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liamhaydn-blog · 3 years ago

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Joshua & Fury: reading of the resumes.

You can’t read any discussion about Anthony Joshua for long without seeing reference to his resume. The resume is usually brought up as the first line of defence to any criticism slung his way, and is perhaps the only line of attack that is still being used by AJ fans as to why their man still deserves more credit and praise than Tyson Fury.

The resume line is used by noone more than Eddie Hearn, who mentions it before every fight, after every fight, win or lose. The names by now reel off his tongue, and near everyone from what I have seen is in complete agreement that AJ has put together one hell of a record.

This has always somewhat baffled me, and I will explore why here. First of all since April 2016, every fight he’s had has been a World title fight. His last 8 fights have been for 3 organisation’s belts. When you are the champion of those 3 organisations, you will have to fight decent fighters, to justify you holding onto so many belts. Also these organisations want you to face their mandatory challenger now and then, the chances are someone ranked #1 will be a pretty good fighter. Does a unified World Heavyweight champion really deserve so much credit for fighting fairly solid opponents?

Comparison is often made to Wilder’s defences for example, and for sure it does seem that Wilder is a bit of a flat track bully, who didn’t seem to particularly mind some easy knockouts over less than stellar opposition. Though it still remains hard to fairly compare his level of opponents to Joshua’s. Joshua gets bigger crowds than anyone in world boxing, he’s for years now sold out big stadiums in a matter of hours, he’s simply one of the biggest stars in boxing with huge PPV numbers. This to say, they can afford to pay opponents big money. The big money that is required for a credible opponent. I don’t think that has always been the case for Wilder, who himself was not getting anything like big money until having been World Champion for a while, let alone his opponent.

This is not to completely excuse Wilder, the fact an agreement was never reached to fight Dillian Whyte in all the time he was mandatory challenger, its quite bizarre to me why Wilder seemingly did not ever fancy that fight. And I do think that unlike Wilder, AJ has and always will be willing to face anyone, be it Wilder, Fury, I don’t think him a coward or someone who would doubt himself enough to not fancy them fights.

The reason for the AJ-Wilder fight never materialising whilst both were champion, I don’t believe was down to AJ himself, though I believe its possible his team and promoter wanted to keep him away from Wilder for a little longer, to further build up his experience. But for Wilder’s part, I never got the impression he was particularly falling over himself to get the fight either.

I digress, but the point is that though I believe AJ has been more up for a challenge and a real fight than Wilder has, it’s not quite as simple as just looking at who their opponents have been for defences and not including the context.

The most common comparison presumably in the whole of boxing is AJ’s resume against Tyson Fury’s. As stated earlier, this is often something used by AJ fans, and Fury’s resume is the one main critique levelled against him by virtually everyone who wishes to put him down.

Again, it often seems a little without context. A man who has defended or attempted to defend his world title 9 times is always likely to have fought more decent fighters than someone who has never defended before, that seems obvious. Fury is mocked for never having attempted a World title defence, (aside from the fact its not really his fault from a boxing standpoint that he was unable to defend his belt for 2 years due to being side-lined from the ring for medical issues, nor was it his fault he was robbed by judges in Los Angeles in his first fight with Wilder, therefore delaying his ability to make a first defence) and yet also mocked for a supposedly weak resume, when the two things kind of go together as one rather explains the other. Your resume is unlikely to be great without a world title defence.

Looking at Fury’s resume, his best opponent prior to fighting for the World title was Chisora. Now the fact is, this was already not a great time for Heavyweight boxing, swathes of very average Heavyweights were getting the chance to lose to the Klitschko’s, so it shouldn’t be too surprising Fury didn’t have to fight off many stern challenges to become the top contender. One challenge could have been former Cruiserweight and Heavyweight World Champion David Haye, again not really Fury’s fault Haye pulled out of the fight twice. One man he did face though was Chisora, who in their first fight was 14-0 and 27 years old. The 22-year old Fury went into the fight as the underdog. They fought again 3 years later, inbetween these bouts Chisora became one of only 4 men to lose to Vitali Klitschko without being stopped.

Chisora is regarded as a journeyman for the 11 losses on his record, but the fact is nobody has ever had an easy night with him, barring Fury in their rematch. Chisora arguably won a very close first fight with Whyte, and was having another very close fight with him in the rematch before Whyte found a great knockout in the 11th, Usyk did not shine against him in the same way he did against Bellew and Joshua, and he was very unlucky to not win a decision against former World Champion Joseph Parker. Not bad for a journeyman. But Fury certainly made him look like a journeyman in their second fight, showing exactly how a big man should fight against a little man, he didn’t let Chisora lay a glove on him and beat him up all night until Chisora’s trainer finally took mercy on him and pulled him out after 10 brutally one-sided rounds.

The next ‘name’ on Tyson’s resume is Wladimir Klitschko, who was on a run of 19 successful wins in World title fights, and hadn’t lost for 11 years. On the Champions adopted home patch of Germany, Fury won a unanimous decision infront of 50,000 Klitschko supporters, to give the Ukrainian his only defeat by decision in 69 fights. Not a bad win I suppose.

Often used to mock Fury’s resume is the name ‘Sefer Seferi’ and yes the fight was a joke and a bit of a waste of time, but it was Fury’s first fight for 2 and a half years, yes he could have fought someone a bit better ofcourse, but I don’t think it would have been wise to fight anyone fans would consider a decent fighter on his very first step on the comeback trail. 2 months later was Pianeta, again I don’t think it’s that surprising that when you’re fighting for the second time in 3 months after a long absence, and your plan is to fight for the World title less than 4 months later, that the level of opponent you’re facing is not that high, that seems to be fairly logical. I think facing Deontay Wilder for the WBC title just 6 months into the comeback made up for it in fairness.

Going into their first fight, Wilder had faced 40 men and knocked them all out. It’s fashionable now after the beating Fury gave him in the rematch to dismiss Wilder as a bum, a never-was. But it’s simply not true. He’s 6 foot 7, incredibly heavy-handed with one of the most concussive punches in Heavyweight history. Fury fought him in his prime after the best win of Wilder’s career, an 8 round stoppage of Luis Ortiz, who at the time was for sure a worthy contender. Fury himself was 6 months back after a 2 and a half year absence, mostly spent trying to damage his body to the same extent his mind was damaged. After outboxing him for 9 rounds, Fury picked himself off the canvas to box his head off some more, until in the 12th round Wilder landed one of the hardest and best 2-punch combos he’s ever thrown. One of the only true knockout punches ever landed to somehow not result in a knockout. Fury won the fight but as we know was robbed and given a draw.

Between this fight and the rematch, Fury is again mocked for the two names he fought inbetween. Tom Schwarz and Otto Wallin. First of all it was kinda strange why these 2 fights were even necessary and they didn’t just do an immediate rematch, or even 1 fight inbetween, 2 seemed excessive. But financially it worked out great for both men, Wilder who was able to cash in for 2 more fights as Champion, and for Fury he could get into a run of real activity which helped him immensely for the rematch with Wilder. Schwarz was rolled over as expected, but Wallin inflicted 2 huge cuts on Tyson which left him fighting nearly the whole fight with only 1 eye, still winning nearly every round. Which is surely quite impressive, given Wallin is now deemed by Hearn a highly credible opponent for Whyte, one of the division’s top fighters.

In the Wilder rematch, Fury produced what was I think the best performance by a Heavyweight this century. He did what noone thought he could do, which was bully the bully, beating him with power not just cunning. As I said, now Fury has done it so easily, people will talk about how Wilder was rubbish all along, never beat anyone etc. but if anyone thinks AJ or Whyte or anyone else would just as easily stand up to Wilder’s power, speed and explosiveness, I think they are very mistaken. Whether Wilder will be the same fighter with his air of invincibility shattered after defeat remains to be seen, but it would be great to see him in the ring against Britain’s other top fighters. My prediction is, it would see Fury’s win and performance elevated even further.

Fury now faces Wilder for a third time, and whilst I like most consider it a shame Fury wasn’t able to move onto new challenges, if he wins, it’s another excellent win. I don’t consider it any easier than a fight against AJ would be. It’s true that AJ is a better boxer than Wilder, but still vastly inferior to Tyson, so I don’t see how he provides much greater threat from a boxing standpoint, he’s not going to outbox Fury in a million years. So the only threat to Tyson posed is power, Wilder has a higher KO % than AJ despite fighting nearly 20 more times, lets his hands go more, hits harder, is more dangerous with a single shot than AJ, so therefore I feel the most dangerous fighter to Fury, as he himself has said many times, remains *to this day* Deontay Wilder.

Now to really the point of the article, Joshua’s resume. After amassing 14 knockouts in 14 fights, all coming in the 3rd round or sooner, the Olympic Gold Medallist had become Britain’s most talked about and hyped prospect ever. His 15th opponent was Dillian Whyte, a 16-0 fighter with 13KO’s. Whyte has since gone on to garner a deserved reputation as one of the division’s toughest and respectable fighters, but that’s now. Going into when AJ actually fought him, he had faced absolutely nobody. He had 6 amateur bouts including a win over AJ, moved to kickboxing, came back to boxing and had 9 pro fights before being banned for drugs. Whyte was out the ring for 2 years, had 5 fights back then fought Joshua.

So at the time of the fight there is no doubt that whilst AJ was seen as a future World Champion, Whyte was not seen as anything of the sort, just an ‘opponent’ there for AJ to get another fast and emphatic knockout. The emphatic knockout came but not before experiencing adversity for the first time, as in fight number 15 of his career AJ faced someone who could take his leather and land some of his own, before succumbing in the 7th. Despite the rawness of Whyte, he still had enough heart and talent to provide Anthony with his first career test.

Next fight, AJ fought for the World title, facing what most regard as a terrible World Champion, Charles Martin. He may have walked this earth like a God, but he fought in the ring like a Big Bum Dosser, against AJ anyway, who took him apart in 2 rounds. Martin appeared for all the world like a man woefully out of his depth, dutifully accepting his beating for a good payday. A win over Gerald Washington has since seen an attempt at the rehabilitation of Martin’s image from Eddie Hearn no less, who now lists the conquest of this man as proof of AJ’s greatness, who next Gary Cornish?

AJ made his first World title defence of his IBF crown against Dominic Breazeale, who was at the time ranked #13 with the organisation. Joshua won in the 7th round. His second defence was against Eric Molina, who AJ dispached in 3 rounds. Another 2 men recently listed by Hearn to demonstrate AJ’s strong resume. In the same interview, he criticised Wilder for having beat noone..except he’s also knocked out both Breazeale (in 43 seconds) & Molina. A decision win over Breazeale was also enough to show Hearn that Wallin was a worthy PPV opponent for Whyte, so are they good wins or not? I’m not sure, I guess it depends on who we’re talking about, AJ or Wilder.

Next up saw AJ transition into a UK stadium fighter when he met Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium to attempt to add more belts to his collection that had recently been vacated by Fury. Having been soundly beaten by The Gypsy King, Klitschko had gone from 39 to 41. The feeling for a lot in the UK at the time was, it’s a good time to beat a good name to earn some credibility against an old, past it champion. That looked to be the case when AJ dropped Wlad in the 5th but there was still some life in the old dog yet when the very next round AJ hit the canvas for the first time in his career. Wlad took control of the fight with AJ struggling for a second wind having used up a lot of energy, with stamina issues affecting the 250-pounder. There was a few rounds where AJ was too tired, not throwing, concentrating everything on trying to recuperate, that you’d think Klitschko could have stepped it up and gone for the finish. Whether age stopped Klitschko from pushing on the gas or he felt confident he could see out a decision, he didn’t do it and AJ found the best punch and single moment of his career in the 11th with a huge uppercut which signalled the end of Wlad’s chances. It was a great fight which AJ did very well to win, but it had been by the skin of his teeth.

After Pulev pulled out of their proposed fight, Carlos Takam stepped in as a late replacement. Given the lack of time, this wasn’t a terrible replacement, he is tough and comes to fight, ensuring the fans will atleast get to see a few rounds. But he has lost to every name fighter he’s faced, including Journeyman Chisora. So Chisora isn’t a good name on Fury’s record, because he loses to every good fighter he faces, but Takam is a solid name on AJ’s record, despite the fact he was knocked out by Chisora. It’s all very confusing.

To hold 4 belts, AJ then faced Joseph Parker, the holder of the WBO title, winning the vacant belt with a home decision against some chubby kid, Andy Ruiz. At the time, Parker had a very good reputation, but the fight was a stinker, with AJ disappointing his legion of fans as he was taken the distance for the first time. Parker has since lost to Whyte and in my opinion deserved a draw at best with Chisora having been dropped in the first round, and now will have to fight a rematch for a more emphatic win. Since the AJ fight, he’s looked a fairly average heavyweight, seemingly quite lucky to have ever held the World title, having not done anything since to make anyone believe he could ever hold it again.

The next defence came against the small and light for a heavyweight 39-year old Alex Povetkin. Looking at him, not much of a threat would perhaps be expected to a man of AJ’s size and stature but for 6 rounds he gave Joshua a very competitive fight until the fight was ended by the Champion’s power in the 7th. Povetkin had gone the distance with Wladimir Klitschko despite being dropped four times, and probably deserved a second shot at the world title sooner than 5 years after that. The 39-year old was still a credible challenger but with his best years behind him.

Then on June 1 2019, came the infamous AJ US debut. After a fight with Big Baby Miller collapsed due to his drug use, in stepped Andy Ruiz, who had a similarly large belly but 4 inches less in height than Miller. It was obvious what would happen next, AJ would announce himself to US audiences with a quick knockout. Ruiz hit the canvas for the first time in his career in round 3. AJ, one of the best finishers in the sport, jumped on him. What happens next usually, is roared on by tens of thousands of Brits, AJ punches and punches until his opponent goes down and stays there. This time infront of an audience of stunned Americans, Ruiz comes off the floor to land a shot to AJ’s temple which changes the course of the fight and both men’s destinies. Ruiz puts AJ down and the champion never recovers, unable to regain authority or control in the fight, he is victim to Ruiz’s barrages and decides not to fight on in the 7th, recognising after being dropped yet again, that it’s not going to be his night.

After losing the Brawl In Montreal, Sugar Ray Leonard knew he had to get his conqueror Roberto Duran back in the ring as quickly as possible, whilst he was out partying, piling on the pounds and not training. AJ applied the same thinking, and like Leonard in the ‘No Mas’ fight took on a completely new approach for the rematch. Andy Ruiz has very fast hands, its not wise to trade with him up close. He does not however, have fast feet or particularly long arms. AJ maintained his discipline in the rematch to comfortably outbox Ruiz for 12 rounds, boxing from distance, never tempted to go for the knockout. Ruiz weighed in at an enormous 284 pounds, 16 pounds heavier than before.

Performance and result wise, the Ruiz rematch in Saudi Arabia is perhaps the most impressive of AJ’s career to date. The 32-year old Ruiz still has to prove however, if he is truly a top class fighter, or whether he just produced the performance of a lifetime and got AJ on the right night. If AJ had beaten Ruiz first time round it would not have been seen as a particularly significant triumph, but due to the credibility he only gained as a result of beating AJ, this conversely amplified the achievement of Joshua gaining revenge in the rematch.

Joshua’s first defence of his second reign came against Kubrat Pulev after just over a year out the ring. Like Povetkin, Pulev was approaching 40, had fought for the world title whilst a younger man and lost to Wlad Klitschko (Pulev being stopped in 5), he was also quite a short and light man in comparison to the giant figure of Joshua. With only 14KO wins in 29 fights, Pulev looked the ideal opponent for AJ. He was durable and well conditioned, and came to win but he stood right infront of AJ, with no head movement, so AJ moved his head for him with brutal uppercuts. If you stand infront of Joshua and don’t have much of a punch or speed to threaten him with, he looks brilliant and he did at times on this night, despite even against this opponent being reluctant to fully commit to power combo’s, the memory of Ruiz at MSG clearly not yet banished, but the win came in the 9th round, AJ’s first stoppage win for over 2 years.

AJ’s second reign as champion was alot shorter than his first, defeat coming in his second defence against former Cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk had come under vast criticism it shouldn’t be forgotten for his first 2 performances at Heavyweight. Many people, though I personally don’t agree, thought that his fight with Chisora was very close, he certainly wasn’t sending fear into the hearts of the division. But Usyk has only failed to win 15 fights out of over 360 amateur and pro for a reason, and he thoroughly outclassed Joshua. The fight would have been hard enough, and not a guaranteed win even if Joshua hadn’t got his tactics so completely wrong, but he atleast would have been in with a chance. Usyk, thought to be too small for a heavyweight, didn’t look small in with one of the divisions giants, because he didn’t fight like a small man, he didn’t allow Joshua to feel physically superior, and showed no fear or respect for his power.

I won’t be suprised atall if Joshua rights his wrongs in the second fight, by doing what he obviously should have done in the first fight. Being rough and nasty, throwing as the saying goes, with bad intentions. But why it takes a 2-time World Champion with his experience a second fight to realise this I have no idea. Having a “chess match” fight with Usyk is maybe something you do in sparring to learn some useful things, you don’t do it infront of 70 thousand with your belts actually on the line..It was one of the most incredibly naive things I have seen from an experienced champion. It struck of a man in a bit of an identity crisis, who can’t decide what type of fighter he is inside the ring, nor what his boxing persona is outside it, in the lead-up to fights.

As another mistake AJ seemed to repeat from the first Ruiz fight was he seemed all pally with Usyk and too relaxed in the build-up. It could just be a coincedence but he was nice and pissed off with Pulev before getting in the ring with him, and he produced the right performance. I know Usyk is a difficult guy to dislike, but he’s gonna have to try.

Strangely, Hearn also listed Usyk on AJ’s resume. I don’t see much good of having good names on your resume if you lose to them, otherwise we may aswell declare Kevin Johnson a great, as he’s fought everyone (and lost to everyone, but I guess that doesn’t matter). If AJ wins the rematch, he deserves credit for it, as it would for me be the best win of his career, given the age of Klitschko and Joshua’s personal circumstances of 2 defeats in his last 4. But I don’t really get this thing of “give AJ credit for taking the fight”. Its the mandatory challenger for one of his belts, he has to fight him, or else give up that belt. Why would you become world champion just to give a belt up because you have to face someone good? talk about giving credit for the bare minimum.

This questioning of AJ’s resume, is not to criticise him personally. I have no doubt before he retires he would if up to him fight Wilder, Fury, whoever else who is up there at the time, and if he does so he will lose plenty more times, because his chin and tactics are not of the standard of some of the other guys, but he will lose and come back and keep trying, and I respect that. But in conclusion I think up to this point, with no Fury or Wilder under his W column, he is getting a lot of credit for wins against guys who when listed as a collective are fairly solid names, but when taken individually, are not so great. Whilst Fury’s list has less solid names, there are names who can be taken individually and are great standalone wins.

The way I would describe it is would you rather take a couple of 10′s to bed, but not many 6,7 or 8′s? or would you rather take a few 6,7 or 8′s but never a 10. I know which I would prefer.

#boxing #aj #anthonyjoshua #tysonfury #gypsyking #usyk #oleksandr usyk #deontaywilder #wilder #bronzebomber #sport

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nooneactuallyasked · 3 years ago

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Diner Gal - Reggie x Reader Part 12

Requested: Nope

Word count: 2,661

Warnings: Not that I know of.

Summary: Julie and the Phantoms ( + Flynn ) go to a musical diner/café/restaurant for inspiration and hopefully a future gig but they end up meeting a very special waitress.

Note: So writer's block on the last chapter/part of your story sucks a whole bunch but we finally did it! I finally finished this – we don’t need to talk about how many months it’s been, sh! THIS IS THE FINAL PART!!!

A few songs in this chapter – I’d recommend listening to them as you read:

Jump in the Line/ Dead Mom Reprise – Beetlejuice the Musical

Obvious – Dear Evan Hansen

ENJOY!

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Part 1 here Part 2 here Part 3 here Part 4 here Part 5 here

Part 6 here Part 6.5 here Part 7 here Part 8 here Part 9 here

Part 10 here Part 11 here

---

After a few hours of frantically drawing and writing up the final setlist, plans, room arrangements and digging through Cal’s office to find the list of reserved tables, Y/N was finally ready to call her job done. And now to jump right back into ghostly matters, which started with finding Julie and Willie and hoping they had some sort of plan figured out.

“Hey hey, look who’s finally back from the other side!” Flynn’s exclamation was met with winces from the boys and a wry smile from Y/N, “It sure was an adventure, Cal really should organise that office. How’s decorating going?” Flynn sighed in response, “It would be a lot better if some people actually helped out instead of talking to thin air.” She sent a mock glare to Julie who sent an eye roll straight back, “Kinda dealing with bigger and more important things right now, but sure I’ll blow up a balloon right after.”

“So, how has the whole possession thing been going? Any solid way to get Cal back?” Y/N asked, anxiety crawling up the sides of her stomach. Willie looked around at the group, all of whom were fidgeting and avoiding his gaze, sighing he turned back to her, “There is a way, but there’s no guarantee it will work.” Y/N nodded, gesturing for him to continue, “You have to establish a connection first then everything after that is up to Cal and his willpower. This situation is a little different to the one these guys got themselves into, and I’ve also never seen this before so this is the best I can come up with.”

She scrunched up her brow, how on earth did you make a connection with a possessed person? And so she asked exactly that, “Do something that means something to both of you; you’re in the music business, are there any songs that you two would sing together? Something like that. Apart from making the connection, there’s not much else you can do. I’m sorry.” Willie responded, Alex rubbed his arm comfortingly, “This isn’t your fault, it’s no one's fault but Calebs.” Y/N nodded in agreement, “Exactly, you’ve been so incredibly helpful, you all have,” She looked around the group, yes that includes Flynn, and smiled, “Thanks a bunch, you guys.” Her smile quickly transformed into a smug grin, “Luckily, I know exactly which song to use.”

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A few hours passed and Le Paradis du Chanteur was ready to go, all of the evening’s acts were either out front or preparing in the back. She had seen Julie and the guys a few times in her rushed panic to get a song ready and change the setlist last minute, everything was completely ready and fine, of course, but it didn’t stop Y/N from worrying.

All that was left was to let the guests in, find Cal and make sure the first act was ready (not in that order). She huffed as she hunted down the first act, she supposed they weren’t actually that bad – in fact she could tolerate their outfits somewhat and their music was good. The members were a little annoying but good at what they did so who was she to judge.

Their clothing was easy to spot – they do look like a pack of highlighters (as their nickname would suggest) so it took Y/N no longer than 3 minutes to find them and less than 5 to check in and see that they were practically ready to go on the spot.

Now to find Cal, a challenge she was ready to face head-on, probably. It took Y/N quite a bit longer to find him but, after asking around and getting her co-worker to point her in the right direction, she found him sitting in the kitchen, blank as ever. Y/N sighed and pulled him into the main area, hoping he would at least interact with the guests if they spoke to him.

She hoped that this evening wouldn’t turn into a disaster but who knew at this point – she walked to the entrance and put on her best smile, and went to let everyone in.

---

A couple of acts had already gone and she was up next on the newly improved setlist – here goes the performance of a lifetime.

Y/N breathed out, stepping towards the mic, “Hello, everyone! I hope you’re enjoying your evening so far, we have only a few acts left to go! Before we continue, I’d just like to sing a little something in honour of our amazing manager, Cal!” A series of applause and a few whistles followed her words, Y/N relaxed, if anything went wrong at least she could say she tried. “As I’m sure some of our regulars know, Cal has always been one to enjoy a good musical, you’d hope so with this line of work.” Another ripple of laughter and a few cheers, a grin spread across her face. “When I first joined this diner as a performer, I auditioned with the song I’m about to sing for you now, I like to think of it as our song. Not to mention the fact that for at least 2 weeks after I got the job I couldn’t stop singing it, I think every one of the staff here tonight, and those who aren’t, know the song word for word now, sorry about that. So, with no further ado, I give you my audition song.” Taking the mic out of its stand, Y/N stepped back, spotting Cal sitting in the back corner, face empty of anything, as the backing music started up.

Shake, shake, shake, Senora

Shake your body line

Shake, shake, shake, Senora

Shake it all the time

Y/N hopped off of the stage and skipped around tables, whenever she passed a staff member she dance with them for a second, before they would both move on, quickly forming a line.

Work, work, work, Senora

Work your body line

Work, work, work, Senora

Work it all the time

The line quickly made its way back to the stage, everyone now singing to each other and dancing together. Y/N closed her eyes and quickly prayed that this was working. She skipped around the line, pointing at different staff members to sing the solo lines.

My girl's name is Senora

I tell you, friends, I adore her

And when she dances, oh brother

She’s a hurricane in all kinds of weather

She laughed as she went back to her place in the line, smiling at her co-workers beside her.

Jump in the line, rock your body in time

(Okay, I believe you)

Jump in the line, rock your body in time

(Okay, I believe you)

The line jumped slightly to the left every time they sang that line and then danced with the people around them, some workers went to tables and started dancing and singing with the talent scouts or any families or regulars that had booked a place that evening.

Shake, shake, shake, Senora

(Ahh)

Work, work, work, Senora

(Ahh- Woo!)

Y/N grabbed Sam’s hand and led them to the middle of the floor as she sang, turning to face them, trying to contain her giggles, as they did a mock opera performance.

Cal, I know you’re listenin'

Doesn’t this just blow your mind?

I was on a mission

This is what I left behind

She made her way over to Cal, hoping to see something behind his eyes. Y/N pulled him up by his hand and danced him over to the line of performers at the front.

I'll miss you every day

Seek a little strange and unusual

And you will find

The line, still acting as her incredibly enthusiastic backing vocals, started spreading out, a few stayed on the stage while others jumped off to dance and sing with the guests. Sam came over to Y/N and Cal and brought into a weird little circle dance as Noelle and Casey cackled from a nearby table.

Life beyond all comprehension

A mess in multiple dimensions

A little unconventional, I know

Y/N’s eyes widened in worry as Cal groaned in pain in front of her. She waved Casey over who quickly grabbed him and sat him down on a nearby, empty chair.

But, Cal, I am home

I'm home

As soon as she had finished singing, Y/N rushed over to Cal. “You okay?” He grunted in return, “Been better, but then again I could probably be a lot worse.” Her breath hitched as he squeezed his eyes tight and groaned again. His breathing quickened slightly before he let out a big breath and a purple light appeared on his neck. Y/N pulled his collar down to get a better look at it but as quickly as it came it faded away again. “You doing good, Callerina?” He rolled his eyes, “I will be when you stop with those nicknames…and when Sam stops dancing like that.”

