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rookiesbookies · 11 months ago

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Boys reacting to their s/o smacking their ass

Here’s the boys I write for (might add Horangi and Kruger to the roster)

Masterlist is pinned on my account as always

Please for the love of god leave me request, TELL ME WHAT YOU ALL WANT <3

Fic under the cut

Price

Whoever let his wife on base the day they were breaking in new recruit was so fucking dead. He bets it was Simon. Yeah, his wife always brought a home cooked meal for the team. Yeah, he always got smooches and got to feel her up at work. But he never expected this behavior from his sweet little wife when she knew how new recruit days were.

He bets it was Soap and Gaz, daring her to do it. They loved trying to get her in trouble, which is why he never allowed his kids to be watched by them. Lord knows how much trouble the two would encourage.

He heard it before he felt it. It echoed in the open field. Probably heard for miles.

She let out a squeak as he slowly turned to look at her, recruits had stopped the exercises they were doing and she bolted from the stand they were on watching.

“It wasn’t supposed to be that loud!” She squeaked, “Gaz and Soap told me to do it! They said you’d find it funny! That if I did it they wouldn’t beg me for baked goods ever again!”

As she jogged ahead to keep the distance between them as his long strides were closing the distance with ease.

“Simon has the kids, I should really go check on him! Your sons can be quite the handful! I think I hear him calling for me now, I should really go!” She squeaked out more, her jog quickly turning to a run as she took off through the base.

He quickly snatched her up.

“I’m going to teach you a lesson about listening to Kyle and Johnny.” John grumbled.

Soap

Stupid fucking booty shorts. Soap had found her stupid booty short in his laundry. He was now prancing around the shared apartment in them. They were so small on him she was surprised he could fit in them and knew he was in no way comfortable, he was however, a great actor. They were so short the bottoms of his spandex underwear were longer by like 2 inches.

“Johnny, take them off.”

“No,” he retorted proudly, “they were in my laundry so they’re mine now.”

That was the line she used to steal his undershirts so they could be used as nightgowns.

She grumbled, “fine,” before getting an idea.

He was making pancakes in the kitchen, breakfast for dinner Saturdays, as they both had started. His apron was even longer than the short, jeez. He continued shaking ass to whatever song was in his headphones as he hummed along to it.

“Target locked,” she mumbled to herself. Sneaking in.

The smack echoed. His ass was pulled so tight in them it basically slipped out to jiggle from the hit. He folded backwards in dramatics.

“I’m hit! I’m hit!” He cried as if he was radioing to his team. “Taking the enemy down with me, sir!”

She was laughing too hard to pay attention as his hand connected with her ass. The sweatpants muffled it but she fell to the ground too.

Ghost

She always pinched his ass. Especially if he was fresh from the gym. The first time had surprised him but after that he was pretty good at predicting it and catching her hand.

However, a full on smack at a pub celebrating with the boys? Oh that was new.

She was drunk, so he had expected something dumb from her. He was bound to do something dumb too. But he was going to wait until they got home and not when he was bent over the bar slightly to talk to the bartender over the loud music.

He thought he heard a record scratch as her hand connected with his butt. He turned around, throwing his card at Johnny. Letting him know to buy himself a drink and pay for their tab before pulling her out as she giggled.

He’d handle this at home.

But for now he planted a light pat pat on her butt and her eyes went wide.

“Haha sorry Simon, I’ve sobered up now! You can put me down!”

Konig

She had been hugging him from behind after his most recent return from a mission. He was stirring the soup she had started for herself, not expecting him to be home for another week or so.

“Meine Taube, can you go put my mask up.” He handed her his mask off his face, leaning down to give a peck on the lips, “I will give you the kiss you deserve when you return.”

She had pittered off down the hall a bit when she got an idea. Perhaps revenge for how he had surprised her when he got home.

She was listening to music loudly, swaying her hips and humming when he got home. It was dark out so she hadn’t noticed the car being his as it drove past, and she hadn’t noticed the sound of the front door unlocking either.

All she knew was a hand connected with her ass while another covered her mouth to muffle her scream, while she had been cooking. She was so scared it was an intruder.

So she began to seek out revenge. She slid on the hood and did her best quiet walk before getting behind Konig who thought she was back from putting up his mask.

SMACK.

It echoed down the hall as she bolted. His heavy steps followed with an all too large smirk on his face.

He found her hiding behind a giant laundry basket and pulled her out from behind it by her ankle. She clutched the mask to her chest with wide eyes, forgetting the size of her husband.

“There was this crazy noise, I think it was a gunshot! I had to duck for cover, I thought they had come for you!” She rambled as she pulled her down the hall by her ankle, her back to the floor and her shirt riding up. “I was so worried but that was a crazy noise! I wonder where it came from!”

“Uh-huh.”

Keegan

This man is 8 kinds of caked up. His girlfriend knows it and so does he. Its not like Gaz’s relationship where only the girlfriend does the ass smacking, in Keegan’s it goes both ways.

“Hey, lovey, can you reach the cinnamon for me?”

Little did this poor man know, this was a set up. The cinnamon never ends up that high up. So when he reached, a crack echoed through the apartment.

She fell over laughing so hard at the noise it made. She curled up laughing on the floor. She almost couldn’t breath as Keegan went over to the fridge and added a tally to her side of the mini white board.

“Damn, you’re three ahead of me this month! I'm impressed. You’re getting sneakier,” he said as she gasped she was laughing so hard. “Did you even need the cinnamon?”

She shook her head and he sighed.

“Ah hell. I gotta catch up now.”

It wasn’t until after dinner when he did, sneaking one in as she was washing plates. She almost dropped the one she had been scrubbing.

Gaz

Gaz wasn't one for grabbing or smacking people's behinds, but his girlfriend was a different story—she seemed to have made a sport out of it. Every time he bent over or even when he least expected it, she was there to strike.

Soap seemed to encourage this behavior.

It was a rare sight to see Simon giggle, but this was the only time it happened.

Even Price couldn't help but stifle a laugh every time Gaz looked shocked at his girlfriend's antics.

What Gaz never mentioned was that he didn't really mind it and had never asked her to stop. There was one time when she didn't do it, and he turned around looking genuinely concerned, asking if that was how she was breaking up with him. Feeling guilty, she had to continue the act because Gaz was in on it, though the others didn't know. They enjoyed making Simon laugh so much he had to bite his mask to muffle it.

When they were drunk, she and Soap even played a game to see if Gaz could figure out who did it. Sometimes, Gaz would turn around to see his girlfriend across the bar, completely confused.

The whole situation was a hilarious secret between them, with Gaz never letting on that he was actually into it. Gaz saw no reason to let the cat out of the bag. The amused glances and hidden smirks between him and his girlfriend were their little inside joke.

Remember to submit requests, check out the masterlist pinned on my account, and let me know what you want to see!

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dalekofchaos · 1 month ago

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How I would change Mortal Kombat 1 and Khaos Reigns

I did similar posts to how I would change the NRS games in the past

9 and X 11

But enough time has passed and I thought I would do what I did for those games for MK1. And boy do I have a lot to say.

Mortal Kombat 1.

The core story will remain the same as I actually like it, especially what they did with the royal family, but I'm changing what I really didn't like.

First and foremost. Kuai Liang is NOT Scorpion. Hanzo is Scorpion.(lol fuck you Dominic) Liu Kang's new era saw the Lin Kuei and the Shirai Ryu coexisted and formed the United Clans with Bi-Han as Lin Kuei's Grandmaster and Hanzo as the Shirai Ryu's Grandmaster. Kuai Liang throughout the story is known as Tundra, but after Bi-Han's treachery is known to all, Kuai Liang becomes Sub-Zero, Hanzo and Kuai Liang reforges their alliance, while Bi-Han, Hydro, Frost, Cyrax(temporarily) and Sektor are outcasts and labels themselves as the "True Lin Kuei" United Clans line up Hanzo Kuai Liang Smoke Harumi True Lin Kuei Bi-Han Sektor Hydro Cyrax(Temporarily)

Sonya Blade and Jax exists. One of my biggest problems is how Sonya and Jax were pretty much erased in this timeline. Did they not have a role for them? I mean, they can police Earthrealm like Li-Mei and Tanya policed Outworld, I really don't see why not. I think they could build up to Johnny and Sonya. Maybe start it off with how Johnny meets Kenshi. Maybe Kano and Kabal come to collect as the Yakuza are allies of the Black Dragon and that's when Sonya and Jax pop in and kick their ass. Then Liu Kang pops in and brings them in to train for Mortal Kombat. Give Cage and Sonya their usual banter and properly build up to a relationship and there you go. Side note. You can say that the Special Forces have an uneasy alliance with the United Clans as Bi-Han is jealous of Liu Kang's favoritism(that isn't even there) but after Bi-Han is exiled, TNC and SF work together to safeguard Earthrealm together.

Rain is a ninja and heir to Edenia, not Aquaman. At the start, he is Sindel's dipolmat to Edenia. Throughout the game he seems shady and as it seems he is on General Shao's side, he shows his true allegiances and stands with the Outworld Royal Family. As payment for his true loyalty, he is awarded as liege lord of Edenia and fulfills his destiny as a son of Argus.

General Shao does not have horns. I just thought it was a stupid and unnecessary design. He looked like Motaro, not fucking Shao. Give him his "Ultimate General" helmet or something like that. And if they REALLY wanted to make Shao stand out, just give him his look from the comics

Nitara is voiced by a voice actor. Look I love Megan Fox, I would die and sacrifice for her. But she was just bad in this game. Worse than Ronda Lousey voiced Sonya in MK11. NRS really should have just had Cristina Vee voice Nitara in her entirety, with Megan Fox only being the face model. Cristina Vee should at least be an alternative voice option for Nitara (including all her lines in story mode), like how you can change the announcer voice.

Hydro's inclusion. He is to Bi-Han as what Smoke is for Kuai Liang. Hydro does what Kuai Liang and Tomas are unwilling to do for the United Clans. He shares Bi-Han's vision and even killed Bi-Han's father for Bi-Han and made it look like a drowning.

Hotaru is apart of the roster. Hotaru in the New Era is the leader of Seido. He runs the oppressive regime Havik opposes. He helps Liu Kang maintain order of the realms by any means necessary and learning that Fire God Liu Kang himself put Hotaru in charge drove Havik's ire. Hotaru being absent from MK1’s narrative is a creative failure. Like, they could’ve painted a shade of grey on Liu’s character by having him recruit Hotaru to help maintain order in his timeline. The fact that there is no Chaos Realm just tells me Liu Kang just forced Hotaru and Havik to co-exist and that led to potentially Hotaru enforcing oppressive Order by any means necessary while Havik becomes an anarchist. Oh and by the fucking way. FUCK Ed Boon. How creatively bankrupt do you have to be to not only have NO Hotaru, but insist that you were gonna have him as a Kameo...A FUCKING CAMEO and even reject that? You have Havik, the embodiment of chaos and Hotaru, personification of Order, both in an authoritarian sense and a strong sense of justice and you don't fucking think to include him??? Havik is chaos personified. Hotaru is the worst aspects of Order. He can go from saving you, liberating villages and setting up a fucking police state and NRS STILL does not see the potential in Hotaru? Okay, sorry rant over.

The whole Liu Kang vs Shang Tsung thing, DOES happen. However it is not a rushing of Armageddon. Instead it is the result of the Aftermath endings. Liu Kang's timeline vs Shang Tsung's timeline in MORTAL KOMBAT! Bonus points. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa returns to voice Titan Shang Tsung. In the end, everyone must put aside their differences and work together in order to defeat Titan Shang Tsung's Order of Darkness

End with the tease of Titan Havik. But also end with a tease of Titan Hotaru. Titan Hotaru looks like Hotaru's armor, but Titan white much like from the MK11 tower endings

Khaos Reigns

Build up to Cyrax's defection. Cyrax leaving the Lin Kuei works, what doesn't work is how quick it was. Have a few UC vs TLK fights before Hanzo and Harumi's wedding. It's Kuei Liang and Harumi that ask to spare Cyrax. Just let it simmer, don't jump into it. It took Cyrax 3 games to gain his soul and humanity back,

The New Era variants are in the story. One of the things that pissed me off is how the mainline variants either don't exist or barely have lines. You'd think a NE Havik reacting to Titan Havik would be something you'd like to see in the game, but no. Dominic can't have anything logical or cool. So we'd see our heroes split into Team Ketchup and Team Mustard(I guarantee you Johnny would come up with this) Team Mustard Cyrax Hanzo Johnny Sonya Smoke Team Ketchup Sektor Tanya Kuai Liang Kung Lao Kenshi

WWII Johnny is a thing, but he's joined by Major Blade. Apparently Sonya was supposed to be in the game as Major Blade as shown in concept art....I hate NRS

Noob Saibot has a new family. Sareena, Kia and Jataaka. The Order of chaos. Aka fuck Dominic, you can pry Bi-Han/Sareena from my cold dead hands

Titan Hotaru finds Liu Kang and offers him a deal. He will help deal with Titan Havik, but in exchange that he must give him the Kamidogu. The reason why Liu Kang accepted Hotaru's deal? Titan Havik found Onaga on the loose in the realms and used the Kamidogu to tame him and he will use him to destroy the realms while Havik spreads chaos.

Noob defeats Havik, only momentarily. Havik beats him down and before he could guarantee his domination and chaos throughout the realms. Hotaru appears.

Titan vs Titan. Havik vs Hotaru. We get a similar choice as we had in Aftermath choosing the ending. Ending 1. Khaos Reigns. Havik wins and spreads Chaos throughout the realms. Ending 2. Order Supreme. Hotaru wins and ends the chaos once and for all. Hotaru helps the royal family imprison Onaga to end his rampage and most importantly. we get a clear end to Havik. And before Hotaru can retrieve the Kamidogue, Noob Saibot tries to take them for himself and for Bi-Han being Bi-Han, he is banished to the Netherrealm. "A deal is a deal, Lord Liu Kang" Liu Kang begrudgingly hands over the Kamidogu. Liu Kang looks at his friends "It was the only way" we get a somber ending. Because Hotaru would be fantastic here, especially as a overtly order obsessed character who yes, is aligned with the good guys, who slowly realize “aw shit this guys gonna be a problem too” as his methods and beliefs and goals aren’t perfectly aligned by any means beyond “stop havik”

Epilogue. Cyrax is forgiven by Hanzo and he welcomes her back into the United Clans. While Sektor condemns Bi-Han for refusing to give up his darkness/chaos. She instead focuses to improve their forces. The True Lin Kuei, now become the Tekunin. And a final shot of Johnny proposing to Sonya with Kenshi and Takeda smiling with approval.

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evilbihan · 4 months ago

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reading through your page. do you have any random headcanons of mk characters that aren't bi-han?? i'd love to hear them.

Thank you for sending me this ask. I won't lie, it was a difficult one to answer since Bi-Han is the only character I care about in the entire franchise. (Him being back as Sub-Zero was the only selling point of MK1 for me and his fate in the dlc is the reason why I stopped playing the game by now.) You could say, Bi-Han is MK to me.

I dislike most of the characters on the MK1 roster and I'm indifferent towards the rest of them, so I never bothered coming up with headcanons for any of them or trying to understand and analyse them on a deeper level. However, I still wanted to properly answer this ask, so here are some headcanons I came up with on the spot. I also posted a Kuai Liang headcanon a few days ago that you can read here if you want.

MK1 random headcanons:

Kitana and Mileena:

Being twin sisters, Kitana and Mileena used to often wear matching outfits when they were younger. They even wore the same hairstyle until Mileena entered her rebellious phase and shaved her hair. While Mileena's outfits became bolder, Kitana maintained a more conservative and traditional style. Sometimes it makes her sad that Mileena and her drifted apart so much, but she's still determined to support her sister wherever she can.

Li Mei:

Li Mei loves flowers, specifically lilies, but she has a soft spot for all kinds of plants. Her home in Sun Do is filled with potted plants in all shapes and sizes. Caring for them helps her unwind after a stressful day at work and she loves coming home to her own little garden too. She spends a lot of her free time there, tending to her plants or meditating.

Liu Kang:

Liu Kang is very lonely deep down. He misses his old friends, especially Kung Lao, and it pains him that he can no longer be a part of their lives in the same way he used to be before he became a god. Of course, he's happy to see his former companions thrive in the new era he created, but he can't deny that it hurts to no longer fit in. The people he once shared playful banter with look up to him for guidance now. He doesn't speak to anyone about his loneliness, only Geras knows since he became Liu Kang's best friend as well as his closest confidant over time.

Ashrah:

Ashrah adjusted to her new life as an Earthrealmer pretty quickly. She's grateful to have been offered a home and she's determined to prove worthy of it. She knows she still has much to learn, but she enjoys studying Earthrealm customs and traditions. She hopes that Earthrealm can become a home to Sareena as well, but she's also aware of how Sareena's nature as a demon still draws her to the Netherrealm. Her biggest fear is losing her last remaining sister to evil too. Despite her dedication to her search for absolution, Ashrah is unsure if she could ever bring herself to kill Sareena if it came down to it.

