Indulge in luxury with these exquisite gold tone boho earrings. Crafted for jewelry connoisseurs, these rare earrings are a must-buy for women who appreciate fine craftsmanship. Their unparalleled beauty and attention to detail make them a standout piece. Treat yourself to the best earrings that will elevate your style to new heights. Buy Now: https://oceanofcreativity.com/shop/59/humble-chic-simulated-druzy-dangle-earrings-for-women-gold-silver-or-rose-gold-tone-boho-earrings-for-women/

Stand out from the crowd with these glamorous gold tone boho earrings. Designed for trendsetters, these adorable earrings are a must-have for women who love to make a statement. Their beautiful craftsmanship and attention to detail make them a rare find. Embrace your individuality and express your style with these must-buy earrings. Buy Now: https://oceanofcreativity.com/shop/59/humble-chic-simulated-druzy-dangle-earrings-for-women-gold-silver-or-rose-gold-tone-boho-earrings-for-women/

Elevate your elegance with these elegant gold tone boho earrings. Designed for women who are passionate about jewelry, these stylish earrings are a perfect addition to your collection. Their exquisite design and high-quality materials make them the best choice for any fashion-forward woman. Discover the perfect pair of earrings that reflect your unique style. Buy Now: https://oceanofcreativity.com/shop/59/humble-chic-simulated-druzy-dangle-earrings-for-women-gold-silver-or-rose-gold-tone-boho-earrings-for-women/

Embrace your inner fashionista with these captivating gold tone boho earrings. These cute earrings are a must-buy for women who love jewelry. With their trendy and eye-catching design, they are the perfect accessory to complement your style. Get inspired and stay ahead of the fashion game with these must-have earrings. Buy Now: https://oceanofcreativity.com/shop/59/humble-chic-simulated-druzy-dangle-earrings-for-women-gold-silver-or-rose-gold-tone-boho-earrings-for-women/

Make a statement with these enchanting gold tone boho earrings. Specially crafted for women and teenage girls, these lovely earrings exude elegance and charm. Their unique design and beautiful craftsmanship make them a rare find. Enhance your jewelry collection with these adorable earrings that are perfect for any occasion. Buy Now: https://oceanofcreativity.com/shop/59/humble-chic-simulated-druzy-dangle-earrings-for-women-gold-silver-or-rose-gold-tone-boho-earrings-for-women/

Elevate your style with these charming gold tone boho earrings. Designed for women and girls, these fashionable earrings add a touch of glamour to any outfit. Perfect for daily wear or special occasions, these earrings are a must-have for jewelry lovers. Get inspired by the latest fashion trends and treat yourself to these trendy and stylish earrings. Buy Now: https://oceanofcreativity.com/shop/59/humble-chic-simulated-druzy-dangle-earrings-for-women-gold-silver-or-rose-gold-tone-boho-earrings-for-women/

So, I sent an initial batch of queries and received my first reply (a rejection), not sure if it was a form rejection, but basically, the agent gave a polite no and said that my query needed to be more clear on plot points and obstacles and character(s) attempts to reach them.
​
After mulling for a day, I rewrote my query (not sure if it's allowed to post the two queries here at the same time for comparison under one post?), but I'd really appreciate feedback on this updated version. I've also included the first 300 words. Guys, I've no clue what I'm doing, except maybe panicking and having a mini-meltdown over one rejection. Please help. And thank you.
​
Dear —,
I’m seeking representation for my 86,000-word adult gothic mystery, AND SOMETHING WICKED CAME THIS WAY, which unfolds from a dual point of view against the backdrop of contemporary Los Angeles. It may appeal to readers who enjoyed the creeping atmosphere and exploration of grief and love found in OUR WIVES UNDER THE SEA, as well as the sprinkle of paranormal elements and romance reminiscent of THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT by Simone St. James.
​
After a night of social games goes horribly wrong, Helen’s best friend ends up dead in an abandoned warehouse. Cause of death? Inconclusive. The participants of the game build a wall of silence surrounding the murky circumstances, urging Helen to just drop it. So, she decides to ask the dead girl what happened. But when Helen raises Gabriella’s ghost, she refuses to talk, and it’s a living and breathing boy Zack who shows up at the same warehouse — the artist Gabriella posed for before her death. To find answers, Helen must face her crippling social anxiety, and risk tearing apart her remaining friendships the game tested to their breaking point.
Zack hustled shitty jobs and tackled homelessness for years before making it in art. Running into Helen brings back a promise he made to Gabriella: find her friend and give her Gabriella’s journal, she deserves to know the truth about what Gabriella did to win a game the two were playing. But Zack is afraid the contents might also bring back the past that haunts him, wrecking a career he worked hard for, and landing him in serious legal trouble. And worse yet, he might have to admit he is not who he claims to be, to the curious girl he’s almost unnaturally drawn to.
​
I live in Finland by the Baltic Sea with my husband and our little dog. When I’m not working at a paint shop for a car factory, I’m elbows deep into writing my second novel, and maybe starting a few WIPs with more wickedness. I was born here in Finland but lived in the US for a while, and I'd say the dark and moody forests of New England (and of course, Finland) and the lush streets of Los Angeles have had a long-lasting impact on my writing as most of my stories involve one or the other.
​
The first 300 words (a prologue):
​
An industrial warehouse jutted out of the horizon, its jagged silhouette dimming an iridescent sky and drowning out the last rays of dying light. I hurried towards the abandoned building as its shadows cascaded down onto the streets, clutching a heart-shaped locket in the palm of my hand and a clamshell phone in the other. A gust of wind rustled the silver sequins of my dress, tugging on the hem as if whispering to hurry — I was so close now to discovering the truth about Gabriella’s death. I checked the time: 8:45 pm. The raps of my heels echoed throughout the night as I picked up my pace, reaching a lone door tucked away in a side alley.
Street lamps winked on and off as if little pock-bellied moons suspended in the air by an invisible string, confused whether the show was about to start or end. The yellow, blinking lights gleamed off the dirty windows of the concrete complex. I held up my phone and snapped a picture of the reflected image. Stage makeup morphed my features into that of a dead thing, a dead girl: two black holes for eyes, overdrawn white lips with a crooked smile, and frayed hair gathered in double buns like empty nests of a bird. A corsage of fabric orchids crawled around my neck; a noose tightening. The silver dress shone like a lure in the water. A blazing white flare obscured the photo as if I had become the Moon itself — a blind spot hiding the real picture underneath.
I cradled the locket until its imprint was etched on my skin, feeling the grooves and scratches of the soft metal. My thumb settled into a dent in the center of the good luck charm.