She laughed, tears pricking at her eyes, as Cal snorted at Sam’s ridiculous dancing, they were completely embarrassing Noelle as they forced her to waltz around the room. “I thought they said they were a professional dancer when I hired them. Oh well.” He turned to face Y/N, the twinkle back in his eyes, “I thought my return would be more dramatic, I’ll be honest. But this is alright too.” Y/N rubbed at her eyes as she scoffed at him, “Of course, only you would say this wasn’t dramatic enough.” Cal shrugged, “Well when you reach old age, like me, you’ll learn that even bending down takes a lot of effort, might as well make it worth the trouble.” Y/N rolled her eyes, “Cal, you’re 31. You’re not that old.” He sniffed in response, “I watched you grow into the ghostbuster that you’ve become, didn’t I? I think that’s old enough.” She scoffed, though a fond smile played on the edges of her lips, “Well, since you ruined our nice moment I might as well get back to orders and making sure all of our acts are okay.” Cal’s eyes widened at that, “I forgot, I’m so sorry you had to do that all alone, I’ll let you steal anything you want from the diner kitchen after this as a sorry and thank you gift.” She grinned, “As if I wasn’t gonna do that already.”

Y/N walked away, giggling to herself as she heard Cal squawk in indignation behind her. This was totally worth it, she had her family back and a new family as well.

---

It was now the end of the night, lots of people were ordering the last things to eat or drink or finishing up what they already had before they left. All performers were out on the floor, taking orders, entertaining young children or talking to talent scouts if they had the time. It was the noisiest it had been all evening, even with all the bands and music, performance and dancing that had occurred.

Julie awkwardly stood on stage, fiddling with the mic stand. “Excuse me? Hi. Um, so I know this is kinda weird and short notice but one of our band members has a message for a special someone so we hope you enjoy.” She steps back from the mic and moves over to the keyboard towards the front corner of the performance area, Reggie practically vibrated behind the mic whilst the other two musketeers glared at him to chill out before he caused the mic to screech.

The audience had quietened down and now sat in expectant silence, Y/N continued serving, though the short notice act did seem to capture most of her attention (albeit confused stares but her attention nonetheless). Reggie took a few deep breaths, readying himself to poof and basically confess his newfound feelings to a living girl who captured his undead heart, wanting what you can’t have really had been taken to that level, huh.

Julie’s fingers danced across the keyboard as Reggie poofed in and strummed along on the acoustic guitar Julie had pried from Luke’s cold, dead hands, he had wanted to keep the song simple, strip it down to its purest form, mirroring his feelings. That and the fact that he had done this last minute and dragged everyone around him into it, so showing off and using flashy techniques was something they just didn’t have the time to add in.

When we know something is true

Beyond question or doubt

There's no particular point

In pointing it out

Reggie strums his guitar, looking solely at either the guitar or the mic, trying to gather up his courage. He wrote this song for Y/N, why couldn’t he just look at her?

Blue is the colour of sky

'Cause mothers all worry

And old people die

A phone rings, a bee stings

It's something you don't need to hear

It's just clear

He looked back at Julie, finding her smiling at him encouragingly. He smiled back at her in return. He could do this!

Why go stating the obvious?

It's so painfully obvious

How could you miss

Something that's this plain to see?

When it's glaring and staring

Right at you

So obviously

He looked up to meet Y/N’s eyes, she had stopped moving around after handing out her last order, instead, she stood staring at him, completely awestruck. He almost chuckled, how could she stare at him like he hung the stars when she was brighter than the sun?

When you get bored you draw stars

On the cuffs of your jeans

You still fill out the quizzes you find

In those teen magazines

And you dance like nobody's there

Awkward and perfect

You don't even care

Something courageous, amazing, contagious

And kind

All combined

Y/N huffed out breathy laughs as she stared at him, the stupid, leather-covered, ghost boy. She knew she hadn’t fallen in love – she hadn’t fallen anywhere, she had walked into her feelings, completely aware and content. He made it easy, Y/N hoped she made it easy too.

Why go stating the obvious?

It's so painfully obvious

How could you miss

Something that's this plain to see?

When it's glaring and staring

Right at you

So obviously

Sam grabbed her by the hand and pulled her towards the stage until she was right in front of it – right in front of him, “Have fun with your Romeo, don’t forget about us when you’re off on dates.” They cackled as they ran away, narrowly avoiding Y/N’s punches.

Sometimes the words

We tend to withhold

But they're exactly the words

Someone needs to be told

But oh, thinking they know

We never say "I love you

I love you

I love you"

Y/N smiled up at him as he beckoned her onto the stage. She never thought when she took up this part of the job that she’d end up meeting a bunch of ghosts and their human companion + friend, have her manager be possessed and garner feelings for the golden retriever incarnate.

'Cause why go

Stating the obvious

It's so painfully obvious

How could you miss

Something that's this plain to see?

When it's glaring, and staring right at you

So obviously

As the song quieted down, Julie shared looks with Alex and Luke pretended like he wasn’t tearing up at the sight of the pair on stage. Sam and Noelle smiled at each other and Casey rolled her eyes, she truly was surrounded by idiots that she had somehow adopted, not that she regretted it necessarily but she would never admit it.

“Hey, Y/N,” Reggie stepped away from the mic, “I’m not in love with you or anything, but I think I could be if you’d be okay with that?” The girl in question chuckled, “I think I could love you too, eventually. But how about we get to know each other for longer than a week first, sound good?”

“Sounds perfect, Diner Gal.”

---

Taglist:

@dotishyperfixating @daddydraco0 @morganayenneferburnham

@dxestars @dcnerd98 @ultraworthlessbitch

@revolutionary-werewolf-ghosts @underc0vercryptid

@underc0vercryptid-reads @miisacore

@cas-loves-pizza @slytherhoes

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axwalker · 4 years ago

Text

Meet my MC: Alexis O’Brien

Thank you for the ask @mskaneko . This was so fun!! I got a little carried away... 🙈

Thank you for the tag @debramcg1106 ❤️

Alexis’s life changes deeply in every AU so I used my canon Alexis to answer these questions.

1. Name (+ bonus why did you choose that name?)

Alexis O'Brien. I've always liked the names 'Jade' and 'Alexis.' The last name was a momentary inspiration because I love Ireland.

2. Faceclaim

The beautiful Valerie Dominguez (aka my on-line girlfriend)

3. Nicknames

O’Brien / Lexie/ Lex/ Blossom.

4. Birthday

April 30th (I headcanon that she's 23 when the Social Season starts.)

5. Height

She's 1,70 cm (5'57")

6. Eye color

Brown

7. Hair color

Light brown

8. Love interest (why did she choose this person?)

Drake Walker is the love of her life. Alexis felt deeply attracted to Drake since she met him. Something about the deep voice, the chocolate eyes, and his strong arms. When they started to spend time together, she realized how much they had in common. Their connection quickly became a solid friendship as they confided in each other while drinking whiskey together after every event of the social season. Alexis fell for Drake's sarcastic sense of humor, flirty banter, and intelligence. But her favorite thing about him is his fierce protectiveness and how he tries to act tough and brooding around everyone except for her. Now that they're married, they form an exceptional, unbreakable team.

9. Best friend

Olivia Nevrakis and Maxwell Beaumont.

10. Personality traits

Alexis is a free-spirit. She's idealistic and passionate about her beliefs. She's very kind and generous, but once her trust is lost is very difficult to get it back. She's adventurous, loves to travel, and has surprised Drake more than once with last-minute weekends and trips. She's very competitive, she and Drake play all the time. She loves books and writing; ancient libraries are her happy place. She's very disorganized and unpunctual. Her head is on the clouds, and she always forgets her keys, or where she parked her car. Her emotions are powerful, she feels everything very intensely.

She's fiercely protective of Drake and her children and would kill for them if necessary.

11. Family background

She's half Mexican, half Irish American.

Her parents, Elena Ortiz and George O'Brien, met in High School. After a five-month relationship, Elena got pregnant. As they both came from an extremely religious background, they got married.

George turned out to be an abusive, rigid, sexist husband. They wasted 10 awful years together, but one morning George left Elena for his assistant and never came back. He has a son with his new wife and rarely sees Alexis. She tried to have a relationship with him until she realized the kind of man her father is.

Alexis grew up happily with her mom and widow grandmother. They had a small Mexican Fonda in Brooklyn. When Alexis turned 18, her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died only six months later. Her grandmother passed away two years later from an aneurism.

She has a deep-rooted abandonment issue.

12. Hometown

Brooklyn, NY.

13. Education

She has a degree in English Literature. She sold her family's small restaurant and got a job as a waitress to be able to afford a small college in NY. When she met the guys, she was working three different jobs so she could save money to study a master's degree in Literary Translation.

14. What languages does she know?

Alexis is bilingual in English/Spanish and speaks good French. Her French teacher in high school was a sort of mentor for her. She loves languages, so now that she lives in Cordonia, she's trying to learn Greek too. Drake is a great teacher 😉

15. Occupation

Before flying to Cordonia, Alexis gave private Spanish lessons to kids, worked as a waitress at the dive bar where she met Drake, and, on the weekends, she worked as a bartender at an Irish Pub.

In Cordonia, she was the Duchess of Valtoria for a while, but after two hellish years, she and Drake left the 'noble' life. With Drake's support, she went back to school in Cordonia and got her master's degree. For the moment, she works as a Literary Translator, but eventually, she will become a writer.

16. Dream job

Her dream is to write children's books. Her absolute personal hero is J.K. Rowling.

17. Hidden talent

Dancing. Alexis doesn't hide it, though. Dance is her passion, especially Latin music.

She has a superhuman resistance to alcohol. Irish genes.

18. Her strengths

She's hardworking.

She’s determined.

She's empathic.

She can make friends easily.

19. Her weaknesses

She's very disorganized.

She's stubborn and doesn't forgive easily.

She's highly emotional, which can be a source of anxiety and stress.

20. Pet peeves

People who are rude to waiters or any other person in the service industry. She can't stand it under any circumstance.

People who cut lines.

21. Guilty pleasure

Mexican soap operas. Alexis used to watch them with her mom and grandma, and now she's addicted. Sometimes, she convinces Drake to watch one with her; he needs to practice his Spanish anyway.

22. Ideal outfit

In the summer, she loves wearing short, flowy dresses with leather, flat sandals.

In the winter, cozy jumpers, skinny jeans, and low black boots.

23. Favorite season

Fall. The colors, the soft sun rays, the crispy atmosphere, the smells. Everything about it.

24. Favorite vacation spot

Ireland, her grandfather’s country. He used to tell her a lot of stories about it when she was a child, when she finally went she absolutely loved it.

25. Celebrity crush

Michael Fassbender

26. Who is her inspiration

Her mom. Elena was a single mother, but she never felt sorry for herself. She worked hard at her restaurant all day, then studied at night to get her college degree on-line. She loved life and was protective and generous. Alexis has never really got over her death.

27. Whats is the craziest thing she has ever done?

She took a plane with two strangers to a country she had never heard of before.

28. Describe her dream date

A late-night picnic under the stars with a good bottle of whiskey, some cheeses, and Drake. In a very secluded, private place.

29. What's more important for her in a relationship: physical attraction or emotional connection?

Both. The physical attraction is what first drew her to Drake. They're profoundly attracted to each other, and that sort of electrical, physical connection is very difficult to find. After years together, they still can't keep their hands off each other, and it has always been helpful when they're going through a rough patch.

The emotional connection is what makes them happy and crazy in love. They trust each other, make each other laugh, and they're best friends. What they share is unique, and they're aware of it.

30. Three things she would take to a desert island

Things, not people? Ok:

Her first copy of 'One Hundred Years of Solitude.' A gift from her mom.

Her illustrated collection of Harry Potter's books, a gift from Drake.

Her family album with her children's pictures and gifts (cards, letters and drawings.)

31. What is one thing she could never forgive?

Cheating. Never. But she has nothing to worry about 

32. What gets her out of bed in the morning?

Sex with Drake, one of her children crying, strong, black coffee.

33. What does she use more often: her intuition or logical reasoning?

100% intuition

34. Would she rather be alone doing something she enjoy, or doing something she does't like with her best friends?

Difficult question. She loves reading and writing, which are 'alone' activities. But she'll do something she hates for her friends if they really want to.

35. What's her biggest regret?

Accepting the Duchy of Valtoria and making her child the heir. She got out of it, but there were terrible years.

Bonus: three random facts about your MC

She was arrested once while she was in a protest for Women's Rights

She LOVES to eat. Passionately.

She loves big dogs. They have one Labrador and one Golden retriever.

#meet my mc #drake walker x mc #alexis o'brien #drake x alexis

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thefloralpeach · 5 years ago

Text

Bird Set Free- a Reddie Superpower AU

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier | Minor or Background Relationship(s)

Words:7454 | Chapters:1/?Hits:0

Summary:

Richie Tozier grew up to be a hero. Eddie Kaspbrak grew up without anyone there to save him. What do you get when you cross an angry vigilante with a hero who’s just trying his best?

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23335246/chapters/55900111

It started out as a conspiracy, and quickly turned into national controversy.

Nobody’s sure exactly who was the first case- abilities manifesting at a young age, anywhere between seven and seventeen. Videos surfaced of young kids doing extraordinary things, some of which people assumed was photoshop, but some of which occurred on live social media videos. The videos increased in frequency, the reports of strange happenings poured in every day, and eventually the government had to come out with a public statement.

Apparently, superpowers exist now.

It was the only thing anyone could talk about for a solid year. As a middle schooler, all you could do was wait to see if you were next.

The Losers often found themselves in conversation about what powers they hoped to have.

“I hope I get shapeshifting. I’d turn into the hottest motherfucker this world has ever seen and take over the world,” Richie would say.

Eddie never talked about it much, but he thought it might be nice to be immune to sickness. That way, maybe his mother would let him leave the house more… Or, maybe walking through walls would serve that purpose. He just wanted to be able to do what he wanted, and not be forced under her wing.

It was eighth grade when Eddie began to despise this hero stuff.

Instead of continuing his education with his friends, his mom decided to pull him out of school due to the fear that someone with powers would hurt him. She said that his ‘no good friends’ would end up accidentally hurting him, or some ignorant kid would get their power suddenly and Eddie would be a victim of it. Even when he reminded her that ability prevalence rates were pretty low, of course nothing could sway her.

So he said goodbye to seeing his friends in school, and hello to meeting up with them at every other possible moment; until his mother decided that was also too dangerous. So, he remained in his house like a prisoner.

His friends visited though, of course they did. Eddie had a window, and the Losers were pretty good at climbing. Besides, Eddie didn’t think anything could keep Richie from finding him and bothering him.

It’s a gross, rainy night when Richie makes a promise.

It starts with pebbles thrown at his window- Richie’s signature greeting. Eddie tries not to think about how cheesy and romantic it is, but the thought crosses his mind anyway.

He opens the window, and is promptly met with Richie shaking out his wet hair like a dog. Eddie makes a disgusted noise, which only draws laughter from the taller boy.

“You sure your ability isn’t being gross and annoying?” Eddie asks as Richie finishes climbing in, almost stumbling over his own feet. He clutches his hands to his chest, feigning hurt.

“I can not believe you would insinuate something so hurtful, Eddie my love!”

Of all the nicknames in Richie’s arsenal, that one is definitely the worst. Eddie can be annoyed by Eds or the ever-popular Spaghetti, but when he pulls out something so cliche that it could be in a romcom, Eddie’s heart always skips a beat. He hates it. And he also loves it.

Richie’s pulling stuff out from his backpack before he’s even sat on Eddie’s bed. It became a sort of tradition for Richie to bring Eddie some stuff that his mom wouldn’t let him have whenever he visited.

“What’s in the magic bag tonight?” Eddie asks, eyeing the bag of all-pink starbursts Richie already pulled out.

“Candy, of course,” Richie narrates, pulling out a bag of gummy worms and a jumbo snickers bar. “I also got you this cool magazine that talks about abilities and heroes, and this week’s newspaper.”

Richie would often bring Eddie stuff to read, stuff that clued him into what’s going on outside. Eddie’s mom allowed him a computer, but no internet, so Eddie relied on his friends for information about the world. It was a simple act that he cherished so much.

“Oh- I also made you this!” Richie announces, pulling out a CD from his bag. The cover is decorated with some crude doodles, and labelled ‘songs to help spaghetti forgetti his regretti’. He tosses it to Eddie, who immediately bursts into laughter.

“A CD? Isn’t that a bit old school?”

Richie puts his arms up in defense. “Well, you don’t have internet or a damn phone, so what was I supposed to do? Send you a Youtube playlist?”

Eddie shrugs. “Alright, fair enough.” He ignores the way his heart quickens at the thought of Richie compiling a playlist for him. “So, what’s on it?”

“Ah, you need to play it to find out, my deah!” He responds, slipping into a hilariously poorly-accented Voice. Eddie shakes his head, covering his mouth in a weak attempt to muffle his laughter. “I have something else for you, too.”

Eddie calms himself then, and quirks an eyebrow up. “Do I wanna know?” He asks cautiously. Richie was known for following words like that with a wet willy or a pinch to his cheeks. But, the jokester only smiles in response.

“Yes, you do! How would you like to sneak out of here with me some night?” Richie offers, and Eddie’s eyes light up. “We can head over to the clubhouse-”

“God, you guys still have that?”

“Yes! We can go hang out there, and all the others will be there too! And we can get a pizza since we know you’ve been force fed, what, gluten-dairy-nut-free bullshit?”

Eddie laughs, so giddy and over the moon with excitement that he ignores his health concerns. Richie doesn’t think his allergies are real anyway, and Eddie isn’t so sure he disagrees. Regardless, how could he even think to be concerned about such trivial things when he has the chance to escape, to spend some time outside for the first time in months?

Of course, Eddie agrees to go. They make plans for the weekend, when Sonia would be at bingo night. Richie and the others would sneak around and help him out the window, and Eddie could sit on the back of one of their bikes on the way- since his own bike had been given away once he was put on house arrest. Eddie gives Richie a list of his favorite bands so Richie can make a playlist for the night, and together they plan a list of snacks to have. They pick out some choice movies as well, since Ben had said he could rent a projector from the library for the night.

Eddie’s never been so excited for something in his entire life.

Friday comes after what seems like forever, and his mom leaves for bingo, and Eddie waits excitedly in his room. He reads a comic book to pass the time until 5 o’clock comes.

And then 6 o’clock comes.

Then 7 o’clock.

Something probably happened… maybe they couldn’t get away from their parents in time, so they just had to push things back.

8 o’clock.

9 o’clock.

And then Eddie’s mother pulls into the driveway, and he’s pissed. He’s angry, he’s furious, he’s…

Crushed.

Saturday comes and goes, but nobody visits him.

Sunday is the same.

Eddie’s mother asks why he’s spending so much time in his room, and asks if he’s sick- he struggles to invent a lie that she’ll believe. So he tells her the truth- that he’s sad, that he misses his friends. Not that she does anything to help (“Oh honey, you’re so much safer without them anyway”), but she does leave him alone to brood.

This is the first week in months that he didn’t get a word from any of his friends. He’d never gone more than two days without Richie visiting him, but in the coming years, this would become the new normal.

For the next few years, the only company Eddie has is his mother. His overbearing, absolutely psychotic mother, who put helicopter moms to shame.

It’s a month after Eddie’s abandoned that he’s able to catch a newscast while his mom naps in the middle of the day. It’s the 4 o’clock news, the headline reading ‘Superhero Madness: New Ability Registration Mandate to Pass, Increasing Regulation on Enhanced Abilities.’

He’s reading comic books, stories about real superheroes. The media outlets he’d seen were all over calling this new phenomenon the “Age of Heroes” and shit that Eddie finds absolutely ridiculous. So a kid can learn things really quickly or make magnets stick to them- Spiderman is still cooler. Spiderman just wants to save people, he wants to save anyone who needs it, even those overlooked by other heroes. Spiderman doesn’t care about being big and flashy. He’s a real hero- not like these wannabes.

Regardless of his opinions, he tunes his attention to the news for a moment. It’s not often he actually gets to see what’s going on outside of his prison cell of a home.

“… Required not only to register their abilities, but to train at government-approved facilities. Officials say this mandate will assure that these enhanced individuals learn to manage their abilities, thus ensuring their safety and the safety of others. Opposition has arisen as well…”

Eddie rolls his eyes. Government-approved facilities? Please. This is the least cool backstory he’s ever heard. Then he remembers, this isn’t a backstory. Because this isn’t some cool hero story. This is real life, and in real life, his friends left him, and no hero is coming to save him.

It’s two years later when he manifests a power of his own.

The newscasts he’d been able to watch intermittently had reported that abilities seem to appear between the ages of ten and sixteen, as if a part of puberty. It made enough sense, Eddie figured at the time. He assumed after his thirteenth and fourteenth years passed that he’d never manifest anything- but he’d been wrong.

It’s nothing special, of course. He’s watching something on TV, not even the news or anything special, just some reality show, when he notices a weird light. He looks around, thinking at first that a lamp was suddenly turned on, but he quickly realizes it’s emitting from the palms of his hands.

“Huh…” he mutters. Light hands. Some freaking power, huh?

They don’t appear to do anything besides glow every so often. He debates whether or not to tell his mother, but ultimately he decides to hide it. What good would telling her do, anyway? What did he expect, praise? Comfort? No, he knew he would get nothing less than an hour of rambling about how much she now had to worry about, how much it would drain his energy, how much they had to fear from a soft little glow.

So, he hides it.

As much as he hates his stupid glowy hands at first, it starts to become a rather welcome feature.

He no longer has to hide a flashlight in his room for when he wants to read in bed- his own hands suffice now! Well, when he can get them to turn on, which isn’t all the time. He starts to understand all the hype he’d been seeing on the news about controlling abilities- if this were something dangerous, Eddie would surely be in some deep shit.

Every now and then, Eddie gets the gaul to ask his mom about things that he knew he wasn’t supposed to- if he could go out with her when she grabbed something, if he could return to school now that abilities are more regulated, if he could just go for a bike ride like he used to. The answer is always no, of course.

The only time he’s allowed out of the house is for visits to the doctor, which have also become less often for some reason. Eddie wonders why his medications remain the same even though he’s being seen less.

Sometimes, his mom gets tired of his curiosity.

“Eddie, you know why you have to stay in here, you know it! I can’t risk losing you, Eddie-bear. Do you know how many people are being attacked every day by these new monsters?!”

“But mom-”

“I don’t let you watch the news because it’s so terrible, every day there’s more attacks and more people sick and dead , I just can’t bear it!”

Eddie wants to tell her that he sees the news when she doesn’t think he’s watching, that things are starting to stabilize, that crime rates haven’t actually gone up that much and that people aren’t actually being attacked- but of course she doesn’t let him get a word it. It’s part of her defense against Eddie trying to fight back.

“Mom, listen to me, please -”

“Do you want to do that to me? Eddie-bear, you know how hard it’s been after I-” she sniffles for effect, “After I lost your poor father. I can’t risk losing you too, honey, you know that-”

“Mom will you just listen to me?!” He raises his voice, earning a gasp from his mother. The look on her face is almost scandalized. He doesn’t realize why until he gestures in frustration with his hands, and he notices a familiar glow. “I just want-”

“EDDIE!”

She interrupts him, running over and fawning over him until his glow dims and eventually fades. He’s bombarded with questions about how this could have happened, how could she ever let him out now, how they had to make extra sure to be careful, blah blah blah. He promptly loses all hope of ever getting out of there.

She corrals him to the stairs and up to his room, her shrill voice running nonstop the entire time. Eddie tries to tune it out, but it’s hard- she’s persistent, and his hopes are crushed. He hears the lock on his door click as she leaves.

Eddie barely notices the glow of his hands as he punches his pillow. He spends ten, maybe twenty minutes just punching, screaming, doing what he can to get his frustration out. Once he slows down, giving his poor bedsheets a break, he realizes that the glow has spread to just above his elbows.

“Stupid fucking glowy hands…” he mutters, glaring at them as if that would get it to stop. Of course, it doesn’t.

With a sigh, Eddie drags himself over to his bookshelf, grabbing something that sounds mildly interesting so he could distract himself from his stupid emotions and his stupid situations and his stupid hands. As he glances over the other options, his eyes land on something he hadn’t looked at in years- Richie’s mix CD. ‘Songs to help spaghetti forgetti his regretti’. The glow in his hands fades as Eddie traces over the shitty doodles on the cover, and a ghost of a smile settles on his face.

He’s still pissed off that everyone abandoned him. He’s confused, he’s frustrated, he’s angry and he’s hurt- but most of all, he’s nostalgic. More than anything, he misses his friends, and he just wants it all back. He likes to think that there’s a good reason that they left him, and that they’ll be reunited one day and everything will be happily ever after- but he also knows that’s just a lot of wishful thinking.

Eddie breaks his thoughts by popping the CD into the player on his radio, pressing ‘play’, and flopping on his bed.

He closes his eyes, smiling to himself as the first notes of the song drift into the room. The CD plays on repeat until Eddie falls asleep for the night.

The next day, Eddie is horrified when his mother hires someone to install bars on his bedroom window. It’s for your safety, Eddie, she insists. The government is getting involved now, I can’t let them take you away.

But he knows they wouldn’t take him away. He knows he isn’t that lucky.

And he has the sneaking suspicion that his mother would have installed the bars whether or not the government was a concern.

Eddie’s hands don’t glow as bright anymore after that, though he isn’t sure why. Maybe he hated that stupid power so much that it’s in the process of disappearing- he hopes that’s the case. If he can prove he’s normal, then maybe one day he can leave.

In the next year, Eddie catches many newscasts about ability regulation. He managed to convince his mom to let him watch the news a little bit, because current events was something he had to be versed on in order for his home school requirements. She wasn’t happy about it, but ultimately he gets to watch the news more regularly now.

It’s something Eddie never quite cared about, news. When he was twelve and thirteen, the news was the most boring thing he could ever think of watching. But now, it’s a connection to the world he no longer gets to be a part of.

The last he’d heard, a few months back, was how the government had started allowing those with trained abilities to register as heroes. Their official title was something boring, of course- The National Force of Enhanced Individuals or something dumb like that. But everyone calls them heroes. Crime rates had been steadily decreasing since they passed the bill creating the force, and maybe, just maybe Eddie gets his hopes up when he hears that.

He hasn’t asked his mom about going outside in a while, but during this newscast, he thinks maybe he has a chance…

“So, that’s great, huh?” Eddie ventures from his spot on the couch, looking expectantly at his mother.

She’s sitting in her recliner, as she does most of the time, her attention on some magazine rather than the television. In response, she hums in question, not even bothering to look up.

“The- the Force of Enhanced Individuals…” he gestures to the screen. “Seems they’re lowering the crime rate. That’s great, right?” He cautiously explains, wary of the fact that this conversation could go to hell at any second.

She raises an eyebrow, glancing at Eddie for only a mere second.

“I suppose so, yes. It’s about time these streets got safer. You never know what could happen out there.”

Eddie pauses for a moment.

“So… it seems like things are more regulated now. More than they were a few years ago, I mean…”

She puts her magazine down then, switching her focus over to Eddie. “Eddie-Bear, I know you’re not trying to ask me to leave again, right? Because you know we’ve talked about this. You know why you have to stay here.”