Sareena:

Sareena still hasn't fully forgiven Ashrah for the deaths of Kia and Jataaka. A part of her wishes the four of them were still together in the Netherrealm. She doesn't know if she will ever be able to call Earthrealm her home in the way Ashrah does and she's afraid of inevitably disappointing her sister by returning to her old ways.

Johnny:

Johnny still keeps a couple of handwritten letters to Cris that he never had the courage to send buried somewhere in one of his desk drawers. No matter how badly he misses her and how much he regrets that so much was left unsaid between them, for once in his life he doesn't want to be selfish, so he respects her decision to move on. It takes him a while to get over the divorce since he really loved Cris and although he continues to be his usual flirty and playful self, he's not sure if he's ready for a new relationship yet.

Tomas:

As a former hunter, there is a part of Tomas that enjoys the thrill of hunting and killing. To him, it's almost like a game, which is unusual for a Lin Kuei since they only fight for duty and to protect the realm. That side of Tomas is possibly owed to the Enenra and it's also the reason why Bi-Han is wary of him and doesn't consider him a true Lin Kuei.

Kenshi:

While he wouldn't necessarily call himself a sports fan, Kenshi has developed somewhat of a fondness for football since he became friends with Jax. Whenever Jax goes to watch a football game, Kenshi is happy to tag along. He enjoys the stadium atmosphere and finds it interesting to listen to his friend ramble about the teams and their strategies.

I hope you like these! I did my best, but you can tell I'm awful at writing anything non-Bi-Han related. Regardless, this was fun to write.

#mk kitana #mk mileena #mk li mei #mk liu kang #fire god liu kang #liu kang #mk ashrah #mk sareena #johnny cage #mk johnny cage #tomas vrbada #mk smoke #kenshi takahashi #mk kenshi #mortal kombat 1 #mk1 2023 #mk1

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leagueofleaguesff · 2 years ago

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(ESPN) N.erdy F.ootball L.eague 1st Round Playoff Recap 🏉💍🏈

As far as the standings going into the playoffs are concerned, Carla earned the top spot as the sole double digit win team in ESPN. Nobody else in the playoffs had less than 8 wins except Taurean who is the only playoff team with a sub.500 record (6-8). He beat out Oliver in a tie break for the final playoff spot.

Matt of course earned a bye along with Carla. Laura hasn't made the playoffs since she won it all in her inaugural year (except last year's controversial in). She has something to prove along with Peter. Peter must win to reclaim his dominance he once had PRIOR to Matt's arrival. Taurean is looking to have as much success in this league as his co commish has in his (friendly rivalry). Johnny although winning plenty of times before, doesn't not have a ring in his league yet because of lost records. Will he right this wrong?

The playoffs set it as Commissioners face each other (Taurean vs Laura) as Johnny faces his old coworker Peter who is on a mission.

Taurean 💍 Laura "Commish Battle"

Taurean stayed tried and true with his guy the G.O.A.T. Brady who thankfully had the best game of late with a 3 TD performance. Earlier in the Sunday slate, his OP flex of Fields gave him an edge as Justin ran for his life in the Bears vs Eagles game. CMC got over 100 yards (pro bowl snub) and Lamb went ha. In the cowboys upset loss. A pretty good outing between the Sunday games overall. A few surprises on the bench saw Gage and Pat's D with 20 plus points each. They definitely could have been better than the Garrett Wilson and Cowboys Def slots as the bench outproduced both.

For Laura, things were looking rough for Burrow in the 1st half of the Bucs game. The 2nd half was a complete opposite flurry of offense that set Cool Joe on a 40 plus performance. Diggs got less than double digits in a snowy wild game against the fins but almost all of her starting roster put out great points. Kittle went off...on the bench. Lucky Laura had played Purdy in a desperation move that turned out well in that exchange. Lockett was solid but Elliot and Jacobs added stability to her point total. A big risk playing Taysum paid off as Schultz on Taureans play only garnered 2 points to Hills 24.

Laura basically has a sizeable lead by the end of Sunday. Taurean had AJ Dillon left. 2 TDs later on MNF brought it close nearing the end. It was sadly not enough to overcome Laura's consistent point stacking from her starting roster.

Taurean lost and was eliminated from the playoffs. Meanwhile, Laura advances in what mist have felt a statement victory.

Congratulations in order for Laura as she clings for the ring. Kudos to Taurean for making it this far 👏

Peter 💍 Johnny

Johnny made the most trades in any Core 4 league to make it as a wildcard in ESPN at 8-6. Some trades put him at a deficit early in the season especially at the QB position. Relying on Danny Dimes and Jimmy G most of the way. When Jimmy went down for injury, desperation seeped in. Trades and waiver adds ensued. By making sacrifices with RBs, Johnny acquired Davante, Chase, and Jefferson all in trades to play 3 top tier WRs since there was a low supply of quality/dependable QBs. Trades for QBs failed on each attempt. Can he win without utilizing the QB premium of a superfluous by substituting a WR?

Peter had inconsistent results even with stellar players. Injuries, matchups, and last minute game scripts made his journey to the playoffs a bumpy one. Nonetheless, his steadfast insistence on sticking with his drafted players netted him enough wins to make it to the postseason.

Peter couldn't use Deebo which put him at a disadvantage. He sat Kamara as he has been lackluster this season. Of course, Kamara goes off to have a better game for the season on his bench. Amari was cold rather than hot. Andrews, yet again, has regressed due to factors with the Ravens (lack of WR playmaker, insistence on the run, Lamar injury, etc). Despite this, a hail Mary play in Trevor and Cousins (both in stunning wins) had the game of the season each on his roster.

Regardless of the awesome WR trio Johnny had and decent game from Broncos Defense...it simply wasn't enough. He played Peter on the wrong week. It happens.

Congratulations inorder to Peter for going onto the next round and kudos to Johnny for making the playoffs with trades galore.

While Commish buddies Johnny and Taurean face off for 5th, the final four for round 2 of the playoffs is cemented.

The final 4 sees Laura against Matt. Carla off her bye, will take on Peter.

Could we have another all female superbowl? Will the 2 most dominant players in league history face off in an epic matchup (Peter & Matt)? Each player has extra motivation.

Laura - Redemption

Carla - Quest for 1st 💍

Peter - Reclaim his throne

Matt - Make claim this is his league now.

Let's see what the 2nd round brings 4 da 💍

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smileysuh · 3 years ago

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hii i know you say this is a safe space so i feel like i can ask.. if lucas is never actually IN the recent stories why is he being mentioned so much? it’s your story you can do as you please it just kind of confuses me as far as your past statement about him.

oooof thanks for the question! did i make a statement about him in the past? Aaksjkajskas i 100% may have- i just can't find it anywhere on my blog-

erm- ok, so here's my thing with Lucas: i have no idea what the fuck is going on.

I simply: do not know

and while the jury is still out on this one- until we have definitive answers anywhere (and if we have these, please send them to me cuz i am so confused by everything that has gone down and way too exhausted to sift through accusations and stuff) - i'm going on the vibe that I'm not writing FOR Lucas-

which also goes hand in hand with the fact that while NCT 127 are one of my top groups, Wayv is really not on my radar much these days-

however, Lucas is low key a pretty funny/easy character to throw into a scene in a fic for shits and giggles, so i’m aware he’s been in a few of my fics- and i’ll address how i choose when to include him later in the post :)

please find a complete explanation below the cut so peeps don’t gotta read if they don’t wanna :)

i'm guessing you read the V Week fic where it mentioned him like this:

"Who is younger than Jungwoo?”

“Other than Hyuck, Yang Yang and Jeno?”

“Yeah.”

“Well,” Mark cocks his head, thinking about it. “Right under him in age, technically, is Lucas, but we both know you can’t really go for him because he thinks he’s in love with you.”

“He doesn’t even know me,” you sigh.

“I’ve tried telling him that,” Mark nods. “Honestly, looking at who’s left- most of them are people you’re friends with. I know you don’t want to sleep with Jaemin, Chenle, Renjun or Jisung- there’s Hendery and Xiaojun but they’re not your type either- Shotaro and Sungchan are new so maybe one of them-”

...

“The no strings thing is good because I know I’m not going to leave someone desperately in love with me after a night that, to me, is just fun.”

“Right, because every man that sleeps with you becomes desperately in love with you.” Mark rolls his eyes.

“Lucas did!” you insist. “And all it took was sitting on his lap for a five minute car ride to the football game because there were no extra seats!”

I felt i had to mention him because he’s still technically ot23, and i tried to go through the entire roster- i know people love Lucas, so i felt i had to give a reason for not including him in the fic itself- otherwise, in fic, regardless of what Lucas does in our world, he would have been a pretty obvious option- So i added the short backstory about sitting on his lap for five minutes-

which, yeah- Lucas is easy to tease in fic- an easy person to use for some comedic relief from the intense V Week Game asjkajkas

Also, i went back and checked, and you’re right about him still appearing in some of my fics

January 1st: YuJae Frat Fic : Lucas mentioned 4 times in reference to polyamory/threesomes he was involved in in earlier chapters

October 23rd: Mark’s Frat Fic : Lucas mentioned 12 times, with 2 distinct scenes and a few passing mentions. this was due to the fact that Lucas is an established character in the au.

Aug 30th : Lone Digger Johnny fic : Lucas is a lower level mafia type that runs one of Johnny’s clubs, he was chosen by process of elimination: nct 127 is upper level mafia, dream = not to be trusted with the club, ten/winwin/kun = would not suscept themselves to running John’s club for him, and wayvmaknae line would be just as chaotic as Dream- Lucas is like- the only Hyung left? sort of? he tries with Wayv Maknaes- but- yeah, it was process of elimination, he fit the vibe of club manager i was looking for, and in this fic he was mention 25 times

you can see the steady evolution of me trying to work him more and more out of my fics, i understand why it’s a bit confusing, especially since i’m low key required to mention him in frat au’s because he’s one of the biggest nct frat boys there is and he’s already in my preexisting universe- but i hope i’ve cleared some things up for you :)

this whole thing has been a mess and a half- i’m pretty much happy sticking with my JohnJaeHyuck love interest fics, with just the immediate 127 members as side characters instead of ot23 type things :) but sometimes it’s unavoidable

also i am very aware that the following infographic is extremely misleading because most of his fics were posted in 2020

2020 con’t:

also they were mostly short as SHIT now that i’m looking back- his massive red circle is hella deceiving eh? i took the liberty of getting the numbers so it’s more clear: while he has a big nUMBER of fics- his word count is lower than one might assume :)

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knifefather · 3 years ago

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Hello guys! Uploading this chapter of Tutor Me for yall on tumblr! Only one more chapter to go before the story is complete. It’s been so fun to write this and I hope you enjoy this emotional train wreck of a chapter! Don’t worry though, I plan to finish Reader and Diego’s story with a bang, if you know what I mean! Anyway, I bring to you, chapter 5~

➼ Title: Tutor Me, Chapter 5 ➼ Pairing(s): Diego Brando/Reader, Johnny Joestar/Reader, Johnny Joestar/Gyro Zeppeli ➼ Fandom: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure ➼ Word Count: 4.3k ➼ Rating: Explicit, 18+ ➼ Contains: Chubby AFAB!Reader, college AU, angst, alcoholism, parental abuse, hurt and comfort. Grab your tissues!

ミ★ View this on ao3! ★彡

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Preview

“This wasn’t supposed to happen...” he proclaimed, his tone growing more grave the more that he talked.

I wasn’t supposed to fall for you, he thought to himself, a crease settling into his brow. You were supposed to be a quick fuck. An experiment. That was all. But now look at where we are...

A soft look passed over his eyes before his expression contorted back to agitation. He angrily wiped the tears from his face and a bit of snot from his nose. When he moved his hand away, his expression was more determined than ever.

“Now get out of my way.”

Diego clasped the buckle on his helmet, straightening his posture and squaring his shoulders, before walking away from you yet again.

You stood behind him, mouth open, unable to even begin to form words. The dirt of the track whipped around you as a breeze passed through the stadium. The dust swirled around Diego as if it parted for him and only him, leading him towards victory.

The brightly lit stadium was packed to the brim with jockeys, paparazzi, and audience members when you arrived. You drew in a deep breath to calm your nerves, causing the thick, hot air to catch in your lungs. The atmosphere was almost oppressive as you made your way towards the admission line. Johnny, Gyro, and Hot Pants were already down on the track, having practiced for several hours before the actual tournament began. You were excited to see your friends but anxious about seeing Diego. Being around him tonight was a certainty that you had to deal with. Your throat grew dry at the realization, and you fleetingly thought about hitting the concession stand after you said hi to your friends.

You waited in line with the other attendees for God knows how long before the worker behind the counter took your ticket, allowing you entry. Quickly, you zipped past the stands and pushed through the crowds, heading down to the track before one of the staff members could stop you. As you made your way across the dirt, Johnny and the crew noticed you approaching and waved you closer. Your face broke out in a large smile as you neared them.

They all looked amazing: Hot Pants was dressed in her signature pink riding outfit and Johnny in his starry blue one. He looked cuter than you wanted to admit, and you adverted your eyes before you could be caught staring. Gyro looked more or less the same, but something about him seemed a bit more put together than usual. He gave you a distrustful look as you approached.

“Y/n! I’m so glad you made it!” Johnny said happily, wheeling over to you. His bright blue lips were tugged in a warm smile that made you forget about your anxiety for a moment.

“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world,” you replied.

In the distance, you could see the flashes of the paparazzi’s cameras aimed at the racers. There was a group of them nearby, snapping photos of a rider that was posing with their star racehorse. You knew it was a matter of time before the hoard would come to pester Johnny and the rest of the gang with photos and questions. You were correct in your assumptions: After a few moments of chatting amongst yourselves, the paparazzi interrupted your conversation with the crew by tapping Johnny on the shoulder and pushing a camera into his face. The interviewer flashed a too-white smile before looking into a camera that was held by another paparazzi. “And here we have racer number 7, Johnny Joestar! Johnny, tell us a little bit about your horse and hopes for the race,” they finished, whipping the microphone in his direction. His blue eyes went wide for a moment before clearing his throat. “Well…” He answered as swiftly as he could before he was hit with another barrage of questions.

As Johnny was being interviewed, several cameras snapped at Hot Pants, her outfit being praised by the rest of the team. She knew how to pose, too, and struck a different one every few seconds. Meanwhile, you had been more or less been pushed to the side and out of the cameras’ view. You looked at the scene, not envying your friends at all. Strangely enough, you noticed Gyro was standing off to the side as well, a pleased smile on his face. Unsure of how he would respond, you edged closer to him in hopes of making conversation, especially after the strange look he gave you earlier.

“What are you smiling about?” you asked innocuously, raising your voice a bit over the busy sounds of the stadium.

Gyro met your gaze, his expression shifting through a few different emotions before replying to you. “They don’t really like me,” he said.

You cocked a brow. “Why not? You’re a pretty good jockey.”

Gyro’s line of sight shifted from you to a paparazzi that was approaching him, presumably one that was new to the job. “Are you Gyro Zeppeli? Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your horse?” the young man asked, giving him the same treatment as Johnny. His cameraman pointed the filming instrument at Gyro’s face, getting way too close.

“Actually, my name is Inigo Montoya.” Gyro grinned, his gold teeth glinting in the bright lights.

“Oh,” the young paparazzi sputtered. He checked the roster in his pocket again, shaking his head before turning his attention back to him. “Sorry. Inigo. Where are you from? Why are you confident your horse will win the race?” the young man tried again.

“I hail from a land far, far away in the south. Super cold. You’ve probably never heard of it,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I came to Britain to win the championship with my horse, Ligma,” he answered, deepening his voice to sound more important than he was.

“Ligma?” the young man asked, his brow furrowing.

“You know, Ligma. Like--”

Just then, one of the more experienced paparazzi intervened, grabbing the microphone away from Gyro before he could crack his dirty joke. The other paparazzi harshly whispered to the younger one, and they exchanged glances before giving Gyro a distasteful look and walking away. All the while, Gyro was barely containing his laughter, his stomach and chest trembling with the effort. Once they were finally out of earshot, Gyro wouldn't contain himself and erupted into laughter.

You were taken aback by the scene, but you also found it hard to contain your giggles. You waited until the pair had fully adverted their attention from you and Gyro before speaking. “So, was that why they don’t like you?” you asked, still giggling.

“Yep. I always give them bullshit answers. They don’t really care about where you’re from or who you are, you know,” Gyro explained, his tone becoming more somber. “They just want a good show. To be entertained. That’s it.”

The smile had fallen from your face at his explanation. His green eyes scanned over your face before flickering away, his lips pressed into a thin line.

“Is that why you’re here? Do you care, or do you want to be entertained?” he asked, still looking away from you.

