#but i know without a doubt those three ships above are my Top Tier.

[skullmoss]

honestly the only BG3 companion ships i ADORE and LOVE and would DIE for are:

wyll/karlach

wyll/astarion

shadowheart/lae'zel

[silvereddaye]

👀

What if Luke was found by Vader at the age of six? Padme lived and joined the Rebellion? What happens when Vader dies and leaves a message behind for his wife?

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

There was a distinct sound of a click, followed by the sound of a machine starting up. Engines started to whirl and slowly the large double doors started to slide open. Padme could see that they were thick, a few feet thick, thick enough to guard against a bombardment. What was beyond these doors? What had her husband left here for her?

A month ago the news of the death of Darth Vader spread across the galaxy. There was shock and celebration and very little mourning. At least genuine mourning. The Emperor had held a memorial service with rows upon rows of stormtroopers forced to attend. But amongst the Empire, there were those who celebrated Vader’s death. 

Padme was perhaps one of the few people who had cried. Maybe even the only one. She wondered and worried about her son. How had he taken the death of his father? Luke had been raised by Vader since he was six. She had always hoped for the best for the father and son pair and that they found love with each other. But at the memorial service, Imperial Prince Luke Vader had an emotionless face. If the loss of his father meant anything, he did not show it publicly. 

But only a week after Vader’s death, she got a message from her dead husband. It was delivered to her by the bounty hunter Boba Fett. 

“You’re not here to kill me or take me in?” she had asked him. 

“I was paid very good money not to,” he said. She wondered how much that was considering the bounty on her head was one of the highest in the Empire as one of the leaders of the Rebellion. “As well as to deliver this to you should Vader ever be killed.”

“And what if you were killed?” 

“I wasn’t,” he said as he handed her a data chip. 

It took her a few days before she looked at it. One night she couldn’t sleep, so she sat at her desk and inserted the chip into a datapad. It asked for a password. What password? She tried typing her name. That didn’t work. His name. His real name. The name of their children. The name of his ships. Their birth planets. His mother’s name. She sighed. Then she slowly typed in the word angel. 

At once a blue hologram of Vader popped up. He didn’t say anything for several long moments. Only his breathing was heard. 

“Padme,” he finally said. Her breath caught in her throat. “If you are viewing this, it means I am dead. I . . . I . . . There is so much I regret. So much I wish to tell you, but I will tell you this. I love you. I have always loved you. I . . . I have left you something. Credits. I know you want nothing to do with me and my money, but I want you to have them. Use them to fuel the Rebellion, but please use them. Plus there is . . . more . . . waiting for you at these coordinates. I love you, my angel.” 

She had cried herself to sleep after that. It took another two weeks before she finally found time to fly out to the coordinates. It was a desolate and lifeless planet with nothing but sharp grey rocks and matching grey skies. The place was filled with abandoned mining equipment and crumbling factories. It looked like the place had long since been sucked dry of whatever resources it had. She wasn’t surprised she found herself landing in a large mine. 

She was surprised by the huge double doors on the other side of the mine and that there appeared to be no way to get them to open. There was no control panel. No wires. Nothing. How was she going to get inside? 

Of course. 

She couldn’t do this alone. She needed a Force-sensitive to open the door and the Alliance had several Jedi and former Jedi members, but only one she would ask. This was far too personal and private to ask this of anyone else besides her daughter. 

So another few weeks passed until Padme finally managed to get them both free from their obligations, and once again she found herself back in the large mine this time with Leia at her side. Using the Force, the young woman quickly found a mechanism on the other side of the door that opened the doors. 

They stood side by side as they watched the massive things roll open. Leia took her mother’s hand, gave it a squeeze before they walked in. Padme had her blaster up and ready and Leia lit her blue lightsaber.  The tunnel beyond the doors was long and angled downwards. Eventually, even the doors disappeared as they kept going. Their only light was the glow of Leia’s lightsaber and a yellow glow rod Padme had lit and held in one-hand. On and on they went. Deeper and deeper into the earth. 

What had Vader hidden down here for her? Just credits? It couldn’t just be credits. There had to be more. There was something else. There were a lot of other ways to get credits to her if that’s what he wanted. She knew there was something waiting for her down here. 

They had been walking for two hours when they finally came to the end. It was a smooth metal wall with a single door in it. The two exchange a look before Padme walked up and pressed the door release. Surprisingly, it opened without any passcode. A short hallway opened up to a large circular room. It was tiered, with one level going around the perimeter then it would go down three steps to the center level. 

It appeared to be the main living area of whatever this place was. The inner level had some couches and chairs to the right side and a dining area to the left. Above the dining area on the higher tier was a small kitchen area. The top tier also had an office workspace with a desk, computer terminal, and small holoprojector. There was another workspace area, but it was just an empty desk by the wall. There were a few closed doors spaced around the room. Most likely these led to bedrooms, a refresher, and hopefully to the storage area. 

“Where should we check first?” Leia asked as if reading her mother’s mind. 

Padme eyed each of the four doors but then turned to the workspace. Perhaps the terminal would have a map of this place. Maybe even another message from Vader. She walked straight there and sat down, however, the terminal needed a password. While she worked through various words she thought would unlock it, Leia wandered around the room. Her lightsaber hung loosely unlit in her hand. 

Padme sighed.

Of course, he hadn’t made this easy. Why would he? Even in death, he had to be infuriating as if he had to have the last word. They should just go. Whatever was down here could stay down here. She had done fine the past twenty years without his help; she didn’t need it now. If he really had wanted to help her why wait until he was dead? He had plenty of opportunities to reach out to her over the years. 

She stood up, stretched, and right as she was going to call out to her daughter a door slid open. There was a snap-hiss as Leia ignited her blue lightsaber. It had once been her father’s when he was a different man. 

Someone walked out and stopped. They looked at Leia and her lightsaber.

“Anakin?” Padme said. 

A pale bald head turned towards her. She’d know him anywhere, even without the helmet. She had never seen what he had looked like . . . after . . . his fateful duel with Obi-Wan . . . but she knew he lived in his life support suit for a reason. No way would Anakin Skywalker limit himself to such a device unless he had to. And seeing him now, it confirmed her suspicions. 

His skin was pale, grey, and scarred. The skin around his eyes was dark and baggy. He wore a large oversized black robe that hid his body that could possibly hide life-support machines. There was a thick metal collar around his neck with a clear breathing mask covering his nose and mouth with tubes connected it to the collar. There was a faint hiss of a respirator. 

Leia had taken a step back, but her saber was up in a defensive stance. 

“It’s you,” she said slowly; her eyes never left him. 

There was a slight nod of his head. He gave Leia a long look, before he turned to face Padme. 

“You . . . You came,” he said. His voice wasn’t the deep baritone that she had come to know as the voice of Vader. A voice far removed from Anakin. It was wheezy and weak, but there was still a weight to it. 

“You’re alive,” Padme growled as she snapped up her blaster and pointed it at him. “You’re supposed to be dead.” 

“I am,” he said. There was no fire in his voice. He sounded defeated. “And perhaps I should have died, but I could not allow it.”

“Oh? Please, don’t tell me you have had a sudden change of heart.” 

He closed his eyes and sighed. “And if I said that I have?” His eyes slowly reopened. They were dark and she wondered what color they were. Ahsoka had told her his eyes were now yellow ringed in red. Eyes of a sith. But if that was so now, shouldn’t she be able to tell? Even from this distance? 

Leia let out a soft snort. “So what? You died and when they resuscitated you and got your cold little heart to start pumping, you finally rediscovered it or what?” 

“I never came close to death,” he said. 

She raised an eyebrow and Padme pursed her lips. 

“What game is this?” Padme snapped. “You’ve faked your death? Lured me here with Leia. Now what? What do you want? To join the Alliance?” 

Vader looked at his wife then at his daughter. “I have no desire to join your pathetic and doomed Rebellion.” 

“I was starting to doubt if you really were Darth Vader,” Leia said. “But now you’re starting to sound like him.” 

“You know who I am, girl,” he growled as he raised a hand and pointed a finger at her. “You can feel it in the Force, just as I can feel you. Let us stop with this foolishness. Come, we have lots to discuss.” 

“Do we?” Padme asked. Vader’s hand lowered and he turned to fully face. “Why am I here, Anakin? Tell me why I shouldn’t just leave right now?” 