While reading the comic for the first time, I was struck by Chapter 11. Specifically, when the fight breaks out between the two women - former lovers - on the street where the newsvendor Bernard sells his paper.
Tensions between the various people who meet on the street that night: Bernard, the indifferent boy who buys comics from him (also Bernard), Gloria, her estranged husband Dr Malcom, the onlookers, the police nearby - all of it is forgotten as they all rush to stop the violence, even as total annihilation looms over their heads.
This is sandwiched between snippets of Ozymandias' villain monologue - because that's what it is - detaling the origin and logic behind his master plan, and how he believes it will "stop the fighting". He has been preparing for this moment for years, alone, from his high tower. He defined himself and relationship with others by intelligence and distanced himself from childhood. Since his parents' deaths, it only got worse, and now he is so far removed from humanity that he may well have been on Mars all this time. May well have been from Mars. He had to do it alone, to become a legend like the kings and pharaohs he idolised, because he related more to dead tyrants than people like Bernard.
It never even occured to him to consult with his fellow costumed adventurers. It had to be all him. He had to be the only one taking the credit, even if he would be the only one who knew he had saved the world. It was like the ultimate validation of his genius, of himself. He is the worst traits of Rorschach, Dan and Laurie combined: unyielding, a slave to nostalgia, desperate for purpose. All to the ultimate detriment of humanity.
Back on the ground, Dr Malcolm, about to intervene in the fight, tells his wife: "In a world like this...I mean, it's all we can do, try to help each other. It's all that means anything."
It was only possible to discover Ozymandias's plan by the other main characters working together. Rorschach, Silver Spectre II, Nite Owl II, none of them would have discovered the truth had they not communicated and collaborated in some form. Doctor Manhattan had the power all along, but not the will. The learned helplessness of his former human life bled into his super one, and resulted in his struggle to retain any aspects of that life weak at best. He needed Laurie to change his mind. He couldn't do it himself. But while he lacked control, he still evidently learned for the connections he lost and it was thanks to that that he saw anything worthwhile in preserving humanity at all.
Rorschach, for as cripplingly isolated as he is, still makes the effort to contact others in his circle and involve them in what's going on, whether they want him to or not (and it's mostly not). He's the first one to do so. I got the impression, particularly during Rorschach and Dan's teamup, was that in spite of everything, there is a part of Rorschach that genuinely desired a positive connection with others, most exemplified by his interactions with Dan. When Dan snaps and calls Rorschach out for his unreasonable behavior, instead of getting angry or leaving, Rorschach apologies and it's such a genuine human moment for the both of them. Rorschach is cynical, angry and traumatised, but he still keeps living because trying to help others, and the world has meaning to him. It has to.
Dan and Laurie are both very lonely people when we first meet them. Isolated from their former comrades, estranged from family and lacking a circle of friends, they feel adrift and hopeless. Dan in particular clings to the past because that was when he was most happy. Back then, he was part of a team, a community, fighting for a united goal.
As partners, Dan and Laurie have the healthiest communication of the cast. They express and explain their feelings to one another and help one another. Laurie gives Dan the boost he needs to get back in the suit and feel good about himself, and Dan reciprocates her emotional support. Sure, their desire to help others is second to their own fulfilment, but when they see trouble they go and help. They may still be helpless against nuclear apocolypse, but so is literally everyone besides the fools bringing it about and Doctor Manhattan. Still, they are content with being happy and helping others to be so if they have the power. They realise their human limitations and do not overstep their bounds - like certain other people. Their community is small, but sturdy, and they are finally connected to others in a way that fulfils them.
Bernard, the newspaper vendor, bemoans the hostility with which people treat each other in bad times, and reaches out, for the first time, to the boy who buys comics from him, and finally gets his name. All this time they've been together, and Bernard finally finds out the boy's name is actually the same as his. Though it's a brief moment, and the boy is indifferent, it means the world to Bernard and as disaster strikes, he uses the last moment of his life to try and protect the boy.
All this, to me, this highlights just how meaningful and necessary community is in the world of Watchmen, and how damaging a lack of it is on individuals and the world in the story. Because it took too long for people to come together nobody was able to save anyone, not even Ozymandias (although he would like to think so). Everyone spent too long apart, in bitterness and indifference.
Apologies if this ramble is a mess, I'm not very good with sorting out my thoughts.

New to making silver jewelry and am looking for advice about texturing the dome side of my dead-soft sterling silver #3 low-dome wire without altering the wire's overall domed shape. I'm thinking of using a small ball peen hammer's peen side to do the texturing.

At a very young age I began experimenting w/ paint and makeup. Tried a variety of things like the US jungle war paint camouflage and what I know now to be black face... but at the time I was trying to look like a raisin.
It wasn’t until I saw my balls hanging their, the bathroom window open wide letting in the blazing summer heat, did I get the idea to dip them in paint. They were truly descended so I got a real good dip. I decided amongst all my various colors that I would chrome these puppies. And so I did. I chromed my balls. And that would be a biweekly practice for a long time. I recall the first hiccup in my day to day when I went for a checkup. The color was part of me, I didn’t think it about really. That is right up until the moment my doctor asked me to drop my drawers. He saw the fear in my eyes. Patted me on the back and said son I've seen everything, every STD there is. Don’t be ashamed. And so we proceeded in this cat and mouse game. And so he uncovered my grand silver balls.
The intense high fluorescent lights made my balls shine. Shine so bright my Doc what temporarily blinded. But as he readjusted his vision I could see his eyes were now seeing them in their true form. My stomach had one thousand retarded butterflies abuzz, my teeth grit. He didn’t say a word which made it worse. He then backed up and proceeded to loosen his belt. What I saw next was extremely affirming and validating. He drew out his balls but they were not chrome but bronze!
"Pretty cool right? Yeah, at your age I was rocking silver but I've been brown maxing ever since my mid life crisis when I got on TRT."
To be frank, I was Jealous. And as i ruminated on that very feeling a nurse busted through the door without knocking, throwing protocol to the wind. She stood mouth agape, frozen in her stance as she was in the presence of two males with shining Jewels. I was extremely embarrassed I women was seeing my balls. The fact she was hot made it all worse. But without a word she whipped out her own balls... fucking Emerald green. Wtf. Getting shown up twice in one day? Does a 13 y/o need this competition, a 13 y/o with chromed out balls is lacking the confidence. I could see the Dr. pissed as hers outshined his Jewish balls by miles.
I stood and took a grab of her sack, I expected it too come off, I thought they were like clip on earrings or something. I was ignorant back then, I didn’t know women could have testicles. I mean the first 10 years of my life I assumed women had balls but my world view was rocked upon learning we got different stuff. So I was extremely confused when she had them when I was told that was 100& not the case. Why did mommy lie? Anyway, my tug on her emeralds didn’t go as planned. She unleashed a low howl of pain like you'd hear from a rhino getting shot with a 10 gauge shotgun.
​
My hands were frozen there. Up until I felt the doctors hand rap around mine,
"Pull Boy, pull'
And so i did. We did. We began to synchronize by orating "heave' and "ho." A good few heaves and hoes latter they came off.
She laughed about it with us as we looked inside the sack. A bunch of sperms crawled out except they were far from microscopic, each the size of a small dog. And all with 4 feet. We began to play with them. They were feisty and acted like a dog who hadn’t been played with for years. But than a black guy came in and started stomping on all are cool little creatures and I screamed.
"You wanna outbreak or something? Those mofos multiply and they only get bigga my *igga."
I sighed a sigh which sounded like a sigh you would sigh when put at great ease.
Nurse began to scream as shock wore off and pain set in. And than she was pissed as she realized she'd have to get those balls put back again or her girlfriend would bitch. I assumed she could just grow them back. I said that and it was as if a lightbulb went off above her head.
"Ya'know, I've never tried that. I could demand my Ovaries to descend. Her face squinted up as she pushed real hard, she had that focused look one has when trying to shit a really big shit. It didn’t work. She than manually went to work... put her gloved hand elbow deep and grabbed them and brought them right out... they were rainbow colored. The coolest of cool. All 3 of us fell before her presence as she had the grandest balls. She demanded we donate our balls to those young kids in need and so we did. It was only fair. Why do you deserve your balls more than some other kid suffering? Seriously. And you also get plus sides! Less likely to cat call, more likely to do what you are told. This is how society could function flawlessly.
Oh, "we need balls to continue the human race?" Is that so? Wrong bigot. Women can use their bone marrow cells to get themselves pregnant all by themselves (even though a male scientist figured out how to do this, a cis-het white male too boot... but we know his gf was his muse so actually the Nobel Prize went to her. Same prize Obama got before he did what the prize was awarding.

