#geoff boycott

[set-wingedwarrior]

Why you should watch RWBY legally

Before I even begin, I want to clarify that it's not my intent to start a fight, guilt-trip, nor force anyone to do anything they don't wanna do. I am merely here to state the facts, as far as I know, and share with you all the reasonings that brought me to my decision. The goal here is to give you all the pieces of information for you to make yours as well.

That said, let's begin.

RT has been awful, employees deserve better, you're angry on their behalf, and I get that because I am too. But I still want and will support the RWBY through Crunchyroll, and here's why:

Pirating is going to hurt CRWBY much more than it will hurt RT. That's the simple truth, in this cases it's always the bottom line that gets the worst of it, so if your goal is to help the employees pirating this isn't the way to go.

Strictly tied to the first one, if a boycott was needed and useful, then they would have told us so. We're not there, we don't know specifically how this stuff works, so deciding to go on a mass protest in their behalf withouth their consent would probably just backfire and put them in even worse conditions. If they'll ever ask that out of us, I will, but for now that's not the case.

All CRWBY, former or not, has been nothing but excited to share their work with us. They want the show to succeed, to keep going and grow, and they're working so hard to achieve that; it just doesn't feel fair to deny them because of someone else's bad actions.

Crunchyroll is the best half-way if you want to support the show without supporting directly RT. Even if I don’t know how the deal works, I’m pretty sure that considering CR doesn’t care about anything else RT might have to offer, any money sent to them would be specifically for the show to continue (and possibly improve)

CRWBY litterally asked us to support them. We can see that on Geoff Yetter's post,

on A.G. Nonsuch's tweet that Kerry liked (and that even if he didn't I would still trust, because since she did work with RT and met CRWBY, I'm pretty sure she knows better than us)

and Arryn's (animator) explicit answer when someone litterally asked how to support RWBY withouth supporting RT (also, if you check their twitter page you'll find multiple likes and retweets or posts sharing the same sentiment)

Again, this isn't to force anyone to do anything they don't want to. I just want you to have all the information, think about what you goal is and act accordingly. Sadly, we can either support CRWBY or hurt RT, with Crunchyroll being the closest thing to get both.

Now, I know that a lot of people might want to support but can’t afford Crunchyroll (or simply don't see it worth it because they don’t watch any other anime). That’s completely fair and understandable but, if you want, I might have a couple of solutions to offer:

Share the account with someone else. It will cut costs, and for just a couple of months it should be bearable.

See if you know someone who already has one and is willing to let you temporarely use it.

Wait until all episodes are released and then make an account; CR offers a 14 days free trial for their premium subscription, and you could use it to binge the volume and still give it views (you don’t have to abstain yourself from watching the episodes as they air, you just need to give CR these views in the end, and if you don’t want to rewatch you could just let them autoplay).

In case someone is wondering, CRUNCHYROLL DOESN’T COUNT THE VIEWS BASED ON THE ACCOUNTS ALONE.

What I mean is that they count rewatches as views of their own, so if you share an account with multiple people and you’re all watching the show, all the views from each of them will be counted, and it will still support it (if you’re wondering how I know, I maild their Support and asked them directly).

That’s all about Crunchyroll. Technically, no one stops you from waiting a year and watch it on RT's platform; they'll be accessible with FIRST accounts only at first, then become free with ads later as usual. I doubt any of you would want to do that, but a lot of people seemed not to get that it won't stay behind a paywall forever so I thought it was worth sharing. I did say I wanted you to have all of the information after all.

And that’d be all, I guess. As I mentioned, this isn’t meant to guilt trip anyone: everyone is entitled to their feelings and what they feel is right. You do you. But as for me, I’d rather accidentally benefit some assholes in the process of helping someone who deserve it than having innocents get hurt because of the actions of some assholes higher ups.

RWBY is a unique show that deserves to live, and CRWBY (and I mean all the people, past and new) has been working so hard, for so long, to get to tell their story and make their dream come true. I don't want all of their work and struggle to be in vain as much as I don't want to lose my favorite show. So, I will listen to them and help them the way they ask me to. That's my goal.

Find what your goal is, and act accordingly.

[scotianostra]

Mike Denness was born 1st December 1940, Bellshill, North Lanarkshire.

Most of you wont know the name but Denness, was and still is the only Scottish born captain of the English Cricket team.

After his family moved to Ayr, he was educated at Ayr Academy, where he played rugby with Ian Ure and Ian McLauchlan and played for Ayr Cricket Club. Scotland did not have a representative international team at the time of Denness' career, so he could only play for England at Test and One day International level. Scotland did have a team but it was not recognised the way it is nowadays and Dennes did play for them for 8 years, gaining his first cap against another of the minnows, Ireland, while he was still at school.

Dennes has been described as a stylish batsman with a fine array of strokes and an excellent cover fieldsman, in fiver years as captain of Kent he won 6 "first class" trophies, and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1975. He moved to Essex in 1977, helping the club to win the County Championship and Benson & Hedges Cup in 1979. He retired after the 1980 English cricket season.