There was a breath. Then another. Vader’s chest rose and fell with the light sound of his respirator. 

“This has nothing to do with me,” he said. “This is about Luke.” 

He turned. His robe billowed and fluttered behind him as he stalked back through the door he came through without a look back. Mother and daughter shared a look. Should they proceed? But Padme knew the answer the moment the name had left Vader’s mouth. She holstered her blaster, gave Leia a reassuring nod, and walked to the door to follow her husband. 

[serominee]

for the ask meme; nepeta :3c

Thank you for the ask anon I care you very <3

How I feel about this character

I ABSOULTELY ADORE HER!! She is definitely one of my favorite Homestuck characters ^^

All the people I ship romantically with this character

For pale rom, without a doubt Equius, I think a lot of us can agree they are one of the best pale rom relationships in the whole story. As for red and black rom... I really like Fefnep!! I can see Feferi being either Nepeta’s kismesis or matesprit honestly. I feel like in either scenario, Nepeta would help Feferi learn that to be a good ruler/leader you don't need to completely shelter and coddle your subjects as they have a right to their own autonomy. 

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Roxy Lalonde. Cat energy equinox and shared rogue trauma; what more could you ask for?  Ok but seriously I think they would be really good for each other as friends because I think their personalities would mesh really well imo. I actually have an au where Roxy wasn’t always asleep on her moon (and it was safe for her to be awake) and she was able to communicate with the derse dreamer troll ghosts. 

I also really like the friend trio of Tavros, Aradia, and Nepeta mainly for roleplaying shenanigans. I like these three best together specifically because I think that they understand each others boundaries best. I’m not sure why it but they definitely seem like those teenagers that you see at your local pizza shop after school and its like their daily place of congregation and you don’t really know what they’re talking about, but whatever it is they’re really damn passionate about it. (Haha projection go brr). 

My unpopular opinion about this character

I don’t... Okay I don’t really have a good reason for this because I know she is canonically short but I just. In my heart, she’s above average. Like the troll equivalent of 5′8″. 

Also this isn’t really an unpopular opinion I don’t think?? But I really wish she got more credit for being the way she was, seeing as how she was pretty much the most emotionally mature out of almost the whole cast? Idk I just think that she is pretty underrated in that aspect. When she got upset she never forced her will onto anyone and was always really respective of others, which in Homestuck is kind of a rare trait. 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

LITERALLY ANYTHING. I’m sad we didn’t get to see more of her and I understand why we didn’t because she wasn’t as central of a character to the narrative as like the kids but I just miss her yk

Also I’m just saying,, she is a Rogue of Heart,, there could have been a funny body swap scenario. I know those types of tropes can go sour really easily if done wrong but if the swap-ees were fully consenting I can imagine some top tier pranks happening just sayin’

[questionofdarkness]

Some things I noticed during the latest chapter (256)

Finally another things I noticed! It’s been a while - then again, I doubt anyone really missed my rambling. These are a lot of fun to do though, so without further ado - let us begin!

The boyfriends are back! I’m really feeling Tamaki’s outfit in these. Also it’s just great to see them again.

Is it just me or did he actually improve his social anxiety a bit for being able to speak so directly to Aizawa? I mean Mirio is right there, he could also have said nothing and let him do the talking. 

Oh. My. Good! Look at those toys in the background! They’re adorable (and a bit scary). I wonder if this room was made for Eri specifically, I’m not sure if its.... fitting for the students otherwise. Can I also just say that I really like the big three basically having adopted Eri as well? It’s cute.

Dadzawa has returned.

On a very different note! Mina! Ew! But also yey! It’s a cool special move, but also looks disgusting. And poor Aoyama still gets hurt by his own quirk.

But he too came up with a new move! Well done!

Also can we just appreciate this panel below? Is Sato drooling? Did he make the cotton candy? Why does Toky look so adorable here? Didn’t Sero get one too? 

We also get more confirmation that Hagakure’s quirk isn’t actually invisibility, but light manipulation. Also how can she look so badass with just... gloves? 

Do you know what is something that I never understood? How tf she placed above Izuku in that first quirk sports test Aizawa put them through. Because I do not see how her quirk helped her at all with any of the tasks and we know from later on (a panel where she trains) that she is not very physically fit. Izuku on the other hand had trained hours on end before entering UA and was in top physical condition + he at least once scored very high with the ball throwing. So how on earth did he score below her???? (yeah plot, of course, but come one!)

Isn’t her acid like... dangerous? Shoudl she just shake it all over the place? Also Toruu and her wild gesticulation is a mood. Poor Aoyama though.

Look at Mina’s lil tongue. Look at how Kiri is about to burst with happiness. Look how dumbfounded he is at first. I love their friendship so much!

Supportive Iida is supportive! Also I love hearing about who they interned with (though I wished we actually... you know... had seen some of it?). Also Momo looks so majestic in her cloak. Might I also draw your attention to the fact that we do not see Toky in this? He’s supposed to be standing somewhere between Satou and Denki afterall. Maybe he was further to the back, but still, wouldn’t we be able to see some of his head at least? Unless, that is, he’s actually too small.

Is that DYNAMITE??? Also yes Majestic indeed!

Wait did Ojirou change up his hero outfir abit? I don’t think those gloves were there before, were they? I am so happy to see my tail boy again, it’s been so long. Also that pro hero looks fierce af!

I love that Koda actually got one of the top-tier internships, but he and wash? How on earth did they even communicate at all?

Yes! Gang Orca is back! And Jirou and Shouji together? Amazing! I never imagined them being friends much but now I find I actually really, really like the idea.

Kiri I love you and your ridiculous teeth too much for my own good. And I’m so glad he got to intern with Fat again!

best bird has returned and looks even more edgy and dangerous than usual!!!

Look at them all standing there, look at their high differences how is Shouji so ridiculously tall!

Supportive 1A is supportive! I love that Hagakure’s speech bubble is just.... blank. But I think the translations here might be a bit off. That’s what I get by reading free online chapters...

Sharp!

Their friendship is so cute.

I mean look at those two dorks. 

TOK (mina ships it)

I’m actually really glad the manga finally let’s them talk again like normal people. I was getting so sick of that stupid going red bullshit. Just let them be friends for heaven’s sake!

Bakugou wtf are you doing you gremlin?

What is that face come one Bakubro

Is it only me or is it absolutely adorable that All Might uses Izuku’s method of quirk notebooks to help him improve?

I should not have laughed at Mic laying face down on the couch as much as I did because he is hurting a lot but then again fucking mood!

I don’t think we have ever, EVER seen Mic that angry holy shit!

Bonus Yaomomo being extremley done with everything!

[meggannn]

fic notes: garrus’s crew

miscellaneous notes on garrus’s crew of the parentia that never made it into “down girl” part 1

1. lucret xamius, xo

mid-30s, high class tier class

from a long standing military family like the victuses; similar expectations of naval command passed down to her

like miranda in professionalism/workaholic sensibilities, more like ashley in temperament/personality

in retaliation for a strike her uncle carried out against the hegemony, batarian slavers attacked her family’s villa where her part of her extended family lived, and they kidnapped (young relatives) those who could be sold and killed those who couldn’t (elderly relatives). 7 were taken, 3 were killed. this occurred when she was about maybe 27.

before that point, she felt kind of pressured to uphold her family name by staying in the service, but after that she began taking her job more seriously and decided to stay past her mandatory service

was a little bitter about getting turned down to captain the parentia herself, but she respects garrus, so she doesn’t mind serving under him. is privately hoping that after he (presumably) becomes a spectre, she will be asked to helm the parentia permanently.

