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missguomeiyun · 3 years

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Homecookings [Oct. ed]

Welcome to month #8 (the 8th post) in this Homecooking series of posts ^^

Bcos I’m not going out to eat now, my blog has obviously taken a new direction. It actually worked out really well for me!

Why?

Bcos for a while, I was thinking about what I wanted to do differently on here - just to switch it up a little. These homecookings posts have been a good way for me to document what I’ve been eating. I’d be interesting to see how my cooking has changed over time :P

For the 1st half of October, I was still on home-cation so I tried to utilize my time to make things I can’t bring to work; namely noodle dishes.

I used the Korean guksu noodles here. I put the noodles on a bed of veggies, then on top, I stir-fried up some pork & an egg. The sauce = kimchi juice & gochujang.

Same guksu noodles, with iceberg lettuce, mini wntons, & fish tofu. I used a canned chicken broth for my soup base, then topped it with some coarse sea salt, white pepper & kimchi juice. I recently opened a jar of store-bought kimchi & it is very rich in ‘juice’; hence I’ve been scooping some onto my noodle soups as a spicy flavouring.

Beef pancake (yook-jeon) on noodles with a beef broth. Flavouring include: gochujang, coarse sea salt, & perilla seed powder. The broth was made using the beef essence powder purchased from H-mart.

Made radish kimchi~ It’s been a while haha

From right to left: my kind of spicy (that my parents probably can’t handle or prefer not to eat); not spicy (just vinegar + sugar); semi spicy. Instead of putting fish sauce in the semi spicy one, I used the salted shrimp sauce instead.

Mapo tofu. I really like mapo tofu; there’s just something really home-y about it haha I can’t say I’m a whiz at making this but I’ve used different sauces for this, & my fav is satay sauce + white ground pepper (plus some salt, of course). It doesn’t even sound like it’d be a good combo... satay sauce & white ground pepper. But I love the extra kick the white pepper offers :P shockingly, Chinese black bean sauce is also not bad.

There were some leftover mapo tofu from the ‘previous’ evening, so I made this for lunch the next day. I don’t normally have rice for lunch at home, but my parents eat rice sometimes, so I got my mom to cook me a small portion too. Then I made some basa fillet + bell pepper stir-fry, & bokchoy + seaweed in miso soup.

Leftover salmon kimchi jjigae (with corn!!!); rice with 2 seaweed rolls, & my homemade radish kimchi.

*honest review of the radish kimchi*

The cube ones were my original recipe, where I used a good amount of chili powder (so it’s spicy) & some fish sauce. Turned out the way I had expected :P the rectangular one was made the same day, but instead of fish sauce, I used the Korean salted shrimp sauce (without fish sauce) & less chili powder. After the same number of fermentation days, the rectangular one was more fermented - more salty, softer, & not that spicy. It was honestly just salty. The cube one was more crunchy & spicier, like usual. Personally, I prefer the cube one more. The saltiness of the rectangular one is likely due to overshooting of the shrimp sauce.. . Although some ppl may like it extra salty, I’m really meh about it. However, the longer it sits/ferments, the saltier it will get, so I’m thinking of using it in soups or something.

Fish cake + cabbage with flat rice noodles. (Reminder that I needed to eat as much noodle soups as possible bcos I can’t eat these when I’m at work lol)

Vacation breakfast :D

Vacation lunch :D

The following few pics are from my family’s Thanksgiving dinner:

1) Homemade artisan bread by my sister-in-law.

2) Salmon lasagna in cream sauce.

3) Stuffing mixed with wild rice; beef + long beans stir-fry

4) Baked chicken (bcos we prefer chicken over turkey)

Leftover bread for breakfast with coffee. This was the mixed herbs loaf (the other one was walnut cranberry).

About a month ago, my brother purchased a Nespresso machine. These were the 4 flavours of pods that accompanied the machine. The vanilla custard one sucked.......... it was so nasty! We typically don’t throw away stuff, but we did. The best flavour of the remaining 3 was the Fortado, then double espresso. The machine is now actually gone (returned to store). It wasn’t very good in multiple aspects & simply not worth the money. We weren’t satisfied with the outcome, & altogether, it wasn’t a good purchase. So anyway, I am unsure if I ever want one of these machines, if they’re all about the same *shrugs* What is your opinion on various models of Nespresso machines?

This, on the other hand, was much more satisfying. I finished this can... gotta buy more of this. You know iced Vietnamese coffee at restaurants? They use this coffee! It is available at Lucky 97 Supermarket =p

Steamed napa cabbage wrapped tofu~

Udon + beef with black bean sauce (aka jjajang-udon with beef)

Sorry I’m a little late for this October post... it’s Nov 2nd already... CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! The past week was a little hectic, to say the least. But it’s done! Halloween was sad this yr.. . my 2 nieces dressed up at my house & that was it, no trick-or-treating, obviously. I hope things will clear up next yr >.< I miss Korea. SO MUCH.

#food #homecooking #home cooking #noodles #nofilter #creative cooking #yolo cooking

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askroahmmythril · 4 years

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WARNING : Incoming “Durgon’s Going Through Stuff and Needs to Vent” Wall o’ Text

It’s been another of those long gaps between doing things on my channel, for which as usual I feel the need to apologize, but life as often has been the case lately is enjoying using me as a kickball.

Now, the FIRST part of the break, up until about Nov 8th I think was when I finished it, was for more positive reasons. I took part in a costume design contest for Cookie Run. Right now they’re in the “internal review” phase of going through all the entries, so I have no idea if I’ll even make it to the voting round, but we’ll see. Once I feel it’s more safe to do so, I’ll post my design for everyone. I’m actually pretty happy with how it turned out.

After that, well, that’s when things started going south. The big stress right now is the absolute gong show that is trying to get my mum’s life insurance check in the bank. At first it was delayed by the people giving us the forms to sign forgetting to give us ALL the forms the insurance company needed. Then the company said they sent us a check, but we hadn’t gotten it for weeks. Finally they verified our address and sent us a new one, so we have that in hand at least. And now it’s become the Zelda fetch quest from heck.

The first time we went to the bank, they wouldn’t let us do anything because we didn’t think to bring mum’s death certificate. We went up the next day with it, thinking that would be it. But now, my ID, which has never given me trouble before, suddenly has an issue, so I’m having to get a new ID. Which we couldn’t do that day because they require my birth certificate, which we didn’t have on hand. So we’ll be trying this mess again next week. I swear we need to just drag a full filing cabinet to the bank at this rate.

So this mess, it’s been weighing on my mind. I especially hate knowing that suddenly I’m the holdup in this process due to the ID issue. In the meantime, I’ve been trying to get the title cards together for the next project on the channel, Zelda II, but I find myself having problems focusing. I know what I want to do with them, it’s just a matter of making myself work on them.

Lack of sleep has also been a contributing factor to things. Ever since my mum’s funeral, I’ve been having this recurring nightmare about her. Thankfully not every night, but often enough. In the dream, she’s back with us at the peak of her health, like, before she even started suffering from arthritis. She’s going about all the activities she loved, taking care of all her pets, working on woodcarving out in her shop, all the things she loved. We then, along with my uncle, go to a theater to watch some movie.

As soon as we set foot in the lobby, my mum collapses in pain and throws up. Basically how she described what happened when she first had her blood clot. And then, over the course of what feels like about five to ten minutes that the dream won’t let me look away, I’m forced to watch as she goes through every stage of the decline of her health, up to lying on her back and breathing shallowly like when she was at the hospice. It’s... honestly horrifying to go through. I had it again last night, and about two minutes after waking up from it, I suddenly had a nasty foot cramp, so that was great fun too.