Denness's international career began in 1969 against New Zealand, he was made captain in 1973, after Ray Illingworth's dismissal, he lacked the support of one of the players on whom he was most dependent. Geoff Boycott, who wanted the captaincy himself. Denness played in 28 test matches, and was captain on 19 occasions, winning six, losing five and drawing eight matches. He was deposed when Australia won the first Test of 1975 at Edgbaston, Denness was said to have taken his medicine with typical graciousness. He later became an ICC match referee.

He passed away in April 2013 after a battle with cancer during his final days as president of Kent Cricket Club. He was an inaugural member of the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame and was a member of the Scottish Cricket Hall of Fame.

I would like to point out the two famous cricketers who captained England are sometimes classified as Scots, Douglas Jardine and Tony Greig both had Scottish parents, but Jardine was born in Mumbai and Greig in South Africa.

[read-alert]

September Wrap Up! 📚📖🍁 Full titles under the cut!

My favorite of the month was The Name-Bearer, and I checked off two more countries for my Read the World Challenge with The Immortals and Dreaming of You covering Haiti and Guatemala!

King of the Rising by Kacen Callender- 3.5⭐️

Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex ed by Nat Smith and Eric A Stanley- 5⭐️

There is a Rio Grande in Heaven: Stories by Ruben Reyes Jr- 4⭐️

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights by Omar Barghouti- 5⭐️

The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice- 2.5⭐️

Dawn by Octavia Butler- 5⭐️

Relit: 16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories ed by Sandra Proudman- 5⭐️

Self Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by AM McLemore- 3.5⭐️

Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology ed by Shane Hawk and Theodore C Van Alst Jr- 5⭐️

You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue trans by Natasha Wimmer- 4⭐️

The Immortals by Makenzy Orcel trans by Nathan H Dize- 4⭐️

Batman: Gates of Gotham by Scott Snyder et al- 3⭐️

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie- 4⭐️

The Name-Bearer by Natalia Hernandez- 5⭐️

Teen Titans vol 2: Family Lost by Geoff Johns et al- 3.5⭐️

Speculative Fiction for Dreamers: A Latinx Anthology ed by Sarah Rafael García, Matthew David Goodwin, and Alex Hernandez- 4.5⭐️

Ghost Squad by Claribel A Ortega- 4⭐️

Dreaming of You: A Novel in Verse by Melissa Lozada-Olivia- 4⭐️

Frizzy by Claribel A Ortega and Rose Bousamra- 5⭐️

Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva- 5⭐️

[redeyedroid]

The young Jamaican has an easy grace about him, even at a full sprint. He glides across the parched Oval turf silently, almost as if he isn’t touching the ground at all. The softness of his stride and the speed and hostility with which he bowls give him one of the great sporting nicknames. Michael Holding, 22 in the summer of 1976, becomes known as Whispering Death. The 14 wickets for 149 runs he takes in this, the fifth and final match of the series – still a record for a West Indian bowler in test cricket – cap a summer where the whole West Indies took it very personally.

There is a history of South Africans leaving home and playing international cricket for other nations. Traditionally, the destination of choice has been England, though today there are exceptionally talented South Africans playing for Australia and New Zealand. There are lots of reasons why they do this – Kevin Pietersen ended up playing for England because of conflict with administrators in South Africa, for instance – but in the 1970s, it is because apartheid South Africa is banned from playing internationally. Tony Greig, England captain in 1976, is one such player and commits a profound mistake when, the day before the series starts, in his Afrikaner accent, he announces his intention to make the West Indies, a team of black men, descendents of slaves, grovel.

The outcry is instantaneous. The retribution prolonged. The series is 5 matches long, across 11 weeks of the English summer. An angry and extremely motivated West Indies win 3-1 and it goes down in history as the beginning an era of unmatched dominance in international sport. Viv Richards scores 829 runs at an average of 118, Gordon Greenidge 592 at 66. Holding and Andy Roberts take 28 wickets each - 56 of the 100 available English victims. The team takes every opportunity to revenge themselves on the English.

In the end, it is Greig who on the field of play, performatively drops to his hands and knees in front of his opponents.

In 1981, Mikey Holding begins a test in Bridgetown, Barbados with a stunning, never bettered over to England opening batter Geoff Boycott – a famously terrible person. The 6th and final ball sends Boycott’s stumps flying. It’s doubtful whether he sees the first five deliveries at all. Boycott will claim that this over, and by extension himself, makes Holding – by now the best fast bowler in the world – famous.

6 weeks later, Holding is playing club cricket against amateurs in Lancashire. The league features quality international players turning out amongst bank managers and estate agents. Roberts plays for another team. Kapil Dev, one of Indian cricket’s gods, is there, too.

Mikey doesn’t do well. Injuries, weather and a desire not to hurt players far less talented than him keep him from fully dominating, but he shows flashes of his capabilities. In an act of staggering racism and stupidity, a player from an opposing team turns up for a match wearing a monkey mask "as a joke." Mikey takes 9 for 13 that day, clean bowling 7.

