#I want to add more to this I think so probably WIP I want Matt to be there but

[sloanedodson]

[ravenmold]

WIP GAME

Hello! I was tagged very kindly by my friends @auofgoldandfantasies @42donotpanic and @inkforhumanhands

rules: make a new post with the names of all the files in your wip folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have wips

Okay so, I was originally gonna limit this to mattfoggy for obvious reasons (and also because there's enough of them as is) but then I thought.... where's the fun in that? So, behold, a list of wips - some years old, some barely more than a paragraph and a dream - from a mixed bag of fandoms taken straight from my poor laptop's AO3 file.

You get bonus points if you recognise the song lyrics 😂 if you include the song or reference in the hypothetical ask you'll send me, I'll add a lil doodle to my answer. I say this very seriously because I love when people listen to the same music as me 😂

eyes closed against the threat of death

all unquiet things

the future's out to get you

send me sweetly to my doom

Agent Matt (Moochy prompt 78)

on a toujours un truc à faire

semper in fide (always in faith or always loyal)

your gentle winding mind

Retired, Extremely Dangerous

Murphy's fourth law or something (Pom prompt 1)

Well, as I live and breathe

(SPACE PIRATES) those who stare at stars

just don't call me yours

Gravity's Pull

my domestic fix it

Brave au

Atlantis au

baby, bring me home to bed

sound the keening bell

Let's not be friends (stupid)

cuddled up with a heart condemned

Up For Air

mini ideas dumping ground

the trap I set for you

"Ta petite blonde sexy"

you couldn't lose if you tried

i like the way you

drew lotr travelfic convo + ideas

there's no way around it

HOMOPHOBIC MATT

look at me when you walk by (just enough to make me cry)

idk man ....... Pirate au

first of all, these look fake

Pretend

I hate it when that happens

doo wop au boii

Knock

Bagman's Gambit au

idk what to call this (yes that is its name)

taylor swift

To Be Your Home

Until You Break, Until You Yield

Time Loop

baby matt idea

read my mind, but say you didn't

it's always lose-lose

I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

This feels weirdly personal lmao because there is .... So much of me inside these. I really love a song lyric huh??? 😅 I'm just not gonna think about it. None of them are on the internet because I don't post wips. Most of them probably never will be, but they were fun to dream about in their time. I also have a few wips/ideas not mentioned. Otherwise I'd be here all day and you'd be scrolling to high hell, and I don't want to be directly responsible for someone going to hell. I mean I'm not known for being succinct (case in point) but whatever.

Thank you for the tags, I really enjoyed going through my fics again lmao some of them surprised me. I have one (1) cherik fic in all of these, and I was actually so surprised to find it again and see that it has 2118 words 😂

Who will I tag??? Erm I'm trying to go for people who i haven't seen tagged in these yet, so if this is your second time .... Well, I'm not sorry did you see that three people tagged me??? Yeah. Suck it up 😂

@zekeyboy @foggynelsonsblog @missmoochy @amazing-spiderling and whoever feels like joining us!

[sesamestreep]

wip meme

tagged by @firstelevens to share some part of a WIP I’m working on!

“Did you just call me a shark?” Foggy asks, struggling with the fact that the morning light is cutting directly across his right eye in a way he finds profoundly unpleasant and the fact that he would also rather die than move right now. It’s a tough spot to be in. Matt makes an inarticulate noise against his shoulder and buries his face further into the pillow, not enjoying being woken up for conversation at this hour one bit, by the looks of things. Foggy nudges him gently. “Matt?” “I’m awake,” he says, in a way that directly contradicts his own assertion. “Wha—what’s it?” “I asked you a question…” “Yeah,” Matt says, fairly confidently for someone who definitely does not know what’s happening. “I heard you.” “So…?” “Yes.” “Yes, you did call me a shark?” Foggy asks, alarmed. “What?” Matt asks, equally alarmed and finally, mercifully awake enough for this conversation. “Why would I call you a shark?” “That’s what I’m trying to ascertain,” Foggy replies. “I don’t think you were fully awake yet and you said something that sounded like ‘room shark’ and it was right after I kissed you, so I assumed it was directed at me.” “Oh.” Foggy does his best not to sigh in frustration at that very Matt response, which tells him precisely nothing. “So, was it? Directed at me?” “It’s not ‘room shark’. It’s,” Matt says, before repeating the word from before, which still sounds suspiciously like ‘room shark’ to Foggy’s ears. This probably means he’s being made fun of, but, if so, Matt’s doing a good job of hiding it. Looking embarrassed, though, he adds, “It’s Gaeilge, Foggy. Irish?” “Oh.” He’s heard Matt speak Irish before, his heart doesn’t have to get fluttery about it every time. It’s getting more than a little pathetic. “Well, what does it mean?” “It’s not—it’s hard to translate exactly—I wasn’t really awake, so…” Foggy does let himself sigh this time, in case it wears Matt down at all. “Is that code for you’re not going to tell me?” Matt just buries his face in Foggy’s shoulder again, immune to any attempts to influence him by virtue of his sheer shamelessness. “I can’t have you knowing all my secrets,” he says, with a cryptic smile. “I have a reputation as a mysterious gentleman to maintain, you know.”

no pressure tagging @brattytrixie @firefeufuego and @flythesail if they want to share anything they’re working on ♥️

[thornilee013]

WIP Wednesday 10.4.2024

Hello and welcome to another week of Work-in-Progress (WIP) Wednesday, a lovely challenge started by @/kedreeva .

As always, feel free to send in multiple requests, even if it's for the same draft! But keep in mind that that's just how I operate, and that this is not part of the official WW rules/etiquette! (aka please don't assume everyone is as desperate as me)

***PLEASE SEND THINGS IN. THIS IS LITERALLY THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY WEEK. YOU WILL NEVER ANNOY ME AND IN FACT I DARE YOU TO TRY TO ANNOY ME***

Official rules for those who are new:

In a reblog of this post (so people can find you in the notes) or new thread (w/ rules attached) if you want to play on your own, post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names. Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to play! After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from (for example, an event or gift fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share. That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. I’ll be searching the reblogs to find people to send asks to! If you’re reading this, you’re invited! If you see someone posting a WIP Wednesday Game snippet, send them an ask! Make them write.

Prompts that I'm offering this week:

1. Silly Little Jean Moreau Fic 2. TLC 3. 101 Ways not to Say I Do 4. Needle AU (CW: posts may contain mentions of self harm, wound infections, and stalking) 5. Pride Zine (AKA, I write three new sentences on my zine pieces, then pick a random project to add three sentences to for a post! Might bring the dice back again this week, or if you're a regular I'll pick one of the ones I know you like c;)

Progress from this last week below the cut: A combined and collected selection of posts from 101!

"We should probably let people know, right?" Neil said as he fell back onto the couch after pulling his sweatpants back on. Andrew was already lounging on the couch, running his fingertips along the inside of his palm in a desperate attempt to replicate the sensation of holding a cigarette. Maybe a few years ago Neil would have allowed him a cheat day, but they had gotten rid of every last pack in the condo*.

Andrew shrugged in response, his pupils still blown wide and his lips still reddened. "Probably."

"Come on. You don't want Aaron to hear about this from Nicky. I can call him if you want, and you can call Renee."

"No," Andrew said, leaning back to fish his phone out of his pocket. "I'll call Aaron. And Renee. I don't think you'd want me to be the one to call Matt."

Neil wasn't about to disagree. He sighed and pulled out his own phone to dial Matt's number.

-

Nicky didn't reemerge from the guest bedroom until the next morning, or at least, that was the next time that Andrew and Neil spotted him.

Thankfully, their morning the next day had been more or less typical; Neil had gone on his morning run and Andrew had gone back to sleep after Neil's alarm had gone off. By the time Nicky finally came out of the guest room, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, Neil and Andrew were already on their second cup of coffee.

"Aaron called me at nine last night," he said while trying (and failing) to stifle a yawn. "Couldn't you two have waited to tell the others until I was awake? Damn, I need coffee. Please tell me you have some left."

Neil sipped at his own coffee while Andrew nodded his head in the direction of the pitcher they'd brewed that morning. "Knock yourself out."

"I'm glad to hear that you were at least slightly inconvenienced by your own actions," Neil added.

"Ha ha," Nicky said while making his way to the coffee machine. "I'm so glad to see that that classic Josten charm hasn't faded over the years."

Andrew shot Nicky a look that prompted him to lift up his hands in a mock surrender.

"Come on, I can't keep my sarcasm concealed before I've had a cup of coffee, you know this, Andrew."

"Then start drinking," Andrew responded.

[doctorgeekery]

20 Questions For Writers

Thanks for the tag @sinvulkt!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 7 works.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

60,129. Wow, a lot more than I thought, especially since I am terrible about posting things I write.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Looking at my official statistics, apparently I have written the most for Marvel (4). Most of those are marvel crossovers with some sort.

However, Marvel is definitely NOT what I have written for the most. Back in middle school and high school, I wrote a lot of Harry Potter fanfiction and posted it on harrypotterfanfiction.com back when that still existed. I wrote two novel-length stories in addition to one-shots. If I were to add those to my AO3 stats, things would be very different.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

1. It's Nice Being an Avenger (2,331 kudos)

2. The Dark Knight and Gotham’s Prince: Our Sweethearts (1,070 kudos)

3. Just Call Me Lucifer, Love (778 Kudos)

4. Avenging with the Nine-Nine (475 Kudos)

5. Melting the Ice (78 Kudos)

The number one fic is a crossover of Netflix's Daredevil and the MCU Avengers. It wasn't too popular for about two years after I wrote it, but then after Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the popularity skyrocketed. I got at least ten kudos every day for about two months after that movie.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I do not get them terribly often so I try to remember to reply to all of them. Some of them I might forget to reply to and wait until a few months later, though.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I tend to usually post-humorous fic to AO3, so of what I have posted, the angstiest fic is probably "Harklin", which is set in the Star Wars High Republic. I usually end on a positive note. The darkest fic I've written - one I wrote in high school in which the main character committed suicide - had a somewhat uplifting last few sentences as the main character only committed suicide so she could be with the ghost she fell in love with.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my fics have happy endings. "The Dark Knight and Gotham’s Prince: Our Sweethearts" is probably one of the happiest, though - I had a few commenters gushing about the happy ending.

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

Nope! I am glad. Sometimes people will point out minor corrections/mistakes, but that's not hate. And I'm glad they do it, because then I go back and fix it.

9. Do you write smut?

No. I read it sometimes, but I have no desire to write it.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Yes, I have a few crossovers posted - most notably the Marvel/Lucifer TV crossover and the Marvel/Brooklyn-99 crossover. It is interesting, since I rarely read crossovers, but I love to write them.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so? Never checked, but nobody has told me that it has been, soooooo.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Just hit this milestone a few years ago! Someone asked me if they could translate "The Dark Knight and Gotham’s Prince: Our Sweethearts" into Chinese, I said yes, and it is now posted as a translation of my fic. HUGE honor - the day it was posted I was grinning so much.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Yes, I co-wrote a one-shot once back when I was writing on harrypotterfanfiction.com. I literally just looked it up on wayback machine because I don't remember it well (looks like I published it in 2014), but it was for a challenge/competition thing with another randomly assigned author. We got along quite well and had a lot of fun!

14. What‘s your all-time favourite ship?

When reading fanfiction, I tend to not read a lot of romance, and I don't write a lot of romance, either. I don't have a "this is 100% my favorite ship" that I am sure about, but the first one that popped into my brain when reading that question is Supercorp.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

"Avenging with the 99" - essentially, the cast of Brooklyn 99 teams up with some Avengers for their annual Halloween Heist. There's so much pranking and a lot of fun, but a) after a certain point, I struggled with where to take it and b) I know at one point I planned who was going to win... but it's been so long that I have forgotten.

In middle and high school, I planned out an entire seven book series for Albus Potter, Harry Potter's son. I completed the first two books (something I will always be proud of) and started writing the third while I was still editing the second book, but then I quit. I had outlines of plans for all seven of the books, which I know I still have somewhere. At this point, it has been so many years and I have fallen out with the Harry Potter fandom completely, so I know I will never go back to it.

16. What’s your writing strengths?

Dialogue. I love to write dialogue, as it comes so naturally to me. Easiest part of writing, by far.

17. What’s your writing weaknesses?

One, I hardly ever write. Most things I write I don't complete. But when it comes to writing itself, I am AWFUL at description. I can't describe locations, people, etc. If you see a fic of mine with a lot of description, know that it took me a painfully long time. Often when writing a first draft of something, I will say [insert description of place here later] because trying to describe things ruins my flow.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I have never done it, but I don't see why not. I think it depends how much - a few short phrases here or there would be awesome, but I don't think all of the dialogue should be in a different language than the rest of the fic.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

Honestly, "The Dark Knight and Gotham’s Prince: Our Sweethearts" is one of my favorites to go back and re-read. I still laugh when I re-read it.

I will always be proud of the first fic I ever wrote, simply because it was novel-length (75K words) and I did an excellent job for a 13-15 year old. I would never want to re-read it now, though - I will probably cringe at it.

As for tagging... uh, I think @sinvulkt already tagged most people from our Star Wars discord, so I shall change fandoms and tag @starsandstormyseas. I will also tag @chaosgoblinhours because I love their Gutterworks series.

[alexturne]

1, 15, 20 for the meta asks!

Thanks for asking 🥰

I've answered 1 and 20 here 😘

15. Which is harder: titles or summaries (or tags)?

Summaries!!!! I'm awful with those. Usually I just pick some tiny paragraph that sort of encapsulates the story and a tiny teenie description of what to expect. They're not great and so many people are amazing at those!