On the positive side, I did get some packages in today : the latest wave of Smash amiibos, as well as a copy of Pokemon Sword, kindly gifted by abreathofatmosphere. I haven’t gotten too far in it yet though due to a sort of combo platter headache : stress and weather pressure, working hand in hand to cave my skull in. Basically I got my fire bun and the gift Meowth, and that’s about all I’ve done thus far.

The topic of Sword and Shield has been another cause of stress for me. It’s something where I’m trying to be kind of moderate about it I guess? Sort of a “centrist” of sorts? Like, when directly asked, I will voice my issues with the game, but I’m also trying to give the game a fair chance to enjoy what is there, which I’m sure I will. But I’ve been surrounded lately by draining negativity from both sides. On one side, you have the type that will just look for anything to bash about the game and will kind of go “beating a dead horse” mode about it. On the other, those that will overly praise the game, and can come off as kind of condescending and dismissive about it toward anyone’s concerns. Which hey, everyone’s entitled to their opinions. Which includes those that do have problems with the game but still want to enjoy what’s there. So please let me do so o.o;

Today also involved having to discuss the ex-friend situation with someone, which... that’s not a fun topic to broach, but it needed to be discussed. It’s something I’m consciously trying not to make into a bigger deal than need be because honestly, I just don’t need the drama, and don’t really want to cause any further awkward situations where it can be helped.

Soooo yeah. tl;dr (screams in stressed out durgon)

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prorevenge · 5 years

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I literally made my nemesis/bully repeat his Sr. year over. - LONG, but worth it!

I grew up in a solid working class town without a lot of wealth in it. The very few wealthy people worked in a bigger city 25 or so miles down the road, and mostly sent there kids to private schools in that town. However, we certainly mingled and played with the kids during the summers, etc.. Football is king in my part of the country. Our high school programs play in front of thousands, it is table talk year around, and youth football starts as early as 6 years old. We played in backyards, schools, ALL the time.

I always had a football in my hand and was generally a highly regarded player in my neighborhood. However, there was one kid who dominated us. His name is Mike M. the IV. Yes, he was the the "Fourth" He was one of the rich kids and he was seriously 6" taller, faster, and stronger, than the 8th grade boys while he was still in 6th grade. He went to the private school, so outside of neighborhood football, I only competed against him in track & field in the spring. But we saw him all the time and he was a piece of shit bully to all the kids. The "4th" was always talking down to the rest of us "poor pieces of shit", throwing our stuff into the creek near the field we played in. Anytime we had success against him he claim some piece of cheating, beat one of us up, or piss and moan and walk away. During the regional and state championships in middle school track, he beat me both years in the 100 and 200 meter runs. We finished 1st and 2nd at every meet.

Once we moved to high school, football ramped up big time. Now we were prepping to play HS ball for our school and our town. We all assumed Mike was going to continue to play at the private school he had attended. Much to our dismay, there was Mike in full pads on our first day of football practice our freshman year. It was then that I found out why Mike was so much bigger/better for his grade level. Mike was pretty old for being a freshman. He had an October birthday while mine November. Not much older you say, except the cutoff for starting kindergarten was Sept. 30. We had both missed that cutoff when we were little, except my parents enrolled me anyway. My birthday was Nov. of '84 while Mike's was Oct. of '83.....so I thought. We also found out Mike had failed 3rd grade at his private school and had to repeat. His birthday was actually in '82. He was 25 months older than me and we are competing at the same grade level. No wonder he was so much bigger. That slightly worked against him because the catholic athletic league had rules about age limits in their high school sports, so Mikey had to go play with us poor kids at the public school in high school

Freshman year, Mike makes the varsity as a backup QB and I am relegated to Junior Varsity. His ego really stepped up then. He was a freshman playing varsity in a town where football is king. In addition, he got his Drivers License and a new Camaro. Also, he was the only rich kid at our school. I envied, yet hated him so much. He was always reminding us of our place in the social world and constanly making quips about having to walk, ride bikes, go to Goodwill, etc..

The next summer Mike spent at various football and speed camps. Us poor kids just played ball. Sophmore year comes and Mike is the starting QB, but I am his best wide receiver. Mike truly was a great passer, but his athletic superiority over the rest of us is diminishing as we start to mature. We both get All State honors, finished the season 13-2 while losing in the state semi-finals. Mike is starting to get noticed as a potential college QB. His head gets bigger. Junior year comes and Mike tries to become a team leader, but his arrogance and constant belittling wears everyone down. I am now a solid 6' 3" and looking Mike eye to eye, and faster. We both get All- State honors again, but we finish 7-4 with an early exit in the playoffs. Mike is furious about the horrible players he is surrounded by. I am also starting to get some recruiting letters.

Spring of that school year, our long time football coach becomes ill and chooses to retire. The school district brings in a new coach with an entirely different offense. No more drop back passing, but rather a primitive form of what we see today in American college football. A mobile QB with lots of options. Prior to the summer, the team met with our new coach and he laid this out to us with some suggestion on how we can utilize the summer to prepare for our Senior season. Mike was super pissed about this all because it didn't suit his style of play. His family tried to sue the catholic athletic league from his former private school about their policies so he could play there, but that didn't work out. His family then tried to move to another city to play in their school, but they had missed a deadline. He was stuck. He spent the summer traveling to various football camps around the region to raise his collegiate status. These camps are essentially a college tryout in front of college coaches. I spent the summer with a plan to finally fucking beat Mike and become the QB. I had talked this over with our coach and he told me the best QB will play in the fall. I worked in the same field of our youth the entire summer with various other players practicing the playbook we had been given. Mike was trying to improve his footwork, while the rest of us were learning the playbook.

Summer ends and we begin fall practice. This was the first time I had seen Mike all summer, and he shit a brick when the coach told us to separate into groups and I walked into the QB group. I was now the bigger, stronger, and faster one. I had been practicing all summer, and I was had done so with our teammates. Given his status as a 2 time all-stater at QB, he was granted the starting role, but it was obvious who was better on the field. I easily played the role of wide receiver, but maintained the backup QB role. I was not happy about it, but it changed after we lost our first game. Mike didn't comprehend the playbook so well, was horrible at his option reads, and generally sucked. Our second game started with Mike getting crushed by a sack and fumbling that lead to a touchdown for the other team. He was not injured at all, but the head coach insisted he sit out a series to recover. I took over as QB and NEVER gave it up. I was pretty iffy passing those first few games, but the game started to become easier for me. We rolled off 14 straight wins until losing in the state finals. I was All State at QB, and Mike was a benchwarmer. All of his recruiting dried up.

I accepted full scholarship to the university down the road and got to play in front of crowds of 100,000. I had moved back to wide receiver and had a pretty solid career there. I was no where near NFL talent, but got to travel to bowl games and was generally the hometown hero as the poor boy who went to the big school and played on ESPN. Many of my friends from college played on Sundays (read NFL) and pretty sure one of those will be wearing a yellow jacket as an inductee to the Hall of Fame. I think most of these things would have happened had I not wanted to beat Mike at QB, but Mike's life would surely be different.

While not playing dried up his major Division I offers, he still had plenty of interest from smaller colleges. This did not sit well with him. He decided to replay his Sr. year at a private school several states away. His family sent him to a private boarding school in Pennsylvania which had no age limitation rules, where I understand he was absolutely miserable. Here, he was the poor kid, and almost 20 years old at that.....in high school. From there, he went on to play Junior College football, and ended up walking on to the directional school in that same state. He never played there, and returned to our hometown to take over his daddies car dealership.

