#AN EXPANSION TEAM IS NEVER HAPPENING IN BOSTON

[anthrofreshtodeath]

On the one hand I… am a stodgy old lady when it comes to people who write about sports and get it wrong. I know that in the end it doesn’t really matter and I’m like one of three people who care. I accept this about myself. But on the other hand, like… you don’t have to. Especially if your writing makes you money. You don’t *have* to do it 😭

[grantmentis]

Women's Hockey Roundup: October

Woof, I fell off of these for a while. Blame baseball and college! Anyway, I'm going to just do what happened in women's hockey in October (and maybe the last few days of September) for all leagues. This is only confirmed news and games, so rumors are not included

If you're new, i recap the top stories from around club play women's hockey (so not collegiate) and try to give more detail on european women's hockey, since that's less reported on in north america :-) Feel free to add if i miss anything!

PWHL (USA/Canada)

The PWHL schedule has been released! We have a few TBD's in venues, most likely for playing select games in bigger venues or neutral sites. we do not currently have streaming/television info, so stay tuned for that. There will be a preseason, but not open to the public.

Training Camp Begins November 12, with preseason/mini camps The 19-22. New York's training camp roster is here. Boston's is here. Minnesota's is here. Montreal is here. Ottawa's is here. Toronto's is here.

Nov. 27: Deadline to finalize rosters of 23 players and 3 reserves

Abigail Boreen signed a three year deal with the Montréal Victoire. She played with the Minnesota Frost last year, including in the playoffs, as a reserve player.

Ronja Savolainen signed a three year deal with the Ottawa Charge. She played with Luleä most recently and is a star of the Finnish national team.

Sarah Lefort, most recently with Montréal Victoire, has announced her retirement

The PWHL has begun the process of expansion for 2025-2026, targeting two new cities

SDHL (Sweden)

Fanni Garát-Gasparics signs with Brynäs IF, though is still rehabbing the injury she sustained last year with the Ottawa Charge

Dutch national team legend Savine Wielenga signs with Leksands IF

Rookie Reece Hunt of Luleä is out for the season with a torn knee ligament

Frölunda general manager Kim Martin Hassons is extended to 2028, and head coach Erika Holst is extended to 2026. Frölunda has been massively successful thus far this year, currently in second place in the standings and coming off a big win against firs place Lulëa

While Luleä and Frölunda are at the top of the table, MoDo is making noise in third place, having won six of their last eight.

A couple key story lines: -> Finish National Team forward, Elisa Holopainen (Frölunda) is lighting the league on fire in her first year in the SDHL. She has 9 goals and ten assists in 13 games -> We have a few wonderful comeback stories this year. Hanna Olsson (Frölunda) is back to her old self after missing most of last year with injury, with 16 points in 13 games, good for fourth in the league. Erica Reider, (Luleä) who did not play for two seasons, looks like she never left, currently leading all defenders i the league in points. And Kassidy Sauvé (SDE), who missed almost two full season's with a hip injury, currently leads all goaltenders in save percentage. -> MoDo Hockey is being powered almost entirely by a youth movement: top producers Ebba Hedqvist, Adéla Šapovalivová, Mira Hallin, and Lovisa Engström are all 18 or younger and playing prominent roles on the 3rd place team

Auroraliiga (Finland)

Canadian Emma Hall joins KalPa after playing in the NDHL (Sweden's second division) last year

Kärpät will retire the number 20 in honor of long time legend Saija Tarkki. After 21 seasons with Kärpät as well as the Finnish national team, Tarkki retired in 2019. She will be honored Novembe 23rd.

A Couple key storylines: -> 18 year old Czech forward Barbora Juříčková i having a breakout year with HPK, already surpassing her point total from last season with 22. She joins Emma Ekoluoma (Ilves), who was a star on the U18 Finnish team last year, as one of the young players to keep an eye on in this league -> Kiekko-Espoo sits at the top of the table, with Ilves right behind. Last year's champions HIFK are feeling the loss of several star players and sit in fourth place. -> Sister's Jennika , Joanna and Jatta Ojala all played for the same team together for the first time at the top level for Team Kuortane

SWHL A / Postfinance Women League (Switzerland)

Not technically league play, but since they play in this league too ill put it here: EV Zug won the EWHL Euro Cup, which is played at the beginning of the season including select club teams across europe! They bear the German league's Memmingen to do so. Noemi Neubauerova, who is set to play with the Toronto Sceptres when the PWHL game begins, scored the game winning goal

Sponsor PostFinance announces that in 2025/2026, they will only financially support men's club teams that have a women's counterpart

Nadine Hofstetter of EV Zug is out three weeks with a broken finger. She is one of the team's veteran defenders who also plays for the Swiss national team. Vanessa Ryhner, Nina Harju, and Julia Näf are also out with injury for EV Zug, though Rhyner should be back any day now.

ZSC Lions Fraun is hit with injuries: Slovakian forward Tereza Lahova is out for the year with injury, and Aurela Thalmann and Alena Polenská (aka Alena Mills) are also injured. They are calling up Univ. of Saskatchewan alumni Sophie Lalor

A few storylines: -> Elizabeth Lang (HC Davos Ladies) is leading the league in points in her rookie year and scoring at a goal per game pace. She graduated from University of Calgary last year -> Lara Stalder (EVZ Women's team) continues to do Lara Stalder things and is tied with Lang in goals, but newcomers Michaela Pejzlová (HC Ambrì-Piotta Girls) and Clara Rozier (SC Bern Fraun) who were stars in last year's finnish league are close behind. The top scorer race for this league will be exciting, and that's not to mention old friends like Rahel Enzler and Estelle Duvin, among others. -> HC Davos Ladies is currently at the top of the standings, but EV Zug and SC Bern Frauen are very close behing them -> 18 year old Ivana Wey (EVZ Women's Team) has been off to a blistering hot start, a lot of hype surrounding her after a strong performance at both u18 and senior worlds. Another interesting young player is Lucie Tenenbaum, an American set to play at Minnesota State next year but is spending this year in Switzerland. The 18 year old has 5 goals and two assists with HC Davos Ladies so far

EWHL (Central/East Europe)

EV Bozen Eagles are currently dominating the league, with the help of players such as import Kristin Della Rovere, who has 16 points in 9 games. The Bozen eagles are part of a larger plan to help get italy's women's national team ready for the 2026 olympics

HK PSRZ Bratislava are undefeated thus far this season, after winning last year's title.

Canadian USport alumni are thriving in this league; Cassidy Maplethorpe, Hannah Tait, and Lauren Nicholson among top goal scorers

Slovak Ema Tothova continues to be the young player to watch, after her breakout seeason last year the 17 year old forward has 10 goals in five games. She is also competing in a boy's league in Slovakia while playing in the EWHL

OTHERS

watch this space for Czech forward Adéla Mynaříková to mak the u18 team this year. She's 15 and just steamrolling people in the Czech top league, with 15 goals and 5 assists in 8 games playing against a lot of grown adults

Norweigan forward Une Bjelland Strandborg, who was arguably one of the best NCAA DIII players of all time and graduated last year, is killing it in Germany's league with newly added Austrian team HK Budapest. She has 7 points in 6 games

[dontforgetoctober3rd]

Hockey Tag Wooooo

Got tagged by @againstthegrainphoto for this CURSE YOUUUU but anyway here it is!

Rules:

List your number 1 team: Vegas Golden Knights! I wasn't there right from the very beginning but i did start rooting for them in their very first season right in the middle of when all the goalies were going down. I was like yesss i love an underdog story! I love sparkle and glitter and pizzaz! They just seemed so fun. I thought rooting for the new (at the time) team would be a perfect way to get into hockey since they didn't have a history with drama...and then they went and became sworn enemies of the Sharks and made it all the way to the cup final that same year lmaooooo but i love them even more now

Favorite Goalie: oof this has to be a toughie but I really like two of them, the first being my team's very own Robin Lehner because he shows that you really can grow and change as a person (will always love him for kneeling with Reavo, that was iconic) and i also like that his nickname is Panda lmao. My second fave has to be the iconic Ilya Bryzgalov, because he, even for a goalie, was considered a weirdo just for daring to show a little personality and also I just think its hilarious that the Flyers still have to pay him through 2027 lmaoooooooo

What my jersey number would be: oh it would without a doubt be 96, the year I was brought to the USA. Not only would my life be vastly different if i had never been brought here but I would be a totally different person.

The team I would play for: oh my oh myyyyyyy...Listen, I love Vegas but I honestly would LOVE to be a goalie for the Bruins (DON'T ANYBODY COME FOR ME FOR THISSSSS) I've always thought bears in general are cool and as much as I love clowning on Boston as a city, I think their nickname is really really cool (the city of champions wooo)

Current favorite player: Jonathan Marchessault, look i just love underdog stories i practically collect them like pokemon ok! He was undrafted as a rookie and then after putting his work for a few years, his third team decides he isn't worth protecting when the expansion happens. He wasn't a superstar at first but he put in the work and dragged that MVP award and Stanley Cup kicking and screaming into his grasp. The man runs on pure spite, if his enemies go low he goes lowER and I LOVE IT

A Trade that hurt me emotionally: oh god where do i begin!? I have so many but I gotta go with Flower's trade. He was the heart and soul of this new team of misfits, a team that fit his personality, and he was basically thrown away like yesterday's garbage smh

What has my experience on hockeblr been so far: Honestly? I love it, even with all the drama . I once insulted Quinn Hughes in the tags of a post and his fangirls CAME for me lmao caling me a whore and everything but it was no skin off my back, I just got my boyfriend, Block Button, to take care of that for me hahahah. But overall I would say hockeyblr is pretty friendly in general, especially in comparison to twatter and instagram.

Alrighty, then i have to tag peeps whose hockey business I'd like to know so i tag: @lollo12589

Only do it if you wanna lmaoo

[ratatatastic]

"—played out west, never made the playoffs, nobody knew who he was!"

"Yeah! And that was Connor McDavid for a while—obviously, this year was huge for them because they made it to the finals—"

"—and we're referencing Mike Trout."

"We're referencing Mike Trout—but, I feel like similar guys also in neither really seek the national spotlight."

"And that's fine!"

"But just like Trout had Bryce Harper...I think Matthew Tkachuk can be Bryce Harper!"

"I think absolutely—"

"The guy that wins a bit more, is on the more competitive team, and is the personality... we always tie back to baseball."

"We're tying it back and on that note I have a feeling Bryce and his club are gonna win one of these things at some point in the next few years..."

"I also gotta feeling if you threw em in a bar together, Bryce Harper and Matthew Tkachuk will become best friends in like 3 minutes..."

"I can see that!"

"I can see it."

"I can see them having some commonalities maybe Bryce will give him a cool headband and Matthew will give him a mouthguard, and off you go!"

"There you go! Worlds collide."

"—a bond built forever."

