#but this shot alone made this cb worth it

[maximura]

[unitedbydevils]

Match Review: Some dickheads 0-3 Manchester City

It's getting increasingly difficult to love this team...

A tepid Manchester United display saw the Red Devils humbled and humiliated at Old Trafford at the hands of treble-winning neighbours Manchester City on Sunday afternoon.

The strange 3:30pm kick-off was possibly the least odd thing about the game after the drab, dejected, and disjointed performances of the Manchester United team.

Only two players escape criticism in my eyes from the fixture: Andre Onana, who had a good game and made a whopping SEVEN saves despite conceding three goals, and Rasmus Højlund - the striker our team forgets we have to pass to.

Other than these, everyone else put in a grim performance - including manager Erik Ten Hag.

A defence of Lindelöf LB, Evans + Maguire CB, Dalot RB... that's not withstanding West Brom, let alone Man City.

A midfield 3 of Amrabat, McTominay and Eriksen was laughable. Amrabat is still gelling with the team, but how do you do that when your midfield partners can run but not pass and pass but not run. It's a joke. I love Eriksen, he's like Mata - a genius football mind - but he is not suited to this fixture. Scholes and RG were overrun when City snotted us 6-1, and that was down to legs too.

Then the wide positions. Marcus Rashford is in gross form still, and Bruno Fernandes cannot play wide right for us. He just can't.

To add salt to the wound, Mount came on... for Amrabat. Garnacho came on... for Højlund. Baffling decisions that switched United from an unlucky 1-0 deficit thanks to a soft penalty to being walked through for fun. Haaland was unmarked for the 2nd goal ffs.

And while we're on the topic, City were given a very soft - if technically correct - penalty, but then that begs two questions:

If that's a penalty, why is there no consistency and others like it are penalties? Højlund vs Arsenal, for instance...

VAR is for clear and obvious mistakes. If something isn't clear and obvious, why is the penalty being awarded?

United could have had a penalty for an arguably stronger tug on our Danish wonderkid in the first half, and perhaps another day Rasmus falls and wins the pen, but ifs and buts.

If matters weren't already bad enough, the huffing Antony came on as a late sub and immediately tried to clean out Doku's legs - earning himself a booking. The Brazilian is yet to show his worth. I believe that for all he is a talented player, he's a one-trick pony, and worth less of his transfer fee than the chastised Maguire was his - and I've been very vocal of Maguire's fee being a gross overpay. I've no issue with Antony sulking at being benched, but he hasn't achieved anything. His job is to find the striker, create chances, take a shot. He doesn't succeed with any of these 3 options, and then has the audacity to lash out at an opponent. It's unsportsmanlike and shitty. Grow up, get good, or leave. We're over a year in to this experiment. It's time to put up or shut up, because at the moment you're making the manager - who put his faith and a HUGE chunk of his transfer budget into you - look like a mug.

There are some points of solace. Højlund really does look the business. Onana is growing in confidence again. Reguilon and Varane may have been rested for midweek. Mount looked sharp, albeit he had a limited impact. With Newcastle at Old Trafford in two days time, United could undo a lot of the bad blood with fans by putting in a big shift against the Geordies.

Personally, I'd be going with a midfield three of Mount, Casemiro and Amrabat, with Garnacho LW. Bench Bruno and Rashford, whether as punishment or a rest. Sub in Mainoo later on for Casemiro and Hannibal for Amrabat. Maybe Eriksen for Mount. Show energy, desire, intensity and put the hurt on Newcastle. Give us hope. UTFR.

[popwasabi]

“Picard” S1 Review: Doesn’t boldly go but is nonetheless engaging

Produced by CBS All Access

Starring: Patrick Stewart, Isa Briones, Allison Pill, Michelle Hurd, Santiago Cabrera, Evan Evagora, Harry Treadaway

Many fans had high hopes for “Picard” going into CBS All Access’s continuing voyage into the Star Trek franchise.

Fans wanted to see the lore finally expanded into the future after its previous three ventures (Enterprise, Abrams Trek, and Discovery) took place in the past, bring modern themes and ideas to Star Trek’s futurist’s world view in a way that felt fresh and relevant, but most importantly continue the story of the franchise’s greatest captain; Jean-Luc Picard, of course.

(He’s the best captain. This is not up for debate. Don’t @ me!)

In some ways the new series succeeds at this. We get glimpses of the previously untouched world of Star Trek post “Nemesis,” new themes that are resonant with real world events and exploratory, even critical, of the Federation’s worldview, and of course plenty of Picard himself as he navigates the strange new galaxy he inhabits.

But Picard ultimately misses the mark due to rushed storytelling, half-baked side plots, and just plain poor execution overall. It’s sad because “Picard” and this very talented cast and production team have their moments throughout this first season’s ten episode run but somehow even with 10 episodes of content to work with fans still end up with a somewhat jumbled mess.

(Me by like the eighth episode.)

This isn’t to say “Picard” isn’t worth your time if you’re an avid Star Trek fan or just someone who likes Patrick Stewart in this role in general but the first season will leave you still hungry for more and not in a good way.

“Picard” continues the story of the titular captain, now retired admiral, many years after the events of “Nemesis” as a retired Jean Luc reflects on his life in Starfleet and of his late friend Data who gave his life for his. A synth ban has been enacted in Starfleet after a major riot on Mars some years prior and Picard is understandably sour on the idea, given his relationship with Data, while also fighting Starfleet on not helping the exodus of the Romulans after the supernova that wiped out their homeworld in “Star Trek (2009).” When a young woman comes seeking Picard’s aid after an attack by mysterious assailants, revealing that she is an android and the possible daughter of Data, and gets killed, it is up to the retired Admiral to find her twin sister before she suffers the same fate.

Before we get started let’s throw out some of the bad faith arguments on why this series wasn’t all that good.

“Picard” doesn’t suck because it has “politics” in it. At this point, if you are complaining about the existence of social viewpoints and political/philosophical discussions in your Star Trek, or let alone any series for that matter, I don’t know what the hell you’ve been watching the past few decades. Star Trek has always been more than just a show about cool-looking spaceships and laser beams, you neckbeards.

(Hell, even the other “Star” got more going on in it than that.)

It’s also not bad because of female representation or “girl power.” Again, Star Trek has always had this and frankly having a few more instances of the women of Trek taking center stage doesn’t even come close to rebalancing the scales on the overall massive representation of cis white men across the genre and even the series anyways.

Also get the fuck over the use of curse words in this series. While certainly some instances in this show felt awkward, the use of the word “fuck” does not dilute Star Trek’s overall story.

(It would have made earlier season’s funnier for sure.)

Now that that’s out of way let’s get into the real reasons that, for me at least, the series fell short of an otherwise promising goal of delivering great new Star Trek.

The main problem stems from the series overall jumping off point in its first episode. Picard is understandably still upset about the death of Data and having him deal with survivor’s guilt is a great way to bring this character into the future and reexplore the humanist viewpoints Data touched on in the older series. But also having Picard deal with his fallout from Starfleet, both from the synth ban AND the Romulan exodus, creates chasmic diverging plotlines that never quite come together. The story really needed it to be one or the other. Either Picard wanting to advocate for the continued existence of synthetic life or the rescue of the Romulans post super nova. The latter is touched on a bit through the addition of the character Elnor but doesn’t quite work given that majority of the Romulans in this series are portrayed as villains.

There is definitely a post Brexit, anti-immigrant hysteria message being told there but not enough depth and nuance is given to make it look like Starfleet was particularly wrong here to abandon them given that they do end up being spies committing espionage in the Federation and the clear villains of the first season. The showrunners could have brought these two stories together by perhaps making Soji a Romulan bent on bringing down synthetic life because maybe her twin sister died in the riots on Mars, making Picard have to choose between his commitment to both minority groups abandoned by the Federation but of course, that’s not what the series goes with.

Also suddenly shoehorning in a convoluted anti-synth worldview into the already ultra-secretive Romulan empire was muddled to say the least.

(A decent summation of the Romulans, pretty much ever. Also why is the only Asian actress in this scene in Osaka depicted as an alien, Mr Kurtzman?...)

Some of these ideas could’ve been saved through better editing and pacing though but not enough is done in this first season to mitigate these issues. Too much of plot is told through plain exposition; people sitting down and talking for five-ten minutes about prophecies and backstory instead of having the story simply show us instead. It makes the pacing often slow even by Trek standards and grinds the action to a halt even when there are lasers being shot at one another in the next scene.

Many of these plots get barely any attention too. The Borg cube, why it’s abandoned, and why Hugh is working for the Romulans through the Federation is given surface level development at best. Seven of Nine returns and at one point is momentarily hooked up to the Collective and she doesn’t really say much about it after it happens. The new character’s Rios and Raffi both have side stories given to their development that get touched on once and never brought up again. Dr. Jurati straight up murders her lover and is set to turn herself into the Federation and it’s just kind of forgotten about in the finale. And Elnor, well, he gets to do his best Legolas impression slicing and dicing fellow Romulans with his sword I guess.

(He is still best boi though :3...)

The main co-star however, Soji the perfect android, has a particularly rushed development going from a scientist unknowing of her nature, to supposed prophet of doom, to predictably the savior all in one season. Her arc needed more time to develop with perhaps her Romulan love affair with Narek being the first season’s main driving force and her realization as an android being the climax. 

Instead we get basically four seasons of Battlestar Galactica’s Sharon arc crammed into one season and it unfortunately makes the story feel half-baked.

(Ok, Boomer.)

Don’t get the wrong idea, all these new characters have great individual moments as well throughout the season but sooooo much side plot is shoved in already into a muddled overarching narrative that it feels like several seasons worth of storytelling stuffed and edited down into a ten episode arc. Why the series felt it needed to conclude this robust story about synth hating Romulans in “Picard’s” first season feels like an unforced error in this reviewer’s opinion even if Sir P Stew only has maybe a couple seasons of extensive acting left in him anyways.

But the season isn’t completely worthless, as much as this review has been spent dunking on its less than stellar parts. The cast is exceptional, even working with the spare parts they’ve been given. Episode 5’s “Stardust City Rag,” in particular, stands out as a good mix of old and new Trek, with a decent dosage of cheese featuring Patrick Stewart trying on a French accent in a space bar. Santiago Cabrera is delightful as the ship captain Rios while also playing various forms of himself in AI form in equally enjoyable roles. Evan Evagora is fun as the deadly yet somewhat aloof Elnor, even if his character doesn’t do all that much except cut up a few Romulans. Seeing Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis reprise their roles as Riker and Troi respectively in episode 6 was heartwarming and felt the most like TNG out of all the episodes. And Jeri Ryan seems liberated in this series in this version of Seven of Nine, no doubt glad to be rid of that restrictive corset and Rick Berman’s meddling hands.

(Big “Fuck you, Rick Berman” energy going on in this scene.)

The production value is obviously high level as Trek has rarely looked this good on the small screen. There’s some great cinematography throughout the season whether it’s Picard’s chateau winery, the haunting nature of the Borg cube, or the synth homeworld in the season’s final beats. The spaceships look cool as always and the world of the future feels well futuristic.

The musical score is also top notch, with a great opening theme that feels very much in line with Trek at its futurist glimpse into a hopeful cosmos.

The season’s best moments though are between Picard and Data and will remind you why they were more than likely your favorite characters on TNG. Generally speaking, exploring the humanist themes of artificial intelligence in new Trek was a good choice and having Picard deal with survivor’s guilt kept the pulse of the muddled story still beating. Brent Spiner is still great as Data and will remind you all again how talented he has always been as an actor and though his age seeps through the makeup a bit he is nonetheless still a perfect android.

Though the finale as a whole is underwhelming, the characters do share a nice final moment that is both touching and reminiscent of everything a fan loves about Star Trek. It’s a great cap to an otherwise ok return to Star Trek for TNG’s top characters and its truly touching in the best way that this franchise has always been known to be.

(Deactivating my emotions chip because I just..can’t! I just can’t, ok! *Sobs*)

But great acting and high production value can only mask so many flaws with a convoluted plot and “Picard” unfortunately suffers from the bloated and uncooked nature of its many ideas. What the story really needed was three season arc not just ten episodes and it shows. I guess the plus side is with this particular plot wrapped up it leaves the door open for new ideas and a fresh start in the second season but it does feel like an overall miss for Picard’s homecoming back into the universe of Star Trek.

Overall, though there are worse ways a Star Trek fan can spend their quarantine than watching “Picard” and there’s certainly enough here for fans to latch onto and have hope for better things in the next season.

Hopefully things are less rushed or at least more focused in the second season and we can see a more proper return to form for both Picard and future Star Trek.

Here’s hoping the producers and writers make it so…

VERDICT:

3 out of 5

Let’s hope we get a return of Q in the next season.

[justlightthefirstspark]

Utd vs Reading 02/02/2020

Or, as @danieljamesmufc so eloquently put it, ‘The Battle of The Baes’ (Baes in question obviously being Amy Turner and Angharad James)

Anywho, there isn’t much of a ~detailed~ analysis like other pieces have had. A lot of the plays (and therefore, issues) are the same every game, and I don’t wanna keep repeating myself by making the same points week in and week out. Also, this game was kinda scrappy and not much really happened - until the end but we will get there in due time. I have a LOT of thoughts about the end of this game.

Few small changes in the XI - due to McManus picking up an injury vs Chelsea, Amy came back in at CB which was just

And then I saw Harris at RB 😐 I think I’ve made my feelings about that very clear, and I don’t wanna start hating on Martha for the sake of it, but Smith is the better of the two imo. And I just can’t see why Casey keeps insisting on playing TWO natural RB’s when she has a natural LB sitting on the bench ALL THE TIME, collecting splinters in her arsecheeks. It’s annoying, and I’m kinda sick of it.

Lizzie Arnot dropped out of the XI, in favour of Jane Ross for this one, and everything else was pretty much the same as Wednesday night.

Also, and I would really appreciate some help/info/whatever you’ve all got for this, but I was under the impression that Amy couldn’t (or at least, wasn’t really supposed to) play 3 games in one week? I’m like 90% sure that Casey benched her a few times in the second half of last season for this exact reason? Apparently that’s down to the knee injury she had a few years ago, but I would appreciate some clarification on this if anyone has anything 🧐

Also (I’m being annoying now, sorry) but this commentator was... bad. Mispronuncing players names (who is Jackie Groinen?), not even bothering to try and pronounce others (here’s looking at you, Angharad James), misidentifying players, just not really knowing what was happening a solid 83% of the time... idk who she is but she needs to not commentate on a United game again, I can’t listen to her. Girl had some, interesting, opinions too, and I’m quoting her directly now, “United will think that they’re due a defeat” 🧐 I’m not entirely sure how, or why, that would be the case, but apparently both United and Reading have alternating W/L runs in the league and today was Reading’s turn to win? I was confused. I still kinda am. And I didn’t like it.

First half:

The first 10 mins of this were pretty boring tbh. There was an awful lot of back and forth, misplaced passes, interceptions and the like. I think United were just on top in the opening few minutes, judging by the amount of time they spent in Reading’s half, and their possession.

‘8 - Corner and a free kick for United in quick succession. Nothing came from either (surprise surprise), but there was a lovely bit of ball control in the box from Ross after the FK. Just couldn’t get it to Sigsworth (who probably would have scored but we don’t need to talk about it)

‘13 - Another potential Ross/Sigsworth link up in the box but Ross just swept it straight into the legs of a Reading player, instead of passing to Jess on her left 🤷🏽‍♀️ I thought she was okay today, so I won’t give her too much grief for that mistake

‘16 - decent chance for Sigsworth, ended up launching it straight at *insert Reading player here.* Foreal, I have no idea who it was. Sorry. Groenen and Zelem both had decent opportunities following this, but nothing came of either of those

‘17 - Another corner for Utd, wasn’t a great delivery to be honest. Was played out and worked back in, LJ managed to get a shot off but sent it behind with a deflection so yet more corners followed. With nothing coming from any of them - this is starting to be a problem. We never challenge from set pieces, and I’m genuinely starting to wonder why that is? Does someone else need to take them? Or what?

There was *a lot* of midfield action around this time, more back and forth, a few fouls, and free kicks. None of this was noteworthy, hence the lack of notes.

‘21 - Amy stop backpassing challenge. I gave Abbie SO much shit for this vs City and Chelsea (as well as vs Spurs, oops), so I guess it’s Amy’s turn now. Sidenote: I think ‘Turner & Turner’ is my fave chant, the original at least. No disrespect to Abbie but seeing Turner x2 at CB on the teamsheet has me like

‘28 - Earps’ clearnances need work. Like, a lot of work. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m never fully convinced by the ball that leaves her feet, and I don’t think she is either which is an issue 😬

‘29 - GOAL - United. I was literally just making a note on how boring I was finding this game - my highlight by the 28 minute mark was Amy lashing her boot into Tash Harding’s face. Lol. - when Lauren James appears literally out of nowhere and lashes one home. A gorgeous strike, cutting in from the left. This kid is lethal.

‘38 - Today I learned that we really only have one fast defender - Millie. Martha somehow outpaced Amy back with Reading on the break and I think my jaw hit the floor.

‘41 - United have the ball in the back of the net again. Amy got under a well struck free from Zelem and fired it home, but somehow was ruled offside. Clearly this ref and I have very, very different opinions about what the offisde rule actually constitutes, cause she was very much clearly onside.

Idk if you can see properly in those pics, but no one is offside in any of them. You can see in this video too, that Amy is in fact, NOT offside. I’m not having that one, it should have stood. https://twitter.com/48hours8/status/1223984745413038081?s=21

I just. I’m highkey so annoyed. And I’m definitely dragging this out but like

Moving on. That concluded a pretty uneventful half, aside from the goal and the offside that wasn’t actually offside.

Halftime:

Reading made a pretty interesting change at the half, subbing Haz off for LMKU. Maybe LMKU offers more of a threat going forward, but I thought Haz was pretty solid in the first half? She was certainly a lot better today than she was in the reverse fixture - she was shredded by Galton on every single run but I didn’t see her do anything like that this time? Anyway. (Also I’m lowkey sad Amy never got to slide tackle her into the middle of next week)

Second half:

‘47 - Quality build up work down the left and a gorgeous ball into the box from LJ, I fortune my it just brushed past Sigsworth and Ross in the 6 yard box/penalty area. So close to a second for United.

‘51 - a pretty poor free kick from Zelem, and a pretty poor decision and back pass from James. Sometimes I wonder if people on this team think about what they’re doing before they do it 🤗

‘53 - decent chance for Reading, which ultimately comes off the back post. United very lucky to get away with that one.

‘59 - Harris was very far forward there for a time. Like in the opposition box forward. Hello, anxiety. Also Amy nearly body checked someone around the same time and I was truly living my best life.

‘61 - Zel with a decent free kick, just couldn’t get the dip it needed to hit the back of the net

‘62 - another good strike from LJ, unfortunately just straight at the keeper.

‘63 - Penalty - Reading. Yellow for Amy for pushing Utland (I didn’t catch who it actually was, but according to Reading’s twitter it was LMKU) and conceding the pen.

‘64 - MARY EARPS SAFE HANDS LET’S GOOOO 🗣👏🏽🔥 What a save, my god. I was sure that was going in, but I’ve never been happier to be proven wrong in my life.

‘75 - another great chance for LJ - a lovely strike, think it could have done with a little bit of a chip, and then surely it was going in. Good work from Jess and Jackie in the build up too

‘76 - ‘82. This is where shit got crazy. And I really have no words for what I saw during this 6 minutes. Well, I do have words - I have a lot of them - but most of them aren’t suitable for this platform so I’ll just keep those ones to myself. Never in all my life have I seen such incompetent refereeing. A free kick awarded to Reading on the edge of the box, due to a ‘handball’ (that didn’t happen) by Lauren James, is cleared and HEADED away by Katie Zelem. The ref then proceeds to book Zelem for handball which, unless she suddenly has a third arm growing out of her FACE (I can confirm - she does not), makes absolutely zero sense, and awards Reading another penalty.

