#Not his fault the rookie class this year is mid

[mercuriallworld]

i can't even tweetsearch matty beniers cause so much of it is all the other fandoms being bitter that he's winning the calder

[inurnctdreams]

dress - m.l

idol!mark x idol fem!reader

genre: fluff, suggestive, established relationship, one shot, song fic (maybe?? i wouldn’t class it as one but there are references to lyrics and the song inspired the fic so??)

warnings: swearing, very suggestive (grinding, making out, over the clothes stuff but no explicit sex), alcohol, mentions of being tipsy/drunk (mark and reader have been drinking but everything is consensual), pet names (baby, babe, pretty girl, mine/yours, dude (affectionate)), mdni

wc: 3.1k

notes: this entire thing stemmed from this gifset that gave me mark brainrot and made me think of the song dress by taylor swift

you’re pretty sure you’re supposed to be paying attention to the conversation happening in front of you right now. one of the executives for mbc… or was it kbs? whoever it was, they were important in the industry and they were talking at you and your group mates about your latest comeback stage… or maybe next year’s end of year concert that was already in the planning stages? you’d kind of stopped listening about five minutes ago. and it wasn’t your fault, really. you took your career seriously and wouldn’t dream of disrespecting anyone who was showing interest in your group by ignoring them usually, but you’d heard zhong chenle’s signature dolphin laugh across the room and that had been it. he’s here.

it would obviously be absolutely, outrageously scandalous for you to take off mid conversation, make a beeline for the group that had walked in and greet him like you want to. you have some modicum of self control and societal responsibility. and it isn’t a surprise, you knew he’d be here, you’d even gotten updates via text with a rough estimate of when he’d walk in. but you haven’t seen him in person in over three weeks and you’ve been looking forward to this night since the last time he’d kissed you goodbye at your door before sneaking back out of your dorm building to his car. 3am on a tuesday morning had turned out to be the only time the both of you were in the same city and without obligations in months. comebacks, tours, interviews. both of your lives were so hectic, it was difficult enough to get a moment to yourself to breathe, let alone together. now he’s here, in the same room as you, and you can’t do anything about it. the anticipation is killing you.

it hadn’t stopped you from pausing mid sentence when you’d registered his presence, though. disguising it with a cough and a modest apology, you’d finished your words and promptly stopped contributing to the conversation. smiling politely with your best poker face on as you tuned out of whatever was being discussed further and listened out across the room for any sign of him. chenle’s laugh is infectious, so donghyuck’s high pitched giggles soon joined in, audible above the rumble of laughter that had erupted from that corner of the room. but that was it. once the joke had worn off, the usual sounds of casual conversation replaced it, no doubt one of the older members’ doing as they reminded them of their surroundings. the first hour or so of award show after parties tend to be just the thing you’re ignoring: prominent figures in the industry congratulating and backhandedly complimenting idols whilst trying to promote something or take advantage of rookies with less media training by getting them to reveal secrets or agree to things.

once they’ve either gotten what they wanted or given up trying, they make their way out and the real party starts. realising you’re going to get nothing from the indiscernible voices in their direction, you start to work out how long you’ve been here, and how long you have to wait before it won’t be suspicious of you to drag your group over there to greet them. unfortunately, you’re interrupted midway through your mental calculations by something digging into your side. it’s gone before you even register the touch, light and inconspicuous. you glance down momentarily before meeting the eyes of your group mate, amusement dancing in her eyes.

“sorry, i didn’t quite catch that last bit.” your years of experience in the spotlight and exceptional training kick in immediately. you turn back to the middle-aged man in front of you with a practised innocent smile. “what were you saying?”

you smile graciously at the waitress as she hands you a flute of expensive champagne off of the shiny silver tray in her hand. taking a small sip, you school your face into a neutral expression to hide the wince at the acidic taste. you’ve never been much of a fan of the stuff, but it’s always handed out at events so you’ve gotten somewhat used to it in the years you’ve been legally allowed to drink at them. this is your second glass, and yet again you find yourself longing for the boring portion of the night to be over so the alcohol can start flowing more freely. you meet the eyes of your group mate and share a look, she hates champagne too. giggling to yourselves, you almost don’t notice the group of twenty-something boys heading in your direction, led by taeyong.

you’re immediately at full attention, straightening up from the pillar you’d been leaning against and placing your half full champagne flute on the nearest surface as you grin at your friends approaching. it’s almost comical, how the amount of people surrounding you in that moment feels like you’re looking for him in a crowd rather than just among his own group members. but then yuta moves to say hi to your group mate and there he is. god, he looks heavenly. the all black ensemble complimented by silver jewellery, his artfully tousled hair, the hint of gloss that have his lips looking so shiny and kissable it’s taking all of your entire being not to ravish him right here and now in the middle of this crowded room. not that he needs any of it to start up the roaring of butterflies in your stomach or trigger the giddy high you’re feeling. no, mark lee makes you feel like this every time he looks at you. barefaced, old t-shirt and glasses on with a hint of stubble starting to grow in as you sit next to him in the studio. bleary eyed, half asleep and hair sticking up as your phone alarm goes off on his bedside table. hoodie, snapback and face mask hiding most of his face as he slips into your practise room and catches your gaze in the mirror.

“y/n.” and everything just stops. the rest of the room falls away, the roar of conversation as your groups say hi is silenced, all you can see, hear, feel is him. the way he looks you up and down appreciatively that still makes your heart flutter despite it happening every time he sees you. he just has this way of making you feel like you’re the only one his attention would ever be captured by.

“hi, mark.” there’s a smile on your face, and you’re trying to make it your usual polite idol, public appearance smile, but really you have no control and you can feel the corners of your mouth turning up further against your will. you think that if you looked, his would be similar, probably that mischievous half-smirk he does that makes his dimple appear. and you love his dimple, but you’re currently captivated by the lovestruck look in his eyes. in that moment, you’re thankful you’d put your glass down because you would’ve dropped it. your hands shake as you force yourself to hold back from him. your groups are publicly very good friends, having known each other as trainees and debuting within a year of each other. you and mark have been best friends for years, and that’s all it was until the mutual pining hit its peak. there was something so beautiful about being in love with your best friend, with someone who understood how demanding your career was and already knew everything about you and who was still your best friend alongside being your boyfriend. around you, the rest of nct are giving your group mates half-hugs or shoulder nudges, but you don’t move to touch him, knowing you won’t let go if you initiate physical contact.

“y/n!” johnny rips you from your bubble. you have no idea how long you and mark were stood there, staring into each other’s eyes with that look on your faces, but it must’ve been long enough if someone’s intervened. the older idol pulls you into a short hug, but not before leaning down to murmur in your ear. “we know you guys are like, sickeningly in love, but would it kill you to not make it super obvious while there’s still cameras everywhere?”

oops.

“mark!” you whisper. or at least you hope you do, you’re pretty tipsy by this point in the evening. he just laughs, equally inebriated, and continues pulling you down the empty corridor, fingers intertwined. on a scale of zero to having your relationship exposed by dispatch come morning, sneaking off together a mere forty minutes after the industry execs had left the party is probably a solid deniable accusation. not exactly a great idea, but if anyone found out it wouldn’t be the end of the world, just carefully curated excuses in a statement and an earful from management. the first couple of doors he tries are locked, but third time seems to be the charm as you’re pulled into a room and plunged into darkness when the door clicks shut behind you.

“c’mere baby.” and you let go. all the pressure from being around so many people that could ruin your careers with one article, all the stolen glances across the room, all the secret smiles you share, all the patience that had been slowly wearing thin the longer you were in his proximity but not being able to do anything about it. it’s been been building all evening, and the dam finally breaks.

you practically throw yourself into his arms, winding your own around his neck as his wrap around your middle. he holds you to him so tight it hurts a little, but you’re probably slightly choking him with how strong your own grip is. the initial ‘holy shit you’re here and i can touch you without everyone looking’ moment passes and you both relax slightly. he still holds you close but it’s more grounding and comforting than anything. you bury your face into his neck and just let yourself breathe him in. his scent, the underlying notes of mark and home underneath the fancy cologne. the steady, comforting beat of his pulse against you. his arms are your safe place and being held by him makes everything better, even if just a little. you can’t count the number of times you’ve been exhausted or stressed or upset or scared or angry and all he’s had to do is pull you into him. you’ve cried on him, ranted into his chest and listened to him murmur words of encouragement and reassurance and love into your ear. there’s no other place you’d ever want to be. and even when you couldn’t physically be with him, he’s been there on facetime, or phone call, or over text. you’ve done the same for him without hesitation more times than you can imagine. he’s your person, your best friend, your soulmate, your everything, your one and only, your lifeline. you feel him press firm kisses into your hair and smile against his throat, snuggling into him happily.

“missed you.” you mumble. the alcohol in your system is amplifying the giddy feeling that’s thrumming through your entire being. all semblance of public image and self-control come crumbling down in front of him like always until all that’s left is the unguarded, most raw versions of yourselves laid bare for each other. he squeezes your hips and pulls back a little to look you in the eyes. you’ve adjusted to the darkness enough to make out his facial features and that same unfiltered, pure love is staring back at you from earlier but now he’s unabashedly grinning at you and his cheeks are flushed with happiness (and alcohol). his dimple is out in full force as he giggles right back at you. this is your mark, the one reserved for you and you only.