You were surprised at the boldness of his question. “Of course, I care. I want to see you guys do well--”

“Even Johnny?”

You furrowed your brow at this. His eyes met yours, his gaze accusatory as he looked you over. “What does that mean? Are you implying that I don’t care about him?” you shot back, your tone growing more defensive with every word. Gyro had always been aloof around you, but never like this. You wracked your brain trying to figure out the reason.

Gyro ignored your response. “You should get back to the stands. The race is gonna start soon, and the coaches aren’t going to be happy that you’re down here.” He fixed his hat while he spoke, the brim coming down to cast a shadow over his face.

Then it hit you as if the thought were a speeding train. Gyro... liked Johnny.

The cogs in your head were whirring a mile a minute, piecing together all of the times that he was unusually protective of Johnny. You thought back to the soft way that he looked at Johnny during riding practice, or the way Gyro ignored you after Johnny had flirted with you. You were going to argue the point, but he was right. The staff members that had initially spied you were now giving you harsh glances, some pointing now. At this point, the paparazzi had released Hot Pants and Johnny from being their hostages and were retreating to other parts of the stadium. You wished all of them good luck before making your way towards the stands, leaving them behind. Gyro’s words still rang in your ears, making your already complicated emotions about the event even more complicated.

You were still quite a bit away from the stands, but you could see Diego entering the stadium as clear as day. The swarm of paparazzi that obscured your view was a good indicator. From the looks of it, he was just arriving. It’s just like him to be fashionably late, you thought to yourself, making a sour face. Cameras began to flash again and interviewers animatedly asked him questions, trying to fit everything in before the tournament began.

“I’m going to come in first place. Just watch me,” you heard him boldly claim, quite loudly at that. This seemed to please the crowd of interviewers, because the volume of their voices increased as they wrapped up the interview. With only minutes before the jockeys had to take their places, the paparazzi finally dispersed. You were much closer now, able to see Diego clearly. His turquoise outfit was as pristine as ever, every detail carefully planned out. The letters on his equestrian helmet shined when he turned his head.

Before he was able to notice you approaching, a short, fat man hobbled out from the stands and down to the track. Diego’s big, showy smile disappeared and was replaced with a solemn look once he laid eyes on him. He froze in his spot. The man was clearly drunk, his hair unkempt and his clothes disheveled. The look of surprise on Diego’s face graduated to boiling anger, his mouth contorting into a sneer. You couldn’t quite hear what was being said, but you knew how his face looked when he was saying something aggressive. The old man responded with twice as much venom, yelling and shaking his fist at the rider. Diego shrunk under his words, but hatred still twisted his face.

Now, you were curious. You stopped just out of earshot from the scene, only close enough to hear the exchange of words.

“God damn it, I’m your father, Diego! A son does what his father tells him to!” the man slurred. Diego cringed, the alcohol on his father’s breath almost too much for him to handle.

“You’re no father of mine. Fuck off, Dario,” he spat.

This pissed off the old man, because he began to howl in rage at his son. “You’re a fucking disgrace, Diego! You’ve always been a disappointment to me and the rest of the family...It’s a damn shame that you don’t give every pound to help your dying mother in the hospital. A real damn shame,” the man--Dario--rambled, parts of his sentence nearly unintelligible from the slurring.

Though, Diego understood every word. The jockey snapped, his fist shooting out and curling into the man’s shirt. He shook the old man, his lips pulled back in a snarl, teeth bared like an animal. “Don’t you FUCKING dare say that! I send everything I have to support her, and you spend it on BOOZE! If there’s anyone here who is a disgrace, it’s you!” Diego shouted, pushing the man away before the violence could escalate any further.

Your mouth was gaping at the scene, unable to believe that the foul-mouthed drunkard was Diego’s father. He was the complete opposite of his son physically, bearing little to no resemblance to him. You couldn’t imagine his dull grey hair being the same shade as Diego’s blond locks. Though, they both had the same burning look of passion behind their eyes. Nonetheless, you continued to listen in.

“It’s no surprise that I smell booze on your breath. Like always,” Diego growled, his voice much calmer now. His blazing anger had turned cold, his words mechanical in quality.

“You’re a horrible child. A worthless waste of space. Win that money and bring it home to me, or you’ll never see your mum again. You hear me?” Dario said, waving a finger in the jockey’s face. Diego bit his lower lip, looking at the ground defeatedly before nodding his head yes. All of the fight left him, his frame deflating significantly. He understood the implications of his father’s words: The little money that Dario did use to help his mother would stop altogether. And then, she would be gone.

“Good. And after this is over, be useful and bring me a pint,” the old man said, taking a swig from the bottle in his hand before hobbling back off towards the stands.

You were completely at a loss. You blinked slowly, unable to believe the horrible sight that you witnessed. Diego was still staring at the ground, the fist that was once in his father’s shirt now clenched at his side. He was still biting his lip, hard, a small trickle of blood flowing down his chin. You felt horrible that he was clearly being abused by his father, but you were on a mission: You had to get to the bottom of why he was mistreating you, why he had ghosted you and threw you to the side like nothing. You had a sneaking suspicion that the treatment from his father was a part of the reason, but you had to know for sure. You decided to be the bigger person and put your thoughts of confrontation on pause. It could wait until after the race.

You approached him uneasily, taking light steps on the dirt like if you stepped too hard, he’d be disturbed. As you approached him, his eyes slowly rose from the ground and met your form. You were wearing a crop top and high-waisted shorts, along with matching shoes. You were beautiful, glowing, so much more confident than the first time he saw you. You proudly allowed your belly to show with your shirt, and the shorts showed off your legs and hugged the curves of your hips perfectly. It was faint, but a bit of makeup dusted your cheeks and kissed your lashes. You were the same, but different somehow. Something had changed in you along the way. If Diego weren’t devastated, he would be enamored by you. Part of him was, despite his pain.

When your gazes locked, you saw a look that you had never seen on Diego before. His eyes were those of a completely broken, desperate person. You had heard enough to know his secrets, and the both of you knew this while you stared silently at each other.

You flub, not sure what to say for a moment. “I… I had no idea,” you said, your voice small and full of hurt.

“I know.” Diego’s jaw was clenched. He didn’t want you to see him like this, so vulnerable and weak. His first instinct was to hide, to get away from you. Your empathetic gaze made feelings rise in him that he didn’t want to be feeling.

“I’m sorry that you have to deal with that…” you said, feeling stuck. “Is that the reason why you wanted to stay away? What your dad said about your mom?” you asked softly, as if you were comforting a child.

The gentle, caring look in your eyes only frustrated Diego further. He looked away, blinking hard and trying to restrain his emotion. He already made the mistake of arguing with Dario in public, which the paparazzi more than certainly saw him do. He wasn’t going to get emotional and have another scene with you, not when he had a race to win and a mother to save. Diego opted for silence, not giving a response and just looking away.

You sighed sadly before taking a step toward him, your hand outstretched. “Please. I need to know. You don’t have to tell me now, but I want to talk about this,” you tried, setting your hand on his shoulder. He promptly shrugged you off with an exasperated noise.

“I don’t want them to see,” Diego said, already turning on his heel and walking away from you. Your feet were moving before you had time to think about it, making you follow him across the dirt.

“That’s fine. But at least tell me after the race,” you implored, your tone growing more desperate. You swallowed, hard, and tried to get yourself together.

He was quiet again, worrying his lip between his teeth as he struggled to hold back all of the things he wanted to say. Diego tried to keep his eye on the ball, focusing on an image of him holding a 10,000 pound sterling check in his hand. Except, the image grew fuzzy in his mind’s eye, and he saw you instead. Your smile. Your eyes. You, choking on cigarette smoke. You, in the back of his car, blushing and looking at him like the most important person in the world.

You sped up, jogging next to his side. He walked faster, leaving you in the dust.

“Why? Why do you keep walking away from me? Every time? You always deflect and you never want to talk about anything. It’s not healthy, Diego,” you said, your voice breaking. “I’ll leave you alone forever if that’s what you want. If you want to talk about this later, just tell me. Communicate with me, please.”

This got Diego’s attention, and he stopped in his tracks.

“Diego, what’s going on? What are we?” you tried one more time before giving up for good. You were well aware that you were crossing the line, but you needed something. Your hand went to his arm, your thumb gently caressing him.

You didn’t expect the furious expression on his face when he whipped around to look at you. Surprised, you took a step back from him, watching his hands curl around nothing at his sides.

“I don’t know!” Diego yelled, ripping his sleeve from your grasp. His eyes were smoldering with anger and fear in their basest forms. He sniffled a bit at the end of his sentence.

You stopped in your tracks, frozen by disbelief. Tears were now freely flowing down Diego’s cheeks, hot and wet and dripping onto the dirt below his feet. “You saw Dario. What an absolutely disgusting, no-good, drunk fucking swine he is,” he said through gritted teeth. “What’s what I deal with. That’s what my mother deals with. He doesn’t love her, doesn’t care if she dies young. That’s why I have to win this race. I have to have that money in my pocket; failure isn’t an option. I don’t know what we are. This wasn’t supposed to happen...” he proclaimed, his tone growing more grave the more that he talked.

I wasn’t supposed to fall for you, he thought to himself, a crease settling into his brow. You were supposed to be a quick fuck. An experiment. That was all. But now look at where we are...

“Now get out of my way.”

Diego clasped the buckle on his helmet, straightening his posture and squaring his shoulders, before walking away from you yet again.

Where you thought you would feel disappointment, you felt numb. You didn’t know what exactly to feel. You turned around and walked towards the stands, the scene below catching the attention of a few audience members. They looked at you curiously as you made your way towards your seat, but you paid no mind to them. Something in your gut told you that this wasn’t over. And, despite everything, you knew who you would be cheering for once the tournament began.

★・・・・・・★

The thundering of hooves on the dirt and the roar of the crowd reverberated in your ears. You watched as the riders were approaching the last lap, many of them bracing themselves for one last push of speed. Many of the jockeys who started in first place had sunk to the back, and others who had restrained themselves were rising to the occasion. Such was the case for your friends and Diego.

Gyro was currently sitting in 5th place, Hot Pants in 4th, Johnny in 2nd, and, surprisingly, Diego in 6th. You nervously watched as Diego bided his time in the back. A shadow was cast over his face from his helmet, and you and the onlookers alike struggled to read his expression. The announcer was going crazy with play-by-plays, calling out so quickly that the words lost their meaning to you. You wanted your friends to win, but you couldn’t help but cheer for Diego on the inside.

Johnny’s horse was speeding ahead of the contender in first place, the red-headed woman yelling a profanity at him and shooting him a dirty look. She maneuvered her horse to the side, trying to throw him off balance, but Johnny was quick. He swerved, avoiding the collision, and zipped past her into first place.

“Johnny Joestar has taken the lead! Can he keep this up? Do we have the winner?!” the announcer boomed, riling up the crowd. They all clapped and shouted, the sounds making your head buzz. The smell of alcohol was also heavy in the air and it didn’t help the knot that settled in your stomach. You hoped that Dario wasn't sitting nearby.

What are you doing, Diego? You thought to yourself, making a “tsk” sound under your breath.

Hot Pants surprised you next, overtaking the 3rd place racer and claiming their place. There were only a few meters left, and you began to sweat as the end of the race approached.

Suddenly, you heard a gasp from the audience. You flicked your eyes over to the back riders and saw what the audience had seen. Diego was jetting past the other racers, taking 5th, 4th, and 3rd like nothing. You found yourself scooting to the edge of your seat, your hands gripping the edge of the stands hard enough to make your palms white.

Diego was steady for a moment, riding next to Hot Pants, almost as if he was taunting her. Down on the track, he flashed her a cocky grin before snatching 2nd place away from her. Now, he was right behind Johnny, the two riders only a few feet away from each other. The announcer was hollering his head off, but silence settled over your ears. You watched them, side by side, sweat flying off of the both of them.

Johnny looked to his side, his brow furrowed, his upper lip curled in concentration. Diego’s eyes flashed as they locked gazes, a thousand words being exchanged from one intense look. Johnny pressed on, encouraging Slow Dancer to give everything that she had. Diego’s own horse still had a bit left in her, and, with an expert maneuver from her rider, Diego cut perfectly in front of Johnny, making Slow Dancer falter.

You gasped, you hands gripping the metal edge of the stands even harder. For a split second, Johnny’s horse lost her balance, stumbling, but he pulled hard on her reigns and recentered her. By then, it was too late, and Diego was several paces ahead of him, the finish line within his reach. Your heart raced as you watched him, you jumped to your feet and leaned in as close as you could, unable to look away.

“AND THERE HE GOES!” the announcer howled, the entire stadium screaming at the top of their lungs. The moment that Silver Bullet crossed the finish line happened almost in slow-motion. You could see the exact moment that her hoof touched the dirt right over the line, how the beast’s muscles ripped under her hide as she carried them both to victory. Diego was almost standing, braced so forwardly that he almost flew off the horse when they passed the finish line. You could feel the breeze ruffling your hair as he jetted past you.

And just like that, it was all over. Johnny wasn’t far behind him, and neither were Hot Pants and Gyro. Your heart was beating at a million miles a minute, and you couldn’t help but break into a huge smile and join the crowd in their cheering. You cheered until your throat grew hoarse and scratchy, until you couldn’t produce sound any longer.

Diego’s face was broken out in a toothy smile as his horse slowed. “We have our winner! Give it up for Diego Brando!” Everyone did accordingly, many whooping and hollerings taking place. Cheers still sounded off for the rest of the participants, and even though they were dejected, many were still happy to have made it in the top ten. Diego did a victory lap around the stadium, cameras going off like crazy and admirers reaching over the barrier for a chance to be close to the celebrity. He waved, a grin still dancing on his lips while he rode the high of being the winner. You could see from your seat the rise and fall of his chest as he drew in ragged breaths, trying to calm himself down from the excitement.

Slowly, you sat down, your hands stilling from the abundance of clapping. Even as you sat, you were still beaming uncontrollably. You couldn’t help but feel proud of him, to be happy for him at this moment, even though you knew that the happiness was only temporary.

#diego brando x reader #johnny joestar x gyro zeppeli #tutor me #jjba #not sfw #my work #chubby reader #cw alcoholism #hurt and comfort

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thenukacolachallenge · 3 years ago

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Calli blurbs~(since she seems to be popular rn lmao):

-she loves to prank people. She constantly sneaks up on Coco, who jumps EVERY SINGLE TIME without fail. Calli thinks it’s hilarious. Coco is so done with her little sister’s shit. Coco also does the Mom Thing when she gets scared by Calli(”*tiny gasp!* you scared me~”)

-she also uses her barrier powers to block doors just to fuck with people. Poor Kung Lao has walked headfirst into an invisible barrier many times. Calli is usually hiding nearby, trying not to burst into laughter. she especially likes to fuck with him bc of how cocky he is.

-she bakes as a stress-reliever. during finals week, everyone she knew was gifted an influx of brownies, cookies, cupcakes and the like. she likes to make it from scratch if she can, but she’s not opposed to using boxed mixes, though she will substitute any oil with real melted butter, as well as adding extra flavorings(a small bit of espresso powder to chocolates, some vanilla extract and a hint of fresh nutmeg to vanilla stuff, etc).

-she’s trying to learn ukulele! she’s not very good yet, but gosh darn it she tries.

-she loves to draw and she’s quite good at it. she carries around two journals at all times: one is her compendium of the history of the different realms, and the other is one of many doodling journals she’s filled up over the years. if she’s in an unfamiliar situation and she’s not comfortable, she’ll absorb herself in her art journal, doodling things around her as a way to calm her brain.

-she’s done a LOT of Ninja Mime art. like, A LOT. she refuses to talk about any of it to Johnny or Cassie Cage. she’s too scared/nervous.

-pretty much any time she meets someone she’s read about in her research, she gets super starstruck. the first time she ever met Kitana she couldn’t form proper sentences. she’s just, so cool...

-as much as she loves Coco, the secrecy that Coco surrounds herself with drives a huge wedge between the two. Coco thinks that she’s protecting Calli by keeping her away from Tanaka Industries and the darker shit she does for a living, but Calli a) usually finds out about it anyways, both bc she’s incredibly nosy AND their adoptive brother Sascha also works there, and b) Coco thinks Calli will respect her less, but that’s not the case at all.

-she is lowkey vine/tiktok famous, but for really weird memelord shit. like, just the absolute weirdest, most bonkers unhinged content you can imagine. stuff like this.

-she gives the best hugs, although most of the MK roster would have to lean down significantly OR pick her up to experience them. so liddol.

-she has no idea what she’s going to do for a living now that she’s out of school. there’s not really a huge market for people who research history of the different realms, but that’s really all she’s interested in. she’s very thankful for Coco and Izzy helping her live. she eventually gets a part-time job at a bookstore, but it still isn’t a living.

