#he was like knowing stats and numbers doesn’t count as being a fan

[p-antalons]

roommate and i going through every misogynistic encounter we’ve had on this floor and my eye started twitching when i mentioned that one time a guy said i wasn’t actually a hockey fan

[whoseholtz]

today was a fairytale | alexander holtz

pairing : alexander holtz x fem!reader

warnings : one of my first fully written fics, swearing, use of y/n, switch of pov (will be written in italics!)

summary : when reader goes to a devil's game and decides to make a sign asking #10 for a puck in exchange for a lego set and he actually notices her and the day turns out to be like one in a fairytale.

word count : 1.6k

y/n pov

“Girl, it’s a stupid idea, there’s a bunch of signs around the rink why would he choose yours?” your best friend says looking at the sign you made for your favourite player.

She always knew how to ruin the mood.

You slightly adjusted the sign in your hands which read, ‘Can I trade you a Lego set for a puck, #10?’ in a goofy font. The white card had been something you picked up from the craft store on your way home from work, an impulsive decision as always.

“But but but there’s barely any with his name on it, plus who cares, it’s fun okay, and if he actually spots me it’s a bonus,” you smiled clinging onto that little bit of hope that he would see your sign.

“Yeah, I guess,” your friend shrugged as a smirk grew on her face.

“What is it?” you asked knowing that when that smirk appeared there was always a plan brewing in her head.

“Oh nothing, just the fact that you are a beautiful hot girl who likes lego oh and he’s a guy who likes girls and lego, get his number girl,” she said jokingly nudging your shoulder.

In what world would ALEXANDER HOLTZ notice you?

“Okay get out of your Wattpad-loving brain, let’s just enjoy warmups and the game,” a smirk forming on your friend's face, “but no high hopes of anything more than the game.”

The lights started dimming in the arena, the colours of the devils shining bright with the booming voices from the speakers announcing the players would be entering the ice soon.

Your friend slapping your arm, “Look how cute they look, they’re Disney princesses with pads.”

“Yes, yes, I know to calm down, we don’t wanna look like the crazy ones,” you replied, being conscious of when #10 entered the ice.

Then there he was, gliding smoothly across the ice.

He could easily be on one of the top lines but he gets treated like shit from the shitty old coaches.

Warm-ups went on like normal, the silly superstitions, and pucks across the ice in every direction.

“He’s good at skating I guess,” your friend said smartly, “he plays for the NHL dipshit, of course, he’s good at skating.”

“I know but I looked at his stats and his ice time is really low and like that means he doesn’t have any chance to get good plays,” your friend shrugged, her eyes following his every move.

All she said was true, he dealt with the game. all he cared about was that he was in the league, the best league in the world for hockey.

Being a player's biggest fan came with the depression of the issues at hand, their places on the lines, their falls and other setbacks that come with being an NHL player, and every day you wish they could be the best and biggest player in the league.

Even harder being on a team with two top first-round picks and a bunch of other players who are raved about all around the league.

“Girl snap the fuck of out, he’s looking at you, right at you holy shit,” your friend said slapping your shoulder, pointing at him skating around in circles, locking eyes with you.

“Oh my god, no way he’s looking at me,” you said, jumping up and down not knowing what to do, stay weird or keep calm and try your best to look hot.

The Lego Ferrari car shook in your hand, the other shaking against the glass trying to keep your cool as he skated towards where you were situated.

—

alex pov

Skating towards such a pretty girl was scary, but the sign caught his eye. he didn’t get many signs, trades even and Lego is his favourite thing, so why wouldn’t he be excited?

The white, red and black sign with the pretty girl holding it couldn’t pass his way, maybe he’d even get a point this game.

Going home after a win but with little ice time and no points didn’t help with his mood. he’d sit on his couch in the dim room questioning why he could never be enough for the team and the league.

He has tried so hard.

—

y/n pov

“No way he’s gonna actually want the set. no way you are getting a puck, oh my god y/n this is crazy ahhh he’s coming towards us,” she said, slapping you repeatedly in the same spot, it was starting to hurt.

“Okay just stop, calm down and look cool girl,” you said, wanting to look as normal as possible for Alexander Holtz.

Tap, tap, tap on the glass.

A red glove right in front of your face, the culprit of the tapping noise.

His adorable smiling face looking at you, signalling to get ready for the puck to be thrown over the ice.

You smiled back and nodded, pulling the sign down, holding your hands ready to catch it, not believing what was going on.

You almost wanted to keep your eyes on him even when the puck had been thrown from his hands, but you obviously couldn’t.

The puck weighing in your hand, your eyes fixated on it.

"Y/n, y/n, y/n the lego set, stop googling at the puck and hand him the bloody lego set,” your friend said, slapping you once again.

“Oh fuck yeah wait, hold the puck while I chuck this thing over the glass,” you said, questioning if all those years of skipping gym were back to bite you.

First try, failed.

Second try, failed.

Third try, failed.

Fourth time, WE GOT IT.

He grinned at you one last time before turning around and skating to the bench to place the set down.

A weird feeling flowed through your body. Almost as if you’d just lost something, a presence and a sense of comfort just poof, gone.

But that thought quickly got taken away when the stadium filled with screams of die-hard fans, with you being one of them.

Somehow you’d made it to your seat already getting ready for the game to start.

You realised your head couldn’t stop thinking about the interaction with him, the puck clinging to your hand.

“Hey hey y/n, maybe loosen your grip on the puck, your knuckles are turning white and we don’t want to leave before the game even starts,” your friend said, nudging you to get your attention.

“Oh shit sorry, it’s just he’s so ahhhh, like oh my god he’s got something in his possession that I bought, with my own money,” you grinned, immediately the wave of regret of spending that much money on a lego set, washing away.

“Well let’s just enjoy this game and hope for a win and a Holtz point,” she said, holding up her overpriced drink to yours.

“I’ll toast to that, to Holtz getting a point and maybe a devil's won.”

—

“AND THE DEVILS WIN THE GAME WITH ALEXANDER HOLTZ AS THE STAR OF THE GAME”

The shock on your face shouldn’t have been that big but when a fourth-line player gets chosen as the star of the game it is huge.

“Girl he did it for you, you are his good luck charm, you need to give him something every game,” your friend yells beside you jumping out of her seat.

“Okay, I get hockey players are superstitious but girl there’s no way, let’s just leave it,” you sighed, your life couldn’t be all butterflies and rainbows.

It was not a Wattpad story, and you couldn’t treat it like it was. He probably just threw out the Lego set, you thought you were insane thinking there was a chance he actually remembered who you were; there’s no way he did.

—

alex pov

He couldn’t stop thinking about her smile, how it was the prettiest thing he had ever seen. and he got a goal, points, the fucking star of the game.

yeah, he laughed at people saying hockey players are suppositions and yeah he was a tiny bit. he had his routines but it was never that serious, the only thing different about his game was seeing her, locking eyes with her.

The Lego set sitting on his living room table was a reminder of how her smile made him feel, all bubbly inside like he could rule the world.

“Bro stop zoning out it’s scary, you just got star of the game let’s celebrate,” Luke said as he walked past you, he had invited himself in like he did every other night. win or lose he was there.

“Sorry sorry just trying to figure out what happened today that made me play so good.”

“It was totally that girl you were spying on from the start of the game to the end,” Luke joked, “this is the Lego set she gave you right?” he questioned picking it up off the table.

“Hey, don’t touch that,” he yelled, running towards Luke.

“Shit, sorry didn’t think it was such a big deal,” he said dropping the Lego set onto the table again.

“No sorry I just can’t seem to get her out of my head, and the thought I probably will never see her again,” Alexander said slowly sitting down on the couch.

“Okay don’t think about it that way, be happy you’ve somewhat met her and that you are the star, be present,” Luke replied sitting down on the couch like it was his own home, grabbing the remote and flicking some random show on.

“Never say something like that again, it's weird hearing advice from you,” Alex replied, shocked by the words coming out of his mouth.

“HEY,” Luke yelled, slapping him in the process.

It wasn’t like Luke thought, he still felt her presence somewhat, a faint smell of grapefruit which you would only notice if you really paid attention.

He couldn’t get away from the thought of her.

He couldn’t stop wondering when he’d see her again.

a/n :: hi guyssss sorry i've been lacking motivation so this took... a while to publish and stuff so i hope u like it!! tysm for all the love on if i could tell her <33

also i might be making this a series? maybe? don't hold me to that though :}

[dxppercxdxver]

tagged by @chiropteracupola a rather long while ago for this ao3 tag game (we are ignoring my play analysis teacher right now so might as well look at my fic writin' stats!)

ao3 name: mxpauling (tho this changes rather frequently!)

fandoms: in terms of fandoms Published On AO3, the greatest number are for detroit: become human and subsequent fan film detroit: evolution, due to my feverish participation in the deartfest fan event summer of 2020 (in which i wrote well over a novel's worth of words in. approximately a month.), but others represented include: team fortress 2 (specifically of the flintlock fortress variety), mystery science theater 3000, spies are forever, hadestown, the true lives of the fabulous killjoys, and some smaller one off fandoms (deathtrap, the moors, goncharov, the wolf and the watchman, and where or when)

number of works: 28! which is. a Lot higher than i remembered it being

work I spent the most time on: fairly certain it's 'leave your body at the door' as it was written over the course of about four months, which for me (guy with formerly wildly unmedicated adhd) was Insane

works I spent the least time on: oof uhhhh i mean i've written Several in the course of just a few hours, like 'cut something, kill something, eat something', 'i can't stand to see you bleed', 'don't give it a hand, offer it a soul', and 'old churchyard', amongst MANY OTHERS THAT ARE OLDER (and i didn't feel like copying)

longest fic: first place goes again to 'leave your body at the door' but coming as a close runner-up is 'Potentially Lovely, Perpetually Human', from way back in the de days

shortest fic: '(i feel) an overwhelming need', my recent the moors character study

most hits: this would be 'Out Of The Blue', due to its featuring in the octopunk monthly roundup at the end of deartfest. turns out, a built in Massive Stream Audience will bring people to your fic

most kudos: once again, 'Out Of The Blue', for much the same reasons

total word count: 144,556???????? (sorry this is NEWS TO ME)

favorite work of my own: a lot of them have already been featured in this list, so i will take this space to spotlight both 'Try Again, Die Again' (i am so proud of the premise) and 'Where the Sun Can't Find Me' (i really liked the prose in this one and am genuinely super pleased rereading it)

fic you want to rewrite / expand on: oof there are Several: i had a halfway plotted third installment of the killjoys: dead zone series about the girl and show pony settling into a new life in batt city that i'd really want to revisit someday; i'd love to restructure and rewrite 'Potentially Lovely, Perpetually Human' to make the pacing a bit more consistent; i have an incomplete fourth fic in the spytown logs series i want to come back to; and for the sake of space and time i want to redo the end of 'Out Of The Blue' because my God it's rushed

share a bit of a wip or story idea you are planning on: changing tacks Entirely. behold my bill & ted fanfiction you cowards

Everything is perfectly, totally sublime, another freakin’ awesome day in San Dimas. And Ted has a seriously heinous problem. “Dude,” he says before his brain really tells him to, turning to Bill, “this day is freakin’ awesome.” Bill nods, smiling most radiantly, pushing his sunglasses up his nose. “Totally awesome.” It is. Today is totally, absolutely, one hundred percent awesome, but… Ted doesn’t feel awesome at all.

this is a fic about ted getting wild depression post excellent adventure and not knowing how to deal with it because uhhhh he does not know what depression Is (and also they kiss a little)

tagging: @natdrinkstea, @nico-demons, @wilhelmina-murray-harker, and @fix-fax-fuckyou :3

[softomi]

crossing the threshold 

prompt: our love is spread across years, even if for the majority was not spent together; I’ll make up for it forever 

pairing: atsumu x reader

word count: 5.3k

general taglist:  @graykageyama @tsume @thesorebae @micasaessakusa @alouphen

When Atsumu was sixteen, he met you. A little ten-year-old with cute chubby cheeks, it was during a time when he envied Suna for having a little sister. You had mistaken him for Osamu from behind and while thoroughly offended, he couldn’t dare to raise his voice to a young girl. Atsumu merely patted your head, he bent to your eye level and introduced himself sweetly.

“But you can call me Tsumu. Just remember.” Atsumu stood straight, striking a pose, “I’m the better looking twin okay?”

Innocently, you nodded, “Okay.”

You were absolutely starstruck by him from that point on. If you had to pick your first love, Miya Atsumu is the face that comes to your mind. Contrary to the childish antics that he may give off to his friends and onlookers, he was absolutely sweet to you.

He’d buy you ice cream, random trinkets, and even picked you up from school once when Rintarou got detention for sleeping in class. Atsumu was like a second older brother you wished Rintarou would be sometimes. Granted, you love your brother, but sometimes he lacked the certain caring aspect that Atsumu seemed to always give you.

“Do you like me better or your brother better?” Atsumu watched your childlike eyes light up.

The popsicle in your hand was melting and your legs swayed on the seat, the ringing of the convenience store’s door echoed into the air. You grinned, “Tsumu!” Your head falls forward into your popsicle, the hand that’s smacked the back of your head connected to your brother, “Rin! You’re so mean!”

“What did I tell you.” Rintarou looks down on you, “Don’t associate yourself with Atsumu. He’s a bad man.”

Atsumu grumbles, standing to his feet to point his popsicle at your brother, “Don’t brain wash her like that! Everyone knows I’m the better twin!” He screams into the night and you laugh.

At twelve years old, you’ve made a mental note in your head that one day you were going to marry Miya Atsumu. It was fate, you two were just meant to end up together; but at twelve years old, you experienced your first heart break. Miya Atsumu was eighteen and had a beautiful girl attached to his arm.

Unknowingly, you followed him when you saw him randomly on the street. When you entered the cafe, your heart broke upon seeing him embrace the pretty girl. He hadn’t even noticed you until he properly sat down next to her. His arm draped around her shoulder as he used his other hand to wave to you. As a heartbroken twelve-year-old, you ran out of the café shop.

“Do you know her?”

Atsumu’s arm falls slowly, “Yeah, she’s my friend’s sister. Not sure why she ran out like that. She absolutely adores me.”

All the way home, you ran, not even noticing that you had sprinted past your brother and Osamu. For the weekend you locked yourself in your room trying to quell the sadness of your heart. Atsumu was no longer the man you knew, he was no longer sweet or nice, he was a monster.

You stuck your tongue out at him, “Osamu is the better-looking twin. I want to take a picture with Osamu only!”

Osamu laughs, your hands wrapped around Osamu’s arm as you pull him to take a picture. Graduation day called for families to flood the school and once the ceremony ended, pictures were being taken by everyone. Your parents made you take over fifty pictures with your brother before the twins joined. Atsumu suggested a picture with his favorite little girl and you barked at him.

“You’ll take a picture with me right Samu?” You were practically hugging his arm, Atsumu glaring from behind the parents with cameras.

“Okay! My turn!” Atsumu squeezed through.

“No!” You clung to the grey-haired twin.

After much ruckus, it was concluded that you’d take a picture with all of the boys. Osamu to your right, Atsumu to your left and your brother standing tall behind you. While you leaned closer towards Osamu, your face was bright red, oddly aware of Atsumu’s arm around your shoulder as he poses with a smile.

Your mother hung the picture in the hallway. It stared at you for four years, you hadn’t seen him since he graduated.

Atsumu ran into you at his brother’s restaurant. His brother chatted with a young woman, the familiarity of the figure making him curious when he entered. In fact, when you finally turned to look at him, he almost choked on his own tongue.

“Look at you!” His hand falls on your head, “You’re so big now.”

You swat his hand away, “Don’t touch me, you’re going to ruin my hair.”

Atsumu laughs, pulling into the seat next to you, “How old are you now? Fourteen?”

“Sixteen!” You grit your teeth, “I see you still have the uglier hair.”

Atsumu leans his head back, “You’re still so mean!” He feigns a tear shed, “I remember when you used to adore me so much.”

“That was when you brain washed me.” You stuck your tongue out to him.

Atsumu stares, the amazed grin was glued to his face. It makes your cheeks tint and your heart picks up in pace, “So what are you doing here? Are you visiting me?!” Atsumu wraps an arm around your shoulders, pulling you into an awkward hug, “Did you miss me?!”

Atsumu retracts his hands when someone smacks him from behind. You pull away with a deep hue on your cheeks, brushing your hand through your hair to refix the position. Rintarou stands behind Atsumu, effectively continuing to smack the man another time just for the fun of it.

“Bye Samu!” You’re waving to the male, turning to look at Atsumu briefly with a scowl, “Bye loser.”

Atsumu found you still adorable, attempting to pinch your cheeks and pulling away quickly when you try to bite him. Compared to when he had first met you, small and tiny in the kitchen of your home, now you were taller, hair grown out, and the school uniform fitted on you nicely. Even as you were leaving, Atsumu couldn’t help but turn and stare.

“Ow.” Atsumu rubs the back of his head, Osamu glaring down at him, “What.”

“She’s sixteen, you pervert.”

Atsumu groans, “I wasn’t thinking anything, you’re the pervert for even about thinking it.”

Another four years pass like that, at twenty for you, Atsumu is twenty-six. He finds it hard to believe that you were indeed you. The occasional social media post he saw of you from your brother’s feed definitely didn’t do you justice.

“Are you still as snarky?” Atsumu sits across from you.