He retires in 1987 having played 60 tests and taken 259 wickets, low in today’s numbers. The West Indies are the best in the world and will remain so well into the 90s. In 1984 they beat England 5-0 in England – celebrated than and now as the Blackwash – and repeat the feat in 1986 when England tour the West Indies. By now the Barbadian, Malcolm Marshall has inherited Mikey’s crown as the greatest fast bowler of all. They win 4-0 in England two years later, Marshall taking 35 wickets in the 5-match series.

Their rule is not preordained. There is outcry over their bowlers. It is said to be unfair to bowl that fast, to target players the way the West Indians do. It is dangerous. They will kill people. Left unsaid is that nothing they do is against the rules. Nothing is said about similar bowlers from other countries like the lauded Australian duo of Thompson and Lillee. Rules are changed. More and better safety equipment is introduced. Helmets become universal. Viv Richards is one of the last to still wear a soft cap when facing fast bowling. The West Indies adapt and continue to win.

Through the 80s there are a number of tours of South Africa made up of players willing to take money to break the ban on playing there. Most rebels receive multi-year bans. The careers of many are effectively ended. Many others are welcomed back with open arms. Graham Gooch, for instance, will go on to captain England after leading on team on a tour in 1981-82.

Two of the tours are made up of West Indians. Those who travel are either talented players not quite good enough to break into the team, or older players coming to the end of their careers. The South Africans try to get the best West Indians to come, too. Richards, at this point the biggest star in the sport, is told that if he comes he will be considered an honourary white man, exempt from the rules of apartheid. He turns down the blank cheque he is offered. Those who go are banned from playing for the West Indies and many are ostracised socially and professionally over their willingness to take money from the apartheid regime.

Today, South Africa's test captain is Temba Bavuma.

Michael Holding becomes a commentator. His fast bowling mindset provides an alternative to the procession of former batters who sit beside him. Over the years, Mikey's baritone Jamaican twang becomes beloved in the same way Richie Benaud’s soft Australian burr was before him.

Cricket commentary is often relaxed and eccentric - a test match has 8 hours of play a day over 4 or 5 days - and the commentary team will chat about many things during the day. There is much time to fill, and sometimes they do it with meandering conversations about pigeons, or buses, or cakes. And sometimes with more important and vital subjects. During a rain break during a match between England and the West Indies three years ago today Mikey delivers his most profound and important address when he and Ebony Rainford Brent talk about the racism they have experienced in their lives. While the UK is in covid lockdown, the US is gripped by Black Lives Matter protests and Mikey’s monologue and the TV interviews that follow go viral. He writes a book afterwards, Why We Kneel, How We Rise, discussing the effects of racism through the prism of sport, his own experiences, and those of other stars, including Michael Johnson, Naomi Osaka, and his countryman, Usain Bolt. It wins many prizes.

He retired in 2021. The excellent Indian commentator, Harsha Bhogle described him as “cricket in rhythm,” but this is a disservice. Mikey Holding, Whispering Death, ended up using the eloquence and rhythm he played with for far more than just cricket.

[cricketfun]

Geoff Boycott Calls For Australia To issue A Public Apology Over Carey-Bairstow Stumping Former England opening batter Geoff... #usa #uk

[rajrag66]

The Bazball Hypothesis

No one could have predicted that the term 'Bazball' would take the game by storm when it was coined a year ago. Comparisons with the infamous Bodyline (coincidently another B word) used more than 90 years ago may feel inappropriate. But there has been no other strategy since Douglas Jardine invented the leg theory which threatens to overshadow the main Ashes contest.

The ambit of Bazball which started as just a brand of aggressive, positive cricket is constantly expanding. The umbrella field employed by Ben Stokes, his audacious declaration when Root was destroying the Aussie bowling and the left field selection of Moin Ali from test match oblivion are all now considered to be part of Bazball. Even a fairly orthodox batsman like Joe Root got caught up in this new buzz word. The bizarre reverse ramp shot attempted of the very 1st ball of day 4 from Pat Cummins and his dismissal jumping down the wicket to Nathan Lyon in the 2nd innings were completely out of character

Australia which chose a more conservative approach seemed to be playing a different game than their opponents. The fields Cummins set were over defensive and the batting was for a large part cautious right until the end of the match. The Aussie captain finally decided to take the fight to the opposition with some aggressive hitting against Root's part time spin.

Ultimately Australia's decision to stick to the basics won them the game. The old fashioned virtues of occupying the crease and grinding the bowling paid rich dividends to Khawaja, who was arguably the best batsman on either side in the match.

While Bazball has undoubtedly succeeded in generating unprecedented interest in test cricket, it still remains a hypothesis that needs to be fully tested before it becomes a blue print for other teams to follow. What better way of doing this than during an Ashes series. The question which has been on everyone’s mind is whether this new ultra aggressive style of batting will succeed against the formidable Australian bowling.

There are already rumblings from traditionalists like Geoff Boycott who think that England has got too caught up with Bazball and are in danger of reducing the Ashes to an exhibition. Unless results in the rest of the series go England's way, there will be others who jump on the bandwagon of criticizing England's new strategy. What ultimately matters is who has possession of the famous little urn at the end of the series. The jury is therefore still out on Bazball, we will soon know the verdict. Until then, we hope to see more nail-biting finishes. 2.1 million viewers tuned in to Sky Sports to watch the 1st test live, in addition to packed stands at Edgbaston. At a time when test cricket is facing an existential crisis, this is a victory in itself.

