#and i always sit in the back primarily in a corner with my screen angled away from everyone else

[amethystsnow]

i must be one of the weirdest people to see on campus. like imagine this very visibly trans person with no sense of fashion and boobs that have suddenly changed size multiple times and when standing still is usually standing on one leg and when moving has a limp that gradually increases over time and when in class has a big-ass laptop but never looks at the laptop screen and instead is always looking at a tablet connected by usb and never talks in class but is very frequently talking to itself silently and gets incredibly anxious when it does talk to people such as when ordering food. and also takes the stereotype of bisexual sitting and exaggerates it. a lot. i dont know what i could possibly do to get weirder than all of this

[lemonjoonah]

Under Fire - Pt 17

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Title: Under Fire Word Count: 6K Rating: M Genre: Gang AU/ Mafia AU, Drama, Slow Burn Romance Warnings: Violence Pairings: Hyung Line x Reader (Primarily Namjoon x Reader), very slight OT7 x Reader.   Pairings (in this chapter):  Namjoon x Reader, Jin x Reader, J-Hope x Reader,  Jimin x Reader 

Summary: As a child you lived among the most wealthy and powerful, after the death of your mother you were shipped off to stay with her sister. Even after finishing your education you continue to live apart from the elite, but a visit home creates an unexpected disaster. You are suddenly roped into a darker world, and who better to be your guide than the infamous gang known as BTS.

Chapter 17 - When a Boy Meets Evil

POV Y/N

You stand outside of the library, hand hovering over the knob willing yourself to go in. Trying to assure yourself that you won’t see your father sitting there, tied to his chair, surrounded by pool of blood. The thoughts may be irrational, but the image still doesn’t leave your mind.

Your other hand holds on to the drafted bill that will be going before the assembly. With the foundation still closed and under investigation, Jin had redirected the legal team to work on this. You’ve been trying to familiarize yourself with the document for the past week. The legal jargon was easily solved by quick internet searches, but the obscure court cases used to build the claim were proving difficult to find online.  Your father’s law books carry transcripts of many of these proceedings but of course he keeps those in the library, bringing you to your current predicament.

You begin to shiver in the hall, you had forgotten how cold this house can be in the winter. The rooms always warm up quickly but the halls remain frigid. You finally convince yourself that you will go in, grab what you need, and then retreat back to the warmth of the server room. There’s no need to linger once you have the materials. With a deep breath, your fingertips brush the handle, the metal begins to turn, but not from your touch.

Jin throws the door open from the other side, not looking where he’s going he runs into you while making a hasty exit.

“(Y/N)?” He steadies you with a grip on your shoulders. You spot a black envelope in his hand, seeing your direction of sight he quickly tucks it away before returning to his hold to you. “Sorry.” He looks at you and back at the library in confusion, your behaviour in avoiding this room still known to him. “Were you looking for me?”

You hold up the bill, “No, I just need to look up a few things.” He looks back to the door with a slight grimace, and then his watch. “I have to run or I’d give you a hand... are you still good for tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah, hopefully I should be ready by then.”

He leans down to give you a swift kiss to the cheek and a few more words before departing. “You’ll be fine, this will speak for itself we just need to get it into their hands.”

You slowly edge into the library. The fireplace is still lit which you find odd, Jin wouldn’t have left it unattended. You look over to the shelves at the opposite end pinpointing the legal section from a distance. Once you reach the correct row that’s when you spot him, sitting on the floor with his head buried in a book, taking notes on a sheet next to him. Your father’s ring glints in the light as his pen scratches the paper.

You’ve only seen Namjoon in passing since the night of the accords, that was two weeks ago. You thought that he might be avoiding you, finding him in here confirms your suspicions.

As you approach he speaks up. “Jin I told you I’m not taking it off the table, we’ll discuss it later with everyone.”

Namjoon peers over his book making a small sound when he realizes it’s you he’s addressed instead. You feel bad for encroaching on his space. You find it difficult to be in his presence, if he is going to this extent to stay away from you, you can only assume he feels the same.

“Sorry, Jin didn’t say that anyone else was in here. I can go if I’ll get in your way.” Why didn’t he warn you Namjoon was in here? You could have prepared yourself better than the stuttering mess that you are now.

“No it’s fine.” His tone is low his eyes turn back to then book. You begin to search the shelves next to him, pausing when he addresses you again, “That night... you didn’t come back down.”

“No. I wasn’t really in the mood after what had happened. I wanted to think a couple things through.”

“In Suga’s room?”

You know that Namjoon had come looking for you. Suga accidentally woke you that evening when returning to bed. He had sent Namjoon away with the understanding that you didn’t want to see him. You didn’t expect Namjoon to bring it up though, as if he’s jealous of Suga.

You turn back to look at him, “Yes in Suga’s room. I was upset Namjoon, forgive me for not wanting to be completely alone in that moment.”

Namjoon clenches the book in his hand. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I upset you I didn’t intend for that to happen. It’s better this way, I’ll hurt less now than if we carried on and I disappoint you in the future.”

You find that hard to imagine, the thought of being in more pain. “My intention was to let you know what I needed that night. I didn’t want to push you away, I wanted you to try. Loneliness hurts more... remember?”  

“Do you truly want that? Do you want me to lie and say that I can be better when history tells me I can’t? No, I’d rather have you hate me now than loathe me forever. I don’t want you to be alone either, but please just be careful. Be careful with Suga, he might not be as unattached from the situation as you think.”

“Even he is, he’s not one to let his feelings cloud his judgement. He’s not afraid to let me take part.” Suga has spent most of his time with you over the past couple of weeks. He would distract you with new skills to learn taking you to the shooting range and getting you to perform the calculations required to take an accurate shot. He may be keeping you close but he has barely touched you since that night. His number one priority it seems, is making sure you can defend yourself.

“Not in ways that you’ve seen. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“The only person doing that right now is you. Suga is trying to help me so please just let him.”

You take a step away from Namjoon, as you put an end to the conversation. You go back to searching the shelves pulling several books off and adding to your reference pile. Every now and then from the corner of your eye you can see Namjoon look over to you, eyes reaching over the pages of his book.

Eventually he gets up and approaches you this time. “If you’re looking for the case files you’ll need this too.” He hands you the tome that he was reading but the slip of paper he was taking notes on is nowhere in sight. “Good luck tomorrow. I’ll be meeting with the others but... I hope you know, that you can always call if you need me. That will never change.”

A short thank you is all you can manage to convey. You watch as he slowly saunters away leaving alone in the library, you last five more minutes before deciding to withdraw from the room too. Without Namjoon to distract you the memories of this place come to the forefront of your mind once again. Taking your stack you exit after dousing the flames.

Hauling the pile back to the warm server room as you had planned, you take a seat on the couch while JK works to gain entrance to the assembly building’s cameras.

Many of the cases focused on the management of drugs distributed by the pharmaceutical branch of Kim’s Company. They had sold medications and conducted trials without proper communication of accurate side effects. They weren’t just covering the drug that could be made into BlackDust, but everything from painkillers to cancer treatments.

The bill is trying to prove the need for government oversight and restrictions on their products including the need to brand the new medication as a narcotic. As the Kim company can not be trusted to place those labels themselves.

Namjoon had been looking through a select volume featuring corporate court cases from 10 to 15 years ago. The most prominent listing was a chemotherapy trial. There were more than 50 defendants lumped together with the same case, all of them suing on the bases of wrongful death on the behalf of a family member.

“JK, is there any reason why Namjoon would be looking into a case from 12 years ago?”

JK continued to look at his screen, you can hear the hesitation in his voice, “No idea maybe he’s looking into new leads.”

“New leads for what?”

“You should ask him.”

“Is it something you don’t know, or that you can’t talk about?”

“For him, it’s something personal.”

...

Jin and Jimin wait for you in the entrance hall the next morning. Jin had reached out to his contacts organizing meetings with the members of the national assembly. While Jimin will be escorting you for security purposes.

The first visit is a bust, with the member of the legislature getting a call for a family emergency.

Your next appointment cancels due to illness. The third cuts your meeting short for an important last minute appointment.

After several more instances like this you know you’re all thinking the same thing, but no one will come out and say it to the officials. With each excuse Jimin’s eyes roll back, while Jin clicks his tongue and tilts his head, the sarcasm in his dismay always very prevalent.