And, there goes his plan.

His eyes are pleading, and he tries his best to sound reasonable, to make a point.

“I don’t- I don’t want to go far, just… I want to be outside more than just doctors visits, Mom! It’s not healthy for me to stay in here-”

“Don’t use your health on me! I know everything about your health, Eddie, and I know that you’re much better off in here, safe. ”

“I just want to go- go to the store with you maybe, or the library, or hang out in the backyard- I mean look, Mom, crime rates are down more than they’ve ever been! Heroes are protecting people!”

“Stop asking, Eddie.”

Her voice is so calm, so sure that Eddie feels like he wants to explode. He clenches his fists, and again, that familiar glow is back.

“No! I shouldn’t even have to ask, Ma!”

“Don’t you start this with me-”

“Most kids my age are outside all the time! They go to school, they go out with their friends, they do things! I don’t even know where my friends are!” He yells back, ignoring her retorts.

“Your friends don’t come here anymore, and it’s better for you that way! They were terrible influences, you don’t need them, Eddie-”

“I’d like to know where they went, why they left! I’d like to have the chance to look for them at least! Christ, Mom, this is a prison!” He gesticulates wildly in front of himself, pleading with his hands without noticing that they’re exactly why he won’t win this fight.

“Eddie, do not raise your voice with me. You’re scaring me, honey!” Eddie knew this tone well. “Why don’t you go upstairs and calm-”

“I DON’T WANT TO CALM DOWN, MA!”

As he yells, he swiftly throws his hands down to his sides, and something happens.

He can’t put words to it, but he feels a sort of tingling heat in his hands, and the next second he hears a crash- no, two crashes, one on each side of him.

Everything is silent for a moment, even his mother. Her mouth hangs open, though no words come out, and she’s looking at Eddie with something between shock and horror on her face. She turns her attention to Eddie’s left, and instinctively, he does the same.

There’s a visible dent in the wall there, as if somebody strong had punched it. Almost cautiously, Eddie turns his head to the other side, and notices an equal dent in the cabinet. Each dent is equal height, and Eddie knows what happened.

He’s still processing it, and he doesn’t want to be right, but he knows.

“Eddie…”

Her voice is so low, Eddie barely processes it. His eyes glance between the dents, then to the floor.

“Yeah… I’ll go to my room.”

After that, his visits to the doctor decrease exponentially so, only once every few months. But he’s given more medication than he’s ever had before. Given his little ‘condition’, he’s not surprised. It’s probably messing with his system somehow, and the medicine is helping with symptoms he hasn’t even noticed yet.

He feels tired all the damn time, even though he goes to bed early and wakes up a little on the later side. When he’s not doing his work or watching something completely idiotic that his mom insists he must join her for, he’s either napping or staring into space. It’s annoying- maybe that’s one of the things that the medicine is helping. Or maybe he’s just fucking depressed, who knows.

He’s also confined to his room most of the time, and his mom locks the door when she goes out. After his outburst, he assumes she doesn’t trust him, and he can’t be too mad this time, he knows. She’s just trying to keep him safe, of course.

He doesn’t have much schooling left. He still gets to watch the news for current events, but only when supervised by his mom. And, it’s better than nothing. He does okay on the work he’s given, although he knows it’s all minimum-effort curricula.

He has video games to keep him occupied, and a fair amount of books. His mom gets him things sometimes while she’s out, which is nice of her.

He’s also been trying to control his abilities.

Maybe it’s stupid. All he has are glowy hands… but he knows they’re capable of something else if they were able to mess up the walls that day. And if he knows anything about superpowers from the comics he reads, he knows that it’s much better for everyone if he controls this thing before he accidentally learns more about it.

It takes a lot of work to learn how to make them glow on command. It takes a lot of focus, and a solid month before he actually does it for the first time when he wants to, instead of it just appearing.

Awesome- now he can use his own personal flashlight whenever he needs it. Whenever his mom says “lights out” at 10pm and he still isn’t tired, or when he drops something and doesn’t have a phone flashlight to help him find it.

And it’s cool, it’s a great feeling actually, to be able to have a little bit of control over this shit. But it’s not enough.

Eddie’s mom is out grocery shopping, so naturally he’s locked in his room. He dreams one day of being able to blast the door open somehow, but he’s far from that. He dented the walls a little bit exactly one time, so he’s not exactly the pinnacle of power here.

But… maybe someday he could be.

A stool sits by Eddie’s window as a perch. He sits down as he opens his window, thankful that the weather is warming up, and for a moment he forgets his goal here. The open window is the closest he gets to being outside anymore, and every time he smells the natural air, he finds himself longing for the days he used to spend out in it. He misses biking around town, he misses the barrens, he misses the clubhouse in the forest. But a window is better than nothing.

He physically shakes his head to refocus himself.

Outside his window are several trees- his targets. It’s almost surreal, realizing exactly what he’s about to do, but he knows it’s important.

“Focus…” He whispers to himself, nestling his arm between two of the metal bars that lined his window now. He rests it lightly on the windowsill, spreading his palms as if trying to use the force.

Except, this isn’t the force. He’s not drawing anything to him, he’s trying to push it away .

His hands glow, which is no longer anything special to him. He figures they’ll glow brighter as he focuses more, as he prepares for… well, whatever he’s capable of, but at the moment, he doesn’t notice anything.

Thoughts keep crawling into his mind- how much he wishes to go back outside, to see his friends again, to have friends again.

As his mind wanders, the glow spreads up his arms, gradually becoming lighter. But, he’s not focusing. He’s reminiscing, he’s yearning for what he once had, and what he could have if he wasn’t in this stupid fucking house.

Wait, no.

Eddie shuts his eyes tight, willing the thoughts from his mind.

“I said focus, dammit.”

When he opens his eyes, he stares at the tree in front of his window, aiming his hand at it. He takes a deep breath, thinks of nothing but the tree, and-

And nothing happens.

Clenching his fist for a moment, he takes another breath and decides to try again. Hand through the window, eyes on the tree, focus on power. Mind clear, hand glowing, energy flowing, and…

Still nothing.

Eddie tries this for a solid half an hour before he gives up, slumping over his stool and resting his head against the bars. Maybe that weird blast thing was just a fluke, and there was no way to control it. Or, maybe it’s based on like, what he eats, or what he does during the day. Maybe he has a lot more investigating to do before he can actually make his powers do anything besides give him glowy hands.

The world outside the window catches his attention again, and he spends some time just watching it. It’s a nice day out; he can hear kids playing down the street, birds chirping, he can see squirrels and chipmunks scampering around, and there’s barely a cloud in the sky. Four years ago, he’d have been all over a day like this- riding his bike, relaxing in the barrens or by the quarry with his friends…

It’s not fair. It’s not fair that his front door is locked from the outside, that his own bedroom door is locked to keep him in, and that he’s a prisoner in his own home. It’s not fair that the only thing he wants to do is get out, to run, but he can’t. He’d trigger his asthma anyway.

It’s not fucking fair that he can’t even escape out of a window because there are fucking bars on it, it’s not fucking fair that everyone he knew, everyone who was ever kind to him had just up and left him why would they do that? Why did they do that?

(Eddie’s hands glow brighter, but he doesn’t notice.)

Was he really so forgettable that his friends could move on so easily? Or was that his mom’s plan all along? Had she told them to fuck off one day, and they all just listened? The school district still has to check on him regularly to make sure his mother is following the law- had they really noticed nothing? Or had he just never been worth the second thought?

(His hands are shaking, still resting on the windowsill.)

Richie made him a damn mixtape, for christ’s sake! A mixtape! You don’t do that for people you don’t care about, you don’t do that and then abandon them, forget about them, leave them to their warden of a mother and a lifetime of no real fucking human interaction.

(There’s a faint vibration in Eddie’s palms.)

Eddie clenches his jaw, runs his hands through his hair before placing them back between the bars, and shuts his eyes.

Fuck heroes. Fuck superpowers. Fuck this whole organization, the one that spiked fear into everyone and feeds off of it. Eddie’s mom is scared, now Eddie has to suffer for it, and there’s nobody coming to save him. These people have the balls to call themselves heroes, but who the hell are they saving?

“Fuck…”

(His palms brighten.)

“FUCK!”

Eddie slams his hands down against the windowsill and feels it before he sees it. Energy. Pure energy. And it came right from his hands, he knows it did.

The glow of his hands dimmed to a dull shimmer, and there’s an obvious dent in the tree that had been perfect just a minute before.

Like last time, everything is still for a moment, oddly quiet. Eddie can only stare ahead of him at the injured trunk. He flicks his gaze to his hands, still tingling, still glowing.

So. That’s how his power is going to work, then.

After a few months of “good behavior”, Eddie’s mom stops locking him in his room when she goes out. It’s a start, he figures.

He “graduates” that spring, but there’s no ceremony, no speeches, no cap and gown. He gets a cupcake though, which is nice.

The news is still filled with stories about heroes, about thrilling stories of rescue, about new agencies funding research and training and about crime rates plummeting. It’s all good news in theory, but Eddie can’t help the pings of jealousy he feels for all the happy people he sees rescued.

Rescued.

Nobody’s come to rescue him. Nobody even looks for a situation like his- it’s not a flashy villain he needs to be rescued from. He’s in no mortal danger, not even any physical danger in all honesty. But does that make him any less miserable?

No.

And how many other kids are in similar situations? How many other people need saving, but are ignored for all this flashy hero and villain fantasy shit? Eddie thinks about these things a lot. But it’s not like he can do anything about it.

Something good, he guesses, is that he’s gotten better at damaging that poor tree outside his window. The trunk and some of the wider branches have visible scars, though they still aren’t much. Maybe he’s confined to small blasts or something, but it’s still kind of cool.

So his powers are tied to emotions? Good. He’s got a lot of those. And he thinks about them when he wants to channel his energy- that must be what his power is, technically. Energy.

It makes sense that he’s exhausted after he practices, in that case. He tries not to show it, though- he doesn’t want his mom to have any more reason to worry about him or keep him confined.

It’s a Tuesday afternoon in July when she runs to the store, and Eddie gets a few hours to himself for what he’s been calling target practice in his head. He doesn’t know what he plans to do with his tiny blasts of energy, but he figures it’s better to be able to have some sort of handle on them than to just have the ability to do it and no idea how.

Like always, he’s tired after he fires off a few blasts- both physically and emotionally. He thinks about those news stories, the smug faces of all those self-proclaimed heroes. He thinks about his situation, how he longs to leave, how he may as well be in an actual prison. It’s good stuff to keep in his mind when he wants to practice, but it’s hard to come down from, and it always just reminds him of how fucked his life is.

Sighing, Eddie pushes himself off his stool, taking a moment to stretch his arms over his head. A snack and a nap sound absolutely perfect right about now, so he decides to do just that.

He pads out of his room and downstairs, a little tempted to turn on the TV, but he was sure his mom would have some way of figuring out that he’d done it- she probably had cameras or something installed, or motion sensors, or a battery monitor on the remote. Something weird and over controlling, of course. It’s expected by now.

While Eddie rummages through the pantry, he understands why his mother had to go out. They were low on snacks of pretty much every kind, and he was gonna have to make something if he actually wanted food. Maybe pasta, that was an easy choice.

Spaghetti.

The voice of an old friend echoes in Eddie’s head, and he finds himself smiling softly before he closes the pantry door.

If he’s gonna make something, he may as well check to make sure they have cooking spray, and maybe some spices. Not that Eddie’s the best cook ever, since he’s not often allowed in the kitchen, but if he has to make something he’d rather it be edible and not something bland that sticks to the pot.

Okay, so he has no idea how to use spices besides like, salt and garlic, but he can still experiment.

Step one- learn where the spices are.

Eddie isn’t allowed to cook, really. Anything he’d done, he’d done while his mom was out. And it’s not like she’s the lord of good cooking, so Eddie’s also pretty amateur.

Finally, he opens a cabinet and finds some usable stuff next to the nonperishables. Garlic powder, some extra salt and pepper, oregano, basil, some extra baking soda and baking powder… and some old pill bottles? He takes the containers to inspect them, curious.

One of the bottles is labelled Phenobarbital, and the others Lorazepam.

That’s Nembutal and Ativan.

Sedatives.

His first thought is, obviously, that they’re just more medications lying around the house. It wouldn’t be surprising, since his mother seemed to always be going to another doctor, and she used to take him nearly once a week.

His second thought is that they had a set medicine cabinet, one that was organized by need. Why would she move them to a food cabinet instead?

And his third thought is one that scares him to death. Suddenly, he’s wondering if it’s not his powers that are making him feel drained.

Because, what had his mother ever needed sedatives for? Sure, one doubles as an anxiety medication, but there’s no way in hell Eddie is lucky enough for his mom to actually seek help for her paranoia.

Tentatively, Eddie opens one of the bottles, and he recognizes the pills as ones he’s given… often.

His breaths quicken, and he wants his inhaler but it’s upstairs- and is it even an inhaler? Or is there something else in there that his mom didn’t tell him about?

Suddenly the bottle is shaking in his hand, his fist clenched around it as the pills rattle around inside. And suddenly, it’s much brighter in the room than it was before. He feels a familiar vibration in the palm of his hands.

“Eddie-bear!”

He hadn’t even heard the door open. But he heard that voice. Her voice. That grating, shrill, helicopter voice. It only gets worse once she finds him in the kitchen, her footsteps quickening as she rushes over to him.

“Eddie-bear, what are you doing? What’s going on honey, put that down, you need to take your pills and go to your room-”

Eddie’s eyes are glued to the bottle.

Sedatives. Fucking sedatives .

He knew she didn’t trust him, but he didn’t think it would have come to this. He never thought she’d flat out lie to him like this.

His jaw is clenched, and he swallows down a lump in his throat as his mother keeps babbling.

“What the fuck is this, ma?”

She gasps as if scandalized. As if she has the right to be shocked, or to be upset at anything Eddie does after pulling this shit.

“Eddie- honey, you know that’s just your medicine. You’re sick -”

“These are sedatives, don’t lie to me.” He snaps his head up, glaring into his mother’s eyes. She takes a step back, looking at him like he’s some dangerous monster. And, hell, maybe he is.

“Eddie you- you needed them-” her tone is pleading, and it just pisses Eddie off more. “You- you needed something to help you, oh God-”

The fear is evident on her face, and the only thing Eddie feels is rage.

“Help me? You think that was helping me?” He drops the pill bottle then, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. “You-”

“Eddie, your eyes-”

“You drugged me!”

“God, have mercy-”

“YOU FUCKING DRUGGED ME!”

Eddie gestures in front of him, and watches with not-so-much horror as his mom stumbles backwards with an audible shriek.

There’s a moment where he wants to panic. But the anger takes over again, and he doesn’t care what happens to her. He doesn’t care what he did. He doesn’t care.

He needs to get away, he needs to go be alone. He takes off towards his room, but pauses as he catches a glimpse of his reflection in one of his kitchen’s glass cabinets.

His eyes… his eyes are glowing, just like his hands.

No pupils, no hazel iris, no whites. Just a glow, like a flashlight.

Before he has to listen to more shrieking, Eddie all but runs upstairs, slamming his door with more force than he thought he had in him. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he felt the house shake with the action.

He rushes to the window then, his body shaking with how fucking angry he is, and throws it open. Reaching both hands out in front of him, he aims, and it doesn’t take a second thought to fire a blast.

It’s easy when he thinks about everything, and when he feels like there’s so much… so much energy pent up inside him that he could burst.

The dent he makes in the tree is much more noticeable this time.

He grits his teeth, and fires another.

Fuck her. Fuck everybody.

A branch falls.

He fires another blast.

Fuck “heroes”. Fuck this society. Fuck this whole fucking world.

He hears his mom getting up from downstairs. And he’s not fucking sorry. Not one bit.

Eddie doesn’t speak to his mom after that.

He avoids going downstairs, and eventually she starts bringing meals up to him, pills in a neat little pile on the side.

They taunt him, the little white tablets. At first, he’s not sure which ones are the sedatives, and which ones he actually needs. But he’s not sure how much he cares anymore.

He stops taking all of them.

And, surprise surprise, nothing happens.

He doesn’t say anything, though. He takes the medication and hides it in a small box under his bed, covered by comics so his mom doesn’t find it if she ever decides to snoop around. And, after all this shit, he wouldn’t put it past her.

He’s 18 now. Most kids his age are going to college, going to work, moving out, doing something .

And Eddie? He’s making a plan.

He notices his mom trying to slip him more medication. And he’s wary of anything that she might be able to sneak a powder into.

He must be successful in avoiding her attempts to drug him, because he feels more alive, more energetic than he had at any time in the past two years.

The stool near his window becomes Eddie’s new best friend. Now that his energy is back, he’s better than ever at controlling his blasts.

He knows his emotions help it along, and he learns that the brighter the glow of his hands, the stronger the blast he can emit; and he learns that his blasts can be strong. It’s during a particularly intense storm that Eddie tests the waters a little more, and ends up knocking over one of the trees outside his window.

If he can knock over a tree, then surely he can knock out a wall, right?

He bides his time, but it takes everything in him to pretend like things are normal. He waits for winter to pass, paying moderate attention to the news when his mom goes out and storing up some essentials. Nothing too conspicuous- a jar of peanut butter here, a box of crackers there, and a few twenties from the stash in her room.

He doesn’t know exactly what he’s gonna do or where he’ll end up, so he does his best to prepare for anything.

He keeps a bag under his bed, right next to the box of discarded pills. His mom hasn’t been too nosy about his room- why would she have any reason to be, since he rarely leaves it anyway. By February, the bag consists of a few comics, the supplies he’d stolen from the kitchen, and the money. By March, he adds more money, two changes of clothes, a bottle of water, and a blanket. He wants to be prepared in case he has to leave early.

By May, the weather has evened out, the days sunny and long.

Eddie barely interacts with his mom, and something tells him she doesn’t much mind. She’ll insist on an “I love you” every now and then, but Eddie obliges in order to keep her at bay. He’s learned to play the part of the perfect, quiet, sedated little boy.

It’s a Saturday late in the month when Eddie decides it’s time.

His mother is downstairs, watching some mind-numbingly stupid reality show. He does one last check on his bag, making sure he had everything. He’d been able to steal about $250 without his mother noticing, which he figured was enough to get him, well, somewhere . Everything else is in place- even his inhaler, for good measure.

He slips on his best sneakers, which didn’t have much wear in them, since he’d been outside maybe ten times in the past two or three years. His clothes are comfortable, with a hoodie tied around his waist and a watch around his wrist for good measure.

He takes a step back, standing in the middle of his room with his bag slung over his shoulder. Soon… soon he’d be out. Taking a deep breath, Eddie raises his hands to the same height as the window, and he focuses his energy-

Until something catches his eye.

Something he spent a lot of nights listening to. Something he wants so badly to hate, but he can’t. It gives him too much nostalgic joy.

‘Songs to help spaghetti forgetti his regretti’

Eddie swallows a lump in his throat as he stands perfectly still, eyes glued to the little CD, sitting besides his portable player.

Part of him wants to leave it, to forget everything about this part of his life and start over, brand new. But, as much as he wants to forget everyone, to forget the Losers club, to forget Richie , he can’t. He can’t bring himself to do that.

With a huff, he grabs the CD, placing it safely in Richie’s stupid little case. He shoves them in his bag, then returns to the middle of the room, facing his window.

He can almost hear his mom’s voice in his ear, urging him to stop, telling him he’s too weak, that he won’t survive out there, that he should just stay safe here with her.

“Fuck you,” he responds to no one.

Again, Eddie raises his hands, angling them towards the window.

“This one’s for you, Ma.”

Boom.

#reddie #eddie kaspbrak #richie tozier #reddie fanfiction #it fanfiction #reddie fanfics #it fanfics #it (stephen king)#my writing #my art #uh yeah heres this

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jamesbarnesappreciationsociety · 5 years ago

Text

Jessica Barnes: Jr. CEO (One Shot)

Summary: This is the cutest company takeover in history.

Pairing: CEO Daddy! Bucky Barnes x OC: Jessica Marie Barnes

Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Wanda Maximoff, Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson

Scott Lang and Peter Parker

Word Count: 1,879

Warnings: Angst; fluff

A/N: @stevieang, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to beta read for me. Your insight is greatly appreciated.

Exquisite Designs, a commercial architectural firm owned by longtime friends James Buchanan Barnes and Steven Grant Rogers, boasted some of New York’s wealthiest clients. For over 17 years, the firm built some of the most elegant office buildings dotting the skyline in New York City.

Their number one client is Stark and Wilson Land Development. The firm was currently working on the Howard and Maria Stark wing of Mt. Sinai hospital" It was a 24-7 project with big deadlines, big pressure, and big payoff. This project held a special place in Bucky’s heart. His wife, Lillian, died from a brain aneurysm, leaving behind an adorable daughter with rich brown hair like her father and hypnotic amber eyes identical to her late mother.

Her frail body lay in the lovely king size sleigh bed. Different hues of blues dotted the sheets, comforter and blanket. Blue is her favorite color. James Buchanan Barnes, held his wife Lillian’s dainty hand. He knew her time on Earth was drawing to an end. Sunken eyes turned towards her husband whispering, “Please promise me, you’ll live for Jess.”

“Don’t know how to do that without you, Doll.” Bucky wiped the steady stream of tears from his face.

With a faint smile on her face, Lillian Marie Barnes closed her eyes. Shoulders shaking, Bucky sobbed openly, kissing her hand. “I love you, Lillian. I’ll do my best for Jess.”

Steve heard his best friend crying. He then realized, his “Lillie Bug” was gone. Trying to explain to a 3 year old that her mommy was gone, Steve put it this way. “Munchkin’, ya remember when your daddy told ya that mommy would go to sleep forever?”

Jess nodded ‘yes.’ “Daddy said mommy was Sleeping Beauty, but the Prince couldn’t wake her up. So, she’ll be in Heaven watching out for us. Is she an Angel now, Uncle Stevie?”

“Yeah, Lillie Bug is an Angel.” Jess crawled in her uncle’s lap, “I’m sad.”

“Me too, sweetheart.” Burying her face in Steve’s massive chest, Jess cried herself to sleep.

Following Lillian’s memorial service, Bucky spiralled into deep depression. No longer able to care for her, Jess mourned the loss of her mommy and daddy. Signing temporary control of Exquisite Designs to his best friend, Bucky sought the nurturing spirit of Lillian’s parents, Raymond and Bethany. They agreed to keep their granddaughter as long as needed. Unable to understand why she wasn’t with her daddy, Jess often cried, becoming clingy.

Three months later, Steve kicked his friend in the ass, explaining Jess longed for her daddy. Losing her mother had taken a toll on her young life, now she needed him to get it together.

Realizing Steve was right, Bucky planned a father/daughter vacation to Maui. As you would imagine, Jessica was delighted. Boarding his private jet, the duo made their way to crystal clear water, sugar white sandy beaches, for a chance to reconnect with his daughter. Tucked away in his luggage were photo albums, holding page after page of heartwarming memories.

Sitting in Bucky’s lap, Jess wiped the tears cascading down Bucky’s face. “Daddy, don’t be sad. Mommy is in Heaven. She can see us, just look up.”

Turning her gaze towards a cloudless sky, Jess baby girl smiled and whispered,“Mommy told me to take care of you.”

“Thank you Jess. I Iove you so much. Please forgive me for not spending time with you. Your momma was my world. Following her death, life just wasn’t the same. I neglected the one person who needed me the most; YOU!”

“Daddy, it’s okay.” Her face was sincere and her words showed the goodness deep within.

“No baby, it’s not. From now on, I’ll take more time off.”

Her face lit up like a carnival in the night. “Really?? Yippee!”

Upon returning home, Bucky thought of a wonderful way to honor his wife’s memory. He approached Steve about plans for “The Lillian Marie Barnes Child Care Center.” A free center for all employees of the firm. Parents could be there at the beginning, middle, and end of the day and didn’t have to worry about their little ones while at work. The age limits were: infants 6 months - 1 years old and children 2- 4 years old. Employees, as you could imagine, were ecstatic.

Since “The Howard and Maria Stark Children’s Wing” was on schedule, Peter Parker, Director of Marketing, pitched an idea to Bucky.

Gathered around the spacious cherrywood table were upper management and their executive assistants. Facilitating the meeting, Peter laid out his plans for “Kids Takeover the Firm Day.” “I thought it would be fun to take a day off and let the kids run the company. We’ve worked extremely hard to meet all our deadlines and it’s been accomplished.” Everyone listened attentively.

“Have you decided on a date?” Bucky leaned on the table.

“How about this Saturday? The phone lines won’t be operational just in case one of the kids decides to call out, and our answering service would alert us if they received calls that weren’t caught by one of us.”

Bucky added, “You might be onto something Peter. I’m sure they would love to dress up and play Junior Executives for a day.”

Nat and Clint’s twins, Mason and Jason, would serve as Jr. Executive Assistants to the Jr. CEO.

Steve agreed, “Jessica should serve as Jr. CEO.”

Bucky couldn’t believe his ears. “Are you sure? I don’t want any favoritism.”

“She’d make a great Junior CEO!” Wanda’s eyes sparkled.

With this in mind, Bucky suggested taking the remainder of the day off. “Alright, let’s get the ball rolling. I have a little CEO to shop for.”

Bucky made his way to Jessica’s preschool class. She immediately sprinted to his arms.“Hi sweetheart. How’s my girl?”

“I’m fine daddy. We learned our ABC’s and numbers!” Jess’ smile mimicked that of her mommy’s.

“What? My goodness you’re smart!” Bucky kissed her cheek, nose and forehead before dropping the big news on her.

“Guess what? On Saturday, all the kids of the moms and dads that work for Daddy and Uncle Steve’s company get to be in charge for the day. Uncle Steve has promoted you to Junior Chief Executive Officer - the Big Boss.”You’ve been deemed Jr. CEO.”

Unable to contain her enthusiasm, Jess sprung up on her toes. Pumping her fists in the air, she jumped around declaring, “I’M THE BOSS...I’M THE BOSS!!!”

“Peanut, there’s more to being CEO than just saying you’re the boss. Remember that it’s important to always treat your employees with respect.”

“Okay daddy. I’ll be good.”

“How about a shopping trip? You’ll need new clothes, a briefcase, and shoes!” There wasn’t much his girl loved more than going shopping. She was all in now.

“Let’s go!!!”

TIME FOR WORK

At 8:00 on the dot, decked out in her navy blue “suit” and carrying her briefcase and phone, Jessica Marie Barnes, Jr. CEO, reported for work.

Natasha’s twins Mason and Jason, donned brown two-piece suits, cream shirts, and brown striped ties. Malachi Rogers sported a gray 3 piece suit, powder blue shirt, and solid tie. Wanda, Scott and Sam’s kids also looked razor sharp, in pastel dress shirts, dark pants, and black patent leather shoes.

Parents and kids gathered in the small conference room. The kids couldn’t sit still, they were hyped to get the show on the road.

