#and also he loves being the number one obstacle from the other team scoring

[maqui-chan]

imagine there's a local league in town where coed teams are allowed so here they are (ok i was very haikyuu pilled and instead of drawing haikyuu fanart i draw dol playing volleyball)

[xsamuu]

HEYYYYY!! I saw your ask box was open and I was wondering if I could request a headcanon? Where the reader is in a massive fight with a friend they haven't seen for like 3 years and the friend takes it too far by saying something like "That's your boyfriend? How gross" "Ew why does he look like that? Couldn't grab someone better? Ugly ho" or whatever you come with? Tendou, Bokuto, Kenma, Kags, Nishinoya please, if you will?

I screeched when I saw this omg thank you I hope this is up to your standards bebs 😼👍🏾 but uh I should say some did come out a little bit like scenarios but I tried to stick to headcanons sorry for that still hope you enjoy 🎃😼

~Admin Rizzo

Tendou Satori

-you was minding your own business walking through a park your hands intertwined with your lover when a ✨m u s t y✨ old friend you knew had decided to share there unwanted opinions

-Tendou could see how uncomfortable you was and wanted to remove you from the situation but as he went to walk around the obstacle you stopped dead in your tracks

-“That’s who your with oh my god that’s fucking gross, I guess you’ll hook up with anyone you thot”

-It’s safe to say that tendou had come up with thousands of insults by the time the slur left there mouth

-Who even was this person?— WAIT WHO THEY CALLING A THOT?!

-you wasn’t a very confrontational person but nevertheless you wasn’t about to let this person who wasn’t even in your day to day life anymore talk smack about your man

-you went to retaliate when a big arm swooped around your shoulder catching you off guard

-“Babe lets go I wanted to bring you to the park today not a circus” 🤡

-Needless to say your ‘friend’ was shocked and maybe a little intimidated

-You on the other hand had to summon all the strength in your body not to laugh in there face

-With his arm still wrapped around he moved you away from the situation the both of you quickly changing the subject to something more important

Bokuto Kōtarō

-Bokuto loves spoiling you

-your the love of his life and he will make sure you know this not only through his words but also his actions

-this however works both ways there isn’t something you wouldn’t do to show him how much you support and love him

-You was sitting in the crowd at one of his games it was a very important one winning this match would definitely get him recognized by some powerhouse teams

-every time he would score a point for his team he would look up at you and every time you would be there imitating his celebration “HEY HEY HEY THATS MY ACE” You felt only pride and absolute infatuation with this man

-you was cheering your heart out when you suddenly felt someone bump your shoulder (a little too hard to be an accident—)

-You swung your head around only to come face to face with an old friend from middle school they looked bitter asf and your conscience was telling you to just ignore them

-“Oh you have nothing to say to me now Huh? I see your at another one of these boring ass games I thought you didn’t have time for people?”

-It’s true at one point you did say that but you didn’t think you’d loose one of your closest friends because of it even so you continue to ignore them hoping they’d get the message and leave

-they didn’t.

-“So you and number 4 are together I’m assuming. I guess ugly attracts ugly”

-immediately you saw red but you couldn’t ruin this for bokuto important people were here. As if he could sense your distress he shot his eyes up to where you were in the stand

-He called a time out, and started running out the gym everyone was confused but when he reappeared in the stands you knew all to well that he had caught on

-“Babe I just noticed your supposed to be closer to the match your an important guest” he smiled you mouthed him a thank you and gathered your things walking a few rows closer to the front

-Thankfully Akaashi was there looking up at you distracting you. The owllike man glared at your old friend “I don’t know what you did to Y/N but you better leave before you have another problem”

-When you looked back your ex friend was nowhere to be seen you giggled as bokuto gave you a big kiss before returning to the court

Kozume Kenma

-Kenma isn’t a contentious person in fact he would much rather settle an issue in the most inconspicuous way possible

-Even so if he feels that him or his partner was disrespected in anyway he will not hesitate

-You and Kenma was at a gaming convention you had been planning since the beginning of February (it’s now late April)

-You had sat through the entrance ceremony and was walking around admiring all the stalls and you were both having so much fun

-Kenma had left you for a split second to get someone’s autograph it was the animator from a game he played religiously you didn’t mind you stayed put and was scrolling through your phone

-“Long time no see y/n” you lifted your head to the sound of your name being called and made perfect eye contact with an old ‘friend’

-If you were being completely honest you hated them all they did was make you feel like an inferior insect whenever you two were together you hummed a ‘yo’ before going back to your phone

-“Still a quiet freak eh LuLu I guess you here on your own or something”

-Lulu was the name of a magical girl from a cartoon you used to love but upon finding out people would use it to mock and degrade you

-you was gonna walk away the ridiculous nickname when you heard a familiar voice

-“no y/n is with me and you are?” It was a genuine question but anyone who didn’t know Kenma would take his pack of expression as bored or sarcastic

-The person scoffed and pointed accusingly at Kenma “That’s who your with LuLu you couldn't do any better HE’S JUST AS LIFELESS AS YOU ARE”

-You tugged on Kenma sleeve motioning to just leave as you felt uncomfortable but Kenma wasn’t having it you had been so excited to be here and with him and this nobody came out of nowhere and started harassing you

-“Listen um going to say this in a way you could understand— he smirked at you and then opened his mouth again

-What escaped his mouth next left you shocked, scared, a little embarrassed for him even but mostly touched

-he cleared his throat

-“lifeless. I’m not lifeless in fact I have a burning hatred for you right now. And that why I feel no guilt in what I’m about to do.”

-You gulped and held on tighter to kenma’s sleeve mentally preparing yourself for what he was about to do

-“YoU HaTe LuLu’S tRanSforMatiOn sOng?!” He practically shouted. Instantly a horde or gamers, writers, weebs and more bombarded the area shouting and screaming and causing a scene

- From all the commotion it’s sounded like your ‘friend’ was ok but some of the words leaving the mouths of the mob were kinda cruel

-you smirked and Kenma led you away

-You know he doesn’t like being the center of attention but he still protected you and for that you’d be sure to thank him for that

Kageyama Tobio

-Kags never really liked leaving you behind when he had to go to different countries

-without you it made him anxious and you would reassure him that you’d be fine and eagerly awaiting his return

-Including the return of his big, fat juicy—

Ahem heart 🙂

-You had been sitting in a café Face Timing him

-You’d often have dates like this and you both enjoyed them you was talking to him when someone took up a seat next to you

-“Hey Y/n funny running into you here” a familiar voice echoed

-A w k w a r d you hadn’t seen or heard from this person since a fight you had a couple years ago why now?

-You had nearly forgotten about your boyfriend on the other side of your iPad screen until “Oh you bought a friend y/n”

-you was at a loss for words but before you could answer the unwanted annoyance to your left answered for you

-‘We’re not friends y/n cut me off because she’s toxic” it took kageyama a solid 10 seconds to realize that this wasn’t a real friend and that you were silently asking for help

-You rested your head in hand obscuring the person from kags field of vision therefore blocking there vision of your face and boyfriend

-hoping they’d get the message without you having to vocalize it

-they stood up and you let out a breath you didn’t know you was holding

-“I wasn’t checking out your friend don’t worry he isn’t my type I prefer cute boys” they spat

-Before you could even assess the fact that they pretty much called your boyfriend ugly you was already pissed at the fact that they referred to kags as your friend

-you stood up abruptly and it’s like they were waiting for you to loose your cool all hope was lost when you heard him clear his throat

-“[there Instagram name] Damn you was easy to find. I liked you post”

-You felt a tinge of confusion race through you but watching all the blood in there body rush to your friends face made you curious

-“DELETE THAT RIGHT NOW” people were definitely looking in your direction

-“Leave then I will” Now you was curious what the help did he do?

-seconds, literal seconds. The annoyance was nowhere to be seen

-“Kags..wha—”

“I shared there IP address in the comments :p”

- “PFFT kAgS!”

Nishinoya Yū

-Noya made sure that you felt like the only person in the world before he asked you out, so when you started dating you didn’t think he could get any more protective over you

-You was sitting in the cinema with him both smiling and listening on to the movie

-He fidgets a lot in his seat but you dont mind you know he cant help it besides you find it cute he is just so full of energy

-“Babe imma go to the toilet be right back” he kissed your cheek and left

-you continue to watch the movie until you feel someone slither into the seat next to you and hearing the voice your your temples irks and your expression one of annoyance

-One of your ex friends for how many years ago had to be in the same theatre at the same time on the SAME FUCKING DAY

-they didn't seem like they were moving so you just spoke first

- “can i help you.?” 

-No response :/

-You were even more irritated than before

-Noya came back a few minutes later and noticed another person had sat right next to you 

-Noya is dense VERY VERY DENSE he assumed you ran into one of your friends so he didn't question it

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-After the movie finished you grabbed your things and rushed to get out of that situation

-The same person had finally said something after a whole hour

- “That’s who you came with.. You really know how to pick em an annoying toddler really Y/n your honestly pathetic--”

-It didn’t bother Noya he has been called short all his life this isn’t any different but this rando was obviously upsetting you and he would NOT have that

-Noya would step infront of you and confront the person they get a warning 

-one fucking warning 

-If they don’t take it i shit you not noya is going for the ankles periodt

- “I DONT KNOW WHO THE FUCK YOU ARE BUT YOUR UPSETTING MY PARTNER THE FUCKING DOOR IS BEHIND YOU SO TURN AROUND”

-Noya looked like the aggressor and its safe to say he may have caused a scene but he would be a fool not to step in and protect you with all you got

[seijohsfairy]

𝙿𝙴𝚃𝚄𝙻𝙰𝙽𝚃

he does his very best to give you everything, you know this better than most. so the least you can do is not get jealous. you don’t get jealous… just maybe get a little fussy instead.

.wordc. 4k+ tw (step)daddy, size kink, belly bulge, degradation, hairpulling, spit, jealousy

+

With his teeth in the crook of your neck with his strong arms looped around your -in comparison- tiny body, he pounds his hips up into you until your eyes roll back in your skull. “Needy- fucking- bitch,” the muffled grunts come with each thrust, and all you can do is keep your fingers stuffed into your mouth and holding onto the short hairs at the base of his skull. “Like having a cock too big to stuff your dirty, cockhungry cunt?”

“Yeah, love your— fat cock.” Each wet slap of your pussy being battered by a dick too big for you rings way too loud in the quiet of the otherwise abandoned room, his huge cock going so deep it pushes up against the edge of your poor walls. Your fingers and chin are covered in spit, eyes closed tight and tits bouncing with the motions, unable to even close your legs for a little reprieve. “So deep.”

The bench creaks against the motions. And he rests his forehead onto your shoulder for a moment to hold you down, breathing deeply. “Gonna cum?” His voice so low and gravelly, body radiating heat that leaves you both with sweat rolling down exposed skin. You think you nod in response, but it’s hard to tell when your head’s so cloudy you can’t tell left from right, trying to keep from crying out. “Wanted daddy’s cock so bad you had to beg for it like a whore, so you better.” Then he’s moving again, one hand dropping to your ass to help you along with the ruthless pace he sets in your wet slit.

“C-can’t,” you cry around your fingers when his chest brushes up against your overstimulated nipples, clenching around the heat and dripping all over him. “Wanna -quit, mhm-wan’cum. ‘S too big.” Your thighs strain with the effort to drop yourself at his rhythm, your muscles clenching more each time your clit rubs against the coarse hair around his cock. “So close, daddy!” Your voice, muffled and high pitched, is still no match for the lewd sounds that fill the room and his heavy grunts. You moan at the way his frown digs a little deeper, biting his lip in focus. “Yes, yes, ah-please!” With a few more thrusts, you drop down onto his cock all the way until it pushes against your cervix, and the tight coil in your belly snaps. “Sh- mhm— thankyouthankyou daddy!”

“Fuck,” he hisses, “milk my cock, slut.” Your walls clench around him so hard you see double, pulling your wet fingers out of your mouth to dig them into the hard muscles of his shoulders with a loud string of incoherent begs. And he follows close after, filling your belly with warmth until his thick cum spills out and makes even more of a mess. But he only stops until your body slumps entirely against his chest, so fucked out your toes tingle, and the blood rushing in your head is so loud you can’t hear anything else. He keeps you tight to his hot body, breathing deeply against your sticky skin.

Everything after that moves quicker, sadly. Your head is still pounding a little as he helps you off his lap and onto your feet, wiping your drool off your face and kissing your lips until you manage to lift your arms enough to get your shirt back on. You don’t even know how many minutes pass in silence as he helps you clean up, allowing you the time to come back to earth. “Tired?” he asks, and you nod along, collapsing against his chest with a deep whine.

“I don’t think I want to try walking for at least half an hour.” You stand and watch as he drops his boxers and digs through his bag for his gear, quick to put it all on. Though his grin grows wider the longer you stare at him, you’re not even trying to hide it. Jersey stretching over his wide chest and shoulders, before he tucks himself into fresh boxers and shorts.

“Enjoying yourself?” he chuckles when you bite your lip, nodding cutely. You go to stand onto the bench with a little sigh to motion him over, taking a brief moment to fix his hair as his large hand rests at the small of your back. Pretty hazel eyes watching you with a revering gaze. When you’re done, he clicks his tongue. “Gotta rush out there, pretty thing, I gotta go to warm-ups.” He presses a quick kiss to your pouty lips as he helps your underwear back up your body, but his gaze lingers for a moment too long for you to believe the responsible front he’s putting on. Even if he doesn’t admit it, the way his hands come to paw at your tummy says enough, pushing on it a little until you grab his wrist and squeak.

“Daddy!”

The wet squelch of his cum gushing out of you into the drenched fabric is enough to have heat rising to your face again. “Leaking my cum into those pretty panties?” You fake a frown, but enjoy the way his fingers trail up your body under his shirt. “Hm, that’s too bad.” The little purse of his lips quickly morphs back into a smile when you push his arms away from your body. “I’ll see you in a few hours,” he promises, stuffing his bag into the locker. Everyone’s definitely already warming up in the other gym. If anything you’re lucky that they haven’t come around to find their captain yet. “Cheer for me?”

“Of course, daddy,” you say back, eyeing him down a little longer. He really does look too damn unholy in the tight uniform, sending you a last little look that already has your insides warming again.

+

There’s very little that can make you jealous. You’ve won over a lot of obstacles to be with Meian the way you are, and though it’s technically a secret, the gazes his teammates send you when you cheer for your daddy or come around training a bit earlier than you should to watch him are far from unknowing. Of course the large majority of the crowd doesn’t know though, so it’s easy to blend into the cheers of the supporters. In all black and gold, there’s few things you enjoy more than showing off to everyone what you mean to him, jumping and cheering from the stands. You don’t care that they don’t know who you are, or that some of his fans send daggers into your back with their glares.

After all, it’s not for nothing that your skirt shows off the bruises and hickeys on your thighs, his jacket falling way down your body like it could be a dress. The number four on the back also painted on your face as you wave your banner excitedly back and forth. He sends a quick glance back, eyebrows furrowed to look for your face in the mess of people, and grins when he spots you. You wave and smile, letting your heart make a jump when he winks at you, then turning back to the team. This little game between you two is nothing new— hell, most of the players have their own little routines. The first set went by so quickly, and your side of the area is ecstatic, buzzing with excitement.

But as the whistle rings, there’s a distinct murmur right behind you that is harder to ignore by the second. “He winked this way, did you see?” “Who did? Him?” “The Captain, number 4. Meian Shugo.” You really try your best to ignore them, try to watch the game progress below you, but it’s so hard when they seem to be only one of two rows behind you. And loud at that. “At— that girl over there that’s wearing his number, you think? She looks way young.” “I know he got divorced not too long ago, you think that’s his new girl? What a shame.” The longer the conversation continues, the more you have to fight the urge to turn around, tapping your foot on the floor to quell your nerves.

“Ugh, just imagine what a man like that can do,” one of the girls sighs after a while, and even the man to your side turns around to give them a little glare. “What? Are we not allowed to talk?” she hisses, cutting her argument short when the man turns back at the sound of another whistle, the opposing team coming up to serve. They are clearly not here for the enjoyment of the sport, and though you can understand it to a degree, there’s a certain self consciousness that creeps up your spine when they continue, under their breath. “Whatever, even if he has a girlfriend, that doesn’t mean we can’t go say hi after the match. I wanna know what he’s like with a body like that.” “Yeah, same. I’d love to see what’s underneath those shorts. Ride him until he’s out of breath.”

The shrill laugh of the girls is all you can hear through the cheers, clinging a bit harder to the banner in your hands. And it’s so stupid to get jealous, but the way they talk about him hits a part of you that you don’t like giving into. After all, you’re living in the same house as him and currently have his cum soaking into your panties, but no one is allowed to know. And you’re not so sure if that’ll ever change. “If that’s really his girlfriend, I feel bad for him. She looks like she never takes charge in anything, let alone the bedroom.” Her friend snickers. “You’re so right, poor guy.” MSBY suddenly scores a point, knocking you out of your daze when the entire crowd jumps forward in cheers, squishing you to the bannister a little more. And Meian smacks the grey-haired spiker on the back with a smile, before turning back towards the stands to send you another glance.

But the smile you manage to send him is only superficial, fisting your hands into his jersey a bit tighter. The rest of the match continues mostly as normal after, with you ending up waiting patiently outside the changing rooms. And though you know you shouldn’t let it unnerve you, though you know it’s just simple gossip among friends, their words stick to the forefront of your thoughts while he keeps his distance as long as he’s with the team and through the crowd of interviewers until you both get into the car.

You get into the driver as he slumps into the passenger seat, exhausted and ready to get out of the mess of loud people to go home and sleep it off as soon as possible. “Don’t fall asleep yet, daddy, I won’t be able to get you out of the car.” You start the car with a few glances to the side of his face, a tired but contented smile on his lips when you back out of the parking lot and away from the mass of people, an agreeing hum low and calm in between you two for the first time in a few hours. Only then does his large hand find it’s way to your skin again, dropping into your lap to draw soft circles onto the inside of your thigh.

“I missed you, baby.”

“Yeah,” you drop your bottom lip from between your teeth, “missed you too.”

+

When you wake up with a jolt, the first thing you notice is how tight your chest feels. You’re hot all over, slotted against his chest on your side, and judging by how wet you are you’ve been this way for a while. Flushed, and your belly awfully empty. And you’ve learned what happens if you take care of yourself, definitely not in the mood to risk it. So you do the only thing you can do and shift your hips back more, pressing your ass against the bugle in his boxers. No wonder you woke up hot and bothered. “Hmm,” you whine a little when you push back more and rub your covered pussy up and down his center. You can’t help it, you want daddy’s cock more than anything right now.

It doesn’t take long for your motions to shake him awake, definitely when you bring your hand down between your legs to rub up against his half hard cock, grabbing him through the fabric. A deep rumble falls from his chest when you pull the boxers down enough to let his dick out, spitting onto your hand to grab for him. You rub your wet palm over the head of his cock a few times before wrapping your fingers around him— as much as you can at least with the size of it, still rocking your hips back against him and getting more wet by the second. “What d’ya think you’re doin,” he sighs under his breath as he cracks one eye open, grunting at the way you’re rubbing your desperate cunny along the length of him over and over.