I stayed in the same town as my university as a financial planner for a mentor I had met in college. His grandson had competed against me throughout our younger years, he had followed my entire athletic journey, and he was very proud of the local boy. He was a big name in the community and had taken me under his wing when I first stepped onto campus. John stepped away from the business a few years back and left me with his entire life's work on the condition I have a position for his grandkids/great grandkids should they choose that line of work and have a college degree.

I am not entirely sure what happened to Mike? He sold the dealership, but his house had gone into foreclosure. He was married with kids, but they moved. I hope he was humbled enough to no longer be a piece of shit, but perhaps I'll never know. You'll always be a piece of shit to me.

(source) (story by ProbstCO)

#prorevenge #by ProbstCO #pro revenge #revenge stories #pro #revenge #revenge story #last10

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steviemillcr · 4 years

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Hey is that [DIANA SILVERS]? No, that’s just [STEVIE MILLER]. They’re [TWENTY-FOUR], and have spent [ONE YEAR] in Dayton. I hear that they’re kind of [OPEN-MINDED], but also [COMPETITIVE]. Did you hear their vices are [VIDEO GAMES & ECSTASY]? Can’t wait to see [SHE/HER] at the next party!

full name: stevie monroe miller

nickname: mills .

age: twenty-four

date of birth: nov 8th

place of birth: tampa, fl

zodiac: scorpio

gender: cis-female

nationality: american

sexual orientation: pansexual

romantic orientation: homoromantic

relationship status: single

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES.

height: 5″7

weight: none of your business

hair color: brunette

eye color: hazel

need glasses/contacts? nope

tattoos/piercings: power button behind her right ear and a triforce on her left ankle. clit piercing

distinguishing marks: freckles.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION.

hometown: tampa, fl

current residence: dayton, ca

past residences: nyc, ny ( college )

living arrangement: apartment

spoken languages: english

financial status: average

education level: college; bachelors of fine arts ( graphic design )

occupation: youtuber / twitch streamer / freelance gd

FAMILIAL INFORMATION.

father: jason miller. 40.

mother: unknown

siblings: none.

children: none.

pets? black cat named felix

other: none.

PERSONALITY.

positive traits: open-minded, creative, honest, intuitive

negative traits: aimless, competitive, insensitive, finicky

likes: reds. oranges. warm colors. chocolate. morning dew. citrus. watercolor paper. flannel. hot chocolate. milk. white russians. legend of zelda. kirby. slasher films. the scream trilogy. serial killer documentaries. sketching. animal crossing. aqua. raves. ecstasy. sex.

dislikes: blatant stupidity. button mashing. most rom coms. shitty headphones. asmr sounds. trolls. bein told what to do. campers. waking up early. high nasally voices. 13 yr old boys who talk shit.

quirks: - coming soon -

stevie is a fairly laid back individual. she grew up with thick skin and a sharp tongue. but underneath it all she’s not so bad. she comes off as closed off and introspective, which for the most part is true. she doesn’t just go up and start a conversation with a stranger unless she has a reason. she will sit and sketch one though.

online, she is much more extroverted. that’s not to say she feels safer there. more like she cares less. on one side, she knows the people she plays with are people-- but the fact she can simply shut off the game when she’s pissed and not have to explain or do shit? it’s much easier. she cares less what people may think of her which, wasn’t much to begin with.

she’s blunt. painfully so. to everyone. friend and stranger alike. though if you are a friend, she’ll find a way to apologize if she came off too harsh. she’s not afraid of being humbled and in fact appreciates it more than having things sugar coated.

She doesn’t go out of her way to be a bitch. sometimes it just happens.

she holds grudges. a. long. fucking. time. she still hasn’t fully forgiven her father/brother/jason for his betrayal even though she knows he was doing what he thought was best.

when she’s on molly, stevie is a very different person. touchy feely lovey dovey. she’s a hot mess and she’s had her fair share of nights that left her in awkward positions.

Stevie isn’t shy about sex. Shell try just about anything once and she’s usually pretty good about keeping her feelings out of the equation.

But hasn’t had a lot of great experiences in the bedroom. She knows it can be fun and it has been a handful of times, but more times than not, it’s just...something to do. That doesn’t mean she goes out and picks up people whenever she gets bored, but when she has an itch, she’ll scratch it and that’s all it usually is. An itch.

THE RUN DOWN.

was raised believing her father is actually her older brother

her grandmother raised her along side her father brother in tampa, florida

the household was a close one and between her ‘mother’ and ‘brother’, she knew she was loved.

she was often the object of teasing in school. she was too odd or too mean. her mother was too spacey and her brother too hot. but she took it in stride, learning to weaponize her words ( and sometimes her fists ) and after a while, learned to ignore it, even when it got out she was pansexual and in love with her best friend

the feelings were unrequited, she made that clear, though her friendship only grew stronger

she went to nyc on scholarship, choosing graphic design as her major specializing in motion graphics

the stress of the work often left her zapped and working in a computer lab all night? not helpful. so when she had the chance to go out and party she would.

her fesitivities mostly consisted of underground / secret raves. the music, colors, and atmosphere did a lot for her. she kept things pretty tame, only drinking and smoking pot occasionally.

but when her mother passed, her world was flipped on its head. as per his mother’s dying wish, her brother came clean. he admitted that he allowed her to believe she was abandoned...unwanted by both parents, because lets face it, there was no way she was biologically her grandmother’s daughter. she spent her whole life believing she was forsaken and it was the one person she loved more than anything that let her

going back to school had been hard. she was angry. so so angry. and sad. her grandmother, the only mother she’d ever known was gone and her brother-- dad? she wasn’t talking to him. so she pushed. she worked harder and she played even harder

she took her first taste of ‘e’ three nights after arriving back in nyc and it was the most elevating thing she ever experienced. nothing in the world felt wrong. everything was amazing. more than that. exhilarating.

it became a regular thing, though she took care. only after her school work was done and her schedule was clear. what was the harm in it if she were careful? what was wrong with wanting to feel good, to erase that crippling anger just for a night?

when she finished school, she moved home. almost. she couldn’t go back to Jason, not even after two years. she loved him, yes. she appreciated his sacrifices, yes. but she couldn’t look at him, let alone forgive him. not yet. so she went to orlando to look for work.

the field was full of competition, which she often enjoyed but somehow she was getting lost in the shuffle. unmotivated. she got a few freelance things, but most of her time she spent online, chatting with friends from college or destroying teenage boys at call of duty.

it got to a point she wasn’t leaving her apartment. she’d order food, do some minimal sketching and just...play.

it was a friend that suggested she make a youtube channel. she played enough and her perspective was nothing if not interesting...so she figured she may as well. youtube gave way to twitch and patreon and before she knew it she was receiving checks for fucking around online. not literally. well maybe once.

about a year ago, she came to dayton for a gaming convention. it was a small thing, targeted at twitch streamers. lots of big names in the game so of course she came. she just...decided not to leave.

she loved the chaos Dayton offered, their parties, and especially their molly. she doesn’t make it a habit but as her life continues to plateau, she keeps a regular stash to make things interesting.

#reallife.intro #::|| bio ||::#::|| headcanon ||::

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bloodpacks-archive · 5 years

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New Year’s Day

Word Count: 3.4k yikes

Summary: A relationship over the span of three new year’s days. They get lost, and then they find their way back together.

Warnings: okay well Tom gets sad for a bit and there’s swearing but basically that’s it! Also there’s like two seconds of Christmas in this I hope u enjoy

Note: okay admittedly I’m a bit on the fence about this one?? idk, we’ll see how it goes. Also!! This is my prompt for @irndad ‘s writing challenge!! I had the prompt New Year’s Kiss so. u can imagine. Hope you enjoy! (also this gif has nothing to do with the fic but he’s so CUTE)

Dec 8th, 2017

“You’re absolutely ridiculous,” She says, her voice riddled with laughter. Mistletoe hangs above them, her hands are laced behind Tom’s neck, and Tom’s trying to stop smiling so damn brightly.