Jess also managed to get herself booked for questioning the ref’s decision and defending Katie sjsjsj, and not a single Reading player made a claim for that penalty. Surely, if she had handled the ball, every Reading player in the box would have appealed for it? You can clearly see the ball hit her head in the video linked below, but apparently the arm bone is now connected to the face bone, at least according to this ref anyway. 🙄

https://twitter.com/48hours8/status/1223996019022626821?s=21

I have no more thoughts on whatever happened after that because I had to turn it off before they scored that penalty, otherwise I would have drop kicked my laptop out my window. For what it’s worth, I did think Martha had a decent game today. I still want Smith at RB and Lotta at LB while Amy’s at CB though. You can’t make me change my mind 🤗

This is the third time this week alone that United have been robbed by poor referees, and apparently the ref of the City/Arsenal game today wasn’t much better. I didn’t see that game so I can’t really comment, but I don’t doubt those claims. The standard and quality of refereeing I’ve seen over the past 2 seasons since my introduction to women’s football has been appalling. And it’s not fair, I think this tweet pretty much sums it up.

The FA has pretty much demanded that every team/club in the WSL be full time, it’s about time that they demand the same qualifications and high quality from their officials, because this just isn’t good enough. And not just from the standpoint of a United fan, and in the context of today’s result, but league wide. It’s just not good enough. I’m completley here for literally everybody calling this shambles out for what it is, and the United girls being salty af on the tl.

Sorry that is this kinda long and ranty, but I’m in my feelings about this ref. ✌🏽

[cblikeslainey]

Iris

Read on AO3

Lainey’s fingers strummed idly at her guitar. She didn’t feel much like playing at the moment, but she’d already caught up on all of her grading, and she didn’t feel like going home to an empty house. Especially when her stupid boyfriend was still in town. She strummed harder, frustrated. At least she could count on music as a release. Lainey turned up the volume on her amp. Music was always there for her, unlike the people in her life.

She didn’t notice CB enter for quite some time.

“Shit!” She exclaimed, startled. “I didn’t think anyone was still here!”

“I had Model UN, and then I had to grade my Literature and Comp papers,” CB explained.

He practically lived there.

“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” His voice was gentle.

CB was good at the whole dealing with emotions thing. Lainey, however, preferred to bottle hers.

“What makes you think something’s wrong?” Lainey deflected, as usual.

CB raised an eyebrow at her.

“Fine,” she sighed. He could see straight through her. Not that she was doing a particularly good job of hiding her emotions at the moment.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” 

“Over drinks?” she offered.

“Deal. I’ll drive”

Normally, Lainey might have protested, but after everything that had happened this week she wanted to get obscenely drunk, and if CB was going to enable that, who was she to tell him no?

Lainey refused to talk before having a drink. It was all too frustrating to deal with without alcohol.

It was relatively early, so the bar wasn’t too crowded. Lainey found them a couple of seats at the bar. The tables were too far away to order as much as she wanted to. 

“I’ll have a Shirley Temple,” CB ordered. “And I’ll buy whatever she’s drinking,” he told the bartender, gesturing to Lainey.

“Oh, no, you’re drinking tonight,” Lainey commanded.

“Who’s going to drive us home?”

Lainey reconsidered.

“We’ll call a cab,” she decided. She sent him a pleading look before turning back to the bartender. “He’ll have... a tequila sunrise, and a double shot of Johnnie Walker for me... And I can cover my own tab!”

CB sipped on his fruity drink while Lainey slammed back her hard liquor. He didn’t know how she did it. Years of practice, he supposed.

“Now do you want to tell me what’s bothering you?”

“Barry and I have been fighting.

CB hated the part of himself that rejoiced at her words. Not trusting himself to comment, he waited for her to continue.

“It all started when Barry missed the recital on Wednesday...”

Barry had decided to work late and changed his flight. He neglected to tell Lainey. It broke her heart when she didn’t see him out in the crowd.

Barry did eventually make it to Philadelphia... at nearly one in the morning. He let himself into Lainey’s house using a spare key she’d entrusted him with and loudly announced his arrival. 

“Laaaaaiiinnnneeeyyy, I’m home.”

It took her a moment to gather herself up, climb out of bed, and make her way to him. She was dressed in her Hello Kitty pajamas, her hair disheveled from sleep. She called out to him from halfway down the stair case.

“Barry, y'know I hate surprises.” Her sleep slurred words betrayed her annoyance. “What time’s it?”

“Nearly One A.M.” He chirped back at her.

“I have school tomorrow,” she whined. “The couch is made up. We’ll talk when I get home from work.”

She turned and stumbled back up the stairs before he could get in another word.

Barry was still asleep when Lainey got up for work in the morning. She found that he’d made her heart shaped pancakes and left them in the fridge. The note read, “For my Lainey love, xoxo Care-Bear”. She left them where they were.

“Why didn’t you eat my love pancakes?” Barry bore down on her when she came home. He could be just like his mother sometimes.

“Wasn’t hungry.” Lainey lied.

“You weren’t hungry for my love?” Barry laid on the guilt trip. It wasn’t working as he’d hoped.

“You sound just like Beverly. What are you going to say next? You've failed as a boyfriend?” It was a low blow and Lainey knew it.

“Hey!”

“I’m sorry, it’s just...” Lainey swallowed hard. “You really hurt my feelings when you missed the student piano recital.”

“I had to work, and there’s a spring recital every year,” Barry protested. “My job is very important. I’m a doctor.”

“That’s not the point, and you know it.” Lainey’s frustration was growing. “Those kids busted their asses and I was really proud of them. It was an important moment for me as a teacher. Every student’s success is a big moment to the teacher who helped them get there. Besides, my job is important, too, and I always make time for you.”

“You get to rock out all day. It’s not the same as doctor work,” Barry condescended, drawing the words out as if she were an idiot.

“You wouldn’t be a doctor without your teachers,” Lainey countered.

“You wouldn’t be alive without your doctor,” Barry retorted. It was an ill-matched response, but still one Lainey had a hard time arguing with.

“If you really can’t see how important my job is to me, then maybe we’re not right for each other after all!” She yelled, completely frustrated, and at a loss for anything else to say.

Lainey’s eyes stung with tears.

“Don’t even say that!” Barry roared back at her. “Ugh, I need to go nunchuck.” 

He ran off flailing his arms behind him.

Lainey knew Barry would never hurt her. Hell, he couldn’t if he wanted to, but an angrily nunchucking boyfriend in her house made her uneasy all the same. And she was still upset with him for missing the recital, for shitting on everything that was important to her, for not talking things out with her like a rational adult...

“...so I told him that if he was going to act like this, he could stay with his mother, and he could come back when he was ready to communicate like an adult.”

“Damn.” CB let a beat pass. “Another round,” he called to the bartender. “This time two double Johnnie Walkers.”

It wasn’t lost on CB how much it hurt Lainey that Barry didn’t understand their profession. Teaching had become everything to Lainey. It had helped her as much as she’d helped her students, and she was in a much better place for it. What they did made a difference, CB understood that better than anyone. That’s why it was his favorite job in the whole world.

Still, CB couldn’t imagine putting any job before Lainey Lewis. He’d do anything for her. There was nothing he wanted more than to give her the dependability Barry was denying her. But that’s not what she wanted, at least, not romantically, so he did the next best thing: he let her vent.

“And I can’t believe he still uses those nunchucks!” Lainey laughed a little at Barry’s expense.

“I think it’s worse that he uses nunchuck as a verb,” CB added, his English teacher shining through. He was afraid he was crossing a line with the comment, but Lainey smiled at him. 

The bartender sat their drinks in front of them. CB clinked his glass to Lainey and drank. He choked a little before finishing the shot, then shook himself a little at the taste and burning sensation. Lainey giggled at him.

“How do you knock ‘em back so easily?” He asked Lainey, his curiosity winning out.

“I started when I was fifteen,” she replied, confirming his earlier suspicions. 

“Were you and Barry a thing back then?” The words flooded out of his mouth before he could stop them.

“I think...” Lainey drew her words out. “I don’t want to think about Barry anymore tonight.”

That was something CB could easily get behind.

So, instead CB praised her on the successful recital. Of course, he’d been in attendance. He’d even shown up early to help set up. The conversation flowed easily from there. It always did between them.

As the night wore on Lainey found herself drinking considerably less than she’d originally planned. She still wasn’t anywhere close to sober, but she wasn’t ready to pass out or puke on anyone’s shoes just yet. She found CB could distract her from her problems as well, if not better, than alcohol. In spite of everything, she was having fun.

“Maybe it’s better that Barry an’ I are fighting. I doubt I’d’ve had this much fun with him tonight...” Lainey slurred. The words left her lips well before she could process them. She meant them, regardless.

CB’s hand reached out achingly close to her cheek. He longed to close the short distance and caress her face, to use his other hand to pull her to him, to lose himself in her kisses. 

Who was he kidding? He couldn’t come onto his best friend who had a boyfriend, who trusted him to support her while she was vulnerable. 

But was a little after two in the morning, he was as drunk as he could get with out barfing his lungs out, and this was Lainey Lewis. She was his dream girl. She was sitting right in the bar stool next to him, tantalizingly close. He could even smell her perfume. Today it was vanilla and lavender, intoxicating in its own right. She looked as beautiful as ever. Her blonde locks were down, a little unkempt; she’d worn it half up at school that day. With her tight jeans and revealing tank top under a leather jacket, she looked like something out of a dream. Her gorgeous green eyes were fixed on him, their expression adoring, and she’d just told him it was worth having her heart shattered just to be there having fun with him.

To hell with it. He reached forward and caressed her cheek. Lainey leaned into his touch, her eyes fluttering closed.

They remained like that for a moment. Lainey never wanted to hurt Barry. Even though he’d hurt her, a voice in her head nagged. It didn’t excuse anything. But this was CB. No one in the world made her feel so safe, so loved. And she was tired of fighting it, tired of pretending she didn’t love him back, and hopelessly desperate not to be alone right now.

She surged forward and kissed him. In that moment, it hit her that she and Barry were done. In that moment, with CB’s hand on her cheek and the other on the small of his back, their lips touching, she didn’t care. CB was all that mattered. She pulled him toward her, eager to have him as close as possible.

She didn’t care what the bar’s few last patrons thought, but the shame ebbed at her anyway.

“Let’s get out of here.” Lainey whispered into CB’s ear, punctuating the statement with a kiss on his neck.

They settled their tabs, and CB called them a cab.

Once they were in the cab, Lainey insisted that there would be one stop, and gave the cab driver her address. 

She knew it was wrong, but Lainey couldn’t resist the urge to make out with CB in the cab. As soon as the directions were out of her mouth, she turned to CB who was already leaning toward her. Their lips met again. They couldn’t get enough of each other. They didn’t stop until the cab did.

After paying and exiting the cab, they kissed their way into the house, up the stairs, and into Lainey’s bedroom. Lainey got bolder once they reached her room. She moved her hands down CB’s back and grabbed his ass with both hands, pulling him closer. He let out a low moan. It was hot; CB was hot, Lainey thought to herself. She began pulling off his clothes. He let her.

CB couldn’t believe he was here. He couldn’t believe he was kissing Lainey Lewis. He couldn’t believe he was in her bedroom. He couldn’t believe that she wanted him.

Lainey froze. 

“We- we can’t.” It broke her heart in a thousand ways. She wanted to be with CB. She wanted to show him that she loved him. She didn’t want to jerk his heart around. But the fact was, she was still with Barry. She couldn’t stand to hurt him anymore than she already had. And as much as they both fought it, they were impossibly tired.

CB couldn’t believe they did this. What they were doing was cheating. He couldn't believe he’d been so okay with it. He couldn’t believe he’d almost taken advantage of his vulnerable best friend. Maybe he already had.

“Right,” CB cleared his throat, and began to look for his pants, suddenly very embarrassed to be in his boxers. “I should go.”

Lainey caught his wrist. 

“Wait,” Her voice was small. “I don’t want to be alone tonight. Could you...could you hold me?”

He’d do anything for her. He nodded and sat on the bed.

Lainey had already flung off her jacket, but she still needed to take off her bra and put on pajama pants. She glanced over at CB. He was looking away like a gentleman. She wouldn’t have minded if he looked.

Lainey pulled back the covers and cuddled into CB. He held her close. She’d never felt more at home. She knew that tomorrow she faced the insurmountable task of breaking Barry’s heart, but right now even that seemed less daunting.

CB relaxed with Lainey snug in his arms. He fell asleep easily for someone who should’ve had a guilty conscience. 

Lainey kissed his cheek.

“I love you, CB,” she whispered when she was sure he couldn’t hear her.

[the-lady-frost]

Keys

A Resident Evil One Shot

Life After Death

For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one. -Kahlil Gibran

2006

The keys to the truck were the only thing in her hand.

She waited, breathing quietly, for the things to turn hot as if she'd extracted a smoldering coal from a bed of flames and placed it in the palm of her hand. The keys were quiet. The keys were the only thing left of him.

He'd dove from a window to save his partner. Like a hero in a story he'd once read to her as a girl, he'd died to spare the love of his life from her own demise. The dark fall of all that chestnut hair hid the lowered countenance of the woman in question.

She'd always been his Valentine.

He'd died to make it clear she was his heart.

The voice of the lawyer droned. Claire studied the key ring with a numb acceptance. He'd spent his life fighting. He'd spent his life pushing. He'd spent his life driving toward the end of fear.

He'd died clutching his greatest nemesis until the moment they'd struck the ground in an epic battle of good versus evil. There was no more Wesker. There was no more lies. There was no more evil.

There was no more Chris.

The statement echoed in her head. It rolled and stung. It clung and coveted space where happiness had once lingered.

Claire ignored the hammer of a headache beating at her temples in triumphant announcement. She stared at the keys in her palm and pictured the last time she'd seen him. He'd stood in the dying sun to show her the ring.

The little wink of sapphire and starlight white diamonds. A ring made of sea and sky to compliment the eyes and the favorite shades of his partner. He'd been so nervous. She'd never seen him nervous, but he'd been so eager.

Quietly, Claire had asked, "Does she even know you love her?"

Chris had shrugged and remarked, "Does it matter? I've waited all this time. This thing with Spencer...if he's there, Claire...the answers we'll find...it could open a door to the kind of intel that might bind us all together in a fight against bioterror. It could mean support from all sides of the globe. If we can prove that the T-Virus is just one stage of it...we can finally get the battle back in our court. Maybe..."

He'd trailed off. He'd stared into the horizon and laughed softly, "Maybe she'd like to have a couple kids with me. Maybe she'd like to...see the house Dad and Mom left us in Colorado. Maybe she'd like that."

Claire had felt her throat close up as she encouraged, "Yeah...yeah, maybe she'd like that. She's a fucking idiot if she doesn't."

"I'm gonna ask her...when we get back...I'm gonna ask."

He'd never asked.

He'd taken that ring with him to the grave.

After his funeral, she'd never found it. She had to assume it was on him when he died. She had to assume he'd died with the promise of Jill Valentine in his pocket. He'd died so she could live.

It was the only way Chris Redfield knew how to be.

Claire closed her fingers over the keys and turned away from the lawyer. She was done listening. She was done hearing. She didn't want platitudes and sympathy and courtesy offers of condolences.

She was done.

She just wanted her brother.

And he was dead.

She passed by Jill and paused. Teeth clenched, she told the brunette, "...you better be worth it."

Jill shivered in grief and murmured, "I'm not. I've never been."

"He thought you were...so get your ass out there and prove it."

Claire opened the door on the big black Dodge Ram. It was littered with his things. He had a scattering of change in the ashtray. There was a half empty bottle of Mountain Dew on the floorboard. The visor was pulled down with a pair of Oakleys in black tucked over it. A pair of boots were tossed negligently in the back seat, scuffed and well loved. Dogs tagged dangled from the rear view mirror and a lighter lay uselessly on the dash.

Claire touched the button on the glove box and wasn't failed by her brother even in death. A half smoked pack of Marlboro Reds greeted her along with a wad of papers of bills that he'd left unpaid. Claire pulled one of the carcinogenic sticks and put it between her lips. She struck it up with S.T.A.R.S. zippo on the dash and inhaled sharply.

Her gaze traveled to the center console. Her hand touched it to open it up and show a wadded up B.S.A.A. t-shirt. She pulled it free, relatively sure he'd worn it before work one day before he'd changed into his uniform. She lifted it to her nose and inhaled.

The scent of him surrounded her like a ghost. The cigarette plumbed smoke into the air as she clutched the soft fabric to her face and curled her body forward around it. She hadn't cried once since they'd put him in the ground.

Not a single tear.

The smell of him made her chest seize worse than her lungs inhaling the smoke. She made a small sound of grief and loss.

She cried clinging to the scent of her brother in the cab of the only thing in the world left that she had of him.

She would mourn him for the rest of her life.

She wasn't sure how she went on without him.

It was his heart that stopped beating, but it was hers that was in the grave beside him.

.......

"If you listen...you can hear them sometimes."

He knelt beside her as the blanket of stars twinkled happily in a velvety sky. "Yeah?"

"Oh, yeah. You don't have to use your ears, Chris. You just...you use your heart."

"My heart has ears?"

Claire giggled sweetly, "Of course it does, silly. Your heart has everything. Eyes, ears, fingers...and it remembers how they felt and how they sounded...and how they smelled...it never forgets. Your heart has a brain too."

She felt his cheek lay on the top of her head. She felt his hands tremble and his voice was hoarse as he answered, "C-Bear...you just might be the smartest girl in the world sometimes."

"I know...I get that from them too. You know what you got?"

"...black hair?"

She laughed and hugged him, "...me."

She felt the wet plop of tears on her hair as he squeezed her so tight it made her squirm a little, "Yeah, I did. Maybe they'll tell me how to make sure I never forget it."

"Just use your heart...it will always remember."

"...promise me you'll do it for me if I ever forget."

Claire lifted her head. She smiled while two pairs of the same eyes held on to each other. "...I promise. Whenever you can't...I'll always remember."

..........

The field kicked up chunks of mud and snow. She whipped the wheel and plowed through the ravaged earth. The sun peaked cleanly through the winter clouds. It watched her madness with a kind of quiet judgment.

It was the same kind shared by the man who emerged from the tree line as she jerked the truck to a halt with a squeal of tires. The engine ticked as she threw open the door and climbed out. The cold slapped her face with frigid palms as she called, "What do you want, Kennedy?! You come out here looking for a truck to wreck? This ones taken."

He tilted his head at her. The navy peacoat he wore was fashionably him. It was topped by a scarf in pretty red that made his blonde hair look gold in the dim winter light. The naked trees over his shoulder highlighted the beauty of that perfect face as he mused, "Only one of us on a path of destruction here, kid. You planning to survive the fallout?"

Claire shrugged and stuck a cigarette in her mouth. "Who cares? I'm alone right? I'm repellent for anyone who matters. My parents, men, my brother...they all die and leave me...or they betray me. So will anyone even notice?"

The corner of his mouth quirked, "You been hanging around inside my head lately, CB? Those sound suspiciously like my thoughts and not yours."

She scoffed and accepted the deft flick of the zippo he pulled from his pocket. She inhaled and let him pluck the smoke from her lips to help himself to it. They shared it in silence until she mused, "You see they made Valentine a Captain?"

"...I did." Quietly. No judgment. There seldom was with Leon. He was just that guy. He didn't judge. He just listened.

Claire laughed harshly, "And they awarded my brother a Medal of Bravery. A medal...posthumously. What fucking good is a piece of useless metal? He can't wear it. He's rotting in the ground. They think I'll pin it to his bones?"

Leon shrugged a shoulder, "You do what you want with it. It's yours. It's just an honor, Claire, not an insult to his memory."

She barked out a laugh, "Honor. He dies, she lives, and she takes his command, his company, and his fucking place. He loved her. He loved her and she never loved him back! "

Softly, Leon mused, "...that's rough stuff there."

"Yeah, it is! He was so stupid! Why did he do it!? She mattered more than me!? She's fine! She's fine! But what about me!? Huh? What about me..." Her voice trailed off as the anger hummed around them, "...what about me...you son of a bitch..."

Quietly, Leon soothed, "Redfield's are pretty stupidly stubborn sometimes."