2. thilma, pilot

mid-20s, lower tier class

never picked a last name for her oops

shy and a little quiet until you get to know her.

she’s a little starstruck by shepard and garrus because she’s never been this close to war heroes before but once they get to know her she’s much more relaxed. mostly she just has a severe case of imposter’s syndrome which affects her ability to interact w the crew but she’s very easy to talk to one-on-one

like joker in that she was top of her class in pilot school. her drive in school was more out of her desire to escape a poor/unprotected colony, so it surprised her when she made top of her class, but she just puts her head down and works her ass off and only comes up for air once someone puts a hand on her shoulder and reminds her to eat

3. azymadus, cook

late 60s, lower tier class

never picked a first name for him lmao so i just hc all the crew calls him by his last name and only garrus and lucret know his first name

served in the first contact war, retired in the years since

didn’t give a shit about humans/was against their expansion/serving in government roles. after the battle of the citadel he started to come around, after commander shepard ‘died’ he felt a little more sympathetic. re-enlisted when the reapers hit palaven, killing most of his family and destroying his mandible. due to his age and health he wasn’t approved for active combat, so he became the cook on whatever ship would take him just so he could take his mind off of the deaths of his family

garrus knew him as the field chef on menae and thought he would enjoy being ‘put to use’ as it were after the war so he wouldn’t have to go back to palaven, so garrus requested him personally

4. stilx, gunnery officer

late 30s/early 40s, lower tier class

stilx is a nickname off of her much longer surname. hates her first name. you’ll never get it out of her; the one on her record is probably a fake anyway.

oh man she’s my favorite. she left a bad home life as soon as she turned legal. went off the grid to escape her mandatory service. removed her colony markings to disappear more thoroughly. joined a gang for several years, hated it, went on the run from them too. it was in the gang she learned how to take care of weapons; but she’s only seen active combat in omega-style gang wars. after that, for money she boxed for several years and entered mma-style underground fights, and eventually gained a name for herself under a fake name. unfortunately she was deep in the owner’s pockets, so years later when a bet went sour and her sponsor abandoned her, she ran back to the hierarchy for protection and in exchange agreed to live the rest of her “active years” (hierarchy law says this up until the common retirement age, until about 60/70-ish) in the service. so she sold out to survive in the end. never put her colony markings back on though.

has a huuuuuge thing for lucret but has kept it under wraps pretty successfully. the girl scout is three floors above her doing paperwork or whatever and she’s perfectly content down in the cargo bay cleaning the crew’s guns and out-drinking the guys in engineering. it only gets dicey when lucret comes down for her morning workouts around the same time stilx is checking the cargo and she has to resist her immense urge to challenge the ship’s xo to spar......

likes/respects shepard a lot. if shepard ever wanted to work out alone/without prying eyes, she’d clear the cargo bay for her with just a word. she understands what it’s like to be forced to work for somebody you hate just to survive, and she’s just glad a woman like that is still around.

5. yelfrex, tactics officer

late 20s, middle tier class

more like joker in personality. talented, excelled at tactics training in the navy, but is aimless/not very driven or inspired, doesn’t really know what to do with his life, kind of gets pulled around wherever life/his friends/his parents take him.

left the hierarchy early to join a civil rights group (that he got talked into by a friend) because he’s against the mandatory service law, but the reapers cut that short. he was part of garrus’s task force and lost both feet and hearing in his left ear when the first wave hit menae, and was out of commission for most of the rest of the war.

garrus found him after the war ended and asked if he wanted to serve on the parentia, hoping it would give him some stability/a sense of something to do as he recovered

looks up to garrus because of his sense of humor/capabilities/everything garrus did at such a young age. i have a feeling garrus gave him a bit of a pep talk when yel was having major career doubts post-war so that.

he’s kind of fascinated by shepard bc she joined cerberus and quit them and got arrested for war crimes and now she’s like this huge hero, like that doesn’t happen to everybody, haha that’s messed up but in a cool way, i wonder what she’s like lol? so that’s why he asks her so many invasive questions in that one scene in the comm room. he’s also trying to calm his own nerves/ease the tension in the room because the boss has never gone into a mission alone before

6. elaria, ground team

late 20s, middle tier class

garrus’s favorite to take in the field, though he tries not to let lucret know this

quiet, calm, professional, but a fucking beast in the field, very reliable, won’t hesitate to tell garrus if she thinks he’s making a bad call

not unlike shepard on the outside (sans the trauma shepard gone through at that age), but much less experienced obviously and a bit more easy going/humorous once you talk to her

7. quernus, chief engineer & technician

early 30s, lower tier class

left the service early (unauthorized) and then 

was kind of a ‘plan c’ choice for the crew because the first few candidates were unavailable, and he knows it so he’s determined to prove himself by taking his job super seriously and never joking around, proving he deserves to be there, etc

therefore doesn’t take yelfrex’s joking around very well -- quernus has a sense of humor, he just doesn’t mesh well with yel. personality clashes, plus a bit of resentment on quernus’s side because yel is a higher tier than him and knows he has more protection in his position

has a crush on elaria but due to their experience difference/desire to he doesn’t think it’s professional to bring up

and that’s all i can think of for now

[travelworldnetwork]

Gina DeCaprio Vercesi

The strains of island-infused top 40 hits floated across the bay as my husband mixed a batch of piña coladas and the sun dipped below the horizon, spinning the clouds into cotton candy. Two of our three daughters skimmed by on a paddleboard, delighting in losing their balance and splashing into the clear, blue sea. Cocktails in hand, we watched as a few stragglers motored into the peaceful anchorage, laying claim to the last remaining mooring balls.

“Do you know what this is?” I asked our oldest daughter, who had joined my husband and me on our catamaran’s flybridge. It was a question I’d asked repeatedly over the past couple of days and the girls had come to understand that the requisite answer was simply, “the life.”

“The life, Mom,” she obliged, smiling.

Yup. This was the life.

Gina DeCaprio Vercesi

Related: The Caribbean Island That's Quietly Luring Americans Away From the 50 States

My family and I were on the second night of a weeklong boating adventure in the British Virgin Islands with the Moorings, the region’s first, and most established, charter company. By luck, the trip coincided with the April full moon and I’d finagled our itinerary to include an overnight stop in Trellis Bay, a popular live-aboard artists’ community on Beef Island near the easternmost tip of Tortola. The bay has long played host to a well-loved full moon celebration and as night fell, the beach in front of us became illuminated by the glow of floating fireballs, hand-cut steel spheres crafted by local artist Aragorn Dick-Read.

On shore, the crescent of sand along the bay was full of revelers — locals and boaters, families and couples — the spicy scent of roti in the air. Brightly costumed Moko Jumbies whirled high above the crowd, bending and swaying rhythmically while balancing on impressively tall stilts. Friends gathered around beachfront bonfires, kids scampered by in the sand, and visitors flowed in and out of Aragorn’s shop, admiring sculpture, pottery, and silk-screened t-shirts — artwork that barely escaped annihilation by the large sailboat launched onto the beach last September during Hurricane Irma’s violent wrath.

The water is the first thing you notice when coming in for a landing at Tortola’s Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport — deep indigo seas that lighten to lapis, turquoise, and finally ultramarine as they near the shore. But after that, you notice the boats, one after the other, wrecked on the beach of neighboring Trellis Bay. Tipped on their sides in an unnatural fashion, there they lie, heavy on the sand, unable to move. Hulls smashed, masts broken, sails ripped.

Related: As the Caribbean Rebuilds, Now Is an Important Time to Visit

With paint and a brush, Aragorn had transformed the boat that crashed just feet from his studio’s walls into a sort-of temporary installation piece, but he prefers the beach sans shipwreck. “There’s only so much art you can do with fiberglass and crappy aluminum,” he joked, when I asked him about the green swirls decorating the boat’s hull. “I painted on it for a while but then I tired of it. I’ve been living in hope that it will go. It’s a bit of a grim reminder, really, and I think we have enough grim reminders around here.”

Nearly six months to the day after a double-header of record setting, category five hurricanes tore through the Caribbean, vestiges of the storms — "Irmaria," as the two are now called locally — were visible everywhere. Cars sport makeshift windows fashioned from thick plastic and duct tape. Island hillsides, while beginning to robe themselves in fresh, verdant foliage, remain covered in a gnarled tangle of twisted limbs. Once-lush palm trees stick out like telephone poles, stripped of their shady fronds by the hurricanes’ savage winds.

It’s heartbreaking to imagine what people endured during the storms and the hardships they continue to deal with in the aftermath. Most lost everything they own. Still, travelers shouldn’t think twice about returning to the idyllic tropical archipelago. Power has been restored throughout the islands and clean up and recovery efforts are in full swing everywhere you look. And as BV-Islanders love to say, the water is just as blue, the sand is just as white, and the rum is just as strong — they don’t call them Painkillers for nothing.

Those infamous nutmeg-dusted cocktails aren’t the only things making a comeback. The British Virgin Islands have long been celebrated as being the sailing capital of the Caribbean and the territory’s loyal yachting community has begun returning in droves, indicated by the flotillas of gleaming white monohulls and catamarans dotting the turquoise waters when we were there this past spring.