-her morning routine is almost always the same(unless she’s completely consumed by her anxiety): some light stretching and working out, a shower, and a walk to her favorite local coffeeshop. she knows all the baristas and they love her bc she’s nice, she leaves great tips, and she’s not afraid to call out another customer for being a jerk. she usually goes to the library after finishing her drink.

#OC: Callisto Nova #there's more i meant to write but my brain is a sieve and i've forgotten #mk calli

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365days365movies · 3 years ago

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Western August I: Stagecoach (1939) - Recap and Review

Let’s start at the beginning...almost,

The Western arguably was born with the 1903 film, The Great Train Robbery. This 12-minute short film is a classic, and one of the earliest achievements in film-making. It’s also, unsurprisingly, a Western, and based on an actual train robbery. At the time it was made, the Wild West had only really ended a few years prior, with its heyday being about 40 years past. Which, yeah, is CRAZY. People who remembered the Wild West lived into the 1950s and ‘60s. It seems like so long ago, and it was, but it was still relatively recent from a historical standpoint.

From then, the Western remained a staple of cinema, and would be so for over half a century. And then, enter John Ford. Born in 1894, the Irish American director began his career in 1914 as an assistant and handyman, often working with his older brother Francis. Eventually, John took his place as a director, starting with silent films, especially westerns. Starting with the very successful film The Iron Horse in 1924, he quickly rose to stardom. He transitioned from silent films to talkies pretty effortlessly, and continued his streak. All the while, he was also one of the first directors to have a roster of actors in his company. You know how Tim Burton always uses Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter? Or how the Coen Brothers always use Frances McDormand and John Goodman? Or Wes Andersen with Bill Murray and Owen Wilson? Yeah, that started with John Ford and...ugh...

Before I start...fuck John Wayne.

Dude was a racist homophobic asshole, and absolutely a dick. Look it up, or don’t if you’d rather not have one of cinemas most iconic faces completely ruined for you. But OK, outside of that one time that he said that the Native Americans were “selfishly trying to keep the land for themselves”, or that he believed in white supremacy over uneducated blacks...yeah, he’s a DICK...

Marion Robert Morrison was born in Iowa in 1907, and began his film career after becoming injured while surfing without a surfboard and ending his football career. Yes, really. His football coach was a friend of a film director named John Ford, who hired Morrison as a favor to him. Said football coach was also friends with an actual remnant of the Old West: WYATT FUCKING EARP. YEAH.

For years, Morrison was a bit player until starring in the film The Big Trail in 1930, a Western directed by Raoul Walsh. And he wasn’t exactly famous after this, but it was with this film that he took up a screen name: John Wayne, after a Revolutionary War general, Anthony Wayne, and...well, the name John. Anthony sounded too Italian. Yes, really. After this movie, Wayne continued to star in more Westerns, and even became one of the first film cowboys to sing on camera.

And then, 1939 came along, and John Ford came to him with a new film project. Being a classic Western, the film was about a group of settlers riding on a stagecoach together through the West. Strangers to each other, they find themselves attacked by a group of Native Americans belonging to the Apache tribes. This film, an adaptation of a 1939 short story, would come to be known as Stagecoach. And it would launch Ford, Wayne, and the Western genre into a Golden Age. So no more navel-gazing, let’s get started!

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

I get reminded that I haven’t watched a Criterion Collection film in a while, and the film begins with a rousing Western theme, courtesy of...holy shit, this movie has SEVEN COMPOSERS? Well, OK, courtesy of somebody in that list of seven. From there, we cut to a camp somewhere in the Arizona Territory in 1880. Which, again, is only 60 years prior to this film’s release date. There, a group of men discuss the danger imposed on them by the Apache, stirred up by the legendary warrior Geronimo.

And from there, we go to the town of Tonto, where stagecoach driver Buck (Andy Devine) lets a group of passengers out. One of these passengers is Lucy Mallory (Louise Platt), there to catch another shuttle to meet her husband in Dry Fork, New Mexico. However, the stagecoach gains an extra passenger in the form of the Marshal, Curley Wilcox (George Bancroft), who goes to find an outlaw also in Lordsburg.

The passenger list builds with the addition of Doc Boone (Thomas Mitchell) and Dallas (Claire Trevor), a drunk and a prostitute both driven out of town by the Law and Order League of Women, due to social stigma affecting them both. In a bar getting a farewell drink, Doc meets yet one more passenger, Samuel Peacock (Donald Meek), a whiskey salesman that Doc is glad to meet. Meanwhile, banker Henry Gatewood (Berton Churchill) also boards the vehicle, under mysterious circumstances.

Friends of Lucy are worried with her travelling a drunk and a prostitute (the ABSOLUTE SCANDAL), but she needs to visit her husband in Dry Fork. As she leaves, she meets eyes with the dangerous but enigmatic gambler Hatfield (John Carradine). And before they’re able to leave altogether, the carriage is stopped by the army, who warn them of the Apache and Geronimo. All of the passengers refuse to get off, and YET TWO MORE passengers board to protect the carriage: the Marshal and Hatfield. And finally, they’re off! But as they head out, they’re stopped when they encounter a recently escaped outlaw.

This is The Ringo Kid (John Wayne), who just got out of prison. The Marshal sees him, and takes him into custody on the way to Lordsburg, where they plan to drop him off into jail. And yes, he’s put on the fucking stagecoach. In total, we have Buck, the Marshal, Lucy, Hatfield, Doc, Peacock, Gatewood, and the Ringo Kid. Jesus, that’s a crowded-ass carriage, even if two of them are outside of it. Hell, Ringo’s sitting on the fuckin’ floor!

Anyway, the group interacts and introduces themselves. We learn that Doc once patched up Ringo’s brother, and was discharged from the Union Army for drunkenness. We learn that Hatfield is a true southern gentleman, and a veteran of the Confederate army (much to Doc’s ire), and that Ringo’s brother was murdered under mysterious circumstances.

The group gets to Dry Forks, currently under occupation by the army. Said army had accompanied them (outside of the carriage, thank God) to Dry Forks, and are staying there to guard against the Apache. Meanwhile, Lucy’s dismayed to find that her husband isn’t in fact there. This leads to the debate of whether or not the party should go back to Tonto, or head onwards to Lordsburg. Buck wants to go back to Tonto, as does Peacock, while literally everybody else wants to go to Lordsburg. And so, they continue onwards.

Before heading onwards, the group sits for dinner, during which Ringo is the only one to show any form of kindness to Dallas, as everybody else looks down on her for prostitution. Shit, man, they won’t even sit near her at the table. Jesus. Unfortunately, Dallas is used to this cruel treatment, and it allows her to bond with Ringo in her loneliness. Once again, character interactions reveal things about our cast. Lucy is feeling quite ill, and Hatfield reveals that he served under her father in the Confederate Army.

And from there, the coach continues on through the desert. Buck and the Marshal argue about letting Ringo free, as he aims to continue his feud with the outlaw Luke Plummer and his brothers, despite the fact that he’ll likely be killed by them. It’s for this reason that the Marshal wants to keep Ringo in his custody, as he was good friends with his father and doesn’t want to see him killed by the dangerous Plummers, whom Buck thinks should be taken down regardless.

Inside the coach, the banker reveals that he’s literally a Republican from 2016 (he rants about small government, and claims that a businessman should be President, holy shit), while people keep treating Dallas like shit, except for Ringo. They go through a cold mountain pass, which isn’t great for Lucy for some reason. It’s actually quite rough on everyone. Except for Doc Boone, who keeps drinking Peacock’s whiskey samples, which is hilarious.

Finally, the group makes it to the next stop, Apache Wells. There, Lucy discovers that her husband has been severely wounded in a battle with the Apache, and she falls faint. Despite being absolutely SMASHED, Doc sobers up to help her, with the help of Ringo and the Marshal. Meanwhile, Dallas watches over her, despite the rancor that Lucy’s tossed at her this whole time.

The group stays the night, attended to by Chris (Chris Pin-Martin) a Mexican man who’s married to Yakima (Elvira Rios), an Apache woman who...is played by a Mexican singer. Huh. I mean...it’s still technically redface, unfortunately. But then again, the attitude towards Native American actors at this time was...oh boy. And the portrayal of the Mexicans in the camp aren’t exactly great, as a group of them steal the group’s spare horses, meaning that they only have one set of horses to use from here on out.

But amongst the unpleasant is a pleasant surprise, and the reveal of the cause for Lucy’s mysterious condition: she’s pregnant. Or rather, she was, as the baby’s just been delivered, and is being held by Dallas. As the group celebrates, Chris warns Ringo to stay away from Lordsburg, as the Plummers will kill him. But Ringo has something else on his mind.

See, on seeing Dallas with the baby, he finds himself quite in love with her. He finds her outside, and tells her that his father and brothers were killed by the Plummers. In turn, she reveals that her family was massacred on the real-life Superstition Mountain. Their conversation ends in Ringo proposing to Dallas, which she protests to because of her mysterious past.

The next morning, Yakima’s left with Chris’ horse and rifle, and the group worry that she’s gone to tell the Apache. After Gatewood panics about his mysterious valise being possibly stolen, the group packs up and readies themselves to go. But Lucy is, of course, still ill from literally giving birth hours ago. Things are still tense between Lucy and Dallas, despite Dallas taking care of her the entire fucking night. Jesus, lady, that high horse is looking uncomfortable, you should get off it.

Dallas has something else to worry about, as she’s thinking on Ringo’s proposal. She consults with the doctor, who reminds her of her mysterious and checkered past being revealed if she goes. But she doesn’t seem to care, and she decides to accept the proposal. As for the rest, Gatewood’s freakin’ the fuck out. Because of Lucy’s condition, the doctor requests that they don’t leave until a day later. And Gatewood doesn’t give a single shit, as the Apache are close enough. Still, the party decides to stay, at Hatfield’s added insistence.

Ringo and Dallas talk, with Dallas both warning him of the Plummers, and also accepting his proposal. The men are all still arguing about whether or not they should leave, and they note that the Apache are likely between them and their destination. Ringo then takes the opportunity to escape and ride to Lordsburg for revenge on the Plummers. But he stops when he sees smoke signals on the hill. The Apache are coming.

No more waiting, it’s time to GO. Taking the still recovering lady and her newborn child Coyote into the stagecoach, they take off into the desert. Gatewood continues to run his loudmouth, to the ire of Hatfield and Ringo. And Peacock, to my delight, shows some kindness and “Christian charity” to Dallas, as she holds Coyote during the ride. And after all, they’re almost at the ferry!

Ah, shit, the ferry! Looks like the ferry, and the entire town of Lee’s Ferry have been burned. And if they ford the river, all of their supplies could be flooded, or the oxen could drown! Or worse, dysentery could set in! That’s what The Oregon Trail taught me! And yet, despite this, that’s actually EXACTLY what they do! And unlike me literally every time I’ve every tried to cross a river without a ferry, they make it through fine! Realistic educational games my ASS!

But it’s not entirely safe, as the group are being watched by none other than the Apache, who make their way down to intercept the group. In the carriage, meanwhile, the group is thankful that they’ve made their way from danger, and even Gatewood relaxes a little. Doc Boone makes a toast, and everyone seems to be getting along for once.

OH FUCK, PEACOCK GOT HIT!

The girlfriend IMMEDIATELY SAYS, “Now he really is Drew Peacock.” I leave and get boba to soothe my injured spirit from that well-timed joke. And then, the movie continues, and the chase is on! The Apache chase the stagecoach through the desert, and the groups trade gunshots and arrows, with Ringo shooting from the back. Gatewood panics so hard that Doc Boone punches him and IMMEDIATELY knocks him out, as he attends to Peacock’s injuries.

But despite their best efforts, the Apache group catches up to them, although many of them are killed by Ringo, the Marshal, Doc, and Hatfield. In the process, Buck is also shot, and Ringo literally jumps ON THE FUCKING HORSES, and commands them from the front like a goddamn badass. Things begin to get worse, as everybody in the stagecoach runs out of ammo, at the worst possible time. Hatfield only has one bullet remaining, and he considers using it...to kill Lucy! Holy fuck!

And just as he’s about to fire IN HER FUCKING FACE, the sounds of horns ring out as the cavalry arrives. And Hatfield, dick that he is, is shot. I think he was trying to spare her the indignity of being captured by the Apache, but Jesus, man! He collapses, and reveals that his father is a judge in Virginia before he...either passes out or dies, I’m not sure. The group finally gets to Lordsburg, where it turns out that Lucy’s husband is gonna be OK, and wasn’t severely injured. She tanks Dallas for everything that she’s done, and promises to help her should she ever need assistance. Good, finally, the lady needs a goddamn break.

The stagecoach rides through the busy town, and the arrival of the Ringo Kid gets the attention of Luke Plummer (Tom Tyler), who fetches his brothers Hank (Vester Pegg) and Ike (Joe Rickson). Time to get ready for a showdown, it seems. Dallas seems to know this, and goes to Ringo after the living Peacock (yay!) and the not-so-living Hatfield (oof) are brought in for medical help.

Buck’s also OK, but Gatewood isn’t. See, that valise he was carrying was actually full of money, and he had embezzled it from his own bank. He had counted on telegraph lines being down, so that he could escape with his ill-gotten gains, but has no such luck, and is led away in handcuffs! HA!

Ringo, meanwhile, is set to kill Luke Plummer and his brothers. The Marshal lets him escape, and promises to get Dallas safely down to a little ranch he owns in the South. Dallas and Ringo walk off together, and Dallas tries to get him to leave and say goodbye before he goes to his death, and before he finds out about her past (presumably as a prostitute).

See, they’re actually walking up to a brothel, where Dallas is going to stay and work. Because, yeah, she’s a prostitute. Sucks that she’s been so maligned, because prostitution fuckin’ BUILT the Old West! I guess it’s easier to see that with historical context. As Ringo finds out the truth about Dallas (which he might’ve known all along), he still insists upon marrying her...and upon killing the Plummers.

Doc, meanwhile, goes to the bar where the Plummers are waiting. He tells them that he’ll get them arrested, and Luke swears to come back for him after their business with Ringo is concluded. The brothers head outside, ready for the final showdown. It’s 3 on one, Plummers against Ringo. Ringo fires! A few more shots...then silence. And Dallas mourns.

Except that Ringo wins the fight, and goes back to her! A happy ending! I’m sure that’ll be pretty goddamn rare this month. The Marshal arrives to take Ringo away, and Ringo goes as promised. She asks to ride with him a bit, and the Marshal agrees. He and Doc watch them get on, then cause the horses of the carriage to stampede away, letting Ringo and Dallas escape into the desert, together. And that’s the end!

Y’know...I liked it! I really liked it!

This movie is often referred to as the greatest Western of all time, and the reason that the Western survived into the next several decades. And honestly, I get it! It was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, and won for Best Supporting Actor (Thomas Mitchell, AKA Doc) and Best Original Score, both of which were quite deserved!

Review time!

Cast and Acting - 9/10: Sure, it’s a little hokey. But at the same time, it’s good classic Hollywood acting! Wayne, Trevor, Mitchell, Carradine, and Devine are standouts for me, all of which serving their roles well. Also, fun fact about Andy Devine: he’s the voice of Friar Tuck in Disney’s Robin Hood! KNEW I recognized that voice!

Plot and Writing - 10/10: Standard plot? Sure. Engaging as hell? Hell yeah! This is just a good story, plain and simple. No holes, no problems, no mistakes, and purely straightforward. Great writing by the original story author, Ernest Haycox, and great screenplay by Dudley Nichols!

Directing and Cinematography - 10/10: Great looking movie, too! All credit to John Ford, unsurprisingly. Cinematographer Bert Glennon also deserves credit for the beautiful landscape shots throughout. Gogeous film, even in black-and-white!

Production and Art Design - 8/10: This is pretty standard Western production design, so not a lot to write home about specifically. However, that doesn’t mean it’s bad. To the contrary, it’s quite good! Just does stand out to me quite as much as other movies. Might be a nitpick, but it’s still something against the film.

Music and Editing - 10/10: No complaints! Seven composers definitely make their presence known, and you can tell that this score heavily informed all Western scores after it. It’s iconic, and it’s perfect for the mood. As for the editing by Otho Lovering and Dorothy Spencer...it’s great! Perfect pacing, well-edited...no complaints whatsoever.

94%, and I had fun with this one!

I honestly did have quite a good time with this one. I can’t really call it a “fun” movie, but it definitely is a good one. Plus, it’s a John Ford/John Wayne film, which is basically a staple of the genre. So, what’s next?

Next: My Darling Clementine (1946), dir. John Ford

#stagecoach #stagecoach 1939 #john ford #claire trevor #john wayne #andy devine #john carradine #thomas mitchell #george bancroft #apache #western august #365 days 365 movies #365 movie challenge #western genre #user365 #usersasha #my gifs #mygifs

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pucksnsticksnhockeyboys · 5 years ago

Text

what do you say

summary: you never were the best at addressing your feelings with Matthew, and neither was he.

warnings: mentions of smut, some steaminess, alcohol

word count: 4.7k

Your mother had always told you hindsight was 20/20 vison, but back then you just rolled your eyes and kept on complaining about how you regretted sending an embarrassing text to the guy you liked.