Claire laughed angrily, "No shit. Blind as he was brave."

"Hmm. I think he thought what we all do."

She turned her ravaged gaze to him, imploring, "What? What was he thinking?"

"...that you're the strongest woman he's ever known. That he'd made sure of that. That you took what he taught you and became a warrior. He knew you'd survive him, Claire, because he knew you'd never forget him."

She was so quiet watching him, that he finally added, "He knew you'd keep on living...because that's what we do."

"It's not enough. I need more than that."

His head tilted, "...what do you need?"

The wind rolled around them. It was cold and painful. It was bitter. Like she was.

Leon watched her so gently that she kinda hated him. She envied his tranquility. She wanted it. She wanted anything to alleviate the rage and the loss that ate around her belly with teeth made of regret.

She'd heard the whispers about Leon. She knew what people said. He was cold. He was cut off. He didn't get involved. He didn't date women.

But he sure did fuck them.

She'd steered clear of him all these years because she'd felt something that first night in Raccoon. She'd felt it and she'd gone after Chris and made her choice. She knew she'd burned that bridge back to him. He'd remained her friend, but the idea of lover had been crossed off the moment she'd picked family over him.

She'd heard he was a guy who was really, really good at the one night stand.

She needed anything to take the edge off the misery pooled in her heart. So, she just threw it at him like a bullet, "Take me home."

He studied her. The wind kicked up. It curled up snow around their boots. He could have said no. She had no clue where his car was. She had no idea how he'd gotten there. He could have said no.

Instead, he said, "Give me the keys."

And she gave those keys of her brother's to the only other man in her world she trusted to drive his truck.

He had a reputation for wrecking things.

She was hoping he'd wreck her.

She figured he'd come to his senses before he went through with it. After all, all these years and they'd never touched each other like that. He'd tell her no and talk her down.

He didn't.

She tossed Chris' keys on the table in the living room and backed into her bedroom. He followed her, a predator, shedding clothes as he walked. Her heart, aching like it had been, started to pound painfully behind her breast.

She whispered, "Where do you want me?"

He tilted his head. She licked her dry lips and cleared her throat. She tossed her clothing as she turned on the shower and joined him again in the bedroom. All she wore now was her undershirt and panties.

Naked, he was somehow more beautiful than clothed. She warned, hoarsely, "You aren't gonna tell me I'm grieving?"

"...no."

"You think this is a mistake?"

His head tilted again, "Do you?"

"...fuck no."

"Then tell me how you want it."

Claire felt her breath hitch and her body go wet just waiting for him. "...take me."

"...and?"

"Make it hurt."

"My pleasure."

He came toward her like a lion stalking a gazelle.

The shower was pumping steam into the quiet room. His hands tossed her over his shoulder like she was nothing. He walked them both into it while quaked above him.

What words were there in this moment?

He almost threw her against the wall to kiss her. She grabbed handfuls of his ass to rub him against her belly like a pervert.

He grunted with pleasure and ripped the tiny shirt she wore. He ripped it, right down the middle like it was nothing, it came apart in his hands like flimsy paper. She started to bicycle her legs to get her panties off and he didn't bother to wait for her to finish, he speared his hand into her panties and crudely thrust two fingers into her. She was ready but not ready. Her body clamped around his invading digits even after a cry ripped from her throat in surprise.

He didn't give her a chance to say no, to fight him off, to do anything. He finger fucked her so mercilessly as she tried to get her panties off her lower legs but they were wet and stuck to her ankles like glue. She grabbed at his arms to try to hold herself up? To try to make him wait until she was ready? She had no fucking idea what was happening. She knew only that he drove those fingers into her, cupping his palm against her groin, his thumb shifting to sweep between the damp lips of her sex and brush back and forth over the apex of her body.

His free hand lifted to settle around her throat, his thumb driving against the soft underside of her chin, angling her face back to take more of his tongue. She couldn't get her eyes to close, they were rapturously fastened to his face as he slammed her against the tiled wall and forced himself on her. Forced? No. Force implied a lack of want on her part. She'd not only wanted him, she was dying with it. He simple poured that desperate passion over the top of the both of them until they were drowning.

He ruthlessly drove her body to the peak of pleasure and just when she was about to go over, he shifted. His hand grabbed at her hips and jerked. Her lower body humped forward from the force of it.

He dropped to his knees in the humid, heated, wonderful water. She couldn't think, didn't think. He put his mouth to her and she tried to fall down. He didn't let her, he shifted both her thighs until they were over his shoulders. Her hands scrambled to find something to grab above her and settled on the shelf where the shampoo set.

It fell with a clatter to the ground as she knocked it down in her haste. He jerked her groin to him and feasted on her. Undone she could do nothing but hold on to that shelf and cum. She came, bowing, bucking against his face. His left hand was at her breasts, mounding and taunting, pulling and teasing and taking. His mouth was merciless; it joined his right hand in thrusting into her, over her, through her. Her thighs quivered, pressed against the sides of his head while he ripped her apart one clever, wonderful thrust and bite at a time.

She came screaming while he drowned them both in need.

She could barely stand as he rose. Her thighs tried to snap together and he turned her, roughly, forcing her hands to splay on the wet tile. Her clothes were ripped and useless on her skin. The undershirt still around her shoulders like some kind of flimsy jacket. Her hand snapped back behind her to join his on the length of his dick as he smeared it over her back almost playfully.

He set his teeth into her shoulder as he moved behind her and ran the hard, aching length of himself over the curve of her ass. She shuddered, threw the other hand back and drove her nails into his flank, encouraging him.

His voice was rough, "Condom?"

She shook her head desperately, "No. No. God, no. Just like that. I wanna feel it."

He grunted, "Put me in you, Claire."

She obeyed, angling him into the needy oval of her body as the thunderous spill of water cocooned them.

Christ..how long had they waited?

Too long.

Why hadn't she fucked him after Raccoon? She couldn't think. She couldn't feel anything but the want he shoved into her like he'd shove his dick.

She made a small sound of want and gasped, "Use me. Ok? Use me."

Bracing both hands on the wall beside her, he pushed himself into her body. She gasped, bowed against him, and he sheathed himself into the heat of her to the hilt. He held himself there, spitting her on his body while he gained enough control to not pound her to death against the wall.

She felt him put his forehead against the place where her neck and shoulder met, felt him gather his resolve. Claire turned her head, nuzzled at his face, and took his mouth in a long, wet, tongue thrusting kiss. She rocked back against him, encouraging. She didn't think she'd ever know anything more wonderful than what it felt to feel him thick and deep inside her.

She moved her hips and pulled herself nearly off before pushing herself back on him. His hands moved down and jerked her hips back. He lifted her to her tip toes, angled himself better, and rode her. It was slow and torturous. He went out, he rode in, he caused them both to nearly die with the aching slowness of it.

She humped back against him, desperate. He shook his head and kept the pace slow and steady. She was nearly undone when she pulled away from him. She turned and leaped on him. He caught her, easily, and she took his face and raped his mouth with hers. He was laughing delightedly at her as he pressed her back against the wall and speared her with himself.

They clashed together now, desperate and fast. They ended up across the floor of the shower with her atop him and the water trying to drown them both. She stole his sanity, blanketed them both in that humbling, skin stealing, soul raping rush of greed she felt for him. She held him down now with his arms over his head as she fucked him, forcing his body into hers fast and deep and constant. He was making some sound in his throat, trapped beneath her; a willing victim. He felt her tighten, felt her orgasm as it ripped through her body, and out of her mouth in a desperate cry.

He lifted his upper body off the ground and wrapped his arms around her waist. He surged twice more against her and pressed their mouths together hard enough to bruise if she didn't open for him. She did and his tongue surged inside. He filled her mouth with his desperate gasp and jerked her hard down on him. The slap of skin was musical in the pounding water.

Her wet clothing slapped obscenely.

It felt like they'd waited a life time for a handful of moments together.

It felt like her heart could hear the life inside of both of them.

She wasn't dead. She was just dying and Kennedy was a hero. He saved girls.

He was saving her by fucking her back to life.

........

The keys in her hand were heavy. She clenched her palm around them as the nurse gave her a beautiful smile.

"Is that to your truck?"

Quietly, Claire whispered, "My brother's...my brother's truck...well...I guess it's mine now."

The nurse smiled happily, "Well, I sure hope it has a back seat."

Claire nodded numbly, "...I-yes. Yes it does...yes."

"Good. It's not safe to put a baby seat in the front...the air bags, ya know? Dangerous."

Claire stared at the thing in her other hand beside the keys. The little blob of white on a black background. The nurse leaned over and touched the picture, "See that? That's the heart. You can see it beating."

The heart. The heart beating.

The heart of her baby.

She touched the tiny white blob and clutched the keys.

She'd always wanted children. Always. The timing had never been right. The world...it hadn't allowed it. She'd always wanted them. She'd nursed baby dolls while other girls had planned their weddings.

She'd never needed a man...but she'd always wanted a child. She'd tell Leon. If he didn't want...well...that didn't matter either. She wanted. She wanted him and this baby...but she'd survive if he didn't feel the same.

She'd carry her child in her brother's truck. The only thing in the world that mattered inside the only thing in the world she had left of the man who'd been her world once. Her world inside her world...inside her womb.

Jesus.

The heart never forgot.

And neither would the baby she'd raise to remember.

She paused on the steps of the hospital with the truck waiting for her to drive it and remember.

Leon Kennedy waited in that coat in the cold. He tilted his head at the picture in her hand. "...what do you need, kid?"

Claire clutched the keys in her fist and smiled, shakily, "...I don't wanna be blind anymore. You sure you wanna take me on?"

His teeth flashed, "You're the one who left that night...all you had to do was look back once..."

"And?"

"...and I'd have gone out a window for you."

Her heart stuttered. She felt her eyes swim with tears. "I wanna name him Chris."

Leon heaved out a heavy breath and a laugh, "...god help us all. The Redfield lineage continues."

She clutched her keys so tight she was afraid they'd pierce her palm. "Yeah...it and never forgets."

She came down the stairs. She climbed into her brother's truck beside the man who'd climbed into a nightmare beside her. She took his hand to place it on her belly as she drove.

Chris' shirt was folded in the back seat. His dog tags jingled on the rearview mirror. He was all around her. Him, their parents, their love...it was all pieces of her she'd never forget.

With the man beside her and that hope inside her, it was the first time since Raccoon City she knew there was life after death.

All because he'd given her the keys to his truck...and allowed her drive into her future.

[myfirelight64]

I woke up to such news today so I knew I had to catch up with Tumblr so here I am flipping through your blog for a 4 days worth of asks hahah. In one of them you said that CB and EXO have good relationships with sm now. Can you explain what did you mean by that? How was it before, why it's better now and, most importantly, how nini got involved in this? Also, the comments about shitty comeback promotions are kinda related to this. So please can you tell more about it all?)

Right, so. I think this turned out quite messy but here we go.

Something that consistently bothers me is the constant hate towards SM and the seeming disregard for how business works. Many of the things they’ve done in 2018 alone made sense and were typical business tactics but were somehow considered injustices! On the way back from Taiwan, a few members flew economy not beside sasaengs but in an attempt to get away from them! Sasaengs were aware of their flight schedules and so SM changed it last minute for an immediate, quick flight to shake their stalkers. Made sense to me but not to everyone...

Another instance is SM stores selling other groups music, and people were complaining that there were more albums of other groups than SM Artists’. However, the other groups’ albums were loose in a cart (?), free to be damaged, wrinkled, etc, where SM Artists’ were set up on shelves, one copy per album like plaques.

But I digress! For me, it’s just been little things that have actually impressed me about SM have been acknowledged as their worst stunt yet and I don’t understand it. People can’t seem to let go of the past.

The first thing that truly impressed me was how they handled Jonghyun’s passing, especially towards Shinee themselves. I had entered EXO hearing of SM as this demonic company and to see them not only drop ALL their schedules, but also their two big concerts, was a big deal to me. I don’t know if people understand how much money alone goes into just one of those nights, and for SM to turn to Shinee and let them decide whether they even want to go through with it was massive. That was a lot of work and time and blood and sweat and tears in their hands, free to do what they felt up to.

Then I heard a bit more. I heard about the things they’ve done, the risks they have taken, and the money they have put into keeping EXO safe (I only know exo because that is who info is about...so:/). People don’t realise the billions of won that go to stop that incriminating video getting out or those photos being released. Companies like dispatch are free to up the prices for the millions of things they hold over EXO alone whenever they want, and SM will still pay. It’s first degree blackmail and they bend for our faves’ safety.

All the mistakes they’ve made doesn’t mean they don’t recognise those as mistakes. I think that SM has a very good relationship with EXO. Do they always love what their company decides? No, of course not. But I don’t think they hold this burning hate like so many who don’t even really know SM do. For me, it goes back to what Jongin told Naeun (?), the little girl dancing at the award shows. Jongin passes this girl and tells her in a happy voice, “Come to SM!”

Jongin, a man who has been in the company since a young teenager, who has been through the victories and the heartbreak that comes with the idol life, who has seen SM at it’s highest and felt it at it’s lowest, told a young, impressionable girl that she should come to SM. If he even slightly disliked SM, he wouldn’t have said it. He wasn’t obligated to give his company a shoutout. He could have just said “you should be an idol” or something like that. But he didn’t. He told her that SM was a good route for her to take because he saw she was talented.

As groups like EXO get older, they hold more power. They have more rights and more leverage. Especially members like Jongin and Baekhyun, who have been directly put through a lot of angst and pain at SM’s hands, probably have quite of a lot of power. They can make demands, they can request things they usually wouldn’t get, and freedoms another group wouldn’t get.

So to what the main point is - nini. This is my theory about the whole JenKai scandal and how his relationship with SM plays out in this.

My theory is that Jennie needs this scandal. YG thinks so, at least. YG and SM, probably in light of the alliance they have with a few other companies, are beginning to show friendliness towards each other and collaborate. So YG needs a dating scandal for Jennie, and who is she shipped with often? Jongin. My theory is that YG offered something (money, stocks, something else valuable) to SM for the use of Jongin in a scandal, and SM then turns to Jongin. Either they asked him about it or they ‘informed’ him. Either way, they don’t get to use him like that without paying for it to Jongin.

I don’t know what they offered him/what he demanded. A studio, freedom, freedom to act how he wants (with who he wants) during the JenKai relationship or after, who knows. But Jongin (like @soaringsoon said) is smart and he knows what he’s doing. He agreed to get the benefits.

But a good relationship between idol and company is important in these kinds of touchy subjects.

I’m not trying to say that SM has always been good or always makes a good decision, but I think that sometimes, they know what they’re doing.

In terms of the promotion, I had an inkling before it happened and it turned out to be true. DMUMT dropped and everyone panicked about know promotion and I thought, are they focusing on the repackage?

Think about it. First of all, remember the money they spent on EXO in 2018. Not only did they do a world tour and various shows and festivals, they had a Japanese comeback (not long after their winter album), with a whole album, mv, choreo, and performances in Japan. THEN CBX not only did a Korean album with a mv and a full tracklist of choreo, but also Korean promotions. Then, a week later, they released a full Japanese album with choreo and went on tour! A whole tour, for a subunit! And that was just spring. Then, remembering how last year, Power was quite a lot bigger than KoKoBop. On top of that, all of EXO and SM were looking more forward to Love Shot, and they all loved it better than Tempo, it seems. So I immediately thought, Oh so all the money is going to the repackage? And what happened? The second Love Shot was announced, we heard about all the promotion.

It was a gut feeling I got and it came true,,:)))

Idk it just bugs me sometimes. There’s my two cents!

[sunsetbeachsoap]

Hollywood: Daytime Goes to the Beach Aaron Spelling will bring sunshine and sand to set-bound soap operas with his new ‘Sunset Beach’

Nov 4, 1996 By Betsy Sharke Except for a nasty cold, Aaron Spelling couldn’t be in much better spirits. He’s spent most of the day with his office crammed full of wardrobe racks and cast members from Sunset Beach, the first daytime drama that Spelling Entertainment has ever done and the first daytime drama to be introduced on network TV in eight years (1989’s Generations was the last — and it didn’t).

‘We brought in 12 racks of clothes,’ says Spelling. ‘I think fashion is as important to a serial as anything else.’ Fashion sets the tone. It defines the palette. The length of a skirt, the style of jeans, can tell the viewer volumes about a character before the first word of dialogue is spoken. Spelling already loves the Sunset Beach cast — their names have been added to his annual Christmas party list — and on this day he is doling out advice to them on everything from buying a new car to renting apartments to how to handle fame, should it be lucky enough to come. He has issued his no-hair-changes dictum — Sunset cast members had better be happy with the style and color they start the show with, because Spelling isn’t about to let them confuse a new audience with a makeover any time soon. It is a long-standing rule for a Spelling show, and his staff knows that he’s deadly serious about it even if some of the awestruck actors don’t — yet. On Jan. 6, Sunset Beach will hit the air. ‘The series is a critical component of NBC West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer’s plan to make the network’s daytime schedule as potent as its prime time. NBC is in third place in daytime, though the net is up 20 percent this season and is closing in on second-place ABC. Ohlmeyer has his sights set on first, which CBS now owns. ‘With Sunset, we have something new and hot and exciting,’ Ohlmeyer says. ‘(In) the ‘80s, NBC daytime basically disintegrated. We are in the process of rebuilding, but we have to deliver the goods. That’s how we’ve built prime time, with distinctive programming. ‘There hasn’t been a successful soap launched in 10 years. It’s very difficult to do, but with Aaron’s touch and looking at the cast we have, we think it’s worth the effort. Some of our affiliates are very receptive (to the show) some, we’re in the process of kidnapping their children.’ On Stage 11 at NBC Studios in Burbank, carpenters and set designers are working late into the night to complete the sets that will form the primary backdrop for the show. The small community of Seal Beach, roughly a 90-minute drive south of Los Angeles, has been scouted nearly grain by grain of sand. It will be the exterior home for Sunset, and unlike most daytime soaps, the location will be a frequent player. Last week, readings and the first of three weeks of shooting exteriors began. The Santa Anas — California’s devil winds — stirred up the sand, making it sting on the skin. The water, which is never warm at Seal Beach, was even colder than usual. But no one was complaining. The 22 actors who will give shape and form to Sunset Beach are a beautiful bunch indeed, a canvas of racial diversity plucked from the talent pool in New York, Los Angeles and other cities including Philadelphia, the hometown of Spelling Entertainment president Jonathan Levin, who went back for that casting session. They are also young faces, part of the strategy to make Sunset a daytime soap for younger viewers, to do for daytime drama what Ricki Lake did for talk, at least in terms of attracting a new audience. Spelling is considered a master at casting, instinctively knowing which faces will work together as a couple, which actors will have that all-important element of chemistry. Now the virtually unknown Sunsetters are all in front of him, many meeting for the first time, and the air is electric. ‘One of my favorite sports is finding new people and combining them with other people, and I had used so many people from daytime on our soaps,’ says Spelling, whose legacy includes such prime-time legends as Loveboat and Dynasty. The company is currently on prime time with an unprecedented four dramas: Melrose Place; Beverly Hills, 90210; Savannah; and Seventh Heaven. Sunset has been 18 months in the making, and Spelling is like a proud papa, surrounded by actors whose future he has just secured. The series, which is co-owned by Spelling and NBC, has a one-year commitment from the network. That’s 51 weeks of shows, 255 hour-long episodes guaranteed. ‘I wouldn’t tell Candy, my wife, for a week after the show was sold, but my daughter Tori is a daytime addict, and she kept saying, ‘Do it,” says Spelling. With four shows already on the air, he has little time. Launching a daytime soap would siphon off even more of it. ‘I don’t think it hit me for a while. OnMelrose, we wrap on the 22nd of November and don’t come back until January 5th. The actors and writers get a chance to rest. This is never-ending. But it’s been a strange, great experience.’ Worldvision, which sells Spelling’s shows internationally, already has 10 countries signed on for Sunsetwithout one scene shot, based on a four-minute video that outlined the premise of the show and included Spelling talking about it. The foreign sales are important, as is NBC’s share in the financing. Mounting a daytime drama from scratch is a massive undertaking. ‘It requires the logistics of mounting a military campaign,’ says Levin. ‘There’s huge construction, there’s an enormous amount of lighting, tremendous casting, wardrobe problems. It’s not like prime time, when you see life in a kind of episodic way. Daytime is an endless stream of programming that, once it’s begun, can’t be stopped.’ Ohlmeyer puts the production investment alone at about $50 million. ‘Then there’s the cost of launch, advertising and promotion — it’s a major commitment on our part,’ he says. ‘With daytime, you’re not really going to know anything concretely for 18 months. I feel we’re very much on track. We’ve done this in a really organized way in terms of laying out target dates, scripts in by here, cast in place by here, task force working on clearances to this point we’re right on schedule. That still doesn’t change the pucker factor.’ NBC was initially looking at four ideas, Spelling’s idea among them, for a daytime soap. Spelling’s concept originally was loosely defined as ‘Melrose Place at the beach.’ When they began to look seriously for a title for the new show, Spelling ran a title contest in-house. The winner would get $200. There were dozens of suggestions, but the most serious contender, Never Say Goodbye, came from an unlikely source: Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone, who suggested it during a dinner with Spelling. ‘I loved the name — it says romance, which this show is all about,’ says Spelling, whose company is part of Viacom. But in testing, viewers were drawn to the ‘beach’ motif more than anything else, Spelling says. Executive producer Gary Tomlin (Santa Barbara) and Robert Guza Jr. are the people on the front line of the creative side of Sunset Beach. The initial groundwork on the series was done by Chuck Pratt, who was an executive producer on Melrose Place, and Guza, whose work everyone knew from Spelling’sModels Inc. Together they wrote a nearly 400-page bible outlining Sunset’s premise, characters and storyline. Spelling remembers the bible for Melrose Place being closer to 40 pages. Unlike most daytime dramas, which tend to build their storylines around families and family rivalries,Sunset Beach is about young singles and couples who have been drawn to the town, and the relationships that emerge as the action unfolds. The producers also created an underlying mythology about the town as a place where one can find true love. ‘We loved the idea of creating a town and making the town a character,’ says Guza, who is cocreator and head writer. ‘(With) Sunset Beach, you get to create this world and these characters, and then you get to screw up their lives.’ Sunset Beach is being written at a faster pace than traditional daytime dramas. It’s a delicate balancing act to move action through each episode without losing the audience. ‘We would love it if people watched five days a week, but they don’t,’ says Tomlin. Three days is more typical. ‘We have to make certain they’re able to pick up where the story left off and that it hasn’t moved so rapidly that they can’t figure it out.’ The show is also being designed to allow room for cameos by big-name prime-time stars. Spelling wants to give viewers as compelling a reason as possible to tune in to Sunset. ‘On top of needing to have a terrific show, you are fighting against viewer habits that are long, long ingrained,’ says Levin. ‘It is very difficult to change the loyalty of the daytime viewer, and we’re talking about shows that have been on for 30 years. That’s one of the reasons we’re targeting young viewers — they’re the most available and the most flexible in their viewing habits.’ Then there is the station lineup. Affiliates exert their independence far more in daytime than prime time. NBC says that Sunset is cleared on 85 percent of its affiliates; the network expects to reach 90 percent by the premiere. With the cast now in place and the first rolls of tapes being produced, the network knows that stations that are wavering at least will have something concrete to see. ‘Will we get sufficient coverage — that’s a constant battle,’ says Levin. ‘Will the local affiliates elect to air the show in desirable time slots that will afford us the best opportunity to be sampled? These are things we are lobbying for but ultimately we don’t control.’ Spelling and NBC executives hope that Sunset Beach will be scheduled to follow Days of Our Lives, which has made a dramatic turnaround. ‘Over the last 18 months with that show, it’s been unbelievable, going from being in the middle to the top,’ Ohlmeyer says. ‘If we can get that kind of performance from Another World — and we think we’re finally on the right track there — with Sunset Beach we could have a solid three-hour block.’ Copyright ASM Communications, Inc. (1996) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=510703

