list and the top women's list, and Gorgeous George just barely kicked Charlie Dempsey off the bottom overall list.

We've now had three polls on Jon Moxley, and the ranking is:

Current AEW Mox - 84.8% smash

Dean Ambrose - 84.6%

CZW Mox - 82.3%

Also, people prefer non-mullet Eddie Guerrero (80.5% smash) to Eddie Guerrero with a mullet (77.0% smash), and people prefer Randy Orton sans mustache (62.3% smash) to Randy Orton with mustache (50.9% smash).

Also like...88.7% of you would have done Minoru Suzuki when he was young, but only 51.8% of you would do old Suzuki? To echo the sentiments of a few reblogs, is this not the "sexualize that old man" website?

In actual blog news, the 250th poll was posted today, and we hit 500 followers a couple weeks ago but I forgot until now. Thank you so much to everyone who's followed, submitted poll requests, reblogged, liked, and otherwise interacted with this blog!

And now for some of my favorite tags and comment

@lghockey on Gorgeous George: #what in the revolutionary war is that haircut

@booboo-eyedbambi on Bear Boulder: #i need him to squish me like he's trying to get the last of his toothpaste out of me

@midcarder on Minoru Suzuki: #the only reason to not fuck suzuki is because you're afraid

@regalityandcoffee on Carmelo Hayes: #on one hand hes hot#in the other hand i once had a dream he tried to kill me so- I once had a dream that William Regal put drugs in my suitcase as I was going on vacation with Mox. Wrestlers are rude af in dreams.

#weekly wrap up

[onewomancitadel]

Cannot stop thinking about the idea that women represent sites of cultural anxiety, Whore of Babylon to the 'welfware queen', it's misogyny as a communicative device within society - reassuring in some ways, symbolic othering in others, scapegoating in most. I often think about the utility of misogyny (that is, incentive to be misogynistic) because I don't think its existence is arbitrary, and in this case the idea I'm very specifically interested in is its use as a narrative device. Because in their own ways, these collective archetypes represent projected cultural anxiety, not just because women are responsible for everything, but because the signifier of woman is so significant. It's a related thesis to the role of women's testimony in the Bible (the Mary Magdalene finds Jesus after resurrection) or women's speech in ancient Near Eastern texts (Epic of Gilgamesh) and even the Homeric, in that because of the absence of women's speech within society, it is significant when they speak (and potentially carries magical qualities).

I was thinking about this for a few reasons - the role of women in storytelling generally, an emergent curiosity about feminine archetypes in fiction - and I suppose what I would call a dissatisfaction with the easy position that mostly when you're talking about female characters, you're talking about the presence, or lack thereof, of misogyny. It feels limiting in its own way I suppose, because then I think that leads to the current problems we've got, which is that writing women is a feminist responsibility, and not a work in the human condition, and in which case the didactic responsibility of that depiction - have you or have you not empowered women? - effectively stymies storytelling abilities at all. It's the natural answer to the idea that the work of storytelling for 4,000 years was specifically to disempower women through depiction, and to be entirely frank I think that gives too much power to narrative. This is actually an extremely common issue encountered in the disciplines of archaeology and anthropology, that is, relying on cultural depictions through mythology to draw conclusions about that extant culture, and in which case I would say is also an ongoing source of contention, so you'll not find a definitive answer from me - I think from the get-go, a 1:1 assumption about how women (and indeed goddesses) are depicted is some sort of representation of an 'ought' model in society is probably wrong, though.

The reason I made this post just now is I was thinking about Grimes, because she just released the music video for So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth, and it made me think about how she takes on the cultural otheredness of her erstwhile romantic companion and billionaire, E/lon M/usk, and how female artists (especially trans and/or Black female artists) represent the cultural decay of celebrity, and the complicated cultural responsibility celebrities are endowed with. Just look at the furore over Taylor Swift's ability to potentially sway the vote in the next USA election, or the failure of her to speak on the I/P conflict (because if she did, this speech would be powerful). She's a site of political discourse, and worry about the emerging picture of the American Democrat voter, who happens to be female (both politically irresponsible for not voting for a third party, or not joining the communist revolution, or caring too much about abortion/trans rights/racial justice, or being one of those feminist harpies responsible for the collapse of civilisation), as it's projected that men are swerving more conversative - which women are also responsible for - including the new topic of straight men's loneliness (read: sexual/romantic loneliness) which women are responsible for and which only women can fix. Woman as site of inevitable decay!

But also that Grimes in this case represents the worst of the feminine artist - makes her own music (this is called into question by gossipmongerers), acts strangely, dares to have children mid-career and therefore compromises her artistic identity - to listen to her music is as bad as supporting her. No, I'm working towards a point here - I think there is something specifically anxiety-inducing about people choosing to consume women's art, who represent those sites of cultural anxiety, because it's considered tantamount to having the same opinions as her - that women's speech is actually dangerous because of this potent cultural symbolism. (I worked in the women's testimony thesis). The same sort of anxiety is not applicable for male artists, not generally speaking (people wouldn't ordinarily harrass you for it, or performatively demonstrate their not listening to it - Chris Brown is still charting by the way), because it simply doesn't carry the same cultural symbolism - men's political beliefs, moral actions, injurious behaviour, etc. is considered distinct from their cultural output. I'm not saying one or the other is worse - or necessarily a discrete phenomenon - women in general are expected to be both conscious creators and conscious consumers. Just look at environmentalism - more women are environmentalists, and there's a perception (I am not citing the survey here but I'd say this is generally true) that eco-friendly products are girly. Women as sites of environmental/cultural anxiety. Birth rates dropping? Thesis evolving.

The reason I think it's interesting that women carry this cultural symbolism - that misogyny here is achieving something within society, in some way, that this type of anxiety comes with a function not arbitrary, or at the very least enjoys useful application if not origin - is effectively also to say that women are models within society. That they are models of beauty, moral sensibility, the general fertility of society, the political growth of society, the decay of society, the power of women as guides in every walk of life - is actually pretty significant, and I don't really see this idea discussed when deconstructing and trying to challenge misogyny. Nowhere am I trying to suppose that misogyny is good - what I am trying to say is that if you feel despair as to why it persists, it's a much more complicated issue as to why it does at all.

I also think that there is generally an exhaustion with misogyny - the discussion of feminism's purpose, its aims, what it can achieve (which seem to be always everything and nothing at the same time) - and within the frame of storytelling, I think that the didactic aim, whilst noble (attempting to empower women?), misses the point. To identify why it doesn't work - that is, to recognise what purpose misogyny served in storytelling before - is necessary to understand how to fix it. So what do you do with that cultural symbolism and weight? What do you use it for? I introduced the celebrity element - is that even a responsibility they ought to have at all? Now, if you were to turn the thesis on its head, that is, what do male characters enjoy in storytelling - is that better or worse?

Better or worse in what sense, one supposes - because the storytelling quality of women, women's speech as magical inducement of delusion, or corruption - is in itself pretty potent, here I'm thinking of Odysseus, it seems to me that if the essence of storytelling is its humanistic quality, then you would hope that all characters would be able to enjoy this range in their own way. You're going to laugh, but I can't help thinking of the fandom belief that in RW/BY, Cinder is responsible for I/ronwood's actions in V7/8 - that his actions are depersoned by attribution to a woman's actions. Isn't that dehumanising in its own way? I'm not saying this is tantamount to violence - what I am saying is that I think it's strange how this idea of moral responsibility or lack thereof goes unchallenged.

But that is the convenience and the utility of women's culpability - because it is lazy, and useful. Sometimes, I fear that the simplest answer to misogyny - transmisogyny, misogynoir - or racism, or ableism, or homophobia, is that it's lazy. Not always, of course, but let's say you have a best friend who sexually assaulted another woman at a party (he touched her without permission), a girl you don't know, do you do the hard thing and cut off that friend, get justice for a stranger, or support the person you know? Too many people spend their time considering these situations in thinkpieces and not looking at the reality around them. This isn't just misogyny - this is Jake deciding it's too hard to stand up to his friend. If you knew Jake, you might decide just to tell him to fuck off - that's your interpersonal decision - but what I am also thinking is that Jake is spineless. This is something a lot of us go through. It's very hard being alive and trying to make the right decisions, and to decide whose testimony to trust, and sometimes I think it does us all a disservice when we only read this through the lense of [MISOGYNY 1+ / -1] and not the world in which that misogyny functions.

More specifically, how it is that storytelling interacts with, and reflects human motivations interests me, but also that it is a deep mysterious pit of the human psyche. When it comes to the question of writing a 'good' female character, the position seems to be - well, before, the bad female character conveyed the figure of women to be oppressed, now she is endowed with the opposite power. I think that this is untrue in both senses. I think that this is limiting, and not interesting, and speaks to the belief that storytelling bears social responsibility, not just is a reflection of those attitudes (of everything), which ends up with characters who are dehumanised anyway. If the empowered female character must represent every woman, bearing that cultural weight of responsibility women are already endowed with, I suspect you've not achieved much.

