#I wondered how I’d feel about it since Nate’s stuff can be a bit hit or miss with me

[captainclickycat]

So I get the appeal of “Nimona is Ballister’s chosen-family kid and he and Ambrosius are her dads!” But personally I got more of an older brother vibe

[myfellowmelo]

Brother’s Best Friend

Context: Your brother’s best friend happens to be the popular basketball player, Lamelo Ball. And no matter how much you say you don’t feel anything for the boy, your body says otherwise after every encounter/game.

Includes: Smut, Oral sex, masturbation, teasing, swear words, hint of degrading.

Word count: 4040?

My POV.

“We can’t keep doing this Melo.” I whimper as his cock starts plunging deep inside me. Stuck in the locker rooms where he dragged me in there. His celebration for winning the game started early.

“You say that a lot for someone who’s obsessed with my dick.” He tells me. Before I answer him, he picks me and slams me onto his locker. Arms wrapped around his neck as he picks up the pace. “Melo! Oh god!” Gripping his hair as he relentlessly pounds my g-spot. Making it his absolute goal to have me cumming all over his cock. He needs to have me walk out the Spectrum Center with your hole stuffed with his liquids. “Take it baby. Fucking take it!” He groans. Sucking on my neck as he desperately tries to leave me as many marks as he wants. He loves how well I tighten around him. I love how no matter how hard I try not to fall, I still end up in his arms. Begging him to fuck me senselessly over and over again. Rolling his eyes back as I grip his hair yet again. Usually he would say some stupid sarcastic comment about leaving him bald like his head, but my pussy felt so good he couldn’t even muster up the words to say anything.

Omniscient.

Your moans were absolutely beautiful. Something he needs to hear on a regular basis just to even function. Having you fucked out until you could barely stand is what he was striving for. But it was all cut off short when he heard the locker room door open. Pulling out of you, you two quickly dress up.

“Melo ? Are you there?” Your brother Miles calls out.

“Hide!” He tells you. Signaling the shower room, you run inside quickly.

“Yeah I’m here!” Melo stated composing his breath.

Walking from around the lockers, Miles’ eyes brighten up, “Oh there you are! I was wondering when you were planning to get out of the locker room. Hey, have you seen y/n by any chance?”

Melo scoffs, “Do you see her around here?” A nervous chuckle leaves him but covers it up by a huff.

“Asshole. I was just asking.” Miles says as he rolled his eyes. Miles grumbled  “I can’t reach her-“

“Well she must’ve been tired. Probably went home.” Melo interjected him mid way.

“Yeah you’re right. Oh I know!” Miles claps his hands that startles Melo.

“What?” He furrows his brow.

“She’s hooking up.” Miles says with stars forming around his eyes.

“What?!” Melo says, taken aback. How did he know? And just when Melo said that, you too did as well in the shower room. Heart racing as you waited for yours and his name to fall out of your brother's mouth.

“Yeah, she once mentioned about this crush she has on Nate” Miles says looking back at his memories.

“Nate? My friend Nate?” Melo says surprised

“Yeah-“

“Nate, my teammate? Number 30 Nate?” Melo says again trying to confirm if what he heard was real.

“Yes! Nate Darling. She’s had a crush on him since I came here. Well I don’t know if she still likes him but she has been running off lately so I won’t be surprised if she comes out of a room with a large hickey on her chest. He’s very goofy.” Miles states while searching around the locker room.

“Yeah well I’m goofy too.” Melo mumbles. Shoving his stuff in his bag.

“What was that?” Miles asks him.

“Nothing! Now shall we get going?” Melo says as he gathered the remaining items and stuffed it in his duffel bag.

“Oh yeah, let’s go, You hungry?” Miles said as he gave up and went to the door with his stuff on hand.

Making his way out, you peek your head. Looking at Melo who merely glanced at you and walked out after your brother.

“Shit,” you cursed under your breath.

—————

“Melo, please call me back.” You say to the voicemail. It’s been three days and ever since he found out about your old crush on his friend he can’t even talk to you. Not even look at you for that matter.

You didn’t understand. You two weren’t anything. You guys weren’t dating and on the occasion he’s made it very clear that you two are nothing more but fuck buddies.

“Hey you okay?” Your friend asks you. Taking a seat next to you after grabbing her lunch.

“Oh yeah I’m, I’m okay,” trying to mask your emotions.

“You sure? You know I’m good at telling when one is lying.” She says giving you the look that was so tempting to have you spill out all of your thoughts.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I stated while I tried to divert my gaze to the floor.

“Okay but you know I’m here when you’re ready yeah?” Nodding, she smiles and hands you her green apple. The only kind of apple you like. Appreciating it, you take it and take a bite out of it. As she told a story about something, you couldn’t focus on anything but his table. He wasn’t there, but everyone else was. Including Nate.

“Oh my god.” Your best friend gasps.

Averting your eyes from the table you look over at her. “What?”

“Can’t believe it.” She said with her mouth hanging open.

“What? What’s going on?” You said as you look around.

“He said he was done hooking up. I swear if he brings another girl home I’m going to lose it.” She said, glaring her eyes. You see, she is Gelo’s girlfriend and they are both staying over for the week before going back to Cali.

Turning around to meet her gaze, your eyes widen when you see Melo enter the cafeteria with a girl around his arm. No no not just any girl. The captain of the Hornets cheerleading team. You couldn’t tell what shocked you more, that Melo already replaced you with some girl days after he continuously dodged you, your texts, and your calls. Or the fact that he was able to pull the head leader of the cheerleading team. The CHEERLEADING TEAM. You expected one of the nurses which could’ve made more sense. Usually everyone in the cheerleading team tends to take their work very seriously and never have time to not even hook up. Now this, this was truly a shocker.

Walking past you. He ignores you yet again and plants a kiss on her temple. Arm around her as she giggles and holds his hand. What a brat. Following their movements until they reached their table, where the boys greeted him. Cheers burst when he introduces them to her. Who looks to be his new girlfriend.

“Shocking right? Psh wrong.” Your best friend scoffs.

“Yeah. Sorry you have to deal with that,” you say genuinely.

“Yeah I feel sorry too but boys will be boys that’s just the sad truth.” She shakes her head and continues on eating her lunch.

“Yeah…” you mutter watching as he converses with his friends. His arm is still around her neck. “You’re right.” You finish off, looking down to the barely eaten apple.

For the next few days you ignored Melo completely. You didn’t know whether you should confront him or not. I mean it is his loss if he wants to push you away. But also another part of you wanted an explanation and maybe to seek salvation of the last bit of what you two have. If you guys even had anything in the first place. But Melo seemed serious. He had her with him at all times. And any time he saw you, he would get all cuddly and affectionate with her and it would get too repulsive to even stand being in the same area as him. What sucked is that both him and his little girlfriend shared the same afternoon as you. Workouts. The two of them sit in front of you which is worse because he’s constantly baby talking to her. Asking her if she needs any help and never lets her lift heavy weight. What an ass kisser really.

And you couldn’t really understand why you were so bothered by it. You never saw Melo anything other than a fuck buddy. There were times where you would ask yourself if you could see yourself dating him and it always ended with you gagging and having to eat a snack to clear your head. Yet here you are, wishing that this girl would walk off the face of the earth. While you were too busy sulking, you didn’t notice someone taking a seat next to you to use the weights.

“Hi y/n!” Nate says cheerfully. His boxy smile facing you as he set his stuff onto the table.

“Hey Nate-“ and then it hit you. Oh why did you not think about this sooner? Think y/n, think! Turning your head to face the bubbly boy, you tilt your head and smile at him. “Heyyy Yangyang,” you said again trying to be flirtatious.

Furrowing his brow, he looks at you oddly. “You okay?…”

“Totally!” You say nervous laughing it off.

Melo before you who was once cuddly to his new girlfriend was now tense. “Say Nate, how come we don’t hang out as much?” You ask him.

“Oh well I’d like you to hang out but you don’t like getting body slammed onto the court huh?” He said elbowing you.

Giggling, you shake your head. “We should hang out someday.”

Melo scoffs as he rolls his eyes. His girlfriend giving him a confused look.

He sends her a fake smile and signals to the coach who has now entered the training facility. As if his reason for scoffing was the coach entering. Picking up his large water bottle, he spins the cap off and goes to take a sip.

“So like a date?” Nate asks you genuinely.

“You want it to be a date?” With this, the boy in front of you who was once taking a sip from his water bottle, is now choking on it. The training facility silences as they stare at him curiously.

“You okay Ball?” The coach asks him. Not answering with words but rather with a thumbs up, he nods and proceeds to start the lecture.

“A date is then babe.” Nate says, using his index finger to bump your chin lightly.

—————

“I knew it! It was about time you two finally got together.” Your best friend claps her hands.

“We’re not getting together. It's simply a date, nothing else.” I say to remind her.

“Please you two will be dating in no time. Now let’s see what we can have you get dressed in.” While she went through the pile of clothes I brought for her to piece together an outfit. The front door opened and slammed close.

“Geez I bet it’s Melo, another sucky practice.” She shakes her head.

Chuckling, I nod along. “Right. Hey can I go grab a bottle of water real quick?”

“Yeah go ahead, it’s gonna take me a while to make an outfit with these clothes. Your wardrobe isn’t the most stylish no offense.” She said while still looking at the clothes.

“None taken” you shake your shoulders. Leaving her room, you go down the stairs and into the kitchen. In there was the boy you wanted to see. Ignoring him, you walk past him who was seated on the stool chair.

His eyes following you as you opened the fridge and pulled out a water bottle. Jumping back when he was standing right next to you once the door was closed. “My goodness Melo what the hell?-”

“Why didn’t you tell me about Nate?” He said while his breath fanned against your neck:

“What about him? It’s none of your concern-” You turn around looking up to face him.

“It is!” He says, flying his arms around in frustration.

“Shhh keep it down Melo!” You said as you patted his upper stomach because that’s all you could reach.

“Or what? Afraid your brother will find out huh?” He says while he took a step forward, you took one back. Doing so until you were up against the counter. “Afraid your brother will find out how desperate you are for me. How I’m I able to get you begging for my cock over and over again mm?” He tells me slowly. His head lowering closer and closer to my lips. Pulling his head and smashing my lips onto his. He immediately responds, pulling me closer to him. Picking me up and resting me on top of the counter. A nice grip on his hair as I kiss his lips until I am sure they’ll be swollen. His hands roamed up my shirt. Already missing my soft skin against his hands. Leaning in more and more, wanting - no needing more of me. It’s been almost two weeks and he really missed me. Yet he would never admit to it. His growing erection began to tighten his shorts. And I knew this.

He groans and curses when I lay a hand on his crotch. “Missed me that much?” I ask him tauntingly. Chest heaving as he looks down at my hand softly stroking the outline of his dick. Softly thrusting forward, needing more of my touches. But he was surely mistaken if he thought I would give in easily. Pushing him back, I get off the counter. Shock written all over him. “Don’t think I forgot the shit you pulled on me. I was over Nate a long time ago. It was barely even a damn crush. But because of your stupid stubbornness, you no longer have a shot at having me anymore Melo. Enjoy your time with your precious girlfriend.” Taking a step forward, on tippy toes, I got closer to his ear and whispered, “Bet she doesn’t make you cum like I do.” Biting my lip, I grab my water and walk away.

Watching as I walk away, he shuts his eyes close and shakes his head. “Fuck.”

————

“It was nice hanging out with you Nate. And sorry for any wrong intentions I might’ve given you in the training facility.” I said getting up after the date with Nate was over.

“Don’t sweat it. I’m not dumb I know that you and Melo have been having sex for a while now. Just didn’t know it was this serious.” Nate said following my lead.

“It isn’t serious.” I restated.

“Really?” He asks, raising a brow at me. His smoothie in hand as we walked around the downtown mall. “Doesn’t seem like it.” Nate sighed looking up at the sky.

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously

“Doesn’t take Einstein to know we have feelings for one another.” He said laughing seeing the dumbfounded expression on my face.

“Woah! Hold on, feelings?! Psh I don’t have feelings for him.”  I said defending my self.

Nate scoffs and shakes his head. “It’s so obvious.”

“It’s not-”

“It’s so!” He said again standing his ground.

“You have completely lost it, Nate Darling.” He laughs, taking a sip from his drink.

“Please, I knew something must’ve gone down. I had my guess when he started arriving at our training all gloomy and silent and not even having the same energy. But then when he brought Natalie to our table I knew something was definitely up. Then you ‘asked’ me out. You two aren’t doing this simply to get back at each other or get on one another’s nerves. You guys are doing this in hopes one of you two will snap out of it and confess!” Nate said spilling it all out.

I stayed silent. I mean he wasn’t necessarily wrong. I asked Nate out in front of Melo knowing he would be listening in hopes that he would talk to me. Confront me, tell me how stupid I am and that I am  his. I also wanted him back. Even if he wasn’t entirely mine to begin with. Now if I were to ask that very same question that had me gagging at the mere thought of it, it didn’t sound so bad of a question. Can I see yourself dating Melo?

______

Omniscient.

“I bet by the end of the date, it’s going to be official.” Your friend beams. For a good fifteen minutes now she hasn’t stopped talking about you and Nate getting together after so many years. It’s annoying the hell out of him. And what makes it worst is that Natalie is sitting next to him smiling at her squealing at your potential relationship with his teammate.

“You okay baby?” Natalie asks him. “Mhm? Oh, uh yeah I’m alright.” He fakes a tight smile and goes back to being on his phone. Looking at the date, he sees that he has yet another game tomorrow. A part of him was wishing you would come to his game. What was he thinking of course you will just not for him but rather for Nate. The mere thought of it already has him rolling his eyes.

“Someone doesn’t seem in a good mood.” Your best friends voice brings him back from his thoughts.

“Just tired it’s all. Gotta game tomorrow.” Melo said Turing off his phone.

“Oh yeah that’s right. Aw man I wish I could go but I have my thing going on with the modeling agency.” Your friend stated cleaning up the kitchen.

Natalie pouts. “It’s alright.”

“Well I guess I better start heading up to my room. Imma text y/n how her date went with her soon to be boyfriend.” She wiggles her brows.

Fighting the urge to scoff. “Yeah I should get going too.” She smiles at him and says her goodnights.

Natalie left a few minutes later, getting on her tippy toes, he got the sudden Deja vu from when you did that to him not long ago. Moving his face so that her lips connected with her cheeks. She waves him goodbye and leaves. Closing the door, he sighs and his head gets rushed with images of you. Very naughty things of you. Once again feeling that tightness in his shorts begin to grow.

“Fuck y/n!” He hissed. Fisting his cock as he teases his tip. Getting off to the thought of you sucking him off. Your pretty lips on his tip, those gorgeous eyes looking up at him as you try to pleasure him. Remembering how even when he’s finished cumming you still don’t pull away. Turning him more at how you have an oral fixation that you found out because of him. Biting his lip as he concentrates on jerking himself off. Memories on how overstimulated he once felt when you just couldn’t pull his dick out of your mouth. Whining when he tried pulling you off him. “God baby. You take my cock so well shit.” He mutters. Tilting his head back as he rubs himself faster. His hand jerking himself quicker as he felt the familiar need to release begin to bubble up.

Thinking about having you bounce on his cock as you beg him to continue fucking you until you’re sobbing. Telling you how much of a slut you are for his cock. Your hands gripping his hair as you suck hickies all over him. And just like that, his warm fluids were shooting all over his bed sheets. Catching his breath as he was consumed with the darkness of his room.

______

Omniscient.

It was the day of the game. People started filling up the bleachers but no matter how much people were entering through the metal doors you still haven’t shown up.

“Hey Nate, where’s y/n?” Melo asked curiously.

“How will I know?” Nate said with the ball in his hands getting ready to shoot.

“She’s practically your girlfriend, you should know by now if she’s planning on cheering for her boyfriend” Melo says. Tone harsh when saying boyfriend.

Nate stares at him and later laughs. “What?” Nate shakes him and pats his shoulder. “You’re funny dude.”

Walking away, with a puzzled look. He sighs and takes one last look at the bleachers. His eyes met yours. Trying to hold in his smile. But you caught it. After thinking back on what Nate said, he was right. You wanted his attention and if he wasn’t going to do something first, you would. Smiling softly at him as you give him two thumbs up. He chuckles and nods. Eyes looking down and freezes when he sees Natalie. He forgot the cheerleaders are taking a break for 2 weeks. Holding a poster with his jersey number in it. Looking away quickly, as he hurries back to the rest of his team.

By the end of the game, the crowd was loud and rowdy. Anxious as it was a tie once again. Melo , who was now with the ball, rushed until he got near the net and dunked the winning point. The crowd roared as they clapped and cheered for him and the team's victory. Standing as you cheered for him too. Going down the steps to congratulate him. Looking for #1. You smiled warmly at him as you walked up to him. Freezing when a familiar figure walks the aisle before you calls out for his name. Rushing down the steps and enveloped him in a tight hug. Smile dropping as his eyes never left yours. He was still with her, and a part of you felt stupid. Were you really going to confess? Especially since Natalie is such a sweet girl and really likes Melo. She couldn’t ruin that. Couldn’t ruin what they have. But maybe there’s hope. Maybe he doesn’t have the same feelings for her and has some for you.

“Surprise!” She tells him excitedly. But you were certain that wasn’t true when Natalie pulled Melo down for a kiss.

Scoffing, you felt stupid. Embarrassed really. Turning around, you make your way out of the Spectrum Center. Melo pulls away quickly, keeping Natalie at arms length. “Melo? Baby what’s wrong?” Natalie said, looking up at him with her arm around him.

“Natalie, I'm sorry. But I can’t do this, I know it’s sudden and you deserve an explanation but I can’t keep going on in a relationship I don’t want to be in. I’m really sorry but I have to go.” He said as he broke the contact, heading to the door.

“Melo? Wait- Melo!” But he was already out the doors. Rushing after you.

“Where are you?” He says under his breath in search of you. Looking through every hallway and room and still no sign of you. “Dammit y/n where are you?!” He slammed his hand on the door and went inside of the locker-room.

“I’m here.” You said silently.

Turning around, there you were before him.

Staying silent as you two suddenly didn’t know what to say anymore. After much contemplation on what he should say to you, he starts taking small steps towards you.

“It’s you. It’s always been you.” He tells you softly. Meeting him in the middle, you grab his face and pull him in. Gripping your waist as he kisses you desperately. The kiss was no longer the same old one that was filled with lust and need. It was now filled with passion, love and want. Pulling away, leaning your forehead on top of his.

“Can’t go another day without you.” He said underneath his breath.

“Then don’t. Don’t let me go.” You said, with tears threatening to fall.

“Never baby.” Melo said, looking down at you.

————

“You two were what?!”

Your brother exclaims in pure shock. Both you and Melo are standing before him, hand in hand. Standing behind you and he plants soft kisses on your temple. Rubbing your arm for comfort, comfort for the burst of your brother who is now finding out the truth of you two. But no matter the outcome, he was just glad he now has you. In his arms once again. Only this time, he’s got you locked in. And you aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• I hope you liked my first imagines, I know there are some errors with the POV, but I’ll fix it later!

Thank you for reading 😊😊

[nachohypno]

Nate and Dave Ch. 12

I feel like weekends are particularly exciting ever since Dave started hanging out with me, like a week or two ago. Is it bad that I already forgot how life was without a werewolf soulmate looking out for me? I feel like I’ve known him for my entire life, and he just moved to the town like two years ago.

Back to what I was saying. My ‘dates’ with Dave consisted of going to the forest and just having a good laugh, or staying at his/my room and cuddling a lot. At school, it was a bit more difficult, due to reasons you may already know.

But, we’re coming to terms with our relationship and veeeeery slowly, we’re opening up for the public.

That’s also what I had planned for today’s date. A good sunny Saturday noon, perfect for spending the day with the guy I love in a public place like the shopping street.

Besides, I’d like to resume my little investigation project. I already know about Dave’s behavior at school, he acts like he owns the place and he pretty much does. At the forest, he apparently feels at ‘his element’ with his inner wolf. In the bedroom, or more specifically, in the bed, he’s a king.

Out in the real world… He’s still good. Surprisingly, the guy was apparently born to be the best.

I didn’t put much effort on my looks. A plain purple shirt and some jeans would do the trick. When the time to leave had come, Dave waited for me in his car in front of my house. The jock ditched his varsity jacket in favor of a black tank top and sunglasses. He looked pumped up, so I wondered if he just left the gym or something.

“Ready to hit the forest? Pretty ready to fetch the stick today” He said, as I entered the car and sat down. He pulled me in for a kiss, before finishing with a swift “Or I could fetch your stick, bruh… If ya catch my drift.”

“Well, while that sounds interesting” I could see his smile growing a little. “… I thought about having a change of plans. Wanna go to the shopping street we got your collar at?”

“Uh… yeah… but I thought we were trying to avoid being together out in public?” The jock asked, confusion was pretty clear in his voice. “I mean, not that I care, just don’t want you to feel uncomfortable—”

“And I’m not! If anything, I don’t think I’ve been pretty fair with you by asking to keep our thing a secret. And we’re both adults so… there shouldn’t be a problem with us just… hanging out and doing goofy boyfriend stuff?” I replied. I wasn’t lying, I did feel bad sometimes when I thought about how I would feel if my boyfriend asked me to act like I didn't know him.

And luckily, Dave wasn’t going to complain. He took off the sunglasses and looked at me with his beautiful blue puppy eyes.

“I love doing goofy boyfriend stuff with you,” He said, the flirty tone returning. “and if anyone tries to hurt you, I’ll protect you. Nothing to worry ‘bout, it’ll be a perfect date!” Dave put on his glasses once again, before grabbing the wheel and starting to drive away from my house.

‘Okay, too late to go back now. I’m doing this for him!’ I thought, reassuring myself that it was the right thing to do. Of course, we could wait until high school is over in a few couple months, but I felt like Dave would love to have me around during his ‘king of the school’ years. Kinda sure he’ll take back that role at college, but maybe it’ll ease the ‘blow’ for everyone when we go to the prom together?