“I must admit, this is the best dressed staff in all of New York.” Bucky beamed, “Jessica, you have the floor.”

“Thank you Mr. Barnes. Good morning. My name is Jessica Barnes but you can call me Jess. It’s time for our morning meeting. Follow me to the small room.”

Their parents laughed quietly and smiled as they filed out of the room. How much trouble could 3 and 4 year olds get into? Yikes!

Parents applauded as Jess led her friends to another conference room set-up with breakfast sandwiches, fruit, pastry and juice boxes.

Munching on a sausage and biscuit, Malachi announced, “Okay, folks. We have a lot of work to do. There’s a meeting with people who want something built.”

One little lady asked, “Mr. Grant, who?”

Malachi replied, “I dunno let’s make something up.”

One factor forgotten, in the midst of their excitement of the day, the cuteness of the kids, someone forgot what could happen if kids consume copious amounts of S.U.G.A.R.

Jess, Malachi, Mason and Jason wandered away from the others and ended up in one of the copy rooms. Mason, with wide-eyed wonder, suggested making copies of their faces. How they turned the machine on is one of life’s biggest mysteries. They took turns copying faces, arms and legs. Jason, however, took it one step further. He sat on the machine and took a picture of his bottom.

Next, a group of 3-year-olds snuck into a few offices with sticky hands, pressing on the keyboards. Yep, they made a mess.

Not to be left out, Jessica and her gang visited the employee break room. The refrigerator and lower cabinets were raided. They devoured chips, Christmas candy, and cookies leftover from an office meeting.

Smeared on the pristine white walls were tiny chocolate handprints, water and orange juice got spilled onto the floor, and a few kids ate too much. The room was an absolute MESS.

Mason and Jason tried to clean up the spilled juice throwing paper towels on the floor. Malachi retrieved a mop, attempting to clean up.

Instead, he slipped, face first, soiling his new suit. Jessica, completely flustered, plopped on the floor in tears.

Leave it to the Moms in the room to hear what wasn’t being said. Natasha and Wanda suddenly looked at each other and sprinted out of the room towards the suddenly-silent children. They knew that quiet kids equaled disaster and were nauseous at the thought of what they might find. All the parents ran and converged on the breakroom, stopped cold by what they found. As they surveyed the damage. Bucky murmured, “What the hell happened in here?”

While he shook his head, most of the parents pulled out their phones to capture the moment.

The state of the room was nothing compared to the tired, messy children who were in varying stages of sugar crashes. Bucky looked at Steve, “We’re going to have to give the cleaning company a major bonus after this weekend. They’re going to think we left a zoo loose in here!”

Understanding the need for parents, as well as kids to recuperate, Steve suggested everyone take an extended weekend. Everyone accepted the gracious offer.

“Kids Takeover the Firm Day” was a complete success. Jessica Barnes’ reign as CEO had come to an end. Sleeping soundly on her daddy’s black leather office sofa, Jess was visibly exhausted. Kissing her chubby cheek, Bucky moved a strand of hair from her forehead. In that moment, he felt Lillian’s presence. Wiping a wayward tear from his face, Bucky knew his wife would live on through Jessica Marie Barnes, Junior CEO.

Tagging: @stevieang @loricameback @mrsgoodnight @suz-123 @pegasusdragontiger

#Jessica Barnes: Jr. CEO #fluffy goodness #hope you enjoy it #dad! bucky x ofc

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emospritelet · 5 years ago

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[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8] [Part 9][Part 10] [Part 11] [Part 12] [Part 13] [Part 14]

AO3 link

Last time in the present, Weaver opened up a new investigation into what Lacey could be mixed up in. Centre of operations: Nolan's garage.

Present Day

Weaver ran his eyes over the whiteboard again, pausing to take a slurp of beer.

“How are things going with Lacey, anyway?” asked Nolan, and he growled something, running a hand over his chin in frustration.

“I don’t bloody know,” he sighed. “I suggested spending some time together this weekend. She didn’t say no, but…” He shrugged. “I don’t know. Sometimes I think I’m kidding myself, trying to make it work, and sometimes it’s like I can see glimpses of the old Lacey. Sometimes I think she still loves me.”

“I don’t think she ever stopped,” said Nolan gently. “I’m sure it’s just - whatever this threat to her is. Nothing else.”

Weaver shrugged again, and took another drink.

“You know, you guys can always borrow our cabin again, if you want to get away for a few days,” added Nolan and Weaver gave him a wry smile.

“What, a second honeymoon?” he said. “I don’t think we’re ready for that, but thanks for the offer. I need to work out what the hell has her so scared. If I can find that out, and fucking deal with it so it can’t hurt her again, maybe we’ll be okay. Maybe.”

“What about asking Fa to help out?” asked Nolan.

Weaver shook his head.

“I don’t want her involved,” he said. “It’s not as though there’s a case to crack, unless you count Heller’s murder.”

“You think she’d care about that?”

Weaver eyed him.

“She’s even more of a stickler for the rules than you were,” he said. “Good detective, though.”

“Exactly. Maybe a fresh pair of eyes…”

Weaver shook his head.

“Look, I don’t know where I’m gonna end up by following these threads,” he sighed, gesturing at the whiteboard. “Could be nothing. Could be a massive pile of shit’s about to drop on me, and if that’s the case, I don’t want it landing on her too. If this is something that brings me down, I don’t want her taking a fall with me.”

“She’d want to help,” insisted Nolan, and Weaver shook his head, rolling the board marker between his fingers.

“I won’t do it,” he said shortly. “Not again.”

Nolan sighed, the wheels on his chair squeaking as he moved nearer.

“Look, man,” he said gently. “Would you stop blaming yourself for what happened to me? I didn’t have to follow you in there that night. It wasn’t your fault, any more than it was my fault, okay?”

Weaver was silent, and Nolan shook his head.

“Fa would want to help,” he said again. “She’s gonna kick your ass if she finds out you put yourself in danger without telling her about it.”

“Who says I’m in danger?” asked Weaver impatiently. “At the moment all I have is - is a bloody whiteboard! A whiteboard filled with loose connections that don’t even make sense!”

“So let’s make some sense of a few of them,” suggested Nolan. “You did say we needed a bottom feeder. How about we go and call on a rat?”

Weaver raised an eyebrow.

“Hamelin, you mean?” he asked. “I suppose the little shit’s due a visit. I’ve been paying him to keep his eyes open, but I’ve had nothing useful out of him in weeks.”

“I’ll come with you.”

Weaver stared at him for a moment, then shook his head.

“Snow would kill me.”

“She wouldn’t! Besides, she asked me to go fetch some takeout in time for her getting back with Neal. If we left now, and we happened to take a detour…”

“I am not taking you on an expedition to interrogate an informant!” snapped Weaver.

“I’m just saying we head down to the bars he hangs out in and get a drink,” said Nolan easily. “Nothing’s gonna happen.”

“Well, now you’ve fucking jinxed it. We’re both dead.”

“Come on, let me live a little!”

“I’d prefer to let you live a lot.”

“Weaver, come on,” pressed Nolan. “Just this once! We can do the old ‘good cop bad cop’ routine.”

Weaver sighed heavily, fixing him with a flat stare.

“If you get killed, they’d better shoot me too, because if Snow gets to me I doubt I’ll have a quick death.”

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Nolan took the unfinished beer from him. “Come on, I’ll drive.”

Rain was starting to fall again as Weaver entered the bar, trickling down inside his collar and making him shiver. At six-fifty it was relatively quiet, a large screen blasting out highlights of a football game with the few customers eyeing it over their beers. Weaver’s mouth flattened as he spied a small, thin man turn away from the bar and walk swiftly to the rear. He followed, fists opening and clenching, and the man quickened his pace until he was almost running. The rear door squeaked open under his hurried shove, and Weaver heard a muffled cry of surprise and pain. Heading through the door into a narrow alleyway, he could see the man sprawled on the ground with Nolan’s large hand twisted in his collar.

“Sorry about that, friend,” said Nolan genially. “Didn’t see you there. This chair’s a bitch to manoeuvre.”

“Let me go, you asshole!” snapped the little man. “You touch me and you’re fucking dead meat! I know people, you got me?”

“Alright, give him here,” said Weaver, in a bored voice. “Hamelin, get your arse up before I fucking drag you.”

Hamelin gave him an ingratiating smile, somewhat spoiled by the missing tooth on his upper jaw. He was a hollow-cheeked, rat-faced man with a long nose and thin dark hair, and he squawked a little as Weaver hauled him upright by the lapels of his leather jacket and shoved him against the wall.

“W-Weaver!” he said, his voice high with anxiety. “I - I didn’t realise it was you!”

“Bollocks,” said Weaver, in a flat tone. “Where’ve you been hiding? I’ve had nothing out of you in fucking weeks. Do you think you can take my money and just piss it up the wall?”

“Hey, if there was something going on I’d tell you in a second!” protested Hamelin. “But it’s been real quiet around here lately, and—”

“I just raided a fucking meth lab earlier today, don’t fucking lie to me!” snapped Weaver. “That has to have caused some gossip amongst the fucking scum you like to drink with.”

“Well, I’m not saying you’re making Seattle’s top ten of favourite cops in this place, but—”

“Anyway, that’s not why we’re here,” interrupted Weaver. “I need some info on someone in town. Someone new.”

Hamelin glanced rapidly from left to right, as though checking they were still alone.

“Who?” he asked suspiciously.

“I don’t know,” said Weaver, cursing his lack of solid facts as Hamelin curled his lip in derision.

“Is this a joke? You want me to tell you about someone but you don’t know who?”

“Someone who turned up maybe four months ago,” said Weaver, using as accurate a date as he could. “Maybe they stayed around, maybe not, but if not, they’re at least visiting regularly.”

“Someone big enough to scare your usual drinking buddies,” added Nolan, and Hamelin eyed him for a moment before shrugging.

“I - I have no idea who you could mean.”

“You know, for an informant you’re remarkably ill-fucking-informed.”

“Weaver, you’re killing me…”

“Not at the moment I’m not,” said Weaver coldly. “But all that could easily change, as I’m sure you remember.”

“Come on, man!” Hamelin spread his hands in protest. “I have to walk these streets when we’re done!”

“I’m not asking you to bloody well spy on them for me!” snapped Weaver.

“All we need is a name and description,” added Nolan. “We can take it from there. Just tell anyone who asks that we forced you into it.”

“I can always beat you up from the sake of authenticity, if it makes things easier,” offered Weaver, and Hamelin flinched.

“Alright, alright!” he snapped. “I might have heard - something.”

“Good.” Weaver shoved him back against the wall again. “Spill.”

“They call her the Black Fairy,” he said. “Dark hair and expensive suits. Probably one of those cougar-types, you know? Word is she’s hot as hell but would cut your balls off soon as look at you. I heard she was up from Vegas.”

“What for?”

“Business.”

“With who?”

“I don’t know, man. None of the usual crowd, that’s for sure. The whisper is that it was something personal.”

“Personal?” Weaver frowned. “As in family?”

“I don’t know,” insisted Hamelin. “Don’t even know her name, only that she’s called the Black Fairy. Apparently there’s a Blue Fairy as well. Doesn’t sound too bad, right, but I’ve seen grown men twice your size shut their mouths and back the fuck away when they’re mentioned. Real heavy hitters down in the desert. Escorted around the place by huge dead-eyed fucks who’d feed you feet-first into a mincer for looking at their boss wrong, you know what I’m saying?”

“I know,” said Weaver quietly, thinking hard. Vegas again. I wonder… “When did they arrive?”

Hamelin screwed up his nose, the gesture making him look even more ratlike.

“Can’t be sure, but I first got whispers of ‘em a few months ago. Late summer, I guess.”

“And you said nothing?” said Weaver flatly. “What the hell do I pay you for?”

“Hey, I didn’t know you’d be interested!” he protested. “Not like they were causing trouble! Just turned up, did their business and went home again.”

“How often?”

“Can’t say for sure,” said Hamelin. “I heard a rumour the Blue Fairy was here this week. No description of her, though.”

“Anyone got more information on this rumour?” asked Weaver.

“No one who’ll talk to you.”

“Then it’s a good thing I have you to ask questions for me, isn’t it?”

“Give me a fucking break, man! You don’t pay me enough to risk my neck!”

“You’re a dramatic little bitch!” growled Weaver.

“Yeah, and I wanna stay that way!”

“This business,” said Nolan calmly, drawing Hamelin’s attention again. “What was it? Drugs? Guns?”

“No idea,” he said, with a shrug. “Like I said. Personal. Nothing that moved in on any of the local big bads, anyhow. Far as I can tell the Fairies paid their respects and were in and out nice as you please.”

“And all you know are their bloody nicknames?” asked Weaver. “Black and Blue Fairies? You sure you’re not just taking the fucking piss?”

“Hey, would I lie to my favourite detective?”

“You’d sell out your grandmother for a half-eaten hotdog,” said Weaver flatly.

“That’s harsh, Weaver. I’m wounded. I’m in actual physical pain here.”

“Shut up.” Weaver glanced at Nolan. “What do you think?”

“Vegas again,” said Nolan, echoing his own thoughts, and Weaver nodded grimly.

“So - so that’s everything,” added Hamelin, and cocked his head to the side. “You gonna let me down and pay me, or what?”

Weaver eyed him suspiciously, and released his lapels, stepping back and reaching inside his jacket for some cash. Hamelin brushed himself down, tugging his jacket straight, and took the money.

“Pleasure doing business with you, detective,” he said, flipping a salute.

“You hear anything on these - Fairies,” said Weaver. “You let me know, you hear me?”

“Loud and clear.”

“You want me to punch you in the face?” asked Weaver, and Hamelin sighed heavily.

“Alright,” he said resignedly. “I guess a bruise or two would help if anyone asks what you two wanted. Just - not the nose, okay?”

“So,” said Nolan, as they made their way back to his car. “You think these - Fairies - and Lacey are linked?”

“I don’t know,” said Weaver grimly, massaging his knuckles. “The timing matches up, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“Vegas again, though,” offered Nolan.

“Yeah. Could be a coincidence. Not like Sin City is short on criminals.”

"You don't believe in coincidences, remember?"

"Yeah, but this time I want to. Better that than think she's in serious danger." He grimaced. "Fuck, I hate this! I hate feeling fucking useless!"

“Give yourself a break, you're doing what you can.” Nolan pointed his keys at the car, unlocking it as he rolled up. “What are you gonna do now?”

“Follow my gut, I guess,” sighed Weaver. “Heller’s murder is making my nose twitch. There’s something there. Something I need to find.”

“We couldn’t find anything before,” Nolan reminded him.

“I know.” Weaver shoved his hands in his pockets, hunching his shoulders against the falling rain. “But maybe we were looking in the wrong place.”

The next day, Weaver went into work feeling more positive than he had been in months. Even if he had no answers, it helped to be looking into things. It gave him at least the appearance of being in control of his own destiny, if nothing else.

He parked at the precinct and walked to the deli around the corner, buying a box of mixed donuts and heading back with it under his arm. It was a relatively fine day, enough that he had needed to don his sunglasses, and the weather further lifted his mood. The scent of coffee was filtering along the corridor as he neared the office, and Merida glanced around as he entered.

“Ah, fresh coffee,” he said, with relish. “Just the thing to make this beautiful morning perfect. Did I ever tell you how much I appreciate you, Officer Dunbroch?”

“Not usually,” she said. “What’s got you in such a good mood? You get laid last night, or something?”

Weaver frowned.

“You have a one-track mind,” he said. “Anyway, I need a favour.”

She looked suspicious.

“Thought there must be something,” she said. “What kind of a favour?”

“The dull, boring, monotonous kind,” he said apologetically, and opened the box. “Look, I bring donuts as a bribe.”

“God, this favour must be boring as fuck,” she declared, but took a donut anyway. “Go on, let’s hear it.”

"That cold case you pulled for me," he said, as she took a bite. "The victim was a lawyer. I need you to go through his client list and pick out any that had dealings in Las Vegas. Either that, or any with a connection to - to some other part of the US.”

“Which other part?”

“I don’t know.”

"How many clients are we talking?"

"Couple of hundred."

Merida stared at him incredulously as she chewed and swallowed, lips shiny with sugar glaze.

“Oh, right,” she said sarcastically. “So when you said it was boring and monotonous, you weren’t kidding.”

“Did I mention the donuts?”

“That’ll take me bloody ages!” she complained.

“Your social life suddenly more interesting, or something?” he enquired, and was amused to see her blush.

“Shut up.”

“Admit that you have a date with Fa, and I swear I’ll say nothing further on the subject.”

She glared at him as she gestured with the half-eaten donut, red curls swinging.

“It’s drinks and a movie, that’s it!”

“Sounds like a date to me.”

“Do you want me to do your bloody searches or not?”

“Please,” he said cheerfully. “Anything that points to an area outside of Seattle. But prioritise those with a Vegas connection.”

“And what are you gonna do?”

“Try to get through the cases that Drake keeps piling on my desk,” he said, eyeing his in-tray.

“So you’re looking into that murder case again, then?” she enquired. “Better not step on Homicide’s toes.”

“No one’s looked at that case in years, it’s colder than the Arctic,” he said dismissively. “I just have a hunch, that’s all.”

“Well, those usually turn out okay,” she said. “I’d better get started. You can pour your own bloody coffee.”

“Happy to.”

“Pour one for me while you’re at it,” she added, and stuffed the rest of the donut into her mouth before taking another.

Weaver did work through his new cases, dealing with quick queries before moving on to those that required more of his attention. He worked through lunch, and once he had set the last aside, he continued his investigation into Lacey. Since he had temporarily hit a wall on her present difficulties, he had decided to concentrate on her past, about which he knew precious little. He knew her name and date of birth, but as far as her family went, he had nothing. He was aware that she had kept in touch with a friend from Maine, but he had no idea who it was, or if they were even a relative.

She was an American citizen, so there must have been a record of the family’s naturalisation, but searching the name French yielded nothing that linked to Lacey. Weaver tapped his fingers on the desk, frowning. An uneasy feeling was spreading up from his spine, a twinge in his gut that he had learned to trust over the years. He stopped searching under French, and instead started looking for immigrants from Australia naturalised in Nevada over a five year-period covering the time between Lacey’s fifth and tenth birthday. A list of records popped up, and after reading through it carefully, Weaver sat back with a sigh. No one by the name of French, or anything even remotely similar. As he had thought.

He sat forward, eyes running down the list, and they narrowed as he caught something. Schwartz. A familiar name, and one which was making that twinge in his gut increase. Weaver stroked his chin, nodding grimly before picking up his pencil and notepad. This was going to take some time.

“Got your searches done.”

Merida’s voice made him start, and he sat back, clicking at the computer screen to minimise what he had been doing.

“I sent you an email,” she added. “Take a look. I put them in name order, but you can change it around if you like.”

"Any more coffee?"

"God, no rest for the fucking wicked!" she grumbled.

"I could use the caffeine."

"I bet," she said sternly. "Did you even eat lunch?"

"No."

"There's four donuts right there," she said, pointing at the open box.

"I wasn't hungry," he said impatiently.

"Oh, starve to death, see if I care,” she snapped. “Just look at your bloody searches."

Weaver opened up the email, clicking on the spreadsheet she had attached, filled with a list of names, dates of birth and addresses.

“So, his clients were a miserable bunch of petty crooks and drunks, seems to me,” she said. “Very good at getting arrested, not much going for them otherwise. Most of them seem to have family willing to bail ‘em out, so I focused on the ones with out of town connections.”

“Good. What’s the verdict?”

“There were several with relatives in California,” she went on, gesturing at the screen. “This one had a base in Maine, there are two with summer homes in New Jersey… How do you manage to get a bloody summer home, anyway? I can barely afford the one I’ve got. I guess the guys on your list were the black sheep of the family, huh?”

“Did you say Maine?” he asked, and she shrugged, peering at the screen.

“Address given was care of someone in Storybrooke, Maine.”

“Never heard of it.”

“Neither had I, until I looked it up,” she said. “Couldn’t resist, the name was too cute, and it’s exactly what you’d think a town called Storybrooke would be. Small town on the coast, fishing port, regular bake sales and local artisan crafts... Sounds so quaint you want to kill yourself.”

“Long way from Vegas.”

“So’s Seattle.”

Weaver grunted.

“Okay, thanks for that,” he said. “Anything else leap out at you?”

“Not really. You can go through the list in your own time, though.”

“I will.” He looked up at her. “Are you done for the day?”

“Pretty much. A few of us are heading to Roni’s for a drink. Want to come?”

“No. Lacey’s bringing Tilly over in an hour.”

“Oh. Well, give them both my love.”

“I will.”

“And don’t work too late, either.”

“Yes, Mum.”

She shot him a look, then took a donut and stomped out again, leaving him with a faint grin on his face. Weaver turned back to his computer, running his eyes down the list that Merida had compiled. There’s something here. I know it.

Lacey was tired: stress, guilt and anxiety had been stealing her sleep and wearing her down, and she wanted nothing more than to go home and crawl into bed and drink hot chocolate. Preferably with her husband and their daughter, just like old times. Instead she was on her way to drop Tilly off with Weaver for a few days, and it was the last thing she wanted to do. The fine day had ended poorly; the evening was dark and miserable, driving rain turning to sleet as she walked swiftly along the street to the precinct with Tilly balanced on her hip and the little suitcase being wheeled along beside her.

“I’m hungry,” Tilly grumbled.

“You can have dinner with Daddy, okay?” she said soothingly.

“I want pizza.”

“Maybe Daddy’ll make you pizza for dinner.”

“I want Daddy home.”

Lacey squeezed her eyes shut momentarily.

“I know, sweetie.” She kissed Tilly’s cheek. “I’m sorry.”

She felt like crying again, so she was relieved when Tilly fell silent. Lacey’s legs wobbled a little as she entered the precinct, and she let Tilly slip to the ground, grasping her hand to lead her inside. Her heart was thumping hard in her chest, nerves making her breath catch. The officer at the front desk smiled in recognition, and nodded her through, and Lacey tried to calm her racing heart as she led Tilly along the corridor.

“Daddy!” said Tilly excitedly.

Weaver looked up from his desk, a broad smile breaking across his face as he saw them, and Lacey felt guilt stabbing at her, raking her innards with steel claws. Lacey released Tilly’s hand and let her run to him, and Weaver swung her up in his arms and hugged her tight.

“Hey, princess.” He kissed her cheek. “Have you been a good girl?”

“Yes,” said Tilly stoutly. “I want pizza.”

He laughed, and kissed her again.

“Well, let’s see what we can do about that,” he said, and turned her around to sit on his knee. Lacey slumped into the chair opposite with a heavy sigh.

“You alright?” he asked, and she nodded.

“Fine,” she lied. “Just tired. You on your own here?”

“Everyone’s gone to Roni’s,” he said, with a shrug. “Fa and Dunbroch finally have a date, by the way.”

Lacey smiled faintly.

“Good for them.”

“Yeah.” Weaver bounced Tilly on his knee. “Anything planned for the next couple of days?”

Lacey shifted uneasily.

“Laundry and crappy TV, mostly,” she said. “You?”

“Well, I thought I might take Tilly swimming,” he said.

“Yeah!” said Tilly excitedly.

“I didn’t pack her suit,” said Lacey.

“That’s okay, I can drop by your place and pick one up,” he said. “If that’s alright.”

“Sure.”

Tilly slipped from Weaver’s lap and wandered over to inspect the contents of the waste paper basket, and Weaver caught Lacey’s eye. He looked hesitant, as though he wanted to say something but was unsure how she would react. She hated that she made him feel that way.

“You know you said maybe we could spend some time together this weekend?” he said. “Nolan offered us his cabin.”

“Not really the weather for a trip to the woods, is it?”

“It’s just a thought,” he said wearily, sitting back, as though in defeat.

“Sorry.” Sharp needles of guilt pierced her. “I’m sorry. I’ll think about it.”

He nodded, but he wasn’t looking at her, his gaze turned to his computer screen. It was locked, a square box asking for a password. She took a deep breath, steeling herself. It was time.

“Oh, since I’m here, I wanted to ask you something,” she said, in a casual tone. “You know that murder I witnessed, the night we met? What was the guy’s name again? Hector, Hiller…”

“Heller,” said Weaver, looking back at her. “Isaac Heller.”

“That’s it.” She shifted in her seat. “You ever crack that case?”

He eyed her for a moment, then glanced away.

“No,” he said. “We thought we’d found out who the murderers were, remember, but we couldn’t prove who had hired them. Then after Nolan was shot, they turned up dead, so there wasn’t enough hard evidence to make any arrests…” He shrugged, the irritation over an unsolved case evident in the gesture. “Case is cold. Why?”

“Oh, because someone mentioned him in The Rabbit Hole last night,” she said, and held up a hand as he opened his mouth. “Before you say anything, I wasn’t working. I just went to pick up my wages. Garrett wasn’t even there.”

He nodded, sitting forward and clearing the scowl from his face.

“Who mentioned Isaac Heller, and what did they say?”

“Don’t know who it was,” she said vaguely. “Never seen ‘em before, and I wasn’t really paying attention, but then one of them mentioned ‘the lawyer that got pulled out of the harbour’, and he was the only one I could think of.”

“Okay.” Weaver grabbed a notebook and pencil. “Tell me exactly what was said.”

“Hmm.” Lacey chewed her lip. “Exactly? I think it was something like ‘you know, that lawyer that got pulled out of the harbour? I thought he hadn’t paid his debts, but it turns out he had information’. And then the other guy said ‘what kind of information?’ and the first guy said ‘a code. The key to a pile of cash’. That’s what made me think it must be our guy, because we found that key, remember? And - and that code, written on the sticky note?”

Weaver stopped scribbling and looked up, his eyes narrowing a little.

“Right,” he said. “There was a note. A series of letters and numbers. You said it looked like a wifi password.”

Lacey shrugged.

“What do I know? Maybe not. What if it’s a code to get into something else? Like - like a computer program, or - or whatever those guys were talking about. Maybe he was waiting to hand it over, and he got killed before I could turn up with the package, right?”

“Maybe,” he said slowly. “We’re reaching, but maybe you’re right. I know we couldn’t find any obvious use for the code based on Heller’s belongings or internet accounts.”

“Well, I guess it’s been awhile since you saw it,” she said, with a shrug. “Maybe you should take a look.”

He sat back slowly, his face expressionless.

“I don’t work Homicide anymore.”

“Oh, so you don’t want to solve the murder?” She shrugged again. “I guess I can understand that. No point doing someone else’s work, right?”

Weaver tapped his pencil against his notebook. She was aware it was an unconscious habit of his, indicating that he was thinking. His eyes never left hers, and it made her want to squirm, as though she was the murderer herself. As though she was guilty.

“Wait here,” he said abruptly, and got up, striding from the room.

Lacey sat back in her chair with a sigh, glancing around the place and keeping half an eye on Tilly, who had climbed onto Weaver’s chair and was making it spin around by kicking at the edge of his desk.