#stirring the pot

[wrestlingwiththoughts]

Wrestling in 2023

A discussion group that I belong to conducts an annual poll of that year's high and low points of pro wrestling. That poll then gives out awards to recognize those highs and lows. These are the Carny Awards of 2023.

Best Male AEW Wrestler

**WINNER: Swerve Strickland: 48.1%** Bryan Danielson: 37% Orange Cassidy: 11% Jon Moxley: 3.7% "Hangman" Adam Page: 0% Maxwell Jacob Friedman: 0%

It was Swerve's year off of the Texas Deathmatch he had with Hangman at Full Gear, his showing in the Continental Classic, the incredible video of his and AR Fox's attack on Nick Wayne in his garage gym, and burying Keith Lee for refusing to do his job. I personally think Swerve's character is a bit all over the place, swerving from cartoonish villainy to getting cheers from the crowd. Danielson, supposedly in his last full active year in wrestling, made it one to remember with matches against Rush, MJF, Ricky Starks, Kazuchika Okada, Zack Sabre Jr., Eddie Kingston, and many more. Orange Cassidy held up AEW as best as he could with his International title reign, while Moxley remained the steady headliner. 

Best Male WWE Superstar

**WINNER: Gunther: 74.1%** Sami Zayn: 11.1% Seth Freakin Rollins: 7.4% Brock Lesnar: 3.7% Roman Reigns: 3.7% Cody Rhodes: 0%

Gunther runs away with the category this year. He consistently delivers in the ring, and hopefully bigger things are in store for the Intercontinental Champion. Sami Zayn continued to ride the momentum from last year, but he’s receded into the background. Seth Freakin Rollins tries his best with the fake world title belt that is held hostage by Roman Reigns. Brock Lesnar did his thing with Cody earlier in the year. LOL Cody Rhodes.

Best Other Male Wrestler

**WINNER: Will Ospreay: 55.6%** Mistico: 14.8% Rocky Romero: 11.1% Alex Shelley: 7.4% Sanada: 7.4% Krule: 3.7%

Billy Sex Pig takes the category in his last year before he moves over to the AEW category for 2024. Given that he probably has the best match of 2023 in whatever company he worked in (NOAH, Impact, RevPro, 1PW, OTT, NJPW, and AEW), it’s well deserved. Mistico’s and Rocky Romero’s strong showings here reflect CMLL’s very good year. Alex Shelley was a surprisingly good main eventer for Impact, while Sanada tried his best with his buddies in NJPW. I’m glad that the Krule nominator got to vote for Krule. 

Best Female AEW Wrestler

**WINNER: Hikaru Shida: 32.1%** “Timeless” Toni Storm: 25% Julia Hart: 21.4% Kris Statlander: 17.9% Emi Sakura: 3.6%

Hikaru Shida told the voters that anyone else winning the category wouldn’t work for her, brother. Going from the best wrestler in the Outcasts to working with Juice Robinson in NJPW Strong shows to embracing the Timeless Toni gimmick meant that Toni Storm’s 2023 was a land of contrasts. Love it or hate it, you’ll have to accept that Julia Hart is one of the bright spots of AEW’s women’s division along with Kris Statlander, who was the TBS Champion for most of the year. Emi Sakura was denied Queen and London, but she got some votes from this crowd. 

Best Female WWE Superstar

**WINNER: Rhea Ripley: 51.9%** Iyo Sky: 18.5% Tiffany Stratton: 14.8% Becky Lynch: 7.4% Asuka: 3.7% Bianca Belair: 3.7%

People love Mami, as demonstrated by Rhea Ripley’s decisive win in this category. Iyo Sky won the Money in the Bank briefcase, the women’s title, and jumped off of a cage in a trash can this year, but she couldn’t win this category. Tiffany Stratton is the brightest prospect in NXT. Lynch, Asuka, and Belair all did various things in 2023. 

Best Other Female Wrestler

**TIE: Athena and Giulia: 33.3%** Chihiro Hashimoto: 14.8% Tam Nakano: 11.1% Stephanie Vaquer: 7.4% Mercedes Mone: 0%

Putting Athena in this category was meant to reflect the fact that she was stuck unseen on ROH for most of the year except for her PPV matches against Willow Nightingale and Billie Starkz. Nonetheless, she was able to tie Giulia, the brightest star of Stardom. Chihiro Hashimoto continues to toil in relative obscurity in the joshi world, while 2023 was not Tam Time even though she beat Giulia at All-Star Queendom this year. Stephanie Vaquer is picking up titles and attention in CMLL. Mercedes Mone used up her health Flexible Spending Account this year due to injuries. 

Best Tag Team

**TIE: The Astronauts (Fuminori Abe and Takuya Nomura), FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood), Judgment Day (Finn Balor and Damien Priest), and The Gunns (Austin and Colten Gunn): 21.4%** M3K (Susumu Mochizuki and Yasushi Kanda): 10.7% ABC (Chris Bey and Ace Austin): 3.6%

One of the nominations lamented that it hasn’t been a great year for tag team wrestling, and a four-way tie for best tag team is a great indicator for that. The Astronauts are the best tag team in Japan outside of Dragongate, while Judgment Day is probably the best tag team in WWE.. The Gunns and FTR vie for that claim in AEW. M3K held the Twin Gates scene steady for most of 2023 in Dragongate, while ABC proved that the Bullet Club still had some life in them in Impact.

The "Hot Take" Most Overrated Wrestler of the Year

**WINNER: CM Punk: 37.9%** Maxwell Jacob Friedman: 27.6% Skye Blue: 20.7% Jey Uso: 6.9% Roman Reigns: 6.9% Carmelo Hayes: 0%

One Bill Phil’s controversial 2023 ends with the “Hot Take” Carny Award. MJF got the ball and all the rope he could hang himself with in 2023, and that ended disastrously for him (lost the title and now out injured). Skye Blue, for some reason, worked more matches in AEW than any other wrestler except for Orange Cassidy, whose gimmick this year was that all of his title defenses were wearing him down. Jey Uso couldn’t go to Canada for Elimination Chamber because of his DUIs, but he was able to wrestle one of Roman Reigns’s few singles matches in 2023. Carmelo Hayes is fine.

The "Drizzling Shits" Award for Worst On-Screen Performer

**TIE: Wardlow and Saraya: 22.2%** Adam Cole: 18.5% “Timeless” Toni Storm: 14.8% Skye Blue: 11.1% Maxwell Jacob Friedman: 11.1%

Wardlow seems like a shell of himself, and Saraya is one of the worst active wrestlers in a major company in 2023. Adam Cole is annoying during promos and boring in matches. Storm is wrestling to the Timeless Toni gimmick, which means that both her in-ring work and promos are now bad. Skye Blue’s persistent presence is a testament that thirst always wins, while MJF’s ideas and philosophy about what makes good professional wrestling were bad even though he had a great year in the ring.

Most Improved Wrestler

**TIE: The Gunns (Austin and Colten Gunn) and Julia Hart: 27.6%** Dominik Mysterio: 20.7% Shota Umino: 13.8% Yota Tsuji: 10.3% Chris Hero: 0%

The Gunns are now a respectable tag team, while Julia Hart is one of the bright spots in the AEW women’s roster. Dominik Mysterio benefits from WWE’s production team’s ability to make canned heat sound real. Two of the Reiwa Three Musketeers, Shota Umino and Yota Tsuji, impressed voters. Chris Hero came out of retirement to wrestle in 2023, so that’s an improvement over not wrestling in 2022.

The "Jim Ross" Award for Please Retire

**WINNER: Jim Ross: 27.6%** Tommy Dreamer: 20.7% Ric Flair: 20.7% Bully Ray: 13.8% Kevin Kelly: 13.8% Matt Hardy: 3.4%

Jim Ross wins his eponymous category this year, but Ric Flair and Tommy Dreamer aren’t far behind at all. Bully Ray somehow main evented in Impact this year, while Kevin Kelly was the Q-pilled voice of AEW Collision before he was demoted and pushed aside by Tony Schiavone. Matt Hardy is somehow still wrestling in 2023; judging by how Ric Flair, Tommy Dreamer, and Bully Ray are still on the list, one can assume that Hardy will still be here in years to come.

The "Tony Khan Forgets I Exist" Award for Most Underutilized Performer

**WINNER: Konosuke Takeshita: 34.5%** Willow Nightingale: 31% Pac: 17.2% Akira Tozawa: 6.9% Rush: 6.9% AR Fox: 3.4%

The fact that this category is dominated by AEW wrestlers is an indictment on who gets air time on Dynamite, Collision, and Rampage. Remember when Takeshita beat Kenny Omega in a singles match on a PPV? Remember when Nightingale had a great match with Athena? Remember Pac? Tozawa makes the best of his morsels in WWE, while Rush might have learned that the best way is to make no waves at work. AR Fox reportedly got on the company’s bad side over his passport issue prior to All Out, and he’s still in the dog house.