[47burlm]

Webster’s defines the word Superstar as- a star (as in sports or the movies) who is considered extremely talented, has great public appeal, and can usually command a high salary

April 28, 1963

Barbra Streisand’s breakout year as a singer came in 1963, when she released her first two albums, won her first two Grammys and began appearing live in some of the most prominent nightclubs in the country. By the following year, she was a showbiz phenomenon, earning further nominations from the Grammys and Tonys after wowing Broadway critics and audiences in her first leading role, as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. Yet even then, in a Time magazine cover article in 1964, it was noted that “Many people still say Who when they hear her name.” That probably changed once and for all on April 28, 1965, when millions of American television viewers tuned in to a solid primetime hour of the 22-year-old Streisand in her first-ever TV special, the triumphant My Name Is Barbra.

My Name is Barbra was the first special to be shot and aired under a $5 million, 10-year contract signed between Streisand and CBS in June 1964. Quite apart from the money, what made the deal so extraordinary was the creative control it gave to Streisand. She chose to exercise that control by eschewing many of the conventions of the then-popular musical variety show genre. Rather than shooting only in a studio, Streisand and her crew filmed one of their major sequences on location in the fur department of Bergdorf Goodman, where Streisand vamped in exotic fur coats and specially designed hats by Halston to a medley of poverty songs, including “Give Me the Simple Life” and “Brother Can You Spare a Dime.” And rather than filling out the bill with big-name guest stars—a safe strategy for a young and still-rising star—Streisand performed every number alone. “You can imagine how nervous that made the network,” Streisand later remarked, “when they learned that there would be major guest stars, not even any minor ones—just me and a bunch of great songs and some wonderful musicians.”

However nervous they might have been, CBS executives were thrilled with the results. My Name is Barbra was a huge critical and ratings hit on this night in 1965. It won two Emmys and a Peabody Award and helped make Barbra Streisand truly a household name, further ensuring the success of later Streisand CBS specials like Color Me Barbra (1966) and The Belle of 14th Street (1967).

OH by the way Barbra Streisand's Net Worth: $400 Million In 2018

[itsalycenotalice]

Five-0 Redux: Seeking retribution a painful task for McGarrett, team

By Wendie Burbridge, Special to the Star-Advertiser January 5, 2019 Updated January 5, 2019 12:56pm

Usually, after someone has experienced the death of a loved one, people tend to go through the proverbial stages of grief — denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. They may skip a step, linger on one for a long time, and sometimes add a few extra stages of their own. More often than not, anger tends to stick around the longest and sometimes it is what fuels the rest of the steps into action. In this week’s episode of “Hawaii Five-0,” McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) is dealing with the loss of his father figure Joe White (Terry O’Quinn) and going through his own version of the stages of grief.

Written by Matt Wheeler and David Wolkove, this week’s episode was a wrap-up of the fall finale, “Pio ke Kukui, Po‘ele ka Hale” (“When the Light Goes Out, the House Is Dark”), in which Joe and four other members of their former SEAL team, were targeted and killed. The episode starts with Danny (Scott Caan) traveling to Montana where McGarrett has been holed up for a month with Catherine (Michelle Borth), who has come to help him devise a plan to avenge Joe’s death. Directed by the legendary Carl Weathers, who also guest-starred on “Magnum P.I.” in the second episode of the show’s freshman season, a very angry McGarrett basically tosses out the other stages of grief and has added one of his own — retribution. Perhaps seeking to avenge the death of Joe and his SEAL brothers can be seen as a type of acceptance, which is supposed to be the last stage of the grieving process.

The title of this episode, “Hala i ka ala hoʻi ʻole mai” (the Hawaiian phrase is misspelled in the CBS press release), means, “gone on the road from which there is no returning.” It is a olelo noeau, or Hawaiian proverb and poetical saying, and to Hawaiians, the saying is a metaphor that simply means, “death.” In both the main plotline (McGarrett’s plan to avenge Joe) and in the case of the week (a silly story about bones being found in a public storage space) every guilty party faces that road. For “Hawaii Five-0” the title also seems to imply the idea that once a person heads down a certain path — like murder or vengeance for instance — there is no turning back.

JAMES BOND, A GENTLEMAN AND AN OLD FLAME

Once Danny arrives in Montana and finds McGarrett a bit hardened and in combat mode, he inquires how his friend has been doing since Joe died. When McGarrett says he didn’t have to come, Danny tells him that is what family does — they are there for each other. When he sees Catherine, he seems happy that she seems to be helping McGarrett through his grieving process.

But McGarrett tells him that it is not what Danny thinks, it’s not what any of us thought really. They are not playing house. They have been busy forcibly extracting information from Omar Hassan’s (Ben Youcef) lawyer, Gregers Thomsen (Andrew Grant), who set up the hit squad who came for Joe and McGarrett. Catherine might be McGarrett’s old flame, but she certainly has used her CIA ties to help him. She seems to be able to stomach the force McGarrett has to use to persuade Gregers to give up Hassan’s location. It’s bloody and brutal, and a bit out of the ordinary for Five-0.

But this is not a Five-0 op as McGarrett makes it clear to Danny, and they are not going to be alone. Perhaps he knows this will be more brutal, more dangerous than anything they have done before. He seems to want to protect Danny — not because Danny can’t hold his own in this fight — but because McGarrett has already lost so much, and to lose Danny would probably push him over the edge.

So it makes sense that McGarrett called in other backup. Sure, he knows Danny will come and support him like his SEAL brothers, Junior (Beulah Koale) and Wade Gutches, played by recurring cast member David Keith of “The Officer and Gentleman” fame. But maybe in the back of McGarrett’s mind, he doesn’t want to take that chance. He just lost a father — he doesn’t want to lose a brother.

Junior and Gutch join McGarrett, Catherine and Danny in Montana and they take off with Lucia Bama (Kristen Dalton), daughter of Frank Bama, for Vientiane, Laos, where Omar is hiding. They meet up with their former British intelligence friend Harry Langford (played by recurring cast member Chris Vance), who does some excellent reconnaissance for the team. Before we can say “007,” McGarrett is in a tux, Catherine in an evening gown, and armed with matching wedding bands as their cover, they are headed for a baccarat table. They are tasked to get Omar’s money launderer Dimitri (Theo Coumbis) to drink some sort of radioactive concoction so they can follow him from the Vientiane casino undetected. They know he will take the laundered money back to Omar and the team can then execute the rest of their plan.

RETRIBUTION OR REVENGE

This week’s episode really is a part two, as similar themes spillover from the fall finale. The hit men who came for McGarrett and Joe’s SEAL team were sent to avenge the death of Omar’s father, a high-value target the team killed in Morocco in 2002. Omar as a young boy confronted the SEAL team before their extraction and Joe disarmed him and basically saved his life. But Omar grew up and used his wealth and power to exact revenge on the team for his father’s death.

In a sense, McGarrett is doing the same thing — only he does’t want to kill Omar, he wants to actually find former CIA agent Greer (Rochelle Aytes), who sold their names and locations to Omar. Besides himself, Greer is really who he blames for Joe’s death. McGarrett and Omar may want the same thing — retribution, revenge, whatever you want to call it — but McGarrett wants it in answers rather than dead bodies. He wants to know why Greer betrayed her country and then turned on her former lover, McGarrett, and sought to torture him, kill his friends, his mentor and then end his life.

JUST DESSERTS

Yes, it does seem as if they are planning to assassinate Omar for killing Joe. McGarrett even asks Gutch if he’s going to be alright with basically running a rogue mission. Gutch says it’s worth it if they can put the man who killed Joe in the ground. And they do find Omar, raid his luxury digs and confront him. McGarrett tells him his revenge plan failed — as he killed everyone on the team except the one who actually shot his father. McGarrett was the shooter, and Omar tells McGarrett to shoot him because he will not stop until McGarrett is dead. But McGarrett won’t kill him in front of his son and let the boy “relive the same cycle all over again.”

Instead, he wants to know where Greer is. It is really all he wanted in the first place. They find her hiding out in China, and when McGarrett and Catherine confront her — he asks Greer what amount of money would make selling out human lives worth it. She says there were other factors, and the look in her face makes us think that perhaps it is because she could not have McGarrett that made her turn.

All during Greer’s storyline, we saw little flashbacks to when she and McGarrett first met. She was the girl before Catherine, but after Morocco, and after McGarrett almost died in Afghanistan, he decided it was Catherine he wanted to start a relationship with — not Greer. It seemed that Greer took that personally, and when McGarrett remembered a pillow-talk conversation they had before the mission to assassinate Hassan went down in Morocco, they had made plans to be near each other and perhaps continue their relationship. But once the Morocco mission went sour, that plan never came to fruition.

Perhaps Greer pined away for McGarrett, and when she learned he was seeing Catherine, she decided there was nothing left except her drive for power and money. So it seemed a little ironic that when Greer pulls a gun on McGarrett — it is Catherine who takes her out.

ONE LAST NOD TO JOE

When the team returns to Montana, and they say goodbye to Gutch and Catherine, Gutch — like Joe — tells McGarrett to find a good woman, a boring hobby and retire. McGarrett tells Gutch he is going to think about it, but Gutch tells him he knows he won’t. He also tells McGarrett that Joe would be really proud of him and that he is too. It’s a sweet moment, perhaps there are a few more father figures in McGarrett’s life for him to look up to.

Before McGarrett says aloha to Catherine, she says they both owe Joe a lot. He tells her it is Joe who brought her into his life. It is why he took the plunge and asked her out. It was Joe who told him that Catherine was a keeper and that McGarrett should take the leap. Catherine and McGarrett both seem grateful to their friend for their relationship.

While they are no longer together at least they were brave enough to take that road that led them to each other. And they have one more thing to be grateful to Joe for, even if he has gone on the road from which there is no returning.

SOURCE: https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/01/05/features/five-0-redux/five-0-redux-seeking-retribution-a-painful-task-for-mcgarrett-team/

[el-borealis]

All The Things Left Unsaid

Read on AO3

Jopper One-shot: Summer 1985 

Words: 4,326

--- 

Joyce had given into her anxiety and turned off the engine to the car fifteen minutes prior.

She was on her fourth cigarette, but her guilt only grew with each puff. What good were cigarettes anyway, she thought with annoyance, if they no longer worked to calm her down. She prayed that Will hadn't looked out the window.

Nothing had changed on the Wheeler's front stoop, which she had been watching like a hawk for the last thirty minutes. No monsters, dark clouds or government officials. Yet still, here she was.

The late July sun was just starting to set, yet the incoming night was still swelteringly hot. She hung her bare arm out of the window in an attempt to catch a bit of breeze but there was none to be had.

A rumbling engine tore around the corner in front of her. Joyce smirked. Hopper's Blazer with 'Police' emblazoned across the side was definitely going over the speed limit as it appeared on the Wheeler's street and came to an abrupt stop on the opposite curb.

"Ok, what are the rules, kid?" Hopper's voice carried out of his open window.

"I'm late! You took too long," El whined, already opening the door to her side of the car.

"Rules?" he replied gruffly.

El huffed, "Stay inside. Don't use my powers in front of anyone. Tell the Wheelers my name is Jane and I'm your niece," she stated in a glum monotone, "Can I go now?"

"Be back out here at 10, no dawdling," he said, making Joyce smile warmly at the overwhelmingly fatherly tone.

"Dawdling?" El asked.

"Oh, it'll….be your word for tomorrow. Don't be late," Hopper replied, rubbing her messy curls with his bear paw hand, "Have fun, Kid." Joyce watched as El smiled, said goodbye, jumped out of the truck and dashed to the front door of the Wheelers so fast you'd expect she was being chased. Hopper watched her keenly the whole way, his eyes falling on Joyce, directly across the street from him, as El slipped through the doorway.

"You too, huh?" he asked from his seat as he pulled out a cigarette.

Joyce nodded and leaned her head out of the car window, "You know me. Where else would I be? I might as well build a bed for myself in the backseat of this car at this point."

Hopper snickered as he held his hands up to light his cigarette, "This parenting shit, man. It's a racket."

"Ah, but it's worth it to feel the love when they wake you up after a double shift to ask for 20 bucks," she retorted with a dark smile.

"I haven't gotten that far yet. Now I have something to look forward to," he replied. He took a deep drag from his cigarette and let out a lazy puff of smoke as silence settled between them. "Say, Joyce," he said, his voice carrying a hint of hestitation, "Wanna get some dinner? I could kill a patty melt right about now."

Joyce, surprised by the invitation, took a guilty look at the house, "Well, I should probably leave here before the Wheelers call the police on me for stalking. So, sure."

"Well, considering it would page directly to this," he said, lifting the receiver of his CB radio, "I think you're safe. Get in over here, I'll drive?"

"Okay," Joyce replied. She fumbled for her purse, leaned over and manually rolled up each of the windows, and locked up the car. She took one final anxious peek back at the Wheelers' home, which still had not burned down or fallen into an alternate dimension, and made her way to Hopper's truck.

She felt like a child as she attempted to step up into the tall cabin of the vehicle, hoisting herself forcefully, laughing in the process.

"Having some trouble?" Hopper asked with a hint of sarcasm as he held out his hand to assist her. She took it gladly and pulled herself in, yanking the door closed behind her with a loud thud. "Where to?" he asked as he put the truck in drive.

"Oh, I don't know," she stuttered, "You're the hungry one. You pick?"

Hopper nodded in acknowledgement and pulled onto the road as Joyce worked to buckle her seatbelt. She peeked over at him as he turned a corner and couldn't help but notice that he was dressed… nicely. He was sporting a pressed light blue button-up short sleeved shirt tucked into nice jeans, and his thinning hair was combed and tamed, unlike his usual hat head of flyaways.

"Something fancy happen today? You look nice, Hop," she said with amused surprise.

"What, a guy can't try sometimes? What do you take me for, a slob?" he responded with his patent dry humor.

She didn't respond but rolled her eyes casually and sat back into the seat.

Hopper turned right down Sycamore Lane, "So, how you been, Joyce? Don't think I've seen you since the we were chain smoking outside the Wheelers this time last month."

Joyce shrugged and worked to fill him in on the comings and goings of her and the boys. Mostly the coming and goings of the boys, to be honest. The truth was Joyce's life had been quite quiet in the nine months since everything had happened in the fall. Honestly, she'd needed it that way. But at this point she couldn't help but notice that her devotion for her kids, combined with her work schedule and her need for alone time, had turned her into a bit of a recluse, and she was admittedly going a bit stir crazy. Dinner with Hopper was probably the most exciting thing she had done without her boys all year.

After a short drive he pulled into the parking lot of Sheila's Bar and Grill on the main drag of town. "This place good?" he asked, looking over to her for approval as his fingers rested on the keys to cut the engine. Joyce gulped. It was one of the two nicer restaurants in town. Which sure, wasn't saying much as this was Hawkins, but still. She couldn't help but feel underdressed in a ratty tank top and old jeans, her hair still pulled back in a messy pony tail from cleaning the house all day. Plus, her wallet was a lot less full than she was comfortable with for a real restaurant. Though Sheila's was only two blocks from Melvald's, she'd never stepped foot inside. It had always been just a little too expensive for her to rationalize taking the boys.

"Am I… dressed appropriately for this place?" she asked hesitantly, her eye falling on a rip in the knee of her jeans.

Hopper laughed and brushed off the question as he opened his door and cut the engine, "Don't worry about it. Of course you are. Besides, even if you were wearing a flour sack you'd be the prettiest girl in there."

Joyce felt herself blush in surprise at his words and hoisted herself out of the truck to the ground.

He opened the door of the restaurant for her and she snuck under his arm to enter. The restaurant was lively, but not packed, filled with families, middle aged couples and a couple groups of old men sharing war stories in the back submerged in a cloud of smoke.

"Evening, Shelia," Hopper called to the elderly woman behind the bar. Sheila, a sweet looking woman in her 60s with twinkling eyes, looked up from the bread baskets she was filling with a wave. Her eyes widened as she spied Joyce.

"Well, little Jimmy Hopper," she said with a kind smile as she sidled her way out from behind the bar and beckoned them to follow her to a booth by the windows. "You clean up well, Jimmy. Can't remember the last time I saw you bring a date in," she whispered quietly to Jim, though not quietly enough for Joyce to miss it, as she nudged him with her elbow like a nosy Aunt.