“That’s such a shame.” Jin lightly taunts the assembly member as you leave another office, before leading you to the next. You’re early of course having expected the lasts appointment to have gone on longer. Jin excuses himself to make a phone call while you and Jimin sit on the bench out front. Out of habit you slowly leaf through the document to occupy yourself, trying to quell your anxiety over the prospect that this one will follow the same pattern as all the others.

Jimin angles his shoulder behind yours and shuffles closer. You can slowly feel his hand move across your lower back. He doesn’t make eye contact with you, and to an observer it look like he is keeping watch over a door down the hall. You smile at his attempt to maintain his professional cover, while making sure that your okay.

A secretary comes out of the office you are waiting to enter, but as she runs off to the restroom she leaves the door slightly ajar. You listen closely as two voices carry from the room.

“Shall we go grab some lunch?”

“I can’t I only have a few minutes left before I have to meet with that Park woman.”

‘That Park woman’... you don’t like how that sounds, and neither does Jimin, you watch as he goes rigid in his seat next to you.

“Ah you too? I had a meeting with her today, luckily my secretary was able to cut it short.” You remember the voice as the first member you had met today, the one with the family emergency.

“What did she want?”

“She had a bill to present, one that would raise regulations on pharmaceutical companies. Touching anything of hers thought would be political suicide. The woman has more scandals than a celebrity.”

“I’ve heard. She comes out of nowhere as the sole heir after the death of her father and you’re telling me she had nothing to do with it?”

“Don’t forget the relationship gossip, at first it looked like she was with Kim’s adoptive son but now she’s here with the one that was disinherited? Something just seems off about her.”

You thought that they cancelled out of fear of backlash from your attackers, but instead they banter their news of you as if it’s grade school gossip, this is unexpected. They don’t seem to care about the violence against you, just your reputation and they truly think the worst of it. You try your best to remain calm, confronting them or calling them out will just make the situation worse as it’s you that they dislike.

“I’ll have to figure out a way to cancel on her.”

Jimin gets up from his seat. You grip his arm attempting to hold on knowing, that he intends to interrupt their conversation. But he succeeds in breaking away,  and inserts himself through the crack in the door. “No need, Miss Park would like to thank you for following her personal life so closely, but I’m afraid she won’t have time to discuss those matters with you.”

Jimin returns back to you, not even slowing his brisk step for a second as he pulls you from the bench. He doesn’t say another word, just leads you outside. Sending a message on his phone before helping you into the back seat of the car and following you in. With the tinted windows the facade can be dropped, your shoulders slump and you let out a shaky breath.  

“You shouldn’t have done that Jimin, I might have been able to change her mind.”

“No, you think I’m going to let you put up with that?”

“This was supposed to be my task. It was the one thing requested of me, and without this step the whole plan will fail. I don’t want to be the reason we fall short of our goal.”  The things that the assembly member accused you of are not your fault but at the same time you feel responsible for her opinion of you.

Jimin turns your face to him. “This is not on you. Those things they said, you know they’re not true. There was a miscalculation, someone's been perpetuating the lies. You didn’t let those at the accords walk all over you. Treat these fools with the same force, they’re not so different really. They’ll bend with the right strength.”  

Jimin unlocks the doors seeing Jin make his way across the lot.

“I got your message to come out here but why? (Y/N) has a meeting with Rep. Wan in a few minutes.”

“Wan wished to cancel.” Jimin doesn’t explain anything further than that but as Jin glances over to you. You know that he can tell something else must have happened, but thankfully he lets it go. “Good that saves us the bother. I just spoke to RM if they won’t give you the time of day we’ll have to find another way.” He reaches his hand out to Jimin. “Give me the keys I’ll drive.”

...

When you arrive back at the manor you spot Monsta X’s van out front, giving you the slight hope that you can sit in on the rest of their meeting. But once you get inside you see J-Hope storming of out of the sitting room quickly followed by Namjoon. The door is left open allowing you to see several stunned faces inside.

“Hope don’t run off, we need to discuss this as a possibility.”

“What’s the point? You’ve clearly made up your mind, otherwise you wouldn’t have brought it up. I won’t do it RM, I won’t be responsible for giving him anything.”

J-Hope escapes down the corridor leading to the gym, while Namjoon is left speechless. Wonho slowly exits the sitting room to edge his way towards you. “What happened?” you mutter to him and soon as he’s within earshot.

“I don’t know RM had just gotten off the phone with Jin, so we were discussing alternate contact points. Looking for those who could be bought that hadn’t already sided with Kim. RM brought up a man by the name of Cha and J-Hope just lost it. Is he always this on edge?”

Jin cuts in, “No he’s usually the one that stops the fights. If you were discussing Cha though...” Jin pushes your lower back forward, “You should go talk to him, it’s not good for him to be alone when he’s like this.”

“But I don’t even know what’s going on.”

“That might be for the best, he won’t get mad if you bring it up.”  

“Coward,” You scoff at him.

“Damn right,” Jin laughs back at you.

You quickly change before entering the matted room finding J-Hope laying into a punching bag with his forceful blows.

“You shouldn’t take our anger out on something that can’t hit back.” You muse, he persists despite your entrance.

“Fine, go find for me RM then.”

“As much as I’d like to see that, I could use the practice.”

“I’m not in the mood to train you right now.”

“Then don’t, fight me instead. Either we fight or we talk it’s your choice.”

“Fire your not far enough in...”

“No, don’t tell me I’m not good enough to even be your punching bag Hope. I’ve had a hell of a day and I need to hit something too.”

“I’m not going to hold back.”

“Good.”

He takes up position opposite you, waiting for you to make the first move. You approach looking for any sign of weakness in his form that you might use to your advantage. He’s left side appears to be open, his back foot half a step too far forward.

As you reach to hit your intended mark he shifts back swiftly, his right arm makes contact, pushing you back mid lunge and sending you to the ground.

You jump up and ready yourself again. He sends you to the floor ten more times. His hits aren’t hard but manipulating you in a way that throws you down letting the floor do most of the work in exhausting you. It seems to be working, he’s barely out of breath and you’re already feeling the bruises.

You’ve been trying to avoid his attacks but that only seems to throw off your balance making it easier for him to knock you over.

This time instead of taking the opening you move to his dominant side. His eyes widen for a fraction of a second as you absorb the hit rather than flinch away. You get the chance land your own punch on his flexed core, but he barely even budges. A quick kick to your legs your down again.

“Better. You need to stop being so impulsive. If your enemy is more skilled they can feint a weakness to draw you in. If it’s too obvious it might be intentional.

You grin back at him, “What happened to not being in the mood for training?”

“You looked too pathetic on the ground.” He scolds, “How could I not take pity on you?”

You glare back at him. “Again,” You order jumping back up.

This time he makes the first move. The onslaught of his attacks is rapid, you can barely keep up. Now that you’ve caught on to his trick he’s changed his style again. You begin to reach the point of exhaustion, but you continue to persist seeing that he too is fading.  Every time you get up after taking a hit you see a pained look on his face.

“Fuck, will you just stay down?” He pleads.

“I’ll make you a deal. When you’re ready to tell me what happened I’ll stay down.”

With a flinal sweep of his leg and a shove to your shoulders you land pinned beneath him. His breathing is heavy with sweat dripping down his face.

“I really don’t want to fight you anymore.”

“Then tell me who Cha is.”

He slides down a little before collapsing onto you completely his head now resting on your stomach. “No and good luck getting up this time.”

You laugh at his attempt subdue you. His playfulness doesn’t last long, as he soon goes quiet again. His arms encase your waist pulling you closer, “Please,” he whispers. “Just another minute. Can you let me have this?”

After the night of his nightmare you’ve come to the understanding of how much J-Hope needs the comfort of physical contact to help relax when it comes to his fear. The process of soothing his anger appears to be no different. Giving him that moment of silence, allowing him to rest before you try again. You run your hands through his hair playing with the strands between your fingers. The minutes pass, the lull stretches and he continues to clutch you. You find the embrace comforting, but you worry when you see no change in him.

“I don’t like seeing you like this. If there’s something wrong with RM’s plan I won’t be able to help fix it unless you tell me.” You confide to him softly.