“fuck, you’re so perfect.” he whispers. “wish we could stay in here forever, just us.”

“i know.” you bite your lip, and his eyes zero in on your mouth. “wait, where even are we?”

“i don’t care.” and just as quickly as the wholesome, lovesick feeling had flooded you, the arousal and want flares up, threatening to consume you the second he grabs your face and claims your lips in a kiss that’s anything but gentle. he walks you both backwards until you’re pressed up against the door, gripping the sides of his jacket both for stability and to satiate the overwhelming need to get your hands on him. you whine against his lips as one of his hands slips into your hair and pulls gently, letting your hands roam under his jacket all over his waist and up his chest until they’re holding his shoulders. you use the leverage to push yourself up onto your tiptoes to match his heated, open-mouth kisses with the same carnal energy. he groans, the sound making you shiver and adding to the warmth pooling in your abdomen. the hand that’s not in your hair drops down to slide around you and grab your hip, pulling you even closer so you’re flush against his body. the need for oxygen is beginning to grow, but you’re addicted to the floaty, lightheaded feeling that comes along with it. it soon becomes too much, though, the both of you breathing heavily as you break away for air, but he wastes no time in leaving a trail of kisses down your jaw and neck, each one hotter and more filthy than the last.

“mark.” you whimper, turning your head to the side to grant him more access to your throat. he nips at your pulse point softly, careful not to leave a visible mark, but it makes you gasp and arch into him further all the same.

“my pretty girl.” he pants against your skin. “all mine.”

“mm-hmm.” you agree. “yours.” and you are, fully and irrevocably his in every sense of the word. you thread your own hands into his hair and pull his face back up to kiss him again. you could spend forever kissing him and never be satisfied, never get bored. it doesn’t matter than you know him better than you know yourself, or that you’ve spent hours in this exact same position with him already. there seems to be this endless need inside you for mark lee that started when you met him. you were kids back then, but you always craved his presence, his attention. over the years it’s developed, but the need for him has never wavered, even after he became yours.

“been thinking about this all night, you look incredible.” he confesses between kisses, both hands dropping from around you to wander under your dress and start caressing your thighs. his touch is electrifying, leaving trails of fire in his wake as he slides his hands up to grab your ass and squeeze it. the subsequent jolt of excitement has you whimpering against him and his grip moves to the crease where your ass and thighs meet. he kneads the soft flesh there sensually before squeezing again, and that’s all the warning you get before he lifts you up and presses you back against the door in one fluid motion without even breaking the kiss. you’re quick to wrap your legs around his waist, ankles crossing against his back. not that you think he’ll drop you, it’s never happened before, you just use the leverage to pull him in until you’re happily trapped between the cold, hard surface of the door and your boyfriend’s warm, inviting body. you both groan as his hips roll into yours. whether it was a result of you pulling him in or an intentional movement on his part is unknown, but the way he bites your lip and grinds his crotch into yours again is definitely not an accident. with you now supporting yourself, he’s free to bring one hand up to your chest, groping at your tits through your dress. his hips haven’t stopped moving, and you can feel the way he’s quickly hardening against your underwear. whilst the sensation is incredible, it snaps you out of the trance you’ve been in.

“babe.” you moan. “mark, baby, we can’t.”

“you mean we shouldn’t.” he smirks.

“no, i mean someone is going to notice we’re gone soon, if they haven’t already, and come looking for us.” you counter. he stops moving and looks up at you, the fog of arousal starting to clear from his expression. he sighs exasperatedly, knowing you’re right.

“fine.” he lowers you back to your feet. you know you both probably no longer resemble the perfect idol look your stylists and hair and makeup artists crafted before you decided to sneak off for a tipsy make out session in one of the back rooms, so you feel around for a light switch. your eyes squeeze shut as the room is flooded with light, blinking a couple times to readjust your vision. a giggle escapes you as you take in how adorably disheveled mark looks, hair tousled, collar rumpled and the pink hue of your lipstick smudged around his lips. although, you’re sure you look pretty similar.

you spend a couple minutes making yourselves look presentable again before you rejoin the party. “i should probably go first, give you a couple of extra minutes to calm down.” you tease, eyeing the tent in his pants.

“i bet if i checked, you’d still be soaking wet for me.” he retorts, eyes darkening slightly, sending a flush of heat straight to your core. he’s not lying. you take a deep breath to compose yourself before opening the door and stepping out into the corridor. you turn back to your boyfriend.

“behave.”

“the rest of this party’s gonna be torture, having to watch you go around looking like that.” he looks you up and down appreciatively again, though this time it’s a lot less innocent. you’re so glad that your schedules have calmed down enough to allow you more time together for the next month or so, the last couple months without being able to see him properly have been rough.

“well you can show me how much you like it when we get back to yours, later.”

“i plan to.”

“good. ‘cause i only bought this dress so you could take it off.” you smirk as the door shuts behind you.

“not helping, dude!” his voice is muffled as you begin walking back towards the party, giggling to yourself as you go. “i hate you!”

“no you don’t!”

[rosewolfs-world]

Colourful

Toshinori x Fem! OC

Warnings: Hallmark cheesiness and tooth-rotting fluff

(GIF credit: devilmanlady)

Part One - Meet Cute...?

☀️ Toshinori is now a rookie hero in California--it’s been three months since he graduated from Yuuei Academy.

💡Hinata is now a Pre-Med student studying in Southern California--she just returned from visiting family in Japan. 

☀️ He had arranged to meet with his new friend (and business partner) at a cafe near the local university. He wasn’t *quite* sure he had the right place, but it wouldn’t hurt to grab a tea and ask around.

💡Jet lag was a Bitch, even 24 hours after the fact. The only thing that could make it worse was back-to-back lab classes on a Monday. At this point, coffee was her only hope of staying alive. 

☀️ It was his fault. He’d been so focused on trying to find David among the flurry of patrons he didn’t realise there was one directly in his path.

💡 It was her fault; there was no denying it. If she hadn’t been so busy with the smell of formaldehyde burning her brain cells, she would have thought to sidestep the brick shithouse blocking her path.  

☀️ 💡 In any case, two worlds collide with the scalding hiss of hot coffee and muffled curses.

💡 “Oh, shit! Sumi--er, sorry about that. God! Here, let me--”

☀️“Oh! Sumimasen deshi--I-I mean, I’m so sorry! Allow me to--”

💡Hinata froze mid-sentence. “Hold up. You--do you speak Japanese?”

☀️ Toshinori paused at the inquiry, unsure whether to feel acknowledged or embarrassed. “Hai?” 

💡A sudden smile bloomed across her warm golden features. “Subarashi! And here I thought I’d only ever heard my home language...well, at home.”

☀️ The young hero soon found himself smiling as well. “Always happy to be of help!” he saluted with two fingers to his temple. 

💡Hinata rolled her eyes and chuckled. “You’re a hero, aren’t you?” 

☀️Toshinori blinked in surprise. “Was it that obvious?”

💡“Not terribly,” Hinata shrugged, reaching for the nearest napkin dispenser. “I grew up in a family of heroes, so I’ve got a knack for picking them out of a crowd.” With a fistful of napkins in each hand, she started to mop up the mess they’d made.

☀️Noticing the action, Toshinori immediately kicked himself into helping. “Is that so?” He queried. “Are you looking to be a hero as well?”

💡Hinata shook her head. “Nah, my quirk isn’t suited for combat. Too stressful. I’d much rather be a healer instead.”

☀️“Like a nurse?” Toshinori asked with a quivering brow.

💡“Doctor, actually.”

☀️“Oh, well, that’s wonderful!” Toshinori hardly batted an eye at her correction. The young woman herself seemed surprised by his behaviour. Her amber eyes blinked at him in a way that somehow reminded him of an owl. “Though, if you were looking for a low-stress job—”

💡Hinata burst into laughter before he could finish the sentence. She honestly surprised herself with how quickly her mood had turned. “Yea, pretty ironic, huh?”

☀️ “Just a tad,” Toshinori chuckled. Having cleaned up their mess to the best of their ability, the young man had a moment to glance over their soiled clothes. His smile soured a little. “I am sorry for bumping into you. I don’t know if—”

💡Hinata followed his gaze to the abstract splash of sepia now decorating her blouse. She couldn’t help heaving a sigh. “It’s alright, nothing my peers haven’t seen before. All of us are usually a mess this early in the semester. Especially on Mondays.”

☀️ “You’re a student?”

💡 “Pre-med, year two—I’m training to be a Doctor, didn’t ya hear?” She teased with a smile.

☀️ Toshinori felt the bridge of his nose burn. He rubbed at his neck a bit sheepishly. “Right, sorry, I’m...not very familiar with the education system here.”

💡 “That’s alright, Hero. If you’re here from Japan, you must be fresh out of a hero academy. Which one are you from, Mister…?”

☀️ “Er, Yagi, Toshinori. I went to Yuuei.”

💡Hinata’s eyes widened. “No way,” when Toshinori tilted his head at her, she was quick to elaborate. “Sorry, it’s not that I don’t believe you!” She waved her hands in front in hasty reassurance. “I’m just surprised. Many of my family went to Yuuei, and it’s not too far from my hometown.”

☀️ “Mustafa?”

💡 “Not quite, just one of the tiny towns outside the city.”