Territory Talk | 8.1.24 (x)

yes yes!!! give me another reason to baseball my hockey!!!

speaking of brycey headbands here are my favourites from the phils era <3 the recent wawa headband, the phanatics, the bi phillies and the showman

i think matthew and those curls would look so good in a headband but doing that im afraid he will not be able to beat those danny jansen look-alike allegations at that point (good timing too at least jansen isnt in toronto anymore and is a boston boy now so its okay now its not an insult anymore anything to support your dads team lmaoo)

and if we wanna hockey your baseball we can do that too!

bryceys a vegas boy since its his hometown!! and there have been multiple instances where hes worn gold in support of vegas whether in cleats, bat knobs, etc! (fascinatingly enough he was a caps fan at first since vegas didnt get their expansion team yet and since he was drafted by the nats but once vegas got their team he instantly switched over and became a big fan!!! yes his loyalties were very crossed in the 2018 scf and hes talked about it XD) and yes hes also done the playoff beard despite the fact he was currently playing baseball at the time so it was very funny watching him have a grizzled beard in fucking may of all months and also during the offseason he drop the puck at washington @ vegas game ofc

(also its very funny because in 2023 he was caught watching the scf in the dugout between innings while wearing gold decorated cleats to support vegas in the scf and while i cant find any tweets about it now i remember it very vividly when it happened because i was so distraught to see him root against the cats lmaoo i know another phil was watching it with him but i cant remember it mightve been stotty but take that with a grain of salt; now thinking about it, it was absolutely stotty hes a vegas boy too hes the only other guy in the dugout whod be rooting for the vgk too)

and yes we are 1 step removed from matthew and brycey meeting because of the kelce brothers and yes it is very wild to me i havent stopped thinking about it...soon...soon worlds will collide and i will never shut up about it...

STOP WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT BRYCE HARPER AND MATTHEW TKACHUK TOGETHER HOW THEYD BE BEST FRIENDS IF THEY MET PLEASE THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR MY HEALTH STOP IT

[atlantisblasebl]

Fall Ball Recap #1

Ahoy, Atlanteans! As you likely know, Fall Ball has been happening for the last few weeks, and has been bringing new Players to the Georgias roster!

As a refresher: Fall Ball is a prologue to the next Era of Blaseball. Players from the Discipline and Expansion Eras are being shot out of the Black Hole, and redistributed to random teams. This will happen over the span of several weeks, until the next Era begins.

For the Georgias fans reading this blog, here's everything that's relevant to our team:

New Georgias Players

Juan Murphy - A former Yellowstone Magic shadows player that joined our team in the first Fall. Juan has never seen active play before now, and should be making an active debut on the Georgias!

Kit Ratoon - A former Ohio Worms lineup player that joined our team in the second Fall. Kit joined the Worms' lineup in a Night Shift at the very end of Season 24, just before the team was nullified!

Both of these players are pretty much blank slates, so lorejams have been occurring in the Georgias Lore Thread in the #✍fanlore channel of the official Blaseball Discord! Feel free to stop by, if you wish to share your thoughts!

Former Georgias Players (and their new teams)

Ankle Halifax joined the Charleston Shoe Thieves in the first Fall! Ankle previously played on the Georgias from Seasons 12 through Season 20, and spent the remainder of their career on the Tokyo Lift.

Randy Dennis joined the Boston Flowers in the first Fall! Randy played on the Georgias from the Season 22 elections to the end of Season 24, and has previously played on the Miami Dale and Canada Moist Talkers.

Wyatt Mason IV (aka Ivy) joined the Houston Spies in the first Fall! Ivy played on the Georgias from the Season 17 elections until being traded to the Dallas Steaks in the Season 19 elections, where they spent the remainder of their career. Ivy has previously played for the LA Unlimited Tacos.

Steals Chark joined the Philly Pies in the first Fall! Steals was a career Georgia, starting in the Shadows and joining the active roster in Season 23, ending the era on our pitching rotation.

Nanci Grackle joined the Houston Spies in the second Fall! Nanci was a career Georgia, starting in the Shadows, and joining the active roster in Season 20 on the rotation. Nanci was swapped to the lineup in the Season 20 elections, remaining there until Season 22, when he retreated to the Shadows.

We wish all these Players the best of luck on their new Teams!

That's all for now, we'll recap the next Fall when it happens on November 11, 2022.

[utterlyinevitable]

Sharing a bed for O x E! I love them so much 😭🥰

Two in a Bed

Pairing: Ethan x F!MC (Odette Hall) Rating: Teen+ Summary: She’s always taken the second bedroom when she spends the night at Ethan’s, so he as no reason to expect anything else.  Trope: Fluff, Domestic  

A/N: not the best thing i’ve written. the scene in my head just was not coming out in words.  

__________________

This isn’t the first time they’re spending the night together.

They’ve fallen asleep on couches a plenty over the last three years. Odette curled up on the Diagnostics Team couch with her legs thrown over Ethan’s lap. Her head resting on his shoulder on flights. Snuggling up to weather the storm at an over-night work emergency at a New Hampshire ski resort – though somehow, she awoke in the oversized bed and to Ethan sprawled out on the couch.

But this was different.

Sharing a bed implied something… intimate. Certain assumptions surrounding someone’s space. Daunting preconceived notions.

She knows Ethan’s bed is comfy – so much better than the second bedroom.

Soon he’d be back and Odette would have to decide. Decide if this dance they’ve been doing – testing the waters of their friendship the last few weeks – was worth it. Their careful little world could shatter if she does something wrong. The idea of losing Ethan as a friend was scarier than the notion of never being his lover.

She’s thought about it all before. Many, many times. Of all the reasons she shouldn’t. Why she should always stick with the bedroom he gave her, because he values her over anything else.

But tonight she didn’t think about it. Not like she normally would. Something about being here – in his warmly lit living room with the expansive Boston skyline peering in – invigorated and inspired her. In the short time he’d been gone to change she began writing.

Less than five minutes after he departed, Ethan padded back in with his sleeping shorts on.

“Staying up?”

“Just a bit longer,” she nodded, frantically scribbling some things down on a small duck egg colored notebook she always kept close by.

“Okay.”

He grabbed his tablet off the docking station before settling on the couch next to her. Odette was sitting on her feet, long hair pulled back in a haphazard bun, hunched over the arm rest scribbling. Ethan took a moment to appreciate her; the way her lips parted and he could feel her breaths moving in excited spurts, and how she was squinting so hard – her eyes struggling without her glasses. He watched her work and didn’t dare turn off the Tower Records documentary she had playing. If he learned anything, it’s that you cannot impose yourself on a creatives’ environment.

Eventually, a long while later, he nodded off next to her.

Once she was done, she turned to her sound companion. He looked so peaceful with his head lolled back, hands folded across his stomach, long legs spread out for miles, and his hardened daily expression looking ever so boyish. Calm. It took everything in her to stop staring.

Odette shook him gently awake; “Ethan, hey. Time for bed.”

Deep azure eyes blinked, settling half open on her fuzzy form. He didn’t say anything, just nodded and took her outstretched hands.

Ode pulled him off the couch and led him towards the corridor. A small tap to his lower back signifying him to proceed without her. She took care of turning everything off as he made his way to the other side of the apartment.

Ethan waited for her in the doorway of his room – waiting, anticipating and preparing for a proper ‘Goodnight’ before retreating to their rooms. They’ve done this countless times even after openly deciding to date. This little ritual has become second nature – he could even do it in his sleep.

Leaning against the doorframe with arms crossed over his chest, he waited. Eyes heaving and struggling to keep awake, he waited.

Click.

The last lamp in the living room shut off. Ethan stood a bit straighter in the dim lighting casted from his less-than-effective bedroom blinds.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

“Oh!”

Odette was startled to see him still there in the dim lighting. Most nights he climbs into bed when her mind proves too restless for him. Though seeing his slumped stature pulled at the corners of her lips.

Without hesitation, Ethan hazily reached for her hand, then leaned down to kiss her cheek.

“Goodnight, Etta.”

Her name came out low and raspy on his lips. He lingered there longer than usual, taking in her natural scent. And Ode couldn’t help but turn towards him and his warm breath caressing her cheek. Couldn’t deny the inevitably in the palm of her hand.

Seconds passed. The moment suspended in mid night air. Ethan waited for her to mimic his sentiment and pull away. And waited.

And neither let go.

She squeezed. His eyes widened, a switch flicking on and immediately sobering him up.

Odette Hall and Ethan Ramsey looked at one another for moments and moments and seconds on seconds just there in the doorway. Him asking wordless questions and her silent, assuring answers in the twinkle of her shadowy features. Their eyes conveying all that needed to be said.

Ethan let go, taking a step back into his room, and watched her move towards his bed. Still standing in the corner of his room, his mind and body couldn’t quite catch up with what was happening.

She’s been in his space before – they’ve had coffee in bed when he’s been too hungover to move.

But now she’s fully in his sheets. And he knows the second her head hits the pillow she’ll have claimed it all as her own – every single facet of his life now hers, wholly. Her rosy scent lingering for time to come.

Ethan knows he shouldn’t stare. Moves gingerly to the side he’s slept on longer than he can remember. And she looks so at home in his bed; like its always been her side to begin with. It’s all a bit different now. More enticing. Makes the Ethan Ramsey want to spend more time at home. He has to shake the thought away.

It’s just a bed.

Odette’s propped up on one elbow watching him muddle his way. He does. Not quick enough to not make things awkward, and Ode to think maybe they should’ve talked about this first. Just because they’re dating doesn’t mean they just get to invade one another’s space whenever they so choose. No matter how right it feels.

Ethan settles in. Head hits the pillow. She twists to reach towards the bedside table. And his foot instinctively searches for her ever-freezing one, just to make sure she’s really there. He sighs happily when he truly finds her. His eyes might be closed but he’s certainly not dreaming.

Odette shuts the lamp off; the smallest, lightest, happiest of smiles at home on her thin lips. She shimmies down the sheets to get comfortable, satin pajamas on Egyptian cotton sheets. Rolls fully on her side to face him. Even in the dark he’s so beautiful. He’s on his back and eyes are closed, his breathing evening out as he descends slowly back into a further peacefulness than before. She’s certainly staring – and if he feels it, he doesn’t say anything. Ethan just extends an arm out to her. Without a single doubt, she cuddles closer.

They drift off to sleep. The second her head rested in the nook where his shoulder meets his neck, security overtook her. Not long after he was lulled by the warmth her body radiated through him and her dainty breaths coating his skin.

And their hearts beating in time.  

________________________

@openheartfanfics @choicesficwriterscreations 

Perma:

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[taketheringtolohac]

i’ve been working on the most self indulgent au for about a week now and I thought i’d share my thoughts. now presenting... my ace attorney blaseball au! including teams, positions, modifications and more about all the ace attorney characters i could think of and how they would play blaseball. you can also find it on ao3 here, but ive included all the information i have below the cut!