“Woke up needing you so bad,” you bring out, just letting your panties get more and more wet the longer you continue. And his cock twitches in between your legs as you work your fingers around, rubbing the precum around all over the pretty head of his cock until he bucks his hips back against you. It presses up against you more the harder you try, tilting your hips to allow him to touch your clit over and over. “Need daddy’s cock inside,” you admit under your breath, shifting away for just a second to rid yourself of the fabric sticking to your pussy. When you’re barely done with that he’s already pulling you back to his body to push his cock between your folds a few times without actually going in. It makes your entire body heated, hairs standing on end and getting more slick by the second. You grab onto his wrist for support in pushing back against him. “Ha-nhg, please-daddy feels so good, so warm.”

You even shift your legs apart best you can to get more friction and access, something that makes him hum. His chest pressed up against your back makes you feel even smaller, packed muscles and strong arms caging you in against him. “You want it so bad, baby?” He shifts onto one elbow behind you to look at your face, how you’re tearing up with the overwhelming heat and need setting your body alight. The hot, leaking head pushes against your hole and pushes in a tiny bit, only to pull back and slap his fat cock against your pussy with a wet ‘pap’ each time. “Wanna have it in here, fill you up, filthy girl?”

“Yes!” you instantly reply, shivering when he uses his free hand to shove your shirt up your body to reveal your tits, rising and falling desperately against the heat. He rubs his thumb over each a few times, then grabbing your tits into his giant hand and squeezing softly. Still teasing the heavy head of his giant cock between your legs while you’re leaving your shiny wetness all over him. Your hips instinctively push back against him when he brings the head back to your hole, trying to lower onto it, only to be stopped by his hand on your hip. You can’t help the whine that comes out at that, still pushing back as much as you can.

“Pleasepleaseplease, daddy!! Ah-ple-hng.” You push his hand back away from your hip and reach between your legs again to push him back up to your dripping pussy again, slowly starting to sink yourself onto him. It never goes easy because he’s just that big, but the stretch of just pushing back on him is enough to have you moaning out, dropping your face into the plush. “Please, want your big -hm- cock. Wanna have daddy ruin me.” He keeps you in place again though, slowly rocking his hips around in circles to stretch you out more, popping back out again and you have to hold the overwhelming urge to kick your feet, instead arching your back and leaning into his hand when he pinches your nipples hard. “J-Fu— Wan’it, wan’it!”

“Oh, the fucking brat knows what she wants?�� he mumbles back as he guides himself back between your legs, not holding you down this time. Instead he just grabs onto your thigh as he rolls his hips, your eyes stinging with wetness. “Go ahead then. Got my cocksleeve all needy and worked up and I haven’t even done anything yet.” It’d be easier to ignore his taunting tone if it wasn’t paired with a thrust, shoving another two thick inches into your gushing cunny until you’re crying and shaking on his cock, not sure if you want to get back off or not. The stretch is so painfully good, walls fluttering around the wide intrusion desperately. You roll your hips though, whimpering at the feeling of him spearing you open so wide. It’s not fair. You had him earlier today, but it feels like you’re being stretched for the first time all over again.

“Daddy, please, wanna cream around it, have it break me open please,” you reach back to cling to his forearm, taking a few deep breaths and crying out when it causes his cock to slide even further in. But for as much as you’re struggling, you know that there’s nothing more you want than all of him filling you out. “Need it, ack, d-deep. More, daddy, quickly!” you beg, forcing yourself back and onto him more again, your eyes rolling back in your skull when you arch your back and his cock presses up so good against your gummy, drooling walls. “Please use my holes as you need, ‘s all for you, daddy.” At this point you’re so fed up not being able to take more at once that you pound your little fist onto his thigh a few times and shake your head through your tears, pulling his hand in between your legs. “Put it— mhm-ahh, deeper, please!”

The little request along with the way you roll your hips back on half of his cock like a bitch in heat leaves him stunned, gripping you close by your belly as the hand between your legs rubs messy circles over your clit. “Fuck— What’s got you so fucking desperate?” he hisses when you clench on his cock again, pushing in more at your whimpers. “That feel good?” The way he’s filling you up alone is enough to have your belly tightening like crazy, going crazy at the touches to your puffy nub.

“Yes-hng, yeah, more, moremoremore. Want it all,” you nod, squeezing your own tits and breathing, feeling how he slides in further and further and the messy, quick motions of his two fingers to your clit go even faster. “All of you, ple-ah!” Same time as you try to catch your breath a little, going lightheaded, he bottoms out inside you with a hard thrust, and the coil in your belly pulls so tight you can feel it all the way to your feet. He keeps rubbing, rutting his cock almost in place to stretch you out a little more, but you don’t even get to warn him as your eyes pull closed and your pussy clenches around him like a vice. “Fuckfuckfuckfuck— daddy!” You squirm as your orgasm travels through you, vision spotting black and white and that enormous heat filling your belly.

But you barely take a break to breathe before you’re turning over your shoulder to lean into his collarbones, grabbing onto his shoulder and breathing heavily against his skin. “Daddy’s cock is mine, all mine. Only for me,” you bring out, lifting your leg over his thigh for better access, tears being smushed around your cheeks. He obliges though, pulling out and pushing back inside faster, inside your sensitive cunny with the flushed head of his cock kissing your cervix each time he fills you out.

Your brabbling is barely coherent anymore, sticking so close and rolling your hips as best as you can. “Only belongs inside me. Your pretty cock’s hmh-all mine.” Though you can’t see it though your tears, his lip is pulled between his teeth, pretty eyes focussed on the way your face changes with each thrust, in awe of your words. You’re not normally this mouthy, but the words just keep coming.“‘M gonna take all of your cum like a g-good- girl,” you moan and whine, and he pulls you even closer by your waist to thrust up into you a bit faster. “No one else.”

“Yeah,” he hums, now using his thighs to fuck up into you and to make your tits bounce, the bed banging against the wall with each thrust. He grabs onto your hair to keep your back arched for him and presses a kiss to your wet cheek, moaning. “S’all yours, pretty baby.”

“No one else -ah-can touch your cock or sit on it, okay?” you mumble, mindlessly nodding your head when he grunts your name under his breath, the pace now knocking the air out of your lungs. “Just— your good girl- ah, ah, ah, f-forever! Wanna feel your cock up here until you can’t give any more, daddy!” You manage to bring your hand to your belly to push a little against the bulge that shows each time he bottoms out, balls and hips slapping against you and the wetness of your creamed pussy around his cock filling the room.

“Shit- Look at you being all possessive,” Meian takes a deep breath and brings his hand back between your legs again, cock twitching inside you. Each thrust of his fat cock inside your ruined walls brings you back closer to your high, and the heavy, dirty words he growls when your walls flutter around him. “Little, slutty cunt drooling all over me— fuck, baby, taking me so well. You like feeling daddy’s huge cock filling you up to the brim?”

“Yes, feels so good! So big, hng-good- inside, ah— daddy, daddy!” The heat between your bodies building so hot you can’t think straight. All you know is that you’ve never felt so good, his length driving you open and bulging your belly so perfectly. Your heartbeat is so loud between your ears, neck and back held tight in place and your ass jiggling with his relentless fucking. “Ahng! Ah, ah, ah, always want to cream on your fat cock, no one else gets to. Only me- f-for daddy!” More, tighter, it builds to a peak again like the rhythmic pounding of the headboard into the wall, your cries choked and drool covering your lips, swollen from your consistent biting. “Ah- haaaa, please, wanna cum on your cock again. Gonna—”

“Already?” He brings out a surprised huff, but keeps going and even faster, close as well.

“Mhm! Ah- yes, love your big cock so much, feels -mhm- s’good!” you cry as you’re bounced on his cock all pathetically, squeezing your own tits and nipples for the most amount of stimulation. It’s inevitable when he notices how close you are and rubs your clit even faster again, making your legs shake. “S’g-good, please, wanna c-cum. Don’t stop, don’t stop, wan’ -hmng- d- ah, cumming! Cum—ming-hng -ah, ahng!”

You hit your high even harder than before, vision completely blacking for a few seconds as he helps you through it without hesitating, thrusting your spasming walls open again and again and again. Pushing up against your cervix a few more times with pleasurable pain that leaves your body shaking and pussy creaming around his cock all over again. “Daddy, daddy, daddy!” you mumble out, as he spurts his hot ropes of cum into your pussy, fucking it into you until you’re both twitching from overstimularion.

He lets go of your hair and slumps into you then, keeping you warm in his arms and pulling you close to his sweaty chest. Both of your hearts hammering in different patterns against your rib cages, his cock kept inside you. It’s Meian who catches his breath first, slowly untangling himself from your body to look down at you through narrowed eyes, ever so slowly pulling out of you after all. “Baby,” comes his chastising tone first, and you whine at it, but he’s quick to keep you just as close to press his lips to your jaw. “That was so stupidly hot,” he breathes, “locking around my cock like a fuckin’ vice.” You crack open one eye to watch him inspect you top to bottom, then playing with the edge of the shirt still shoved up above your tits. “What the fuck was that all about?”

But you just give him a lazy grin, and snuggle closer to his chest. “I’ll tell you later, daddy.”

[rebelsofshield]

Star Wars: The Bad Batch -”Cornered” Review

A killer guest star arrives to put The Bad Batch on the ropes in a fun if inconsequential episode.

Running low on supplies, the Bad Batch is forced to make an emergency pit stop on the planet of Pantora. However, their presence is noticed by noted bounty hunter, Fennec Shand, who sets her sights on Omega.

If “Cornered” reminds me of anything, it is a mid-season episode of Star Wars Rebels. It features a new planet, a fetch quest plot for the main team, a guest star villain, plenty of chase hi-jinks, and not much in the way of long term plot development. Star Wars series have never really been great at pacing. Almost every season of every series features more than its fair share of episodes that just seem to exist to fill out some space in the season runtime. They aren’t bad and sometimes feature some entertaining action or character beats, but they will never end up being what fans remember the series for. This is what “Cornered” is. A serviceable episode of a fun show that will not stick long in fan’s heads.

The standout here proves, of course, to be Ming-Na Wen’s Fennec Shand. While many fans were let down by her short appearance in the first season of The Mandalorian, Shand received a glorious resurgence in 2020 and became a seasonal standout. Wen is a seasoned performer and whether she’s doing live action stunts or steely voice work, it’s hard not to be enthralled by her appearance in any media. Shand also makes for a more than capable antagonist and it’s more than fun to see the cast of the Bad Batch face off against a foe that can match them toe to toe in most instances. Her presence also signals a more intriguing plotline. The Bad Batch aren’t just fugitives from the Empire. Someone has a vested interest in retrieving Omega and I think the long necked culprits are pretty easy to identify.

Saul Ruiz’s action direction is another standout. A chase sequence that occurs in the skies of Pantora feels like a midair set piece stolen from any number of stellar espionage movies. You have characters hopping between vehicles and dodging obstacles. It’s of course just flashy fun that doesn’t amount to much narratively, but sometimes that’s all you need.

If there’s any real weakness in The Bad Batch to this point, it’s in the characterization of the main crew. Sure, Hunter has established himself as “Team Dad,” but so far hasn’t managed to break out of that mold. Tech and Echo are the members of the team that have perhaps struggled the most. Conceptually, the two of them feel too similar to one another and it’s not always clear where one’s skillset ends and the other begins. Similarly, outside of his nasal, know it all attitude, Tech has yet to really establish a personality.

Echo does get a moment in the spotlight this time, but it ends up being a bit of a mixed bag. Is it fun to see Echo lead some droids around? Sure! I challenge anyone not to fall in love with the little chonk-boy Clinky. But Echo’s relationship with his cybernetics still feels like a narrative weakpoint in this series. We have yet to see Echo really interrogate or discuss his relationship with his body now that so much of him is a machine and it’s hard not to feel for him when he is forced by his brothers to pretend to be a droid. There’s a hefty amount of narrative weight in his story that always feels untouched and it grows more and more apparent with each passing episode.

As a whole, “Cornered” is an enjoyable but forgettable half hour of television. It entertains with fun action, a great guest appearance, and even a few moments of solid humor, but it will not linger in fan’s heads long after airing.

Score: B

[stereostevie]

“I sacrificed the quality of my life to help people experience something that had been unreachable before then,” Grammy winner says in rare interview

In the late Nineties, the story of popular music became the story of Ms. Lauryn Hill. She first rose to fame as an actress and a member of the Fugees, whose second and final album, 1996’s The Score, remains one of that decade’s biggest albums. Then, at just 22 years old, Hill took a huge leap and decided to go solo. Released in 1998, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill filled clubs, radio stations, and MTV with her smooth voice and biting rhymes. Hill herself became as big as her music, appreciated in the fashion world and sought after by movie executives for roles she would eventually decline.

Miseducation took home five Grammy Awards and led to a huge tour. But by the early 2000s, Ms. Hill left behind the fame and the industry almost entirely. She has never released another studio album; her last full-length release was MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 from 2002, where she performed new songs in an acoustic style to a largely tepid reception.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill lives on. More than 20 years after its release, it is still regarded as one of the best albums ever made, landing at Number 10 on Rolling Stone’s voter-based 500 Greatest Albums of All Time List this past fall. Many of her songs continue to permeate culture, like the single “Ex-Factor,” which has been sampled or interpolated on major hits by Drake and Cardi B. Beyond that, the album’s impact on multiple generations of musicians is unmistakeable. Everyone from Rihanna to St. Vincent has cited Hill as having heavily influenced their own music.  

The years that followed Miseducation have been complicated. After the album’s release, some of Hill’s collaborators filed a lawsuit claiming she did not properly credit them for their contributions; that suit was settled out of court three years later on undisclosed terms. In 2012, she was charged with tax fraud, and went on to serve three months in prison. More recently, she has found herself back on the road more frequently, sporadically releasing music but mostly basking in the collective love and power of Miseducation through special performances of the album.

For the latest episode of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums podcast, Ms. Hill granted a rare interview on the making of Miseducation as well as what happened after. Over e-mail, she spoke candidly about protecting her family and the little support she had after her first album cycle ended. Excerpts from the interview can be heard in the podcast episode, available on Amazon Music, along with tales from several of the musicians who were part of those sessions, like “Commissioner Gordon” Williams, Lenesha Randolph, and Vada Nobles. Ms. Hill’s written responses are here in full.

When you began recording Miseducation, you were 22 and already experiencing immense success with the Fugees. What were you hoping to prove with this album? As far as proving myself goes, I think that’s a larger and more involved story best told at a later time, but I will say that the success of the Fugees absolutely set up The Miseducation to be as big and as well received as it was. When I decided that I wanted to try a solo project I was met with incredible resistance and discouragement from a number of places that should have been supportive, so that had a motivating factor, but it was less about proving myself and more about creating something I wanted to see and hear exist in the world. There were ideas, notions and concepts that I wanted to exist, I set off in a particular direction and kept going. Initially, I intended to work with other producers and artists but found that what I wanted to say and hear may have been too idiosyncratic at the time to just explain it and have someone else try to make it. It had to be made in a more custom manner. The team of people who would ultimately be involved, we all witnessed as it took form. It was unique and exciting.

You’ve said you found yourself especially creative during your pregnancy. How did that experience shape you as a songwriter?

It’s a wild thing to say but I was left alone during my pregnancies for the most part. It was like all of the people with all of their demands had to check themselves when I was pregnant. The resulting peace may have contributed to that sense of feeling more creative. I was pregnant with my first child during the making of The Miseducation and the situation was complicated, so I was motivated to find more stability and safety for myself and for my child, that definitely pushed me to disregard what appeared as limitations. If I struggled to fight for myself, I had someone else to fight for. This also introduced my first son’s father, Rohan Marley, into the picture, who at that time, was a protective presence. If there were people or forces attempting to prevent me from creating, he played a role in helping to keep that at bay.

During those times especially, I always wanted to be a motivator of positive change. It’s in all of my lyrics, that desire to see my community get out of its own way, identify and confront internal and external obstacles, and experience the heights of Love and self-Love that provoke transformation. I sang from that place and chose to share the joy and ecstasy of it, as well as the disappointments, entanglements and life lessons that I had learned at that point. I basically started out as a young sage lol.

When you look back on it now, is Miseducation the album you intended it to be? I’ve always been pretty critical of myself artistically, so of course there are things I hear that could have been done differently, but the LOVE in the album, the passion, its intention is, to me, undeniable. I think my intention was simply to make something that made my foremothers and forefathers in music and social and political struggle know that someone received what they’d sacrificed to give us, and to let my peers know that we could walk in that truth, proudly and confidently. At that time, I felt like it was a duty or responsibility to do so. I saw the economic and educational gaps in black communities and although I was super young myself, I used that platform to help bridge those gaps and introduce concepts and information that “we” needed even if “we” didn’t know “we” wanted it yet. Of course I’m referring to the proverbial “we.” These things had an enormous value to me and I cherished them from a very young age.

I also think the album stood apart from the types and cliches that were supposed to be acceptable at that time. I challenged the norm and introduced a new standard. I believe The Miseducation did that and I believe I still do this — defy convention when the convention is questionable. I had to move faster and with greater intention though than the dysfunctional norms that were well-established and fully funded then. I was apparently perceived by some as making trouble and being disruptive rather than appreciated for introducing solutions and options to people who hadn’t had them, for exposing beauty where oppression once reigned, and demonstrating how well these different cultural paradigms could work together. The warp speed I had to move at in order to defy the norm put me and my family under a hyper-accelerated, hyper-tense, and unfortunately under-appreciated pace. I sacrificed the quality of my life to help people experience something that had been unreachable before then. When I saw people struggle to appreciate what that took, I had to pull back and make sure I and my family were safe and good. I’m still doing that.

This album permeated culture in a way that few albums have before it existed and made you a massive star. How were you handling the public gaze at the time? There were definitely things I enjoyed about stardom, but there were definitely things I didn’t enjoy. I think most people appreciate being recognized and appreciated for their work and sacrifice. That, to me, is a given, but living a real life is essential for anyone trying to stay connected to reality and continue making things that truly affect people. This becomes increasingly harder to do in the “space” people try to place “stars” in.

The pedestal, to me, is as much about containment and control as it is adulation. Finding balance, clarity and sobriety can be very hard for some to maintain. For example, being yes’d to death isn’t good, and people fear stardom can only result in this, but if the actual answer is yes, being told no just to not appear a yes-man is silly. Never being told no if the answer is no by people afraid to disappoint will obviously also distort the mirror in which we view ourselves. On the other hand, a person with a vision can be way ahead, so people may say no with conviction and resist what they fear only to find out later that they were absolutely wrong.

The idea of artist as public property, I also always had a problem with that. I agreed to share my art, I’m not agreeing necessarily to share myself. The entitlement that people often feel, like they somehow own you, or own a piece of you, can be incredibly dangerous. I chafe under any kind of control like that and resist expectations that suggest I should somehow dumb-down and be predictable to make people feel comfortable rather than authentically express myself. I also resist unrealistic expectations placed on me by people who would never place those same requirements on themselves. I can be as diplomatic and as patient as I possibly can be. I can’t, however, sell myself short through constant self-deprecation and shrinking.