The "King Kong Bundy WrestleMania 2 to 3" Award for Biggest Fall from Grace

**WINNER: CM Punk: 34.5%** Wardlow: 24.1% Maxwell Jacob Friedman: 17.2% ROH: 17.2% Tom Lawlor: 6.9% Drew McIntyre: 0%

CM Punk returned from injury on a show that he was allowed to run, tried to start a feud with MJF, tried to get the Young Bucks to agree to an on-air feud with him, fought Jack Perry backstage at All Out, got fired from AEW, and slunk back to WWE because he had nowhere else to go to make the kind of salary that he wanted. Wardlow cooled off even before his injury, and the reaction to his return from injury has been anemic; using the same job matches that he had at the start of his last run doesn’t help. MJF’s flavor of ice cream turned out to taste like garbage waiting for collection on a summer day. ROH went from hot matches between FTR and the Briscoes to a cold, empty house at Final Battle 2023. Tom Lawlor has had the worst luck with matches in AEW and ROH. Drew McIntyre is fine.

Best Gimmick

**WINNER: Christian Cage: 71.4%** Swerve Strickland: 14.3% “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio: 7.1% Julia Hart, spooky witch: 3.6% CM Punk being insufferable: 3.6% Just 5 Guys: 0%

The Patriarchy is alive and well according to the Carny Award voters. Christian Cage was a consistent highlight for AEW in 2023, above Swerve Strickland, who came on strong with much help from Prince Nana and his dance. Dirty Dom is around, trying to pretend to be sleazy. Julia Hart is the de facto leader of the House of Black. I don’t think CM Punk being insufferable is a gimmick; that might just be how he is. LOL Just 5 Guys.

The "Bray Wyatt Is Sister Abigail" Award for Worst Gimmick

**WINNER: The Devil: 38.5%** “Timeless” Toni Storm: 23.1% The Brochachos: 19.2% Danhausen in general, specifically on X formerly known as Twitter: 7.7% The Acclaimed: 3.8% Skye Blue is now Spooky Skye Black: 3.8% “Neck Strong” Roderick Strong: 3.8%

MJF’s vision for professional wrestling dominated this category, with a combined 65.3% between The Devil, the Brochachos, “Neck Strong” Roderick Strong, and the Acclaimed, who were adjacent to MJF’s vision and still awful on their own. 60-years old Billy Gunn is the hardest pushed aspect of the Acclaimed, and the team’s gimmick needs to evolve. Evolving can go wrong, however, as seen in “Timeless” Toni Storm and spooky Skye Blue. Danhausen is an annoying presence in general, but he’s especially bad on X.

Geek of the Year

**WINNER: Kaito Kiyomiya: 51.7%** Lexis King: 24.1% Adam Cole: 13.8% Danhausen: 6.9% Akira Tozawa: 3.4% JD McDonaugh: 0%

Poor Kaito Kiyomiya. Sacrificed to Keiji Mutoh’s vanity and unloved in NOAH, he might be better off jumping to Dragongate or AJPW permanently. Lexis King declared that he would be different than his father by ripping off another of his father’s gimmicks, and his aesthetic choices are definitely choices one could make. Danhausen is a geek, and Tozawa is treated as a geek because he’s Asian and in WWE. Even the nominator for JD McDonaugh found him unworthy of a vote in this category, which might make him the biggest geek of all.

The "Jim Johnston" Award for Best Music

**WINNER: Swerve Strickland, “Big Pressure,” by Swerve Strickland featuring Flash Garments: 42.9%** The Gunns, “Many Men,” by 50 Cent: 14.3% Julia Hart, “Harder Hart”: 14.3% Shinsuke Nakamura, “The Rising Sun,” by CFO$: 10.7% TMDK, “Young Punks,” by Mass Lines: 10.7% Jamie Hayter, “Indignation”: 7.1%

I’d assume that voters did the Prince Nana dance while they voted for Swerve’s theme music. “Many Men” should be the Gunns’ permanent entrance theme. Julia Hart’s theme fits her well, while Nakamura’s theme remains bombastic. TMDK’s theme also fits them, and we all wish it will be Hayter Time soon.

Promotion of the Year

**TIE: WWE and CMLL: 25.9%** AEW: 18.5% AJPW: 11.1% World Wonder Ring Stardom: 11.1% NJPW: 7.4%

CMLL rightfully wins the promotion of the year category; what else can you say about a company that fills Arena Mexico every Friday and is doing well in Puebla and Guadalajara. WWE managed to tie this year based on a slightly improved product after officially installing Paul Levesque into the booker’s seat. AEW had some of the best shows of the year, but other issues knocked it to third. AJPW had a rebound year in 2023. Stardom was plagued by injuries, but it’s still going strong. NJPW has seen better days. 

Best Event

**WINNER: AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door 2023: 37%** AEW All In 2023: 22.2% CMLL 90th Anniversary Show: 18.5% WWE SummerSlam: 11.1% AEW Wrestle Dream 2023: 7.4% AEW Revolution 2023: 3.7%

Even though AEW and NJPW felt like they had down years, their collaboration bore fruit in Forbidden Door 2023, highlighted by the Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay, and CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima matches. All In 2023 at Wembley placed second despite its whimpering ending that involved Adam Cole and MJF. The CMLL 90th Anniversary Show peaked higher with the Volador Jr. vs. Angel de Oro hair vs. hair match and the Templario vs. Dragon Rojo Jr. mask vs. mask match, but I personally would have picked the Night of Champions show from September 29. Reigns vs. Uso headlined SummerSlam. Wrestle Dream gave us Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Danielson, and Revolution gave us MJF vs. Danielson and Moxley vs. Hangman in a Texas Deathmatch.

The "WWE Promotes Murderous Dictatorships" Award for Angle That Made You Ashamed To Be A Wrestling Fan

**WINNER: Somehow, Vince McMahon returned.: 42.9%** Ric Flair joins AEW: 21.4% Adam Cole and MJF’s Brochachos storyline, including the Roderick Strong parts: 14.3% NJPW Strong books Fred Rosser to kiss Toni Storm without her consent during his match against Juice Robinson: 10.7% CM Punk gets himself fired from AEW and signs with WWE: 7.1% Juice Robinson threatens to use a roll of quarters against MJF: 3.6%

Though Vince McMahon had retired in disgrace from WWE, he held controlling shares of the stock, so it wasn’t shocking when he pressed this leverage to install some cronies to the board and return to power. Tony Khan insists that AEW is getting paid to use Ric Flair, but just because you’re getting paid doesn’t mean that you have to do the thing. Remember when MJF and Adam Cole went to Outback Steakhouse and carried an inflatable crocodile around to prepare for their match against Aussie Open? NJPW Strong thought that having a gay Black man kiss a white woman against her will to distract her husband during the men’s match was a good idea. CM Punk did it again in 2023. MJF also thought it was a good idea to tap into rise in antisemitism in the US with his angle. 

Gif of the Year

**WINNER: Hikaru Shida: “That doesn’t work for me, brother.”: 51.7%** Christian Cage: “Go fuck yourself.” 27.6% Prince Nana’s dance: 13.8% The lads on the Briscoes’ chicken farm: 3.4% Jon Moxley on commentary: 3.4% CM Punk on why he’s back in WWE: 0%

Once again, Shida Hogan told the booker that she’s not doing the job. Christian Cage’s anti-dead dad gimmick became something more when he became the father that everyone deserves. Prince Nana’s dance is delightful. The sight of Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh, Sonjay Dutt, Jeff Jarrett, Mark Briscoe, and a baby working on the Briscoes’ farm was wholesome. Moxley earned many fines on commentary. Nobody cares about why Punk is back in WWE.

"What a Maneuver!" Award for Coolest Move/Dive

**WINNER: El Hijo del Vikingo’s 630 senton: 25%** Mascara Dorada’s cutter over the barricade: 17.9% Neon’s triple jump moonsault: 14.3% Brody King’s Cradle Shock: 14.3% Logan Paul and Ricochet collide in mid-air: 14.3% Mirai Maiumi’s lariat: 10.7% The Creeds’ Cannonball Dive: 3.6%

The best flips are in the world of lucha libre, but it’s cool to see a nice lariat like Mirai Maiumi’s. Brody King’s Cradle Shock looks great, and it’s still fun to see big guys like the Creeds fly.