J-Hope lets out a groan of defeat, “You’re too stubborn you know that?” He gives you sigh before caving fully to you request, “Cha is the reason I had to join BTS. I met him when I still went by Jung Hoseok.”

“Wait I know that name. My father, he went to a big sponsored fight featuring you... but I thought you were a street fighter.”

J-Hope nods against you, “I was. Cha was my sponsor, he took me on and brought me up to the competitive level. On one of the biggest fight nights the odds were heavily in my favour, 4 to 1 in fact. You don’t generally see a match that skewed. That night was when Cha asked me to take a fall. He couldn’t bet against me, but his friends could and he had a nice cut negotiated. So he told me to go down in the second round.”

“I had made it all the way there and he expected me to intentionally lose.” You notice his tone shift, becoming more dark as he relives his thoughts in that moment. “He didn’t care that it might ruin my standing. I wanted no part of it. I knocked my opponent out in the first round, and then I ran. My career was over either way, but I wanted to end it on my terms. Not because of his money, not because of his power, it was my talent that brought me to that stage.”

“They came looking for me. I had lost his partners a lot of money and they expected retribution. I had to keep moving, every night I had to sleep in another bed. One evening I was staying at an old friends house who had gone away on vacation.”

J-Hope looks up to you with his chin hovering as he makes eye contact again. “That was when your father found me. I remember seeing him standing alone in front of the door, determined and without fear. He explained that the rest of his men were taking care of some unwanted visitors that had caught up with me. He had seen my fight and one of his members had informed him that I had shown up on several hit lists.”

“He offered me protection, a home, and revenge. I declined at first, I told him that I had no  interest in dealing with his kind any more. That I didn’t think that wealth should come with power over others. To my surprise he agreed, but he also explained that sometimes you need someone on the inside to help break the cycle.”

“I take it you haven’t had your chance at revenge yet?”

J-Hope shakes his head “Shortly after I joined Cha ran for a seat in the assembly and he fucking won. Now RM wants to pay him to take on this bill. I won’t do it. I’m sorry Fire but I’ll leave before that happens.”

You nod in agreement trying to figure a way out of the dilemma. J-Hope lowers his head once again, never letting up from his hold on you but his breathing has slowed and he feels significantly calmer.   

“What if we don’t pay him, what if we threaten to pay his opposition?”

“The election isn’t until next year, we want to get this bill passed sooner.”

“But he doesn’t know that.”

...

Namjoon isn’t too thrilled with the plan. You join the meeting after you and J-Hope discuss the details.

“I’ve been watching his pattern for a while,” J-Hope explains. “Once a month he goes to the casino alone sitting at a table that’s always reserved just for him, his usual date is three days from now. This will be our best chance.”

“VIXX just sent word of a shipment to for GOT7 that’s moving the same night. We and several others plan to interfere with the delivery, we won’t be able to support you.”

“All I need is Hope, and a minute of JK’s time. Do you think you can at least spare that?”

Hyungwon makes his opinion known, “Isn’t he the one who left you alone at the foundation?”

“Yes, and I kick myself for that everyday since now we have to put up with you lot.” J-Hope bites back.

“Enough,” you call them to silence. “We all know that’s not going to happen again. RM can you give me that?”

“It’s not that I can’t spare them, it’s that I think you’ll need more.”

“We don’t have anymore time, thanks to Henry they’ve known for a while that we’re buying his stock. They’re probably trying to secure their investors so they don’t sell. The longer we wait the more difficult it will become. I just need to meet with him, preferably in a public setting, where I can show that I will out bid him if necessary.”

“Jooheon and I.M can do a quick sweep of the area beforehand,” Shownu offers. “We won’t need them until later.”

Namjoon slowly yields, looking you in the eye as he gives the final orders. “Use one of the executive suites as a base and pay enough that they allow anonymity. You will not engage until we’re sure that the whole hotel is clear. Thirty minutes, that’s all, and then I want you out regardless if you have him on the hook or not. ”   

...

Not wanting to draw attention to yourselves you and J-Hope decided you would both change at the hotel. Jin had booked an upper floor suite. With its own hidden entrance outback and private elevator, it will also grant you access to the high-roller tables.

You step into the bathroom to change, but the outfit you had thrown in your bag had been replaced, pinned to the new dress is a note.

...You can thank me later. -V...

You hold up the short black dress. The long sleeves with a boat neckline are nice, but the hugging material and length were not what you had in mind. After putting it on you groan in despair, you wanted to appear intimidating not uncomfortable.

“Everything okay?”

You open the door slowly trying to pull the hem of your dress lower, handing the note to J-Hope.

“This is not what I packed...”

He laughs, “I’m sorry I saw him hanging around your stuff earlier. I didn’t think he’d do this though.”

He turns you to the mirror and stands behind you in a sleek navy suit, his hands on your shoulders. “You look great, I know you had something else in mind but this dress will allow you to blend in easier.”

“Nothing I can do about it now I guess.”

Hope checks his phone, “Cha’s just arrived, still need the all clear though.”

He slumps down in a seat next to the mirror. “Never thought that I would willingly meet this man again.”

“Don’t think of it like that, we are not meeting him as an equal, this isn’t a friendly chat. We are going to use him for what he is, a pawn. That’s all he will ever amount to, he won’t be an ally he’ll be a tool.”

J-Hope nods, taking your hand he places a kiss on the tips of your fingers and another on the exact spot where your father’s ring should sit. At first you wonder if it’s a coincidence, but before his lips part you skin he looks to you with resolve.

He’s phone vibrates again giving you the cue to leave. “Thank you,” He smirks up at you, “I suppose we should get this over with then.”

Taking your personal elevator down to the casino floor you head straight to the exclusive room off to the side.

Much to your dismay, V had been right to make the switch. Every guest is looking for a break from reality, they’re here to relax and let their hair down. The other dress would have appeared too stuffy to deem natural in this setting.

Cha is found over at his table in the corner. J-Hope hangs back as you approach.

“May I?” You gesture to the chair next to him.

“Miss Park... please do, I must say that I’m a little surprised to see you here.”    

You find yourself on guard by the fact that Cha had recognized you instantly. You take your seat as the dealer plays you in.

“Since you already know who I am and I you. I’ll cut straight to the chase shall I?”

“I would prefer if you did, I don’t enjoy being distracted while I have money on the line.”

“No I’m sure you don’t, not while the odds are even.” You smile at the 21 you attained from your dealt hand.

“Excuse me?”

“My friend over there.” You nod to J-Hope waiting in the wings. “He tells me that you have a weakness for gambling. So much so, that sometimes you need to spin the outcome in your favour.”

The dealer looks at you for a split second hesitating before letting the next card loose. Almost as if in fear. No, you ponder, surely Cha wouldn’t be so stupid as to cheat here.

“If you’re here for an act of reprisal. I have to warn you I brought a few friends of my own.” He points to a couple bulky guards next to the closest exit.”

You can see J-Hope smirk after sizing them up, obviously finding them lacking.

“I’m not here for revenge, nor your poor skills in fixing. I want the influence of your seat.”

“Ah, this is about the bill you brought in the other day. What makes you think I’ll go against Kim?”

Finally, you rejoice, someone who has priorities that you could expect and work around. Cha manges to secure blackjack for a second time in a row, confirming your earlier suspicions. The first hand must have been to lure you in, whereas the rest will all likely fall flat in comparison to Cha’s cards. You give the dealer a kind smile. “I can see why Mr. Cha likes to come here you’re good. Tell me what’s your cut?” You pause to watch him freeze.

The dealer turns to Cha in a panic. “I’m sorry Sir, but I believe that there’s something that I must attend to. I’ll send another to take my place.”

Cha waves him off with an air of frustration.

“Money must be tight for you to risk it here of all places.”

“What can I say? Not all of us will inherit our massive amounts of wealth.”

And just like that you know you have him, he’s desperate. His foolish attempt to win has made this match so much easier for you. “Elections are difficult to rig Mr. Cha, and it’s just over a year until the next cycle. But the more campaign funds one has, the greater their chance of being elected, wouldn’t you say?”

“Are you implying that you wish to make a contribution to my campaign?”