“The entitlement that people often feel, like they somehow own you, or own a piece of you, can be incredibly dangerous.”

Is there a version of “Lauryn Hill” that you feel people expected of you, and how did that compare to how you saw yourself? Absolutely, which I touched upon in the answers before this one. Life is life, to be lived, experienced and enjoyed with all of its dynamism and color. If you do something well that people enjoy, often they want the same experience over and over. A real person can be stifled and their growth completely stunted trying to do this without balance. It’s not a fair thing to ask of anyone. We all have to grow, we all have to express ourselves with as much fullness and integrity as we can manage. The celebrity is often treated like a sacrifice, the fatted calf, then boxed in and harshly judged for very normal and natural responses to abnormal circumstances.

I saw someone lambasted once for discussing episodes of anxiety before going on stage, as if anxiety was only a condition of the non-famous. It was absurd, like someone with a record out can’t get a common cold. Someone in love with the art doesn’t not experience fear or anxiety, they just do their best to transcend it or work beyond it so that the art or the passion can be made manifest. Some days are better than others. For some people it gets easier, for some it doesn’t. The unfairness, the harshness was excessive to me. I didn’t like how I was being treated at a certain point. I just wasn’t being treated well and definitely not in accordance with someone who’d contributed what I had. I had a ton of jealousy and competitiveness to contend with. That can exhaust or frustrate your efforts to make anything besides primal scream music, 😊.

Provoking that kind of aggravation was probably intentional. You have to find reasons to still do it, when you’re exposed to the ugly.  People often think it’s ok to project whatever they want to on someone they perceive as having “it all” or “having so/too much.” Hero worship can be an excuse for not taking care of your own sh#t. The flip side of that adulation can turn severely ugly, aggressive, and hostile if people make another person responsible for their sense of self-worth. You can either take that abuse or say no to it. After subjecting myself to it for years, I started to say no, and then no turned into hell no, then hell no turned into f#ck no…you get my point. 😊

If you could talk to yourself at 22 now, what would you say? I’d share the things I do now with my 22-year-old self. If I had known what I know now, things would probably have unfolded differently. I would have continued to invest in people but I would have made sure I had people with the love, strength, and integrity around me to really keep their eye on the prize and my well-being. The world is full of seduction and if they can’t seduce you, they go after the people you love or depend on in some way. I would have with greater understanding tried to do more to insulate myself and my loved ones from that kind of attack.

Looking back on that period of your life, do you have any regrets?

I have some periods of woe, some periods of sorrow and great pain, yes, but regret is tough because I ended up with a clarity I might not have been able to achieve any other way. I would have done a few things differently though if I could go back. I would have done my best to shield myself so that I could better shield my children.  I would have rejected the manipulation, unfair force and pressure put on me much earlier. I would have benefitted from having more awareness about the dangers of fame. I would have been more communicative with everyone truly involved with The Miseducation and fought hard for the importance of candid expression. I would have demanded what I needed and removed people antagonistic to that sooner than I did.

You have released music since Miseducation and have continued to play live. Do you ever foresee releasing another full-length studio album? The wild thing is no one from my label has ever called me and asked how can we help you make another album, EVER…EVER. Did I say ever? Ever! With The Miseducation, there was no precedent. I was, for the most part, free to explore, experiment and express. After The Miseducation, there were scores of tentacled obstructionists, politics, repressing agendas, unrealistic expectations, and saboteurs EVERYWHERE. People had included me in their own narratives of THEIR successes as it pertained to my album, and if this contradicted my experience, I was considered an enemy.

Artist suppression is definitely a thing. I won’t go too much into it here, but where there should have been overwhelming support, there wasn’t any. I began touring because I needed the creative outlet and to support myself and my family. People were more interested in breaking me or using me to battery-power whatever they had going on than to support my creativity. I create at the speed and flow of my inspiration, which doesn’t always work in a traditional system. I have always had to custom build what I’ve needed in order to get things done. The lack of respect and willingness to understand what that is, or what I need to be productive and healthy, doesn’t really sit well with me. When no one takes the time to understand, but only takes the time to count the money the fruit of this process produces, things can easily turn bad. Mistreatment, abuse, and neglect happen. I wrote an album about systemic racism and how it represses and stunts growth and harms (all of my albums have probably addressed systemic racism to some degree), before this was something this generation openly talked about. I was called crazy. Now…over a decade later, we hear this as part of the mainstream chorus. Ok, so chalk some of it up to leadership and how that works — I was clearly ahead, but you also have to acknowledge the blatant denial that went down with that. The public abuse and ostracizing while suppressing and copying what I had done, (I protested) with still no real acknowledgement that all of that even happened, is a lot.

“I wrote an album about systemic racism… before this was something this generation openly talked about. I was called crazy.”

I continue to tour and share with audiences all over the world, but I also full-time work on the trauma, stifling, and stunting that came with all of that and how my family and I were affected. In many ways, we’re living now, making up for years where we couldn’t be as free as we should have been able to. I had to break through a ton of unjust resistance, greed, fear and just plain human ugliness. Little else can rival freedom for me. If being a superstar means living a repressed life where people will only work with you or invest in your work if they can manipulate and control you, then I’m not sure how important music gets made without some tragic set of events following. I don’t subscribe to that.

Lastly, I appreciate the people who were moved by this body of work, which really represented a lifetime — up to that point — of love, experience, wisdom, family and community investment in me, the summation of my experience from relationships, my dreams, inspirations, aspirations and God’s ever-present grace and Love in my life through the lens of my 20-something but wise-sage existence, lol. I dreamed big, I didn’t think of limits, I really only thought of the creative possibilities and addressing the needs as I saw them at that time. I also had the support of a community of talented artists, thinkers, and doers, friends and family around me. Their primary efforts (THEN) seemed to be to help clear a path and to help protect. However, when you effectively create something powerful enough to move the bulls#t out of the way, all kinds of forces and energies may not like that. They may seek to corrupt and discourage, to disrupt and distract, to divide, and sabotage…but we bore witness to the fact that this happened — a young, black woman through hip-hop culture, a legacy of soul, Spirit and an appreciation for education and educating others communicated love and timeless and necessary messages to the world.

The music business can be an industry of entanglements, where a small number of people are expected to be responsible for a very large number of people. It’s hard to find fairness in a situation like that. Now, I look for as much equity and fairness as possible. I appreciate being loved for my contributions to music, but it’s important to be loved for who you are as a person just as much, and that can be a delicate but extremely important balance to achieve. Experiencing that is important to me.

[punkgaming847]

How to block blue light when gaming

Gaming Grabs The High Score On Twitter

Twitter is where game publishers, the gaming media, popular game streamers and entertainers, esports leagues, teams, players and commentators interact with their most engaged fans and with one particular an additional. So what's with the lack of inclusion in the gaming world? In addition to the frequently hostile planet of desktop and console games (see the GamerGate controversy as just one particular example), there is nevertheless somewhat of an market perception that women simply do not play video games. But, that is far from correct - females are in fact gaming additional than ever before, specifically on mobile.

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Due to mobile game improvement outsourcing , the most up-to-date indie games produced by smaller studios or individual programmers get lots of attention and good feedback from each players and journalists. With the support of application outsourcing firms, each particular person, with suitable understanding, can produce and market gaming apps without the need of any obstacles.

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Paul: Our company model is growth focused and we cover 3 important areas in the gaming industry. Firstly, we're a international e-Commerce shop selling more than 7,500 games from 450 publishers in over 190 countries to millions of gamers. Secondly, Green Man Gaming has a thriving community who go over and track their game achievements on our community platform. This information combined with the industrial data of the retailer provides Green Man Gaming a considerable depth of information of our consumers. Lastly, we have a publishing arm that helps developers publish their personal games and bring them to marketplace, supporting them each and every step of the way. The fusion of Green Man Gaming's e-Commerce store, a powerful neighborhood generating billions of data points and publisher assistance sets us apart from our competitors.

It really is February! In 2017 that implies that we get six extra weeks of winter AND your yearly dose of video game statistics and trends. We're taking a look at major events and shifts in the gaming market and taking into consideration the current state of gaming. Take a peak, or stay for a week! All statistics are thoroughly researched. See sources at the bottom of the page for additional information.

Nintendo 64 and PlayStation ushered in a new era of gaming. Polygons replaced pixels, and 3D rendering entered into the gaming vocabulary. Retro gaming hits like Crash Bandicoot, Mario Kart 64, and 007: Goldeneye pushed the limits of technologies, and created the most realistic virtual environments noticed up to that point. We also have some retro games for systems that could possibly not feel as old as they are, like PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and the original Xbox.

Design patterns: To retailer information in DynamoDB, gaming firms partition game state and other player information applying player ID, and use the crucial-value access pattern (1:1 modeling). In instances when much more fine-grained access is called for, these organizations use a sort essential (1:M modeling). This enables them to access and update diverse properties or subsets of a player's dataset separately. This way, they don't have to retrieve an entire dataset. In this strategy, a number of items that retailer diverse properties can be updated transactionally by applying the DynamoDB transactional API Some businesses compress user information to cut down price. PennyPop, for example, utilizes gzip to compress player data and shop it as a base64 string, lowering the player data to ten % of its original size.

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Ask oneself why you are considering starting a gaming weblog or youtube channel? If it really is due to the fact you think you have what it requires to be the subsequent PewDiePie or DanTDM (or TheTechieGuy ), then you happen to be not alone. Even so, your major purpose should really be that you have an overwhelming love for gaming. It doesn't hurt to have a fantastic voice and a thing to contribute to the gaming network. (Of course, the perks ain't bad when they start off rolling in, either).

The gaming business saw a number of exciting developments in 2016 touching on various aspects of the sector. Gaming technology is building in really exciting ways. The extended promised revolution of virtual and augmented reality moved closer to realization. The mania about Pokémon GO with its mass market place appeal and utilization of mobile phones introduced untold millions to the potential of augmented reality. With its launch in India and South Asia it has develop into the poster kid for the possible of mobile games given its sophisticated technology and the enormous international smartphone penetration.

However, there is no want to do an world wide web search or study the latest in anonymous game testimonials. Under, we have collected the major 30 mobile gamer blogs to enable put you in touch with the most current and greatest in gaming, along with recommendations for what to get subsequent, how to beat it, and what to keep away from. Regardless of whether for the most current iPhone or classic Gameboy, there are loads of mobile gaming blog entries for everyone.

We use our GeForce Knowledge servers to establish the greatest good quality settings based on the user's CPU and GPU, and target greater frame prices than 'normal' optimal settings to assure the lowest latency gaming experience. These settings are automatically applied when the game is launched so gamers never have to worry about configuring these settings themselves.

[duke-beads]

House Moving Tips Every Homeowner Should Know

Relocating to a brand-new home can be exciting. Regardless of providing you a new beginning, it offers you with a chance to have a brand-new place you can call your own, and check out new opportunities. The truth that moving is fantastic doesn't mean it is a bed of roses. It features its fair share of obstacles. Firstly, moving is doubtlessly one of the most difficult experiences that homeowners face. It includes great deals of procedures, which require one to invest a great deal of time, energy, and resources.

The good news is, there is a way to avoid the discomfort that comes with moving. Below are some of the top tips that will make your next move simple and smooth. 1. Select a removals firm as soon as practicable Look-- there are countless movers in the modern market. Therefore, finding the very best mover can not be challenging. Well, if this is what you are thinking, then you need to relax and reconsider your thoughts. The availability of many removalists in the market makes it harder for house owners to find ideal movers for their needs. With a flooding market, it becomes challenging for local authorities to regulate this trade effectively. This makes it very easy for masquerades to flourish. What is even more bewildering is the fact that all movers use different forms of marketing, for that reason persuading their potential clients that they all offer excellent services that can not be discovered anywhere else in the market. This makes it simple for house owners to choose movers who fail to fulfill their needs. To ensure your move is trouble-free, do not wait for the last week so that you can find a great mover. Do that as soon as now. You can find the best mover using a range of techniques that include; • Get referrals from friends, family members, or colleagues There are high chances that at least one of your friends, coworkers, or relatives have engaged a moving specialist at some time. Therefore, seek to get as many referrals as you can. Ask all the questions that you feel will assist you determine the very best mover. When you gather all the information you get, analyse it, and identify the ideal expert for your needs. • Get referrals from other professionals such as roofing contractors, builders, and electricians Do you have contacts with home builders, roofers, or electricians? Well, these professionals continuously work with movers, and they may recommend a company that will offer you a smooth transition. Therefore, seek their advice, take your time, and research about the referrals you get and make an informed choice. • Browse the web With an internet connection, you do not need to leave your home to find the best moving specialist, all you need to do is check out numerous review sites, evaluate different experts, see what previous clients and experts are saying about them, and choose the one you feel can fulfill your desires. Look for the mover who takes pleasure in the most favorable remarks, and one who has the highest scores. • Check out local stores This is an overwhelming, yet the most reliable method of discovering an excellent removalist. Check out several movers yourself and do your due diligence. The movers you shortlist should have licenses and insurance coverages, should be accredited, and should display the greatest levels of professionalism. Likewise, they should show you a portfolio of works done in the past to prove their experience and give you a free no-obligation quote. Because you might get many movers who exceed your expectations, choose the very best that you can afford. Likewise, do not forget to trust your instincts! In addition, hire a mover who can provide you with specialised services such as packing, pet moving, car removals, and piano moving.

Movers Sydney

Our guarantee at Fox Relocations is a professional first class service. We look after everything we move as if we owned it and we take pride in being the movers you can rely on in the City of of Sydney.

2. Make a list The second and the most essential thing you need to do when planning to move your house is to make a list. Write everything that you need to do and include a timeline. Of course, you are months far from the move, and you don't need to do everything now. Nevertheless, you will experience a great deal of stress if you choose to do everything during the last couple of days. Create a checklist and mark every item as soon as you achieve it. Doing this will ensure that you do not experience the hassle that comes with moving. 3. Get rid of anything you don't need ahead of time Look-- movers will charge you for your house move based on the weight of your load. This simply means that the more items you have, the more the amount of money you will pay for your move. Because you will not need everything you have in your new home, consider decluttering now. Doing this will save you a great deal of time and money in the long-run. Remember, you don't have to get rid of items you think you will not need. There are a host of other options available, consisting of recycling and donating. These are doubtlessly, the best choices to consider!

4. Develop a packing plan-- and pack now! Packing things can save you a great deal of cash. If you think you have the time and you have the ability to pack things yourself, don't wait till the last week so that you can begin undertaking the task. Packing takes a great deal of time. Therefore, begin doing it now. First, buy packaging boxes, or hire them from your mover when possible. Then, devote a couple of hours every day to pack a certain section or room. As soon as you are done packing, note that you will have lots of challenges trying to put everything in its place when you get to your brand-new home. Therefore, do not forget to label your boxes. Labelling the boxes could be as simple as writing "bedroom stuff" on the top of package. However, you may have a number of boxes consisting of bedroom things. Therefore, you will find it simpler when unpacking if you could include more information in your description, such as "clothing for the master bedroom." When packing yourself, avoid overpacking boxes. Heavy boxes are hard to move and can fall apart and harm the person carrying them. If you have the budget, consider hiring professional packers, so that you don't have to go through the tiredness and other obstacles that ride along with this process. Besides, why do all the grunt work while there is someone happy to do it for you at a small cost? 5. Know what you can't move There are lots of things that movers are not allowed to move. They include plants with soil, tins consisting of chemicals and paints, aerosol sprays, explosives, guns, and a host of other dangerous materials. You can donate some of these things such as cans of paints and aerosol paints to your neighbours or to charity. However, you will need to get rid of anything dangerous before you move. You may also need to contact your local authorities so that you can determine how some items, such as firearms, can be moved. If you don't wish to leave the plants, you have taken care of for several years, remove all the soil from the roots, place them in pots covered with plastics, and move them yourself. However, there are movers who provide plant relocation as a special service. Eliminating items that can not be moved guarantees your security and that of the moving team. 6. Know what to move yourself and pack it There are some things that you can not leave in the hands of your mover, even if he holds the highest degree of professionalism. They include sensitive business files, house deeds, scholastic certificates, insurance papers, and wills. Others are super-expensive jewellery and paintings. If you are moving these items yourself, make sure you pack them early. Since these items will not be covered by your mover's insurance, take care of them throughout the move. For files, scan them and save copies in a flash drive or in your mobile phone. 7. Make sure your brand-new home is ready for occupation You don't want to prepare your new home the minute you get in. You want your movers to find it all set so that they can put everything in its place, and you can settle in a day. For that reason, have the house cleaned and ensure it has all the fundamental utilities required. If you have the time, you can clean the house yourself, if you don't, consider hiring professional cleaners, or better still, deal with a mover who provides cleaning services. 8. Pack a moving day survival kit Now that you have everything is all set for the move, how will you and your loved ones make it through the moving day? Make sure you have a moving day survival kit loaded with the basics. It should have all the items that will take you through the day, such as phone chargers, treats, hot drinks, and toiletries. It is essential to have simple access to things that will keep you well-fed and hydrated during the chaotic D-day. With everything all set, you will have the ability to fall directly into bed as soon as the move is over and you are settled in your brand-new abode.

9. Do not overwork your mind! Obviously, moving house is a big deal. You have lots of expectations, and there are thousands of things you need to be accomplished. However, do not overwork your mind. Don't have impractical expectations on what should be done. Look-- it is highly unlikely that you will have everything unpacked and settle on the first day. It will take some time to ensure your new home portrays your character. For that reason, don't establish the impression that everything needs to come together promptly. As soon as you get to your brand-new home, take some time to loosen up. Enjoy the night in a local entertainment joint, or go out with friends (if you have some already in the new place). You can even use your survival kit for a few days before getting things in order. Moving is not a walk in the park. However, with the tips mentioned above, your relocation will be simplified, and it may become among the best experiences in your life.