The "I'm Marking Out, Bro" Legit Shook Moment of the Year

**WINNER: Bryan Danielson comes out to “The Final Countdown” at Forbidden Door 2023: 31%** CM Punk is back in WWE: 27.6% Cody Rhodes loses at WrestleMania, gets hit with a thrown rubber chicken intended for Roman Reigns: 20.7% Shun Skywalker betrays Diamante and causes Diamante to lose his mask: 17.2% Sanada beats Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: 3.4% Jay White’s debut in AEW: 0%

After all this time and all the talk about how expensive it was to license the song, Tony Khan brought out the checkbook for Danielson’s entrance in his match against Okada at Forbidden Door. Punk returned to WWE after burning his AEW bridge. Cody Rhodes couldn’t #FinishTheStory, and insult was added to injury when the rubber chicken landed. The most compelling villain in professional wrestling, Shun Skywalker, stunned fans when he turned on his squadmate Diamante during the Mask Vs. Mask Steel Cage Five Way Survival match at Dragongate Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2023. Sanada was able to finish the story by beating Okada for the top prize in NJPW. People continue to Breed with the Switchblade to this day.

#pro wrestling #wrestling #puroresu #puro #lucha libre #njpw #tna wrestling #will ospreay #tna #impact wrestling #aew #all elite wrestling #dragongate #wwe #nxt #cmll

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Abridged: 1981 - the Body-Swap

The X-Men, those body-swapping mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. We’ve been untangling that history for a while, but sometimes, you really want a more in-depth look. Interested? Then read the (un)Abridged X-Men!

(Uncanny X-Men 151 - 152) - by Chris Claremont and Josef Rubinstein

Emma Frost and her frenemy Ororo Munroe have not been getting along! One fateful evening, as the two quibble away, they mysteriously switch bodies and minds. Talk about your Freaky Friday! What lessons will they learn, walking a mile in one another’s shoes? And will they be able to switch back, or will they stay in each other’s bodies forever? Mutant Monday, coming soon to a cinema near you. Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Angela Bassett and Elliot Page. (PG-13)

For a moment, we’re in a proper period drama: a letter delivers ill tidings!

I love that Kitty’s parents are so self-involved that it took them A WHOLE YEAR to realize that it’s weird that Kitty is the only non-adult attending the Xavier Institute.

I can only assume the mailman interrupted a pool party of some kind? Or a communal shower? I get why Kurt would not swim a lot - all that fur - but did Scott wear that while they were splashing around? Was it a beach volleyball competition where one half got to wear swimsuits and the other half superhero costumes? Most importantly, was Scott’s costume always this tight?

Not that I’m complaining, mind you.

The awful thing is that Kitty’s parents are transferring her to the Massachusetts Academy, not realizing that headmistress Emma Frost is, in fact, a terrible human being. Charles, uncharacteristically, says that changing their minds telepathically is a line he does not cross (any more) and half the viewing audience bursts out in laughter. More importantly, last they saw Emma, she was kind of dead-by-Phoenix, so it might be better there this time? Kitty does a Classic Teenage Stomp-Off and Storm comes to comfort her. Kitty cries that life is unfair (“My parents are only doing this because they’re splitting up”) and Ororo tells her that yes, life is unfair. You just gotta roll with the punches as best you can.

To be fair, bald men are technically all cheek, so it doesn’t matter where you kiss them.

While I enjoy the relationship Kitty has with the other X-Men (Scott gave her a compliment! Logan told her his name!), especially the mother-daughter-bond she shares with Ororo, the whole Piotr-thing always gives me pause. Even if we’re being very generous with age, Kitty is, what? 14 going on 15? And Piotr is… 19? At best? I get why Kitty would have a crush on him: he’s a gentle hunky giant: at fifteen, my teenage ass would have felt the exact same viz-a-viz Colossus’ upper arms. The fact that Piotr reciprocates feels skeevy, though, especially because they’re always treated like star-crossed idiots these days.

Skee-vy.

Ororo drives Kitty to Massachusetts, where her young ward is greeted by someone named Muffy and whisked away for orientation. All seems well. Ororo stands in a parlour, surveying the grounds and considering that they should have fought harder for Kitty. Still, nothing seems too wrong just yet: this Academy just seems very preppy.

Not-at-all-dead Emma takes her cue and jumps out, saying (essentially): “Surprise motherfucker.”

There’s a flash of light, and then...

I’m willing to bet that Emma’s EVIL journal has the following to-do-list: - Steal Storm’s body. - Experiment with her powers. - See how good Storm looks in white. (Leather? Fur?! Both!??) - REWARD: Smoke break.

I wonder if Emma’s plan hinged on being able to body-swap with Storm, or whether any X-Man would have sufficed. Was her original target Xavier? Cyclops? What if one of Kitty’s parents had brought her to Massachusetts, would she have taken Kitty instead?

In a locked cell, Storm wakes up in Emma’s body and is horrified. I wonder why Emma didn’t take any more precautions. Couldn’t the guy who made the freaky friday-gizmo also make a power dampener to nullify not!Emma’s telepathic abilities? Or did Emma count on her victim being so utterly incapacitated by her mind-powers that they’d be driven mad? (This would actually tie in with some of Emma’s later-revealed history: when her powers first emerged, she also got locked away in a padded room because of her madness.)

Emma is not wrong, by the way: Storm can’t get a handle on Emma’s powers. What follows is possibly the sweetest moment in an arc filled with sweet moments:

This arc isn’t drawn by any of the regulars - not Byrne, not Cockrum - but Josef Rubinstein brings his own kind of panache to the pages. I love the way he draws women’s faces: in a story that’s all about women, their faces are actually distinguishable. Kudoz.

Emma, meanwhile, coordinates with Sebastian Shaw to execute the second part of their two-pronged attack on the X-Men. They both laugh evilly in their phones while the mansion is attacked by Sentinels! These androids take out Cyclops and Xavier with some sleeping gas and knock out Nightcrawler, but the rest of the X-Men manage to trounce these robots. Then ‘Storm’ appears! She zaps the rest of the X-Men (and Amanda Sefton), successfully finishing their master-plan.

It’s not entirely clear what the Hellfire Club wants with the X-Men this time, but I’m assuming it’s more experimentation to improve the sentinels? Eh, doesn’t matter! Nefarious Hellfire Club is nefarious.

The real Storm, meanwhile, comes to claim Kitty, forgetting that she looks like the one and only Emma Frost. Kitty spooks and Storm accidentally reaches out, knocking her out telepathically. Whoops! Storm takes Kitty and flees in a car, while Emma gives chase. (How dare Ororo run off with her body, which is absolutely the kind of hypocritical hilariousness we all love Emma for.)

Kitty awakens and jumps from the car, causing Storm to swerve and...

JETSTREAM!? Speaking of which, where are the Hellions in all of this?

Kitty sees that an unconscious ‘Emma’ is about to burn to a tender and moist little crisp and she is faced with the hero’s dilemma: would you save a villain that would never save you?

Emma, meanwhile, has realized the downside to body-swapping: somebody else gets to run around with your body too. Shaw, of all people, talks her down from her anger.

You can’t just introduce a persona exchange gun to the plot WITHOUT EXPLAINING WHERE THE FUCK YOU GOT IT FROM.

My favorite detail is that Emma keeps calling Kitty brat, like she’s some sort of Pokémon-villain.

Kitty, meanwhile, has saved ‘Emma’ and tied her up with a special knot. Storm tries to convince Kitty, going for the “ask me something only Storm would know”, but Kitty’s all: “Duh, you’re a telepath.” Ororo insists, but the thing that clinches it is when she breaks free of her ties without breaking a sweat. That knot was taught to Kitty by Ororo and she’d be the only one who knew how to break out of it.

Storm and Kitty recruit Stevie Hunter to come pick them up and during the ride, Storm-being-angry-mother!Storm convinces Kitty more than anything else:

After all, Storm was voted most likely to say: “If you don’t stop this nonsense immediately, I will turn this Blackbird around, so help me God!”

Ororo and Kitty sneak inside. Ororo even uses Emma’s telepathy to help her pick a lock after phasing through a door. (Kind of funny: Kitty’s still such a neophyte that she can’t even phase with anyone else yet.) Emma, meanwhile, taunts the captured X-Men, presenting herself as the new white queen:

Anybody feel the inclination to point out that the Hellfire Club did this exact same thing last year, except then they tried it with a redhead?

I secretly suspect that the Hellfire Club’s plots always revolve around seducing X-Men to their side and dressing them up in sexy lingerie. (Which: fair.) There’s also a subplot where the guys Wolverine cut apart last year want to exact revenge on him for being made bionic, but eh. We’ll start paying attention to them when they become actual Reavers.

Kitty phases through the locks of the X-Men, freeing them, and a kerfuffle ensues. Emma starts using Storm’s powers, but they grow out of control. Colossus tosses Shaw out of the window - which should just be company policy, really: all Shaws should be defenestrated - where he’s promptly hit by a rogue thunderbolt.

When he doesn’t get up, Emma starts to lose it. The weather goes wild. Storm intervenes, using her telepathic power to help calm down Emma (and the raging storm), but she also manages to get a hold of the swap-gun. There’s a zap, and with a satisfied sigh, the status-quo is restored again.