Titles are always songs because I often find that to be my initial inspiration for a story. Like with i've been saving all my summers for you - that whole story grew from the song itself. And also a wip, I've got a story named keep your charm where i can't see it (and your hands where I can) because I LOVE that line, and the whole concept sort of grew from that alone. I can struggle a bit with it if it's been the other way around or if there's not really an obvious connection, but then I just chuck on ams discography and try to steal a clever line from Alex to help me along.😂

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

I'll add a little bit because I just thought of something. I thought I'd do an epilogue to under these lights you look beautiful and I told everyone that I would (and it's not happening IM SO SORRY 😭... Not at the moment at least and now it kinda feels like its too late) but I've got like some of it written and some of it planned. And I just wanted to share that I had this whole motif of one of Alex's poems that elaborated on how Miles was his Northern star guiding him home, and his True North and it was so sappily romantic and so soft and too much and I loved it. I'm honestly not that much of a romantic myself but with these two it just cant get mushy enough! I think about that epilogue often!! There was going to be an appearance of Stacy and Matt as well and maybe an acoustic performance from Miles too.. oh well... It'll probably never see the light of day.

Also, I love putting strong lady friends in my stories (also in general strong friendships) that guides the characters in their troubles with brutal honesty and who aren't afraid to give a caring kick in the butt . And I think it's because they sort of reflect the person I'd love to have as my friend if I found myself in those situations. The friend I wished I could be more often. Strong and willful and certain and trusting and confident.

[she-who-the-river-could-not-hold]

#100daysofwriting | day 016 (belated)

a daily writing challenge created by @the-wip-project // tagging my fellow writers in on the fun: @thelittlefanpire, @kinetic-elaboration, @hopskipaway, and @easilydistractedbyfanfic

A day off from writing accidentally turned into completely ignoring anything that had to do with writing so here's yesterday's prompt for now!

Do you have prophecies and superstitions as part of the worldbuilding in your WIP? Could you add some?

YES! In my dark/medieval fantasy AU, I've merged the concept of Wanheda with the Dungeons & Dragons Blood Hunter class created by Matt Mercer for Critical Role. So I’ve been working to create my own magic system and mythology to work with it, resulting in both a perceived destiny as well as superstitions and the feelings of people who don’t practice it. The destiny that Clarke is given feels like a prophecy at first, but as time goes on she’ll learn more about what she’s really meant to achieve.

In regard to superstitions, Clarke is warned of “stories of religious zealots of the west killing wanhedas for being heretics.” This stems from Cadogan and his cult in canon, but also the idea that since I imagine the world I’m creating having religious characters, I felt that they would find a wanheda’s ability to use blood to fuel their magic as sinful. Similar to how some faiths don’t support autopsies/organ donation/medical treatment/etc, I imagined that a more zealous religion in this world would be horrified by the concept. There’s also an archaicness to the blood magic practice, making even everyday people in the world wary of it. While it hasn’t happened yet, Clarke will eventually run into deeper animosity towards her once it’s revealed what her powers are. The superstitions about wanhedas (colloquially called “blood hunters” in the fic as a more derogatory way) are rooted in both assumptions, bad experiences decades ago that have been passed on in stories, and general fear.

I do think there are ways I can play all of this up though. This is the fic that I’m planning on converting into a D&D style experiment and my plan right now is to rework the current outline I have and find places where I have to roll for what’s going to happen. Each character is going to get a mini character sheet so that I can figure out their advantages + disadvantages. Then, while I have the core structure of things I need to happen, I want to have the dice dictate things in between. I’m probably making things harder on myself but I’m twice as excited to keep working on this WIP than I was before.

So back to the question: I think I’m going to have a roll set up where I see how well or poorly someone receives the information that Clarke is a wanheda. If it rolls high enough on the interaction, they either don’t know what that is, don’t care, or don’t have any superstitions. If it rolls too low, they’re extremely superstitious and on guard around her (if not outright hostile).

I often talk about dialogue being on my biggest hang ups so I think this would be a really cool way for me to have a more fun time figuring out how things will happen, as well as having the chance to dive deeper into the world.

link to my ao3 | masterlist of these posts

[sirius-archive]

Could I get an imagine where the reader is a muggle American and she’s on vacation in London with her family and she somehow lost her family and she’s like freaking out and then she runs into Sirius on the streets and he like helps calm her down and helps her find her family? Sorry if this is a weird request

Pairing: Sirius Black x Reader, James Potter x Lily Evans (mentioned) 

Warnings: Swearing, stranger danger too, I guess. 

A/N: so sorry this took so long! I loved the idea and I hope I did it justice. I might add to it later on or revamp it bc I love the idea but it’s a big maybe at the moment bc I’m so busy with uni and work and also my other wips. I hope you enjoy this though. Also I changed the request quite a bit bc I forgot what you originally wanted! So sorry!! 

just want to add that I did something o probably shouldn’t and included my real life friends! With their permission, ofc. I also made a modern reference even tho it’s supposed to be the seventies but I liked it too much so I left it in ha ha. Also…pls don’t talk to strangers. This is fanfiction people not an advice column. 

****

It’s another uncharacteristically warm day in London.

The sun showers blankets of warm golden light over the city, guilding skyscrapers and warming the sweet, honeyed breeze. Sparrows are chirping sweet, morning songs, dancing in the air with surprising grace. Squirrels scamper across lush green grounds in a park nearby, happily bidding you a good morning.

And not one of these motherfuckers are going to help you find your friends.

You wander aimlessly past the same park monument you saw just half an hour ago. Your legs are already aching, your feet are forming blisters that hurt the more you think about them, and the sun is slowly drilling into your soul.

You think you might die of thirst before you find your friends.

In retrospect, it wasn’t entirely Sophie’s fault. While it was her dumb shit idea to tag along with the sexy British tour guide, you, Matt, Aaron, Riley and Reuben had been far more interested in touring the British Museum. So it wasn’t at all surprising when Sophie rushed off with knockoff Colin Firth to have a jolly high tea or whatever it is British people do on dates. Still, it gave you an opportunity to visit the museum.

You hadn’t even walked through the front gates when Matt, Aaron and Riley wandered off to have a deep and meaningful (you had warned Riley that coming on the trip with Aaron would cause some tension between your group. Thing between you and Aaron were a lot more complicated than the five-night-stand you’d shared last year). Reuben, being his usual womanising self, started flirting with the hot receptionist and not wanting any part of that (last time you wing-womaned for Reuben, the chick thought you were seeking a third), you stepped out for some air.

Now, you’re trying to navigate through the urban maze that is London by yourself, struggling to find your friends who are scattered all over the city.

Slumping against a park chair, you take a deep breath and study your map again. A part of you is screaming at you to swallow your pride and ask for directions but you’re a stubborn New Yorker and if you can effortlessly find your way through the Big Apple, you can tackle London.

“You’re not from around here…” says a masculine voice behind you. You sit up straight, whipping around in the direction of the voice.

Holy fucking cucumber sandwich.

The most handsome man you’ve ever laid your eyes on leans against the trunk of an old oak tree, observing you with a mixture of amusement and intrigue. He looks like he chomps down magical donuts that grant him sexy powers. You stare.

A cigarette hangs from his kissable, smirking lips. His hair falls gracefully around his face, framing glinting gray-blue eyes, high cheekbones and a strong jaw. He’s wearing a leather jacket and exudes all types mysterious-sexy-bad boy vibes. You’d bet a hundred bucks that he rides a motorcycle too.

Boys with motorcycles are usually trouble.

Your mouth goes a little bit dry.

“Please don’t be a serial killer,” you mutter and the stranger cocks a perfect eyebrow.

“What was that?”

You shake your head, “I mean — Is it that obvious?”

Sexy bad boy stranger shrugs, “I know a lost tourist when I see one.”

“Is this what you do, then? Lurk around parks waiting for lost tourists?”

Bad boy chuckles — a deep growling sound that rumbles at the back of his throat, “Maybe. Maybe I was just walking past and thought I’d help out a pretty girl in need.”

It takes all of your willpower not to blush now.

“So you’re just a Good Samaritan, then.”

“I’m whatever you want me to be.”

“What if I want you to go away?”

The handsome, young motorbike guy takes a deliberate step forward, “I think we both know that’s not true.”

You swallow. He’s good at this game. Something tells you that you’re not the first victim of his play-boy charms.

Desperately trying to reclaim your composure, you fold your arms across your chest and glare at him.

“What makes you think I need your help?”

British James Dean thinks for one attractive moment, “Well, you don’t have to accept my help but something tells me that if you don’t ask for directions soon, you’re going to end up wandering around London forever.”

He makes a good point.

You stand up from your seat, arms still folded across your chest, “Hypothetically speaking, If I were to accept your help, how would I know that you’re not a perverted serial killer who wants to collect my spleen and leave me in a ditch or something?”

Sexy stranger takes another step forward, “That’d be a shame. You’re too beautiful to kill, and I’m just beginning to like you.”

“That’s exactly what a perverted serial killer would say.”

“Touché. Alright, how about this: I drop you off at your hotel straight away, no detours and no taxi fees that you have to fork out to greedy muggl— erm, I mean, drivers.”

You consider this. He certainly doesn’t seem like a serial killer. Still, it’s hard to trust a charming stranger, especially one as handsome as he is. Then again, if he’s smart — which he definitely is — he’d never kill you in broad daylight in the middle of London.

You uncross your arms and hold one out for him to shake, “Alright, deal.”

Sexy stranger takes your hand and shakes it. His hand is strong and firm and electricity sparks in the warm space where your hands are clasped together.

“Sirius.”

“What?”

“Sirius.”

You blink at him, “Is that some kind of fungal STI that I need to be aware of?”

Sexy stranger chuckles again, “My name is Sirius.”

Sirius? Who the fuck calls their kid Sirius? You have to admit that the name suits him, and the way he says it — in a husky, velvety murmur — gives the name an alluring sex appeal, which sums him up completely.

You consider giving him a fake name but ultimately decide against it. That’s just weird and you can’t lie for shit.

“I’m (Y/N).”

Sirius repeats your name, tasting it on his lips. A more carnal part of you wishes he’d say it in a completely different context.

“Alright, (Y/N),” Sirius smiles, and he practically glows with charisma, “Lets get you home.”

***

You were right, of course. About the motorcycle.

Sirius’ carefully-polished motorbike is almost as sexy as it’s owner; gleaming in the sunlight and flaunting a sleek black paint job with plush leather seats. Several passerby’s stop to admire it (or Sirius, you can’t exactly tell), though Sirius doesn’t pay them any mind. One dudebro with a repugnantly bright tank top gawks at the motorbike while his girlfriend stares hungrily at Sirius.

“I’ve…never ridden a motorcycle before,” you bleat nervously.

Sirius hands you a helmet and smiles.

“Just hold onto me and you’ll be fine.”

Sirius mounts his motorbike and you awkwardly slide in behind him. You’re not sure where to put your hands so you place them on his shoulders. You think you hear Sirius laugh behind his helmet.

Sirius turns the ignition, revs the engine, and kicks the bike into gear.

“You alright back there?” He calls over the roar of the bike.

“Uh—yeah.”

“Hold onto my waist,” he orders, “You’ll be more secure.”

You’re about to protest but then Sirius takes off and you find your arms flying to his waist, gripping on tightly.

It’s exhilarating. Liberating. Intoxicating.

As Sirius weaves between London traffic, you feel a rush of adrenaline pulse through your veins. The air whips past, fluttering around the ruffled trim of your dress. Your hands soak in the warmth of Sirius’ body, his muscles firm beneath your touch.

You pass familiar landmarks and stores you passed when you and your friends took the double-decker bus from your hotel room. You recognise the buildings around you and realise the hotel is just a few kilometres down the street, on the right.

Suddenly, Sirius veers off to the left and zooms down a street you don’t recognise.

“What are you doing? The hotel is up that way!”

“I just have to make a quick stop,” he shouts over his shoulder.

“That wasn’t part of the deal!”

“Don’t worry, it won’t take long.”

You clutch onto him, apprehension beginning to claw away at your lower belly. Where is he taking you? How could you have been so stupid to trust an extremely attractive stranger to follow through with a deal?

Sirius slows the bike down until it rolls to a stop and flicks the engine off, climbing off sexily. He helps you clamber awkwardly off the bike and you tear your helmet off, taking in your surroundings for the first time.

You’re next to a footpath with a view of the The Thames, lined with large ornamental pear trees. Its quite a romantic spot with a view of the entire city sitting pretty behind the flowing River Thames.

Sirius tells you to wait by the motorbike and stalks away, rushing toward a boy who looks about your age. He’s tall, has messy black hair, and half-frame glasses. He looks like a sexy professor with the body of an Olympic swimmer that all the girls have crushes on.

Why are all the men here so insanely attractive?

You’re just about to sink into a delightful fantasy of sexy Professor feeding you grapes when Sirius comes up behind you.

“Ready to go?”

You ignore his question, “Who was the god — I mean — guy that you saw?”

Sirius arches an eyebrow. You notice for the first time that there is a scar knitted into it, “That’s James. He’s a total prat, by the way.”

“Sounds like you two have that in common,” you quip and Sirius mocks offence.

“Anyone tell you that you’re cruel?”

“Everyday of my life.”

“Here I was thinking you were just another hot little American bird.”

For one half of a millisecond, your brain snags on the word ‘hot.’ Did he just call you hot? You heard that right? You recover with grace, grinning wickedly.

“You’ll get over it.”

A teasing smirk flirts around the corners of Sirius’ lips, a little crookedly, slanting lazily in a way that makes your cheeks warm. He looks amused by this verbal tug-of-war but also a little turned on.

You’d be lying if you said you didn’t feel the same way.

“You ever walk along the River Thames?” Sirius asks, sliding his strong, sexy hands into the pocket of his sexy leather jacket. He begins to follow the footpath, leading you past the knots of pigeons and moonstruck lovers.

“No,” you sigh, “Admittedly, I just came along for the underage drinking and the hot British guys.”

Sirius laughs, “How’s that working out for you?”

You shrug, teasing him with a flirtatious smile, “I’m still working on it.”

“If you want,” Sirius begins, clawing at the nape of his neck, “I can help you out with that.”

You quirk a carefully-manicured brow, “What, you know any hot guys like your buddy James?”

Sirius snorts, “I wouldn’t go saying that around his girlfriend.”

“Why, is she the jealous type?”

“No, she’s the ‘try-not-to-make-his-fat-Head-even-fatter’ type.”