In early April, colorful sails billowed in the islands’ famed tradewinds during the 47th-annual BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival, the first international event to be held after the hurricanes. Throughout the week, guests lounged on the decks of catamarans, mooring balls at popular anchorages were full of boats, and the rum flowed liberally at everyone’s favorite beach bars. “The marine industry was without a doubt the first to make a comeback,” Judy Petz, the Regatta’s director, told Travel + Leisure. “Holding the event gave the whole community purpose. People kept signing up to race — even people who had never come down here before.”

Though a handful of hotels and guesthouses have reopened recently, the best way to visit the region sooner rather than later is on board a charter yacht. Earlier this year, the Moorings, which continues to be the islands’ biggest charter company, added 130 new boats to their fleet, an investment of $66.5 million. On top of that, the Moorings’ boat resuscitation efforts continue to move forward at full steam. A big team of fiberglass experts is hard at work getting vessels back on the water and soon the entire fleet will be at or very near pre-hurricane numbers.

Local restaurants, shops, markets, and well-loved watering holes have been revived as well and the entire industry desperately needs the support of tourist dollars to help continue rebuilding both infrastructure and their livelihood. Fortunately, island hopping through the archipelago offers an easy and gorgeous way to spread the love — and the wealth.

“It’s like coming back to the old days,” Petz said of sailing in the BVI right now. “The waters are as pristine as ever but there are far fewer boats out there. It’s almost like you have the islands to yourself. The beauty that surrounds you — that’s what it’s all about.”

Here’s our guide to what’s happening in the best-loved anchorages of the British Virgin Islands.

Gina DeCaprio Vercesi

Getting There

Several U.S. cities offer direct flights into Cyril E. King airport on neighboring St. Thomas. The Road Town Fast Ferry travels between Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas and Road Town, Tortola (where the Moorings is based) three times a day — twice a day on Sundays. Since it is one of the U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. citizens don’t need a passport to fly into St. Thomas, but a valid passport is required for entry into the British Virgin Islands.

Alternately, several smaller airlines along with private charters operate flights into Tortola’s Terrance B. Lettsome (Beef Island) airport from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Where to Stay

Right now (and even after the territory’s full recovery), chartering a sailing or power yacht is the absolute best way to visit the British Virgin Islands. Your accommodations are covered, you’re positively guaranteed a 360-degree water view, and there’s no shortage of services available to boaters. Mooring balls remain plentiful in every anchorage — and fewer boats for the time being means less jockeying for space — dingy docks are solid in most bays, and provisions, which are abundant in Road Town, are becoming more readily available at smaller island outposts in Trellis Bay, Scrub Island, Leverick Bay, and Cane Garden Bay.

If terra-firma is more your style, options expand daily. Cooper Island Beach Club, an eco-resort with its own on-site nano-brewery, reopened with aplomb on April 1 and guests would be hard-pressed to find any evidence of the devastation that existed just a few months earlier. Settle into one of 10 beachy-chic cottages overlooking picturesque Manchioneel Bay, which is especially popular with sea turtles.

Although Virgin Gorda’s much-loved North Sound suffered some of the storms’ most devastating destruction, luxurious Oil Nut Bay, tucked into a pristine cove in Eustatia Sound, has both private villas and ocean view suites ready to receive guests. Meanwhile, just across the water from Trellis Bay, Scrub Island Resort and Marina has several rooms in their Marina Village available along with a newly refurbished, multi-tiered pool, and a diverse menu of watersports.

Gina DeCaprio Vercesi

Where to Drink (and Eat)

Bars and restaurants throughout the BVI exude the ultimate in laid-back island vibes and many of the territory’s favorites are open for business. Standing at the helm of the post-hurricane recovery ship is the Soggy Dollar on Jost Van Dyke — the infamous White Bay watering hole was one of the first in the region to reopen after the September storms, inspiring plenty of others to do the same.

In Jost’s Great Harbor, island icon Foxy Callwood’s namesake Foxy's Tamarind Bar is serving up their famous barbecue once again and the Calypsonian crooner himself will likely be there singing his now-famous post-Irma ditty.

Meanwhile, on Norman Island, Pirates Bight is in full swing, delivering cold beers and delicious roti. And though the recently announced (and quite controversial) relocation of the legendary Willy T from the Bight to Peter Island may redirect diehard loyalists across the way to the barge’s new home in Great Harbor, Norman will likely remain a popular first night stop on the charter circuit.

It will be quite some time before the Bitter End Yacht Club — which is near and dear to pretty much everyone’s hearts — rises from Virgin Gorda’s North Sound wreckage, but Leverick Bay has been doing a great job of bringing boaters to the area. The resort’s open-air restaurant on the second floor overlooks the entire bay, which twinkles after the sun sets. Kick off the evening with a cocktail of rum and laughter at Michael Beans’ popular Happy Arrr show by the shoreline.

For a bit of glamour, island style, Restaurant (yes, that’s its name) at the Cooper Island Beach Club serves a gorgeous menu featuring a bounty of local produce, fresh fish, and innovative cocktails by the sea. After dinner, spend some time sipping spirits sourced from the Caribbean and beyond in the resort’s new Rum Bar, where over 100 varieties are on hand for tasting and mixing.

On Land and Sea

Snorkeling and diving the prolific reef systems spread around the 60 islands, islets, and cays that make up the British Virgin Island archipelago remain one of visitors’ favorite activities and in early April, the majority of the popular reefs we explored were in sound shape. Beyond the best-known spots — Monkey Point on Guana Island, Norman Islands Caves, The Indians, Cistern Point on Cooper Island, The Dogs — your charter captain will be able to take you to all sorts of hidden coral gardens teeming with colorful marine life.

Beaches throughout the territory continue to inspire expat dreams, despite the absence of the lush, jungle-like setting provided by abundant palms and sea grapes. Still new trees are being planted all the time; even Sandy Spit, which has been reduced to a true spit of sand, has a tiny grove of baby coconut trees in its center. Secluded swaths of shore await, some of the most sublime, even with a bit of storm detritus, being Deadman’s Bay (Peter Island), Devil’s Bay (Virgin Gorda), Prickly Pear Island (across from Leverick Bay), and White Bay (Jost Van Dyke).

from travelandleisure.com

The post The Single Best Way to Enjoy the Beauty of the British Virgin Islands After the Hurricanes appeared first on Travel World Network.

[365footballorg-blog]

Armchair Analyst: All 23 MLS teams ranked by tier – revisited

May 14, 20181:15AM EDT

First a tip of the cap to the great Zach Lowe, who coined this column format with his “Annual Tiers of the NBA” tome. I’ve blatantly copied that approach for my own preseason Tiers of MLS, and since you all liked it so much and since about 30 percent of the season is in the books, now’s a good time to revisit.

What follows are not hard-and-fast Power Rankings, per se, but rather something a little more loose in terms of talent level, cohesion, chemistry and all the et ceteras that make teams tick (or make them awful).

These teams are mostly in the order I think they’ll finish, but what really matters is the tier designation.

TIER I: THE ALPHAS

Atlanta United

They’re leading the Supporters’ Shield race and they just took six out of a possible nine points during what was a very, very tough week (Tata Martino says it should’ve been nine, given what happened on Wednesday against SKC). They have the league’s MVP (Miguel Almiron) and co-Golden Boot leader (Josef Martinez), and have proved to possess enough depth to weather a formation shift, a couple of underperforming attackers, and a bunch of injuries.

They have Michael Parkhurst, who is aging backward. They have Darlington Nagbe playing the best soccer of his career. They have Ezequiel Barco, who’s starting to look like a $ 15 million man:

They also, remember, still have a bunch of allocation cash after this winter’s Carlos Carmona sale, and I’m not about to doubt their ability to go into the transfer market this summer and find a difference-maker.

Atlanta have all of the above going for them and are, at this point, playing what I’d consider to be a B+ version of their best game. I think they have another gear they’ll find as the season goes on, provided Tata learns from last year’s mistakes and doesn’t run his troops into the ground.

My Worry: I don’t always love the body language from Martinez, which seems to have drifted from “aggressive” to “hostile” when he doesn’t get a pass he thinks a teammate should’ve hit. It’s probably nothing, but it’s maybe something.