Blase Attorney (Blaseball Ace Attorney AU)

Phoenix- 

Team: Yellowstone Magic

Position: Batter

Modifications: Seeker

Details: one of the first replacements in the game, he was originally just a blaseball fan who was following around miles edgeworth his childhood friend to his games (disguised as him going to see Larry play) and sort of wished that he could play so he could get closer to miles and is at a magic/steaks game that miles is pitching when someone gets incinerated and suddenly he’s on the field in a jersey with a glove and that really messes him up, he's a pretty good player not a star player but definitely a solid one, gets the seeker mod in the season 19 tarot reading

Notable Forbidden Knowledge:  REALLY high martyrdom

Maya

Team: Yellowstone Magic

Position: Batter

Modifications: Haunted

Details: she replaced Mia when she was incinerated and isn’t a season 1 player but has been here so long that it FEELS like she is, isn’t great at the game and has like really bad forbidden knowledge stats but she occasionally hits a surprise dinger and the fans love her so they infuse her and she becomes a serviceable batter, is constantly filled with guilt and emotions about being the person who replaced her sister she gets the haunted mod in an election

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: high base thirst, really good divinity that only gets better after her infuse

Edgeworth- 

Team: Dallas Steaks

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: None

Details: season one player who didn’t really want to join blaseball but he took it in stride and he wasn’t very good at first but he got a blessing that MADE him good and he’s miraculously been on the team the whole time, originally placed in good league because Fran was in Evil and von Karma wanted them to dominate the game and become the best in their respective leagues, still one of the best players in the game, his dad still dies somehow, refuses to “buy into” the dad bit from the steaks and insists that he was just placed here

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: EXCEPTIONAL ruthlessness (one of the highest in the game), good other stats as well, just a really solid PITCHING statline, his other stuff isn’t good

Franziska- 

Team: Hades Tigers

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: Friend of Crows

Details: season one player who fans LOVE even though she hates everything about the game and the circumstances in which she’s here, she’s a naturally good player but she lets up a lot of home runs, she receives the friend of crows modifier in season 10 much to her dismay, ALMOST pitched a perfect season and then absolutely RUINED it in the last game and it crushed her

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: higher highs than miles but also lower lows, in particular her overpowerment isn’t very good, she is also a more well rounded player and would also be a fine batter (solid thwack)

Gumshoe-

Team: Originally on the LA Unlimited Tacos, then feedbacked to the San Fransisco Lovers

Position: Batter

Modifications: Siphon, Attractor

Details: season one player that is beloved by the fans and he’s decent at the game but he always tries to steal bases but he is so bad at it, he’s the teams siphon but he NEVER drinks blood except to draw a walk, he ends up getting redacted because of consumer attacks and is probably one of the first to do so despite him having QUITE a bit of soul, he becomes Wyatt Gumshoe in the Wyatt Masoning

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: GREAT thwackability, bad everything else which makes for a really interesting player to say the least

Athena- 

Team: Miami Dale

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: None

Details: POWERFUL ARMS also she is a replacement player she probably becomes a replacement after Simon does and she got into blaseball because of that cute flowers pitcher and now she’s here but she LOVES Miami and she LOVES being bad at the game, she leans really hard into the neon aesthetic

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: good unthwackability and ok ruthlessness, shakespeareanism is her highest stat, would also be a great batter and has really good thwackability and divinity, GREAT vibes

Apollo- 

Team: Mexico City Wild Wings

Position: Batter

Modifications: None

Details: founding member of the wings legal team who’s another replacement player that FEELS like he’s a season 1 player, he isn’t very good in general but REALLY good for the wings and is probably the mvp at some point but like he’s a really inconsistent hitter but when he DOES hit its POWERFUL and he gets a lot of RBI’s 

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: SHOCKINGLY good musclitude and ground friction, GOD awful moxie

Larry- 

Team: Dallas Steaks

Position: Batter

Modifications: None

Details: season one player who is like the teams designated player we beat up on because they’re awful but we love them, gets shadowed in the expansion era because he just wasn’t good anymore and he REFUSED to leave, he is the definition of “YOU CANT KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS,” would always party but his forbidden knowledge is TRASH so it was never worth anything because he’s top ten in the league for career strikeouts

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: REALLY HIGH PATHETICISM HOLY SHIT but good ground friction and like, ok musclitude

Ema- 

Team: Kansas City Breath Mints

Position: Batter

Modifications: Fire Eater

Details: replaced the first player incinerated on the team so she has a lot of fans because she’s been here a while but like also her career is forever impacted by the fact that people mourned so deeply before really appreciating her and a lot of fans can never really love her in the same way, but she has fire eater now and WILL cut a bitch down to size, she’s also definitely been attacked by consumers though, she also parties a LOT

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: good defender, high omniscience and tenaciousness

Lang- 

Team: Houston Spies

Position: Batter

Modifications: Maximalist, Siphon

Details: replaced a SUPER popular player who was REALLY good at the game and struggled with a lot of the implications of their legacy but he ALSO became really good and a really iconic player to the team and eventually became a fan favorite, LITERALLY cannot stop freaking drinking blood hes so fucking massive now holy shit but like only his baserunning

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: PHENOMENAL baserunning just in general but his base thirst is low so he doesn’t actually steal that much, SUPER high moxie and musclitude

Kristoph-

Team: Baltimore Crabs

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: Returned, Debt

Details: season 1 player who was a really aggressively middling player who had deceptively high stars and they could never get rid of him until he finally got incinerated in late season 6/early season 7 but he gets necromancy-d on accident and no one wanted this now he just haunts the league, he joined blaseball to get notoriety and some level of fame and convinced Klavier to join him

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: high coldness and ok ruthlessness, unthwackability is fine, shakespeareanism is also good

Klavier- 

Team: Originally on the Crabs, but feedbacked to the Seattle Garages

Position: Batter

Modifications: Spicy

Details: he signed up when Kristoph did. because he said that this would be something good to do as brothers and they even signed to the same team, carcinization really freaked him out but he was a season 1 crab and no one knew what would happen, he Feedbacked in like season 6 and kris got incinerated really shortly after he feedbacked which messed him up, he loves the garages vibes WAY more than he liked the crabs

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: high moxie and indulgence

Kay- 

Team: Charleston Shoe Thieves

Position: Batter

Modifications: Flippers

Details: shoe thieves, batter, she was originally a shadows player and just sat there doing great thief things until she got called up for having very sneaky good stats (rod.net style) where she singles a lot and then just steals her way to third/home, voted to trust her in season 11 and now she has cool flippers

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: really high basethirst and laserlikeness, also very high anticapitalism, good thwack subpar musclitude

Sebastian- 

Team: New York Millennials, possible feedback to the Thieves?

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: None

Details: his dad was a famous blaseball player before the ILB so he signed him up to play and didn’t get on the roster until maybe like season 9, really dramatic arc where he starts out really bad but slowly through incremental stat increases becomes pretty ok but then has a devastating allergic reaction and ends up having to be shadowed because he’s just unsaveable at this point, but still a big fan fave and people still talk about them, he would’ve been a pretty ok batter with really high defense but peanut destroyed that too

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: high highs and low lows and vibes are just… there

Juniper-

Team: Boston Flowers

Position: Originally a batter, but reverbs into Pitching

Modifications: None

Details: season 1 player who is really popular amongst the fans but isn’t well known outside of the fanbase she joined blaseball because she didn’t really have a choice and she was just working at the garden, she wasn’t a great batter but she’s a shockingly good pitcher, she had partied so much that she is now just undeniably good solely because she has partied THAT much

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: SHOCKINGLY good ruthlessness, its her only good stat though until parties make her good

Simon- 

Team: Chicago Firefighters

Position: Batter

Modifications: Ego+

Details: another late season replacement that was made to be a edgelord with really good stat set up and he’s a super consistent batter who just also gets walked a lot and has a LOT of thirsty fans, REALLY good at dunking, one of the best idols for solo seeds but ONLY for a SINGLE season because he just underperforms his stars for NO reason and its infuriating, joined because he didn’t want athena to get recruited but she followed him anyways to find out what the hell happened to him and why he just vanished

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: HIGH musc/thwack/martyr with really low patheticism, absolutely ATROCIOUS vibes

Godot- 

Team: Hellmouth Sunbeams, roams to the Tokyo Lift and then to the Canada Moist Talkers

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: Roamin’

Details: a season 1 player who would be a MUCH better batter but REFUSES to leave the rotation with deceptively high stars and one of the first players to get roamin’ and actually becomes good because of it infuriating LITERALLY everyone

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: have you seen bright zim? Yeah its just that. He has sixteen fingers for no reason

Trucy- 

Team: Originally a Philadelphia Pies player, but feedbacks to the Yellowstone Magic

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: None

Details: Phoenix becomes her dad after she feedbacks, later season replacement probably surrounding the s7 instabilities and beanings and she got REALLY popular REALLY fast with the pies fans and over siesta but then she gets traded like the Monday after and it breaks the fans hearts, she’s not very good but she gets alternated into BEING good

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: moxie queen! Also chasiness and continuation, as well as good musclitude and vibes

Nahyuta-

Team: Originally on the Beams, but feedbacks to the Hawai’i Fridays

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: Attractor

Details: expansion era player who replaced an absolutely GARBAGE player so the fans are DELIGHTED by him, lets up a lot of walks but has shockingly pitched a no hitter despite only being here since season 13, was infused because of his good forbidden knowledge stats, still gets faxed out of the game because he has games where he just lets up a RIDICULOUS amount of runs, actually fit in really well with the Fridays, was observed (by Kristoph?) and then got redacted 

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: uncle plasma… 2! Also REALLY big vibes range

Justine Courtney-

Team: New York Millennials, traded to the Breckenridge Jazz Hands

Position: Pitcher

Modifications: None

Details: joined the team before Sebastian probably around season 5, was pretty average at pitching but ate a peanut and had a yummy reaction which made her slightly above average but subpar ruthlessness made her still not great, traded away to the Jazz Hands after Sebastian was shadowed, really polarizing for fans there was a lot of fighting about whether or not to trade her from fans

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: ok ruthlessness

Mia-

Team: Yellowstone Magic

Position: Batter

Modifications: None

Details: was the season 1 stand out batter for the magic, she was a REALLY good season 1 player that fans STILL talk about even though she’s been dead since season 3, she was the person who was standing next to Phoenix when he appeared on the field and caught the ball that was flying towards him before it hit him in the face and she took it upon himself to get him acclimated to the game, she thought of him as a kid brother, she tried to keep Maya away from blaseball but couldn’t stop her from watching on TV, she originally joined to get away from the Fey clan and to try and do something with her life and also possibly find out what happened to her mother and she was promised social power and unlimited access to information

Notable Forbidden Knowledge: really solid statline for someone who never saw any improvements

Phoenix and Miles get together around season 6, right before the Jaylen stuff, then break up because they were both having a lot of emotions about the whole necromancy business and Miles was always on the idol board and there was a lot of uncertainty in their lives. I think a necromancy of Kristoph probably happens in the Expansion Era and he tries to get revenge on Phoenix for god knows what, and Miles ends up getting close with him again after a whole Grand Siesta of just being really emotionally charged friends and finally get together AGAIN in season 13 after a consumer attacks Phoenix, but this time they STAY together and probably get married because they're just so scared of losing each other.

 Kay gets to fight god in season 9, no this probably wouldn't have been possible if she was a shadows player originally but uwu <3

Kay and Miles get to know each other because she tried to steal Miles shoes, but he caught her. He offered to make her dinner and they just had a good time, Kay hadn’t really been shown that kind of kindness in a WHILE and she... missed that sort of father figure in her life... so she just keeps trying to steal things from Miles and getting caught until he finally tells her that she can just... come over through the front door. He will never say that she is his daughter out loud, but the collective dadconcious Knows, and tells him that they are proud of him.

 Maya and Franziska are rivals. They hate each other. When Maya gets 0 no it only makes it worse because it "ruins" Franziska's perfection as a pitcher and forces her to throw balls. They get to know each other over these pitch offs and start to realize that they actually aren't that different. Gay rights. They kiss. They have a great time over the Grand Siesta and make fun of their brothers, but they both have emergency bags in case the other one dies.

 Dahlia Hawthrone would never get involved in Blaseball and everything she does is outside of the game but if she was she'd be on the Boston Flowers and she would be her team's Pudge. A god awful player who on occasion actually does something good and half the fans love her because of her character and half the fans hate her for the same reason and also she sucks at the game.