“I wanna pee,” she said.

“Wait until Daddy gets back, okay?”

Tilly blew a raspberry, head rolling back as the chair turned around, and Lacey stilled her restless feet from tapping on the tiled floor. She folded her hands in her lap, trying to present as calm and uninterested a picture as possible, and after a few minutes Weaver returned with an envelope in his hands. He opened it up, pulling out a piece of thick paper folded into thirds.

“This is what you were due to deliver to the victim,” he said.

“Yeah, I remember,” she said, in an offhand tone.

“Daddy, I wanna pee,” said Tilly insistently, and Weaver glanced across at her.

“Can you take her?” asked Lacey with a sigh. “My feet are killing me.”

“No problem.” Weaver dropped the envelope and the piece of paper onto his desk, and held out his hand. “Come on, sweetheart.”

Tilly slipped from the chair, reaching up to take his hand, and he led her from the office into the corridor where the restrooms were housed. Lacey craned her neck to check they had gone, and sat up, grabbing the envelope and tipping it upside down. A tiny silver key fell out into her hand, and Lacey set it on the desk before reaching into her pocket for a key of a similar size. She fretted a little over the differences, but she doubted they would be enough to cause suspicion; two safe deposit box keys looked much alike. She dropped it into the envelope, setting it back on the desk in what she thought was the same position as Weaver had left it. She then pocketed the original key, pulling her phone from her pocket and flicking it to camera mode, then leaned forward to open up the paper itself.

It was good quality paper, smooth between her fingers, with a single sentence written in black ink and a green sticky note with a seemingly random sequence of letters and numbers on it. She took pictures, one of the paper itself, and two of the note, each focused to give the best view of the code. Carefully folding the paper again, she replaced it on the desk, checking both its position and the envelope’s to ensure they would appear undisturbed from where Weaver had dropped them.

Sitting back in the chair, she slipped her phone back into her pocket, hearing a tiny clink as it knocked against the stolen key, and tried to calm her racing heart as she waited for Weaver to return. He was back with her in a couple of minutes, Tilly clutching his hand.

“Look, I’d better get going,” said Lacey. “Crappy TV shows won’t watch themselves.”

“You know, you’re always welcome to come for dinner,” he said.

She tried to smile, guilt biting at her, gnawing at her.

“Maybe some other time.”

He glanced at the evidence on his desk, and she felt her heart thump, sudden fear that he could sense what she had done.

“I’ll take a look at the Heller thing tomorrow,” he said. “If you hang on for five minutes, I’ll check this back into the evidence room and give you a lift home.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” she said hastily.

“I do if I want to pick up Tilly’s swimsuit.”

“Right,” she said lamely. “Yeah. Sure.”

Weaver picked up the letter, sliding it back into the envelope with the fake key.

“Back in a minute,” he said.

Lacey slumped back in the chair as he left, arms going around Tilly as she climbed onto her lap.

“I want pizza,” she grumbled.

“I know, baby.” Lacey kissed the top of her head. “Daddy’s gonna buy you pizza.”

“You come too?”

“I can’t, sweetie, I’m sorry.”

“Why not?”

Tilly looked up at her curiously, dark eyes wide, and Lacey sighed.

“I have to work,” she lied.

“Oh.” Tilly wrinkled her nose. “Work is stupid!”

“Yeah, it sure is.”

Tilly snuggled against her chest and stuck her thumb in her mouth, and Lacey kissed her head again, breathing in the scent of her. The sound of Weaver’s footsteps made her look around, and she watched as he grabbed his jacket and pulled it on. He nodded to her brusquely, not quite meeting her eyes, and there was something in his face: a weariness that made her heart clench. She hated that she was probably the cause.

“Right,” he said. “Let’s get going.”

The journey back to the apartment was made in near silence, the only break in it Tilly seeking assurance that they would indeed be going for pizza afterwards. Weaver carried her case up to the apartment, and Tilly jumped onto the couch and reached for the TV remote as he and Lacey went into her room to retrieve the swimsuit. The sound of a cartoon had started up in the lounge, something bright and cheerful, and Lacey was glad of the noise. Anything to lift the cold, heavy silence that seemed to follow her around. She rummaged in the third drawer of the dresser.

“She likes the octopus one,” she said, fishing out a blue swimsuit.

“Thanks.”

“Hang on, there are water wings in the box under the bed.”

She could feel him watching her as she pulled out the box, pushing aside toys and books and retrieving the orange plastic water wings. She shoved the box back under, pushing to her feet and holding them out. Weaver nodded, taking them from her and opening up the little suitcase before dropping them in along with the swimsuit.

“Looks like we’re all set,” he said.

“Have fun.”

He zipped the case and paused a moment, tented fingers resting on the outer shell, eyes staring at nothing.

“Guess I’ll see you Friday,” she added. “You’d better go get that pizza.”

“Lacey,” he said quietly. “Just - just a minute.”

He had turned to face her, and was watching her with dark eyes, his expression something she couldn’t quite interpret. Love, perhaps, though God knew she had done nothing to deserve it. Love tinged with sadness, with quiet desperation. It made the well of tears inside her rise up, threatening to overflow and drown her in sorrow.

“Whatever’s going on with you,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “You know - you know you can tell me anything, right? You know I would never judge you, that I’d want to help you.”

“You can’t,” she said abruptly, and wanted to bite her tongue. She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping the tears wouldn’t spill out. “What I mean is, there’s nothing I need help with.”

He was still staring at her, and it hurt, as though his gaze could pierce her chest and see into her soul. As though there was something there worth saving. She clenched her jaw, raising her chin.

“I know you think there’s some big secret I’m keeping, Rafe,” she said clearly. “Something that I’m not letting you in on, for whatever reason you’ve cooked up in that mind of yours.”

“Well, that’s because you’re a terrible liar, and I’m not stupid,” he said stiffly. “And because I know you. I know you need my help, and I know you’re too brave and too bloody stubborn to ask for it.”

“I’m not brave,” she muttered.

“You are,” he said, and his tone was gentle again. “You’re the bravest person I know.”

I’m not, I’m a fucking coward!

“I don’t need your help,” she snapped, raising her hands and letting them fall against her thighs with a slap. “God, it’d be so much easier if there was some dark tale of bloody woe I was keeping from you! It would probably hurt less than the truth!”

“‘The truth’,” he said flatly. “I’m still waiting for the bloody truth!”

“I told you—”

“No.” He shook his head, sadness in his eyes. “You haven’t. But I’ll wait. And - and I’ll go on waiting, Lacey. Whenever you want to tell me, I’ll be waiting to hear it.”

Lacey stepped forward.

“But the truth is just - ordinary,” she said gently. “No terrible secrets, no dark deeds to discover. Just two people who don’t belong together. Happens every day. This time it happened to us. That’s all there is. That’s it.”

There was silence for a moment, a long, terrible moment in which he held her gaze, the twitch of his mouth the only hint that she had stuck a dagger in his heart and twisted it. It made her want to break down and weep, to fall into his arms and beg forgiveness. Her lower lip trembled, and she snatched at it with her teeth to hold it still. Blood bloomed on her tongue, the taste of iron and salt, and her eyes stung with tears. He had glanced away from her, his face tight with pain, but he took a breath before meeting her eyes again.

“Nevertheless,” he said, his voice hoarse and heavy with emotion. “If you need my help for any reason, all you have to do is ask.”

“I already told you—”

“Any reason,” he repeated. “I mean it. We’re still friends, no matter what. I still love you, Lacey. I always will.”

She didn’t trust herself to speak, her fists clenched at her sides, nails digging into her palms to distract her from the pain in her heart. He finally looked away, before glancing back, nodding once, and grasping the case in his hand. Footsteps echoed back at her as he walked through the apartment, the sound of him leaving, and she closed her eyes. He wouldn’t give up on her. He would never give up on her.

#fic: things left unsaid #woven lace fic #rumbelle fic #my fic #woven lace

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guylty · 6 years ago

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How quickly time flies. If Besotted hadn’t reminded me in the comments, I would’ve completely forgotten that I had a last episode of The Impressionists to catch up with. Forgetting the Re-Watch is symptomatic. I may have enjoyed the show, and the wide smiles that Armitage was allowed to brighten the screen with were certainly welcome, but somehow this mini-series was never – and never will be – my favourite of Richard’s works.

It’s not *all* because of the wig and look of Claude Monet. *That* is easily balanced out by the wide smiles! My lukewarm feelings about this mini-series has more to do with my general lack of enthusiasm for impressionism. I fully appreciate the importance of this arts movement for the development of painting and art in general, and I understand the impressionists’ value. In many case I actually do find their paintings particularly evocative, beautiful and touching. I guess, my problem with them is that they have become too popular – which usually makes me turn away from something. That’s unfair – but unfortunately true. But I totally concede that – particularly Monet’s – Impressionist paintings are incredibly beautiful.

Quick Summary

We pick up again in episode 3 of TI with the group celebrating Edouard Manet’s formal recognition as an artist after he has been awarded the Légion d’Honneur. However, Manet is suffering from syphilis and his health deteriorates. He dies in 1883. Monet, OTOH, is living with Alice Hochedé after his wife’s death. The two of them become a couple, marry and eventually settle in Giverny. Monet develops his serial painting technique, always following the changing light.

A large part of this episode is taken up with the life and travails of Paul Cézanne who is seen as a revolutionary new painter by the impressionists. Despite an affluent background, he lives in poverty with his working class wife and illegitimate son. First shunned by the art world, Cézanne’s genius is eventually recognised and he joins the Impressionists as the most celebrated painters in the world. They overcame all the obstacles and changed painting – and art – forever. So much for the summary of episode 3.

Beards and Hair

I was quite amused in this episode about the changing hairstyles of Claude Monet. Starting out with short hair and a pipe, the next scene in a café he had long hair again. Continuity was a bit lax there, I thought 😂. But at least we could see that RA really knew how to smoke. Yep, as an ex-smoker (almost 6 months to the day) I notice such things. – Eventually the episode settled into short hair for Claude. And I couldn’t help but feel reminded of my personal hero Leon Trotzky…

Tenuous. I know. But fun. Right down to the left eyebrow.

However, let’s stay quickly with the look – ok, I am a not a fan of facial shrubbery at all, and particularly not these kind of standalone shrubs on upper lip and chin. If there has to be facial hair, give me a full blown meadow that covers all (beard) or stay with the manicured lawn aka stubble. Looking at the overgrown goatee on Richard’s chin, however, I am wondering whether it is actually his own. Not only because he has always been so proud of his fast growth and thus the conclusion lies near. No, but also because of the tell-tale triangle underneath his lower lip. Mr Armitage has, indeed, a rather pretty beard-growth pattern (see evidence on right).

Elder statesman or ill-fitting wig?

I was quite taken with the elder statesman look he was given in the latter part of the episode, once Monet had settled down with Alice and concentrated on creating Giverny as his inspirational garden. (I don’t really think that Richard has an old man’s face, yet, though, so I finally was reconciled with Julian Glover playing Monet senior in the framework plot.) In fact, I found myself fascinated by the grey temples and the short hair, and I kept screen-shooting.

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I also enjoyed that his eye crinkles came into play…

Things I Loved

As always, Richard – even considerably younger and less experienced than today – was a pleasure to watch. I loved the scenes where he glowed with enthusiasm, happiness and lust for life, smiling widely with glowing teeth. But I especially liked the scenes where you could hear him laugh. It really doesn’t happen very often at all that you can hear Richard Armitage laugh in one of his roles. He is the go-to man for scowling (Guy of Gisborne, John Thornton), growling (Francis Dolarhyde, Thorin Oakenshield) and frowning (John Porter, Daniel Miller). And yet his laugh is an absolute joy. In German we call his kind of laugh “gurgling” – but that doesn’t quite hit it in English. What I like about it is not what it looks like (although I believe that *every* laugh looks beautiful), but what it sounds like. Reminder:

youtube

That’s what he laughed like in his younger years. (I think his laugh now has become slightly deeper, more baritone, whereas it sounded more tenor way back in the early 2000s.) And it is infectious. Bookmark and keep near for any rainy day. It definitely works.

Ok, moving on. The old fogey in me also quite enjoyed the mature-lovestory-section of this episode. We were discussing it somewhere in the comments, I believe, and the series didn’t really get into it, but there are suspicions that Monet and Alice Hoschedé started their relationship even before she split with her husband and moved in with the Monets. Her youngest child may even have been by Monet. In that sense, it was lovely that the series spent a little time with Monet’s and Alice’s relationship. I wasn’t quite convinced by Richard’s choice to play Monet as out of breath as if he had just raced a marathon when he catches Alice in the garden and proposes. But this completely balanced everything out:

Why yes, Mr Thornton, I am coming home with you.

Not to mention this:

Gorgeous crinkles, like arrows pointing at happy eyes.

Ok, bonus for the romantics among you:

Yeah, man, this was such a clean show, it almost seemed as if it was made for school TV. You know what I mean? Your history/art/literature teacher wheeling in the big TV and the VCR, and then you’d sit through an hour of veritable and highly educational but mindnumbingly clean-and-boring docudrama? Well, to be suitable for teenagers, no tit may be shown, no mention of sex may be made and no tongue may be used. 😂

And Where It Went Wrong For Me

And maybe that is what ultimately irked me about this show, or what prevented me from saying ” I love Love LOVE The Impressionists!!” It’s not that I need sex in every TV show to keep me engaged. And I am a big fan of contextualising history and presenting it in a way that the viewers can relate to. In that sense it was great that this mini-series made an attempt at showing the personal sacrifices all those pioneering painters had to make in order to succeed with their art. From losing Bazille in the war, via Manet’s syphilis, Degas’ eye illness and declining fortunes, to the overwhelming poverty of Monet and Cézanne, TÍ is not simply a list of artistic milestones in the painters’ lives, but a look at how they progress as painters as well as men. And herein may also be the problem for me – I never fully committed to the show, and maybe so because of the lack of women in the narrative. Don’t get me wrong – of course I “saw” Camille and Alice, and Mme Manet, Mme Cézanne and various models. But that’s exactly it, “various models”. Sure, you don’t have to explain to me that the 19th century was still a time dominated by men. But that doesn’t mean that in their private lives, men were uninfluenced (and untouched) by women. Or that women artists did not exist or not contribute to the development of art. Berthe Morisot and Eva Gonzalez were part of the impressionist set – they don’t even turn up in passing in this series. The wives and women remain in their traditional role as nurturer, house-keeper and mothers.

Women. Reduced to nurturers and parasol-bearers?

(Left-field thought: Maybe it is also because this show was made in 2006 that women aren’t represented more prominently?) And all that may also be due to the limited amount of time available (3 hours) for a group of painters. In fairness, it would’ve been impossible to depict the lives and times of the impressionists in detail, and hence also a number of *male* protagonists of the movement (Pissarro? Gauguin? Sisley? Matisse?) had to be left out in order to contain the show. However, for me the whole show remained somewhat one-dimensional.

The Disclaimer

For fans of Richard Armitage, however, TI is definitely a worth-while show to watch. The smiles, the laugh, and the mannerisms that are just delightful to recognise. From Richard’s insistent innovative use of his teeth, to delicate hand movements and holding his head at *that* characteristic angle, there are certain “trademarks” in his acting repertoire that superfans such as us have no trouble identifying.

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And Richard convincingly acts emotions and draws the audience into the emotional world of the sensitive artist.

Lastly I want to commend the mini series for producing beautiful images. I loved the wide shots especially because they illustrated so clearly what the impressionists were after.

These shots play with the impressionists’ emphasis of depicting the *moment*, pinpointing the changeability of art, and the transience of life. The impressionists’ penchant for working plein air is ideally illustrated here. And the series is obviously also conscious of depicting movement rather than static subjects, and the different qualities of light – during the day, the seasons, inside and outside, in rain, sun or locomotive steam – as these are impressionist characteristics that are often also attributed to film (and photography). In that sense the series puts the theory into practice.

Last note: Just as I was watching episode 3 of TI, the news came through that a Monet painting has set a new record price for works by the artist. From the “haystack” series of paintings, the picture was sold for $110m in New York. An indication of how *right* the impressionists were.

I finish with a quote by Berthe Morisot, of all people.

It is important to express oneself… provided the feelings are real and are taken from your own experience.

The impressionist painters did that beautifully, and showed us that it can be done and *should* be done. No one better to portray “real” feelings than Richard. And I am always happy to see how he expresses them.

Re-Watching The Impressionists [part 3] – Finale How quickly time flies. If Besotted hadn't reminded me in the comments, I would've completely forgotten that I had a last episode of

#Claude Monet #Re-Watch #Richard Armitage

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figjelly · 6 years ago

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The 2018 Rumination Spectacular

It’s a long post. It’s gonna be triggering. Blacklist “ash 2018″ and “long post.” Sorry mobile users. Here’s a picture. Use this as a warning that you should blacklist those tags NOW if you don’t wanna read:

For about a week, I’ve wondered how to start this post. How to finish it. What to put in the middle. It’s really a shame, being depressed and anxious and all sorts of other things but maintaining a high self-esteem. It’s not like I want to. My mind and my brain and my body refuse to let me just be. They constantly remind me I have to be center stage, the best, to be adored. Let’s be honest. I don’t have high self-esteem. I have an obsessive, insatiable desire for love because I was born to abusive people. I was raised by more abusive people. I’ve continued to place my trust and well-being in abusive people. And then, when things fall spectacularly apart, I blame myself. I blame my body. I blame my brain. I blame my mind. A lot has happened this year. A big thing: the realization that I desperately crave others to want me. I want to feel loved and valuable and interesting and just wanted. And, I guess, that’s what school gave me. I left my PhD program in May 2017 and it’s taken almost two years to realize I didn’t stay in school or move into higher education because I had a burning passion (okay, I mean, I do still have a passion for my work but it wasn’t the foundation). The American education system gave an abused child something slightly better than I had: praise and positive feedback for jumping hoops. My home life twenty years ago? There was no rhyme or reason to which behaviors would yield which result. School? College? Grad school? Let’s face it. I’m white. At the time I was identifying as straight and female. I was going into STEM. Perform well, earn As, be friendly. Rules rules rules. Two weeks ago, I finally told my therapist of almost five years how my first sexual experience was a doctor raping me. It’s really funny. Hilarious actually how it’s taken thirty-one years to feel like I am my own person. Because before the doctor, there’d been my step-father (”It isn’t really enough to do anything with,” the police had told me when I was sixteen at my then therapist’s office). There’d been the high school boyfriend (”My dad was in the marines. I inherited his anger management problems.”). But there was also my mom. My grandmother who isn’t my grandmother but she “adopted” my mom as her daughter. They met online on a forum for Forever Knight, a 90s Canadian supernatural romance crime show about a woman who has a vampire for a partner. It’s really hard, yanno, to be gentle with myself. Don’t be angry.

So, 2018 was a year of me working on this. I’m still working. I’m angry at everything nowadays. There’s no good resolution to it other than to sit with it. I don’t understand how people can say, “Let anger go,” like I intentionally hold onto it. This anger and pain and trauma is carved into my bones and it gets carried through like oxygen in my bloodstream. Whenever I think about this anger at myself, the regret and the hurt, the left side of my left arm hurts. It starts about the middle of my forearm and goes to my pinky. Asking when this started isn’t a useful question. I’m angry because I let myself be used and hurt by people. I’m angry because I ignored my own needs and wants. I’m angry because now I’m thirty-one and it feels like my life is over. I made a lot of decisions and they were all made for the benefit of others. “Be your own person,” only works when you’ve got a person who isn’t desperate for love. I’m angry because I feel like I’ve wasted my life worrying about other people. Yes, yes. I’m not old. Don’t bother telling me. You don’t pay my bills. You can tell me what I feel when you give me money--substantial amounts of it. In 2005, I gave my step-father $1500. I’ve been working at the local Dairy Queen for years, saving money religiously because I was desperate to get a car, drive, gain independence. My parents told me the insurance was too expensive. My step-dad was the only driver because my mom has MS. It would probably never happen, but just in case. I should save, just in case. I gave my step-father money because he said, “The van needs fixed. Without it, you know your mom can’t get to the hospital.” I can’t remember any night between the ages of 15-17 when the police of the EMTs weren’t at my house. All of my homework was usually left abandoned in red and blue lights. I’d get back to it at midnight. Nothing mattered to my teachers except that I made As. At this point, I don’t know where blame lies but it seems pretty solid that I get stuck with the anger. 2018 was the year I realized that I don’t know how to have friends, how to keep a job, how to think about a career. 2018 was the year I realized that I have to make peace with living in poverty again. I was doing so well. Grad school was the best my finances had ever been. Until December 2013. I tried to kill myself. It’s old news. I was in the hospital. They forgot about me and I ended up spending three more days than needed. PROTIP: don’t try killing yourself during the holidays. Everyone will just tell you the holidays are rough for everyone. And finals. Mid-December is the time for students to also feel the pressure. If you’re neither of these, good luck. I took out massive amounts of student loans to go back to school. To pay my hospital bills. I was so desperate to get back into school because it was the only place that made sense. 2018 was the year I decided to change my name, my gender. I’m learning how to live in my body. It’s taken thirty-one years, but I’ve come to the realization it was mine. For six years, I took meds that made me weigh over 200 lbs all for the benefit of the high school boyfriend. For five years I starved myself because I wanted everyone to see what a successful PhD student I was. My body has never been mine before. This is a new thing for me. 2018? It started off with hope. There was less hope for most of it. I think it’s ending with hope. I hope it is.

My mom refuses to stop calling me. Five years ago, I stopped answering her calls. I begged her to stop. I was polite. I was rude. I was angry. I was at peace. I’ve tried everything. Her contacting me isn’t about me, it’s about her. It’s about what she wants. in December of 2013, I tried to kill myself.

It’s so old news, my mom told my partner when he called her, “Oh. Well, let me know when everything’s okay.” In 2009 I was admitted into the hospital for exhaustion. I’d had a breakdown in college. I was told to try yoga. Meditation. I was told it was just test anxiety. All I’ve ever desperately wanted was to be the priority.

And I bent for other people. I broke myself and put myself back together in ways other people would find pleasing. I bend and I break and now my body hurts. Chronically. In 2016 I was in a car accident. My partner has told me most of this story. I remember almost nothing. I spent two months locked up in my house with a concussion. More debt. More weight gained. My partner tells me at one point the doctors kept poking and prodding my feet. He tells me that I wasn’t responding and that my legs weren’t moving. He was horrified that the accident had left me paraplegic. I don’t remember any of this. The doctors eventually told him it was just shock. My body overloaded with too much too fast. And not enough neuron action, I guess. Too much, not enough. I discovered yesterday that Jack Kerouac said something similar. I’ve never read anything by him. Must be a common human feeling. Everything is too much. Everything is not enough. 2018 is right now still and I’m still working on reshaping myself for myself and not for others. 1987 was right then and thirty days before it ended, I came at the last minute. I’ve spent my entire life trying to make sure I was early to make a good impression. Now, I arrive when I arrive. I live in the land of -ish. Work hasn’t yelled at me. Yet. 2018: I started drawing again. I started writing again. I am trying not to feel like I’m too old. I’m working. I’m trying. I’m doing. I’m poor. I feel like my college degree warrants me not that but que was que is. I obsessively think about contacting my mom. No matter the meds, I have to count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 every time I lock the door to the comic book shop where I work. If I don’t, the door isn’t locked. I’ve never had wide hips but I’ve always had thick thighs. My butt has always been big. My culture rather I’d accept my fate as a woman, bend myself and break myself to be one. They don’t belong to me. My thighs eat anything that comes between them. I wish I was being literal. I wish my thighs had eaten other people’s hands and other body parts. Vagina dentata is too late for my tastes. I want my thighs to reflexively snap like a bear trap and break someone’s neck. But I have a hard enough time finding clothes I can live with. I’m wearing the pants of Theseus right now. I’m tired of sewing patches into the holes my thighs keep eating. 2018 and I’m wondering if I will ever stop hurting. But it’s 2018 and I know I’m a better me than I’ve ever been before. And right now, that’s enough.

#ash 2018 #long post #cw #everything?

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thesportssoundoff · 6 years ago

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“Prospects, Newbies and an old school TV card” The UFC’s 25th Anniversary (but not quite) in Denver

Joey

November 4th

Well folks, we've got a mere TWO months left in this Fox deal. That shakes out to two PPVs, four FS1 events, one Fight Pass Fight Night and one Fox event remain. Our first FS1 trip takes us to Denver, Colorado for a UFC Fight Night anniversary deal. In many ways, this event DOES feel like a throwback to the past. If you cut this show down to a four fight main card with no televised prelim slate, this would be a killer Fight Night. Yair vs Zombie is a fantastic main event on paper that should be an absolute gas while it lasts, the same goes for the action fighter vs action fighter clash as Mike Perry takes on Cowboy Cerrone and then the card is rounded out by two very intriguing battles between proven fighters and former title contenders (one champion!) in GDR vs Rocky Pennington and Ray Borg vs Joe Benavidez. It's not though and so plenty of folks will look at the lack of recognizable names and say "WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE!?" which while fair, also neglects how many top flight prospects they've got on this undercard. It's a four fight great card and then a combination of prospects vs prospects and newbies vs proven gatekeepers. It's actually a not bad fight card even if it's not the love affair many UFC fans probably want for their 25th Anniversary show. We've also got to get a face to face look at what seems to be a two month long farewell tour at 125 lbs as well. I'm not saying you HAVE to watch it but you'd be pretty darn happy TO watch it.

Fights: 13

Debuts: Maycee Barber, Hannah Cifers, Thiago Moises, Julian Erosa, Devin Smith, Bobby Moffett

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 6 (Frankie Edgar OUT, Yair Rodriguez IN vs Chan Sung Jung/Ricardo Ramos vs Ricky Simon CANCELLED/Chris Greutzmacher OUT, Thiago Moises IN vs Beneil Dariush/Maia Stevenson OUT, Hanna Cifers IN vs Maycee Barber/Alonzo Menifield vs Saparbek Sarafov CANCELLED/Jordan Espinoza OUT, Joby Sanchez IN vs Mark De La Rosa)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 9 (Chan Sung Jung, Yair Rodriguez, Mike Perry, Donald Cerrone, Germaine De Randamie, Rocky Pennington, Ray Borg, Joe Benavidez, Beneil Dariush)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: (Ashley Yoder)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: (Germaine De Randamie, Davi Ramos)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2016 (in the UFC): 26-11

Yair Rodriguez- 1-0 Korean Zombie- 3-1 Mike Perry- 5-3 Donald Cerrone- 5-4 GDR- 2-0 Rocky Pennington- 3-1 Ray Borg- 2-2 Joe Benavidez- 2-1 Maycee Barber- 0-0 Hanna Cifers- 0-0 Mike Trizano- 1-0 Luis Pena- 1-0

Divisional Breakdown:

Lightweight- 4 Flyweight-3 Women's Strawweight- 2 Featherweight- 2 Welterweight- 1 Women's Bantamweight-1

Too Low- Beneil Dariush vs Thiago Moises

Let us begin with this fight, sitting comfortably at the very opening of the televised prelims. On a card full of debutantes, high level prospects and four really really good fights, this is one prelim fight that sort of kind of should be a lot higher and potentially as high as the main card. Thiago Moises is a pretty solid regional lightweight who got called up after a spot on the Dana White's Contenders Series in Brazil. At the very least, this has the potential to be a very fun back and forth grappling contest. It's far better than just assuming that these prospects in their debut won't have a slip up or get lost in their nerves.