New York Red Bulls

They weathered the CCL hangover infinitely better than any of their peers despite having the most reason to curl up into a shell and die after the disappointment of that home leg against Chivas. They’ve shown they’re probably this year’s deepest squad – nobody is better at finding contributors via the academy and USL – and at the top end, they now have Kaku (the league’s best newcomer) to join MVP candidate Bradley Wright-Phillips.

RBNY also have formational flexibility in a way they really didn’t over the last few years. They’re a more mobile team all over the field, which has allowed Jesse Marsch to toggle pretty seamlessly between the 4-2-3-1 and the 3-3-3-1. No matter how they line up, though, they understand exactly how they want to play:

New York’s going to win a trophy this year. It might not be the one they want most, but silverware’s silverware.

My Worry: The history of coming up short in front of goal in the biggest games is just impossible to ignore. It happened in last year’s U.S. Open Cup, and it happened in last year’s playoffs, and it happened in this spring’s CCL. Maybe Kaku changes that. Maybe he doesn’t.

Also, you can still bunker against this team.

So my official take is that this week’s salary release from the MLS Players Association should terrify folks specifically with regard to LAFC. Most teams have at least one (many have many, many more than one) contract that is just inexplicable, but the Black-and-Gold are clean as a whistle.

That means they have both money and cap flexibility, and can use both to address whatever needs they feel have cropped up/will be cropping up.

They’ll also be adding a DP mid-season, and have just added a TAM striker in Adama Diomande. For some coaches and some teams there’s such a thing as too much talent, but Bob Bradley’s a veteran at this job and will know how to hold a locker room together while keeping everybody’s egos in check. We’ve already seen some of that following the back-to-back losses against the Galaxy and then Atlanta.

LAFC bounced back from those two games, in which they allowed nine unanswered goals, by going on a still extant six-game unbeaten streak in which they’ve outscored opponents 13-6. Carlos Vela is an MVP candidate and Diego Rossi is a young player of the year candidate. This team’s still only about 75 percent complete and look at where they are, smashing the bad teams they play and going toe-to-toe with the good ones.

My Worry: There’s not a lot of depth at center back and my god do they take risks, both tactical and physical. That 5-0 loss to Atlanta isn’t who they are, but it’s who they can be if and when things go pear-shaped.

New York City FC

They’ve actually played the toughest schedule in the league thus far with road games at the four other teams in this tier (1-1-2 record, which is pretty good!) and have done so while managing an injury to David Villa, some churn along the backline and a bunch of new faces in attack. Seven of their 11 games overall have been away from Yankee Stadium.

And here they are on 1.91 ppg, good for third in the East. Red Bulls fans have justifiably spent most of the past week dunking on the Cityzens, but come on – this team’s legit. You don’t win 2-0 at Sporting, you don’t draw at both Atlanta and LAFC if you’re not.

The most important development for this group, one that we’ve seen slowly evolving since Patrick Vieira took over in 2016, is a commitment toward playing a true high-pressing system. NYCFC are as front-foot as almost anybody in MLS, and for the most part it’s been working, and that in turn has taken some of the larger burden off of Villa. They can actually generate goals now when he’s not on the field, just by turning defense into offense.

My Worry: Vieira is suicidally stubborn about playing from the back:

I’ve never seen anyone play into RBNY’s hands as much as NYCFC did last weekend. It was brutal.

Sporting KC

They’ve mostly figured out the defensive issues that looked like they were going to sink SKC’s season before it even began. March was ugly for this team as they gave up uncharacteristically soft goals again and again and again, and couldn’t seem to figure out how to send numbers forward without getting punished. It felt like the polar opposite of Sporting’s teams this decade.

But they slowly improved while the attack didn’t slow down much at all. It was probably stupid of me to doubt Peter Vermes’s ability to diagnose what was plaguing his defense and then fix it.

It’s still not as good as it was last year, mind you. But SKC are comfortably the West’s best defensive team over the past six weeks, and punctuated that with Wednesday’s significant 2-0 win at Atlanta. They’ve managed it while Felipe Gutierrez, who was a goalscoring wonder in March, slowly works his way back toward health.

I didn’t think they’d make it up to this level, but here they are.

My Worry: Khiry Shelton has been wonderful at doing all the grunt work you could want out of a center forward. He makes unselfish runs off the ball to open space, contests every header, is as diligent as they come on the defensive side, and is a much better passer than the average fan seems to realize.

And yet:

With Justin Meram’s goal on his 29th shot, the MLS leaders in shots without a goal this season:

24 – Ager Aketxe (1.75 xG) 23 – Khiry Shelton (3.20 xG) 21 – David Accam (1.75 xG)

— Paul Carr (@PaulCarrTM) May 14, 2018

They need to start getting goals from that spot.

Also, this is SKC. Nobody will *really* believe they’re for real until they manage not to collapse down the stretch. Vermes has been a little more willing to rotate his squad this year than in years past, so perhaps they’ll be able to avoid their usual October malaise in 2018.

TIER II: STOP IT, THEY’RE FINE

Toronto FC

This is the dumbest sentiment that people keep tweeting at me:

I won’t say anything about Orlando’s d because they’re bad. I do have problems with the way TFC gets a pass.

— Connor (@drake_sucks) May 13, 2018

Toronto, fluctuating between about 60 and 85 percent health, were good enough to beat Tigres and America in the CCL before falling to Chivas in penalties. We don’t have to reach into ancient history to know this team is elite on both sides of the ball once reasonably healthy; we just have to flip the calendar back a couple of weeks.

Taking 0 of 6 points over the last seven days was a very, very bad stretch for the Reds, but Chris Mavinga and Victor Vazquez both got healthy. Justin Morrow, Eriq Zavaleta and Nick Hagglund are almost there. Gregory van der Wiel will be back next weekend as well. I count three Best XI-caliber players and three solid, starting-caliber players there.

It’s been an ugly two months of regular-season play, but TFC’s going to be fine.

My Worry: If they drop home points next week against Orlando City, then maybe they won’t be fine. But the truth is the Lions, Crew SC and Revs have all played home-heavy schedules at this point, and all three are vulnerable to extended runs of bad form/any type of slippage.

Honestly though if anybody out there offers you a bet that the Reds will finish out of the playoffs then take the odds and enjoy your winnings.

TIER III: GETTING THERE

Columbus Crew SC

One of the big questions we all asked before the season started was “how can Columbus account for all the goals they shipped out in the form of Justin Meram and Ola Kamara?” The Meram goals are still an open question, but it turns out “play to the strengths of the system” is the answer for Kamara’s output:

Here’s the rates Kei, Ola, and Gyasi have scored at with and without Gregg Berhalter. Small sample sizes apply of course, but we can at least say, recently, 3G has demonstrated success at getting his center forwards goals pic.twitter.com/ZgRFyNslBb

— Kevin Minkus (@kevinminkus) May 12, 2018

Maybe Gyasi Zardes eventually goes ice cold in front of goal again, but I don’t think that’s going to happen as long as he’s playing for Gregg Berhalter. It’s mid-May and Zardes is tied for the Golden Boot lead for a reason: he understands how to get himself into position to finish off the good work of the guys around him, and makes no muss, no fuss runs for both the team and himself.

Nobody should be surprised by this since it’s exactly what he did in 2014 when he scored 16 goals for the Galaxy. Everyone somewhat justifiably chalked that up to Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane being so great, and fair enough. But now he’s doing the same thing in Ohio as well as/better than the guys who came before him, and the team’s winning because of it.

They’re also winning because of their defense, as Crew SC are now unbeaten in five and have posted three straight shutouts. That’s an especially good thing right now, because the schedule’s about to get brutal: at New England, at Sporting, vs. TFC, vs. RBNY, vs. Atlanta, at LAFC are the next six. If they take seven points from that, they should be happy.

My Worry: The Meram goals so far mostly don’t exist. One of the wingers needs to start putting the ball in the net or Columbus will leave the door open for disappointment.

Orlando City SC

Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Atlanta was weirdly the most encouraging performance of the season from Orlando City largely because they showed they could defend and strangle the game at least a little bit. Far too often they’ve been far too gappy, and I went into the weekend working on the assumption that the Five Stripes would crack them open and drop at least three on their southern neighbors.

To be fair, Atlanta did bag two goals in the first 30 minutes and could’ve had two more by halftime. They got a lead and protected it.