“Maybe,” He replies. She laughs again, gorgeous and bright, her head falling forward and her forehead resting on his chest. She kisses him that day, laughter following her as she leaves him standing under the mistletoe. He watches her go, his face painted with a smile.

He’s beyond lucky to have her in his life, he realizes. She’s one of the best people he’s ever met, and he loves being able to hear her laugh from somewhere in their apartment.

“Tom? You coming? We’re gonna be late!” She calls from the other room. Tom takes a moment to stumble his way out of his thoughts, and then he’s rushing after her, pulling on a coat as he locks their door behind them.

“We won’t be late,” He replies, but then he’s pulling her by her hand to rush out into the cold air. They arrive at dinner five minutes late.

Dec 10th, 2017

It’s a Sunday evening. She’s curled into his side, a book propped up against one of her legs. Tessa’s managed to stretch her way across both of them, and Tom scratches behind her ears while he scrolls through his phone. There’s soft Christmas music playing, and there’s a dusting of snow coating London. She leans her head back against his shoulder, looking up from her book for a moment so she can see him.

“Tom?” She says, her voice light, and so gorgeous. Tom hums in reply, looking down at her with a look that he can only assume is filled with the brightest of love. “I love you.” Tom lets a breathy laugh fall past his lips, bringing one of his hands to hers as he rubs soft patterns into her skin.

“I love you too.” She smiles at that, bringing their intertwined hands up to her lips and pressing a kiss to the back of his hand. She then settles back into Tom’s side, her attention once again turned to her book. He watches her for a moment more, letting himself save every second of what’s in front of him. Then he turns back to his phone, reading through an email that he finds much less intriguing than the girl next to him.

Dec 16th, 2017

She’s sitting on the stool in front of him, her head in her hands. She’s messing with her hair, and Tom’s standing on the other side of the island, tempted to reach out and grab one of her hands. He doesn’t like that she feels helpless.

“But you just got back,” She whispers. Her voice breaks, and Tom can practically feel it. She takes her hands away from her face, looking up at him and waiting for anything, any kind of reaction from him.

“I- I know, love, and I’ll be here for the rest of the holidays, but I have to leave on January 4th to finish up press.” Tom looks at her, eyes begging her to understand. He hates that he leaves her like this, that she has to stay in their apartment alone, watching from worlds away.

“How long are you gonna be gone?” She asks. Her eyebrows are furrowed, creating little wrinkles on her forehead that he so badly wants to smooth out.

“Just two weeks,” Tom replies. She laughs, humorless and a bit cold.

“Just two weeks,” She repeats.

It isn’t the first, or the last time they’ll have this fight.

Dec 25th, 2017

When he wakes up, her side of the bed is empty, but he can hear her humming in the kitchen. He walks in to see her with a tray of food and a pot of tea. She looks up to see him, smiling in the doorway, and she does an adorable little gasp.

“You aren’t supposed to be awake yet! Go back to bed!” She runs over to him, pushing Tom out of the kitchen and towards their room. Tom’s laughing the entire time, and he turns around just as they reach their bedroom door.

“You didn’t have to do this all for me,” He says. She shakes her head at him.

“Oh shut up, it’s Christmas!” That morning, they sit in bed, eating breakfast and laughing together.

Dec 28th, 2017

They’re in their living room, there’s tears in her eyes as she walks back and forth. Tom stands in front of her, watching as she paces. He doesn’t have that same feeling of heartbreak as he did a few days ago.

“I don’t know, it’s just that, sometimes I wonder what it’d be like to have someone who didn’t leave every few weeks,” She says, finally stilling to stand in front of him. It’s then when the heartbreak sets in.

“What?” Tom asks, breathless. He’s got his arms crossed, and now she’s looking up at the ceiling, taking a breath before everything spills out.

“It’s hard, Tom.” Her voice cracks. “It’s so fucking hard, because I just want to be able to support you and be there for you but God, it’s hard when you’re so far away.” Tom stares at her, he can feel his heart stop, there’s a pit in his stomach.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say, y/n,” Tom replies. At some point, any anger had faded away, and now Tom’s got his fingers nervously creating patterns into his own skin, when they so badly want to trace patterns into hers.

“It’s just-“ She stops for a moment, gathering her thoughts, “sometimes, it feels like you’re so far away, and sometimes, it feels like I’m alone and like I don’t have anyone here to help me.” Tom stays silent, watching as she runs her hands through her hair. He feels like everything is spiraling around him and he doesn’t know how to stop anything.

“I don’t know what you want me to do,” He says.

“I don’t know either, Tom,” Her voice has gone soft, almost a whisper. She takes a breath, “Maybe I need a break from all of this.”

Tom feels himself shatter.

Dec 29th, 2017

She leaves him that evening, snow fresh on the ground, and Tessa whining behind him. She places her keys into the palm of his hand, and when he looks up to meet her eyes, there’s tears behind them.

“I’m sorry,” She says. Tom can’t bring himself to say anything. He can feel the lump at the back of his throat. He wants to scream. Before he can really process what’s happening, she’s gone.

Dec 31st, 2017

He can’t bring himself to go to Harrison’s party, despite having promised to be there. Instead, Tom finds himself sitting on his couch, Tessa’s head resting in his lap. The apartment feels a lot emptier without her. He takes down the mistletoe.

Jan 1st, 2018

He starts the new year alone, something that he hasn’t felt in a while. He keeps finding pieces of her around the apartment, he doesn’t get rid of the picture of her beside his bed, or the blanket that she gave him for Christmas. He just curls up, trying to feel any bit of warmth that he’s lost.

Jan 3rd, 2018

Tom leaves for press that day. He tries not to think of how different the airport would have been with her there. Tries not to think about how she would’ve kissed him goodbye, how she would’ve hugged him as tightly as she could, burying her face into his neck just before security. He would’ve turned back to look at her, giving her a final smile before walking out of her line of sight. He doesn’t have anyone to turn back to that day.

Jan 17th, 2018

Tom’s beyond tired from the press tour, but nothing seems to make it go away. He comes home to a silent apartment, left untouched during his two weeks away. He lays down on the couch. He notices how cold it is.

Feb 12th, 2018

Their “break” still hasn’t ended. Tom starts to wonder if she’ll ever come back to him.

Mar 22nd, 2018

Harrison comes over, and the apartment is lively, filled with laughter, and the air seems much warmer. The sun seems a bit brighter that day, as dumb as it sounds. They watch reruns of shows that they both love, and Tom feels a bit less lonely.

May 13th, 2018

Tom’s busy with work, he doesn’t really have time to think much. It’s been months, and he’d though that he’d be doing much better by now. He is, if he really thinks about it, but the apartment still feels empty in a way that he can’t quite explain. He’s not even sure if he’s lonely as much as he just misses having things to do all the time. He decides that being this busy with work is good for him.

Nov 12th, 2018

The holidays are getting dangerously close. Tom can feel a pit in his stomach at every mention of mistletoe, and he hates the way he gets when he thinks of her. He hadn’t thought of her in a while, actually, but now she’s with him at every turn. He thinks of her humming while she makes herself tea, or the feeling of her head resting on his shoulder. He misses that feeling of warmth more than anything. Misses the way his cheeks would hurt from smiling whenever he was around her.

Dec 5th, 2018

He stumbles onto her Instagram page. The posts are few and far between, all of her with friends, and he hates that he’s like this. After almost a year, he’s still drawn to her, still wishing that he could wake up to her by his side again. Sometimes he thinks that he hears her laugh somewhere in the apartment, or that he can hear her singing some Christmas song. He didn’t think he missed her like this anymore.