[gh0st-kandy]

House Moving Tips Every Homeowner Should Know

Moving to a brand-new house can be exciting. In spite of offering you a new beginning, it offers you with a chance to have a brand-new place you can call your own, and check out new opportunities. The fact that moving is terrific does not mean it is a bed of roses. It features its fair share of obstacles. First and foremost, moving is doubtlessly one of the most difficult experiences that homeowners face. It involves great deals of procedures, which require one to invest a great deal of time, energy, and resources. The bright side is, there is a way to prevent the discomfort that comes with moving. Below are some of the top tips that will make your next move simple and smooth. 1. Select a removals firm as soon as practicable Look-- there are countless movers in the modern-day market. Therefore, finding the best mover can not be challenging. Well, if this is what you are thinking, then you need to unwind and think again. The availability of many removalists in the market makes it harder for property owners to find perfect movers for their needs. With a flooding market, it becomes challenging for local authorities to control this trade effectively. This makes it super simple for masquerades to prosper. What is a lot more bewildering is the fact that all movers use different kinds of marketing, therefore persuading their prospective clients that they all offer superb services that can not be discovered anywhere else in the market. This makes it easy for homeowners to choose movers who fail to fulfill their needs. To ensure your move is trouble-free, don't wait on the last week so that you can find an excellent mover. Do that as soon as now. You can find the very best mover utilizing a range of approaches that include; • Get referrals from friends, member of your family, or coworkers There are high possibilities that at least one of your friends, associates, or relatives have engaged a moving expert at some time. For that reason, seek to get as many referrals as you can. Ask all the questions that you feel will help you determine the best mover. When you collect all the information you get, analyse it, and recognize the suitable expert for your needs. • Get referrals from other professionals such as roofing professionals, builders, and electrical experts Do you have contacts with home builders, roofing contractors, or electrical experts? Well, these professionals continuously work with movers, and they may recommend a company that will provide you a smooth transition. For that reason, seek their advice, take your time, and research about the referrals you get and make a perfect choice. • Browse the web With an internet connection, you don't need to leave your home to find the very best moving specialist, all you need to do is visit multiple review websites, evaluate different experts, see what previous clients and experts are stating about them, and pick the one you feel can satisfy your desires. Try to find the mover who enjoys the most favorable comments, and one who has the highest scores. • Visit local stores This is an overwhelming, yet the most reliable technique of discovering a fantastic removalist. Check out numerous movers yourself and do your due diligence. The movers you shortlist should have licenses and insurance coverages, need to be certified, and should display the greatest levels of professionalism. Also, they should show you a portfolio of works carried out in the past to show their experience and give you a totally free no-obligation quote. Since you might get many movers who exceed your expectations, select the best that you can afford. Likewise, do not forget to trust your instincts! In addition, hire a mover who can provide you with specialised services such as packing, animal moving, car removals, and piano moving.

removals Northern Beaches NSW

Our promise at Fox Relocations is an expert premier class service. We treat whatever we move as if we owned it and we take pride in being the movers you can rely on in the Northern Beaches of Sydney.

2. Make a list The 2nd and the most crucial thing you need to do when preparing to move your house is to make a list. Write everything that you need to do and include a timeline. Of course, you are months far from the move, and you don't have to do everything now. Nevertheless, you will experience a lot of stress if you decide to do everything during the last couple of days. Produce a checklist and mark every item as soon as you achieve it. Doing this will ensure that you do not experience the trouble that comes with moving. 3. Eliminate anything you do not need in advance Look-- movers will charge you for your house move based on the weight of your load. This merely means that the more items you have, the more the amount of cash you will spend for your move. Given that you will not need everything you have in your new home, consider decluttering now. Doing this will save you a great deal of time and money in the long-run. Remember, you do not need to get rid of items you believe you will not need. There are a host of other alternatives available, consisting of recycling and donating. These are doubtlessly, the very best choices to consider! 4. Create a packing plan-- and pack now! Packing things can save you a lot of money. If you believe you have the time and you are able to pack things yourself, don't wait till the last week so that you can start carrying out the task. Packaging takes a great deal of time. For that reason, begin doing it now. First, purchase packaging boxes, or hire them from your mover when possible. Then, devote a few hours every day to pack a certain section or room. When you are done packaging, note that you will have great deals of difficulties attempting to put everything in its place when you get to your new home. For that reason, don't forget to label your boxes. Labelling packages could be as simple as writing "bed room things" on the top of the box. Nevertheless, you might have a number of boxes containing bed room stuff. For that reason, you will find it much easier when unpacking if you could add more information in your description, such as "clothing for the master bedroom." When packing yourself, avoid overpacking boxes. Heavy boxes are tough to move and can break down and hurt the individual carrying them. If you have the budget, consider hiring professional packers, so that you don't have to go through the tiredness and other difficulties that ride together with this ordeal. Besides, why do all the grunt work while there is somebody ready to do it for you at a small fee?

5. Know what you can't move There are many things that movers are not permitted to move. They include plants with soil, tins consisting of chemicals and paints, aerosol sprays, explosives, firearms, and a host of other hazardous products. You can donate some of these things such as cans of paints and aerosol paints to your neighbours or to charity. Nevertheless, you will need to get rid of anything harmful before you move. You may also need to consult your local authorities so that you can determine how some items, such as guns, can be moved. If you don't want to leave the plants, you have looked after for years, eliminate all the soil from the roots, place them in pots covered with plastics, and move them yourself. Nevertheless, there are movers who provide plant relocation as a special service. Eliminating items that can not be moved assurances your safety and that of the moving team. 6. Know what to move yourself and pack it There are some things that you can not leave in the hands of your mover, even if he holds the greatest degree of professionalism. They include sensitive business files, home deeds, academic certificates, insurance papers, and wills. Others are super-expensive jewellery and paintings. If you are moving these items yourself, make sure you pack them early. Since these items will not be covered by your mover's insurance, take care of them throughout the move. For documents, scan them and save copies in a flash drive or in your mobile phone. 7. Make sure your brand-new home is all set for occupation You do not want to prepare your new home the minute you get in. You want your movers to find it ready so that they can put everything in its place, and you can settle in a day. For that reason, have the house cleaned and ensure it has all the basic utilities required. If you have the time, you can clean up the house yourself, if you do not, consider hiring professional cleaners, or much better still, work with a mover who provides cleaning services. 8. Pack a moving day survival kit Now that you have everything is ready for the move, how will you and your loved ones make it through the moving day? Make sure you have a moving day survival kit loaded with the fundamentals. It should have all the items that will take you through the day, such as phone chargers, snacks, hot drinks, and toiletries. It is crucial to have simple access to things that will keep you well-fed and hydrated during the stressful D-day. With everything all set, you will be able to fall directly into bed as soon as the move is over and you are settled in your new home.

9. Don't exhaust your mind! Obviously, moving house is a big deal. You have lots of expectations, and there are countless things you need to be accomplished. However, do not overwork your mind. Don't have impractical expectations on what should be done. Look-- it is highly unlikely that you will have everything unpacked and settle on the first day. It will take some time to ensure your new home illustrates your personality. Therefore, don't establish the impression that everything needs to come together quickly. As soon as you get to your brand-new home, take time to loosen up. Enjoy the night in a local entertainment joint, or go out with friends (if you have some already in the new place). You can even use your survival kit for a few days before getting things in order. Moving is not a stroll in the park. However, with the tips mentioned above, your relocation will be simplified, and it might become one of the best experiences in your life.

[scatteredfangirling]

Worlds 2018 Podium Prediction: Mens

We’re roughly a week away from the end of the 2017-2018 season, and a lot has changed since Pyeongchang ended.

Podium Predictions: Men’s | Ladies | Pairs | Ice Dance

Both Javier and Yuzuru, the top two men who have held this title for the past four seasons (2014 - 2017), will be absent, meaning that the door is wide open for a new champion.

(this GIF is just making me think “choose your fighter” with these two idiots placing their bets on who will become the king of 2018 - in my head they’re both pointing at Shoma)

Like many here, I’m hoping for a sQuad podium. Ideally:

Shoma Uno

Nathan Chen

Boyang Jin

Any of the 6 possible permutations of the sQuad is acceptable, but this one seems the most realistic/likely.

More rambling/analysis of each skater is under the cut. (It’s reallyyyyy long.)

Just as a heads up:

All of the season averages are calculated using all the scores made available on their Wikipedia pages, unless otherwise stated.

Medals that are noted are all international championships of sorts, and do not include things like qualifier GP events or CS events, because those events don’t necessarily have a critical mass of top skaters.

100/200/300 Club appearance counts are based only on GP qualifiers, GPF, Four Continents, Worlds, and Olympics (individual-only)

There is a chance some of these stats may be off by a tad because I am human and prone to mistakes - it is possible that I may have pressed a wrong calculator button or misread/missed a number. (I don’t want to think about how much time I’ve spent making this post instead of doing homework, but if you find something PM me and I will fix it ASAP)

GOLD: Shoma Uno (JPN)

my smol sleepy relatable son (he’s only like two years younger than me but he’s just so precious especially in this gif asdkfshhhsh)

Shoma is pretty much always associated with being Japan’s #2 man. Yuzuru may cast a big shadow, but Shoma uses this gap as a positive motivation to continue improving. If he had been anyone else, I think he would have seen Yuzuru as an obstacle, rather than a goal. (Honestly the friendship between these two is just tooth-achingly pure)

Shoma’s #2 position is not to be taken lightly - out of the sQuad, he has probably been the most consistent in competition. He has finished on the podium at every singles competition he’s been in during the 2016-2017 season and the 2017-2018 season so far.

Medals of Note:

2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, silver

2018 Four Continents, silver

2017-2018 Grand Prix Final, silver

2017 Worlds, silver

2017 Asian Winter Games, gold

Analysis:

2017-2018 SP Average: 101.0825 2017-2018 FS Average: 192.30625 (189.0685 if you remove the 214 SB outlier from Lombardia) 2017-2018 Total Average: 295.48714

# Times in the 100 Club: 6 # Times in the 200 Club: 2 # Times in the 300 Club: 3

I personally think that Shoma is the most well-rounded out of the sQuad members. Take this with a grain of salt, because I have a tendency to fall deeply in love with skaters that are more artistically inclined. (My inner dancer is unapologetic.)

Shoma’s jumps have improved drastically since he was a junior, but I’ve read and also have seen that his jump technique is not the best. He has a tendency to flutz (honey you were the first to land the quad flip...just stick with it and own the GOE), and his triple axels can sometimes give us anxiety.

What really attracts me to his skating is the command he has on the ice that goes hand-in-hand with the music. He has a lot of awareness and control of his upper body, from his core all the way to the top of his head and to the ends of his fingers. It makes every movement of his skates feel very deliberate, but in a very organic manner, rather than a mechanical one. Once he gets into the swing of things in a season, he becomes one with the music and the choreography, which is a very beautiful thing to watch.

He seems to be the guy who is able to handle his nerves the most consistently, which generally leads to pretty reliable results. One thing that really helps is his below-freezing chill personality - if he falls on that first jump, he’s really good at compartmentalizing that (sometimes he just laughs it off internally, like who is this kid) and moving on with the rest of the program.

I honestly think that Worlds 2018 is the time for Shoma to peak for real. (I didn’t watch Lombardia this season so I don’t know if his personal bests there are actually PBs and not just weirdly inflated scores from weird judging all around) He has a lot of potential to do it.

SILVER: Nathan Chen (USA)

slaythan chen of the united states of america/the quad king

Nathan is the next up-and-coming star for mens figure skating in the USA. This is an undeniable fact. It’s been such a long time since the US has had a singles skater that had Olympic medal potential, and NBC basically made him shoulder the expectations of a nation in a figure skating medal drought during Pyeongchang.

The youngest of the sQuad and the last of them to enter the senior ranks, Nathan still has a ways to go before he can be deemed a reliable and consistent top contender.

Medals of Note:

2017-2018 Grand Prix Final, gold

2017 Four Continents, gold

2016-2017 Grand Prix Final, silver

Analysis:

2017-2018 SP Average: 95.30142 (100.846 if we remove the two Pyeongchang SP bombs) 2017-2018 FS Average: 190.822857 2017-2018 Total Average: 290.6333

# Times in the 100 Club: 4 # Times in the 200 Club: 2 # Times in the 300 Club: 1

Nathan’s pretty solid on all his jumps, except for the triple axel. I cringe every time I see a triple axel. That’s his Achilles heel, and also the fact that he keeps...changing...his program layout. He’s dubbed the Quad King because he can land the 5 types of quads, but this title doesn’t imply consistency. It’s only natural that his landing accuracy will be lower because he’s practicing all these different takeoff techniques and not necessarily repping them as much as the men four years ago used to rep the 4T and 4S when those were the only two quads used in competition.

When I heard that Nathan did ballet and gymnastics as a kid, I was really excited. But his choreography doesn’t highlight this background as much as it should. His program component score would be improved in the interpretation, composition, and performance aspects if he had better choreo. I feel that his programs this season involve a lot of swinging arms that seem to be there more for keeping balance than for artistic intent. Nemesis is easily one of my favorite programs of his, but there’s a bit of a disrupt between the character/story being presented and how the choreography is just falling short of melding with the music.

I have yet to see a competitive program where Nathan really comes alive (like in the EX above)

We’ve seen in Pyeongchang that Nathan can fall victim to his nerves big time. He generally emanates a very cool and collected vibe, but in the few times that the nerves do kick in, pretty much the worst can happen. I feel that once something goes a bit wrong, he just goes off into the deep end. It’s the downside of wanting something a bit too much - it throws your emotional and mental preparation out of whack. Watching his short program in the Olympic team event was rough, because he landed the quad flip (albeit shakily), and then he seemed to mentally clock out and everything else derailed...accordingly. Hopefully he does his best and gets the results he deserves.

BRONZE: Boyang Jin (CHN)

prince of china, memes, and questionable off-ice fashion decisions

I love Boyang as a person. He’s just so quirky and hilarious. China’s ray of sunshine. When he brings it, he can reap medals like no other - his jumps are what have powered him to the position that he is today.

Like just look at that lutz - it’s just so ridiculously technically clean

Medals of Note:

2018 Four Continents, gold

2017 Worlds, bronze

2016 Worlds, bronze

2016 Four Continents, silver

Analysis:

2017-2018 SP Average: 92.5 (96.1325 if we remove whatever disaster Skate America was) 2017-2018 FS Average: 179.866 (182.8175 if we remove whatever disaster Skate America was) 2017-2018 Total Average: 272.366 (278.95 if we remove whatever disaster Skate America was)

(TLDR “Boyang Jin and the very bad not good day at Skate America”)

# Times in the 100 Club: 2 # Times in the 200 Club: 2 # Times in the 300 Club: 2

There isn’t much score data for Boyang this season. But looking at this scores for the past two seasons, they can be inconsistent. He can knock it out of the park one week and then just bomb a few weeks after. (His SP score this season ranges from a 77.97 to his SB of a 103.32, whereas Nathan’s worst in Pyeongchang was 80.61 and his best was 104.12 - the difference being all of Nathan’s SPs have been over 90 except for the disaster of Pyeongchang)

As mentioned earlier, Boyang is in the top tier of mens skaters for his jumps and technical element score. His program components have not improved as much as I would have liked in the past few seasons since he broke into the senior ranks. As a result, his programs sometimes feel quite emotionally flat to me until there’s some highlight moment (cue the Cantina music in this season’s FS). Part of this is a direct result of the choreography he’s given and the flow of how all the technical elements connect, and the other part of this stems from his base level of skating skills. He doesn’t use edges as deeply as the other two, which further contributes to this flat impression that I have of his skating.

As long as my Chinese son ends up on the podium, I will be very happy.

This sums up my prediction for the men’s podium, and all we have to do is wait and see. Whatever the results are, I hope that all of them can feel proud of how they skate in Milan.

Here, enjoy some happy gifs of their shenanigans and wholesome rivalry before the chaos begins:

[thebachrehash]

I don’t mind being assertive, I’m a Wilhelmina model

Ladies and gents, it’s time for the prerequisite “Shout the Bach’s name from the balcony” intro.  “Becaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

We immediately jump in with the always charming Chris Harrison handing out the first group date card reading, “Ready for my big day.”

Clay, Nick, Chris, David, Jean Blanc, Jordan, Connor, and Lincoln cheese grin their way to meet Becca at a mansion with her in a (gorg) white dress.  She let’s them know that she wants to pamper the men like she was on her first date with Arie... because that went well.  The men drop trou and Becca is officially ready to get back in the game.  She calls Lincoln a block of muscle.  Jordan, while doing the “pensive”, let’s her know that he is a male model, and that the largest tip he could give her any day is to put the confidence on in the morning before her panty hose.  Not sure who’s wearing panty hose these days (besides my mom - hi, Kath!), but now we know.

The men roll out in their tuxes, to the poor man’s version of a Survivor obstacle course and are greeted by the poor man’s version of Ashton and Mila - Rachel and “not-Peter”, Bryan.  They’re there to help host “Groomsday”, and they warn they will have to get dirtay.

In order to see if the men have what it takes to be marriage material, they will go through a strange obstacle course complete with standing in a cold tub of water and eating cake without their hands.  Rachel (dirty, dirty girl) shouts it’s important to see, “what that mouth do.”  Connor gets the largest kick out of it, as he sends it to Barstool.

Lincoln is in it to win it to reach his “beautiful princess” Becca.  He is cheating.  He is cheating blatantly.  But, there are no rule keepers, this is the f’ing Bach.  Well, there are no rule keepers except for tattle tale Chris who knows that he got in the bucket after him and left before him.

In a really messy battle for the finishline, Lincoln beats out Chicken David.  He gets to plant a kiss on Becca and they take their wedding day picture.  Seems innocent enough.  If only it was.

Chris Harrison let’s them all know that EVERYONE will be able to attend the rest of the group date.  Ya hear that Krystal.

So the men all convene at a round couch, and Lincoln steals his “wife” immediately as they “just got married”.  He says something like, “she would only get the best from him when she gives her best and that makes them the best and he wants nothing more for her than the best.”  Becca goes, “Hmmm, well that’s nice, I have something for you.”  Thinking it’s the rose, Lincoln sits up all ready for Santa to come down the chimney.  Instead, Becca brings a photo from their wedding day.  It’s cute and Lincoln is very excited.

Lincoln returns to the men a smitten kitten and shares something about unicorns and Pegasus and a pot of gold, and prominently displays his prized possession, his photo of the two of them.

Connor is NOT having this.  He thinks it’s a slap in the face that he would put this picture out.  Bro, needs to chill a bit, but Lincoln is weird and being extra,

Meanwhile, Becca is bonding with the men.  

Chris woos her in telling her that he wants to treat her the way he treats his mom and sister.  David wants to be pushed intellectually and she couldn’t agree more.  Clay is here for her and he wants her to get to know the real him.  

Back at the couch, Lincoln is now kissing the picture of him and Becca.  Connor throws it.  Lincoln picks it up.  Connor finally opens the door and frisbees it into the pool.

Lincoln, just a little dramatically, proclaims that his heart is broken.  He starts to tear up, he was looking forward to sharing this with his mom.  Picturegate has begun.

Back in the private lounge our Jean Blanc must be spraying some special, soothing scents onto Miss Becca.  He lets her know that she is the missing part of his life and that she makes him feel so special.  He takes all the courage from his ck one spritz, and tells her the only thing more beautiful than her smile is her lips.  They smooch.  

Before Becca can make it back to the other men, she is stopped by Lincoln.  He lets her know that, not only did he lose his beloved picture, but he feels threatened physically.  what.is.going.on

Becca pulls Connor aside on what has become a date in a pre-school.  She is over it.  She wonders if Connor is a roid-rager slash if this is his regular reaction.  He agrees that it was way over the top.  She said she’ll take some time to think about it, but it’s probably not the best time to get to know one another.

Becca gathers them all together and says it had definitely been an interesting and revealing night.  Jean Blanc gets the group date rose.  He tells her to pin it on the leather, “he don’t even care.”  He’s so excited, it’s v. cute.

It’s time for Blake’s one on one date.