…Not like anyone will say anything though, the big guy has the whole place on his paw!

Geez, being the soulmate of the alpha jock in school is the best thing ever. I just love him so much!

------

We got around the shopping street quite fast. Dave is a good driver, and focuses on the driveway to avoid causing an incident. Every time we stop at a light, he likes to take a few moments to check on how I’m doing or to make some nice chit chat.

The jock parked once we arrived, and reached over to grab his stuff at the glove compartment (Taking the chance to steal a quick kiss from me before hopping out of the car).  I smiled, and followed him out of the car.

As any other normal Saturday, the shopping street was pretty crowded. Different girls and guys going around in couples or groups, some people handing out pamphlets or performing in the middle of the street. You could even see people dressed as famous cartoon characters and taking pictures with the children.

Dave intertwined his hand with mine. It gave me a bit of the chills, causing me to pull back and leave his hand there.

I couldn’t see Dave’s eyes due to the sunglasses, but he seemed to be sad and confused at my sudden change of mind. “I-I’m… sorry…” I said, before grabbing Dave’s hand again, and holding on to it.

“Everythin’ okay?” The werewolf asked, looking at me with concern. I nodded, slowly. “Yeah, just a reflex. Still haven’t gotten used to this, huh.”

We both sighed in relief, starting to walk towards the shops past the parking lot.

I wished I could see his eyes through the sunglasses though. Not gonna lie, his attire was pretty hot (Kind of inappropriate due to the incoming winter, but I assumed he wasn’t cold at all). And I feel like I could have done better myself…

“What’re we doing today, bruh?” He asked, as we walked away from the car.

I haven’t thought about that. Shit.

I looked around, quickly. I couldn’t come up with anything good, and just threw the first thing that clung to my mind. “I thought we could… buy some new clothes…?” It was lame and I wanted the earth to eat me.

But, Dave agreed with me. “Sure. Sounds like good fun.” I couldn’t tell if he was joking, but the jockboy just stared at me and waited for my reaction.

“Wait, you’re okay with it?”

He nodded, his smile growing bigger. “I mean, Lee used to drag me with her and make me hold her bags. I won’t mind if my soulmate wants to do the same, and I love spending time with you so… I think it’ll be fun, babe.”

Okay, I’m not a big ‘fashion fan’ or whoever it’s called. As you may have seen, I don’t pay much attention to my appearance besides the normal stuff to being seen as a respectable townie.

You’ll usually see me wearing nerdy tees with cartoons or jokes printed on them, paired with some jeans or shorts depending on the time of the year. I don’t have a body to show off, being pretty average with my not-really-big belly but not thin either.

Dave, on the other hand, looked good with anything. He does have the body to show off, and I assume that was helping his confidence quite a bit (Maybe besides the point that he can crack anyone’s skull if he gets mad enough at them).

We entered a men clothing store. The place was pumping some background music, but it wasn’t loud enough to be annoying and make me not hear my own thoughts.

The people behind the counter barely noticed us, until a woman that seemed to be in her thirties waved and said something like “Hey guys, looking for something in particular?”

“Not really, just gonna check around with my bruh” Dave answered, giving me a good smile before taking off his sunglasses and placing them at the tank top’s neck. Maybe he didn’t want to seem like an asshole who wears sunglasses at interiors? Who knows.

He stared at me for a bit longer, before moving to a few racks of tees and pants. I didn’t know what he was looking for, I was mildly paralyzed because I haven’t thought so far ahead. I took a long deep breath, before regaining my cool and walking over to Dave. “Saw something cool?”

The werewolf jock nodded, taking a green tee that seemed a bit fitted for my taste, and some leggings. “Wanna try these out? Bet ya look great on these.” Man, he seemed to be enjoying this shopping stuff more than I. Not gonna pop his bubble though.

“Uhm… sure, I’ll give them a try.” I answered, grabbing what he had picked for me and walking over to a few dressing stalls at another room, next to the bathrooms.

I felt a bit ridiculous, honestly. I undressed and left my regular clothes on a little bench, before putting on what Dave picked for me. ‘If he picked something for me, then I get to pick something for him, right?’ I thought to myself.

“Hey, Dave?” I called for him, but got no answer. Huh, maybe he’s a bit far? That doesn’t make sense though, he has heightened senses!

A minute or so later, the guy entered the dressing stall and looked at me. “Hey, lookin’ pretty good.” He said, almost whispering. I don’t know if they allow two people to be in the same stall, but we can just pass as two bros helping each other out, right?

“Huh, y’think so? Never used fitted tees before.” It didn’t look half as good as it would look on Dave. Never been too athletic, so I had nothing to show off, as mentioned before.

“I mean, you look great with everything, even better when you wear nothing, babe” That was a bit of a lame flirting attempt, but still, highly appreciated. I looked at myself in the mirror, and he took advantage of the moment to wrap his arms around me. “Should I leave or—”

“No, it’s cool. I like it here…” I tried to move my head to face him, but he surprised me with a mouth invasion. I loved everything about it. The taste, his smell, his movements, everything was great. “…I like you” I changed my words at the last second after the kiss was over.

“I love you, my soulmate. And hey, you look really good in those clothes.” A quick smooch on my cheek before letting go of me. “Mind if you pick something for me? Be fun about it if ya want, I’ll take whatever you choose.” Great! Just as I expected!

And he gave me an idea. One that would activate my dom vein. “Really? Huh… Wanna be a good puppy boy and zone out for me, then?”

It didn’t take any effort from my part.

Dave zoned out like he usually did, tongue lolling out and blankly looking forward. “Let’s see… drop the shirt and give me a good smile” I ordered, hoping that there wouldn’t be people at the other stalls or an employee next to us.

Of course, Dave did as told, revealing his sculpted body with short fuz (He likes to keep himself smooth, but being a werewolf can make that hard, apparently) as his tongue went back in. His face now showed a perfect dumb smile.

“What size of clothing do you wear, puppy boy?” I whispered.

“I wear L, bruh…” He mumbled his answer before his face became stiff once again. Walking out of the stall but making sure the curtain was well closed so no one would wander in and find the dazed werewolf, I went towards the clothing racks.

I wasn’t planning on playing the fashionista nor anything but… A red speedo was the first thing I grabbed. I don’t know if they’re good for using them as a normal underwear but Dave would look hot on them.

A bright yellow long sleeved shirt that seemed pretty fit, combined with some black jean shorts. He would look funny, probably. It was his request!

After grabbing the clothes, I walked back to the dressing stalls and entered Dave’s. Luckily, the shop’s employees seemed to be busy drinking coffee and gossiping at the counter.

Dave still looked perfect. And seeing him in his zoned out state always made my cock twitch for a bit. I smiled at the perfect view, and gave him a quick kiss.

“Now, strip naked, big guy” I ordered, still in whispers. He didn’t answer, but did as I said. Soon, he was showing off his body in all his naked glory. His cock was rock hard, of course. My puppy boy was always ready for action!

“Put this on” I handed him the red speedo, and he moved almost robotically, with lazy movements, as he got the speedo to cover his big junk.

…It was still completely visible though, so it wouldn’t do a good job without something on top of it. “Wait… let me pose you, got it?” Dave nodded. I grabbed his arms and made him flex, like some kind of statue or mannequin. He still had his dumb smile and blank stare, so he looked like some kind of beach boy.

“Good puppy boy,” I praised him, scratching the back of his ear. He didn’t react to it, but I guess he would appreciate the praise. “Now, these ones…” I handed him the shorts and shirt.

Okay, I have an awful fashion sense, but he still managed to look really hot. The shirt clung tightly to his body muscles, and the jeans managed to hide the big erection that escaped the speedo.

I grabbed his arms again, and made him pose like the “I had to do it to ‘em” meme, just for a good laugh.

“You can wake up now, puppy boy” I mumbled, and stared as he regained his senses.

“Whut… How’d it go?” Dave tried to ask, before looking at himself in the mirror. “Damn… Do I look hot?”

“You always do, big guy.”

“I know, but do I look hot to you? You’re the one that matters here.” Aww. I felt myself blushing a bit, before nodding.

“You look stunningly hot.” I replied. He leaned in for another long kiss, before we changed off the clothes. We still had to pay for them!

“Huh, never thought about a speedo,” He mumbled, before looking at me. “Now I wanna do a pool party or something like that, bruh.”

I chuckled, then finished changing into my old clothes. Dave grabbed my new clothes and quickly walked towards the counter. “I’ll pay for everything, don’t ya worry.” The jock said, before I could reject his offer.

He was already offering his card to the employees, so it was too late to stop him, right?

A few minutes later, he waited for me at the entrance with some bags. “Wanna get some lunch?” He asked, walking away from the store, a few bags on his hands.

 ---------

 The jock sat in front of me, taking off his sunglasses and leaving them hanging from the tank top’s neck again. His plate had two big burgers, each one with three meats. “Werewolves are hungry all the time, or do you just love food?” Uh, that’s a horrible thing to ask anyone. “Not judging, just curious…” Saved it!

He gave me a smile. “Huh, never thought about it. I do love food, and my wolf metabolism lets me eat whatever I want with barely any consequence on my good physique. Bang!” He finished his explanation flexing both arms.

I chuckled, making a mental note. Dave reached out for his burger before adding a quick “Don’t get surprised if I eat too much, most of my family works like that, bruh.” And giving a bite to the burger.

I looked at my own burger, and started eating too.

Honestly, so far, being a werewolf sounds like a good thing. I don’t know if Dave’s hotheaded personality is tied to his alpha/werewolf status or it’s just who he is, though.

We barely spoke, due to our mouths being filled with delicious meat. I could tell that Dave enjoyed his meal, but he also looked very intently at me and tried to make funny faces every time our eyes crossed paths.

It made me laugh, not going to lie. I was having a good time, overall!

Well… until…

A young girl approached us, probably around our age? She looked like a student, but I don’t recall seeing her at the hallways. Maybe a sophomore or junior?

She was nervous, that was clear. “Heeeey, how’s the meal going?” The girl was cute. She had braided black hair and olive skin. Her accent made me think she was Latina, but I wasn’t sure.

Dave was the first one to answer, due to swallowing his burger faster than I. “Uh, pretty good”

I don’t want to be the jealous weirdo, but I was mildly afraid he may be checking her out. ‘You’re his soulmate’ I reassured myself. The girl was, of course, not interested in me at all, which added more salt to the wound.

“So, umm… This is awkward buuuut… may I get your number? My friends over there” She pointed to a table meters away from ours, a group of three girls staring at us “made a bet and… geez, I fucked up, right?”

‘Kinda, yeah.’ I thought, looking over at Dave and hoping he would take care of the situation.

Before giving out an answer, the big guy looked at me and his smile went down for a bit. “Look, I wouldn’t really mind but… I’m pretty much taken and we’re in the middle of something here.” I was screaming inside, feeling so proud of the puppy boy!

The girl’s face turned red, and quickly started to apologize as she slowly backed away. Dave didn’t stop looking at her until she was far enough. Then, he spoke.

“Your face is so easy to read, babe.” He threw at me, mockingly, after the girl was gone. “Don’t worry, not gonna ruin our special day, my love.”

“I know, I know. Couldn’t help but feel a bit… annoyed?” I shook my head “Anyway, not important. Where would you like to go now?”

“Babe, you’re important, the most important thing in my life,” Dave answered, reaching out to touch my hand and softly caress it. “And honestly? Kinda glad to see you worried about me. Makes me way more glad to have gotten you this!”

He reached down to his pocket and took a little package. “Bought this when you were trying out stuff. Thought it would be a neat detail, after you gifted me a puppy boy collar!”

I grabbed the little package and carefully opened it. Inside, two necklaces lied. A locket with a keyhole on the middle, and a key, both necklaces being held with each their own chains. “I tried to look for something with meaning, and which better thing than something that… uh…” The jockboy tried to explain a bit more, but I could tell that he was out of ‘smartsy words’ already.

“I own the key to your heart?” I asked, grabbing both pieces and handing him the locket part.

“Yeah! Oh, wait. Open it first, bruh.” He handed it back to me, and I proceeded to open the small locket.

Inside of the locket, a little note could be read. ‘My heart, body and mind belongs to my lovely soulmate Nate Hall —David Walker’. “The store’s clerk looked weirded out when I wrote that. Also, sorry for not being there when you called for me.” He finished, as I closed the locket again. Huh, so that’s where he was.

Needless to say, my face was red. Like, completely red. I’ve been hearing Dave the mean jock saying cheesy lines for the past few weeks, but he surpassed himself this time. He was the best boyfriend I could have ever asked for, no need to struggle against that now.

I’ve never been one to express many emotions, especially when around a crush or romantic interest. Never got the confidence to actually express them.

It was different now.

“I… I really like it. You’re the best!” I handed him his locket and placed the key necklace around my neck.

“Nah, your collar was a better gift, I think. I have a hard time picking gifts, but that one seemed like a good one.” He shrugged, probably trying to take importance from the fact that my lovely puppy boy seemed a softie. I loved when he acted like that, though. Dave is really sweet when he wants to be.

Dave placed the locket necklace around his neck. I don’t know if it would interfere with the bowser collar when we play in private, but I didn’t care. Dave always tried to do nice stuff for me, his soulmate, and I think I should start to reciprocate a bit more often.

“So, you get to pick where we go next,” I told him, trying to change the subject. I was out of words already, and I didn’t want to get too cheesy in the middle of the street. I was really thankful, though. “Any ideas?”

“While going out and shopping with you has been way better than what I thought…” I noticed he still had to get through his second burger. He gave it a huge bite before swallowing and finishing his sentence. “I think I’d prefer to head home now. My home, with you, and a pair of beers, by the pool. Sounds like a plan? I could even make good use of that amazing speedo you got me.”

The idea of an almost naked Dave wearing a speedo made me giggle a bit. I stole a fry from his plate and nodded. “Sounds like a plan” I don’t drink, but I could use some relaxation time with the best jock in the world.

-------

Chapter 13 is already available in my Patreon!  And by pledging you also get access to other stories before they go public!

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Ash I think the drabble we all need but didn’t know we needed is Danny and Nate each telling Dr. Rosa about their first time since Bram. (Pre bad arc)

CW: References to noncon/dubcon, therapeutic discussion of the aftermath of prolonged captivity/conditioning/noncon.

TIMELINE: Approximately two months prior to the beginning of the Bad Arc. 

Tagging the Danny crew because this got long and Danny is a delight dumbass in it: @finder-of-rings, @bleeding-demon-teeth, @spiffythespook, @burtlederp, @whumpywhumper, @18-toe-beans, @pumpkinthefangirl, @special-spicy-chicken, @whale-whumps, @swordkallya

Tagging the Danny crew: @finder-of-rings, @bleeding-demon-teeth, @spiffythespook, @burtlederp, @whumpywhumper, @18-toe-beans, @pumpkinthefangirl, @special-spicy-chicken, @whale-whumps, @swordkallya

“Nate, we are at forty-five minutes of our hour,” Dr. Rosa says patiently, leaning over with her arms resting lightly on her open notebook, reading glasses perched at the end of her nose. “There is something you came in here to tell me, and you have spent three-quarters of an hour telling me everything but that thing. What is it?”

Nate shrugs, swallowing hard. She’s right - he really has. He’s talked about Danny’s recent strides forward - but not the one he’s actually here to talk about - like how he walks by himself to the coffeeshop now, ran two miles the other day and came back sweaty and breathing hard but then he ate an entire meal’s worth of food all at once, and it was… it was normal.

He’s talked about his own halting steps - how he has fewer bad days, lately, they’ve finally found the right dosage to mostly even out the swings between feeling okay and feeling unable to move… and he feels more able to push down the inevitable wash of guilt if he sits still for too long. He even told her about how he took Ryan’s car by himself to the grocery store, and bought everything on Danny’s list, and he’s fairly certain no one looked at him twice.

But he hasn’t talked about the thing that he’s been thinking about since, oh, about nine-thirty Wednesday night.

“I, ah…” He swallows again, compulsively, leaning forward himself where he sits on the couch. “I. Um. Wh-what I came to… what I was th-thinking about-… ah.”

His face is burning red, and he tilts his head forward so at least some of his straight black hair can cover it. He rubs at the stubble along his jaw with one hand, closes his eyes, and forces the words out.

“Danny and I, um, h-had… we… sl-slept together. Wednesday n-n-night.”

There’s a pause.

“From your reluctance, may I gather that when you say you slept together, you are not referencing any type of restful unconsciousness?” Dr. Rosa asks, a lilt of teasing in her tone. Only when she jokes does her island accent start to slip back in, a hint of the Caribbean lacing her tongue. 

“Y-Yes I mean. I mean, n-no, I… yes. We, ah-”

“You had sexual intercourse with Daniel.”

“That… that s-s-sounds… so fucking clinical. It wasn’t l-like that.” Careful, and slow - probably the longest amount of foreplay he’d ever done, with constant check-ins and the edge of Danny’s nervousness twining in and around every motion and movement. But Danny had been the one to pull the condom from the side table, and Danny had been the one to hand him the little bottle, and Danny had been the one to say Please, I think I can tonight, I want to. 

Was that taking advantage? Was he taking advantage of how Bram had broken Danny for him? Is that all last night was? It had felt like more, it had felt… so right. 

“I know it wasn’t, Nate, but I am a professional and I don’t usually allow myself the use of, shall we say, colloquial phrasing with my patients. You know…” Dr. Rosa taps her fingers lightly on her notebook and then sits back, smiling. “If you don’t have anything else to do in the next hour, my 11 o’clock canceled and I’d be happy to stay with you and keep discussing this, since we ran so close to the end of our hour before it came up.”

Nate rubs his hand over his eyes. “I d-d-don’t even know if I want to, it just… I just feel like… it s-seems like… I w-worry.”

“Mmmn. What do you worry about?”

“I’m w-w-worried… I’m worried that he’s t-trying to heal faster th-than he really should… for m-me. And that I… t-took advantage of him.”

Dr. Rosa nods, her expression calm and compassionate but a touch solemn. “We’ve hit on this topic before, Nate - your feeling of guilt and responsibility for Daniel and your concern that he is fitting into a mold that your captor made for him rather than his own natural recovery and inclinations. That his role was meant as a kind of companion for you-”

“I mean, that w-w-was one thing,” Nate mutters, without looking up or lowering his hand from his eyes. “

“Was he consenting?”

“I… y-yes, of course.” Danny’s eyes, wide and clear, focused on his. Oh, fuck, please, Nate-… please, n-now, please, in… in me, please-

D-Don’t beg, please, D-Danny, you never have to beg for m-me…

Can I? If, if I want to?

“Was this consent informed and enthusiastic?”

Nate blinks, finally looking back up at her. She smiles at him, relaxing and serene. “Uh… y-yes. Yes. I… I think so, yes. I mean. As s-sure as I can b-be of it… h-he wasn’t… he wasn’t s-s-subtle…”

“What transpired to make you think you were taking advantage of him?” She doesn’t sound judgemental, more… curious. Still compassionate. He’s been coming to see her for most of a year, now, and she probably knows him better than anyone else alive but Danny.

“N-Nothing, I just… how do I know? He… seemed like-… I mean he sounded like he was having… a good time, I just-… How do I kn-know if it’s about me, or if he’s… just r-r-repeating patterns? Doing what I want h-him to do? If he’s doing this because he st-st-still thinks he b-belongs to me, like he did when w-we first came back from C-Canada?”

“Have you asked him?”

“I… don’t w-want to ruin the night for him, if he d-did… but… No. The answer is no. I haven’t asked h-him yet.”

“Perhaps you should try.”

***

Danny has been sitting in the waiting room tapping one foot, slouched in the hard-backed waiting room chair with his legs kicked out in front of him, beat-up old Converse and ancient blue jeans he’d found in a box in his closet, for twenty minutes maybe. The jeans don’t fit anymore unless he belts all the way to the final hole in the belt, but he’s done just that today.

His shoes, his pants, and one of his old band shirts. He feels like himself, as long as he doesn’t look at his scars. He’s brought Dracula with him, dog-eared already and with all the lines he likes best underlined in red ink. He’s rereading the part where Jonathan Harker climbs the castle wall all by himself, thinking about what a brave motherfucker it takes to do something like that, when the receptionist grins at him and tells him Dr. Rosa is ready.

Ryan, sitting next to him, nudges him with one elbow. “Go get ‘em, tiger. I want to flirt with the receptionist.”

“Of course you do.” Danny’s grinning even as he says it. He slaps the book closed, jumps up out of his seat, and heads down the hall with the shy smile already growing on his face. 

“Hello, Mr. Michaelson.” Dr. Rosa greets him at the door and sweeps her arm out. They start every session exactly the same way, comfortable, a routine Danny can trust. “Are we having a Danny day or a Red day?”

“Danny day, one hundred percent,” Danny says brightly, grinning as he drops onto the couch cushion with only the slightest hint of hesitation, only a moment’s glance at the floor where you belong but he didn’t belong there, absolutely not at all. Not after last Wednesday. 

“Wonderful.” Dr. Rosa smiles widely, then - she is as happy for his Danny days as he is. “So, last week we spent quite some time working through some concerns you had-”

“I have something else I want to talk about,” Danny says, pulling his feet up to sit cross-legged on the couch. “Can I, can I talk about something else?” His face begins to burn, a little, and he sees Dr. Rosa note his flush with a twinkle in her eye and an expression of genuine amusement. 

“Absolutely, Danny. You set the pace, in this room. If you need to perhaps have a change of topic, I know that last week went into some difficult spaces for you-”

“No, last week… helped. Last week was good. But, it’s not that-… I want to-… Um.” Danny grins at her, nearly hiding behind his own hands like a child playing hide-and-seek. “I’m going to just say it.”

Dr. Rosa sits calmly in her armchair and opens up her notebook. She seems to be trying, and failing, to hide a smile. “All right then.”