My favorite implication is that, apparently, Emma decides which school Kitty attends and not her parents.

While this little arc is neither the most iconic nor the most profound of 1981 -- those would be Days of Future Past and I, Magneto, respectively -- I still love this for a couple of reasons.

As a lover of Freaky Friday, 17 Again and the new Jumanji-film, I just have a soft spot for body swap plots. (Hi Psylocke!)

It focuses on the Xavier Institute as a school, planting seeds for the upcoming New Mutants.

It is very female-driven without beating you over the head with it. (Looking at you, Birds of Prey.)

It has three definitive main characters, who all get fleshed out in fun and interesting ways. It starts the trend of robbing Ororo of some of her powers and tossing her into against-the-odds circumstances, only for her to come out on top.

It solidifies the Storm/Kitty mother/daughter (or older/younger sibling) dynamic. Kitty is a believable teenager when it comes to Storm - clever and kind, but also looking for answers and prone to rash decisions - and I love how much they care for each other.

Jean/Storm-friendship-callback, yay!

Emma gets fleshed out as a villain. Resourceful and petty, powerful and vain. It’s no wonder she’s one of the break-out antagonists of the X-Men, because, like Magneto, Claremont is not afraid of giving her depth. Arguably, she is the most three-dimensional of the Hellfire Club at this point.

Yay! And fuck completely sensible plots, if you don’t know what to do with your plot, just introduce a random persona exchange gun. Let’s use it on Xavier and Legion in Way of X next!

#x-men abridged #abridged x-men #x-men #storm #professor x #kitty pryde #uncanny x-men #emma frost #cyclops #nightcrawler #stevie hunter #colossus #sebastian shaw

[rorodawnchorus]

The Devil Judge, Ep.1 Meta

(On the re-imagined justice process, imageries, parallels in South Korea and our world today) 

As with all dystopian fiction, it is not exactly a far-fetched imagining of our world. Instead, it is a critique of our society which seeks to amplify the inequalities and suffering of society through some exaggeration. 

The Devil Judge is that: it "re-imagines" South Korea today with a sprinkle of cyberpunk aesthetics (a little too much bluish green tint) and dystopian imagery (of homeless people, a very dirty subway and dingy backalleys on a rainy night).

I kept thinking it was a dystopian "future" but was wondering why they were using only Samsung Note 20 instead of some Samsung futuristic prototype phone. So, those phones do keep audiences grounded in the reality it is portraying -- this is the alternative South Korea of today. 

We are barely halfway into the first episode and we've got this extremely charismatic, anti-hero male lead strutting red carpets and making verbose declarations like "I am the power. By the judicial authority delegated to me by the people of Korea, I will run this court. And it is the people who hold this power." (Not verbatim but that's the gist). 

Then, meet associate judge Kim Ga-On who seems to be against how the system is running. He seems to be the outlier who rose to his ranks from the bottom class of society (which his colleague Oh Jin-joo says, he looks like he's from the shanty town of Seoul). We start off, barely into the drama at this point, with a dramatic scene of a kindergarten bus ramming down barricades and charging towards the Court building. A group of kindergarten children crossing the road there (I've just no clue what businses kids would have near the court building tbh). A little girl tripping as they were rushed across the road, Ga-On jumping to the rescue, and unable to pick her up in time, shields her with his own body. Kang Yo Han is just there, taking a heavy gun from the guard and unhesitantly opened fire at the bus driver who was flooring the pedal. He misses the driver's head and hits the headrest before firing again. The bus swerves and flips. The driver loses consciousness and Ga On (again!) jumps to the rescue. So, here the tone is set. We've got this "devil judge" who seems to be the ultimate modern day anti-hero who's given immense amount of power. 

Much more interesting is that in this dystopian South Korea, we've got what seems like a publicly elected judiciary (or Kang Yo Han is perhaps the first?) and that has always been something that has been discussed in legal academic. Not the idea of electing the judiciary but that the argument of the judiciary not being publicly elected can be seen as slightly out of tune with democracy. (In legal academic, however, this is theoretically seen as being balanced by the separation of powers; ie. the executive branch (=government) and elected members of Parliament/Congress are supposed to be fully separated from the judiciary and should therefore never interfere with the judiciary. But, of course, these are all theoretical stuff. They look good on paper and when discussed in legal essays but in reality, it can often be different (if not, the exact opposite). This series takes things to yet another level by imagining the inception of a publicly televised and publicly voted trial. 

This goes against the nature of trials in general because in our world today, the judiciary (wherever it may be) typically have mechanisms (ie. laws and codes) to prevent manipulation by media. The principle of fair trial requires that no external influence affects the process of adjudication (ie. the judgement by judges). There also tends to be avoidance of trial by public opinion because the way the law is interpreted and applied can be rather technical and different from what people may say or think about a certain trials, the decision delivered and also sentencing. Trial by jury is the nearest it gets but that too can be a fairly technical process which do also include considerations like avoiding a two-day trial to prevent influence by the media or other agents on a jury member's decision. (A recent drama mentioning this is Law School). The thing about this idea of trial by the public is that standards of morality can be very subjective and varies from person to person. Judgement by judges are not entirely free from the influence of morality, but the process is a litle more stable through the processes of interpretative practices, case precedents and legal theories. Previously in another Kdrama, Miss Hammurabi (2018), Judge Lim Ba-reun became slightly frustrated by his friend's comment that having a jury trial is like "true democracy" because the "people gets to decide" and he even thinks the judiciary should be elected too. Lim Ba-reun sarcastically said he must have loved every elected politican since they were elected by the public. He tells him grimly that no jury has ever found a policeman who had beaten up a Black man to be guilty. He also pointed out that Nazi, the Holocaust and Hitler were all supported by the public. 

In this series, the premise allows all of these imaginings to be realised and played out. It is peak criticism, I think, when they portray the scenes of the TV producer being excited about the real-time ratings and viewer ratings. And also the scene of the broadcasting channel's chairman dancing in joy when he received realtime report of the ratings (vowing to treat his equally wealthy friends to a meal). Even when his other friend seemed appalled by the decision delivered by Judge Kang, the Chairman could not hide his joy in the skyrocketing viewership ratings. This really reminded me of the entire Produce 101 franchise which also heralded the shows for putting the decision in "The Nation's Producers" (ie. voters) and emphasised how it is the Nation Producers who put together ("produce") the National Kpop group that is bound for success and set to receive national love. All of this illusion collapsed (and the Korean franchise died along with it) when the court finds its producers guilty of voting manipulation. The Devil Judge seemed to have a similarly dramatic flair in its emphasis of TV production gimmicks, camera angles, cuts of a person's reaction, etc. The President of South Korea (who has a very light voice, a penchant for orotund speeches and a lack of concern for national policies) and all these top 1% of people tuned in were on the edge of their seats watching Judge Kang orchestrate this theatre of public trial. Kim Ga-On watched him closely and was sure that Judge Kang had something up his sleeves and was definitely up to no good, yet he couldn't tell. When he finally delivers a verdict (that yes, this was a case of professional negligence and not negligent homicide), Ga-On was crestfallen and frustrated because it carries a mere 5 year imprisonment maximum. But Kang turns the table and brings up the newly passed legislation which allows accumulative sentence which then resulted in 235 years of imprisonment. 

This sounded very much like how some Korean netizens had previously wondered (online) why Korea couldn't have a sentencing system like the US where the years of imprisonment can go up to 100 years or 500 years. Again, this was like realising an alternative South Korea that many have perhaps tried imagining. Episode 1 ends with Judge Kang stepping down from his high seat when a victim's family member bowed deeply with her hands clasped, as though in prayer, and even kneeled to him. This corresponded well and tied perfectly into the religious/godlike imagery represented in the justice's robes which is reminiscent of the pope's robes and resembles a priest's robe, and the app they named DIKE or Diety of Justice (正義의 神). When Judge Kang hugs the old woman with a compassionate smile, teary eyed and full of empathy, he ends up yawning barely a minute into consoling the weeping woman. Ga-On witnesses this and realises, all of this must have been a gimmick after all. He had his hopes up when Judge Kang serves the sentence of 235 years. The episode ends. 

I think this series is set to be a great one. (Just as Law School was amazing too!) It has tons of stuff to unpack, lots that goes into the cinematography and camerawork. While characters do seem a little more like caricatures rather than realistic people that are properly fleshed out in the narrative, there is still promise to push beyond these caricatures. I think there is also a lot in the imagery of dystopia and the constant bombardment of messages from the government (which is often the mainstay of dystopian fiction) which emphasises a certain narrative which they want the people to believe. For example, Kim Ga-On is travelling up the escalator when there were ads of the DIKE app, ads on electronic billboards on the justice system, paper posters plastered in the dark backalley where a high school girl is being dragged away by two men saying "The government will now create a safe South Korea". That last one is perhaps the most glaring one to me because when I was in Korea, it was repeated to me by different Korean individuals: "Your things are safe. No Korean will steal it. (Not sure about foreigners though!) You are safe. Crimes don't happen. I checked and there are no sexual offenders living in this neighbourhood." But... spycams can be anywhere. Men secretly follow women to their homes and try to break into them. Sexual harassment can happen anywhere. Robbery and theft can happen.