Too High Up- Maycee Barber vs Hannah Cifers

Okay so this is actually a really good fight. I had a chance to watch Hannah Cifers throughout her Titan Fighting run. She's an articulate striker who often combines precision offense with pressure. She didn't do a ton of grappling in those fights but I'm going to bet she'll be okay there as well. There were basically three fighters given ample hype time going INTO the second season of the Contenders for Dana White; Greg Hardy, Nick Newell AND Maycee Barber. Barber walked through Jaimee Colleen who has a win over Danielle Taylor and outnumbered in her terms of experience. Barber has something different about her and it's not a surprise she's getting the O'Malley treatment given her age, talent level and the need for more fun things at 115 lbs. It just FEELS like you're asking a lot of her here and the same for Ciphers on short notice.

Stat Monitor for 2018:

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 27-35-1): Maycee Barber, Hannah Cifers, Thiago Moises, Bobby Moffett, Julian Erosa, Devonte Smith

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 28-23): Hannah Cifers, Thiago Moises, Joby Sanchez, Yair Rodriguez

Second Fight (Current number: 36-28-1): Mike Trizano, Luis Pena, John Gunther

Cage Corrosion (Current number: 21-36): Yair Rodriguez, Korean Zombie, Germaine de Randamie, Ray Borg, Chas Skelly

Undefeated Fighters (Current number: 30-21-1): Maycee Barber, Mike Trizano, Luis Pena, John Gunther

Keeping An Eye On But Not Really:

The UFC Win Check Test The records of fighters who have 4 or more UFC fights (or three full calendar years in the organization) but 0 wins against people still in the UFC: Amanda Bobby Cooper

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- Are we TOO optimistic about this main event? On paper, Yair Rodriguez vs Chan Sung Jung is a fight for the ages. The all pressure power punching Zombie vs the super flashy Mexican star seems like the sort of shit you'd get excited about. There are just three key aspects about this fight that I'm having a tough time getting my hands around. The FIRST is the location. Yair Rodriguez has fought at altitude countless times before so it'd be unfair to assume he can't do it BUT it is worth remembering that he was absolutely dead tired in Mexico both times and he slowed down quite a bit in the 4th or 5th rounds in Utah. The Korean Zombie has never struck me as a dude who has had issues with his conditioning but that was a military assignment and a few knee surgeries ago plus I don't think he's ever had a real big altitude fight like this one. The second aspect is just the all around concern or confusion on Yair Rodriguez's mindset. Yair was crushed by Frankie Edgar in his sole UFC loss and that was in May of 2017. He admittedly opted to take a year off to heal up/get better/train around before getting cut from the UFC for a short spell due to Yair either turning down a succession of fights or just not wanting to get bullied into taking a fight. He took a fight vs Zhabit in September, pulled out due to injury and now he's back in early November with no mention of the injury. When Dana was asked about Yair after he pulled out of the Zhabit fight, Dana implied in so many words that Yair was a guy who just didn't want to fight. I think wondering where his head is at relative to taking a fight like THIS one is worthy of asking. Lastly, I think it's 100% fair to say we're not going to see the best version of either dude. The Zombie has fought just ONE time since 2013 and he's now officially beyond 30 years old. Injuries and a military service took him away from MMA for a looong time now and against Bermudez, he looked pretty rusty before he snapped back into it to end the show early. Yair Rodriguez is taking this fight on short notice plus a year away plus the questions around his career plus the fact that the last time he saw him, Edgar was punching his face into the canvas. I'm not saying this fight will suck, I'm saying we should temper our expectations a bit.

2- How valuable will Yair Rodriguez's kicks be if he's to pull off this upset?

3- So much of Donald Cerrone vs Mike Perry feels like a matter of determining how washed up Donald Cerrone is vs how much you believe Mike Perry can improve under the watchful eyes of Jackson-Wink. Cerrone is what he is and he was able to fight at a frenetic pace against Leon Edwards, giving us an occasional glimpse of what he's good at while reminding us of all the things he's been bad at for his entire career. Mike Perry's upside is of the Chris Leben variety; a high level fun brawler who is going to throw down until the sun goes down on him. That said you'd have to hope an elite gym can iron out some of the weaknesses he's got, primarily his over aggresiveness and his defensive lapses. Would be the hope, riiiight?

4- If you read this and you're rooting for Cerrone to win so you can get Diego vs Cerrone? Shame on y'all, man.

5- Anybody feel really bad about Ray Borg vs Joseph Benavidez? On paper, this is a really intriguing fight between the inconsistent Borg and the declining Benavidez; the sort of fight that could get Borg back on the winning track or maybe open the door for Benavidez to have one last run to the title. The problem is that there may be no title---and the problem may be that a really good fight on paper will be meaningless because the division is gone. That draws the air out of the building so much for me. The same goes for all three of these fights. Are the winners basically fighting for spots in the 135 lb division?

6- The Contenders Series is really about churning out quantity with some hype vs turning out future champions BUT they've got a few guys on here who could at least be in the conversation of potential title contenders. Maycee Barber is just 20 years old, undefeated and blessed with all sort of skills. Devonte Smith is getting a put together short notice fight vs Julian Erosa to pad the card but he's VERY good and figures to show out against a quality journeyman (fighting out of his weight class). Lastly Thiago Moises could develop into a quality lightweight who can be relied on to draw fights in Brazil.

7- Davi Ramos has won two straight in the UFC, both by submission. Normally that gets you a nice step up but the reality is that it's not happening here. He's getting John Gunther in what feels like an opportunity to run Gunther out of the UFC after his awful win vs Allan Zuniga.

8- GDR totally disappeared off the face of the Earth after her win vs Holly Holm, citing hand problems and an unwillingness to fight Cyborg to go along with a pull out of a fight vs Marion Reneau. She returns against Rocky Pennington who had an equally lengthy lay off prior to her fight vs Amanda Nunes. This feels like a last chance fight for two ladies with different issues.

9- Why is Amanda Bobby Cooper vs Ashley Yoder the featured prelim? Is there some sort of Mackenzie Dern victim prize at stake?

10- Chas Skelly vs Bobby Moffet is the Spiderman pointing meme of this card.

11- The TUF Undefeated Season was...something. It was a grueling watch live and the finale is easily the worst TUF finale I've ever seen. This is a big bounce back opportunities for guys like Mike Trizano and John Gunther. Luis Pena got hurt and was pulled off the show but dominated Richie Smullen so he's sort of safe. Trizano vs Pena is going to be a very interesting fight worth keeping an eye on.

12- Would there be any interest in Holm vs GDR 2 if she wins?

#MMA #UFC #Denver #Fight Night #Borg #Cerrone #Benavidez #GDR #Pennington #Perry #Yair Rodriguez #Korean Zombie

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wizardess-sweetheart · 6 years ago

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🌻 100 Questions 🌻

Tagged by: @sigurd-curtis 💗

1. What is your nickname? Sandee, like the one in Spongebob Squarepants but with double e's cuz y not? 😂😂😂

2. How old are you? I'm 19 years old. Looks like a 12 year old. Has a mind of a 5 year old. (lolz)

3. What is your birthday month? May 🌸

4. What is your zodiac sign? Taurus

5. What is your favorite color? BLUE ALL THE WAY. ALL SHADES. NAME IT. AS LONG AS IT'S "BLUE." 💙

6. What is your lucky number? 27 all the wayyy!

7. Do you have any pets? Yaaas boi. 4 cats: 2 black and white, a pure white, and a mackerel. 🐈💕

8. Where are you from? Mabuhay, Philippines!

9. How tall are you? (NUUUU, NOT THIS QUESTIONNN) Chibi-size: 1.5 m or 4'11" 😭😭😭

10. What shoe size are you? Baby feet: US 6

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? Uhhh lucky pickkk! About 10? 😂😂😂

12. Are you random? YO DUDE 100% POSITIVE

13. Last person you texted? My sister.

14. Are you psychic in any way? *does some things with hands* Nope...

15. Last TV show you watched? Miraculous Ladybug and Chat Noir 💕

16. Favorite movie? Megamind (Told ya I'm a five year old haha)

17. Favorite show from your childhood? The Powerpuff Girls! Solid fan with head to toe merch, y'all. (I was a cool kid back then haha)

18. Do you want children? I don't like kids but if it's mine then...well, that's a different case. 😂😂😂

19. Do you want a church wedding? Where's the groom first? jk 😂

20. What is your religion? MCGI ✨

21. Have you ever been to a hospital? As a visitor? Yes. As a patient? Nah, dude.

22. Have you ever gotten trouble with the law? Nope.

23. How is life? Great but school's hard, man. Fighting! 👊

24. Baths or showers? Uhhh what's the difference? Is it the tub and shower thing? Where's the dipper (tabo) option here? #FilipinoProblems 😂😂😂

25. What color socks are you wearing? White with blue stripes

26. Have you ever been famous? YO DUDE, "FAMOUS (SIKAT)" IS MY MIDDLE NAME, Y'ALL. BUY MY ALBUM. 😂😂😂 but seriously uhhh idk haha

27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? Nah, I'll pass. People will just judge my wardrobe choices haha.

28. What type of music do you like? Alternative Rock, Pop Punk, Punk Rock, Metalcore, and my favorite, Post-Hardcore. \m/

29. Have you ever been skinny dipping? Nah. Not my thing.

30. How many people do you sleep with? How about "how many stuffed toys do you sleep with" huh? Cuz I've got 5 haha

31. What position do you sleep in? Any position but mostly it's on the side.

32. How big is your house? Big enough to fit my family and cats (lolz).

33. What do you typically eat for breakfast? Idk man because the menu here goes by the motto "going against the grain." Breakfast can be lunch, merienda, or dinner here if you like.

34. Have you ever left the country? Nah, too lazy and too broke.

35. Have you ever tried archery? (yeah, Leslie taught me 😂) No, but I wanted to.

36. Do you like someone? As in "like-like" kind of "like" with a real person? Nah, too busy with my 2D and band boiz.

37. Favorite swear word? I don't swear but I go with alternatives like 'darn' and 'freakin' words.

38. When do you fall asleep? Depends. Early on a weekday, late on a weekend especially Saturday.

39. Do you have any cars? How I wish but none. But it'll be sweet to have one. 😎😎😎

40. Sexual orientation? Straight.

41. Are you a good liar? Hmmm, depends on the victim haha.

42. What languages would you like to learn? Some Japanese, Spanish, French, and a dash of Portuguese, please!

43. Top 10 songs? Uhhh it's hard to choose 10 songs if your music is 15gb (and counting) in size, yo. Just listen to the album "Entertainment" by Waterparks. 10 songs. All are gold. 📼💜

44. Do you like your country? YES.

45. Do you have friends from the web? Yeah, I believe so.

46. What is your personality type? I'm an advocate INFJ!!

47. Hogwarts House? Not a fan but Pottermore told me I'm a Ravenclaw.

48. Can you curl your tongue? Nope.

49. Pick one character you most relate to? Lowkey Death the Kid in terms of perfectionist problems and a Mel Glover in terms of introverted problems.

50. Left or right handed? Proud Leftyyy!

51. Are you scared of spiders? What's the size? If it's huge, shocking and deadly, imma say yes.

52. Favorite food? Sweets and desserts 🍰

53. Favorite foreign food? Alfredo Pasta

54. Are you a clean or messy person? CLEAN but if I'm busy, I tend to clutter my working table until I'm done with what I'm working.

55. If you could switch gender for a day, what would you do? Maybe have a formal fashion show, wearing all those cool-looking suit and ties or maybe do cosplay haha

56. What color underwear? Omg this is a question? Blues and whites 😂😂😂

57. How long does it take to get ready? 30 minutes to an hour. Depends on the occasion. But if it's just somewhere near, 5 minutes is enough.

58. Do you have much of an ego? Hmmm nah.

59. Do you suck or bite lollipops? Suck 'em up but I'll eventually bite it if it's already pea size haha

60. Do you talk to yourself? Yeah, inside my head.

61. Do you sing to yourself? Yeah, sometimes.

62. Are you a good singer? HELL NO. The rain told me so.

63. Biggest fear? Not sure...

64. Are you a gossip? Unintentional gossip queen. It's not my fault that other people are talking loud enough for me to hear. 😂😂😂

65. Are you a grammar natzi? Lowkey grammar natzi wherein I judge people inside my head (lolz).

66. Do you have short or long hair? Usual anime long hair (above the bum). 😂😂😂

67. Can you name all 50 states of America? Nope.

68. Favorite school subject? Science, especially Chemistry! 💕

69. Extrovert or Introvert? 100% INTROVERT

70. Have you ever been scuba diving? Nope but I wanna try.

71. What makes you nervous? Hmmm imma say socializing and dealing with people, thinking that I might offend them with my out of this world humor.

72. Are you scared of the dark? Depends.

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? Depends on the people I'm correcting. If I'm close to that person then yes but if it's a stranger, no.

74. Are you ticklish? Nope.

75. Have you ever started a rumor? Just between best/closed friends.

76. Have you ever been out of your home country? Nope.

77. Have you ever drunk underage? Nope. Not my thing, bruh.

78. Have you ever done drugs? NOPE. Hell no. Not my thing, bruh.

79. What do you fantasize about? A lot of things.

80. How many piercings do you have? One each ear.

81. Can you roll your R's? Yep.

82. How fast can you type? Not 'that' fast.

83. How fast can you run? Pass. I'm not a fan of running.

84. What color is your hair? Black with a hint of dark brown under the sun.

85. What color are your eyes? Dark brown.

86. What are you allergic to? Cheap eye makeup.

87. Do you have a journal? Yeah, but I use it for doodles and drawings.

88. Are you depressed about anything? Nope.

89. Do you like your age? Sure. Why not. But there are times I want to be a lil kid again. Adulthood is hard, bruh.

90. What makes you angry? For starters, I hate those things that will make my perfectionist self mad (like my graduation picture which is not centered, hell no).

91. Do you like your own name? Yeah, sure. But sometimes I want it to be more of a 'z' or 'x' starter than the usual 's'.

92. Did you ever get a foreign object op your nose? Nah.

93. Do you want a boy or a girl for a child? Idk. I want to play swords and guns with my boy but I also want to dress up and play with my girl's hair. 😂😂😂

94. What talents do you have? I can draw but only to my preferences. Beyond that? Nah. I'm too lazy to try painting and watercolor.

95. Sun or Moon? Both 💕

96. How did you get your name? Through my aunts.

97. Are you religious? Yeah.

98. Have you ever been to a therapist? Nope.99. Color of your bedspread? Atm it's pink. 100. Tumblr best friend? No.1 hater here @goldsteindigger 🐈🐈🐈 I tag Ms. answer to question 100 next: @goldsteindigger be grateful, paki-bilisan haha 😂😂😂

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highbuttonsports · 4 years ago

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THIS WEEK IN JETS HOCKEY…. (partial trade deadline preview edition)

Every Thursday at The High Button, we explore the events and stories of the Winnipeg Jets on and off the ice! This week we look at the trio of games, injury updates, trade options and more:

GAMES SINCE LAST THURSDAY IN THIRTY SECONDS:

Thursday March 4th: The Jets outlast the Canadiens with a 4-3 OT victory. The first game of a five game road trip, the Jets battled hard in a fairly even contest. Despite the Habs outshooting the Jets 36-27 overall and 25-20 at 5v5, the Jets had the majority of high danger scoring chances and had 60.2 xGF% through the game. The Jets were able to do what they’ve done against Montreal their last few outings, and what they seem to do best; limit any significant scoring chances and control possession of the puck. Despite that, the Canadiens were able to beat Hellebuyck three times resulting in overtime thanks to a late goal by Corey Perry on a nice setup from Jonathan Drouin. However, the three forward rule would prevail again for the Jets, as the Ste-Agathe-des-Monts born forward Pierre-Luc Dubois would score the winner in his first game in La bella province as a member of the Winnipeg Jets. JETS PLAYER OF THE GAME: Paul Stastny had two goals, and continues to look stronger each night as he starts to really settle into his second stint with the Jets. His sixth and seventh of the season, respectively.

Saturday March 6th: The Canadiens absolutely shellac the Jets 7-1. Last week I discussed Jets video coach Matt Prefontaine and potential strategies he might use in evaluating some of the Jets’ play. This is a game where Prefontaine will likely set fire to the tape and then immediately throw out the trash can in which he burnt it.

This is a game that is deceiving by the numbers once you go deeper than the scoreboard. The shots at 5v5 were 27-25 Canadiens, and 29-28 Jets (yeah that’s right) overall. The xGF% was 51.8 in favour of the Jets, and the high danger chances were 10-8 Montreal. This was a game of bad goaltending, sloppy mistakes, and just careless errors for the Jets. It was a night where they weren’t all bad, but they certainly were not dialled in by any stretch of the imagination. If I’m Prefontaine, or Paul Maurice, or anybody on this team, I don’t dwell on it. So neither should you. JETS PLAYER OF THE GAME: Laurent Brossoit, for coming off the bench to deal with that mess (in a game that he arguably should’ve started in the first place).

Tuesday March 9th: The Jets hang onto a 4-3 win against the Leafs in Toronto. Kinda the opposite of Saturday night in many regards. Tuesday night was a perfect display of the Jets ability to just hang around in a game. It’s tough to put them away, because they usually just keep coming at you. If you make a mistake, the Jets will find it. And that’s what they did. Despite a complete defensive breakdown on the part Nathan Beaulieu leading to the Leafs opening goal by Zach Hyman, the Jets settled in and were able to limit the Leafs from getting any real sustained pressure. Final shots in the game were 39-23 Toronto and 32-19 at 5v5, but the Jets were able to hop onto defensive breakdowns by the Leafs and pretty meh goaltending from Freddy Andersen when they were given the chance. Mason Appleton had the game-winner on the same sort of partial breakaway he seems to create all the time. JETS PLAYER OF THE GAME: Let’s make no mistake here, this was Connor Hellebuyck at his finest. When I say the Leafs didn’t get any sustained pressure, they did certainly have a lot of grade-A scoring chances. Hellebuyck was able to swallow up potential rebounds, or properly play them into the corner, or his defence took care of the rest. This could’ve easily gone south, but Connor stopped 36-of-39 and was absolutely brilliant.

BEAULIEU OUT FOR WEEKS

The cost of Tuesday night’s victory against Toronto was that Nathan Beaulieu will be out for “weeks” after an injury to his hand/wrist on a shot block. This will cause the Jets’ pairings to shift around a little bit. Now, of course, Beaulieu has been somewhat struggling this season, and while he does offer that heart & soul aspect that I’m sure his teammates will miss, there is an opportunity to explore some more optimal pairings here. This is what I would run:

44 Morrissey - 2 Demelo

24 Forbort - 4 Pionk

8 Niku - 3 Poolman

Dylan Demelo is solid defensively, but has been constantly shuffled around. With Josh Morrissey finally settled into the season, I think this pairing would be a lot more stable now than it was in some instances earlier in the season. Consequently, this injury would draw Sami Niku into the lineup (at least that would be my choice). It is no secret and is perhaps a huge understatement to say that Niku is not exactly the most stout defender in the world. Not exactly a Rod Langway type, that’s for sure. However, Niku does have strong offensive instincts. And while Paul Maurice and Sami Niku don’t exactly fit stylistically, it is up to Paul Maurice to find a way to harness the kids talent right now. This is what he’s got, and he needs to make it work. Maurice is taken pride in getting through to everybody individually during his time in Winnipeg. While that seems to be mostly true, this is what he needs to do right now with Niku. In my opinion, the response to this injury is more on Maurice in the short-term than anybody else.

Having said all that, I’m sure it’ll be Logan Stanley on Thursday night with Sami Niku in the press box.

EIGHT DEFENSEMEN TO CONSIDER INTO THE TRADE DEADLINE

I need to clarify something before I go any further. I’m going to imagine essentially everybody that is going to read this already knows this, but on the off chance there is one reader out there who is unsure, it’s important I ease their mind.

I am not a hockey insider.

Having said that, I’ve predicted at least one of the Jets trades in each of the past five or six deadlines, dating back to Lee Stempniak whenever that was. I get Kevin Cheveldayoff, and I think we’d be dear friends if ever given the chance.

With an already thin Jets’ blue line now forced to adapt to the injury to Beaulieu, it seems fairly obvious Winnipeg will be looking into at least one defender ahead of the April 12th trade deadline. I think it’s a good idea to take a look at a few of the names that I think will be available for the Jets if they want them, how likely I think each name is, and who is the favourite:

JORDIE BENN, Defence, Vancouver Canucks

AGE: 33

CONTRACT: final year, $2M AAV, M-NTC

THE FIT: It’s a good fit. Stylistically, Jordie Benn is a stay-at-home defender who is not very strong with the puck. He isn’t overly physical anymore but is more than capable of providing that veteran grit if called upon. While most of his underlying numbers aren’t that great, he’s always been a strong shot blocker who is good at cutting down lanes. Defending the rush could be an issue at times because his speed is weak at this point, but he is above average with his angles and provides steady in-zone defence.

LIKELIHOOD: I think it would be strong, if not for a couple of things. First off, Benn does have five-team no trade protection. Now, I think it’s reasonable the Jets won’t be on there, but you never know. Winnipeg does seem to be, to some players, a less than desirable destination. But I think that’s more of a concern when you’re talking about a long-term contract for your leagues top stars. Secondly, are the Canucks going to be sellers? That remains to be seen, but they are three points out of a playoff spot behind the Habs who have five games in-hand. Take that as it is. For Jordie Benn, it a few months in a hotel regardless of the destination. So, you wanna go somewhere good. For the Jets, the fit is there. He’s a UFA at the end of the year. If you can get the Canucks to retain some salary, which is a big if, you’re in great shape. Ultimately, there are some factors that could easily prevent this, but the stylistic fit is there for a Maurice-led system. And not having to do an International Travel quarantine is a bonus. That could be a huge difference in the amount of time before he gets into some games. Honestly, I’ll say this is fairly likely.

JORDAN OESTERLE, Defence, Arizona Coyotes

AGE: 29

CONTRACT: final year, $1.4M AAV

THE FIT: It’s meh. I mean, Oesterle is a good depth option, and is a top-six defensemen on most teams. He is, however, more of an offensive minded guy. I think he’s got the ability to play a simplistic game like Maurice likes, but I am not sure he excels in many defensive areas that would make him the ideal fit on the bottom pairing, or wherever else. For now, you have to assume the Jets are acquiring someone to fill in for Beaulieu. He would be great for 10-15 minutes a night beside Tucker Poolman or Dylan Demelo. However, I think there’s a decent chance he draws out when Beaulieu returns, and given that he won’t be incredibly cheap (by that I mean the Jets will have to give up something other than “future considerations” to get him), I think it’s not the best move.

LIKELIHOOD: Just because the fit isn’t perfect doesn’t rule this out completely. Oesterle is just 29, comes relatively cheap from contract to contract, and quite frankly is better than Beaulieu. He can be useful on the powerplay, and does add a dimension to the Jets blue line that they don’t really have. He has 11 points in 25 games for the Coyotes, and could easily rack them up at a higher rate than that with the Jets offensive talent. I would say this is somewhat unlikely, but the low cap-hit, the left shot, the potential to sign him into next year make this a possibility. After all, Oesterle is a Michigan boy (think Hellebuyck, Connor, Copp), and is a former teammate of Laurent Brossoit in the Oilers organization for years. Everybody knows each other in this league.

MICHAEL DEL ZOTTO, Defence, Columbus Blue Jackets

AGE: 31

CONTRACT: final year, $700k

THE FIT: Hockey wise? Uh, hard to say. I mean, on the surface there isn’t much of one. Affectionately nicknamed “Del Zaster,” we’re talking about a guy that is a bit more of a skater and offensive minded guy. His underlying numbers defensively are down right awful this season, and aside from blocking shots (28), he has seven points to show for this season. That part isn’t terrible, but when you’re talking about a mainly offensive guy, it’s still a little worrisome. There are some things to say in addition to that, though. Keep in mind Del Zotto is playing for Columbus, who are probably the worst analytical team in the NHL this season. It is hard to get much of a read on whether there is more to Del Zotto at this point because this is the first time he’s consistently been in a lineup since 2017-2018 with Vancouver. While most of Del Zotto’s NHL success has come as John Tortorella as his coach, Maurice could find some use for him.

LIKELIHOOD: It’s not zero. While most of the things I mentioned above seem like it should be a clear no, Del Zotto is one of the most experienced options at a league minimum cap hit that have shown they can still play NHL minutes this season. He’s on a team that will likely be sellers. And he really shouldn’t cost anything in a trade; a very low pick. The likelihood is still low, but for the simple fact that he is an NHL defensemen for a low price, I would keep an eye on this as an 7th-8th defensemen option. After all, Cheveldayoff and Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen are trade buddies now.

MATTIAS EKHOLM, Defence, Nashville Predators

AGE: 30

CONTRACT: signed through 2021-22, $3.75M AAV

THE FIT: Perfect. Like, it’s a perfect fit. Analytically, Ekholm is one of the best defensive defensemen in the NHL, and the eye test would show you the same thing if you know what you’re watching. He’s a solid skater who makes very good decisions without the puck, and is also more than capable with it. Ekholm has nine points in nineteen games this season, and has been hovering around the point-every-two-games rate of production for a while. He is the big fish out there on the defence trade market this year, and would be the Jets number one defensemen with still another year under contract at an absolute bargain. The fit is perfect.

LIKELIHOOD: Maybe I should have started with the bad news on this one. Look, it’s not zero. I wouldn’t have put it here if I thought it absolutely wasn’t going to happen. For example, Columbus is bad - I would’ve put Zach Werenski on here if I thought it were gonna happen (after all, Cheveldayoff and Kekalainen are trade buddies now).

However, the trade price is a huge obstacle. There are ways to make the salaries work, but my concern lies with the assets needed to acquire him. He is number one on Frank Seravalli’s trade bait board. You’re talking a first round pick and then some. And that’s fine. The problem lies in the then some. While Perfetti or Heinola move the needle (probably all the way, quite quickly) for Ekholm, the risk for the Jets might not be worth taking. You get another year of Ekholm, but at 30 years old. Does that outweigh what Perfetti or Heinola can do for you in the future? To me, no, and it’s not even close. So if Vesalainen gets you Ekholm, that’s one thing, but I’m really not sure he does. This really comes down to whether or not Cheveldayoff thinks the Jets cup chances are stronger in the next couple years than they are four years from now. I don’t think they are. Chevy has pulled off big deals often in the past, but this one might be tough. It’s not zero, but it’s very unlikely.