You chuckle, intrigue plucking at your mind, “She’s my type of girl.”

“Lily is everyone’s type of girl.”

“Well now I just have to meet her.”

Sirius raises his brows, a spark of hope in his eyes, “Is that your way of telling me that you’re taking me up on the offer for free beer?”

“You never said it was free before.”

“I’m feeling generous.”

“Aw, and they say chivalry is dead.”

Sirius laughs easily in a way that is completely carefree, as though laughter bubbles just beneath his skin, itching to pour out. It’s mesmerising how he doesn’t seem to take life too seriously.

“You are something else,” he says, letting his eyes catch and linger on yours for a quiet, suspended moment.

A gust of warm, summer wind brings peach blossoms raining down. The gentle coo of a skylark echoes in the distance. Time slows to a stop to stare at the two of you.

He steps forward, like he’s about to kiss you.

You let him.

He tastes like liquor and rebellion, a little wild in a way you’ve never realised you’ve wanted, you’ve needed. His hands are strong as they wrap around you, pulling you flush against his chest. Your fingers roam through his hair, tangling, tugging, earning a low groan from the back of his throat. You feel drunk on him, your head spinning and your heart thumping, as though it’s trying to tear through your chest and leap into his strong, capable hands. Suddenly, you realise how weird this is. He’s a stranger you’ve known for an hour or so yet now you’re kissing him. It’s as though you’re somehow drawn to him, to his energy, to the way he seems to know you intimately, in ways you hardly know about yourself. You break away, taking a step away from him. Sirius looks like he’s five again and has just had his favourite toy ripped away from him. 

““Are you—?”

Slap

Before you even realise what you’re doing, you’re slapping him across the cheek, not hard but he feels it. You kissed a stranger. That is a thing you did. You also slapped said stranger, partly because of impulse and partly because you’re terrified of how quickly your feelings are beginning to stir for someone you hardly know. Sirius is stunned, silent, staring at you with shock and hurt that stings you more than it should. You stare back, drawn in by every fleck of colour in his eyes, suddenly aware that, sure, he may be a stranger but that doesn’t mean he has to stay one. Obviously, you have a connection.

 So…connect.

 You crash your lips against his again, throwing your arms around his neck. 

Your friends can wait. You’ve found yourself a new tour guide. 

[ahumansvoid]

Misc WIP Folder

So I’m going through my WIPs folder’s subfolders. 

One is labelled Misc, so that’s the one I’m going through now. Everything will be below the cut because this will probably be a long post, there are sixteen files in this folder. 

Most of them are from different fandoms, so I’ll put what fandom it’s in + what title I have for it in my folder in bold before I talk about it. I’ll be going from oldest to newest. Technically not because I can’t sort Google docs like that, but rather “last modified by me” so, longest abandoned to newly abandoned I guess?

 Also Spoilers for any of the fandoms, maybe? Probably. 

If you have any questions about any of the fandoms, message me or send me an ask. I’m open to talking about any and all of them. 

Fandoms Involved (Ordered by appearance):

Murdered: Soul Suspect (Video Game)

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia (TV Show)

Gravity Falls (TV Show)

Until Dawn (Video Game)

Avatar: The Last Airbender (TV Show)

The Mummy (2017) & (1999) (Movies)

Assassination Classroom (TV Show/Anime)

Red vs. Blue (Online Show- Rooster Teeth)

Camp Camp (Online Show - Rooster Teeth)

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (TV Show)

Devil May Cry (Video Game + Anime)

Aladdin (2019) (Movie)

Castlevania (TV Show)

Murdered: Soul Suspect - MSS

So there isn’t much in this one, just a bullet pointed outline. Murdered Soul Suspect is a video game, if you don’t know it and are curious you can google it or message me. 

Anywho. This is just a little part I thought was funny.

It’s essentially a Ronan survives AU of the game, pretty standard and I thought it would be fun. Honestly this part about Ronan and his cracked spine just reminded me of Obi-wan and how I write him in ignoring his injuries (and how most people write him) so it made me laugh a bit. 

There’s really not much here, I didn’t even finish the outline.

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia - trollhunters au

I am very creative with my titles. Clearly. This is another bullet point outline. but this one is longer and irrc I actually started writing this, and that file would also be in this folder so if I did write it’ll also be featured on this post.

This is an au where Claire is the trollhunter rather than Jim.

The top bit is literally just for context on the next star point. Anywho Writing AAARRRGGGHH/ seeing it spelled out is funny to me. Also I’m pretty sure I rewatched bits with AAARRRGGGHH with subtitles on to see how it was spelt and then replicated that.

The second star point is funny to me because I describe annoyance/anger (rightful, both of them) as pissy. And that’s funny.

There’s more but if I’m write and I wrote it out, then that’ll be featured later. 

Gravity Falls - Gravity Falls

... Okay I’m not creative with titles until I have to be. Once more, bullet point outline. So this is an after-canon AU where Bill left a remanent of himself in Dipper and it’s become apparent when they’re in Piedmont.

I just like the rules I had Dipper give Bill. I thought they were neat. Also, I like Mabel convincing Dipper to let Bill live because he’s pathetic. This is a demon who has tormented them for an entire summer, but nows he’s pathetic so lets help him. 

Not much of interest in this. I probably didn’t write it because it’d be a long and day-in-the-life type fic. It’d just be Dipper and Bill coexisting and going through life and IDK how well I’d of written that. So I didn’t write it.

Until Dawn- Until DAwn AU

FYI I’m keeping the titles case-sensitive. Another bullet outline. So this is a Josh survives/exorcised AU, also an Everybody Live AU. I’m pretty sure I wrote this when I was heavily invested in Until Dawn and Josh (because I like him.) And I was reading Until Dawn fanfic in which Josh is blamed for what happened on the mountain. And I think I was getting pissy which lead to this:

So in this AU the Until Dawn Group splintered into Sam, Josh & Chris, and Mike, Emily, Jess, Matt & Ashley. So this conversation/fight is between Chris and the second group. So Chris is the 1st,3rd and 5th talking bullet point. I don’t know who’s talking in the 2nd &4th bullet point but it’s one of the second group. Probably Emily, Mike or Jess maybe. Not Ashley.

Im 90% sure that I wrote out this entire outline just for this little interaction. 

It just tickles my id. I still kind of like it, but I honestly don’t know what else I’d write for this AU.

Avatar: The Last Airbender - Zuko is the avatar

Title is self-explanatory. Also, I really like bullet outlines. So. Anywho. 

Aang is still a 12 year old in this, he used up all his “avatar energy” (that’s literally what I wrote) to keep himself alive so he’s just an airbender now.

I just love Iroh. And this is just funny to me.

If I ever wrote this, it’d be a lot of hijinks of Katara and Aaang (and eventually Toph) covering for Zuko whenever he bends anything other than fire. More cracky than serious.

“The Mummy (2017)” and “The Mummy (1999)” - Mummy x Mummy

I watched the 2017 version of the mummy (got it from the library for 2 bucks) and since there are some throwbacks to the 1999 movie I decided to try to combine them. This also became an AU where Evie and Rick save Imhotep in Mummy 2, and due to Evie being revived meant she was functionally immortal (doesn’t age, but can still be killed). And due to everything, by the Mummy 2017 rolls around it’s just her and Imhotep hanging around, investigating ancient egypt and whatnot.

Honestly this is just part of the outline. None of this is really amusing to me, just, if I ever tried to write it, a lot of work. Although, the fact that I can’t remember the blonde lady friend from the Mummy 2017 is kind of amusing and I literally call her ‘BLF’ throughout this entire outline. I think her name was Lisa. Or Sara.

i’ll google it.

Assassination Classroom - AC AU

At this point, I might as well tell you when it isn’t a bullet outline than saying when it is.

This was really just a Reaper/Koro-sensei raises Nagisa rather than his mom.

People panicking around children is amusing to me. Again, long AU. And this was probably an excuse to write some baby assassin Nagisa and whatnot. Honestly whenever I read this I do remember more details on this, that I have never written down. 

Murdered: Soul Suspect - Murdered: Soul Suspect

...

Okay I think this is just a repeat of the one I posted earlier???

I- I don’t know what this was? Like this is newer than the other one? 

?????

Uh, brain weirdness?

Let’s move on.

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia - TRollhunters

Ok! So this is the written out of the bullet point earlier. I did not write out much. But I’ll talk about it a bit more? So this AU is also a Bular survives and Jim finds him and helps AU.

This is literally all I have written. So, right after this, Jim would find an injured Bular and helps him. There isn’t much to add, but I will add what I had written as Barbara’s reaction from the outline:

Large AU, but it would be fun to write. I would most likely end up writing Claire’s journey of Trollhunting along with Jim’s adventures with Bular.

Red vs Blue - Meta, no, that wasn’t, he wasn’t

Okay, that’s not the full title but also the full title is literally the first sentence. Which is a long one so you get part of it. This is actually a written au, it’s about Agent Maine/ The Meta surviving and meeting up with Siris. This is just the first couple paragraphs:

Nothing I read was particularly funny to me, so just the first two paragraphs. Essentially what would’ve happened is Siris would help Maine find Washington (on Chorus) go to Chorus. Find Felix and Locus. Drama Ensues.

I might actually write this. Maybe. There’s potential, if the drive hits me.

I havent watched RvB in a couple of years, but I did like the series. It was interesting.

Camp Camp- Camp Camp

Y’know since this is ‘misc’ I get just having fandom names. Lot easier to identifiy.

So, this file is currently loading still, but I remember this. It wasn’t that long ago. This wasn’t so much a fic as a comic I would of like to have done. I definitely would’ve needed to brush up on my art skills (I am mediocre at best) but it’s just a small little comic I would’ve done on Camp Camp.

First little bit. I actually wrote out most of this rather than just bullet pointing it. 

There is a little bit I’d have to polish up, but I could probably post this entire thing. But I kind of want to actually do the comic first. But boy that’s a lot of work.

I love how most of the reason I’m not writing these is that they’re a lot of work.

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (TV Show) - Project Cheron

This is an AU where Priest is one of the projects of Blackwing. Specifically Cheron and I think my reasoning is that he makes people go where they need to be. IDK. I actually wrote a couple of these. But this one is essentially Priest getting a bunch of projects together to help something. Idk.

This entire thing is weird and would probably be labelled crack if I ever finished it.

Okay. This entire scene is funny to me. Just, this girl rushing out in front of the car waving happily with a decapitated head in her hand. I like it. So, Aine and Herodias are OCs. Both are projects Priest is collecting. 

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (TV Show) - “Dirk

Another Priest is a Blackwing Project AU but that’s not really the focus of this story. This story is about a project (Project Carman- OC) who can trap people in their certain significant memories of her choosing. Carman gets annoyed at Bart, Dirk and the Rowdy 3 so she traps them in memories signifcant to their stay in Blackwing and Priest.

I’ve only written 2 of the six memories, so that’d be fun to complete. These are also just sad. They’re not happy memories. So, random moment that’s somewhat amusing:

Also, title is the first sentence in the fic.

Devil May Cry - “Should I

I- why did I decide to do this from oldest to newest? Part of me is embarrassed, the other part is reminding me I have no reason to be? It’s a video game fic. But also this is a game of my childhood. It’s about Nero looking for his dad and finding Dante instead. Canonically Dante’s twin brother, Vergil, is Nero’s dad.

Just a random moment because I didn’t write that much of it. Also I thought it was kind of cute. Patty shows up in the Devil May Cry anime. Which I watched before I played the games. 

Aladdin (2019) - Aladdin AU

A mix of bullet outline and written. I don’t actually have much of this AU, but essentially before Aladdin wishes to become a prince, he notices some mercenaries kidnapping a little girl and decides to rescue her. 

This girl is the princess of Shiroba, Aladdin takes her back to Shiroba. The Queen/ Sultana appreciates Aladdin going out of his way to help her so she invites him to stay in the palace. 

Eventually word gets to Shiroba that Agrabah is planning to attack so Aladdin and the two twin princes of Shiroba (that I made up, OCs) make a plan to infiltrate and see what they’re planning. They’re not planing espionage, but as Shiroba is a peaceful nation, they want to see if they should start evacuating people and whatnot.

So you get the Prince Ali stuff with the Genie and yada yada. 

I have none of that written. I just know that’s what I intended to do with it.

So, first little bit. Long AU that would take a lot of work. Also, I know this isn’t super popular but I liked the 2019 version of Aladdin. I really like the changes they made. 

Castlevania (TV Show) - Waking up in Jail wasn’t a new experience

Again, title is first sentence. Not writing that out. Anywho, this is a kind of complete canon AU to Castlevania. Essentially we haven’t reached Lisa getting burnt at the stake yet. So, loving Dracula fam. Trevor and Sypha meet earlier due to circumstance. Alucard gets attacked by something and gets rescued by Trevor and Sypha. They travel together for a while. And then Sypha and Trevor get to meet Alucard’s parents. 

That’s where this AU will go if I ever write it. To be fair, last time I wrote in this file was March, so I guess that’s technically possible. Don’t hold out hope.

First couple of paragraphs. 

Also, that’s it! Misc WIP folder done!

Oh, if you’ve made it this far, a)thank you and b) if you want to continue/write any of these, go ahead, but tag me or send me a link. I will be very happy to see/read what you create if you like any of this in an inspo way.

Also. This is long, so, IDK if Imma go through the other folders rn. Maybe tomorrow. 

[dam-those-words]

15 Questions Tag Game!

I was (kinda) tagged by @georgiacambrielwritblr!

Rules: Pick a character (or two in my case) from your WIP and have them answer these 15 questions, then tag 15 people!

(Also, I already had this post done but when I tried to post it Tumblr went Thud appearently and deleted it instead, so I had to start over. Sorry for the long wait Georgia lol)

1. What is your full name?

" I'm Aniol Kaminski," The dirty-blonde male on the interviewer's right ruffles his red and gold wings. It takes most of the interviewer's willpower to not stare at them while shaking his hand; of course they've seen wings before, but never like these.

"Mattea Sarai," Says the platinum blonde on the interviewer's left. She completely disregards the interviewers outstretched hand and instead sits back in her wooden chair and crosses her arms.