 Most of them also still have their law degrees and also keep some semblance of what they do in the actual ace attorney games, except Ema who has of course factually failed the bar exam by nature of being on The Breath Mints.

[sodone-withlife]

enough

yay this is my first fic in over a month, and as per usual, there's not much proofreading. all mistakes are my own. also, this isn't as whump-y as my past works and includes a number of my headcanons

@yourlocalheartbreaker here's over 2k words of a rather OOC Criminal Minds fanfic based on your post :) I've intentionally made the ending a bit ambiguous, so let your imagination run wild. the case is also based on what happened in Boston.

here’s a post that clarifies some ambiguities

warnings: alcohol, mentioned character death, mentioned canon typical violence. also, I love all of the characters, but for the purposes of this story, this will come across as everyone (except Hotch, Morgan, and Strauss) slander. don't like it, don't read it.

word count: 2.2k words

“I really am sorry I couldn’t do more,” Strauss said quietly.

Hotch shook his head, staring into his whiskey. “You’ve already done so much,” he said equally quietly. He hesitated, wondering if he should give voice to the thought that had been nagging at him since the last in a week-long series of grueling questioning and testimony.

Fuck it, he thought, dowing the last of his whiskey.

“I think we both knew it was coming,” he said, looking at his now-former boss unflinchingly. To her credit, Strauss didn’t try to hide that she shared his thoughts as they shared a knowing look. “Too many minor bureaucratic infractions, a few major fiascos,” he continued, shaking his head ruefully, “it was only a matter of when.”

Strauss remained silent, swirling the last of her own drink in her glass. It was a longstanding tradition between the two of them to go out for drinks after especially taxing cases and bureaucratic nightmares, one that started weeks after Gideon stepped down and went on leave.

Finally, she broke the silence. “Why did you lie? You and I know very well you had nothing to do with it.” She turned to face Hotch fully, a hint of confusion appearing in her expression. “Why take the fall?”

The answer easily came to Hotch, but it didn’t erase the bitterness with which the words came out. “The leader is replaceable, but the team isn’t.” He looked pained, avoiding her incredulous stare. “Same reason as always.”

He could understand her exasperation; it wasn’t the first time he had discussed the issues within the team with her. Over the years, she tried again and again to get him out, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he did. She eventually accepted his refusal to leave, but it didn’t stop her from dropping hints of disapproval here and there—and they both knew some secret part of him agreed with her disparaging comments, much as he tried to ignore it.

The team dynamics had never truly recovered from Boston and Adrian Bale, and that had carried over to the newer members of the team who joined after the fiasco. His standoffish, laconic nature certainly didn’t help. Eventually, even Gideon was ignoring the cracks in the foundation of the team,

Out of all of his coworkers, only Strauss and Morgan remembered (and still sometimes saw) the less-guarded agent with surprising idealism that he had been before everything went to shit.

Now, after years of leadership under his belt, he didn’t know how to be anyone else but the sharp, authoritative unit chief.

Especially after Haley.

(As he had stood in front of the freshly dug grave, he swore that his family would never meet SSA Hotchner, Unit Chief, Agent No-Smile Hardass, if he could help it.)

(The moment he stepped through the front door, he would only be Dad.)

(And in front of a select group of people, he would be Aaron, the man who was just barely toeing the line between profiler and unsub in his jaggedly broken, near-unhinged protectiveness.)

And so he received each act of insubordination from the team, no matter the magnitude, with unflappable calmness, even as he stayed late and went to work hours early to deal with the towering stacks of paperwork that joined the already existing piles of budget expansion requests and case consults.

He trusted their judgment, even if that trust didn’t go both ways.

“You’re very respected, you know that?” Strauss suddenly commented. “It’s the only reason you’ve been able to cover for your team for so long.”

That was something Hotch knew very well. Much as he hated it, he often found himself in the midst of political maneuverings that embroiled his higher-ups, aided especially by his upbringing and law school education. In these circles, where everyone knew everyone wore masks to hide unsavory secrets, there was some degree of grudging respect for everyone, no matter their placement on either side of the aisle. Even those who came from money had to have special acumen in order to make it this far in the cutthroat world of DC politics.

Hotch had gained quite the reputation as a prosecutor in DC, and not just because his father had been a well-known attorney with high-profile clients. Coupled with his meteoric rise through the ranks of the bureau, helping out the right people and collecting numerous contacts and favors along the way, it was no wonder that he had managed to keep the team out of the line of fire for so long.

More and more often, however, he was questioning his decisions to reject each opportunity to move up the chain of command, to instead stay with the team as a field agent. Even though he could almost always understand the reasoning behind each act of insubordination—hell, he even encouraged it sometimes—he couldn’t help but want for things to be different, especially with every night he went home too late and every time he pulled out the concealer he had always had near him since childhood to cover up the bruise-like eyebags that found a permanent home on his face.

But in the end, Hotch didn’t even have a choice.

(But a small part of him knew that this was always how he was going to go.)

Really, he understood why they did what they did. Ten years ago, he would have done the same thing himself.

Now, however, he couldn’t afford to put Jack’s safety and wellbeing on the line.

Some might say that Jack was his weak spot, and they wouldn’t be wrong—he would wholeheartedly agree with them.

He couldn't find it in him to feel guilty about putting his family ahead of all else, but what JJ said when he called them into his office after the fiasco had cut deeply.

You of all people should understand, JJ had spat in his face, and every harsh word he was about to say himself, reprimanding them for callous insubordination to the highest degree, died on his lips. He wasn’t sure how much time passed as he just stood there in silent, pained shock, but it didn’t take long for JJ, Prentiss, and Reid to leave his office with an air of vindication, not sparing him another glance.

Hotch had spent the rest of the day fielding call after call, trying to piece together the exact course of events and fending off the sharks smelling blood in the water.

The bloody chunks of flesh of the three agents who died immediately in the blast, the two who didn’t even make it into the operating room, and the one adult hostage who couldn’t far enough away in time.

Now, sitting across from Strauss and staring into his empty glass, he wondered if things would have been different if he had gotten there faster, adding his own input in formulating a negotiation strategy that factored in the variables he only knew to take into account because of his combined years in prosecution and SWAT and because of Boston.

Especially Boston.

(He already considered all of the what-ifs. He knew that short of suddenly gaining time travel or teleportation abilities, he couldn’t have done anything.)

But maybe he foresaw his current situation the moment he saw Strauss’s emailed request for an urgent meeting the morning after he worked late into the night trying to control the fallout.

Just budget meetings with the higher up of higher-ups, he reassured Morgan when they bumped into each other as Hotch and Strauss made their way out of the Academy offices towards the parking garage. He knew Morgan didn’t believe him—he was wearing the suit that he reserved for black tie events and meetings on the Hill, for one—but there was a reluctant acceptance and a hint of knowing in his eyes.

(Of course, Morgan had an idea of what was going on. No one in the country was ignorant of what had happened yesterday afternoon. As he was looking through the news coverage, confused and horrified as to how something like this could have happened, memories of Boston rose to the forefront of his mind, and he knew that this would end in blood.)

(Then Hotch called him in a frenzy, apologizing profusely for bothering him on his weekend off while all but begging for him to look after Jack for the rest of the day. It was an easy decision. Morgan took Jack to the movie theater, helped him with biking, took him out for ice cream, whatever it took to keep Jack happy and occupied while he himself worried over the state of things at the office.)

(It was well past midnight when Hotch finally fell into a restless sleep in bed next to Morgan, who had a standing invitation to stay overnight and was trying to help him loosen up his tensed muscles.)

“I’m coming into the office tomorrow to tie up loose ends,” Hotch suddenly told Strauss. “I’m not going to pull a Gideon. They don’t deserve that.”

He said as much next day as he stood in the bullpen, looking out at the agents he had worked with for years as he made his announcement.

“After careful consideration, I have decided to retire from the BAU,” he ignored the sounds of shock that rippled through the crowd, “and with my retirement, I am cutting all official ties with the Bureau.”

He carefully avoided looking at the team as he continued. “Please respect that I would prefer to not discuss the details of my retirement at this time, but I will say that this recent case had a lot to do with my decision,” he swept a stern gaze around the room, ignoring the pang in his heart and sudden burning in his eyes when he accidentally made eye contact with a devastated-looking Garcia.

Hotch quickly looked away and continued with his goodbyes before he managed to find an out to retreat to his office, where he picked up the last box of his belongings. It’s surprisingly light, he thought distantly as he took in the stripped office for the last time.

Oh, right, Strauss had helped me pack everything else and bring home the law books and framed certificates after we went out for drinks last night.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and Strauss stepped inside, shutting the door behind her and closing the blinds to give them some modicum of privacy from the profilers waiting in the bullpen with their barrage of questions.

“This is it, then,” she commented, eyes on the badge and gun that was left on the expansive desk.

Hotch nodded. “I’m sure the suits will be sweeping through my reports and cases soon enough. The team will find out then.” He turned to meet her gaze, an unreadable glint in his eyes, “But I daresay we will be seeing each other quite soon, however.”

They grasped each other’s hand firmly, something unspoken passing between them. There was a beat of stillness, then Hotch let go. He opened the office door and swept past her, past the team, and into the elevator with his phone already next to his ear, his professional mask back as he left this part of his life behind.

Strauss walked out onto the catwalk, looking out into the bullpen at the profilers sitting at their desks, shell-shocked at the man’s sudden (and all-too-final) departure.

Truthfully, Strauss didn’t know what he meant when he hinted that he would be seeing her (and presumably the team) again soon, but she assumed it had to do with the closed meeting he was pulled into the moment he arrived at the office this morning. She may not be trained to notice the details in human behavior, but she could tell there was a peaceful ease to Hotch’s goodbye that shouldn’t have been there, in addition to the strange lack of the bitterness she knew had been there last night when they went out for drinks.

“Erin, what the hell was that about?” Rossi’s voice shook her out of her thoughts. She turned to the approaching agent, game face back on and preparing to finally unleash the full scope of what had happened over a week ago onto the remaining profilers, who had been shielded from the consequences by Hotch’s presence and tireless negotiations alone.

Whatever Rossi was about to say next was suddenly cut off by an outraged “What?” coming from Morgan, who had been all but interrogating Prentiss, JJ, and Reid about the guilt was practically painted all over their expressions. Now, he ran out of the bullpen, chasing after Hotch and ignoring the calls of his name behind him.

Strauss watched all of this calmly; Hotch had asked that one of the team be made unit chief after his departure, but there was no way she was letting that happen on her watch. Especially based on Morgan’s determined chase after the now-former unit chief, she imagined she would be having two open positions to fill.

It was about time those two got their heads out of their asses, she thought, smiling internally.

May you find your peace, Aaron Hotchner.

[krakenbait]

kraken bait: so long and thanks for all the fish!

so... that happened.

the spectacle of the expansion draft was pretty fun- loved the boats, especially the one with the inflatable kraken, and some of the pick videos were nice, like the fish-throwing one and the octopus. i did not appreciate the devils slander (you guys have probably seen my very new jerseyan reaction by now), nor the fact that the dude emcee-ing has probably watched maybe two hockey games in his life (called the canes the “carolina panthers,” called them the “anaheim mighty ducks”).

the draft itself was another thing entirely. i am still very emotional about the kraken separating the superbuddies. i do not know if i will ever get over this. simultaneously, i have no idea who several of the dudes the kraken drafted are.

but those are things for another day. right now, i’m here to go over my kraken bait lists and see what i got right and what i didn’t! this is mostly based off kraken bait 3.5, but i’ll include some references to previous lists if it’s relevant. the actual pick will be bolded and my prediction will be in parentheses, but i’ll bold and italicize it if i got it right. reflection under the cut! (and bonus points if you know the reference in my title)

Anaheim Ducks: Haydn Fleury

i got it right! (he looked very good in the kraken jersey. just sayin’!)