Joyce felt her cheeks redden in a silly way that belied her age, feeling slightly awkward by the misconception. Jim audibly groaned, "Alright, Sheila. Alright."

Sheila smiled at Joyce brightly as she laid menus on the table and patted the booth seat, "Here you go, dear. Y'all have a nice dinner," she said with a wink. Hopper stepped back to allow Joyce her choice of seats and dropped himself into the seat facing away from the door.

"This place is nice," she said as she surveyed the deep red wooden walls and ceiling.

"You've never been here before?" he asked, picking up his own menu. She shook her head. "Well then, you're in for a treat," he continued, "Sheila was my mom's best friend and she makes the best rolls you've ever tasted." He lifted the bread basket in offering.

They fell into companionable silence as they searched for their choices on the menu, Joyce munching on what was admittedly great bread all the while. After a few minutes a slight teenage girl with overwhelming Farrah Fawcett hair, who Joyce recognized from Jonathan's grade, approached their table for their order.

"I'll have the patty melt and fries," Hopper said as he handed her his menu, "and a Schlitz. Want a beer, Joyce?" he asked.

She hesitated, worried about driving later, but once again remembered she was with the Chief of Police, "Why not," she replied with a playful shrug, "and I'll have the…" she paused, realizing she had never made a decision, "Same. I'll have the same."

"Two Schlitz and two patty melts it is then," the girl said with a placating smile as she scribbled on her pad, "Be right back."

Joyce fumbled with her napkin for a moment and focused on lying it on her lap. A twinge of awkwardness pouring over her at her unexpected dinner. She looked up to find Hopper watching her closely.

"So," she said quickly, trying to change the subject from her own insecurity, "how's it going with…" she looked around and leaned in to whisper, "Jane."

Hopper nodded and took a bite out of his bread, "Well, she hasn't blown out any more windows, so I'd say it's going well. I sneak her out of the house right about the time I can tell she can't take it anymore," he shrugged, "Only a few more weeks now and then she starts school. That's gonna be weird," he said with a nervous sigh as their beers arrived, "Thanks."

"Aww, old Dad Hopper," she teased as she patted his hand, "It'll be fine. She's a good kid, Hop. And she's got good friends who will look out for her."

"Yeah, and its ample alone time with one of those 'friends' that I'm worried about," he said with an eye roll, "Do you know that Wheeler kid showed up at her window last Saturday and tried to get her to sneak out into the woods with him? I practically had to chase him off and Jane wouldn't talk to me all day. That boy is getting too brave, I tell ya."

Joyce laughed gleefully, "If I recall correctly," she said, wagging her finger accusingly in his direction, "that sounds a lot like someone I knew who tried the exact same thing to me when we were seniors. I think my Dad had to use a broom to scoot you off of the roof, if I remember correctly."

A guilty look passed over Hopper's face as he fought back a smile. "Yeah, seniors in high school," he said wryly, "Not the same."

"Touche," She shrugged in relent as she took a swig of her beer, "She could do worse, by the way. I've known that boy since he was five. He might mouth off sometimes and yes, he might be a little reckless, but he's the most loyal and dedicated friend Will could have ever hoped for. He's a good kid, Hop."

Hopper sighed, "Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean I have to enjoy this."

"Well, just feel lucky that you didn't walk on your kid naked with his girlfriend last week," Joyce said, shuddering at the entirely horrifying memory that she attempted to drown with another swig of beer.

Hopper winced, "Ooooh, I do not envy you," he said with a bleak laugh.

"Well," she said, raising her glass, "At least we're in it together now. Parenting teenagers is a trip."

Hopper shrugged and shot her his classic beleaguered smile, "Cheers to that," he said as he clinked her glass.

The evening continued on effortlessly, any awkwardness she might have felt melting away at their easy conversation and the presence of beer, much as it had always been since their first chapter as teenagers. She listened with rapt attention as he told her about renovations he was making to the old cabin and as he bragged with the sweet pride of a father about the success Jane was having with her tutoring.

"Want another?" he asked as the waitress came around with their meals.

Joyce looked down to find her glass surprisingly empty, "Oh, I shouldn't," she declined bemusedly, her head swimming a bit from the single drink. It was amazing how much of a lightweight she'd become in her forties.

"Neither should I," he replied, playing with the glass in his hands before looking up with a trademark glint in his eye, "Split one more?"

Joyce chuckled and nodded after a pause, "Sure."

"Atta girl, Joycie" he said jovially before turning to the waitress, "Just one more, thanks."

"You're a bad influence," she accused as she reached for the ketchup.

Hopper barked with a loud cracking laugh, infecting her with its suddenness as she broke out in her own giggle, "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Well, I'm not sure I meant it as one…" she retorted, "but all the same."

He shot her a coy look in response, making her insides jump nervously, surprising every nerve in her body. She blushed as she quickly forced her attention on her meal, as her mind began to run in a very unexpected direction.

Nice restaurant. Nice outfit. Combed hair. Extra round of beers. That look he just gave her.

No.

No way.

Maybe?

Not possible.

"So, how's work been?" Joyce asked lamely, seeking any benign topic that would help her get her bearings back as the beer arrived at the table. She swiped it immediately and took a healthy swig.

Hopper groaned and launched into a dull story about his deputies.

She didn't hear a word of it. Instead, her mind launched itself noisily into a frenetic beer fueled tizzy.

It had been years since she had seen that look on Jim Hopper's face, but it wasn't something she could really forget. In fact, it was emblazoned on her memory like a trigger.

It was the same look he would shoot her across the biology classroom every Friday of senior year. A clandestine invitation to skip fifth period for a rendezvous of cigarettes and a heated make out session underneath the bleachers.

The same look he wore when he talked her into going to prom with him despite her father's wishes, egging her on to disobey how grounded she was... because they'd been caught having a rendezvous of cigarettes and making out under the bleachers.

The same look was on his face his final night before shipping out to Vietnam, as he appeared at her window and beckoned for entry. She had let him in willingly and he had stayed all night, wrapped up silently with her body, neither of them knowing if they would ever see each other again.

And here he was, all these years later. After so much shit and so many winding roads. Sitting across from her chatting about his daughter, his house, his town, all back at the scene of their old crimes. Giving her that look again.

…and she hadn't worried about the boys in at least forty-five minutes. It might have been a record.

His shirt looked incredibly good on his biceps.

"What?" Jim asked in surprise.

"Huh?" she sputtered, shaking her head, unsure of where they were in the conversation.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked in amusement.

"Oh…" she said, a twinge of embarrassment playing across her face, "No reason. Sorry,"

"Ooookay," he said, eyeing her suspiciously,

She drained the rest of the beer.

"You know you drank that whole thing," he pointed out amusedly as he pushed his plate to the side and sat back in the booth.

"Did I?" she blanched in surprise, "I'm sorry!"

"Nah, it's fine," he said as he waved his hand to dismiss her worry, "Drunk Joyce is cute. Plus, it's probably good for the town to see the Sheriff driving sober."

"Yes!" she said emphatically, "That's why I did it. I drank this beer as a service to our community!"

Hopper's laugh boomed through the restaurant, and she smiled shyly in return, entirely overwhelmed by the situation. The truth was, he'd always had that affect on her. She had always lived just a little more dangerously in his presence. It was an odd trait, she regarded through her foggy mind as she watched him laugh, because he also made her feel incredibly safe.

The check appeared at the table as his laughter subsided. Joyce reached for her purse, but before she could rummage out any cash, the girl was already gone and Hopper was pocketing his wallet.

"My treat," he said casually as he rose up from the booth, "ready to go?"

"Hop, you didn't need to do that," she contested as she scrambled to her feet while digging in her purse for cash, "Here, let me pay you back."

"It's fine, Joyce," he said as his hand grasped her's firmly, stopping her from continuing her search in her purse. She jumped in surprise. He pulled away quickly and smiled reassuringly, "Just think of it as... prepayment for all of the Eggos you'll probably end up buying to feed my daughter once she's let loose on this town and ends up at your place after school. The girl is a monster for breakfast food."

Joyce laughed loudly as she followed him out of the restaurant, the quest for cash in her purse abandoned.

Hopper and Joyce walked to the truck in the parking lot. The night air had cooled down considerably, more than she'd expected. It was refreshing and worked to clear her mind. Hopper followed Joyce around to the passenger side of the truck. He unlocked the door and gave her a hand to hoist her up before shutting the door and crossing back to his side.

She took the five seconds of alone time to let out a huge exasperated exhale. What was happening? Her body felt hot and icy at the same time, betraying her into thinking she was seventeen again. It was… nice? Weird. Unexpected.

Hopper climbed into the truck, revved the engine, and pulled out without a word.

They drove in silence back to the Wheelers, Joyce working to calm herself, her brain and body swimming in a fuzzy intoxication.

Hopper's truck pulled up behind Joyce's car and he cut the engine. "Ahh… back in time to nervously watch the door while they overstay their curfew," he said wryly, pulling out a cigarette.

"Let 'em," Joyce said with a casual shrug, "they're only young for a few more years."

"Well, Joyce Byers," Hopper said with surprise, "If I didn't know better I'd say that beer loosened you up a bit."

Joyce just smiled, scooted closer to him in the big bank seat, and stole his cigarette, "Maybe I am."

The moments ticked by quietly as they shared a cigarette, watching the clock move closer to 10pm. Her heartbeat picked up paces consistently as their fingers mingled back and forth over the cigarette, and more so as Hopper's arm slid over the bank seat behind her, picking the cigarette from her far hand playfully when she hadn't expected it. His arm, however, did not leave the space once it had settled, and his fingers were now dangerously close to her hair. She could feel every minute movement.

The usual companionable silence that existed between them did not exist in this moment. Instead, the air felt thick, heavy and electric, as though unsaid words were floating through the air. Words that were suddenly knocking at the back of Joyce's teeth, fighting their way out of her lips and slipping through the cracks before she could stop them.

"Jim?" Joyce said suddenly, turning to him. His face was lit dimly by the street light. He looked softer than usual. Timid even. After a delayed moment he averted his eyes to the street.

"Yeah, Joyce?" he replied casually.

"Why are you dressed so nicely tonight?" she asked directly.

Hopper shrugged dismissively with a light laugh, but she could swear she saw the hint of a blush on his cheeks. He didn't respond, but merely shrugged as he took a deep puff on their cigarette.

"Well," she said after a moment, realizing she was not going to get her answer, "You look very nice."

The trace of a shy smile ghosted across his lips as he looked at her from the corner of his eye, shrugging in his trademark fashion, "Well, you always look nice. I felt like I had to try."

Joyce smiled as her chest warmed, "What does that mean?", she asked as she shuffled in her seat, turning to him fully and finding herself closer to him in the process. He did not look at her. She swallowed hard and her voice dropped, liquid courage pushing to the point, "Did you plan this?"

Hopper let out a nervous laugh, refusing to look in her direction, "Well, I didn't think I was going to get interrogated for it but-"

"Jim," she stated quietly. He hesitated, but slowly turned to look at her after a pause. His eyes were vulnerable and nervous. "Thank you for the date," she said quietly as she allowed her body to lean back into his arm. She felt his fingers brush her hair.

"Anytime," he replied quietly.

Maybe it was the second beer or maybe it was something more, but in that moment she had no hesitation. Joyce leaned up and kissed him lightly on the lips, her right hand brushing against the tuft of his beard. It was chaste, simple and sweet. Nothing like the ravenous teenagers they had once been. Something stirred deep within her.

Hopper's eyes were wide with surprise, and a sadness laced through them that she couldn't place. He hesitated for a moment, looking directly at her as if he had just seen her for the first time. "Joyce…" he whispered slowly in his gruff tone, trepidation written across his brow, "did you mean to do that?"

Joyce's features crinkled in surprise as she laughed, "…Do you think I just fell on your face or somethi-" Her sentence ended in a breathless moan against his lips. In a flash, his eyes shifted from surprise to nervousness to unbridled longing. Before she could decipher his movement, his arms had wrapped fully around her slight frame, pulling her to him as though she weighed nothing at all. His lips were rough, unhewn. Her body flooded with a burning as she pressed deeper against his body, deeper against his lips, his large hand lacing through her fine hair as he moaned against her lips. He was still, as he'd always been, the absolute best kisser. A dam broke within her. Her hands reached around his neck as she pulled herself closer, her kiss containing things she could not yet express with words. Things that had bubbled, unindulged, beneath the surface for months, years, and while it was nerve wracking to admit, probably decades.

He breathed deeply against her lips and brought both of his hands up to cup her face softly. "Joyce…I…" he rasped as he laid his forehead against hers, his eyes closed lightly and his breath ragged, "I've wanted to do that for so long."

A long lost insatiable smile played upon Joyce's lips, her heartbeat racing, "Then do it again, Jim."

El and Will trudged up the stairs from the basement together, audibly grumbling because they had to leave earlier than everyone else.

"I can't believe it's already ten," Will sighed.

"I know," El griped as they reached the door.

Will swung the door open and held it for El to leave first. She stepped out and crossed a few feet over the lawn before stopping wide eyed in her tracks.

"El? What's wrong?" Will asked nervously, looking at her.

El pointed silently at the truck. Will gasped, grabbed El's arm, and pulled her back inside, easing the door shut silently.

"Was that what I thought it was?!" he asked, eyes s wide they were about to fall out of his head.

El nodded slowly, her mouth still agape in shock. Will pulled El down against the door out of eye shot. She peeked up ever so slightly, parted the curtains, and peered out quickly. She swiped the curtain shut with a gasp and slid back down the door.

Will breathed heavily as she grasped onto El's arm, "My mom… and your dad…"

"Yeah!" El exclaimed in a whisper, "He combed his hair tonight. For a long time. It was weird."

They sat in silence against the door staring at each other in shock. El climbed back up and peered out of the window again. "Still happening."

"Do you think that means they'll notice if we're late?" Will said suddenly, his tone changing from shock to mischief. El looked back at him, shook her head excitedly. The two scrambled to their feet and bee-lined for the basement stairs, laughing confusedly all the while.

[tkmedia]

Man Utd need Ndidi, and a solution to the Haaland problem…

Your mails don’t have to be about Man Utd but keep them coming anyway. Send mails to theeditor@football365.com… Haaland sorted Erling Haaland to Chelsea? Simple! Dortmund want to keep him for another year. Chelsea want to pay up now to avoid a bidding war next summer when Haaland’s release clause kicks in. There’s a simple solution! Why don’t Chelsea give them £100 this summer to buy him but then loan him back to Dortmund for the upcoming season. Dortmund get what they want and Chelsea get what they want. Bing! Bang! Bosh! Thanks. Tim (CFC) Ireland Varane and Sancho not enough As happy I am at Manchester United signing Varane – with weeks left in the transfer window no less – I still don’t believe there will be a massive difference. Unless a top class defensive midfielder is signed, it will be more of the same… flattering to deceive. Varane is used to be playing with top level defensive midfielders both at Real and for France. I wonder how shocked he’ll be when he has McFred infront of him running around looking busy but not actually defending anything. With Leicester signing Soumare you’d think they are already ready for Ndidi leaving. Perhaps we could test the waters? I also would not mind Kessie from AC Milan who i watched run our midfield over two legs. Just keep Declan Rice away from Old Trafford. Longsight Lad F365 Says: Ole can’t go balls out with Varane alone The Pogba conundrum A lot of people have surmised that Paul Pogba has played well in multiple teams, such as Juve and France, or he has only played well when supported by high class talents. Some may say that the quality on offer in Italy is not as good, or perhaps the quality when he was there. Some may say that next to Kante, any midfielder will look better. So let’s break it down. Truth goes first. Pogba left England at a young age and went to Juventus. He joined the Italian champions, who would win the title in each of his four seasons. This is where the Real/Mythical Pogba was born. All action midfielder, very dynamic, given a license to roam and capable of a nice thunderbastard. Here, he flourished. This is true. During his career representing France, he has lost the Euro 2016 final at home to Portugal, and won the 2018 world cup vs Croatia. For France, he has looked almost as dangerous as he did for Juve, despite playing in a more tactically disciplined role. He is tasked with pulling the strings and sending those long balls for Mbappe, Griezmann and Dembele to chase. His first 3 games of the Euro’s showed exactly what he is capable of. This is true. At United, he doesn’t appear to be the Real/Mythical Pogba, why? Like most things, the proof lies in the details. At Juve, he had the honor of having the leadership and skills of Buffon in nets, a back three of Chiellini, Bonucci & Barzagli, flanked by Lichsteiner and Alex Sandro, with the mercurial Pirlo in front of them to protect. Alongside Pogba, were the box-to-box abilities of Vidal/Marchisio. This gave Pogba an outrageous amount of protection, while at the same time allowing him to be the man to dribble forward with the ball, take that long shot, attempt those long passes, safe in the knowledge he has an army of experienced defenders behind him. It made him worth 85M. Now, for France he does not appear to be as dynamic or dangerous, but not one bit less necessary for the team. With the previously mentioned three, and others, Pogba does not need to make the runs forward he would normally do at Juve. He is instead tasked with using his passing range and carrying the ball forward. It has evidently worked and it has evidently not. He has won the WC, His mistake cost them in the last Euro’s. For protection here, he has Lloris in nets, Varane and Kimpembe/Umtiti at CB with Hernandez and Pavard at fullback(Two defenders who can play CB) and he would partner with Kante and Matuidi(World cup winners) or just Kante( Euros). United in this time has not come close to either team’s level of quality when it comes to adequate protection for a player like Pogba. He has never had a midfield partner to the standard of Pirlo/Vidal/Kante and he has not had the quality of experience at the back either to match Chielini/Bonucci/Varane. This year may be different. If United could sign, let’s say, Ndidi. Pogba would have an experienced goalkeeper, experienced quality CB’s and fullbacks, midfield partners who have the discipline to protect him and forwards who will move into the spaces necessary. However, PSG would be the better choice for him. He has the quality goalkeeper in Donnarumma, a back three of Ramos, Marquinhos and Kimpembe. Bernat and Hakimi at fullback are great options. Gini can be their Vidal, Veratti can be their Pirlo. Add in the forwards, Neymar, Mbappe and Icardi, and you have a team that can more than match the ability of his successful Juve side. This all leaves us with the feeling of why? Why create all of this for just him? Well, you have to watch him to understand. Those first three games for France at the Euro’s. That run of form after Mourinho was sacked, where he scored and assisted 8 in 5 games. At his best he is an unstoppable machine capable of the delicate, and the dangerous. All you need to do is to listen to pro’s talk about playing against him to get it, and then watch his highlights for your eyes to get it too. That said, he is also such a liability, and this is why I would prefer to see him in that PSG team. United should use those funds to replace him with a solid CDM and a dynamic midfield passer, a la Scholes. He is a liability because he has often had brain farts at major moments, in major games. His giving away and taking of penalties record is horrible. Like at this Euros, when you take away the box-to-box partner he needed for the WC, even just Kante can’t save you, and he made Danny Drinkwater a 35M Midfielder. He does the magic many cannot, But in a team where Bruno is our main performer, there is not much space for the luxuries of Paul Pogba. You will get the screamer, and then be turned into a screamer, for his efforts. Calvino Rashford’s decision Can’t say I agree with JB. Rashford definitely looks like he’s been carrying an injury for some time to me. As for saying that if it was actually something wrong, you’d just get it fixed… it would be nice if it was that clean cut, but that’s just not how surgery works. I don’t know exactly what the nature of Rashford’s injury is, or what the surgical solution is, but the surgery could have a less than ideal success rate, it could only be a partial solution, it could leave the recipient with permanent (but lesser) pain in the affected area, surgery may only offer a temporary solution to an inherent problem that will eventually recur… There are plenty of reasons why a young guy may want to reflect on a choice between managing an injury versus going under the knife, or the exact timing of the surgery. But really, why is it such a big deal if the club was less than truthful in order to protect the player? Maybe it is made up and the issue is a sensitive one that the player doesn’t want widely known – like the early days of Darren Fletcher’s ulcerative colitis, or a mental health issue… Or maybe they are just making it up to alleviate pressure around bad form; sounds a perfectly valid tactic to me… what, if anything, is wrong with him isn’t really anyone’s business but his and his employer’s. Why don’t the press call them out on their BS? Probably because it isn’t newsworthy… Andy (MUFC) Wednesday’s PM Mailbox: How did a ‘useless PE teacher’ sign Varane? Lamela was a ‘liability’ and… Straw grasping Biscuit Dave – do you work in PR or marketing? There’s some wonderful creative framing going on in your description of United’s key players this morning. Listen, I get United are delighted to have finally signed a defender who looks competent in all areas of play rather than just a selected few, but to describe him as ‘the most successful centre back under 30’ is clearly heavily caveated so as to avoid anyone who didn’t hoover up Champions League medals at Real for most of the last decade, and even then you have to limit the age range so as to exclude his way more successful defensive partner. England’s best centre-back? John Stones is clearly why you’ve switched from ‘most successful’ to (a very subjective) ‘best’. John Stones might occasionally drop a bollock, but Maguire is always slow and one-footed. I know who I’d rather have. And to finish, a wonderful combo designed so as to exclude any striker under the age of about 29, yet not position Cavani behind of any of those he’s being compared to – ‘one of the best centre forwards in Europe over the last 10 years.’ Yeah, he’s been one of the best over that timeframe, but you’d probably find few outside of Salford who’d rate him above the other obvious names in that bracket such as Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Muller or Benzema. Even the intro to the group of players includes ‘(on paper)’. Absolute joyous and meaningless nonsense, and why I love the Mailbox. Jonny (on paper, one of the best bearded players over 6 foot tall between the ages of 42-45 in my street) Dance …Oh Biscuit Dave, I just have no idea how Ole gets these players to sign for the club with the highest wage bill in the country. Maybe he sent them a VHS of the time he did that tap in. And as for best English centre back, I think Joe Gomez (PL, CL) might have a word with Maguire(…….). United are back at the big boy table now. No more playing for nil nils or bragging rights when the leagues already lost. Ole has to do what only a small handful of managers have ever done and beat Pep in the league. No excuses now. Not injuries, not VAR, not playing on Thursdays after Christmas. He’s been spending like Man United, he needs to win like Man United. That means the league. United fans would do well to let their team do the talking on the pitch this season. Next year has to be their year. Anything else would be a failure for them. Alex, South London Ole: the good, the bad, and the ugly The Good: Ole took over a toxic situation from a toxic man in Mourinho. He was seen as a short term option to raise morale and see out the season. He nailed it, so much so, United gave him the job full time. I was concerned about this as Pochetino seemed like the better option. But I am not Ed Woodward, so I just had to sit back and hope for the best. What I did know was that we had a former player in the hot seat, we had a manager that fully understood what a successful United is, and the importance of sticking to the United way- Fast, attacking football, with local youths reperesting the club. It is a manager who has won trophies as a manager( Albeit in Norway, that said, his side were not favourites) From the get-go, you could tell the players where in a more comfortable environment, and happier for it. The results were not bad and by the end of his first full season, we had finished in the top 3, and reached 3 semi-finals. Last season we went a step further in both regards, finishing second in the league and reaching the Europa final. Despite a loss in the final, progress was definitely made. He has improved players as well. Greenwood has come on leaps, the best we have seen from Pogba has been on his watch. He added Maguire and AWB to make a sh*t defence solid, and he has them consistently getting high ratings without it really being noticed. His transfers have been the best since Fergie has left. He signs players that we need, but who also appear to have the right mental capacity to be a United player. Maguire, Fernandes, AWB, Varane, Sancho- These are all amazing players, but more importantly, the types of players we have needed and missed out on/Never went for. Tactically, he has beaten the best, and last season’s sensational comebacks should be seen as proof of this, instead of it being another ‘luck’ stick to beat him with. The Bad: I feel bad saying bad things about him, but then when I think about it, there is not much bad to him. He is nice and friendly, he doesn’t abuse, belittle or blame his players. You could say that tactically, he is maybe not as seasoned as your Mourninho’s or Pochettino’s, and he does not appear to have a preferred system such as Pep or Klopp. But Pep aside, not one of them was successful last year. You could say his use of substitutes can improve, as we learned in the lost final. We also learned in that game that, on occasion, he can be like a deer in the headlights when the opposition is delivering a masterclass. His interviews- this is where I think most people get their feeling for Ole, from. He just doesn’t scream anything, it’s never really emotional, engaging, or inspirational. He does not say anything truly wild or thought provoking. He just….is. The Ugly: The ugly I find is in his presence, so many are frustrated. It’s like your ex dating some really nice guy. You don’t want to like him, and he has given you no reason not to, but you still do. I don’t even think a trophy would do it, unless it is the league, and in a convincing way. But already people are saying he should win the league with this team, so we will see. He took over United in a similar way to that of Klopp at Liverpool. He achieved better success in his first full season than Klopp did in his. His second full season ended up in a losing european final(Albeit the Champions league for Liverpool) and a higher league finish than Liverpool. He is currently on an upward trajectory that should be seen as highly positive, yet, perhaps because he doesn’t have a thrilling tactical system and perhaps a slight lack of ‘Charisma’, he is being seen as lucky or unfit for purpose. Luckily, the United board does not. Calvino (His spending is about on par with Klopp in that time too)