2. What does it mean?

"Mine means something like, 'Stone Angel,' in Polish, so that's pretty cool." Aniol's voice is a growly-type deep, and paired with his thick accent, it takes the interviewer a second the realize what he said.

"You're so lucky. [Throwback to when his name was actually Lucky lmao] My name means some bullshit like, 'Princess,' or 'God's Gift,' or something. Makes me wanna barf just thinking about it." Mattea says, making a puking gesture.

"Woah there, young lady. Who taught you to cuss?" Aniol grins at her, but the way he flashes it makes it seem more like baring his teeth.

Mattea raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'Who taught you to cuss?' Have you heard yourself?" She leans forward in her wooden chair, putting her elbows on her knees.

Aniol leans forward, copying Mattea. He whispers-- well more like growls-- something too quiet for the interviewer to hear, but makes the rage in Mattea's eyes simmer.

The tension in the room makes the interviewer realize that the wooden table in between them would do nothing if the got into a fight as bad as they'd been rumored to. The interviewer clears their throat and asks the next question.

3. Do you two have any nicknames or other names?

"I don't really have any, but this little devil does call me Bird Boy more often than she calls me Aniol," Aniol nodded towards the girl across the wooden table.

Mattea had snatched a peanut butter cookie from the gold-lined plate in the middle of the table, and now had a mouthful of cookie. She somehow still managed to say, "Are you forgetting about Jexi calling you Ann? Like, Ann of Green Gables?"

Aniol simply rolls his eyes, replying, "I'm not forgetting, I'm just ignoring the fact that you've appearently eavesdropped. And don't talk while eating,"

"Its not like I try to listen to everything that happens in your guys' rooms, especially at night when you guys--"

"Anyway, why don't you tell them what your nickname is?" His cheeks are a bright red as he talks.

Mattea smiles, relaxing a little and shrugging. "I don't really have any, either. Oh, well, Mayson calls me Matt sometimes. But other than that, none."

4. What's your gender?

"Male, obviously," Aniol says, the pink already fading.

"Female," Mattea answers.

"God, we're so boring. I wish we had Dani so they could spice it up," There's a tinge of sadness in his voice. He frowns down at his hands where he holds a small paperclip he had been figiting with, his short and jagged hair falling into his eyes.

Mattea's eyebrows scrunch for a split second before a mask of arrogance passes over he features, and she says, "Speak for yourself, amigo. I'm the most interesting out of the entire Assassin's."

Aniol's returning look is so full of an emotion that the interviewer can't place, but still makes them look away and clear their throat yet again.

5. What is your sexuality?

"I'm pansexual," Aniol says quickly, sitting back in his chair and grabbing a cookie.

The confusion must have shown on the interviewer's face, since Aniol adds on, in a matter-of-fact tone, "It means that I can like anyone, regardless of their gender."

The interviewer nods and turns towards Mattea for an answer.

She had become a completely different person than she was about five seconds ago: she had somehow scrunched in on herself, grabbing her arms as if she were cold. Her lips were pursed.

"I--uh, I don't... I think--" Mattea is interrupted again by Aniol, but this time her expression changes to relief instead of amusement.

"We've talked about it before, and Mattea would like to not answer that question. If we could move on, that'd be great." He says in the same matter-of-fact tone as earlier.

6. Where are you from?

"Poland, though you can probably tell," Aniol says, his accent somehow becoming thicker than before.

Mattea clears her throat, the tension slowly leaving her body. "I'm from here. Akida."

7. How old are you?

"I'm 25. I was born on October 2nd, 2005." Aniol says.

"I'm only two years younger than him, and yet he somehow thinks that he's sooo--" Mattea does jazz hands as she speaks. "--much smarter and wiser than me, even though I obviously am the smarter one."

Aniol rolls his eyes, throwing the last bit of his cookie at her. He hits her directly in the forehead. His eyes go wide.

There's a moment of silence before they both burst out laughing. It fills the small room, and the interviewer can't help but join them.

8. Any special talents?

"Not really. I mean, I'm pretty good at baseball, but my wings get in the way for any sport." Aniol ruffles his wings again in emphasis. The interviewer silently thanks themselves again for remembering to get a special chair to accommodate his wings.

"I'm good at using most weapons, besides those stupid miscellaneous ones. I'm also good at braiding my own hair, which is something even Jexi can't do." Mattea figits with her hair tie, throwing Aniol an arrogant grin.

"Hey, you should put all that on your future resumes. I'm great at weapons, also known as murder, I can tie my hair back like any normal human, and I can be incredibly stupid! I'm the whole package!" Aniol mocks, making his deep voice extremely high.

The interviewer tenses, but is pleasantly surprised when all Mattea does is laugh and look expectantly for the next question.

9. Any kids?

Mattea bark-laughs again, shaking her head vigorously.

Aniol only shrugs his shoulders and says, "In the future, if my partner wants them. But none right now,"

10. What's your aesthetic?

Mattea interrupts Aniol before he has a chance to open his mouth, ticking the subjects off on her fingers as she talks, "Water fountains, pale roses, lip balm, pastel colors, stationary--"

It's Aniol's turn to cut her off, asking what an aesthetic is.

"It's like... your vibes. Like, for you it would be something like... maybe lots of grey and orange things." Mattea explains.

"That sounds stupid, but whatever. I guess mine is cobblestone, rain... uh, bright orange feathers and pumpkins. I don't know what it means, don't laugh at me!" He adds when Mattea tries to cover her laugh up with a cough.

11. Who's your best friend?

"Jexi,"

"Are you sure it's only best friend? Nothing else?" Mattea prods at Aniol's answer.

"Oh shut up. What about you and Mayson, huh?" He snaps back. Her cheeks turn as red as Aniol's cheeks earlier.

"That's not important,"

"Mhm," Though their words suggest tension, their eyes are full of amusement.

12. Would you ever get piercings or tattoos?

"I already have a tattoo," Aniol says, pulling up his grey sleeve to show a black and white tattoo of an arrow on his bicep.

"Wait, when did you get that?" Mattea asks, leaning forward to see it better.

"Jexi gave it to me when we were nineteen,"

Mattea's eyebrows rise. "Jexi did? And you still refuse to acknowledge the fact that she's--"

"Did I not make myself clear, Matt?" Aniol snarls, letting his sleeve fall down.

Mattea snarls right back.

The interviewer hastily asks the next question, hoping to change their focus onto them.

13. When are you happiest?

Aniol throws Mattea one last death glare before ruffling his wings yet again. "When I'm flying,"

"With a certain someone," Mattea tries to whisper but the interviewer hears her anyway, smirking.

"Do you have a death wish or what, Matt?"

"Name a time when I didn't,"

Aniol starts to respond but is cut off by the interviewer, still desperately hoping to get through this interview without a fight. The interviewer asks Mattea the question again.

"If I'm honest, I really like sketching. And archery. And I do like to banter with this idiot," She smiles again, but it's (thankfully) filled with much less venom than before.

That quickly, the tension leaves the room. The interviewer was amazed at their ability to start and end an argument in less than a minute. No wonder these two were always in trouble.

14. What's your biggest secret?

"Oooh, that's a good one. Why don't you go first, Aniol?" Mattea claps her hands, threading them together and putting them on her now crossed legs.

"Oh, uh. I guess... I'm terrified of spiders. Like, I hate then with my whole being,"

Mattea seemingly can't help but laugh at that, trying again and failing at turning it into a cough.

"Hey, you're scared of them, too! Don't you remember when you made Noah switch sleeping bags with you because you thought there was a spider in yours?" Aniol hastily defends himself.

"Yeah, but," Mattea is laughing so hard she can barely talk.

It takes longer than the interviewer would have liked for Mattea to finally calm down, and to ask the question again.

"I think my biggest secret is how I got this necklace and why." Mattea answers, holding out a silver chain with a half-cresent moon dangling on it.

When she doesn't continue, the interviewer decides to move on and get this interview over with.

15. Last question: What's the first thing you notice about people?

"Hmm. I think I notice how they move firstly. That alone tells you a lot about them," Mattea answers, nodding at her own answer.

A grin creeps onto Aniol's face at her, but he only says, "I notice their eye or lips first. I don't really know why, and I honestly should notice their movement first, but," He shrugs.

-

Oh jeez, I'm sorry for the long post lmao!

And idk about 15 people, since tumblr might decide to not actually tag them, but I'll try as many as I can think of!

@supersockosis @toboldlywrite @quillwritten @quilloftheclouds @fruzsiwrites @reeseweston @writeness @bartlebyboys @pens-swords-stuff @msmeaghanrey

As always, you dont have to do this is you dont want to (or already did it), and if I didnt tag you feel free to do it anyway and say I tagged you!

[carnationbooks]

One Year: Carnation Books Staff Q&A- Lee, CEO

What do you do for Carnation? 

I like to describe myself as the Captain of this Starship, but I guess you can technically also call me the CEO (that's my legal title). I was fortunate enough to be in the right time and place and have the resources to bring Carnation Books to life, but it's been a tremendous group effort as well, bringing a company up from zero with no outside investment. We're 100% fandom-powered, and everyone who's involved with us is also involved in fandom in some respect. As the Captain, I guess I steer the ship, but there are a lot of great people who actually make it go. 

What’s your main fandom? 

BBC Sherlock was the unquestionable impetus for Carnation's creation. It was the catalyst for me getting back into fandom after a long axe battle with depression over the better part of a decade. I first got into Sherlock when I was stranded and terribly bored on the worst vacation ever, and I was in the mood to read something completely new. "I do love murder mysteries," I said to myself, "and I've never read Sherlock Holmes. And that Benedict Cumberbatch fellow is very handsome, isn't he? He was so good as Khan in Star Trek, and isn't he Sherlock on television? And Martin Freeman is a cutie, too, and he's Watson... Well, I wouldn't mind imagining Holmes solving some mysteries together with his BFF Watson!" Ohoho, little did I know how much my life would change, from the first moment that Sherlock "gripped" John's hand at the beginning of in "A Study in Scarlet." This was in early 2015, I think? It was well after Season 3 had ended, and just before the special episode "The Abominable Bride" was announced. Since then, the BBC Sherlock fandom (and specifically Johnlock) has changed my life in ways I never could have imagined. And when people ask me this question about my main fandom, my instinct is to say Sherlock. But, to answer the actual question, uh, my fandoms and ships are:

-BBC Sherlock (John/Sherlock and Greg/Mycroft)

-Star Wars (Kylo Ren/General Hux and Matt the Radar Technician/Clan Techie (the "crack ship" that blindsided me with feelings so strong I cried literal tears))

-Harry Potter (Draco/Harry and Remus/Sirius)

-Star Trek (Reboot Kirk/Spock and some miscellaneous pairings; I share this fandom with my husband!)

-Cabin Pressure (Douglas/Martin and Arthur/Martin, I love them both)

-Hannibal (Hannibal/Will, aka The Only Ship)-Marvel (Steve/Bucky)

-Tolkien (Sam/Frodo and Thorin/Bilbo)

-Kingsman (Harry/Eggsy)

Also, my main hobby outside of western media fandom is video games, which is kind of a fandom in itself, in addition to fandoms for individual games that spin off great fanfiction and fanart. I'm also in the Game Grumps fandom, which, as a comedy Let's Play channel, is kinda peripheral to video games.

What’s your OTP?

I have three answers to this question:

1) My first OTP (before the phrase "OTP" came into frequent usage) was Mulder/Scully from "The X-Files." I had a yellow accordion folder full of G-rated fics that I carried everywhere with me for the entire summer of 1997, including on three vacations. (My parents were pretty tolerant of their quirky kid.) I read a handful of slash fics (mostly Mulder/Skinner) but I definitely didn't ship Mulder with anyone but Scully. I mean, they're totally canon.

2) My OTP for my whole adolesence was Sirius/Remus from Harry Potter. From 7th grade on, I was well obsessed with Harry Potter, and after the third book came out, I read and re-read it, and carried it everywhere with me. It was my first slash pairing where I really saw the romance, and really believed that the characters were meant to be together (and, in the case of Sirius/Remus, had already been together in the past). I read hundreds of Remus/Sirius fics during high school--definitely a formative time in my personal and fandom development. (And really, aren't they the same thing?)

3) The OTP that changed my life, John/Sherlock. What can I say about these two that haven't been said by people much cleverer and more passionate than me? All I can add here is that I'll love the two of them forever, no matter what.

What are your favorite tropes? 

FAKE RELATIONSHIP! I've been on that fake relationship drug since Mulder and Scully had to pretend to be married to solve cases. It's just as good when John and Sherlock have to do it. I love all the attendant tropes, too, like bed-sharing, awkward PDA, mutual pining, and that kiss that starts out awkward but blossoms into the real thing and leaves both characters breathless. You know, the usual. I don't know if this counts as a trope, but I only read fics with happy endings. You can have as much angst as you please, but as long as no good guys die and the pairing ends up happily living together and in love, then it's good enough for me. I love some good old-fashioned hurt/comfort, but "Happy endings only" is kind of my personal motto. 

Most fic read in one sitting? 

My longest total fic binge would probably be that one holiday where I did nothing over a 4 day weekend aside from reading the complete masterpiece "Children, Wake Up" by Holly Hark, @hollyhark aka hollycomb on AO3 (https://archiveofourown.org/series/386986). It was absolutely glorious.

What are you reading right now? 

Right now my imagination is totally taken with the Johnlock surfer AU "Gimme Shelter," by @sincewhendoyoucallme-john (https://archiveofourown.org/works/11578941/chapters/26020017). It's a total breath of fresh summer air. I don't usually read WIPs, but this one's like a vacation to the beach. A sandy, salty Pacific ocean beach in the 1970s. Listen, just read it. I'm also slowly making my way through the back catalogue of @berlynn-wohl​ (http://archiveofourown.org/users/berlynn_wohl/), but I've been at it almost a year, and my progress is frankly a bit embarassing.

What are you working on for Carnation right now? 

*conspiratorial whisper* a lot of secrets! Keep watching our blog for a ton of awesome book announcements coming so very soon!  