Arizona Coyotes: Tyler Pitlick (Christian Fischer)

i have no idea who the hell tyler pitlick is. at least i recognized christian fischer’s name!

Boston Bruins: Jeremy Lauzon

that’s two! sorry casey

Buffalo Sabres: Will Borgen

that’s three! thanks to The Athletic

Calgary Flames: Mark Giordano

score four for kraken bait! i will be very, very surprised if he’s not the first captain in franchise history

Carolina Hurricanes: Morgan Geekie (Nino Niederreiter)

i have been all over the place on canes predictions. it was haydn fleury, but then he got traded (and then ended up on the kraken anyway). and then it was brock mcginn when i couldn’t think of any one, and then brady skjei according to kinga, and then niederreiter according to corwin when skjei got protected. i do like geekie though, so looking forward to seeing him in seattle!

Chicago: John Quenneville (Nikita Zadorov)

i don’t know who this guy is, aside from that he was drafted by the devils, and that still doesn’t help me much. i still think zadorov might have a chance to end up in seattle if he signs with the kraken, though.

Colorado Avalanche: Joonas Donskoi (JT Compher)

i said it in 3.5, it was always between compher or donskoi after ryan graves got traded. i predicted compher because he was a little younger and a little cheaper, but seattle took donskoi, the more consistent performer. i wish him luck with the kraken and hope his dog enjoys the pacific northwest!

Columbus Blue Jackets: Gavin Bayreuther (Dean Kukan)

who in the world is this?

Dallas Stars: Jamie Oleksiak

that’s five! also, for those of you who need to hear it: tall does not equal attractive

Detroit Red Wings: Dennis Cholowski (Vladislav Namestnikov)

no idea who this is. but the octopus reveal was very fun!

Edmonton Oilers: Adam Larsson (Tyson Barrie)

so i was right that the kraken would end up with a ufa defenseman from the oilers. i just picked the wrong defenseman.

Florida Panthers: Chris Driedger

that’s six! never realized how lanky chris driedger is until i saw him onstage at the expansion draft

Los Angeles Kings: Kurtis MacDermid (Olli Maata)

i never knew what to do with the kings. i feel like the kraken might have felt the same, because i have no idea who the hell this is.

Minnesota Wild: Carson Soucy (Kaapo Kakhonen)

it’s a name i recognize at least? but i’m very surprised that the kraken didn’t take kakhonen. the name pun was right there (kaapo krak-honen!), and i feel like he would have been the better option for a young, cheap goalie (more on that in a bit).

Montreal Canadiens: Cale Fleury (Philip Danault)

i’m happy the fleury bros are on the same team!

Nashville Predators: Calle Jarnkrok

calle jarn-kraken. “my boy calle.” i’m gonna leave it at that.

New Jersey Devils: Nathan Bastian (Andreas Johnsson)

do not talk to me.

New York Islanders: Jordan Eberle

that’s eight!

New York Rangers: Colin Blackwell

that’s nine!

Ottawa Senators: Joey Daccord (Chris Tierney)

the young, cheap goalie the kraken actually took. i kind of understand it because the sens were pretty barren, but as the armchair gm, i’d have gone for kakhonen over daccord.

Philadelphia Flyers: Carsen Twarynski (James van Riemsdyk)

who in the world is this?

Pittsburgh Penguins: Brandon Tanev (Zach Aston-Reese)

should have trusted my gut in the last round and picked tanev instead of keeping aston-reese. oh well. enjoy ghost-spotting in seattle!

San Jose Sharks: Alexander True (Ryan Donato)

i still don’t really know who this is, but resident seattle expert cass has informed me that he played juniors in seattle and scored a big winning goal for them. so welcome back, i guess.

St Louis Blues: Vince Dunn

that’s ten!

Tampa Bay Lightning: Yanni Gourde (Blake Coleman)

should have listened to ana on the gourde suggestion. i picked his linemate, so i guess i was kinda close?

Toronto Maple Leafs: Jared McCann (Travis Dermott) 

the leafs really traded for him for nothing 😂

Vancouver Canucks: Kole Lind (Zack MacEwen)

who in the world is this? and why does he spell his name with a k instead of a c

Washington Capitals: Vitek Vanecek

that’s eleven! and i’m two for three on goalies

Winnipeg Jets: Mason Appleton

“apple pie in a mason jar on skates” makes twelve!

and there you have it! i got 12 right out of 30 picks... which is a lot better than i expected, to be honest. if you were making expansion draft predictions, how many did you get? let me know, come talk about the expansion draft, or just drop by to say hi!

[insanityclause]

Hollywood, we need your help.

The shows you make and the movies you produce often shine a light on the events around us. They help us make sense of the world and they highlight those moments of heroism and hope that lift our spirits during the darkest of times. But right now, we need more than your artistry. Right now, we need your action.

Here’s the reality: Nurses, doctors and all healthcare providers are used to supplying care in the toughest of situations. We are accustomed to working 80-plus hours a week, making tough decisions, and putting our patients and families interests above our own. The healthcare provider community is defined by its compassion, resilience and sacrifice. But, we have never faced anything like the coronavirus.

Providers are having to take care of patients with limited personal protective equipment, and what we have now is dwindling.

We are reusing masks that we normally would not reuse. We are avoiding eating and drinking during our shifts for fear of needing to touch the masks and contaminating ourselves. N95 respirators that we typically use for any potential airborne infections are being conserved only for the highest risk procedures. What’s most anxiety-provoking is what the next few weeks will bring. We have so little now, will we have any protection as the surge of coronavirus patients continues?

We are hearing about colleagues around the country who already have become infected, those who are in critical condition on ventilators, and our hearts sink. We know what their families are going through, we know that this means fewer patients may get care, and we worry about what this means for us as we prepare for our next shift on the frontlines.

That’s what we are faced with, and we are writing this not to scare folks, but to ask for help from one of the most creative, innovative, inspirational sectors of society- entertainers. Here’s what we are asking:

We need you to lead by example and to motivate your fans to comply with social distance.

Lots of entertainers are already posting on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram about their isolation and social distancing experiences, and bolstering their fans with heartening messages. We need more of this, and we need young folks in particular to understand the seriousness of what we are dealing with. Directed outreach to fans about why crowds on beaches, for example, are a bad idea may motivate them to behave more responsibly. Sharing examples of providers on the front lines on a daily basis, can humanize the struggle.

We need you to donate what you have and encourage others to donate personal protective equipment/ sanitizer/supplies.

We need personal protective equipment, specifically masks, N95 respirators, sanitizer, gloves, gowns, now. We need you to donate what you have to your local hospitals and share your donation experiences with others. We also need you to encourage your fans, co-workers, family members to donate whatever they have in terms of needed supplies to their local hospitals. Even a small donation of 10 or 20 masks can help a whole unit of providers protect themselves for a shift. A small donation of hand sanitizer may mean days of providers being able to employ recommended practices of hand hygiene and protect themselves and patients.

You may have contacts in the nail industry, hairdressers, makeup artists who have these supplies. Please encourage them to donate as much as they can. TV shows such as “Pose,” “Station 19,” “The Good Doctor,” and “Grey’s Anatomy” have donated the masks, gowns and gloves they once used as props to medical workers and hospitals in need. If there are supplies left over from other medical dramas sitting around in a storehouse, it’s time to dust them off and ship them out.

We need you think of creative solutions to produce personal protective equipment/ sanitizer/ supplies.

This is a big one. Your industry is incredibly resourceful and creative. Your connections are expansive. Please work with partners in the fashion industry, alcohol beverage industry, and product development to think about how masks, gloves, gowns, sanitizer can be produced to protect providers. Already, some fashion designers have stepped up like Christian Siriano, who is having his team work on mask production for New York City. The Costume Designers Guild has also stepped up to encourage its members to sew masks. Frankly, we need all hands-on deck from the fashion industry. Similarly, if you own or partner with a consumer goods production company, please think about ways you can help. Finally, there are many celebrities with their own liquor brands. Well, alcohol producers and distributors, there are small distilleries already repurposing alcohol for hand sanitizers and donating to hospitals. Please consider whether your vodka or gin line could follow suit.

We need you to utilize your international connections to find and distribute supplies.

You are among the most connected individuals in this country and around the world. There are solutions to this supply chain crunch that involve reaching out to contacts in other countries. Please leverage any and all connections you have to help with production and distribution. If you have partners and friends in other countries that have supply, ask about donations.

We need you to build awareness and advocate with local, state and federal governments, until this crisis abates.

Finally, we will be involved in this crisis for the coming weeks, if not months. Building and maintaining awareness during this critical period will be crucial. We need your help to bolster spirits and inspire others to care about what’s happening in our hospitals and healthcare centers. This also means advocating with all levels of government and continuing to voice concerns.

We will continue to care for you, your families and loved ones. We are not embarrassed to say, we need some help and support right now.

In the 1940s, during the darkest days of World War II, Hollywood went to war — making movies that clearly articulated what was at stake in that global conflict and stirring American citizens to action. Today, the demands are different, as are the dangers. But a similar commitment to the greater good has never been more urgently needed. Please do your part.

Stay safe Hollywood.

Dr. Mallika Mendu is a practicing nephrologist and Medical Director for Quality and Safety at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA. In addition, she is the director for quality improvement for the Brigham and Women’s Nephrology Division and associate medical director of the Partners Population Health Management. The views expressed in this piece those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of her employers.

[fic-ya-later]

Not Gonna Die: Chapter 1

Summary: Castiel is depressed, however he has to return to work even if he doesn’t want too. 

Warnings: Mentions of death and depression. 

A/N: Hey guys! I am so excited to post this here! If you like what you see send me a message; I’d love to hear your thoughts! My request and taglist are OPEN so let me know if you’d like to join it or like something written! I’m working on honing my writing process and style to work on an original piece I’ve had ideas for so if you are a fellow writer send me a message and we can chat about ideas and processes! I hope you enjoy this work!

Series Masterlist

Chapter One | Chapter Two 

Castiel couldn’t tell how many times he had played Clair de Lune, but it was more than the number of whiskey tumblers he had drained in the last two hours of playing. He couldn’t seem to find the end; cadence would lead to cadence and he’d find himself resolving back to the beginning of the piece each time. Each pass through the melody something was different, Castiel’s fingers hesitated on a note, or he dampered a run’s end to cause the chord to linger in his ears. No, Castiel did not like endings. In his small apartment the baby grand echoed with grace. The rain on the glass wall of his apartment created a soft backdrop for the otherwise barren expanse of the room. 

A pause in the music filled the air as Castiel reached for the fifth to refill his tumbler, only to find it, to his surprise, empty. What time was it? 11? 12? He couldn't tell any more. He set the bottle on the floor and looked up, running his hands down his face when he saw it. The only picture in the whole house sat on the small table in the corner. The soft hazel eyes smiled at him, and Castiel started another melody as tears swelled in his. This time the melancholy was more than a subtext to the music. He let his fingers linger on each note, the vibrations filling him as Gymnopedie No. 1 filled the room. He would’ve continued like this for hours just as he did the last night, and the night before last, and the one before that, but the vibrating of his phone across the room put an end to his thoughts. 