DAVID SAVARD, Defence, Columbus Blue Jackets

AGE: 29

CONTRACT: final year, $4.25M AAV

THE FIT: Really good for the most part. The one thing to note right away is that Savard is the only right-handed name on this list, but he is one of the few rentals on the right side that vastly improves their current options. Putting him with Morrissey on the top pairing would have to be a no-brainer for Maurice. While his numbers are weak this year, it is very much a product of the system he is in. He has been a positive-xGF% player each of the past four years, and regularly plays heavy minutes against top players when on the road. Savard is very structured, and seeks to take little risk on the offensive side. If Paul Maurice could create a top-three defensive defensemen in a lab, he would look real similar to David Savard.

LIKELIHOOD: The salary might be a challenge, but I think it’s a lukewarm possibility. Again, Cheveldayoff has a good working relationship with Jarmo Kekalainen. He wouldn’t be cheap, but he’d be cheaper than Ekholm in a trade; Perfetti and Heinola don’t enter this conversation. I wouldn’t head out to the jersey store yet, but I think this will be the big trade deadline name the Jets do their due diligence on. The likelihood is…uh, average likely. Is that a thing?

PATRIK NEMETH, Defence, Detroit Red Wings

AGE: 28

CONTRACT: final year, $3M AAV

THE FIT: Average. Everything about this option is very par for the course. Nemeth is a solid defensive defensemen who is on a bad team playing hard minutes without much support. He has had success in the past, and it’s been a little while since he’s been that guy. He is pretty good with his gap control. He is a smooth skater. He doesn’t take many risks. He can play with an edge. There are a lot of things to like about Nemeth in Maurice’s system. He does, however, make $3 million against the cap, which is less than ideal for what he will bring, which is no more than a third pairing guy.

LIKELIHOOD: Fairly low. There are a few musts with this option. The first being that the Red Wings retain somewhere between 33-50% of his salary. The second being that they aren’t asking for anything more than a fourth round pick or a low-mid prospect. The third being he is not going to require a 14-day quarantine because the Jets really can’t afford to have a guy like this sitting for three weeks before getting into the lineup. $1.5 million is a lot to commit to a guy who may or may not get in. Having said all of this, I honestly think there’s a small chance he can return to form. He is only 28. At the height of his powers? Nemeth is a good second pairing guy beside Pionk. It’s not even that they need that. Derek Forbort has been solid. But Nemeth would be a good buy-low option. The problem is whether or not the Red Wings are in a sell-low on Nemeth mindset. I think there are a lot of obstacles here, but it’s still an option.

NIKLAS HJALMARSSON, Defence, Arizona Coyotes

AGE: 33

CONTRACT: final year, $5M AAV, full NMC

THE FIT: On the ice? Great. Hjalmarsson is one of, if not the best, defensive defensemen of the past decade. Yes, seriously. There really aren't a lot of cases to avoid that other than he’s not flashy. He has great awareness, is a smooth skater, and there’s really no defensive task he can’t take on. Stylistically he fits right into the Jets lineup just about anywhere. However, there are some problems here. Firstly, the Coyotes might not be sellers. Secondly, if they are sellers, Hjalmarsson has a full no-movement clause that he reportedly refused to waive as recently as September 2020. Thirdly, even if the Coyotes decided to sell and convince Hjalmarsson to come to Winnipeg, his $5 million against the cap provides a challenge for the bookkeepers in Winnipeg. Moreover, the Coyotes aren’t retaining salary at this point. I mean, come on, let’s get real. Fourthly? I hate to say it, but Hjalmarsson has struggled somewhat recently. He cracked his fibula just four games into the 2019-2020 season, and hasn't quite been his old self since then. We saw a similar thing happen to Dustin Byfuglien towards the end, where he missed some time, struggled to stay healthy off and on, and just couldn’t quite find that rhythm once he was back. Hjalmarsson is 33, and it is entirely possible that he is cooked. Still, he is a useful NHL defender.

LIKELIHOOD: The least likely on this list. The fit is fantastic from a hockey perspective, but is very tough from a business perspective. One of those “so you’re saying there’s a chance” from Dumb & Dumber situations.

RYAN MURRAY, Defense, New Jersey Devils

AGE: 26

CONTRACT: final year, $4.6M AAV

THE FIT: Solid for the most part. Murray is a defensive defensemen who skates very well, cuts off lanes pretty well and blocks shots pretty well. He doesn’t take many risks, but moves the puck very well when asked to. He can rush the puck, but doesn’t need to, and therefore would be a great soldier for Maurice in Winnipeg. The salary presents a problem, but there is much more flexibility to work than out with New Jersey than with, let’s say, the Coyotes for example.

Now, I could write an entire article about Ryan Murray’s career. Honestly, I think I could write a dissertation about his development and usage and injury history. If he comes to Winnipeg, maybe I’ll do that. But for now, here’s the short of the long. Ryan Murray is incredibly unlucky when it comes to injuries. He is very hard to evaluate because he has never played in a steady system. He has had many stretches where he’s looked like an ideal top-four defensemen in the NHL. This season, his first in New Jersey, he missed some time with an illness during the Devils COVID outbreak despite never being added to the COVID protocol list. Lately, he has been a healthy scratch. Ryan Murray is an enigma. But for now? His trade value is super, super low.

LIKELIHOOD: Not super likely, but if the Jets could make the dollars work, this is a great opportunity. Making the dollars work will be a big challenge. However, this is a great redemption project for the Jets development staff. This is a former second overall pick who is still fairly young and fits their style quite well. He would be a cheap contract moving forward, and would be a great name on the second or third pairing on the left side considering he plays a very similar game to Josh Morrissey if he’s healthy. But that if is always a lurking issue with Murray.

MY PREDICTIONS: It’s early, but I feel good in saying I think one of Jordie Benn or Michael Del Zotto. However, I could see one of them and David Savard. It all depends how aggressive Chevy wants to get. Keep an eye on the Jets desire to trade for a defensemen over the next 10-14 days. Dylan Demelo was also banged up during the game Tuesday against the Leafs. If that nags, then something is gonna happen soon.

- Tyler

#hockey #nhl news #sports #winnipeg #winnipeg jets

0 notes

jeremyknox · 7 years ago

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i was tagged in 3 tag games in the last day or so and instead of making 3 separate posts in which i tag much of the same people, i decided to consolidate. i love you all who tagged me.

uh....idk if i have anyone to tag? you guys kind of covered everyone i WOULD tag. i guess @flowerparrish, @colormekorrasami, @jordanetalaredead, @megayest, @twin-ace, @lakesandquarries, @peachy-shrimp, and @hotdamnlookatthispan.... if any of these look interesting, you should totally do them!

okay everything under the cuuuuut

tag game number one: tagged by the sweetest human, @carrie-frances

what’s your favourite song(s) to sing/hum? this is a tough one? currently i’ve been singing You by Keaton Henson a lot and also Ophelia by The Lumineers. Let Her Go by Passenger is another goodie for singing lately. Oh and Lost Boy!!!! by Ruth B.

what’s your favourite flower/tree/plant? I love nature wow. My favorite tree is definitely a Weeping Cherry Tree or Willow. My favorite flowers are sunflowers and roses! Plants in general, I just really love cacti? It’s a product of having family I adore in Arizona haha

what do you always doodle? hm... cats, mostly

how do you take your tea/coffee? With plenty of splenda and some milk

favourite candle scent? Vanilla, mostly. just sweet things

what perfume do you wear? body sprays from bath and bodyworks, usually vanilla or peach

what’s your go-to dance move when you’re alone? i have zero clue haha

favourite quote? i don’t know off of the top of my head! perhaps the one i have tattooed, from star wars. “luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.”

favourite self care routine? putting on good smelling lotions. reading a book. snuggling oliver. calling someone i love.

fuzzy socks or house slippers? both! but mostly fuzzy socks

what colour are your eyes? just plain ole brown

what’s your favourite eye colour on others? idk? i think blue or green but i adore brown eyes on everyone

favourite season? why? autumn, i like the colors and the clothes and the smells

cheek, neck or nose kisses? cheek! but the real MVP are forehead ones

what does your happy place look like? the beach but without all the people. or a quiet forest with light filtering in

favourite breed of dog? i’ve always loved boxers the most, and cavaliers

do you ever want to be married? if so, what colours would you pick for your wedding theme? yes, i think i do? i don’t know what colors, it’s always changing. i think it depends on the person i’m with because their input would matter. i’d want the colors to be whatever colors they think of when they see me and vice versa

cursive or print? it’s a solid mix but mostly print

favourite weather? raining and warm, but not thundering

tag game number two: tagged by the amazing @dancyon

— What was your last…

1. Drink: iced tea

2. Phone call: my aunt calling with some hard news

3. Text message: my aunt with an update

4. Song you listened to: love me by the 1975

5. Time you cried: yesterday and i’m gonna cry later today @ love, simon

6. Dated someone twice: yeah

7. Kissed someone and regretted it: for sure

8. Been cheated on: by two different people, apparently im easy to cheat on

9. Lost someone special: sadly, i’ve lost a few

10. Been depressed: lmao got that good good depression goblin

11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: god yeah whoops sorry friends

— Fave colours

12. purple (any shade really)

13. blue (any shade really)

14. soft yellow

— in the last year have you…

15. Made new friends: ahhhh!!!! yes i have ♥

16. Fallen out of love: hhhhhhhhhh

17. Laughed until you cried: probably

18. Found out someone was talking about you: oh yeah

19. Met someone who changed you: yeah, in more ways than one

20. Found out who your friends are: idk???? kinda yeah

21. Kissed someone on your facebook friends list: uh i think i have my ex still

— General

22. How many of your facebook friends do you know irl: majority

23. Do you have any pets: my boy @ollycat and then my dogs and cats @ my parents house

24. Do you want to change your name: i actually did but now i’m back to my birthname bc being NB is one big ???? of what do i want

25. What did you do for your last birthday: oh shit well w my friends i got drunk on rum, dressed up like a pirate, and played d&d. and then fam was the usual cheesecake factory adventure

26. What time did you wake up today: uh around 8 something officially?

27. What were you doing at midnight last night: i think i fell asleep before midnight? if not i was watching Critical Role

28. What is something you can’t wait for: my next tattoo!!

30. What are you listening to right now: just the sounds of my grandparents house

31. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: I have an ex named Tom and a Grandpa named Tom

32. Something that’s getting on your nerves: just like....everything about this breakup and stuff i guess

33. Most visited website: god uh...tumblr and twitter????

34. Hair colour: naturally a dark brown with some reddish in it. it’s currently died as close as possible to that

35. Long or short hair: medium?

36. Do you have a crush on someone: no currently i’m avoiding all romance like the fucking PLAGUE

37. What do you like about yourself: i’m pretty tenacious

38. Want any piercings: nah, i’m more the tattoo type

39. Blood type: ..............why

40. Nicknames: bird, birb, kbird, kbirb, broseidon

41. Relationship status: single

42. Sign: aries

43. Pronouns: they/them

44. Fave tv show: on air right now it’s b99 and the good place. in general, buffy and gilmore girls

45. Tattoos: i currently have 6 and i want sooooo many more

46. Right or left handed: left!!!!

47: Ever had surgery: tonsils and stomach yeah

48. Piercings: none

49. Sport: none currently but football (soccer) will always have my heart

50. Vacation: currently in arizona!! i’ve been all over though, i miss mexico a lot

51. Trainers: what does this....mean....like.....shoes???????

— More general

52. Eating: currently nothing?

53. Drinking: iced tea currently

54. I’m about to watch: LOVE, SIMON AGAIN BITCH!!!!!!!

55. Waiting for: life to feel right

56. Want: a nap, like always

57. Get married: okay your answer of “if i get past my commitment issues and find someone that loves me, sure” was fucking perfect

58. Career: teacher!

— Which is better

59. Hugs or kisses: hugs

60. Lips or eyes: eyes

61. Shorter or taller: taller

62. Older or younger: older

63. Nice arms or stomach: arms

64. Hookup or relationships: relationship

65. Troublemaker or hesitant: hesitant

— Have you ever

66. Kissed a stranger: nope

67. Drank hard liquor: hell yeah

68.Turned someone down: in high school yeah. and like once in college

69. Sex on first date: ........im an ace baby

70: Broken someone’s heart: supposedly

71. Had your heart broken: mhmmmm

72. Been arrested: nah, just brought home by cops

73. Cried when someone died: yeah, i cry at everything but especially death

74. Fallen for a friend: ..........only friends tbh

— Do you believe in

75. Yourself: trying to? cullen says my heart’s vibranium

76. Miracles: some days i do

77. Love at first sight: probably not, i used to though

78. Santa Claus: not anymore

79. Angels: i’d like to

— Misc

80. Eye colour: brown!

81. Best friends name: i mean..... jenny, ellie, michelle, and cullen? plus like max and jor, of course

82. Favourite movie: i guess the princess bride is the Most Favorite of All

83. Favourite actor: my MAIN MAN, hugh jackman

84. Favourite cartoon: danny phantom right now

85. Favourite teacher’s name: in HS it was mrs haley and in college it was dr trainor....grad school so far it’s been jen lynady

final tag game: tagged by the cutest, @blurredmxnds

bold the statements that are true

APPEARANCE:

I am 5'7" or taller

I wear glasses

I have at least one tattoo

I have at least one piercing

I have blonde hair

I have brown eyes

I have short hair

My abs are at least somewhat defined

I have or have had braces

PERSONALITY:

I love meeting new people

People tell me that I’m funny

Helping others with their problems is a big priority for me

I enjoy physical challenges

I enjoy mental challenges

I’m playfully rude with people I know well

I started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it

There is something I would change about my personality

ABILITY:

I can sing well

I can play an instrument

I can do over 30 pushups without stopping

I’m a fast runner

I can draw well

I have a good memory (lmao about some things???)

I’m good at doing math in my head

I can hold my breath underwater for over a minute

I have beaten at least 2 people in arm wrestling

I know how to cook at least 3 meals from scratch

I know how to throw a proper punch

HOBBIES:

I enjoy playing sports

I’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else

I’m in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else

I have learned a new song in the past week

I work out at least once a week

I’ve gone for runs at least once a week in the warmer months

I have drawn something in the past month

I enjoy writing

I do or have done martial arts

EXPERIENCES:

I have had my first kiss

I have had alcohol

I have scored the winning goal in a sports game

I have watched an entire season of a TV show in one sitting

I have been at an overnight event

I have been in a taxi

I have been in the hospital or ER in the past year

I have beaten a video game in one day

I have visited another country

I have been to one of my favorite band’s concerts

RELATIONSHIPS:

I have a crush on a celebrity

I have a crush on someone I know

I have been in at least 3 relationships

I have never been in a relationship

I have asked someone out or admitted my feelings to them

I get crushes easily

I have had a crush on someone for over a year

I have been in a relationship for at least a year (on and off)

I have had feelings for a friend

MY LIFE:

I have at least one person I consider a “best friend”

I live close to my school

My parents are still together

I have at least one sibling

I live in the United States

There is snow right now where I live

I have hung out with a friend in the past month

I have at least 15 CDs (somewhere in my things)

I share my room with someone

RANDOM SHIT:

I have breakdanced

I know a person named Jamie

I have had a teacher with a last name that’s hard to pronounce

I have dyed my hair

I’m listening to one song on repeat right now (i JUST ended my thing w this)

I have punched someone in the past week

I know someone who has gone to jail

I have broken a bone (just a toe)

I have eaten a waffle today

I know what I want to do with my life

I speak at least 2 languages

I have made a new friend in the past year

#tag games #was uscjean #about the blogger

2 notes · View notes

bestsoftblog · 4 years ago

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17 Best Compound Bow Ever Made — Reviewed, Tested & Ranked for 2020

One of the most asked questions by pro and beginner archers is “what is the best compound bow ever made” for hunting, games, target shooting, archery games and sports and for what age groups and skill level?

best compound bow ever made

Every month archery researchers and experts review the top compound bows for youth, kids, beginners and pro hunters as well as for budget.

I spent 40 hours weekly going through reviews upon reviews, watching review videos of compound bows and recurve bows to come up with a list of the best compound bows ever made to meet your archery skill levels and specific needs.

Related: Best Women’s Beginner Bow

These are the most accurate, fastest, balanced and stable compound bows ever made in the history of sporting and hunting archery.

If you are in a hurry and don’t have all the hours to read thousands of reviews — then here are my best recommended picks for the best compound bows ever made.

Bear Archery Cruzer RTH — Fastest compound bow

PSE Archery Full Throttle — Best compound Bow for Beginners

Bowtech Carbon Rose — Best Compound Bow Brands

Hoyt Power Max Bow Package — Best Hoyt Compound Bow

Bear Archery Wolverine Takedown 62” Recurve Bow — Best Compound Bow 2020

Southwest Archery Spyder Takedown Recurve Bow — Beginner Recurve Bow

The Matthews Triax — Best Compound Bow 2020 for the money

PSE Xpedite (354 fps) — Best Compound Bow for target shooting

Matthews Halon 32–5 (338.5 fps)

Bowtech Realm SR6 (349.1 fps)

PSE Evolve (339.7 FPS)

Bowtech RPM 360 (347.45 FPS)

Hoyt Helix (340.8 FPS)

PSE Dream Season Decree IC (347.11 FPS)

Xpedition Mako X (343.1 FPS)

Bear Perception (345.5 FPS)

Bear Escape (342.7 FPS) — Best hunting bow of all time

What is the Best Compound Bow Ever Made?

Here is some of the best compound bows ever created in archery industry.

1. Bear Archery Cruzer RTH — Fastest Compound bow

The Bear Archery Cruzer G2 RTH compound bow is engineered for all skill levels and all ages with maximum versatility, incredible adjustability and ready to hunt.

This bow is great for youth or anyone growing and getting experience into archery and needs the draw weight and draw length adjustments.

The bow is equipped with advance grip design and offset string suppressor to provide grip control and keep the bow under control and quiet.

Related: Best Compound Bow for Under 500

Features

Offset string suppressor

Draw length adjustments from 12” to 30”

Comes with accessories and set up ready to hunt

Most versatile MV cam system

Advanced grip design for precise accuracy

6.5“ Brace height

75% let off

32 axle to axle heights

Hand torque is eliminated

Accessories include nock loop, trophy ridge whisker biscuit, peep sight, trophy ridge 5 arrow quiver, 3 pin sight and trophy ridge stabilizer.

Pros

Most accurate and forgiving bow

Excellent dual cam design system

Smooth draw length and weight adjustment

Shoot arrows at very fast speed IBO rating of 310 fps

Lightweight and short which is ideal if you are a youth

It’s the best camping, hunting, fishing and outdoor gear

2. PSE Archery Full Throttle — Best compound Bow for beginners

The PSE Archery Full Throttle compound bow is an excellent masterpiece bow designed to shoot at the fastest speeds of 370 fps producing the most aggressive and amazing performance in archery industry.

This compound bow comes with excellent accuracy and is the powerful and fastest bow with a great feat of precision engineering.

The PSE Archery Full Throttle is engineered for speed, though it’s a little heavy, the bow can hit a target, draw easily and shoot fast.

Also Read: Best Compound Bow of all Time

Features

Brace height at 5 ¼“

Draw length: 29”

33 ¼ axle to axle

Draw width: 70 lbs

Speed lighting fast up to 370–362fps

70% let off

Bow only

Pros

Its preloaded, parallel limbs gives shooters a clean shot

Excellent forgiving shot from its short brace height

Accuracy is proven

Fastest and most powerful compound bow

3. Bowtech Carbon Rose — Best Compound Bow Brands

The Bowtech carbon Rose is a great, smooth bow with a nice draw cycle designed for youth, female shooters, beginners and children.

This is a great choice bow that is appealing to every shooter due to its small light weight compact and easy to draw design.

The carbon rose is the most maneuverable and lightest hunting bow ever designed for women shooters.

Features

Mass weight of 3.2 lbs

40–50 lbs draw weight

60.8 ft-lbs kinetic energy

7” Brace height

IBO speed up to 302 fps

80% effective let off

27” Axle to Axle

22 ½“ Draw length

Pros

Smooth and fast drawing

Easy to adjust draw weight and length

Great let-off requires minimal power

Extremely lightweight

Very quiet and minimal vibration

Cons

Customer care service not up to par

4. Hoyt Power Max Bow Package — Best Hoyt Compound Bow

The Hoyt Power Max Bow Package is a good bow that gives you the best combination of value for the money, performance, technology and style.

This bow is a sleek, state of the art device that combines technology and manufacturing for great versatility and shooting stability.

Related Reading: Best Compound Bow for Tall Guys

It is a fast and solid bow capable of target shooting, hunting and 3D shooting.

This bow is designed for you to get impressive power, durability and reliability need for your next hunting experience.

Features

Weighs 3.8 lbs

328 feet per second speed

6 ¾“ brace height

31” axle to axle

75% let-off

Pros

Extremely lightweight and flexible

Its wide-stance split limbs offer torsional stability

Sleek streamlined TEC-lite riser

Reduced noise and quiet

Easy adjustments without a bow press or module replacement

Delivers smooth speed with its PowerMax cam & ½

For a lightweight bow to deliver maximum power

5. Bear Archery Wolverine Takedown 62” Recurve Bow — Beginner Recurve Bow

The Bear Archery Wolverine Takedown 62” Recurve Bow is a leader in traditional style hunting bow designed for adults.

This recurve bow offers a draw weight that ranges from 40, 45 and 50 lbs.

The riser features stabilizer mounting holes, arrow rest, and a sight.

It includes a recurve stringer, brass nock point and flipper-style arrow rest.

The bow comes ready to shoot with 3 piece design that allows for easy assembly and quick transport.

They are available in both right-hand and left-hand orientation.

Features

Limbs are layered with black fiber glass

Excellent entry level bow for hunting and target practice shooting

Preinstalled string nock for perfect center shot

40, 45 and 50 lbs configuration options are available for both hand orientations

Engineered specifically for larger boys and girls as well as adult women and adult men

Draw length: 28” to 31”

Draw weight: 40, 45 & 50 lbs

AMO Bow length: 62”

Pros

Easy to transport and assemble

Inexpensive but offers great performance

Respectable shooting performance

Durable

Great shooting speed and accuracy

Cons

Does not come with many accessories

6. Southwest Archery Spyder Takedown Recurve Bow — Better Than The Best Compound Bow 2020

The Southwest Archery Spyder Takedown Recurve bow is a perfect bow for archers of all skill levels and designed specifically for hunters with ability to upgrade and add extra accessories.

This recurve bow has great, improved high quality, better finishing and lighter with a wider range of draw weights.

The Spyder Takedown Recurve bow is a perfect bow designed for all archery aspect.

It overall length of 62” and draw weights of 20lbs, 25lbs, 29lbs, 35lbs, 40lbs, 45lbs, 50lbs, 55lbs, and 60lbs, make it great for bow fishing, small or big game hunting and target shooting.

Features

7.5–8.25 brace height

2.3 weight (lbs)

Right and left hand models are available

Low price range

AMO length: 62 inches (Spyder), 64 inches (spyder XL)

Max Draw (inches): 29” (spyder), 32” (spyder XL estimated)

1 year warranty is available for users who register online within 30 days as offered by manufacturers.

Cut past center shelf

Riser: Red Stripe, wood, 2 color lamination Limb: laminated hard maple with matte black fiber glass.

Pros

Wide range of draw weights

High quality manufacturing

Extremely lightweight

62” and 64” AMO length are available

Excellent takedown power

Shooting accuracy at 90%

Good assembly

Great styling.

7. The Mathews Triax — Best Compound bow 2020 for the money

The Mathews Triax bow model was first launched into the market on 28 January, 2018.

It is an impressive hunting bow that weighs 4.4 pounds and heavier than its rival models.

This compound bow comes with a 24.5–30.5 inches draw length range, which is ideal for hunters looking for most maneuverable, industry technology based compound hunting bow.

Features

75% — 85% let off

6“ brace height

4.4 lbs weight

28” AtA length

Shoots at IBO speed of 343 fps

Draw weight from 40 lbs — 70 lbs

24.5” — 30.5” draw length

Pros

Most deadly in hand designed bow ever manufactured

Amazing 7 high-end finish options to choose from

Excellent let-off between 75% or 85% options.

Great draw length adjustability at 6 inches from 24.5–30.5 inches

Split limb technology offers 50, 60 and 70 pounds peak weights.

Absolute IBO speed rating at 343 fps

Cons

Bow weight is a little heavy

Not all shooters love shorter frame

8. PSE Xpedite (354 fps) — Best Compound Bow for target shooting

The PSE Xpedite is an accurate, wicked, and smooth and one of the fastest bows ever tested.

This amazing bow comes with a reduced noise and less vibration to compete with the Matthews Triax bow.

With a blazing shooting speed at 360 feet per second, the PSE Xpedite offers the ultimate comfort and power balance for hunters.

Features

Brace height at 5.25”

80% — 90% let-off

Ata length 33”

Mass weight at 4.4 lbs

Draw weight: 50–80 lbs

24.5” — 30” draw length

IBO speed 352–360 fps

Pros

Excellent speed of up to 360fps

Let off modules available from 65–90% low and high effectiveness respectively

Its low let off settings offers a blazing speeds up to 360 fps

Shooter friendly Evolve cams with excellent adjustments.

Cons

Comparable to models from other brands, PSE Xpedite is not really cheap

The standard for aluminum riser bows is 4lbs (pound) and at 4.4 pounds, PSE Xpedite is heavier.

Short brace height at 5 ¼ inches for some shooters

You can’t purchase Pro series bows online accept for in store purchase only.

9. Mathews Halon 32–5 (338.5 fps)

The Matthews Halon series bow is designed for starters with a big time change in its solocam technology.

With an added stability from the longer axle to axle, the Mathews Halon 32–5 is a great hunting bow offering 6 inch brace height 343 fps IBO speeds rating and great camo patterns.

On 15 November, 2016, the Mathews bow maker launched its 2017 flagship Mathews Halon 32 into the market.

Features

85% let off only

Up to 343 feet per second IBO speed at 75%

The Riser is available in host Camo XD model only.

With a weight range of 60–70 lbs only, the Mathews Halon series bows are 10 lbs down from the adjustable peak draw weight.

4.73 lbs mass weight

Brace height at 6”

Draw length range 26” — 31” and half sizes 25.5” — 31.5”

32” axle to axle

Crosscentric

Available in Right hand orientation only

Comes with a 6 inch brace height

Riser length 28.92”

Parallel Quad limbs

Harmonic Dampers

10. Bowtech Realm SR6 (349.1 fps)

The Bowtech Realm SR6 is a lighting fast bow that features excellent shooting experience, reduced vibration and improved draw cycle.