What would you like to tell people about Carnation Books? 

The number one thing I want people to know is that we're doing everything we're doing for the love of fandom. The company is 100% devoted to fandom and fanfiction writers. We're doing this out of love for fandom, with the sole goal of uplifting and celebrating fanfiction writers. People should also know that we are a startup, we've only been around for a year, we're entirely bootstrapped with no outside funding, and we're pretty much a ragtag gang of plucky outsider underdogs when it comes to publishing (although we've gotten professional assistance where it counts, like our great publishing specialist lawyer and our accountant). We're just fans who are trying our best to support other fans, because we believe in the power of the fandom community. If you believe, too, then we want you to join us. I also want anyone reading this to know that we fully believe that the world of books is big enough for everyone. We support other publishing companies, and we support writers who choose to publish elsewhere. We just wish everyone the best :) I am incredibly lucky to have the circumstances that enable me to captain this starship, and I also understand the tremendous responsibility inherent in caring for other people's creative endeavours. I wish I could personally thank every single person who's ever said an encouraging word about us, or to us. I'll have to just say it here--thank you so much for your support. We look forward to proving you right over the next 12 months. Here's to Carnation Books: Year Two!

We’re all really lucky, and really happy to be working with Lee on this amazing adventure. All of Carnation Books’ staff wishes Lee and this wonderful dream of theirs a very happy birthday. We can’t wait to see what the next year brings. <3

[velkynkarma]

Fic recs? Fic recs!

For Fandom Fic Rec Days because this is a fantastic idea. These ones will be for Voltron, but if people want fic recs for other fandoms I’ve clawed through extensively (Batman, FMA, Young Justice, One Piece) I can do those too. (Also, sorry to any writers who aren’t tumblr-tagged. I am terrible with names and probably don’t know you’re here. But I’ve still linked to your fic profiles in this case!) AUTHOR SHOUT-OUTS: a.k.a. “you should read everything they do it’s all quality okay” @maychorian Okay look, if you are in any way excited that I’m in this fandom, you owe maychorian a big ‘thank you’ since she was unwittingly the reason I decided to stick around after watching S1. Boom Crash The Sound Of My Ship was one of the first fics I found after wandering into the fandom and holds a special place in my heart to this day. I have fond memories of eating up the whole series by staying up late or sneaking chapters at work on my breaks. I once hid in my car during my lunch break to read a chapter right after it released? Recs all around, just read all her stuff. @bosstoaster You’ve probably read BT’s stuff already because who hasn’t but I don’t care I’m reccing her stuff anyway. BT writes everything. Like, everything. With a Shiro focus primarily, but she’s got a great handle on the other characters and will tackle such an insanely crazy variety of prompts I am continually stunned by whatever is produced next. Known for making you suffer but will make you laugh or feelz too. Special shout out to Spark to Ignite which is probably my favorite. Is this cheating because it was an exchange fic for me? Hell no. This was my One Thing that I desperately wanted to see in the fandom and it was not anywhere. BT did a fantastic job making it come to life and making me suffer but I asked for it so it’s okay and I reread this one all the time.

@butteredonions Where do I even START? So much good fic, guys. Onions fills my cravings for all things AU and she has such an insanely wide variety. If you like AU’s there is something there for everyone and they are always so well thought out and still fit each character so well. Also (in)famous for smol!Shiro, and I’m not actually partial to a lot of deaged!chars fics because people have a bad tendency to write toddlers and young children so innacurately, but this one is gold and so it’s great. But my personal fic shoutout is gonna go to The Throne In The Hall which is just all around amazing. Gorgeous imagery, great setting, solid plot, beautiful characterization, and badass fight scenes, this whole thing is just a delightful treat from start to finish. @ashinan Has some great works all around and you should read it! I can’t speak for Ash’s ship fics because I’m not really into ships, but people swear by both Ghost of a King and Bombs and Bullets, so I assume they are top quality for ship stuff. Me? I’m gonna rec you all Something Strange which is the most best, shut up, I will fight you on this. Amazing piece that is the modern supernatural cryptids-and-ghosts AU I didn’t know I need until I read this. Amazing characterization and so many little details that I just love picking out of the narrative and basking in. This fic is both hilariously entertaining because of the group shenanigans and frightfully haunting because of the ghosts (pun sort of intended?) Ash has also hinted at maybe doing more for the series and I’m clawing at the walls waiting for it. Read now. Do it. @mumblefox Rounding out the Think Tank, mumble’s work is worth checking out too! Like ash, a lot of mumble’s stuff is tagged for ships, which I don’t really do, but I absolutely adore Reconnaissance which is all I need to tell me mumble’s got top quality word weaving skills. Mumble does character dynamics wonderfully and I love watching Pidge and Keith work together in this, playing off each other both in the safe Castle environment and the heat of battle. There’s gorgeous imagery all throughout this fic and tons of little details buried in the narrative that just add so much character to the story itself. Also, I am a sucker for building any kind of alien culture or worldbuilding in general, and it’s here in spades. GriffinRose: I don’t see this fic writer recced a lot? It’s a crying shame, they’re good at what they do. Lots of Keith-centric stuff but not necessarily in a shippy way (which is usually what I see for Keith-centric stuff), but they also tackle some other characters too! My favorite is actually Mama Holt because we see a lot of Matt and Sam hanging around the Castle with the paladins in fics but Pidge’s mom? Not so much. This is a sweet little piece that hits all my found family feels, in which Mama Holt ends up on the Castle of Lions and slowly ends up adopting absolutely everyone in it, and I love every word in it. Yes. Check out Griffin’s stuff, you won’t regret it. INDIVIDUAL FIC RECS: a.ka. the “holy shit I found this amazing story I love and you should read it” section You Can’t Take the Sky From Me by isabeau225 Voltron fan? Firefly fan? This fic is the fic for you! Now a series and too damn adorable. Shiro’s not expecting any kids but somehow he just keeps getting more, and somehow he’s okay with that. Again, one of those fics that does child characters well. After I read this I squeed for half an hour and melted onto the floor.

Accepting Amelioration by XILVerify Daemon fics are my other weakness...when handled well. The problem I see with a lot of daemon fics is that writers will include the daemons but they are there more as a prop then as another character. This fic does a GORGEOUS job of avoiding that pitfall and a BEAUTIFUL job of writing the daemon concept in space with these characters and I fell in love with it. Also has some very interesting interpretations of daemons that differ a bit from the novel, but in ways I really enjoy...like breaking some of the standards for what animals mean what personalities, or making touching another’s daemon less of a sexual interaction and more of a close trust or strong platonic bond kind of thing. Beautiful work. Check it out.

One for All, All for One by KaijuDork Absolutely gorgeous Shiro-centric (but also team based) fic. Hurt comfort in spades as Shiro tries to help the paladins and they try to help him at the same time. Some beautiful and haunting imagery in this one. Still a WIP, but I’m hoping the writer can finish one day. I believe in you :) Of a Sort by hameru For the sickfic fan. Shiro is really, really sick, and the others do their best to help him out. Also a WIP but the first two chapters are just...quality sickfic and will fill all your hurt/comfort needs by themselves. (Still will be excited when/if more posts though) Empty Spaces by Oreramar Kind of a modern AU without the space stuff. Shiro loses his arm in an accident and things start to go downhill from there, until he unexpectedly finds the perfect new career...in daycare. Again, one of those rare fics that handles kids well (although they’re kind of there peripherally in this one), and the modern AU aspect is handled really skillfully too. Makes you feel all happy inside when you’re done reading it. The kind of fic I would love to see more extension on, although I’m content with this too. Shadows of our Dreams by KUG Because sometimes you just need a cuddle pile. This one fills the niche for both cute and fluffy as well as angsty and hurt comfort. If you need all kinds of feels all in one place this is your one-stop shop. Lean on Me by GlassSoldiers Wouldn’t be a good fic rec without a good 5 times! This is one of my faves. Shiro looking out for all his team, and his team looking out for him. I’m a big fan of this theme, obviously, so this one really hits the spot. Everyone gets a chance to shine, which is great :) how to win friends, influence people, and form voltron by brosura A WIP but a very worth it WIP, holy crap, read this. An AU in which Keith doesn’t get booted from the Garrison, and ends up slowly integrating with the rest of the Original Trio. Primarily Hunk’s PoV too which is awesome. Double awesome, it literally just updated as I was writing this list, which means there’s a new chapter, which means I need to find time to read it. AAAAAH. These are amongst my favorites. Good job to everyone on the list, and thanks for making my nights and work breaks exciting, for making me stay up late to finish just ONE MORE CHAPTER, for giving me something to read while eating, for giving me something to motivate me to get my own work done, and for giving me things to look forward to after terrible days. Love you all and this fandom has been amazing to me so far. :) ~VelkynKarma

[flauntpage]

Double Doink! – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 16, Bears 15

Nick Foles left the field with the lead..

and…..

…this time he won.

Holy mackerel! Holy cow! Holy cannoli! Pick whatever animal or dessert you want; you just can’t write a crazier script than that. I thought for sure we were watching a replay of the 2014 Saints game, a walk-off field goal to knock the Eagles out of the playoffs. The Foles era and the Super Bowl title defense would come to an end at the foot of Cody Parkey, who instead hit the upright AND the crossbar on the final play of the evening. It was a double doink, like that one time the WWF brought out two clowns at the same time to beat the crap out of Crush at  Wrestlemania IX. 

Seriously though, what a game. The Eagles blew opportunities and made mistakes, namely the pair of interceptions and a couple of dropped picks to go along with a bobbled third-down hand-off and some killer, drive-extending defensive penalties. I thought it was over when Chicago started picking on Avonte Maddox on their fourth-quarter touchdown drive, but “not so fast my friend,” as the great Lee Corso once said. Foles got it done, Doug Pederson just barely out-dueled Matt Nagy, and the Birds got some luck to go their way, which really hasn’t happened too often this season.

It sets up another crack at the Saints in the Superdome, this time with Foles leading the charge. If you like the “underdog” storyline, then this is your type of game. The Birds get their revenge shot and really have nothing at all to lose heading into the divisional round against asshole Sean Payton, who ran up the score in the regular season meeting.

On the flip side, the only thing we’re going to hear about this week is the “Nick Foles vs. Carson Wentz” argument, which I think will continue throughout the summer and into eternity, or as long as 94 WIP and 97.5 the Fanatic are broadcasting.

But for now let’s enjoy the win, beginning with:

1) The final drive

12 plays, 60 yards, 3:52 off the clock.

They started on their own 40 yard line with 4:48 remaining and methodically moved the ball down the field. Foles was 6-9 on the drive with a two-yard touchdown on a pseudo-sprint out that targeted Golden Tate on the goal line.

I wasn’t sure about Doug’s decision to run Darren Sproles twice in the red zone, but some of the other play calls were superb. He and Nagy really started going deep into the playbook in the fourth quarter, and Pederson rolled with this:

play action, deep seam to Alshon Jeffery

pre-snap motion, play action, Foles pressured and incomplete

trips left, fake screen left, fake screen right, RELEASE THE TIGHT END up the right seam (Goedert breaks two tackles)

play action, shallow out to Nelson Agholor, broken tackle, nice pickup

12 personnel, more pre snap motion, Zach Ertz in the middle, difficult catch

Wendell Smallwood left guard for about a yard

empty set, clear out for Agholor, incomplete

jumbo/pistol, motion Jeffery, hit him on seam for first down

Sproles run

Sproles run

Jeffery pre-snap to weakside, incomplete quick out

Foles dash right, Tate touchdown on quick out

A couple of those plays in there just featured huge individual efforts – the Goedert YAC, the Agholor YAC, and that tough catch from Ertz in traffic, the pass thrown almost over his head. Foles hit four different receivers on the drive and two different backs carried the ball. They showed some 12 personnel and some 11 personnel.

My favorite play call was #8, where they lined up Alshon in some sort of pistol/jumbo hybrid look, then motioned him down and threw it to him for about a ten yard gain. I couldn’t rip a clean video of this, because there was a hitch in the stream, so I’ll show you the diagram instead:

Wild stuff. Alshon in the pistol? Two tailbacks running flares? Two tight-ends also running routes? Really cool stuff.

I also swear I saw a Chicago three man rush in there somewhere, which was ridiculous. It could have been on the drive before this one, but still, who rushes three, ever? It should be illegal for Vic Fangio to rush three with the personnel he has.

2) Tipped!

Cody Parkey’s field goal was actually tipped by defensive tackle Treyvon Hester, which nobody realized until something like 45 minutes or an hour after the game.

This was the first clip to make the rounds:

Here’s a frame-by-frame look that clearly shows the Parkey kick was tipped by Treyvon Hester (Hester confirmed to @Bo_Wulf he tipped it). pic.twitter.com/6dOXui7Yyp

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) January 7, 2019

Here’s another good angle, and if you pause it right at eight seconds, the ball does indeed appear to be slightly misdirected to the left:

Watch this video in slow-mo…Treyvon Hester comes up with a huge block off the tip of the fingers forcing the change of trajectory in the kick…wow. #CodyParkey #FLyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/e3jBT3VazL

— Z (@KingZouric) January 7, 2019

I kind of felt bad for Parkey after the game, getting booed off the field and whatnot. But I’m sure most football fans don’t give a shit, since he’s still a millionaire.

3) Offensive success

Some 11 personnel, some 12 personnel, some timely deep shots and penalty flags, plus a few wrinkles here or there. All of that was good enough to win the game.

The Bears came into the postseason allowing 299 yards and 17.7 points per game and the Eagles finished with 300 and 18, so this matchup really played out the way a lot of people thought it would. Philly couldn’t really run the ball but stayed committed to the tune of 23 attempts for 42 yards, which is a 1.8 average. 17 of the Eagles’ 21 first downs took place through the air, two were from penalties, and the other two came on the ground.

Doug’s squad converted six of 13 third down attempts, good for 46.1%, which is 14 percentage points better than what Chicago was allowing on the season. That’s pretty significant. The Bears had only been allowing a 32% success rate on opponent third downs, but the Eagles got some key pickups to move the chains and balance the time of possession.