The feel of the restaurant was one that he found oddly romantic, chandelier lights in a private room, he had specifically chosen a private area to not draw attention from fans. A table separated the two of you, the waitress hadn’t returned since bringing out the food, and there was the faint sound of classical music playing from the speakers above.  

“I don’t know.” You slowly twirl the wine glass, not offering a glance to him, “Do you still have the ugly blonde hair.” You lift your eyes from the wine, a small grin on your lips, “Oh yeah, looks like you do. At least you learned what toner is.”

“Hey, be nice. I’m the one graciously paying for this meal.”

“You’re the one who begged me to come here and I was so close to getting treated to a meal by Kiyoomi.”

It hadn’t been long since you moved to the same city; ever since you visited his practice once with your brother, you had been contacting him non-stop to be invited to his practices and while your eyes were set on his teammate, he practically cock-blocked any chance he could get.

“You know he’s a clean freak.” Atsumu pokes at his food, “Omi doesn’t even accept gifts from his fans.”

Your eyes sparkled, a cheery grin on your lips, “That’s why he’s so perfect, so caring about his own health.” Atsumu frowned. You pulled out your phone, a giggle on your lips as you showcase your lock screen, “The last time I visited, he took a picture with me! Isn’t he so cute!”

Atsumu snatched your cell phone, causing a distressed sound to emit from your mouth, “Why would you put that as your background! What about the picture we took together?”

You grip your phone back, a sharp glare at him, “I like Omi!”

“My stats are better than his.” He randomly throws out into the air, but the way you stare at your phone has him irked, “You listening to me?”

You hum, “So what if your stats are better. Omi definitely has the better looks; do you think you could give me his number?”

Atsumu groans loudly, the knife in his hand nearly cracking the plate. His fork stabs the steak, before your mouth can spew any more about Kiyoomi, he’s shoving food into your mouth.

“Can you just eat now.” He grumbles.

Your hand covers your lips, slowly chewing the meat with a grin, “Sorry.”

Atsumu and you met more often than you had ever intended. There were many nights where he picked you up from work, many conversations over text, many times he would come over to your apartment to just hang out. He’d take over your couch, body sprawled out as he flipped through the television. You’d force him to stop at a volleyball match, opting to watch your brother play over any television series Atsumu could find.

It was quiet, the commentary from the game being the only sound of your apartment. You sat on the ground, back pressed against your couch, a bowl of popcorn sitting in your lap which you ate as though you were watching an action-packed movie. Atsumu laid on his side, an arm draped over your shoulder, fingers playing with the ends of your hair.

His arm suddenly shifted and with a swift second, he withdrew. The sudden action caused you to jolt, looking over your shoulder at him questioningly. His face suddenly hit with a blush.

“What?”

Atsumu coughs, “it’s nothing.” Your eyes turn back to the screen but his mind races. Recalling the moment in which his hand accidentally brushed against your chest, while the fabric of your t-shirt concealed what was underneath, he knew well what it felt like when a woman lacked an undergarment.

He stared at his hand, his face growing redder the more he thought about the incident and he can only assume you were too engrossed into the game to notice. Atsumu feels as though he’s crossed a very awkward line.

“I’m going to the bathroom.” He excuses himself, locking himself into the room, hands aggressively trying to brush away the flush of his cheeks.

As he’s in the bathroom, he takes his time in trying to cool down. He’s trying to find some lotion, hands rummaging through the drawers until as he opens one, he spots the familiar brand of condoms, it’s ones that he’s used before. He blinks three times, an image of you tucked between bedsheets flashes in his mind, before harshly slamming the drawer. Hands flying to his face, and he couldn’t help but think how his luck had run out so fast.

“Tsumu?” You call from the living room, “Everything good in there?”

“Yep!” He answers, “Just looking for some lotion.”

“It’s in the last drawer.”

As he exits the bathroom, he watches you; everything suddenly was different. No longer were you the cute, innocent girl that was his friend’s sister. Perhaps there was another side of you that he just lost track of. Atsumu finds himself seated on the other end of you, legs tucked close to him while continuously eyeing you from the corner of his eyes. A blush creeps onto his face when you look back at him with a smile.

“Congratulations on your win!” You scream into your cell, completely unfazed at the way people in the convenience store looked at you, “See! I told you that you’d win! Tsumu you were so cool with your last serve.”

Atsumu chuckles, a sudden boastful feeling in his throat, “Even better than Omi right?!”

Your voice falls silent, “Your serve was alright.”

“You’re supposed to be supporting me!” Atsumu whines, “Where are you right now?”

“Right now?” You exit the convenience store, staring up at the neon sign, “I’m leaving the store right now.”

“The one by the post office or the one by the chicken restaurant?”

You continue to walk, “The chicken restaurant. Why?”

Arms wrap around your waist, a shriek comes from your mouth as your lifted into the air, spun around excitedly as you hear his laugh. When he sets you down, you turn, hand slapping against his chest. The dim streetlight focusing on you both.

“You should be celebrating with your team.” You look up at him, the excitement in his expression has him practically wanting to jump all over the place.

The grin plastered on him is the brightest you had ever seen. He wraps his arm around your neck, pulling you along the pathway to your home, “I already did, now we need to celebrate!”

He presses a harsh kiss on your cheek, your hand automatically wipes the sloppy kiss, “Disgusting. I’m letting you get away with that because you won your game today.”

Foolishness on his lips, he takes the bag from your hands, carrying it the rest of the way to your place where he promptly raids your kitchen of food and drinks.

In the middle of the night he remains the only one awake, your head fallen on his shoulder as you drifted to slumber. Atsumu feels a lump in his throat, the alcohol in his system tells him to hold you close. He takes in the scent of your hair, his fingers lifted to push aside the strands from your face, he quickly pulls back when you stir. He’s wide awake that night, staring at the ceiling while you slept soundly in your bedroom and he on your couch. Atsumu raises a hand to peer at his fingertips, the warmth of your hair still hot against his skin.

There was a fine line with how Atsumu was feeling and it felt uncomfortable for him to be staring at the line. If he moved passed that line, it could jeopardize his friendship with you, his friendship with your brother, and it was absolutley agonizing. But it was just as terrible being on the safe side pining over you.

“Seriously?” Osamu quirks a brow to him, he laughs, “No way.”

Atsumu groans, forehead pressed against the counter of his brother’s restaurant, “I’m serious. Is it wrong?”

Osamu nods, “Very.”

Atsumu frowns, a defeat on his face when he looks at Osamu, “You’re supposed to be helping me.”

Osamu perks, “Oh I’m sorry. Please, I’m sure Rintarou would love you to date his sister who’s six years younger than us and who we practically watched grow.”

Atsumu slumps back to his position face down on the counter, “I’m a terrible person.” Atsumu moans, “She’s so pretty, and funny, and she gets me.” Atsumu sits straight up, “Like yesterday, she came by my practice and brought me lunch!”

Osamu crosses his arms, “Didn’t she bring that for her precious Omi. I saw her instagram post.”

“But she gave me mine first!” Atsumu pulls his fingers into a fist, “So because I’m first, she likes me more!” Atsumu’s lips fall to a scowl, “Right?”

Atsumu declared that his main problem; all other problems aside, such as your brother. How could he know if you liked him if all you ever looked at was Sakusa Kiyoomi.

It wasn’t easy but he managed to get you a priority pass into the venue of his game. It wasn’t your first time in the arena but it would be the first you actually watched him play in person and not behind a screen. You were quick to find Osamu setting up his onigiri stand, a chuckle on his lips when he saw you.

“Weren’t you invited by Atsumu?”

You tug your hat, a blank expression in your eyes, “Yeah, why?”

Osamu whips out his phone, you strike a quick pose at the shutter of his camera. The pictures were sent in a quick text to his brother. And just to clickbait him, Osamu sends a sweet and short text to make sure his brother would open the images.

She looks so adorable in the MSBY Black Jackals merch.

Atsumu never opened a text so quick, and he’s never felt betrayal so fast before. The jersey you wore while identical to his from the front, the back displayed Sakusa’s name and jersey number. The hat you adorned was knitted with Sakusa’s number and the side of the hat you’ve written his name in white marker against the black cap, hearts drawn cutely before and after his name. To add salt to the wound, there was a clear picture of your phone case, you’ve switched it out from the cute peach phone case he got you to a Sakusa Kiyoomi phone case.

“I hate you so much.” Atsumu holds his phone with a harsh grip, staring at his teammate.

“What?” Sakusa answers.

The game ended in a roar, Atsumu’s heated head channeled into the ball caused quite a few victory points. At one point, he was thinking about accidentally serving a ball to the back of Sakusa’s head but that would only result in you caring for the man more. He could imagine you pushing him aside to tend to your precious Omi.

Many fans lingered once the game was over, Atsumu found himself surrounded by reporters but the corner of his eyes caught your figure walking past security and onto the main ground. His words drawing out as you skipped your way to Sakusa; the hat on your head pulled off as you asked him for an autograph on your hat.

“Hey!” Atsumu jogs to the two of you, his arm finding themselves on your shoulders.

“You did absolutely amazing Omi!” You brush Atsumu’s arm off and he frowns.

Sakusa puts a mask on, “Thank you.”

When he walks away, you’re still starstruck, the hat in your hand held tightly. Atsumu glares daggers into the back of his teammate’s head. The moment you turn to him, Atsumu is smiling.

“Look!” You’re shoving the hat into his face, “He signed my hat!”

Atsumu pretends to be excited, “Next thing you know, he’ll sign your shirt!”

You gasp, “Do you think he would? Wait.” You turn, attempting to run away from him, “I must go find him again.” You giggle when Atsumu catches your arm, pulling you back to him, “I guess the Miya Atsumu would do.”

He takes in your playful eyes, mischievousness on your lips, and the way your cheeks grow when you look at him. If he wasn’t so hopelessly in love, maybe he would have already kissed your lips.

“Want to take a picture?” Atsumu slips his hand to take your phone from your back pocket, a gesture making you smack his arm.

A small pout on his lips when he notices that your wallpaper is still one with Sakusa; but he recruits one of his other teammates to take a picture. Atsumu’s hands dance on your waist, pulling you into him, pressing his cheek against yours, practically trying to crush you into him, you’re laughing. He finds it adorable.

“I’ll wait for you.” You tell him as he leaves to the locker rooms.

You’re scrolling through your cell phone, the pictures on your phone grinning back at you. A slow smile emerges on your lips, Atsumu’s hands on your waist trying to hold you still even though you know he’s trying to tickle you. Your finger holds onto the photo, what follows is a short video of yours and his smile growing larger. Out of impulse, you set the image as your lock screen.

“Gotcha!”

You jump, head whipping back to find your brother staring down at you, “Gosh!” You hit him, “You’re so annoying. Go away!” You attempt to smack his leg but he retracts quickly.

Rintarou pokes the hat on your head, “Did your boyfriend sign the hat for you, is that why you’re so happy?”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” You speak up, “he’s the best player on the Black Jackals!” You stick your tongue out to him, “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at practice or something.”

He points behind him, “Samu and I are going out to eat, thought I’d watch the end of the game. What are you doing?”

“I’m waiting for Tsumu. We were going to go out to eat too.”

“Great.” He narrows his eyes, “Let’s all go together then.”

For some reason, it was painfully awkward for Atsumu. Osamu found it painfully amusing and the Suna siblings shared one brain cell, focusing their attention on the food. The moment all four of you walked into the restaurant, Atsumu almost instinctively chose the seat next to you; the sudden awareness of your brother in the room had him switching seats rapidly.

“So.” Osamu began, “How come you don’t have a boyfriend yet?”

Atsumu begins to cough, a sheepish grin on your lips, Rintarou doesn’t pay attention to the question.

“I guess no guy has piqued my interest yet.” Your hand covers your mouth, attempting to chew and talk at the same time, “I’ve dated here and there but nothing serious yet.”

Osamu nods, “You’re still young, how old are you now?”

You swallow, “Twenty-one.”

Osamu puts a hand onto his brother’s shoulder, “Did you hear that Tsumu, twenty-one.” Atsumu tries drinking water to cease his coughing, “That means that we’re six years apart, right?”

Rintarou finally looks up, “Why are you so suddenly interested in our age difference?”

Atsumu coughs once more, “It’s not like age differences matter.”

Your brother’s actions stop, “Why would the age difference matter in this situation?”

Atsumu and Osamu cough, their food going down the wrong pipe at the same time. In that moment, you steal food from your brother’s plate, the action diverting his attention from the twins. Like siblings, you bicker with your brother as he steals from your plate this time.

The ride home was just as painful. You sat in the back seat, Osamu driving, Atsumu in the passenger side, and your brother with you in the back. The only sound coming from the radio and you kept yourself occupied with your cell phone; not a care in the world that there was some tension in the car.

“I’ll see you guys. Rin, make sure you remember next month is mom’s birthday. Let’s spit a gift.” You wave to the three boys before running off into your apartment building.

The air in the car suddenly thick. Rintarou sits up, hands placed on the shoulders of Atsumu’s seat, “The age difference joke.” Atsumu feels his soul leaving his body, “I’d prefer it if you lay off.” Rintarou slumps back into his seat, “But I don’t care, do as you see fit.” Atsumu looks at him through the passenger side mirror, “I don’t control your lives.”

Atsumu wonders if that was his friend’s way of giving his blessing.

“You still like me better than your brother, right?” Atsumu pokes at you from the seat on your couch.

You roll your eyes, “Will you be quiet if I say yes?” Atsumu nods, “Then yes mister clingy, I like you so much more than my brother.”

Atsumu grins, “How about Omi?”

You shoot him a glare, “You’re stretching it pretty far there.”

There’s a moment of silence before he lets out a deep sigh, one that you’ve suddenly grown accustomed to understanding that he wanted attention.

“You know what we never do?” Atsumu shuffles in his seat.

You look at him, “Is it be quiet?”

Atsumu pokes your cheek, “Nope.” He pulls away when you try to bite his finger, “We never talk about our past. We literally grew up in the same neighborhood, went to the same school, knew the same people.”

“First off.” You’ve turned to fully look at him now, “We went to the same school but never attended at the same time and second, we know the same people because you’re friends with my brother.” Your shoulders shrugged, “You gotta admit, we didn’t get close until almost two years ago when you inserted yourself into my life.”

Atsumu grins happily, “Now you’re blessed with me.”

“More like cursed.” You swat his hand away when he tries to touch your nose.

“What about your first crush or love?” Atsumu tilts his head to you, “Mine was this girl I was dating when I was eighteen. Boy, I thought she was the cutest girl ever until she got extra clingy and jealous. I thought she was going to claw my eyes out.” Atsumu laughs, when he notices that you lack laughter, he pokes your sides, “You?”

“Mine?” Your eyes can’t meet his gaze, “It was you.” Atsumu freezes, perhaps his ears played a joke on him. Suddenly when you look into his eyes, your lips smile, “Yeah, I had the biggest crush on you when I was ten. Isn’t that funny?”

But he doesn’t laugh, his hands cover his face to hide the blush, “That’s so cute.” Atsumu pinches your cheek, “Little you had a crush on me?” You smother a pillow into his face, but it doesn’t drown out his sounds, “It’s absolutely precious!”

“Shut up!” You screech.

He pulls the pillow away, he’s laid out on the couch now, your legs positioned on either side of his hips and with the removal of the pillow in his face, his hands grasp your wrists, the sudden realization that you were straddling him had heat coming out of his ears.

“Sorry.” You pull away. Atsumu shrinks to the opposite side of the couch, face hot as you get up, “I’m gonna order us some food.” Your arm covers your face, trying to hide the heat that’s rushed to your cheeks.

“That’s different.” Osamu notices your phone case, “Wasn’t it a Sakusa one before?”

You lift your phone, “Yeah, my other phone case got dirty and I saw an Atsumu one. The Sakusa ones were sold out so I just thought why not.”

“Interesting.” When he states that you shrug, moving along to find your seat in the arena. Osamu peers over the side of his cart, staring at the overabundance of Sakusa Kiyoomi phone cases in the stall next to him. Osamu merely laughs, “They’re so stupid.”

Atsumu finds himself once again surrounded by reporters, his hands wave signaling that they could talk to anyone else but him, even pushing his other teammate to the reporters.

“Excuse me, can I have your autograph?”

Atsumu tries to smile politely, “Sorry, maybe next time.”

“Alright, I guess I’ll just go find Omi.” Atsumu does a doubletake, his lips spread into a fine grin.

His arms pulling you into a hug, you repress trying to let out a sound of disgust when you realize he’s all sweaty, “What are you doing here?” Atsumu’s fingers run through a strand of your hair, “I thought you were working?”

“I was and then suddenly.” You folded your hands into a fist, coughing into it slowly with a mischievous smile, “I got sick.”

Atsumu uses a finger to push your head back, “You shouldn’t be lying at work.”

Your eyes quickly dart to behind him, “Quick! There’s Omi!” You grab Atsumu’s arm, “Can you take a picture of me and him please!”

It took a little convincing and some rules, but Sakusa complied to the photo. Atsumu grips your phone, an eerie grin on him as he sees that Sakusa places a hand onto the small of your back. But as Atsumu turns on your phone, the happy picture of the two of you washes over him. As he tries to swipe to go to the camera, the picture plays into a short video and for a second, he feels love wash over him.

“Tsumu!” Your voice wakes him from his thought. He’s quick to take pictures and you skip to him after thanking Sakusa for the pictures. Your lips fall into a scowl, “Tsumu! They’re all blurry!”