Personally, my paranoia and anxiety won't ever let me believe such words. No narrative, self-made or otherwise, can convince me enough to think that I am in a safe place. I would always have a nagging thought at the back of my mind telling me danger can be lurking just about anywhere. I think Koreans today do have high levels of confidence in their country. Most people do think it is safe to be walking around in the dead of night without any worry. (Again, I do not quite share the sentiment.) But this is a kind of self-made narrative because I also know my countrymen who travel to other countries like the UK and say "I feel absolutely safe walking the streets in the dead of night while I won't feel the same in my own country" when those are simply ideas they've planted into themselves through the mindset that [This country is better than my country and therefore safer.] There is absolutely no correlation between a "better" country and crime rates (or potential of becoming a victim of crime). Not to mention, being an Asian in a Western country sets you up as a likelier victim of hate crime... 

So, I was saying.... This narrative of "safe Korea" is already existing in South Korea today. The need for mass surveillance or a spycam detecting task force in public toilets don't add up with a "safe country" image but the sentiment planted into the people seems to be strong despite all of this. However, Koreans do call South Korea "Hell Joseon". Youth unemployment can be a concern is a country like South Korea and a graying population, increasinly empty gray towns like the one mentioned in the series are all concerns which are ever-present in the public conscious. The mention of plauge and unemployment too must be a major concern now. In a rather similar vein, this narrative of DIKE or trial by the public through app voting creates a sentiment that people can take into their own hands and deliver justice. But what about the people at the margins of society who are homeless and do not own smartphones? What is this concept of democracy that places power in the hands of people? Is it a mere illusion or is power really in the hands of people?

..................................................................................................

(A side note on how the indicted chairman of the company responsible for mass poisoning of an entire town had brushed off concerns about a failing filtration system and the move of industrial plants to Southeast Asia. As a Southeast Asian, it is also something on my mind how South Korea has moved out of China and moved most of its plants to Southeast Asia for cheap labour. But what about the pollution here, the appallingly low wages they pay Southeast Asians (both white and blue collars!) in comparison to the few Korean expat managerial staff or engineers they station out here? I remember how I was at the hospital at 2 am and a small group of blue collar workers in their work uniform came in with their injured colleague; this can only mean they were at work past midnight due to some accident and we are still in the midst of the pandemic. What kinds of welfare and benefits are these blue collars provided with?)

#The Devil Judge #Park Jinyoung #Jisung #악마판사

[simsadventures]

4K Celebration | Choices

As you might know, I have reached the crazy milestone of 4 000 followers a few days ago. Whaaaat!!!

I was thinking of a way to celebrate it, but because my 3K Challenge is still going on, I thought a writing challenge could wait till the next milestone (hopefully). And so, I’ve decided to let you guys decide which of my ideas will be transformed into full-blown series next. 

I have about 7 ideas, but I’ve cut them to three so that the picking is easier. I can’t promise that the story will go exactly as the premise will state, but I won’t swerve too much, I swear. 

How does this work and when can you expect the fic to come out?

I mean, you don’t have to follow me, but it would make more sense if you did sos that you could eventually read what I posted :) but, your choice

all you have to do is pick one story that you like the most out of the options posted below

you have to send me an ask or comment under this post, to let me know of your choice

you can also send anonymous asks if you’re not comfortable reaching out as yourselves for whatever reason :)

the winner will be announced on 1st of July 2020, which gives you all about 2 whole weeks to vote

the story will then be posted around late August/ early September so that I can finish some of my series first

the names and characters are not set in stone, but it is very unlikely that I would change the main character in any of these fics

I know it’s not a usual celebration, but I couldn’t decide which one of my ideas to write next and I thought it would be a good way to connect with my followers :) 

The options are below the cut, hopefully at least one of them will be intriguing enough for you guys!! Love you and once again, thank you for following me :) xx

Gilded (Mob! Steve x Reader)

Premise: You are an ordinary girl, living her ordinary life. That is until a prolific mobster, Steve Rogers approaches you and promises you the life of wealth you have always dreamt off. Everything has its own price, however, and, according to Steve, all you have to do is to marry him and stay married to him for a year. A win-win situation for all: Steve gets a wife to parade everywhere while still being the playboy that he is, and you get a fresh start and money for your bright future. It sounds easy, right?

Warnings: angst, arranged marriage, mobster and mafia AU, shaming, Steve is an asshole here, violence, foul language, smut might happen as well, who knows?

Cold Hearts (Alpha! Werewolf Bucky x Omega werewolf Reader)

Premise: Bucky is the Alpha of one of the greatest territories in the North, known for never settling down. When the two fo you meet, however, he pays your father a fortune to have you, only to lock you in his cabin, letting you know that while you can very well be his true mate, it doesn’t mean a thing to him. But you are a resilient creature, and something you’ve learnt in your difficult life is to never give up, and soon enough, Bucky sees that keeping you locked inside might not be the best idea. Still, he tries to keep you locked from his heart. But you have a lot to say about this as well. 

Warnings: a/b/o dynamics, werewolf AU, angst, true mates/soulmates, some fluff, future smut and knotting and all that fun

Bloody Tower (Vampire Bucky x Human Reader)

Premise: Vampires and werewolves are creatures well-known to all humans in your world. You try to stay away form them, but this strategy turns out to be fruitless, when you are dragged into the most dangerous castle in the whole world: The Bloody Tower, ruled by James Barnes. It is said they keep women there to breed them and to create their own immortal children, and it is safe to say, you are not ready for any of that. However, Bucky finds a strange liking in you, feeling something for the first time since he turned into a monster. And the journey of learning and loving can begin. 

Warnings: vampires and werewolves, darker AU, violence, blood, breeding kink, Stockholm Syndrome (probably), prison-like castle, smut, fluff, angst,... 

Sooo, hopefully there is at least one story that caught your eye and you’ll help me decide what to write next! x

Tagging people who might want to join in on the decision, or at least spread the news :) (sorry if I’m bothering you!): @waiting4inspiration​ @kneel-begyourpardon​ @p8tn0lish​ @imanuglywombat​ @jtargaryen18​ @what-just-happened-bro​ @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​ @coffeebooksandfandom​ @stargazingfangirl18​ @donnaintx​ @geekandbooknerd​ @maggiescarborough​ @voltage-my2dlove​ @angel-of-blue​ @ssworldofsw​ @xxloki81xx​ @jennmurawski13​ @what-is-your-plan-today​ @charmed-asylum​ @marvel-love19​ @americasass81​ @just-the-hiddles​ @deanwanddamons​ @pagesoflauren​ @mushyjellybeans​ @mummybear​ @sebbbystaaan​ 

But seriously, please help me decide, because I’m a horrible decision-maker! Love you all to the moon and back!!

#4k celebration #4k followers #new fic #new fic alert #help me decide #vampire!bucky #vampire/werewolf au #werewolf bucky #mobster steve #something new #steve rogers fanfiction #bucky barnes fanfiction #help a friend out #vote

[sstthings]

President John Tyler - by Dr. Lyon Gardiner Tyler

My granddaddy, John Tyler, was President of the US way back in 1841-45.  He was born in 1790, 228 years ago.  My Aunt Pearl died in 1947 at a ripe old age and whose grandfather was John Tyler, Sr., the president’s father, who was born in 1747. This marvel, that 3 generations could span 200 years, was written up in Ripley’s Believe It or Not.  My “little 89 year old brother” and I are already at the 228 year old mark.

 I heard too much about presidents growing up. A few years ago I met a lady who told me that she had come to our house in Virginia when I was probably 3 or 4 years old and I met her at the front door.  She said that she had asked me, “Are you going to be President when you grow up?” and I said, “I’ll bite yo head off.”  She said she said “And what will you do with the bones?” and I replied, “I’ll pit ‘em out!”  In college, a buddy of mine brought me down to earth by saying, “Tyler, the best part of your family is underground.”  I had to agree.

 John Tyler was President of the United States from 1841-45.   He agreed with the principles of the Jeffersonian tradition of limited federal government, strict construction of the Constitution and fiscal frugality. He opposed the American System of Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams, which advocated federal building of roads and canals, a Bank of the United States, controlled by private interests, and a high tariff on imported goods. Tyler believed in the so-called “manifest destiny” of the United States to expand across the continent and to help. the blessings of freedom__  and democracy around the world.