[my-little-kraken]

Selection of Patrick pics found on ebay

[themaninthegreenshirt]

"I've known people with exceptional talent - and some have wasted it. Ambition spurs a man on." 

Geoff Boycott, with David Gower, Graham Gooch and Mike Brearley, Edgbaston, 12th July 1979.

[go-21newstv]

IND vs ENG: Geoffrey Boycott Urges England Batsmen To Follow Virat Kohli's Lead On Playing Spin | Cricket News

IND vs ENG: Geoffrey Boycott Urges England Batsmen To Follow Virat Kohli’s Lead On Playing Spin | Cricket News

IND vs ENG: Boycott said England could use Indian conditions to their advantage by learning from Kohli.© Twitter Geoffrey Boycott has told England to learn from the example of India captain Virat Kohli when it comes to batting on spin-friendly pitches. England were twice dismissed cheaply on a Chennai pitch offering considerable turn, as hosts India won the second Test by a huge margin of 317…

[vilaspatelvlogs]

क्रिकेटर्स के जन्मदिन से भी जुड़े हैं दर्जनों रिकॉर्ड, जानिए ये 6 खास बातें

क्रिकेटर्स के जन्मदिन से भी जुड़े हैं दर्जनों रिकॉर्ड, जानिए ये 6 खास बातें

[ad_1]

नई दिल्ली:क्रिकेट की दुनिया में हर बात रिकॉर्ड बुक से तय होती है. जुलाई का ही उदाहरण लिया जाए तो भले ही इस महीने में इंग्लैंड को छोड़कर दुनिया के किसी देश में क्रिकेट की गहमागहमी नहीं रहती है, लेकिन फिर भी रिकॉर्ड बुक में जुलाई माह का वजन अपने जन्म लेने वाले क्रिकेटर्स की बदौलत बेहद भारी दिखाई देता है. क्रिकेटर्स के जन्मदिन किस कदर रिकॉर्ड बुक में किसी दिन का वजन बढ़ा देते हैं. आइए जानते…

[dirbenaffleck]

non spoiler 🦇 review

overall 7/10? good film, great soundtrack, not for me tho, like I Love the vibe, but i have a ot of problems with just a lot of the mythos and liberties, which doesn’t really take away from the film itself, just takes me out of it as a bat fan, does lend more to re-watching 

but over all still, like man you really can’t beat batfleck, i just this isn’t a critic in itself cause i guess thats the vibe they were going for with this bruce and this batman but like....he’s not as compelling to me? 

there’s no synergy or electric vibe to it so he’s not for me, there’s build ups tho,t here’s moments so i am curious how he’d do more or better in future movies 

but also my biggest take away is how im fucking amused with virginal bruce

but also to my anti geoff folks MAN if you really want to boycott wb i don’t suggest watching these cos there’s so much earth one influence intot he movie HE’S ABSOLUTELY getting residuals 

aLSO IDK i feel like my expectaitons for the fight scenes were too high? i was expecting some really hard hiting sequences but they didn’t really feel all too special to me

AND omg i absolutely came out loving COLIN as the Penguin that was a wild gmae, im really excited to see more of him even tho idgaf about oswald

I do have a few favorite shots and overall i dont think matt did a bad thing but im not overly hyped yeah

[scotianostra]

Mike Denness was born 1st December 1940, Bellshill, North Lanarkshire.

Denness is the only Scottish born person to have captained the full England cricket team,  I would like to point out the two famous cricketers who captained England are sometimes classified as Scots, Douglas Jardine and Tony Greig both had Scottish parents, but Jardine was born in Mumbai and Greig in South Africa.

He was born in Bellshill, but the family moved to Ayr when he was young. With the Denness home situated adjacent to Ayr Cricket Club’s Cambusdoon ground, the young Mike gravitated towards that game.

He was not solely a cricketer. At Ayr Academy, he was a member of the legendary unbeaten rugby XV which included two other future national captains: Ian Ure, who captained the Scotland team in a non-cap international against Israel during the 1967 world tour, and Ian “Mighty Mouse” McLauchlan, who captained Scotland on a record number of occasions.

While he was a good enough rugby player to go straight into the Ayr RFC 1st XV on leaving school, he was a far better cricketer, winning his first Scotland cricket cap when still at Ayr Academy. His promise attracted the attention of Kent, where he made his debut in 1962, recommended to the county by another Scot to have played for them, Jimmy Allen, then a team mate at Ayr. He played more than 700 first-class matches and List A matches over his 22-year first-class career. He was a right-handed bat, either an opener or going in first wicket down.

Few contemporary batsmen were more stylish than Mike Denness at his peak, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Tallish and slim, well-balanced, immaculately dressed on and off the field, possessed of a fine array of strokes and an excellent cover fieldsman to boot, Denness looked a model cricketer in every way. It was his misfortune that when those qualities won him the England captaincy, after Ray Illingworth's dismissal, he lacked the support of one of the players on whom he was most dependent. 