“No, I’m say that I’ll fund your opponent. The biggest difference between you and me is that you need schemes and titles to keep your financials afloat. If you lose that’s it, but if I lose there’s nothing to stop me from cashing in another player. I will play this game for as long as I have to, until I get what I need, or you lose.”

Cha suddenly bursts out in laughter. “I like you Park, very straightforward.” He leans in closer to your seat. Hope seeing this moves in as well. “There’s a reason I haven’t been bought by Kim yet. He likes to keep his alleys in his collection. Now I don’t like to be owned, but he’s been pressing my hand recently to make a choice. I can’t sit on the fence much longer. I’ll take your bill, between you and him, you seem like a more candid choice.”

“You’ll get the 10 signatures required?”

“Consider it done, but I won't guarantee it will get passed.” He pulls out a black envelope similar to the one you had seen Jin with a few days ago. “I’m assuming you received one of these?”

Not wishing to appear in the dark you feed back a limited amount of information. “One of my associates did, yes.”

He hands the envelop over to you. “You should take mine as well, I think you’ll find the difference between our invitations very informative as to what you’re up against.”   

...

POV J-Hope

I try to keep my expression neutral while we retreat, I manage to hold it until the elevator door closes, but once they shut I can barely contain my laughter and smile. I hold your face between my hands as you mirror my grin. “Thank you. I don’t think I’ll ever see anything as enjoyable as what I just witnessed.” It wasn’t just seeing Cha losing at his own game, but seeing you take charge of the situation.    

“I’m sure JK could make a tape for you.” You quip back, still boasting your wide smile.

I slowly move in closer, leaning in to you until your back touches the elevator wall.  “It wouldn’t be as good as watching the real thing.” It wouldn’t catch my favourite parts, your subtle movements, the glint in your eyes, the small twitch at the corner of your mouth, the way your fingers rub your pendant. The last habit being a small nervous tick of yours that I don’t think that you are even aware of. It’s something that I’ve come to notice but keep to myself, using it as my way to read you. Even now as I look at you your index and thumb press on the delicate metal.  Does it make you nervous when I hold you like this? Is your heart beating as quickly as mine?

I never thought anyone could make me as happy as you have done tonight. You’re making it too easy to fall, I know I’m not the only one who adores you, but at this point I don’t care. I just need you to understand what you mean to me. The elevator door opens but I remain still.

“Hope?”

Your lips barely finish speaking my name before I take them as mine. Despite my sudden approach they feel so soft. You slowly relax closing your eyes and indulging me as I tilt your head up further. Your hand drops from your pendant, coming to rest against the lapels of my jacket. I too close my eyes and find the effect overwhelming. The warmth of you in my hands and on my lips is intoxicating, as if a flame is licking at my skin.  I part my mouth, my desire requesting to dive in further, you allow my tongue to glide inside.

You are that sip of whiskey, the honeyed liquid that burns so well at the back of my throat. You’re taste is far too sweet, pulling me down to take more and more. Leaving me drunk, with my eyelids heavy and unwilling to open. You turn away for a quick breath but I only give you a fraction of a second to rest. I know if we linger both of us will begin to focus the pain that brought us here. I have no wish to come to my senses, all I want is to think about you and how your body feels against mine.

I need to distract you from those you who might shift your thoughts away. I’ve seen Jin treat you as a child, Namjoon push you aside, and Suga fail to admit his feelings for you. I know I can do better by you, your hold on me is already so tight that I could never run away. Even if this is just a moment of weakness for you, even if it’s only for now, kiss me, it’s okay if it hurts.

I pull you from the elevator tying you with my grip, making it as far as the couch before the phone in my jacket begins to ring. I ignore it and continue to attend to you.

“Hope?’

“Mmm,” I respond with a hum to your ear.

“You should answer it.”

“It’s just V don’t worry about it.” The weight of my body presses you into the cushions.

“J-Hope.” You push back against me with the palm of your hands.

“Fine.”

I answer my cell reluctantly, but before I can even say hello V throws a question a me.

“Which elevator leads to your room, and what’s the code?”

“Wait, why?”

In the background I can hear Jin speaking frantically. “JK keep pressure on it. Jimin come on, stay with me.”

“We don't have time, just tell me Hope!”

...

A/N: Once again I would like to thank Blood Sweat and Tears for the inspiration in J-Hopes POV. I swear that that song just keeps giving and giving. Hope you enjoyed it and sorry for the cliffhanger.

[gosecretscribbles]

MonthofMaybel2019 Week 4: Mabel’s Guide to Cryptid Families!

So I’ve never done this before, but I wrote it out like a transcript for an actual TV show.  Was kind of a fun experience?  (although formatting this thing was a nightmare and I couldn’t even copy over most of the formatting here @,@) Anyway I hope you like it!

Also these fics for the month of maybel are linked; it would help to read the one for week 2 about Anansi, but long story short, he’s a spider-person who wants to weave from a society where everybody’s a warrior.  He was an outcast, but helping his people win a series of contests against the Mantises meant that he’s not completely shunned anymore. 

Okay.  *Now* enjoy! INT. DIPPER AND MABEL'S ROOM – DAY

MABEL WEARS A HAND-KNITTED PINK SWEATER WITH FOUR HEARTS ON THE FRONT, EACH WITHIN ANOTHER.  MABEL STANDS IN FRONT OF A WALL PAPERED WITH BOY BANDZ POSTERS, PIG PICTURES, AND POSTERS FROM ANTARCTICA.  THE CORNER OF A MESSY DRESSER IS ON HER RIGHT, THE EDGE OF A WINDOW ON HER LEFT. 

MABEL Families come in many shapes and sizes, sometimes as small as Nana and Liro in Liro and Pugface, sometimes so big you have second-cousins you didn't even know about until you got your inheritance! 

Today we're going to take a closer look at some particularly unusual families – CRYPTIDS!!!

SWISH PAN – WINDOW ON MABEL'S LEFT

ANANSI STANDS ON THE WINDOWSILL FACING THE CAMERA.  THE BACKYARD IS VISIBLE THROUGH THE WINDOW.   A TERMITE MOUND STRUCTURE RISES IN THE FAR CORNER OF THE YARD, TEEMING WITH SPIDER-PEOPLE.

MABEL Please welcome our first guest, a seriously cute member of the Spider-People living in our backyard!  And ladies, he's single!

ANANSI (looking nervously at camera) Are you sure that's not an insect?  It has a very large black eye.

MABEL So, Anansi!  Tell us about your brother!

ANANSI (brightening) Oh! He's one of my people's finest warriors.  He can lift over a hundred times his own weight, run for hours without getting tired, and adjust his strategy in the middle of a battle.  Even after his legs were injured in the Challenge, many young warriors were seeking him out as a trainer – I could see him teaching them from here. 

MABEL What did you guys like to do together?

ANANSI Sparring, mostly!  Not that I was ever any good, but he was very patient and kept encouraging me to try again no matter how many times I fell down.  And I fell down a lot.  He always said that every warrior mattered.  But, well...I'm clearly never going to be a warrior now, with the Weaving, so I don't know, but he might be – oh!

SWISH PAN – WINDOW ON WALL TO RIGHT

A SLIGHTLY LARGER SPIDER-PERSON IS CLIMBING OVER THE SILL OF THE WINDOW.  HALFWAY UP HIS BODY TENSES THE MOMENT HE NOTICES THE CAMERA.

BROTHER An enemy insect!  Hya!

BROTHER HURLS A SLIM OBJECT STRAIGHT AT THE CAMERA LENS.  THE BEGINNING OF MABEL'S SHRIEK IS HEARD AS WHAT IS CLEARLY A SPEAR STRIKES THE LENS.

STATIC

CUT TO FIRST WINDOW

ANANSI AND BROTHER STAND ON THE FIRST WINDOW SILL, MOUND STILL IN THE BACKGROUND.  ANANSI IS ON THE LEFT AND BROTHER IS ON THE RIGHT.  THEY STAND SEVERAL INCHES APART, BOTH SQUARELY FACING THE CAMERA.  THERE IS A SLIGHT CRACK IN THE UPPER LEFT CORNER OF THE LENS.  ANANSI'S ARMS ARE PULLED IN AND HE FIDGETS SLIGHTLY, CLEARLY NERVOUS.  HIS EYES MEET THE CAMERA BUT KEEP FLICKERING AWAY.  BROTHER'S ARMS ARE RELAXED, YET HIS POSTURE CONVEYS PREDATORY STRENGTH AND GRACE.  HIS GAZE IS STEADY.