41 to 22 was the pass/run split, so that’s 65% to 35%, right on the money, which I think is probably where we expected it be. I would not have been surprised to see that number move into the 70% range, considering that they threw it that frequently in the Houston win.

Chicago finished with six tackles for loss and five quarterback hits, but Nick did a great job of taking those hits while getting rid of the ball and he was sacked just once on the evening. The offensive line did a nice job pass protecting against Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, and the rest of the excellent dudes on that line.

Sheil had a good stat about the line:

Eagles have faced Aaron Donald, J.J. Watt and Khalil Mack during their four-game winning streak.

Those three players have combined for a TOTAL of zero sacks and three QB hits against them.

Big credit to the offensive line and coaches for game-planning.

— Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) January 7, 2019

Bravo, offensive line.

4) Defensive success

They did what they needed to do, which was put the game on Mitch Trubisky’s shoulders.

“Tru” finished 26/43 for 303 yards, a touchdown, and zero interceptions (should have been at least one), so I guess you could probably make an argument that he did enough to win them the game. He made some really nice fourth quarter throws to pick up chunk yardage and get Chicago down the field.

Four things I think the Eagles did well:

showed good discipline with Nagy’s gadgety/bullshit type of plays (which he didn’t seem to rely on as much last night as he did in the regular season)

tackled well (not a lot of whiffs)

limited Trubisky in the scramble and running game

essentially shut down Tarik Cohen until the late kick return

In addition to that, Jordan Howard only carried the ball ten times for 35 yards, so he wasn’t much of a factor. Cohen carried the ball once for zero yards, but the Eagles also limited him to just 3 catches for 27 yards and didn’t allow him to do much in space.

Trubisky took two sacks for 12 yards and ended up with nine ground yards on three carries. Nigel Bradham did a superb job spying him and moving laterally all game long, stuffing a bunch of the east/west stuff Chicago threw at the Eagles.

The only true disappointments you could point to were Maddox (who played well for three quarters) biting on those late double moves, plus the interceptions that were dropped. Allen Robinson was the only guy who did any kind of consistent damage, and the defense kept this game close when the Eagles were having trouble scoring early. Chicago averaged 23.3 points per game in the regular season and the Birds held them to 15 in their own building last night.

5) Drive positioning

In the regular season, the Eagles began their drives, on average, at their own 28 yard line.

For a while last night, the Bears were on top of the Birds with expert field-flipping, and the game finished with the Eagles starting their drives from these points:

own 25

own 1

own 7

own 25

own 32

own 17

own 17

own 26

own 14

own 40

Don’t underestimate the defensive series leading up to the game-winning drive. The Birds forced a three and out, pushed Chicago back two yards, and then got the benefit of a weak, 36 yard punt from Pat O’Donnell. That set up the Eagles with their best field position of the entire night, if you can believe it.

Prior to that drive, the Eagles only started past their season average once. If you add it all up, the Eagles started at their 20 yard line on average last night, which is eight yards deeper than their typical starting point. They really were pinned down a couple of times and did a good job of digging out. The only real nail-biting moment was Smallwood’s escape from what could have been a safety on the second drive.

6) “hey ref, you’re blowing the game”

Officiating items of note:

The Sproles 3rd down run on the third drive: He was stopped about a half-yard short of the marker and was given the first down anyway.

Michael Bennett roughing the passer: obviously he can’t punch the guy in the face, but Kyle Long is grabbing him by the shoulder pads up around the neck area well away from the play, which was corny.

The Avonte Maddox non-interception: pretty straightforward; his elbow touched down out of bounds. Avonte bobbled the first clean look, then ran out of real estate at the sideline.

The helmet to helmet hit on Zach Ertz: obvious contact with helmet, easy call.

The pass interference against Jordan Matthews: correct, Amukamara had him hooked and Matthews couldn’t free up his arm

Golden Tate: felt like he was interfered with on that no-call in the fourth quarter; the linebacker didn’t even turn his head around at all before making contact

The Smallwood two-point conversion: man, that was close.. I’d love to see goal line technology, the kind they use in some soccer leagues, though with all of the bodies in there I’m not sure how accurate the video would be

And then you have the “no clear recovery” ridiculousness before halftime, which still has me scratching my head.

Here is the explanation from the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE:

Instant Replay Casebook, Page 11: pic.twitter.com/2YhK2qT310

— NFL Officiating (@NFLOfficiating) January 6, 2019

I guess the lesson is this: jump on any loose ball you can find, anywhere on the field, even if the whistle was already blown dead.

7) Auxiliary wins and losses

Here they are:

won time of possession, 30:48 minutes to 29:12 minutes

-2 turnover margin

6-13 on third down (46%)

1-1 on fourth down (game winning score)

allowed Bears to go 5-16 on third down (31%)

lost 8 yards on 1 sack

2-3 success rate in the red zone

3 penalties for 25 yards

They were -2 in turnover margin and found a way to win. I think that was primarily due to the great first-half defense and the way they limited Chicago on third downs. After that string of defensive penalties it was pretty much clean football down the stretch, so they really just executed well in other areas to wipe away the pair of interceptions. This was one of those games similar to a Sixers’ performance, where the turnovers don’t matter because they do well in offensive rebounding, three-point shooting, or a different auxiliary category.

The TOP is a big win as well. Plus-48 seconds doesn’t seem like much of an advantage at all, but Philly and Chicago were both top-three time of possession teams this season on the strength of their run defenses, and the Eagles went on the road and were able to do what they normally do in a difficult environment.

8) Doug’s best call?

I liked his play calls on the final drive and opening drive, particular the way he mixed and matched formations and personnel groupings and varied his under center and shotgun looks to keep Chicago off balance. Maybe he did run the ball too much, but he at least committed to the ground game, which did not allow the Bears to simply tee off in what would have been obvious passing situations. I think that probably helped the offensive line a bit.

One that I didn’t mention earlier was the Smallwood screen on that first drive, the big 22 yard gain that sort of set the tone and allowed them to continue down the field for three points. I honestly thought we might see more of Sproles in the screen game, since that’s something that stood out to me as a Bears’ weakness when I watched the film, just like Mike Mayock.

I also liked the wildcat look on the failed two-point conversion. Nice wrinkle, just about an inch away from success.

9) Doug’s worst call?

I liked the first Smallwood screen, but the one near the goal line was really iffy. I also didn’t really get the delayed handoff to Sproles on that one third down, the bobbled snap. Sometimes you can catch teams off guard with those third down runs, since they think it’s an obvious passing situation, but the Eagles weren’t running the ball for much of anything last night, so that felt risky to me.

The only other thing I disliked was obviously running Sproles twice in the red zone on the final drive. Imagine if the Eagles had lost this game; people would be outraged with those two calls and calling for Doug’s head.

10) The broadcast

Listen, I’m alright with Cris Collinsworth because it at least seems like he gives a shit about his job and shows some natural emotion throughout the course of a game. He seemed pretty dialed-in last night and identified some good X’s and O’s type of things. He did a nice job with the “color” part of color commentary.

Al Michaels was Al Michaels – kind of sleepy and only sort of there, though he did perk up at times. He blessed us with a Chase “Daniels” reference and I also appreciated how he tried make “LeBlanc” sound as French as possible every time he said Cre’Von’s last name. Michaels also had a weird sentence after the LeBlanc pass break-up/non fumble where he jumbled something like five words together. Did you hear that? It sounded like he just mushed an entire sentence into three syllables.

I also appreciate Michaels taking shots at the NFL rulebook and NFL officiating. He’s right, you know. It is easier to understand the Dead Sea Scrolls than whatever is written in that 400 page PDF file.

The only true gripe I had with the broadcast was that there were too many shots of Carson Wentz on the sidelines. Yes, he was the starting quarterback. No, he’s not playing in this current game. We are going to be subjected to 40 million hours of “Foles vs. Wentz” takes in the next five weeks, so I don’t need to see it or hear about it during the national game broadcast. Foles is in the game, so show Nick Foles.

Here’s the thing:

We are only blessed with 20-23 days per year that we can actually watch the Eagles. On the other 341 to 344 days, we just talk about the same shit over and over again, so let’s please keep it to on-field storylines when the game is actually taking place.

Thank you.

The post Double Doink! – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 16, Bears 15 appeared first on Crossing Broad.

Double Doink! – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 16, Bears 15 published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[flauntpage]

Double Doink! – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 16, Bears 15

Nick Foles left the field with the lead..

and…..

…this time he won.

Holy mackerel! Holy cow! Holy cannoli! Pick whatever animal or dessert you want; you just can’t write a crazier script than that. I thought for sure we were watching a replay of the 2014 Saints game, a walk-off field goal to knock the Eagles out of the playoffs. The Foles era and the Super Bowl title defense would come to an end at the foot of Cody Parkey, who instead hit the upright AND the crossbar on the final play of the evening. It was a double doink, like that one time the WWF brought out two clowns at the same time to beat the crap out of Crush at  Wrestlemania IX. 

Seriously though, what a game. The Eagles blew opportunities and made mistakes, namely the pair of interceptions and a couple of dropped picks to go along with a bobbled third-down hand-off and some killer, drive-extending defensive penalties. I thought it was over when Chicago started picking on Avonte Maddox on their fourth-quarter touchdown drive, but “not so fast my friend,” as the great Lee Corso once said. Foles got it done, Doug Pederson just barely out-dueled Matt Nagy, and the Birds got some luck to go their way, which really hasn’t happened too often this season.

It sets up another crack at the Saints in the Superdome, this time with Foles leading the charge. If you like the “underdog” storyline, then this is your type of game. The Birds get their revenge shot and really have nothing at all to lose heading into the divisional round against asshole Sean Payton, who ran up the score in the regular season meeting.

On the flip side, the only thing we’re going to hear about this week is the “Nick Foles vs. Carson Wentz” argument, which I think will continue throughout the summer and into eternity, or as long as 94 WIP and 97.5 the Fanatic are broadcasting.

But for now let’s enjoy the win, beginning with:

1) The final drive

12 plays, 60 yards, 3:52 off the clock.

They started on their own 40 yard line with 4:48 remaining and methodically moved the ball down the field. Foles was 6-9 on the drive with a two-yard touchdown on a pseudo-sprint out that targeted Golden Tate on the goal line.

I wasn’t sure about Doug’s decision to run Darren Sproles twice in the red zone, but some of the other play calls were superb. He and Nagy really started going deep into the playbook in the fourth quarter, and Pederson rolled with this:

play action, deep seam to Alshon Jeffery

pre-snap motion, play action, Foles pressured and incomplete

trips left, fake screen left, fake screen right, RELEASE THE TIGHT END up the right seam (Goedert breaks two tackles)

play action, shallow out to Nelson Agholor, broken tackle, nice pickup

12 personnel, more pre snap motion, Zach Ertz in the middle, difficult catch

Wendell Smallwood left guard for about a yard

empty set, clear out for Agholor, incomplete

jumbo/pistol, motion Jeffery, hit him on seam for first down

Sproles run

Sproles run

Jeffery pre-snap to weakside, incomplete quick out

Foles dash right, Tate touchdown on quick out

A couple of those plays in there just featured huge individual efforts – the Goedert YAC, the Agholor YAC, and that tough catch from Ertz in traffic, the pass thrown almost over his head. Foles hit four different receivers on the drive and two different backs carried the ball. They showed some 12 personnel and some 11 personnel.

My favorite play call was #8, where they lined up Alshon in some sort of pistol/jumbo hybrid look, then motioned him down and threw it to him for about a ten yard gain. I couldn’t rip a clean video of this, because there was a hitch in the stream, so I’ll show you the diagram instead:

Wild stuff. Alshon in the pistol? Two tailbacks running flares? Two tight-ends also running routes? Really cool stuff.

I also swear I saw a Chicago three man rush in there somewhere, which was ridiculous. It could have been on the drive before this one, but still, who rushes three, ever? It should be illegal for Vic Fangio to rush three with the personnel he has.

2) Tipped!

Cody Parkey’s field goal was actually tipped by defensive tackle Treyvon Hester, which nobody realized until something like 45 minutes or an hour after the game.

This was the first clip to make the rounds:

Here’s a frame-by-frame look that clearly shows the Parkey kick was tipped by Treyvon Hester (Hester confirmed to @Bo_Wulf he tipped it). pic.twitter.com/6dOXui7Yyp

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) January 7, 2019

Here’s another good angle, and if you pause it right at eight seconds, the ball does indeed appear to be slightly misdirected to the left:

Watch this video in slow-mo…Treyvon Hester comes up with a huge block off the tip of the fingers forcing the change of trajectory in the kick…wow. #CodyParkey #FLyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/e3jBT3VazL

— Z (@KingZouric) January 7, 2019

I kind of felt bad for Parkey after the game, getting booed off the field and whatnot. But I’m sure most football fans don’t give a shit, since he’s still a millionaire.

3) Offensive success

Some 11 personnel, some 12 personnel, some timely deep shots and penalty flags, plus a few wrinkles here or there. All of that was good enough to win the game.

The Bears came into the postseason allowing 299 yards and 17.7 points per game and the Eagles finished with 300 and 18, so this matchup really played out the way a lot of people thought it would. Philly couldn’t really run the ball but stayed committed to the tune of 23 attempts for 42 yards, which is a 1.8 average. 17 of the Eagles’ 21 first downs took place through the air, two were from penalties, and the other two came on the ground.

Doug’s squad converted six of 13 third down attempts, good for 46.1%, which is 14 percentage points better than what Chicago was allowing on the season. That’s pretty significant. The Bears had only been allowing a 32% success rate on opponent third downs, but the Eagles got some key pickups to move the chains and balance the time of possession.

41 to 22 was the pass/run split, so that’s 65% to 35%, right on the money, which I think is probably where we expected it be. I would not have been surprised to see that number move into the 70% range, considering that they threw it that frequently in the Houston win.

Chicago finished with six tackles for loss and five quarterback hits, but Nick did a great job of taking those hits while getting rid of the ball and he was sacked just once on the evening. The offensive line did a nice job pass protecting against Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, and the rest of the excellent dudes on that line.