“Um, ah… Nate and I, um, slept together last week.”

Dr. Rosa sits slowly back, but she doesn’t look as surprised as he had expected her to. “We’ve discussed before that you and Mr. Vandrum have been sexually active since three months after your return-”

“Not… not, ugh, I hate that phrase, but… I mean we… we had actual sex. Well, I mean, it’s all sex, I guess. Uh. But I meant the kind I couldn’t… um.” Danny groans. “Please tell me I don’t have to, um, explain the… the logistics of gay guys having-”

“I am a lesbian, Daniel, not ignorant,” Dr. Rosa says with quiet affection, and Danny rewards her with a laugh - bright and sparkling, it’s a hint of the way he used to be. A drop in the nervous hunch of his shoulders. He flashes a wide smile at her, finally dropping his hands.

“Okay, f-fair… fair, um, fair enough. So, so we… so last Wednesday I was… ready. I think our talk on Tuesday really helped me, you know? We, when we talked a little bit about the stuff Abraham would say, afterward, about me, about my, um, my body, I just… I don’t know. It felt… less true, when I left, than it used to feel. And Wednesday night I was, I was brushing my teeth and I thought, um… I thought… I can have sex with Nate and he can’t stop me anymore. And that thought… it felt… it felt really good, Dr. Rosa.”

“You felt fully in control of your choices when it came to your sexual expression,” Dr. Rosa said softly, but she was still smiling. 

“Um… yeah, I just. Yeah.” Danny looks down at his hands, at the scarring tracing up his arms to disappear finally under his T-shirt sleeves. “I don’t… I don’t feel like my body belongs to me, very much. Because it was always his. He used to make me say it, over and over… and last Wednesday, I came out of the bathroom and got into bed with Nate and I just… I just felt like… like my body was mine. One hundred percent totally mine. And I could make my body do whatever I wanted.”

Dr. Rosa nods, waiting. 

There’s a pause before Danny speaks again, smiling shyly down at the floor. “What my body wanted was, um, to… to do that. With him.”

“Have you told him that?” Dr. Rosa asks, quietly, jotting something down on her notebook. Danny can’t quite see what it is, from here.

He frowns. “I… I guess I sort of thought, when I said I wanted to…”

“Communication is an important part of rebuilding relationships after long-term trauma, especially one that so deeply impacted your ability to communicate without feeling constrained and restricted in the first place.” Dr. Rosa was speaking carefully. “I often suggest reliance on a rule of communicating profusely with your partner during a time of rediscovery.”

Danny’s silent for a moment, taking that in, gnawing on his lower lip in thought. He rubs absently at the scar along his jaw, and Dr. Rosa’s eyes move there, but after a moment he drops his hands back into his lap. “So you… think I should tell him, about all the thoughts I had? In the bathroom, before we… um… did that?”

“I am not telling you what to do,” Dr. Rosa reassures him. “Only suggesting that more communication, in instances like this, may be better than leaving anything to inferences and implications.”

Danny nods quickly. “Okay, okay, okay. Um.” He sits slowly back against the couch. Then he grins at her, his face red but his eyes sparkling and bright. “What if I say we did, um, again on Saturday?” He pauses. “And then Monday? I mean, it was him… to me. I c-can’t, still can’t… you know. The other way.”

“Full recovery takes time. I would say I’m very glad that you feel safe, Danny,” Dr. Rosa says, with a soft, warm laugh. “That’s important. And I am delighted that you are taking ownership and agency over your body.”

Danny tilts his head. “Are… are you proud of me?” He asks, shyly. “For, for being able to… to want something, and ask for it, and then just… just, um-… just do what I want?”

She smiles at him, again, and writes another line in the notebook. “Daniel, you’re not here because you want me to be proud of you. That is not the purpose of therapy.”

“No, I know, but I just… I guess… I’m kind of proud of myself? So I wondered if… you know. I should be. I know it’s not… it’s not something to be proud of, normally, but I just…”

She considers, tapping her pen on the page, and then sighs, shaking her head with affectionate good humor. “What matters, Danny, is that you have taken pride in yourself. In something you’ve done. What matters is that you are in a place where you feel proud of yourself.”

He sits back, staring at her, thinking. Then, slowly, Daniel Michaelson’s smile brightens until it nearly fills the room.

“You’re right,” He says, sounding wonder-struck. “You’re right. I’m proud of myself. I wanted something, and I asked for it, and I got it and I had fun. I wasn’t scared. It was my body and it did what I wanted. And… and I’m proud of myself for it.”

“Good.” Dr. Rosa turns to pick up the mug of tea that is steeping on the table next to her armchair, sipping lightly. “Good. Danny, you have every right to take pride in this. I know it was embarrassing to tell me, but I want you to do something for me. Call it therapy homework.”

“Sure. What should I do? Another worksheet?”

“No. I want you to go home, from this appointment-… I assume your brother drove you today?” Danny nods. “Okay. When you go home, today, I want you to sit Nate down, and practice the open communication that we’ve been working on for the past months or so. I want you to tell him what you told me. Assuming you’re comfortable with that.”

“… that we had sex?” Danny blushes. “Uh. He knows.”

“No, Danny.” Dr. Rosa laughs again. “No. I want you to tell him that your body did what you wanted, and that you feel accomplished, in this. That you feel proud.”

She leans over to meet Danny’s eyes. 

“I want you to tell him that it was your body and it did what you wanted.”

“My name is Daniel Michaelson,” Danny murmurs. “And my body belongs to me.”

Dr. Rosa sits back, smiling. 

“Precisely.”

[kindkindling]

i need you like you need me

fandom: the wayhaven chronicles

pairing: felix hauville/m detective (Rami Bakir)

rating: T (maybe M or E if there's ever a part two)

warnings: mention of bobby marks

word count: ~3.7k

summary: The detective is laid up after a mission and Felix decides he needs to come comfort him.

ao3

Being confined to bed rest was not Rami's idea of a good time.

The supernaturals they had been assigned to go after had been tough, and it took the whole team to bring them down. With everyone's attention fully occupied, it just took one lucky hit to send Rami flying, his leg getting twisted up badly as he managed to hit a parked car in exactly the wrong way. He wasn't conscious to see it, but after waking up in the facility's hospital ward, Adam had assured him that the rest of Unit Bravo had made short work of the threat afterwards. Felix had been by his side, grasping his hand almost too tightly to be comforting and shaking like a leaf in the wind.

 

It wasn't his first time dealing with something like this. Rami had spent a fair deal of time cooped up in bed and working with physical therapists after his car accident in college. (The irony of his current situation was not lost on him, though he couldn't say he appreciated fate's sense of humor.) It took months before he could walk without a limp, and while it lead to his love of cycling, it was still one of the hardest things he'd ever had to endure.

That he found himself in practically the same situation again would be enough to irritate him, but it also managed to drudge up memories that he tried hard to bury, those of the worst part of his accident: that his then-boyfriend probably hadn't actually given much of a shit at all.

Bobby had put in what Rami had thought at the time to be a fair amount of effort to help him; he had taken him to his appointments, picked up whatever groceries Rami asked for, and even turned in his work to his professors for him. But whenever Rami would ask him to watch a movie with him, or help him with his at-home exercises, he would get a funny look on his face and make an excuse.

"Handsome, you know I'd love to, but this assignment is due tonight and we both know I don't have your natural aptitude."

Or, "I would, and I'm sorry, but I have to make an appearance at the consortium today and I've got to leave now if I'm gonna beat the traffic."

Or, seemingly Bobby's favorite line, "I know some better exercises we could try."

Thinking back on it now, Rami wanted to kick himself. How did he not see it coming? The man had stolen his work right under his nose, and actively avoided spending any time around his invalid boyfriend he could get away with. And he was just a smarmy asshole to boot. Rami genuinely tried to always look at people's best qualities and not judge too harshly, because you never knew what someone else has been through.

But fuck Bobby Marks.

Rami sighed and turned another page in the book Nate had kindly brought for him from his own library. He might be stuck at home for a few more days, but he could at least take a break from the paperwork he had Tina send him and gain some more understanding of the supernaturals he was going to meet. It was easier to help people and gain their trust if you actually knew a little bit about who they were.

He knew his current order of bed rest was necessary, and honestly, it could have been much worse; the Agency's doctors had access to magics and techniques his past physical therapists could literally only dream of, so his recovery time was astounding. Still, it had been a while since he had been put out of commission like this - the Murphy incident notwithstanding - and he was feeling antsy. If he could just go for a short ride, feel the wind rush past his face, the speed he could pick up from the downhill slope just on the edge of town - it would push all this crud back down enough that he could at least manage not to read the same paragraph for the third time.

"Something on your mind?" Rami looked up to see Nate smiling interestedly from the recliner. While he was technically well enough to stay at home rather than at the facility, he still wouldn't be able to do much if a rogue supernatural came knocking, so it had been decided that one member of Unit Bravo should be nearby at all times. 

Today was Nate's day, and Rami was always happy to see him; Nate was a good man, and Rami felt lucky to call him his friend. He was always willing to lend a hand to anyone in need, and since Rami started going on more missions with Unit Bravo, he was starting to see that a lot more people needed help than just the humans in Wayhaven; for that, he had Rami's highest respect.

"Just some bad memories, is all," Rami replied. He shifted slightly from where Nate had helped him to the couch to turn his book towards him. "Hey, is this what you had mentioned back when you discovered what the ma-alused were? This... evolutionary divergence stuff?"

"It is," Nate looked back at him with twinkling eyes. He did seem to love imparting knowledge to the curious; Rami thought he would have made a great professor if he had the chance. "Would you like to know more about how divergence works? I have several books in my collection that - "

He was interrupted by the crash of the door slamming open and a loud, cheerful voice that could only have belonged to one particular vampire. "Rami! I come bearing gifts!"

Rami quickly closed his book and turned further to see Felix standing in the open doorway, proud as can be, several large plastic grocery bags swaying in his grip. 

"Felix!" From the corner of his eye, he could see Nate chuckle quietly to himself as he set his own book aside as well before moving to help Felix with his haul. A grin broke out unbidden across his face. "What are you doing here?"

With his hands now free of bags, Felix drew one to his heart and faked a gasp. "I can't believe that's how you greet me. I haven't seen you in two whole days!" Rami could see his eyes glittering mischievously as he walked towards him.

"He is on bed rest, Felix," Nate warned from the kitchen table as he started unpacking Felix's goodies. That made Felix falter a bit on his way over, but he righted himself before coming to a stop just in front of Rami with a playful smirk.

Rami couldn't help but smirk right back. "Were circumstances different, you know I would have swept you right off your feet as soon as you came in," he said, letting his hands come up to tug Felix just that little bit closer. "As it is, I suppose you'll have to make do with this."

With that, Rami pulled Felix down by his shirt to kiss him. He kept his eyes open just long enough to see Felix close his own, then focused on moving his mouth as softly as he could over his boyfriend's. He moved one hand to Felix's side and another to the back of his neck, his thumb absentmindedly caressing the skin there. He was lost in the motions for a time, until he heard a louder shuffle of bags that somehow seemed rather pointed.

He drew back with a sheepish grin that only widened when he saw the answering beam on Felix's face, and turned around to face Nate, though his hand remained on the back of his neck, keeping him close. "Heh. Sorry about that."

"I'm not!" Felix cheered.

"I know, Felix," Nate's tone was tired, but contrasted with his soft smile and crinkled eyes as he took in the two of them. "Rami, would you mind terribly if I head back to the warehouse for the day?"

"Are you sure? You're welcome to stay," Rami said. It would be nice to have some time alone with Felix, yes, but he didn't want to make his friend feel like he was unwelcome. He could feel the sarcastic quip bubbling up within Felix and covered his mouth with his other hand, earning him a playful glare and a tongue across his palm for his trouble. He just managed to suppress a shiver and made a promise to return the favor later on.

Nate put his hands in his pockets and leaned back on his heels as he chuckled at the sight. "Thank you, detective, but it's quite all right. Now that Felix is here, I could go and prepare a selection of reading material for you to go through when you have the time."

Well, he really shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, he supposed. "I would appreciate that, Nate, thank you," Rami said warmly. He felt Felix pull away from his hands and quietly missed the warmth, even as he wiped his wet palm on his shorts.

"I'll walk him out," Felix said, sparing Rami the indignity of having a guest leave without a proper goodbye.

"See you later, Nate," he called out from the couch as they headed out. Nate gave a brief farewell before Felix closed the door behind them.

Alone for a few moments, Rami reached for the remote and his game controller from the side table and got to work searching for a suitable movie to put on. Felix was never much one for reading if he could help it, and truth be told, Rami would rather spend his time with Felix without his nose in a book.

With the movie finally chosen, he leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes while he waited for Felix to return. He wondered what they were talking about; this was a rather long goodbye for the normally brisk vampire.

Before too long, however, Felix returned, closing his poor door much more gently this time. Rami smiled as he listened to Felix take off his shoes and pad over to him. He felt hands on his face, and opened his eyes to see Felix's golden eyes gazing at him with an unusually unreadable expression.

"Hey," Felix whispered.

"Hey there," Rami whispered back.

The odd expression lingered. "How's your day been?"

"It's been fine," Rami admitted, hands coming to rest again on Felix's neck. "But it's better now that you're here."

"Ah, well, I do aim to please," he replied, a grin and a slight flush finally managing to break through whatever was making him make that face.

Rami gazed at him for a moment longer, just basking in the heat that was just beginning to build between them, before he asked, "So what gifts did you bring me, exactly?"

"That's right! I almost forgot!" Felix startled and flashed over to the kitchen table faster than Rami could track. He couldn't help but chuckle as Felix flashed back almost immediately, his arms overflowing with snacks and bottled drinks.

"I was at the warehouse trying to help Adam fill out the debriefing paperwork for the last mission," he started to explain while piling boxes of candies on the side table and passing him a drink, "aaaand I got bored of that after a while - "

" - you mean, 'almost immediately' - "

" - and I thought, 'If I'm bored here, Rami must be absolutely dying!'" Felix finished unloading his treats and finally sat next to him, positioning himself so that Rami could lean back across his lap towards the arm rest. "So I told Adam I had something very important I needed to discuss with you right away, in person - "

" - I cannot believe he let you get away with that excuse - "

" - well, whether or not I get away with it might depend on how well Natey manages to convince him it was necessary." He rubbed his neck, a little embarrassed. "Anyway, I thought, what could brighten up a boring day stuck at home?"

"Your glorious presence?" Rami offered.

"Naturally," Felix winked. "But also!" - He imitated a wholly unnecessary drum roll - "Movie night! And what is a movie night without human snacks? So I stopped by the store. Most of this stuff I haven't even tried," he remarked, picking up a box at random and examining it closely.

Rami gave a wide grin and resettled himself a little in Felix's lap, making sure he wasn't dropping his whole weight onto him, and moved one arm to rest behind Felix's head. "Well, I'll never say no to that."

They were about halfway through the movie - Felix making snarky comments about how stupid the main characters were, Rami chuckling and gently chiding him for paying more attention to playing with Rami's hair than the movie (which was very hypocritical when he himself was much more interested in how warm Felix was under him, Felix's hand in his hair and his other on his thigh, and how, this close, his breath smelled like the sweets he would take one bite of before wincing from the excess sugar and moving on to the next) - when his knee started acting up.

He moved one hand down to massage it and didn't notice the small groan that escaped him until it was too late.

Felix's hand stopped its ministrations in Rami's short, curly locks, and he took a brief second to mourn the loss of it before Felix asked, "Are you alright?"

Rami tried to brush his concern aside. "Ah, yeah, it's nothing. Just an old injury that flares up from time to time. Usually it's not a problem, but I haven't been able to exercise the past few days, so it just wants to remind me it's still there." He gave a light chuckle.

Normally this would be when Felix would make some smart quip, Rami would banter back, and they could get back to cuddling and enjoying the movie; or, more likely, each other.

But Felix didn't have a smart quip. In fact, he rolled his lips together as if to stop from saying something altogether, and his bright eyes were narrowed as he avoided looking at Rami at all.

This was not a face Rami cared to see.

"Felix?" He asked quietly. He didn't get an immediate response, and tried again, the hand on his knee coming up to gently grip Felix's chin and turn his head while he shifted up against the arm rest so that they were face-to-face again. "Hey, Fe?"

Those beautiful eyes were on him again, at least, even if all he got in response was a noncommittal hum.

"Why are you upset?"

"I'm not upset," Felix protested. The hand that had been playing with Rami's hair had moved to support Rami's back while he had shifted, and when he had settled back on the arm of the couch, it moved softly along his jawline, as if committing each strand of hair in his beard to memory.

Rami stared into his eyes, searching, pleading. "Please, Felix. Please don't lie to me."

Felix's eyes widened and he rolled his lips again, his hand dropping to lay on Rami's chest. "I'm..." He huffed, hesitated, and started again.

"...I'm upset because you got hurt." His big, golden eyes looked directly into Rami's own, and while he was happy Felix had let it out, he was somewhat confused. His hand dropped from Felix's chin to rest on his shoulder.

"About my knee? Fe, that was like, seven years ago - "

"No!" Felix interrupted, "not your knee, I mean, I do care that it hurts, but, not that. I mean... You got hurt again, and it didn't have to happen!" His eyes were wild now, scanning across Rami's face as if he were searching for something. "If I had been able to see that hit coming - "

Ah, the last mission. Is that why Felix had come rushing over? He didn't get bored helping Adam with the debriefing paperwork - he had been upset with what had happened. "No one could have seen that coming, Felix," Rami stopped him right there. "Not you, not me. Not Adam or Nate or Mason."

"You don't know that!" Felix argued. "If I were stronger, if I were... better, I could have..."

Rami brought his hand back to Felix's face and cupped his cheek gently, letting the hand behind Felix start rubbing his neck in slow, circular motions. It seemed to help, as Felix closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to compose himself.

"I know... I know you can handle yourself, but... I can't help it. I just... I still want you to need me. Like I need you."

"I do need you, Fe." The response was immediate, almost unconscious; the unfiltered truth.

Felix opened his eyes and looked back at him, his face leaning more into Rami's hand. "Yeah?" He whispered.

"Yeah. I do." Rami tried to pour every ounce of emotion he could into his gaze; he had to make sure Felix knew this, to make sure he could never doubt this again. "I need you to make paper airplanes with me in my office. I need you to sit with me in front of a warm fire when I can't sleep. I need you to make me laugh by needling at Mason until he snaps." 

Felix giggled a little at that, and the sight had Rami fighting to keep his train of thought. He felt a slow, soft smile widen as he watched.

"I need you to make me smile just by looking at me, just like now, with those gorgeous eyes of yours."

Felix was definitely smiling now, with a flush beginning to spread across his face.

Rami slid the hand that had been rubbing Felix's neck down his back, his touch feather-light, and slipped his fingers just below his waistband, letting them caress the skin there. He drew Felix's face closer and closer, until their lips were a hair's breadth apart, and he could almost taste the shudder that flowed through him. "I need you to distract me at work without even being in the room because I can't stop thinking of my hands on you and your hands on me."

Rami let the moment linger, savoring the heavy-lidded gaze that had come over Felix, before drawing back and placing a light kiss on the tip of his nose. Felix gave an indignant squawk and slapped his shoulder, but it was worth it, because they were both reduced to giggles for a long moment. When it subsided, they were gazing at each other like there was no one else in the world.

Rami continued on, his fingers still lightly tracing a path on Felix's dark skin. "I don't need you to be the strongest, or the smartest, or the most accomplished. I need you to be you, Felix, because... I don't think I can be the best version of me anymore without you."

Felix's face was so warm from all the blushing that Rami was surprised he hadn't combusted yet, but to his credit, he still gave his best attempt at a smirk as he raised an eyebrow and said, "Pshh, sounds like the best version of you lost some of his work ethic. You need to get distracted thinking of me at work?"

"Yes." The smirk dropped at the genuine reply. "It's a part of me that is irrevocably changed because of you. And every experience I have with you makes me a brighter, happier, better person than I was before. So the best version of me is always, in every moment, inextricably entwined with you."

Felix's eyes were shining and his lips wobbling with the effort to keep still, and Rami finally removed his other hand from Felix's waist to gently hold his face in both hands.

"I need you, Felix, every day, because you are a shining light when all else is shrouded in night; you draw out any darkness within me and burn it in your rays, and you do it so freely that I think you can't possibly even realize it's happening."

The unshed tears were threatening to fall, and Rami brushed them away with his thumbs, one at a time.

"I love you, Felix, more than I could ever truly say."

Felix sniffled and his bright, beautiful smile returned. "I think you did a p-pretty good job there," he stammered.

Rami mirrored his smile and leaned up to kiss his forehead. "And I'll do it again tomorrow if you want. And the day after that, and the day after that, too - nngh!"

Felix abruptly pulled him into a proper kiss, one hand behind his head and the other tugging on his shirt. Rami let his hands fall to Felix's shoulders and surrendered to it, immediately parting his lips to let Felix explore to his heart's content, as he had done many times before. A few tears had managed to escape, and Rami could taste the salt mixing with the sugar from the sweets in an intoxicating way.

They stayed like this for some time, the needy hunger melting into something slower and more intimate, and they didn't stop until Rami had to back off, gasping for breath. "As much as I'd like to continue this..." he panted, staring into Felix's nearly fully dilated eyes and wondering if his would match, "I think we should probably stop here. I am supposed to be on bed rest, you know," he tried his best to smirk, but he knew it probably came off less sexy and more pitiable.

Felix gave a cheeky grin. "Well, I guess that means the sooner you get better, the sooner we get to play, yeah?" He tapped Rami's shoulder and said, "Bedtime then, hop to it, mister!"

Rami barked out a laugh. "Fe, it's still daylight out!"

"And you'll rest better in the bed! See, why would the doctor say that if it wasn't true, eh?" Felix's grin somehow got even wider. "Do you need me to carry you there?"