GABE CALLING

With a sigh Castiel silenced the phone. He didn’t need yet another worried sibling bothering him during his self-loathing sabbatical. Not that it mattered. Most of them didn’t care what he was doing, as long as he wasn’t tarnishing the family’s name. Novak. He cursed his father’s last name for the weight it carried. So many knew the Novak technology empire that when they found out Castiel was a part of the family there was a look people would give him which accompanied the customary “why didn’t you follow your dad’s footsteps”. Castiel hated that question. At first he tried explaining that humans are just so interesting, and he felt it was his mission to protect and save them. After he changed his last name people asked why he didn’t capitalise on the familial fortune; he grew tired of explaining that he had all he needed and then some. After he moved away from Boston they would ask what he was running from. Now he had no answer. The past? The future? His family? He didn’t know, but there was something about the beauty of Colorado that just drew him in. There is a real connection to the Earth here. Castiel knew it was where he needed to be the first time he flew out to interview for Boulder City General; if he hadn’t been welcomed to their surgical team, well, he would have flown out to this very house no matter what and become a hermit. 

GABE CALLING

Again his brother tried and failed to reach Castiel. The ringtone fell on deaf ears as Castiel was asleep on his sofa, completely dead to the world. 

Most of Castiel’s dreams held little power over him. There was the odd dream of his mother which gifted him with comfort and peace. The dreams of wings that left him feeling assured and powerful. Then there were the dreams of forests, forests filled with green which left him waking with the constant uneasy edge of something invisible being out of place. These were the only dreams he cared for; the rest of them he chalked them up to subconscious ramblings of an overworked surgeon. These were the dreams of before. Now mostly he dreamed of red and the whine of equipment. 

Blue eyes snapped open. Another of those dreams. With a groan Castiel rolled to his side. 4:12 flashed too brightly into his eyes. He blinked and refocused. May 12. With a sigh Castiel decided the best thing he could do would be to roll himself out of bed and clean up. He returned to work today and the scruff growing down his face and neck simply wouldn’t do. “What have I become?” Steam filled the room and doubt filled his head. “She was just a child.” “You did everything you could” “There had to be something you missed.” Thoughts spiralled through his head as he showered. 

Two weeks ago Castiel met a new patient. A girl of only 12 named Claire. One week ago she went into the OR for a routine valve transplant. One week ago Claire died as Castiel stood over her with his decades, it seemed like centuries actually, of knowledge failing him. The operation was supposed to be straightforward, Castiel had accomplished successful surgeries in far worse circumstances, but when she flatlined he was completely at a loss. Nothing in his past hurt worse that the look on her mother’s face as he walked solemnly into the waiting room. Castiel walked out of the hospital that day fully intending on never walking back in. A stranger was the one who convinced him to take a sabbatical rather than retire a whole career early. 

GABE CALLING

“Gabe.”

“Hello to you too Castiel.” The silence between the two stretched through the room. “You know what day it is today, right Cassy?” 

“Yes. The days don’t change each week Gabriel. I know when Monday is.”

“And we know what happens today. Right?”

“You don’t need to talk to me like I'm a child. I'm trying not to think about it.”

“You’re going to do amazing!”

“Will you bring me lunch?”

“Of course. The usual right?” Cas smiles and hums in response. “Thought so. Don’t stress too much Cassie, I’ll be right down stairs if you need anything.”

“You can do so much better than janitor Gabriel if you ju-”

“Don’t start with me. I’ll work on my life as soon as I can stop worrying about yours little brother. Now get dressed, give Chevy a kiss for me and get your perky ass to the hospital before I have to drag it there myself.” 

Gabe hung up before Cas could even retort by inquiring how his older brother knew the shape and lift of his rear, but he did leave a smile on the surgeon's face. As if on cue, knowing her being was mentioned, a meow cut through the empty apartment and the ashen coloured creature wrapped herself around Cas’s legs, her otherworldly eyes staring up at her human with mild disdain. Chevy was a rescue, Castiel took her in after she was dropped off at the clinic Gabe was working at at the time. They all assumed she was blind, her eyes wouldn’t open for weeks, and that she had been hit by a car. The gruff older man who dropped her off had said he would come back for her if she improved, a gift for a family member he said, but then he never came. So Chevy became Castiel’s. After weeks of nursing her wounds and staying up all night to ensure her health, she finally opened her eyes and looked at her new human with mild affection. Upon seeing her eyes Castiel knew she was meant for him, one stark, pure blue eye, and one warm, deep green eye had blinked at him and she decided that he’d do. 

“I see you little lady. Let’s get you some food before dad goes to work.” While Castiel was never fond of people in general, he had a soft spot for animals and especially for Chevy. She always was so intune with him, and he wanted the best for her. After her water was freshened and a delicate mix of chicken and cat food mix was placed in her dish up on the counter in the bathroom, Castiel continued to ready himself for work. He showered and shaved quickly, trying not to glance at the scars on his back or on his wrists before dressing in freshly pressed trousers and a white button up.

“You get a kiss from Uncle Gabe this morning.” He scratches the cat’s chin before looking in the mirror one last time, face solemn and firm. “You can do this.”

-------

The hospital was as busy as ever, it was like Castiel had never left, that is until director of surgery Zachariah Adler made himself known. The snivelling man was everything that Castiel considered himself not to be: slimy, greedy, an overall pushover if it meant keeping his image and status, and worst of all he had very little regard for others or the lives that fell into his care--just as long as his numbers look good at the end of the quarter. 

“Good to see you back Dr. Allen. I trust your week was...productive?” The director’s tone signalled to Castiel that he had to tread very carefully within the brief conversation.

“Yes Director, very productive. I spent much time focusing on updating my reading on surgical advancements made in the treatment of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms. It proved quite provoking and has led me to belie…” 

“Yes, yes. Very good. I trust we won’t have any more issues then?”

“No sir.”

“Very good.” The director turned on his heel and left as swiftly as he came, and with not so much a nod in Castiel’s direction. 

“Good morning to you too.” Cas grumbled as he made his way to his office. Not much had changed, but there was a small layer of dust coating most surfaces he would have to wipe off on his lunch today. The tiny office was perfect for the surgeon’s needs. The north and east walls were adorned with meticulously organised and cared for bookshelves. The south wall held a bulletin board next to the door, and the west wall was nothing but glass. That overlooked Boulder City and the mountain range beyond. His desk was always kept neat, the only clutter taking the form of an organiser for his active case files and his in/out box, which had far more in it that he would’ve liked at this point, but that is the life of a surgeon. 

Just as he’d settled in there was a tap on the door.

“Come in.” Cas absentmindedly called out as he remained buried in a case file that required some attention. 

“Dr. Allen?”

“Mhhh.”

“Doctor Bradbury needs you for a consultation.” The voice was firm but cautious.

“Is it urgent or shall I schedule her in?” Castiel still had yet to look up from his case file, consultations were often needed when a surgery or procedure could potentially have adverse effects on a patient beyond the single issue.

“She already has requested you for a 10 am. If that’s amenable of course.”

“Mhhhm. That will do, please tell her I will be in my office Dr….” Blue eyes meet deep green.

“Nurse. Uh, Winchester.” 

“Yes, thank you Winchester. Have you worked for Dr. Bradbury long?” The tanned face was not among the carefully catalogued members of staff within Castiel’s brain. 

“First day. I will let her know you’re available. Thank you Dr. Allen.” As quickly as he came he was gone and Cas was left staring blankly at the empty doorway, wondering why those eyes captivated him so. There was a faint smell of leather lingering throughout the room that continued to mildly distract him for the remainder of his boring morning of answering emails and setting up appointments for referred clients. Just before he had his meeting with Dr. Bradbury, he was tempted to look up the new nurse in the directory, but stopped himself out of habit. New people often intrigued him, and he knew he could come on quite strong to the ‘uninitiated’ as Gabe called it. Perhaps he would be able to run into him at some point, it would seem those green eyes captivated Cas in a way he was unfamiliar with.

Another knock on the door. This one he was expecting, so he rose and greeted his friend and colleague warmly. 

“Cas!” Once the door was shut OBGYN and friend Charlie Bradbury has her arms wrapped snuggly around Cas’s shoulders, he could feel the grin through his lab coat.

“Hello Charlie, it’s good to see you.”

“You too! How are you doing? You cant just ignore me like this; I didn’t know where you were for a whole week! You even missed theme night at the Roadhouse!” The bubbling redhead would go on forever if he let her.

“Charlie.” She quiets. “I’m okay, and yes I will be going to the Roadhouse tonight, and yes I know it’s cowboy night” --- “and girl” --- “Cowperson night. And I wasn't ignoring you, I was taking a brief leave of absence to deal with personal matters. If you wish, we can arrange lunch this week and I can fill you in.” She eagerly nods. “What did you need to see me for?”

“There's the Dr. Castiel Novak I know.” The resulting glare from the blue eyes makes her shiver. “Sorry Castiel. It's a habit. I’ve known you too long.”

“I know, please just be careful. I do not wish for certain members of faculty to know my upbringing or history. I've been passing as human for this long; I’d like to keep it that way.”

“Of course,” She nods sympathetically. While most people were open and accepting to the supernatural since the fall of heaven and closing of hell, many people were still quite superstitious and prejudiced against any nonhumans. “Well, to business. I've got a case that's really troubling me. It’s quite delicate, as the case is slightly personal to one of my staff members. I have a patient. Jessica Moore. She just came in for her routine prenatal and I discovered a heart murmur. I think we might have a tricuspid atresia. To make matters worse Ms Moore is having a difficult pregnancy to say the least. Her attachment is weak and she’s beginning to show signs of preeclampsia.” 

“That is quite a combination.”

“Yes it seems that childbearing does not become her. She's the girlfriend of the brother of one of my nurses. I was hoping I could get you in for her next scan, she's due to have another ultrasound at 26 weeks. I’m worried we are going to end up having to either induce her or order a cesarean to maintain both of their healths.” Charlie’s face contorted with sadness at that. Castiel always admired the care she had for her patients. 

“When would this be?” He opened his diary.

“Two weeks, Monday.”

“Yes I can be there. Have someone drop by the details later in the week so I can ensure I am up to date on the case.”

“I’ll have Dean drop them off to you tomorrow them.” 

“Dean... that’s not a name you’ve used before.”

Charlie smiled at Cas cheekily. “Nothing gets by you Cas. Dean is a new midwife in my department. Came to me straight from the military believe it or not. He’s well over qualified for working with me, but I’m not complaining that I have the most capable, attractive, nerdiest midwife in the west at my fingertips.” She flashed a grin.

“How do those last two make him an effective nurse?” 

“They don’t but I wanted to see your reaction. You met him this morning right?”

“Ah so that was the mystery nurse.”

“Yes. Now you can’t go scaring him away. He's already been invited to join the Roadhouse gang. Garth asked him this morning. The two are becoming rather fast friends I’d like to think. I’ll see you tonight?”

“Yes Charlie, I’ll be there with spurs on.”

“Kinky…” She winks as she leaves the room, and leaves Castiel to his thoughts.

As the day drug on, Castiel became so busy he barely noticed when his lunch hour came up. Jumping out of his chair he swapped his lab coat for a cardigan and went to meet his brother for the lunch he was promised.