He’s pumped that he gets to roll out in a limo instead of on an ox.  Small pleasures.

Becca fills him in that she has no idea what they’ll be doing as Chris Harrison planned this one.  They get to the area that is a “little run down” and see Chris with a sledgehammer waiting for them.  They’re asked to put on little work jumpers (Becca’s complete with a belt from Charming Charlie), helmets and Tims.  Then, they’re both given their own sledgehammers.

They go inside and “TURN DOWN FOR WHAT?!” 

This is where everything from Arie’s season went to die.  Chris and, um what?!? Lil Jon let them know that they’re gonna get to destroy everything in the room.  Immediately Becca climbs that racecar and smashes in the windows.  This is FABULOUS.  

Carrie Underwood would be proud.

I have zero idea why Lil Jon is there, but am so VERY happy that Blake is a “huge fan of his”.  Sure you are Blakey boy.

The two of them proceed to make the whitest rap video ever, and Blake is so happy to see Becca so happy. I am cheese grinning my way through watching it.

Post wrecking crew, they sit down to dinner.  They’re ridiculously comfortable with each other for just the first date.  Blake shares his heartbreak over his most recent relationship where he thought he was with the one.  In positive news, he said it was worth it, because now he knows what he wants, and knows that he is capable of loving like that.  Becca empathizes. I am having a hard and fast therapy session with both of them.  Through the pain, they have found so much strength that they never knew was in there.  I’m not crying, you’re crying.

Blake clearly gets the rose, and states to the camera: “I have no idea how Arie let her go.”  I love him.

It’s time for the second group date of the week... “Love comes at you hard and fast.”  

Well it comes hard and fast, except for poor Jason and Mike who are the only dateless men of the week.

The men for Group date #2 (Alex, Christon, Colton, Garrett, John, Leo, Rickey, Ryan, Trent, and Wills), board a school bus and head to a gym where they are greeted with some fabulous, tyrannical child actors.

Becca, in her 24387948th metallic outfit of the season, informs that the men that they are going to be playing some good old-fashioned dodgeball.  But first, these children will warm them up a la suicides (can we call them that anymore?!?) and pelting them with 70 mph dodgeballs; all while calling them TRASHHHHHH and somehow still making fun of Arie.  These kids are amaze.

They get set for the game, and the team with Becca all make the wise choice to hide behind her.  However, Christon don’t give a F and proceeds to belt Becca a number of times.  Spoiler alert: this doesn’t work out well for him in the end.

The men and Becca then move on to skyzone, where they’re to play a large game of trampoline dodgeball in front of a v. confused crowd, Chris Harrison, and Fred Willard.  Why tho?

Poor, pretty haired Leo is flying through the air and is in all his stuntman glory.  However, the rest of his team, complete with a former pro football player, suck to high heavens.  He is continually the only man left standing.  After three rounds, the green team wins and gets a trophy.

In probably his only soundbite of the season, Alex snarkly asks if it’s cool to display the trophy to the pink team.  Somewhere back at the ranch, Lincoln is crying again.

Becca gets her alone time with the men.  Garrett and her dork out together, Leo gets a little romantical, and she compliments Wills style while he almost tears up talking about his parents’ 50th anniversary coming up.  They share a kiss, and I think he kind’ve gave her his varsity jacket.

But, it wouldn’t be a group date without a bombshell.  

Pretty boy Colton fesses up that he had a former relationship with Weiner, Arkansas Tia.  Becca is visibly shook and doesn’t really know what to think.  Did he come on the Bach hoping it would actually be Tia?  Is he a fame whore?  Is he a whore?

So many questions.

In the end, she gives the group date Rose to Wills and his uneven scruff.  He’s happy, and Colton is nervous he’s gonna get the boot.

It’s time for the cocktail hour, and Becca is trying to not question what the f is wrong with all of these dudes.  She said she’s a lot more emotional than she thought she would be.

Clay pulls her outside to show her how he would celebrate scoring a touchdown.  Somehow he makes this boring, but he does score a kiss.  Me, and all of America, can name at least 10 other tight ends we would rather see on this show right now.  I’m looking at you, Gronk.

Venmo John pulls her aside and they make out.  Connor puts his tail between his legs and gives her a picture of him.  It breaks the ice and i think they’re cool now.

Chicken David is having what seems like a decently lovely conversation when Jordan decides it’s time to parade around in his undies and a pink furry blankie.  Jordan interrupts and Becca is questioning Jordan.  Is this a joke?  

Post convo, Chicken David confronts Jordan and stutters when telling him he was being disingenuous.  Jordan chooses this time to not only correct him, but to inform David that he’s the one being in-genuine-titty.

For the record, Jordan would also like everyone to know that he doesn’t want to be misrepresented as 007 all the time.  He likes to live life on the edge, but while doing so he likes to have well kept hair.  He’s multi-dimensional.  He doesn’t mind being assertive, he is in FACT a Wilhelmina model.  And he’d like to think he’d score a little higher than a typical male model on “that” test.  

So, he wouldn’t light the cig at the gas station while sipping on his orange mocha frappuccino?  You be the judge.

Before handing out the roses, Becca lets Colton know that she needs more clarity before getting to know him further.  She has to think a bit.  Colton is scared he’s going home.  Obvs, he would NEVER, well not until we can get Tia to come on a date and make this some good tv.

At the rose ceremony we say good-bye to Alex (and that SUPER sad tearful good-bye), Christon (that’s what you get for pelting her with a dodgeball), Rickey and Trent.

Power Rankings

1 - Blake (+2) - Solid connection, I heart him

2 - Wills (+2) - There’s something there... he’s chill, and a fab dresser

3 - Garrett (-2) - Dropping for air time and his scandalous likes on the gram

4 - Jean Blanc (+9) - Coming in hot and smelling good too

5 - Chris (+10) - Coming back hot from being the tattle tale in Episode 1

6 - Leo (+6) - Thiiiiis close to getting the group date rose this week

7 - Colton (-5) - Bringing the drama with the Tia card, and yet still having a v-card?  There’s no way he’s going anywhere soon.

8 - Jason (+1) - No date, but played it calm and cool

9 - Lincoln (-3) - I mean, they got married, but I want him to go

10 - Jordan (+1) - Literally, NOTHING in common, but I’ll keep him for his confidence and commentary

11 - Clay (-4) - Yawning

12 - John (-2) - Cashed in on a make-out... I’m impressed

13 - David (-5) - He’s geeky, but trying

14 - Mike (+5) - Tim Riggins is due for some time next week

15 - Connor (+1) - picturegate is over?!?!

16 - Nick (+5) - Hanging in the background

17 - Ryan (-) - Get your banjo out and play it man!

[orbemnews]

'He's always there': Two decades after the 2001 OSU basketball tragedy, here's the story of Will and Karen Hancock Karen and Will Hancock married in 1996. In 2001, Will was among 10 people who died when an OSU team plane crashed following a game at Colorado. Michael Noble Jr., Tulsa World Bill Haisten: A struggle to process the magnitude of the 2001 Oklahoma State basketball tragedy Andie Hancock: I never met my dad, but I miss him because ‘I do know him’ Video: Remembering the 10 still important to OSU, Boynton STILLWATER — This is the story of Will and Karen. It’s an ongoing love story. Decades ago, two young folks working in a college athletic department bonded over their love of sports, music, movies and each other. The band U2 was a mutual favorite. Early in their courtship, they flew to Kansas City to watch U2 at Arrowhead Stadium. Will and Karen sat down together and feasted on probably the same VHS-worthy 1990s TV series that you did. “Seinfeld.” “Friends.” They named their dog Scully after a character on “The X-Files.” In 1996, Will and Karen were wed at Tulsa’s Will Rogers United Methodist Church. They were concerned before the ceremony. Are we going to ruin a good thing by getting married? They worried for nothing. Married life, said Karen, was “like the best thing ever.” Karen is Karen Hancock. She’s the assistant women’s soccer coach at Oklahoma State University. Will is Will Hancock. He was an assistant sports information director at OSU whose responsibilities included being the media contact for men’s basketball. Twenty years ago — Jan. 27, 2001 — Will was among 10 people who died when an OSU team plane crashed following a game at Colorado. Twenty years later, the love story endures. Love him still? C’mon. You know the answer. “That never goes away,” Karen said. If Karen hears a song by the Beatles or Simon & Garfunkel or the Police or U2, it’s hard not to think of Will. In that moment, the songs bring him “back.” “I still think about him every day on some level — sometimes a little deeper thoughts than others and sometimes just a really fleeting passing thought,” Karen said. “But he’s always there.” This photo was taken on the day Will and Karen Hancock became engaged. Karen Hancock, Courtesy Will also is present in their daughter. Andrea (Andie) was two months old when her father passed. Asked about Andie’s personality, Karen said she’s funny (kind of goofy sometimes) like her dad but also serious — serious enough to record a near-perfect score on the ACT and become a valedictorian and class president at Stillwater High School. Now Andie is a sophomore at Northwestern University. Said Karen: “Every time she does something that reminds me of Will, I will flat out tell her ‘That’s your dad. That just reminds me of your dad.’ I will try to put into words exactly what that is. We have never shied away from speaking about him. It doesn’t ever feel like it’s too sad to talk about. I think it’s important to still talk about him. He was very real.” Karen saw an almost instant change in Will after Andie was born. She said Will was a workaholic who was driven by responsibility and duty. After Andie’s birth, he worked harder to get home faster. Karen knows Will would be busting with pride over Andie’s accomplishments. “He would have loved that she decided to be a journalism major,” Karen said. “He would have loved to know she got into Northwestern. He would have loved everything about her. He did love everything about her. He just thought she was the coolest thing. He couldn’t wait to get home to see that little tiny baby. And this was before she could even really smile. The week he died, he was convinced on that Wednesday that she had smiled at him. I’m like, ‘No babe. That’s gas. She can’t actually smile yet.’ But he was adamant. ‘No. She smiled at me. That was not gas. That was intentional.’” Let’s score it as a smile. “I just knew. It felt different …” The first chapter of the Will and Karen story was scripted in 1992. Karen (then Horstman) was a graduate assistant coach at Arkansas-Little Rock. She went to grab the mail in an area where athletic department staffers were crammed into a temporary work space. There he was: New guy — new cute guy. Karen picked up the mail and, eventually, picked up the male. “New guy” was Will, the university’s freshly hired sports information director. Will and Karen met formally at a university mixer. She tried to strike up a chat by asking about the shirt he was wearing. The chat went nowhere because Will was nervous and didn’t know what to say. Will and Karen Hancock posed for a photo during a ski trip in the 1990s. Karen Hancock, Courtesy Because Will had to be present at soccer games, there were additional opportunities to interact. One of those occasions, Karen said she “blatantly” put it out there that her birthday was approaching. Will took the bait and said they should do something to celebrate. Her birthday came on a game day. The plan: She would get cleaned up after the game and Will was going to call. She waited. And waited. And waited. The phone never rang. Support Local Journalism Your subscription makes our reporting possible. featured_button_text Upset, Karen spotted Will the next day and yelled at him from across a gym. “Hey, thanks for calling me last night.” Will sprinted over and pleaded his case. He said he called and no one answered. He rattled off the phone number he called. It was one digit shy of being correct. Hmmm. He was granted a second chance and they went on a first date a few days later. Karen discovered that Will had many appealing qualities. He was funny and smart as a whip and kind in his dealings with people. One month into dating, she told people he was the one. “I just knew,” she said. “It felt different than anything I had felt in my whole life.” Then came an obstacle: Eager to climb the career ladder, Karen took a coaching job at South Alabama, which meant she and Will would be in a long distance relationship. She figured it wouldn’t be all that problematic. They had to pick their spots to see each other anyway because their jobs kept them busy. They vowed to talk on the phone daily (which they did) and travel to visit each other once a month. The commute got longer when Will departed Arkansas-Little Rock to take a job with the Midwestern Collegiate Conference in Indianapolis. Karen started the South Alabama job in June of 1994. By January, after soccer season had ended, she was asking herself this: What have I done? She wasn’t happy with “just” the job. This wasn’t as great as being around Will. One month later, they were engaged. Funny story about that: Karen had been advised she should attend a Mardi Gras ball while living in Mobile, Ala. Will said he couldn’t go because he was in the midst of basketball season (hectic season). Fine. Karen told him she would go with a male workout buddy instead. She and the workout buddy (“kind of a bodybuilder”) were just friends. Upon hearing about this development, Will got motivated to free up his schedule and escort Karen to the ball. He proposed in her apartment — he in a tux, she in a sequined gown — prior to the event. OK, now what? We’re still living in different states — and the engagement lasted 18 months. Karen, a Tulsan, moved back to her home state in 1996. She couldn’t pass up an opportunity to become the first head soccer coach in OSU history. After Karen and Will got married in June of 1996, they zipped off to a Sandals resort in Jamaica for a honeymoon and then returned to cities that were 700 miles apart. At the wedding, people advised the newlyweds they should live in the same place. Tulsa’s Jamie Hemphill honors the 10 victims during a moment of silence at halftime of the Colorado-Oklahoma State basketball game on Jan. 26, 2002. J. PAT CARTER, AP file Will was hoping for a career opportunity in Stillwater. He was ready to tend bar or do something else out of his field, if necessary. A position on OSU’s sports information staff opened a few months after the wedding. Will had a stellar resume and a vocal supporter within the athletic department. He came home. ‘I wasn’t going to have to do it by myself’ Things are never exactly the same following a tragedy. But Karen was asked when she knew it would be OK. She said there are different levels of that. “Part of me feels like I’m not sure I started feeling really, really OK until about 15 years after,” she said. “That’s a long time. But … at some level I knew within that (first) year it was probably going to be OK. I just had such great support and was starting to figure out people were going to be around to help me and I wasn’t going to have to do it by myself.” Chief among supporters were Karen’s parents, Steve and Linda Horstman. Karen said her father managed a Firestone store in Tulsa for 30 years. He retired a few months before the plane crash. Said Karen: “He came to me and said, ‘Listen, your mom and I are not married to Tulsa. We can easily move over here and help you. Would you like that?’ And I just broke down crying and said ‘yes.’ I didn’t know a whole lot, but I knew that sounded like a good idea. I was going to take that help.” Steve and Linda relocated to Stillwater so they could assist in raising Andie. Karen could go to work and know she was leaving her daughter in good hands. Remember the Arkansas-Little Rock coach who sacrificed personal life for career gain by moving to South Alabama? Karen did the opposite after the crash. She transitioned from head coach to assistant because (A) it created an opportunity for fellow staffer Colin Carmichael to become a head coach and (B) the move allowed her to devote more time to Andie. Karen recalled being stressed about something work-related when she was still head coach. That spilled over to home life. Once, after Karen used harsh words, little Andie (maybe 6 at the time) looked up at her and said “Mama are you mad at me?” Karen assured Andie that she wasn’t mad at her. The “Remember the 10” memorial is located inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.  Devin Lawrence Wilber, For the Tulsa World “But it was a real check for me, like I’ve got to get this under control because we can’t be raising a kid like that,” Karen said. In hindsight, Karen said stepping aside was probably the best thing she could have done for Andie, at least while continuing to work. Andie turned out fine. A budding writer, she wrote a story about her father to go along with this one. On the night Will died, it dawned on Karen that she was a widow at age 32. It didn’t compute. That’s not how life is supposed to work. There’s a memorial in Colorado dedicated to the memory of those who perished in the plane crash. When Karen is in the Denver area for recruiting or other reasons, she makes a side trip to visit the memorial. Karen said she has tried to support others who have endured tragedies, but the only thing you can do is offer an ear or share bits of personal experiences. You can’t give people what they really want, which is to have a loved one back. Karen, who consented to an interview in advance of the 20th anniversary of the crash, was asked what message she wanted to share with people. She said she is just one person who experienced a significant loss at a young age. She said there are people who haven’t had to face a loss like that — and it’s great that they haven’t. But she wants people who encounter loss to know it’s survivable and you can be OK. Karen recounted a past conversation with Janet Griffith, who was in her 60s at the time of the chat and who had lost a husband some 40 years earlier. Karen knew right away, from seeing and hearing Griffith talk about her loss, that “it” never really goes away. “And I think when you really do love somebody like that, it doesn’t go away. You stop loving them just because they died? Not really.” 20 years ago: Remembering the 10 victims of the 2001 OSU plane crash 2001 OSU plane crash On Jan. 27, 2001, a twin-engine plane carrying 10 men associated with the Oklahoma State men’s basketball program crashed near Strasburg, Colorado. All 10 died. This memorial is located inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. TYLER DRABEK/For the Tulsa World Kendall Durfey 38, OSU radio engineer A native of Hyde Park, N.Y., earned master’s degree in communications at OSU. Went on to be a supervisor for university’s Educational Television Services. Worked on the Eddie Sutton Coach’s Show, among other programs. COURTESY Bjorn Fahlstrom 30, co-pilot Native of Kalmar, Sweden served in the Swedish Navy and was once a professional tennis player. Came to Oklahoma City in 1996 to learn to fly and he had been piloting corporate jets. COURTESY Will Hancock 31, media relations coordinator As the coordinator of athletic media relations, he had overseen men’s basketball since October 1996. He had recently become a father when daughter Andie was born on Nov. 16. Father is Bill Hancock, the executive director of the College Football Playoff. His wife, Karen, was head coach of the OSU women’s soccer team. She is now a Cowgirls assistant. COURTESY Daniel Lawson 21, player Junior reserve guard from Detroit played in 17 games during the 2000-01 season. Tulsa World file Brian Luinstra 29, athletic trainer Augusta, Kansas, native had worked for the Oklahoma State men’s basketball team for two years. COURTESY Denver Mills 55, pilot Also a certified public accountant, he was the pilot of the charter flight. Had flown Cowboy athletic teams to events for several years, and his son was attending OSU at the time of the crash. COURTESY Pat Noyes 27, director of basketball operations A 1990 graduate of Mt. Saint Mary’s High School, he was noted for his passion for Oklahoma State basketball. Worked at Georgia State before Eddie Sutton brought him back to Stillwater to work with the basketball program. COURTESY Bill Teegins 48, radio voice of the Cowboys KWTV sports director was in his 10th year as radio play-by-play man for the Oklahoma State radio network. A graduate of Hale High School and University of Tulsa. Native of St. Paul, Minn., he moved to Tulsa at age 12. Had been sports director at KWTV in Oklahoma City since 1987. JIM BECKEL/The Oklahoman Jared Weiberg 22, student manager After joining the team as walk-on player from Tonkawa, he became a second-year student manager. Nephew of former Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg. COURTESY 2001 OSU plane crash OSU coach Eddie Sutton speaks to the crowd during a 2001 memorial service at Gallagher­-Iba Arena honoring the 10 who died in a 2001 plane crash.  Tulsa World file 2001 OSU plane crash In front of a full house at Gallagher-Iba Arena, the Oklahoma State men’s basketball team joins hands before the start of their game against Missouri on Feb. 5, 2001. It was the first game after the death of 10 in a plane crash following a game in Colorado. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World 2001 OSU plane crash Nikki Kimmel (right) and Amanda Beard, then-Oklahoma State University students, embrace after leaving momentos on the Spirit Rider Statue outside the Gallagher-Iba Arena on Jan. 29, 2001, following the deaths of 10 people associated with OSU’s men’s basketball team in a plane crash.  JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World 2001 OSU plane crash Oklahoma State players come together at midcourt to celebrate their victory over Missouri, Monday, Feb. 5, 2001. It was the first game after the death of 10 in a plane crash following a game in Colorado. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World 2001 OSU plane crash Fans hoist a sign commemorating the 10 members of the Oklahoma State basketball program that were killed in a plane crash during a game against Texas on Jan. 26, 2011, at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater.  Tulsa World File 2001 OSU plane crash This banner hangs in Gallagher-Iba Arena.  Tulsa World File 12 months for just $26 “This is a special ‘editor’ offer at a rate we have not offered before. For just $26, you get unlimited access to everything on tulsaworld.com for a year. Every time you click on a story from social media you will get it without interruption and without surveys. Every story online + the daily e-edition that shows you the pages of the paper that day. Support our local journalists who work for you.” — Tulsa World Editor Jason Collington Subscribe today.  Remembering the 10 remains important for Boynton, OSU jimmie.tramel@tulsaworld.com Get local news delivered to your inbox! Source link Orbem News #andie #andiehancock #andreahancock #Basketball #decades #football #full-longform #Hancock #Heres #hes #Karen #karenhancock #lindahorstman #OSU #sport #Steve #Story #tragedy #willhancock #Work

[wsmith215]

Tennis is back in strictly controlled, socially distanced conditions

Tennis fans celebrated the resumption of live action last week, becoming one of the first major sports to stage and broadcast live competition since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. But what the game will look like in the weeks and months to come is not at all clear.