"Oh, I need you to do lots of things, Felix. For me, to me..." Rami trailed off, wagging an eyebrow suggestively. He let out a very manly yelp as Felix suddenly lifted him into the air, an arm beneath his legs and the other behind his back.

"Then we better get started then, huh?"

[scrapyardboyfriends]

Finally all caught up on the last two weeks of Emmerdale...

Human Graham is surprisingly tolerable. Don’t get me wrong, I still couldn’t really care less about him getting killed off because frankly, it’s been a long time coming. However, this more human version of him that is in casual clothes and hanging with Rhona and actually has motivations of his own, is really what his character should have been all along. Because the stuffy robot in a suit who just grunts and takes orders from Joe and then Kim, especially the Kim version, was just really not a good character. Freeing him from the hold the Tates have had over him has really made him so much better because he doesn’t have to be cryptic anymore. I’m sure there’s still another ten or so convoluted backstories in there just ready to burst out before the end, but still, it feels like he can finally speak freely for the first time in forever. I also kind of enjoy him taunting Al with the whole “don’t be me and get sucked into Kim’s web of insanity, she’ll eat you alive” thing. Cause it’s true. 

Speaking of Al, I miss the confident smarmy businessman he started out as. And I don’t know that I want him to just be the new Graham. I mean, he at least has other connections so maybe that will spare him the same fate, but we’ll see. 

New Ellis...is...strange. I’m sure he’ll just take some getting used to but in that scene where he was sort of scolding Billy, he kind of felt like the older brother and not just because he looks a lot older than Asan. They’re going to kind of have to work out a new dynamic for him and Billy. I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes. #DamnitAsan 

I do think overall though, Home Farm has improved a bit. I mean it’s still not great, but at least we’re not spending ten minutes an episode dealing with Millie going to private school as a B plot. So there’s that. And Human Graham being more of a wild card does make the Millie paternity thing marginally more interesting. I also thought Kim with Andrea after the miscarriage was pretty decent. 

I still think it would be interesting to see Kim show some real emotion though. She’s still very guarded 99% of the time. I’d love to see her actually fall for someone and have real feelings for them. I also miss her friendship with Rhona. She needed that relationship, I think. However, I did love her going round to try and bribe Wendy to leave and warning her that she better not make a wrong move. 

The Jamie/Belle stuff was interesting. I wanted that when he first showed up because they were kind of sweet together. But then they saddled him with a wife and child and he was soooo boring and whiny. So since Millie is clearly going to be Graham’s and who knows...maybe Andrea will kill him, maybe this does free Jamie up for a thing with Belle. I’m not sure her and New Ellis will work out so I’d support this. 

I still could do without Nate but just...thank god the affair is over now. He’s tolerable just trying to round up turkeys and hanging with Pete and Belle. I mean, I still do not need him to be Cain’s son and try and form a relationship with him. Because really Cain and Charity too were the last people that needed more random (adult) children. But here they are...being useless. Ryan’s barely even on the show. At least Nate is sort of doing something being a pawn for Kim. 

Moira since the affair is...well more tolerable than during the affair I suppose. I did like her chat with Vanessa. It’d be nice if they remembered they were friends more often. I just want her to lose the farm soooo badly though. She’s just stuck up there and it’s not good for her character anymore. She needs to lose the farm, really hit rock bottom and then build herself back up away from it. And then we can get a new farming family...one with plenty of members to kill off in future storylines. Haha. I did love Pete’s line “and what happened to all of the family I came here with?!”

That Danny kid is a total creep but I like seeing more of Noah and I like him trying to protect Sarah. 

The Jai/Laurel/Jimmy/Nicola/Arthur/Archie stuff has been interesting. I really do like Jai and Laurel together and I think it’s good that they’re giving them all of this angst. It’s affecting their relationship but it’s also giving them stuff to work through. And the tension between Laurel and Nicola has been good too because at least it’s giving a focus to their friendship, however fractured it is right now. And I love getting more of Nicola and Jimmy and her sticking up for him always. And poor Jimmy. He doesn’t deserve any of this. Dark!Arthur is interesting. I do think they’ve done it in a way that makes sense. And I think both kids are doing great with the story. I really hope once it all comes out though that both kids can get some help and come out of it well in the end. Poor Archie though. And with the King kids joining in too. 

Random, but I loved Nicola telling her kids not to talk to Arthur anymore or Dottie...well Dottie doesn’t really talk but don’t talk to her either. Haha. 

Lydia is still breaking my heart. Agatha is super annoying. I feel like there’s hope there somewhere for a relationship between them someday but for now she really needs to back off. I did enjoy Beth wanting to watch the village drama though. 

Speaking of village drama, the panto stuff is quite fun. It’s nice to have that story running along with the rest. I love Manpreet as the director and Liam trying to take over. I don’t really understand this whole Leyla/Liam thing. I wonder if it’s just a tease for later and a plot point so that Diane can tell Liam that Bernice probably isn’t coming back because eventually that news is going to have to come out. 

And then there’s Wendy....who sucks. Interesting watching all of it in context to the rest of the episodes. Finally got to see that Chas and Wendy conversation. It was....yeah. I mean I don’t think they meant to equate anything Aaron’s done with what a rapist has done but...they did. And they should stop. I still hate Bob being all nice to her and telling Aaron to be nicer to her. Would he tell Vic that too? I mean I guess Chas, her other cheerleader, did so who knows?! I do at least like the rest of the villagers sticking up for Victoria. I liked that Brenda and Laurel conversation about her. And Nicola and Jimmy in the pub with Charity. All of it just makes me really confused as to where they’re going with it though. I mean they have to be working towards her admitting what Lee did but when? And what does that do for the story? Ugh...blech. I just want her to go away. And as much as I thought the Luke and Aaron scenes were well done, and I’m glad he’s standing up for Victoria too, he can still go with Wendy. I just want Vic free of that family once and for all. 

Poor Aaron though. He really does not look well at all. I did notice watching it again, that he has to sit down because he’s about to pass out when Luke mentions “your husband is in prison” though. I’ll take what I can get okay. Haha. Still loving that “this is for Robert” line also. Bless. 

[jbuffyangel]

Weekly Rundown 10/21/18-10/26/18

Time to rundown what I’m watching, loving, hating and everything in between! Spoilers ahead! Full episode reviews and reactions are linked in the titles.

Daredevil Season 3

Just so y’all know - most nuns do not wear their habits in public anymore. It’s been that way since Vatican II, but TV refuses to catch up.

The action is amaaaaazing again. I love how Matt actually gets tired when he’s fighting.

I don’t want Matt to put that ugly Daredevil suit on again he looks ridiculous. Keep the black mask and call it a day.

I want Foggy to propose very badly. I need a Foggy wedding in Season 4.

Is there any particular reason why Karen didn’t haul ass to Frank’s Punisher lair when her life was in danger and Matty Mcbrown eyes was off Daredeviling an existential crisis? That’s where I’d go.

Matt refusing to ask the other Defenders help because “it’s not their fight” is the stupidest reason ever.

Arrow (“The Longbow Hunters”)

It is a bit creepy when Stan says, “I bet a guy like that would do anything to keep his family safe.” Maybe Stan is a nuthouse, but leave me to my dream for now.

Is it me or did Yorke look older than 40? 1978????

Deputy Director Bell is evil. Calling it now.

The Longbow Hunters don’t actually use bows. This is a twist I did not see coming.

Bl*ck S*ren can’t lawyer worth a damn, but she can wear a suit.

“Stay behind me.” That was oddly hot Rene. I’m wildly uncomfortable that I find you attractive right now, but it is what it is.

Rene: Been back in town a week and you’re already sneaking out of A.R.G.U.S. behind Papa Dig’s back? I’m so proud.

Felicity: Thanks man.

This whole exchange was delightful and not remotely derogatory like “Blondie.” THY NAME IS CHARACTER GROWTH.

“Grab your balls Curtis, we’re going in.” If the Rene character only exists to say this one line of dialogue then it was worth it.

Why didn’t BS and Dinah go after the Longbow Hunter? What is up with allowing all these criminals to run away at a moderately brisk pace and our people acting like they can’t catch them? They are called legs! Move your ass!  

BITCH YOU BETTER NOT STEP ON THAT PHOTO!!!!!!!

Legends of Tomorrow  (“The Virgin Gary”)

Legends Season 4 premiere is fantastic and full of all the hi-jinks I’ve missed over hiatus.

“Speaking of the same old crap isn’t that what he did last year?”Legends gets points for acknowledging that Wally gets the storyline shaft a lot.

When you are officially a hero the time bureau gives you a medal, but I was more excited about the balloons.

It would be super weird if the Legends spent more than a day in 2018.

Remember when Oliver asked Sara to move in with him and she went running screaming in the other direction? It all worked out because Sara knew he was really in love with Felicity. I’m just saying she’s come a looooong way.

I want to be clear about one thing and it’s not up for debate. Ready? The best thing about Legends is Mick. It’s always Mick. That is all.

OMG NATE’S FATHER IS BIFF FROM BACK TO THE FUTURE?????!!!!!!!! THIS IS SPECTACULAR CASTING!!!

Manifest “Connecting Flights”

It was nice to fill in the back story of the characters left behind after the plane went missing, however the show is starting to lose my attention. I need more movement on these character relationships. Manifest is hitting a lot of the same notes week after week.

This Is Us (“Toby”)

Randall is going ahead with the city council job? Are they independently wealthy Does no one have to work?

Baby Toby is the cutest.

Holy crap is this how in vitro really works? It’s so friggin expensive and no guarantees. Wow, my sympathies to all those who have gone through this excruciating process.

Randall unbuttoning his shirt is all the reason I need to vote for him. Done deal. 

Toby used his wonderful sense of humor to cheer up his depressed Mom. Ugh my heart.

But for real though sometimes you need just “one damn day.” #MomLife

Three hours to get ready Kate? Just as an FYI - that’s all over when you have a baby. You’ll be lucky to get a shower.

Miguel carried a piano up stairs to cheer Rebecca up. That’s love.

“There’s so much of her in you it scares me.” THAT IS NOT SOMETHING YOU SAY TO YOUR CHILD ASSHOLE.

A+ on the prom dresses. Absolutely what I wore in high school. We were fashionista slaves in the late nineties.

Kate’s impression of Adele is dead on.

Miguel tries so hard. He’s just trying to keep his promise to Jack.

Rebecca is such an amazing mom. Kate doesn’t give her nearly enough credit.

KATE IS PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Rookie (Pilot” and “Crash Course”)

I really loved The Rookie. I typically don’t hate procedurals, but this one has surprised me thus far. It’s fast paced, so it held my attention more. I hope it stays that way. 

I love how it is the rookies versus the training officers. It fills my Rookie Blue void.

I am not invested in any ships yet. I am not buying the romance between Nolan and Lucy so far. I actually think Lucy has more chemistry with Bradford and Nolan with the Captain.

A Million Little Things (“Friday Night Dinner” and “The Game of Your Life”)

I want to love this show, but they are making it next to impossible. I hate cheating storylines in any show. It’s one of the main reasons I quit watching Shonda Rhimes’ shows because she is unable to write one without including adultery. Arrow’s original love story revolved around cheating and was an absolute mess. It feels like a lazy way to inject drama. This cheating storyline between Eddie and Delilah is making two characters who are otherwise very likable extremely unlikable. 

Instead of jettisoning this plot into the atmosphere where it belongs and never speaking of it again, A Million Little Things is double down on it.  Delilah is pregnant! Oh wonderful, now we get to play “Who’s the Daddy?” for several weeks.

Apparently, the writers come from The Fl*sh school of writing. Characters can only be mad at other characters for one episode. All the friends found out about Eddie and Delilah’s affair and the very next week they are sitting down to pizza. It’s at Delilah’s house and Eddie’s wife Katherine comes too because FRIENDS. No. Just no.

Instead of being angry at Eddie and Delilah, the friends make excuses for them. Regina’s conversation with Delilah turned into a huge “I didn’t see your pain” apology, which is flat out ridiculous. What Delilah did was so off the charts wrong there is no excuse for it. If you are in pain see a therapist. It’s not an excuse to cheat on your husband. Also, Regina you are not to blame for Delilah lying to everyone for over two years. 

Gary, who has been the angriest, decides he’s being too hard on Eddie (ya know by actually holding him accountable for his actions) and lets Eddie move in with him after his wife finally kicked him out. Are you freaking kidding me with this? I was already mildly irked at Gary for giving Delilah a free pass, but I understood his reasoning because her husband just jumped off a building. She has been punished quite a lot. But Eddie? I think we could muster a couple episodes of anger towards Eddie.

The writers attempted drum up sympathy for Delilah by shining a little light on her seemingly perfect marriage with Jon. It’s not really perfect, but what marriage is? Jon was short with Delilah during a family dinner. He took a phone call from work and snapped, “Everything I do is for this family.” What a bastard. Of course, that is reason enough for Delilah to jump into bed with Eddie, her husband’s best friend. GIVE. ME. A. FRIGGIN. BREAK. If my husband slept with someone else every time I was cranky with him, he’d have a harem.

So, on top of being suicide apologists, the writers are adding cheating apologists. There is no reason to cheat. It’s just mean. Nobody has put a gun to your head. If you want out of your marriage you march to an attorney’s office and file for divorce. Not sure if you want a divorce? Then go to counseling. But cheating, under any circumstances, is wrong. It’s cruel and selfish. It’s trying to have your cake and eat it too. A Million Little Things trying to excuse away Eddie and Delilah’s heinous behavior is almost as bad as the cheating itself. Trying to make suicide and cheating okay with excuses is dangerous behavior. I AM NOT A FAN.

Stray Thought - on what planet is a school program presented in the middle of the freaking day? What kind of ridiculous school do Eddie and Katherine send their son to?

Blindspot (“The Quantico Affair”) 

Zapata has a very interesting running stride. Sorry I was in cross country. That stuff interests me

Roman saying "He knows. This is it. Kill him" underscores the dramatic tension.

I’m gonna need someone on Team Blindspot to pick up on Remi's side eye. Y'all are FBI agents for goodness sake.

I don't actually know what Patterson's name is, but I feel confident it is not Lisa.

I think Martin Gero saw me write "Where is Patterson's storyline?" in my last review. I could have opted for patience, but complaining loudly via written word felt like a better plan. 

Hey watch the condemnation Remi aka Jane aka double secret agent who told so many lies I can't keep it straight anymore.

OMG Rich not explaining how the tattoo was solved is the best thing ever. PLEASE DO THIS EVERY WEEK

I wanna talk about the Book of Secrets mostly because Rich calls it the Book of Secrets.

Hahaha. Her one night stand showed up at work. This is how Meredith and McDreamy began. I highly recommend elevator scenes too.

One night stand boy is Weitz's nephew. IT. JUST. GOT. BETTER

Sure Madeline come on in and check out our super secret tattoo murder board.

"Thundercats ho!" OMG was that an ad lib?

Totally ship Patterson and this dude. I should probably learn his name.

Somebody tell Rich about the one night stand. Pleeeeeeeease.

I'm not calling him Lincoln. He shall be known as "Slab of Man-Ham" forevermore.

Patterson and Rich are the perfect work wife/husband team. Remember Rich is the work wife

How does Weitz maintain employment? This may be the greatest of all Blindspot's mysteries.

Of course "Jane" and Weller are on the train Weitz. IT'S THEIR JOB. Seriously someone get this dude a DVD of #Blindspot S1-S3

Patterson girl, Jane is never that cranky with you when she's diffusing bombs. SOMEBODY NOTICE PERSONALITY CHANGES PLEASE!!!

"You're new here." ALL KNEEL TO PATTERSON.

[astronomicalegotism]

Gritting My Teeth

Revenge Is Best Served Together (BOOK ONE)

Part Fourteen

Some point in 2016

~~~

Mad yawned, not even paying attention to the spluttering heater in the run down appartment he was hiding in. Sure it was annoying, but he was too damn tired to give a shit right now.

"Heeeeeeeeey Maddy!!" Mad's eye twitched, not even looking up from his phone as his best fr...tolerated acquaintance...not so gracefully teleported onto the back of his couch and spread him limbs over it like a cat, normally pale white face flushed red. He basically was a cat, A stupid, lazy, definitely drunk cat. Mad wrinkled up his face.

"You reek of alcohol." Despite his nonchalant tone, there was a small twinge of concern in his eyes. As much as he hated to admit it, Mad had a small bit of a soft spot for the Ego, one that he could see might possibly cause problems in the future. Mad didn't do caring, and the fact that he actually gave a damn about such a...Idiot was worrying.

"It's Twenty Sixteen Baby!! Paaaaaarty!!" Natemare giggled and whirled his fingers around, purposely poking Mad with his cold bare feet. "You need to loosen up man, Come join me on one of these nights out!!" Natemare's voice was so slurred it was almost impossible to make out what he's saying. "Bet chu are a lady killer!" Natemare winked sloppily at Mad who smirked.

"You know I'd take the literally." Mad laughed as Mare scrunched up his face.

"I don't get you and the whole..." Mare used air quotes, "Killing. You can have much more fun by messing with them." Mad had to resist the urge to ruffle the egos hair.

"Not all of us get our kicks from torture and shit Mare. I don't have your magic fear gas or whatever it is. Besides, You've never had the experience of seeing someone's life drain from their eyes, or the pleasure of snapping a neck. Or fire..." Mad's eyes glazed over wistfully. "Beautiful wonderful fire." Mare gave him a strange look.

"Didn't you almost burn to death in a fire though?" Mad was silent in response, ignoring Mare as he hiccuped. "You...You know like... I don't do that shit for pleasure or anything right?" Mad's brow furrowed and he finally looked Mare in the eyes, feeling a strange feeling in his chest when he saw them filled with glowing purple tears.

"Curious...coloured tears?” Mad thought. "Maybe I should experiment with this in the future? Wait no, I can't just experiment on him he's my...No wait fuck, he is nothing to me, nothing nothing nothing nothing-"  Mare seemed obvious to Mad's internal struggle.

"It's just...I gain energy from other peoples fear, I gain power from it and... hunt for it I guess but like..." Natemare hissed and squeezed his eyes shut. "Sometimes I wish there was a different way, Ya know?" Mad found himself shaking his head.

"No, Not really. I mean, If I had your powers? Holy crap, The Things I'd do!" There was a manic glint in Mad's eyes, although his grin faulted when he saw Mare flinch.

"Yeah...Good thing you don't Huh? Since you have your..." Mare Waves his hands around sluggishly. "Sciencey mathy blood thirsty shit." Mare started to giggle. "You're like, What's his name?? Einstein!" Mad made a face.

"I could not be anything less like Albert Einstein, is that he seriously the only person you can think of?" Mare just blinked owlishly at Mad.

"You mean he isn't blood..." Mare hiccuped again. "You mean good old Albert isn't bloody thirsty?? Then what the fuck is up with the apples??!" Now it was Mad's turn to be confused.

"Apples?!"  Mare nodded eagerly, his face getting way to close to Mad's own for his comfort.

"Yeah ya know...Apples. Fucking hate Apples, Stupid fucking things with their stupid...Appleness." Mad had to resist the urge to cackle.

"Why do you hate apples? So much?"

"Cause like, What are they?! They can't make up their stupid minds, Are they fruits or or or,  Or are they not fruit!!" Mare actually looked sincerely angry about this, much to Mad's continued bemusement. "And there's soooooo many different types!! Who needs that many apples?!!" Mare shoved a finger into Mad's forehead, thankfully not hitting any burns. "The government is going to kill us all with apples, just you wait." Mad finally have in a broke out in a cackle, causing Mare's face to scrunch up adorably.

"Whhaaat?"  Mad finally composed himself enough to snark.

"You know, Future you will despise you for this hang over." Natemare snorted, like Mad had just said the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

"Jokes on you, Future me will despise me regardless! So, Hah!!" Mad rolled his his eyes and roughly slapped Mare in the face, causing him to fall off the cough with a yelp.

"Don't talking negatively about yourself, It's dampening my mood." Mad grumbled, Pocketing his phone and getting on the couch. He raised his eyebrows as he stared at Mare, Who was now sound asleep on the floor in a position that just had to be uncomfortable and drooling. Mad pinched the bridge of his nose, not even flinching at the pain it brought and walked out of the room, only to return a few minutes later with a blanket. He lazily dropped it on top of the passed out ego and fought the urge to smile. He didn't care, He didn't.

Although, When Mare woke up the next morning sleeping on the old couch with a crick in his back and a apple in front of his with a purple sticky note on saying, "The apples are watching us" , He'd deny it till the day he dies.

~~~

Mad strutted into Dark's office, an bored look in his eyes and a mocking tone in his voice.

"You wanted me?" Mad asked, before freezing. Dark hadn't looked up from his desk, but in front of him were two almost identical limps bodies, one of them shifting and whimpering pathetically and the other one coated in scarlet and still. The first body Mad reconsidered the symptoms of an extreme over stimulation from Natemare's powers. He'd seen it a few times before, when Natemare was truly distressed or angered he'd loose control of how much fear he'd send to a person. Mad had never seen anyone come back from it, and for some reason this time that fact was making him uneasy, instead of delighting him. Oh god, he hoped he wasn't going soft. Although, The second person's symptoms he recognised from his own experiences. Stabbed right in the heart, no one comes back from that without the help of dark magic or...the impossible and fuck this wasn't happening he wasn't, Natemare wasn't-

Mad's eyes went blank as the flickered up from the blood covered body back to Dark.  If this whole thing was a trap, and it most definitely was, Mad knew for a fact that him and Mathew were next. Mad felt a faint strange feeling in his stomach, that he would almost akin to fear.

"You gonna tell me why I'm here or-" The aura around Darkiplier cracked dangerously, But Mad didn't even bat an eye. Oh, Poor Little Darkiplier is feeling stressed huh? Good for him, He can stuff it, fucking bastard he was going to rip out his-

"I need you to dispose of those two bodies, then get started on your level, the faster the better." Dark still hadn't looked up at him.

"Treat him with some fucking respect you asshole, He is not just some useless body in your office!!" Mad shoved down his thoughts and spoke, voice emotionless.