Dec 31st, 2018 - 6:00 PM

Tom walks into the party with Harrison’s arm around his shoulders. He’s cheerfully leading him to the kitchen, already talking about what kind of drink he’s planning on making him. Tom has to hold back laughter, already feeling everything lighten up around him. This was the party that he had missed last year, the one that he had exchanged for sitting alone on his couch, wondering where he went wrong, and why it all happened so quickly.

Before he knows it, Harrison’s handing him a drink and continuing to lead him around the party. Really, Tom has a great time. Harrison’s by his side for most of it, both of them laughing along to whatever story their friends tell. He’s beyond glad to be here, to be able to start the new year with people that he loves surrounding him.

Tom’s talking to a few old friends from school when hears it. A laugh, one that he could pick out anywhere. He looks over to Harrison, eyebrows furrowed, but Harrison just gives him a confused look in return. Tom looks over to where the noise came from and he can feel his heartbeat in his chest. His eyes scan the groups of people in front of him, and then he sees her. Her hair’s hanging around her face, a red cup in her hand, she’s got this gorgeous smile on her face, and he sees her laugh this time. It’s the prettiest thing he’s seen in a while.

She turns, and then her eyes lock with his. There’s a moment where everything within him feels broken, like he’s back in their apartment with her keys in the palm of his hand, where she’s walking out with a low-hanging head and down turned eyes. But he’s here, in this goddamn New Year’s party, with her looking at him for the first time in a whole year. He smiles at her, and then turns back to the conversation in front of him.

Dec 31st, 2018 - 11:00 PM

Tom’s sitting out on the balcony at this point. Harrison’s somewhere out in the party, most likely flirting with a girl or laughing with old friends. The balcony is cold, but Tom doesn’t really mind. It’s quiet, and the soft snow falling to the ground offers some kind of odd comfort. There’s a light dusting of snow on the top of the railing, and Tom’s finding himself making little patterns in it.

Tom hears the door behind him open, but doesn’t bother to look behind him, figuring that it’s just someone who wants to get out of the noise for a moment as well.

“You’re going to freeze out here without a coat.” Tom pauses, not even daring to look back at her in fear that she’ll disappear if he does. But then he feels her laying a coat around his shoulders, and everything feels a bit more like home. At the feeling of her fingers brushing his shoulders, he looks back.

“Thanks,” He says, pulling the coat closer around him. He looks down at it, realizing that it’s his before he decides to pull it on completely.

“Harrison told me which one was yours,” She explains. She’s taken a step back from him, her hands stuffed into her coat pockets and her eyes turned to the ground. Tom lets out a breathy laugh, turning back to the city in front of him.

“Glad you’re both looking out for me.” He hears her shoes hit against the balcony floor, and then she’s leaning next to him, looking down at the city with him. She keeps a distance between them that he wishes would disappear, but he can still feel his heart breaking with every step she takes towards him. He’s terrified to let her in again.

“How’s your year been?” She asks. Her voice is light, almost tip-toeing around him. Tom’s laugh is humorless, almost more of a sigh than anything.

“It’s been shit.” She looks over at him, concern clear in her eyes. He glances over at her, watching as she shifts uncomfortably. He feels his heart sink, deciding that he hates how all of this is. He hates that he can’t even talk to her without feeling like everything is going to break. “What about you?” His voice is a bit lighter, trying to make up for the uncomfortable air that he caused.

“Pretty shit too, if I’m honest,” She replies. Tom laughs a bit, and she smiles up at him when she hears him.

“I’ve missed this,” Tom whispers. He’s not even entirely sure he’s said it, but when she looks up at him, eyes bright and the beginnings of a smile on her face, he’s sure of it.

“I missed this too,” She replies, matching his tone of voice. Tom smiles, shaking his head a bit at her.

“You could’ve called, y’know.”

“Didn’t know if you’d want me back.” Her voice is quiet, and then she’s playing with her hair, and he wants to grab her hand again, trace those patterns into her skin, make her feel comfortable again.

“I always wanted you back,” He whispers. When she looks up at him, her smile is weak, her eyes begging for something that he can’t decipher.

“Don’t know why you would.”

“There’s more reasons than I can count.” Her laugh is barely there, just a shake of her head and the softest sound he’s heard in a while.

“I should’ve been there for you.” He can hear her voice break, and he wants to wrap her in his arms, never let her go because yes, maybe she messed up, but he did too.

“You needed a break,” He replies. “Hell, I need a break from my life sometimes.” She laughs again, and this time her head just barely touches his shoulder. He thinks it’s the best thing he’s felt in a while.

“You still needed that support, and I didn’t always give that to you,” She says. Tom shakes his head.

“Maybe you didn’t, but it wasn’t your job. I should’ve supported you more, too. We both made mistakes,” Tom says. It’s then when she leans her head on his shoulder fully, and he wants nothing more than to let her stay there forever.

“I don’t know-” She starts, but Tom cuts her off.

“Tell you what, maybe we can talk all of this out over coffee tomorrow? Like that place down the road that you always loved or something?” Tom asks. He can feel the smile cross her face, and just about everything in him feels a bit warmer.

“That sounds great,” She replies. Distantly, they can hear a countdown beginning. Tom laughs.

“Have we really been out here for an hour?”

“I guess we have,” She says. Her voice is back to the one that he loves, and he’s beyond glad to have her back next to him. Yelling comes from inside the apartment, and she’s laughing into his shoulder.

Jan 1st, 2019

He starts the New Year with her laughter filling his ears, and her head on his shoulder.

Jan 13th, 2019

He kisses her again for the first time in a year.

Feb 24th, 2019

He FaceTimes her every night of his press tour. She falls asleep while on the phone with him, he doesn’t mind.

Apr 17th, 2019

He wakes up to the sound of her humming in the kitchen again.

Aug 29th, 2019

She comes with him to New York City. He takes pictures of her around the city. They turn into his lockscreen. There’s a picture of him that hangs around her neck.

Dec 2nd, 2019

“Again?” She asks, looking up at the mistletoe.

“Hey, it’s not my fault that you keep standing with me under mistletoe.” Tom looks up at the decoration above them, shrugging his shoulders at her as she rolls her eyes.

“You’re ridiculous, you know that, right?” Tom laughs, watching as she goes to walk away. Tom chases after her, wrapping his arms around her waist and placing a kiss on her cheek before burying his face in the crook of her neck. She laughs, turning around in his arms to look at him.

“You’re the worst, Tom,” She says between bits of laughter. Tom smiles down at her, shrugging his shoulders again. She shakes her head, but then she leans up and presses a kiss to his lips, and it makes up for all of it.

Dec 25th, 2019

Tom sneaks out of bed in the morning to make her breakfast, she glares at him when she finds out that he stole her plan.

Dec 31st, 2019 - 11:50 PM

“So, what’d you think of this year?” She asks him. Her hands are laced behind his neck, and she’s looking up at him with the prettiest eyes he’s ever seen. His cheeks hurt from laughing and smiling all night, but he’s beyond glad to be here, with her in his arms.

“I don’t know, it was pretty shit,” Tom replies with a smirk on his face. She rolls her eyes at him, unlacing her hands from behind his neck.

“Oh really? Well, maybe I should just take my things and-“

“No no no no,” Tom says, cutting her off. He grabs her hands, and she places them behind his neck again. She laughs at him, letting her forehead rest against his chest. It’s only a few moments later when the countdown begins around them, and Tom takes a second, because this is so much better than last year, so much better than any year he’s had yet. She has her arms wrapped around him, looking up at him with gorgeous eyes and a bright smile. He’s certain that nothing could make life better than this, and he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Jan 1st, 2020

She leans up, pressing her lips to his for the moment when the countdown ends. There’s yelling around them, a chorus for the new year, but Tom’s oblivious to all of it.