Rule changes Three rule changes to improve “The Game”. 1. Stop the clock when the ball is out of play (e.g., throw ins, corners, subs, goal kicks). Simple…removes doubt, rewards playing. No stoppage time and reduce the 90 minute game time if needs be. Probably advanced by many others before me, but let’s ease into this. 2. Introduce sin bins. We need a card between the yellow and red (e.g., orange). The reason players “take one for the team” (e.g., yellow card with little time left to play), is because the balance between reward and punishment is…unbalanced. “Tactical fouls” go against good play/skill and are only supported by idiot hipsters (e.g., “Chiellini on Saka, is brilliant defending”. Nah, it’s cheating). Deliver the punishment within the game the crime occurred, and create jeopardy for cheaters. 3. Make VAR reviews the decision of managers or captains. I think most people want good skill and fairness, not decision making perfection/porn – they are different and the latter does not exist…as far as I’m aware. No fan wants to “cheat” their way to a win (think Henry handball against Ireland, Lampard’s phantom goal against Germany or Maradona’s handball), particularly in a significant game. But do we really care that a marginal offside or free-kick occurred 2 minutes before a goal? I don’t…get on with it, play on, tackle, defend. Use the tennis review model (i.e., 2 reviews per set and you keep them if you get your review right) to remove the obvious and impactful mistakes, but don’t make a video referee the central character in a game of physical skill. If you like decision based dramas, go and watch A Few Good Men. Dissecting grey areas is dull, futile and comes at the cost of the overall shape and integrity of the game. If Liverpool 3-3 AC Milan, or Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle is less likely with VAR, then remove it until you have something that doesn’t make it so (N.B., I am a football not Liverpool fan). Last thing… We are all controlled by others…ultimately high finance, PR, and Government, in some shape, form or collaboration. Moments of joy are few and far between. I don’t think we should allow The Man to place himself in front of one of the few moments of uncontrived joy left…put that power in the hands of your “elected” managers and captains, make it part of the game…and most importantly deliver fairness not officiousness. Nick (not The Man) P.s. Imagine Wenger/Mourinho/Fergie/ arguing they thought the ref had a bad game after they called 2 decisions wrong themselves… Already seems worth it. Non-perfect perfect goals Adding to Paul from Brussels mail about perfect goals that come out of left field where there looks to be no chance to score, my favourites are the goals from players that rarely get close but suddenly spot an opportunity. When they score there is this look of bewilderment followed by sheer joy, it’s the pure fun you have playing as a kid. As I am biased, check out Makelele’s goal against Spurs. Not only a great goal but he just stood still for a split second before realising he’d actually scored, and the reaction from the rest of the team says it all. Blue Chelsea Blue Read the full article

[expatimes]

Beware of COVID scams as vaccine nears

The coronavirus vaccine inching toward approval in the US is desperately anticipated by weary Americans longing for a path back to normal life. But criminals are waiting, too, ready to use that desperation to their advantage, federal investigators say. Homeland Security investigators are working with Pfizer, Moderna and dozens of other drug companies racing to complete and distribute the vaccine and treatments for the virus.

The goal: to prepare for the scams that are coming, especially after the mess of criminal activity this year with phony personal protective equipment, false cures and extortion schemes. “We're all very excited about the potential vaccine and treatments,” said Steve Francis, assistant director for global trade investigations with Homeland Security Investigations. "But I also caution against these criminal organizations and individuals that will try to exploit the American public." No vaccine has yet been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA has approved the first treatment for COVID-19, the antiviral drug remdesivir. With vaccines and treatments both, it has warned about the potential for fraud. “The FDA is particularly concerned that these deceptive and misleading products might cause Americans to delay or stop appropriate medical treatment, leading to serious and life-threatening harm,” the agency said in a recent statement.

The drug companies are to have safeguards and brand-protection features in place to help avoid fraud, but that may not be available until the second generation of vaccine because everything is operated on such an emergency basis, said Karen Gardner, chief marketing officer at SIPCA North America, a company that works as a bridge between the government, businesses and consumers. She said that makes it more important to educate health care providers on what the real thing looks like. “When you have anything in high demand and limited supply, there is going to be fraud,” she said. Desperation will drive people around normal channels.

Meanwhile, investigators are learning about how the vaccine will be packaged and getting the message out to field agents, creating a mass database of information from more than 200 companies, so they can be prepared to spot fakes and crack down on dangerous fraud. They are monitoring tens of thousands of false websites and looking for evidence of fake cures sold online. Earlier this year as cases exploded, hospitals and governments grew short on masks, gloves and other protective gear.

Scams grew, too. Tricksters preyed on unwitting citizens to hand over money for goods they'd never receive. Homeland Security Investigations started using its 7,000 agents in tandem with border, FDA and FBI officials to investigate scams, seize phony products and arrest hundreds of people. The effort is headquartered at the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, a government watchdog aimed at enforcement of its international trade laws and combating intellectual property theft.

The agency has already analyzed more than 70,900 websites suspected as being involved in some type of COVID-19 fraud. Millions of fake or unapproved personal protective equipment products and antiviral pharmaceuticals were seized. Homeland Security Investigations made more than 1,600 seizures of products worth more than $ 27 million and made more than 185 arrests. Home test kits, for example, were only recently made available to the public in the past few weeks. But investigators seized tens of thousands of fake kits in the months before. On the dark web, scammers were selling domain names like “coronaprevention.org,” attractive to counterfeiters. In the US alone, more than 1,000 fake websites a day have been removed during the pandemic. A vaccine can't come fast enough, as virus cases have topped 13 million in the US and many cities have started restricting movement again as the country heads into winter.

The pandemic has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide, more than 266,000 of them in the US, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. But Francis and other investigators are worried that desperation will make Americans more susceptible. If the FDA allows emergency use of a vaccine, there will be limited, rationed supplies before the end of the year. Gen. Gus Perna, in charge of the government efforts to distribute the vaccine, said on CBS '“60 Minutes” the government was prepared to distribute the vaccine within 24 hours of approval. There's a stockpile of the prospective vaccine itself plus kits of needles, syringes and alcohol swabs needed to give the dose.

The secret stash is watched by armed guards. “We have taken extraordinary precaution in this area,” he said. "It's such a commodity to us, we're taking the full steps to make sure that the vaccine's secure." Who is first in line has yet to be decided. But Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the hope is that enough doses are available by the end of January to vaccinate adults over age 65, who are at the highest risk from the coronavirus, and health care workers.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US government top infectious-diseases expert, said it may take until spring or summer before anyone who is not high risk and wants a shot can get one. States already are gearing up for what is expected to be the biggest vaccination campaign in US history. First the shots have to arrive where they're needed, and Pfizer's must be kept at ultra-cold temperatures - around minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 70 degrees Celsius.

Moderna's vaccine also starts off frozen, but the company said it can be thawed and kept in a regular refrigerator for 30 days, easing that concern. Governments in other countries and the World Health Organization, which aims to buy doses for poor nations, will have to decide separately if and when vaccines should be rolled out broadly. Meanwhile, Homeland Security investigators and others are trying to send the message now to the public before the vaccines are approved and begin distribution. They say people should only get a vaccine from an approved medical provider. They shouldn't respond to calls seeking personal information. And they shouldn't click on social media posts purporting to sell cures. “If it sounds too good to be true, it is,” Francis said. (AP)

The post Beware of COVID scams as vaccine nears appeared first on ARAB TIMES - KUWAIT NEWS.

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[njawaidofficial]

Taylor Swift And Karlie Kloss Are Still Friends And I Have All The Receipts To Prove It

https://styleveryday.com/2018/03/20/taylor-swift-and-karlie-kloss-are-still-friends-and-i-have-all-the-receipts-to-prove-it/

Taylor Swift And Karlie Kloss Are Still Friends And I Have All The Receipts To Prove It

There’s no feud here, people.

Over the past few months, rumours have been swirling that the once inseparable Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss are no longer friends.

Leon Neal / AFP / Getty Images

Things began after Karlie’s name failed to appear on the T shirt covered with the names of Taylor’s friends in the “Look What You Made Me Do” video, and the speculation has been raging ever since.

Big Machine Records

However, over the weekend Karlie diffused rumours of a rift, confirming that she and Taylor are still friends and saying “people shouldn’t believe everything they read.”

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Now that Karlie has spoken, I am here with all the receipts from the past few months to prove that Taylor 👏 Swift 👏 and 👏 Karlie 👏 Kloss’ 👏 friendship 👏 is 👏 fine.

CBS

First up, let’s deal with that damn T-shirt. We know that Taylor shot the “LWYMMD” video in May, meaning that the T-shirt would have been conceptualised before then. We also know from the work of Taylor Swift detectives that Karlie and Taylor both attended Gigi Hadid’s birthday party in April.

So in order for Karlie’s name to have been omitted on purpose, the pair must have somehow had time in the space of a couple of weeks to have a monumental bust up so severe that Taylor decided to spontaneously incorporate it into her art. Given how much time and attention Taylor gives to every last part of her videos, this seems unlikely.

Big Machine Records

Next, cast your mind back to August 2017. After Taylor wiped her social media profiles, she made a dramatic return to Instagram with this announcement.

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And who liked it almost immediately?

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In November, the 51st Country Music Awards took place. Unfortunately, since it was the same week as Reputation‘s release, Taylor couldn’t attend because she had a pretty important appearance on Saturday Night Live to prepare for.

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However, who was in attendance? Only Miss Karlie Kloss herself.

Michael Loccisano / Getty Images

Not only did Karlie attend, but she was also selected to present Taylor with the most prestigious award of the night: Song of the Year.

CMA

Now, let’s be clear – the CMAs are very much Taylor’s stomping ground. Not only is she one of the most successful country artists in history, but over the years Taylor has been awarded 12 times at the CMAs. It goes without saying, then, that Taylor probably calls the shots when it comes to this event.

If she were in a deep and bitter feud with Karlie, it seems unlilely that Taylor would even want her former BFF there, let alone on stage presenting her with an award – especially since Karlie has little connection to the country music scene. And yet there she was, on stage reading out Taylor’s name.

Jason Davis / Getty Images

What’s more, just look how damn happy Karlie was to announce that Taylor had won!

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This to me looks like the face of a supportive BFF, not an enemy.

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And as if to prove there were no hard feelings, she also tweeted this which is happy and lovely and positive.

Twitter: @taylorswift13

OK, onto exhibit D. In late November, Karlie celebrated the birthday of her and Taylor’s mutual friend, Lily Alridge. Karlie chose to mark the occasion not with a photo of her and Lily, but one in which Taylor was also present.

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Seeing as Lily and Karlie have known each other for eight years it seems likely that they’d have a bunch of photos together. So why choose this one? Probably because there was no feud.

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Well, Karlie delivered. She posted this cute photo of the pair on Instagram and Twitter.

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The choice of photo should have reasurred everyone that things were fine between Taylor and Karlie, because this was a never-seen-before BTS shot from their iconic 2015 Vogue cover.

The shoot was a recreation of the road trip the girls took in the early stages of their friendship.

Vogue

Vogue

In fact, the trip and the Vogue cover were such a big deal to Taylor that she even has the photos framed in her home.

Vogue

And she also used another BTS photo from the shoot to wish Karlie a happy birthday in 2016.

Instagram: @taylorswift

Throwing it back to such an important time in their friendship was pretty sentimental move if you ask me.

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Later in December Taylor was unveiled as one of the cover stars of Time’s “Person of the Year” issue, dedicated to the women who had spoken out against sexual harassment and assault.

Earlier in the year Taylor won a lawsuit against the man who sexually assaulted her in 2013.

Time

And as she flew home for Christmas, Karlie shared a photo of her inflight reading material. No prizes for guessing what it was.

Yep. She posted this photo of herself reading the magazine to her Instagram stories.

Time

Now, I know what you’re thinking – at this point things feels a bit one-sided on Karlie’s behalf. So it’s worth pointing out that since Taylor wiped clean her social media and and went all incognito for this album cycle, she hasn’t publicly interacted with any of her close friends and family.

She didn’t publicly acknowledge the birthdays of Gigi Hadid, Lily Alridge, Cara Delevingne, Camila Cabello and her brother Austin. She also failed to publicly acknowledge Lorde’s Grammy nomination, Ed Sheeran’s engagement or her closest childhood friend’s wedding. The fact that Taylor hasn’t interacted with Karlie on social media isn’t proof that they’re not friends; she hasn’t interacted with anyone.

Big Machine Records

Which is why looking at the social media activity of Taylor and Karlie’s friends is very interesting.

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Let me introduce you to Abigail, Taylor’s long-time best friend and confidante since high school.

They’ve been through many highs and lows together – Abigail supported Taylor when she was being bullied, Taylor wrote a song about Abigail’s hearbreak and she was also maid of honour at Abigail’s wedding last summer.

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It’s safe to say that Abigail is the epitome of a loyal best friend, especially since Taylor became famous. So her Instagram likes are very interesting.

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Because despite the “feud,” Abigail has continued to like a bunch of Karlie’s Instagram photos. In fact, here are just a few of the photos she’s “liked” throughout the months when Taylor and Karlie were said to be feuding.

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Perhaps the most interesting like was on this photo of Karlie at the Country Music Awards – that important night which all but confirmed she and Taylor were fine.

Would Abigail really still be in touch with and/or liking Karlie’s photos if she and Taylor had actually fallen out?

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And if that’s not enough to convince you, let’s recall the fact that Taylor and Karlie have a history of describing one another as “sisters” or “family.”

Twitter: @karliekloss

Well, their families are really close too. So close, in fact, that even Karlie’s sisters are still publicly communicating with Taylor.

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Karlie’s sister Kimby not only wished Taylor a happy birthday, but chose a photo featuring Karlie for the message.

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And then on the eve of her 23rd birthday, Kimby shared this photo alongside a very ~familiar~ caption.

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👀

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But perhaps most convincingly of all is the fact that while Swifties were spamming Karlie with the rat emoji after she was photographed with Katy Perry, a fan begged her to confirm that she and Taylor were OK.

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And who should respond but Karlie’s ACTUAL DAD, confirming that Taylor and Karlie are still friends.

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So now we know they’re fine, the countdown is on until we receive the next Kaylor candid. Please don’t make us wait too long, ladies.

CBS

[wsmith215]

2020 NFL mock expansion draft

I love a good expansion draft. It has been 18 years since the NFL last expanded by adding a franchise in Houston, but while organizations have moved across the country since then, we’ve yet to see any serious consideration paid toward adding teams to the 32-squad setup. The biggest reason, of course, is money: NFL owners already have to split their massive revenue streams with 31 other teams, and that would be shared further if the league added one or two teams.

On the other hand, by adding two teams, the NFL would be able to add an additional game for television each week without having to concede any more money to its players. With the Texans paying $700 million as a franchise fee in 2002, Forbes estimated in 2012 that new franchises would pay between $1 billion and $1.5 billion. With Forbes now suggesting the average NFL franchise is worth $2.8 billion, the cost for a franchise fee could be north of $2 billion per team. In a league that has made repeated overtures toward the international market to fuel future growth, could London and Mexico City eventually be the 33rd and 34th NFL teams?