Geoff Boycott, who made no secret of how acutely he coveted the captaincy himself, played only the first six of Denness's 19 Tests as captain, which fatally holed England's prospects against Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson in Australia in 1974-75. 

Deposed when Australia won the first Test of 1975 at Edgbaston, Denness took his medicine with typical graciousness. He later became an ICC match referee but, at Port Elizabeth in 2001-02, his decision to sanction six Indian players, including Sachin Tendulkar, caused such a furore that the Indian and South African boards barred Denness from officiating in the next match, at Centurion. The ICC responded by withdrawing Test status from the game.

Mike Denness died in April 2013 after a battle with cancer during his final days as president of Kent

[read-alert]

September TBR! Full titles under the cut!

Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex ed by Nat Smith and Eric A Stanley

King of the Rising by Kacen Callender

Dawn by Octavia Butler

The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice

Self Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by AM McLemore

Dreaming of You by Melissa Lozada-Olivia

Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of Pillage of a Continent by Eduardo Galeano

The Immortals by Makenzy Orcel trans by Nathan H Dize

Relit: 16 Latinx Remixes of Classic Stories ed by Sandra Proudman

BDS: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights by Omar Barghouti

The Name-Bearer by Natalia Hernandez

Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva

Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldanado

Hestia Strikes a Match by Christine Grillo

King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender

Speculative Fiction for Dreamers: A Latinx Anthology ed by Sarah Rafael García, Matthew David Goodwin, and Alex Hernandez

Ghost Squad by Claribel A Ortega

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird by Agustina Bacteria trans by Sarah Moses

Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue trans by Natasha Wimmer

Ander and Santi Were Here by Johnny Garza Villa

Our Shadows Have Claws: 15 Latin American Monster Stories ed by Amparo Ortiz and Yamile Saied Mendez

Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology ed by Shane Hawk and Theodore C Van Alst Jr

The Art of Star Trek by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens

Teen Titans vol 2: Family Lost by Geoff Johns et al

Batman: Gates of Gotham by Scott Snyder et al

The Old Guard Book Three: Tales Through Time by Greg Rucka et al

[killa-trav]

here is who seb is up against tomorrow, under the cut i have gone into a little depth about whose who and my opinions on the panel selection

(if u have any further questions lmk n i will answer to the best of my abilities)

the last time braverman was on question time, she avoided questions about britain and russia’s relationships with oligarchs not once but twice 

here is what she had to say about the uk immigration policy too

so i am quite surprised she has agreed to come back on

i have done some research on shabana mahmood and her wiki page doesn’t offer all that but she was one the first female muslim mps to be elected in the uk, she also was involved with controversy early in her career as she attended protests calling for the boycotts of israeli goods

miatta fahnbulleh is an economist who im sure has been selected to discuss the current rising inflation crisis going on in the uk at the minute, again i dont know much about her but here is what happened last time she was on question time

and lastly geoff norcott a pro-bexiteer who is a conservative and a regular on question time, i dont know much about him but if u google his name and question time there are plenty of clips available 

it is interesting that this is the panel they have chosen when clearly none of them seem to be too heavily involved with climate change the way seb is so im not really too sure what he will be able to contribute to discussions although who knows, its question time, its going to be tough and anything can happen

its also interesting that there is no lib dem representative despite them gaining the most seats in the local elections and not losing a single one lowkey annoyed about that cos wtf???? but its the bbc so im not surprised

it will for sure be interesting to see if seb can be added to the list of ppl who have made braverman crumble (fingers crossed he can)

like ive said before, it will not be easy for seb at all n the chosen panelists only confirms this but i hope he bodies everyone on there icl

[miss-ingno]

I would give you all my love if you did some Geoff/Jack origins stuff for that witch/familiar universe pls

Nothing Left To Do But Stick With You I Part 1 (Trevin)

Fandom: ragehappyShip: jackeoffWords: 2.2kTags: witch au, witch!Geoff, lion!Jack, pre-relationship, fluffSummary:As a freshly-graduated witch, Geoff is very excited to embark on his sabbatical. His familiar is a lion! Adventure awaits! …or not.

Hope you enjoy this little story, Airri! :D Can be read as a standalone.

“Geoff, what are- Geoffrey!” Jack yelped, jumping out of the way as stone crumbled and parted. “What the fuck.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” Geoff snapped, his eyes narrowing in concentration. He muttered a spell under his breath and made a slashing motion with his hand. The top half of the rock split off and tumbled to the ground. “I’m trying to work here!”

“You’re just destroying random rocks!” Jack protested, crossing his arms with a frown. He glanced up at the sky and scrunched his nose. “Our task from the villagers can wait. We need to find shelter - there’s a storm brewing, and the next inn is more than a day’s travel away.”

“Storm, schmorm,” Geoff grumbled, inspecting the stone before shaking his head. “It’s not this one. Where’s the next?”

He looked up expectantly, and Jack scowled, his tail twitching agitatedly. He pointed to the East.