BROTHER Are you sure that is not an insect?

MABEL Anansi was just telling us about how you two spent time together!  Do you have any embarrassing spiderbro stories to share with us?

BROTHER (stoically) My brother is not an embarrassment.  His Weaving allowed us to win back a large portion of our land from the conniving Mantises.  Word of his deed has already been sent out to the rest of our people.  He will teach a new generation of Weavers and spearhead our victory in reclaiming our ancestral lands. I believe he is a greatly valued and talented Weaver.

MABEL (squeals) AWWWWWW! Anansi is there anything you want to say?!

ANANSI (mumbling) Th-thank you.

BROTHER (grunts)

ANANSI'S FACE IS BRIGHT RED AND HE STARES DOWN AND TO THE SIDE, EQUALLY STUNNED, EMBARRASSED, AND TOUCHED.  BROTHER IS STOIC, STILL SQUARELY FACING THE CAMERA.  THE TWO STAND SILENTLY FOR SEVERAL SECONDS. SLOWLY BROTHER'S RIGHT ARM STARTS TO RISE.  A SPEAR COMES INTO VIEW.

MABEL Wai–

STATIC

EXT. ROOF OF SHACK – DAY

SOOS'S FACE FILLS THE SCREEN, SMILING HAPPILY AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF REDWOOD TREETOPS AND BRIGHT BLUE SKY.  SOOS'S FACE IS TOO CLOSE AND HIS ARMS ARE EXTENDED; HE IS HOLDING THE CAMERA.  STRANGE CHIRPING NOISES COME FROM OFF SCREEN ON THE LEFT.  

MABEL Our second guest comes to us from a certain roof in Gravity Falls, Oregon.  Please welcome – Soos!

SOOS Hi, Mr. Pineses!  Can I give shoutouts?  Is that allowed?  

MABEL Absolutely! Can you tell us about the new addition to your family?

SOOS Oh, sure!

CAMERA SWINGS ERRATICALLY AND STOPS ON A MASSIVE NEST SITTING ON THE ROOF. IN THE CENTER OF THE NEST IS A YOUNG PTERODACTYL THE SIZE OF A SEMI TRUCK, CURLED UP AND FAST ASLEEP.

SOOS Tada! We named him Kitten because he chases that little red laser around just like a quarter-ton kitten.  Aw, look –

ZOOM IN, FOCUS BLURS, THEN CLEARS ON A CLOSE-UP OF KITTEN'S FACE.  ITS FRONT CLAWS SCRABBLE LIGHTLY AGAINST THE NEST.  ITS UPPER LIP IS TWITCHING, REVEALING SHARP WHITE TEETH GLISTENING WITH SALIVA, AND ITS EYELIDS OPEN SLIGHTLY TO REVEAL GROTESQUELY ROLLING EYES.   

SOOS (Abnormally Loud Stage Whisper) He's dreaming!

MABEL (Abnormally Loud Stage Whisper) How did he end up on the roof?

SOOSOh –

SWISH PAN ERRATICALLY BACK TO CLOSE-UP OF SOOS

SOOS So we think he was learning to fly and crash-landed on the lawn.  I got him to hold still long enough to fix his wing, and then we bonded over a housewarming barbeque, and by the time his mom showed up we were basically like brothers!  So he sleeps here during the day while his mom hunts and then they go home to the dino mines at night.  At least until his wing heals up.

MELODY (Off Screen) Soos! Don't forget to wake up Kitten for his three o' clock snack.  And no more gingerbread men!  We don't want him getting ideas about the tourists!

SOOS You got it, honey!

LOUD SCREECHING FROM OFF SCREEN

SOOS(grinning)Uh-oh! Sounds like someone heard the word 'snack'!  He's so smart.

PAN TO KITTEN, WHO IS CRAWLING AWKWARDLY BUT RAPIDLY OUT OF HIS NEST.

KITTEN SCREECHES AND BITS OFF THE TOP HALF OF THE CHIMNEY.

SOOS Whoops! Those can't be good for his teeth.  Put it down, Kitten, go on...

KITTEN (Chirps without letting go of chimney)

MABEL He's like a puppy!  ...A really scaly one.

SOOS Doooown...

KITTEN PAUSES.

KITTEN DROPS CHIMNEY.

CHIMNEY CRASHES THROUGH ROOF.

SOOS Good boy, Kitten!

CAMERA ANGLES DOWN TO A MASSIVE PILE OF TURKEY LEGS AT SOOS'S FEET.  HIS ARM ENTERS THE SCREEN'S FIELD OF VISION.  HE GRABS A CHICKEN LEG AND THROWS IT AT KITTEN WITH A GRUNT.  KITTEN'S HEAD SHOOTS OUT TEN FEET AND HE SNAPS IT UP IN ON GULP.  KITTEN CHIRPS FOR MORE, THEN SNEEZES SO HARD IT BLOWS THE REST OF THE CHIMNEY AWAY.

ABUELITA (Distant, rapid Spanish)

MELODY Soos!

SOOS I can fix it!

CUT TO INT. DIPPER AND MABEL'S BEDROOM – DAY MABEL IS NOW SITTING ON A ROLLING CHAIR AT A DESK.  A CORKBOARD OVER THE DESK IS COVERED IN NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS, MORE POSTCARDS, POST-IT NOTES, AND STRINGS OF RED YARN.  

MABEL (Squeezing her cheeks) Aw, that was adorable!  Guess I can't say Dipper sneezes like a 'Kitten' anymore!  HEY-OOOO!  

MABEL STANDS AND MOVES SLIGHTLY TO HER RIGHT, THE CAMERA FOLLOWING HER MOVEMENT.

MABEL And now for the final portion of the episode, please welcome Grunkle Ford, and his extensive knowledge of all things ocean and occult!

A LAPTOP RESTS ON THE DESK.  THE SCREEN IS FILLED WITH GREAT-UNCLE FORD'S FACE.  THE SLIVERS OF BACKGROUND ON EITHER SIDE SHOW BOAT RAILINGS AGAINST AN AZURE SEA AND SLIGHTLY CLOUDY SKY.  A SMALL DARK THREAD OF LAND TRACES THE HORIZON.  FORD IS WEARING A LIFE JACKET OVER A RED TURTLENECK AND LOOKS SLIGHTLY SUNBURNED, SMILING DIRECTLY AT THE CAMERA.

FORD Greetings, future scientists!

MABEL Grunkle Ford, what can you tell us about the supernatural families you've found in the Arctic Circle? 

FORD Actually most of the cryptids we've discovered on the ocean are solitary by virtue of their size alone.  A giant squid, for example, typically requires a hunting ground of one to two thousand square miles of open ocean just to sate its voracious appetite.  It's quite rare for them to engage in anything we might call “socializing.”

STAN (Off Screen) Oi!

STAN ENTERS FROM THE LEFT, BENDING OVER TO SQUINT AT THE SCREEN.  FORD LEANS BACK SLIGHTLY, ANNOYED.

STAN Did I hear that right?  Is my irredeemable nerdbro actually talking about socializing?

FORD It's science, Stanley!

STAN Whatever, this I gotta see.

MABEL We're doing a segment on cryptid families!  Got anything to add?

STAN You tell 'em about the ghosts yet?

FORD (Looking uncomfortable) Not yet, but –

MABEL (excitedly) I wanna hear!  GHOST, GHOST, GHOST, GHOST –

LOUD BANGING SOUNDS FROM OFF SCREEN.  AFTER A CRASH, AN ELBOW AND A PARTIAL VIEW OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE APPEARS ON THE SCREEN.

DIPPER I'm here where's the ghost?!

FORD(annoyed)Stan claims to have seen two of them on our visit to Vik i Myrdal.

DIPPER (confused) Huh? Vik what?

FORD A beach on the coast of Iceland, famous for its basaltic sand.  We were visiting primarily to study the petrified troll bodies just off the shore –

STAN Yeah yeah with the weird rocks, Ford was doing his science doodles or whatever, but that wasn't the important part.  See, there was this massive cave in the cliffs that looked exactly like the place a pirate would hide his treasure –

FORD Not at high tide!