Atsumu is walking away from you, he shrugs his shoulders as he heads to the locker rooms, “I guess I don’t have a steady hand.” He’s laughing as you yell at him.

Atsumu finds himself slowly walking, he sees you leaning against a pillar, cell phone in your hand, just waiting for him. He finds himself wanting to admire you for a little bit longer, he wants to run his fingers through your hair and most importantly, he wants to feel what it would be like to kiss you.

“Were you slow motion walking here or something?” You laugh.

But Atsumu doesn’t feel like laughing right now, he feels like he wants you; more than anything he’s ever wanted before. The look in his eyes change as he’s suddenly rubbing a thumb over your cheek.

“If I’m crossing a line.” Atsumu’s eyes dart to your lips, “Just tell me to stop.”

He’s leaning down, your back pressed against the pillar. One of his hands rests on your hip the other still a caressing your cheek. He lets himself pause before your lips; eyes deeply lost in yours before he takes the dive. He’s absolutely immersed in you, your arms bring him deeper in and he’s euphoric. He dips in, pushing your head back to bump against the pillar. You let out a groan, pushing his arms away as your hand flies to the back of your head.

You chuckle, “A little too eager there.”

“Sorry.” Atsumu bites his lower lip, the seconds ago just barely registering in his head, “Was that alright?”

“Do you want some kind of grade?” You purse your lips, “Maybe a B+.” You tease but Atsumu pouts. Your fingers tug on his jacket, palms against his cheeks to pull him down, pressing a quick peck to his lips, “Does that answer your question?”

Your footsteps begin to walk away from him. You look at him from over your shoulder; he still seemed stunned, but the way you moved drew him in.

“If you’re going to just stand there, I might just go ahead and find Omi.”

Like a puppy, he runs to you; hands reaching out to you as you begin to scamper through the hall. A delighted squeal leaves your mouth when he catches up, arms encasing you in a hug; he’s pressing a sloppy kiss on your cheek.

“So, we’re just supposed to get used to this now?” Osamu watches Atsumu throw an arm around your shoulders, his brother sticking his tongue out childishly, “What are you so smug about, you spent practically two years pining over her.”

Rintarou sighs, suddenly feeling uneasy about the situation, “I thought you knew better. I told you to not associate yourself with Atsumu.”

Your fingers interlock with Atsumu’s, the siblings in front of the two of you continue to yammer but their voices are drowned out with Atsumu pressing his lips against your hair. He feels the need to draw his seat closer to you, and your brother scowls.

Atsumu lets go of you with a shriek, the hot soup spilled onto his pants.

“Rin!” You shout.

“He crossed the line.”

Your brother hogs the napkins, Osamu laughs loudly, and you watch your boyfriend scream in agony. You roll your eyes at your brother, after all, you were still his little sister and he can’t just have anyone trying to make a move on you.

[puckngrind]

Leave Her Wild: Chapter 2 - N. MacKinnon

Summary: MacKenzie and her friends head to opening night for the Colorado Avalanche.

Warnings: swearing, alcohol

Word count: 2, 675

Series masterlist / Puck ‘n Grind’s masterlist

Flames.

"You are really gonna wear that?" Mosi looks her friend up and down.

"Yeah, why?" MacKenzie tugs at her jersey. Of course she was going to wear it. Opening night, only hockey jersey she owned. Was a Christmas gift from her parents last year. She did a little twirl to show it off to the group of unamused friends.

"Because..." Drew rolls his hands and she rolls her eyes.

"Laissez les bons temps rouler!" Remy waves his hands in the air.

"That means, Let..." MacKenzie starts.

"Let the good times roll! We know.” Drew and Mosi say in unison.

"Alright, Mac is going to be wearing that. Remy has clearly pre-gamed. Mosi should’ve. We have our tickets and I'm driving so let's go." Drew starts herding the friend group out of MacKenzie's condo.

Opening night at Pepsi Center was always an event. MacKenzie and Drew got tickets from their volunteer efforts so the group headed out for their first time ever. They had gone to a Rockies game after Remy moved to Denver but normally the friend group didn't really do sporting events as outings.

“Is someone gonna explain these rules?” Remy plopped down from his first beer run with Drew and handed MacKenzie one. Eyeing her for the answer.

“Yeah. Kinda like soccer. You know?” She started. Knowing she was the only one who knew anything about hockey. “You can yell, cheer, boo. Doesn't really matter because no one really pays attention to the crazy you say.” The group all nod and she knows they will just clap when those around them do.

“So pizza-Jeep boy is wearing what color?” Mosi whisper yells while leaning into MacKenzie’s side during warmups.

“He’s in the blue and maroon jersey. The white is the Flames.” MacKenzie doesn’t take her eyes off the ice looking for Nathan to point him out but feels Mosi’s eyes on her. “Yes, Mo?”

“But… um... never mind.” Mosi stutters strangely.

"There he is." Kenzie ignores and points to the screen where they have a close up of Nathan showing his stats from the previous season.

The game starts which quieted the group’s chatter while everyone but Kenzie tried following the puck and going from watching the ice to the screen and back.

“Let’s go boys!” MacKenzie stands and yells after a big play with everyone in her section turning to look at her.

“Mac!” Drew pulls her down to her seat. “Check your surroundings.”

“You know I don’t care, right?” MacKenzie starts clapping again with a little cheer.

“As always, you do you.” Drew slow claps along as the game progresses.

Even though MacKenzie warned her friends that there might be only a goal or two, the game was high scoring which the friends all enjoyed. Remy cheered when anyone scored regardless of team. Colorado winning made the home crowd pumped and buzzing about being the year.

"We realize the season has over 80 games, right?" Kenzie comments to no one in particular as they head down the stairs.

“Food! Real food and drinks that don’t cost a million bucks.” Mosi begs on the way out.

“Allons! Let’s go!” Remy points to the closest restaurant he can see. "That one! Onward." Remy leads the group over.

Drinks, food, laughter fill the table as they banter back and forth.

“Isn’t that her, Mac?” MacKenzie hears someone nearby. She turns to see Nathan, Cale and a few more guys at a table about ten feet away. Nathan nods. She raises her hand then quickly feels the blood rushing to her face.

“Kenzie Lou, why are you the same color as your jersey?” Remy looks her up and down.

“Oh.” Drew mumbles with his mouth full seeing the table MacKenzie just waved towards.

“Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun!” Mosi clapped and is greeted with a kick under the table. “Ouch. Well it is.”

MacKenzie huffs and stands to her feet. Inhales and walks right over to the table of what she assumed was full of professional hockey players.

“Nice game Nathan.” She stops right at the end of his table and knows her face is still bright red.

“Looks like you were rooting for the other team there. Sorry 'bout that.” One of the boys down the table barks out.

“Hi MacKenzie. Thanks. Were you there? At the game, I mean.” Nathan turns his body towards her.

“Yes. Got tickets because of the foundation thing so we all went.” She gestures towards her eager looking friends. They wave and Nathan waves back with a flick of his wrist.

“Oh cool. So you are a… a Calgary fan?” Nathan gulps hard taking in the home Flames jersey.

“Well, a Tkachuk fan, actually. Yeah.” MacKenzie looks over at the 19 on her shoulder. “He was phenomenal last… ya'll. Well. Yeah.” MacKenzie looks around the amused players and shuts up.

“Sorry, let me introduce you. Guys, this is the other Mac. MacKenzie. Uh. Shit. I never caught your last name.” Nathan looks at her searching for a name.

“Blackwood.” MacKenzie answers and the guy across from Nate spits out his drink. “Um.” She just looks at him.

Nate wipes his face and stares down his teammate. “Are you fucking serious, EJ?”

“Sorry man.” EJ hands him another napkin. “No teeth.” He flashes his massive gap which makes MacKenzie giggle softly and Nathan groan.

“Let me get this straight. You live in Cale and Tyson’s building, volunteer with youth, only seem to follow Tkachuk 'cause you don't seem to know Avs hockey.” He wipes his mouth to continue. MacKenzie recognizes him as the captain from the game. “Have the same name as a goalie in the league, and are giving my boy, Nate here a run for his money.” Gabe winks with a sinister smile.

“Wait what?” MacKenzie puts her fingers to the bridge of her nose.

“What he means is…” Nate starts and MacKenzie places a finger up to stop him.

“No the goalie thing. I’m choosing to ignore the last part for now.” She says which gets a reaction from the entire table.

“Mackenzie Blackwood is a goalie in New Jersey. You happen to have the same name.” Nate explains.

“Gotcha. I’ll be honest, I catch games when I can but it’s background noise.” MacKenzie still feels her cheeks on fire but doesn’t let it stop her. “I will go to a Flames games if I'm in town when they play ya'll then a Blues game when I’m home with my dad and brother. Most of my hockey following is checking stats or social media.” She takes a deep breath not wanting to look directly at the table that all seem mesmerized by her presence. “Anyway, just wanted to say hi, which I did. So…. Nice game gentleman. Enjoy your post game dinner. Good seeing you again Nate. Cale.” MacKenzie nods and turns on her heals to her friends who haven’t touched their food since she left.

"Kenzie Lou!" Remy softly squeals.

"Don't." MacKenzie grits her teeth.

"What the hell did you talk to an entire table of NHL players about?" Mosi ignores her friend's request.

"I guess I have the same name as a goalie in the league." She annoyingly answers.

Drew starts typing before anyone can respond. "Oh yes. Mackenzie Blackwood. K not capitalized. Canadian. 22. New Jersey rookie who started last year. Wait, how does that happen?" Drew looks at MacKenzie's face . "Later. I'll google it later."

"Could we eat please?" MacKenzie takes a drink of her water and starts to finish her meal. She feels a ping on her phone and turns it over to read the notification.

Nathan's i-phone wants to airdrop you. Accept?

MacKenzie looks over and he nods at the phone. She looks back to accept and sees a screenshot from his notes apologizing for being awkward and asking for her number. She seems confused.

"Kenz?" Mosi questions.

"He wants my number." MacKenzie whispers.

"I'm confused." Remy whispers back.

"Found my phone on airdrop. Smart at least." MacKenzie chuckles.

"So airdrop your digits back to him or I will." Mosi pulls her phone out. "I just need to turn on mine. Who keeps it on? You, of course you do Mac." Mosi looks at Kenzie amused.

"Should I?" MacKenzie pulls at her loose curl wrapping it around her finger and letting it bounce back.

"YES!" Drew almost yells. "What could it hurt? Have a new contact for work at the least." Drew knew exactly what would get MacKenzie to send her number. She looks down to see Remy had written down her number on his napkin. The man always had a pen on him.

"Snap this to 'em." Remy pushed it over so MacKenzie did just that. Almost throwing her phone down as soon as she did. It buzzed not even a minute later.

Maybe Nate: Hi Mackenzie. This is Nate.

MacKenzie: Hi Nate. You can call me Kenzie or Mac

Nate: Okay Kenzie.

She looks up at him and he smiles wide.

Kenzie: enjoy your dinner

Nate: Same. I’ll text you later

She didn’t expect to hear from Nate but the next morning while getting ready for work, MacKenzie hears her text notification.

Nate: good morning. We are off Sunday and a few of us are playing cards at Cale’s place. Would you and your friends want to come over? It’s not far for you.

She stares at the text and starts to pace. Then sends out a group text.

Kenzie: Nate and some of the Avs want us to come over Sunday. Thoughts?

MacKenzie got all three messages immediately in return.

Mosi: obviously yes

Drew: yes is the only answer

Remy: fuck ya!

MacKenzie sent a text to Nate saying yes and asked what they could bring. She wasn't surprised Nate said nothing just themselves.

Sunday rolled around. MacKenzie and her friends walked down to Cale’s condo. She stopped in front of the door and Drew reached over her to knock. Kenzie looked up at him.

"What, just making sure we don't have to stand here forever." The door swung open as Drew finishes his statement.

“Nate, they are here and at least she’s not in a Flames jersey today.” The curly haired guy MacKenzie knew was Tyson from a quick google search of the team over the weekend.

“Decided to leave that at home, Tyson, but I can go get it.” MacKenzie points while giving him a half smile.

“Oh, and she...” Tyson turns to see Nathan behind him. “And she knows my name.”

“Sorry, don’t mind him. He got checked a little too hard at practice this morning.” Nathan pulls Tyson back into the condo. “Come in please.” He gestured and they moved past Nathan into the condo that was the mirror image of MacKenzie’s just slightly larger.

"Make yourselves comfortable." Cale popped his head out from the kitchen. "I'm sure you know where everything is."

"Yeah, just backwards." MacKenzie looks down the hall to the rooms. "Two or three?"

"Three. You?" MacKenzie raises two fingers and realizes her friends have already made their way into the living room.

"Thanks for coming." Nate was still standing behind her and she jumped.

"Thanks for inviting us. My mother tells me I need to make more friends here." MacKenzie sighs.

"Same actually. Tells me the team isn't enough." Nathan looks over her at his friends that were also his coworkers.

"Work, travel, and such keep my circle small." MacKenzie admits. "Oddly, same. You travel for work?" Nathan pushes his hands into his pockets and leans against the wall.

"I do then try to do different things for fun, you know?" She leans against the other wall.

"That's cool. Where are you heading next?"

MacKenzie's mind normally would be racing. Thinking of all the reasons why she shouldn't tell this essential stranger her work schedule but something about him made her feel easy. Maybe how he had more to lose if he burnt her. He didn't know what she did for a living but she could make his life miserable. Maybe it was the simplicity of their conversation or the kindness in his eyes. She felt like she could talk to him.

"Colorado Springs then off to Washington D.C. for the rest of the week and into next week." She answered him.

"Oh, I think we are in D.C. next weekend or maybe the beginning of the week." He stares at his foot kicking the invisible dirt then looked back up at MacKenzie.

"We are. Now are you two just gonna talk in the hall or are you gonna play cards here?" Gabe leans around the corner. "We've already gotten to know Kenzie's friends... let's go!" He gives Nate a look that doesn't go unnoticed. The two walk into the living room.

“Do I need to make introductions?” Nate looks around the room at all the eyes on both of them.

“Well, I googled ya’ll in preparation for today… so… I think I’m good.” She scans the room and sees a few of the girlfriends or wives. “Well, I don’t know the ladies.”

Nate took a moment to identify the few sitting around the room and who they belonged to. Pulling out an empty chair for MacKenzie. “Here, you can play here.” She sat down and pulled her legs up criss crossed under her as Gabe explained the rules. The group played poker until there were four left. JT, Nathan, MacKenzie, and Mosi. Mosi kept saying she accidentally won her table which made the competitive men agitated but made MacKenzie amused. Eventually it was just Nathan and MacKenzie.

“Kenzie, I think you and Nate need a wager of some sort.” Drew drops a bottle of water next to her and she glares up at him.

“I’m game.” Nate pipes up.

“Okay, so what if I win?” Kenzie takes a sip of water.

“Glass seats at the game of your choice.” Gabe declares.

“Okay, and if Nate wins?” Kenzie directs her attention to the captain who now has his hands on Nathan’s shoulders.

“You go out to dinner with him.” Gabe squeezes Nathan’s shoulders and smiles at Kenzie.

“Uh…” Nathan tries to nervously interject.

“That’s fine.” Kenzie tries to control her blush by not directly looking at Nathan then overcomes it to look right into his soft eyes. "Let's play."

Cale starts to deal and everyone can feel the shift of all eyes on the table even though most had scattered once they were knocked out in individual conversations. After three hands, Nathan goes all in.

"I think he's bluffing." MacKenzie whispers and pushes all her chips to the center.

"Kenzie..." He breathes out and Gabe's hand returns to his shoulder.

They place their cards down and Nathan wins with a full house. The cheers start and Nathan just stares at Kenzie who gives him a small smile. She gets up and heads to the kitchen to grab a drink. Finding Cale's rum and starts pouring more than necessary into her diet coke. Takes a drink and feels someone behind her.

"Drew, I'm not that competitive." She doesn't even turn around.

"It's not Drew." Nate murmurs.

MacKenzie turns around slowly. "Sorry. Nice game." She raises her glass to him.

"We don't have to go out for dinner, you know." Nathan shifts his weight.

"Well, a deal is a deal, right?" Kenzie tries not to breath him in as he reaches around her for a water but he smells amazing. He shrugs his shoulders. "If I won, would I have glass seats?" She leans into the counter.

"Yes, you can still have them if you want." Nate fiddles with the bottle, flicking at the paper label.

"So, dinner. When we both get back in town, okay?" Kenzie takes a sip and looks up at Nathan.

"Yes, I'll have my people call your people then." Nathan laughs.

"So Gabe will call Mosi?" MacKenzie bites her cheek with her comeback.

"Oooorrrr... I'll just text you." Nathan replies.

MacKenzie takes a drink again and winces with the burn. "That works too."

[grishaversecommunityyy]

The Grishaverse Ship Survey Results

So! After all of that, we finally have the results! What is the general opinion on the ships in the Grishaverse? Well, that’s for you to read below! It’s actually pretty interesting and, while some parts make sense, there were definitely some parts which... surprised me... Anyway, onto the results!