Two exhibition events featuring round-robin play among a limited number of players under strictly controlled, socially distanced conditions have already happened, with more on tap. The highlight of the coming weekend is the UTR Pro Match Series, which lost ATP No. 8-ranked Matteo Berrettini to an ankle injury on Monday and Australian Open quarterfinalist Tennys Sandgren to a knee injury on Wednesday. The men’s event still features Americans Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul. A four-player women’s event follows May 22-24 and includes Americans Alison Riske and Amanda Anisimova. The competitions will be streamed from a private court in the West Palm Beach, Florida, area.

This isn’t your familiar ATP or WTA tennis, featuring draws of at least 32 players in single elimination play. The matches at last weekend’s Tennis Point Exhibition in Germany used the Fast Four streamlined scoring format in addition to adopting numerous virus-related precautions: There were no spectators, ball kids or linespersons (just one chair umpire). The players had individual changing rooms, and the support staff was obliged to wear masks and gloves. The restrictions and ambience at the venue, a tennis academy, created a sometimes murky, weird, lab-like viewing experience. But it was sports. It was tennis. It was live.

“As it turns out, everybody has realized that they would rather watch tennis with no fans than no tennis at all,” Sandgren told ESPN.com. “And it seems sponsors are willing to pay for it.”

2 Related

The ongoing experiments have made one thing clear: Tennis events can be staged in strictly controlled environments and broadcast to fans under the variable, often stringent demands of the general lockdown.

“These matches remind you of a classic Western,” said Jamie Reynolds, ESPN’s vice president of production. “Just two gunslingers, and they go out into the desert somewhere to have it out, mano a mano.”

That has always been the bedrock appeal of tennis, but the sport has also discovered that it can’t and needn’t be that stark. Not in normal times, and perhaps not even at a time of crisis. Individual matches can easily be swaddled in various technological tricks, from cutaways to interviews with coaches and other players to ambient sound, even computer-generated images.

Tempting as employing those bells and whistles may be, Reynolds and others are leery of going overboard to compensate for the lack of spectators. Bob Whyley, longtime head of production for Tennis Channel (which will stream the upcoming UTR event), said in an interview: “My vote is to keep it live and intimate. We should never think we’re more important than the tennis itself. Once play starts, we want to get out of the way and let the players dominate.”

Tennis events are currently being be staged in controlled environments and broadcast under social distancing guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic. Alex Grimm/Getty Images

According to Reynolds, golf and tennis are the sports where it’s easiest to get away without having fans — and with social distancing rules in effect. “You may not be as rocked by the absence of fans in tennis as you would be looking at Foxborough and seeing nobody in the stands,” he said. “At the ATP Finals, they make the entire 02 arena go dark during play. If you’re watching on television, you don’t even know there are people there.”

The ATP Finals is an eight-man round-robin event, similar to the ones created thus far during the lockdown. Of course, the season-ending tour championships are of a different order of magnitude, featuring the top players and massive stakes. Just how many fans will tune in and how much money sponsors are willing to offer for modest exhibitions relying mostly on pros ranked well outside the top 10, remains to be seen.

“No doubt we can stage live tennis matches now,” ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe said. “But will sports fans be happy watching Taylor Fritz play Tommy Paul? [both Americans] How do you do something that means something?”

The main obstacle to bringing together elite players in an all-star exhibition is the web of restrictions on international travel, prohibitions that have hit tennis harder than most other sports. “Tennis is based on the premise that we all go where we want, when we want,” Kelly Wolf, a vice president at management firm Octagon, said in an interview. “That’s not the case for us anymore.”

The situation confirms that tennis is caught on the horns of a dilemma.

The kind of tennis that can be played and broadcast at the moment, while entirely legitimate, is very different from the stuff that forms the superstructure of the game and provides employment to a few hundred players on each tour. Even as restrictions are lifted piecemeal, tournaments will not count in any official way unless all eligible players are free, as the system has always demanded, to enter based on ranking or qualification. The prospects of returning to that degree of normalcy anytime soon, with or without spectators, are grim.

“I’m not very positive, to be honest,” Madrid Open tournament director Feliciano Lopez, a former ATP star, told a Eurosport podcast. “The fact that some countries have different restrictions than others is going to make things very, very difficult. The tour is going to be open when the world is completely open, and everybody can travel freely.”

Lopez’s friend and compatriot Rafael Nadal shares his sentiments. On Tuesday, Nadal told Spanish media: “I’m more concerned with the Australian Open (of 2021) than with what happens later this year. I think 2020 has been practically lost. I’m hopeful of being able to start next year.”

Benjamin Hassan of Germany wears a face mask as he warms up during the Tennis Point Exhibition Series. Alex Grimm/Getty Images

But players want to play. John Isner, still the top-ranked U.S. player at No. 21, has not been approached about playing in any of the recent or planned livestreamed events. He’s wary of expecting too much of such events.

“I’d love to play again,” Isner said. “Everybody would. But I’d like for us to get back to what we’ve been accustomed to, and that looks like it will take time. We could lag behind a little.”

“The tournament game is our bread and butter,” Micky Lawler, president of the WTA, told ESPN.com. “At the same time, we can’t ask our players not to take advantage of opportunities to play.”

The ATP, in a similar bind, wrote in a statement via email: “The ATP’s priority is the health and safety of its players, tournaments, staff, fans and general public. Players are self-employed independent contractors and, as such, are free to make decisions concerning their own activities during the time the Tour is suspended.”

The tours will not resume until, at the very earliest, July 13. But the WTA has already canceled the Rogers Cup, slated to start in Montreal on Aug. 10, due to the Quebec provincial government’s decision to extend the lockdown on large gatherings to at least Aug. 31. The ATP’s own Rogers Cup, scheduled to begin Aug. 10 in Toronto (the tours take turn each year hosting in those two cities) still has a green light.

Some see the disruptions caused by COVID-19 as a time when entrepreneurs can create new events, or new ways to present the sport.

“If we find out that there will be no tennis this summer, more of these things (like the round-robins that have been livestreamed) can be put together,” Wolf said. She added that the pandemic has stimulated stakeholders to look for different business models. “Things like regional events offering prize money but not rankings (because such tournaments would not be open to all qualified players) are just one possibility.”

The four Grand Slam tournaments are the gold standard in tennis. When they come back online, they’re certain to command attention, perhaps more than ever before. But the lifeblood of the week-to-week tour are those ATP 250 and WTA International events, and they’re the ones most at risk because of the pandemic.

“I think the game will be drastically different when it resumes,” John Tobias, who represents Sloane Stephens, Eugenie Bouchard and others on behalf of GSE, told ESPN.com. Tobias wondered how ATP 250s and other small events can survive without attendance revenue and with reduced revenues from sponsors.

Isner, a member of the ATP player council, said: “The 250s are already the most challenging tier of tournaments. They desperately rely on the ticket and sponsor revenue.”

Most of those low-grade tour events depend heavily on recruiting two or three bigger-name stars in order to create buzz and ticket sales. Tobias predicted that with lower prize money and less appearance money on offer, elite players may decide that traveling to and playing smaller events just isn’t worth the effort.

Lower-ranked players are clearly endangered, as they need to play week to week in those smaller events. Doubles has always supplemented their singles income, but social distancing rules threaten that form of the game. Prize money distribution was a sizzling hot topic in tennis at the time the pandemic hit. Now, players who just months ago were hoping to make a better living may be looking at no living at all.

“There will be a shakeout,” Wolf predicted. “A lot of events will be filtered out, and many of those players in that group ranked from No. 250 to 700 won’t be around when all this is said and done.”

The conviction that tennis needs significant structural changes was another lively issue in the days leading up to the outbreak. The public and the players were in lockstep on one major theme, the desire to create team events, like the Laver Cup, on a calendar chock-full of those regular, often struggling, small tournaments of which Tobias and Isner spoke. Those events have mostly been muddling along, but a review of the economics might force them to contemplate different business models.

“The bigger-picture issue to me is the question of whether this is the time to make significant changes in the game,” said McEnroe, who is a fan of team events and also is outspoken on the need for more equitable prize money distribution. “You have to start thinking of alternatives if you have no business, and nobody is getting paid.”

It would be difficult to affect wholesale structural change, though, as the tours are wedded inextricably to the tournament structure.

“We [the WTA] have agreements with broadcasters, tournaments and sponsors,” Lawler said. “We can’t take our eyes off that ball and suddenly start looking at things like regional events.”

One thing most everyone seems to agree upon is that when the tours return full swing, things will not be as they were, at least not for long. There’s a lot of long-view planning going on as officials try to dig out of the current disaster.

“We never had time to look at what else can work because we’ve been too busy going week to week to keep the whole system going,” Wolf said. “Some people are trying to hold on to the past. Maybe they think they can save it, but you can’t save it. We’re going to have to come up with something new.”

Tennis matches livestreamed without ball kids, spectators or coaches scheming in the courtside boxes is not what Wolf has in mind, but it’s a start.

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[sportsnewsss]

Top facts you need to know about Mohamed Salah

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly, born in Gharbia Egypt on 15th June 1992, is the talk of the football world as his magical performances throughout the season got him many awards. In 2017, he was named the ‘African Footballer of the Year’ after scoring a ton of goals.

The Premier League Player of the Year and Golden Boot winner finished the campaign with a surprising 32 league goals for the Reds, including one astounding goal against Brighton on the last day of the season.

Plenty of airtime has been dedicated to the Egyptian, who even had a Channel 4 documentary broadcasted about his success; however, there are still plenty of things about the forward that a lot of people aren’t aware of.

Salah’s nicknames

The most interesting fact about Salah is that he has several nicknames in both Egypt and the UK. Salah is fondly known as ‘The Pharaoh,’ while few call him ‘The Egyptian Messi.’ Moreover, Liverpool fans call Salah ‘The Egyptian King.’ Some other nicknames are Muslim Messi, Pyramid Pele, Desert Dalglish, Cairo Cristiano, Halal Hazard, Ramadan Robben, Sand Suarez, and Bearded Maradona!

Salah’s favorite food

Salah loves to eat and when in Egypt, he makes sure the first thing he does is to eat Kushari, a traditional dish of Egyptian cuisine consisting of a base of rice, lentils, and pasta mixed together with garlic vinegar and a spiced tomato sauce. It is then topped with crispy fried onions and chickpeas!

“When I go back to Egypt, I call my friend from the airport to buy Kushari for us to eat in the car. I pull my hoodie over my head, jump into the car and then I’m eating it straight away,” Salah said.

Salah’s favorite actors

Salah likes to watch movies and is a huge fan of Leonardo Dicaprio and Egyptian actor Khaled El Nabawy. He probably wants a career in movies after his retirement!

Moreover, he is a fan of the American professional boxer, activist, and philanthropist, Muhammad Ali Clay. Like Ali, he keeps fighting back against all the odds and has emerged incredibly in the football world. It appears that the commitment to greatness is a feature they both have in common.

Young Salah had to make a nine-hour round journey from his hometown to Cairo, using 10 different buses in total, in order to get to training. He did this five days a week for almost four years!

Open Wedding

As one of the most prominent footballers ever, Salah married his long-term girlfriend Magi Mohamed, inviting the entire village to his wedding party. Many people joined the couple to celebrate their special day; he even asked Egyptian singers to entertain the people.

This invitation showed how gold-hearted he is welcoming his people and keeping the doors open for his fans to attend instead of inviting a limited number of guests with security guards.

Makkah

Salah is a very religious man, devoted to his Muslim religion and this is shown by how he always bows down to thank God every time he scores a goal at any match he plays. He also named his Daughter Mecca Mohammed after the Holy site in Saudi Arabia called Mecca but later changed the name to Makkah to distinguish it from the name Mecca Bingo which is the world’s biggest gambling Casino!

Controversial award

Salah was named as the Swiss League Player of the Year while he was at FC Basel. At the awards show, the hostess of the event kissed Salah to congratulate him. The forward was heavily criticized on social networking sites by his Egyptian fans.

“They have spoiled my joy,” Salah told to reporters. “They forgot the prize and concentrated on the lady kissing me.”

Saleh added, “Anywhere I go here in Switzerland people applaud, while my native fans criticize me.”

Elections

In the 2018 presidential elections in Egypt, more than one million people crossed out the names of the two candidates Sisi and Moussa to cast their ballot for Mohamed Salah and wrote Salah’s name on their ballot paper. Had they been counted as legal votes, Salah would have finished in second place in the electoral race!

Compassion to a thief

In December 2017, his family got robbed when he was away playing in a game. Egyptian police caught the thief a couple of days later. His father wanted to press charges but Salah convinced his Dad not to press charges. Instead, Salah gave the thief some money and tried to help find him a job in order to turn his life around.

Salah’s salary and net worth

The forward who has spent his youth career with Ittihad Basyoun, Othmason Tanta, and El Mokawloon has a net worth of $70 million.

Mo Salah joined El Mokawloon's senior team from 2010 to 2012 where he scored 11 goals in 38 appearances. He played for Basel from 2012 to 2014 and scored 9 goals in 47 games.

Salah played for Chelsea from 2014 to 2016 and was loaned to Fiorentina in 2015 and Roma from 2015 to 2016. He joined Roma full time from 2016 to 2017 and scored 15 goals in 31 caps.

Salah joined Liverpool in 2017 and scored more goals there than with any other club. He has also represented Egypt at the under-20, under-23, and senior levels.

Salah has won several awards including the Premier League Player of the Month. He finished 3rd for the Best FIFA Men's Player in 2018 and has set several records.

In July 2018 Mohamed signed a 5-year deal with Liverpool that pays $15 million per year. With endorsements, he easily earns $25-30 million per year.

Salah is a quick player

When Real Madrid took on Roma in the Champions League, Salah constantly gave the Frenchman problems with his pace. Although Varane is a very fast player, he was often seen catching shadows when chasing the former Basel star.

According to the Premier League statistics for the 2013-14 season, the former Fiorentina wizard was the quickest player in the league with an average top speed of 20.7 kilometers-per-hour. Now, this might not sound much, but the average means that his collective movements in a game were used to make the calculation.

It means that it took into consideration the time he took standing idle or jogging as well, so that is pretty impressive. Pretty sure that Barry Allen isn’t the fastest man alive, it could just be Mohamed Salah.

The best disciplinary record in the Premier League

Salah’s moral virtues extend onto the pitch too. In 31 league games, he has committed only 14 fouls and has not been booked or sent off even once. This, however, might have something to do with him being too quick for others to catch up.

Salah is a philanthropist

Mo Salah donates a lot of his money to projects in his home village of Nagrig. The forward has invested money into building a new school in the area and he also helped kit out the region’s hospital with the latest medical equipment. Salah also donated $681,500 to a Children’s Cancer Hospital in Cairo so they could buy a bone marrow transplant machine.

After Salah scored the penalty that saw Egypt qualify for this summer’s World Cup, the governor of Gharbiya renamed the forward’s former school the ‘Mohamed Salah Industrial High School’.

Mohamed Salah has inspired many people not just his football fans but every person who desires to succeed in life to overcome obstacles faced and to achieve their goals.

From nothing, he has become the talk of football; his hard work, passion, and dedication have taken him to stratospheric heights in his career, and his simplicity and humility have propelled his popularity.

[junker-town]

George Kittle’s contract extension will be tricky for the 49ers

Getty Images

Kittle is awesome. His contract is not. That should be rectified, but there are obstacles to overcome.

George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers is the best tight end in the Milky Way galaxy. I suppose one could argue Travis Kelce and a couple others are in his ballpark as a receiver, but when you also factor blocking and the ability to take a linebacker and clobber him all the way back to second grade, it’s really not much of a discussion.

He was also, at worst, the third-most valuable player on the defending NFC championship team and is now, at worst, the second-most valuable, following the kick-you-in-the-crotch-spit-on-your-neck-fantastic trade of unblockable wrecking ball DeForest Buckner to Indianapolis.

As someone who loves the Niners with every fiber of my being, with a particular affinity for throwback playing styles, I’d be heartbroken if Kittle — who relishes moving 300-pound D-linemen against their will and knocking ‘em on their ass far more than scoring long touchdowns — doesn’t spend the next decade with the club.

By all accounts he feels the same way, appearing with no desire to leave coach Kyle Shanahan or his handsome quarterback. Without a doubt, the organization wants to get his signature on the dotted line of a lucrative new extension as well. And now, with the expiration of his rookie deal nigh as only one year remains, the galactically underpaid Kittle is allowed to sign a second contract. But there is the pesky little issue of working out the finances of said extension, and it’ll be quite tricky.

For example, Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper agreed to terms on a new five-year deal worth $100 million, with a fully guaranteed $40 million payout in the first two years and another $20 million guaranteed for injury. Other than, like, his mom, I doubt many folks would rather have Cooper on their football team than Kittle. But a Kittle extension in 2020 would not net as sexy of a financial package. Because the difference in leverage is incredibly vast.

Whereas Cooper had hit the open market, the 49ers have Kittle under team control for the next three years. The total owed is something in the range of $25 million thanks to the aforementioned final year of his contract (at a measly $2.1 million), plus two years of the relatively low tight end franchise tag number. Which is an absurd bargain for the team.

Additionally, in the absence of a new long-term deal, Kittle carries the year-to-year financial risk of injury. So while he should justifiably shatter Austin Hooper’s current TE high-water mark (an annual average of $10.5 million), any new contract has to be juxtaposed against the backdrop of the Niners having dibs on him for the next three years and a total payout of just around $25 million.