DIPPER What happened?

STAN Uh, turns out the waves around there get really bad.

FORD As in twenty feet high. I turned around, there was no Stan in sight, and cave was already half-flooded with water.  Luckily one of us followed the rule about wearing our scuba gear under our clothes.  I immediately dropped my equipment and dove in after him. I found him pinned under a pile of rocks several dozen meters into the cave.

MABEL Whoa, are you okay?

STAN (smirking) Fine, I'm not the one who got knocked out.

FORD You shoved me!

STAN The water shoved you!  Accidentally!  To keep falling rocks from hitting you!

DIPPER But what about the ghosts?

STAN So we're stuck in the cave, right, and I'm trying to hold my breath, swim, and drag Sixer with me all at the same time, and the water's smashing us around so much Ford's underwater flashlight cracks and I'm thinking the next light I'm gonna see is the pearly gates.  And then I do see a light, and I swim toward it thinking it's gotta be daylight, but it's not getting any closer and all this fat was not helping me float.  And then a second light shows up and takes Sixer's other arm and practically drags us outta there, and next thing you know we were back on the beach, and I look back just in time to see an outline of this guy and his wife watching us from the middle of the air next to the cave.  

MABEL Wow, they stuck together and not even death could part them.  That is so romantic!  

STAN Sure. Woulda grabbed a photo but there was a little matter of Sixer not breathin' at the time.

FORD You should have taken the picture!  Thanks to the rocks falling, the end of the tunnel was completely blocked, and I was almost sure I saw fossilized cryptid bones inside.  Now we don't have anything at all to prove supernatural activity occurred in the cave!

STAN The words you want are 'Thank you, Stanley, you're the best brother ever.'

FORD Of course you are, that's not the point!

STAN What? Wait –

DIPPER Why were there ghosts there in the first place?

FORD I didn't know enough of the local language to inquire, but I suspect it may have something to do with the cryptid bones I glimpsed.  I suspect the couple's death was somehow caused by the cryptid, but Stan's account suggests that they're poltergeists, and poltergeists generally don't die violent deaths.

DIPPER What if the couple was keeping it as a pet?  Or maybe they could turn into the cryptid, like selkies?  The ghosts Stan saw might just have been their human versions!

FORD Brilliant hypothesis, Dipper!  Perhaps I was merely asking the wrong questions! Stan, quick, turn the boat around!

STAN No way, no, you literally died in that cave –

FORD Not permanently!  Besides, you'd have my back!

STAN That is so below the belt!

DIPPER Stan, are you crying?

STAN I got sea salt in my eye!

CAMERA PANS TO A CLOSE-UP OF MABEL, WHO IS LOOKING TO THE SIDE, BACK TOWARD THE COMPUTER SCREEN.  THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES IN THE BACKGROUND.  

MABEL We'll leave them to their nerdery.   (Looks directly at camera.)   Families don't have to be related, and they don't even have to be the same species.  What's important is that you show how much you care for each other, and spend time doing the same things, like getting thrown in a county jail or treating flamingopher bites.

BOTH STANS (Off Screen) That was ONE TIME!

MABELYour family might include close friends, dogs, pet rocks, or that one crow who brings you shiny pennies and half-eaten lollipops.  Whatever your family, take a minute today to let them know how much they matter. Thanks for watching Mabel's Guide to Cryptid Families.  See you next time! A/N: To my friends on Deep Woods, and a good friend on tumblr...thank you ^u^

[flauntpage]

Get Excited! – Ten Takeaways from Eagles 28, Redskins 13

Yay!

The Eagles defeated Mark Sanchez at Lincoln Financial Field.

It’s a huge win for the Birds, who have now beaten:

Matt Ryan at home

a rusty Andrew Luck at home

Blake Bortles on a neutral field

Eli Manning at home

Eli Manning on the road

and Mark Sanchez at home

Talk about murderer’s row.

We should all be jumping for joy after running through that gauntlet. It’s a super impressive Eagles’ resume, featuring thrilling victories over the 6-6 Colts, the 4-8 Falcons, the 4-8 Jaguars, the 4-8 Giants, and now a lame duck Washington team on their third string quarterback.

I’ll be honest with you; I really struggled to find any inspiration to write about this game. I did the sardonic angle last week, so I didn’t want to repeat that again this week, but I just don’t know how else to approach the Eagles right now. They’re a banged-up 6-6 football team that just beat a couple of loser squads at home. They took care of business, as they should have.

The bright side, I suppose, is that they’ve given themselves another chance. It wasn’t long ago that they had a crack at Dallas while sitting at 4-4, a game they choked away on their home field. So you claw your way back to .500 and get another shot at the Cowboys, who have won four games in a row but ain’t exactly the 1985 Chicago Bears. Stranger things have happened in the NFL, and if the Eagles knock off Dallas at Jerry World, then they pull level with the Cowboys at 7-6 and things at least become interesting heading into week 15.

But what then? They’ll certainly get squashed by the Rams to fall to 7-7 before coming home for a tough game against the 9-3 Texans. I don’t know if there’s a guaranteed win on the schedule until the season finale in Washington.

I see a lot of Eagles fans on Twitter this morning bending over backwards to convince themselves that this team is somehow gonna go on a miraculous run and rip off a few more victories and win the division at 9-7 and slide into the playoffs. What would make you believe that? Because they beat the Giants and the Redskins at home?

I just don’t see it. If you want to reprise the underdogs theme from last year and play the disrespect card and talk about what can happen on “any given Sunday,” knock yourself out, but my eyes and my brain are telling me that is a .500 football team and nothing more.

1) Opening drives

Really nice drives to start not just the first half, but the second half as well.

This was the first time the Eagles scored on the opening drive since the first Giants game way back in week six, and they did it with this play selection:

pass/run/run/pass/pass/pass/run/run/run/run/run/pass

Five straight runs on that drive, finished off by a Carson Wentz scramble and step-up to pick out Golden Tate in the corner of the end zone for his first Eagles touchdown.

In the second half, it went something like this:

pass/run/pass/pass/run/pass/pass/pass

Wentz threw the interception at the goal line to end that drive, but everything looked pretty up until that point. He hit three different receivers and the Eagles worked both Corey Clement and Josh Adams into the possession.

Some good stuff there, and maybe that assuages some concerns about Doug’s inability to script the opening drive this season. The Eagles put up 436 yards of total offense Monday night, and if it wasn’t for two blown red zone trips, they could have easily scored 40.

2) Carson Wentz

The interception was a big blemish an otherwise solid night for Carson.

He made plays with his feet. He got outside of the pocket. He looked more like the Carson Wentz we saw last season, who was able to extend plays and move around a bit and allow his receivers to reroute back to him.

Carson finished 27-39 for 306 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. His timing seemed to be off on a couple of his throws, but I found this to be the biggest positive from his performance:

Carson Wentz went 6-7 and threw for a career-high 100 yards on passes outside the pocket on Monday.

All of those passes came off play-action. Wentz also set a career-high with 163 play-action passing yards. pic.twitter.com/rG0lDBrzhX

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 4, 2018

Yep.

Here’s what he said about that:

“Play-action, boots and nakeds and stuff are something that we always thought kind of our bread and butter, especially on first and second down. Getting the run game going, really opens up those things. Gets me on the edge, gets me a chance to make some plays, and gets some guys down the field and underneath to make some plays down the field. So yes, I think we used it effectively tonight.”

Doug Pederson said that they game-planned to have Carson under center more in this game, so that’s something to look for when we go back and watch the film. They have been primarily a shotgun team dating back to 2016.

3) Runs and screens

The Eagles ran the ball 29 times with Adams, Clement, and Darren Sproles. Wentz finished with 4 rushing attempts in the box score, so the split ended up being 44 to 29 in terms of pass/run. That’s 60/40 on the dot, which is right around where most NFL teams are going to fall.

Adams carried the ball 20 times for 85 yards and Clement had 5 for 27. Sproles went 4 for 22 with the nice touchdown run.