☀️ “Ah, I see. That is quite the coincidence.” Toshinori smiled, slightly intrigued. Now it was the young woman’s turn to rub her neck in embarrassment. 

💡 “Anyways…” Hinata’s eyes briefly trailed down the long stain on his—Yagi-san’s—white T-shirt. Hot damn, this bloke is huge...She shook her head a little. “I’m...sorry about your shirt and the coffee. Let me pay you back. I can buy you another one?”

☀️ The burning of Toshinori’s nose spread like a spark to a flame. “Oh! No, no, it’s alright, Miss...uh….”

💡 “Shimura, Shimura Hinata.—And please, I insist, I feel like an absolute—”

☀️The Young woman—Shimura-san—kept talking. Unbeknownst to her, Toshinori’s brain stalled, short-circuited, and screeched to a motha-fuckin’ halt. Shimura...it can’t be...His mind restarted as quickly as it stopped, cycling through so many possibilities that he didn’t even know where to begin. His eye caught the old clock hanging on the opposite wall. “Er, I suppose I have some time….”

💡 “Subarashi!” Shimura-san chirped with an earnest grin. “So? How do you like your coffee?”

[xiezuo]

Reunion

Prompt : If it were only for you, you would have passed on that high school reunion. You didn’t feel like seeing how well your old acquaintances from your teenage years are doing, while your latest and only addition to your family is the cat you bought last week. But your friend insisted that it would be fun, so you went along with it, not thinking for a single moment about the possibility of reuniting with your (almost) ex-boyfriend from high school for the first time in 7 years.

Fandom & Member : Lee Dongmin | Cha Eunwoo — Astro

Warning(s) : Poorly written Smut, also keep in mind that English is not my first language so please excuse my rookie mistakes

Disclaimer : I am aware of Aroha’s stance on smut about Astro, but I am one of those people who feels like it’s time to stop babying the adult members all the time. If you don’t want to read it, that’s fine. Scroll past it, I respect your opinion on the matter. It’s bad anyway so I wouldn’t advise anyone to read it lmao

Word count : 3,404

“You have to come to this reunion,” she said. “It’ll be fun,” she said. You let out a heavy sigh. Really, it was your fault for listening to her; F/N was your best friend and you loved her, but you knew how she was. She loved to overhype things, something she shared with her boyfriend Bin whom she had met when you guys were in junior high.

High school… it was mostly a faded memory now. It wasn’t exactly an awful experience for you, but you wouldn’t describe it as great either. Nothing really ever happened in your life as a teenager, and aside from F/N and Bin, you didn’t have any close friends you kept contact with all these years. Or that you were particularly eager to meet again, at least none that really came to mind.

You decided to tag along anyway, even if you weren’t really excited about seeing how well everyone else was doing. Not that you weren’t doing great yourself, you had a job you loved and a decent apartment, but you were still single with no kids to brag about like all these other acquaintances from your high school years.

So while your social butterfly of a best friend went off to meet other people you couldn’t even bother to remember the name of, you stood alone at the makeshift bar they installed for the night to give rest to your swollen feet. That’s what you get for wearing heels, apparently. Bin seemed to take pity on you, seeing you alone like that, so while F/N was gushing over whatever happened between her and some random girl in the crowd, he approached you.

“You don’t seem to be enjoying yourself as much as F/N does,” he chuckled, looking over to his girlfriend.

“Big events like this were never really my thing,” you admitted, looking over to the crowd and taking a sip of your drink. “Plus I don’t know anyone well enough here aside from you and F/N. I’d feel awkward going up to people and start chatting when I’m sure they don’t even remember me.”

Bin frowned, pensive. “What about Dongmin ? It’s been a while but I thought you guys were at least close friends, weren’t you ?”

Lee Dongmin. Here’s a name you hadn’t heard in a while. You should’ve expected him here, though, as he had been your class president all the way through high school. Of course he was going to attend. You subconsciously went stiff in your seat.

“We lost contact after he moved away for college. We haven’t talked since.”

“You should go see him. I think I saw him near the entrance not too long ago.”

“I don’t know, Bin. Things were… awkward when we last saw each other.”

Awkward was the word. You and Dongmin almost dated in senior year, but you both felt like a long distance relationship wouldn’t really work out with him moving away so far. You both tried to at least keep in touch for a little while, but as you were both busy with your lives, you stopped talking to each other when college started. You never told anyone about what happened exactly, and it was better that way. To be frank, if Bin hadn’t talked about him, you would’ve never remembered it.

“Well, I want to talk to him,” he exclaimed as he grabbed your arm, pulling you up from your seat. You looked at him confused. “And there’s no way I’m leaving you here sulking by yourself. Come on.”

You tried to protest, but Bin wouldn’t have it and he dragged you along with him through the crowded gymnasium looking for Dongmin somewhere. It wasn’t really difficult to find him, however, as he was surrounded by a group of girls all at least a foot shorter than him. You didn’t get to get a proper glance at him, but you wondered for a moment if he was always this tall when you knew him.

Then you saw his face. Fuck.

Fuck, he was hot. Not that he wasn’t attractive before, but he was a different kind of attractive. The Dongmin you knew was adorable and charming, with soft features that made him look young and innocent. The Dongmin before you looked anything but innocent. The elegant navy blue suit he wore clung to his body like it was tailored just for him — he looked like a successful business man. A really, really attractive successful business man.

You shook your head. It’s been seven years. You guys didn’t even officially date, although you were once close to. He probably didn’t even remember you. He probably had a wife or at least a girlfriend by now. But why was your heart beating so fast ? It was like seeing him in this instant rekindled the crush you once had on him. You felt quite ridiculous, to be honest with yourself.

“Ōi, Dongmin !” Bin called. “Long time no see, man ! You’re so handsome now !”

Dongmin looked up from the group of girls he was talking to to try and see who called him. When he noticed Bin, who was waving at him like an idiot, a smile crept onto his lips and he excused himself to the group of girls before stepping forward towards you and your friend. But he went straight to Bin to hug him as if he never noticed you were there. You couldn’t lie that you felt slightly hurt by that.

“Binnie ! It’s so good to see you ! You look amazing as well, wow.” Dongmin broke off the embrace. “So, what are you—?” And that’s when he noticed you. He stopped mid-sentence and blinked a few times, as if he was trying to figure out if this was a dream or not. “Y/N ? Is that you ?” His voice came out as a whisper, but you managed to catch it over the loud noise surrounding you.

“Well, I guess it’s time for me to leave,” Bin announced, suddenly feeling out of place, but you and Dongmin both ignored him. It was as if time itself had stopped and nothing else didn’t even exist. Your heart was beating so hard it felt as if it could rip out of your chest in an instant.

Hesitantly, Dongmin reached forward and took you into his arms, wrapping them tightly around your back. It took you a few seconds to recover from shock but you eventually hugged him back, and god, it somehow felt so… right. No, no, no, no, time to come back to reality. You couldn’t possibly still be in love with him after seven years. It sounded crazy. It was crazy. But it was also how you felt in this moment.

“Look at you, you’re stunning,” he gasped, stepping away from the hug but still keeping his hands on your upper arms.

“Back at you,” you giggled, trying to shake away the feeling of awkwardness that was threatening to settle between you once you both pulled away. “I— to be frank, I didn’t expect to see you here, but I guess I should’ve because we were in the same year and you were class president but—“

He smiled fondly at you and chuckled at your ramblings. “I’m glad to see you.” Fuck. He was gorgeous. You remembered him to be one of the prettiest people you had ever seen before, but it seems as though he had a glow up from a glow up and for a second you wondered if he was even real. But his light grip on your arm definitely was real. “Listen, I know we left on… awkward terms, but I’m happy I was able to meet you here. You were someone who was once dear to my heart and— I know this sounds crazy because we’re practically strangers now but I feel like we should catch up on all those years we haven’t seen each other.”

You blinked, trying to process the words he was saying. “Yeah ! Yeah, I feel so too, actually.” God, this was really awkward. It felt so surreal you wondered for a second if you were dreaming.

“What do you say we leave this place and walk around the school for a little ? Unless you want to stay here and want to scream out what you’ve been up to for the last seven years,” he joked and offered you his arm, which you took gladly.

You both left the packed gymnasium, your ears ringing from the loud music playing and the sound of people screaming over each other to be able to hear anything. It felt like a breath of fresh air to get out of that place.

“You still don’t like public events that much, I see,” Dongmin remarked. “That’s another thing that hasn’t changed.”

“Another ? What’s the other thing ?”

Dongmin grinned. “Tell me about yourself first. Then I can tell you.”

You raised an eyebrow at him, amused by his playful behaviour. You were glad to see that he hadn’t changed that much since high school, and you were glad. It almost felt as if you never stopped talking all this time.

“Well, I landed a job as a songwriter for this entertainment company called Fantagio, and I love it,” you started, not really knowing where to begin.

“Oh yeah ! I remember you writing lyrics in class instead of paying attention. You never let me read any of them, though.”

Because most of them were about you, you thought, but you couldn’t tell him that. Not after all this time.

“I was insecure about them,” you replied. It technically wasn’t a lie. “But I love my job. I’ve never been really good at singing so I guess that’s my way of connecting with music. What about you ?”

Dongmin hummed. “I graduated from law school 2 years ago. I secured a job at a law firm back in town about six months ago, so I just moved back here. I like it. But I’m planning on becoming a judge someday.”