But now you knew what she meant. And the irony was not lost on you.

You should have made your friend tell you where she was taking you. You shouldn’t have let her pick your outfit for the evening, the lacy dark green bodysuit tucked into a pair of black skinny jeans a tad too revealing for your taste, even when paired with a jacket.

And you most definitely should have turned and walked out the door the moment you realized whose house party you were at.

“I’m leaving.” You stated firmly, turning to face Isabelle the moment you crossed into the apartment. Your back was to the crowd, and your friend shot you an innocent look before searching the crowd. “I thought you said this was a party by the guy you were seeing.”

“It is.” She looked a bit sheepish, and you raised a brow in question.

“Then why is half the Flames roster here?” It was pretty easy for you to recognize the players for two reasons. The only one you were willing to admit to was that you were a pretty big hockey fan and had dragged Isabelle to more than her fair share of games. Her sheepish smile grew, and you felt a wave of worry wash over you.

“What would you say if I told you he was on the team? And that I’m not just seeing him, but he’s kinda my boyfriend?”

You wanted to be annoyed, you really did. Annoyed that she didn’t tell you she was seeing a hockey player—not that you cared about his status, she just knew how much you loved the sport—and annoyed that she hadn’t mentioned her change in relationship status.

But that would make you a hypocrite.

See, a few months ago you had hooked up with Calgary’s very own Matthew Tkachuk. And then you kept hooking up. It was a no strings attached relationship that developed into a friends with benefits as a result of the sometimes hours of hanging out with him before actually hooking up with him. You hadn’t told Isabelle about it, because you knew things were too good to be true, and you had been right.

Because then you had to go and fall for the guy. To save yourself from having to explain why things couldn’t continue the way they were, you ended things with him. He tried to protest and salvage your relationship, but you thought the best thing for you would to be to cut him out of your life. It had been weeks since you had last seen him.

And now he was probably at this party, and you were going to have to spend your whole night avoiding him instead of getting to know your best friend’s new boyfriend.

“Who is he?” You settled on answering with, and if Isabelle saw the way all the color drained from your face, she didn’t comment on it. Instead, she seemed to find whoever she was searching for because a smile lit up her face and she was tugging you by the wrist into the party before you could make good on your threat of leaving.

“Noah! Hey!” She called, dropping your hand in favor of embracing the hockey player with a kiss and a hug. When she finally pulled away, she turned to face you with a grin, and her happiness did little to help the dread that was piling in the pit of your stomach. She introduced the two of you, and you had to pretend like you hadn’t heard so much about him from Matt.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Noah shook your hand, one of his arms swinging over Isabelle’s shoulders. “I was starting to think she didn’t want me to meet her friends.”

“If anything, she was hiding you from us.” You teased, keeping your gaze focused on him and forcing yourself to not search the party for any signs of the curly haired nuisance that had taken up residence in your mind rent free for so long.

“Protecting him from you, more like.” Isabelle shot back, earning laughs from both you and Noah. You rolled your eyes at her, and before you could come up with something to say back you were interrupted by someone calling Noah’s name and beckoning him over to the pong table.

“If you want to get a drink, everything’s in the kitchen right through there.” Noah told you and you nodded, silently cursing Isabelle for abandoning you for her boyfriend. You were stuck between deciding whether or not to follow them to the cup pong table, but you figured if you were going to spend the night wondering whether or not you were going to run into Matthew, you needed something to drink.

The kitchen was mostly abandoned, and quickly spotted the cups, alongside vodka and some mixers. You were in the middle of pouring the cranberry juice into your cup when you heard someone enter the kitchen, but you were so distracted by trying to make your drink strong but still palpable that you didn’t look up.

“What, not doing shots tonight?” You would recognize that voice anywhere. Smug, cocky, and somehow endearing all at the same time. You stayed facing the counter as if that would make him go away.

“Last time I did shots I had to sneak out of some guy’s apartment the next morning.” You shot back, cursing yourself for how easily you fell back into your banter with him. It had always been too easy with him.

“You didn’t have to run off, I would have made you breakfast.” There was a lightness in his tone that you honestly didn’t expect, since considering the last time you saw him you were telling him you didn’t want to sleep with him anymore.

“Matthew.” You warned lowly, finally turning on your heel to look up at the boy. You kind of regretted it, though, because you were reminded with just how handsome he was and how much you missed being around him. You didn’t miss the sneaking out of his apartment or the feeling of wanting more with someone who only called your name once the sun set. “That’s not what we do. Did.” You were quick to catch yourself, because your rendezvous were in the past tense and would stay that way for as long as you could help it.

Matt’s grin faltered for a second before his cocky front was back up. It hurt to watch; you knew that he was so much more than how he was portrayed in the media. Yeah, he was a pest and there was no denying that, but he was also incredibly kind and ridiculously funny. But that was part of his danger, funny guys were always the ones to watch out for because one minute you’re laughing and the next your pants are on the floor and you’re in his bed.

At least, that’s what happened with you and him.

“Is this new?” He questioned, and you only knew he was talking about your bodysuit because his hand slipped underneath your jacket and was brushing over the material at your side. His gaze was flicking back from the garment to you and it took all your willpower to not melt into him right then and there.

You gripped his wrist, moving his hand away from you. He separated with no argument, and that almost made you want to scream even more. Of course, he had to be a gentleman and take being rejected so easily. If he had pitched a fit, it would have made ending things with him so much easier for you.

“It doesn’t matter.” You tried to keep your voice steady, but you couldn’t meet his gaze, not when he was grinning so devilishly handsomely and especially not when his simple touch brought back memories of your past nights spent together. Matt sighed, moving away from you to lean backwards against the kitchen island while you stayed rooted in your spot by the counter.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, and it was honestly a valid question. When you first started your whole no strings attached arrangement, you had made a rule to not mix friend groups. It was why Isabelle had no idea you had a past with Matthew and Noah had no idea who you were. You had some close calls, definitely—that one time Johnny had barged into Matt’s apartment while you were there and you heard him teasing Matt about having a girl in his room still made you flushed and you hadn’t even technically been caught.

“I’m here with a friend, apparently she’s dating your teammate, Noah.” You explained, finishing your sentence with a long sip of your drink and a wince. It was definitely stronger than you meant it to be but at this rate you didn’t care. Matt’s laugh was loud in the kitchen, and you hadn’t realized it before, but the other people that had been in there with you had long since left.

“That’s ironic, considering we used to—”

“Don’t finish that sentence.” You interrupted. Your threat was empty and both of you knew there was honestly nothing you could do to stop him, but he laughed at you anyways and held his hands up in innocence.

“I won’t say it, but you know, you could always come back to mine after tonight.” He smirked. You hated to admit it, but the offer was tempting. You hesitated, and as the seconds ticked by since he made the proposition his smug grin only grew.

“I can’t, Matthew. We ended things, and let’s just be civil for the sake of our friends.” You reasoned, and once again his expression faltered. Only, this time, he didn’t go back to being smug and instead studied you for several tense moments of silence.

“No, you ended things. I was perfectly fine the way things were.” His tone was colder than what you were used to hearing from him, he wasn’t harsh, but it was definitely clear that something was wrong. You chuckled dryly at him, the comment irking you because you were not fine at all with the way things were.

“We’re just friends now, nothing more.” You told him decisively before slipping past him and back into the rest of the party.

Oh, how you would come to regret saying that.

Admittedly, you were never really good at telling Matthew no. But now, with this whole friendship angle you had given him, he was taking things to a new level. He started texting you more often, claiming that friends had conversations. And as much as it hurt you to do so, you were responding to each and every one of his texts without fail. You figured, fine, he’s not doing any damage through the phone and there’s no way you’d accidently end up in his bed if he stayed in his place on the other side of Calgary.

But then he showed up at your apartment.

“Matthew—” You started to whine as soon as you opened the door and found him standing on the other side, heart skipping a beat as you catalogued just how attractive he looked. It wasn’t fair that he always looked so incredibly handsome, whether he was in his game day suit or a pair of sweatpants like he was currently.

“Friends can have dinner together and watch a movie.” He grinned innocently at you from your doorway. He had a point, but you didn’t think that applied to people who had seen each other naked.

“I’m not sleeping with you.” You narrowed your eyes at him, stepping aside to let him in. It probably wasn’t a good idea, but you weren’t one for making good decisions when it came to Matthew. He just laughed at you, making himself comfortable in your apartment.

“I mean, I wouldn’t say no, but that’s not what I’m here for.” He snickered, grinning at you despite the frown you wore as you watched him warily. He had found your living room, and quickly took up residence on the center of your couch, arms spread on the back, so you’d be within his reach no matter where you sat. He did it on purpose, if the self-satisfied grin he wore told you anything. “I’ll even pay for takeout to make it up to you.”

And you were never one to pass up a free dinner, so an hour later Matt was still at your apartment, empty Chinese food containers on your coffee table and a movie of your choice on the television. You had started on the cushion farthest from him, an action that did not go unnoticed. He sighed, assuring you with a grin that he didn’t bite, unless, of course, you wanted him to.

He earned a shove to the shoulder for that comment.

Calgary was cold in the winter, and your apartment was really quite cheap, so it wasn’t long before you were shivering. You pulled the blanket that was folded on the back of the couch over your legs, warming only a small amount.

You let out a surprised yelp as Matt’s arms wound around your waist and he yanked you across the couch and into his side. He was laughing at your reaction and you simply glared at him. His arm moved out from around you and back to resting in its previous position on the top of the couch, but you weren’t quick to move away from him.

“I’m cold, and you have a blanket, so we can share.” He stated, and you rolled your eyes.

“You could use your words, you know.” You shot back, keeping your gaze focused on the screen and hoping that Matt was doing the same so he couldn’t see the smile you were trying to hide. It was moments like these, where he was being an adorable pest, that reminded you just why you fell for him the way you did.

The thing with Matthew was that he was always able to get you exactly where he wanted. Or maybe, you were just so far gone for him that when he said jump you asked how high. Either way, as the movie resumed, and his hand found its way from the back of the couch to brushing against your shoulder absentmindedly, you found yourself leaning into him slightly. His touch was electrifying, and you felt an undeniable pull towards him. You could handle it; you were an adult and could stop yourself from jumping his bones.

But then the movie played a sex scene you didn’t remember it having. And if you had known it was there, you would have picked something else. Matt chuckled lowly beside you, and you felt the vibrations through your whole body.

The scene brought back memories of the dozens of times you were in bed with Matt and how he’d make you feel like you were on top of the world. Subconsciously, your thighs clenched together at the memory of how it felt to have his head between your legs, momentarily forgetting that he could feel you shift from where you were sitting pressed against him.

“Tense?” He questioned, and you whipped your head around to look at him and his ever-present shit-eating grin. God, you hated how handsome he was. The curls, the light scruff he had been wearing as of late, his playful blue eyes—he was everything you could ever want in a guy, not even mentioning his whole cocky persona that did wonders for you. It was like switch had been flipped inside you as you studied him, a ghost of your past relationship taking control.

You either really hated yourself and had no self-control or it had been longer than you thought since the last time you had been with someone because before you even knew it you had launched yourself into Matt’s lap. As soon as you were straddling his thighs, his hands came to rest on your waist and yours went to his curls the same way they had dozens of times before.

There was a split second where nothing happened and you simply looked at each other, and you saw what looked like hesitation in his eyes. But it was gone as quick as it appeared as your lips landed heavily on his.

Kissing him was familiar, like coming home, and that thought terrified you so instead of dwelling on it too long you focused on grinding down Matthew and slipping your tongue in his mouth. He was intoxicating, and you wondered if it was really such a bad idea if you reignited your previous no strings attached arrangement, feelings be damned.

It was a horrible idea. But you were never one for making the best choices, and you really didn’t feel like starting right then as you rolled your hips against his once more.

But then Matt pulled back with a groan, like he couldn’t believe he was making himself separate. His hands were firm on your waist, grip tightening just a bit more as you raised a brow at him questioningly.

“You said no sex, and I don’t want to cross that line.” He explained, and you leaned back, studying him for any signs of insincerity. This was your Matthew, sweet, caring, and thoughtful. No matter how the media framed him, you saw the man that gushed about his mom and sister to you for a half hour one night.

And though you had been the one to start things, you were glad that he was respecting the boundaries you had set in place when he arrived. Though, it wasn’t doing anything for the continuously growing feelings you were harboring for him.

Or the growing ache between your legs.

But you had to get over him—and getting under him wasn’t going to be any help.

“Thank you, Matty.” You whispered, and his responding smile, albeit tighter than it should be, warmed your heart. You climbed off his lap, settling into your previous seat to try and watch the rest of the movie. Admittedly, it was a little difficult, with the way you both were restlessly shifting to try and get comfortable.

“Okay, this was fun, but I have to go.” Matthew announced, a lightness to his tone as he jumped up from the couch. The movie wasn’t over, there was at least another forty minutes left, but he had already found his coat and was shrugging it on by the time you came to your senses and caught up with him.

“Why are you leaving so suddenly?” Your question was met with a chuckle as he stopped by the door.

“I’ve got to go take a cold shower.” He teased. Your face flushed at his words, gaze flicking down to his crotch to see he that was, in fact, half hard from your brief make out session on the couch. You flushed even more when you realized justwhere exactly you had been looking. He chuckled again, and you knew you had been caught. Just before he could slip out the door, he pressed a quick kiss to your cheek, the action making your eyes flutter shut for a moment on their own accord. And then he was gone, and you were left wondering just what the hell had happened.

But you knew one thing for certain—a cold shower sounded like a really good idea.

As weird as that night had been, it was the first of many. You found yourself back in your normal routine of going to his after games, except this time there was no hooking up and instead you would watch a movie, or you would cook dinner for him. Neither of you made a move, besides Matt’s obvious flirting and the quick kisses he’d press to your cheek or the top of your head when parting. And then he started asking you to go with him for coffee sometimes, which morphed into meeting him for lunch.

You were in unknown territory. Up until then, your relationship was clearly defined as being set in the bedroom and mostly physical. Now, you were spending time together in the light of day and in pubic settings where there was no chance of Matt getting lucky. It did nothing to help your feelings, it felt like you were dating and doing things the right way instead sneaking out of his bed every other day when he was home.

All these new developments in your relationship with Matthew was why you had easily agreed to meet him for lunch.

The restaurant was a little fancier than the casual places you usually frequented with him, but you didn’t mind. It was a bit packed, considering it was the lunch rush on a Saturday, but eventually you spotted his familiar mop of curls.

Except, he wasn’t at the table alone, and when he stood to greet you, the two other people sitting at the table turned. You recognized them instantly, and you were certain that the blood had never drained from your face faster.

Much like you should have done at that party weeks ago, you turned on your heel and promptly left the restaurant.

Your feet were carrying you outside fast, but Matt had the advantage of not only being several inches taller than you, but also a professional athlete, so you were only a few feet away from the door when he had caught up to you and was calling your name.

“Why the fuck are your parents in there!” You spun around, facing a guilty looking Matthew. His hands were raised like he was afraid you’d run off—even further—if he moved too quickly. Your heart was pounding in your chest, there was no way you could meet his parents and still carry on as if nothing was wrong. As if you weren’t falling for him harder and harder with each passing day.

“I should have said something about them coming—”

“Yeah, you think?” You cut him off with a scoff, not believing that was what he chose to lead with. Not an ‘I’m sorry.’ or ‘I didn’t know they were coming and by the time I saw they were here my phone was dead and I couldn’t warn you.’ The second one was highly unlikely, but you had a hard time thinking that he would drop a bomb like this on you without any heads up.

“It’s just, they were in town and I wanted you to meet them, but I didn’t know if you would show up.” He scratched back of his neck awkwardly, his gaze fluttering all around but never landing on you directly. And, okay, that was a lot to process, but you could only focus on his actual words and not any deeper meaning behind him.

“And what, introduce myself by saying ‘Hi, I’m the girl that used to sleep with your son, but now we don’t do that anymore except for that one time I made out with him and he shot me down.’ Is that what I should do?” You knew you were being dramatic, but you didn’t care in the moment. What mattered was that Matt realized that him bringing you to meet his parents was not a good idea. You were still trying to figure out where you stood with Matt, you assumed that you were just friends, but his actions completely blew that idea out of the water.

Annoyingly, Matt was not as panicked as you were. Instead, his grin only grew as you ranted and by the time you had finished, he was full-on laughing. You pouted, swatting his shoulder playfully to get him to stop. Your heart was fluttering at the sound, and that wasn’t very helpful in trying to figure out what was going on.

“I mean, you could say that. But I would just give them your name. And I wouldn’t say I rejected you, you’re the one that said no sex.” His grin was bright, and you only pouted further at him. His expression faltered, morphing into a more serious one as he gestured with his head towards the restaurant. “Are you going to come inside?”