​
https://preview.redd.it/wuzwnrsmfz4b1.jpg?width=660&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16d7424087c5edca7df4dd1f198a37158f95974e
Today we will do things veeeryyy different than during the main character study of Gorou Amamiya or Aqua Hoshino but I assure you it won't be less interesting. It was by pure accident that I stumbled over an old book I haven't touched for a long time, a book that goes by the title "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. It's from the late 19th century.
The story revolves around the rich and handsome Dorian Gray and a portrait of him painted by Basil Hallward, a friend of Dorian's and an artist infatuated with Dorian's beauty. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton and is soon enthralled by the aristocrat's cynical hedonistic worldview: that beauty and ruthless self-centered sensual fulfillment are the only things worth pursuing in life while ethics and morals are the natural enemy to this philosophy. Newly understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted by some supernatural force and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied amoral experiences while staying young and beautiful; all the while, his portrait ages and visually records every one of Dorian's sins in grotesque expressions.
​
Now what I discovered during my excursion of a book that I actually didn't really enjoy at all to be quite frank, were similarities in both conception but also psychological realities for both Gorou/Aqua and his father Hikaru Kamiki. From time to time his monologues would sound like commentary to understand what is going on in Hikaru's mind, while the mystic circumstances of Dorian Gray's picture and his eternal youth have strong links between Aqua and Hikaru who indeed are lookalikes. Aqua by that is Hikaru's portrait which will age and visually record every of Hikaru's sins while Hikaru pursues a libertine life of varied amoral experiences while staying young and beautiful. It all culminates to Aqua's movie role of the culprit in which Aqua will be the living proof of Hikaru's sinful life and eventually lead to his downfall. This is also Dorian's fate with his potrait.
I know, this sounds so unbelievably far stretched but believe me I'm thrilled about the actual similarities and the integretiy of the psychological templates that found their way into Oshi No Ko. I firmly believe it's not accidental. And since I enjoy ONK but not so much Oscar Wilde's novel I'm glad those in itself truely interesting psychological types found their way into Aka's work.
​
​
​
AQUA HOSHINO AKA DORIAN GRAY
​
Trivia:

• In Greek the name Dorian means "child of the sea" or "gift of the sea". The name aquamarine comes from aqua (Latin for 'water'), and marine, deriving from marina (Latin for 'of the sea')
• Dorian is described to have gold hair, blue eyes (and rose-red lip)

​
1.
In Chapter III of the book we get to hear about Dorian Gray's tragic family background and this is already the first strong indication that 1. the similarities are real 2. what we discovered about Gorou's grandfather / family background could have been more right than wrong.
Now, the story behind the birth of Dorian is slightly so different then Gorou's but the general notion in a short poetic summary within the novel sounds pretty familiar:

"So that was the story of Dorian Gray’s parentage. Crudely as it had been told to him, it had yet stirred him by its suggestion of a strange, almost modern romance. A beautiful woman risking everything for a mad passion. A few wild weeks of happiness cut short by a hideous, treacherous crime [NOTE: HER FATHER, DORIAN'S GRANDFATHER KILLs HER LOVER, DORIAN'S FATHER]. Months of voiceless agony, and then a child born in pain. The mother snatched away by death, the boy left to solitude and the tyranny of an old and loveless man [NOTE: HIS GRANDFATHER]. Yes; it was an interesting background. It posed the lad, made him more perfect, as it were. Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic. Worlds had to be in travail, that the meanest flower might blow.... " (Chapter III)

Isn't this interesting? And there is another very cool symbol. Dorian - after he witnessed the first changed in his potrait - had to hide the picture in a diferent room of his mansion where nobody could find it and witness "his soul" which is captivated in that portrait that gets uglier and uglier with each day of his sinful life. About that room:

"He had not entered the place for more than four years—not, indeed, since he had used it first as a play-room when he was a child, and then as a study when he grew somewhat older. It was a large, well-proportioned room, which had been specially built by the last Lord Kelso for the use of the little grandson whom, for his strange likeness to his mother, and also for other reasons, he had always hated and desired to keep at a distance." (Chapter X)

So we have: A drama between mother and father, child born in pain, mother dies after giving birth, boy left to soltitude and tyranny of his grandfather who hates him for physical likeness to his mother (in PART II we wrote: Gorou would remind his grandfather every day of his own failure and guilt for losing his daughter), always hated his grandson. This is just literally everything we found out in PART II of our character study!
And the man with this background gets reincarnated in the body of a human being which looks exactly like his father Kamiki, thus is his "portrait" or "The Picture of Hikaru Kamiki"! But this portray inherited Gorou's trauma which is expressed by the symbol that the portray lives in the "trauma room" which had been specially built by his grandfather.
Also the metaphor's of "play-room when he was a child and then as a study when he grew somewhat older" goes hand in hand with what we figured out in the "THE RIGHT TO DREAM" essay about how Gorou's childhood-trauma and the guilt-complex provoked through his grandfather's abuse induced him to study medicine instead of striving for his own dreams as a result of him living in this "study trauma room".
Additionally "He had not entered the place for more than four years" - like Aqua who hasn't entered his trauma room for 4-5 years after reincarnation until Ai was murdered in front of his eyes! This reenactment placed him back into this room of guilt.
​
2.
Another interesting story revolves around Dorian's first love with the actress Sibyl Vane. While we can look at this "Arc" from the perspective of Dorian as represented by Hikaru and Sibyl represented by Ai - and we certainly will because actually looking at Dorian as the representation of Hikaru will be even more intereting then the things we have to say about Aqua right now - we can also look at it from the perspective of Aqua and Ai/Akane, which we'll do now.
Dorian loves theater and one night his curiosity leads him into a shappy filthy working-class theater, one with lousy actors and a lousy orchestra. It's essentially the last place a delicate creature would expect greatness. However there at a performance of Shakespears "Romeo and Juliett" he witnesses Sibyl playing and falls for "her" instantly.
​