Everything in this post can be split into:

The Grisha Trilogy

Six Of Crows Duology

The Nikolai Series

Shadow and Bone: TV Series

Most Enjoyed Ships

Least Enjoyed Ships

Crack Ships and Shipping Discourse

Notes from the Survey 

(note from mod emily: i tried to bold all of fritz’ comments, but i might have missed a few! be aware there are two of us analysing here :))

The Grisha Trilogy

The first book series we asked about was, of course, the first chronologically: the Grisha Trilogy. The most popular ship, with 83% voters for this series selecting this, was Genya/David (Fritz was glad to hear that; Yes I am). This is likely due to the lack of alternate romantic interests in the series, which seems to be a major issue for Alina’s ships. It also seems to be one genuinely enjoyed by most fans, in contrast to Darkling/Alina and Mal/Alina (each around 30%) and Nikolai/Alina (just under 20%), for which I have definitely seen plenty of debate. The second and third most popular ships for this series were Tamar/Nadia (55%) and Nikolai/Zoya (47%). Interestingly, Genya/Alina (43%) and Zoya/Alina (30%) ranked surprisingly high, especially considering how few of my friends and associates I hear talking about them. Good for them!

Honourable mentions:

Alina/Sun (no doubt inspired by that crack fic I wrote a while back) (Still havent read that out of fear)

Alina alone (a common concept among those surveyed, though most mentioned it later)

Zoya/Genya or Alina/Zoya/Genya

Six Of Crows Duology

This series was a little less divided, I would say. Predictably, Kaz/Inej came out on top with a whopping 96% of voters (:relieved:), with Wylan/Jesper next (90%) and Nina/Matthias just after (83%). None of the others really came close, despite Nina/Inej gathering 35% of the votes and Colm/Aditi at 25% (yeah, I’m not sure why that was so popular on AO3 either, but nobody really has objections so I assume that’s why it amassed so many votes). As Six of Crows is decidedly less divisive about ships and doesn’t have such controversial ships (more on that later), it seems the fandom agrees with canon pairings and the votes are... pretty unanimous.

Honourable Mentions:

Jesper/Wylan/Kuwei

Polycrows (platonic or romantic)

Kaz/Inej/Nina

Whoever didn’t read the instruction about this being for only the book series and put Jesper/Milo. I will never escape. 

The Nikolai Series

This one is a little harder for me because I actually haven’t read this... so over to Fritz for analysis! But first, the stats. At 85%, the most popular ship is Genya/David, followed by Zoya/Nikolai at 77%. Tamar/Nadia and Nina/Hanne draw at 61.5% and Nina/Matthias has 56% voters onboard. There’s no real honourable mentions for this one, sadly. Hello Fritz here! Read the books and very glad to see Genya/David as the top ship as it damn well should. Although still a bit surprising since its more of a side-arc of the two and only ties in with the importance of the story at a specific chapter that I feel like I don’t need to elaborate about, if you read Rule of Wolves. (I believe the popularity of the ship also sky-rocketed due to ROW) Following of course Zoya/Nikolai, the high ranking makes sense, it is the main ship and lets be honest they deserve it <3

I think the only really surprising thing about this is the high votes for Nina/Matthias since [SPOILERS CROOKED KINGDOM] he’s dead so I feel like people should move on from that. Nina/“Hanne” having not as high a ranking as I would’ve thought, but with Matthias still being in the frame I guess we shouldn’t be surprised either.

Shadow and Bone: TV Series

This one is really interesting, with the exclusive show watchers now taking part! We have 89% voting for Kaz/Inej, 76% for David/Genya, 71% for Matthias/Nina, 67% for Ivan/Fedyor (that’s a thing???-->Yeah they had a few somewhat sweet interactions in the background-->nvm i watched it you’re right fritz) and 62% for Mal/Alina. What’s really surprising is how high Malina is compared to Darklina, with Darkling/Alina at 36%. Who knows, maybe Fritz’ analysis can shed some light on this?

Yes yes Fritz to the rescue: First of all we have to see their interactions a little different from what we already knew of them by the end of episode 8. I still think it is a surprising number, since the Darkling in the show isn’t as nasty as he was in the books BUT over all his actions are now seen on TV. We all thought the deer antlers were a necklace amirite? Well no apparently not, the darkling used the worst kind of small science to fit Alinas collarbone to the bone and out comes a gruesome sight: a reason why many people might have started thinking: Wow what a disgusting person he is. And on the Malina “ship”: Mal finally has personality!! jkjk :eyes: Mals and Alinas friendship has been portrayed way better in the show and I believe that the people noticed more chemistry between them especially by the end of season 1. So I’m still a little surprised Darklina has such a low ranking (what with him being all sweet and cuddly in the middle of the show) but it makes sense and the Malina ship as well. Their vibes are just *chefs kiss* and thats coming from someone who didnt even like any of these “ships” <3

Loving the quotation marks for the word ‘ships’, Fritz. Over to the honourable mentions!

Honourable Mentions:

Jesper and Milo (isn’t milo a goat? guys, why?)

Nadia/Marie (huh that didn’t appear anywhere else)

One person had several - Kaz/Inej/Jesper, Dubrov/Mikhael, Dubrov/Mikhael/Mal - and yeah, you can really see the show differences in these mentions right? (whose dubrov...and whose mikhael...)

16% actually voted for Inej/Alina which is wild to me because of book context (they did have chemistry in the show tho :cowboi_smirk:)

Another person with several! We have Nina/Inej, Genya/Alina, Zoya/Alina, Zoya/Genya/Alina. Very sapphic. Good for you.

Kaz/Jesper and Nina/Inej all in one

That’s a lot of honour and mentions but it’s so interesting to me and I think you should see too

Most Enjoyed Ships

The most enjoyed ship was Kaz/Inej. This had unparalleled support, being at 35%. Jesper/Wylan, which was next on the list (23.5%) and Nina/Matthias (18%) were also pretty popular. Most of the others were quite low, though interestingly Mal/Alina only had 1 vote (plus one for the show version). Overall, the SoC ships were a lot more popular in this section, which makes sense - this part is really about your favourite ship, and those were more unanimous in the last sections.

Least Enjoyed Ships

Most people said Darkling/Alina, which got 47% of the NOTP votes. A lot more people disliked Darkling/Alina than liked Kaz/Inej. Make of that what you will, but I take it as a somewhat general agreement among many of you guys. Mal/Alina was also strongly disliked at 22%, but around a half or more of these were clarified to be about the book version of the ship specifically. They really must’ve upgraded in the show! Jesper/Kuwei and any other Darkling ships were also voted by a few, but all of these pale in comparison to the anti-Darklina votes. Shoutout to the person who said Apparat/Anyone. I agree, though it’s not something I thought of before seeing this response. Also one person said they didn’t like the poly ships, which I hope meant just the ones mentioned earlier and not all poly relationships in general... Another shoutout to whoever said Kaz/Heleen, because why did I have to read that. A fun question, all in all!

Crack Ships and Shipping Discourse

I love talking about crack ships, so let’s start with that! This time, I really don’t want to have to count and list because... well, let me show you:

I think that sums up the sheer variety, to be honest. Then again, it would be rude not to mention that the most popular were Jesper/Milo, Darkling/Nikolai and Alina/Sun. (If you’re still confused about that last one, I take full responsibility.)

YES KAZ/KRUGE I SUPPORT!!!

Honourable mention to this:

which was a lot to take in, and:

Now for the discourse. Yep, the part you probably came for. 

Actually... maybe you didn’t? Looking at all of these responses, I see a lot of people genuinely don’t care about ship wars and so on, and often enjoyed the books regardless of the romances involved. Quite a few disapproved of the ongoing (though small) wars between Darklina and Malina, and others had a similar line of thinking, saying we should maybe stop focusing so much on it. You guys are right. I know this is a ship survey, and the conclusions should not include that shipping isn’t as important as we make it (Yes it should), but... that’s where it’s at.

And then again, a lot of you guys expressed disapproval for Darkling/Alina, discussing how it is often one-sided and manipulative and overall unhealthy, so I could be completely off with that last one. Some people mentioned that they ship this but as a slightly different version that the one given to us, recognising the flaws of the canon ship.

Someone said they headcanon Tolya as aroace (OMG YES!!). We need more aroace characters, so thank you for that headcanon :) We also have a few gay ships mentioned here, and one person telling us they love Malina. Yes, you’re right - it’s pretty unpopular, it turns out. Someone else said Alina should’ve been single, and I agree, actually!

One person rickrolled me here. Thankfully, Youtube’s ads saved me. *wipes forehead*

I leave you all with this, in the end:

Notes from the Survey

Statistics Stuff:

The top ships were taken from AO3, so some ships may be more focused on in other books and may not provide accurate statistics for an earlier series.

The main circles this was sent around may have had bias as most people are from the same discord server, which has debated these topics in the past. Hence certain ships may have lower-than-average results. In future, this could be improved upon by sending this to other servers and areas of the fandom.

Personal bias may be present in the analysis, though I have tried to minimise this in the more formal sections.

Observations and Notes from Me:

You guys really don’t like Darklina. Or you love it. Usually one or the other. Wow.

Be glad I didn’t talk about any of the cursed ships in this. The things I have seen... (:cowboi_eyes:)

I thought more people would rickroll me, ngl.

What Surprised You Guys:

Kaz/Inej/Jesper

A few of you guys saw some of those cursed ships, and that surprised you. Well, me too!

Nikolai ships being in the TV Show section at all, what with his character not being in the show (yeah what was up with that huh tztz)

Inej/Alina

The existence of The Severed Moon

Darkling/Nikolai(/Alina)

How fun the quiz was :D

Things You Sent Me:

Bee Movie copypasta

“Nobody expects The Spanish Inquisition!”, except via an AO3 link

A fun fact about enzymes! I liked this one

Fic recs for Feriku and Sarai (esp for Wylan/Jesper shippers)

Another rickroll

Nice compliments :) aww you guys

I asked everyone for some kind of placeholder name and never used it. Sorry! But hey, anonymity, right?

Closing Statements

If you got this far (I feel like ive been sitting here for hours), thanks for reading! This was fun to do and I hope you enjoyed all of this too! The survey is still open for anyone who hasn’t done it but wants to. If I get a huge amount of new responses, I might update this post! But for now, adios!

-mod emily (and mod fritz)

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

Let’s talk about: The World of Original Content (Weverse Magazine)

by Admin 1

Don’t you just love it when stan twt in particular has a giant fight victimizing the members and claiming they hate things like RUN BTS only for BH/Weverse Magazine to come through and deliver them a bitter wake up call? Because I sure do, which made reading this new article even more curious than the subject matter already is.

For those who might be intimidated by the length of the article (though I guess you wouldn’t be reading our posts in that case either), the basic gist is a discussion and exploration of how shows like RUN BTS or In the SOOP (or GOING SEVENTEEN used as comparative example) are so successful due to the fact that they give the members a place to participate in a variety show type program in an environment where they feel safe and also actively can add input to the actual things happening in the show, as well as how all this additional video content offers not only a great way for the idols to connect with fans but also to showcase different things about themselves, or even a form of self-presentation as was said about SEVENTEEN content. 

Since their start 10 years ago in 2011 until they were named the most mentioned account in the world on Twitter and through to today as the most talked-about K-pop artist, BTS have released more than 12,400 videos and related media. Their YouTube channel, BANGTANTV, has secured 43.4 million subscribers and its videos more than 8.1 billion views cumulatively since its launch in 2012, and has 1,398 videos in its archive as of January 15. BTS have posted more than 590 videos to their V LIVE channel over the past five years, and in June of last year became the first in V LIVE history to surpass 20 million followers. These self-produced videos contain the artists’ histories as well as their messages to and joy for their fanbases, and this original content serves as an opportunity to reach out to even more people thanks to increased follower and subscriber counts. 

Now those are some really interesting stats to take in, the numbers mind-blowing though in a sense not necessarily all that surprising. We’re talking about ARMY and eight years worth of content after all, but the fact that there is a lot of sincerity and a degree of genuine rawness to be found among all those videos certainly helps as well. Who doesn’t love Bangtan B*mbs showing the guys doing something fun together, like playing basket ball on the roof between filming the Black Swan MV or things like the short videos from their birthdays. Content like this is much easier to access (and free) than things like Bon Voyage and are a great “gateway drug”, so to speak, to fall even more in love with Bangtan. 

The animation dubbing, meanwhile, started with an idea from the members. “Having watched the members for so long, I was confident they would be good at voice acting,” said Bang. “They told each other they wanted to try dubbing something, so we got to work on the episode. Copyright on web-based shows is generally strict, but discussions with Disney went smoothly because it’s BTS.”

This part I find particularly interesting for two reason:

“(...) started with an idea from the members.” confirms yet again the fact that the members do get a say into what they would be interested in doing as part of RUN BTS, that it isn’t just them showing up on set and being forced to do things they don’t care about or have to make themselves pretend they’re enjoying, both things solo stans have claimed about basically each member. It’s the same thing we’ve even seen in episode 124 where the episode was centered around the members coming up with ideas of tasks for episodes with the members even going as far as saying they’d love to do something longer, something that takes up a longer period of time like learning an instrument or sport or even composing a song for RUN BTS. In that same episode we also got confirmation that previous episodes were based on ideas from Taehyung (retro village m*fia type game episodes) and Namjoon (mini game based episode with bottle flipping etc).

“(...) but discussions with Disney went smoothly because it’s BTS.” which honestly just feels like such a (extremely) justified flex, love it. If I were a company that’s usually strict with my copyrights, I’d beg BTS to take my stuff if it’s something that would make them love and they’d have fun with it, but that’s just me.

The last part of the article I’d like to touch upon is this one since, to me, it once again proves Bangtan’s sincerity in sharing certain things and moments with us out of their own free will and desire, instead of due to some skewed ulterior motivation reasoning which some like to project onto them. Of course someone could argue that they only did this to create a false feeling of connection and faux love between the artist and fan, but with that you’re not only doing yourself a disservice but also belittling the members autonomy, feelings and genuine gratitude and connection to us. Yes, they don’t know all of us and they never will because that’s not humanly possible, but BTS being where they are today is (in parts) thanks to their genuine connection to ARMY since even before debut.

When artists enjoy making their videos, they elicit a response from their fans, which in turn instills the artists with even more enthusiasm to make more content. BTS “told the producers they wanted to share with their fans a video they had of them all goofing around,” Bang said, which shows “how sincere their love for their fans is.” The video, in which the members check the Grammy Awards nominations together, was shot on November 25 after they all agreed to RM’s suggestion that they record important moments together and share them: “It would have been somewhat inappropriate to ask the members to film when the nominations were going to be announced so late at night,” Bang recalled, “but they eagerly pitched the idea first, and thanked the staff after they were done shooting.” It was “thanks to the members that I was able to capture that important moment,” Kim said, while noting that “the most important thing when producing content is the artist’s desire to connect with their fans.”

This is something they certainly didn't have to do, just like they didn’t share the Billboard Hot100 #1 night with us in such a way either, but the members knew just how grand and meaningful of a moment that Grammy nomination would be so they wanted to not only film it for themselves as a memory, but also to share it with us. Also this line is quite telling to me: “It would have been somewhat inappropriate to ask the members to film when the nominations were going to be announced so late at night,” Bang recalled”. While some claim awful things against BH, little things like this, to me, show that there are still boundaries that the staff and producers keep and won’t cross unless given explicit permission or receiving an explicit request to do so, like they did in this case. 

BH isn’t perfect by any means, they are a company after all (can we talk about the horrible shipping prices? And more general price tags on merchandise etc?) but at least when it comes to the treatment of their artists they seem leaps ahead of other agencies and BTS genuinely satisfied with working and being with them for more than a decade now, so as fan, who am I to judge that? Especially when we keep getting tiny pieces of “proof” that show that the members have good relationships with those they work with, some staff being already with them for years or even since the beginning, when Hoseok gets called “Hobi-nim” or “Hobi Hobi-nim” cutely by their stylists, when Tae’s bodyguard/manager gently fixes his hair when he notices Tae is still half asleep and his hair askew, or Seokjin sought “shelter” against one of their managers when he got shy at the airport a few years ago. 

The more fans can tell that the artists are having fun and feel safe, the happier they are to share the videos, and this can continue to spread outside the fandom, resulting in all sorts of related or derivative media referencing the original. 

Overall I’m really impressed with the level of journalism that the staff working on Weverse Magazine have exhibited so far. They could’ve just created fluff pieces with zero substance to them, wrote sugar sweet "articles” full of empty praise and phoned in the interviews with the members for the BE Comeback Interviews, but instead we got really interesting things instead, like their article about the Grammys or one of the first articles that highlighted the racism and gatekeeping BTS have experienced over the years abroad where they even called out some people by name which felt like the perfect (justified) power move. If you haven’t yet, I very much recommend looking through all the articles and interviews and giving them a read. It really is worth it and written in a language everyone regardless of their level of English can understand while staying interesting to read without appearing simplified or “dumbed down”. 

[fuckyeahalexedler]

Under the toughest minutes of his career, Alex Edler is quietly having his best defensive season yet

Wine, allergies, blue jeans, and Alexander Edler.

As cliché as it sounds, some things really do get better with age.

These past two seasons, at ages 32 and 33, Edler posted 34 and 33 points in 56 and 59 games, respectively. Extrapolate those totals over a full 82-game schedule, and they’re Edler’s second and third-best offensive seasons ever, and his best since 2008/09.

All the while, however, Edler’s defensive numbers took a nosedive under the strain of shouldering more responsibility on a blueline in flux.