"Right away." I'm going to snap his FUCKING SPINE!!!

Madpat grit his teeth and nodded. As carefully as he could he picked up Natemare's lifeless body, mind already racing with possible ways to bring him back because he couldn't be gone he couldn't be-

Something almost broke inside Mad as he grabbed Nate's arm, the human instantly screaming and starting to thrash at the contact. He looked so much like Mare, he didn't have the right to look so much like-

"His mind is broken beyond repair, just kill him." Darkiplier said casually, as if asking him to do something as simple as change the channel. And Mad wanted to impale him with a remote. "But don't do it in here, I don't want blood on my carpet." It was at that statement that Mad solidified his goal in his mind. He needed to take Nate to that Host guy, he knew for sure that the creepy ego had the ability to heal Nate, maybe even make him forget the whole thing. Whatever it was, Mad knew he had to at least make an effort to save Nate, if not just for the sake of spiting Darkiplier.

"It would be my pleasure." Mad lied, before he exited the room, Mare slung over his shoulder and Nate now sobbing silently, eyes still closed. As soon as Mad knew he was alone his legs gave way and he collapsed, violent sobs wracking through his body. He should be feeling satisfied, happy even right now. Him and Natemare hadn't exactly parted on the best terms, he should still hate the bastards guts but-

Mad couldn't do it, He couldn't force himself to forget all those goofy smiles, those stupid 3am conversation, all of those dumb times when an experiment had gone wrong or when the idiot had gotten them into another bar fight.

As tears rolling down Mad's cheeks, he couldn't help but gasp. This had...This had never happened before. Mad wiped them away with one hand before staring at it.

Red.

He had red tears.

Oh how ironic.

Mad grit his teeth again and pulled himself together. He needed to get Nate to the Host's library, he'll probably be fine and...He didn't know what to do with Natemare...He'd cross that bridge when he reached it.

One thing was for certain though.

This was all the creators fault, none of them would even be in this situation if it weren't for them. He was going to make them fucking pay, even if that meant playing right into Darkiplier hands. Besides, Anti can do enough fighting Darkiplier for the both of them, even though it'll hardly end well for the Glitch. Whatever, whatever, He didn't care!

This was all the creators fault, and he was going to make them fucking pay. Time for Level Two, Madpat style baby!

[clove-teasdale]

a guy that i’d never be into

*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧

A/N: not a challenge! (mUsiCaL reference on the title ahem). super late, but a lot of late fics are coming this week so head’s up! These whole 2k words take place on the 28th of December (yes ik, almost a month ago lol). Thanks, @eloiseduval for the rp and all the girls involved in the fleur birthday rp that is referenced here! I couldn’t include the actual rp cause it would be super long fic and I’m already late on other things. Getting back to it: Have fun. forgive typos, grammar issues, the usual. I made this in the last few hours with my small timeframe and feel like it sucks and i’m sorry, but Crooks talk here. 

*:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧ *:･ﾟ✧

Maybe I’m a bad kisser. That’s why he thought it was a mistake. Oh god, what am I saying?

I punched the bag again and sighed. I was not one to worry about this stuff and yet here I was. Two kisses was all it took to become a mistake.

I clenched my jaw at the thought, ready to hit the bag again, but my resolve came to an end as my shoulders slumped and I took a deep breath. Reaching for the punching bag with my hands, I held it in place and leaned my forehead against it, heartbeat ringing in my ears.

Maybe he had kissed me to try it out. Hence it became a mistake. He risked our friendship for a childhood crush he realized wasn’t that meaningful in the end. He probably regretted kissing me. He was too sweet and I was the girl punching a bag.

Coming off abrasive. Rough around the edges. With harsh humor. Guys didn’t like that...which was the reason I’d started adopting the attitude when I was around the annoying ones. I had dropped it a bit when around him though... because he’d finally stopped earning it. 

I didn’t have to be mean if he wasn’t looking for a fight. He made me laugh. Bickering had become fun instead of irritating. Both our smiles had become more genuine. But maybe he’d reconsidered how he felt—if he ever truly felt like that at all—and settled it was a mistake. 

A bitter taste joined the word every single time I thought of it now. Was it my dignity hurt or my feelings?

That night, at Fleur’s party, was the first time I spoke to Brooks after our talk on Christmas morning. I guess not that long had passed—only three days really—but it somehow felt wrong. He hadn’t used the signal to meet me and plan our way out of the palace to crash Harrison Levi's party on New Year's Eve. I hadn't either. 

Though we agree the kiss meant nothing, there was some stupid, unspoken rule to avoid each other. I took a deep breath and told myself to act normal when he arrived at the birthday. If we both tried, we’d be back to how things were soon enough. We had to be. 

For the sake of our teamwork.

For the sake of our friendship. 

In my room, after the party, Eloise sat on my bed and I, on the couch across from it, doing my best to focus on advising her as best I could. Surprisingly, Nate was her current problem. Some sort of argument had happened. 

It sounded mostly like Nate had personal doubts and said the wrong things, making Eloise upset. Then it blew up in their faces. The only way to fix it was to talk it out and try to understand the circumstances. Nonetheless, I had no doubt they would figure it out. Eloise was beginning to accept a conversation between them was inevitable after our talk had been going for a while and a few pillow hits from me had happened. 

As she lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling, I focused on the window next to my desk. The fireworks that had gone out on Christmas Eve replayed in my head as my thoughts drifted back to him. The thought that Brooks and I would have to head out to the city in less than two days loomed. 

It hadn’t been too bad at the party. We just had to handle being alone and we’d be okay. We’ve done that before. It’ll be fine. Just use the signal and—  a pillow flew in my direction to interrupt my thoughts. I barely managed to dodge it, giving Eloise a puzzled look after she sat up. Jeez, pillows are my weapon, woman.

“What was up with you and Brooks?” she asked with a flat look. “You guys were acting weird with each other. More so than usual.”

I waved it away and pointed out she was changing the subject. She rolled her eyes but didn’t deny it, instead claiming she wasn’t imagining things.

“Nothing happened…” Even I knew I wasn’t doing my best at lying.

“You know, you can tell me things, Clove.” She cracked a smile after her cautious tone. “I’ve been told I’m a good listener,” she held up her hands in surrender, “but if you don’t want to tell me, I understand.”

“Good listener, huh?”

She nodded patiently and I turned to the window again. 

I’d grown close to Eloise after all this time. I knew she would try to help, talk it out with me, but I’d never talked about boys or kisses with anyone. Firstly, because I’d never kissed anyone, but secondly, because whenever old friends talked about boys I mostly listened and commented in a general way. I never talked to them about the guys I liked. That only led to gossip and problems—  

—not to say I liked Brooks. I mean, I liked him. As a guy. But not like that... Okay, maybe a little, but that’s irrelevant at this point.

Figuring there was no way to approach the topic if I was still trying to lie to myself, I changed the subject too. “Do you think they’ll let the families come soon?” 

I wondered what having my parents around would be like in the Elite. Probably a mess considering my father was very likely on the other side of my conspiracy with Brooks, but then I wondered how Dad would react to news of us kissing. That was bound to be...even weirder.

“I hope so. I’d really love to see mine soon. That happens with the Elite, right?” I could hear Eloise talk, but my thoughts kept going. 

If things weren’t so messed up I could almost imagine Brooks stuttering to talk to my dad. After so many years of not really interacting, talking with the father of the girl he kissed would definitely make him nervous. 

Well, except he claims it all meant nothing, so why would he care?

“Clove?”

“Brooks and I kissed,” I blurted out, snapping out of my thoughts.

Eloise blinked at me before her jaw dropped a little. “You- I’m sorry, you guys kissed? Kissed?”

How many types of “kissed” are there? Mouth agape for a moment as well, I could only blink back. It felt almost surreal to admit it. “We kissed. He kissed me. I kissed him back. For a moment.” I pressed a hand against my forehead and muttered, “Great, I’m clearly not forgetting it anytime soon.”

Her eyebrows furrowed, taking in the information. “You kissed him back. Okay... Wait, when did this happen?”

I groaned in frustration, standing up and pacing the room. “The ball. It came out of nowhere and you would expect me to pull away and flip, but that’s not the first thing I did. And then we acted like nothing happened and avoided each other in the morning, but we couldn’t avoid each other forever, and—”

“Clove, slow down,” she chose her words carefully, “you said you couldn’t avoid each other forever, does that mean you talked about it?”

I scoffed sightly at the memory. “Yeah, we talked. Apparently, we agreed it was a mistake.” My hands went up in despair, making a hand gesture I couldn’t even describe as if that could explain my frustration. “I can’t stop thinking about it, however.”

She raised an eyebrow when I sighed. “Doesn’t sound like you think it was a mistake, then.”

I clenched my jaw at her words, pushing any personal thoughts aside. “It was. Heat of the moment, hormones...call it whatever you want.”

“You’re right, it could have been the heat of the moment. But,” she hesitated, “maybe it wasn’t. You said yourself you can’t stop thinking about it. Would it be so bad if it wasn’t a mistake?”

“We agreed it was. He thought it was...So it has to be. I just don’t know how easily I’ll be able to act like it didn’t happen around him and that’s annoying and problematic.”

“Sometimes people say things they don’t really mean, Clove. I’m sure this is just as unfamiliar to him as it is for you. As for how to act, you just have to take it one day at a time.” I ignored her sympathetic smile and walked over to the bed, letting myself fall on it, face landing straight on the mattress.

My voice was muffled by the blankets. “I hate him.”

A small chuckle escaped her as she patted my head. “I know.”

“He needs to learn to control his hormones.”

“He’s a teenage boy.” Silence, then, “So... how was it?

Oh, shut up. I grumbled something incoherent and I could picture her smirk as she leaned a little closer, asking, “What was that?”

I lifted my head from the bed and yelled, “NO COMMENTS.”

She laughed, flopping down on her back. “Brooks, I'm impressed.” She went silent again and I pressed my face back on the mattress. “What um, what does this mean for Nate?”

“Oh, God... I committed treason.” I jumped back up. “With his brother!”

Sitting up with me, she began, “Nate is an understanding guy, I don’t think he’ll look at it that way. But it also depends on how you two feel about each other.”

So far we just seemed like friends and I told her as much. There was no real point in telling Nate about me and Brooks though. Especially since...there was no me and Brooks. It wouldn’t change anything. It would only be the last confirmation to send me home--which was reasonable, of course--but I didn’t want to go home yet. I had the conspiracy. I needed confirmation that my dad was involved or I wouldn’t be able to drop it. Also, I’d miss a lot of people here. 

I simply wasn’t ready to leave the palace.

Eloise shook her head. “You won't have to leave. And... I wouldn't want you to go home either.”

I smiled a bit. “You’d clearly be lost without me.”

“I'd be fine, thank you very much.” She used my weapon of choice against me again after an eye roll, but I only laughed at the soft hit of the pillow.

“Who would you talk to, if not me?”

“I’d probably go bother Brooks or something.”

I crossed my arms. “Watch out in case he decides the heat of the moment will get him again.” He never technically answered he wouldn’t have kissed someone else in my place… I secretly hoped he wouldn’t.

“Sure, Brooks would totally get caught in the heat of the moment and kiss me. That’d be like kissing a brother.”

Sighing, I rubbed the back of my neck. “Yeah…Do you also think he likes me?

I’d been wondering the past days if everyone had seen it but me. After considering it for a minute, Eloise admitted she thought he did but wasn’t aware. I’d sensed some people thought that since Marshall’s sleepover--birthday girl included. Eloise had never been too subtle, Barnes was always suspicious of him whenever he saw us together and Quinn had seemed to have her own thoughts about it too. I had told myself everyone was just trying to be annoying.

Eloise couldn’t be more proud to say she’d seen it coming though, and I shook my head at her smugness, unable to smile and mumble, “maybe you should be Watson.”

“Watson?”

I cleared my throat, realizing she wouldn’t get the reference to a conversation she wasn’t involved in. Remembering the debate I’d had with Brooks about who of us was Holmes and who Watson at the ball was a little strange. When I thought about it now all the little mental notes I’d made about how close we were and the way he’d wrapped his hand around mine stood out more. Whoever was who didn’t matter anymore, however. I wouldn’t want someone else to replace him as my partner in crime. Or maybe it was better to say against crime.

“Uh, just an inside joke, never mind.”

[vaguely-concerned]

Some Uncharted 3 feels

- My sister and I just finished up Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, and let me tell you… she chose the perfect fucking game to introduce me to the series because a) parental substitute stories are my ultimate narrative Jam and I will eat it up with not one spoon, not two spoons, but every spoon made available to me, b) the early parts of the game with Chloe and Charlie are  g e n i u s  and I loved all these treasure hunting weirdos (Charlie’s interspersed British History info dump while Nate was doing his own Francis Drake info dump was golden) and c) the moment I had to control tiny little bb Nate scrambling over the rooftops every protective instinct rose up in me and I adopted him as my son. He just feels so vulnerable in this one, even as an adult, I want to slap Marlowe’s filthy British gaslighting hands away from him and keep him safe. (‘Sullly hasn’t come back for you yet’ how D A R E you monster)

- I feel a deep eternal spiritual connection with Sully, because we both took one look at this disaster child and went ‘...well nothing for it I must now protect him for as long as I live’. (There were frequently hilarious moments when I was cottoning on to what kind of insane leap the game/Nathan ‘No Trace Of Impulse Control’ Drake wanted me to do next and I was like ‘oh no… no baby child you’ll break your neck I hate this’ and one second later Sully would be like ‘...you sure about this, kid’ and I was like ‘THANK YOU SULLY THIS IS MADNESS’ and then of course Nate would do it anyway while I turned my head so I wouldn’t have to look at the craziness I had wrought with the dual shock controller)

- It’s perfectly understandable why Nate marries Elena in the end and I am very happy for them, but with all objective truth in the universe we must all come to accept that no one in this game is more Marriage Material than Salim. Always there with a freakishly durable horse and a perfectly timed rescue to sweep you off your feet — literally, because you’re an idiot who routinely jumps from your horse onto trucks at breakneck speed and yet he lets you sit behind him on his horse until you find yours again; a Gentleman. Beautiful eyes. Excellent sense of dramatic timing, maybe good hair under the coverings, could immediately feel the cosmic vibrations of hurt puppy, I-am-doing-the-best-I-can-I-swear-everything-just-keeps-happening-to-me energy around Nathan Drake and chose to protect him… truly, the perfect man.  

- I sort of got the thing they tried to do at the end with the Talbot/Marlowe bond mirrored with the Nate/Sully one, but I feel like it would have been better if it was built up more before they reach the city? Like at this point your distaste for Talbot is so strong that you’re like ‘well GOOD your mother figure sucked anyway, choke on quicksand assbutt’, and it could have been more gutting if he was just a tiny bit more likeable. Marlowe had some really good indirect characterization going on though, like the fact that after twenty years she STILL hasn’t figured out that the reason Sully suddenly ‘stabbed her in the back’ was that she fucking hit a kid in the face in front of him. (It wasn’t subtle, Katherine, he’s standing there like D: D: D: right behind you)

- GOD the damn shipyard stuff dragged on FOREVER and for no narrative reward whatsoever — if you think about it it could literally be removed from the game completely and… nothing at all would change except Nate would maybe have a few more ribs still intact — and also the gameplay was tiring, but it was tremendously effective in making you feel what Nate feels and so I forgive it. I felt fucking harrowed by the time he wakes up on that beach, enough so that I didn’t even bother to go ‘uh. Sure. sure he washed ashore safely from what looked very much like the open ocean. That’s… likely’. I was just happy he was okay. Ssssh it’s psychological storytelling okay let’s not question it. Also being on a sinking cruise ship was admittedly some of the coolest level design I’ve ever seen, so there’s that.

- On an unrelated note I wonder what the hell Marlowe was paying her goons for them to keep trying to murder me after their employer had set fire to the chateau with them still inside it with no way out and while a plane was getting torn to pieces around them. That’s dedication, I’m actually impressed.

- No one wears a henley shirt quite like Nathan Drake. Like my feelings for him are more parental than anything but damn that boy sure knows how to pull off a Look.

- Talking about parental feelings, who else melts every time he starts expounding on a special interest? He’s such a ditz about everything else and yet… is it English renaissance and/or connected to Francis Drake in even the vaguest possible way? My boy will talk your ear off about it. God bless this ADHD poster child.

- They really did some cool things with his characterization otherwise too — this game feels a little like a coming of age story, despite the fact that he’s like… thirty five, because there’s this childlike quality to him, that slight manic brittleness of an abandoned, hurt child that is both tremendously endearing and slightly unsettling. (He… kills a lot of people in this game, u guise, and while most of it is made out to be basically self defense he, uh, doesn’t seem all that broken up about it) Marlowe revealing his real backstory so off-handedly and leaving you to puzzle together the fact that he has made himself into his own escapist character worked so well and might have hit me even harder if I’d played the first two. From how strongly he reacts to Elena’s comments about it he must realize on some level that Sully is getting older and that would trigger that fear that he’s going to leave the Adventure and by extension him behind, taking the one stable thing he’s had in his life since he was like fifteen away. (Thank you, Sully, for staying alive like a champ even though you’re the resident mentor and Nate’s terrified imagination murdered you like… four times in this game, this is the kind of dedication and survivability I like to see in a father figure)

I love that in the end what lets him heal is feeling safe in the fact that these people love him and won’t leave him even though he’s pulling the most insane shit and that is all that hole in him he tried to fill with adrenaline and Adventure really needed and he can let go enough to have real emotional closeness. Aaaand also he needed to sink a fucking city into the sand in the process b/c of who he is as a person, I guess. Let me reiterate: god bless him.  

-  Most difficult parts: when they try to make you shoot hallucination!Sully (I’m such a wimp, I couldn’t lol) and when you have to fight Charlie. I failed that fight thrice because I didn’t want to hit him back. Also when they make you think Charlie’s about to die, that was straight up mean

- “*deep sigh* This is why we can’t have nice things” I am Sully and Sully is me. Really though, that man is the true hero of this story. He’s been saying ‘Careful Nate’ and ‘Nate find another way so you won’t fucking die’ and ‘HOLY SHIT KID’ for twenty years and it has never worked and yet he still tries. Inspiring.

- The voice acting was amazing — I have never understood the hype around Nolan North before, he’s just everywhere in games, it would be like noticing the presence of air, but then I heard the way his voice went tiny when he said ‘Sully?’ and everything inside me went !!!!!

I get it now

- My one real complaint: I hope whoever’s responsible for all the ‘running towards the floaty camera’ scenes steps on one Lego annually for the next decade, those parts took years off my life  

- Marlowe is a class act on the good old Villain Stuff — I burst out laughing when it turned out she was a member of an ~*ancient secret society*~ because… of course. Of COURSE she is — and I deeply respect that. Quoting T. S. Eliot at you while you’re dying in the desert? They just don’t make ‘em like that anymore, guys.

- This game is the ultimate proof that if you successfully create emotional connection with the characters, your plot can be as openly silly and full of holes as you like and people will roll with it. I mean that ending made no sense whatsoever but I was too busy whimpering through Nate’s hallucination panic attack thingy to care and that is… no one should have that kind of power, Naughty Dog, why u hurt me this way and make me forget what logic is

- Most brilliantly funny and understated moment: baby Nate casually reaching out for Sully’s beer and Sully being like ‘lol no kid’ in the most knowing, already fond way. The physical acting in these games is just phenomenal, which I guess is the upside of all the mocap stuff? (also makes sure they’re quite short and streamlined tho ha ha)

- We got ‘The Lost Legacy’ with the PS4 too so I’m going to start that — I think I will miss Nate but I also love Chloe and her cynical yet caring ass with the passion of a thousand suns so it’ll be okay ha ha  

[winter-maiden11]

Fake relationship (or not) by WinterMaiden11

WenDip week prompt “Fake relationship”

Spring break is coming and most of the students in Gravity Falls University are getting busy for their upcoming Spring break ball. Often the alumni organize parties before the school break started. It is to ease up the students’ mood from their cramming schedules and projects.

“Say Wendy could you hang out with me this weekend? I’ll have to find a dress for the ball. And maybe you should buy one too?” Tambry nudges Wendy who is busy munching her cookies. They’re at the school lounge, sitting comfortably while at their break, it’s one of Wendy’s favorite place to standby.

“Nah, I’m good with my dresses. I’ll just accompany you then. And maybe we could hang out on the arcade after?” Wendy grinned.

Tambry pouted. “You haven’t bought new one since we entered freshmen here. I’ll buy you instead.” She patted Wendy’s shoulder.

Wendy doesn’t seem to bother her friend’s comment though. And pull out her celphone checking for messages. She was expecting a text from Dipper but instead she got an unknown number.

She frowned crashing off what’s left on her cookie. The message was from Brad, her classmate on one of her academic classes. Also one of the well known varsity player in their school. He has a huge crush towards her since the first semester of their year. He kept on proposing his feelings for her even when she gave a hint of rejection.

She doesn’t want to be rude to anyone, but sometimes she was on the edge of her temper that all she would do is snob him. Much to her dismay, he’s one of her groupmates in class. If anyone would say, she has struck a gold if she accepted his feelings. Some girls in the campus has a huge crush on him. Only seeing his good looks. Behind those gold blond waves, cheeky smile, and well-built muscles, he’s still a jerk. His massive pride and arrogant made him look bad to her taste. Maybe because he’s the son of one of the rich men in Gravity Falls.

She ignore the text, sighing, she shove it back to her pocket. “Did anyone of you gave my number to Brad?” she crossed her arm.

Tambry paused from her typing on phone. “Uhhh. Rob did?”

“That Idiot! Why did he do that! Without even asking me?” She glared.

“Uhh. You must listen to his explanation first.” Tambry pointed out. Wendy turned her back seeing Robbie with Nate and Thompson coming.

“Hey guys, why the long faces?” Robbie greeted as he sat down next to Tambry.