"But Juliet! Harry, imagine a girl, hardly seventeen years of age, with a little, flowerlike face, a small Greek head with plaited coils of dark-brown hair, eyes that were violet wells of passion, lips that were like the petals of a rose. She was the loveliest thing I had ever seen in my life. You said to me once that pathos left you unmoved, but that beauty, mere beauty, could fill your eyes with tears. I tell you, Harry, I could hardly see this girl for the mist of tears that came across me. And her voice—I never heard such a voice. It was very low at first, with deep mellow notes that seemed to fall singly upon one’s ear. Then it became a little louder, and sounded like a flute or a distant hautboy. In the garden-scene it had all the tremulous ecstasy that one hears just before dawn when nightingales are singing. There were moments, later on, when it had the wild passion of violins. You know how a voice can stir one. [...] Harry, I do love her. She is everything to me in life. Night after night I go to see her play. One evening she is Rosalind, and the next evening she is Imogen. I have seen her die in the gloom of an Italian tomb, sucking the poison from her lover’s lips. [...] I have seen her in every age and in every costume."

​
Aqua's similar rememberance of Ai in a sigfnificantly less pathos drivin manner.
Sibyl Vane is Dorian's ultimate ido. She can perform any of Dorian's romantic ideal heroines from the most captivating drama's written, in utter artistic perfection. He is "her" ultimate fan:
​

"Lips that Shakespeare taught to speak have whispered their secret in my ear. I have had the arms of Rosalind around me, and kissed Juliet on the mouth.”
“Well, I can’t help going to see Sibyl play,” he cried, “even if it is only for a single act. I get hungry for her presence; and when I think of the wonderful soul that is hidden away in that little ivory body, I am filled with awe.”
“You can dine with me tonight, Dorian, can’t you?”
He shook his head. “Tonight she is Imogen,” he answered, “and tomorrow night she will be Juliet.”
“When is she Sibyl Vane?”
“Never.”
“I congratulate you.”
[...]
"My God, Harry, how I worship her!”
[...]
“Harry! Sibyl Vane is sacred!”

​
To put it into Kindaichi's words in ONK C97:

"You'll find people with those eyes ... once in a while. Deceptive eyes that have the power to make lies look like truths. It's the best quality for an actor"

The concept of great acting is basically reduced in the symbol of eyes for the sake of keeping the lore a little bit simpler in ONK, but essentially he just means that sometimes there are special actors who can just perform like if they are literally what they perform.
​
Dorian approaches and courts Sibyl, and soon proposes marriage. They love each other. Dorian invites Basil and Lord Henry to see Sibyl perform in Romeo and Juliet. Sibyl, too enamoured with Dorian to act, performs poorly - also to the anger of the theater audience which left early because of that-, which makes both Basil and Lord Henry think Dorian has fallen in love with Sibyl because of her beauty instead of her acting talent. Embarrassed, Dorian rejects Sibyl, telling her that acting was her beauty; without that, she no longer interests him. The heartbroken Sibyl eventually commits suicide on this very night.
Now, we find every element of that story in the history between Aqua and Akane but in a reversed construction. Akane joins LoveNow but because of her personality she fails her role in this reality tv setting. She gets rejected by the audience and the audience is even angry with her. Under that pressure she attempts suicide. However after she studied Aqua's ideal role she becomes of great interest for both him and the audience. This is essentially like Vane performing Juliett or Imogen or what not but with the difference that Aqua just loves one Idol: Ai. Structurally it is similar though and Aqua falls for her role. During LoveNow we have the same realization inside Aqua and Dorian, so the plot reverses back but without tragedy: Aqua rejects Akane as serious love interest between her real self and him, telling her that hei's only interesting in her as an actor, just like Dorian rejects Sibyl by telling her that acting was her only beauty.
Dorian to Harry:

"Ordinary women never appeal to one’s imagination. They are limited to their century. No glamour ever transfigures them. One knows their minds as easily as one knows their bonnets. One can always find them. There is no mystery in any of them. They ride in the park in the morning and chatter at tea-parties in the afternoon. They have their stereotyped smile and their fashionable manner. They are quite obvious. But an actress! How different an actress is! Harry! why didn’t you tell me that the only thing worth loving is an actress?"

Well, in a screwed way this is also applicable to Ryosuke's issue, who loved Ai for her role but hated her for her real self and eventually kills her for it, as her real self not only is different but essentially is in total opposition to her role as an idol. Dorian describes a similar screwed misogynistic view on women: The actress is mystery and the only thing worth to love, the ordinary woman is the absolute opposite of it, disappointing and unworthy to be loved.
​
3.
By the way the director of that working-class theater is described as a stereotypical jew and while I of course do not endorse antisemitism or racism it still is kinda funny that Kindaichi, the director of Lalalie Theater Company and Akane's boss is always depicted with a pretty unusual big and oddly shaped nose while the name Toshirou that means "quick, clever, sharp" and Toshirou's surname Kindaichi that means "gold/metal, money/cash, currency". Pretty stereotypical if you link it to Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray"...But the theater itself also has some working-class vibes to it, since it's implied that back then they opened workshop classes for orphans and probably generally troubled kids without real guardians. Addiotionally he gave Akane the smallest bouquet at the Japan Actor's Award with the explanation that theaters are financially not doing great. Well if it's a reflection of theaters in general, his theater in particular or his personal greed I can't tell. His name implies the latter and the cost of a bouquet surely doesn't ruin a theater. But probably it's still a general observation because theaters are indeed a dying genre.
Some quotes about the "Jew" in the novel:

"A hideous Jew, in the most amazing waistcoat I ever beheld in my life, was standing at the entrance, smoking a vile cigar. He had greasy ringlets, and an enormous diamond blazed in the centre of a soiled shirt. ‘Have a box, my Lord?’ he said, when he saw me, and he took off his hat with an air of gorgeous servility. There was something about him, Harry, that amused me. He was such a monster."

​

"On the first night I was at the theatre, the horrid old Jew came round to the box after the performance was over and offered to take me behind the scenes and introduce me to her. I was furious with him, and told him that Juliet had been dead for hundreds of years and that her body was lying in a marble tomb in Verona. I think, from his blank look of amazement, that he was under the impression that I had taken too much champagne, or something.”
“I am not surprised” replied Harry.