[habsfans98]

Reflection of the 2010′s in the NHL

Favorite season in the 2010′s

My favorite season by far in the NHL this decade, was the 2013-2014 season. This was the best season that the habs played this decade in my opinion. Not just in the regular season, but in the post season as well. While I know that the 2014-2015 season, was the better season overall in terms of points and numbers. That season, just felt like the “Carey Price show” rather than the habs show (Which resulted in a sloppy first round series with the pesky Sens, and a painful series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

The 2013-2014 Season felt like the team wasn’t just relying on Carey Price. It felt like the team new he was the best goalie in the world. And they weren’t going to let his great play go to waste. 

Resulting a deep playoff run, that only ended because a dirty play. (NO! I still haven’t forgiven Chris Kreider for the taking out Price in that series. And I never will!) 

Favorite Player of the 2010′s 

My favorite player of the 2010′s isn’t who you probably expect me to pick. And I honestly really thought about this one. You’d think I’d pick PK Subban. But really, it was Carey Price, and it has everything to do with being the heart and soul of the Canadiens, for all of this decade. I know that since I made this blog. I’ve made many posts and rants, that the habs overly rely on Price to steal games from the habs. But, he’s never complained about it. Not once. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a single comment, or criticism come from Price. That’s honestly why he’s my favorite player of decade. He let his play speak for him, all decade long. 

Favorite Playoff series of the 2010′s 

If you are a habs fan, and your favorite playoff season of the decade isn’t the 34th meeting between the Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs. Shame on you. That series, was spectacular. It was everything a Habs vs Bruins series should have. Hard hits, dirty plays, shitty talking on and off the ice, amazing goaltending between Carey Price and Tukka Rask. Still remember the jumping for joy when Subban scored the game winner in game 1 OT. But it was game 6. Down 3-2 in the series and facing elimination home. Every player in the habs uniform that game, played at a whole new level. All of this capped off with a satisfying game 7 win, in a silenced TD Garden, after a 3-1 win. 

Favorite Stanley cup Final of the 2010′s 

I hate the fact that for a second decade in a row. The habs couldn’t get to the stanley cup finals! 

However, that didn’t stop me from watching every stanley cup final during this decade. And so many of them were spectacular and memorable. The one that fits the favorite category was the 2012 Stanley cup Final. 

There’s one reason why this is my favorite Finals. My high buddy predicted the LA Kings winning the cup. That’s right. In my final year of high school. My hockey crazed friend, told me with a straight face, the LA Kings would win the Stanley cup. This was before they changed coaches mind way though the season, and still stayed true to his prediction, when they made in as the eighth seed in the west. When I asked him why he thought they’d win, he gave me just gave me two names: Anze Kopitar, and Jonathan Quick. 

The LA Kings themselves also made this a memorable series. Winning both games 1 and 2 on the road in OT, stopping the Devils on home ice in game three, only to lose both games 4 and 5, to have one of the most brutal plays of the decade, cause the dreaded five minute major to the Devils, that ended there season. 

It was the first time an eight seed in North American Sports, ever won a Championship.  

Most Disappointing NHL moment of the 2010′s 

Sigh... For New York Rangers fans. Game 4 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals was an unforgettable night for one moment in particular. Martin St. Louis OT winner. It’s also my most Disappointing moment of the 2010′s. It was the first time since a 2011 World Junior Gold medal game, where my heart sank like a rock in a pond. 

St. Louis goal, gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead in the series. the habs would bonce back with a 7-4 win in game six. That’s as much has the habs offense could must. As they could score again against the Rangers losing 1-0 in Madison Square Garden. 

So many things happened in that series that I look back on as what if’s. What if Chris Kreider didn’t crash into Price on purpose and injure him? What if the offense didn’t dry up in game six? What if the five players on the ice remember Martin St. Louis was still in are zone before he scored that OT goal against are third sting goalie? Would have won a game seven back in Montreal? 

These are the question that will never have answers...

Most Shocking moment of the 2010′s 

Honestly, we had some shocking moments in the NHL this decade. Some on the ice, some off the ice. Yet, I don’t think anyone expected what happened during the 2017-2018 season. 

No one! NOT A SINGLE PERSON! Predicted what happened that season. And if your did; you clearly owned a god damn time machine! 

THE VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS.  

A brand knew expansion team, with players picked up from the other 30 teams in the league; that either didn’t want them, tossed them away for cap relief, or just saw no harm in letting them leave for the new time. Some how managed to become the greatest expansion team in North American Sports History. 

In their first season in the NHL. The Knight had a record of 51-24-7 for 109 points, and winning the Pacific division. They then swept the LA Kings in the first round, Humiliated the San Jose Sharks in the second round, and humbled the Winnipeg Jets (turning the entire nation of Canada against them), by beating them in 4-1 in the western conference finals to make the Stanley cup final. They would lost to the Capitals in five games in the Stanley up Final. However, that last part doesn’t change the fact that all these events happened...

IN THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS FIRST NHL SEASON!

Nothing that has happened in this decade will ever or can top that at least to me! 

[corinnejmorris]

↷ A DAY IN THE LIFE

Transcribed above: Dear diary, I had lunch with Celia Mae this afternoon since she was in town. Apparently her contractor continues to delay the renovations on her house in the Hamptons, and she drives out every weekend from Boston to meet with him. She likes to believe their hookups are coincidental but surely she knows he’s stalling just to see her? Hopefully her husband doesn’t find out..or does...I don’t know what I’d do in such a situation…regardless, she was telling me about this exercise wherein, you keep track of your day in a journal or an app— but writing most definitely will be more beneficial for me. It’s to get an idea of where your time goes, so you can try to improve your productivity and be more aware of your everyday happenings. Anyways, I’m going to try it on Friday, since Thursday is so busy.

5:30AM 

She wakes up with the assistance of $90 sunrise alarm clock. She makes her bed almost immediately and lazily walks over to her ensuite. She’s a morning shower person, so her oversized tshirt gets left on the floor as she lets the water heat up. Towel wrapped around her chest, she continues on to teeth, then skin care— toner, serum, eye cream, moisturizer and sunscreen, then moisturize before she’s onto the closet. She doesn’t spend long finding something, and make sure to grab a pair of leggings and a sports bra for yoga this afternoon. Before changing she sits at her vanity and does her beauty routine— primer, light concealer, lip balm, eye shadow, mascara, lips, perfume.

Transcribed above: Dear diary, I woke up at 5:30 this morning, and spent an hour and a half on my look this morning.

7:00AM

She’s changed and is now in the kitchen, for a mediocre cook at best— Corinne can somewhat pull off breakfast. Turkey bacon in a pan, and a small saucepan is boiling water. Whole wheat toast from a local bakery in her toaster and espresso brews on her stove top. Now is when she checks her phone for late night emails, calls or texts she may have missed and makes note to answer them once she gets to work, or answers immediately if they’re pressing. She poaches her egg, and smashes an avocado on her toast with some chili flakes. She eats alone at her dining room, no phone, no notebook, often times with a soundtrack of soft jazz. 

7:45 AM

She’s in her car with two lattes in travel mugs. Although her office isn’t that far, she likes being the first person in the office. Or at least one of the first— but today she picks up Nicky first which used to be a more common occurrence but now he more often commutes with his girlfriend. The drive from her neighbourhood to his is short and she greets him with a hot latte. They drive through the beginnings of morning traffic and Nicky talks while she nods and pipes in occasionally. 

Transcribed above: Dear diary, We’re settled in the office now, sometimes I forget how refreshing Nick’s babble can be.

8:10 AM

Emails, phone calls and all the correspondence she can muster before their team debrief. All the while she tries to finish her own latte, and solve whatever Nicky’s plight so happens to be. This is also when she sets up her schedule for the day.

8:35 AM

Team debrief, overlook at the past week, what next week looks like. Where everyone is at on their projects, where they can use insight. This might be Corinne’s favourite part of the day.

9:00 AM

Meeting one, whatever client she’s spear heading normally gets this first meeting. Gets as long as they need, and this slot is usually reserved for whoever pays most. Today it’s a meeting with some more of Bell’s campaign staff. A progress report of sorts.

11:00 AM

Meeting two, a conference call with the New York guys. Corinne mostly does these out of courtesy. She really wishes she could off load this onto someone else, but she doesn’t. They talk about possible expansion, she thinks for a moment about moving back to New York.

12:00 PM

Social media break before lunch, god her brother’s kid is so cute!

12:15 PM

Lunch at the office today and as much as she hates interrupting her eating, there’s a meeting with the board she’s forced to attend.

1:45 PM

Back in her office, with a stack of reports neatly piled on her desk. This alone time is her favourite. Alone with the words and numbers, highlighters and pens— a time she could clear her head of everything else and focus.

Transcribed above: Dear diary, I’m taking a break from the tobacco reports to update you on today’s events.

3:30 PM

Rooftop yoga at the office. She changes in the bathroom down the hall before walking up the final two flights up to the rooftop. A serene closing to her day.

4:45 PM

Back in the office, back in her Western business casual attire and sending out her final emails of the day, planning any meetings for tomorrow, a few quick phone calls and she’s ready to be out the door.

5:25 PM

She says goodbye to her assistant and is off to find her car. With the rush hour traffic her ride takes her around 40 minutes. But also her sometimes shitty driving might also play a part in the length of her commute.

6:30 PM

She unlocks her front door and immediately gets rid of her shoes and drops her purse. Although she’ll only be here for a few minutes, walking through her front door is always a welcoming feeling. She quickly changes, and smokes out her shadow for a more night time look.

Transcribed above: Dear diary, I’m sort of in a rush but, today was a good day— smooth, no hiccups. I have dinner with Colin tonight which should be nice.

8:10 PM

Dinner downtown. It feels like a slightly more personal client dinner but it’s nice to catch up. Although she initially thought they wouldn’t have a lot to talk about, the conversation starts and never stops. She’s glad she got to do this. The company is welcomed, the food is great and the wine is even better.

10:40 PM

His hotel is just around the corner and they say goodbye and agree to catch up again soon. The walk to her car is brisk and she’s back on the road shortly. Driving timidly after her two glasses of red.

11:00 PM

This time there’s an audible sigh when she enters the house this time. Now she’s done for the night. Clothing is shed when she breaches her bedroom and sits at her vanity. She removes her makeup and spends a beat too long inspecting every inch of her face. She slips back into her pyjamas from this morning.

Transcribed above: Dear diary, Dinner with Colin was fantastic, I forgot how charming and talkative he was. It’s always so nice to catch up with people from school. Maybe I should call him.

11:45 PM

She goes downstairs for one more drink and sits on her couch in the dark. She enjoys the stillness of moments like these. Reminds her of the power of her loneliness.

12:50 AM

She drags her tired limbs back upstairs and brushes her teeth before curling up her duvet.

[mailebartolome]

October Baseball

If you were to ask me what period of my life I could live again, I would choose the month of October in 2004.

By the end of September that year, I was 18-years-old and knee-deep in my growing collection of newspapers that captured the end of Boston's ‘04 regular season. It was also the end of my difficult formative years - years that baseball always made a little easier. 

I still remember the first time I caught a glimpse of a game as a freshman. I'd stormed into my bedroom, slammed my door, turned up my radio, and mindlessly flipped through my TV until an expansive vibrant green made me stop. 