Now in 2021, Edler has posted a scant four points in 19 games, but no one is complaining. That’s because he’s also facing the toughest minutes of his career, and yet somehow responding with defensive metrics that blow his last couple of seasons out of the cellar — and might just constitute his best overall performance as a Canuck thus far.

And all at the age of 34.

Where other defenders might be winding down toward retirement, Edler finds himself on the upswing.

Edler’s 2021 deployment: quality over quantity

Though the Canucks’ blueline arguably improved in the 2020 offseason via the addition of Nate Schmidt, Edler’s job hasn’t gotten any easier, mostly because he’s been stapled to Schmidt for the bulk of the season, eating up the team’s toughest minutes.

It’s true that Edler’s current TOI average of 20:19 per game is the lowest since his rookie campaign; but when it comes to deployment, Edler’s 2021 has been all about quality over quantity — as in top-quality opponents in low-quality situations, and all with high-quality results.

No regular Vancouver defender has started more of their shifts in their own end than Edler, who sports a not-so-nice 69% defensive zone-start rate, significantly higher than his 49.9% career average.

As per Micah Blake McCurdy of HockeyViz, Edler has also faced the toughest competition of any Vancouver defender, consistently being thrown out against top lines and whatever elite talent the opposition can muster up.

Both his quality of linemates and PDO of 95.9 — lowest among regular defenders — suggest that Edler isn’t getting quite as much support as he could from other skaters and his goalies when he’s on the ice.

Brutal zone-starts, the strongest competition, and a lack of support from linemates. Sounds like a recipe for defensive disaster, right?

And, yet…

Edler by the numbers

Pick a fancy stat, any fancy stat, and you’ll probably find that Edler leads the 2021 Vancouver blueline in it.

Corsi? Check. Control of scoring chances, and specifically high-danger scoring chances? Oh yeah. Fenwick and Expected Goals? Edler doesn’t just lead the D-corps in those categories, he’s ahead of anyone not named Justin Bailey.

Again, it bears serious mentioning that Edler is accomplishing all this despite the toughest deployment of his career, because these numbers also rank quite well when it comes to comparing them to the Edlers of years past.

In every major defensive metric, Edler is either beating or right in line with his career bests, most of which were recorded during the heyday of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals run. Obviously, Edler is surrounded by a significantly worse Canucks roster today than he was back then, and yet somehow, he’s still finding the same success.

Let’s not mince words here. Edler isn’t just past his physical prime, he’s probably close to a decade past his physical prime. But here he is being asked to do a much more difficult job than he did in those prime years, and he’s performing just as well, if not better.

Truly, it defies all sense and reasonable explanation. Edler, as it turns out, is equally adept at defending against age-related hockey conventions as he is top-flight on-ice competition.

As far as coach Travis Green, who spoke to our own David Quadrelli on Friday, is concerned, there’s no real secret to Edler’s renewed success, aside from the reduced ice-time. To Green, Edler is the same ol’ Steady Eddie he’s been for the majority of his career in Vancouver.

“I think he’s just playing well,” said Green. “Eddie, he’s been a great defenceman for us for a long time. You know, I think he’s used to getting those tough assignments. We’ve tried to keep his minutes a little bit down by not putting him on the power play. And he looks fresh, he’s smart, he’s been physical. He’s having a good year.”

And lower minutes may go a long way toward explaining Edler’s personal renaissance, but he’s also performing better than before in those areas in which his duties haven’t been reduced, namely, the penalty kill.

Penalty killer queen

As of this writing, the Vancouver Canucks have the tenth-ranked penalty kill in the league at 82.3%, a sizeable jump on their 16th-ranked 80.5% of last year.

As was the case in 2019/20, Edler ranks second on the team in shorthanded minutes per game. He trailed just Chris Tanev last season, and just Travis Hamonic this year — the same Hamonic who has only played five games thus far.

In other words, if you’re going to give a single player credit for the Canucks’ improvement on the PK, you’re going to have to give it to Edler. That’s backed up by the fact that Edler has allowed just 0.32 high-danger chances per shorthanded minute, one of the best rates among regular penalty killers and way, way better than he put up in 2019/20. This is, again, despite being put out there against the other team’s top unit on most occasions.

The Nate Schmidt factor

By this point, we know what you’re all thinking, and it’s almost impressive that we’ve made it this far with only one mention of Nate Schmidt.

Yes, in terms of defensive partners, Edler has a big upgrade in Schmidt — with whom he’s shared the ice approximately 44.5% of the time in 2021 — over Chris Tanev and Troy Stecher, with whom he split the 2019/20 season.

Obviously, Schmidt’s presence alone goes a long way toward explaining Edler’s sudden defensive resurgence. But to suggest that Schmidt is the sole reason for Edler’s stellar performance is to not give the veteran defender his full due.

Both Edler and Schmidt have been significantly better together than they have been apart, and both see their metrics drop drastically with other partners — but more so for Schmidt than Edler.

When he’s not partnered with Schmidt, Edler has spent most of his time alongside rookie Jalen Chatfield. When not with Edler, Schmidt has spent most of his time alongside Tyler Myers.

Despite that time apart, their chemistry has been apparent from the get-go.

“We tried [the Edler/Schmidt pairing] originally at the beginning of the year,” said coach Green. “It wasn’t that we didn’t like it, we just wanted to get Chatfield into some games, and with the hand combos, we had to change the pairings. But that pairing’s been good for us.”

It appears then, that the benefits Schmidt has brought to Edler’s game are, at the very least, somewhat mutual, and that’s something that coach Green certainly agrees with.

“I think it goes hand-in-hand, whenever you have a partnership that you like and that is playing well together,” said Green, “It’s usually because both partners are bringing something to the table. I think they’ve had real good communication, they like playing with each other…they like the assignments they’ve had.”

The eye-test, intangibles, and head coach all agree

Though the numbers definitely look good, they’re perhaps not even the best indicator of Edler’s true excellence. In past seasons, most Vancouver fans would agree that the “eye-test” served Edler better than the fancy statline, and that he’s generally seemed to overperform the expectations of the analytics crowd.

And such is the case in 2021, too, even with a boffo set of stats.

Edler has been noticeably more mobile this year, roving up into the play in a way he hasn’t done since his earliest days in the league. He’s yet to score, but he’s come close on a couple of net-front chances, which says a lot about how active his offence has been.

He’s also hitting — if not exactly as zealously as he used to — with the sort of ferocity Vancouverites haven’t seen in years. His hits-per-60 might be down slightly, but the quality of those hits has increased by board-rattling magnitudes. Edler has made a real habit out of obliterating Calgary Flames this season, and he was one of the few players to stay consistently ornery during that dreadful six-game losing streak — one of the few who seemed genuinely angry to be losing so much. He elbowed Elias Lindholm, decked Rasmus Andersson, and even managed to turn Matthew Tkachuk into an agitatee, rather than an agitator, for once.

If Edler’s stern and silent brand of leadership wasn’t apparent enough during that losing streak, it was key in helping the team get out of it and over it. In fact, Edler’s quiet, steady alternate captaincy has been arguably more important in 2021, with the offseason departures of key leaders Tanev and Jacob Markstrom, than it ever has been before.

So, to summarize, Edler’s ice-time and offensive production may be down, but everything else is up, up, and away. The Canucks’ own man of steely glares has faced the toughest zone-starts and competition of his career and responded with the best defensive statline he’s ever put together, all the while increasing his physicality and playing a vital role in maintaining team culture as the last holdout of the Sedin era.

All of which goes to show, one should always respect their elders — and their Edlers, too.

And one should never count them out.

(Feb. 20, 2021)

[greymattermaelstrom]

Ozlander Fan Gathering 2020  -   The Rik and Sophie Show

I attended Ozlander in Melbourne. What an incredible weekend so would like to share my Ozlander experience with you. Of course, it was during the very early days of covid-19 which I’ll address shortly. I’d never met any of the cast before, nor any group of like minded fans. Of course, you are usually lucky to know anyone who watch the TV show (not counting a partner) in your circle of friends let alone personally know a group of fans to chat with. It’s funny though, I’m not sure what I expected, but I thought people would have in depth discussions about OL characters/plots during coffee breaks or in line ups for autographs/photos. I didn’t experience that. I think it was a given that we were all deep into OL. Instead, I found we just chatted and got to know each other, ‘Where are you from?’ etc. As this was the first formal Outlander convention held in Australia, this was big news. I bought my ticket the day they were available (Nov 2019). It was a long way off but I knew the gathering would occur a short time after the first few episodes of Outlander S5 were broadcast, so when S5 started airing, my anticipation grew. Prices were steep admittedly, but a number of us felt it may be the first and last opportunity to meet a cast member, so we did what we could to get there (i.e. sell the healthiest child, blackmail the rich, etc).

Article from “The Scottish Banner” Feb 2020.

Unfortunately, 4 weeks out, Ed Speleers withdrew due to work commitments but local, David Berry, was announced as his replacement on the same day. Then 10 days out, Graham McTavish withdrew due to work commitments in Slovakia. No news of a replacement was announced (I learnt at the event that organising a visa etc with Covid-19 developing had made it nigh on impossible to organise a replacement in time). Ozlander organisers revisited the program and added extra value features to the various tiers. The gathering weekend was so close, yet seemed so far away in these uncertain times. Every day, I anticipated receiving an email stating it had been cancelled. I knew the organisers must have been pulling their hair out. Selfishly and as long as it was safe to do so, I was hoping it would still go ahead. The virus was not as advanced in Australia. Most of our relatively low number of cases were brought in by travellers (residents returning or tourists) from Europe/Asia before flying was cancelled. The Federal Government had restricted public gatherings to less than 500 at the time. Attendance was actually under 200.  FYI, below are the global covid-19 stats as of 19 April 2020, a month later. Australia’s population is 25 million.

A few days after the Ozlander event, only crowds of less than 100 were permitted by the govt. We were so, so lucky!! Of course, that reduced further as precautions were implemented over time. We have self-isolation and a lot of business closures, cancellation of sports/entertainment etc. It is dreadful, but not a total lock down in Australia. We could walk dogs and make necessary trips to the supermarket, pharmacy, doctor or special court appearances. Anyway, just wanted to address this concern. ~ Tickets sold well (premium tickets sold out). I saw fans on sm stating the date of the event clashed or it was a bit expensive so I know more wanted to come. Yes, the cost was relatively high. Return airfares for cast, accommodation, plus I assume their appearance fee was always going to be an expensive venture, especially as our AUD had been declining sharply against the USD for some time. Australia can miss out on some things because of distance and a relatively small population, but overall, I think we have done well over the years. ~ Rik (Richard) and Sophie posted IG photos from Melbourne a couple of days before the event. Yay!! They were in the country at least, enjoying the sunsets, cuddling koalas and hypnotising wallabies lol. Sophie posted a selfie from a public toilet (bathroom) - as you do. See Sam’s comment below. Toilet paper was becoming a precious commodity....🤔

So the odds looked good and finally, Ozlander arrived.🥳 Before we took our seats, a lone piper slowly walked into the throng playing Waltzing Matilda (iconic Australian bush ballad) which segued into Outlander's theme song. Goosebumps! Applause all 'round. The piper was a big fan too.

What a thrilling start to proceedings. We took our seats and Meagan Taylor (the one who dared dream the dream), welcomed everyone. The age range of fans was predominately 40-65. We were excited and expectant. Housekeeping announcements focused on coronavirus precautions of course. Wash hands, use hand sanitiser when you can't, no handshaking and no touching the cast. This last request was a little disappointing after seeing photos from other OL cons, but it was quite understandable. I think we were just over the moon Ozlander went ahead so we were more than happy to comply and consider the health and safety of others. Then Meagan had the unenviable task of informing us David Berry had unfortunately cancelled his appearance due to health reasons. Yikes! What a shame. (David released a press statement 15 March(?) outlining his difficult decision. Sydney is Australia's Covid-19 hot spot, so David being a Sydneysider, had to consider this I guess). There are IG photos of David, Rik and Sophie together in Australia, just not sure where. So of course, it surprised everyone that David wasn't attending. Refunds of his meet and great and the re-jigging of tiers was to be announced on the fly. Then there were two, Rik and Sophie (and no pressure whatsoever!)🤪. Meagan then advised that the five panels across the weekend would be all audience Q & A which got a loud cheer. On with the show! The Rik and Sophie show! 🎉 They came on stage ready for a good time. Rik opened with 'G'day'. Great start I thought and continued his half decent Australian accent. It's a hard accent to imitate as we know. Rik's was a bit exaggerated but that was part of the fun. 

‘G’day. ‘How are ya’?’

Sophie in an outfit she bought here. Same brand as Saturday’s dress that she brought with her.

Roger Mac is in da house.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I have seen Rik and Sophie in a lot of interviews, OL promos (talking to camera) and taking part on OL panels on YouTube. I can find their rapport a little strained and snarky at times. Luckily, I was very pleasantly surprised that their 2020 version was very endearing and entertaining. I think they’ve worked on this. I also think, that the spectre of Sam and Cait, through no fault of their own, does loom large at cast events. Therefore, it was great to see Rik and Sophie rise to the challenge of working the room in the absence of their cast mates. And I think they really relished this (albeit exhausting) opportunity and the small theatre made it a casual and intimate affair. They answered questions in an engaging manner and often expanded on it, citing on set examples, many I’ve never heard before, and I’ve seen a lot of OL interviews. Almost as soon as they came on stage, Rik was asked if he would play his guitar and sing for us. While flattered, I think it was too early in the piece and he said maybe he would do so during the weekend sometime. Alas, time wasn’t on our side so it didn’t eventuate. ~ Rik was asked if his hair ticks were under control (ep 501)😂. Combing his fingers through his hair, he replied in his strong Scottish brogue that most of them were gone now. Good sport. ~ He was told the OL bts photos he posts on sm (taken on set) were great and much appreciated and to keep them coming to which the audience applauded. I think he quietly enjoyed that moment. All creatives will take that, knowing their skills and hard work meant something to someone, much like our appreciation for OL and these sorts of events!

Then on to costumes, wigs and make up. It was thought that it must be nice to have your scalp/hair attended to in the makeup. ‘No, it’s not’ R&S said in unison.😂 Verra uncomfortable process apparently. The hair is flattened and held down with clips. The hairline edge of the wig is ‘glued’ to the top of your forehead and then alcohol is used to get the glue off after shooting, which dries the skin. Some hair falls out over time with this process also. We know this has happened to Sam to an extent.😬 Rik is hoping to grow his hair long enough so he doesn’t need a wig, which accounts for his current hirsute glory. ~ Sophie said they both share a make up trailer and added that Rik has a magic make up chair. Being early morning, he often goes to sleep in it and upon waking up, hey presto, it’s Roger Mac. At make up time, they do know if the other is a bit touchy, so they try not to annoy each other. Too much.😂 ~ At one stage, we were a bit shy in asking questions. Meagan said if this was in the US, there’d be a line up for the mic.😂

Ozlander Fan Gathering 2020 selfie. 

~ Sophie responded to a geeky question about wearing wireless mics secreted in their costumes or hair as well using the usual overhead boom mics you see on bts videos. She was asked about her experience with ADR which she’s not a great fan of it. The audience asked, ‘What’s ADR?’ There are a few accepted terms in the industry, Additional Dialogue Replacement is one. It’s when some dialogue needs to be re-recorded late in post production if the original dialogue audio recording at the time is less than optimal for a variety of reasons (thanks Google). Sophie gave an instance when in S4, Bree told Claire she had been raped. The stream in the background got into the dialogue mics too much in this particular outdoor location, so Sophie had to re-record her dialogue (like lip syncing) saying exactly what she said at the time, whilst watching the scene on a screen in a recording studio. It’s hard to get the context and emotion of the scene back into your voice and that’s why some actors hate doing it and plead to have the original dialogue kept as much as possible. But ADR happens more than you realise and for various reasons (see Google). It is impossible to tell when you watch the show, what scenes have had ADR done, it’s blended so well. They would record the stream/ ambient sounds separately at some point and then mix it in lower against the dialogue after ADR is done. 😅

 ~ Sophie talked about her audition process and was sat down in an exec’s office and was told OL fans are very passionate! (we are?🤔😁). They have an idea of how book Brianna should look and Sophie confirmed she wasn’t tall enough, eyes the wrong colour, etc and that yeah, as expected, she received some not so nice things on sm. But she tried not to read too much of it and pressed on with the role of Bree. Her tone wasn’t sarcastic or indignant at all, but humble. I was impressed. 

Queuing for photos with Rik or Sophie on this occasion. We weren’t allowed to touch but we all had a squirt of hand sanitiser (just to be super safe?).🤔            

There were a few photo opportunities over the weekend and a bonus or two thrown in make up for the cast that couldn’t make it. A refund was offered for people with meet and greet tickets for David. However, R & S kindly offered to do a meet and greet for David’s fans instead and they happily accepted. Legends! I don’t know where they found the energy to be constantly ’on’ with so many people over the weekend. Chocolate? Youth?  ~ As it was a small event, there weren’t any extra security staff that I could see. I think it was only the Museum staff and the security cameras which were hardly noticeable. ~ When getting my autographs, Rik and Sophie didn’t ask for my name, but when I read their personal messages, they had used my name (which they’d seen on my Ozlander lanyard. How cool is that? Very slick!). There were assorted costumes, the de rigueur wedding dress of Claire’s which added to the ambience. Of course, most of the audience were women but good to see a handful of men there, some even in kilts! Saw some Aussie Peakers in their MPC tees too. Cool. 