But Orlando City made them work to protect that lead, and poured good (not irresistible, but still good) pressure on without becoming overly vulnerable at the back. More than their six-game winning streak against either short-handed or inferior opponents, Sunday’s loss suggested this team could compete at the very top of the league and perhaps give as good as they get.

Also, here’s Will Johnson with our Face of the Week:

pic.twitter.com/QH5T5PeDkB

— Total MLS (@TotalMLS) May 14, 2018

Imagine reacting like that after you’ve blatantly dived.

My Worry: The Lions have never traveled well, and four of their next five are on the road. If you look at their next 11 games (7 on the road), I’d say they’re outright favorites in only two of them.

Things look pretty good now. But as last year showed, things can get pretty bad pretty fast.

Somehow I didn’t do a video on Mauro Diaz, who is still my favorite player in MLS, after Saturday’s dominant, three-assist performance. Say a prayer for every Galaxy defender he sent to the spirit world on this play:

Of course that’s our Pass of the Week.

The Magic Little Unicorn™ had been benched, either coming in as a sub or not playing at all, over the past four games. He responded with three assists in a Man of the Match performance as FC Dallas continue to look, little by little, something close to the team that collected 60 points in both 2015 and 2016, and then made it all the way to the CCL semis last spring before last summer’s epic collapse.

Does Diaz’s return (and Kellyn Acosta’s) mean he gets to start forever now? Probably not, and that’s the best thing about the new version of FCD! Oscar Pareja has clearly challenged his best players to win their jobs, finally holding them accountable, and most have responded.

They’re winning again and they’re fun to watch again.

My Worry: The defense is not what it was in 2015 and 2016, which means Jimmy Maurer is having to play like an All-Star week after week. So far he’s been up to the task, but that’s only “so far.”

Also, after next week’s visit from the ‘Caps they’re about to leave Texas for a bit. The home/road split has helped Dallas a ton thus far, and to be honest that might be enough to compete for the third or fourth spot in the West. But also… maybe not?

TIER IV: PROMISING BUT FLAWED

New England Revolution

The Revs have been perhaps the season’s biggest surprise, using their high press and some red-hot finishing from Teal Bunbury to collect 17 points from 10 games and grabbing ahold of the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Following Saturday’s 3-2 win over visiting TFC they’ve got a 10-point cushion on the Reds, and historically speaking it’s kind of rare to see teams blow leads like that.

I’ll say the above is especially applicable to well-coached teams, which is what I’m thinking New England are. Brad Friedel doesn’t have them pressing just because he like the high press; he has them doing so because he wants to control game states and make sure that his backline isn’t asked to go out there and win him games.

They have done that, mind you. Their 1-0 win over SKC two weeks ago was impressive. But it was also followed by a 4-2 beatdown by Montreal and this weekend’s game in which New England looked eternally vulnerable in the second half. I think, defensively speaking, the Revs are closer to that than they are to the team that shut down Sporting.

Friedel’s been good enough to figure that out and play toward his team’s strengths. It’s encouraging.

My Worry: Eventually everybody’s going to force the Revs to start doing stuff with the ball:

Armchair Analyst: With the Lee Nguyen trade, the Revs are all-in on Diego Fagundez as a #10. The kid’s creative in the final third but has some work to do learning when to be brave on the ball & drive the game through midfieldhttps://t.co/vZlSdcr6wN

— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) May 6, 2018

I don’t think they have the personnel for it. Midfield turnovers have an outsized effect on this team’s chances of winning. 

Houston Dynamo

I love what I see from the Dynamo in attack pretty much every single game, and their ability to build chances out of possession has taken a major step forward over what they managed in 2017. This team generally plays pretty, smart soccer – I’ve only seen them get out-smarted once, when the Revs countered them to death – and in Alberth Elis they have a Best XI-caliber attacker.

Their young players are improving, and in Eric Alexander they have one of my favorite “man, nobody talks about him but he can really ball” central midfielders in the league. I always hedge toward teams that want to pass the ball, and actually can do so.

On top of all that they take some of the most inventive set pieces in the league, and will be getting unsung d-mid Juan David Cabezas back soon.

My Worry: How soon, though? Houston have already squandered four results – two draws turned into losses, two wins turned into draws – which has cost them nine points. That includes Friday night’s 2-2 draw at Vancouver, in which they somehow managed to let poor Andrew Wenger try to defend 1-v-2 at the back post against Kendall freaking Waston:

I would be having words with Rommel Quioto if I was Wenger.

So this team finds a way to lose points, and as much praise as I think Wilmer Cabrera’s due for his generally really good talent development and gameplans, he deserves a ton of criticism for his insane sub patterns and inability to get his team to sub out games.

Portland Timbers

They were very not good to start the year, which was understandable given they 1) had five straight on the road, and 2) played a chunk of that time without Diego Chara. They are still helpless without the Colombian d-mid.

They’ve rebounded with four straight wins though, and while a big part of that is just getting some personnel back, another part is that Gio Savarese has made a couple of good adjustments. One is that they’re no longer bothering with the notion that they’re a “possession team.” The Timbers are just fine giving you a ton of the ball and waiting to hit you on the break, which they do as well as anyone in the lead.

The other big adjustment is that Savarese’s had this team playing a lot out of a 4-3-2-1, the old Christmas Tree formation that’s designed to gum up the works in Zone 14 and make all opposing attacking midfielders unhappy. To that end:

Timbers have earned 3 consecutive shutout victories for first time in MLS play and first time in all eras since July 2007. #RCTID

— Mike Donovan (@TheMikeDonovan) May 13, 2018

They’re not winning with style, but who cares? What matters is that they’re winning.

My Worry: The biggest one is Chara. He’s 32 and has logged a ton of miles, and it’s fair to question how long he can keep it up. Portland have never had an answer without him.

If he goes down for any length of time the Timbers will lose most of those games. It might not be fatal in the West, but it could cost them homefield advantage when the playoffs start, and that likely would be fatal.

Chicago Fire

Chicago are probably the most “they’re missing a piece” team of this bunch, as it’s been clear that they could use either a playmaking central midfielder or a playmaking, goalscoring winger or both.

But they’ve managed to pick up some results and put in some pretty decent performances without either so far in 2018, and it’s a credit to both head coach Veljko Paunovic’s ability to gameplan against an opponent, as well as his team’s ability to buy into their roles. Bastian Schweinsteiger has played sweeper, regista and attacking midfield; Brandon Vincent both left back and left wingback; Mo Adams has been a destroyer and a man marker and a pure d-mid; Grant Lillard and Johan Kappelhof have been complementary pieces on the backline.

The above, along with Nemanja Nikolic’s and Dax McCarty’s continued presence in central midfield, goalscoring, has given the Fire enough flexibility to match up against most of the league’s best teams in weird and weirdly positive ways.

My Worry: It’s still not clear what they’re building toward, or if they’re building toward anything at all. Right now it feels like they’re just patching holes from week to week instead of building from one strength to another.

The truth is simple: Unless they upgrade the No. 10 spot or add an All-Star caliber winger, they’re almost certainly not going to be a playoff team in 2018.

TIER V: THEY MIGHT BE BROKEN

Seattle Sounders

Can this whole section just be “My Worry?” No? Ok then.

In terms of on-paper talent, the Sounders are still probably one of the top teams in the West, and I don’t think any truly rational observer would say otherwise. And the defense can still go out there and win them a game, or at least a point, every now and then.

Plus they’re used to starting slow. It’s an annual tradition.

My Worry: Everybody’s hurt, and a bunch of those who aren’t hurt are clearly in the very last stages of their career. Clint Dempsey has one goal in his last 14 regular season games, and Ozzie Alonso can only look like Ozzie Alonso for 45 minutes at a time, and can anyone honestly say that Chad Marshall or Gustav Svensson have been as good as they were last year?

On top of that, they do not make good adjustments:

If you’re playing without a playmaker, you’ve got to figure out how to turn defense into offense. Seattle don’t do that.

Things are not hopeless, but they’re pretty bleak.

Real Salt Lake

RSL ended last year as one of the most open, fun and exciting attacking teams in the league. And while they weren’t exactly an airtight, shut-it-all-down defensive unit, they were mostly pretty good and mostly pretty solid.