“That way. But I’m not going there. I will be finding shelter while you get drenched.”

“What, is kitty afraid to get his fur wet? Afraid of a little bit of water?” Geoff taunted, his hands forming a ball in the air. The wind picked up and carried the top back onto the stone, the broken edge mending. “I want to get this done today so we can move on to real adventures.”

“Well, we’re not going to find the right leystone right away, so excuse me for not wanting you to catch a cold,” Jack shot back. “Have fun finding rocks you can’t even sense while I find a dry place to stay.”

Geoff waved him off dismissively, and Jack left in a huff. He followed the leyline in the direction Jack had pointed out for him, pausing at every bigger stone and trying to feel if this what it. Geoff huffed, fed up that his familiar had to be such a stubborn asshole.

The rain came as a light drizzle at first, and Geoff wanted to laugh. This was what had Jack in a tizzy? Cats.

By the time the wind had whipped up sleet and hail, Geoff felt less like laughing. Cursing, he muttered another warming spell, darting from tree to tree. Thunder rolled in the distance. The forest grew dark with clouds, and Geoff had trouble to see. Where did Jack say he was going? He’s pretty sure his familiar headed East when they’d split, but every rock he stumbled on looked the same to him. Geoff shivered, hunching his shoulders. The rain came down in sheets, the heavy canopy barely offering any protection under the onslaught.

Finally, Geoff gave up. He found a thick tree and huddled down between its roots. Mumbling a half-hearted drying spell under his breath that only got rid of some of the dampness, Geoff slumped into himself.

This wasn’t how he’d imagined his sabbatical.

He’d been thrilled when he’d finally passed the witch exams, having failed them thrice in a row. His teachers called him impatient and reckless, but Geoff didn’t care. He wanted to see the world. To travel and have adventures and maybe save a princess, though even he had to admit that last one was a bit fantastical. He’d been itching to get out of their small, isolated community.

And then a fucking lion stepped up to be his familiar. A lion. How fucking awesome is that?

Except Jack turned out to be a fucking stubborn scaredy-cat. Always so fucking reasonable, and opinionated, and boring, and bull-headed, and such a worrywart, and always questioning Geoff’s decisions even as he went along with them only to be able to say I told you so-

And kind, and caring, and with a great sense of humour, and fuck it, but he should be here all quietly gloating and telling Geoff I told you so because even though Geoff will never admit it Jack was right. He should have listened, but in his own stubborn way he’d ignored his familiar and driven him off and now he was wet and going to freeze to death and-

“Geoff?” a voice called in the distance, and his head snapped up. That sounded like…

“Jack?” he croaked, then cleared his throat. “Jack!”

“Geoff!”

Branches snapped underfoot, and Geoff scrambled up, looking around wildly. The noise came from somewhere to his right, but he couldn’t see anything in the cloud-dark dusk. He listened closely, squinting into the dim forest. There! Was that a humanoid shadow, or was he imagining things?

“Jack?” he called hesitantly, rooted in place. His heart beat faster. What if this was a stranger? Would Jack be in lion form? But Jack had called out to him, and it sounded distinctly human - he hadn’t talked much with his familiar in his animal shape, Jack preferred to appear human so as not to scare any travellers they might meet. Would he sound much different as a lion? Geoff never paid it much attention-

“There you are, idiot,” Jack rumbled, the looming figure stepping up to him. Geoff slowly relaxed. “You’re all wet.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Geoff muttered, hugging himself. It was really fucking cold. “Come to gloat, asshole?”

“I was worried, asshole,” Jack shot back. He was frowning down at Geoff, adjusting his glasses. “Come on. I found a cave back there and gathered enough wood to get a fire going.”

“Fine,” Geoff snapped, teeth chattering. A fire sounded awesome, but like hell was he gonna admit that. The trek back to the cave was silent, Geoff following Jack through the trees sullenly.

Jack seemed to have found an empty bear cave, though Geoff trusted the lion’s nose that it was currently unoccupied. He dropped his sopping wet backpack next to Jack’s impeccably dry one.

“You should get out of those wet clothes,” Jack suggested mildly, and Geoff’s gaze snapped to him. His familiar was staring at the ground where he was arranging bark, dry leaves and twigs in an orderly pile. “You’re going to catch a cold if you stay like that.”

Geoff grit his teeth but complied because Jack was making sense. Damn lion.

By the time he’d peeled off his pants, Jack managed to get a small fire going. It wasn’t much, more smoke than flame, but hopefully the bigger logs would catch soon. Jack watched curiously as Geoff scooted as close to the fire as he could without getting burned, shivering.

“Why aren’t you using a spell to dry off?” he inquired, blinking once, slowly. Geoff ducked his head, rubbing his arms.

“I’ve kinda… exhausted my magic,” he admitted hesitantly, before quickly adding, “Maybe.”

He glanced at Jack from the corner of his eyes, but his familiar just hummed noncommittally in acknowledgement.

“You know how to tend a fire though, right?”