This is just a little odd observation, in the epilog we'll find a more cheerful representation of Kindaichi (well, cheerfulness is of course a limited ressource when it comes down to that man :))
​
4.
While most of the time the monologues and thought processes of Dorian mainly concern Dorian as the representative of Hikaru, we have here and there sober reflections on what his soul - which is trapped in the potray - would probably experience, thus what he would experience if he'd have his soul inside his own body. Thus we can read this at the same time as a comment on what is going on in Gorou's / Aqua's soul, which is quite interesting. In the following quote for example it's about the nightmare of having a phantom of your guilt following you everywhere you go, essentially a description of Aqua's delusional vision of Gorou who blames him for Ai's death:
​
https://preview.redd.it/vns5efrx505b1.jpg?width=1083&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a6ae6628023bb215a4e9ceb6ff08ce21013374eb
https://preview.redd.it/owuow261605b1.jpg?width=1083&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a54f4a6aa13610e04384407526573efc43fd8398

"And yet if it had been merely an illusion, how terrible it was to think that conscience could raise such fearful phantoms, and give them visible form, and make them move before one! What sort of life would his be if, day and night, shadows of his crime were to peer at him from silent corners, to mock him from secret places, to whisper in his ear as he sat at the feast, to wake him with icy fingers as he lay asleep! As the thought crept through his brain, he grew pale with terror, and the air seemed to him to have become suddenly colder. Oh! in what a wild hour of madness he had killed his friend! How ghastly the mere memory of the scene! He saw it all again. Each hideous detail came back to him with added horror. Out of the black cave of time, terrible and swathed in scarlet, rose the image of his sin. "

18 years after Sibyl's suicide her brother James Vane found out Dorian's identity and swore to kill him. He saw Vane lurking for him and panicked, feared for his life. But later he'd reflect that this must've been just a phantom. That's the story behind that quote in that novel. However he would calm after some days and think that he's out of danger.
​

It was not till the third day that he ventured to go out. There was something in the clear, pine-scented air of that winter morning that seemed to bring him back his joyousness and his ardour for life. But it was not merely the physical conditions of environment that had caused the change. His own nature had revolted against the excess of anguish that had sought to maim and mar the perfection of its calm. With subtle and finely wrought temperaments it is always so. Their strong passions must either bruise or bend. They either slay the man, or themselves die. Shallow sorrows and shallow loves live on. The loves and sorrows that are great are destroyed by their own plenitude. Besides, he had convinced himself that he had been the victim of a terror-stricken imagination, and looked back now on his fears with something of pity and not a little of contempt.

​
We ultimately experience a similar transformation in Aqua's temper after he learns about the apparent death of his father from Taiki. He was away all night (the "night" is a symbol here) but finally came back "in the clear, pine-scented air of that winter morning that seemed to bring him back his joyousness and his ardour for life" He steps to the window and gives Ruby an reliefed smile for the first time since Ai's death:
​
https://preview.redd.it/e0ezsvfp705b1.jpg?width=1083&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=97f0236ae0606e6e37654d96b6ed11b55068cfcc
https://preview.redd.it/kd421eyo705b1.jpg?width=1083&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60ffd4450b497632b36904ce7ba7b35d6727bf3b
​
It's not directly "winter" although Ruby's wearing a pyjama which indicate that it's also not summer, but the symbol contracts with the Takachiho arc which we can't spare for Aqua's transformation. What for Dorian was a mere material process of healing his tension and therefore would go away after 3 days of bedriddenness is for Aqua a inmaterial soul-process and he has to put a meaningful end to the phantom of Gorou in his head. And their stay in Takachiho surely appears to be in a winterly setting. This novel must've been of great inspiration for Aka and so he honors it by reimagination of the mental images Oscar Wilde created.
​

"Our father died long ago. There's no way left to avenge Ai. So what should I do? My... revenge..." (C 68)

​
Aqua is finally free and live normaly but when the news about Takachiho appeared he knew he has to somehow find his corpse so that he can "burry his phantom'" so to speak. The corpse of Gorou would be his symbolic proof that it's over, that he has nothing to fear anymore. Eventually Akane and Ruby find it.
​
\"Keep out\" meaning keep this rotten and grotesque thing out of his mind. It's over.
​
Correspondingly Dorian would soon after his "winter-morning" go on a hare shooting in some rural countryside (=Takachiho) where they would by accident shoot James Vane who still was following Dorian. James was finally dead and Dorian could finally close that chapter.
This is everything I could for now link to Aqua without talking about Hikaru's links to Dorian. So for now we have to stop the analysis and call it a day.
​
Epilog
So I hope I could convince you to look at ONK from this perspective. This is just the beginning though, the actually interesting part we will only tackle in the next essay Because I believe we can learn a lot of Hikaru's ideology through the character of Dorian, his hobbies, his views, his extreme hedonistic sensualism, perhaps even his relation to his portrait.... It actually concerns me: My very first essay on ONK like a month ago was a half serious schizo theory about Hikaru's involvement in the plot so far where I made the assumption that he probably constantly observes Aqua from far away for years but now - if we apply "The Picture of Dorian Gray" to his personality then this in fact is real.
Dorian would in fact over the years go into his secret room and look at his portrait with a weird for us the next time to explore interest and strange reflections. Maybe there is really more to it...
​
Lets end for now with a somewhat luckier characterization of Toshirou Kindaichi. Because he actually looks a lot like the author Oscar Wilde himself:
​
https://preview.redd.it/9xoj9ihah05b1.jpg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=781921c3c82f4fce235a14f8433fe906c904e064
And to quote Wilde - which could also be just Kindaichi's own words :

“All charming people are spoiled. It is the secret of their attraction.”

​
​
​
As always: Thanks for reading!
​
​
****
​
​

Looking to sell some records as I am running out of space. Someone should've told me that having 500+ records wasn't a great idea in a smaller home... :D
Shipping is $3 from Detroit, MI. Records are sealed unless noted otherwise below. Open to reasonable offers, as well. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for looking!
​
Anderson .Paak - Malibu - (orange with white splatter) - $25
Bad Brains - Bad Brains - (yellow and red lightning bolt) - $25 (slight seam split)
Chat Pile - This Dungeon Earth / Remove Your Skin Please - (clear with green and pink splatter) - $45
Chet Baker - Chet Baker Sings - (180g) - $13 (played once)
Curren$y & The Alchemist - Covert Coup - $50 sealed
Darkside - Psychic - (vmp; blue crystal ball) - $17 sealed
Darkside - Spiral- (glass) - $17 sealed
Daughters - Hell Songs - (brown transparent) - $30
Daughters - Canada Songs - (white) - $15
Escape the Fate - Dying Is Your Latest Fashion - (white opaque) - $40
Freddie Gibbs & Alchemist - Alfredo- (ttl; color-in-color) - $75
Fugazi - Instrument Soundtrack - $15
Harry Styles - Harry's House - $18
Idles - Crawler - (vmp; tan) - $25
Idles - Ultra Mono - (vmp; marbled) - $25
John Frusciante - Curtains - (red) - $65
Kids See Ghosts - Kids See Ghosts - $13 (played once)
Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile to the Surface - (marble grey) - $50
Moor Mother - Black Encyclopedia of The Air - (black and white explosion) - $18
Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork - $20 (played twice)
Sault - 7 - (clear) - $30
Sault - Untitled (Black Is) - (clear) - $23
Slift - Levitation Sessions - (clear with black and silver splatter) - $40
Squid - Bright Green Field - (ltd; red) - $21
Summer Walker - Over It - $18 (played twice)
Tyler, The Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost - (alternate cover) - $23
Westside Gunn - Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Sincerely Adolf - (frosted) - $85
Westside Gunn - Hitler Wears Hermes 8: Side B - (ltd; beer) $85
Women - Rarities 2007-2010 - $16