“What are we doing, Matthew? Because if you’re not in this to start something, then I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to stay.” You sighed, a bit defeated and a bit exhausted at not knowing where you stood with him. His brow furrowed, as if he was confused, before he smiled and he wrapped his arms around your shoulders, tugging you into his chest.

“I wanted you to be my girlfriend months ago, but then you said you didn’t want to sleep with me anymore, and I figured that was your way of saying you weren’t interested.” He mumbled into the hair on the top of your head as he kept you pressed into him. You went to interrupt, probably scream something incoherent about how you wanted something more back then, too, but he continued. “And when you showed up at that party, it kind of felt like I got a second chance, you know? I let you walk out the first time when I started things by hooking up, so I started hanging out with you without sex and somehow it was even better.”

“Matthew…” You breathed, pushing away from him so you could look up at him. It was too much, hearing him say all these sweet things you’d been wanting to hear for months without being able to look into his eyes.

“Don’t get me wrong the sex was amazing, but I love hanging out with you.” He joked, and you could tell from the look in his eyes that he was worried that you were taking his confession wrong. You chuckled at him, and it was then that you realized that you had a tight grip on his shirt, and he snickered when he glanced down and saw your white knuckles. “What do you say? Be my girlfriend finally?”

“I like hanging out with you, too.” You started slowly, trying to wade through all the feelings Matt had thrown you at you in such a short amount of time. “I’d like hanging out with you a bit more if you didn’t spring your parents on me.”

He tilted his head back and laughed at that, and you just admired him. You briefly entertained the idea of what it would have been like if he had just simply asked you on a date when you first met at the bar, instead of inviting you back to his apartment, but you dismissed the thought. That would’ve been too easy, and Matthew was anything but easy.

You let go of his shirt, hands moving up to cup his face and tug his head down to meet you for a kiss. His hands gripped your waist, steadying you as he kissed you back with a sweetness that had never quite been there before. It made sense, you were entering a new phase with Matt, the kisses would be better.

“My parents are waiting for us.” Matt mumbled against your lips, still unable to get himself to tear away from you. You grinned, linking your hand through his before he led you back inside. He kept glancing at you over his shoulder as he walked, his bright grin landing on you and each time you squeezed his hand.

When you finally got back to the table, his parents were still sitting there, and though they clearly were a little confused, they still smiled brightly at you.

“Sorry, we’re all good now.” Matt apologized. And though you were a little flushed from embarrassment, you couldn’t help the smile you were wearing as Matt leaned over and pressed a kiss to your temple. His parents shot him a confused look and you took the chance to extend your hand out for his parents to shake.

“Hi, I’m Matt’s girlfriend.”

#Matthew Tkachuk imagine #Matthew tkachuk #Matthew tkachuk x reader #Matthew tkachuk imagines #calgary flames #calgary flames imagine #hockey imagine #NHL #NHL imahine #hockey

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fnlrndcllctv · 4 years ago

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REVIEW: Mortal Kombat (1992)

Developed by Midway in 1992 as a response to the wildly popular Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat took a slightly different direction thematically than the cartoonish sprites of other fighting games. Opting for digitized photos of actors as the game’s fighters, Mortal Kombat looked stood out as looking more realistic and placed a much higher emphasis on strong, bloody violence in its gameplay.

It’s this violence that made the game incredibly controversial and, alongside games such as Night Trap and Lethal Enforcers, is partly responsible for the formation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), a governing body that requires all games to be rated.

The game was also originally intended to be called “Van Damme” and based on the muscles from brussels himself Jean Claude Van Damme, but a deal was never made, so it didn’t come to fruition. The inclusion of Johnny Cage, a diva-esque Hollywood movie star that could do the splits, in the game was a clear reference to the game’s origins (and an indication that the development team had a pretty snarky sense of humour!).

Gameplay

In comparison to its peers such as Street Fighter II and Fatal Fury, Mortal Kombat is definitely much trickier to control. With special moves that require longer, more precise inputs and blocking now being triggered by its own separate button (as opposed to simply holding back on the joystick/d-pad), getting good at the game was more challenging, but arguably more rewarding as a result.

The game also introduced the concept of “Juggling” to fighting games. Juggling takes advantage of the fact that when a character is knocked into the air, the player is unable to control their character until he or she lands and gets up again. It’s so satisfying to watch an opponent helplessly rage as you bounce them into the air to inflict more damage.

Then there’s the most infamous aspect of the Mortal Kombat games - FATALITIES. Each character has their own specific fatality, and requires a particular set of inputs to trigger them in the short gap of time between when game commands players to “FINISH HIM/HER!” and the opponent collapsing. Ranging from the still-beating heart being ripped from an opponent’s chest, heads being viciously removed with the spinal cord still attached to Scorpion removing his mask to breath fire and Liu Kang transforming into a dragon, these finishers are hilariously grim, and are one of the greatest parts of the game.

These gruesome finishing moves have become firm fan favourites across the series, and inspired many future fighting games to implement the same vicious elements in an attempt to “outdo” Mortal Kombat.

Story

The game’s main storyline centers around a tournament being held by the powerful Shang Tsung on an island in Earthrealm. For 500 years in a row, the dragon prince Goro has been undefeated in the tournament, and initially helped Shang Tsung take over the tournament in an attempt to doom the realm. This, the 10th tournament, sees a new generation of fighters enter in an attempt to become the new Grand Champion.

Mortal Kombat’s lore has grown massively since the first entry in the franchise, but here, things are kept relativelysimple. Each character has their own backstory and specific reasons for entering the tournament (instead of, ya know, just wanting to win a tournament?), and the introduction of the “earth is doomed” multiple realms and magic abilities make the whole thing feel like a martial arts movie mixed with the fantasy genre, while keeping things gritty and grindhouse-ish with its strong violent content.

Roster

Mortal Kombat features seven unique playable characters, each with their own backstory that ties in to the game’s general lore.

Johnny Cage - A martial arts superstar trained by several great masters from around the world. Utilising his fighting talents on the big screen, Cage is the star of such movies as “Dragon Fist”, “Dragon Fist II” and the award-winning “Sudden Violence”.

Kano - a thug who lives a life of crime and injustice as part of the Black Dragon gang, a dangerous group of cut-throat madmen. An expert mercenary and thief, Kano is feared and respected throughout all of crime’s inner circles.

Raiden - A deity known as the “Thunder God”, Raiden was rumoured to have received a personal invitation by Shang Tsung himself to take form of a human to compete in the tournament.

Liu Kang - A former member of the secret White Lotus Society, Liu Kang represents Shaolin temples in the tournament, and has a burning hatred of Shang Tsung.

Sub-Zero - At this point, Sub-Zero’s real name and identity is unknown, but due to the markings on his uniform, it is believed that he belongs to a legendary clan of Chinese assassins known as the Lin Kuei.

Scorpion - Much like his blue-colored counterpart, Scorpion‘s identity in this game is a mystery. From time to time, Scorpion has been known to show distrust and hatred towards Sub-Zero, which suggests that he belongs to an opposing clan.

Soya Blade - A member of a top U.S. Special Forces unit that was hot on the trail of the Black Dragon organisation. After tracking Kano and his men to an uncharted island, Blade‘s team was ambushed by Shang Tsung‘s personal army

Each fighter is equipped with various different fighting styles, the most recognisable being Scorpion’s ability to hurl a roped blade at his opponent to bridge any gaps between them (along with the iconic “GET OVER HERE” yell), Sub-Zero’s ability to literally freeze an opponent where they stand (living up to his namesake), and Raiden’s ability to teleport around a stage (thanks to being a god and everything).

Even the game’s non-playable characters are incredibly recognisable, especially the quad-armed Goro, who is an absolute nightmare to fight against.

Graphics

Mortal Kombat’s graphics have aged surprisingly well considering that it is now almost 29 years since its original release.

Vividly coloured backgrounds, large digitised character sprites and a very kung-fu/martial arts movie vibe that’s carried across almost every aspect of the game all work together to create an experience that isn;t just fun to play, but good to look at.

It wasn’t the first fighting game to make use of the graphics style (games like Pit Fighter beat them to the punch a couple of years prior), but it was one of the first to do it well.

The following 2D sequels improved on almost every aspect of the game’s look and feel, but having a more realistic approach to the game’s graphics in this first game certainly made a lasting impression in the genre.

Stages

There are a total of seven stages to fight on in Mortal Kombat;

Courtyard – Shang Tsung sits on his throne and looks on as fights take place in front of a crowd of monks in this Enter The Dragon-esque stage.

Palace Gates – Located at Shang Tsung‘s old island fortress, with a large statue of Buddha looming in the background.

Warrior Shrine – A shrine dedicated to honour the contestants of the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament.

Throne Room – Where Shang Tsung sits on his throne in his island domain and watches as the combatants fight each other for his amusement.

Goro’s Lair – Home to the tournament’s Grand Champion Goro, this level with stone walls and several dark passageways; human bones are scattered on the floor and a skeleton hangs from a few shackles at the center of the arena. Many pairs of glowing yellow eyes appear and occasionally blink in the dark portions of the back area.

The Pit – a bridge suspended over a sea of steel spikes, which is the source of death for anyone unlucky enough to be knocked off. When an opponent is defeated on this stage, they can be uppercut off the bridge where they will land on the bed of spikes. This is the game’s only stage fatality. There are many severed heads at the bottom of the pit, including those of the game’s creators Ed Boon and John Tobias.

Pit Bottom – This stage is only accessible when the player is fighting Reptile.

The stages show a wide variety of interesting locations around Shang Tsung’s island, and even though some of the background characters look a bit weak graphically (those monks in the audience of the Courtyard ALWAYS looked rough), there’s enough charm and impressive architecture here to make each stage feel incredibly unique and memorable.

Replayability

There’s not much in the way of unlockables in Mortal Kombat, but there are some cool bits in terms of bonus stages and hdden secrets.

Mortal Kombat‘s bonus stage is called “Test Your Might”. The minigame consists of the player’s character standing above one of five blocks of increasing hardness, depending on how far the player has progressed in Test Your Might. The player would have to hammer multiple buttons until the gauge next to their character passed a certain point, and then would have to press the Block button to strike. If they were above this point, their character would break the block in front of them. Otherwise, their hand would bounce off the object sitting in front of them.

Not the most original of minigames, as several other earlier titles had similar levels, but this one would return in later Mortal Kombat games, and become quite popular in the meantime.

Then there’s the main hidden secret in the game - Reptile. Although we would see the green-clad Reptile appear in future Mortal Kombat titles as a playable character, he remains a secret non-playable fighter in the first game. In order to face him, players had to execute a Fatality finish after fighting on The Pit stage, assuming a shadow flew over the moon in the background, without taking any damage or pressing the block button in the winning round.

It’s an incredibly specific process, but being “in the know” about it (and successfully pulling it off) during the pre-internet era felt bloody fantastic.

Final thoughts & overall score

Mortal Kombat is a nice start to an iconic franchise.

While the sequels were way more sophisticated in terms of graphics and moves, the first game holds a special place in fighting game history for its innovative gameplay tweaks and its hilariously bloody violence.

Do you agree with our review of the original Mortal Kombat?

Let us know in the comments section below!

#Review #Mortal Kombat #1992

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insanityclause · 5 years ago

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When coronavirus closed the theaters on March 12, there were still 16 shows left to open in the Broadway season. Audiences will get to see some of them later, others probably not — but what of the more than 20 plays, musicals and miscellaneous offerings that had already faced the press? It seemed unfair not to celebrate them, so on Friday, just after it was announced that the Tony Awards will not go on as usual this year, we sat down (in cyberspace) to devise a Tonys of our own. Naturally, we made our own rules.

BEN BRANTLEY Well, Jesse, even in a season that’s 16 plays short, there’s still a fat if imbalanced roster of intriguing shows. Have we ever before had such a preponderance of jukebox musicals that might qualify for Best Musical? The good news is that some enterprising minds managed to inventively retool the genre you once described as the “cockroach” of Broadway.

JESSE GREEN The cockroach has evolved! “Jagged Little Pill,” “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” “Girl From the North Country,” “Moulin Rouge!” and — since we’re playing by our own rules here — even “American Utopia,” the David Byrne show that was deemed ineligible for the real Tonys, are all jukeboxes, all worthy and all eligible for ours. Maybe not quite all worthy.

BRANTLEY Perhaps it’s appropriate then that the last show to open on Broadway was the most unorthodox of the “jukebox” shows. I use quotation marks here because that label seems too confining for “Girl From the North Country,” the Irish playwright and director Conor McPherson’s work that uses the songs of Bob Dylan to imagine life during the Great Depression in Duluth, Minn. The more I think about “Girl,” the more innovative and haunting it seems to me.

GREEN For me it took some time, and the show’s move from the Public Theater to Broadway, to appreciate how McPherson was deploying the music in this musical. The songs do not function the way songs normally do; they never address the situation at hand, and sometimes even contradict it. Yet in that gap, poetry grew.

BRANTLEY For me, “Girl” deals with the ineffable and unsayable through song in a way that makes it the most religious, or at least spiritual, show on Broadway. I have found this aspect of the show stays with me, as an oddly comforting reminder of the hunger for communion in this time of isolation. But moving on to matters closer to profane than sacred, what about another mold-breaker in a very different sense: “Moulin Rouge!,” based on the Baz Luhrmann movie about la vie bohème in gaslight-era Paris.

GREEN Here was a case where the gap between the story, such as it is, and the musical materials — found pop from Offenbach to Rihanna — did not produce poetry. For me it produced a headache.

BRANTLEY Ah, I had a swell time at “Moulin Rouge,” and I thought the far-reaching songbook became a kind of commentary on how such songs form the wallpaper of our minds. And then there was “Tina,” which was more business-as-usual bio-musical fare, although illuminated by a radiant, cliché-transcending performance by Adrienne Warren as Turner.

GREEN The creators of musicals really offered a sampler of ways to respond to the jukebox problem. “Jagged Little Pill,” built on the Alanis Morissette catalog, made the smart choice of abjuring biography and instead attaching her songs to a new plot (by Diablo Cody) that grew out of the same concerns and vocabulary. Or perhaps I should say “new plots,” because it is not shy with them. There are at least eight story lines.

BRANTLEY To be honest, this was the show that gave me a headache, because it was so insistently earnest in its topicality and, even when it was trying to be funny, humorless. So, of the new musicals (and we haven’t touched on “The Lightning Thief,” your personal favorite) what would you give the premature Tony to?

GREEN The one that wouldn’t be eligible: “American Utopia.” Joy and sadness bound to each other through David Byrne’s music and Annie-B Parson’s movement: What else do you want from a musical, even if it’s just a concert?

BRANTLEY I loved “American Utopia.” I think, though, I’d have to go with “Girl From the North Country,” but I wouldn’t have predicted that after seeing it in London two years ago. I find more in it every time I revisit it.

GREEN Despite all the Best Musical possibilities this truncated season, only one, “The Lightning Thief,” had a new score. Yet most of the offerings sounded new anyway, the result of terrific arrangements and orchestrations. I’m thinking especially of Justin Levine’s magpie-on-Ecstasy song collages for “Moulin Rouge!,” Tom Kitt’s theatricalization of post-grunge pop for “Jagged Little Pill” and Simon Hale’s excavation of the deeply layered Americana in Dylan’s catalog for “Girl.”

BRANTLEY Here, I’d have to say it’s a tie between “Girl” and “Moulin Rouge!,” each a remarkable accomplishment in a very different way. As for best revival, the undisputed winner is Ivo van Hove’s divisive revival of “West Side Story,” but that’s because it is, remarkably, the only musical revival so far.

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GREEN I liked “West Side Story” better than you did, Ben, perhaps because I wasn’t reviewing it. I lapped up the new things it wanted to show me (while also hunting for the old things it wanted to hide from me) and didn’t worry about the elements that laid an egg. (“Gee, Officer Krupke.”) Its evocation of innocence and hopelessness felt more like real life now than I’ve experienced in previous revivals.

BRANTLEY I concede the point intellectually. But the acid test for me with theater — and musicals in particular — is how much it makes you feel. And to borrow a lyric from “A Chorus Line,” for the most part “I felt nothing.”

GREEN I admit it was odd that there were no obvious breakout performances in “West Side Story” — which brings us to our first lightning round. Who wins our Tonys for leading actor and actress in a musical?

BRANTLEY Best Actress: Adrienne Warren, for “Tina” (though Karen Olivo in “Moulin Rouge!” is pretty fab, too). Best Actor: Jay O. Sanders in, perversely, a non-singing role in “Girl From the North Country.” You?

GREEN Same. I think we are having a socially distanced mindmeld. Will that also be the case with the nine new plays and four revivals that opened before March 12? With one exception, the revivals were not as thrilling as the full slate promised to be.