I didn’t see anything super special from Adams or Clement last night, but I thought Corey had a couple of really solid screen plays on the night that essentially functioned as an extension of the run game. On the third touchdown drive specifically, there was a big 23 yard gain that took the Eagles from their own 33 yard line to the Washington 44:

Lovely play, and a really nice design.

I honestly thought this was one of their best-executed plays last night.

They motion a receiver over to the left before sending all three on misdirection routes, which clears out the near side of the field and allows the offensive linemen to rumble downfield:

Clear ’em out, bit of play action, screen left and let the linemen do their thing for a 23 yard gain.

Speaking of which:

4) Put this on the highlight reel

This isn’t really a takeaway, I just want to highlight the best block any Eagles player has laid this season.

Jason Kelce has put together a career’s worth of downfield blocking highlights, but the combination he ripped off last night was maybe one of the best two or three plays I’ve ever seen him make.

Watch this video clip over and over again:

.@DarrenSproles, officially back.#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/orwZLxSFXh

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 4, 2018

It’s one thing to take Mason Foster and drive him back 10 yards with one arm, but then he carries that into a crushing hit on Ha Ha Clinton-Dix that just puts the safety completely on his back.

Kelce on that sequence:

“It’s been one of our better plays during my tenure here. It’s a good play because it works to one of my strengths and gets me out in space. It also works to one of Darren’s strengths because it gets him out in space. We just caught them and got them in a good situation [for us]. I don’t think they were expecting it, and it was a big play.”

That’s a “football play” if I’ve ever seen one. Whenever Jason Kelce retires, or whenever somebody puts together that Youtube tribute video, this should be one of the first three or four plays on the reel.

5) Zach Ertz

Remember how Josina Anderson’s source felt like the Eagles were targeting Zach Ertz too much?

He again led the team, this time with 10 targets, but Golden Tate actually finished with a few more receiving yards. Carson targeted Tate, Nelson Agholor, and Alshon Jeffery 20 times, so, yeah, I guess it was a little lopsided, with Ertz earning 33% f the targets between those four players.

Whatever the case, Ertz is breaking records and on pace to break a few more. The Eagles PR staff pulled these notes and included them in their recap email:

Zach Ertz established a new single-season franchise record for receptions (currently 93), surpassing the previous mark of 90 set by Brian Westbrook in 2007.

Ertz’s 93 receptions are tied for the 13th-most by a TE in NFL history. He is only 7 receptions shy of becoming just the fourth TE in NFL history to reach 100 in a season, joining Jason Witten in 2012 (110), Tony Gonzalez in 2004 (102) and Dallas Clark in 2009 (100).

Ertz now has 978 receiving yards, which are the 2nd-most by a TE in single-season team history, trailing only Pete Retzlaff in 1965 (1,190).

Ertz surpassed Ozzie Newsome (4,569, 1978-83) for the 8th-most receiving yards by an NFL TE in their first six seasons (currently 4,642). He also moved past Fred Barnett (4,634, 1990-95) for the 11th-most receiving yards in Eagles history (5th-most by a TE).

I’ll give you one more:

Ertz has the most targets out of any tight end this season (121) and the sixth most targets among all NFL players. The only players to be targeted more are Antonio Brown, Adam Thielen, Julio Jones, Davante Adams, and OBJ.

He’s having a special season. No matter how mediocre the Eagles have been in some of these games, it seems like he’s just doing his thing, running the seam and catching everything thrown his way.

For what it’s worth, Ertz was asked about the ESPN report after the game, and said this:

On the ESPN report stating the problems with the offense are due to the fact that Ertz gets too many targets:

“I did hear of it, obviously. Obviously there are things that come out, playing in the NFL for six years, there are things that come out, sources all the time. I don’t feel like, I hope I’m not the problem, I don’t think I’m the problem. I’m just trying to be the best tight end I can be. I’ve said all along, it’s all about efficiency when it comes to targets and catches. I feel like we are efficient in that regard. I am just focusing on trying to put wins on the table, that’s the only thing I try and do. I don’t really focus on whether I get the ball or not. I’ve said it all along whether I get two catches or 10 catches, most important thing to me is winning football games. And I thoroughly believe each and every guy in that locker room feels the same way. There has never been a doubt of selfishness from anyone in that locker room. I don’t want to give it too much merit, just is what it is. Focused on the win tonight. I felt like everyone got the ball. It was a good team win and that’s what I’m focused on.”

On whether he addressed the report with the team or did he just not care for it:

“No, I didn’t care at all. I don’t think there was anything to address. I mean, it was an anonymous source, so if it was one of my teammates, I feel like, I mean I don’t have a motive by any means. I feel like I have a great relationship with all of my teammates. I can’t give too much credit to an anonymous source because I don’t know who it was.”

Pretty diplomatic answers there.

6) what happened here?

Mark Sanchez comes in the game.

The Redskins are back up inside their own 10.

You know they are going to hand the ball off to Adrian Peterson.

Yet this happens:

Adrian Peterson couldn’t get a job until August 20th. pic.twitter.com/c0feaP7BDo

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) December 4, 2018

Three things I think happened here:

it’s a power right for the Redskins, so they’ve got two extra blockers on that side of the formation and keep in a receiver to throw a block

it looks like Fletcher Cox is held as Peterson comes through the hole

Kamu Grugier-Hill can’t shed his block and a couple of guys miss their gaps

I tried to freeze it to show all three of these items:

Sidney Jones also misses a tackle there. It looked like Cre’Von LeBlanc was blitzing off the right side.

Here’s Malcolm Jenkins on the play:

“They caught us out of our gaps. It was just a big hole and AP hit it downhill and broke one tackle and showed that he still has those jets. It was just one of those ones where you just chalk it up and move on. Before that play, we were doing good against the run and afterwards we were able to bottle it down. They just caught us.”

And Peterson said this:

“As the play developed, I saw the rotation and the blitz coming off to the right side, and I knew I wanted to be patient and press it and see what presented itself. I kind of predetermined that it would be the cut-back or just straight ahead. For me, once I took my steps, it was about being patient and then seeing how it developed. [Redskins LT] Trent [Williams] and [Redskins LG Jonathan] Cooper, they did a great job backside sealing it off. I was just able to bounce around and once I broke free from the one tackle, it was lights out in my eyes.”

Yeah, it happens every so often. That’ll go into the film session this week at NovaCare.

7) winning in these categories

A weekly entry:

won time of possession, 39 to 21

0 turnover margin (each team with an interception)

7-13 on third down (53.8%)

0-1 on fourth down

allowed Redskins to go 2-10 on third down (20%)

lost 0 yards on 0 sacks

3 for 5 success rate in red zone

5 penalties for 38 yards

Strong marks across the board. The Redskins couldn’t do jack shit when Sanchez was asked to throw the ball, which is why that TOP number is so incredibly lopsided.

I think the biggest takeaway here is that the Birds allowed zero sacks for the first time in forever, and that’s partly on Carson with some smart scrambles to extend plays, but the line was excellent last night. The penalties were limited across the board and the offense did extremely well moving the sticks on third down. If they can do similar things next week, they really do have a chance to win in Dallas.

8) Doug’s best call?

The two point conversion to make it a two-score game early in the fourth quarter was an obvious analytical call, but smart nonetheless.

Otherwise, I think he did a nice job mixing and matching the run game with some screens, some play action, and some bread and butter passing plays as well. I really want to go back over the film and look at what Carson did under center.

9) Doug’s worst call?

I was not a fan of running Darren Sproles on third and four on the second drive, which resulted in a three and out.

The 4th down play call on the fourth drive, when Josh Adams was stuffed on a goal line – that was another pretty poor call.

That was a “duo” play, which, in most simple terms, features a pair of double team blocks and lets the running back sort of choose where to go. You want to get four legs on two legs at the line of scrimmage and push vertically.

It’s not a horrible concept; the Eagles just completely forgot to block a guy coming off the opposite side, so I don’t know who screwed up or what was the actually design there.

The only other thing that stood out to me didn’t actually involve Doug Pederson, but Jim Schwartz instead. In the first half they took a penalty to move Washington back to something like the 36 yard line and set up a 3rd and 30. Then Schwartz played his soft picket defense, the Eagles allowed a 10 yard gain, and Washington knocked in a 44 yard field goal.