Let’s try to see what one of those teams might look like if the league decided to expand overnight, following most of the rules from the Texans’ expansion draft.

The rules of the expansion draft

When I last did this exercise in 2016, I followed the 2002 rules as closely as possible. That was in March, though, before the draft and free agency. As we sit here in June, I’ll have to make some slight changes to the rules to account for the different timing. It won’t materially impact the players each team makes available, although a few veterans on questionable contracts were released to the open market when they would have been made available to our expansion team.

2 Related

All 32 teams have to make five players available in the expansion draft, and only one of those players can have 10 or more years of NFL experience. The crucial difference for this draft is that every player nominated must have played at least one snap for their team in 2019. This eliminates any 2020 draft picks or undrafted free agents. It also means players who missed the entire season via injury, such as Alex Smith, can’t be left exposed. Punters and kickers can’t be included, and I’ll limit myself to a maximum of two players off any one roster.

For each team, I chose the five players I felt each team would be most comfortable losing as part of an expansion draft. In some cases, those were players who were already on the fringes of making their respective teams. In other cases, I picked players whose contacts would be considered a burden their old team would love to escape, even if it meant losing a veteran contributor.

Our new franchise has to pick 30 players or acquire contracts equal to 38% of the salary cap, which is just over $75.3 million. While teams normally have to deal with salary-cap acceleration if they cut or trade a veteran in the middle of a long-term deal, they won’t have to do that here. The expansion team will be able to pick up the remainder of their contracts, including all the remaining bonus proration and guaranteed money.

The cap was a much bigger concern in 2002, which led teams to make plenty of expensive players available. The cap isn’t quite as demanding in 2020, but with the possibility of the cap temporarily contracting in 2021, there are teams that would be willing to throw an unexpected veteran or two into this draft.

The Texans took offensive tackle Tony Boselli with the first pick of the 2002 expansion draft, but he never played a game for the franchise. AP Photo/Pat Sullivan

I’ll go team by team, detail why some well-known players might have been made available and explain my choices. There’s not going to be an expansion draft in real life, but this should give us a sense of what’s happening on the bottom of NFL rosters.

Let’s start in the AFC, where some of those well-known players pop up quickly, including a pair of quarterbacks. I’ll list the five players from each team, then bold my selections.

Jump to a team: ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND JAX | KC | LAC | LAR | LV | MIA | MIN NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF SEA | TB | TEN | WSH

View the full expansion roster

AFC EAST

RB T.J. Yeldon ($1,900,000 salary for 2020) DT Vincent Taylor ($825,000) My pick: WR Robert Foster ($750,000) G Ike Boettger ($750,000) CB Jaquan Johnson ($721,085)

The Bills have one of the league’s deepest rosters, making it difficult to abide by the rules without leaving at least one useful player available. Foster appeared to break out at the end of 2018, when he racked up 438 receiving yards over a five-game stretch, but Buffalo buried him on the depth chart over the following offseason. He caught just three of his 18 targets in 2019, but we’re going to take a shot on the 26-year-old’s upside.

WR Albert Wilson ($4,333,334) My pick: QB Josh Rosen ($2,169,796) G Adam Pankey ($825,000) LB James Crawford ($750,000) WR Gary Jennings ($675,000)

Another obvious upside play is Rosen, who has been unplayable behind dismal offensive lines since being drafted with the 10th overall pick in 2018. His experiences with Arizona and Miami might have broken him, but our organization should be willing to take the risk.

Rosen has no future with the Dolphins after they drafted Tua Tagovailoa, and the team would save $5.2 million over the next two years by letting him leave.

My pick: DE Deatrich Wise Jr. ($2,278,140) My pick: G Jermaine Eluemunor ($2,133,000) RB Brandon Bolden ($1,987,500) TE Ryan Izzo ($767,267) WR Gunner Olszewski ($675,833)

The Patriots are perennially one of the league’s deepest teams, and we’ll go to them for two players.

Wise is entering the final year of his rookie deal at defensive end, and Bill Belichick typically prefers to churn young talent at defensive end. Wise has some pass-rushing upside — 11.5 sacks and 45 knockdowns over his first three seasons — but he isn’t as effective against the run, and he was overwhelmed in the wild-card loss to the Titans.

ESPN Illustration

Eluemunor profiles as a utility lineman for this team. The Patriots last year traded a fourth-round pick to Baltimore for Eluemunor and a sixth-round selection, but he played only 29 offensive snaps. With Eluemunor also hitting free agency next year and both Joe Thuney and Shaq Mason under contract, it’s no guarantee that Eluemunor makes the 53-man roster for the Patriots, who could free up cap space by using 2019 fourth-rounder Hjalte Froholdt as their reserve guard. Given the paucity of available tackles, we might even try the 332-pound Eluemunor as a swing tackle.

RB Le’Veon Bell ($15,468,750) OL Conor McDermott ($825,000) RB Josh Adams ($750,000) LB Frankie Luvu ($675,000) WR Jeff Smith ($610,000)

After years of subpar drafts, the Jets have little to show on the back of their roster. Let’s talk about the big name. They would love to move on from Bell’s lofty contract, but despite suggestions at the trade deadline, no team wants to take on the money owed to the former Steelers star, let alone give up a meaningful player or draft pick in return.

The Jets had no way to move on from Bell this offseason, but this would be a way out of the $13.5 million in remaining guarantees they owe the 28-year-old. Alas, unless we can get them to attach a draft pick, our organization isn’t interested in spending a premium at running back. We’ll pass on the Jets.

AFC NORTH

My pick: CB Anthony Averett ($915,249) WR Jaleel Scott ($895,095) My pick: DT Justin Ellis ($887,500) WR De’Anthony Thomas ($775,000) QB Trace McSorley ($715,172)

On the other hand, the Ravens have one of the deepest rosters in the league, so let’s grab two players from them.

Averett was a starter early in 2019, but he lost his spot altogether after Marcus Peters arrived in a trade at midseason. Averett is going to be one of our starting corners.

Ellis was once a starting tackle for the Raiders, and he could figure into the rotation at nose tackle to replace Michael Pierce, but we’ll grab the 350-pounder as a run-plugger.

C Billy Price ($3,194,315) CB Greg Mabin ($825,000) WR Stanley Morgan ($675,000) DB Trayvon Henderson ($675,000) WR Trenton Irwin ($610,000)

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The standout salary here belongs to Price, a 2018 first-round pick who just hasn’t been very good as a pro. The Bengals have had one of the worst lines in football over the past two years, and Price wasn’t even able to crack the starting lineup for half of 2019. He still has $1.5 million in guaranteed money left on his deal in 2020. The 25-year-old would be a nice upside play under the right circumstances, but we’re going to go for more talented interior linemen available elsewhere.

WR Taywan Taylor ($896,500) DT Justin Zimmer ($750,000) LB Tae Davis ($750,000) My pick: S J.T. Hassell ($675,000) DE Rob McCray ($610,000)

Let’s focus on special teams here by adding Hassell, who made it to the NFL in 2019 despite having the use of just one hand. The Florida Tech product has great speed, and he was an effective special-teamer as a rookie; he’ll fill that role for us as a third or fourth safety.

My pick: LB Olasunkanmi Adeniyi ($755,000) My pick: RB Kerrith Whyte ($675,000) WR Deon Cain ($675,000) LB Robert Spillane ($675,000) QB Devlin Hodges ($675,000)

It’s no surprise that the Steelers are another team we’re targeting for two expansion picks.

Hodges is the most famous player on this list after stepping in as Pittsburgh’s third starting quarterback last season; but after posting a 30.1 Total QBR, he looks like a replacement-level backup. I’d rather go with Rosen, who had more upside coming out of college.

Instead, we’ll go for one player on either side of the ball. Whyte was one of the many running backs the Steelers trotted out last season, as the former Bears seventh-rounder toted the rock 24 times for 122 yards. He’ll figure in as a runner, but he is more likely to make an impact as our kick returner.

Adeniyi is a promising athlete who led the Steelers in the 2018 preseason with three sacks, but he played just 62 snaps on defense last season. The Steelers drafted Alex Highsmith in the third round, and he is likely to be their primary reserve at outside linebacker. Adeniyi needs regular defensive reps, and we’re in a position to give him them.

AFC SOUTH

My pick: WR Keke Coutee ($932,256) LB Tyrell Adams ($810,000) RB Buddy Howell ($750,000) CB Cornell Armstrong ($750,000) WR Steve Mitchell Jr. ($675,000)

Coutee’s sophomore season was disappointing, as the 2018 fourth-rounder didn’t have a regular role in the lineup. When he was on the field, he mixed in a fumble and a pair of drops, including one that led to a game-sealing interception late in a loss to the Colts. The move to sign Randall Cobb likely sealed Coutee’s short-term fate in Houston, but there’s still promise there.

Coutee has averaged 1.55 yards per route as a pro over the past two years, right in line with guys such as Sterling Shepard (1.50), Danny Amendola (1.53) and Cobb (1.57). Coutee is going to be our primary slot receiver.

My pick: QB Jacoby Brissett ($21,375,000) WR Chad Williams ($825,000) TE Matt Lengel ($825,000) LB Matthew Adams ($775,395) My pick: WR Ashton Dulin ($675,000)

Our most expensive player and our likely Week 1 starting quarterback will be Brissett, whose 50.1 Total QBR in 2019 was actually better than that of his replacement, Philip Rivers (48.6). Brissett has been a low-risk, low-reward option over his two stretches as a starter with the Colts, averaging 6.6 yards per attempt in 2017 and matching that rate last season. I’d also argue he was playing behind a struggling offensive line in 2017 and was hit by injuries at wide receiver last season. He is going to protect the football and avoid putting our defense in terrible situations, and while that’s not really a quarterback worth $20 million per season, there still might be upside with the 27-year-old. The Colts would free up nearly $16 million in guaranteed money by letting their backup behind Rivers leave in this draft.

Jacoby Brissett is the No. 2 quarterback in Indianapolis after he had a subpar 2019 season. AP Photo/Don Wright

We’re also going to take a flier on Dulin, who is 6-foot-1 and ran a 4.43 40 at 215 pounds last year. An undrafted free agent out of Division II Malone University, he spent 2019 on the back of the Indy roster, mostly playing special teams and eventually seeing time on kick returns. Our roster already has three wideouts — and more to come — but Dulin is an interesting dart throw.

My pick: G Andrew Norwell ($12,000,000) RB Leonard Fournette ($8,638,907) My pick: CB Parry Nickerson ($750,000) WR C.J. Board ($675,000) LB Dakota Allen ($675,000)

The Jaguars made plenty of moves to try to clear cap space this offseason, but they weren’t able to get off two big deals. Nobody wanted Fournette’s contract, even after his $4.2 million base salary for 2020 was voided by suspension; we would be forced to inherit the $4.5 million remaining from his signing bonus, making his deal even less appealing.

On the other hand, we’ll take a shot on Norwell, who hasn’t lived up to expectations since signing a five-year, $66.5 million deal with Jacksonville in 2018. We would essentially be signing Norwell to a three-year, $43 million deal with $9 million guaranteed after the Jags restructured his deal; on the open market, he would get a smaller average salary, but with more money guaranteed. The former Panthers standout is an above-average guard with a great season (2017) on his résumé; he should be able to lock down one guard spot and protect Brissett from interior pressure.

Nickerson, who has bounced around three organizations over his first two years, will compete for work as a slot corner.

CB Chris Milton ($840,000) S Joshua Kalu ($750,000) DT Joey Ivie ($675,000) WR Cody Hollister ($675,000) WR Rashard Davis ($610,000)

The Titans have a deep roster, but they actually skate by without having to offer much up by our rules. These five players combined for just 76 snaps on either offense or defense a year ago. We’ll move on without drafting a player.

AFC WEST

CB Isaac Yiadom ($974,129) My pick: DT Kyle Peko ($825,000) TE Troy Fumagalli ($820,450) WR Fred Brown ($675,000) OL Patrick Morris ($675,000)

Yiadom has failed to impress since being drafted in the third round in 2018, and I’m not sure he is going to develop into a starter. He could be a reclamation project. But I’m a little more interested in Peko, who bounced around the league in 2019 before making his way back to the Broncos, where he played one special-teams snap to qualify for this list. Domata Peko Sr.’s cousin has flashed promise during the preseason but has only 204 defensive snaps to show over his first four pro seasons; we’ll give him a shot at regular playing time.

LB Anthony Hitchens ($12,692,500) DE Alex Okafor ($7,221,875) LB Dorian O’Daniel ($963,879) My pick: RB Darrel Williams ($755,000) WR Gehrig Dieter ($675,000)

• Big questions » | Power Rankings » • Free agency: Tracker » | Grades » • Draft: All 255 picks » | Grades » • Fantasy: Cheat sheets » | Projections » • 2020 schedule » | More NFL coverage »

The defending Super Bowl champs are in need of cap space, which is why they would be willing to float a pair of possible starters in Hitchens and Okafor. Hitchens is a solid linebacker being paid like a superstar, while Okafor has had injury issues and probably profiles best as a rotational pass-rusher.

We’ll avoid them and go after a cheaper option in Williams, who scored a short-yardage touchdown for the Chiefs in the playoffs. Not many backs profile as both a possible goal-line runner and receiving option without also projecting as a primary back, but Williams could be the exception.

My pick: WR Tyrell Williams ($11,100,000) RB Rod Smith ($750,000) My pick: WR Keelan Doss ($675,000) LB Justin Phillips ($675,000) OL Lester Cotton ($610,000)

We’re going to add a pair of wide receivers to our roster, with Williams as the more notable of the two. The former Chargers receiver had his first season with the Raiders wrecked by a toe injury, and his long-term spot on the roster is likely going to be taken by Henry Ruggs III. Williams can be an impactful downfield receiver when healthy, and the price isn’t unreasonable, as the 28-year-old has no guaranteed or dead money on his deal after this season.

Doss impressed Jon Gruden during the preseason and played 181 snaps in 2019, but he has been buried on the depth chart by the Raiders’ offseason moves.

LB Denzel Perryman ($7,512,500) TE Stephen Anderson ($750,000) My pick: DT Cortez Broughton ($694,505) WR Jalen Guyton ($675,000) WR Jason Moore ($675,000)

Perryman is unquestionably talented, but years of injuries led the Chargers to trade up and draft Kenneth Murray in the first round in April. Perryman isn’t playing a hugely important position, so we’ll pass on his cap hold and take a shot on Broughton, who has the sort of explosiveness you can’t teach. He fell to the 242nd pick in the 2019 draft thanks to size (6-foot-2, 291 pounds) and consistency concerns, but if he is able to channel that explosiveness into 10 quarterback hits a year, he could be a valuable player.

NFC EAST

WR Devin Smith ($825,000) S Donovan Wilson ($706,839) My pick: LB Luke Gifford ($676,666) WR Ventell Bryant ($675,000) WR Cedrick Wilson ($675,000)

With five wide receivers on our roster already, we’ll leave these three Cowboys options on their current roster. Instead, we’ll go after a special-teamer and possible starting linebacker in Gifford, who had an interception in preseason before going down with an injury. He didn’t make it onto the field for a defensive snap in 2019 despite the absence of Leighton Vander Esch, so the Cowboys might be willing to list the former Nebraska starter.

OT Nate Solder ($19,500,000) My pick: CB Rashaan Gaulden ($750,000) WR Da’Mari Scott ($750,000) TE Garrett Dickerson ($750,000) LB Josiah Tauaefa ($675,000)

There’s not much available at tackle in this expansion draft, and it would be tempting to grab Solder, who was an above-average player during his time with the Patriots. After two dismal years with the Giants, though, I just can’t justify grabbing Solder, who has the ninth-largest cap hit among non-quarterbacks in the league.

Instead, let’s nab Gaulden, who was a third-round pick for the Panthers in 2018 before he was cut after colliding with DJ Moore on a punt return near the end of last season. Gaulden could end up as a contributor at cornerback or free safety.

WR Alshon Jeffery ($15,446,500) My pick: DT Bruce Hector ($750,000) WR Robert Davis ($750,000) CB Craig James ($750,000) WR Deontay Burnett ($675,000)

The Eagles would be overjoyed to get out of their commitment to Jeffery, who hasn’t been able to stay healthy and is coming off a Lisfranc injury to his foot. It’s unclear whether he’ll be healthy enough to play in Week 1, and in addition to his $15.5 million cap hit, the Eagles would owe $10.7 million in dead money if they release him after this season. No, thanks.

Hector is one of the last names on a deep Eagles depth chart at defensive tackle; I wonder whether he could turn into a useful rotation tackle after racking up 18 sacks over three seasons at South Florida.

Injuries limited Alshon Jeffery to just 43 catches last season, and he has an unwieldy contract that runs through 2023. AP Photo/Matt Slocum

RB Adrian Peterson ($3,234,375) My pick: LB Nate Orchard ($887,500) LB Josh Harvey-Clemons ($846,078) RB Josh Ferguson ($825,000) WR Cam Sims ($675,000)

Peterson might sell some jerseys for our new franchise, and I’m convinced he’ll have one or two games a year in which he looks like the old AD from now until eternity; but the past two years suggest he is a low-ceiling runner who offers little as a receiver. It’s too easy to find those guys in free agency for something close to the minimum.

Orchard hasn’t lived up to expectations since the Browns took him in the second round of the 2015 draft ahead of edge defenders such as Frank Clark and Danielle Hunter. And while Orchard’s 18.5-sack season at Utah in 2014 looks more and more like an outlier, you only have to look to Shaq Barrett as an example of what can happen if the right player gets playing time.

NFC NORTH

My pick: TE Adam Shaheen ($1,880,626) TE Eric Saubert ($829,000) CB Duke Shelley ($706,960) OT Alex Bars ($675,000) TE Jesper Horsted ($675,000)

The Bears have nine tight ends on their roster. Shaheen was ticketed as Chicago’s tight end of the future when general manager Ryan Pace selected him in the second round of the 2017 draft, but the Ashland product hasn’t been able to translate his athleticism into production or stay healthy. He has just 249 receiving yards over his first three years, and the Bears are going to move forward with Jimmy Graham, Cole Kmet and Demetrius Harris as their top three tight ends. Shaheen will have a clear path to the tight end job here in the final season of his rookie deal.

C Beau Benzschawel ($678,333) OT Dan Skipper ($675,000) RB Wes Hills ($675,000) CB Mike Jackson ($675,000) LB Anthony Pittman ($610,000)

The back of the Lions’ roster isn’t up to NFL standards. Not a single one of these players topped 35 snaps combined on offense, defense and special teams for Detroit in 2019, which is impressive for a team that wasn’t exactly dominating with their starters. I’m not going to be adding any of the Lions’ options to our roster.

OL Billy Turner ($8,100,000) RB Tyler Ervin ($887,500) CB Ka’dar Hollman ($718,737) RB Dexter Williams ($716,514) TE Evan Baylis ($675,000)

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With guard Elgton Jenkins impressing last season and Lane Taylor returning from injury, Turner is either going to become the most expensive third interior lineman in the league or end up moving to tackle, where he has been stretched in years past. I’m not interested in him at that price tag. The Packers are more top-heavy than they have been in years past, and the back end of their roster is less exciting. As a result, I’m not adding anybody here.

My pick: C Brett Jones ($840,000) WR Davion Davis ($675,000) CB Nate Meadors ($675,000) TE Brandon Dillon ($610,000) CB Mark Fields ($610,000)

Jones started for the Giants at center during their disastrous 2017 campaign before being sent to the Vikings the following year. I’m not sure he is an average starting center, but he is both competent and cheap, so he’s well worth adding to our roster.

NFC SOUTH

G Jamon Brown ($6,583,333) RB Ito Smith ($905,218) OT Matt Gono ($752,500) G Sean Harlow ($750,000) TE Carson Meier ($610,000)

Brown was quietly a disastrous signing for the Falcons, who committed three years and $18.75 million to him, signed James Carpenter for four years and $21 million, and then didn’t get effective play from either player at guard a year ago. If 2020 third-round pick Matt Hennessy impresses in camp, both Brown and Carpenter could be backups this season.