BRANTLEY For me, the winner is Jamie Lloyd’s spartan, merciless revival of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal,” which brought harsh clarity to the work’s emotional ambiguity.

GREEN And ambiguity to the play’s harsh formality — its semi-backward construction. It was certainly the best “Betrayal” I’ve seen, yet I hold out some love for the revival of “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,” which in retrospect turned out to be a farewell to Terrence McNally, its author, who died last week. I felt that Michael Shannon and Audra McDonald did it, and him, justice.

BRANTLEY It was certainly a reminder of his shrewdness and compassion. I was perhaps a little too conscious of the Acting, with a capital A. But it was a welcome addition to the season. For Best Play, we have a far more varied field, no? I suspect we’ll agree on the winner here, the season’s great iconoclast.

GREEN Yes, “Slave Play,” by Jeremy O. Harris, wins on sheer disruptive energy, even before considering its intelligence as playwriting, its knockout production (directed by Robert O’Hara) and its fearsome challenge to renegotiate race in America.

BRANTLEY But for all its shock value, what made it a wonderful play — as opposed to just a bracing exploration of dangerous ground — was its heart. By the end, you felt so completely the pain of its characters, all trying to navigate the perhaps insuperable hurdles of interracial relationships.

GREEN I think “The Inheritance” wanted to be that kind of play, too: a story of intimate relationships yet also a gay manifesto with the multipart heft of “Angels in America.” It got the heft, anyway; “Slave Play” ran 120 minutes; “The Inheritance,” 385.

BRANTLEY “The Inheritance” certainly gets points for ambition — and for the fluidity of Stephen Daldry’s production. And might I put in a word for the prickly comic abrasiveness of Tracy Letts’s “Linda Vista,” a lacerating anatomy of toxic masculinity disguised as brooding charm?

GREEN I liked what “Linda Vista” wanted to do but found it flabby. Perhaps straitened times demand slender plays. Certainly, the other new drama I greatly admired was whippetlike: Adam Rapp’s “The Sound Inside,” an existential mystery wrapped in a literary one, or vice versa. Among other things, it allowed Mary-Louise Parker, as a Yale writing instructor, to deliver a Tony-worthy performance. And now that “How I Learned to Drive,” the other play in which she was set to star this season, has been postponed, she doesn’t have to compete against herself. Is she our winner?

BRANTLEY I am going to declare a tie between her and Laura Linney, who gave a very subtle, and emotionally transparent, performance as the title character of “My Name Is Lucy Barton,” adapted by Rona Munro from Elizabeth Strout’s novel.

GREEN I buy that. But let’s not forget Joaquina Kalukango in “Slave Play,” Eileen Atkins in “The Height of the Storm,” Zawe Ashton in “Betrayal” and Jane Alexander in “Grand Horizons.” It was a very strong semi-season for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

BRANTLEY And for Best Actor?

GREEN The real Tonys decreed that Paul Alexander Nolan was eligible for his “supporting” role in “Slave Play,” but in my Tonys he’s a strong candidate for “leading.” Still, I’ll go with Tom Hiddleston, in “Betrayal.” Or at least he wins in my newly invented category of Best Use of the Lack of a Tissue. His facial leakage was Vesuvian.

BRANTLEY He was superb — and a reminder of the cathartic value of the tears of others in theater. Of course, there’s so much to cry about now in terms of opportunities lost this season. But I’m not writing an elegy for, or even a definitive summary of, this season yet. It will be fascinating to see how it reincarnates itself, won’t it?

#tom hiddleston #zawe ashton #betrayal #tonys #postponed

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magic-can · 5 years ago

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What does the skin look like? I'm curious.

This is the only screenshot we have rn and....it bothers me. Lemme explain why.

Before I go into this big ol’ rant I just wanna make this clear: I have nothing against Dimitri Vegas. I bet he’s a chill dude, and it’s not the fact that a DLC skin in a viddo game is inspired by him that bothers me. It’s the character that they chose to have a skin based off him that bothers me.

Y’see, Sub-Zero is Asian. Dimitri is white. Y’see the issue? Yeah....that’s kinda Yikes™️. Doesn’t help that many of with Sub-Zero’s past appearences, he doesn’t look Asian at all, despite him being canonically Asian from the very first game.

It’s whitewashing, it may not be intentional (a lot of the time this kind of stuff done without any malicious intent, it’s usually an unfortunate case of internalized bias, which is why I’m not gonna accuse NRS of intentional whitewashing, especially bc they cared enough to get an Asian man to portray Sub-Zero in the base game. I may be very upset with NRS as a whole rn, but that doesn’t mean I should jump on them based solely on anger and assumptions) but it’s still whitewashing, and it’s harmful.

Again, I don’t mind a skin inspired by Dimitri being in the game, just...of all characters, why Sub-Zero? Not only is there the whole mess I just ranted about, but I feel like Mr. Subadub isn’t a fitting character for him in the first place. Sub-Zero is a warrior with a very serious personality. Dimitri is an award winning DJ. It’s weird, and doesn’t fit whatsoever.

I feel like a character like Johnny Cage would be MUCH more fitting for him. I’m guessing they didn’t go with Johnny because Sub-Zero is much more recognizable than him. But I still feel that Johnny would still be a better choice bc A. Johnny is also white, getting rid of any awkwardness, B. Johnny is also an entertainer, not in the same way Dimitri is, but still an entertainer, which is much more fitting than a character like Subs and C. Johnny has become a MUCH more popular character ever since MKX bc NRS turned him from an unlikeable jerk into one of the funniest and most loved characters in the whole series, who wouldn’t want to be associated with that??

I also feel that the best option, if NRS wanted to make bank (bc let’s be honest that’s their priority at this point) while also pleasing everyone, make a new character based around Dimitri! One of MK11’s biggest complaints is the lackluster roster, and how the new characters range from “eh” to “a little less eh.” Having a character that would almost definitely be some sort of musician would be VERY different for MK, which would make for a potentially very cool and unique character. A new character based around Dimitri would also pique the interest of his fans, boosting MK11’s sales for NRS. It wouldn’t be the first time MK characters have taken inspiration from real people. Heck, Liu Kang and Johnny Cage, two of the main protagonists from the original games, were based off of real people (Liu being an homage to Bruce Lee and Johnny being an homage to John Claude Van Damme.) It’d just make sense to do the same for Dimitri.

Idk, I’m sorry for the rant, anon. ik you just asked to see what the skin looks like and I gave you a whole essay as to why I’m annoyed by this whole thing but I just really felt like I should explain why it bothers me so much. It’s pretty safe to say that I won’t be getting this skin when it comes out. Sorry Dimitri.

#lovely anons #mortal kombat #kuai liang #hope you have a great day anon and that something neat happens to you #again sorry I went into a rant #also when it comes to the new character thing I’m speaking hypothetically #I don’t want the employees at NRS to suffer even more crunch hours and bs from the higher ups

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ask-jaghatai-khan · 5 years ago

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MK11 Roster ranked for Warhammer

// Since I’m on a Mortal Kombat kick. How would each character from the Mortal Kombat 11 vanilla roster fair in either Warhammer? I’m keeping it to the playable roster since all the DLC characters haven’t been revealed yet and I didn’t want to have this post be five miles long. Might do more in the future, however.

Let’s face it, most of these psychos are gonna do pretty well. They regularly get into punch-outs with gods. The biggest problem will likely be which attitudes get them singled out by their allies.

Jade

40k: Decently well. She has many of the makings of an Imperial Inquisitorial acolyte or an Eldar Exarch. Extreme combat skill and mild psychic power are usual marks of greatness. Also very good at subtle politicking. Might be a bit of a pushover though.

AoS: Even better! Less stigma over her magical abilities, slightly more reasonable allies, and less likely to have to fight power-armored super soldiers.

Erron Black

40k: You can already play as this guy in Dark Heresy. Pretty much any Rogue Trader would be happy to hire this guy, and he’s too stupid to be bribed with anything other than cash.

AoS: Limited opportunities due to lack of good personal guns. Might get on well in some kind of mercenary group from Chamon or Hysh, but his rogue nature still wouldn’t earn him many connections.

Kabal

40k: Super-speed and melee skill are good, but only get you so far. If nobody grabbed him as an assassin, he’d still make a killing as a gang boss, and I think he’d be fine with that.

AoS: Probably even better chances of success, but it’s gonna be sucky with those third-degree burns given the lack of things like high-end prosthetic rebreather masks.

Kung Lao

40k: Kung Lao is absolutely a Rogue Trader/Dark Heresy character. He’s gonna get a lot of weird looks, but assuming that hat can cut through power armor, he’ll probably get on just fine. His big mouth might earn him some enemies, though.

AoS: Again, since he uses a low-tech weapon and martial arts, he’s even better in a fantasy setting. The entire Shaolin Temple would do pretty well for themselves in the Mortal Realms.

Sub-Zero

40k: A cryomancer? Seems suspect of heresy. Then again, a cryomancer who hates the undead and can fight as good as an assassin? Seems like prime Inquisitorial material!

AoS: Nagash’s grip is cold, but if Sigmar can get the Lin Kuei on his side, he’s got a lot to gain. Kuai Liang is as great a leader as he is a warrior and mage.

Scorpion

40k: Absolutely corrupted by Chaos, but I think most Chaos Lords would still be reluctant to run into Hanzo Hasashi. Less of a chance he could redeem himself, but even more of a chance for him to wreak absolute havoc on anyone who tries and betray him. Hellfire is plentiful in 40k.

AoS: A better chance for redemption, and even more utility from his ninja skills on top of the hellfire. Whoever has their grips on Scorpion’s soul, whether it’s Nagash or Chaos, better double-check just how strong that grip is.

Cetrion

40k: She’s a god! On the scale of 40k, she’s at a bit of a disadvantage, but being a god is never gonna hurt. She better just steer clear of Slaanesh.

AoS: Again, she’s a god! Set up shop in Ghyran and kick back with Alarielle in the “kill absolutely anybody who messes with our utopia” clubhouse.

Frost

40k: Cryomancer cyborg assassin is hardly the weirdest profession in 40k, and her conniving nature should help her out plenty whether she wants to work with the AdMech, DarkMech, or some other group of bastards.

AoS: Shame she couldn’t keep the robot body, but cryomancer assassin is still more than enough to raise some hell in the Mortal Realms. Nagash’s clubhouse seems most her style.

Baraka

40k: This guy would do well as King Mook of a group of Chaos mutants. That’s pretty much what he is anyways.

AoS: Same meat, different sausage. Being a half-demon warlord may not make you immortal, but it’s hardly a disadvantage.

Raiden

40k: His character and storyline makes him a solid fit for a high-end Inquisitor. Psychic might and leadership skills, with a tendency to turn into a psychotic templar? Tell me that doesn’t sound like a classic Inquisitor.

AoS: As a storm-god, he’d get on even better. He might even have the makings of a mighty Sacrosanct wizard. He’s already attuned to Azyr!

D’Vorah

40k: By the standards of some xenos races, she’s not really a top concern, but D’Vorah knows this and would make the most of what she has. Everyone’s so concerned about Chaos and Tyranids, they don’t even notice when they’re suddenly overrun by the Kytinn.

AoS: Set up in some blighted corner of Ghyran, out of sight but with plenty of foolish heroes to snack on, D’Vorah would do about as well as she’s done in Outworld.

Jax

40k: Eat your heart out, Straken. Or rather, eat your arm off. Jax has all the makings of a Guard commander, though his heart might be a bit too soft to finish his career free of scars to his mind and soul.

AoS: I’m sure someone in Chamon or Hysh could hook the man up with some new arms. Either that, or he’d make for a good Stormcast!

Geras

40k: Who the hell is this guy? Does he work for the Necrons? The Ordo Chronos? Wherever he came from, that archaeotech is going to make him a nightmare for whoever gets in the way of his inscrutable goals.

AoS: Even weirder! He must be some Age of Myth construct left behind in Hysh. Maybe a fractured remnant of a lost God of Law? Either way, he’d probably be more akin to a terrain obstacle in Underworlds than a regular enemy.

Kano

40k: There’s about fifty of this bastard on every world in the Imperium. Maybe he’d help out Chaos, but at the end of the day the Black Dragon is all Kano needs. His smug mug is going to be on wanted posters from Terra to Ultramar.

AoS: Who the hell keeps smuggling Chaos Dwarf cannons into Azyr? What maniac stole a warehouse’s load of weaponry from Hammerhal and sold them to damn greenskins?! If that bastard even looks at a Stormvault I want at least three merc companies sent to hunt him down!

Cassie Cage

40k: The Imperium loves legacy careers! Explains where she gets all those fancy toys from. Inheriting her dad’s mouth is going to make her time in the Schola rough, though.

AoS: A loyal ranger best suited for exploring Stormvaults and hunting down powerful champions. Chaos Lords best not underestimate her, she’s more than meets the eye.

Kotal Kahn

40k: Thank god we managed to find a governor able to rein control of that sector. Not often someone can purge Chaos that efficiently, especially a Feral World-born. Keep an eye on him in case of further developments, however...

AoS: The last of the Osh-Tekk might not worship Sigmar, but he’s a mighty and ruthless ally in the fight against Chaos and undead encroachment. A powerful priest and warrior of the light.

Skarlet

40k: Chaos could always use more assassins. You’d think more people would be looking into blood magic, but the rarity of it just means less competition and counters. Skarlet is every Inquisitor’s worst nightmare.

AoS: Same blood, different vein! Powerful dark magic and assassin skills are hard to knock.

Sonya Blade

40k: A peerless and loyal leader of the Guard. Maybe her choice of friends isn’t the cleanest, but her results can hardly be blamed.

AoS: The Free Peoples always need more competent generals, and even mortal leaders are expected to be able to kick some ass one-on-one. Even if she gets demolished, I think Sigmar was waiting for an excuse to reforge her.

Johnny Cage

40k: Movie stars aren’t so popular in the Imperium, but shining examples of the might of the common man over the unknowable alien? That’s good, even if he never shuts up. Charisma and fighting skill will get you far even if you’re surrounded by enemies. Probably for the best he gets Sonya on his side, though.

AoS: Less likely to be killed for snarky blasphemy! Also everyone’s so damn serious all the time, mockery would probably make for as effective a weapon as magical fists.

Noob Saibot

40k: I swear I’ve seen this type of guy before in Chaos’ toolbox. A shadow-daemon sorcerer assassin? Subtlety is a rare trait among Chaos, so it might make for a powerful advantage.

AoS: There are some parts of Ulgu best avoided. Laugh at the name all you want, just not if you’re standing in the shadows.

Kollector

40k: Mutant or xenos, his ass-kissing skills will serve him well when he inevitably sets himself up with some Chaos Lord. Obviously without plentiful Forge Worlds to draw from, it would best suit your unholiness to hire someone who can scavenge much valuable plunder, yes?

AoS: Hardly different. Having a sticky-fingered mutant to oversee the finances of your kingdom leaves more time for a Chaos Lord to stick to taking skulls and planning conquests.

Kitana

40k: This character absolutely already exists in 40k. Planetary governor turned out to be a heretic? Well thank the Emperor his assassin daughter is amicable!

AoS: Fan blades seem like something a Khainite would enjoy, but thankfully Kitana is more restrained. Diplomatic skill, martial might, and a cool weapon gimmick will help her fit right in!

Jacqui Briggs

40k: Another military legacy, which is always a benefit. Also extremely skilled in combat and making inter-service connections. Probably has a better chance at a legit command position due to her personality over Cas, who’d be better relegated to black ops.

AoS: Again, great warriors and generals are always in high demand. As a commander of the Freeguild or the Stormcast, Jacqui even looks like one of the new warrior-women models GW likes to release nowadays.

Liu Kang

40k: Another mighty champion from outside the Astartes for a change. Liu Kang has protagonist energy, and even if kung-fu is rare in 40k, that’s enough to get you pretty far. Especially when he has such powerful friends.

AoS: More chances to flex those fists, less stigma around summoning fire and turning into a dragon, and he’s still a trusted friend of many generals and demigods.

#mortal kombat #warhammer #age of sigmar #40k #mk11

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andymull · 5 years ago

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WWE NXT Takeover Toronto 2019 – Preview & Predictions

Adam Cole (c) vs Johnny Gargano – NXT Championship 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match

The third big match of their rivalry takes place tonight, and truthfully mostly everything has already been said about both guys. The extra touches to this feud recently have been some great video packages put together by the NXT team, the Cole celebration tour video visiting Gargano’s father as well as his gym, and this weeks hype video were both awesome in adding the extra touches to make this feel different to the other matches.