That mostly hasn’t been the case so far in 2018 as they’ve bounced between decent enough wins and “oh my god what are you doing” losses. On Saturday against D.C. they flashed at least a little bit of their old verve in the build-up:

Corey Baird’s a real one. He’ll leave some goals on the table – he’s not a great finisher at this point – but his willingness to work his ass off and always give his teammates a run to aim at has been livening things up over the last few weeks. I think he’s claimed the starting No. 9 spot for now, and isn’t playing like he wants to give it up.

This team should start to score more regularly than they managed in March and early April.

My Worry: They still can’t defend at all. It’s starting upfield, but it gets catastrophic in central midfield and both fullback slots have been open wounds all year long.

You don’t give up two against 10-man D.C. United if you’re playing at all well. RSL should be happy for the three points and everything, but the performance left a ton to be desired.

They’ve got a lot of individual talent, especially in attack.

My Worry: The most expensive defense in the league has thus far been a tire fire, week after week after week. Calen and Bobby took a shot at diagnosing it:

I don’t entirely agree with their analysis, but this point is one I’ll sign on for: The Galaxy, when they push up, lose all their connection. It’s a block of five attackers, and a block of five defenders, and other than Ashley Cole there are no two-way players (and it’s really charitable to call Cole any kind of defensive presence these days). 

So when the ball is lost, the Galaxy are extraordinarily vulnerable. There’s no working in sync to win it back, and there’s no quick transitions to drive it forward on the rare occasions when they do.

LA quite obviously have the talent to be one of the best teams in the league, but does anyone really think they’ll get there?

Vancouver Whitecaps

The ‘Caps actually dominated that game against Houston on Friday, twice fighting back from a goal down and certainly creating enough chances to win the game. Just in terms of robust physicality, they are in on almost every challenge and able to dominate on most set piece situations (both goals against the Dynamo came via restarts – though it should be noted those were Vancouver’s first set-piece goals of the season, and yes that’s kind of surprising).

Plus Alphonso Davies has been really, really good at driving the game forward off the dribble. He’s a weapon in that regard unlike any other in the league.

My Worry: The ‘Caps won a lot of games over the last few years just by bunkering up and protecting the 18. They’re not as good at that so far this season. And when they do come out of their shell to try to play a little bit…

My job is to overcomplicate the game in order to make it seem like I’m smart but usually it’s just like “hey see that guy literally right in the middle of your 2 d-mids and 2 CBs? You should probably mark him.” #VANvHOU pic.twitter.com/Jtg8CeJy6H

— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) May 12, 2018

They’re giving up cheap goals this year. They didn’t last year.

Beyond that is the standing concern about their lack of playmaking in central midfield.

TIER VI: TRUST THE PROCESS

Philadelphia Union

Via native Pennsylvanian Bobby Warshaw: I’m sensitive toward the phrase “Trust the Process.” The Sixers did a really intelligent, well thought-out plan and got mocked for it. You should only put that much faith in a process if it is well thought-out and you truly believe in. The Sixers had multiple No. 1 overall picks and consensus franchise game-changers on their team!

Have the Union really put that much effort into making their long-term plan? Are they really sure these guys are worth the short term pain? Are they doing everything they can to help the kids to ensure long term payoff validates that years of futility? I’m down for playing young players and taking that risk, but if I’m a Union fan I’m not sure the front office have laid the ground work for me to trust anything.

I get his concerns, but hey, they just took their academy-laden backline up to Montreal and shutout Ignacio Piatti et al. Even if Auston Trusty and Mark McKenzie aren’t going to be stars, they’re at least starting to look like good pros.

Shout out as well to Cory Burke, who did his time in USL and earned that game-winner on Saturday.

My Worry: What if Ben Simmons’s jumper really is broken beyond repair?

TIER VII: OOOF

Minnesota United

Francisco Calvo stopped just short of throwing his teammates under the bus and asked the media to do it for him. Not a good look from the captain.

The Loons have lost six of eight and are actually defending worse than they did at this time last year. At least Darwin Quintero is fun.

Colorado Rapids

They tore down and rebuilt a good chunk of this roster over the winter, investing a ton on the backline and at d-mid. That’s somehow left them more vulnerable to pretty routine attacks like this:

Are these your European veterans? The Rapids have lost four straight and been outscored 8-2 over that stretch.

San Jose Earthquakes

At least there was a hint of hope with Chris Wondolowski coming off the bench to change the game:

But here’s the dirty: San Jose are 2-0-0 with six goals scored and three allowed against MNUFC. Against everyone else they’re 0-5-2 with 9 scored and 14 allowed. 

They are what their record says they are.

Montreal Impact

Remi Garde apologized to the fans for the loss to the Union, which… I mean, he’s not wrong to do that. Montreal have now taken just three of the last 21 points on offer and are on track to obliterate the record for defensive futility MNUFC set last year.

D.C. United

Obviously the extended road trip isn’t helping but D.C. are dead last, with five points through eight games, for a reason – and it’s not entirely about their odyssey. Their defensive shape breaks all the time, both fullbacks (but especially left back) have been overrun, they don’t hold the ball well in possession, they don’t transition well, and they don’t create many good chances.

Wayne Rooney might fix some of that, but he’s not going to fix all of that. To borrow a line from Taylor Twellman: D.C. United, it’s not on him to make it work. It’s on you.

Series: 

Topics: 

<!–

Stay connected: Get access to breaking news, videos, and analysis from North America’s best soccer reporters via “This Week in MLS” newsletter or using our FREE mobile app.

–>

Stay connected: The all-new, completely redesigned, FREE official MLS app is your best mobile source for scores, news, analysis and highlights. Download:  App Store  |  Google Play

#block-block-188 {padding:0;} #stay-connected {border-top:1px solid #ebebeb;margin:20px 0;} #stay-connected p {margin:0;color:#4d4d4d;line-height:1.5em;} @media screen and (max-width: 730px) { #stay-connected {padding:8px 6px 0 6px;width:100%;} } @media screen and (min-width: 731px) and (max-width: 1120px) { #stay-connected {padding:8px 6px 0 6px;width:100%;} } @media screen and (min-width: 1121px) { #stay-connected {padding:8px 6px 0 6px;width:708px;} }

MLSsoccer.com News

Armchair Analyst: All 23 MLS teams ranked by tier – revisited was originally published on 365 Football

[selena-stories]

The Captain’s Log

Prompt: “How did the girl with the stars in her eyes...?” Score: Didn’t place

Is this on? Hello? Oh, no answer. I guess I should have expected that. Uh, well, hello. C-Captains log, er, number one. Am I allowed to say that? I mean if the captain dies the next in line becomes the captain and I’m the, uh, last one. So, I think so. You know what, it- Whatever. It doesn’t matter.

Captains log, number one.

The ship crashed about one hour ago. Captain Trigge and First Officer Myers both fell in the initial hit, and most of the officers died at the same time. I wasn’t in the room so I- Well, I was in the pit, trying to fix the A/C. How dumb does that sound? I was fixing the A/C when everyone died.

Anyway, uh, the crew all perished in the subsequent flooding. Lower decks of the ship closed to keep the water at bay and, well, a lot of the crew were locked down there when that happened. I guess they could still be alive but it’s, well, unlikely.

There’s no sign of the creature that knocked our ship, and the exterior lights went out when we hit the sea bottom. I looked out the window once and it was, uh, pretty dark out there. I wasn’t really interested in seeing more of that. Not that there was anything to see.

As it is, I’m trapped in the pit and there’s no way out. Well, there’s one way out, but I don’t have a wet suit and I’d probably drown. Not the best route. Oh, and for those who don’t know—I don’t really know who’s listening into this and frankly I doubt anyone will, so I think at this point I can say what I want. Er, where was I? Oh, yes! The pit.

Okay, so. The pit is basically this big shaft in the middle of our ship. It’s got all our important business in it, and each tier is separated by an automatic steel door. Just so that, in the case of a flood, the whole pit doesn’t get ruined. Kind of like- Well, kind of like today. What that means is that I’m trapped in one part of the pit, the part right by the emergency exit into the ocean, and the rest of the pit is flooded. Well, most of it. There’s not a lot of water in the tier above me, but I’d rather not open the door just in case.

Well, I don’t really know what else to say. I guess that’s it for now. Just me and the ocean for the night. Day? Hard to tell. Anyway, logging off.

Captains log, number two! I assume I slept for the normal eight hours. I’m usually good with that kind of thing. Miraculously, I didn’t suffocate in the night. I’m kind of surprised the oxygen didn’t run out. It begs the question…where am I getting it from? As far as I know, all exits out of the pit were sealed. Either locked or blocked with water.