If Silver Wolf and Bronya were naked and covered in oil, who will win the twerk off?
Honestly deciding who “wins” here would be incredibly misleading for either of them. This is because of a few factors:
Silver Wolf would very likely know what twerking is, whether because she searched it on the web out of feisty curiosity or just boredom. Hell, I’m willing to believe she might have even tried doing it once or twice before, whenever Blade isn’t busy shitting himself in her living room and Kafka aint constantly Skype calling her whenever she finds a cute rock.
That being said however, Silver Wolf is a gamer through and through, and we all know that gamers are the least athletic, morbidly obese and lazier than a panda refusing to move a millimeter so its dick could fit inside another panda.
So, what does this have to do with Silver Wolf exactly? Well, as a gamer, she will naturally not enjoy physically exerting herself more than she absolutely needs to, and would rather just take things easy so to avoid tiring or sweating herself out. Which means that she likely doesn’t have much of any experience twerking even if she knows how to do it and practiced even a little. She simply would not enjoy it much and stops before she starts getting tired.
Now if we were to put this in a context where she is covered in extra virgin oil and has to twerk while naked and covered in it, she would probably not really try and would rather get it over with so she could go back to playing Terarria 6: RTX version. However, if there was a prize to be won; say a GeForce RTX 69420, then I believe Silver Wolf will actually take it seriously, like the true gamer that she is.
She will likely twerk harder than she has ever twerked before, resulting in the clap of her ass cheeks being louder than the noise my mother makes as she gets railed by Sushang's 12 inch suschlong. However, she will unfortunately find herself completely out if breath after the first ten claps and will likely collapse after the twelfth, due to her body being fueled purely by energy drinks and gamer juice. She likely won’t be able to feel her lower half for at least a few days, while she lays there unconscious and a face full of virgin oil.
Moving on to Bronya and well, do I really have to explain much if at all? But just to give this competition a fair trial, I will entertain the thought.
Bronya Rand is a princess, a fact that has been very thoroughly penetrated deep into our consciousness from the game's subliminal sissy hypnosis training, and so being a princess, it is very natural to assume that she likely won't have any education on such vulgar topics, let alone even knowing the definition of what "twerking" is.
Therefore, just from pure intellectual understanding alone, Bronya would lose badly. However, even if we were to give her the proper definition of "twerking" and show her all the proper ways of doing it, I sincerely doubt an Overworld princess whose only remotely sexual thing she ever experienced first hand was Seele's absurd clothing fashion and her 20 inch cock snugly hidden in her tight shorts, barely contained by the one singular button. That combined with a lack of practice, Bronya would simply not do well at all.
With all of this being said however, I shall at least make this as fair of a competition as I can.
By that, we shall assume that both parties were given proper instructions on how to properly twerk, and also a decent amount of time to practice it, say 1 to 2 nanoseconds. How would the two of them fare then?
Terrible. Absolutely terrible. Horrific even.
​
Watching these two trying to out-twerk the other one would be like watching two limp dicks trying to cum from smacking each other. It is the most wholly uninteresting thing ever.
Now, you may be thinking that it may not be that bad. I mean, these are still two women trying their absolute darnest to twerk right? Surely it must be entertaining to a degree at least.
No. No it is not.
Watching Bronya trying to twerk is like watching an 80 year old grandma learning that she could shake her hips for the first time. Those absolute massive flaps of pure fat juggling against the air like a pair of wet balloon bags. Not to mention the absolute cranky ass movements she will perform just trying to lower her hips, dear lord it would make you to shield your eyes from the horror. I would rather watch a mattress slowly kill itself through self-retardation than watching even a second longer of this shameful display of "twerking".
As for Silver Wolf...she admitedly would probably do a little better, but that is not saying much at all.
The girl would go for a maximum of 5 seconds before her petite body folds on itself like a black hole, resulting in a miserable display of face down, ass backwards as she permanently destroy all higher body movements. Like a hard string of spaghetti suddenly breaking in half through sheer force of will. All because she exerted more than 0,1 percent of energy, and her monster-cum energy drink filled blood veins could not handle all that pressure.
All you will be left with would just be two pitiful pile sack of meats on the ground, barely alive after just 10 seconds of intense labor. In other words, a truly sad representation of what this competition is all about.
And so, there will be no winners, for both parties will simply be too bad at it. I hope my very thorough explanation has helped to settle this debate once and for all, and everyone shall totally agree with my asesments and not a single person would have a different opinion.
Now if you will excuse me, I need to go back to sniffing Silver Wolf's stuffy armpits that she refuses to wash because she was too focused on gaming for the past month. No, you can not have any. Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk though.

Western-inspired design styles have had a striking return in recent years on the Indian fashion scene. The Indian market has embraced the spirit of the Wild West with open arms, sporting everything from fringed jackets to denim trousers. Among these intriguing fashion options, cowboy boots have attracted the eye of fashionable ladies all across the nation. In 2023, there have seen a significant increase to buy online boots for girls and women in India as classic boots as a stylish footwear option for ladies and girls. For fashion-forward people looking to make a statement, they have become a must-have item thanks to their distinctive fusion of rustic charm and contemporary appeal.

Western-inspired design styles have had a striking return in recent years on the Indian fashion scene. The Indian market has embraced the spirit of the Wild West with open arms, sporting everything from fringed jackets to denim trousers. Among these intriguing fashion options, cowboy boots have attracted the eye of fashionable ladies all across the nation. In 2023, there have seen a significant increase to buy online boots for girls and women in India as classic boots as a stylish footwear option for ladies and girls. For fashion-forward people looking to make a statement, they have become a must-have item thanks to their distinctive fusion of rustic charm and contemporary appeal.