“Happy New Year,” He whispers. Tom practically melts at the sight of her in front of him, and he can’t wait to have moments like these be part of every new year that awaits him. She laughs, tilting her head to the side and letting her eyes scan over his face.

“Happy New Year.”

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nuclearblastuk · 4 years

Video

youtube

HANSI DISCUSSES THE VOICING OF LEGACY OF THE DARK LANDS IN NEW ALBUM TRAILER LEGACY OF THE DARK LANDS WILL BE IN STORES ON NOV 8TH

Promising to be one of the most ambitious projects in metal history, BLIND GUARDIAN's forthcoming release will be well worth the wait. The idea of recording an orchestral album originally formed in the minds of the two leading lights of the BLIND GUARDIAN universe - guitarist André Olbrich and singer Hansi Kürsch - during the 1990's when BLIND GUARDIAN started to use orchestral elements to enhance their opulent sound. The monumental project started to take shape over recent years, and mirroring its epic sound cascades, the lyrical concept was developed. To create the concept, Andrè and Hansi worked alongside German bestselling author Markus Heitz, whose latest novel Die dunklen Lande was released on March 1st, 2019. The book is set in 1629 and contains the prequel to BLIND GUARDIAN TWILIGHT ORCHESTRA's opus Legacy Of The Dark Lands, which will be out on November 8th, 2019. Today, the band unveil the fourth album trailer, in which Hansi introduces us to the voice actors used on the album and the process behind recording their parts. Watch here: youtu.be/KqbjNhr7RKs Hansi states: "Sometimes history literally repeats itself. And sometimes this even is a good thing. Like in our case. Finally after more or less 21 years, it had been a big honor for me to get the opportunity to collaborate with my friends Douglas Fielding (Sauron on „NiME“) and Norman Eshley (Morgoth on NiME) for the narration parts of the new album at Air Edel Studio in London one more time. This time the two of them joined forces with some of their friends to make this an even more impressive piece of narration than „NiME“ already was. What can I say? Mission accomplished, I had a great blast in recording this bunch of amazing people. It is always an absolute pleasure to work with professionals, especially when it turns out, that these professionals are the nicest people you can imagine. To me the whole session has been one of the absolute peak points throughout the whole production. We dedicate this episode for "Legacy of the Dark Lands" to Douglas Fielding who passed away on June 25. Farewell my friend". Pre-order The Legacy Of The Dark Lands: nblast.de/BGLegacyOfTheDarkLands 2 CD Digipack 2 LP Gatefold (different colours) 3 CD Earbook (album, instrumental, no interludes version) 4 CD Earbook (album, instrumental, no interludes version, audio book) *SOLD OUT* 5 LP BOX (Album 2 LP, Instrumental 2 LP, Audio book LP) Watch and listen to the first single 'Point Of No Return': youtube.com/watch?v=WIP3tbE-gXA The Legacy Of The Dark Lands tracklist: 01. 1618 Ouverture 02. The Gathering 03. War Feeds War 04. Comets And Prophecies 05. Dark Cloud’s Rising 06. The Ritual 07. In The Underworld 08. A Secret Society 09. The Great Ordeal 10. Bez 11. In The Red Dwarf’s Tower 12. Into The Battle 13. Treason 14. Between The Realms 15. Point Of No Return 16. The White Horseman 17. Nephilim 18. Trial And Coronation 19. Harvester Of Souls 20. Conquest Is Over 21. This Storm 22. The Great Assault 23. Beyond The Wall 24. A New Beginning Order the single 'This Storm' on clear, gold and red & black splatter here: nblast.de/BG-ThisStorm Watch the accompanying lyric video for 'This Storm' here: youtu.be/dR_VJ-jJosI ICYMI Hansi details recording the vocals for their epic project: youtu.be/FNtYn_wWsYc

“It's incredible, that after 20 years we can actually finish this really exciting project. I am so happy and more than satisfied with it. Every single track unveils spectacular worlds and tells its very own story. With this album our biggest creative dream finally becomes reality. ” says front man/singer Hansi Kürsch whose favourite author was equally excited about the collaboration: „It's really crazy: As Pen&Paper role players we used to listen to BLIND GUARDIAN whilst playing. And years later I get to work together with the band, which was incredible. It's amazing, the things that can happen sometimes“, Markus Heitz remembers. „Of course I immediately agreed to join! This creative collaboration is very special for me.“ The two protagonists have actively cultivated their creative exchange over the last five years. “Markus is a great story teller; with "Die Dunklen Lande" he created the perfect setting and with the mysterious Nicolas, the perfect character for our complex works. His inventiveness seems to be almost infinite. Absolutely impressive and very inspiring” praises Hansi Kürsch regarding the fruitful cooperation with the highly renowned fantasy author. Both sides tell in their own way the story of the mercenary Nicolas and his involvement in the Thirty Years’ War. Author Markus Heitz starts the story off in his book and BLIND GUARDIAN follow suit with “Legacy Of The Dark Lands”. What is the secret surrounding Nicolas? Will he be able to cast off the chains of war and how will his loved ones fare? On “Legacy Of The Dark Lands” via BLIND GUARDIAN's Twilight Orchestra, André Olbrich and Hansi Kürsch fulfill their long-time wish of emphasizing imposing choral singing and classical orchestral arrangements. It promises to be an opus unlike any other that the German quartet has ever released, or rather: an opus, as has never been heard ever before. More on Legacy Of The Dark Lands: Official teaser: youtu.be/PW8zzTlp03I Trailer #1: youtu.be/z5381LBJmI8 Trailer #2: youtu.be/OUqLsIQWABU More info: blind-guardian.com facebook.com/blindguardian nuclearblast.de/blindguardian

#Blind Guardian #Blind Guardian's Twilight Orchestra #Legacy of The Dark Lands #The Storm #Nuclear Blast

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chikkenhawke · 6 years

Photo

2017 was.. A Year, that’s for sure, but there’s improvement! on to 2018 !!

gory details under readmore xx

2017 aka No Rest For The Wicked

jan - over the art block wall of december, but not quite there yet. still on a major critical role kick.

feb - aaaand back to the art block. got a few ocs in but otherwise, not much

mar - first of that semester’s assignments started being due. more critical role + ocs

apr - not a whole lot finished, but most of it was fairly decent.

may - starting to finish up that semester’s assignments. brynn returns from the dead!

jun - the last few pieces of that semester. winton trip. more brynn.

jul - rubbish. there was one or two things i was actually happy with. mostly oc stuff.

aug - a lot of assignment work, but uni stuff helped pull along everything else. better than july, in any case.

sep - caught up with critical role again, so more of that kind of thing. rushing to get uni stuff finished before i left for england (unsuccessful). worked fast and loose with deadlines, but ended up making some decent stuff

oct - october was.. really rough actually. uni stuff + inktober kicked my ass but i did it. yay

nov - kinda the same, minus inktober. the leadup to a lot of deadlines. stressed as hell, but got through it, somehow. did some half-decent paintings though

dec - the first half was more stress as i had 90% of my assignments due on the 8th. got to contribute a piece for the critmas gallery, which was awesome. second half i spent exploring london, which meant i didn’t draw that much (but oh so worth it)

#artists on tumblr #art summary 2017 #art summary #dungeons and dragons #critical role #chicken scribble

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wrestling-and-such · 4 years

Text

My 10 Favourite Matches of 2019

Ok, so I was planning to release this days ago, but school caught up and now everyone is over 2019. But I’m still gonna finish this list anyway cause I said so. Shhhhh... let me have this...