Sheil had a good stat about the line:

Eagles have faced Aaron Donald, J.J. Watt and Khalil Mack during their four-game winning streak.

Those three players have combined for a TOTAL of zero sacks and three QB hits against them.

Big credit to the offensive line and coaches for game-planning.

— Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) January 7, 2019

Bravo, offensive line.

4) Defensive success

They did what they needed to do, which was put the game on Mitch Trubisky’s shoulders.

“Tru” finished 26/43 for 303 yards, a touchdown, and zero interceptions (should have been at least one), so I guess you could probably make an argument that he did enough to win them the game. He made some really nice fourth quarter throws to pick up chunk yardage and get Chicago down the field.

Four things I think the Eagles did well:

showed good discipline with Nagy’s gadgety/bullshit type of plays (which he didn’t seem to rely on as much last night as he did in the regular season)

tackled well (not a lot of whiffs)

limited Trubisky in the scramble and running game

essentially shut down Tarik Cohen until the late kick return

In addition to that, Jordan Howard only carried the ball ten times for 35 yards, so he wasn’t much of a factor. Cohen carried the ball once for zero yards, but the Eagles also limited him to just 3 catches for 27 yards and didn’t allow him to do much in space.

Trubisky took two sacks for 12 yards and ended up with nine ground yards on three carries. Nigel Bradham did a superb job spying him and moving laterally all game long, stuffing a bunch of the east/west stuff Chicago threw at the Eagles.

The only true disappointments you could point to were Maddox (who played well for three quarters) biting on those late double moves, plus the interceptions that were dropped. Allen Robinson was the only guy who did any kind of consistent damage, and the defense kept this game close when the Eagles were having trouble scoring early. Chicago averaged 23.3 points per game in the regular season and the Birds held them to 15 in their own building last night.

5) Drive positioning

In the regular season, the Eagles began their drives, on average, at their own 28 yard line.

For a while last night, the Bears were on top of the Birds with expert field-flipping, and the game finished with the Eagles starting their drives from these points:

own 25

own 1

own 7

own 25

own 32

own 17

own 17

own 26

own 14

own 40

Don’t underestimate the defensive series leading up to the game-winning drive. The Birds forced a three and out, pushed Chicago back two yards, and then got the benefit of a weak, 36 yard punt from Pat O’Donnell. That set up the Eagles with their best field position of the entire night, if you can believe it.

Prior to that drive, the Eagles only started past their season average once. If you add it all up, the Eagles started at their 20 yard line on average last night, which is eight yards deeper than their typical starting point. They really were pinned down a couple of times and did a good job of digging out. The only real nail-biting moment was Smallwood’s escape from what could have been a safety on the second drive.

6) “hey ref, you’re blowing the game”

Officiating items of note:

The Sproles 3rd down run on the third drive: He was stopped about a half-yard short of the marker and was given the first down anyway.

Michael Bennett roughing the passer: obviously he can’t punch the guy in the face, but Kyle Long is grabbing him by the shoulder pads up around the neck area well away from the play, which was corny.

The Avonte Maddox non-interception: pretty straightforward; his elbow touched down out of bounds. Avonte bobbled the first clean look, then ran out of real estate at the sideline.

The helmet to helmet hit on Zach Ertz: obvious contact with helmet, easy call.

The pass interference against Jordan Matthews: correct, Amukamara had him hooked and Matthews couldn’t free up his arm

Golden Tate: felt like he was interfered with on that no-call in the fourth quarter; the linebacker didn’t even turn his head around at all before making contact

The Smallwood two-point conversion: man, that was close.. I’d love to see goal line technology, the kind they use in some soccer leagues, though with all of the bodies in there I’m not sure how accurate the video would be

And then you have the “no clear recovery” ridiculousness before halftime, which still has me scratching my head.

Here is the explanation from the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE:

Instant Replay Casebook, Page 11: pic.twitter.com/2YhK2qT310

— NFL Officiating (@NFLOfficiating) January 6, 2019

I guess the lesson is this: jump on any loose ball you can find, anywhere on the field, even if the whistle was already blown dead.

7) Auxiliary wins and losses

Here they are:

won time of possession, 30:48 minutes to 29:12 minutes

-2 turnover margin

6-13 on third down (46%)

1-1 on fourth down (game winning score)

allowed Bears to go 5-16 on third down (31%)

lost 8 yards on 1 sack

2-3 success rate in the red zone

3 penalties for 25 yards

They were -2 in turnover margin and found a way to win. I think that was primarily due to the great first-half defense and the way they limited Chicago on third downs. After that string of defensive penalties it was pretty much clean football down the stretch, so they really just executed well in other areas to wipe away the pair of interceptions. This was one of those games similar to a Sixers’ performance, where the turnovers don’t matter because they do well in offensive rebounding, three-point shooting, or a different auxiliary category.

The TOP is a big win as well. Plus-48 seconds doesn’t seem like much of an advantage at all, but Philly and Chicago were both top-three time of possession teams this season on the strength of their run defenses, and the Eagles went on the road and were able to do what they normally do in a difficult environment.

8) Doug’s best call?

I liked his play calls on the final drive and opening drive, particular the way he mixed and matched formations and personnel groupings and varied his under center and shotgun looks to keep Chicago off balance. Maybe he did run the ball too much, but he at least committed to the ground game, which did not allow the Bears to simply tee off in what would have been obvious passing situations. I think that probably helped the offensive line a bit.

One that I didn’t mention earlier was the Smallwood screen on that first drive, the big 22 yard gain that sort of set the tone and allowed them to continue down the field for three points. I honestly thought we might see more of Sproles in the screen game, since that’s something that stood out to me as a Bears’ weakness when I watched the film, just like Mike Mayock.

I also liked the wildcat look on the failed two-point conversion. Nice wrinkle, just about an inch away from success.

9) Doug’s worst call?

I liked the first Smallwood screen, but the one near the goal line was really iffy. I also didn’t really get the delayed handoff to Sproles on that one third down, the bobbled snap. Sometimes you can catch teams off guard with those third down runs, since they think it’s an obvious passing situation, but the Eagles weren’t running the ball for much of anything last night, so that felt risky to me.

The only other thing I disliked was obviously running Sproles twice in the red zone on the final drive. Imagine if the Eagles had lost this game; people would be outraged with those two calls and calling for Doug’s head.

10) The broadcast

Listen, I’m alright with Cris Collinsworth because it at least seems like he gives a shit about his job and shows some natural emotion throughout the course of a game. He seemed pretty dialed-in last night and identified some good X’s and O’s type of things. He did a nice job with the “color” part of color commentary.

Al Michaels was Al Michaels – kind of sleepy and only sort of there, though he did perk up at times. He blessed us with a Chase “Daniels” reference and I also appreciated how he tried make “LeBlanc” sound as French as possible every time he said Cre’Von’s last name. Michaels also had a weird sentence after the LeBlanc pass break-up/non fumble where he jumbled something like five words together. Did you hear that? It sounded like he just mushed an entire sentence into three syllables.

I also appreciate Michaels taking shots at the NFL rulebook and NFL officiating. He’s right, you know. It is easier to understand the Dead Sea Scrolls than whatever is written in that 400 page PDF file.

The only true gripe I had with the broadcast was that there were too many shots of Carson Wentz on the sidelines. Yes, he was the starting quarterback. No, he’s not playing in this current game. We are going to be subjected to 40 million hours of “Foles vs. Wentz” takes in the next five weeks, so I don’t need to see it or hear about it during the national game broadcast. Foles is in the game, so show Nick Foles.

Here’s the thing:

We are only blessed with 20-23 days per year that we can actually watch the Eagles. On the other 341 to 344 days, we just talk about the same shit over and over again, so let’s please keep it to on-field storylines when the game is actually taking place.

Thank you.

The post Double Doink! – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 16, Bears 15 appeared first on Crossing Broad.

Double Doink! – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 16, Bears 15 published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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Double Doink! – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 16, Bears 15

Nick Foles left the field with the lead..

and…..

…this time he won.

Holy mackerel! Holy cow! Holy cannoli! Pick whatever animal or dessert you want; you just can’t write a crazier script than that. I thought for sure we were watching a replay of the 2014 Saints game, a walk-off field goal to knock the Eagles out of the playoffs. The Foles era and the Super Bowl title defense would come to an end at the foot of Cody Parkey, who instead hit the upright AND the crossbar on the final play of the evening. It was a double doink, like that one time the WWF brought out two clowns at the same time to beat the crap out of Crush at  Wrestlemania IX. 

Seriously though, what a game. The Eagles blew opportunities and made mistakes, namely the pair of interceptions and a couple of dropped picks to go along with a bobbled third-down hand-off and some killer, drive-extending defensive penalties. I thought it was over when Chicago started picking on Avonte Maddox on their fourth-quarter touchdown drive, but “not so fast my friend,” as the great Lee Corso once said. Foles got it done, Doug Pederson just barely out-dueled Matt Nagy, and the Birds got some luck to go their way, which really hasn’t happened too often this season.

It sets up another crack at the Saints in the Superdome, this time with Foles leading the charge. If you like the “underdog” storyline, then this is your type of game. The Birds get their revenge shot and really have nothing at all to lose heading into the divisional round against asshole Sean Payton, who ran up the score in the regular season meeting.

On the flip side, the only thing we’re going to hear about this week is the “Nick Foles vs. Carson Wentz” argument, which I think will continue throughout the summer and into eternity, or as long as 94 WIP and 97.5 the Fanatic are broadcasting.

But for now let’s enjoy the win, beginning with:

1) The final drive

12 plays, 60 yards, 3:52 off the clock.

They started on their own 40 yard line with 4:48 remaining and methodically moved the ball down the field. Foles was 6-9 on the drive with a two-yard touchdown on a pseudo-sprint out that targeted Golden Tate on the goal line.

I wasn’t sure about Doug’s decision to run Darren Sproles twice in the red zone, but some of the other play calls were superb. He and Nagy really started going deep into the playbook in the fourth quarter, and Pederson rolled with this:

play action, deep seam to Alshon Jeffery

pre-snap motion, play action, Foles pressured and incomplete

trips left, fake screen left, fake screen right, RELEASE THE TIGHT END up the right seam (Goedert breaks two tackles)

play action, shallow out to Nelson Agholor, broken tackle, nice pickup

12 personnel, more pre snap motion, Zach Ertz in the middle, difficult catch

Wendell Smallwood left guard for about a yard

empty set, clear out for Agholor, incomplete

jumbo/pistol, motion Jeffery, hit him on seam for first down

Sproles run

Sproles run

Jeffery pre-snap to weakside, incomplete quick out

Foles dash right, Tate touchdown on quick out

A couple of those plays in there just featured huge individual efforts – the Goedert YAC, the Agholor YAC, and that tough catch from Ertz in traffic, the pass thrown almost over his head. Foles hit four different receivers on the drive and two different backs carried the ball. They showed some 12 personnel and some 11 personnel.

My favorite play call was #8, where they lined up Alshon in some sort of pistol/jumbo hybrid look, then motioned him down and threw it to him for about a ten yard gain. I couldn’t rip a clean video of this, because there was a hitch in the stream, so I’ll show you the diagram instead:

Wild stuff. Alshon in the pistol? Two tailbacks running flares? Two tight-ends also running routes? Really cool stuff.

I also swear I saw a Chicago three man rush in there somewhere, which was ridiculous. It could have been on the drive before this one, but still, who rushes three, ever? It should be illegal for Vic Fangio to rush three with the personnel he has.

2) Tipped!

Cody Parkey’s field goal was actually tipped by defensive tackle Treyvon Hester, which nobody realized until something like 45 minutes or an hour after the game.

This was the first clip to make the rounds:

Here’s a frame-by-frame look that clearly shows the Parkey kick was tipped by Treyvon Hester (Hester confirmed to @Bo_Wulf he tipped it). pic.twitter.com/6dOXui7Yyp

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) January 7, 2019

Here’s another good angle, and if you pause it right at eight seconds, the ball does indeed appear to be slightly misdirected to the left:

Watch this video in slow-mo…Treyvon Hester comes up with a huge block off the tip of the fingers forcing the change of trajectory in the kick…wow. #CodyParkey #FLyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/e3jBT3VazL

— Z (@KingZouric) January 7, 2019

I kind of felt bad for Parkey after the game, getting booed off the field and whatnot. But I’m sure most football fans don’t give a shit, since he’s still a millionaire.

3) Offensive success

Some 11 personnel, some 12 personnel, some timely deep shots and penalty flags, plus a few wrinkles here or there. All of that was good enough to win the game.

The Bears came into the postseason allowing 299 yards and 17.7 points per game and the Eagles finished with 300 and 18, so this matchup really played out the way a lot of people thought it would. Philly couldn’t really run the ball but stayed committed to the tune of 23 attempts for 42 yards, which is a 1.8 average. 17 of the Eagles’ 21 first downs took place through the air, two were from penalties, and the other two came on the ground.

Doug’s squad converted six of 13 third down attempts, good for 46.1%, which is 14 percentage points better than what Chicago was allowing on the season. That’s pretty significant. The Bears had only been allowing a 32% success rate on opponent third downs, but the Eagles got some key pickups to move the chains and balance the time of possession.

41 to 22 was the pass/run split, so that’s 65% to 35%, right on the money, which I think is probably where we expected it be. I would not have been surprised to see that number move into the 70% range, considering that they threw it that frequently in the Houston win.

Chicago finished with six tackles for loss and five quarterback hits, but Nick did a great job of taking those hits while getting rid of the ball and he was sacked just once on the evening. The offensive line did a nice job pass protecting against Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, and the rest of the excellent dudes on that line.

Sheil had a good stat about the line:

Eagles have faced Aaron Donald, J.J. Watt and Khalil Mack during their four-game winning streak.

Those three players have combined for a TOTAL of zero sacks and three QB hits against them.

Big credit to the offensive line and coaches for game-planning.

— Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) January 7, 2019

Bravo, offensive line.

4) Defensive success

They did what they needed to do, which was put the game on Mitch Trubisky’s shoulders.