I love dating people to simply put it, I love looking at a girl's eyes and kissing their lips, but I hate hook-up culture. It is not for me, but I feel like I am obligated to sleep with a girl to take things further, especially when it comes to dating outside of my race, I'm a charming guy by nature, so most of the time, the girls really want to take things back home, but after it, I just feel so emotionless and cold, like I lose a part of myself. And the thing is, if you refuse it, women act more differently and distant. It is like I am considered weird for not having sex with someone on the first date.
I love having sex but for me, it is much more, I can only really enjoy it when I have a connection with a girl or if we have known each other for quite a while. I'd rather just wank-off honestly, my body count is relatively getting higher, which I am not too worried about and it is not something that I am proud-of. Dating culture is what I love though, because it grants me the opportunity to get to know someone more, I always learn new skills and ideas about the world, because a lot of women like to talk about what is on their minds, aside from that the tension of infatuation is also what I love, and I really love kissing and holding hands with a girl that I am enamored with.
I might just be a different guy, but I don't think that hook-up culture is for me, I hope that dating culture distances itself with hook-up culture, sexual compatibility is important, but there are a lot more ways to see it like through verbal foreplay. Hooking-up feels more of like a chore for me, but sex with a girl that I really like just feels like I am on Cloud 9. And I feel like telling my friends about how I talked to an interesting and brilliant girl on a date is a million times better than telling them that I slept with the hottest girl ever.

I met the love of my life and that helped me stay sober. However I feel bad today.
I feel like she's going to stop wanting to see me after she gets to know me better.
My mood is bad today and I want to drink and feel better.
But I know if I drink today I'll drink tomorrow and drinking also makes me binge eat and gain weight and since I met this lady I been working out daily and eating healthy and getting in good shape!
I'm 34 and I've had horrible luck with women my whole life and I never got much opportunity to learn how to talk to and charm women so Ive had to learn from trial and error over the few chances I've been given.
So it's hard to think that it will work out this time when it literally never has before, but she does seem to like me a lot and we get along really well.
Chances are if she ends things with me I'll go back to daily drinking and depression, so at least for this pocket of time I will stay sober and try to sample what a happy life feels like.

Post originally from user JTT on RWI. Very good summary on why many of us choose to buy Gens or Reps (quite often discussed here):

"What reps do not offer:

1. High end, high complication watches / independents: You can't yet get (unless there is a whole segment I don't know about) high end complications and independents. If you want a Moser Perpetual Calendar, a Lange Triple split or Zeitwerk, FPJ resonance, a PP double split or minute repeater, MB&F double chrono or Perpetual Evo, Rollie Annual calendar... you just aren't getting them in the rep world. This is not something many are concerned about admittedly, but it is still a gap which won't be closed.
2. Sufficient Design variety: There isn't the range available to a purchaser in the rep world across price points. From low to medium to high end, mens, women's and children's watches. In the gen world there is just far more variety which fits all tastes, size and price-points. This is not the case in the rep world - majority (not all, of course) is Rolex, PP, AP. Which is fine, that satisfies most tastes I think but maybe not for a collector over the long term.
3. Material variety: Money no object you could wear a carbon-fibre 70g Hublot on the wrist one day (please don't - save yourself), followed by a platinum Daytona or white gold FPJ the next. You could wander around London, or NYC and Singapore on a weekend and have solid gold, silver, titanium, carbon, tantalum etc. on the wrist to enjoy. At high and low budgets you can have an enviable range of materials on your wrist.
4. Quality: Ish - if it is a mass produced Rolex etc. frankly a good stainless steel copy of a 116500, 124060, 126610LN etc. will get you 85-90% of the gen quality but that is for a few models and even with those there is always that 10-15% which is off - that extra accuracy, the likely longevity, that extra polish with finishing. That being said frankly AP and PP have been sitting on their hands with their entry-level models and the movements have not evolved for years, and years, and years. Go into an AP boutique and try on a 39 and change the date, ask about WR and note the power reserve and be very very confused.

That PP introduced the 6700G range as the 'modern' base Calatrava with an upgraded movement but it still has only 35-45 hours power reserve is comical when compared to the H.Moser & Cie base 3-hander movement or any Tudor BB ( I know its dress not sports, but its still 3-hander / 3 hander with date comp).

1. Niche, watches with history: Want a watch that has a story, that was on the wrist of a soldier, sailer or candlestick maker for thirty years. Want a watch only issued to military unit because it was your family unit, a dive school that your aunt and uncle attended, a graduating class of jet pilots that your best mate graduated from who since bought it, a certain employer. Nope. Not only do those not see the light of day for the most part - there isn't the financial incentive to reproduce.
   
2. Asset / Investment: There is more potential of upside if you buy right with gens but reps are as liquid when compared to a varied gen collection, just the values more likely lower. The most liquid gens will take approx 5 days from the point you would like to sell to having £ in the bank if you use a scale watch dealer (exceptions apply). Factor in insurance, servicing, buying the models you thought you wanted but don't, locking up cash and it's a more interesting story as a scale watch collector when you work across brands. Parking cash in a small physical asset that isn't going to materially depreciate is also valuable to some which is an often overlooked benefit too.
   

What reps do offer:

1. Accessibility (£ $): No two ways about it, medium-end watches are generally speaking overpriced, high-end almost always are, ultra-high end are crippling. A lot of the 'goal/grail/hype/cool' watches are far out of the range of most financially. Make no bones about it, in this authors opinion people should get a replica rather than put themselves in a precarious financial position and load themselves up with debt or financing. An 18 year old who buys a replica today, could buy a PP grand complication in 15 years having got that first foothold on this forum - buying when they can afford but enjoying the hobby for years before.

Look at JLC and the comical increase in pricing multiple times in the past 18 months, Lange and the 20-30% increase across the board the other month, Tudor (an accessible brand) and the 10% + increases staring to compound and raise eyebrows. Not great.
2. Accessibility (access): Can't get the damn things when you want, usually. Self explanatory - people know the Rolex challenges. Which to be honest, like others have mentioned vary across regions and stores and it's almost (is) unfair how easy these actually are for people connected properly who aren't always genuine collectors. For PP, Lange you will have to snake your purchases through the collection categories rather than go for what you want when you want if you want several (even if you are a noted collector). For MB&F, FPJ - better make your way into the F&F to get what you want, the lists go on. Even when you drop to the more accessible but hype like some from Baltic, Studio UnderDog, Christopher Ward, Tissot you can wait months. I've personally waited longer for some entry-level hype watches than 'in-demand' professionals / sports.

1. Try before you buy: Not too much more to say - try before you buy and I do this a lot. Not sure if you want a Submariner or Submariner Date then try them both delivered to your house in days. Don't like, sell them. Yes you can go into stores but that doesn't always work well for everyone - i) stores don't always have stock and when they do you won't spent much time with these watches ii) many are intimidated in these high end watch stores and are treated badly - 'don't have an appointment, bugger off please', iii) plenty of people aren't located close to watch stores. People getting pied off in stores is something I see so often and I don't like it, everyone has to start somewhere and not all people are as comfortable, have large spends and know the people who work in stores. Go to watch clubs you say... well some of these and the people in them - that's a whole different post.
   