Offensive line depth is great, but your third and fourth guards shouldn’t be occupying nearly $12 million of your cap. We’re not going to add anyone here.

DT Kawann Short ($19,464,000) RB Mike Davis ($3,000,000) My pick: C Tyler Larsen ($2,116,668) WR Brandon Zylstra ($750,000) CB Cole Luke ($675,000)

Short is an enormous player to put on this list, but since he signed a five-year, $80 million extension with the Panthers in April 2017, the star defensive tackle has just 10.5 sacks and 27 knockdowns across three seasons. He missed virtually all of 2019 with a partially torn rotator cuff, and the Panthers could clear just under $45 million off their books over the next two years if Short were claimed in the expansion draft.

Carolina couldn’t free up that space via a traditional cut or trade. It might be even more surprising to suggest that an expansion team wouldn’t claim Short at that price tag, but it just wouldn’t be good value given his recent history.

If the Panthers are rebuilding, they could choose to offer up high-priced defensive tackle Kawann Short, who missed almost all of last season. Chris Keane/AP Images for Panini

Instead, let’s look toward Larsen, who started 10 games in 2017 when Ryan Kalil went down injured before serving as a backup in 2018 and 2019. He’ll compete with Jones for the starting job at the pivot.

DT Taylor Stallworth ($903,177) RB Dwayne Washington ($887,500) My pick: TE Jason Vander Laan ($750,000) DB J.T. Gray ($750,000) FB Ricky Ortiz ($675,000)

I would argue that the Saints have the NFL’s deepest roster when it comes to veteran talent, but they still manage to find five younger, relatively unused players who would fit as expansion nominees. I’m intrigued by Vander Laan, who was a quarterback at Ferris State before converting to tight end. Third-round pick Adam Trautman is likely to take Vander Laan’s spot on the active roster, but teams like the Saints, Patriots and Colts have all taken fliers on Vander Laan over the past few years. He’s 27 and played a total of 25 NFL snaps on offense, but maybe there’s something interesting here.

TE Tanner Hudson ($750,000) CB Mazzi Wilkins ($676,000) WR Spencer Schnell ($610,000) CB John Franklin ($610,000) WR Codey McElroy ($610,000)

In win-now mode with a 42-year-old quarterback and a 67-year-old coach, the Bucs aren’t letting any of their veterans hit an expansion list. The only player in this bunch to see significant action in 2019 was Hudson, who was Tampa’s fourth tight end. With Rob Gronkowski joining the team, it’s difficult to imagine the Bucs carrying five tight ends and keeping Hudson on the roster. We’re going to pass here, which means we have 27 players left on the roster with four teams left to go. We’ll either need to sign three or more players or spend about $5.7 million to get to the minimum.

NFC WEST

LB Tanner Vallejo ($825,000) My pick: WR Trent Sherfield ($753,334) LB Kylie Fitts ($750,000) My pick: OT Joshua Miles ($693,644) DE Michael Dogbe ($693,644)

We’re going to go for the volume approach by adding two Cardinals to the roster. Miles is a sheer desperation pick out of the fact that there just aren’t many tackles available in the pool. He has the ideal size for a tackle at 6-foot-5, but he fell to the seventh round of the 2019 draft. He needs reps, and we’re in a position to give him those reps, likely at right tackle.

Sherfield is simply a product of the numbers game. The Cardinals used three primary personnel groupings last season, and the two groupings that used a tight end were more effective by success rate than their 10 personnel package, which doesn’t. I suspect the Cardinals will be carrying three tight ends in 2020, which limits how many wideouts they can carry. With Larry Fitzgerald, DeAndre Hopkins, Christian Kirk and Andy Isabella all locks to make the roster, the likes of Sherfield, KeeSean Johnson and Hakeem Butler could be competing for jobs with each other. Sherfield caught only four of 13 targets a year ago, but he can help on special teams.

My pick: CB Donte Deayon ($825,000) RB John Kelly ($750,000) T Chandler Brewer ($675,000) S Jake Gervase ($675,000) C Coleman Shelton ($675,000)

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Fantasy players will be most familiar with Kelly, who had a tiny window in 2018 in which he looked to be the starting back for a devastating offense before the Rams signed CJ Anderson. We’re leaving him on the table and instead going for Deayon, who at 159 pounds was the second-lightest player in the NFL last year. I’m of the opinion that NFL teams often underestimate smaller players, and if that goes for height, it’s reasonable to at least imagine it might go for weight as well.

Deayon was an effective corner at Boise State but hasn’t had many chances to play there as a pro. No team is dumping corners with prototypical size and speed into the expansion draft, so we’re gonna have to take risks if we want to land valuable players. Deayon gets us to 30 players.

CB Dontae Johnson ($910,000) CB Jason Verrett ($887,500) DT Kentavius Street ($827,550) DT Jullian Taylor ($774,510) DT Kevin Givens ($610,000)

The Niners are another of the league’s deepest teams, but they surprisingly get away without a single selection here. Verrett is the biggest name of the bunch, but he gave up a touchdown pass and a pass interference penalty on two of his four defensive snaps in 2019 before hitting injured reserve. He hasn’t been a productive player since 2015. While I’ve been rooting for the TCU product to overcome his injuries, I don’t think he is a good project for an expansion team.

My pick: TE Luke Willson ($887,500) CB Neiko Thorpe ($887,500) RB Travis Homer ($710,704) WR John Ursua ($695,590) DT Bryan Mone ($675,000)

The Seahawks are our final team, and I’m going to add one more veteran tight end to our bunch in the 30-year-old Willson. With Shaheen an injury risk and Vander Laan’s aptitude for the position in question, Willson gives us a solid two-way tight end who we can drop directly into the lineup. The Seahawks use plenty of tight ends, but after signing Greg Olsen, bringing back Jacob Hollister and Will Dissly, and using a fourth-round pick on Colby Parkinson, Willson’s roster spot is in question.

The picks from the expansion draft

In the end, we signed 31 players and spent a total of $72.8 million, which comes in at just under 37% of the salary cap. We have most of a starting lineup, although we’re desperately thin at offensive tackle and could use a safety or two. The roster is already full with six wide receivers, although I suspect guys like Dulin and Doss would be competing for roster spots.

Would this team be good? No, of course not, even after you added a full draft and a couple of free agents to the roster. It would take years for this organization to blossom, and it was a different era of roster-building and development when the Jaguars and Panthers made playoff runs in their second seasons. In terms of adding some competent players and special-teamers while mixing in a few high-upside players, though, I like what we’ve built here. Here are all 31 of my picks, sorted by salary:

Results from the expansion draftPlayerPositionCurrent TeamSalaryJacoby BrissettQBIND$21,375,000Andrew NorwellGJAX$12,000,000Tyrell WilliamsWRLV$11,100,000Deatrich Wise Jr.DENE$2,278,140Josh RosenQBMIA$2,169,796Jermaine EluemunorGNE$2,133,000Tyler LarsenCCAR$2,116,668Adam ShaheenTECHI$1,880,626Keke CouteeWRHOU$932,256Anthony AverettCBBAL$915,249Justin EllisDTBAL$887,500Nate OrchardLBWAS$887,500Luke WillsonTESEA$887,500Brett JonesCMIN$840,000Kyle PekoDTDEN$825,000Donte DeayonCBLAR$825,000Olasunkanmi AdeniyiLBPIT$755,000Darrel WilliamsRBKC$755,000Trent SherfieldWRARI$753,334Robert FosterWRBUF$750,000Parry NickersonCBJAX$750,000Rashaan GauldenCBNYG$750,000Bruce HectorDTPHI$750,000Jason Vander LaanTENO$750,000Cortez BroughtonDTLAC$694,505Joshua MilesOTARI$693,644Luke GiffordLBDAL$676,666J.T. HassellSCLE$675,000Kerrith WhyteRBPIT$675,000Ashton DulinWRIND$675,000Keelan DossWRLV$675,000 Source link

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Never Give Directions To Strangers

by StrangeAccounts

Audio Version

It’s taken me well over a year to gather the courage to talk about this openly, I can’t help but feel responsible and you’ll understand why soon.

On a late night in October of 2015 the sky collapsed over my town.

The clouds that had descended blanketed themselves over my small suburban neighborhood and the nearby highway. The fog was so dense that looking out of the window yielded nearly the same results as staring directly at a blank piece of paper.

That night I remember hearing the weather sirens sounding off, echoing out their unearthly chortle across the empty streets surrounding my home. I ignored them at first, choosing to instead continue my ritual of watching my nighttime sitcoms, that however ended soon after the first siren went off.

The flickering imagery on my much too old television broke apart, exposing warnings of low visibility and severe lightning in my sitcoms place. I watched and listened as the television seemed to join the call of the sirens outside, letting loose their bleeps and emergency tones. The signal warned us to stay inside and to avoid driving for our safety and the safety of others.

I let out a quick huff in distaste as my nightly routine was interrupted. I set my eyes on a radio and decided to give it a quick try, anything would be better than sitting in silence.

Unfortunately that thought was wrong. As I wandered towards my radio and flicked it to life, the only noises that escaped were robotic and emotionless warnings from the national weather service. I felt my shoulders shrug in defeat. If this had been a tornado or hailstorm I’d have appreciated the heads up, I could prep for the storm, but there was nothing I could do about a fog.

From there I let my eyes wonder over to the far too bright mist sweeping across what should be the naturally dark streets. I let out a sigh and broke my gaze before heading over to my kitchen, deciding that maybe some hot chocolate would relax me enough to doze off and allow my dreams to take me away from this strange, but boring, evening.

But as I was stirring in the hot chocolate mix into the steaming milk an idea hit me. I had an old CB radio locked up in my attic. I might not be able to watch my shows or listen to my radio, but maybe, if I was lucky enough, some trucker would be stopped on the highway and be willing to have a chat with me. I knew it was a bit of a long shot, CB radios were very rapidly going out of style for truckers, but I knew a few still had them for emergencies or idle chatter.

I left the kitchen with my hot chocolate in hand and crept up to my attic steps. I blew softly on the steam rising from my cup as I made the journey to my chest of goodies from yesteryear.

I lurched the old chest open and began to set up my little communications area. I even pulled up an old dusty table I had stored away for parties and placed all my needed equipment on top of it. After a few minutes I was all ready to go. I took a small sip of my drink and turned the radio on.

I listened as the age cracked through the speakers. I had hoped the radio had survived the prolonged stay in storage and luckily besides from the faint crackles it seemed rather functional.

I keyed the mic and called out through the fog, hopefully to anyone as idle and bored as myself.

“Calling out to anyone stuck out in that fog, is anyone out there?” I listened as the static of the radio faded in and out nearly silently. Then a sputter of white noise came across the net before an old mans voice came in relatively clearly.

“Thank goodness someones out there, I’m losing my mind out here. Can I get a radio check?” his elderly voice was gruff and hoarse, the type of voice you’d expect from someone who spent a lifetime on the road. I let my lips curl up into a smile. I really didn’t expect a reply.

“You’re coming in clear, how me?” I asked, making sure he could hear my end of the conversation.

“A little broken up but audible. This shit weather came out of nowhere.” He grumbled. I imagined him leaned back in his seat, arms crossed with a radio dug into one hand. I could practically envision his windows completely smothered by the fog, isolated from everything.

“Yeah, I didn’t see anything on the television until after the fog hit. All the stations are playing that emergency frequency.” I waited for a few seconds for his response.

“So you’re holed up inside your home then? I thought you might be on the road like me.” I heard a slightly disappointed groan from his end.”Did you at least get to see the clouds fall?” I paused for a moment. I had been watching my shows oblivious to the weather outside until the warnings. I didn’t have the privilege to see it roll into the neighborhood.

“That’s affirm, I’m at my place right now, and no, I didn’t get too see it hit.” A brief chuckle and wheeze came over the radio.

“You missed out. Craziest thing I’ve ever seen. It was almost like the clouds hit a cliff midair and fell straight down. They came hard enough that I was actually worried they’d beat my truck up,” his voice trailed off slightly in thought, “I managed to park on the side of the road, didn’t see anyone else near me.”

“Well damn, sorry I missed it then.” I replied, my smile escaping through my voice.

“Yeah, well maybe some kid got it on tape-” Static interrupted him, squealing loudly out of the speakers, I jumped back slightly reaching for my ears, his voice fought through it. “-the fuck was that?”

“Everything alright?” I radioed in.

“Yeah, I think so. I think I just saw a car zip by, some sort of weird black light on it.” He gave a dismissive tsk, “I know damned well they can’t see anything in this fog, hell I couldn’t see anything but their dumb light going off.” I leaned in closer to the radio, thinking of an explanation but came up empty handed.

“Some people just have a death wish I guess.” I shrugged.

“Damned stupid if you ask me. I’d say they only care about themselves, but if that was true they’d be parked on the side of the road like me.” He gave another wheezy laugh ending in a coughing fit.

Getting a little curious I started asking him some questions, “Any chance you can make anything else out there? They said there’s some bad lightning in the area but I haven’t seen or heard anything like that yet.”

“Nah, not a damned thing. Haven’t heard any thunder either. Besides you its quiet as the grave out here. This fog doesn’t even look like it’s moving, and I sure as hell don’t hear any wind hitting my truck.”

I bit my lip trying to concentrate on any noises outside. Being in my attic I should be able to hear the wind sweeping its way through the wooden boards of my house but he was right, there was none.

“This is the weirdest storm I’ve ever seen. To be honest I- Wait- no, the lights are back.” He interrupted himself, I could hear his voice strain as his focus shifted outside of his truck. “They don’t look right, they aren’t on the road.” His voice slowly trailed off.

“What do you mean? Where are you?” I asked, hoping everything was alright.

“That’s not right, shit, the only thing on that side of the road is a tree line. No way in hell a car could squeeze through there. The lights look too high off the ground too, they’re a little higher than my eye level and I’m in a god damned semi.”

“Hey, just keep your eyes on it and let me know if you’re alright, you’ll be okay.”

“I,” I could hear him swallow hard, “they’re gone, they zipped away again. Actually, fuck me, they didn’t just zip away, they looked like they ran away, I swear they god-damned crouched and sprinted off.” Static consumed his transmission again but no where near as badly as before.

“It’s just some lights, maybe someones got some flairs out there. Could be some hunters trying to find their way back home in this fog.” I tried sounding reasonable. I figured there must be some sort of rational explanation.

“Yeah, that’s got to be it. The fog must be screwing with my depth perception. I can’t see anything out there, so I think I’m good.” I heard faint noises coming from the radio, just behind his voice. It didn’t sound like something trying to make contact with us through the radio, rather it sounded like something that happened to be captured while the old trucker was talking.

“Is there someone with you?” I asked, I tried to sound unconcerned, as if it was a normal question to ask.

“Negative, just me.” He sounded a bit off put, like he knew something was wrong. I could tell he was on edge.

“I just wanted to know if you were alone or not, just to see if you had an extra set of eyes and ears out there.”

“Oh, no, it’s just me out here.” There was a brief pause followed by another explosion of static. He eventually radioed back.

“Alright, I’m done. Something just slammed into my trailer. I-” I heard a loud metallic crash explode from my speakers followed by yelling. “That ain’t no hunter, It’s rocking my damned truck.” His voice sounded frightened. Static kept pulsating through the radio.

“Do you need me to call the police?” I asked, worried about the safety of my new friend.

“No, I’m already dialed in and just got put on hold. I’m just going to hold off a bit on making noise and hope it goes away. If this some sort of bear than it’s a record holder.”

I left the radio alone for a little while, waiting for the old man to reply. I was scared for him.

After a few surges of static and several minutes I finally got a reply. The old trucker seemed hushed, and talked under his breath.

“Hey, I hope you’re still there. I don’t want to be a burden to you, but I’m not feeling all that safe out here. Do you think you could pull up a map or something to get me out of here? I’ll have to leave my trailer behind but my job ain’t worth my life.” The faint sound of static hauntingly trailed off of his words. I felt bad for the man. Something out there was really setting him off.

“Hey, yeah sure, if you can make it to my front door I’ll let you in. I’m just around the corner from the highway.”

“You’re a real life saver, just give me a second, I’ll get out my mobile radio and you can lead me there.”

I bit my cheek anxiously. I had no idea if what I was doing was right, or even safe for that matter, but he needed help and I didn’t want to turn him away.

“Alright I’m opening up my my truck.” He called in, his voice distorted heavily by static. The fog must have made the transmissions come in broken I reasoned to myself.

“Let me know when you hit a sign, I’ll tell you where to go from there.”

A few seconds passed before he responded again.

“Willard Street.” His voice crackled in.

“Take a right down that road and keep going until you hit an intersection.

A few more seconds passed.

“Johnson and Avery.” The voice remarked. I felt confused, he would have to be sprinting to have made it that quickly to the next sign.

“Are you alright? Do you need me to call someone?”

The radio echoed my voice back to me, muffled and contorted before I got a response from the man.

“No, I just want to get out of this fog.” The truckers voice repeated a few times before breaking apart into static.

“Alright, then take Avery all the way down.” I replied. I felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck, something about this wasn’t right and I wasn’t dumb. My neighbor directly across my street was a Police Captain, I figured if I sent the old man there he could get the help he needed and I could pass it off as a mistake with my mental directions if asked.

“Tucker Court.” The man reverberated in with the static.

“Let’s see, walk three houses down and my place should be on the left.” I closed my eyes tightly, my forehead scrunched up in worry. I prayed this would work out for the best.

“I’m outside.” The old trucker chortled while different pitches of his voice all resonated nearly at the same time repeating themselves. I put the mic to my mouth to tell him to knock but couldn’t muster up the courage.

I set the radio down and turned it off. I looked over my shoulder to my attics window. I took a deep breath and released it before deciding to take a gander. I wasn’t expecting to see much, I mean how could I? The fog covered everything.

But I looked anyway.

I got out of my chair and crept towards the window, I placed my hand on the wooden frame surrounding the glass and took a deep breath, conjuring up my courage. I slowly grabbed the curtains and very gently pushed them to the side, allowing just enough space for my eye to peak through.

I know you want answers as to who or what was out there but the fog was too strong. Nothing but whiteness exposed itself to me visually, but physically, emotionally I felt it out there.

I can only describe it as dread incarnate. It was a visceral, primal feeling that washed over me stronger than anything else I've ever felt. I knew someone or something was out there and it wasn’t natural. It had a goal, an indecipherable, incomprehensible goal, and that goal led nowhere good.

I could feel the sense of death creep into my bones, locking my joints in place. My body was stiffening for a quick end.

As that feeling burned its way into my memories, I forced myself to have the courage to run away from that window. I turned my back towards the fog behind me and ran for my stairs. I ran on instinct. I felt my feet land on my lower floor and let myself be guided towards the only place in my home where I couldn’t see into that mist, my windowless closet. I jumped inside and slammed the door behind me.

I remember sitting in that closet for hours, staring off into the darkness, praying and hoping I imagined the feeling. I stayed up all night until I could see the sun filter in from under my closet door. I exited my safe haven and crawled to a window before I peered outside.

I felt my mouth gape open when I saw my neighbors attic window broken into, no marks on the walls of the home gave any sort of hint as to how whatever it was had climbed inside.

I instinctively called the police and they responded with haste, after all my neighbor was one of them.

They took me in and refused to tell me what they found inside, even afterwords the newspapers had nearly no information regarding the crime. The most I gathered was that my neighbors family was murdered in their home while they slept; him, his wife and his two children all gone. Those lives were extinguished because of me.

Though that wasn’t all that happened that night, there was another murder that also happened on the highway, an old trucker named Gale. Unlike the Captain and his family, Gales death was listed as an animal attack and was separate from the murder investigation. They claimed he parked too close to the woods and a bear must’ve wandered up to his door. They said they don’t know what possessed him to open his door but that had to have been when the bear got inside.He was mauled to death, that so called bear ripped his head from his shoulders and took it off into the woods. They never found it.

But we know differently, or at least I do, that wasn’t a freak accident, somethings out there just waiting for directions.