Now the added difference here with the 2 out of 3 falls stipulation is both guys getting to select their own stip to one of the falls, and NXT GM William Regal adding one for the 3rd fall if needed. A straight one on one match as well as a street fight have already been chosen by the competitors, but come on this is blatantly going 3 falls so all comes down to Regals choice. The smirk/grin that Regal gave during this weeks show when talking about it had got me thinking one of two things, either we go completely comedic to confuse everyone and Regal names the 3rd fall as musical chairs. Or, they go 1-1 and both guys are yelling at Regal to make a bigger stip like a first blood match for example, Regal must beat it and announces, ‘loser leaves NXT’. The crowd will pop in confusement and shock and both wrestlers will love the chance to vanquish the other, then we can have them regret the decision very quickly after allowing some interesting promos after by Regal in regretting the decision but HAVING to go big. Maybe just a cage match with weapons....

I don’t see the result here going any other way than Cole walking out as champion as I need Gargano to be out of the title picture as he has bored me a fair bit lately, out of NXT or not I just need him doing something fresh for awhile – COLE

Shayna Baszler (c) vs Mia Yim – NXT Women’s Championship Match

Ive been saying it for months but is this actually the time to take the title away from Shayna and close out her second title reign? The women’s division does need a change as she’s mowed threw most of the women she’s faced, but, I don’t really rate Yim that highly.

After Mia came in I said to friends that I don’t rate her but gave her time to show me more in her NXT run, but she really hasn’t done too much to impress me sadly. The story is there for her, the video package was great, but her in-ring isn’t my favourite (not saying she’s awful in the slightest) and calling herself the HBIC is dreadful. If you’re outside of the WWE and a heel then great the Head Bitch In Charge is a decent gimmick to sell shirts from, but in the WWE the Head Baddie In Charge (or Blasian) just sounds stupid especially as she’s a face lol

But as I mentioned I still think they have her take the strap, more on Shayna later, then we move to Io moving into the title scene and quickly taking the belt herself – YIM

Pete Dunne vs The Velveteen Dream (c) vs Roderick Strong – NXT North American Triple Threat Match

This match should be great, all talented guys that will be around for years growing and growing, and for this match I see Roddy being the guy to shine. He’s been such a monster in the ring for quite awhile now and goes so far under the radar its unbelievable, if the guy was a foot taller he’d be in main events on Raw or Smackdown destroying people.

I did originally want a longer Dream title reign but to be honest he’s a character that really doesn’t always need a title to defined him and his character, so its not a big loss if he does indeed lose. And we don’t really know about Dunne and if he’s over in NXT for awhile or just a one off, I lean to him being around for longer and being the next challenger for this title but really he should be on Smackdown making an impact right now for me – STRONG

The Street Profits (c) vs The Undisputed Era – NXT Tag Team Championship Match

Another match I sadly see as being pretty easy to predict, with the Profits being on Raw weekly they really are just counting down the days with NXT until the move is a full one, and the final chapter they need to close is that of having the tag titles. But the main thing here is that they NEED to have a top notch quality match tonight to see them make the move more smoothly, if they stink up the joint they may see their NXT stay extended (they wont, don’t worry).

Will be nice to see them make the jump to Raw but really are a team that needs more seasoning for another year as the top guys in the division, as they really haven’t had a long run on tv compared to others as they seem to have been slightly streaky in their appearances for awhile. Plus, I think the company is missing a trick by not having them both make the jump with Bianca Belair at their side, all three as equals making an impact all motivating each other to success, would be a super positive stable.

Sadly the Undisputed Era don’t seem to be close to getting called so while in NXT I need them all in main events as much as possible, I don’t think they fully know what they have with the group until they don’t have them. These guys are vital in getting newer wrestlers tv ready as well as giving them vital in-ring experience working with great wrestlers. Plus the key thing for me is that if you hadn’t noticed this show will finish with ALL of the Undisputed Era holding gold to close the show…… - UE

Candice LaRea vs Io Shirai

A second women’s match on a Takeover, at last, this match should be really fast paced and passionate with both women being great. Io’s new heel character is undoubtedly awesome and if your more than just a WWE viewer you’ve most likely seen her before and know the damage she can produce. And isn’t it nice that Candice finally is getting the chance and a bigger spotlight to shine her-self, as she really hasn’t had the focus she deserves since joining the company (Hi Keith!)

A one-sided match this should become but that doesn’t mean it wont be fun along the way, Io takes the win and moves higher up the card. Man, how much better and more passionate though would this have been if Kairi hadn’t have been called up and Io had turned on her? – SHIRAI

This should, as usual, be a really fun NXT Takeover, albeit a heel heavy winners side.

I have a feeling there may be afew callups in the near future and some of the results tonight may make it clearer as to who will be gone soon or who will be wound down slightly over the next month before leaving. Dream/Profits/Shayna are the main people im thinking about and the ones to keep an eye on, I expect the Profits to take a round of applause after their bout similar to Ricochet and Black did previously.

As well as the matches announced I think they may still do something with Riddle/Dain after them not having their match on this weeks tv, maybe a quick match or another big angle to setup something for tv perhaps?

The depth they have currently is massive when you cant guarantee a Matt Riddle match, let alone having Keith Lee under contract and not really doing anything solid with him in a year, or Kushida who hasn’t been a focus the past few weeks after being focused on pretty heavy since his debut.

And to lead on from that Im not sure we really need more guys coming BACK to NXT from the main roster, Breeze/Dango/Crews and potentially more. While it does give them the chance to alter their gimmicks and regain some confidence from how they’ve been handled the past few years on the main roster, they really just are taking tv time from others that need it more. The problem we have is that the company aren’t releasing people anymore with AEW as competition so many guys are just backstage during Raw watching the show or eating in catering, at least the guys mentioned are guys that have requested to move down to help theirselves better what they do, but at the same time they’ve had the opportunity and haven’t been able to cling to it while others are desperate for that same opportunity. But hey, this is a topic we could talk on A LOT more another time.

Enjoy the show folks and keep your eyes peeled, I smell a breakout guys invasion with Stokely looking for someone to manage.

Bye for now

Andy

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thesportssoundoff · 5 years ago

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Joey’s Yankees Trade Deadline

Joey

July 22nd, 2019

In 2016, the Yankees used the trade deadline to try and play two different games at once. Realizing that the magic had run out and four to five years of delaying the inevitable was over; the Yanks traded Aroldis Chapman, Carlos Beltran and Andrew Miller to kick off what could've been a lengthy rebuild. Those three trades on their own restocked the farm system with premier top level talent with some lottery tickets thrown in that have paid dividends to this day. At the same time, a move here and a move provided them with some proven MLB players who allowed the team to flirt with being contenders down the stretch. It was a balancing act between rebuilding and placating your audience, one that ultimately paid off across the board. Watch this:

Aroldis Chapman turned into Gleyber Torres, Adam Warren and Billy McKinnie (more on him later).

Andrew Miller turned into Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield (who has since turned into James Paxton) and some spare parts.

Carlos Beltran turned into Dillon Tate (more about him later), Erik Swanson (another player who turned into James Paxton) and Nick Green

In 2017, the Yankees were in the midst of a "restocking" of the shelves. The rebuild took less than a season and the team rode a trio of young stars (Aaron Judge, Didi Gregorious and Gary Sanchez) with a loaded farm system to back them up. They gambled on their window and made moves to try and take what was a fun potential playoff team into a full blown world series contender. The Yankees sent a bundle of high upside low floor prospects to Chicago in exchange for Todd Frazier, Tommy Kahnle and David Robertson. They made a filler move for Jaime Garcia to give them some support on the back end of the rotation. Finally they made the decision to give Oakland a balance of high upside guys and some players who could fill spots on a major league roster in exchange for the top available pitcher on the market in Sonny Gray. The team ultimately made the ALCS.

By 2018, the Yankees story of being the fun rebuild into potential contenders was done and the Evil Empire was back. They spent their off-season swooping on key names and players. They got UNDER the luxury while adding the NL MVP in Giancarlo Stanton. By this time last year, the team had seen the likes of Gleyber Torres, Miguel Andujar, Luis Severino and Aaron Hicks all break through pretty much at once. Despite this, the Yankees felt like an empty World Series contender as Gary Sanchez collapsed, the 1B situation had eroded and as always, pitching was a premium. Despite spending most of the 2018 offseason preaching their desire for pitching, the Yankees never secured the "big" starter. They gambled on Sonny Gray rebooting and it never happened. They gambled on Tanaka being more consistent and he was a mystery. Guys like Domingo German and Johnny Loiasiga were inconsistent as pitchers tend to be. Making matters even more complicated, the Yankees had an impending roster crunch. They were full up on 40 man spots with a near limitless number of players in need of spots. As such the Yankees were active deadline players. They went out and got Lance Lynn, betting on peripherals (the same Lance Lynn who could be a key contributor to another team), in hopes he'd turn into something. Remember Billy McKinnie? Well the Yankees packaged him together with Brandon Drury to grab J.A. Happ. Happ wasn't the sexiest name on the FA market but the Yankees knew him from Toronto, respected the numbers and got him for pretty much a song. Dillon Tate? He went to Baltimore for Zach Britton. They also traded the likes of Adam Warren, Chasen Shreve and Giovanni Gallegos to create some space on the 40 man. One of the guys they got back? A "he hits the ball hard" 1B named Luke Voit. Voit went on to carry the offense when the likes of Judge and Stanton were sidelined or limited with injuries. Despite all the moves, the Yankees never quite hit their peak and the team was bounced out by the eventual world champions.

The 2019 Yankees enter the trade deadline in an interesting spot. This team is going to the playoffs and will almost certainly be the presumptive favorites in the AL. Their top opposition are the Houston Astros who like them are loaded up in the farm system with a need for pitching. Both teams stack up amazingly well against one another and the winner of that is almost certainly going to face the Dodgers. The Yankees path to a championship has never been clearer and this team is already making moves for October like trading for pinch runner extraordinaire Terrence Gore just so he can hang out in their minor leagues and show up around October. They saw a chance to make a move and got the AL home run leader Edwin Encarnacion just for further oomph in an oomphy line up. So what's the plan for July 31st? Well....

What Do They Need?

-Starting pitching

All teams need pitching but for a team with World Series aspirations? The Yankees REALLY need pitching. In a five game set, the Yankees will be able to roll out Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and James Paxton. That's more than good but it could be better. The Yankees rotation are volatile, even when you simply play the "all rotations are volatile" card. Tanaka has an elbow that could go at any time, CC Sabathia has one DL stint a half and James Paxton has never been all too durable himself. Behind those two guys you have J.A. Happ who is one of those aging arms trying to recalibrate his game in the juiced ball era and Domingo German who is likely to be on an innings limit. Despite the critiques of fans and baseball folks alike, the Yankees have found success with an opener (Chad Green starts, Nestor Cortes goes 3-4 innings) and can always rely on that. Can you do that in October? The Yankees' entire deadline is based around having a player who can start game 2 or 3 in the World Series behind Tanaka and potentially Paxton.

What Do They Want?

-Some relief help

The Yankees apparently want relief help which seems odd enough until you consider that their rotation may be five and fly come October. Tommy Kahnle, Adam Ottavino, Zach Britton and Aroldis Chapman make for four arms who can give you multiple innings but they could use upgrades elsewhere. Chad Green, David Hale, Nestor Cortes and Stephen Tarpley have all given the team some additional oomph out of the bullpen but this team could really use an additional arm in the pen. In a perfect world, the team has Dellin Betances back by September or Domingo German is in the bullpen for the second half of the year but no scenario goes 100% according to plan. They could also use a lefty primarily to buddy around with Britton out of the pen.

-Controllable years

The Yankees will eventually have to pay some folks they'd rather not lose out on (Didi, Betances) plus the likes of Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and company will need to be paid. What's more, the likes of CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka potentially do not have long term futures for the Yankees. The Yankees want fiscally responsible controllable arms with years of control to be manipulated. Doesn't mean they won't go and chase down a rental but the rental approach last year ultimately cost them in the long run.

-High K rate/soft contact

This is very much a "No shit" comment but the Yankees prioritize guys who can miss bats OR initiate soft ground ball contact. The linedrive rate is a big deal for the Yankees because they ask pitchers to throw their offspeed stuff at extraordinary amount compares to the rest of the major leagues. As such any pitcher giving up hard contact and throwing a lot of fastballs in NYS is probably not going to fare well and they'd rather avoid that mess entirely.

What Do They Have?

The Yankees have traded away plenty of assets, especially guys who were in theory "ready now" pieces. The likes of Billy McKinney, Dillon Tate, Justus Sheffield and company were sent away. Guys like Chasen Shreve, Adam Warren, Caleb Smith, Giovanni Gallegos and Garrett Cooper who were on the 40 man with no future on the roster were moved out for space and intentional signing bonus money. Most of the Yankees system depth exists on the lower levels, way down in the proverbial food chain which normally doesn't doesn't entice a GM to make moves. The BEST piece for the Yankees is outfielder Clint Frazier and that piece comes with plenty of questions. Clint Frazier is a fantastic power bat with "legendary bat speed" as Brian Cashman called it. He can hit for power AND average even if he K's a bit more than you'd like which is also why the Yankees are not going to give him away. Conversely, Frazier's defense is abysmal and it hasn't gotten better in the three years he's been on the Yankees. That's not including the questions about his make up, personality and injury history. The Yankees have a potential spot open for Clint Frazier next year but I get the feeling that he's not going to be here one way or another by the start of the 2020 season. Frazier's stock on the Yankees will forever feel like a balance between raw talent and limited patience. Beyond that the Yankees have oft injured slumping OF Estevan Florial and undersized flame throwing Deivi Garcia who has been a rapidly ascending arm who is limited by his build.

What the Yankees do have is an abundance of complimentary pieces. They're loaded with the sort of guys who ultimately find ways to contribute to teams when given opportunities and bolster trades around big pieces. For instance, a guy like Stephen Tarpley can appeal to a team as a potential LOOGY 7th inning guy if given a more consistent role. Teams collect guys like Luis Cessa (hard throwing guys who seem to lack a defined role on a team) all the time. Mike Tauchmann is a really solid 4th outfielder who plays tremendous defense, hits lefties well despite being a lefty and seems like the sort of guy teams are always looking for because . Flexy infleidler types like Tyler Wade and Thairo Estrada might be able to flourish in a more patient role and in the case of Estrada, there's high level upside for a guy who mashed pretty hard during his brief stint in the bigs. Even guys like Mike Ford, Chance Adams, Nestor Cortes and Ryan McBroom might find ways to become consistent contributors on other teams where they're not blocked by elite players. None of these guys can headline a package for a key piece but they can help amplify a deal and give teams a more instant reward while waiting for the "name" players of a trade to pan out. All a team has to do is look at how the likes of Miami and Toronto are getting some returns on talent the Yankees have given out.

The Best Case Scenario Is....

Easy enough for the Yankees, the best case scenario involves a starting pitcher arriving on their doorstep before the weekend ends. The Yankees tend to get help before the deadline crunch and with their lineup pretty much set across the board, their sole focus is on arms. A perfect scenario involves somebody like a Matthew Boyd or a Luis Castillo for a relatively modest price (can the Yankees convince a team that gambling on the upside of Florial plus some proven pieces can be a worthwhile starter point?) to give them not just an ace but a cost controlled ace under team control for a few years. The back up to the best case scenario pretty much revolves around two guys; Marcus Stroman and Robbie Ray. Both are guys a tier below the likes of Boyd, Minor and Castillo on paper with a more measured upside. Stroman in particular feels like a guy who the Yankees would more than love; still kinda young, a workhorse who is mentally tough, the sort of guy who would thrive in the spotlight who seems like he wants the opportunity to dos so. After getting their starter, the Yanks grab a lefty arm for the pen and do so without giving up Clint Frazier or Deivi Garcia.

The Worst Case Scenario Is...

There are two worst case scenarios and both feel uncomfortably realistic. The Yankees overpay out the wazoo for a guy like Trevor Bauer, Noah Syndergaard or Mike Minor; gambling big on their window being now and running the risk of overpaying for pitchers with a high level of bust potential. The Yankees go all in and give up a bunch to get one of the premier names who don't exactly fit what the long term profile of the Yankees is. The other worst case scenario is that there's NOBODY of consequence available and the Yankees are forced to accept the declining returns of a Madison Bumgarner. MadBum is an October baseball legend but he's aging with so-so peripherals who embodies the sort of rental the Yankees should aim to avoid. You're also going to wind up paying a sentimentality tax to San Francisco which when combined with the famed Yankee tax creates a ridiculous price point for this team. I also would imagine that the Yankees would cringe heavily and perish the thought of Zack Wheeler, Tanner Roark or Mike Leake as fallback options should every other key option be off the market.

One thing to remember....

The Boston Red Sox won the World Series last year with their starters averaging JUST over 5 innings a start. It's not a replica for success you want to copy but worst case scenario, there's no reason the Yankees couldn't go Tanaka-Sabathia-Paxton and some combination of Happ or German. It's not an ideal starting formula but it's also far from impossible. The Yankees could even bet on Luis Severino and German to piggyback off one another as long men in a postseason series. This is where having an insanely deep pen (with maybe a few bodies on the way) makes the Yankees different than just about any other team in this conversation except for the Rays.

#MLB #baseball #Yankees

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