If you’re going to sit there in zone and allow the underneath completion, why accept the penalty in the first place? You can pressure the QB and go for an incompletion, which turns a 44 yard attempt into a 54 yard attempt.

Shrug. I don’t get it. They need to take a look at the picket defense and change the parameters under which it’s deployed.

10) Monday night football crew

I want to give these guys a fair shake and I tried to give them a fair shake, but it’s just not a good broadcast.

First of all, it took us a total of three minutes to get a booing Santa Claus reference from Jason Witten, who still sounds clunky on the broadcast. He’s got a lot of great football knowledge, but I don’t feel like he’s applying it in the best way.

The producers should be keeping it simple with him:

“Jason, just tell me what you see on the field. Tell me what formation that is. Tell me what coverage the defense is playing.”

Things like that, you know? Tony Romo did a nice job with Xs and Os when he began broadcasting, I think the only thing that bothered fans with him was that he tried to be Nostradamus and predict what every play was going to be. Witten has a lot of good stuff locked away in his head, I just feel like it doesn’t come out in a fluid way, if that makes sense.

Beyond that, the second half discussion about Reuben Foster was horrifying and totally out of place. It felt forced and fake, like a public service announcement lacking any kind of sincerity.

First of all, they were talking about this topic in the middle of an interception return, which was ridiculous. Second, you can’t talk about domestic violence without a female voice, right? How can you have a meaningful discussion on domestic violence when the two voices are Booger McFarland and Jason Witten? Third, the placement was poor from a production standpoint. When you have a nuanced and delicate issue like that, you need at least five or six minutes in a proper setting to discuss it. Do it during halftime or before the game. That allows you to give it the requisite attention while not disrupting the game.

Finally, and this doesn’t have anything to do with ESPN, but what the hell was Howard Eskin wearing last night?

Yep. Golden Tate was right. He does look like a banana pudding

pic.twitter.com/ZK9iD7slfl

— Cindy Webster (@CindyWeb94) December 4, 2018

Time’s yours.

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[poetryandcinema2]

Hammersmith (2016) Written by: Sean O’Brien / Directed by : Kate Sweeney http://movingpoems.com/2016/07/hammersmith-by-sean-o-brien-excerpts/

The film poem I have chosen to explore is the is the creative immersive film of Hammersmith written by Sean O'Brien. The film is a short hand-drawn animation and as Charlie Baylis states it is only an excerpt from O'brien’s Poetry book Hammersmith that is comprised of two lengthier cantos (Baylis 2016). The film does an excellent job immersing you in the imaginative exploration of the dark streets of 1950’s London. Stated by British writer Owen Hatherley the Hammersmith that Obrien illustrated in this poem does not exist literally (even though it is a reallocation) but instead, are dark details from the imaginative memories of O'brien’s alter ego poet “Ryan” (Baylis 2016).  The fact that this poem is written by O'brien’s dark alter ego “Ryan” brings more context to the film presenting an explanation for the dark and imagery observed over the course of the film which was inspired by a prior film called “Night and the City ” by Jules Dessin (movingpoems 2016). Kate Sweeney who is the Filmmaker for this short poetic film also has her fair share of experience in this field of poetic filmmaking. She has worked on a variety of poetic works including ‘Vaccine" by poet Christy Ducker and “Bees” by poet Beverly Nadine. She is also currently conducting research in Newcastle on the connection of identity to rhythm and routine (Sweeney 2016). This expertise and interest are clearly illustrated in the by her ability to direct the dark noir vision of poet Sean O'Brien.

Without saying the visual style of the short film is noticeable right from the start. The film draws from the original source of the book Hammersmith that is comprised of black and white images of Hammersmith London taken by Sean O'Brien himself (yoseloff 2018). The film utilizes black and white images as well, but this time hand drawn and fading out when a new image is depicted by the poem. The film is also comprised of a voiceover narration of a dark spoken ominous voice clearly hinting at of the dark overarching themes and images that “Ryan” maybe trying to depict about time and the dark corners of London. Though these themes may appear dark due to the details and tone  in the poem itself like “Ryan resides himself on an empty street with a nightmare first and aching feet” for example. The film’s primary focus is still the concept of “time” with O'Brien stating “I’m drawn to lots of things, among them the past. The survival of the past into the present interests me – for example, the way that in some places in England it could still be the 1950s or even earlier…time is an inescapable poetic subject.” (Baylis 2016). This impact O'Brien speaks of with time is clearly depicted through the imagery shown in the film with the London bridge and the dark alleys of London still resembling what they once were in 1950’s.

A specific piece of narration and imagery that specifically stood out to me during this poetic short animated film was towards the end where O'Brien sites Ryan sits on the street with aching feet having a nightmare comprised of the idea of blackness offsetting the light of a world that only grows. The scene initially shows an angled image of the London bridge followed by a darkness that engulfs the screen. Not long after, originating from the center white (light) overtakes the darkness bringing us back to another image of the London bridge at a different angle. I believe that this scene was particularly trying to illustrate how at times the world may appear dark or in other words an awful place to reside and live. But with the fact that we are always growing as people and a society, this gives us the ability and the hope  we can change or offset the awful things that have happened and that are currently occurring. This idea of growth offsetting the bad correlated with me not just physically but psychologically as well. primarily in regards to the idea of knowledge. An example of this would be for same sex marriage if you asked someone about such a topic like this 30 years ago their answer would probably differ vastly from what it is now. This is due to primarily to our growth in knowledge, understanding that not being heterosexual does not imply that you are less mentally able or sick in any way. Illustrating how our growth as a species is able to offset any evil or darkness as O'Brien refers to it in his poem.

An interesting aspect of this film Hammersmith that arose for me as well as the idea of how some film scholars consider lip-syncing and synchronized dialogue to be the most dominant form of sonorous representation in cinema (Doane pg. 35). Where with this film there is absolutely no actual body present or source of sound throughout the whole film. With that being known,  I was still able to relate to this film more than I ever could with certain films where the source of sound or dialogue was clearly present during the film. Since not having a clear visualized source of sound for the film, it clearly cannot contain any “system of gestural sounds” or a system to interpret the meaning on how a word is being used or implied except for the narrator’s tone of voice (Pasolini pg 167). It is instead substituted with images, which I believe are more effective then synchronized sound in this case. This is primarily due to the fact that the images are hand drawn. Something being hand-drawn, like the images depicted in the Hammersmith film, gives the artist the ability to illustrate hidden meaning that the author is trying to articulate more effectively than an original taken photo. Where with an original photo certain details may not be present a hand drawing photo gives the artist the opportunity to draw these details right into the story. Giving the artist and writer a wider range to illustrate their poem’s subjective meaning compared to just a basic image, facial gestures, or sounds.

The title of the film Hammersmith does an excellent job summarizing the content comprised within this animated film as well. With having the recent opportunity to reside in Hammersmith myself for a small period of time the film in my opinion greatly depicts the beautiful vistas you observe in Hammersmith on a day to day basis (most specifically the London bridge angle).With it most importantly being through the eyes of Sean O'Brien more specifically Ryan his alter poet ego the film does an excellent job drawing the gloomy and darker aspects of London as well, illustrated through the film’s color palette and tone. I believe the film Hammersmith has strong parallels with the film we viewed earlier this semester Howl directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. This is primarily due to how Howl practiced the same technique of using animated images to help illustrate the content of the poetry spoken, the same as Hammersmith Does. I personally strongly enjoyed watching and listening to the film Hammersmith and I’m interested in diving to into more of Sean O'Brien’s works and worlds in the near future. – CE.

Sources:

Charlie Baylis http://sabotagereviews.com/2016/09/18/hammersmith-by-sean-obrien/

Tamar Yoseloff https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hammersmith-by-sean-o-brien#/

Kate Sweeney https://thumbprod.wordpress.com/about/

Pasolini, Pier Paolo. “The ‘Cinema of Poetry.’” Heretical Empiricism. Ed. Louise K. Barnett. Trans. Ben Lawton. Bloomington: Indiana University Press and Washington, DC: New Academia Publishing, 2005. 167-186.

Doane, Mary Ann. “The Voice in the Cinema: The Articulation of Body and Space” [1980]. Film Theory and Criticism 7th Edition. Ed. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. 318-330.