To settle a pronunciation question, Sophie asked the audience after lunch, ‘Is it scone (as in, phone) or scone (as in, shone)? 

An emphatic SCONE (shone) came back. Rik said “Oh, wow, a shouting(?) majority?’ 

Just to be sure, someone asked who lost, Rik pointed at Sophie. He didn’t gloat too much. Poor Sophie!

Of course, what would an OL event be without the cast having a drink or two to lubricate the tonsils (as we say).

Here are a few more tidbits. All the info I’m sharing has been gleaned from the panels and time spent with Rik and Sophie over the weekend as my tier allowed (which was a lot). ~ Yes, they had tried Vegemite (similar to marmite/promite), courtesy of David Berry. Sophie has some in Scotland. Onya Davo! (good on you David). Incidentally, Sam tried some when he was here in 2016 on Studio 10 (morning talk show - March 2016, his interview is on You Tube). It’s a thing. ~ Rik didn’t know if Sam’s whisky would be his cup of tea, but said it was ‘good actually’. ~ Rik was sometimes surprised by the particular take post production used for the show, but was more surprised by what was edited out of a scene (to add dynamics or guide the narrative a certain way which would apply to all productions everywhere). ~ The pyre scene with the Jesuit Priest at the Mohawk Village Ep 412 was hard to watch on TV. He said it was hard to watch them shoot that scene on set as it was so dangerous!😬 ~ Sophie very occasionally discussed the historical accuracy of things in a scene with directors ie. birthing stool or not in Ep 413 and 1960′s The Mashed Potato moves in S5 are different to how we know them now. She convinced the director’s on those 2 occasions. To me, it shows her passion for the show! ~ When asked about Bree meeting Jamie for the first time in S4, Sophie was asked about the eww factor but didn’t think about Jamie’s hand touching her face after he had relieved himself as he had only used a fruit juice bottle.🤣 ~ R & S were asked to respond to: ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!’ And with relish they replied: ‘Oi, Oi, Oi!’. Someone did their homework. Cool. It’s a parochial call and response thing some aussies do at sporting events etc. ~ R & S often went for an early morning run. Before Sunday’s program began, Meagan asked us all to be very quiet. ‘That sound’, she said, ‘is Rik having his hair blown dry backstage.’ Laughter at Rik’s expense all round. Sophie came on with her’s still damp.

Graham McTavish ‘popped’ in from Slovakia to say hi and sorry I can’t be there. Rik and Graham had a good rapport. After some banter, the audience was now supposed to ask a question and GM rolled his eyes as he heard Rik’s voice again, this time asking him what he conditioned his beard with? ‘Well”, said GM, ‘well Richard, um, I, ahh (chuckle), I condition it with...., obviously a little bit of your love ..’. Much laughter in the theatre.

Then GM commented further, (which I missed, sadly), to even more laughter.

Who knows what would have happened had GM been at the event in person?! There is so much more I could share, but you get the idea. 

Sophie wasn’t feeling the best during the last panel just before the close of the event, but she pushed through like a trooper. Rik said she had eaten too much chocolate. A weakness of Sophie’s. I think fatigue was catching up with both of them. They did so much.

Meagan presented Rik and Sophie with an Akubra (pron. uh·koo·bruh) each (iconic Australian outback hat) as a memento of their time here at Ozlander. Rik had the Crocodile Dundee style whilst Sophie’s was more demure. In his best aussie lingo, Rik said: ‘I’m Richard Dundee and this is my partner, Skippy (Sophie).’ (Referencing Skippy the bush kangaroo ? - a much loved Australian TV show 1968-1970). 

The Scottish Banner article promised an intimate relaxed chance to get to know stars from the Outlander TV series and I’m happy to say that this is exactly what we got. Whilst it’s a shame we didn’t get to know Ed, Graham or David better, we certainly got to know Rik and Sophie better than we had ever anticipated. As a result, I see Rik and Sophie in a new light, esp in S5, where they have more scenes together. In a small way, I’ve gotten to know a little of the person that inevitably informs their TV persona (ie facial expressions, mannerisms, speaking cadence and inflections). What a memorable time I had (can you tell?). Thanks to Rik and Sophie, the gathering organisers (who got a special mention on stage at the close) and the other fans I met there. Thanks for reading this far on a rather lengthy post.😊 I know it’s my take on the weekend, but I’ve tried not to editorialise it, but present it, as accurately as I can, hence, it may be a bit dry to read.😅  I think Ozlander is a great name and I look forward to Ozlander Fan Gathering 2021.  

Ozlander graphics: Ozlander Fan Gathering (I tweaked the circle logo in the title)

Ozlander Fan Gathering 2020 selfie: Ozlander Fan Gathering

other photos: all permissions obtained    

Ozlander Fan Gathering article: The Scottish Banner February 2020

Sophie Skelton post: Instagram

global covid-19 cases stats: Wikipedia

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #6: Siegfried

Next on our quest to fully dndify all of Fate is Siegfried, the original saber spook. Siegy’s known for being really hard to kill, having questionably draconic origins, and summoning massive quantities of gacha salt. His build’s spreadsheet can be found here, with details below the cut.

Race and Background

There’s been fan theories about what Siegfried exactly is floating around, but we’re going to play it safe and call him a Variant Human, giving him +1 in Strength and Constitution. For his bonus feat, Siegfried’s going to be Resilient, giving him +1 to Strength and proficiency in strength saves. Despite technically being nobility, Siegfried’s personality better fits the Folk Hero background, giving proficiency in Animal Handling and Survival.

Stats

For stats, we’re using the standard array for numbers, but feel free to roll if you want. Start with Constitution. Your claim to fame is your invulnerability, after all. (Weirdly enough this doesn’t affect your AC in any way. Sorry about that.)

Put your second highest roll into Dexterity. You’re more known for your strength, but we need to actually work on your AC too.

After that is Charisma. You don’t show up that much in Apocrypha or FGO, but you’ve still stolen our hearts. And yours. Also, we need it for multiclassing.

Your Strength is a little low, but we’ll bump it up over time with ASI, sorry about the first couple levels.

Second to last is Intelligence. I don’t know how smart you really are, but we just needed those points elsewhere.

Finally, dump Wisdom. To be blunt, you were kind of a doormat your entire life, and being turned into a meme of yourself didn’t help that.

Class Levels

1. Sorcerer 1: Starting off as a sorcerer, you gain your Sorcerous Origin, a.k.a. being/bathing in a dragon. Your Draconic Ancestor, the black dragon Fafnir, lets you double your proficiency in charisma checks against dragons. You also have Draconic Resilience, giving you a slight increase to your HP and an unarmored AC of 13 + your Dex modifier. Right now, that equals 15. Those are rookie numbers.  You also get proficiency in Constitution and Charisma Saves, Insight, and Intimidation.

Finally, as a Sorceror, you gain some Spells and Cantrips. You gain Acid Splash, to give your fighting a little bit of Fafnir flavor, Light, because this was as close as I could get to your Noble Phantasm (sorry.), as well as Blade Ward, True Strike, Expedited Retreat, and Jump. You’re not really a mage, so the spells you do get will mostly focus on enhancing your physical abilities.

2. Fighter 1: Now that your sorcery is established, we’re going to take a shortcut so you can work up your muscles before diving back into magic. As a first level fighter, you get a fighting style, Great Weapon Fighting, letting you reroll 1s and 2s on damage rolls for two handed weapons, as well as your Second wind, letting you use a bonus action to regain some health during a fight. You’re invincible, but it’s the thought that counts.

3. Fighter 2: At second level, you gain an Action Surge, wherein you can make another action in a single turn, once per long rest.

4. Fighter 3: As a third level fighter you become a people’s Champion, granting you Improved Criticals when you roll a 19 or 20 on attacks.

5. Fighter 4: Grab that Ability Score Improvement and grab the Slasher feat to round out your Strength, and make Balmung a bit scarier to fight. Once per turn, you can reduce the speed of a creature you hit with slashing damage by 10′, and when you score a critical hit with a slashing weapon, the target has disadvantage on all attack rolls.

6. Fighter 5: You get an Extra Attack. Now you have doubled attacks to go with your doubled critical chance, go you.

7. Fighter 6: Put that Ability Score Improvement into Dexterity to improve your AC.

8. Sorcerer 2: Now that you have a hold in a class you’re good at, let’s head back to Sorcerer for some extra goodies. First up is your Font of Magic; now you get sorcery points that for the time being can only be burned to make more spell slots. You also get a new spell; grab Shield, because you’re clearly not unkillable enough yet.

9. Sorcerer 3: This level you get Metamagic options. Grab Extended Spell to boost the duration of your buffs and Quickened Spell so you can apply them in a pinch if you need to. Speaking of buffs, grab Enhance Ability so you can be pretty good at anything you do, like the unspecific protagonist you are.

10. Sorcerer 4: Another Ability Score Improvement, another 2 points to Strength. Now you’re getting somewhere with that sword! Just make sure nobody notices your big leaf-shaped weak point. To help with that, get Invisibility this level. You didn’t know you had an invisibility cloak? Check your biography sometime. Grab Booming Blade for the hell of it too.

11. Sorcerer 5: Not much happens this level, but you get Haste. It doubles your speed, adds 2 to your AC, grants advantage to dex saves, and gives you an extra action each turn. After it ends you  can’t move or take actions for a turn, but a minute is forever in three-attacks-per-turn time, so I’m sure you’ll be fine.

12. Sorcerer 6: This level you get an Elemental Affinity, letting you add your charisma modifier to any spell attack that deals acidic damage, as well as spend a sorcery point to gain resistance to acid damage for an hour. Not generally useful, but it will help against Fafnir when he shows up again. Also, grab Dispel Magic for your last spell. You may argue that Siegfried doesn’t have any anti-magic effects, and to that I say you’re wrong. His heart was keeping him alive and he ended that real quick.

13. Fighter 7: Back in fightland you become a Remarkable Athlete; now you can add half your proficiency bonus to any physical skill check, and running long jumps are boosted by your strength modifier.

14. Fighter 8: Speaking of your Dexterity modifier, give it a boost with this Ability Score Improvement. This brings your AC up to 17, as good or better than most forms of armor.

15. Fighter 9: You become Indomitable, letting you reroll a failed save once per long rest.

16. Fighter 10: You get another Fighting Style. You’ve already got your greatsword skills, so feel free to pick whatever one fits your current situation best.

17. Fighter 11: You get a second Extra Attack each turn, because it turns out dragon heads can really be stuck on there sometimes.

18. Fighter 12: Stick this Ability Score Improvement into Strength for even more damage per turn. We might as well round out Charisma while we’re here too, right? Sorry it’s so late.

19. Fighter 13: You gain a second use of Indomitable per day, making you even more of the solid steel saber you’re known for being.

20 Fighter 14: Use your last Ability Score Improvement to get the Tough feat, adding an extra 40 hp just to seal the deal.

Pros: You’re an absolute slab of beef, with solid damage each turn, high AC and HP, and ways to raise your AC even higher or give yourself resistances to several types of damage. You also have a lot of movement options to get the drop on those who underestimate you.

Cons: You have almost zero ranged or magical attacks, so several high-level enemies will give you trouble. You also have low Wisdom, so expect to get charmed a lot. Sorry. One thing I wish I could have added to this build was his sword beam, but that’s part of the sword itself, so we can count that off as a technicality. You’ll just have to get that as a magical item.

[danwhobrowses]

WWE Royal Rumble 2021 - Initial Thoughts

I know I’m late, but employment is still a thing, and I had to prioritize that over an all-nighter, but it’s time for the Royal Rumble, one of the more exciting shows of WWE’s schedule, so let’s get on with it!

Spoilers for Royal Rumble, you have been Warned

I might not invest too much in kickoff matches but the Women’s Tag Match was not a good time

It was fine before the end, but who the hell decided that Charlotte should control 90% of the champions’ offense and have the hot tag!? Asuka is the RAW WOMEN’S CHAMPION, not Charlotte. After the tag Asuka literally had one spot and she was dead, completely taken out of the match for *checks notes* being thrown over the Announcer’s Table...you know that thing several wrestlers come back from easily.

The finish was just too much too, Ric distraction didn’t work, Lacey distraction didn’t work, Kirufuda Clutch didn’t work but then the brass knuckles did. Too much.

And why TF are we putting titles back on Nia!? We should’ve just given the titles to the Riotts, or the winner of the Women’s Dusty Classic. It also cuts me deep that Asuka and Shayna are treated this way, even as champion Asuka is a side character to Charlotte T_T

Main show though and I don’t like the package and interviews between entrances

Drew vs Goldberg was just...meaningless.

It was cringy enough that Cole had to spout drivel to make 60 year old Goldberg seem strong but to have Drew be ‘injured’ by a barricade spear - something much more tired wrestlers have and will get back up from in less time and continue a longer match - was daft. Also saying that Goldberg’s spear or jackhammer is the best move of all WWE is stupid, it was a WCW thing

Thank God Drew Won, but the post-match does remind you of the meaningless circumstances this feud came about. Suddenly Goldberg is okay with Drew’s same manners of respect

I mean, Carmella’s entrance and gear is cool, but do you think it eats at Corey a little that Carmella’s ‘behind the curtain’ bit is a tad...red light district?

Sasha’s promo didn’t hit for me unfortunately

Reginald didn’t deserve to be ejected for that! He caught Sasha and get beaten up for it

Jesus Carmella! Sasha got barely any of that dive

Screeching and faffing aside, Carmella got a good showing...I do hate quick tap outs in title matches though

Sami cuts a good promo, but his content wasn’t exactly the best. New Day are hardly the management’s faves, it’s taken this long for E to get a singles run, Fans literally had to Yes Movement their way into giving Kofi the world title.

New Day’s Brodie gear was good though

Bad Bunny as the ‘Biggest Latin Artist’? Is Cole for real? I didn’t even know who he was before today

If the song is about Booker T then why is he dancing around GI Bro?

Come on Book, you hang on the Sucka! That’d be like if the Rock just went ‘If ya smell what the Rock is cooking’ without the drags or pauses

Ric’s ‘with a tear in my eye’ promo was after the Rumble though...

It’s actually a sad stat that just over half of the Rumble winners win titles

No Morrison segment for the escape spot!? He did it as much as Kofi dammit!

Sorry Greatest Royal Rumble is not canon for me

This Stat Attack has taken far too long

I’m okay with Mike Rome but couldn’t a woman have announced the Women’s Rumble? Where’s Lillian at!?

NAOOOOOOOMIIIIIIIIIIIIII GIRL WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?

That hair is amazing as well

I know you can’t say it, but we all remember that Benoit won the rumble in the first two as well

Was...Bianca wearing earrings on her entrance, she looked like she was taking them off

Billie actually had the right idea, can’t be in the match until you enter the ring, it’s clever stuff

That tank did not look like it was meant to turn that direction XD

It actually surprises me every time how tall Shotzi is, I always imagine her short

Billie no...not with Shayna

The piped boos are highly unrealistic to boo even a heel Toni Storm

Shotzi eliminated and then horrible singer Jillian comes in? Urrrrgh, Bad Singer Jillian was terrible

Wrestling wise she hasn’t missed a beat though

Billie’s surprisingly being a highlight here with actual narra-OHMYSHITITSVICTORIA

Gear was a bit meh but Victoria definitely can still go

Oh Peyton the purple looks good on you, and her Widow’s Peak was not bad at all

Ah, good for Santana, for a moment I thought it said Santina and got a very bad chill

Damn Liv, Speed Machine!

Ooof, the betrayal is real Billie

THIS IS MY BRUTALITY!

Somehow I’m genuinely upset by every elimination so far, good job!

Aaaaaand then they got rid of Victoria and brought on Charlotte to immediately take out Rhea -_-

That was a clever move from Bayley but damn Ruby landed hard

Are we seeing a Bayley/Peyton team? Or is she just eliminating the Riotts for revenge for Billie, but also Liv Nooooo!

Torrie now, eh okay

Ouch for Dana

Lacey...no, this ain’t working

Poor Peyton, her elimination was a side chapter

And we missed Bayley’s elimination!? For Shame

Mickie! Good to see ya! Aaaaand being beaten by Charlotte...

Nikki Cross is back too! Hopefully they find a good story for her

Alicia Fox? I guess she sobered back into the good gra...R-Truth? No

Oh yeah, Humberto is a thing

Jerry shut the fuck up!

The 24/7 stuff was super unnecessary, we did not need to take focus off this match

Lacey eliminating Mickie, rude.

Dakota should’ve gotten more time, she barely lasted a minute

Reginald again deserves better

See Tamina vs Rhea would be exciting...if Tamina was booked better

Naomi’s chemistry with Bianca is really insane right now

Lana *reminded of her feud with Shayna and Nia* Also Lana *goes for Rhea*

That was a hard tackle on Alexa by Rhea...aaaaand she’s eliminated mid ‘transformation’ a bit worthless for me

Road Warrior Ember Moon! And right into the Eclipse that’s the good shit

Baszler probably shouldn’t have eliminated Lacey story-wise

The Betrayal is real for Tamina as well

What’s with the crazy camera cuts!?

Nia eliminating Baszler? Nah...