San Francisco’s contract negotiator, a man by the name of Paraag Marathe, knows this. If the 49ers were to rip up the final year of Kittle’s deal and replace it with Cooper’s (in other words, $98 million in new money over four years), that would almost be tantamount to giving him $75 million for an additional two seasons beyond what they currently have control of him for and absorbing the financial risk of injury and full guarantees. While Kittle’s perhaps as valuable as any non-quarterback in the NFL, that’s not happening.

So Kittle’s agent Jack Bechta isn’t gonna walk away from the negotiating table with the kind of contract he would if this were 2023 and Kittle were a free agent. In order to lock in large guarantees now, shed three years of carrying the financial injury risk, and make it worth Marathe’s while to eschew the $8 million-plus Kittle is otherwise due to average across the next three seasons, some financial concessions by Bechta will be necessary.

None of those dynamics are unique to this situation as opposed to other extension negotiations for stars that happen all the time across the league — though the degree may be. And that’s because thanks to the cheap franchise tag number for tight ends ($10.6 million in 2020), it’s hard to have a bigger gap between actual value and franchise tag number than the one that Kittle currently finds himself in.

With, say, a wide receiver or pass rusher, the fallback option of playing under the tag isn’t quite as daunting when it comes with a price tag of nearly double what Kittle’s would be. Meaning Kittle would be much more inclined than players at other positions to want to avoid the tag.

Striking the right balance to satisfy both parties may be complex, but here’s hoping Marathe and Bechta manage to find a way to engage in a six-feet-apart kiss on the financial Venn diagram of a new long-term deal that keeps Kittle with the Niners for many, many years.

[postgamecontent]

The Summer of Adventure: Legend of Mana

Original Release Date: July 15, 1999 (JPN)

Original Hardware: Sony PlayStation

Although the various installments of the Final Fantasy series differ from each other in many ways, you can get the general sense that it knows what its fans are looking for. The same can be said for the SaGa series, Square's next most-prolific series. By contrast, the Mana series has always seemed a bit confused. With 25 years behind it and several games in the line, the Mana brand is one of Square's most well-known and longest-running. At the same time, it seems to have been stuck with a really tricky problem that it has never quite been able to resolve. It has a lot of fans who really couldn't be clearer about what they'd like to see from a new Mana game, a creator who seemed to be torn between his own ideas and trying to make the fans happy, and a whole lot of empty space between the two. I'm not sure if Legend of Mana is the best example of that divide, but it was certainly where it started to become apparent.

I've touched lightly on the topic before when I wrote up Secret of Evermore, but let's talk a little bit about the history of the Mana series leading up to this game. The first game in the series was a labeled spin-off of the Final Fantasy series in both Japan and internationally. Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden (dubbed Final Fantasy Adventure in the United States and Mystic Quest in Europe) was a fairly straightforward action-RPG for the Nintendo Game Boy. It took a few cues from Falcom and a few cues from The Legend of Zelda, and the result was a surprisingly fun game. Sure, it had some nasty hangnails in its design, but the game was short and sweet enough to forgive any unscripted accidents along the way. If you want to try it out, there's a moderately straight remake of the game available on mobile and PlayStation Vita under the title Adventures of Mana that mostly just updates the presentation.

Though the game released in 1991, it had been on the mind of its creator for a while. As early as 1987, in fact. Koichi Ishii presented his first idea for the game that year, but Square rejected it, choosing to focus on their new Final Fantasy series instead. After spending a few years making vital contributions to the first three games in that series, Ishii was able to get his game approved as a spin-off, and the healthy sales gave him the chance to continue. The next game dropped the Final Fantasy connection and went with the name Seiken Densetsu 2. It was released in Japan on the Super Famicom in August of 1993, given a brisk localization into English, and sent out in the West only a few months later under the title Secret of Mana. The game had a rather difficult development, as it was originally planned for the aborted SNES CD add-on. When that device was canceled, Square asked the team to get the game going on a regular cartridge at any cost. The team ended up cutting out about 40% of the planned content, which included things like branching paths and multiple endings. Secret of Mana also suffers from a number of bugs that are likely related to its sudden format shift.

While the game wasn't as Ishii had envisioned it, Secret of Mana was a huge success. It sold 1.5 million copies in Japan, and a respectable 300,000 copies overseas. Perhaps more importantly, people adored the game. The variety of weapons, interesting locations, easy-to-understand combat system, and riotously enjoyable multiplayer made for a near-instant classic. And here, I think, is where we can spot the first signs of the eventual divide. I suspect that from Ishii's view, the game was successful in spite of the cuts, while I strongly believe that it may have been successful because of them. Koichi Ishii frequently worked together with SaGa series creator Akitoshi Kawazu, and I've always felt they had a similar philosophy with regards to game design. While many designers strive to cut away excess fat from their designs, Kawazu and Ishii seem to revel in adding as much complexity and as many gameplay systems as they can fit. I think they do that for different reasons, but the results can look awfully similar at times.

Seiken Densetsu 3 is best known in the West as the one that got away. I've heard plenty of reasons that reasonably explain why, but in the absence of hard facts, all we can really say is that the follow-up to Secret of Mana never got an official English release in spite of strong demand. I think this is a critical component of the later reaction to Legend of Mana, to be honest. While in screenshots the game appeared to be very similar to Secret of Mana, Ishii was able to get a lot closer to his design goals with Seiken Densetsu 3. There are six playable characters to choose from, each with their own weapon and magic specialties. Each character has access to two different classes, and a calendar function was included that had multiple effects on the game. Naturally, the game also came loaded with a ton of slightly different storylines and endings based on who you choose as your main character and supporting party members. Despite its ambitions, on a purely mechanical level Seiken Densetsu 3 played similarly to the previous game in the series, however.

Missing out on this game put Western fans of the series on the defensive. I can't lie, I was among those who felt extremely upset that Square didn't bring Seiken 3 over. At the time, I didn't really understand the market realities. I just knew there was something I wanted and I believed they were keeping it from me. There was always some hope that Square would change their minds. Even today, people are willing to believe that Square will finally translate the game as part of the Nintendo Switch Seiken Densetsu Collection. For many fans, though, the writing was on the wall after the Super NES's time in the market had passed. Mana die-hards then looked to the next game in the series, hoping Square would decide differently about localizing it. Given their affiliations at the time, it wasn't hard to guess the game would be designed for the Sony PlayStation, and Square did indeed decide to release it overseas. Those who had been pining for another game along the lines of Secret of Mana were in for a shock, however.

Up until Legend of Mana, Koichi Ishi had been mostly working on the series with Hiromichi Tanaka. The two had worked together on a number of Final Fantasy games, and Tanaka served as the producer and, in the case of Seiken 3, director of the Mana games. When it came time to do the next Mana game, however, Tanaka was waist-deep in projects of his own design such as Xenogears and Chrono Cross. This time, Ishi would have someone different as a producer, and you can spot his fingerprints all over Legend of Mana. Akitoshi Kawazu worked as a producer on many of Square game's from this era forward, but it is said that he had a bigger effect on this game than usual. I suspect he encouraged Ishi's natural tendencies more than anything else. Also joining the Mana series for the first time was one of Chrono Trigger's directors, Akihiko Matsui. These three men were just coming off of a project together, the experimental SaGa Frontier, and it's clear that project had some influence on Legend of Mana.

Legend of Mana was one of those games that seemed to pop out of nowhere just before its release. Square announced it in March of 1999. The game would be on the store shelves in Japan just four months later, riding a surprisingly strong marketing effort that saw the game packaged with a demo disc containing short playable snippets from Vagrant Story, Threads of Fate, Front Mission 3, and the highly-anticipated Chrono Cross. While the game didn't sell anywhere near the numbers that Secret of Mana had, it did quite well in Japan, selling over 700,000 copies, and was generally well-received. The overseas release the following year wouldn't benefit from a packed-in demo disc, but Square did make an effort to push the game through the Summer of Adventure promotion. As the first release of the three games included in that promotion, it's arguable that it may indeed have benefited the most from it. Sales got off to a good start, but Legend of Mana had to overcome an obstacle that Secret of Mana didn't have to: mixed reviews.

While reviews were mostly positive, scores were lower than you might have expected. Even the reviews that praised it made a point of how different it was from the previous games in the series, however. An already-wary fanbase ended up being split by the game's direction, and I'm sorry to say that I fell in with those who opted to pass on the game. At the time, my finances were tight, and I was trying to save money for a PlayStation 2. My Summer of Adventure had gotten an early start with Vagrant Story, and with only enough cash for one more game from the selection, I naturally chose to buy Chrono Cross. By the time I had extra money, I had heard enough negative things about that game that I never did get around to playing it. That means that the playthrough I did for this article was my very first experience with Legend of Mana.

I'm actually glad that I waited, though. Knowing my tastes and sensibilities at the time, I probably would have written Legend of Mana off quickly. This game is a real oddball, and it doesn't seem to care much for the conventions of the previous games in the series or of its contemporaries in the genre. If I didn't have prior knowledge, I likely wouldn't be able to correctly guess when it was made, because it seems forward-thinking in a lot of surprising ways. It is very much its own game, and I'm not terribly shocked that it ended up as a "love it or hate it" affair. While it has its share of bad points, I suspect the game's biggest crime in the eyes of Secret of Mana fans is in how different it is from what you would expect from the name. The series would only go in stranger directions from here, mind you, resulting in games that were less "love it or hate it" and more "no thank you" than anything else. Square still keeps the name in play, but Koichi Ishii has long since left. In 2007, he took the role of president and CEO of Grezzo, where he continues to work on games to this day.

I can't speak to where Ishii's thinking was at in the later Mana games, but having finally filled my personal gap in the series by playing Legend, I can say that there's a certain heart to this game that is lacking in games like Children of Mana. Every little piece of Legend of Mana feels like a personal expression, and the overall experience feels like it was made without any regard or care for how marketable it was. Only a few years earlier, Square had given the Western market the kick in the pants it needed to finally go all in on JRPGs via Final Fantasy 7. I have my issues with that game, but it's built to please, especially early on. Clear goals, hand-holding a-plenty, and non-stop action sequences fill out the first several hours of the game to ensure the player is hooked. Legend of Mana is nearly the opposite. Your initial goals are extremely vague. The game only gives you the barest of hints about what you should be doing, and even once you figure that out, action is hardly guaranteed. Sometimes the game wants to stop and slowly tell you a silly or heartfelt story. You won't always get to hit something, in other words, and that was a rare trait for action-RPGs of this period.

Many people in the West simply didn't know what to do with Legend of Mana, and you can see it by reading reviews from around its launch. In the Japanese market, some of the SaGa games flirted with a similar structure, but it feels like Western JRPG fans didn't really have the vocabulary yet to process it. Looking at it with 2017 eyes, however, the game seems ridiculously forward-thinking. For example, instead of having a long, continuously-flowing overarching story, Legend of Mana opts for 67 smaller quests. Each one is introduced with a title card, and when it has been resolved, it closes with an ending card. These quests can run anywhere from five minutes to a couple of hours to resolve, and while not all of them are critical to the main story that eventually forms, each and every one of them helps flesh out the game world and its inhabitants.

Now, it's certainly natural for RPGs to have a variety of quests and sub-quests, but the way Legend of Mana presented them was new and seen as bizarre or disjointed. Several years later, Capcom's Monster Hunter would popularize this structural style. We can now see it in many handheld and mobile RPGs, as slicing up the quests that way allows the player to spend a little time on the game, solve a quest or two, and still feel like they had a satisfying experience with some closure. In other words, it's quite normal now. I have to wonder if the people who felt the game was hurt by this set-up would feel differently today? In my case, I was a little shocked by the first set of title cards, but only because I wasn't expecting that kind of thing in a game of this vintage.

The way its world is set up feels ahead of its time, too. Though I have to admit, the marketing was a little bit deceitful about this part of the game. Basically, as you clear objectives and solve quests, you'll be given special items that can be used on the map to spawn a new location. That new location will contain new quests, which will give you more items to spawn further locations, and so on. You can place these locations wherever you like on the map, but apart from a mild effect on the magic system, there's no reason to place any location in a particular spot. The locations have no effect on each other, and you travel between them on the abstract map screen, so it's not like you're really building a world the way the marketing copy tries to sell it. Perhaps it's best to think of it as a standard progression-based stage system with a bit of non-linearity thrown in. The structure calls to mind a lot of modern social RPGs and handheld games where the budget doesn't allow for a giant interconnected overworld.

Like many of those games, your character works from a hub-like home area that can be cultivated and improved by collecting goodies and using them. The purpose of these improvements is to give you an edge in battles, generally. That's unfortunate, because I'm not sure that you really need an edge in battles. Rather than offering the free flow battles of the previous games, Legend of Mana's combat set-up is similar to that of Chrono Trigger. If enemies block your way, you'll pull out your weapon and go into a separate combat mode. From here, it's like a mix of the previous Mana games and a belt-scrolling brawler like Streets of Rage. Fights are fairly brainless in this game, and you don't even really need to pay a lot of attention to your character build to win. Just stand slightly below the enemy and hack away with your weapon of choice. That should lead to victory, and even when it leads to defeat, the game kindly allows you to continue from the start of the battle.

The battle system is one of the weaker points of the game. Combat isn't bad, per se, but it is tedious, unavoidable, and virtually mindless. The lightweight difficulty takes away from the practical value of many of the game's sub-systems. On a purely mechanical level, Legend of Mana doesn't really come together all that well. Vestigial sub-systems and lukewarm combat are only part of the problem from a design standpoint. There are also a lot of easily-missable things in the game, some of which will already be long gone before you even realize you were supposed to do them. Even when you're aware of certain things that you need to do, unexpected circumstances can prevent you from doing them.

The Cactus Reports are a particularly egregious example. You can talk to the Li'l Cactus in your home after each quest is finished and he'll make a little journal entry that you can read. It's one of the only ways the game tracks your quests. Unfortunately, you can only make a report on the most-recently completed quest, so if you finish another quest before you talk to the Li'l Cactus, you've missed your chance to complete the entry for the prior quest. That's strict enough, but there are times when certain events are forced on you, making it impossible to report to the Li'l Cactus before completing another quest. You have to tread very carefully if you want to fill out your quest log on one playthrough.

So yes, plenty of scabs to pick at here. And yet, there's something about Legend of Mana that makes me want to forgive its faults and love it anyway. I think the game would be better if the sub-systems had more practical value, but I also think it's fine for them to exist as things to do all on their own. The opacity of the game is bewildering at first, but the game is extremely forgiving in most ways, so you can actually enjoy the process of discovery rather than stress about it. The combat could use a tune-up, but I would almost be fine with the game not having any combat at all, strangely enough. In the end, the only thing that truly annoys me in Legend of Mana is the way the quest log works. Being able to miss entries isn't great, and I wish there was a way to review which quests you've already started. In its current form, the game requires a very methodical approach that seems to run counter to the spirit of the rest of it.

See, what I think Legend of Mana is really about is building a world. While your character is the driver of that reconstruction, your presence in the story more often than not feels like that of an observer. You're initiating things, to be sure, but from there, you largely watch them play out on their own. As each quest is checked off, you gain a little more understanding about this world, and perhaps more importantly, the characters that inhabit it. The main plotlines (there are three of them) get the greatest focus, but the side quests do a great job of adding layers thick and thin to the various people you meet. Characters who stood at the center of one quest might be bit players or cameos in others, but in doing that, the game makes this world feel more believable. Of course the strange people you met in the desert have day jobs. Why wouldn't they? I think it's through this carefully cultivated world-building that Legend of Mana finds its magic. This is a place where you want to spend your time. It's not the best obstacle course in the mechanical sense because it's a living setting that doesn't necessarily structure itself around the needs of a video game.

Coming into this, I didn't expect to love Legend of Mana. And had I played it at the wrong moment in my life, I don't think I would have. But after finishing it up, all I want to do is dive back into its world. I want there to be more side quests. I want there to be more odd conversations. I wish there were more to wring out of this wonderful little sponge. Legend of Mana is a terrible sequel to Secret of Mana, but it makes up for it by being, in many ways, a more interesting and enjoyable experience. If nothing else, it's a true testament to the amazingly creative era of Square prior to its financial difficulties that led to the Enix merger. Definitely worth a good chew.

Next: Threads of Fate

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[phantom-le6]

Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 (4 of 6)

Continuing our look into season 6 of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes, here’s a fourth round of episode reviews that includes the second Q episode and second mid-season two-parter for this season.

Episode 15: Tapestry

Plot (as given by me):

Captain Picard is beamed to sickbay along with other members on an away team that have been attacked by an alien race known as the Lenarians. Picard is severely injured, having taken some kind of energy blast to the chest that has damaged his artificial heart. Seemingly dying, Picard finds himself in an all-white environment with what appears to be Q. Q tells Picard he is dead, which Picard refuses to believe because he can’t accept the idea that the universe would be so badly designed as for Q to be in charge of any form of after-life. The conversation then turns to the question of whether Picard has any regrets, which brings up the matter of how Picard ended up with an artificial heart. The prosthetic was fist given to Picard after he was stabbed by a Nausicaan during a bar fight when he was a young Ensign fresh out of the Academy.

 Hearing Picard state he would probably do things differently if living his life over again, Q takes Picard back to two days before the fight, giving him a chance to change his life. Picard is initially reluctant to alter his past for fear of causing damage to the present, but Q notes Picard is ‘not that important’, and that only his life will be impacted. As Picard relives his past life, it becomes clear that events take place slightly differently to the story Picard once told Wesley Crusher about the incident (in “Samaritan Snare”). The fight actually results from Picard and one of his friends, Corey Zweller, trying to get back at a group of Nausiccans for cheating Zweller at the billards game Dom-Jot, whereas Picard had told Wesley he’d insulted the Nausicaans.

 This time, Picard tries to dissuade Zweller from taking revenge, and at the same time also tries to change the nature of his relationship with their other friend Marta Batanides, who Picard had been attracted to but never pursued romantically. His efforts estrange both of his friends, and when the time of the fight comes, Picard avoids it by pushing Zweller out of the way. As a result, he loses both friendships and is suddenly transported to a new present. In the revised present, Picard is a junior lieutenant in the position of assistant astrophysics officer on board the Enterprise, and an officer named Thomas Halloway is captain of the ship. Picard also learns that his new self has often set lofty career goals for himself but has never achieved them because he never does what is needed to in order to achieve those goals.

 Faced with a choice between a mediocre life or dying with a full life behind him, Picard calls on Q, who explains to Picard that this was the consequence of altering his past. The incident with the Nausicaan made Picard more willing to seize opportunities and work hard to get command in the original timeline, but the Picard who avoided that fight never had the trauma of nearly dying to spur him on, and thus he barely achieved anything as a result of playing things safe. Picard asks to set things back to how they were, preferring death as the man he was to the other life he has been shown. Q agrees and returns Picard to the start of the fight, which then unfolds as it did originally. It is then implied that Picard laughing after being stabbed is relief from Picard knowing his life would then turn out as before. He then comes to in sickbay, his heart repaired and condition stabilised, and later he discusses his experience with Commander Riker.