 John Tyler’s father, also named John, was Thomas Jefferson’s roommate at the College of William and Mary.  Jefferson and John Tyler, Sr. shared the same political views, played their fiddles together in college and remained life-long friends.  John Tyler, Sr. was speaker of the House of Burgesses, and he and Patrick Henry organized a militia company just prior to the American Revolution.  John, Sr., served in the Virginia legislature, where he made the motion that eventually led to the United States Constitutional Convention.  He also served successively as Judge of the Admiralty Court, the General Court and the Supreme Court of Appeals, as well as on the U.S. District Court at President Jefferson’s urging.  He also was Governor of Virginia.  He had 8 children.  After his wife died, when the future President was just seven years old, the father took care of all of them, besides serving as surrogate father for 15 or 20 foster children. A busy man! 

John Tyler entered the College of William and Mary at age 13 and graduated soon after his 17th birthday.  He gave the Valedictory address, remarkably, about the importance of women’s rights – especially in the field of education. 

Before I attempt to discuss Tyler’s presidency, let me say a few words about his previous career and some things that can show us the kind of man he was:John Tyler was a state legislator in his early 20’s. Then he was a congressman, Governor of Virginia and US Senator.  As a senator he was a loyal Democrat, but was disturbed by some of President Andrew Jackson’s over-reactions, similar to his earlier unauthorized invasion of Spanish Florida and his later reaction to the South Carolina attempt to nullify the Federal tariff when Jackson threatened to hang John C. Calhoun, his Vice President.  

Both Jackson and Tyler opposed the recharter of the Bank of the United States, a privately owned bank which kept the government’s funds, but Tyler thought Jackson had gone too far when he removed the government’s money from the bank before its charter expired and put it in state banks which had supported him, hence known as Jackson’s “pet banks.” 

Tyler in his campaign for the U.S. Senate had stated that as a Senator he would obey the instructions that might be given him by the state legislature.  But he would soon face a dilemma concerning that promise.  The US Senate had adopted a resolution to censure Jackson for removing the funds from the Bank.  Then the Virginia legislature instructed Tyler to support a measure that would rescind the censure, which he felt was wrong because Jackson had broken the law.  At the same time Tyler could not go back on his campaign promise to obey the state legislature.  So he resigned and made this statement:By the surrender of the high station to which I was called by the people of Virginia, I shall teach them to regard as nothing place or office, when either is to be obtained or held at the sacrifice of honor.President John F. Kennedy included John Tyler in his Profiles of Courage for this incident.

It was always his children who were his primary concern.  In his letters to his many sons and daughters the need for honesty is a regular refrain.  Hear, for example, this from a letter to his son, John, Jr., back in 1832:

Truth should always be uttered no matter what the consequences.  Nothing so degrades a man as equivocation and deceit.  When I am in company with a double-dealing man – one who has one language on his tongue and another in his heart—I am involuntarily made to avoid him as I would a poisonous reptile.  Trust such a person with not even the slightest circumstance on earth; for he will deceive you, if it be to his interest to do so.  Learn then, my son, to speak the truth always.  By doing so in trifling matters, it will grow into a habit from which you will not afterwards separate yourself.

In the words of a toast once offered to Tyler, he was a man “too firm to be driven from his principles—too upright to be swerved by the laws of ambition or power.”  Indeed he was known as “Honest John.”

In 1840, the Whigs chose as their candidate William Henry Harrison, former Governor of the Indiana Territory, and victor over the Indians in the Battle of Tippecanoe and then the British in Canada in the War of 1812.  For the Vice Presidential spot Henry Clay and the Whig Party settled on John Tyler of Virginia, hoping he could attract disgruntled Democrats.

It’s interesting that the future President Harrison and Vice President Tyler in this election grew up in the same small Virginia County just ten miles apart.  Actually through Tyler’s mother they were kin.  Through my mother’s side I am not descended from President Harrison, but I am from his father, Benjamin Harrison, Governor of Virginia and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

The Whig campaign of 1840 was the first modern campaign with all the trimmings: buttons and banners, songs and slogans.  The Whig slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too,” really meant, “We’ll give you Harrison, a war hero.  He’s for a strong national government, roads and canals, a national bank, and a high tariff, but if you don’t like that; we’ll give you Tyler. He’s for states’ rights and against all that other stuff.

The Whigs won easily and Harrison became president, but Harrison had already given away the store.  He had agreed to be a one-term president and to have just one vote in the Cabinet which was to be hand-picked by Henry Clay, but Harrison died of pneumonia a month after the election.  Nobody, including John Tyler, expected that he’d become president. The Whigs in Congress were shocked.  They refused to recognize Tyler as the real president, since this was the first time a president had died in office. 

But Tyler believed that according to the Constitution he was the President and he was determined to be President.  He would make the decisions.  He would not promise to let Henry Clay run the show.  As a matter of fact when Henry Clay showed up to tell the Accidental President whom to appoint and how to conduct his office, Tyler thundered, “You go, Mr. Clay, to your end of the Avenue where stands the Capitol and there do your duty as you see fit and, so help me God, I will do mine at this end of the Avenue as I see fit.”  From then on Clay had the votes but Tyler had the vetoes. 

Tyler’s first act as President was to proclaim a National Day of Fasting and Prayer, to mourn the death of President Harrison, in which he stated, “When a Christian people feel themselves to be overtaken by a great public calamity, it becomes them to humble themselves under the dispensation of Divine Providence, to recognize His righteous government over the children of men… and to supplicate His merciful protection for the future.”

If Tyler had gone along with Clay and the Whig majority in Congress he could have had an easy road and many would have deemed his presidency successful.  But he refused to take the easy road.  He vetoed the bill to re-charter the Bank of the United States and the Whigs read him out of the Party.  The veto caused his Cabinet to resign, except for Daniel Webster, his Secretary of State.  Instead Tyler proposed a banking system with a Board in Washington and branches in various parts of the country, a system almost identical to the Federal Reserve System which was subsequently adopted in 1913.

Tyler was unable to do much of anything in the domestic area, but his administration is being increasingly recognized for his accomplishments in foreign affairs, including the settlement of the boundary line between the United States and Canada over half way across the continent. Tyler invoked the Monroe Doctrine to prevent the British and French from taking over the Hawaiian Islands.  He sent the first American mission to China, which resulted in a treaty in 1844, opening for the first time the profitable trade between the two countries and granting American citizens in China extraterritoriality, the right to be governed by their own laws and not those of China.   Tyler pushed through the annexation of Texas at very end of his administration by the novel use of a joint resolution by both houses of Congress.

Tyler’s first major biographer called him a Champion of the Old South – but I believe that is “incorrect.”  Tyler had troubling doubts about slavery and never saw it as a positive good, though he was a slave owner.   In 1832 he had introduced a bill to end the slave trade in the District of Columbia.  He was also president of the Virginia Colonization Society, which aimed to resettle freed slaves in Liberia.

Tyler’s administration was hog-tied but its social life excelled.  His first wife Letitia Christian, a beautiful Christian woman, was an invalid when Tyler became president and died during his second year in office.  His daughter-in-law, Priscilla Cooper Tyler, then served as White House hostess, with the help of former first lady, Dolly Madison. 

Tyler’s second wife was Julia Gardiner, my grandmother, a 24 year old debutante and beauty from Long Island, New York, who married the President when he was 54.  Tyler was completely captivated by her vivacity, good humor, poise and stamina.  When someone asked him if he wasn’t too old for her, he replied, “Well, I’m in my prime.”  The reply was “When she’s in her prime, where will your prime be?”  But John Tyler kept his into his seventies, later siring seven more children by her.

There was tragedy in their love affair, however.  The navy had a new ship, the “Princeton, which was equipped with a huge new cannon dubbed the “Peace Maker.”  The President, his cabinet, and all the important people in Washington were invited to a cruise down the Potomac.  The cannon was fired when they passed Mount Vernon and everyone retired below for food and music.  On the return trip someone suggested they fire the cannon again.  Most of the people went up on deck but the President and Miss Gardiner stayed to hear one more song.  The cannon was fired and it exploded killing the Secretary of State Abel P. Upshire, the Secretary of the Navy Thomas Gilmer, and others, including Miss Gardiner’s father.  She fainted at the tragic news and President Tyler carried her down the gangway and sent her to the White House.  Soon afterwards they eloped to New York City and were married there. 

Tyler’s new young bride, Julia Gardiner Tyler, was a great political asset.  The Whigs called Tyler “a man without a party,” but most everyone in Washington turned out for Julia’s parties.  Julia had made the grand tour of Europe and had been presented at royal courts.  She had been the first woman ever to be featured in a newspaper ad.  She was called the Rose of Long Island.