So, I see a lot of people talking about the best wrestlers or best matches or best promotions of the 2010s. But I only just got back into wrestling in 2019, so I don’t feel as though I can talk about the entire decade. Instead, I decided to make a list of my favourite matches of just 2019. Now, these aren’t the BEST matches, these is my FAVOURITE matches, and thus subject to my own opinion. And obviously spoilers for each of the matches ahead. Got it? Good.

Honourable Mentions:

Grizzled Young Veterans vs Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) vs South Wales Subculture (NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff)

The Women’s Wargames Match (NXT TakeOver: Wargames (2019))

A-Kid vs Will Ospreay (Triple W Total Rumble 9)

Kenny Omega vs Jon Moxley (AEW All Out)

Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks (WWE Hell in a Cell (2019))

10: Jon Moxley vs Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW G1 Climax 2019 - Day 6 Jul 19th 2019)

I liked Dean Ambrose. I love Jon Moxley. So, what happens when you put one of the most legitimately badass wrestlers in the world today with perennial fellow badass, Tomohiro Ishii? A straight up brawl between two of the best brawlers in the business. Moxley was at his violent and unhinged finest, while also refining that brutality in a more serious and direct manner. We even got to see a more technical side of Moxley that we weren’t presented in WWE’s “sports entertainment” landscape. Also, ISHII DIVES OFF THE TOP ROPE THROUGH A TABLE, ISHII DOES NOT DO THAT GUYS, YOU JUST DO NOT SEE THAT, WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT. Ishii is one of those wrestlers in NJPW that I instantly connected with, and he worked his ass off in this match, and basically the entire G1 Climax. And with a match like this, I would like to see him in more. Amazing.

9: PAC vs Ben-K (Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival (2019))

So, Disclaimer; I do not watch Dragon Gate. I’m sure I should, but I don’t. That being said, I absolutely loved this match. From what I’m told, there was another match at Kobe World that might have been better than this one. But if I’m being honest, it would have to be REALLY great to top this one. Ben-K, through just one match, became one of my favourite wrestlers today. Dragon Gate is a promotion primarily made up of Junior Heavyweights, so it’s somewhat strange to see a wrestler like Ben-K among their mix, as he’s primarily a power and ground based wrestler. Nonetheless, his style was completely in-sync with the high flying PAC. PAC is a sadistic son of a b%&* throughout the match, as usual. However, when he lost he made sure he put Ben-K over HARD, even risking his stable’s own credibility to do so. If you want a great underdog and redemption story, this is definitely one to watch.

8: The Revival vs Undisputed Era (O'Reilly & Fish) (NXT Tapings: Nov. 20, 2019)

Anyone who’s seen this match will know where I’m coming from. A sleeper hit on the road to Survivor Series, everyone who recognized the abilities of those involved knew something big was going to happen. Despite, traditionally being Heels, The Revival were the de facto Babyfaces in this match, with the single goal of showing the world why they were so big in NXT. And they did, in a showcase of Tag team wrestling at its finest. Matched up with the technical excellence of the Undisputed Era, this match produced GOLD. Its all the fixings of a great Revival match: blind tags, fluid tag team moves, climactic hot tags. All topped off with a surprising chemistry with the almost always excellent Undisputed Era. I love you Revival. Now please go somewhere else to do your thing. I would like to see it.

7: Johnny Gargano vs Adam Cole (bay bay) (NXT TakeOver: New York)

This was the first NXT TakeOver show I had ever watched, as I had just missed the Phoenix show and hadn’t had the chance to watch it before the Wrestlemania weekend. That being said, what an introduction to TakeOvers this was. The entire New York card was probably my favourite WWE PPV of the year (save for one other NXT PPV mentioned) and this match was just delicious sugary icing on the cake. And I don’t even like icing that much. Johnny Gargano is by far one of the best Babyfaces in the world and draws sympathy like no other, most people recognize this. But what this match did differently than his other matches was introduce us to his uncanny ability to suspend you disbelief. And Adam Cole was an integral foil for Johnny, even if it was never planned, as I don’t think Tommaso could have gotten this out of Johnny as he was only one man. But when the rest of the Undisputed Era came out to assist Cole, Johnny took down all of them, and you believed it possible. It wasn’t a cop out like we see so many times on the main roster and its main event scene. It was genuine, heartfelt, underdog resilience that we hoped, we knew, and we saw pay off in the end.

6: WWE Championship Elimination Chamber Match (WWE Elimination Chamber (2019))

I know, I know, many people prefer Kofi Kingston’s Wrestlemania triumph over “The New” Daniel Bryan. However, for personal preference, I enjoyed Kofi’s Elimination Chamber Showcase just a little bit more. Essentially, this is where KofiMania started. Kofi was an incidental figure in the match due to Mustafa Ali getting injured, but he nonetheless seized his opportunity and put it all on the line for one of the greatest matches of his life. This isn’t to say that the other members of the match didn’t play their part either; Daniel Bryan may have been more conniving than ever before, Samoa Joe was a literal machine during his time in the match, Jeff Hardy was at his high flying best, AJ Styles put his technical excellence on display once again, and Randy Orton actually felt threatening for once! However, this was Kofi’s night, and this is where it all began.

5: Rhea Ripley vs Shayna Baszler (NXT Tapings: Dec. 18, 2019)

As of this writing, Shayna Baszler is basically headed to the main roster, so it was almost a shoe-in that Rhea Ripley would be walking out of 2019 as the new NXT Women’s Champion. However, the skill and strength of this match was making you forget about that and question whether or not Rhea could actually get the job done. But she did! And it was great! Shayna’s new style lends itself as both punishing to her victims but also rewarding to those who know what they’re up against. And for a while, Rhea was especially rewarded for her close understanding of Shayna and her ability to read her out, as seen in her previous match with her a few months earlier and the Women’s Wargames Match. But when that ability was hindered by Shayna when she finally managed to injure Rhea’s arm, you were left on the edge of your seat the entire match worrying about the outcome. And that’s what a match is supposed to do, even if the outcome is somewhat predictable. Even still, sometimes its best to just give fans what they want, and that’s exactly what they did.

4: Tomohiro Ishii vs Shingo Takagi (NJPW G1 Climax 2019 - Day 16 Aug 8th 2019)

I showed this match to a friend who had never watched pro wrestling in his life and had no interest in it. I still showed him this match and he actually had a lot of fun watching it. When you take two big beefy bois and have them run into each other for about 22 minutes, you get this wonderful match. The story of this match is a classic case of one-upmanship, with the two men battering each other while no-selling each others moves throughout much of this match. This is also helped by the fact that these they look like they’re actually hitting each other in the face. One of the hardest hitting matches of the year, this was the Japanese Strong Style at some of its finest with how stiff the strikes were. That’s not to say there wasn’t much technical work in this match either. Nonetheless, I still feel as though this explanation doesn’t do this match justice. It’s still available online, so just go watch it yourself right now. Please.

3: Candice LeRae vs Io Shirai (NXT TakeOver: Toronto (2019))

I’m gonna be honest, this match is kind of helped by the fact that this took place in my home country of Canada. Don’t care, this was a phenomenal match either way. Context: Io Shirai had just turned heel, and Candice LeRae had just been dropped onto her head. Onto a chair. Being honest, she’s probably taken worse bumps on the indies, but still bad though! So Candice wants revenge, and she’s given this match at TakeOver. And it is wrestling at its finest. The story is so simple; one wrestler hurts another wrestler and the two have a match because of it. And it’s made all the better thanks to that match being great. That night in Toronto, LeRae even got more sympathy behind her than Johnny Gargano, who, as noted earlier, is a sympathy magnet. And Io proved herself a heel not through necessarily nefarious means (though there was some of that), but by simply being a fantastic technical wrestler, revived with a new heel persona. Made all the better by a resilient babyface opponent who Io literally had to choke out in order to put away. Candice LeRae is a tough f*&#ing cupcake, dammit.