Geoff frowned, giving Jack an amused look. “Of course I fucking know how to make a fire! Or how to keep it going! What are you-”

He trailed off as Jack pulled off his shirt, dropping it in Geoff’s lap.

“You need it more than me,” Jack explained drily, shimmying out of his pants, too, and Geoff averted his eyes, blushing.

“But what about yo- Oh.” Geoff stared at the lion brushing up against him blankly, then huffed. “Okay. Fine.”

The lion stretched, ears twitching, before the huge animal curled up next to Geoff, nudging his thigh until Geoff sighed and pulled on the borrowed clothes. Jack rumbled something that might have been a purr or a chuckle. Geoff wasn’t sure - he hadn’t spent much time with Jack in his lion form.

He hesitantly reached out to pet Jack’s head, scratching lightly behind his ears. The lion leaned into the touch, bumping his head up against his palm.

Between the fire, the borrowed clothes and the lion cuddling up with him, Geoff warmed up quickly, and soon he stopped shaking. His fingers trailed absently through through the lion’s fur before getting stuck in a tangle. Geoff glanced down curiously. Jack had a full mane, but there were some twigs and leaves knotted into a mess. Huh. He must have transformed and run through some serious underbrush- maybe to find this cave?

“Sorry for earlier,” Geoff blurted out. The lion glanced up at him, tail swishing curiously. Geoff flushed, restless fingers dancing through Jack’s mane. He might as well take care of the mess.

“I was being a bit of a stubborn asshole,” he admitted, pulling a twig carefully out of a tangle, before carding out the knot. “I should have listened to you.”

The rain fell down in a heavy pitter patter just outside the cave, accompanied with a roll of thunder. Geoff looked up and stared into the dark night.

“Dunno what I would do without you, buddy,” he continued lightly, voice wavering. A kernel of ice bounced into the cave, easily as big as his thumb. “Go on. Say I told you so.”

“I told you so.” This time the rumbling was definitely laughter. Jack dropped his chin on Geoff’s thigh and stared up at him. “And you’d probably be freezing your ass off right now.”

Geoff huffed. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.”

They sat in silence for a long moment, Geoff staring into the fire with a frown, hands absently picking leaves from the lion’s fur.

“Hey, Jack?” he asked finally, voice subdued. The lion twitched his ears in Geoff’s direction. “Sorry for being stubborn as dicks. Taking care of me isn’t really what you signed up for.”

“Isn’t it?” Jack returned evenly. “I could have sworn that was part of the oaths during the bonding ceremony.”

Geoff snorted. “Maybe. I never asked what you wanted, did I? I just assumed you were in it for the adventure. Being a lion and all.”

Jack remained quiet after he trailed off. Geoff started finger-combing his mane, feeling uncomfortable with the stretching silence.

“Are you disappointed?” Jack asked hesitantly, resolutely not looking up at him. Geoff stared down in bafflement. “That I’m not… brave and adventurous and stuff. More lion-y.”

“I don’t think you could be more lion-y than you are right now, buddy,” Geoff returned drily. Jack’s tail twitched uncertainly.

“But I’m not what you expected,” Jack pointed out flatly. Geoff paused, fingers dropping from the lion’s fur.

“Maybe. But then, none of this is really like I expected at all,” Geoff confessed. He leaned away from Jack, grabbing one of the logs to add to the fire.

“Do you regret it? The bond?” Jack asked, and there was something weird about his voice. Geoff glanced back at him, finding the lion had sat up, shifting his weight from paw to paw. He seemed sad, somehow. Unsure.

“I don’t,” Geoff assured him, giving his familiar a crooked grin. Then, feeling a surge of uncertainty, he tacked on, “Do you?”

“No,” Jack promised, and he started kneading the ground. “I chose you, dumbass. I’ve watched each of your trials and still picked you.”

“Shut up.” Geoff’s cheeks grew hot, and he averted his gaze, hoping the blazing fire would explain away his flushed face.

“Even the failures, and boy, did you fail spectacularly,” Jack drawled teasingly, and Geoff buried his face in his palms.

“No more scritches for you, you big meanie,” he threatened, and the lion snorted. Geoff glared at him through his fingers and took one hand off his face to point at him. “I mean it! See if I don’t!”

Jack stretched, before gently placing a paw on Geoff’s thigh. The witch glanced at him and grimaced.

“Oh no. No, no, no, no. Stop it,” he demanded, only for Jack to nuzzle closer. “No. No puppy dog eyes allowed. You’re a cat, for fuck’s sake.”

Jack kept staring at him with big, soulful eyes until finally, Geoff caved.

“Oh, alright, fine. Geez,” he muttered, moving to scratch Jack behind the ears’. The lion rumbled contentedly. “You’re a big lug, you know that?”

The rain continued splattering the cave entrance, with the occasional lightning to illuminate the forest. At least the sleet and hail had calmed down, Geoff mused, a heavy lion’s head in his lap. He yawned, blinking tiredly into the fire.

“Hey, Jack?” he asked quietly, and the lion hummed in response. “You mind if I use you as a pillow tonight?”

Jack sighed, lifting his head from his lap. “Fair’s fair, I suppose.”