Huh.

Well, I won’t question a miracle! No, I’ll just worry over it, obsess with it, and then study it until my untimely death. Assuming I do die. Who knows, I might be a miracle case, haha.

So, onto the facts.

I’ve got limited air supply, unless some gracious god decided to extend my life. I’ve got no food, and only saltwater to drink. And we all know that’s a bad idea. Even if my air doesn’t run out, I’ll probably, uh, starve or become too dehydrated to do anything. Oh, and I’m in the deep sea. I wouldn’t be able to swim to the top, and even if I left the ship the pressure of the water on me would probably crush my lungs immediately. All of this cumulates to the fact that I’m going to die.

But no worries! I thought about it overnight and, really, I think I’m cool with that. Obviously it’s, uh, a bit of a bummer. It’s already kind of a bummer that all my crew and friends are dead. Um. Yeah.

Right, so, here’s the problem. I don’t mind dying, really, but on the whole I would rather not, you know? So I’m gonna try to not do that. The first obstacle is food. There’s still food in the kitchens, but I’m pretty sure those are flooded now. I checked before this log and, um, I’ve got three unflooded tiers of the pit. If I open a door to leave, I lose that tier to flooding. Then there’s the matter of getting into the airy tiers again without flooding them too. Yeah.

Once I’m sure I won’t starve to death, there’s also the issue of, you know, escaping. I don’t have a wet suit, or even an oxygen tank, and I’ll need something to pry the emergency doors open. Normally a button would open them but, well, no power.

Alright, well, first problem first and then we can work the rest out. I’ll make another log if I survive the food run. If I don’t… Erm, goodbye?

Log three. I did it! Got some jerky and some cans of soup. Cold soup is kind of gross and I had to smash it against the wall to open the can, but it’s fine. The pit is clean. Mostly. Anyway, that takes care of that problem!

But that’s not even the good news! The good news is that I, er… This is kind of gross, but I found a wet suit. It was on a guy, one of the pit workers, and… Well, he wasn’t using it. It doesn’t fit perfectly since it was made for men, but the auto-suction still makes it mostly form fitting. And now my ribs won’t be crushed into my heart when I go outside! There’s still the “I need to breath” problem, but, um, I can figure that out tomorrow. Until then!

Loooog four. Alright, so I didn’t sleep last night. Well, I did kind of. Not for very long. An issue has arisen! Water is leaking in from somewhere, and the top tier is beginning to fill. Not a whole lot, but it is an issue. That means that when I escape, water will get into the other tiers. Kind of a downer.

I’m going out now, before more water comes in. I’m gonna find an air tank, or, uh, die trying. Hopefully not die. That’d be nice. I guess this’ll be my last time in the pit. I can use the recorder in the suit to keep you updated. Er, well, to let myself keep updating. It’s easier to talk.

See you in the suit!

Is…on…lo? Hold o…le… There! Little bit of static in the beginning, haha. Alright, in the suit! And I’ve got air. It’s a miracle! Not a lot of air, mind you, and I might run out before I reach the surface. Here’s hoping I don’t.

Alright, uh, I’m back in the main deck. It’s completely flooded here and there’s, uh, lots of the crew floating around. I’m trying to not look at them, haha. It’s, uh, yeah. Yeah.

Okay, so. The facts. I’m about to go into the deep sea with only my suit lights to guide me. I’ve got to swim up and up and up… It’s a long swim. I’ve got to, uh, reach the top of the ocean and then I- Huh. Well, I guess I just swim? I don’t know, it’s- I’ve got to find land. We were on a long trip, if I recall, so… I don’t really know how far land is. This suit has an emergency switch, but it’s not really doing anything down here. Maybe it’ll work on the surface. Maybe I’ll live. Maybe, maybe.

Anyway, time to stop dawdling. Let’s get these doors open! Alright, I’ll just… God, these are tough. Okay. Okay, ow, ow, ow, ow… There! Phew. That’s a lot of water. Alright, kicking off… And I’m, uh, out of the ship. Cool. Nice. Love it.

Alright, well I don’t want to waste oxygen. Gonna be quiet for a bit while I swim.

What was that?

Okay, that time I definitely saw something move. Kind of big… Bigger than any fish I know, I think.

Something is following me. It’s been that way for a while now. It’s huge and dark. It blends into the dark of the sea, and that’s why it follows from below. Not that I can really see a lot of light above me, either.

I don’t know what it wants, if it was going to eat me I think it would have done so already. I’ve been swimming for a couple of hours now, and, uh, it’s done nothing. I don’t know. I don’t get it. I’m kind of…scared, I guess.

Alright, I actually see a little bit of light now. Only enough so that I can kind of tell when my glove is in front of my face, a vague sort of silhouette. The creature is still following me, and it must be really huge. I went through a sort of wall of rocks and heard it breaking them behind me. Apparently it doesn’t really care that much for subtlety. It was, like, half an hour of it just forcing itself through those rocks. Kind of horrifying, haha. Just a bit.

God, I think I can see some light now. It’s kind of cool, but, uh… I can also kind of see the, uh, creature behind me. It’s pretty ugly. Well, it’s from the deep sea. Those guys are usually not very pretty, haha. Right.

Okay, so, it’s definitely huge. Bigger than a whale, dark as oil, and I think blind? I can’t find any eyes on the thing, but it’s definitely following me. It’s got a flat head, really huge, and that’s sort of the only part that I can really see. I don’t know how it swims, all of that junk is hidden behind its huge head. Don’t really care for checking out the rest of it. Let’s just assume it has teeth.

You know, I’m looking at this guy every now and then. Just sort of look down and check him out. It’s still too dark to, uh, see anything really, but I can make out key features. And you know? He glows. I mean most sea animals that live in the deep sea do, at least a little bit. But this guy… I found his eyes, kind of hidden in these folds. They only reveal every now and then when he, uh, breathes. His eyes look like stars, I swear. Like the friggin’, uh, night sky is sitting in them or something. It’s weird.

Alright, so. Update. He’s a she. Wanna know how I know? Take a guess. If your guess was the release of hundreds of little babies, you guessed right. At first I thought it was, uh, ink and- Hold on, ow, shit. Okay, sorry. They’re trying to eat me, haha. It’s, uh. Not really that funny. I’m scared, ha.

Okay, so I thought it was ink. It wasn’t. They’re really small, about as big as my fist. And they do have teeth, or at least the little ones do. I guess mama thought the ship was food, found out it was metal. Then there’s me, stupid and blind, swimming out of the ship. Obviously not metal.

The wet suit is pretty good against piercings, so their teeth aren’t puncturing it but—ow, dammit—it really pinches. And I think, uh- I think once a few of them work together, chewing and stuff, they’ll get through. They’re not very fast, not faster than me, but I’m getting tired. It’s been such a long time.

All the babies have these huge eyes. Star filled eyes, just like their mother. It’s…kind of beautiful. God, I sound insane, don’t I? The eyes of these carnivorous babies are pretty. Great.

I keep getting slower, and I don’t think it’s because I’m tired. One of them pierced the suit, right at my shin, and of course the suit sealed itself above that point to keep in the air, but I still got bit. It hurt only a little bit, but then I felt my leg go numb. And now- Now I’m so tired. I’m so damn tired.

I think- Shit, I think it’s paralyzing me. I don’t know. I can’t tell. I feel- I guess I feel confused? Like there’s somethin’ in my brain and I just can’t...get it out. I don’t know. Where am I?

I’m underwater. I’m scared to breathe, because my lungs are on fire. Those little guys are all over me, with their star eyes. They’re not biting anymore. I think they know. They’ve got me, and they know it. I’m paralyzed.

Where am I? I’m lost. I’m lost, and I… I think I’m dying? It looks like stars down here. Stars. In the ocean. That- That doesn’t seem possible. Is isn’t, right? Gosh, these stars are so pretty. And my lungs don’t burn anymore—that was a thing, right? I remember… I think my lungs hurt before.

My gas tank is running out of oxygen. I really need to breathe. I’ve been tearing off my suit, but it’s so slow. I think- There. Finally free from that, it really made my skin itch, haha. Damn, these stars are so pretty. Kinda reminds me of a grassy field. All that fresh air. I miss fresh air. I bet if I just take off my helmet. I really want some fresh-