It was the outfield at Fenway, and despite the thousands of people in the stands, the entire park was buzzing with an electric silence. There was an intensity that creased along the players’ faces and people in the stands. It grabbed me just enough to leave my TV on that station. It stayed there for days, weeks, months - always flickering beneath the music and yelling and mess.

That's how it happened. That's how I fell in love with the game. It was the same way we fall for anything or anyone else - accidentally and out of nowhere.

I loved the patience of the game. The quiet tension that builds for a few innings or hours and how it all comes down to one pitch or swing of the bat. I loved the line drives and diving catches and dirt that takes over the white uniforms. The cold postseason games. The bottom-of-the-ninth, 2-out, bases loaded pitch. I loved the sound of a ball cracking off a bat and how it could bring an entire city to its feet while silencing another.

Looking back now, I know it was more than just the sport. I know it was the human condition at play - the need to connect and belong. 

So I fell in love with the game instead of a boy or girl. I was a product of a world in which loneliness and dysfunction prevailed. Baseball was at the other end of that, and it brought me a sense of community and faith and love all combined within the greatest game.

And that's it.

That's the whole entire ballgame folks and thesis of my post and why I'd choose to relive a moment of time that was built around a team.

We were all just kids when the game took over us. When our subconscious connected and transferred our deepest inner selves onto a story that was so much bigger than any of us. 

For some, a team represents time with their father. Their grandmother. Their experiences through life - both beautiful and painful.

Boston's stumble into the '04 post-season with a wildcard was how I'd gotten through most difficult events in my life: barely. 

Their complete collapse and abrupt rise within the 7 games of the '04 ALCS was an imperfect reflection of my entire adolescence. 

Their World Series win and triumph over an 86-year-old superstition was so palpable that I still, fifteen years later, tear up and get chills when I look at photos of the old fans who cried during that final World Series out.

I'd watched all of those '04 games with my best friends - three lively New England boys who'd endured their own chaos. We were kids, yet we were just coming to a point where we could actually feel like kids again instead of makeshift adults. Those games were the heart of it - the campfire that we always congregated around for years. 

Two of them have since died from overdoses. The third has drifted.

That October was one of the greatest times the four of us had ever spent together. To get those games and moments and friends back would be impossible. But I can still feel traces of them and us in games today. 

For some, a sport is irrevocably tangled with their past. Peel back the layers of the human condition, and you'll find that It's never just a game. It's something so much deeper and meaningful to hundreds of thousands of strangers. That’s what makes it such a beautiful, collective experience.

It’s part of what makes baseball the greatest sport of all time. Especially in October. 

[jacklyngradphotography]

History Catch up

Hello Loyal Followers!

I am excited to give a HISTORY update . Here is a QUICK update where we left off. Gonna Jump around to play catch up and highlight just the big stuff.

1860’s-Photography is SWEEPING

-Colonialism has a connotation..this is a western discovery

-In middle eastern countries it was against the law to have a picture taken

-Many people were performing mimicry & lore (this is relevant for future photos that will be made)

-Images were becoming more than documenting a place or person. They were complex!

War photos were being made- People had always heard of what happened while at war. They had scene paintings made of bottle scenes, but had never seen anything this real.

Bermes vs. England. Showing Strength, WE ARE HERE. Intentional!

Siege at Lucknow-The Siege of Lucknow was the prolonged defence of the Residency within the city of Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. After two successive relief attempts had reached the city, the defenders and civilians were evacuated from the Residency, which was then abandoned.

People had NEVER seen pictures like this. With people who had died-their bodies were just lying there in front of their eyes. NOTE: The sky is totally blow out and white, the traveling processing booths were not all advanced enough to handle that brightness.

At this point, Traveling photography started.

-Many well to do western people would travel after they were married, or go on exhibitions and take pictures. This brought knowledge to the world! People were totally mesmerised by the pictures

Like this one in egypt. People were included in the photo to show scale and size.

Pictures were VERy frontal!! Also shows the power the westerners had. The westerners were always shown ABOVE the locals/esterners. You can see the men in the top of the photo are all in uniform (army) and on the hill and below are locals intheir garb. This was intentional. And messsed up….

1851 Felix Taynard-Created the Salted Paper Prints

-They traveled well and you did not need to worry as much about them getting ruined

Right now-1857- Pictures in Europe, France and England were beginning to BEG the attention of artists..where in America it was purely for documenting. They were not ready for “art, love and madonna” They did not have 100’s of years of art, romatics & history as Europe did. They had War…. -_-

J.M.Cameron- 48 y/o

This woman was COMPLETELY ahead of her time! 5 min exposure, Albumen prints. Not all in focus. Untrimmed Photos, “dirty Looking”. Super influential during this time. But critics were UP IN ARMS about how provocative her work was.

-She was seeking out “High Minded” works

-Intellectual Energy  

-Built a dark room in “the coal room” of her home

-Artistic Consciousness/Moral & Biblical innuendos

-GORG WORK. Look at the tonal range in this photo!!! And in the late 1860’s!

American War Photos

-Frontal

-NOT Romantic

-Heroic

-Pictures were made to document and to witness

These pictures were trying to tell “A larger Truth”. Sometimes they look staged! But...they are accurate of the time. No one had EVER seen photos of war like this. NEW CONTENT.

Practitioners to Note:

-Gardner, was the ONLY person to photograph the Lincoln Conspirators hanging, also the first WOMEN to ever be hung in public. Took photos of them before they hung

-O’Sullivan

-Barnard

THE WESTERN EXPANSION

On these teams traveling across America, in hopes to show the US new “hope” after the war.

They brought portable dark rooms, using wet plate collodion process. Check out this video if you want to see how it works. IT’S CRAZY that they were traveling through LITERAL uncharted territory with all these chemicals and chemistry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiAhPIUno1o

They took incredible..only the USA were taking landscape photos like this!

Watkins-

1880’s Photography was Democratized-

-Was used in schools to tell truths -Used in textbooks to show proper procedures -Pictures were taken of chemistry and elements to show what they look like to the “regular”person -Women were sewing pictures into their clothing to show “eliteness”

Something so important to understand..is that pictures were beginning to be something that showed status in a home. You would have a basket in your front room, where you welcomed people with pictures of your family (if you had them) or of the queen, or local royals (in Europe).

George Eastman

Created a machine that made dry plates

-Sells them in England and creates a patent in America

-Makes it easy to access plates!! And they were dry NOT wet!

And then..he made up the word Kodak, because he liked the letter K and overnight…

1888-THE KODAK

THIS CHANGESEVERYTHINGGGGGGGG

$25 at the time ($600 today)

Anyone could get them…

You sent your negatives to Rochester to get developed

An overnight SENSATION!! EVERYONE IS A PHOTOGRAPHER….

Overnight, the content of photography changed. Just like the “amerature iPhone photographer”

-More casual, unexpected, regular

This was so popular that hotels installed dark rooms for people.

The joke was “People had the case of the cameras” lol

In the 1890’s, it was terrible to be an artist in America… this was a constant struggle for development of the arts. THAT being said….Art was growing faster than ever. Americans were moving to Paris to study art. THe MOMA is founded...Boston Fine Art is established...Harvard Art…

Eugene Atget-Founder & Father of Documentary Photography

-Does not call himself an artist. A failed painter..

-Dry Plate. Large format

-He had no notes, no theories, he saw this as his job.duty to document what paris was like.

[junker-town]

How the Carolina Hurricanes grew into the NHL Playoffs’s preeminent home team

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Home is where the heart is.

Another night in Raleigh, another win for the Carolina Hurricanes — and another chapter in one of the most remarkable subplots of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Hurricanes are now up 3-2 in their series with the Rangers, which, much like their opening round clash with the Boston Bruins, has been mired in one reality: The Canes can’t win anywhere but home.

Across 12 playoff games the Hurricanes are 7-5, with all seven wins coming at home, and all five losses away. Carolina remains the only team left who haven’t won a single playoff game away from home, while also being the only team not to lose at home. Perhaps the most remarkable element to this dichotomy is that home wasn’t always a happy place for this team.

For much of the Hurricanes’ existence, the franchise has been influenced by external forces. Each year they’re forced to vacate PNC Arena to go on an expansive road trip so the North Carolina State Fair can use its parking lot. The team has constantly had to contend with waxing and waning fan interest, propped up by a transplant local community, who largely migrated from other parts of the country to work in the Raleigh-Durham area’s lucrative pharmaceutical or tech sectors. These traditional hockey fans would sooner don an away team’s jersey to see their childhood team than switch to the red and black.

It wasn’t just normal to see so many away fans at a Hurricanes game, it was fated. However, as with all things in sports, winning cures everything. Things began to change after the team’s remarkable Stanley Cup run in 2005-06. The area started taking more pride in their local hockey team. Those 20-something fans who’d wear anything but a Canes jersey to a game — they had kids, and these new locals, now becoming young adults themselves weren’t just hockey fans, they were Hurricanes fans.

With that demographic shift came growth. The team, often mocked for poor attendance and pegged for eventual relocation by fans of legacy franchises, began to see everything change. In 2014-15 the Hurricanes were 29th in the NHL in attendance, attracting just over 12,000 fans a night and filling only 67 percent of their arena. Now, the team is 13th in the league, besting hockey strongholds like Detroit, New York and even Toronto in attendance.

We’ve seen this happen in Nashville and Tampa Bay, but the Canes’ rise to prominence came a little differently: it started by becoming a bunch of jerks. That one line from curtain-clad loudmouth announcer Don Cherry in 2019 changed everything for the Carolina Hurricanes. In one moment he gave the Canes something they lacked in the community for decades prior: an identity.

“I know what I’m talking about. You never do anything like that. They’re still not drawing. They’re a bunch of jerks as far as I’m concerned.”

This came following a discussion of the Canes’ now signature “Storm Surge,” creative post-game celebrations devised to engender goodwill between the players and their local fans. When Cherry called the players jerks, and followed by chiding the lack of attendance — that was all the team needed. Call it defiance, call it southern pride, that might all be a little labored — but the end result was the same: Fans in the area weren’t going to let this fly.

Suddenly the team took on a new tone. On social media the organization embraced being jerks. Their mission wasn’t just to support a hockey team, but challenge convention, tear apart hockey’s “unwritten rules” and forge their own. Fans began to show up in droves, taking on the mantle of jerks themselves.

If you attended a game a decade ago, then this season, the difference was staggering. Carolina jerseys overwhelmed visiting fans. The nosebleed seats were no longer safe-haven for visitors, but full of raucous Canes fans wanting their voices to be heard. The Storm Surge celebrations remain, but the tone is entirely different now — there’s pride that comes from being a jerk, from being a Carolina Hurricanes fan. That’s what’s fueled not just a remarkable season, but a new era.

Now that hometown pride has created a fascinating new problem for this team: They need the fans in Raleigh. At least, that’s how it seems. The reality of whether there’s an emotional effect on the Hurricanes can only be answered by the players themselves, but the dramatic disparity in play is showing that something is happening at home and on the road.

In these playoffs, the Canes have thrived in front of their own fans, feeding off them and rebounding from adversity, but seeming lost away from home ice. The saving grace for this all: The Hurricanes are in a great spot, if this could continue. With the Panthers out of the playoffs Carolina are destined to have home ice advantage all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals — but nobody really thinks this ludicrous home stand can continue, while the ability for the Canes to win on the road seems less certain.

Regardless of what happens for the remainder of this season the real story underpinning it all is that of a franchise who found a purpose. In a lot of way they earned a home, and they did it all by being a bunch of jerks.