They rolled up together next to the fire, Geoff’s head coming to rest just below Jack’s shoulder. The fur was soft and comfortable, and Geoff’s eyes started drooping between the warmth and the exhaustion. Still, there was one more thing on his mind.

“Hey Jack?” he mumbled, cheek smushed into the fur.

“Yes, Geoff?” the lion asked patiently, chest rising and falling gently under Geoff’s head. “What is it, buddy?”

“I’m glad you’re here,” Geoff admitted quietly, then yawned. It took him a moment to realize that the soft vibrations under his ear were the lion’s purring.

“I’m glad you’re here, too,” Jack returned softly. Geoff closed his eyes and smiled.

Maybe… Maybe taking things a little slower wasn’t a bad idea. There’d be a princess to rescue some day. He could wait. It didn’t have to be tomorrow. Not like they’d find a kidnapped princess in a forest in the back-end of nowhere.

…probably.

Buy me a coffee?

[xtruss]

Studies In Genius

— May 4, 2021

It is always fascinating to hear top-level sportsmen speak about their fellow high achievers. There is a clarity of thought and level of understanding they possess about what is happening on the field that those of us over the boundary struggle to achieve.

Like his style of not, Geoff Boycott was one of the finest opening batsmen to play international cricket, and there are few with a keener understanding of the nuances and inner workings of the game than he. So opinionated as some may find him, it’s worth paying attention when he speaks about players.

His career coincided with that of Sir Viv Richards. Often they would have crossed paths, both in English county cricket and the Test match arena, so I recently considered with great interest his analysis of the “Master Blaster” as a batsman.

“Richards against the quick bowlers and the new ball is an intriguing phenomenon,” he once wrote. “He does not even play them on their apparent merits, he simply sets out to dominate—and the faster they bowl the more ferocious his reply. It is a matter of personal pride, ego and macho that he should take the initiative and be seen to do so.

“If anyone bowled at 200 mph, Richards would set himself to hit them for 12. It is beneath his dignity to duck and weave; fast bowling is a challenge, and he must fight fire with fire...

“It cannot be just coincidence that Richards’ sporting hero is Joe Frazier, the (late) heavyweight boxer who typifies aggression, courage and the compulsion to go forward, always forward....Fast bowlers have an in-built intent to do batsmen physical harm...and Richards the batsman like Frazier the boxer, regards it as a matter of pride to walk into the blows.”

No-one who saw Sir Viv at the crease could disagree with that piece of Boycott analysis. He was one of a rare breed whose physical gifts were combined in a very unique way with the type of iron will and self belief displayed only by those at the very top of their disciplines.

One of the few that seem to bear comparison would be Michael Jordan, the basketball genius who was as ruthless and unstoppable against his opponents as Richards was at the crease.

But there is another one who slips effortlessly into the genius category.

In style, Brian Lara was very different to Sir Viv.

The “Master Blaster” was a swaggering figure at the crease, his graceful footwork complementing the power unleashed by his dominant right hand.

Viv could defeat a bowler just by staring him down and then demoralise him by hitting him anywhere and by any means—stepping outside leg-stump and smashing through the covers or gliding outside his off-stump to crack murderous pull shots either side of the spectator fielding at square-leg.

Lara slighter of build, was a left-handed executioner. His determination to dominate was no less than Sir Viv’s. Except he used his blade like a true swordsman. Not a seeker and destroyer of the fastest bowlers, he carved them into submission with nimble movements, bat speed, deft use of the wrists and a canny brain.

Very few in the game’s history have been able to pierce well-set fields the way BC Lara did at will. He seemed to take pleasure in tormenting the fielding team, leaving captains scratching their heads as he kept putting the ball where they had just moved a fielder.

It would have been something to see Sir Viv in partnership with ‘BC’—his successor as the Windies batting champion—when both were in their prime.

Would they have been able to bat well together? Or would the two powerful egos not be able to co-exist in many long partnerships?

That question may seem silly, but getting star players to mesh is not always so easy.

Boycott was able to observe Sir Viv and fellow WI legend Gordon Greenidge at the crease together when England played West Indies in the first-ever Test match played in Antigua back in 1981.

It was a match in which the island expected homeboy Vivi to get a hundred, which he duly did. But during that innings, Boycott noted:“Greenidge had forgotten one of the golden rules of batting, which is never to try and compete with your partner.

Instead of complementing Richards, and even enjoying the relative lack of pressure at his end, he tried to compete with him...That must always be a temptation when you spend a fair bit of your life batting in Richards’ shadow....”

Boycott is entitled to his opinion, but right or wrong, it does take compromise for dominant personalities to work for the good of the team—compromise and humility. Somehow, though, I think the two WI maestros were intelligent enough to have worked things out nicely.

Think of the nightmare the two of them in full flow would have been for any group of bowlers. It’s a good thing for the opposition their timing was just off, Sir Viv departing the scene just as Lara arrived.

But as you try to get comfortable for another spell at home in the new lock-down, dear reader, ease your blues just a bit; put on Youtube, find some clips of the dynamic duo and remind yourself again what genius at the crease looks like.