Review:

One thing I’ve come across in checking through the Memory Alpha wiki site is that this season was something of an experimental one for the show, and I think that’s why up to now we’ve not seen anywhere near the number of episodes of ‘true Trek’ I might otherwise expect. “Tapestry” is another rare instance of Trek being more or less what it should be amid episodes that don’t sufficiently cover either character or issue exploration, and remarkably it does a bit of both.  We’re going into Picard’s back-story, so that offers us some character development, and it explores the question of what would happen to any of us if we were given the chance to change a past action we didn’t like.

 The character side of the episode works out well, and with Q thrown into the mix it’s quite a fun episode as well, but the issue exploration aspect of it as well as one aspect of the general execution are a little more flawed.  First of all, a lot of fans misunderstood the episode and complained because they felt it somehow glorified or encouraged violence, because removing a violent incident from Picard’s past harmed his present and restoring that incident restored the present.  However, the focus of the episode isn’t on violence, but on how key events in our past shape who we become; the episode focuses on a violent event in Picard’s past because that happens to be a crucial moment in his development as a person. If Picard had had a non-violent key moment that would have made good episode fodder, I’m sure the show would have used that instead.

 Second, the episode makes three flawed suppositions that aren’t strictly true.  The first is that altering one’s past must have an adverse effect on the present, but look at Back to the Future.  Marty McFly’s initial entry into the past is initially harmful, but his efforts to restore history actually result in a much better future for himself and his family. By the same token, in the Part II film of the franchise, old man Biff’s efforts to assist his 1950’s counter-part result in a future which, while horrific for the McFly family and for Doc Brown, works out well for Biff.  Taking stories from other franchises like this into account, it doesn’t follow that Picard’s foray into the past would be how all such travels work; it’s just how they work in Trek to maintain each show’s status quo and dissuade time travel in line with the franchise’s philosophy of a more enlightened humanity.

 The second flawed supposition is that in order to avoid being stabbed, Picard had to avoid the fight entirely.  However, there was another way; Picard’s error, to me, was less in picking the fight and more in trying to fight opponents who were large, stronger and armed with daggers by just going hand-to-hand with them. If you have to fight an enemy who will out-match you in close combat, then you don’t make it a close combat fight. All Picard had to do was go in with a phaser and stun the opposition.  That way, the fight still happens, but because Picard fought smart instead of hard, he could have actually avoided a worse life from the fight itself.  The episode could then have focused more, perhaps, on how Picard’s altered actions towards his friends could have impacted the future.

 Our third erroneous assumption is that just being a bit more of a risk-taker is somehow all that’s needed to make or break Picard’s life and career, and I suppose in the world of Trek it’s easy to boil things down to that one factor.  However, in real life that’s not the only obstacle.  I can empathise with Picard’s situation because I often feel like I’m stuck in that other, hum-drum life Picard was willing to avoid on pain of death.  However, Picard had the luxury of knowing what he wanted to do from a young age and being in a world where everything was set up to let him just do it.  In the real world, things like money, where you live, the means by which you can or can’t travel around and so on all impact on what we can or can’t do.  As such, I think it’s almost over-simplistic boiling Picard’s career down to a single event, and would love to see this subject tackled again from a more holistic approach of greater relevance to our present day and tackling all those pesky real-life issues someone like Picard never had to fret about.

 Next, there’s the issue around the episode’s general execution, namely having Patrick Stewart playing Picard’s younger self. In the episode, this is explained away as a trick on Q’s part, which makes everyone in the past see Picard as his younger self, but Picard, Q and we as an audience still see the older version, and as a result we end up with a kiss scene between Picard and Marta, which some fans felt was inappropriate, given that Stewart was 52 at that time and J.C. Brandy, who played Marta, was 17 and made to appear a bit older through the work of the show’s make-up staff.

 Now as I flagged earlier in this season when I reviewed the episode “Rascals”, we live in a world where age of consent laws vary internationally, and in the US the range is 16-18 from state to state, with the wider world mostly having their age limits in the 14-18 range. That means both domestically and internationally, this episode was showing something that anyone in a country or state on the higher end of the spectrum could find to be concerning and potentially inappropriate.  To my mind, it would probably have been wiser for the show to have the young man who appeared briefly earlier in the episode as the younger Picard play him not just for a single ‘white room’ scene.  Instead, he should have taken up the role for all of the events in the past.  Overall, I still think this is a good episode, but not without its flaws.  As such, I give this episode 8 out of 10; luckily Stewart and de Lancie are so good as Picard and Q, and they’re working with a good character plot, or the flaws could have dragged the score down much more.

Episode 16: Birthright (Part 1):

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

While the Enterprise is docked at Deep Space Nine, providing assistance in repairing the Bajoran aqueducts, Worf is approached by an Yridian information broker, Jaglom Shrek, who claims that Worf's father was not killed at Khitomer, but is instead alive at a Romulan prison camp. Since Mogh's capture would dishonour Worf and his own son Alexander, Worf is reluctant to believe the alien's claim but it upsets him. However, following an accident, Data has a dream-like experience that involves his creator and Data approaches Worf to ask about a time Worf himself had a hallucination during a Klingon ritual. Worf realizes that it is important to learn the truth about his father.

 Data continues to pursue the meaning behind his dream. Geordi La Forge and Dr Julian Bashir (DS9's Chief Medical Officer) reluctantly recreate the experiment that caused the dream (a dangerous venture that could damage Data permanently). Data has the same experience, which continues on to a conversation between Data and Dr Noonien Soong, his creator. Soong encourages Data to continue dreaming. Awake, Data comes to the conclusion that Dr Soong pre-programmed the ability to dream in anticipation of activating it himself. The energy charge from the experiment simply activated this feature. Data then plans to henceforth spend a brief period each day experiencing these dreams.

 Worf suspects the information about his father to be a trick and forces the reluctant Yridian to take him to the prison camp himself. Because of the danger involved, Worf makes the final leg of the journey alone on foot, where he finds the Klingons moving about freely with Romulans. He corners one of the Klingons, who informs him that his father fell in battle at Khitomer as he thought, meaning that Worf's family honour is intact. When Worf offers to free the Klingon prisoners, they insist on staying. Since he is aware of the camp's existence and location, they insist that he must also stay. Two armed Romulans show up to prevent Worf from leaving.

Review:

So, to prove the experimental nature of this season, not only do we end up with two Q episodes instead of the usual one per season (only season 1 had had multiple Q episodes previously), but then we also get a second mid-season two-part episode, and at the same time we also get a cross-over with the then-new series Deep Space Nine in part 1.  The overall plot is centred on Worf, with Data’s story being a B-plot that more effectively capitalises on the cross-over aspect of the episode, as DS9’s chief medical officer Dr Bashir comes into that story. It’s great to see because, as I noted when I reviewed DS9 some years ago on Facebook, Bashir comes to fulfil a similar function to Data on his own show with regards to representing some aspect of autism.

 Now I imagine that might not make sense to some, so I’ll quickly explain.  In TNG, Data is often emblematic of autistic people because of his tendency towards literal understanding of language and inability to grasp certain aspects of interpersonal communication, especially humour.  In Deep Space Nine, however, it’s until quite late in the show that Dr Bashir can make any claim to being in any way autism-like.  That claim is made possible during the fifth season of DS9 when Bashir is outed as being genetically engineered, as this sets up a couple of episodes over the last couple of seasons of the show where he works with other genetically engineered humans whose treatments meant they could not effectively integrate into wider society.  The similarities and differences between Bashir and these other characters were not only similar to certain autistic traits, but suggested that Bashir was akin to being someone with Asperger’s (a form of “high-functioning” autism, or high-masking as I now think of it) in a group of autistic individuals. As such, Data and Bashir together is for me very much about combining the first two major autism analogues in 24th century-set Trek in hindsight, and as such it’s cool to see.

 As for the rest of the B-plot, the idea that Data can now dream is a cool idea, but a little flawed in a couple of areas. The first is that while it made some sense for Data to look into existing cultural and scientific databases to interpret his visions, I’m a bit surprised Data was reeling off examples from non-human cultures at one point.  Data was designed by a human to mimic humanity, so logically he should have focused more on human cultures and psychological references, since presumably Dr Soong would have developed Data’s dream capabilities from a human perspective. Second, if the dream circuits were activated by the initial incident, why did it take a second incident for Data to learn what they were?  Surely the dormant circuits being activated should have been picked up by the subsequent diagnostics on Data and deduced from that.  As good an idea as this was, it took longer than it needed to in order to reach its conclusion considering what that conclusion was.

 The A-plot, on the other hand, is really just so much set-up for part 2, which is where it comes into its own a bit more. The two only connect in one scene part-way through, but it’s a good scene where Worf and Data each end up spurring the other into the rest of their stories.  On balance, I’d give this episode about 8 out of 10.

Episode 17: Birthright (Part 2)

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Worf is puzzled by the Klingons' lack of desire to escape. The elders explain that they were knocked unconscious during the Khitomer attack and awoke as prisoners, preventing them from either escaping or dying in battle. Prevented from committing suicide by the Romulans and unable to leave after being released because returning home would be a great dishonour to their families (who have assumed the warriors died in battle), they have remained at the camp. Worf is not allowed to leave, however, to keep the compound's secret. He discovers, to his disgust, that some Romulans and Klingons have even inter-married and had hybrid children, including a young woman named Ba’el who is the daughter of the head Romulan Tokath and a Klingon woman. Ba’el is attracted to Worf, but Worf is initially unable to overcome his revulsion on learning she is part-Romulan.

 Worf inspires the young Klingons, who were born in the compound and know nothing of their heritage, to be curious. He teaches them Klingon myths, martial arts, hunting, and other elements of their culture. Eventually Tokath, offers Worf a choice: to live among them according to their rules, or to be executed. Worf chooses death, which is honourable in its defiance, though Ba’el tries to talk him out of it out of her attraction to Worf. He in turn admits that he loves her despite her mixed parentage, but cannot abandon his honour for her. The next morning, at Worf's execution, the young Klingons he has inspired suddenly decide to stand and die with him, including Ba’el. Unwilling to kill them all, Tokath allows Worf and the young Klingons to leave, and Worf asks the young Klingons to honour their parents by agreeing never to reveal the camp’s existence to the outside world. A Romulan warbird delivers them to the Enterprise, which had been searching for Worf since his disappearance from DS9.  When asked by Captain Picard if he found what he was looking for, Worf tells him that no one survived Khitomer, but Picard seems to perceive the truth underlying Worf’s claim.

Review:

Part 2 of “Birthright” focuses right in on Worf’s side of things from part 1, and there’s a bit of character development for Worf alongside some decent issue exploration.  Worf trying to inform the other Klingons at the camp about their heritage is a kind of metaphorical exploration of what can be experienced by people who immigrate to other lands.  Such people then struggle between the need to assimilate into their new homeland and their need to be true to their heritage.  At the same time, Worf also has to learn to deal with his own prejudice when he learns that the young woman he is attracted to and several others are of mixed race, which not only helps to develop Worf but also gives the episode another issue to tackle, namely that of prejudice.  It’s especially good to see because TNG has never really capitalised on the mixed heritage character of Deanna Troi to confront this specific form of prejudice.  In fact, I think the first time I can remember seeing that tackled by Trek is through the character of B’Elanna Torres on Star Trek: Voyager.

 This time, I honestly can’t find any flaws to speak of.  For once, we have a pay-off to a two-part episode that really surpasses the part 1, and we get another episode that is true Trek rather than being some experimental story that that would perhaps have been better tried in another franchise. All in all, I give this episode top marks; 10 out of 10.

Episode 18: Starship Mine

Plot (as given by me):

The Enterprise docks at the Remmler Array to undergo a baryon sweep, which will eliminate baryon particles (a form of radiation) from the ship’s hull that have accumulated over several years of warp travel. The sweep is harmless to the inorganic matter of the ship’s construction, but can be deadly to organic life, and as such the Enterprise is evacuated for the procedure. As everyone rushes to leave the Enterprise, Captain Picard finds himself dreading an upcoming reception at Akaria Base which is to be hosted by a Commander Hutchinson, who is well-known and feared for having perfected the art of small talk.

 At the reception, while Data studies Hutchinson to develop his own small-talk program that he has created, mention of horse-back riding on the planet enables Picard to duck out of the reception so he can quickly get his saddle from on board the Enterprise before the baryon sweep commences.  However, as Picard is leaving the Enterprise again, he discovers a maintenance operative working on a panel he apparently shouldn’t be working on.  The man attacks Picard, who is forced to subdue him and then beat a hasty path to the transporter room.  Main power goes off-line before Picard can beam away, however, leaving him trapped on board with what he deduces to be a phony maintenance crew.

 On board the Enterprise, a game of cat-and-mouse ensues between Picard and the intruders, who ultimately turn out to be using the baryon procedure as cover to steal Trilithium resin from the ship. The resin is a volatile waste product from the ship’s engines, and initially Picard assumes the group are terrorists; however, their intent is to sell the resin rather than using it themselves. As events unfold, various members of the criminal gang are killed; most by the baryon sweep, but one is killed by the gang leader Kelsey to increase the profit shares of the survivors. Meanwhile on the planet, Geordi noticing an energy signature in the reception room results in the alien base personnel taking the Starfleet officer hostage. Geordi is injured and Hutchinson killed in the initial altercation.

 Eventually, the Enterprise officers manage to knock out their captors with a hypersonic pulse from Geordi’s VISOR, which leaves everyone except Data unconscious. Back on the Enterprise, Kelsey beams out after a fight with Picard in Ten-Forward, the last part of the ship that will be hit by the baryon sweep.  Picard manages to get Akaria Base to stop the baryon sweep before he is killed by it, as Kelsey’s exit coincides with Data gaining control of the base. The base personnel are therefore presumably part of Kelsey’s heist, but Picard informs Data the ship Kelsey beamed to won’t get far; somehow Picard removed a control rod from the container transporting the resin, causing it to explode as the ship tries to escape.  When the rest of the crew re-boards the Enterprise, Dr Crusher heals Picard’s injuries and Worf retrieves the captain’s saddle, which he was forced to abandon after his initial scuffle with one of Kelsey’s crew.

Review:

This episode is basically TNG going all experimental again and trying to do an episode that is all-action.  Now granted, that’s certainly a bold experiment and in some respects not a bad one, but this is Star Trek, not Star Wars.  Trek is about character development and issue exploration, not action for action’s sake, and while DS9 did develop some very action-oriented episodes in its later seasons, there was always character development or issue exploration mixed in to justify it.  With this episode, you don’t really get either.

 The episode also features some truly cringe-worthy moments around Data trying to emulate Hutchinson’s small talk. Honestly, I fast-forwarded all of these bits because I absolutely couldn’t stand them.  There was nothing funny about these moments, and it certainly wasn’t something Data needed.  I think when it comes to Trek characters he could have picked up the art of banter from, Data would have been better off learning from just about anyone else.  As such, I honestly wasn’t shocked or surprised when the base personnel sprung their surprise and Hutchinson got gunned down; I’d been wanting to see that happen from the character’s first scene. All in all, I give this episode only 5 out of 10.

Episode 19: Lessons

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Captain Picard is curious as to why the stellar cartography department has shut down several systems on the Enterprise, and visits the section to discover what is going on. He meets the head of the department, Lt. Commander Nella Daren, who makes an impression on Picard. It is a meeting memorable enough for Picard to later discuss with Dr Beverly Crusher. At a musical recital by Lt. Commander Data, Picard is surprised to see Daren, once again, playing the piano. The two discuss music, and later meet in Picard's quarters and participate in a duet. Daren plays a portable piano and Picard performs on his Ressikan flute.

 The two begin to meet more often; even in a Jefferies tube, which Daren claims has the best acoustics on the ship. In this private setting, their attraction for one another is expressed in a kiss. The moment of intimacy is fleeting, however. When they enter a turbolift, and are joined by another crewmember, Picard resumes the professional demeanour of Captain. The Enterprise is diverted from its mission, when it decides to investigate a report of firestorms at a nearby Federation outpost. While in transit, Picard consults Counsellor Troi about pursuing a relationship with Daren. Picard then goes to Daren to apologize and to explain. He recounts the experience shown in the episode "The Inner Light" in which he had a wife and family, became a grandfather, grew old, and learned to play the flute. The experience imparted to Picard a deep appreciation for music, and he is pleased to have someone to share it with.

 Daren speaks to Commander Riker requesting a transfer for another crew member to stellar cartography. Riker says he will consider the request. Afterwards, he speaks with Picard, explaining that Picard and Daren's relationship makes the decision complicated. After determining from Riker that Daren's request is not unusual or taking advantages, Picard assures Riker that he will support any decision he makes. Later at dinner, Picard relates to Daren his talk with Riker, saying that they need to be careful about anyone else misunderstanding their relationship.

 The Enterprise arrives at the Federation outpost to find that firestorms are heading toward the facility, and are of a larger magnitude than it was designed to withstand. Daren suggests a means of deflecting the storms, but the equipment requires trained personnel on the ground to operate it. Daren is assigned to the surface team, along with a number of other crewmembers. The outpost is evacuated during the dangerous mission, leaving only the Enterprise away team on surface. The firestorms overwhelm the position that Daren's team occupies before they can be retrieved. Believing Daren to be dead, Picard sits contemplating his decision in his quarters. He then hears that survivors are being transported aboard, and heads to the transporter room. Daren is not among the initial group of survivors, but is later transported to the ship. Eight members of the team have died.

 Afterwards, Picard and Daren discuss their relationship. They conclude that it cannot continue, as Picard could not bear to put her in danger once more. They discuss giving up their Starfleet careers to be together. Daren realizes that Picard, although still cherishing the family life he experienced as Kamin, has nonetheless chosen duty, career, and loneliness. They both know that Daren must transfer off the Enterprise. They kiss once more, and Daren makes Picard promise not to give up his music.

Review:

As Picard romances go, I think this episode features the best one of the lot just for the fact that not only does it give Picard someone who is very much a true equal, but it also capitalises on the episode “The Inner Light” from the previous season throughout the episode to make it stand out.  The main facet of this, of course, is Picard’s music; he’s never played in front of anyone, and yet goes from that level of privacy to playing very well alongside Daren, and even performing the theme from “The Inner Light” and sharing that experience with her.  Some of the music they play is very lovely, especially their improvised riffs on Frère Jacques.

 However, beyond its nature as a character piece, the episode also has some issue exploration, though it may elude some. In many respects, this episode is a case study in not only why work-place romances can be very difficult and are often ill-advised, but also why such romances should ideally be avoided in any organisation that involves any sort of command structure.  It soon becomes apparent that the relationship isn’t going to last because Picard and Daren can’t maintain a romantic relationship and at the same time retain their professional objectivity.  This is why any time a romance does work over the long-term in Trek, the characters are usually of equal rank or one of them isn’t even in Starfleet, as both scenarios remove the conflict faced by a two-officer relationship where one officer commands the other professionally. Overall, it’s a great episode and I have to give it top marks, 10 out of 10.