Wendy, gritting her teeth gave Robbie a smack on his arm; it was a good aim that she didn’t hit Tambry.

“Ooww! Why’d you do that!” He rubbed his arm.

“You tell me?!” Wendy eyed him. “Why did you give my number to Brad?”

“Oohh. That, I was supposed to tell you earlier, but I haven’t seen you. He kept on picking on me, so I have no choice and gave it to him!” He explained.

“You jerk. He started texting me! Why not gave him Nate’s or Thompson’s number instead!”

“Heh! You think Brad is stupid. He threatened me, and if I did give a wrong number, I’m doomed!” Robbie waved.

Wendy sighed. “I don’t even want to change number.” She murmured.

----

Back at their classes, Tambry and Wendy parted paths, heading to their respective rooms, They will be seeing in next subject. Wendy sat on her desk next to the window, she was on the third last row. It was a good choice of seat. She pulled out her notes, and kept herself busy scrolling to her pages, when she stumbled upon her old writings.

She smiled, remembering it was a draft note of her mysterious journey with the twins on last two years vacation. Time flies so fast, as if it’s like just yesterday when she reminisces those days. She misses the twins suddenly. And felt like they won’t be here for summer this year.

It was like; they are all getting busy on their own life. Like she is now. They’re all beginning to be an adult now and so they should be working on it to be a responsible one. She’s 20 now and eventually will have to find a fix income for herself. Thinking about it sucks.

She sighed pondering over things when someone approached her.

“Hey Wendy.” A familiar voice snapped her from her deep thoughts. She looked up seeing the Brad gazing on her, smiling.

“Did you got my text? I was wondering, coz you haven’t replied.” He said. Some of the girls stared at them. And she feels it. Moments like this really piss her off.

“Yeah. But I haven’t able to reply.” She waved. “I don’t have to.” She murmured.

“Say, you have plans for the upcoming ball?” He added.

“Not much. I’m not going anyway.” She flips another page of her note, pretend to be reading.

“Aww that’s sad. But I will be waiting for you.” He leaned.

“You don’t have to. There are a lot of girls you could invite.” She shrugged.

“Come on! You should be enjoying, you don’t even have a boyfriend.” He teased.

She raised her brow, cringing. But before she even tells a word their professor came and students went on to their seats, including Brad who is waving to her.

“That jerk! I don’t need a boyfriend, not if it’s you!” She murmured and tried to concentrate on her professor’s lesson.

 Weekend came and just few days before the ball. As they planned, Wendy and Tambry go shopping. Wendy might get bored waiting for her. But still it’s for her friend. She tap her phone checking new messages. But none. She wondered what might her friend Dipper have been doing. It seems he’s very busy. She haven’t received anything from him, recently.

She snapped out from her thoughts when a paper bag shoved in front of her.

“What’s this?” She asked taking the bag.

“It’s yours.” Tambry said. “You seem in deep thoughts.”

Wendy chuckled and stands up. “You shouldn’t have to.” She said peeking on the bag.

“I know you’re bored and it’s the least I can do.” Tambry nudges. “What you’ve been thinking to.”

“I was thinking… Not to go to the party.” She smirks.

Tambry stops walking and glare at her. “Oh come on! You didn’t!”

Wendy shrugged.

“Then what about that dress I gave you? I took an effort choosing it for you.” She pouted.

“Well, I can wear it some other time.” Wendy grinned.

Tambry punches her friend’s arm gently. “You traitor, I thought you’re into this.”

Wendy made a face mocking at her friend.

“Come on! At least you just try, I know why you didn’t like to go. Its Brad is it? The last year’s party went well for you.”

“You might say that it is.” She sighed.

“Heh. Figures. You can just punch him on the face if he’s still keep bothering you.”

“heh, I’m glad to, but not when we’re inside the campus. I’d like to see his expression if ever I did that, wanna see his beautiful face get wrecked?” Wendy grinned clenching her fist.

Tambry laughed. “Be my guest. I can even imagine his face like.”

They laugh; of course, Wendy wouldn’t do that unless she or someone was bullied. She won’t hurt anyone unless she has a reason to do so.

“So have you decided to go with me on the party?” Brad peered over as Wendy put her stuff back on the locker. “Every one else has their partner and they’re will be participating on the event.”

“I will go to the party but not with you.” She said closing the locker. She smiled sarcastically and started to walk. Brad hold her up. Blocking her way. She glared at him, he’s a big guy. “Why? Who will you go with?”

“My friends, who else to.” She furrowed.

“Tambry has her Robbie, you don’t wanna be their third wheel won’t you.”

Wendy glared. She clenches her fist, holding up not to punch him, not here though.

“And what? You’re not gonna hurt me. You can’t. You know what happens when you do that.” He said.

“Is that a threat?”

“Just a warning.”

“I told you I won’t go with you. I HAVE SOMEONE ELSE to go with me already!” She sternly said.

Brad furrowed. “You?” He snorted. “You did.”

“Of course. If I told you that I have a boyfriend will you leave me alone?”

“You never ever mentioned him to me.” He stared.

She blinked. What else she could do. There wasn’t enough excuse to avoid him this time. She’s been avoiding and rejecting his proposal for like a thousand times.

Then her phone rang. She pulled it out seeing Dipper’s contact. She didn’t hesitate to answer and ignore Brad.

“Hey Dipper, What’s up?” She turned her back.

“Hey Wendy. I’m sorry I never get to contact you recently. So I decided to call you now. How’s it going?” Dipper said on the line.

Brad frowned. “You’re just gonna turn your back now? Is that how you supposed to talk to anyone?” He yelled.

Wendy pursed her lip. “I’m not in a good situation right now.” She whispered on the line, telling Dipper. Dipper though got the situation.

She turned back facing towards him. “I’m sorry Brad but I have to leave, I told you already, I won’t go with you to the party…”

Brad furrowed, and before he even said another word. Wendy blurted. “My boyfriend is on the line. I don’t want to hold him up.” She grinned sarcastically.

“Like I believe you!”

Wendy shoves her phone towards his face showing Dipper’s contact picture. “Now you see it!” Brad growled and turn his back, walking out. “He’s a dork!”

“Sorry I have to do that.” Wendy said back in line.

“It’s okay. Are you alright?” Dipper said.

“I’m okay. You… Heard everything right?” Wendy started to walk, face palming. Oh Wendy why do you have to say that? She told herself.

Dipper chuckled a bit. “Yeah. But it’s okay. Its Brad again.” He said.

“Yeah. Can’t make any excuse and you calling now saves my life.” She chuckled.

“Haha! He calls me a Dork.” He said.

“Don’t bother him, he’s a loser.” She smiled.

Wendy proceed on walking while talking to her friend. She’s glad he get to call and they have a lot to talk to.

  “He did what?” Tambry puts down her phone. Her eyes widened. “Did Brad really get to pissed off.” She laughs.

“He growled and looks stupid as he walks out.” Wendy said. They’re at the lounge, school day is over and that was their last day. They finally finished cramming. And the break has started.

“So will you invite Dipper later for the party?” Tambry asked.

“I don’t have to. I don’t want to bother him.” Wendy fiddled to her phone.

“But you tell Brad that he’s coming with you.” Tambry said in a low voice.

“Well, I’ll just tell him his busy and could not go to the party.”

“That’s a bad move. He might take in as advantage.”

“I don’t care. If he still keep on bothering me. I’ll have to do what it takes even if he threatens me.”

“He did that to you?”

“Yeah, that’s all he could do, use his being son of this wealthy man of Gravity Falls and all that to get what he wants.”

Brat, just like that Gideon. She thought.

“Heh. Break a leg then.” Tambry waved.

“Literally?” Wendy cocked her head.

They both laugh. “Whatever.” Tambry nudges her friend. “Maybe I could take you for a dance after I’m done with Robbie.”

Wendy chuckled. “If he ever let you go.”

  The party will be starting later this night and Wendy seemed lost in thoughts whether she’ll be going or not. It’s still early. She got up looking at the dress hanging up over her wardrobe. It’s knee-length chiffon, a beautiful shade of purple and teal. She thought it’s too stylish for her. She snapped out when her laptop screen showed a call. It was Dipper.

“Hey what’s up?” She answered, as Dipper on screen appeared.

“All is well here. Finally our break started.” He said happily. “How’s it going?”

“Uhmm, all is well?” She blinked.

“Seems not so well to me.” He said. “What’s the matter?”

Wendy pursed her lips. “I don’t want to go to the party.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. You’re worried about Brad?” He raised his brow. She nodded.

“I’m going because Tambry wants to, and, she even bought me a dress.” She sighed.

“That’s nice of her. Uhhm, well. Maybe you could tell her why you don’t want to or as try as you might, you could only do is avoid Brad during that party.”

“Dude, I’ve been thinking about it whole day.”

“I know. You could just go for a bit and go home early.”

“I’ll try to do that. I’ll stick with Thompson… But…” Wendy bit her lip.

Thompson had invited a friend and he might never get to hang out with her the whole party, maybe their group but not with those activities.

She looked at Dipper on screen. Her brows wrinkled.

“What is it?” Dipper asked at her sudden silence.

She blinked. “Nothing. Oh well. Go with the flow. I wish the party will go well for me like last year’s.”

“Yeah, you enjoyed it.” He chuckled.

“Don’t you have one of your school today?” She asked.

“Well, we also have a party tomorrow. But I don’t know, I’m going coz I have to watch out for my sister. You know Mabel.” He shrugged.

Wendy laughed. “Yeah. I miss her. How is she?”

“She’s fine, she’s gone crazy over the studies, but she manages well.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“And so are you.” He said smiling.

“So is me? I’m getting crazy with all these cramming.” She snorted.

“Well, you can do it. You’re Wendy, you can do anything.”

“Heh. I wish.”

Her phone beside her rang. She checked it and frowned. She sighed shoving it off to her bed.

“I think I know who it is.” Dipper said noticing his friend’s reaction.

“Who else. I thought he has stopped.” She rubbed her head.

“He’ll get something on me later.”

“Go easy on him.” He teases.

“Just kidding.” She smiled.

“Any plans for the summer vacation?” She asked.

“I still don’t know. I hope we’ll be able to get back there.” He said. “I miss being there.”

She smiled. “Me too.”

She misses all those adventures.

Wendy let out a sigh as she reaches the hall entrance. Wearing her friend’s gift, she matches it up with a calf boots. Her hair tied up into a half pony.

“Wendy you look great. I’m really good at picking clothes.” Tambry said proudly. She wear a black and red lace dress paired with also a calf length boot. Tambry wears a heavy liner and shadows, which made her look more like a goth. But still rocks.

Wendy rolled her eyes. “Yeah yeah. Have you seen the others?”

“Nate and Robbie are on their way.” She said, checking her phone.

Later, Nate and Robbie joined as well as Thompson with their friends invited along. The event has started and they enjoyed as programs on going. Their group joins into an ice breaker game. There were almost four teams to compete with and they made up to the last game but didn’t win.

Still, they shove it off and relish the buffet prepared on the tables.

Slow music began to play and anyone who had their date went on the floor dancing. Robbie and Tambry went. Wendy, Nate and Thompson with their friends just stayed behind and chatted, and teased Thompson as they usually do. Good thing their laugh was drowned by the loud music and didn’t disturb any one on their sweet moment.

They even get a “narrating people’s life” game while they were seated.

They were busy laughing when Thompson paused and nudges Nate. Their friends didn’t get their sudden reaction and looked up. Wendy stopped laughing when she noticed someone beside her. She frowned.

“As I expected. You’re just lying when you said you have your boyfriend here.” Brad let out a cheeky smile. Behind him was he’s so called buddies but more like his bodyguards.

“I do. He’s just busy and couldn’t go tonight.” She said sternly.

Her friends with their girls started to glance up to him. Worried.

“Since you’re alone with these idiots, why not Dance with me.”

“I don’t dance.”

“I’ll teach you.”

“Not to bother I’ll stay here.” She waved up her hand. “You can go on. Go find another girl.”

Brad stared at her friends. He gave them a sharp gesture to leave them alone. But Nate and Thompson didn’t even move.

“You don’t think you can just order someone to do something.” Wendy stands up. “They will stay here and so is me!”

“Heh. Brave girl. That’s what I also like about you.” He smirks and grabs her wrist and drag her. Her friends rose to their seat trying to stop him but his buddies pushes them back to seat.

“Hey! That’s harassment you jerk!” Nate shouted.

“Where is he taking her?” Thompson said, worried.

Wendy tried to let go of his grasp but it becomes tighter that it will almost hurt her wrist. He uses his athletic grasp. “I’m warning you! Let me go!”

Brad tried to drag to the exit hall.

But as soon as he’s about to take a step, someone blocked their way.

“I’m sorry but I think you took the wrong girl.” A familiar voice could be heard. And Wendy behind him peered in. She cuffed her mouth in surprise.

“Dipper!” She shouted happily.

Brad stared at him. “You are?!”

“Just call me Dipper, every one’s calling me that.” He smiled extending his hand to shake.

Brad just gave a spitting look and ignores him. “You really think I believe you.”

“Of course.” Dipper said walking towards Wendy. Now some of the people in the hall are staring at them. “What else you needed to know… You already saw it the other day.” Dipper smiled and grabbing back Wendy to him.

People began to wonder, some of them ask who he is.

He held on to Wendy’s hand and raised it, showing everyone. “I’m her boyfriend.” He smiled playfully. Wendy smiled but surprise at the same time.

Nate and Thompson came in. They patted Dipper’s shoulder.

Brad stared. He looked around. Some people notice the commotion.

Dipper step to him closer. “Brad Hamilton. I’ve been here and there in Gravity Falls, and I heard about you. You have a reputation to protect and you don’t want people to see and know that the son of Hamilton Corp grabbed someone’s girlfriend.” Dipper said in a low tone.

Brad gritted his teeth. “You’re threatening me.”

“I’m just giving you a word of advice.” Dipper said smiling.

Brad felt embarrass, he cleared out his throat and back away. Walking out. People head back to what they were doing.

 “Glad you’re here Dude.” Nate ruffles Dipper’s hair. He chuckled.

“That jerk’s, serves him right.” Thompson raised his hands. They laugh as they head back to their seat.

Wendy smack of his arm. “Ow! Hey what’s that for?” Dipper said, rubbing his arm.

“You! You surprised me.” She crosses her arms.

Dipper smiled. “Did I? How surprised are you?” He teased.

Wendy pursed her lips and gave him another smack.

“Ah!”

She then held his arm and said. “Thank you for saving me.” She smiled.

Dipper looked at her. “That’s what a boy friend would do.” He smiled.

She chuckled. She waved her hand gesturing Dipper to lean closer.

As soon as he leaned down to her. She kissed his forehead.

Surprised, Dipper blushes. She chuckled.

“Thanks for being my boyfriend.”

He blinked. What?

“You said that you are my boyfriend. Then you are!” She smiled.

---

Here's another (and last) of my Wendip prompt. I had this idea for since the other day and wrote down the scenes, until I came up with something. I had to make another OC named Brad, (just snap on my head). Finally I did  finish this which I thought I couldn't. Note that I haven't proofread it so excuse the typos and grammar errors. (I'm not good in english). Enjoy.

[flauntpage]

A Hollywood Moment – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 30, Rams 23

Turns out a healthy Nick Foles is better than an injured Carson Wentz.

Shocking, I know.

That should really be the extent of the “Foles vs. Wentz” argument that will stink up social media and sports radio this week. One guy is healthy, one guy is not. THEREFORE – at this current moment in time, I’m gonna roll with the healthy Super Bowl MVP. It seems pretty straightforward to me, but unfortunately we’re just gonna have to deal with the frothy nothing-burger quarrels for the next seven days.

I’ll tell ya what; that was the first Eagles game I enjoyed watching this year, at least for three quarters. They moved the ball up and down the field, they played aggressive and nasty defense, and I swear I saw glimpses of the 2017 squad out there.

This, of course, begs the question –

Where was this Eagles team against the Buccaneers, Titans, Vikings, Panthers, Cowboys, Saints, and Cowboys?

Surely the quarterback change was not the sole catalyst for the win, right? Nick Foles did play the first two games this season, and he wasn’t exactly Joe Montana against the Falcons or Bucs. The banged-up defense was lights out for 3+ quarters last night as guys like Avonte Maddox and Cre’Von LeBlanc made big plays. Did they miraculously transform into legitimate NFL starters overnight?

Gut feeling: the Eagles still believed in themselves while the Rams believed they were going to trash a 6-7 team in a rebound game coming off a bad loss. It’s the same underdog mentality that got the Birds a Super Bowl ring last year. “No one likes us, we don’t care” was the rallying cry then, but this year it’s more, “No one thinks we have a prayer, and we probably don’t, but we’re gonna at least go down swinging.” Maybe we can get that on a T-shirt.

I’ve been totally unenthusiastic about this team and actually mostly ambivalent over the past three or four weeks, so I won’t flip flop here and tell you how excited I am going forward. That would be the Skip Bayless thing to do, to just hop back on the bandwagon. I’m still skeptical that a banged-up Eagles team does much of anything in the playoffs, but at least they’ve given themselves a chance at 9-7 and a postseason return after slogging through a mostly miserable title defense in 2018.

1) Nick “The Franchise” Foles

He gets the ball out quicker than Carson does. That’s the big difference. Nick glides through his progressions and takes what the defense gives him. He’ll stand in the pocket and take a hit while Carson is more inclined to extend a play and try to make something happen in that fashion.

It’s not to say that Nick is better than Carson, because I don’t think he is. I think they are both pretty damn good when they’re on their game. Statistically, Foles finished 24 for 31 for 270 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception. last night and the Eagles’ offense was a meager 4-13 on third down. Wendell Smallwood and Josh Adams and Jake Elliott did the scoring.

The difference between healthy Foles and injured Carson is that healthy Foles was able to stay ahead of the chains with smart and simple plays on first and second down. He had first down conversions on 2nd and 10 and 2nd and 7 on first half scoring drives. He hit Golden Tate for 11 yards on a 2nd and 10 in the third quarter. There were only nine passing third down conversions last night, but Nick made them count and really did a nice job averting the dreaded three and out.

The only two horrendous passes I saw were the interception at the goal line and a risky screen that he probably should have thrown into the ground, but he was otherwise solid.

I wrote a story last week called “Throwing the Football Down the Field” and went through Carson’s last three game charts to find that he was 2-8 in completed passes of 20 or more yards against the Giants, Redskins, and Cowboys.

Last night, Nick was 3-5 in this category, all of which came down the right side of the field and took advantage of Alshon Jeffery’s ability to grab the ball in traffic:

That really was important, those deep shots. Carson was barely throwing those, and I wonder if the back injury was affecting his ability to step into those throws, or if the torque of the motion made those shots outside the hashmarks painful to even execute.

At the end of the day, Nick has one touchdown and two interceptions in three games this season. I don’t think he “won the game” for the Eagles last night, as some people are saying this morning, but he was steady last night, he kept the offense on the field, he got different receivers involved, and he picked and chose his spots really well.

2) Play calling

With Nick in the game, I was obviously very interested in how Doug decided to use him. Simplified game plan? Different sets?

Here’s what I wrote down for called plays:

Shotgun – run: 21

Shotgun – pass: 30

Under center – run: 6

Under center – pass: 2

I have it as a 32 to 27 pass/run split. The box score has it as a 33/28 split, so I must have missed one in there. Maybe I was on the toilet. Also, I’d have to go back and watch the entire film to see how many RPOs Doug called, since it’s nearly impossible to watch every blocking scheme in real time. Let’s just pretend this is a Quinnipiac poll with a +3 or -3 margin of error in called runs and called passes.

Either way, that’s a really nice balance, about 54% passing and 46% running. If you want to take away the final three run plays on the clock-killing final drive, you still get a 57% to 43% mix, which is a lot better than what Doug usually winds up with.

A couple of other play notes here:

QB scrambles: 2

Draw plays: 1

running back screens: 3

wide receiver screens: 3

They had two screen looks to Alshon and still tried a few RB screens even with Corey Clement not available. Doug ran 17 straight shotgun plays before trying to go under center, and Jason Peters false started on that first attempt. They finished with about 86% of their plays coming out of the shotgun and 14% coming from under center, which is not dissimilar from what they did with Carson this year.

3) Big boy blocking

Truthfully, I hated the play call on the Adams touchdown run. You’re gonna run behind Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert?

It ended up being the best bit of blocking either guy has shown all year:

Goedert gets the first block and Ertz follows him through the hole to reach the second level. Adams squirts right through while Marcus Peters shows absolutely no interest in making a tackle at all.

Great blocking, exhibit B:

Do not let Russ see Jason Peters opening up a gaping hole, a hole that your grandmother could walk through.

Goedert is in there again, go figure.

One more play, featuring…. guess who? –

The offensive line was excellent last night. This wasn’t a game where the running backs were gashing the Rams for huge chunks of yards, but the red zone blocking was just elite, well-executed stuff.

4) Guys stepping up

Big games from all of these dudes:

Wendell Smallwood: 10 carries, 48 yards, 2 touchdowns

Avonte Maddox: started at outside corner, had a 2nd quarter interception, two pass break-ups and quality coverage on the game’s final play

Cre’Von LeBlanc: he was “flying around” out there

Rasul Douglas: putting big hits on people

D.J. Alexander: big fumble recovery on special teams

Raise your hand if you had those five guys making contributions to the win.

.

.

.

Yep, me neither.

Both lines were fantastic on the evening. Jeffery had his best game of the year. Zach Ertz still had seven targets despite the “reduced” role and Tate had some chunky yardage pickups, too.

5) Blitz me

Jim Schwartz called a really nice game. He pressured Jared Goff, who predictably folded like a soft California guy.

On the final play, Schwartz brought both linebackers and left his five defensive backs in man-to-man deep coverage:

I look at that play again and see Nate Gerry turn around to say something to Malcolm Jenkins. I wonder if that was a miscommunication or just a good sell job, because Gerry comes on a delayed blitz and I think that forces Goff to get rid of the ball a little bit earlier than he wanted to. Either way, I thought it was a pretty gutsy call to send six guys instead of just dropping 7 or 8 into coverage.