The BowTech models offer bow advancement with every entry bow for shooters of all ages and skill levels.

This SR6 offers excellent speed and is highly accurate and easy to shoot as an absolute powerhouse and super friendly.

This compound bow gets a weighted, perimeter binary cam without an aggressive draw but helps add more speed.

The draw length ranges from 25.5–30 inches and is great for all shooters.

It has an IBO rating of 352 fps speed with a 6 inch brace height.

Features

80% — 86% let-off

6” Brace height

4.3 lbs weight

AtA length 32”

IBO speed rating of up to 352 fps

25.5” — 30” draw length adjustments

Draw weight ranges from 40 lbs — 70 lbs adjustability

Price range from $750 to $899 or for under $1000 budget.

32” axle to axle

Pros

Great hunting bow that offers average faster speeds than competing models or brands

Perimeter, over drive, weighted binary cams offers 352 feet per second

Super friendly and easy to use.

Durable and accurate shooting speed.

Impressive high end aluminum riser.

Cons

A little bit price point for an aluminum bow under $1000

11. PSE Evolve (339.7 FPS)

The PSE Evolve Compound bow is a popular and outstanding bow that lives up to the PSE standard and reputation.

It is engineered as the most comfortable bow delivering great accuracy, shot stability and shooting power.

The PSE Evolve is one of the fastest hunting bows ever tested and proven to be stable and smooth with less noise and vibration.

Features

Draw length 24 ½“ — 30”

Let off 80% — 90%

60–70 lbs draw weight

4.3 lbs mass bow weight

IBO speed rating of up to 338 fps

6 ¼“ brace height

31” Axle to Axle

Pros

Excellent shooting power

Delivers dead eye accuracy

Eliminate friction

Comes with built-in riser stabilization ports

Price range for under $1000

Amazing Evolve cam features

342 fps speed rating which is great

Excellent feeling grip integration into the riser for stability

Compact designed hunting bow

12. Bowtech RPM 360 (347.45 FPS)

The Bowtech RPM 360 is one of the top performers in the archery industry and in terms of shooting speed is smoking fast.

This BowTech combines blazing technologies and speed with unmatched features into the fastest flagship bow ever made.

At a blazing IBO/AtA speed rating of up to 360 feet per second, the BowTech RPM 360 is ideal for both beginners and adults without compromising its scorching attributes.

Features

Center pivot Extreme (CPX) deflexed riser

360 feet per second IBO speed rating

100.7 ft-lbs kinetic Energy

4.4 lbs mass weight

Brace height: 6”

Draw length range 24” — 30”

31” axle to axle

Carbon core limbs

Overdrive binary bow cams

Available in right and left hand orientations

80% let off

Rotating modules

Draw weight ranges: 40–50 lbs, 50–60 lbs and 60–70 lbs.

Pros

Superfast and quiet bow

Easy to shoot and extremely versatile

Both left–handed and right-handed models are available

Solid back wall

Excellent shooting platform

Accurate and stable

Cons

Require stabilizer to eliminate vibration

13. Hoyt Helix (340.8 FPS)

Hoyt Helix is one of the fastest tested compound bows designed for fast shooting, smooth drawing and built for accuracy and stability.

The Hoyt Helix produces speeds up to 342 feet per second and has a shorter 6-inch brace height but ultimately, it remains the most subtle, quietest and smallest bow in the archery industry.

As a compact hunting bow, Hoyt Helix has a riser made of aluminum that provides a bomb proof quality and durability.

It is a great choice for pro shooters and beginner archers who want a high performing and high quality bow waded from axle to axle with vibration and noise crushing technology.

Hoyt Helix breaks the records for vibration damping and shot silence in an aluminum bow.

Features

IBO speed rating up to 342 feet per second

6” Brace height

30 ½ Axle to Axle

Mass weight of 4.3 lbs

25” — 30” draw length

Draw weight range of 30lbs — 80lbs

80% — 85% let off.

Pros

Incredibly stable and great platform.

Easy to tune and use

Longer than some hunting bows in the market

New cams and grip are outstanding

Most deadly bow ever made.

Cons

May be a little heavy for women or female hunters and beginner shooters.

Pricey if you are looking for a low budget bow say under $1000

14. PSE Dream Season Decree IC (347.11 FPS)

The PSE Dream Season Decree IC is a serious bow that is lethal and fast at 355 feet per second but highly light in weight, tunable, and moderate in length.

It delivers high let-off, comfortable draw, solid back wall and is built on a new PlanerX 3-D riser for shooting accuracy.

Features

ATA/IBO speed rating up to 355–347 fps

31 3/8“ Axle to Axle

Draw length ranges from 24.5” to 30”

6” Brace height

75% let off

Max limb bolt turns from bottom

3.7 lbs mass weight

Pros

Great lethal speed

Light weight and highly comfortable to shoot

World’s best hunting bow for all age groups and skill levels.

Aggressive cam system delivers great horsepower.

Features extended riser design and ultra-short limbs.

It is fast.

15. Xpedition Mako X (343.1 FPS)

Xpedition Mako X is a premium compound bow which focuses more on bow hunting to deliver smooth-drawing, fast and stable experience during game hunting and target shooting.

The Xpedition Mako x is the perfect balance of forgiveness and speed that delivers a smooth draw cycle with a rock-solid back wall.

With a skinny and comfortable grip, this compound bow is lighter at 3.9 pounds given its riser length.

This bow has a fruid shot cycle, offers a draw cycle smoothness that releases it arrow at an amazing redefined shootability.

Features

80% let off adjustment

346 fps IBO speed rating

Modular draw length adjustment at 0.5 increment

3.9 lbs mass weight

Brace height: XS-M cam: 5” +/- .125”

Axle to Axle: 33.31” +/- .250”

Now bow press is required

Standard limb finishes: Molten Black, Badlands Approach FX, Realtree Edge

Draw weight: 40, 50, 60, 65, 70

Draw length: XS-M cam 24.5” — 30”

Pros

The fastest Xpediton bow ever made to date in archery industry

Offers excellent performance with its fastest IBO speed for shoot ability.

Eliminates the use of a flexible cable guard

Smooth and lightweight

Cheap for under $999

Impressive draw cycle

Versatile and extremely quiet

Cons

Short span and variability is average compared to other Xpedition models.

16. Bear Perception (345.5FPS)

The Bear Perception compound Bow is a flagship–level model that features an excellent shoot-through rise.

This compound bow is built with limited edition shoot-through riser on a hunting bow offering a 350 fps speed with a 33 inch axle to axle measurement.

It offers hunters a compact package with no comprises and engineered with excellence performance.

As an awesome bow, the Bear perception weighs 4.3 pounds and has a unique riser that minimizes flex and torque considered as a perfect hunting bow.

It shockwaves limb dampening device eliminates shock and vibration.

The Bear perception is built for archers looking for silky smooth draw cycle, efficient cam system, a generous brace height and a fast target bow ever created.

Features

IBO speed at 350 feet per second

6” Brace height

45 lbs-70 lbs draw weight

Axle to Axle length of 33”

25.5” — 30” draw length

4.3 lbs mass weight

75% let-off

Pros

Excellent customization options

Smooth draw cycle

Comes with accessories to choose from such as stabilizers, arrow rest, and sights.

Two draw lengths that are standard

Low vibration and quiet shooting

Gradual let off that is effective

Durable and stable

Prebuilt with matching accessories

Cons

A little pricey for under $1500 but worth the price in terms of performance

Heavier and larger in size

17. Bear Escape (342.7 fps) — Best Hunting Bow of all time

The Bear Escape is a great value bow for archers and as a versatile bow, it delivers excellent performance and versatility with a draw length of 25.5” — 30” adjustment.

This bow features a combined 6 inch brace height and an IBO speed rating of 350 fps with four finish options in the archery industry.

Features

Effective 75% let-off

6” Brace height

4.0 lbs mass weight

32” Ata length

350 fps IBO speed

45–70 lbs draw weight

25.5” — 30” draw length

Pros

Great suitability and excellent performance

Great back wall

Extremely smooth draw

Light weight and durable

Excellent treestand bow constructed to be versatile

Enhanced shock-free operation

Rapid fire capability

Very fast with stealth features

Sturdy and durable manufacturing material

Great price for under $900

350 fps IBO rating

Rotating module draw systems that comes with draw stop options

15- pound intervals limbs offering

High performance rig at such price point and affordable

Cons

Finish options are limited

Frequently Asked QuestionsHow do you measure arrow for a compound bow?

To measure arrow length is to take the distance from the back of the point to the throat of the nock.

Your arrow spine and draw length influence your arrow length.

If you’re a 30-inch draw length and want an arrow that ends at the front of the riser, your arrow length would be around 29 inches.

Conclusion

When it comes to the best compound bow ever made, you need to consider the fastest bows in the market combined with their impressive features as listed above.

Culled from Bestsoft Nigeria: https://www.bestsoftnigeria.biz/blog/best-compound-bow-ever-made/#ixzz6YsRawAAz

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mitchbeck · 5 years ago

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CANTLON: WOLF PACK UPEND UTICA, 3-1

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - In what could have been a preview of a possible playoff game, the Hartford Wolf Pack continued their home ice winning ways beating the Utica Comets 3-1 in a spirited, well-played contest between two of this season's most-improved AHL teams. “Both games this weekend were like playoff games. Last night in Providence, a big divisional game, usually there can be a let down the next game. There wasn’t tonight," said Pack head coach, Kris Knoblauch. "The first period tonight was probably our best period of the year and our goaltender (Adam Huska) played so well when they had a big push in the second period.” The Wolf Pack record improves to 21-8-2-5 (49 points). They move four points ahead of the second place, Hershey Bears, who were 2-1 winners over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The Wolf Pack will visit Hershey on Wednesday. “Both teams played well. We both wanted the points and we got it,” Huska, who picked up his sixth win of the season, said. The third period, like the two that proceeded it, was a back-and-forth affair as each team sought an important goal. For Hartford, they were looking to add some cushion, while for the Comets, the goal was to tie the game. The Pack used a five-minute major power play to their advantage and got their cushion goal. However, a four-on-four situation developed during the major and the Wolf Pack used the open space to their advantage as well. A great passing sequence began with Darren Raddysh making a superb outlet pass to Matt Beleskey. The former Boston Bruin then put a perfect tape-to-tape pass to Phil Di Giuseppe who split then Utica defense like the Red Sea and deposited his 11th of the season into the net at 11:25. “I was actually yelling at Raddzy to pass it to me,” Di Giuseppe said. He was ribbing his teammates with mock surprise about his “poor” passing skills. “It was a pretty bad pass to Beleskey, who luckily got a bouncer from the whole length of the ice.” As he continued to laugh with Raddysh nattily-attired in a fisherman’s knit cap and bow-tie waiting for him to finish in the locker room. The whole advantage came out of a wild sequence of events. The shift before, behind the play, Di Giuseppe made an outlet pass. After releasing the puck, Di Giuseppe got steamrolled by the Comets' Vincent Arseneau and then left in a heap at the Pack blue line on the right wing. Pack defenseman Mason Geersten was in the neighborhood and wasted little time in challenging him. The two had a spirited bout that Geersten got the better of. In the meantime, while the action went on behind him, Danny O’Regan still sought out the cushion goal and was initially stopped by a sensational Michael DiPietro (37 saves) at 9:21. The play is emblematic of how this group of players have become a team. “We really understand each other on-and-off the ice. We all know our jobs on the team, and it's always fun in the locker room,” remarked Huska. The Comets tested the Wolf Pack in the second period. “We were flying in the first, and they woke up in the second and they started pushing us, but our defense played well,” said Huska (26 saves). Huska had little work in the first period but got plenty after as the Comets flew all around him. They out-shot the Pack 16-14. Huska stopped 15 of Utica’s attempts. Wacey Hamilton, Reid Boucher and Dylan Bljus were all denied by Huska on excellent opportunities. “They were pushing from the side and coming right to the front of the net. My defense helped out on the rebounds, It's all a goalie can ask for,” said Huska. The Wolf Pack had their chances to get the third goal. Geersten left point drive was stopped, Tim Gettinger at 8:30 was open, but the full effect of his chance was stopped because of slash called on Guillaume Brisebois. Nick Jones and Patrick Newell were stopped on a two-on-one. and Vinni Lettieri and defenseman, Nick Ebert, had solid chances. DiPietro kept them out of the net for Utica. The Comets finally were able to get one past Huska. It came off a rebound from a hard shot by Kole Lind. Huska stopped a shot with his right arm, but it came right back to the wrong guy, Boucher, who quickly put it past the Pack netminder at 16:04. It was his 21st goal to narrow the Wolf Pack lead to 2-1. The Wolf Pack grabbed the first lead on a seemingly simple play. Boo Nieves won the initial offensive zone draw and the Wolf Pack maintained possession of the biscuit. Raddysh came up the left-wing boards and sent a short pass to Nieves who curled to the top of the left wing face-off circle. He saw two Wolf Pack players converging in the slot and launched a shot toward the net. “Those were two solid plays on that goal. Boo made a real nice move, and Vinni, great skill to finish on that play,” said Knoblauch Lettieri made a mid-chest (legal) re-direct with his stick that DiPietro had zero chance on at 4:08. For Lettieri, it was his 13th goal of the season and second in two games. The Wolf Pack would extend their lead to 2-0. O’Regan was behind the net and found Vincent LoVerde coming off the left point into the face-off circle. The right-handed shooter wired a perfect wrist shot to the short-side high over DiPietro’s right shoulder at 7:41. Two small plays made this goal happen. First Raddysh, who was at the right point, kept the puck in. He fed Di Giuseppe who perfectly reversed along the right wing boards. He went around the back the net and up the left wing boards and gave it O’Regan. “I was just able to squeeze some space and get it to Danny and he made the pass and Vinny made a great shot there and this is something we could build on in the game,” remarked Di Giuseppe. LINES: Nieves - Gettinger - Lettieri O’Regan - Kravtsov - Di Giuseppe Jones - Beleskey - Gropp Zerter-Gossage - Newell - McBride Raddysh - LoVerde Keane - Geersten Rykov - Ebert SCRATCHES: Ryan Dmowski (Healthy) Jeff Taylor (Healthy) Lias Andersson (Suspension) Gabriel Fontaine (Season-ending shoulder surgery) NOTES: The three A’s were worn by LoVerde, Nieves and Beleskey. Lettieri registered his first goal in six games against Providence the night before. His last one came on December 17th in Charlotte against the Checkers. It was his first multi-point effort in eleven games and ironically that was against Providence on December 8th. Two AHL All-Star selections will come from Hartford. Rookie Joey Keane made the the starting lineup. Goalie Igor Shesterkin, who is playing in his first year as a goalie in North America, is also heading to the All Star Game Classic in Ontario, CA at the end of the month. Shesterkin joins Wolf Pack history as the third first-year goalie to earn the honor. The others were Kazakhstan native, Vitali Yeremeyev, in 2000-01 in his one only year in Hartford. He is now a goalie coach with Dynamo Moscow (Russia - KHL). The other is Robb Stauber, who in 1997-98, the Pack’s first season, who was recently selected to be an Honorary Captain at the All-Star Classic in Ontario, CA. The two parent clubs met late last night as Vancouver beat the Rangers 2-1 scoring a goal in the first minute of the game and the last minute of the game. The Rangers finished 1-3 on their Canadian road trip. Steven Fogarty’s ice time during his four games in New York have been 3:25 in Toronto, 8:46 in Edmonton, 5:40 in Calgary, and 3:16 in Vancouver. He has just one shot on goal and one hit in those four games. Boucher saw his league best 16-game point scoring streak end last night at home in a 3-2 loss to Springfield. Boucher is now tied for the AHL scoring lead with Drake Batherson of Belleville, each has 41 points. Boucher’s 21 goals are second. Gerald Mayhew of Iowa has 23. The WJC medal games tomorrow are a Scandinavian final battle for Bronze between Sweden and Finland. Then another chapter in the Gold medal game between Canada and Russia. Former Utica Comet, Cole Cassels, the son of former Hartford Whaler, Andrew Cassels, was released by Belleville earlier in the week signs an AHL deal with Wilkes Barre/Scranton for the rest of the year. WOLF PACK FAN JERSEY OF THE NIGHT: A #39 Dan Cloutier and a real blast from the past. #34 Mike Martin, who played just the first year of the Wolf Pack. A #44, Whalers Dave Babych jersey and two QMJHL jerseys. #8 Samuel Thibault of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar who's now with Norfolk (ECHL) and the very classy unique red and gold of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan jersey. #55 of Guillaume Brisebois who plays for Utica. A third jersey of the Maine Mariners, the Wolf Pack Double AA affiliate, a gorgeous powder blue Maine Blueberries #27 of captain Zach Tolkinen, the ex-QU Bobcat who played nine games in Hartford last year. Read the full article

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xoxopandapanda · 8 years ago

Text

Little Family Ch. 1

Chapters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

FF.net

AO3

A/N: The Lucky Ones is one of my favorite Inuyasha fanfictions of all time, and I am drawing inspiration from it, along with every other story where a little hanyou is found and needing more love. MOAR LOVE.

I read somewhere that Inuyasha was based off of the Akita inu (and I love that breed of dog more than anything in the world), so I was inspired to ask myself ‘what if there was a red Akita hanyou’, and I’m taking it and running.

Also, I want to make it a little bit like post-canon, but I am definitely making it AU. (There is a baby and Kagome can go back through the well, because Mama Higarashi is life.)

When Kagome had first come back through the well, both she and Inuyasha had figured it was a one-way trip. The well was closed now. They had never once considered to even try to go back down it, nor did they even give it much of a second thought.

The had quickly settled into their new norm, Kagome apprenticing under Kaede to take over as the village priestess, and Inuyasha maintaining his position as the village guardian.

Kagome hadn’t been that surprised to find out that Inuyasha had taken to making sure that everyone in the village was safe, and there were no threats lurking in his forest. What had surprised her is his involvement in other areas of the village. He planted rice and built homes with the village men. He cleaned up larger kills, and sometimes even smaller ones like fish, for the village women. He carried anything to heavy for any of the elder’s to where ever they needed it.

What surprised her the most was when it came to bartering, and Inuyasha was the mindful eye making sure everyone got a fair deal.

“You’re really involved around here, Inuyasha,” she remarked one day in passing.

Inuyasha had simply responded, “It’s my home.”

Kaede was the watchful eye that reminded Kagome of Inuyasha’s standing in the community whenever she seemed to forget. “People used to be so scared of him, Kagome. But you taught them, and me, that he was to be trusted and let into our lives. He is invaluable to us now, and he is part of our community.”

Kagome was also miffed by Inuyasha’s willingness to let Sango and Miroku’s girls mess with him. The Inuyasha she knew would never have allowed toddlers to climb all over him and make squealing noises that startled her with her human hearing. But the Inuyasha of now did, and sometimes would even let the girls take a nap on his knee.

Sango had told Kagome that Inuyasha had stayed away at first when the girls were born, but one day he came back and never quite left. “Miroku had gone the village over to help with an exorcism, and Inuyasha just came over for dinner. He held one of the girls all night for me, switching with me as necessary. I don’t know, Kagome. It was like he suddenly realized that they were also a part of our family.”

“They sure do love their Uncle Inuyasha,” Miroku had commented once while the girls snored on Inuyasha’s knee.

Inuyasha had grunted in response and said nothing further, making Kagome think that maybe Inuyasha loved them just as much.

Kagome had been back for a few months, before Inuyasha built her a home. She had been suspicious it was in the works for a while, but wisely said nothing to him, as it was also probable he was doing it by himself.

Kagome had found out about the structure from Kaede who told her that one of the younger village men had found it while out trapping, and was appalled Inuyasha hadn’t asked him for help. “Inuyasha has helped built or fix nearly every building standing. I think the men were hurt he hadn’t asked them for help.”

Inuyasha had grumbled and carried on that he didn’t need anyone’s help, because it was his home for his Kagome, but the village men had ignored him and done as they pleased.

Within a week of Kagome learning she had a home being made in the forest, she was moving into her home and welcoming guests who brought household items for the newly married couple.

When Sango and Miroku visited, baby and toddlers in tow, Inuyasha was proud to show his friend around his new home.

“I’m going to put Kagome’s garden here,” he pointed just a stone’s throw outside the front door, “and a bucket for washing right here,” he pointed to just next to the door. “I’ve already got the fire pit installed, but I think when the traveling salesman comes back, I might try to get the supplies to make some tatami mats. I think that would look nice on the floor.”

Miroku hummed to indicate he was listening, but if he had any thoughts of his friend’s plans for the new home, he said nothing.

Sango however was quick to tally up what was still needed, and tell Kagome. Kagome took her advice to heart, eager to learn how to manage a household of her very own. “Have Inuyasha build you a little rack to dry herbs on. One that can go outside in the summer, but move inside in the winter. Sometimes you can still dig up good herbs in the snow.” Sango patted the lightly fussing baby in her arms, now entering a big growing phase and uncomfortable in his own skin.

“Do you think we will need more pots and dishes than this? I have two pots, and they are pretty big, but that’s about it. I have quite a few bowls from different women.” Kagome showed Sango her wedding gifts from villagers.

“Not until you have extra mouths to feed, you won’t.” Sango assured her.

Before they departed, Miroku announced that Inuyasha and Kagome should have a ceremony in the village, and he was happy to officiate. Inuyasha had balked and tried to protest, but Miroku ignored whatever warbling words had escaped his friend’s mouth.

Kagome readily agreed, thinking back to how Kaede had told her that Inuyasha was a part of the community. It was agreed that the next day a small ceremony in front of the small shrine would happen.

Inuyasha had trudged down to the village that morning, releasing all the theatrics he was capable of to show Kagome his level of displeasure, but once the village men started to congratulate him on his wedding, he changed his tune and told them all to come to watch.

Which was exactly how the ‘small ceremony’ turned into the whole village crowding the entire area around the small shrine, and Miroku having to shout out the prayers over the newlyweds.

The party and drinking that ensued carried on into the early morning the next day, and Kagome swore she had never felt so happy in her entire life.

It was six months into living in the feudal era as a married couple that they discovered the well was still open to them to travel.

It had happened quite unexpectedly one day. Miroku and Inuyasha had been taking the twins for a walk, and Kagome was taking care of the baby boy at her home to give their mother a break. The twins were leading the walk, meandering as they pleased with their father and uncle keeping watchful eye on them.

They had made it back to the bone eaters well without the men thinking much of it, where the girls were playing with each other and running around. They had managed to rope Inuyasha into playing along with them, as he rarely denied them anything besides direct access to his ears.

They were rather sly girls, much like their father, and had, while playing peek-a-boo with their favorite uncle, gotten him to balance on the ledge of the well. While he had his eyes covered pretending he couldn’t see them, they each shoved a leg with all their might, and toppled him into the well. They squealed in delight at having gotten the upper hand on their beloved uncle. But instead of him jumping out to playfully startle them, a bright blue light flashed.

Miroku had rushed over from where he had been resting in the shade as soon as he saw the light, but knew there was nothing to be done- Inuyasha was on the other side of the well. Sighing loudly and scooping up his girls, one in each arm, he made his way to Kagome and Inuyasha’s home to tell Kagome.

“What do you mean he’s gone?” Kagome stared at the monk, one eyebrow high on her forehead. The baby at her chest was asleep, having finally given into his body’s demands for rest. The girls were back to chasing each other, seemingly to have forgotten their favorite uncle was gone and nonplussed that they had been taken somewhere else.

“I’m afraid they pushed him down the well, and now he’s gone.” Miroku reached and picked up his son from Kagome’s embrace, tucking him carefully against his chest and rocking him to stay asleep.

“Well, where did he go?”

“Down the well, I suppose.”

“The well is closed, Miroku. He couldn’t have gone down it.” Kagome crossed her arms and regarded the man in front of her. “I can’t believe you lost my husband.”

“I didn’t lose him, the girls did.” Miroku dropped a kiss to the baby’s head as he snuffled and nuzzled closer to his father.

Kagome turned to look at the girls. “Ayame, Suzume. Where did Uncle Inuyasha go?”

The girls stopped playing and looked at their beloved aunt. Ayame, the far more vocal girl, spoke first. “With the blue light.”

“Poof!” Suzume added with a flourish of the arms above her head.

Kagome paused before turning back to Miroku. Kagome opened her mouth to scold him, but found that she was speechless. The robed man shrugged before holding out an arm to his girls. “Let’s go find Mama, girls. Aunt Kagome needs to find her husband.”

With that, Kagome was left alone.

Sighing audibly, Kagome walked to the well. Looking down it, she reasoned that trying wouldn’t hurt. But she wanted to go slowly down it, as to ensure she wouldn’t break something in case it wasn’t open. Hoisting herself over, she cautiously worked her way down the vines to the bottom of the well. Her feet touched the solid ground, and she stood still for several seconds. Realizing she wasn’t going through, she cursed out loud.

“YOU’RE SO DAMN FULL OF IT, MIROKU,” and then the light engulfed her.

Although she had endured the sensation for years of her life before, Kagome was startled at the free-falling sensation of going through time before being gently placed on her feet in the future.

Blinking back sudden tears from the rush of emotions that over took her realizing she went through time, Kagome looked up and saw her little brother staring at her from the top of the well. He had grown quite a bit, she noticed. He no longer had his chubby baby cheeks. Her heart-strings pulled hard as she realized how much she had missed.

“Took you long enough, nee-chan. Inuyasha-nii-san is already on his third bowl of ramen.” He tossed the rope ladder down her. “Mama went to the store to make oden for you.”

Kagome’s tears finally spilled down her face as she made her way out of the well. When she reached the top, she grabbed Souta and squeezed him tight. “I’ve missed you,” she whispered, her voice cracking from emotion.

“I’ve missed you too,” Souta was fighting his own tears as he held her just as tight.

Arm in arm they walked towards the house where Inuyasha was watching TV with grandpa and slurping down noodles. Giving her grandfather a hug and a kiss, Kagome sat at the table as well, waiting for her mother to come home.

Her reuniting with her mother was the most tear-filled, as she told her mother about everything she had done since she was gone, what had changed in the village, and her mother listened happily. Kagome made dinner with her mother again, grateful for the chance to spend time with her family again.

They ate dinner with gusto and many tales of the last year that night. It was a large meal full of familiar and favorite foods. When Momma heard that Kagome and Inuyasha had married in the feudal era, she insisted on running to the store and buying a small cake. Inuyasha didn’t understand the significance of the small white cake, but he sure enjoyed the taste of it.

As they returned to the feudal era the next morning, Inuyasha and Kagome agreed to come back as often as they could for a day or two, to share a meal and stories. Kagome promised it would be at least once a month, but hopefully more frequent. With a new house and new responsibilities being the apprentice priestess, Kagome knew she was busy. However, she also knew she was blessed with a chance to come home for dinner.

#inuyasha fanfiction #inuyasha #kagome #inukag #inuyasha x kagome #panda writes #panda #little family

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