2: Walter vs Tyler Bate (NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff)

Another contender for one of the world’s best babyfaces, big strong boi Tyler Bate helped put on my favourite match at my favourite WWE PPV of the year, the ever so underrated NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff. Walter is one of my favourite wrestlers, and I’m saying that as a guy who probably likes spots a bit too much. His old school catch wrestling style stands out amongst his contemporaries, and know one understands the fundamentals better than him. But what really stood out in this match was actually when he was on the back foot, selling for Tyler in a way that suspended your disbelief. And when Tyler managed to actually LIFT Walter up you really felt as if this David would conquer his Goliath. And when he didn’t you felt genuinely heartbroken, but not cheated. And that’s the important distinction. Thank you boys.

1: Cody vs Dustin Rhodes (AEW Double or Nothing)

Ok, you guys knew this was gonna be here. It’s on most people's lists, but nonetheless, I just loved this match a lot. Even as a kid, I remember not thinking much of Cody Rhodes. Goldust was neat, if a little weird for me as a kid. Like many people, I expected this match to be good and very emotional, but not great. Then it happened, and I was blown away. The buckets of blood, sweat, and tears spilled in this match would in theory be enough to turn some more squeamish eyes away, but it was so powerful that I’m not sure that too many people could actually take their eyes off it. Dustin was there to prove that, even after all these years, this old gunslinger’s still got it, with a technical smoothness to rival even the younger guys on the AEW roster. Meanwhile, Cody proved a dastardly but nonetheless sympathetic, nay empathetic, heelish wrestler who was tortured by his own actions in trying to put down his older brother. Nothing I say could truly capture the beauty of this match, but the sheer fact that I found it beautiful is a large reason why I’ll continue to watch wrestling for a long time to come.

#wwe #nxt #njpw #wrestling

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captainrandomobsessions · 4 years

Text

Decade Recap at 5am Because Why the Fuck Not?

Ladies and gentlemen! It's a new year and a new decade! A lot of unexpected things happened in the last decade, some good, some bad. Everyone else is doing it and I'm feeling strangely confident. So let's do a quick wrap-up yeah?

2009: I was 9. I don't remember much but I was in the 4th grade.

2010: I was 10, in the fifth grade. Went to the Georgia Aquarium for the first time. We left at 6am, rode the bus for a while, explored, and came back by 4pm. My mom was there, but not my dad

2011: 6th grade! Boo-yah! I started middle school. I'm a total introvert and this was back when I read books religiously (the books I was allowed to read at least XD). Me being me, I didn't talk to people much, save for my BFF from childhood. My teachers got concerned and let me leave my class's table to sit with them. It was fun. I also started playing the flute.

2012: 7th grade was...interesting. It was the first time I hated my teachers, first time I was so mad at another student that I wanted to kill him (I had full details in my head). I had a History teacher who was great, and it was his class that I looked forward too. Also, I discovered fanfiction via a friend in the band. It was an X-Men Evolution fic that literally started with the line "It was a dark and stormy night." I joined my first two fandoms (X-Men Evolution, Lost Boys). Also, I slammed my face into a concrete floor, but I was okay.

2013: The start of mental issues I guess you could say. The first time I didn't feel good enough, the first time I wanted to die. At some point, mom made my brother and I go to a therapist but they both eventually moved away and we couldn't afford to follow them. My mom also went to a therapist but had to eventually stop going to that too.

2014: Went to Washington, D.C. in the 8th grade. It made me realize that History is fucking dope. Met my BFF, and she's the most adorable hoomun ever! Then we went to high school in August of that year, and it was nice to have friends and experience new things with the marching band. Low-key became interested in theatre, but the theatre club died that year. Also, my parents had just been divorced. Also, I'm starting to realize that girls are hot, but also internally freaked out every single time I thought about any female even remotely romantically.

2015: When I turned 15...nothing much happened... Well, there was that one time! *sly music reference is sly*

2016: I turn sixteen. All my friends had their licenses but I had just gotten my permit. Pretty sure it was one of the first times I realized that we weren't the most well-off family. My mom's health plummeted, but she's a very stubborn lady and I love her for that.

2017: In 11th grade, I got suspended out of necessity and there was a lot of crying. There was actually a shit ton of tears that year. Like, a lot of tears. I realized I was a perfectionist, and it was getting to be a problem. My brain's fucked at this point. In senior year, we finally had a theatre class/club and I was actually voted vice president. I got to be in two show that year, and it was fucking awesome! Low-key realized that the world's fucked up though. I'm still finding girls hot and my friend literally sat me down and was like. "Do you like boys? Do you like girls? You're bi." and I still was like 'my mom says bi people are confused. I'm just confused.' *Storytime: We had this girl in theatre class who was the whole package. She could sing, act, she was fucking beautiful, had her Broadway dreams set out. She was fucking awesome. So, I'm sitting with her and another friend during a break and she's talking about Broadway and somehow, it comes up about casting stuff. My friend looks at me and I look at him and it goes like this (F = Friend, B = other girl, we nicknamed her Broadway) Me: You're going to do amazing when you get to New York. I wouldn't make it. B: What? You'll so good! Me: Thanks, but I'm black and fluffy, so I wouldn't get any parts. B: I'm sure you'd get cast. F: Nah, she's right. And I'm the same way. I'm pale as fuck and trans. So they wouldn't want to give me boy parts or girl parts. (He really fucking amazing though, he played two parts in our first show) B: *is a little upset but knew we were right* *is suddenly very optimistic* Well, things are changing! I'm sure you both will be great!

2018: I finally graduate high school with a 4.3 GPA. I go off to college. I was slapped in the face by culture shock and literally on my first day, I had to learn my opinions don't have to match my mom's. I'm still freaking out that girls are hot and I was like 'if I marry a man, it'll all be fixed'. Even then, I knew that wasn't the case. I start going to the guidance counselor who officially unofficially diagnosed me with anxiety. I stop writing, freaking out after receiving a critique on my fanfic. A critique I asked for, so I'm literally freaking out over nothing. College managed to be both hell on earth and awesome. I decided to step back from the acting part of Theatre, and I work in the management shop (we do the front of house and publicity stuff).

2019: A lot happened. Like, a lot. Jul: The church lady that adopted me and my brother as her grandchildren died. It was...tough. She and her husband came to our band concerts, my plays in high school, etc Aug: I almost didn't go back to college. My mom's still ill and I wanted to stay home. My grandma low-key agreed. But my mom, who hadn't finished college, was like 'hell no, you’re going back to school. We afforded it last year, we'll afford it this year'. So I went back to school. I also auditioned for a show. I auditioned with Hamilton's dying monologue, promptly fainted, got up, and had a panic attack. Not the most fun, but I got a fucking part! *happy dance* I also told my friend I had feelings for her and I felt amazing after, having finally told a girl I like her. Oct: We did the show! My dad liked it and my mom hated it ^^" It was a show with some heavy-handed sexual overtones and some dancing and mild bit of fake alcohol drinking. Nov: I told someone I was bi and I was like: 'Omigod, I just told someone I'm bi. So happy!' I'm also slowly getting back into writing. it's the posting part I'm freaking out about.

Thanks for reading my gibberish, if you got this far XD Happy New Year!

#tired #decade #happy new year #happy new decade #Are you reading these tags rn?#I'm still into Hetalia in 2020 #I am trash #I am the best trash though #I should sleep #hahahahahaha #might delete later #lmao

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