Still as ambitious as ever, you thought. It was a characteristic you always admired about him, now that you think about it. It’s funny how all those memories you thought you had forgotten suddenly came back to mind just by talking to him.

You stopped walking when you reached the staircase leading to the second floor. Dongmin looked at you and you nodded, following him upstairs. Despite the hallways being dark, so many memories rushed back into mind of your time in this school and despite your time here being really average you couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about all of it.

“What about your love life ?” Dongmin suddenly asked.

“Not much is happening on that field,” you joked. “I’ve been single for the past year or so. You ?”

“To be honest, I haven’t had time,” Dongmin laughed. “I guess I wanted to wait until my life was stable enough.”

“That’s understandable.”

Dongmin stayed silent for a little bit. He took in his surroundings, probably remembering all sorts of things just like you did. Then, the name tag on one of the classroom doors seemed to catch his attention. “Mr Koh’s chemistry class,” he smiled. “I remember all the crazy experiments he showed us to make us think science was cool.”

“I mostly remember his horrible dad jokes and the card tricks he liked to perform at the end of class.”

Dongmin turned the handle, expecting it to be locked, but to yours and his surprise, the door was unlocked. You knew Mr Koh kept all of the hazardous components in a separate room at the back, but you couldn’t help but think it was unusual and also quite irresponsible to leave the door to a science lab unlocked. Dongmin looked at your over his shoulder, waiting for your approval. You weren’t sure about this, but you nodded anyway, and you both entered the room.

Nothing much seemed to have changed since you last came here. You didn’t bother to turn on the lights, afraid someone might catch you because of it, but it was bright enough so you could at least see where you were going. You sat on one of the student desks at the front while Dongmin went straight to the board. He cleared his throat and inhaled sharply, as if he were getting into a role.

“For today’s class, kids, I’ll show you a magic trick called : I know you’re not paying attention to me Ms Y/L/N, this is chemistry not poetry class,” he said in a low voice, trying to imitate Mr Koh. You laughed at how terrible his imitation was. “So you think this is funny, huh ? I’m afraid you’ll have to see me after class. This isn’t like you, Ms Y/L/N.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll do better next time,” you tried to apologize, but your laughter made you break character almost immediately. You went back down on your feet and Dongmin walked up to you, clearly struggling to keep in character as well. He stood in front of you, putting one hand on the table behind you on each side of your hips to try and look threatening, but the proximity of his body to yours only made your heart skip a beat and your breath hitched. You were glad for the darkness because you could definitely feel yourself blushing.

Dongmin’s gaze locked into yours for a moment, as if he were trying to read your thoughts. Without moving away, he lost it and started laughing lightly, unable to take his role seriously. You laughed along with him, forgetting how close your bodies were until the laughter died back down and Dongmin went back to trying to read into your soul.

“I guess I can tell you what the other thing was,” he whispered. You could feel his breath on your skin. “My heart still skips a beat whenever I see you smile.” He didn’t even let you some time to process his words before his lips were on yours, pressed firmly against them but unmoving, before he drew back. You looked him in the eye. You could see a tint of worry peering through the lustful glow in his dark pupils, as if he was scared he had done something wrong. But all of his worries disappeared when you wrapped your arms around his neck and reconnected your lips together in a more passionate kiss.

He pressed his body against yours, the edge of the table digging into your lower back, and intensified the kiss. He slid his tongue past your lips without a problem and the kiss became sloppy and urgent as you both found yourselves wanting more.

His right hand found the zipper behind your dress and slowly started unzipping it, waiting for any sign of you wanting to stop it from going any further. But you pressed your body even closer to him and he took it as a green light to keep going. You started fumbling with his tie to try and loosen it a bit when he ground his hips into yours, making you gasp in surprise.

“I want you,” he breathed against your swollen lips, a string of saliva still connecting them after he broke the kiss.

“Aren’t you supposed to make a speech soon ? You know, as class president and all,” you panted.

“We still have time if we make it quick.”

“Take me, then,” you responded before kissing him hungrily again.

He groaned and lifted you up to make you sit back on the table, settling between your legs and sliding the dress down your arms. Everything felt rushed, but you didn’t mind at all. You wanted him just as bad as he wanted you. You got him rid of his suit jacket, letting it fall on the floor without a care in the world about how expensive it might have been, and your hands went straight to his belt buckle to untuck his shirt. It was pointless to completely undress each other, so you just opted for unbuttoning his white dress shirt as he sucked a hickey on your collarbone. You threw your head back in pleasure, letting out a small whimper as he bit down on the sensitive skin.

You let your hands trail up and down his defined abs, marvelled at how perfect his body was as he unclasped your bra. Your breath got caught in your throat at the sudden contact with the cold ambient air, but Dongmin didn’t waste any time before he took one of your nipples in his mouth while playing with the other one with his hand. Your left hand reached up to tangle with his raven hair and you gave it a slight tug. You already felt your panties soaking. “Dongmin, please,” you begged.

It wasn’t like him to rush things like that, but he understood the current situation required him to. He slid his hands up your thigh, lifting your dress up in the process, and got rid of your panties in one swift motion. Through clouded eyes, you could’ve sworn you saw him stuff them into his back pocket before he brought his fingers back to your aching core. He slid two of them in slowly, gently scissoring them inside to stretch you out, and you let your head fall forward onto his broad shoulder. The small moans you kept making made him grow more and more impatient, his untouched erection straining almost painfully against the tightness of his dress pants.

“Stop teasing,” you demanded, feeling as eager as him to have him inside of you. He got the message and withdrew his fingers, his lust-clouded mind making it hard for him to concentrate on unbuckling his belt, but he eventually succeeded. His erection sprung free and he gave it a few strokes before lining it up with your entrance.

“Are you sure ?”

“Yes !”

He gently pecked your cheek before pushing himself all the way in slowly, the sting of the stretch a bit painful but oh so amazing at the same time. You hooked your legs around his waist, urging him to just start moving already, which he did. And he wasn’t being really gentle either, but you loved it. You weren’t really worried about people catching you so you let loose and started moaning his name. His relentless pace and strength had you rolling your eyes back, the pleasure soon becoming almost unbearable.

Dongmin crashed his lips against yours once again and lifted your hips up a little bit to adjust the angle, now able to hit your sweet spot, which had you moan into the kiss and hold on to his shoulders for support.

“Fuck, fuck, I’m close, don’t stop !” you cried out, digging your nails into his back.

His thrusts got even more relentless as he was nearing his edge too, and you came undone under him after about a minute. “Can I cum inside ?” he asked softly and you could only nod, not trusting your voice in that moment. His hips stilled and he came in short bursts, his cock twitching inside of you.

He stayed there, holding you tightly in his arms until you came down from your high. Only then did he pull out and tucked himself back into his boxers and pants before grabbing a tissue from the teacher’s desk to clean up the cum dripping down from in between your legs.

You both got dressed again in silence, but it wasn’t awkward like you thought it would be. He even helped you zip your dress back on, although his hands lingered on your skin a little bit too long for it to have been just a friendly gesture.

“Where did you put my panties ?” you asked.

Dongmin grinned and pulled them out of his back pocket, but he raised them up above his head and out of your reach when you tried to grab them. You huffed, unamused.

“Dongmin. Give them back.”

“How about I keep them so you have an excuse to come to my place after this ?” He raised an eyebrow, still smiling.

You would be a liar if you said you didn’t like the idea. “Why would I do that ?”

“So I can fuck you properly this time around.”

[jodyedgarus]

The Browns Are Still A Nightmare. But Maybe Not For Long.

Back before the NFL season started, I dived into the Cleveland Browns’ miserable plight since the franchise was resurrected in 1999: One playoff bid in 19 years (and counting) … just two seasons above .500 … nine different head coaches … 28 starting quarterbacks … a combined 1-31 record in 2016 and 2017. You get the idea. I wondered whether it would ever be possible for the Browns to pull out of this cycle of doom, ultimately concluding that the team needed to start building a culture of stability and competency before it could begin truly laying the groundwork to compete.

But I suppose things have to get worse before they get better — because we’re eight weeks into the season and Cleveland has fired yet another coach. This time it’s Hue Jackson getting the boot, ending what was statistically the worst coaching tenure of any one coach with any one team in NFL history.1 Jackson, who probably should have been shown the door after last season’s 0-16 campaign, appears to have sealed his fate by bickering internally with offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who was fired at the same time. It didn’t help that Jackson also lost five of the season’s first eight games, with a tie thrown in for good measure.

The funny thing is, the Browns have actually shown signs of life this season — at least, by Browns standards. So let’s take a look at where they’ve improved — and whether there is more hope in Cleveland than usual in the wake of the team’s latest coaching shake-up.

For one thing, the Browns have been much more competitive this season than last. (Granted, it would have been a real challenge to get worse.) Their Simple Rating System (SRS) score of -3.5 ranks 24th in the league, but it’s also more than a touchdown per game better than their -11.0 rating from last season, making Cleveland one of the most improved teams in the NFL this year.