2. Insurance, Servicing, Ancillary costs: These go up or down with scale but it is not nothing. Insurance can be low - often sitting at c.1% of watch value for something like a Sub is good, but this adds up. Independent servicing (not all - some are VERY good in this regard) or complication servicing takes time, £/$ and pain sometimes. Paying for safe deposit boxes, serviced or monitored alarms costs £ too.
   

Pay to play: Even top tier collectors for the v. high end brands will be required to buy watches you don't really want on the journey - or watches you want but too frequently (ironically). It's the price of entry and doesn't matter who you are. Can you get rid yes, but for the v.high end it's a small world and whilst you might get a shot across the bow on the first one you dump v.v. quickly as everyone knows it was a. stepping stone, twice and they will sink your battleship.

1. Loss: Lose a replica. Ok, don't care .. what's for dinner. Lose a gen, oh this is going to be fun - police, insurance, watch shops and registers etc.

6. Security: If we are talking well-known watches like sports PP, sports Rolex etc. then one has less concern in many locations and times with a replica. Obviously you don't want to flash either around in certain locations or at certain times but this is somewhat self explanatory. Also with reps you don't need to make sure you strictly adhering to insurance conditions / expectations ('oh did I put it in the safe' etc.). Side point, with reps your most frequent trip isn't to the bank and WAITING FOREVER every time for the box opening procedures."

JBL once referred to Randy Orton as the perfect sports entertainer, from head to toe. In the modern context, the prototype would be Roman Reigns. Look at the man - stunning, tall, jacked, college grad, legit athlete, a fireball of charisma, and the same blood as this little guy called The Rock. If anyone was destined for greatness, it was certainly Joe Anoa'i. The prophecy came true, and within 6 years of his professional wrestling debut, Roman was the WWE Champion, the pinnacle of wrestling. However, the fans didn't accept the charming Samoan, and for years he caused rifts within the various types of wrestling fans. In 2020, the tide finally turned, and years of frustration created The Tribal Chief. What if I told you that The Tribal Chief was the end-game all along ?
Upon his debut in FCW, a babyfaced Joe Anoa'i was known as Leakee, a goodie-two-shoes babyface proud of his Samoan heritage. He'd throw his right hand up in the air, in order to "collect the energy from the audience", and showed great potential, despite being extremely green. Leakee had some decent success in FCW, but it was clear a few pieces of the puzzle were missing. An impressive yet faceless babyface, a change was needed. Then, a new attitude shone through. Referring to himself as The Boss, Leakee was clad in a sharp suit, aviators, and a cocky attitude. Upon FCW's rebranding into NXT, Leakee's attitude remained, but two things were different - he was now known as Roman Reigns, The Thoroughbred. Reigns had grand desires, to be the leader of the industry and make a change. The businessman certainly was impressive and talked a big game, but his intentions were overly ambitious, if not delusional. For now.
Then, The Shield was born, a group of mercenaries focused on justice. Reigns was met with question marks from the fans, as his teammates already had reputations that proceeded them, while Reigns was seen as a random Samoan from the developmental brand. As a character, Roman remained largely the same - stoic, calm and cool, and it was almost like he let Dean and Seth get all the spotlight. Initially, Deano was presented as the centerpiece because of his talking abilities. Then, Seth Rollins was the focal point due to his chaotic style and role as the peacemaker. All the while, in and out of kayfabe, Roman was getting better and better, biding his time to be that leader he always wanted to be.
In early 2014, it finally happened - Roman Reigns was the focus of The Shield. In a not coincidental coincidence, the group turned face during this time and changed their entire modus operandi. With Roman as the source of leadership, The Shield finally stopped being Authority's lapdogs, stood up to Wyatt Family, and even defeated Evolution.. twice ! Kayfabe or not, Shield's most dominant and successful period happened during Roman's rule. Reigns did what he sought out to do, what he promised he would do 3 years ago - he proved himself as a leader. Problem was his leadership position didn't allow him to be a top guy, and the other problem was one of his brothers choosing money over brotherhood..
The Shield ended, and Roman's aspirations of being a conquering leader were put on hold. While still friendly with Dean, now he had to carve out his own path. For 5 years, Roman did, and the results were excellent, from a professional standpoint. From a personal standpoint, it couldn't have felt too good. See, Roman Reigns, even as a babyface, was never the most swell guy in the world. He'd be disrespectful, needlessly violent, somewhat childish, and certainly overexposed. From a kayfabe POV, his fellow babyfaces were likable and Roman was not. Out of kayfabe, Roman was perceived as a guy who got his foot in the door through nepotism, while others hustled for years and were still held down. Sure, the women and the children loved Roman, but unlike previous faces of the company, Roman just couldn't capture everyone. In that sense, he failed as a leader, as during his final few Shield months, every demographic liked Roman Reigns. Now, on his own, he was left to swim with the sharks, and while he did score a lot of kills, Roman was left scarred and exposed.
By 2020, Roman Reigns found out a lot about himself - he could dominate and conquer on his own, he could lead others successfully, but he couldn't lead the masses. He couldn't get a combination of love, fear, and respect, he was only able to get 1 out of 3 of those things throughout different points of his careers. He overcame leukemia, fought hard to fight back, and still.. nothing. No love, fear and respect from everyone, just overwhelming love, overwhelming respect, and prevalent.. pity. Pity for this monster, in every sense of the term, who could strike fear into others with merely a menacing stare. After everything he'd done and been through, Roman was now seen as an inspiration to many, but still a liability and nuisance to some. Point is - he still wasn't that leader he wanted to be. With COVID flipping the world on its head, a frustrated and scared Roman finally had enough. 10 years of anger, frustration, failure and setbacks finally came crashing.
The Tribal Chief is the guy a young Leakee talked about in FCW. The Tribal Chief is the guy The Thoroughbred said would take over the business back in NXT. The Tribal Chief is a guy who never would have been in The Shield, because he didn't need it. The Tribal Chief is a guy who'd never work under anyone, they work for him. The Tribal Chief is a guy who wouldn't stand in the ring, soaking in the boos and taking disrespect for defeating Undertaker and John Cena. The Tribal Chief is a guy who doesn't accept being compared to others or being called a second-rate version of. The Tribal Chief is not a guy who'd hesitate going in for the kill in his matches, or saying something that would offend someone. Every mistake that Roman Reigns made these past 10 years The Tribal Chief wouldn't do, he is finally that leader he talked about a decade ago. Problem is.. that leader has made a different mistake altogether - forgetting the first rule of The Shield. Family, brothers come before all.. and that mistake, a mistake that the old, average Roman Reigns would never make, is exactly what's going to end The Tribal Chief. Full circle once again.