After John Tyler retired, the couple went back to Virginia to the place he had purchased during his term in office. For a time he was very unpopular but he harbored no bitterness and he eventually regained the respect and admiration of the people of his state.  Since he had incurred the displeasure of both parties and since he was accused of being an outlaw like Robin Hood, he renamed his plantation “Sherwood Forrest.” Julia made the plantation the social center of Charles City County.  She decorated and they enlarged the dwelling until at 100 yards in length, it became the longest frame house in America.  John and Julia had seven children to go with the eight that he had produced in his first marriage.  The ex-president loved children.  He never tired of them, took them hunting, fishing, riding and boating.  On summer evenings, he would play the fiddle and sing with the black and white children.

He ran the farm himself.  There were no whips, lashes, or brutal overseers.  He saw that the slaves were adequately fed, clothed and honored.  He would not sell any or break up families. 

My great, great grandfather on my mother’s side was Edmund Ruffin, known as the “Father of scientific agriculture in America.”  He was the same age as the ex-president but two more generations back from me.  He had opposed Tyler, but he came to visit and was captivated by him.  Ruffin would give up farming and research for politics.  He was to be one of the fire-eaters who stirred up the South to Secession and he hated Yankees.  He would wrap himself in a Confederate flag and commit suicide after the South lost the war and leave these last words in his diary, “Would that I could bequeath these words to every Southerner living or yet to be born, to have no traffic with Yankees nor any political, social or business dealings with the vile, perfidious and malignant Yankee race.”

Nevertheless, Ruffin could recognize virtue even though he could not seem to exercise it.  In spite of all the ex-President’s enemies, Ruffin had hardly heard an unkind or hostile remark from Tyler and he would confide to his diary after the ex-President’s death in 1862 these thoughts: “How difficult and how much worse would I have acted in this their situation.  I should have returned these undeserved manifestations of hostility, and of ingratitude, with scorn, contempt and hatred.  I would have so increased and kept alive and increasing, the hostile feelings of all other persons to me - and I should have become a miserable misanthrope, living and dying without a friend.  But more wiser and more politic was John Tyler.” Ruffin would even say that John Tyler completely exemplified the description of love as found in St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.

After Henry Clay died, Tyler spoke at his memorial service.  Tyler admitted that “We gave each other a few bruises, but he was a great man.”  He noted Clay’s many accomplishments including his work in effecting the Compromises of 1820 and 1850, which helped to keep the nation together for a considerable time.

When the Deep South states seceded Tyler pleaded with the Virginia legislature to call a meeting of the Border States to try and form a bridge between the two sections.  But the state delayed and invited all the states to what was called the “Peace Convention” which sought to find a way to restore the Union and prevent a war.  John Tyler addressed the assembly in this manner:” Our godlike fathers created; we have to preserve; they built up.  You have a new task equally grand, you have to preserve the Government and to renew and invigorate the Constitution.  If you reach the height of this great occasion, your children’s children will rise up and call you blessed.”

But it was too late.  On the same date the convention met at the Willard Hotel in Washington, the seven Deep South states met in Montgomery, Alabama, to establish the Confederate States of America.  President elect Abraham Lincoln soon after arrived in the Capitol City in disguise for fear of assassination and told Tyler that it was too late to reconcile the sections, that the die was already cast.

When Virginia seceded Tyler saw no other course than to stick with his state.  Elected to the Confederate Congress, he died suddenly before he could take his seat in 1862.

The unknown President could be an example to us all.  We might ponder these observations from people who knew him:

“An honest, affectionate, benevolent, loving man, who had fought the battles of his life bravely and truly, doing his whole great duty without fear, though not without much unjust reproach.” (Henry A. Wise)

“A career which for rapidity in achievement, consistency of conduct, and exalted moral character, finds few equals, and no superior in the annals of American history.”  (George L. Christian)

On the grave marker of his horse “General,” John Tyler wrote these words:  “He never stumbled.  Would that his master could say the same.”  John Tyler was not perfect, but he came close.

#john tyler #lyon gardiner tyler

[wrestler-smash-or-pass]

Weekly Wrapup 3/3/24 (late!)

This Week's Rankings:

Hangman Adam Page (Mustache) - 70.7% smash

Drilla Moloney - 70.7%

Kagetsu - 66.7%

Randy Orton - 62.3%

Alex Coughlin - 61.3%

Amir Jordan - 60.2%

Shane Haste - 59.0%

Rocky Romero - 58.4%

Tetsuya Naito - 54.1%

Tony Nese - 51.4%

Al Snow - 47.3%

Eve Torres - 47.1%

Julius Creed - 27.9%

Kevin Sullivan - 13.1%

Average smash rating this week: 53.6%

More stats under the cut, along with my observations, commentary, and some of my favorite tags...

Most total votes this week (most enthusiasm)

Hangman Adam Page - 529 votes

Alex Coughlin - 279

Drilla Moloney - 246

Rocky Romero - 245

Randy Orton - 236

And least total votes this week (least enthusiasm)

Kevin Sullivan - 153 votes

Amir Jordan - 166

Eve Torres - 174

Julius Creed - 201

Tony Nese - 218

The closest poll was Tony Nese, who won 112-106

Top Ten Overall

Kris Statlander - 91% smash

Athena - 90.2% smash

Hikaru Shida - 89.7% smash

Minoru Suzuki (Young Variant) - 88.7% smash

Swerve Strickland - 88.3% smash

Toni Storm - 88.1% smash

Hiroshi Tanahashi - 87.7% smash

Hangman Adam Page - 86.4% smash

Bianca Belair - 86.4% smash

Hikuleo - 86.0% smash

Bottom Ten Overall

Vince McMahon - 3.9% smash

Ric Flair - 4.6% smash

Kane (Corporate variant) - 10.1% smash

Miracle Violence Connection - 11.8% smash

Gene Munny - 12.4% smash

Spike Trivet - 12.% smash

Kevin Sullivan - 13.1% smash

Triple H (Terra Ryzing variant) - 18.6% smash

Eric Bischoff (NWO) - 20.0% smash

Charlie Dempsey - 22.1% smash

Top Women Overall

Kris Statlander - 91% smash

Athena - 90.2% smash

Hikaru Shida - 89.7% smash

Toni Storm - 88.1% smash

Bianca Belair - 86.4% smash

Bottom Women Overall

Eve Torres - 47.1% smash

Carmella - 47.8% smash

Nikkita Lyons - 48.2% smash

Julia Hart (Cheerleader Variant) - 49.8% smash

Kelly Kelly - 50.3% smash

Top Men Overall

Minoru Suzuki (Young Variant) - 88.7% smash

Swerve Strickland - 88.3% smash

Hiroshi Tanahashi - 87.7% smash

Hangman Adam Page - 86.4% smash

Hikuleo - 86.0% smash

Top Tag Teams

The Golden Lovers - 80.4% smash

Best Friends - 66.7% smash

Motor City Machine Guns - 65.5% smash

Roppongi Vice - 62.7% smash

Young Bucks - 43.8% smash

Mustachioed Hangman took the No. 2 spot for most total votes, with 529 votes cast. However, there was a 13.6 point drop in his smashability when the mustache is taken into account. He scored 86.4% smash for his previous poll, with 386 smash votes. With the mustache, he scored 70.7% smash, with 374 smash votes. I thought he'd do better, given how popular mustaches seem to be overall, but maybe the mustache fans are just a small, vocal minority.

Eve Torres had the misfortune of being the least smashable woman overall. She was the fourth woman to score less than 50%.

We can now add Rocky Romero to the rankings for Best Friends and Friends:

Kris Statlander - 91.0% smash

Orange Cassidy - 77.1% smash

Danhausen - 68.8% smash

Chuck Taylor - 66.2% smash

Trent Beretta - 61.3% smash

Rocky Romero - 58.4% smash

And for their tag teams, we have

Best Friends (Chuck and Trent): 66.7% smash

Roppongi Vice (Trent and Rocky): 62.7% smash

In other news, I'm starting to add Cagematch rankings to the results spreadsheet (reminder, that exists here: Google Docs). I plan to eventually make some silly charts involving those ratings, like smashability vs. Cagematch rating.

And now for some of my favorite tags and comment

@tetsuya-taito on Julius Creed: #he looks like he rubs the inner thigh and asks if you like that

@mancewarner on Julius Creed: #he does unfortunately look like hed call me a slur though so id hit it and ghost

@mancewarner on Shane Haste: #just watched an insiderz stream where he was chugging coke and burping extremely loudly into the microphone. that being said yes id smash

@sanguinaryrot on Kagetsu: #uhhhhh yeah I stand for the troops (transgender professional wrestlers)

@dykecassidy on Hangman with a Mustache: #everyone stop clicking smash i wanna be the only one please let me be alone with this hangman

@theunprettier on Drilla Moloney: #i wanna get tangled up in his body hair and die like a fish caught in ocean debris

Honorable mention to the MANY people who tagged the Hangman poll with some variation on "save a horse ride a cowboy"

#weekly wrap up