2018′s most improved NFL teams

Largest year-over-year changes in Simple Rating System (SRS) scores for 2018 NFL teams

2017 SRS Change in 2018 Team Off. Def. Tot. Off. Def. Tot. 1 Colts -6.1 -4.0 -10.1 +11.4 -0.4 +11.0 2 Broncos -3.9 -2.9 -6.7 +3.9 +5.5 +9.3 3 Chiefs +3.8 -0.3 +3.4 +8.7 -0.6 +8.2 4 Browns -6.8 -4.1 -11.0 +2.7 +4.7 +7.5 5 Texans -0.8 -5.6 -6.4 +1.7 +5.6 +7.4 6 Bears -4.6 +3.3 -1.3 +6.7 +0.1 +6.8 7 Bengals -4.1 -0.9 -5.0 +6.2 -0.9 +5.3 8 Seahawks +0.7 +1.2 +1.9 +0.9 +3.8 +4.7 9 Ravens +2.2 +1.2 +3.4 -0.8 +5.3 +4.5 10 Jets -2.9 -2.1 -4.9 +2.4 +0.5 +2.8

The Simple Rating System is a way of rating NFL teams that measures points per game (for, against and as a differential) relative to average after adjusting for a team’s strength of schedule.

Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Last year’s Browns did go 0-6 in games decided by one score, but they also lost eight games by at least two touchdowns. At any randomly selected moment of the 2017 season, they trailed by an average of 6.1 points. This year, they’ve trailed by an average of 3.8 points at any given moment — still not great, but at least indicative of how much more in the hunt they’ve been most weeks. Indeed, four of Cleveland’s games have ended in overtime, which already ties them for the most OT games a team has played in a season since at least 2001.2

The biggest reason for Cleveland’s uptick in performance hasn’t been the play of hyped rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield (more on him later). Instead it’s been a defense that, relative to opponent, ranks as the best in the league so far this year in terms of expected points added (EPA). Against Cleveland, Browns’ opponents are averaging 7.5 fewer offensive EPA per game than they are against all other teams, including 9.0 fewer through the air.

The Browns’ defense is cooling down opposing offenses

Offensive expected points added per game for teams against the Cleveland Browns and against all other teams, 2018 season

EPA/G vs. Browns EPA/G vs Others Opponent Games Tot Off. Pass Off. Rush Off. Tot Off. Pass Off. Rush Off. Steelers 2 -1.5 -1.0 +0.8 +12.2 +9.9 +1.4 Buccaneers 1 -3.1 -7.9 +1.4 +8.8 +9.7 -0.5 Chargers 1 +12.5 +4.9 +9.1 +9.8 +10.9 -0.8 Ravens 1 -10.9 -13.9 +1.3 +5.6 +6.2 -0.6 Raiders 1 +5.6 +6.4 -1.0 -0.4 -0.4 -0.1 Jets 1 -6.8 -5.6 +0.0 -6.2 -2.5 -2.9 Saints 1 -1.3 -0.6 -3.2 +15.8 +13.2 +1.9

Source: ESPN Stats & Information Group

That’s a big contrast to last season’s Browns, who were among the 10 worst defensive teams in the league and were particularly bad against the pass. This year, Cleveland is allowing the third-lowest adjusted net yards per attempt3 (ANY/A) of any team in football — a huge testament to the team’s pass coverage, given that the Browns have the league’s fifth-lowest rate of pressures per opposing dropback despite blitzing the third-most frequently of any team. (Stellar defensive end Myles Garrett has eight sacks by himself, but the rest of the team has only 12.) According to the grading system of ProFootballFocus.com, rookie Denzel Ward has been the ninth-best cornerback in the league so far, while safety Damarious Randall and even linebacker Joe Schobert — who ranks as PFF’s top LB in coverage this season — have done quality work stifling opposing pass-catchers.

Just having a defense that puts the team in a position to compete represents a huge improvement for Cleveland. But the scoring attack hasn’t kept pace, despite the pedigrees of Jackson and Haley as offensive coaches. The Browns are 26th in offensive SRS; they’ve produced the fifth-fewest offensive EPA per game in the NFL and the fourth-fewest yards per play; they own the league’s third-worst third-down efficiency mark.

(We’ll set aside a conversation about Cleveland’s horrid special teams, which has already produced nine missed kicks4 between two different kickers.)

Although it’s better than last year’s DeShone Kizer-led disaster, Cleveland’s passing game still ranks just 30th in adjusted net yards per attempt, with Mayfield sitting 29th out of 34 qualified QBs in ANY/A. It isn’t necessarily Mayfield’s fault: Being a rookie quarterback is hard enough, and the Browns have made it even harder on their new QB. Mayfield lost prospective top target Josh Gordon when Cleveland dealt the receiver to New England in mid-September, and then he said goodbye to starting running back Carlos Hyde, whom the team traded to the Jaguars a month later. Meanwhile, his offensive line is allowing the league’s fifth-highest rate of pressures per dropback, and Cleveland’s receivers currently have the highest drop rate in the league.

Mayfield himself has fought through the team’s situation to tie New York Jets QB Sam Darnold for the best ANY/A of any blue-chip rookie this season. He’s shown better accuracy and more composure under pressure than any of his rookie-class compatriots, with a lower interception rate to boot. However, none of the passers in this year’s rookie crop have played at an average level, or even that of a high-level backup QB — which is pretty much to be expected from a collection of signal callers making their debuts on below-average teams.

Comparing the 2018 rookie QB class

Key passing statistics for 2018 rookie quarterbacks (min. 25 attempts)

Quarterback Team Comp% Yds/C TD% Int% Sack% ANY/A YABQ S. Darnold NYJ 55.2% 12.4 4.4% 4.0% 6.4% 5.1 -181 J. Rosen ARI 55.6 11.4 3.0 3.6 8.6 4.3 -322 B. Mayfield CLE 58.3 11.3 3.6 2.7 8.2 5.1 -348 J. Allen BUF 54.0 11.1 1.4 3.6 13.1 3.0 -424 NFL average 64.8 11.6 5.0 2.4 6.6 6.5 —

YABQ = Yards Above Backup Quarterback, a statistic that summarizes a QB’s passing and rushing production (after adjusting for strength of schedule), relative to that of a typical backup QB in the same number of plays.

Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

To be sure, Mayfield has been far from perfect. His performances look even worse after adjusting for the quality of his competition, since he has put up subpar numbers despite facing what is by far the easiest slate of opposing pass defenses of any quarterback in the league this season.5 After synthesizing all of that into our Yards Above Backup Quarterback (YAQB) metric, Mayfield has been less valuable than either Darnold or Josh Rosen, though Rosen has compiled his numbers in fewer attempts. (On a per-dropback basis, Mayfield pulls ahead of Rosen, though he is still far behind Darnold.)

But while it would have been ideal for the Browns to see Mayfield burst out of the gates with a statistical season like the ones produced by recent rookies Dak Prescott (1,199 YABQ), Robert Griffin III (990) and Russell Wilson (934), it’s entirely possible to emerge from a rough rookie season unscathed as a young passer. Donovan McNabb (-350), Troy Aikman (-374), Matthew Stafford (-569), Terry Bradshaw (-586) and Jared Goff (-660) all debuted with the types of performances Mayfield is tracking for, and they all rebounded. (That said, plenty of bad quarterbacks — Ryan Leaf, Blaine Gabbert, Christian Ponder, etc. — also had similarly bad numbers. Judging QBs is hard!) And according to ProFootballFocus, Mayfield is tied for the 16th-best grade of any QB in the league, so the stats may just be penalizing him for the poor performance of his teammates.

Either way, the Browns are banking heavily on Mayfield’s potential — and that was one of the reasons Jackson had to go as head coach. In the big picture, they’re hoping the combination of a promising young QB, an emerging defense and a die-hard fan base proves enticing for whomever Cleveland’s next coach will be. Just the same, though, this week’s move has tacked even more points onto the Browns’ CHAOS (Cumulative High-Activity Organizational Strife) score, which already was the highest in the league over the past two decades. Setting aside the reasons for the change, it’s fitting that the Browns would have made the first coaching swap of the 2018 season, though that’s not overly encouraging for a team dragged down by so much instability over the years.

As for the short term, the Browns have said they’re not giving up on 2018 quite yet. Although our Elo prediction model gives Cleveland only a 0.3 percent chance of making the postseason, Elo is probably too hard on the Browns, if we’re being honest. It still ranks them as the worst team in football, while they rank only ninth-worst in SRS, sixth-worst in Football Outsiders’ Defense-adjusted Value Over Replacement and seventh-worst in Inpredictable’s betting market ratings. Why? Elo doesn’t give teams any credit for being competitive in games they ultimately lose. And if the 2018 Browns have a calling card, that’s sort of it.

The best matchups of Week 9

Week 9 games by the highest average Elo rating (using the harmonic mean) plus the total potential swing for the two teams’ playoff chances, according to FiveThirtyEight’s NFL predictions

Playoff % Playoff % Team A Current Avg. Chg* Team B Current Avg. Chg* Total Change Game Quality BAL 50.8% ±18.4 PIT 67.8% ±15.5 33.9 1584 SEA 55.0 13.1 LAC 74.5 9.3 22.4 1577 WSH 60.4 15.7 ATL 23.3 12.8 28.5 1539 MIN 50.8 15.2 DET 18.5 11.7 26.9 1535 NO 87.5 7.4 LAR 98.5 1.0 8.4 1650 CAR 68.1 11.7 TB 10.9 7.5 19.2 1529 GB 18.2 6.9 NE 97.3 1.6 8.6 1563 TEN 28.5 10.8 DAL 21.1 7.7 18.5 1503 HOU 64.2 13.6 DEN 8.9 6.0 19.6 1468 CHI 40.5 12.7 BUF 1.5 1.2 13.9 1450 KC 99.5 0.5 CLE 0.3 0.3 0.8 1469 MIA 16.7 8.7 NYJ 4.9 4.3 13.0 1426 OAK 0.2 0.2 SF 0.1 0.1 0.3 1370

Game quality is the harmonic mean of the Elo ratings for the two teams in a given matchup.