Well done, Jim Schwartz.

6) Officiating

After last week’s debacle, I’ve decided to make this a recurring entry in the column. This will continue through the rest of the season and into next year.

We had a rare “grasping the helmet opening” call on the second Eagles drive that moved the sticks on third down. Marcus Peters didn’t think it was a penalty, but replay shows he had a hand inside Smallwood’s dome. Good pickup by the ref there, leading to a key conversion.

I didn’t think the Aaron Donald hit on Foles was a roughing the QB penalty. He did get him high, sure, but he didn’t strike him in the head and he didn’t exactly follow through or bring him to the ground. Looked like he got him across the shoulder.

I thought the Eagles also got a generous spot on the third down conversion just before halftime, the 3rd and 2 to Dallas Goedert that resulted in a touchdown. Eagles fans would be complaining if the other team got this spot:

Thankfully the two key review plays were correct. That was the fake punt catch that was overturned and the Rasul Douglas goal line tackle that ultimately didn’t mean too much. I’m just happy we didn’t get a huge outrageous controversy this time around, so praise the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven for that.

7) The peripherals

Here we go:

won time of possession battle, 32 to 28 minutes

+2 turnover margin

4-13 on third down (30.7%)

0-1 on fourth down

allowed LA to go 4-12 on third down (33%)

lost 0 yards on 0 sacks

3-5 success rate in red zone

six penalties for 49 yards

That’s much more like the 2017 Eagles. They won the TOP on the strength of that +2 turnover margin. The defense really did a nice job of limiting third down conversions after allowing Dallas to go 10-19 for 52% last week. Zero sacks against that Rams line is excellent, and six penalties for 49 yards is more than manageable.

Good stuff all around.

8) Doug’s best call?

I liked 3rd and 4 draw play with Sproles on the first drive. LA wasn’t expecting that.

I also agreed with the decision to kick the field goal at about the four minute mark in the third quarter. Take the points, keep the momentum on the road, and make it a two-score game.

I honestly also did not have a problem with the 53-yard field goal try in the fourth quarter. That’s aggressive Doug. That’s the Doug we want, right? If Elliott hits that kick, the game is over. Shrug.

9) Doug’s worst call?

I didn’t have any issue with him going for it on 4th down near midfield in the first half, but the play call was what? Josh Adams out of the shotgun? The 3rd down play got you into 4th and short, and that’s what you come up with? And you do it with a guy who had left the game earlier with a head injury?

That was a weird one. Doug is good for at least one of those per game.

The only other play that kind of bothered me was the decision to run Sproles on 3rd and 8 in the fourth quarter. He almost converted, but that offensive series felt a little passive to me with about eight minutes on the clock and a 14-point lead. This game didn’t have to come down to the final play, but the Eagles half-bottled it on both sides of the field.

10) Awful announcing

How ’bout that Fresh Prince clip to start off the broadcast? Everybody hated it, but whatever, at least it wasn’t a shot of a cheesesteak or the Liberty Bell.

And how ’bout Cris Collinsworth doing his Sunday night slide in from the left side instead of the right?

#CollinsworthSlide Audible!

pic.twitter.com/zKl0ALKo8v

— SNF on NBC (@SNFonNBC) December 17, 2018

“Now here’s a guy…”

That threw me for a loop. Collinsworth always slides in from the right. Cheeky stuff right there.

Couple of other random notes from the broadcast:

Norristown native Tommy Lasorda looks pretty good for age 91

I prefer Terry McAuley to Dean Blandino and Mike Perreira.

I cringed when Collinsworth said, “All that’s missing now is the Rocky music.“

Al Michaels still seems somewhat bored to me. I think he’s ready to retire.

That’s it. Happy Monday.

The post A Hollywood Moment – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 30, Rams 23 appeared first on Crossing Broad.

A Hollywood Moment – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 30, Rams 23 published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[tkeela13]

Hip Hop origins beginning in 1979, means this divisive genre is also one of the youngest. Since its inception, while growing into arguably the most popular genre, it has also become one of the most polarizing genres as well.

Hip hop in general, unfortunately, has a lot of negative connotations associated with it. Misogyny, arrogance, as well as materialistic tendencies. While not always true and often exaggerated, they do exist in the genre. It makes the genre unique. These qualities are prominent and will always be a staple, but they’re not the only things that define it.

Now my hip hop knowledge doesn’t extend much before the 1990s, but I’m still very passionate about the genre. In the following text I’ll explain my 10 favorite hip hop albums, with reasoning, favorite cuts, et cetera. There will be no particular order. So let’s begin!

Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury

‘Hell Hath No Fury’ is the second installment of a three album catalogue created by the two brother rap group comprised of Pusha T and No Malice. If one was only familiar with Pusha T then they’d probably assume it was a solo album due to the sometimes seamless transition between the brothers. The two have similar flows, voices, and lyrics - but after a couple of listens the distinctions between them becomes clear. Whenever I think of this album, a line from Nas on ‘Triple Beam Dreams’ always comes to mind. “I remember watching Scarface the first time, look at that big house, that Porsche paid for by crime.” The line shows the infatuation with finer things, by which the means to and end is being a successful drug dealer. This album has some of the most cohesive production I’ve seen, orchestrated by Pharrell of The Neptunes. The braggadocios rhymes coupled with the seemingly infinite synonyms for cocaine you think would get old. They don’t though. They make you wonder how they came up with so many synonyms while simultaneously questioning if the risk of drug dealing is worst the lavish lifestyle. It actually becomes rather tempting. The music never actually convinces you to do so, but I’ll be damned if you listen to the album and don’t think Pusha and Malice epitomize dopeness in more than one way. 

BEST TRACKS: Momma I’m Sorry, Ride Around Shining, Keys Open Doors

___

The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die

“It was all a dream, I use to read Word Up Magazine..” You could recite that line and I’d vouch most people recognize it. Hell, go out and recite the first line and see how many people finish the line. ‘Ready to Die’ is the first album of a two album catalogue by Biggie Smalls, famously cut short. Most people know the name, most people know the story, but whether or not this album gets the credit it deserves is debatable. More times than not, 1994 is attributed to being the year of Illmatic, but I think Ready to Die signifies a bigger paradigm shift in hip hop. Biggie’s almost a consensus top five for most hip hop heads but rarely snags the #1 spot, more than likely because of his body of work. His portfolio is too small (technically only one album released while he was alive), but with him the term ‘quality over quantity’ can’t be emphasized enough. The album is a rollercoaster of emotions given to you in such a direct and harsh way, it just gets you intrigued to stay for the whole thing. Biggie had one of the best deliveries and flows in the game by his first album, and it’s at full strength. Classic songs everybody knows such as ‘Juicy’ and ‘Big Poppa’ intertwined with songs contemplating suicide, glorifying robbing, amongst a variety of other topics. It summarizes Biggie’s life while exemplifying the classic 90s East Coast hip hop sound. Despite being 22 years old you could still convince somebody it came out five years ago. The story’s are concise, hard hitting, and to the point. It only requires one listen to fully take in what he’s saying, but you won’t want to put it down after one spin.

BEST TRACKS: The What, Juicy, Suicidal Thoughts

___

Kanye West - Late Registration

Kanye West as a person is the definition of a enigma. Kanye West as a musician is a little bit more explainable and probably easier to digest. When it comes to his production and song crafting, he’s one of the best, and he has had an incredibly consistent career from a musical standpoint. Many people choose ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’ as his best album, and musically that’s not an off-base choice. Then when people are going for a more lyrical or backpack derived album, they snag College Dropout first and foremost. This is a phenomenal combination of all of his skills. Kanye sort of revolutionized the term ‘backpack rap’ with his first album, and with his third album mastered the top 40 sound while still having quality lyrics. My chose for his best album is sandwiched between the two though. It was a perfect balance of hits, lyrics, soulful production, and sparing - yet on point - features. You get an insight into Kanye’s mind. The ego, the insecurities, the money, everything. For a Kanye fan many have trouble picking a favorite album, but this one’s easy for me.

BEST TRACKS: Drive Slow, Gone, Hey Mama

___

Kendrick Lamar - good kid m.A.A.d. city

Often revered for his deft lyricism and impressively sporadic flow, Kendrick Lamar may not be credited enough with his storytelling. Good Kid m.A.A.d City could be called a West Coast version of Illmatic. Not necessarily for the specific subject matter or topics, but for how the artist managed to immerse you in their life and upbringings through their lyrics and comprehensive storytelling. This album brings you through Compton as a kid not interested in gangbanging and drug dealing, but still having to deal with being around it. Another impressive aspect about it, is the quality of the tracks both lyrically and musically. The lyrics are great and on point, but the mixing and production is phenomenal. It has tracks you can play in the club while having tracks that display introspection and social awareness. Not saying those can’t be exclusive, but the combination works amazing here. Hell, his first single Swimming Pools (Drank) was a club smash despite it bringing alcoholism to the surface, not embracing it. Kendrick’s leading the second rejuvenation of the West, and this is the album has made everybody notice.

BEST TRACKS: Sing About Me, m.A.A.d. city, Money Trees

___

The Game - The Documentary

Now I mentioned a second rejuvenation of the West on the last album, good kid m.A.A.d city. This infers that the West has had an initial surge, with two later rises. The obvious emergence is in the early 90s when NWAs effect was still prominent, and artists like Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and Dre himself emerged and achieved commercial success. The Game’s major label debut curated by Dr. Dre himself signifies the first rebirth of the West. Personally, it was a difficult choice between this album and his sophomore album to make the list. One could argue that his sophomore album, Doctor’s Advocate, is a better album. It’s more cohesive, still maintains the great features and crisp production - it just didn’t encompass that beautiful West Coast sound that many people were infatuated with from the 90s as well. The production, features, and longevity of this album makes it a timeless classic and also propelled The Game into stardom. He’s still a force in the game, still making quality albums, but this will always be his trademark, his classic album, his magnum opus.

BEST TRACKS: Dreams, How We Do, Start From Scratch

___

GZA - Liquid Swords

GZA, the self proclaimed genius. Wu-Tang holistically and individually probably has the best discography of any rap group. The first classic from their discography, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) was a massive hit and resulted in classics from Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Method Man, and even GZA himself. This is my personal favorite album from the Wu-Tang tree. The production is gritty as RZA’s ever was, the storytelling is some of the best. The features while all in house do not disappoint in the least. GZA may be the pioneer of diving into lyricism and using it as a weapon as much as production and one liners. Clocking in at only 50 minutes, this album is to the point yet contains so much stuff it requires a lot of listens to truly digest it, but you’ll want to do that anyways after the first listen. 

BEST TRACKS: Shadowboxin’, Duel of the Iron Mic, 4th Chamber

___

Dr. Dre - 2001

People had to wait seven years for this after Dre’s initial classic. Fortunately for them at the time, they didn’t know they’d wait another 16 years for his next, and be teased at a mythical album for a majority of that time as well. Both of his first two albums were considered bonafide classics much quicker than they took to release, but I have a certain affinity to this album as I grew up on it. The futuristic production in addition to the well executed features makes this album still sound fresh nearly 20 years later. Showing house hold names like Snoop and Nate Dogg still have it, while thrusting names Eminem and Xzibit onto the scene. I can still listen to this album and I feel as if I’m cruisin’ down the highway in LA on a beautiful day with no care in the world. People may question Dre’s songwriting - or not as most agree he doesn’t do it - but none will question his ability to craft a remarkable album that sustains the test of time. 

BEST TRACKS: The Next Episode, Forgot About Dre, Xxplosive

___

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata

[flauntpage]

A Hollywood Moment – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 30, Rams 23

Turns out a healthy Nick Foles is better than an injured Carson Wentz.

Shocking, I know.

That should really be the extent of the “Foles vs. Wentz” argument that will stink up social media and sports radio this week. One guy is healthy, one guy is not. THEREFORE – at this current moment in time, I’m gonna roll with the healthy Super Bowl MVP. It seems pretty straightforward to me, but unfortunately we’re just gonna have to deal with the frothy nothing-burger quarrels for the next seven days.

I’ll tell ya what; that was the first Eagles game I enjoyed watching this year, at least for three quarters. They moved the ball up and down the field, they played aggressive and nasty defense, and I swear I saw glimpses of the 2017 squad out there.

This, of course, begs the question –

Where was this Eagles team against the Buccaneers, Titans, Vikings, Panthers, Cowboys, Saints, and Cowboys?

Surely the quarterback change was not the sole catalyst for the win, right? Nick Foles did play the first two games this season, and he wasn’t exactly Joe Montana against the Falcons or Bucs. The banged-up defense was lights out for 3+ quarters last night as guys like Avonte Maddox and Cre’Von LeBlanc made big plays. Did they miraculously transform into legitimate NFL starters overnight?

Gut feeling: the Eagles still believed in themselves while the Rams believed they were going to trash a 6-7 team in a rebound game coming off a bad loss. It’s the same underdog mentality that got the Birds a Super Bowl ring last year. “No one likes us, we don’t care” was the rallying cry then, but this year it’s more, “No one thinks we have a prayer, and we probably don’t, but we’re gonna at least go down swinging.” Maybe we can get that on a T-shirt.

I’ve been totally unenthusiastic about this team and actually mostly ambivalent over the past three or four weeks, so I won’t flip flop here and tell you how excited I am going forward. That would be the Skip Bayless thing to do, to just hop back on the bandwagon. I’m still skeptical that a banged-up Eagles team does much of anything in the playoffs, but at least they’ve given themselves a chance at 9-7 and a postseason return after slogging through a mostly miserable title defense in 2018.

1) Nick “The Franchise” Foles

He gets the ball out quicker than Carson does. That’s the big difference. Nick glides through his progressions and takes what the defense gives him. He’ll stand in the pocket and take a hit while Carson is more inclined to extend a play and try to make something happen in that fashion.

It’s not to say that Nick is better than Carson, because I don’t think he is. I think they are both pretty damn good when they’re on their game. Statistically, Foles finished 24 for 31 for 270 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception. last night and the Eagles’ offense was a meager 4-13 on third down. Wendell Smallwood and Josh Adams and Jake Elliott did the scoring.

The difference between healthy Foles and injured Carson is that healthy Foles was able to stay ahead of the chains with smart and simple plays on first and second down. He had first down conversions on 2nd and 10 and 2nd and 7 on first half scoring drives. He hit Golden Tate for 11 yards on a 2nd and 10 in the third quarter. There were only nine passing third down conversions last night, but Nick made them count and really did a nice job averting the dreaded three and out.

The only two horrendous passes I saw were the interception at the goal line and a risky screen that he probably should have thrown into the ground, but he was otherwise solid.

I wrote a story last week called “Throwing the Football Down the Field” and went through Carson’s last three game charts to find that he was 2-8 in completed passes of 20 or more yards against the Giants, Redskins, and Cowboys.

Last night, Nick was 3-5 in this category, all of which came down the right side of the field and took advantage of Alshon Jeffery’s ability to grab the ball in traffic:

That really was important, those deep shots. Carson was barely throwing those, and I wonder if the back injury was affecting his ability to step into those throws, or if the torque of the motion made those shots outside the hashmarks painful to even execute.

At the end of the day, Nick has one touchdown and two interceptions in three games this season. I don’t think he “won the game” for the Eagles last night, as some people are saying this morning, but he was steady last night, he kept the offense on the field, he got different receivers involved, and he picked and chose his spots really well.

2) Play calling

With Nick in the game, I was obviously very interested in how Doug decided to use him. Simplified game plan? Different sets?

Here’s what I wrote down for called plays:

Shotgun – run: 21

Shotgun – pass: 30

Under center – run: 6

Under center – pass: 2

I have it as a 32 to 27 pass/run split. The box score has it as a 33/28 split, so I must have missed one in there. Maybe I was on the toilet. Also, I’d have to go back and watch the entire film to see how many RPOs Doug called, since it’s nearly impossible to watch every blocking scheme in real time. Let’s just pretend this is a Quinnipiac poll with a +3 or -3 margin of error in called runs and called passes.

Either way, that’s a really nice balance, about 54% passing and 46% running. If you want to take away the final three run plays on the clock-killing final drive, you still get a 57% to 43% mix, which is a lot better than what Doug usually winds up with.

A couple of other play notes here:

QB scrambles: 2

Draw plays: 1

running back screens: 3

wide receiver screens: 3

They had two screen looks to Alshon and still tried a few RB screens even with Corey Clement not available. Doug ran 17 straight shotgun plays before trying to go under center, and Jason Peters false started on that first attempt. They finished with about 86% of their plays coming out of the shotgun and 14% coming from under center, which is not dissimilar from what they did with Carson this year.

3) Big boy blocking

Truthfully, I hated the play call on the Adams touchdown run. You’re gonna run behind Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert?

It ended up being the best bit of blocking either guy has shown all year:

Goedert gets the first block and Ertz follows him through the hole to reach the second level. Adams squirts right through while Marcus Peters shows absolutely no interest in making a tackle at all.

Great blocking, exhibit B:

Do not let Russ see Jason Peters opening up a gaping hole, a hole that your grandmother could walk through.

Goedert is in there again, go figure.

One more play, featuring…. guess who? –

The offensive line was excellent last night. This wasn’t a game where the running backs were gashing the Rams for huge chunks of yards, but the red zone blocking was just elite, well-executed stuff.

4) Guys stepping up

Big games from all of these dudes:

Wendell Smallwood: 10 carries, 48 yards, 2 touchdowns

Avonte Maddox: started at outside corner, had a 2nd quarter interception, two pass break-ups and quality coverage on the game’s final play

Cre’Von LeBlanc: he was “flying around” out there

Rasul Douglas: putting big hits on people

D.J. Alexander: big fumble recovery on special teams

Raise your hand if you had those five guys making contributions to the win.

.

.

.

Yep, me neither.

Both lines were fantastic on the evening. Jeffery had his best game of the year. Zach Ertz still had seven targets despite the “reduced” role and Tate had some chunky yardage pickups, too.

5) Blitz me

Jim Schwartz called a really nice game. He pressured Jared Goff, who predictably folded like a soft California guy.

On the final play, Schwartz brought both linebackers and left his five defensive backs in man-to-man deep coverage:

I look at that play again and see Nate Gerry turn around to say something to Malcolm Jenkins. I wonder if that was a miscommunication or just a good sell job, because Gerry comes on a delayed blitz and I think that forces Goff to get rid of the ball a little bit earlier than he wanted to. Either way, I thought it was a pretty gutsy call to send six guys instead of just dropping 7 or 8 into coverage.

Well done, Jim Schwartz.

6) Officiating

After last week’s debacle, I’ve decided to make this a recurring entry in the column. This will continue through the rest of the season and into next year.

We had a rare “grasping the helmet opening” call on the second Eagles drive that moved the sticks on third down. Marcus Peters didn’t think it was a penalty, but replay shows he had a hand inside Smallwood’s dome. Good pickup by the ref there, leading to a key conversion.

I didn’t think the Aaron Donald hit on Foles was a roughing the QB penalty. He did get him high, sure, but he didn’t strike him in the head and he didn’t exactly follow through or bring him to the ground. Looked like he got him across the shoulder.

I thought the Eagles also got a generous spot on the third down conversion just before halftime, the 3rd and 2 to Dallas Goedert that resulted in a touchdown. Eagles fans would be complaining if the other team got this spot:

Thankfully the two key review plays were correct. That was the fake punt catch that was overturned and the Rasul Douglas goal line tackle that ultimately didn’t mean too much. I’m just happy we didn’t get a huge outrageous controversy this time around, so praise the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven for that.

7) The peripherals

Here we go:

won time of possession battle, 32 to 28 minutes

+2 turnover margin

4-13 on third down (30.7%)

0-1 on fourth down

allowed LA to go 4-12 on third down (33%)

lost 0 yards on 0 sacks

3-5 success rate in red zone

six penalties for 49 yards

That’s much more like the 2017 Eagles. They won the TOP on the strength of that +2 turnover margin. The defense really did a nice job of limiting third down conversions after allowing Dallas to go 10-19 for 52% last week. Zero sacks against that Rams line is excellent, and six penalties for 49 yards is more than manageable.

Good stuff all around.

8) Doug’s best call?

I liked 3rd and 4 draw play with Sproles on the first drive. LA wasn’t expecting that.

I also agreed with the decision to kick the field goal at about the four minute mark in the third quarter. Take the points, keep the momentum on the road, and make it a two-score game.

I honestly also did not have a problem with the 53-yard field goal try in the fourth quarter. That’s aggressive Doug. That’s the Doug we want, right? If Elliott hits that kick, the game is over. Shrug.

9) Doug’s worst call?

I didn’t have any issue with him going for it on 4th down near midfield in the first half, but the play call was what? Josh Adams out of the shotgun? The 3rd down play got you into 4th and short, and that’s what you come up with? And you do it with a guy who had left the game earlier with a head injury?

That was a weird one. Doug is good for at least one of those per game.

The only other play that kind of bothered me was the decision to run Sproles on 3rd and 8 in the fourth quarter. He almost converted, but that offensive series felt a little passive to me with about eight minutes on the clock and a 14-point lead. This game didn’t have to come down to the final play, but the Eagles half-bottled it on both sides of the field.

10) Awful announcing

How ’bout that Fresh Prince clip to start off the broadcast? Everybody hated it, but whatever, at least it wasn’t a shot of a cheesesteak or the Liberty Bell.

And how ’bout Cris Collinsworth doing his Sunday night slide in from the left side instead of the right?

#CollinsworthSlide Audible!

pic.twitter.com/zKl0ALKo8v

— SNF on NBC (@SNFonNBC) December 17, 2018

“Now here’s a guy…”

That threw me for a loop. Collinsworth always slides in from the right. Cheeky stuff right there.