“Tru” finished 26/43 for 303 yards, a touchdown, and zero interceptions (should have been at least one), so I guess you could probably make an argument that he did enough to win them the game. He made some really nice fourth quarter throws to pick up chunk yardage and get Chicago down the field.

Four things I think the Eagles did well:

showed good discipline with Nagy’s gadgety/bullshit type of plays (which he didn’t seem to rely on as much last night as he did in the regular season)

tackled well (not a lot of whiffs)

limited Trubisky in the scramble and running game

essentially shut down Tarik Cohen until the late kick return

In addition to that, Jordan Howard only carried the ball ten times for 35 yards, so he wasn’t much of a factor. Cohen carried the ball once for zero yards, but the Eagles also limited him to just 3 catches for 27 yards and didn’t allow him to do much in space.

Trubisky took two sacks for 12 yards and ended up with nine ground yards on three carries. Nigel Bradham did a superb job spying him and moving laterally all game long, stuffing a bunch of the east/west stuff Chicago threw at the Eagles.

The only true disappointments you could point to were Maddox (who played well for three quarters) biting on those late double moves, plus the interceptions that were dropped. Allen Robinson was the only guy who did any kind of consistent damage, and the defense kept this game close when the Eagles were having trouble scoring early. Chicago averaged 23.3 points per game in the regular season and the Birds held them to 15 in their own building last night.

5) Drive positioning

In the regular season, the Eagles began their drives, on average, at their own 28 yard line.

For a while last night, the Bears were on top of the Birds with expert field-flipping, and the game finished with the Eagles starting their drives from these points:

own 25

own 1

own 7

own 25

own 32

own 17

own 17

own 26

own 14

own 40

Don’t underestimate the defensive series leading up to the game-winning drive. The Birds forced a three and out, pushed Chicago back two yards, and then got the benefit of a weak, 36 yard punt from Pat O’Donnell. That set up the Eagles with their best field position of the entire night, if you can believe it.

Prior to that drive, the Eagles only started past their season average once. If you add it all up, the Eagles started at their 20 yard line on average last night, which is eight yards deeper than their typical starting point. They really were pinned down a couple of times and did a good job of digging out. The only real nail-biting moment was Smallwood’s escape from what could have been a safety on the second drive.

6) “hey ref, you’re blowing the game”

Officiating items of note:

The Sproles 3rd down run on the third drive: He was stopped about a half-yard short of the marker and was given the first down anyway.

Michael Bennett roughing the passer: obviously he can’t punch the guy in the face, but Kyle Long is grabbing him by the shoulder pads up around the neck area well away from the play, which was corny.

The Avonte Maddox non-interception: pretty straightforward; his elbow touched down out of bounds. Avonte bobbled the first clean look, then ran out of real estate at the sideline.

The helmet to helmet hit on Zach Ertz: obvious contact with helmet, easy call.

The pass interference against Jordan Matthews: correct, Amukamara had him hooked and Matthews couldn’t free up his arm

Golden Tate: felt like he was interfered with on that no-call in the fourth quarter; the linebacker didn’t even turn his head around at all before making contact

The Smallwood two-point conversion: man, that was close.. I’d love to see goal line technology, the kind they use in some soccer leagues, though with all of the bodies in there I’m not sure how accurate the video would be

And then you have the “no clear recovery” ridiculousness before halftime, which still has me scratching my head.

Here is the explanation from the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE:

Instant Replay Casebook, Page 11: pic.twitter.com/2YhK2qT310

— NFL Officiating (@NFLOfficiating) January 6, 2019

I guess the lesson is this: jump on any loose ball you can find, anywhere on the field, even if the whistle was already blown dead.

7) Auxiliary wins and losses

Here they are:

won time of possession, 30:48 minutes to 29:12 minutes

-2 turnover margin

6-13 on third down (46%)

1-1 on fourth down (game winning score)

allowed Bears to go 5-16 on third down (31%)

lost 8 yards on 1 sack

2-3 success rate in the red zone

3 penalties for 25 yards

They were -2 in turnover margin and found a way to win. I think that was primarily due to the great first-half defense and the way they limited Chicago on third downs. After that string of defensive penalties it was pretty much clean football down the stretch, so they really just executed well in other areas to wipe away the pair of interceptions. This was one of those games similar to a Sixers’ performance, where the turnovers don’t matter because they do well in offensive rebounding, three-point shooting, or a different auxiliary category.

The TOP is a big win as well. Plus-48 seconds doesn’t seem like much of an advantage at all, but Philly and Chicago were both top-three time of possession teams this season on the strength of their run defenses, and the Eagles went on the road and were able to do what they normally do in a difficult environment.

8) Doug’s best call?

I liked his play calls on the final drive and opening drive, particular the way he mixed and matched formations and personnel groupings and varied his under center and shotgun looks to keep Chicago off balance. Maybe he did run the ball too much, but he at least committed to the ground game, which did not allow the Bears to simply tee off in what would have been obvious passing situations. I think that probably helped the offensive line a bit.

One that I didn’t mention earlier was the Smallwood screen on that first drive, the big 22 yard gain that sort of set the tone and allowed them to continue down the field for three points. I honestly thought we might see more of Sproles in the screen game, since that’s something that stood out to me as a Bears’ weakness when I watched the film, just like Mike Mayock.

I also liked the wildcat look on the failed two-point conversion. Nice wrinkle, just about an inch away from success.

9) Doug’s worst call?

I liked the first Smallwood screen, but the one near the goal line was really iffy. I also didn’t really get the delayed handoff to Sproles on that one third down, the bobbled snap. Sometimes you can catch teams off guard with those third down runs, since they think it’s an obvious passing situation, but the Eagles weren’t running the ball for much of anything last night, so that felt risky to me.

The only other thing I disliked was obviously running Sproles twice in the red zone on the final drive. Imagine if the Eagles had lost this game; people would be outraged with those two calls and calling for Doug’s head.

10) The broadcast

Listen, I’m alright with Cris Collinsworth because it at least seems like he gives a shit about his job and shows some natural emotion throughout the course of a game. He seemed pretty dialed-in last night and identified some good X’s and O’s type of things. He did a nice job with the “color” part of color commentary.

Al Michaels was Al Michaels – kind of sleepy and only sort of there, though he did perk up at times. He blessed us with a Chase “Daniels” reference and I also appreciated how he tried make “LeBlanc” sound as French as possible every time he said Cre’Von’s last name. Michaels also had a weird sentence after the LeBlanc pass break-up/non fumble where he jumbled something like five words together. Did you hear that? It sounded like he just mushed an entire sentence into three syllables.

I also appreciate Michaels taking shots at the NFL rulebook and NFL officiating. He’s right, you know. It is easier to understand the Dead Sea Scrolls than whatever is written in that 400 page PDF file.

The only true gripe I had with the broadcast was that there were too many shots of Carson Wentz on the sidelines. Yes, he was the starting quarterback. No, he’s not playing in this current game. We are going to be subjected to 40 million hours of “Foles vs. Wentz” takes in the next five weeks, so I don’t need to see it or hear about it during the national game broadcast. Foles is in the game, so show Nick Foles.

Here’s the thing:

We are only blessed with 20-23 days per year that we can actually watch the Eagles. On the other 341 to 344 days, we just talk about the same shit over and over again, so let’s please keep it to on-field storylines when the game is actually taking place.

Thank you.

The post Double Doink! – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 16, Bears 15 appeared first on Crossing Broad.

Double Doink! – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 16, Bears 15 published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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Some Takeaways From the Andy MacPhail Press Conference

Phillies President of Baseball Operations Andy MacPhail met with reporters this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park to give what I would term as a refreshingly honest assessment of his team and some clues about its direction moving forward ahead of a crucial offseason. I just finished up watching the presser in its entirety and rather do a traditional story here, I think it’s best to share some overall impressions and takeaways from the session.

1. For Starters

The Phillies lived and died by their starting pitching this season, a fact that MacPhail quickly alluded to when discussing his team’s struggles down the stretch. He noted that Phillies starters turned in Major League Baseball’s second-highest quality start percentage through August 18 (58%), but when their performance regressed, “that’s when the spiral started.” MacPhail, in lamenting the difficulty of assessing the team’s progress this season, said, “We are the most inconsistent team I have ever been associated with.” Specifically, he mentioned the unsustained summer surges of Zach Eflin and Vince Velasquez. It’s also worth noting that MacPhail said about his team’s pitching, “I wish we’d get a little more left-handed.”

My takeaway?

I think MacPhail knows that players like Velasquez, Eflin, and Nick Pivetta have considerable upside, but to return all three would be too great a risk, one that could ultimately sink the team in 2019. I expect this rotation to have different look in at least one or two spots next season.

2. “Dicey” Decisions

Later during the press conference, MacPhail also cited the inconsistency of third baseman Maikel Franco. I found his assessment to be revealing. “Franco hit .330 in July and then backed it up with .240 in August,” he said. “I mean, the other team, you know, maybe they’ll find the key, or maybe it is a function of just experience and learning yourself and what you have to do to stay focused and energetic the entire season.”

Now read that quote again and tell me if it sounds like Franco will be back next season?

MacPhail also named Odubel Herrera and Hector Neris as inconsistent performers. Those observations, paired with his comments about Eflin and Velasquez, really get to the crux of the Phillies’ dilemma this offseason. I think most observers of this team agree that several changes are coming both via free agency and the trade market. The Phillies must adeptly gauge what such inconsistency and performance variance from several of their players means in 2019 and beyond. Which of these players just are not good enough to sustain quality play and which are still evolving and moving in an upward trajectory toward their projected ceilings? This front office has several very interesting and difficult decisions awaiting them in the coming weeks and months.

3. Downplaying Analytics

It was absolutely no surprise that WIP’s Howard Eskin was the one to ask MacPhail about the team’s usage of analytics. Eskin spent most of the summer decrying (I thought rightfully so, at times) what he felt was the team’s over-reliance on data. MacPhail seemed to be aware of his critiques by saying, “I fault myself because I haven’t, particularly with you, done a good enough trying to make you understand analytics.” I don’t if he meant that as a shot at Eskin. It didn’t seem like it as I watched, but it reads that way.

MacPhail went on to say, “It’s replacing the subjective with the objective.” He then provided a basic example about how a coach 10 years ago might urge a pitcher to throw a fastball up in the zone because a hitter struggles with such pitches, but now such a suggestion can be backed up with numbers. I thought he tried to downplay the organization’s recent prioritization of analytics by saying, “There is a narrative about our team that we are analytically driven. Yeah, we have a much bigger analytic department than we did three years ago because, essentially, we went from zero to what is now probably industry standard.”

He supported his assertion by noting the organization added a minor league team, coaches, and both international and domestic scouts.  While that’s true, the recent departure of former director of player development Joe Jordan and multiple minor league hitting instructors suggests a shift towards more data-driven evaluations and coaching methods. And, frankly, just watch the games. MacPhail can say it’s simply about transmitting data down to the field, but there wasn’t much traditional about the 2018 Phillies. In fact, if Gabe Kapler’s in-game decisions weren’t so heavily driven by analytics, I would think the team would have gone to great lengths throughout the season to squash such a narrative.

4. Speaking of Gabe Kapler

MacPhail sounded generally pleased with Kapler, but I appreciated his candidness about the manager’s tendency to paint every picture with sunshine and rainbows:

“He will get probably an all-expense paid dinner where he’s going to have to listen to me drone on for two hours. I watched this happen to Dusty Baker. If you’re just overly positive, overly positive, you lose credibility with the fans after awhile. You have to find a way to craft a message that is not critical of your players or negative, but acknowledge that there’s some areas, like the rest of us, we have to make some improvements.”

While there was much media and fan speculation regarding Kapler’s job security amid the team’s disastrous September, MacPhail didn’t sound like a guy who seriously considered moving on from the first-year manager:

“I’m a New Yorker, I don’t think anybody can be that positive. I’m like, what’s up? I’ve come to know him a little bit. He’s all in. He is what he is. He’s communicative. If you know anything about Gabe, he makes adjustments. He just went through his rookie year. Here’s a guy that was a 57th round draft choice. He will be the only 57th round draft choice in the history of Major League Baseball that not just got to the Major Leagues, he spent 12 years there. He knows how to make adjustments. He’s gonna have to make some adjustments going forward, just like the rest of us. He’s going to have to stay open-minded.”

5. Money Talks

The headline-grabber will probably be MacPhail’s refusal to blatantly acknowledge the Phillies’ desire to spend this offseason. I saw some early Twitter takes after his comments deeming the Phillies as “cheap” and “a joke,” but I actually thought it was pretty obvious that the team will look to spend aggressively on the right players. MacPhail acknowledged the team’s willingness to reach the previous significant payrolls that were common earlier in the decade. I don’t think it was ever realistic to expect the Phillies to add both Manny Machado and Bryce Harper this offseason, but MacPhail did seem to throw some water on that possibility when he made reference to the quality of next offseason’s free agent class and stated the importance of remaining financially flexible in coming seasons. People may not want to hear that, but he’s not wrong for saying it. Ironically, one of my favorite parts of the session came when he cautioned liberal free agency spending. Essentially, he debunked Matt Klentak’s disingenuous brag from yesterday about the Phillies having the fourth-best free agent class a year ago:

“We spent $169 million on free agents from ’17 to ’18. I think Matt alluded to this yesterday. That’s the second most of anybody. If you calculate how good your free agent class, and used WAR as the measuring stick, we had the fourth-most productive class, but spent the second most. Not exactly the most efficient use of your dough.”

Again, maybe that’s not exactly what people want to hear, and I get it, but I still think they’re going to make a strong push to add game-changing talent this offseason.

6. Some Other Quick Notes

MacPhail characterized John Middleton as “crabby” after the Phillies’ brutal finish.

He was complimentary of Klentak, specifically noting that he’s “not afraid,” which is admirable. Still, I found it interesting that MacPhail refused to answer a question about Klentak’s contract status.

It’s both encouraging and telling that he said getting the defense right is a priority.

MacPhail seemed pleased with the team’s spike in attendance and the 26% increase in television ratings.

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