*Average change is weighted by the likelihood of a win or loss. (Ties are excluded.)

Source: ESPN.com

None of that is likely to matter this week, of course, in a game against the dominant Kansas City Chiefs, where any metric you use would consider K.C. a major favorite. (See above.) But even though you wouldn’t know it from the bleak Elo and yet another spin on the NFL coaching carousel, the Browns do appear to be in a better place now than they’ve been in at least a few seasons.

FiveThirtyEight vs. the readers

All season long, you can follow along with FiveThirtyEight’s Elo ratings in our NFL prediction interactive, which simulates the rest of the season 100,000 times and tracks how often each team should make the playoffs and win the Super Bowl. In conjunction, you can also pick against the Elo algorithm in our prediction game. (What do you win? Bragging rights! And a place on our giant leaderboard.)

Here are the games in which Elo made its best — and worst — predictions against the reader picks last week:

Elo’s dumbest (and smartest) picks of Week 8

Average difference between points won by readers and by Elo in Week 8 matchups in FiveThirtyEight’s NFL prediction game

OUR PREDICTION (ELO) READERS’ PREDICTION PICK WIN PROB. PICK WIN PROB. Result READERS’ NET PTS OAK 56% IND 57% IND 42, OAK 28 +11.1 MIN 55 NO 52 NO 30, MIN 20 +5.4 NE 71 NE 85 NE 25, BUF 6 +4.3 DET 57 DET 53 SEA 28, DET 14 +2.6 CHI 65 CHI 69 CHI 24, NYJ 10 +1.1 CIN 62 CIN 64 CIN 37, TB 34 -0.3 WSH 61 WSH 63 WSH 20, NYG 13 -0.3 HOU 60 HOU 62 HOU 42, MIA 23 -0.3 KC 82 KC 83 KC 30, DEN 23 -1.4 LAR 79 LAR 74 LAR 29, GB 27 -4.5 PHI 67 PHI 63 PHI 24, JAX 18 -4.7 PIT 88 PIT 78 PIT 33, CLE 18 -5.7 CAR 57 CAR 52 CAR 36, BAL 21 -6.6 ARI 58 ARI 50 ARI 18, SF 15 -9.0

Home teams are in bold.

The scoring system is nonlinear, so readers’ average points don’t necessarily match the number of points that would be given to the average reader prediction.

After notching their first collective win of the season against Elo a week ago, the field didn’t quite keep its momentum going in Week 8, losing by the narrow margin of 8.3 points (on average). Readers were smart to keep betting against Jon Gruden’s Raiders, but they gave back some points in wins by the Cardinals, Panthers and Steelers.

A quick note: We’ve had readers email to ask why the average user lost points on games in which the readers and Elo had the same average pick probability. That’s because of the nonlinear nature of the game — even when the average picks are the same, a few disastrous (or amazing) picks on either side can swing the point totals. For instance, many readers will pick matchups with 0 percent or 100 percent probabilities, causing them to lose net points when the result goes in the opposite direction. (Naturally, Elo will basically never pick with such certitude, so even when it’s wrong, it loses fewer points relative to those overconfident readers.)

Anyway, congrats to Erik de Loos and Ryan Seay, who tied for lead among users in Week 8 with 350.0 points, and to Ellis, who took the seasonlong lead with 779.6 points. Thanks to everyone who has been playing — and if you haven’t, be sure to get in on the action! You can make picks now and still try your luck against Elo, even if you haven’t played yet.

Check out our latest NFL predictions.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-browns-are-still-a-nightmare-but-maybe-not-for-long/

[yahoo-roto-arcade-blog]

Juggernaut Index, No. 27: Another year, another Cleveland QB

Tyrod Taylor opens the season at quarterback for the team Baker Mayfield will eventually lead. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Hue Jackson has gone 1-31 as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, which, to be clear, is considered quite bad. His team ranked last in the NFL in scoring in 2017 and next-to-last the year before. Jackson has had five different starting quarterbacks over his two seasons in Cleveland, including two rookies. All five of those QBs are now gone. If you’re wondering where they went, maybe check the bus under which Jackson keeps throwing his players.

This year, Coach Jackson will be working with the sixth and seventh starting QBs of his Browns tenure, one of whom was the first overall pick in the 2018 draft. Cleveland’s offense has an abundance of talent at the skill spots, so there’s no reason this team shouldn’t make a significant leap. Jackson has used a variety of motivational gimmicks to this point in the offseason, which presumably can’t hurt. But eventually he’s going to have to reverse this team’s recent tradition of never, ever winning football games.

[Yahoo Fantasy Football leagues are open: Sign up now for free!]

For now, Jackson remains in charge in Cleveland. The Browns hired former head coach and longtime offensive coordinator Todd Haley back in January, and it’s expected he’ll have complete control of the offense. The team also traded a third-round pick for veteran QB Tyrod Taylor prior to the draft, so we have a short-term position controversy to deal with as we consider the Browns’ fantasy potential.

There’s no way Baker Mayfield holds a clipboard all season

Taylor zealots are everywhere, and their commitment to him is, to a certain extent, understandable. He’s fine. Over the course of his three seasons as Buffalo’s quarterback, he was good if not spectacular as a passer, completing 62.6 percent of his throws at 7.2 yards per attempt. Taylor was risk-averse to a fault, which naturally led to a low interception rate (1.3 percent). That trait also led him to finish near the bottom of the league last year in deep attempts per game (3.8) and air yards per game (108.1), per Player Profiler. He’s a talented and productive runner (career 5.5 YPC), which boosts his fantasy appeal in no small way. For however long Taylor lasts as Cleveland’s starting quarterback, he’ll have a place in the fantasy conversation.

But here’s the thing: Baker Mayfield is going to play. It would be highly unusual, in this era, for Mayfield to sit beyond mid-season. Fourteen different quarterbacks have been selected first overall in the draft over the past 20 years, and those guys have averaged 10.3 starts per season. Four of the past five have started all 16 games. Mayfield is the future of the position in Cleveland and he’s already 23 years old. He was widely considered one of the most field-ready QB prospects in his draft class. He. Will. Play.

Taylor is an excellent placeholder for the Browns and he’s entering the final year of his deal. It’s already decided that he’ll open the season behind center for Cleveland. But it would be stunning if Mayfield isn’t playing by November. The first time Taylor has an unproductive half for the Browns, the countdown to Baker will begin.

Mayfield produced monstrous stats at Oklahoma, as most of you know, completing over 70 percent of his throws in each of the past two seasons, averaging 318.2 yards per game and an astonishing 11.3 per attempt. It helps of course that he played his games in the Big 12, where tackling is largely unknown. He was often throwing into mile-wide passing windows. But his numbers were simply insane. It’s also worth mentioning that many of the early concerns about Mayfield were erased during the pre-draft process. Scouting reports once listed arm strength in the “weaknesses” column, but he threw with the second best velocity at the combine (60 mph), just a couple ticks behind Josh Allen.

Again, Mayfield is gonna start games for the Browns — and when he does, he’ll let it fly. He has a clear shot at fantasy relevance as a first-year QB, because…

Cleveland’s receiving corps is suddenly legit

Jarvis Landry was one of the big offseason adds for the Browns, and he’s an easy fit in any offense. He had one of the highest target shares among all NFL receivers last season (27.4 percent), yet averaged only 3.1 air yards per chance. He became just the fourth player in league history (and first wide receiver) to catch over 100 passes yet finish with less than 1000 yards. Cleveland may not use him in precisely the same way Miami chose to, but he seems particularly well paired with a short-range passer like Taylor. It would be a small surprise if those two fail to click in the early weeks. Landry’s targets will likely dip this season — he saw 161 last year — but he’s a near-lock to make a leap in terms of efficiency. There’s minimal risk attached at his current ADP (61.4, WR25).

Josh Gordon is looking to recapture that 2013 magic. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

You don’t need a fantasy expert to tell you that Josh Gordon is a fantastically talented choose-your-own-adventure of a player. He closed his 2017 season with a 115-yard effort, which is clearly a promising sign. He’s had glowing things to say about Taylor and Mayfield, and the quarterbacks have been plenty excited about him. Everyone loves everybody else in the Browns family right now. Confidence is exceedingly high…

Reporter: “Hey Jarvis, Josh Gordon just told us the Browns have the best receiving corps in the league.”

Jarvis Landry: “He ain’t lying.”

— Zac Jackson (@AkronJackson) June 12, 2018

Gordon has experienced a full, uninterrupted all-football offseason for the first time in forever. That’s a big deal, yet easy to overlook. Gordon is still only 27 years old, gifted with a rare combination of size, speed and explosiveness. He’ll be a restricted free agent in 2019, so he won’t lack motivation. His fantasy ADP doesn’t leave much room for profit (29.8, WR11), but he deserves his status as the first Browns player off the board.