Hold on Cole, baiting Nia over the ropes isn’t a ‘tremendous elimination’

The betrayal is real for Lana too, Nattie sure shrugged off that double assault

I get that the narrative is that Charlotte has beaten both Bianca and Rhea before, but to hang against both of them after already being in a match and hanging on from two apron attacks was daft. Stop making her super strong, she’s mega talented yes but giving her the Brock Lesnar energy does her no favours

That close call though with Rhea and Bianca was great, need more spots of two wrestlers about to be eliminated at the same time

The final bit of chain wrestling too was great, that’s what you need at the final part of a rumble, the mini-match

I had Rhea as my win prediction but am more than happy for Bianca, who was my second choice. Winning at No. 3 is great and her emotional promo just gets her more over. Bianca vs Sasha’s gonna be wild too

Overall the Women’s Rumble was good, most of the women got shine and there were a few mini stories too, do wish that more time was given to some women and that Sonya was in the rumble but the returns were good and most of the eliminations got me good

Miz talking about guaranteeing a championship run like he didn’t lose the last cash-in and didn’t have a chance to cash in previously this night when Drew was ‘reeling’ from the barricade spear.

I reiterate that I wish Sonya was in the rumble, but do like her endorsement of Bianca

Again, this 24/7 stuff is wrong place and time right now

Last Man StANDing Match for the UniVERSal Championship

Cole, there is Champion’s Advantage. Triple H vs Michaels Last Man Standing, neither men made the 10 so Trips kept the title, 17 years ago. Royal Rumble 2004.

See, this is where a Finisher Spotfest works, because it’s not about pinfalls it’s about keeping people down

The camera switches are not doing good on this portion of the side of the thunderdome

Yes, attacking the knees, this is the Cerebral ‘rope breaks with his pinkie finger’ Owens I like to see

Ooof the Golf Cart, a la Kane and Stadium Stampede

Why is this training area just like a second arena

Lil’ running ref in the background

Right into that conveniently placed mini-ladder

Not the forklift! Think of Judy Bagwell!

Oh that curtain is the thing Becky took a photo of! I mean she was always gonna be backstage

Corey before the match ‘there must be a winner’, Corey after Owens went through the stage LED ‘The ref should consider stopping the match’

Did the Ciampa move there to stand up

I don’t think you’re allowed to use a Ref Bump that way

Then the Second Ref restarts the count and stops at 5!? If this doesn’t come back next SD it’ll be a misstep

It was a physical match, not the best I think the finish brought it down. The problem is that KO has lost 3 times now and the last time is a botch finish, and we can’t have him lose again - the poor guy needs a win

ON THIS DAY, I SEE CLEARLY!

I will say this immediately, revealing Edge and Orton as 1 and 2 beforehand was a terrible idea, just because you don’t have a live crowd doesn’t mean the people watching from home can’t be surprised

‘Number 3 is the worst number to draw on average’ - Belair just won at No. 3

Ali at 4? Then went after Edge and not Orton?

Sami, just don’t get in Orton’s face

Refs what are you doing? No rules in Rumble, where were you with Nia and Shayna with that logic

‘What does Shin need to do to be more successful?’ - for one not face AJ Styles, he is still a tag, US and IC champ as well as a RR winner, that’s quite successful

Carlito finally shows after the Legends Night tease and yes those are some abs

So...Randy’s just sleeping with this knee injury

Big E enters with some snappy camera angles again

I was hoping for more Ali - especially since Ricochet came immediately after - buy angry E was nice to see

Wait is that Elias’ entrance? Where’s the guitar strum?

Priesty, wonder if this is his main roster call

What DJ leaves his equipment on stage anyway?

‘The biggest star in the world in the music business’ - for real?

‘I’ve heard of flying squirrels but flying bunnies!?’ - Corey you need to watch Tokyo Joshi Pro, they got a flying sugar rabbit

To quote Ross Tweddell, MMMmmm Riddle...does not do it for me

Stop with the camera cuts I beg of you!

Mayor of Knox County!?

Ricochet eliminated by Kane, le sigh

The betrayal is real for DBry

Big Elim for Priesty though

‘Now it’s a Royal Rumble’ - reminder that Edge is a KOTR winner too, and that Nakamura is the King of Strong Sty-oh and Corbin eliminated him :/ what was the gauntlet about if you’re gonna Corbin him?

Otis’ new gear is slick

aaaaand Corbin’d again

Big Dom Fuck im Uhhhhhh Spinebuster’d

Damn he got him though

Dang that bounce sound from DBry

Bobby no why you gotta do Dom like that!?

Hurricane back from his Gangrel crossing and disposing Sammy Guevara’s broken body in Elite Deletion to do another rumble

One of these days, he’ll hit that Chokeslam and shit will go wild

Christian! This time getting the more emphatic reaction

Oh that smile, that hits you in the chest cavity...then Riddle ruins it

Rey comes in and WWE made him an advertisement ¬_¬

Edward James Omos what are you doing? well...I know what he’s doing, IC feud between AJ and E

Edward James Omos fuck you for eliminating Rey

The betrayal is real for Shamu

Cole how did you know it was Seth before his entrance hit?

I don’t think we were supposed to pick up Shamu welcoming Christian back but that was sweet

Then finally BWOAR

And Bwoar eliminates Cesaro, what was the point of his push? (it’s because his contract’s nearly up isn’t it?)

Again with the camera switching

Seth No! And where’s the boos pipe music!? DBry was a heavy favourite, that would’ve caused heat

Can’t believe Mmm Riddle lasted ahead of DBry

I didn’t forget about Orton, but the finish was good, that Orton tease got us good

It was a decent rumble, in hindsight you could tell Edge was winning given how they put express focus on Michaels winning at number on in the stat attack, Edge being face in peril for the first 10 entrants and Cole reminding us how long Edge has been in there

I don’t at all hate the end result, though I do question whether it was the best choice in the long run. Edge had his rumble win returning from injury already and throwing more legends at Drew does imply a heavy lack of depth in the current roster. Edge didn’t really need the win, but I’m not disappointed in him winning

The Men’s Rumble itself wasn’t as good as the women’s I don’t think, a lot of favourites of mine were unceremoniously dumped out quickly, any layered storytelling didn’t get enough time and it did feel a little by the numbers, almost a microcosm of modern WWE booking

Overall it was still a decent PPV, happy with the winners of the rumbles and that’s mostly all we need from a Royal Rumble. The Road to Wrestlemania starts here

[defensefilms]

You’re Going To See A Different Side Of Me If Joel Embiid Wins MVP

January 30th

I’ve taken it easy. If I was acting the way every one of my impulses was telling me to act, I’d be on the internet looking a fool, trolling every NBA fan page I can find but I’ve held myself back like Tony Soprano!!!!! 

There was a time people legitimately thought this dude was Greg Oden. There was a time people legit thought this man was never going to play an actual NBA game. The 76ers were ridiculed for drafting this man and post season failures against Boston and Toronto, 3 years in a row, gave life to their criticisms. Sixer fans have had to hear it all. From former NBA legends and veterans to TV analysts, everyone took a shot. No one gave Embiid the benefit of the doubt and acknowledged the lack of floor spacing. Everyone expected Hakeem Olajuwon-level domination without ever looking at how Hakeem’s Houston teams were built. He was surrounded by shooters. So when the Sixers brought in new General Manager Darryl Morey, a man intimately familiar with building jump shooting teams, his first order of business was to add jump shooters.

Fast forward to now, let’s bust a count. Embiid is currently averaging 27.7 points, 11 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 blocks and 54.6% shooting from the field. The intent to dominate is clear and evident. Embiid backed this up again with 37 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists against the Minnesota Timberwolves this past Friday night. He’s on an absolute tear but that doesn’t mean that all are appreciating the greatness.

By now you know how this goes. This is the NBA and at the cost of common sense, reasoning and even good journalism, the rules of NBA media will be upheld. Which means someone, who is paid to know better, is going to talk nonsense.

Step up to the plate Fox Sports’ Chris Broussard, who, the morning after the Sixers beat the Lakers in glorious fashion, went on to First Things First with Nick Wright and started talking all kinds of nonsense about how Embiid is “underutilized”. The criticisms that Broussard levelled at Embiid were the exact things he has worked on. Does Broussard not see Embiid posting people up? I guess we’re going to ignore Embiid’s career high in usage percentage? I don’t even understand what the media does anymore. The beat reporters, I have no issue with because they don’t have the liberty to select narratives. Some of these TV analysts don’t watch the games and they are starting to admit this more and more. This isn’t even the first time Broussard has been caught slipping but I’m off that.

 Here’s a nice 17 minute video of Joel Embiid post moves for the non believers. And here’s another one, for those that insist on posting up being a brute force affair and these are Embiid’s highlights against the Lakers. Embiid went to the free-throw line 13 times in that game so make of that what you will. 

Back to Embiid though, this man is on an absolute dominant run and very well could be the first center since Tim Duncan (if you count him as a center) or Shaquile O’neal, to win MVP. Without doubt the most dominant big man since either of those guys retired. 

However the man that Embiid has truly patterned his game after is Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon.  During the post game interview of the Timberwolves game on Friday night, Embiid actually goes in to detail regarding his approach to drawing fouls. Here’s the 10 minute clip of the presser and he starts talking about getting fouled in the last 3 minutes or so. Indeed you’re seeing that reflected in his numbers as well where he’s averaging a career high in free throw attempts at 10.1 per game. That’s a telling stat when we’re talking about low post scorers. For example, all of Hakeem Olajuwon’s highest scoring seasons came when he was able to get fouled at least 7 times per game. It’s fun hearing Joel talk this way and those Olajuwon comparisons are especially eerie when you hear this. He mentions making defenders “pick their poison” and that’s how you know he’s reaching the highest levels of sophistication when it comes to his post game. 

Check out this here piece of internet gold. It’s a clip of Hakeem Olajuwon demonstrating post moves, followed by clips of him executing the same moves during games throughout his career. Watch how he always understands where his defender is and what his defender is taking away based on his body positioning. He is always making the defender “pick his poison” and his technique is so great, so perfect, that he can find and take the shot that his man cannot possibly guard at the exact instant his man is most susceptible to that shot. If he drives to the basket and his man is diligent and is able to contest near the rim, he’ll stop, fake, spin and find ample room to get a jumping hook finish. Books should be written about Hakeem’s post-scoring technique in the same way books were written about Coach John Wooden. No jokes. 

So check out these Joel Embiid December highlights/compilation. In literally the opening clip, Embiid is guarded by Orlando Magic center, Nikola Vucevic. Embiid intitiates, as all good centers do, by getting post position and once he gets the ball, he faces up Vucevic who gets in the golden chair position. Embiid takes one bounce to Vucevic’s outside, which is Vucevic’s left and Vuc does a good job of staying in front of Embiid and guarding the drive attempt but Embiid stops and spins to Vuceviç’s right and Embiid gets a dunk at the rim with his right hand. That’s the kind of tet-a-tet, pick your poison approach to low post scoring that effectively means there are no right answers for defenders and that makes a center un-guardable. 

A lot of this probably has to do with the era that we’re in but we’re not seeing the right level of appreciation for what this man is doing. When Steph Curry was on his run there was nothing but chatter about how great he is. Russell Wesbrook was praised to the high heavens for his triple-double MVP run. James Harden was elevated to superstar status for performing an entire season of the craftiest, grimiest, low-down, foul drawing tactics and even he had a bunch of media carrying his water. What those guys have in common is that their styles of play are more eye catching and even in Harden’s case people like watching him shoot. I have to wonder whether the voting media will allow aesthetics to sway their decision because it almost happened to Giannis Antetokounmpo. What I want to know is where is the pro-Joel media and why aren’t we hearing more from them? ESPN’s Max Kellerman is appearing to fight the just fight. So for once, the city of Philly is actually gonna have to ride with him and forget about the Carson Wentz nonsense. Other than that, Embiid’s competition in the MVP race, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, will have far better representation in the television media. Embiid leads the race at the moment but we do not have as much time left as we would in a normal, non-covid season. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes but I’m backing my guy on this. 

Here’s a cool Joel Embiid-Hakeem Olajuwon Video compilation and here’s the coolest video complilation of Joel Embiid scoring.

[repentantsky]

My Top 5 Games of 2020

As we are about to move on to 2021, thank gawd, there are many things to reflect on, but my content is escapism, so I’m not about to get all deep in that right now. Instead let’s talk about the thing that probably helped millions of people survive 2020, video games! Here are my Top 5, and oh boy, I wouldn’t be surprised if I got some hate for this. Minor rules for this, no remasters, definitive editions, ports to other systems or anything of that sort will be on this list, because they deserve their own lists. whether or not I write them. No PS5 games will be here, and I mean anything that’s on PS5, because I didn’t get one, and I didn’t play anything that’s on PS5 either, even if it had a PS4 version, so I can’t count those on this list, because that would be cheating. Oh and, if you’re wondering why it’s only a top 5, it’s because I spent more time playing older games and growing my games collection this year, than actually playing new games. So, yeah let’s get into it. 

5. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

I am honestly shocked this is here, but whatever reason, I love this game. Everything from the visual style, to the combat, to even exploring the semi-open world is great. One thing that really shocked me about this game, was the sidequests. Not all of them were great, and of course there were fetch quests all over the place in this game, but the ones I really enjoyed, were the quests where they went into the characters depths of the characters from the anime, by having quests themed around things they would do. Even if they were sometimes joke storylines like Yamcha getting into trouble with girls because that’s something he would do. I even liked the car driving quests, even if I think the stats were maxed out a little too easily. The main story is of course, pretty typical because it’s one we’ve seen a thousand times before, but even then, if it’s a story you like, it can be enjoyed because it’s more in depth there than any games in the series has been in the past. DBZ Kakarot does everything with the story that the Legacy of Goku games did back on the Gameboy Advance, but for the modern era, and I loved every second of it. 

4. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. 

Another shocker for me personally, because I’m not the biggest fan of...Breath of the Wild (not what you were expecting to hear was it?) but I really liked Age of Calamity. One thing that can often feel daunting in Warriors games, is the branching paths system that some of them use, and also, surprisingly, how much levels can matter in them. In Age of Calamity, the branching paths were not there, at least not in the typical sense, avoiding that problem for me, and if levels do matter, they managed to avoid that one by having several smaller missions for characters to do that were great for leveling them up without you having to spend all your rupees to catch them up, which also meant not having to spend as much time grinding for money as some warriors games have you do. The story of Age of Calamity is also fantastic, doing a much better job of making players care about the champions, and their closet friends and allies than Breath of the Wild did. Zelda isn’t always that focused on story in it’s games, despite having some good ones in the past, but Age of Calamity, really did a good job of it, and is probably the first game in the series to make me actually get emotional. It’s an impressive feat through and through, and it makes the warriors format work for it, by having everything take place during a war. It’s a complete package of a game, that is a thrilling and unique experience, never really seen in a warriors type game. 

3. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV. 

If you know me, you might be shocked to hear that this game is only number three for me, but it is. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not fantastic! The culmination of over a decade of games, met an amazing conclusion in this final instalment of the Cold Steel arc. I know this game has it’s detractors, but I don’t see why. The story is fantastic, the character moments are numerous yet not overwhelming or pushy, as they just make sense within the story itself. The combat is as good as always, and despite the change in VA’s for the English release, the acting is as good as it’s always been. To finally see a story come to a conclusion that is built up so well, that has spent so much time making sure it gets everything as right as it possibly can, is a reward all it’s own, and there’s something to be said about finally seeing some characters get what’s coming to them, after years of feeling like it was so close, but never happened. Characters like Juna, Kurt, Rean, Lloyd, Estelle, and so many others, working together was a fantastic sight, and if you’re wondering why I’m focusing in on characters so much, it’s because they are what make The Legend of Heroes what it is, and they are the reason this series is so engaging. I loved every minute of this experience, and the only reason it’s not number one, is because somehow, two games came out this year, that shocked me to my core. Make no mistake though, any of these top three games could have ended up as number one. 

2. The Last of Us Part II

And here is where the controversy really starts. The Last of Us Part II needs no defense, because those that have an issue with it, seemingly either didn’t finish the game, or were spoiled on it, and couldn’t look past what they heard, instead of what they could have felt playing it. The Last of Us Part II is a masterpiece. It tells a special kind of story that really only works in the world it exists in, it has some of the best written characters ever, new or old, it has some of the most wonderful levels ever created in gaming, and unlike the first game, is truly a horror experience. I wouldn’t by any means say it’s better than the original, I think that would be foolish to say, but it stands as one of the greats not only in this generation, but in gaming in general. The deaths in the game are done in a way that makes sense, that adds to the plot in a way that helps you feel the sense of loss that the characters feel. Yes, there is one death in it that will forever leave many people upset, but how it’s explained, how it makes sense that it happens, is nothing short of amazing. The Last of Us Part II, is nothing short of amazing, and I loved every second of it. I do wish that Naughty Dog had managed the game better, and it’s going to be hard to enjoy anything from them in the future if they don’t, but I can’t deny, that the game that actually had me sobbing through the credits, isn’t one of the best games ever made, because it is, and I feel sorry for anyone who didn’t understand that. 