Couple of other random notes from the broadcast:

Norristown native Tommy Lasorda looks pretty good for age 91

I prefer Terry McAuley to Dean Blandino and Mike Perreira.

I cringed when Collinsworth said, “All that’s missing now is the Rocky music.“

Al Michaels still seems somewhat bored to me. I think he’s ready to retire.

That’s it. Happy Monday.

The post A Hollywood Moment – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 30, Rams 23 appeared first on Crossing Broad.

A Hollywood Moment – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 30, Rams 23 published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[flauntpage]

A Hollywood Moment – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 30, Rams 23

Turns out a healthy Nick Foles is better than an injured Carson Wentz.

Shocking, I know.

That should really be the extent of the “Foles vs. Wentz” argument that will stink up social media and sports radio this week. One guy is healthy, one guy is not. THEREFORE – at this current moment in time, I’m gonna roll with the healthy Super Bowl MVP. It seems pretty straightforward to me, but unfortunately we’re just gonna have to deal with the frothy nothing-burger quarrels for the next seven days.

I’ll tell ya what; that was the first Eagles game I enjoyed watching this year, at least for three quarters. They moved the ball up and down the field, they played aggressive and nasty defense, and I swear I saw glimpses of the 2017 squad out there.

This, of course, begs the question –

Where was this Eagles team against the Buccaneers, Titans, Vikings, Panthers, Cowboys, Saints, and Cowboys?

Surely the quarterback change was not the sole catalyst for the win, right? Nick Foles did play the first two games this season, and he wasn’t exactly Joe Montana against the Falcons or Bucs. The banged-up defense was lights out for 3+ quarters last night as guys like Avonte Maddox and Cre’Von LeBlanc made big plays. Did they miraculously transform into legitimate NFL starters overnight?

Gut feeling: the Eagles still believed in themselves while the Rams believed they were going to trash a 6-7 team in a rebound game coming off a bad loss. It’s the same underdog mentality that got the Birds a Super Bowl ring last year. “No one likes us, we don’t care” was the rallying cry then, but this year it’s more, “No one thinks we have a prayer, and we probably don’t, but we’re gonna at least go down swinging.” Maybe we can get that on a T-shirt.

I’ve been totally unenthusiastic about this team and actually mostly ambivalent over the past three or four weeks, so I won’t flip flop here and tell you how excited I am going forward. That would be the Skip Bayless thing to do, to just hop back on the bandwagon. I’m still skeptical that a banged-up Eagles team does much of anything in the playoffs, but at least they’ve given themselves a chance at 9-7 and a postseason return after slogging through a mostly miserable title defense in 2018.

1) Nick “The Franchise” Foles

He gets the ball out quicker than Carson does. That’s the big difference. Nick glides through his progressions and takes what the defense gives him. He’ll stand in the pocket and take a hit while Carson is more inclined to extend a play and try to make something happen in that fashion.

It’s not to say that Nick is better than Carson, because I don’t think he is. I think they are both pretty damn good when they’re on their game. Statistically, Foles finished 24 for 31 for 270 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception. last night and the Eagles’ offense was a meager 4-13 on third down. Wendell Smallwood and Josh Adams and Jake Elliott did the scoring.

The difference between healthy Foles and injured Carson is that healthy Foles was able to stay ahead of the chains with smart and simple plays on first and second down. He had first down conversions on 2nd and 10 and 2nd and 7 on first half scoring drives. He hit Golden Tate for 11 yards on a 2nd and 10 in the third quarter. There were only nine passing third down conversions last night, but Nick made them count and really did a nice job averting the dreaded three and out.

The only two horrendous passes I saw were the interception at the goal line and a risky screen that he probably should have thrown into the ground, but he was otherwise solid.

I wrote a story last week called “Throwing the Football Down the Field” and went through Carson’s last three game charts to find that he was 2-8 in completed passes of 20 or more yards against the Giants, Redskins, and Cowboys.

Last night, Nick was 3-5 in this category, all of which came down the right side of the field and took advantage of Alshon Jeffery’s ability to grab the ball in traffic:

That really was important, those deep shots. Carson was barely throwing those, and I wonder if the back injury was affecting his ability to step into those throws, or if the torque of the motion made those shots outside the hashmarks painful to even execute.

At the end of the day, Nick has one touchdown and two interceptions in three games this season. I don’t think he “won the game” for the Eagles last night, as some people are saying this morning, but he was steady last night, he kept the offense on the field, he got different receivers involved, and he picked and chose his spots really well.

2) Play calling

With Nick in the game, I was obviously very interested in how Doug decided to use him. Simplified game plan? Different sets?

Here’s what I wrote down for called plays:

Shotgun – run: 21

Shotgun – pass: 30

Under center – run: 6

Under center – pass: 2

I have it as a 32 to 27 pass/run split. The box score has it as a 33/28 split, so I must have missed one in there. Maybe I was on the toilet. Also, I’d have to go back and watch the entire film to see how many RPOs Doug called, since it’s nearly impossible to watch every blocking scheme in real time. Let’s just pretend this is a Quinnipiac poll with a +3 or -3 margin of error in called runs and called passes.

Either way, that’s a really nice balance, about 54% passing and 46% running. If you want to take away the final three run plays on the clock-killing final drive, you still get a 57% to 43% mix, which is a lot better than what Doug usually winds up with.

A couple of other play notes here:

QB scrambles: 2

Draw plays: 1

running back screens: 3

wide receiver screens: 3

They had two screen looks to Alshon and still tried a few RB screens even with Corey Clement not available. Doug ran 17 straight shotgun plays before trying to go under center, and Jason Peters false started on that first attempt. They finished with about 86% of their plays coming out of the shotgun and 14% coming from under center, which is not dissimilar from what they did with Carson this year.

3) Big boy blocking

Truthfully, I hated the play call on the Adams touchdown run. You’re gonna run behind Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert?

It ended up being the best bit of blocking either guy has shown all year:

Goedert gets the first block and Ertz follows him through the hole to reach the second level. Adams squirts right through while Marcus Peters shows absolutely no interest in making a tackle at all.

Great blocking, exhibit B:

Do not let Russ see Jason Peters opening up a gaping hole, a hole that your grandmother could walk through.

Goedert is in there again, go figure.

One more play, featuring…. guess who? –

The offensive line was excellent last night. This wasn’t a game where the running backs were gashing the Rams for huge chunks of yards, but the red zone blocking was just elite, well-executed stuff.

4) Guys stepping up

Big games from all of these dudes:

Wendell Smallwood: 10 carries, 48 yards, 2 touchdowns

Avonte Maddox: started at outside corner, had a 2nd quarter interception, two pass break-ups and quality coverage on the game’s final play

Cre’Von LeBlanc: he was “flying around” out there

Rasul Douglas: putting big hits on people

D.J. Alexander: big fumble recovery on special teams

Raise your hand if you had those five guys making contributions to the win.

.

.

.

Yep, me neither.

Both lines were fantastic on the evening. Jeffery had his best game of the year. Zach Ertz still had seven targets despite the “reduced” role and Tate had some chunky yardage pickups, too.

5) Blitz me

Jim Schwartz called a really nice game. He pressured Jared Goff, who predictably folded like a soft California guy.

On the final play, Schwartz brought both linebackers and left his five defensive backs in man-to-man deep coverage:

I look at that play again and see Nate Gerry turn around to say something to Malcolm Jenkins. I wonder if that was a miscommunication or just a good sell job, because Gerry comes on a delayed blitz and I think that forces Goff to get rid of the ball a little bit earlier than he wanted to. Either way, I thought it was a pretty gutsy call to send six guys instead of just dropping 7 or 8 into coverage.

Well done, Jim Schwartz.

6) Officiating

After last week’s debacle, I’ve decided to make this a recurring entry in the column. This will continue through the rest of the season and into next year.

We had a rare “grasping the helmet opening” call on the second Eagles drive that moved the sticks on third down. Marcus Peters didn’t think it was a penalty, but replay shows he had a hand inside Smallwood’s dome. Good pickup by the ref there, leading to a key conversion.

I didn’t think the Aaron Donald hit on Foles was a roughing the QB penalty. He did get him high, sure, but he didn’t strike him in the head and he didn’t exactly follow through or bring him to the ground. Looked like he got him across the shoulder.

I thought the Eagles also got a generous spot on the third down conversion just before halftime, the 3rd and 2 to Dallas Goedert that resulted in a touchdown. Eagles fans would be complaining if the other team got this spot:

Thankfully the two key review plays were correct. That was the fake punt catch that was overturned and the Rasul Douglas goal line tackle that ultimately didn’t mean too much. I’m just happy we didn’t get a huge outrageous controversy this time around, so praise the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven for that.

7) The peripherals

Here we go:

won time of possession battle, 32 to 28 minutes

+2 turnover margin

4-13 on third down (30.7%)

0-1 on fourth down

allowed LA to go 4-12 on third down (33%)

lost 0 yards on 0 sacks

3-5 success rate in red zone

six penalties for 49 yards

That’s much more like the 2017 Eagles. They won the TOP on the strength of that +2 turnover margin. The defense really did a nice job of limiting third down conversions after allowing Dallas to go 10-19 for 52% last week. Zero sacks against that Rams line is excellent, and six penalties for 49 yards is more than manageable.

Good stuff all around.

8) Doug’s best call?

I liked 3rd and 4 draw play with Sproles on the first drive. LA wasn’t expecting that.

I also agreed with the decision to kick the field goal at about the four minute mark in the third quarter. Take the points, keep the momentum on the road, and make it a two-score game.

I honestly also did not have a problem with the 53-yard field goal try in the fourth quarter. That’s aggressive Doug. That’s the Doug we want, right? If Elliott hits that kick, the game is over. Shrug.

9) Doug’s worst call?

I didn’t have any issue with him going for it on 4th down near midfield in the first half, but the play call was what? Josh Adams out of the shotgun? The 3rd down play got you into 4th and short, and that’s what you come up with? And you do it with a guy who had left the game earlier with a head injury?

That was a weird one. Doug is good for at least one of those per game.

The only other play that kind of bothered me was the decision to run Sproles on 3rd and 8 in the fourth quarter. He almost converted, but that offensive series felt a little passive to me with about eight minutes on the clock and a 14-point lead. This game didn’t have to come down to the final play, but the Eagles half-bottled it on both sides of the field.

10) Awful announcing

How ’bout that Fresh Prince clip to start off the broadcast? Everybody hated it, but whatever, at least it wasn’t a shot of a cheesesteak or the Liberty Bell.

And how ’bout Cris Collinsworth doing his Sunday night slide in from the left side instead of the right?

#CollinsworthSlide Audible!

pic.twitter.com/zKl0ALKo8v

— SNF on NBC (@SNFonNBC) December 17, 2018

“Now here’s a guy…”

That threw me for a loop. Collinsworth always slides in from the right. Cheeky stuff right there.

Couple of other random notes from the broadcast:

Norristown native Tommy Lasorda looks pretty good for age 91

I prefer Terry McAuley to Dean Blandino and Mike Perreira.

I cringed when Collinsworth said, “All that’s missing now is the Rocky music.“

Al Michaels still seems somewhat bored to me. I think he’s ready to retire.

That’s it. Happy Monday.

The post A Hollywood Moment – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 30, Rams 23 appeared first on Crossing Broad.

A Hollywood Moment – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 30, Rams 23 published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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A Hollywood Moment – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 30, Rams 23

Turns out a healthy Nick Foles is better than an injured Carson Wentz.

Shocking, I know.

That should really be the extent of the “Foles vs. Wentz” argument that will stink up social media and sports radio this week. One guy is healthy, one guy is not. THEREFORE – at this current moment in time, I’m gonna roll with the healthy Super Bowl MVP. It seems pretty straightforward to me, but unfortunately we’re just gonna have to deal with the frothy nothing-burger quarrels for the next seven days.

I’ll tell ya what; that was the first Eagles game I enjoyed watching this year, at least for three quarters. They moved the ball up and down the field, they played aggressive and nasty defense, and I swear I saw glimpses of the 2017 squad out there.

This, of course, begs the question –

Where was this Eagles team against the Buccaneers, Titans, Vikings, Panthers, Cowboys, Saints, and Cowboys?

Surely the quarterback change was not the sole catalyst for the win, right? Nick Foles did play the first two games this season, and he wasn’t exactly Joe Montana against the Falcons or Bucs. The banged-up defense was lights out for 3+ quarters last night as guys like Avonte Maddox and Cre’Von LeBlanc made big plays. Did they miraculously transform into legitimate NFL starters overnight?

Gut feeling: the Eagles still believed in themselves while the Rams believed they were going to trash a 6-7 team in a rebound game coming off a bad loss. It’s the same underdog mentality that got the Birds a Super Bowl ring last year. “No one likes us, we don’t care” was the rallying cry then, but this year it’s more, “No one thinks we have a prayer, and we probably don’t, but we’re gonna at least go down swinging.” Maybe we can get that on a T-shirt.

I’ve been totally unenthusiastic about this team and actually mostly ambivalent over the past three or four weeks, so I won’t flip flop here and tell you how excited I am going forward. That would be the Skip Bayless thing to do, to just hop back on the bandwagon. I’m still skeptical that a banged-up Eagles team does much of anything in the playoffs, but at least they’ve given themselves a chance at 9-7 and a postseason return after slogging through a mostly miserable title defense in 2018.

1) Nick “The Franchise” Foles

He gets the ball out quicker than Carson does. That’s the big difference. Nick glides through his progressions and takes what the defense gives him. He’ll stand in the pocket and take a hit while Carson is more inclined to extend a play and try to make something happen in that fashion.

It’s not to say that Nick is better than Carson, because I don’t think he is. I think they are both pretty damn good when they’re on their game. Statistically, Foles finished 24 for 31 for 270 yards, zero touchdowns and an interception. last night and the Eagles’ offense was a meager 4-13 on third down. Wendell Smallwood and Josh Adams and Jake Elliott did the scoring.

The difference between healthy Foles and injured Carson is that healthy Foles was able to stay ahead of the chains with smart and simple plays on first and second down. He had first down conversions on 2nd and 10 and 2nd and 7 on first half scoring drives. He hit Golden Tate for 11 yards on a 2nd and 10 in the third quarter. There were only nine passing third down conversions last night, but Nick made them count and really did a nice job averting the dreaded three and out.

The only two horrendous passes I saw were the interception at the goal line and a risky screen that he probably should have thrown into the ground, but he was otherwise solid.

I wrote a story last week called “Throwing the Football Down the Field” and went through Carson’s last three game charts to find that he was 2-8 in completed passes of 20 or more yards against the Giants, Redskins, and Cowboys.

Last night, Nick was 3-5 in this category, all of which came down the right side of the field and took advantage of Alshon Jeffery’s ability to grab the ball in traffic:

That really was important, those deep shots. Carson was barely throwing those, and I wonder if the back injury was affecting his ability to step into those throws, or if the torque of the motion made those shots outside the hashmarks painful to even execute.

At the end of the day, Nick has one touchdown and two interceptions in three games this season. I don’t think he “won the game” for the Eagles last night, as some people are saying this morning, but he was steady last night, he kept the offense on the field, he got different receivers involved, and he picked and chose his spots really well.

2) Play calling

With Nick in the game, I was obviously very interested in how Doug decided to use him. Simplified game plan? Different sets?

Here’s what I wrote down for called plays:

Shotgun – run: 21

Shotgun – pass: 30

Under center – run: 6

Under center – pass: 2

I have it as a 32 to 27 pass/run split. The box score has it as a 33/28 split, so I must have missed one in there. Maybe I was on the toilet. Also, I’d have to go back and watch the entire film to see how many RPOs Doug called, since it’s nearly impossible to watch every blocking scheme in real time. Let’s just pretend this is a Quinnipiac poll with a +3 or -3 margin of error in called runs and called passes.

Either way, that’s a really nice balance, about 54% passing and 46% running. If you want to take away the final three run plays on the clock-killing final drive, you still get a 57% to 43% mix, which is a lot better than what Doug usually winds up with.

A couple of other play notes here:

QB scrambles: 2

Draw plays: 1

running back screens: 3

wide receiver screens: 3

They had two screen looks to Alshon and still tried a few RB screens even with Corey Clement not available. Doug ran 17 straight shotgun plays before trying to go under center, and Jason Peters false started on that first attempt. They finished with about 86% of their plays coming out of the shotgun and 14% coming from under center, which is not dissimilar from what they did with Carson this year.

3) Big boy blocking

Truthfully, I hated the play call on the Adams touchdown run. You’re gonna run behind Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert?

It ended up being the best bit of blocking either guy has shown all year:

Goedert gets the first block and Ertz follows him through the hole to reach the second level. Adams squirts right through while Marcus Peters shows absolutely no interest in making a tackle at all.

Great blocking, exhibit B:

Do not let Russ see Jason Peters opening up a gaping hole, a hole that your grandmother could walk through.

Goedert is in there again, go figure.

One more play, featuring…. guess who? –

The offensive line was excellent last night. This wasn’t a game where the running backs were gashing the Rams for huge chunks of yards, but the red zone blocking was just elite, well-executed stuff.

4) Guys stepping up

Big games from all of these dudes:

Wendell Smallwood: 10 carries, 48 yards, 2 touchdowns

Avonte Maddox: started at outside corner, had a 2nd quarter interception, two pass break-ups and quality coverage on the game’s final play

Cre’Von LeBlanc: he was “flying around” out there

Rasul Douglas: putting big hits on people

D.J. Alexander: big fumble recovery on special teams

Raise your hand if you had those five guys making contributions to the win.

.

.

.

Yep, me neither.

Both lines were fantastic on the evening. Jeffery had his best game of the year. Zach Ertz still had seven targets despite the “reduced” role and Tate had some chunky yardage pickups, too.

5) Blitz me

Jim Schwartz called a really nice game. He pressured Jared Goff, who predictably folded like a soft California guy.

On the final play, Schwartz brought both linebackers and left his five defensive backs in man-to-man deep coverage:

I look at that play again and see Nate Gerry turn around to say something to Malcolm Jenkins. I wonder if that was a miscommunication or just a good sell job, because Gerry comes on a delayed blitz and I think that forces Goff to get rid of the ball a little bit earlier than he wanted to. Either way, I thought it was a pretty gutsy call to send six guys instead of just dropping 7 or 8 into coverage.

Well done, Jim Schwartz.

6) Officiating

After last week’s debacle, I’ve decided to make this a recurring entry in the column. This will continue through the rest of the season and into next year.

We had a rare “grasping the helmet opening” call on the second Eagles drive that moved the sticks on third down. Marcus Peters didn’t think it was a penalty, but replay shows he had a hand inside Smallwood’s dome. Good pickup by the ref there, leading to a key conversion.

I didn’t think the Aaron Donald hit on Foles was a roughing the QB penalty. He did get him high, sure, but he didn’t strike him in the head and he didn’t exactly follow through or bring him to the ground. Looked like he got him across the shoulder.

I thought the Eagles also got a generous spot on the third down conversion just before halftime, the 3rd and 2 to Dallas Goedert that resulted in a touchdown. Eagles fans would be complaining if the other team got this spot:

Thankfully the two key review plays were correct. That was the fake punt catch that was overturned and the Rasul Douglas goal line tackle that ultimately didn’t mean too much. I’m just happy we didn’t get a huge outrageous controversy this time around, so praise the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven for that.

7) The peripherals

Here we go:

won time of possession battle, 32 to 28 minutes

+2 turnover margin

4-13 on third down (30.7%)

0-1 on fourth down

allowed LA to go 4-12 on third down (33%)

lost 0 yards on 0 sacks

3-5 success rate in red zone

six penalties for 49 yards

That’s much more like the 2017 Eagles. They won the TOP on the strength of that +2 turnover margin. The defense really did a nice job of limiting third down conversions after allowing Dallas to go 10-19 for 52% last week. Zero sacks against that Rams line is excellent, and six penalties for 49 yards is more than manageable.

Good stuff all around.

8) Doug’s best call?

I liked 3rd and 4 draw play with Sproles on the first drive. LA wasn’t expecting that.

I also agreed with the decision to kick the field goal at about the four minute mark in the third quarter. Take the points, keep the momentum on the road, and make it a two-score game.

I honestly also did not have a problem with the 53-yard field goal try in the fourth quarter. That’s aggressive Doug. That’s the Doug we want, right? If Elliott hits that kick, the game is over. Shrug.

9) Doug’s worst call?

I didn’t have any issue with him going for it on 4th down near midfield in the first half, but the play call was what? Josh Adams out of the shotgun? The 3rd down play got you into 4th and short, and that’s what you come up with? And you do it with a guy who had left the game earlier with a head injury?

That was a weird one. Doug is good for at least one of those per game.

The only other play that kind of bothered me was the decision to run Sproles on 3rd and 8 in the fourth quarter. He almost converted, but that offensive series felt a little passive to me with about eight minutes on the clock and a 14-point lead. This game didn’t have to come down to the final play, but the Eagles half-bottled it on both sides of the field.

10) Awful announcing

How ’bout that Fresh Prince clip to start off the broadcast? Everybody hated it, but whatever, at least it wasn’t a shot of a cheesesteak or the Liberty Bell.

And how ’bout Cris Collinsworth doing his Sunday night slide in from the left side instead of the right?

#CollinsworthSlide Audible!

pic.twitter.com/zKl0ALKo8v

— SNF on NBC (@SNFonNBC) December 17, 2018

“Now here’s a guy…”

That threw me for a loop. Collinsworth always slides in from the right. Cheeky stuff right there.

Couple of other random notes from the broadcast:

Norristown native Tommy Lasorda looks pretty good for age 91

I prefer Terry McAuley to Dean Blandino and Mike Perreira.

I cringed when Collinsworth said, “All that’s missing now is the Rocky music.“

Al Michaels still seems somewhat bored to me. I think he’s ready to retire.

That’s it. Happy Monday.

The post A Hollywood Moment – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 30, Rams 23 appeared first on Crossing Broad.

A Hollywood Moment – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 30, Rams 23 published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/