If we assume that a healthy Landry and Gordon will combine for something like 250-270 targets, then it’s going to be tough for supporting players like Corey Coleman and tight end David Njoku to consistently produce. Both can be drafted in fantasy as bench decorations, but neither projects as an ideal starter. Coleman is a burner who’s had trouble staying healthy in his two seasons, appearing in just 19 games. Haley has already put Coleman on notice, expecting things to click in his third year as a pro. Njoku is a hyper-athletic player who’s looking at an uptick in snaps and opportunities after seeing only 60 targets as a rookie. He has all the traits you’d expect from a dominant red-zone weapon, so it’s reasonable to eye him as a deep redraft flier.

Cleveland traded up to land Florida receiver Antonio Callaway in the fourth round of the 2018 draft, and he definitely deserves a spot on dynasty cheat sheets. Callaway’s recent off-the-field history is complicated and problematic, but his raw talent and athleticism are exceptional. He’s a terrific punt returner, too. Callaway could eventually push Coleman for opportunities.

The Browns’ backfield is stuck in committee

Cleveland’s two leading rushers last year were Isaiah Crowell and quarterback DeShone Kizer, and both relocated during in the offseason. Duke Johnson averaged just 5.2 carries per game last season (4.2 YPC), so he wasn’t a significant factor on the ground. Johnson was an extremely productive receiving threat, however, catching a career-high 74 balls for 693 yards on 93 targets. He agreed to a three-year, $15.6 million extension earlier this month, a strong indication that he remains a major piece for this offense. Johnson is a great bet to deliver another 70-plus receptions and 900 or more scrimmage yards. Draft accordingly.

Duke Johnson still belongs in your PPR plans. (Jeff Haynes/AP Images for Panini)

This team added Carlos Hyde to the mix back in March, signing him to deal that looks a lot like Johnson’s, then used an early second round pick on Georgia’s Nick Chubb. So Cleveland’s backfield does not lack weapons. Hyde has had issues with health and availability over the years, though he played all 16 games for San Francisco in 2017. Chubb is a big back who had a stellar collegiate career (6.3 YPC, 48 TDs) and he impressed at the combine (4.52 speed, 38.5-inch vert). The obvious hole in Chubb’s game is his lack of involvement as a receiver; he caught only four passes last year and five the season before.

Ultimately, we can expect a three-man backfield committee in Cleveland, with Johnson having the clearest role. Hyde and Chubb are a fun early-down tandem, but it’s tough to forecast either back for more than 170-180 carries. In reality, this is a deep and talented backfield. For fantasy purposes, it’s messy. Hyde is going well ahead of Chubb in early drafts (ADP 66.1 vs. 90.5), which makes the rookie the better value by far. The intended distribution of carries has not yet been decided, according to Haley:

“I do not really have a philosophy. I have done it both ways. We led the league in rushing in Kansas City [in 2010] in a two-back, almost a two-and-a-half back system. Then in Pittsburgh, obviously, when Le’Veon Bell was playing, he was playing. [Here it] will really be determined by those guys, what they are capable of handling on a down-in, down-out basis and really who gives us the best chance to win. Yet to be determined would be the best answer.”

Sorry, gamers. Johnson is a bankable PPR asset, while Hyde and Chubb are flex-worthy pieces. We probably have to give Taylor at least a five percent chance to lead this team in rushing, which further complicates the Cleveland backfield projection.

The Browns have several interesting names on defense — Kirksey, Collins, Ward, Garrett, et al — and veteran coordinator Gregg Williams is making decisions. We should clearly expect growth from this group, but Cleveland’s D isn’t playable in standard fantasy formats. Last year, this team ranked last in the league in takeaways (13) and next-to-last in points allowed (25.6 PPG).

In a nutshell, this is a team with fun personnel led by a head coach with a brutal track record. It’s tough to do anything but improve after an 0-16 finish, so we have to assume the Browns will be better. The franchise hasn’t won a postseason game since the days of Testaverde and Hoard; let’s hope the Mayfield era is a success.

2017 Offensive Stats & Ranks

Points per game – 14.6 (32rd in NFL) Pass YPG – 201.8 (22) Rush YPG – 107.1 (18) Yards per play – 4.9 (24) Plays per game – 63.0 (16)

Previous Juggernaut Index entries: 32) Buffalo, 31) Miami, 30) NY Jets, 29) Baltimore, 28) Oakland, 27) Cleveland

Follow the Yahoo fantasy football crew on Twitter: Andy Behrens, Dalton Del Don, Brad Evans, Liz Loza, Scott Pianowski and Tank Williams

[junker-town]

Carmelo Anthony deserved better from the New York Knicks

He had his flaws, but the Knicks shoulder most of the blame for his six-year tenure not fulfilling its promise.

I remember exactly where I was the night Carmelo Anthony broke the record.

I was at a bar called Stillwater Tavern in Hampton, Va., where I did my undergrad years. While my friends were ordering drinks, I was watching Melo go to work against the Bobcats on a cold winter night in January. I was obsessed with the Knicks back then. I still am.

Eventually, everyone saw what I saw: Melo was absolutely unstoppable. All he needed was a hair of space to get his shot up, and God bless the defender who bit on his jab step. Anthony finished with 62 points, breaking Bernard King’s long-standing 61-point record and Kobe Bryant’s 60-point mark for the most points ever scored at Madison Square Garden.

For as long as I live, that’ll be part of Carmelo Anthony I remember.

Now, Anthony is no longer a Knick.

If you’re a New York fan, Melo’s exit is equal parts confusing and concerning.

Six years ago, the Knicks moved heaven and Earth to land a player then regarded as the NBA’s most feared inside-outside scorer. They sent Denver virtually an entire starting lineup — Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and three draft picks — for Anthony, Chauncey Billups and Anthony Carter. The deal produced New York’s only 50-win season this century, which temporarily brought the Knicks out of the doldrums that plagued them for nearly a decade.

Melo was supposed to retire a Knick. He was supposed to bring New York to the doorstep of its first championship since 1973. He was supposed to make being a Knick fun again. He was supposed to make being a Knicks fan fun again.

None of those things happened. Six years after that blockbuster deal, a lukewarm one ended the era— Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a 2018 second-round pick. He was pushed out the door by a franchise that used his prime to sell tickets, but never thought to strategically put the pieces around him to compete for a championship.

Like a parasite, New York sapped Melo of his best years, then kicked him to the curb, flipping him for the best possible offer. With two more years on his contract in the stacked Western Conference, odds are Anthony never wins the championship he desires.

Let’s get real for a second: Carmelo Anthony wasn’t without flaws.

I’d be remiss not to mention how often my blood boiled when he held onto the ball for eight seconds before jabbing, side-stepping and shooting a flat mid-range J. The league outgrew that move and Melo couldn’t even hit it with the same regularity, but he kept trying. Miss or make, the Garden crowd held its breath when Anthony held the ball for longer than three seconds.

I’d be remiss not to mention how many defensive assignments Melo botched and how many game-winning or game-saving jump shots he missed in the second half of his Knicks career.

I’d be especially remiss not to mention how he couldn’t adjust his game to play alongside Amar’e Stoudemire. We’ll never know what that team could have been had those two meshed on the court.

In total, New York finished 207-269 in Melo’s full six seasons with the Knicks. They won only one of four playoff series and missed the postseason each of the past four years.

That’s all part of the Carmelo Anthony I, and most Knicks fans, will remember, too.

Offensively, Melo was — and still is — in a class of his own. His flaws were his flaws, but New York knew what those flaws were when they traded an arm and a leg for him. They got an all-world scorer who had only been to the conference finals once. He leaves New York an all-world scorer who has only been to the conference finals once.

But as much as you might want to blame Melo — his ball-stopping tendencies, lack of effort on defense and an ostensibly nonchalant approach to winning basketball games — these last six years are (mostly) not his fault.

They’re the Knicks’ fault, first and foremost

When New York’s 54-win team missed the playoffs the following season, the front office didn’t look for ways to get better. They brought Phil Jackson in to blow the team up. That should have been Melo’s cue to leave town and never look back.

Instead, Anthony signed on for five more years with a president who would sleep through a prospect’s pre-draft workouts. That president sold a false dream of a culture change in New York and gave his coaches little-to-no wiggle room to adjust his famed Triangle Offense to adapt with the changing times. He blanketed the Knicks with his read and react system no one but Sasha Vujacic wanted to play. He brought in three different coaches and bulldozed everything built around Anthony in his first three years in New York.

Jackson demolished the Knicks roster, built it back up and demolished it again. Only an 11-time NBA champion would be allowed to do that three times before ownership had enough.

Shane Larkin, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, Alexey Shved, Samuel Dalembert, Travis Wear, Pablo Prigioni, Ricky Ledo, Cleanthony Early, Langston Galloway, Andrea Bargnani, Lou Amundson, Quincy Acy, Jason Smith, Lance Thomas and — ah, how could I forget — Cole Aldrich, with a rookie head coach in Derek Fisher. Those were the players Knicks management surrounded Anthony and an aging, battered Stoudemire with when they posted a franchise-worst 17-65 record in 2014. It didn’t get much better from there.

In total, Melo had 72 different teammates during his time in New York. Seventy-two. Of those 72 players, only Tyson Chandler made an All-Star team during the same season as Anthony.

Give credit where credit is due: Anthony stayed professional until the end.

There were no media outbursts, no alternate social media accounts roasting his coaches or teammates. Even when Jackson publicly cast aspersions on the weaknesses in Melo’s game, the most he did in response was post a meme on Instagram.

REALLY #StayMe7o

A post shared by Carmelo Anthony (@carmeloanthony) on Apr 14, 2017 at 1:02pm PDT

That’s why Anthony’s tenure and subsequent exit is equal parts confusing and concerning. The Knicks couldn’t put the right pieces around Melo to turn a solid core into a legitimate contender. Now, they’re going to try their hand at putting the right pieces around Kristaps Porzingis, Frank Ntilikina and Tim Hardaway Jr.

Don’t hold your breath.

On Dec. 16, Carmelo Anthony will return to Madison Square Garden as an opponent for the first time since 2011. I’ll expect nothing but a standing ovation from the MSG crowd. Because in spite of his visible weaknesses, he remained strong in one area:

Melo only ever wanted to win in New York. Somewhere along the line, New York stopped believing it could win with Melo.

[junker-town]

There’s only 1 great choice for NBA Coach of the Year

We dissect a crowded field from all angles and find one obvious candidate.

Every NBA award will be controversial this season. For some awards, this is the case every year. But the tight MVP race, the bizarre Rookie of the Year contest, and the always-confusing Most Improved Player battle should all bring out the knives.

Coach of the Year is one of those awards folks don’t get too hepped up about, despite fuzzy criteria and a perennial lack of consensus. This year’s race is really interesting precisely because there are no runaway candidates. There are a few contenders who have separated themselves from the pack as we approach April. We’ll get to them.

But in order to offer a full review of the league’s 30 head coaches — in this unusually stable season — we’ll start by eliminating those not in contention for consideration. This isn’t to say these coaches have done a bad job, just not a job worthy of league-wide accolades.

TEAMS ARE TOO BAD

Kenny Atkinson, Nets Luke Walton, Lakers Earl Watson, Suns Brett Brown, Sixers Frank Vogel, Magic Dave Joerger, Kings Jeff Hornacek, Knicks Tom Thibodeau, Timberwolves

We can scratch off eight candidates just because their teams are awful. Only one coach has ever won the award with a sub-.500 record — Red Kerr in 1967 for the Bulls’ inaugural season, where he went 33-40. Only twice have coaches won the award while going .500: Hubie Brown with the 1978 Hawks and Doc Rivers with the 2000 Magic.

These coaches, some promising and some less so, are all well under .500. There’s no chance for them.

TEAMS DIDN’T MEET EXPECTATIONS

Steve Kerr, Warriors Tyronn Lue, Cavaliers

Kerr will get some votes because the Warriors will have the best record in the league and the coach with the best record always seems to get votes. But Kerr won last year with a record-breaking 73-9 season, and his team added Kevin Durant. There’s some resentment toward the Warriors in general and there will be some penalty for finishing with a worse record, no matter how ridiculous that sounds. (There also has never been a back-to-back Coach of the Year.)

Lue’s Cavaliers, meanwhile, are currently in a dogfight for the No. 1 seed in the East despite having the most talented roster and the best player in the world. Coaches often take the most credit and blame for their teams’ defensive performances. Cleveland’s weakness on that end kills Lue’s case.

Alvin Gentry, Pelicans

Fred Hoiberg, Bulls

The Pelicans haven’t met expectations before or after trading for DeMarcus Cousins. Gentry is probably out the day after the regular season ends.

Hoiberg was right there with Gentry as a candidate for an in-season dismissal. He survived the season (well, so far) but the summer doesn’t look so comforting.

Michael Malone, Nuggets Terry Stotts, Blazers

One of these coaches will make the playoffs. Malone’s reputation as a defensive master is clearly misplaced, and it took him too long to devote his life to the siren song of Nikola Jokic.

Stotts followed up a shockingly good season with Portland with a shockingly mediocre campaign. He’s still a good coach, but falling this short of expectations disqualifies you for Coach of the Year.

Doc Rivers, Clippers

There is serious debate everywhere as to whether Doc Rivers is actually a good coach. I would argue in the affirmative, but ... no, he’s not the Coach of the Year with the Clippers hanging on to the No. 5 seed for dear life.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Steve Clifford, Hornets Stan Van Gundy, Pistons

Disappointing seasons for well-respected coaches. The Hornets have talent issues, but fell off hard compared to both last season and to the early part of this season. Clifford is likely safe in the offseason, but the shine wears thin when you can’t put together a good team in back-to-back seasons with similar talent levels.

Van Gundy seems absolutely miserable. He gets paid too much to get fired now, but you almost wonder if that’s not what he’s after. This is perhaps his worst season ever in the NBA.

Nate McMillan, Pacers Mike Budenholzer, Hawks Dwane Casey, Raptors

McMillan has done a perfectly cromulent job with a weird roster. Nothing in Indiana is his fault. They are just ... there.

The Hawks have fallen fast, and Bud can’t exactly blame odd front office moves since he also runs the front office.

Casey looked like a contender until Kyle Lowry’s injury helped derail Toronto’s 50-win quest. (It’s again in play after a win streak.) But there are too many better candidates at this point. Casey had his chance, so to speak, last season when the Raptors leaped into contendership.

We have cut our list down to 10.

TEAMS HAVE NO REAL NARRATIVE

Jason Kidd, Bucks David Fizdale, Grizzlies

The Bucks and Grizzlies have been fine, and Kidd and Fizdale are doing fine jobs under difficult circumstances (as in, having no shooting). But neither Milwaukee and Memphis surprised anyone, and neither team is good enough to drive the conversation toward their coaches. The Bucks and Grizzlies just kind of ... are.

TEAM DOES NOT EXHIBIT QUITE ENOUGH WIZARDRY

Rick Carlisle, Mavericks

Carlisle deserves immense respect for pulling a team starring Seth Curry, Yogi Ferrell, Harrison Barnes, and Dirk Nowitzki to relative respectability. A playoff nod would have gotten Carlisle into the conversation.

We are now down to seven contenders.

OVERSHADOWED BY HIS SUPERSTAR

Billy Donovan, Thunder

For all we know Billy Donovan has done an exceptional job as the head coach of the Thunder. But it’s hard to think about anything other than RUSSELL WESTBROOK when you’re thinking about the Thunder.

A FEW WINS SHY OF REAL CONTENTION

Quin Snyder, Jazz

The Jazz are quite good, and will likely hit 50 wins. But they are no better than the fourth best team in the West, and that’s where expectations pegged them in the preseason. It’s not fair to discount the work Snyder has done to get the Jazz over the hump from intriguing upstart to legit challenger, but that’s what we have to do given what other coaches have pulled off. Snyder is hurt by so many of us recognizing that Utah could be awesome.

Down to five. Let’s break each one down.

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

THE FOUR RUNNERS-UP FOR 2016-17 NBA COACH OF THE YEAR, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER

Brad Stevens, Celtics

The boy wizard won over LeBron at All-Star, molded an unwieldy, guard-heavy roster into an elite team, and helped Isaiah Thomas become a flat-out star and local legend. Stevens has the juice of a top NBA prospect as a coach. That tells you something. He’d be an excellent Coach of the Year option.

Scott Brooks, Wizards

This is a classic Coach of the Year case. A new coach arrives at an underperforming franchise, takes a couple months to get the house in order, turns a young player or two into stars and puts together the team’s best record in decades. The Wizards need to finish 5-4 to win 50 games a year after missing the playoffs. That’s huge! Brooks’ involvement in turning Bradley Beal into a reliable scoring star, Otto Porter into a max player, and Kelly Oubre into a key defender will be smiled upon by voters.

Erik Spoelstra, Heat

If ever the coach of a .500 team deserved Coach of the Year, it’s Spoelstra right now. There’s no realm in which anyone thought Miami, with its 11-30 record in mid-January, would end up in the playoff race with LeBron and Wade gone, Bosh out, and Justise Winslow injured. But Spo has turned Goran Dragic, Hassan Whiteside, and Dion Waiters into the core of a juggernaut! If Spoelstra doesn’t win Coach of the Year, perhaps we can nominate him for a Nobel.

Mike D’Antoni, Rockets

Like Brooks, D’Antoni took over a clearly talented team that underwhelmed in 2015-16. Perhaps even more impressive than Brooks’ work to elevate the unreliable youth, D’Antoni has helped unleash James Harden, the likely MVP, and create a wholly inspiring attack while winning tons of games. (Houston is on track for about 57 wins.) A Coach of the Year trophy would also be a nice form of penance from the media for all the dismissive analysis we’ve given to D’Antoni since he left Phoenix.

Any one of those four candidates would be highly deserving of the honor. However, the award should instead go to ...

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

THE COACH OF THIS YEAR AND EVERY YEAR FOR TIME IMMEMORIAL

Gregg Popovich, Spurs

Another 60-win season. With one All-Star. (Albeit an MVP-caliber All-Star.) Plus he’s had time to serve as the conscience of the NBA at the same time.

Popovich and Pat Riley are the only coaches to have ever won three Coach of the Year award. Getting Pop another would put him in a class of his own, which is where he belongs.

Give it to Pop. You’ll never regret it.