1. Ghost of Tsushima. 

I. Loved. This. Game. It may not have the best story of any game on this list, in fact, I think the ending actually takes away from the real life event that it’s based on, but everything else about it is as close to perfect as you can get. The beautiful world, the fact that you can really tell that culture was priority number one when building the world this game has, just sets it apart from everything else. The fact that the combat is the most engaging combat of this year, is almost just a plus, because everything else was just so perfect. Ghost of Tsushima is a reminder that sometimes, gaming can really surpass just being a form of entertainment, but also a fun way to learn about culture. The beautiful world of Tsushima, is something that cannot be properly explained, but that has to be experienced. The fact that I played the game, and at times only felt like I was playing a game, instead of living in a world different from my own, when certain missions would come up that reminded me of that fact, the engagement was just that intense. I was absorbed into the world that Sucker Punch created, and I enjoyed every last second of it. The characters that were there, the deaths that happened, everything that was experienced in Ghost of Tsushima was to me, absolutely perfect, and for that, it wins my top spot, as my personal game of the year. I said earlier that any of the top three could change places, but honestly, that isn’t really true. Nothing comes close to GoT, and who knows when something ever will again. 

And that’s my list, did I leave out any of your favorites? Let me know in the comments below, try not to hate me too much for leaving out Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and leave me a note with your opinions. Have a fantastic day.    

[aftermathdb]

DEATH BATTLE Review: Beerus vs. Galaxia

Dragonball vs. Sailor Moon. The OG Shonen anime vs. the OG Magical Girl anime.

Disclaimer:  Due to issues with prior Deviantart exports, and my desire to keep this  as accessible as possible, this review and all reviews after this will  be shorter until a new alternative is found. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Also: REALLY REALLY sorry that this took so long. Having everything be lost kinda… bummed me out.

Beerus’ Preview.

The preview opens with Wiz and Boomstick going over Goku’s encounter with Beerus, and what it means to be a God of Destruction.

Our  overall stats go over just how absurdly powerful Beerus is and the kind  of Ki that he has at his disposal. Where we get to our first  Wiz/Boomstick segment with the new character: DUMMI.

Wiz  essentially goes over the different types of Ki, with the regular  simply zapping DUMMI, and destruction Ki literally vaporizing him. It’s  funnier than how I’m describing, but there really isn’t that much else  going on.

The  hosts go over some of Beerus’ other abilities. Like his various  techniques, and the fact that he has actual martial arts training.

A  quick guide to Ultra Instinct is introduced, and of course, we have to  go over the famous clash with Son Goku that shook the universe.

Now, similar to DC’s universe, the Dragonball universe is much  bigger than our own. Our universe is on that bottom part, Hell (or  HFIL, depending on your dub) is in the middle, Heaven is up top, and  then there’s a bunch of other stuff.

Simply put, this is much bigger than our own ‘verse.

A few more feats are gone over and we get a card for techniques.

Simply put: Don’t mess around with Beerus!

Galaxia’s Preview.

Galaxia’s  preview opens with a history on the Sailor Guardians/Sailor  Scouts/Senshi/etc. Going over some of the general backstory that’s kinda  needed to know exactly what’s going on in regards to the OG Magical  Girls.

Then it drops you into the fray of Galaxia’s backstory of  being born on a trash planet, going nuts, and destroying anything that  she couldn’t have for herself.

Now,  I’m going to say this right now: A lot of the highlights are kinda  isolated in the notecards. The Wiz/Boomstick segment doesn’t really  highlight much, other than some of the more… absurdly named attacks that  she has… And apparently… a weird fetish that Wiz has?- I’m sure as hell  not showing it. Plus, I was busy.

Anyways,  they go over the whole concept of “Star Seeds” and how they’re  basically the life force energy in all things. Planets, people, animals,  you name it.

Again:  Highlights are mainly kept to the notecards. Outside of a speed feat  courtesy of meatball head, there really isn’t that much to talk about.  So, a lot of the rundown is spent on the story differences between the  Anime and the Manga.

And then, y’know… the more kickass stuff.

So, in a nutshell, Galaxia is crazy powerful. Crazy fast. And possibly the standard crazy.

Anyways,  she’s got a massive powerset, and realistically, is difficult to  defeat. In the Anime, she was freed from Chaos’ control, while in the  Manga, she got killed by literal kindness. Because I guess that’s what  beats destruction.

I have zero authority as to what kind of end line this is, so I’m just going to leave it here.

The Battle Itself.

Luis is head on animation, Beerus will be voiced by River Vitae and Sailor Galaxia will be voiced by Blythe Renay. Gods of Destruction by Brandon Yates, and audio led by Chris Kokkinos.

So  for those of you who watched the preview on DEATH BATTLE Cast, you’re probably just now actually seeing and hearing the actual fight, music, and dialogue because those idiots didn’t plan ahead and didn’t realize  that it was preview week. Such is the cast without Ben. Damn, total  chaos and I missed it because of a class.

Anyways, remember how Goku vs. Superman 1 ended?- Yeah, that’s how this one starts!

So,  right off the bat, we can see that Galaxia… Actually takes speed. She  takes Beerus by surprise here, and in a few other places in the fight.  And can I say that Galaxia’s little smile there is adorable? It almost  makes you forget that she’s kinda a dictatorial mass murderer.

And then, just to sell how absurdly powerful these two are, they poke each other, until a massive shockwave happens.

So, after clearing the rubble, the two go all out.

Beerus goes for his wave technique, but Galaxia, being faster, is able to get by them, and fling Beerus into the Sun.

And after blowing it up, they clash inside the exploding sun.

The two kinda crash onto other planets. Galaxia enslaves a few natives onthe one she landed on, while Beerus, uh…

Blows his up.

The  two clash again, and I should probably mention that their respective  insta-destruction techniques kinda failed against each other. Neither of  them gets to cheese a victory.

So, while Beerus is busy being tied up, Galaxia tries to go in, but Beerus activates Ultra Instinct.

Which frankly, is just unfair, and I blame the fans for it.

Anyways, Galaxia then goes for her attack: Stealing Beerus’ Star Seed.

Finishing Blow in  

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

Verdict + Explanation.

So,  right off the bat, Galaxia is indeed faster, and her arsenal is much  more vast and versatile than Beerus’ due to how many she has.

But after that, it starts going the other way.

Speed  alone isn’t going to win any fights (unless you’re the Flash), so power  output and durability is what is needed to figure this all out.

Remember:  Both are threats to their respective universes, but the Dragonball  universe is quite bigger than our own, which the Sailor Moon universe  seems to be based off of.

Now,  this isn’t as simple as Beerus being equal to a few Galaxias, the two  are likely stronger. But Beerus has more evidence of being stronger than  Galaxia.

Goku is still considered inferior to Beerus even with  Super Saiyan Blue + Kaio Ken, and Beerus wasn’t even using his full  power in that famous “Clash that shook the universe” thing. Truth be  told, I prefer the movie not doing that because it shows restraint on Beerus’ part.

Simply put, Beerus at his worst is stronger than Galaxia at her best.

And  DUMMI kinda wraps everything that Wiz said in a neat little bow… Not  sure how to feel about him, but time will tell if and how he grows on  the audience.

Overall impression.

Overall,  I’d say that this is a pretty solid episode. I kinda touched on it  before, but I’m not too sure how to feel about DUMMI. While he has the  potential to be an interesting character for the hosts to bounce off of,  and the fact that it’s possible that he gets destroyed once per  episode, only time will tell if he becomes popular or not.

As  for the rundowns, I can’t say that it was that interesting. Numbers that  are too low are boring to watch, and numbers that are too high are  difficult to keep track of. I had to count the commas in the Beerus  Galaxia comparison in speed just to confirm for myself that that’s what  was going on.

The fight itself is great though. And we even saw  another nice little cameo from the Chuck vs. Segata fight as well, which  I think was pretty neat.

The Wiz/Boomstick segments didn’t stand  out though. And that’s possibly because it wasn’t really that  informative. It was just there to extend a joke. I think I’ve said this  before, but I like my Wiz/Boomstick segments to be the areas where there  isn’t clear footage to be used in the rundown, not necessarily for  jokes only.

Still, a solid 8.4/10. The fight’s great, and the music is awesome! But the rundowns could use a bit of work.

Next Time…

Oh wow. Two kids scarred by their crap dads that wield fire. So original.

Those of you who know that I was hoping to fight Zuko should kinda get why I’m a tad salty.

Is there a fight that you want me to review? - Send an ask/request, and I’ll look into it!

Do you want to read my fanfic based around DEATH BATTLE itself? click here!

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you next time for…

Scarred Fire Fight.

[frickyeahfanfic]

STATS & STAR WARS (peter parker)

pairing: peter parker x cheerleader!smart!reader

warnings: none

summary: You are in peter’s math class, and you got partnered with him for a stats project. Peter is TERRIBLE at math, so you have to stay after school to help him with the project. and maybe hang out and study later?

word count: 2.5k

___________

Peter was dreading his math class today. He didn’t have any friends in that class, nor did he do the homework, but on top of it all, there was a group assignment. It wouldn’t have been as miserable if he had been put with MJ, or even Flash,

But he had been paired with you. 

The best math student with the worst. 

“Everyone get in your assigned groups, you have twenty minutes until the bell rings to work. These projects are due on Friday, so get them done!”

The lifeless room shuffled to life as the kids moved their desks and slung their brick-heavy backpacks over their shoulders.

You turned your head over your shoulder and made eye contact with a scared looking Peter Parker. Honestly, you could never figure out why he always looked like a deer in the headlights. You wave your hand and he follows the movement, quickly getting out of his seat and plopping down in the one next to you.

“You start on page 329 and I’ll start on 349,” you say, hoisting your textbook out of your backpack. He did the same, humming in agreement. 

As you fingered through the textbook with delicate fingers, Peter scribbled down the notes from his pages. You could simply read the information and process it perfectly, thus classifying you as the smartest person in the room.

Peter, on the other hand, was a bit slow.

“Hey, um, what formula would you use for this problem?” He turned his messy notes to you. 

You looked up from your concentration and scrutinized his page for a moment, before jotting down the equation on the corner of his paper.

“Use this one,” you said with a smile. 

Peter laughed nervously. “Oh yeah, I forgot about that one.”

Although Peter was a little thick when it came to numbers and graphs, you were more than happy to help a classmate out. Especially if it meant that you would get free physics and AP biology tutoring. 

Still, why did he act so… afraid?

There were a few moments of silence before the bell rang and students scrambled to collect their supplies. Peter didn’t move. 

As you started to stand, he panicked. “Wait, I need more help!”

It was the last class period of the day, so everyone was eager to go home, to clubs or sports practices. You were a cheerleader, and tumbling practice wasn’t until later, so you had some time to stay after school and help Parker out. 

You sank back into your seat and grabbed your calculator that you had just put away. 

“Sorry Y/n, you can go home if you want, I think I can figure this one out.”

A soft smile warmed your face and you started plugging in numbers into the calculator. “You have ten problems left, and it’s a group assignment. We won’t go home until it’s finished,” you stated simply, writing an answer down on his paper. Your arm brushed over his and he flinched, but you didn’t notice. He always got so jumpy around you. 

It was silent as you worked on the next problem. The vents whirred loudly, and when you slammed your pencil on the desk, Peter nearly had a heart attack and sat up straighter than a stick in his chair. If only his Spidey-sense could help him with not being so nervous. 

“Parker, please just talk to me. You don’t have to be so quiet,” you complained, raising an eyebrow. 

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. What an idiot, she’s probably thinking.

“How’s Ned? Got another lego set?” You try, his eyes looking anywhere but yours.

“Oh! Ned’s great! We just finished a limited edition Millenium Falcon piece!”

Idiot, idiot, idiot! She probably thinks I’m the biggest nerd now!

“Millenium Falcon, from Star Wars?” You asked with genuine interest. 

Peter nodded and swallowed. Maybe he could redeem himself.  

“Well, yeah, Ned’s a huge fan of Star Wars, I’m not as-”

“My brother doesn’t play with his legos anymore, and he hasn’t touched his Super Star Destroyer in years,” you say, cutting him off. 

Peter was listening now. “The Super Star Destroyer?” The set cost almost a thousand on ebay, and there was no way that May would approve of the heavy purchase. 

You shrug. “My parents bought it for him when he was 12. He was such a brat about it, they paid him to put it together. You can have it if you want, the box is only good at collecting dust.”

The rich, smart, hot cheerleader just offered him a Lego Star Wars set. Ned would never believe him.

“I… don’t know what to say,” Peter said, staring at his scribbles in disbelief. 

“Thank you.” You teased, nudging him with your elbow. 

I think I broke him, you thought to yourself as he looked at your eyes for a second, then continued to stare at the paper in front of him. 

You clear your throat. “I’ve never seen Star Wars before.”

Peter looked at you in disbelief. Okay, he’s not broken. “What?” He nearly screamed at you.

Furrowing your brow, you continue copying down numbers from the dim screen on the calculator. “I don’t watch nerd movies, I watch chick-flicks and rom-coms with my friends, Peter Parker,” you say.

Your sparkling laughter fills the air as Peter’s face twisted into one of confusion. 

“We need to watch Star Wars,” he blurted out.

You squint your eyes. “We need to finish our project.”

He groaned and put his face on the desk, but gasped when an idea came to his head.

“We can watch Star Wars and work on the project,” Peter said, lifting his face off the desk. His paper was stuck to his cheek and it fluttered to the ground when you blew on it.

“You mean, I watch Star Wars, while you work on the project,” you roll your eyes and pick up Peter’s paper off the ground. “Or is it the other way around.”

When you put the paper back on his desk he was nearly glaring at you. 

“You need to watch Star Wars,” he insisted again.

“Fine. I’ll watch it when I get home from tumbling practice, you can wait until then,” your last statement wasn’t a question, rather, demanding Peter to be patient. 

He huffed and nodded. “Deal. Your house or mine?”

You bite your lip to prevent yourself from laughing. “Peter, if you’re asking me on a date, then it’s your place, but if we’re just hanging out we can do my place.”

Peter’s face turned bright red and his palms were sweating profusely. “A date? No, no, we can just hang out at your house.”

You wink and he almost faints. “It’s a deal.” 

Peter gets a text on his phone and starts packing his things. He gets halfway through the door when he stops. A clammy hand wraps around the doorframe and he peaks back at you.

“I, uh… probably need your address, and your phone number in case I get lost.”

You catch up to him, slinging your backpack over your shoulder. “Thought you’d never ask.”

He hands you his phone with a blank contact and you fill it in quietly. Peter can’t help but stare at you, this close to him. The way your lovely lashed eyes settle on the cracked screen, the hair that falls over your right shoulder, you make his knees weak. 

You hand his phone back to him and he gasps softly when you make eye contact with him again. You tilt your head in confusion. 

“Something wrong Peter?”

He shakes his head and steps backwards. “Uh, I’ll see you tonight! Good luck with tumbling practice!”

Peter runs faster than he’s ever run before. 

__________

He can’t stop shaking when he comes to the door. 

You live a little way out of the city, in a two-story home on a busy street. The streetlamps seem bright and the road well kept in contrast to the dirty and dim Queens area that Peter Parker lived in. 

Peter looks at his phone one more time, making sure he has the right address and knocks on the door with a clenched fist. 

To his relief, a small head poked through the crack in the door and looked up at you. It must’ve been one of your brothers. 

“Who are you?” He asked innocently. Peter could see a glowing lightsaber in the hands of the elementary-age child, as if ready for attack. 

“I’m Peter, I’m coming over to study with Y/n,” he said, hefting the AP Stats textbook in his arm. 

The boy turned his head and yelled your name, to which you came quickly to the door. 

Your hair was pulled back in a slick ponytail, but the ends were tousled from your cheerleading practice. A baggy t-shirt draped over your arms and fell down to your mid-thigh, and from there tight leggings were situated comfortably. 

This was a different version of yourself, a tired, undone version. Normally your hair was perfectly curled, and you had the cutest clothes on, but at home, you could unwind and take things down a notch. 

Peter thought you looked perfect. Either way, you were just stunning, sweats or skirts. 

“Ben, let Peter in! Dude, I’m so sorry, he’s kinda a weirdo,” you said laughing. 

“Ben,” Peter breathed. Ben Parker was his Uncle’s name.

Your brother scurried off behind you when Peter came inside. 

“He’s the one that doesn’t play with his legos anymore,” you turn and look at him running off with his lightsaber. “Speaking of which-”

You plopped down a box by the door, the sound of plastic bricks clinking inside. “Your Super Star Destroyer. Don’t forget it here.”

Peter beamed. “Awesome!”

You gesture to the basement door. “Let's get our homework done. Both assignments.”

He looked confused and started panicking. There were two assignments?

You saw the look of confusion on his face. “Stats and Star Wars?”

Peter sighed with relief. “Oh yeah, duh.”

The basement was small but cozy. You had already set up the TV to watch Star Wars, and your backpack and textbooks were already strewn across the floor and the couch. 

“There’s food and sodas in the fridge, feel free to help yourself,” you said, plopping down on the couch. You grab a heavy textbook and set it in your lap, opening up to wear a pencil marked your spot. Peter had a water bottle in his hands from the fridge and sat down gingerly next to you, pulling out a binder full of statistic worksheets.

You nod towards the TV. “Ready?”

His face glows. “Yes.”

Not even ten minutes into the movie, Peter asks for your help on a problem.

“Y/n, how do you do this one again?” He nearly cringes as you turn your attention away from the screen. He doesn’t want you to miss this scene. 

You cheerfully point out that he needs to fix the Window setting on his calculator, then immediately go back to watching the movie.

Peter realized that you had your textbook open on your lap to help him.

So embarrassing. At least he only had two more problems left, then he could enjoy the movie. 

You can sense his frustration as he flips through the pages of the textbook, trying to find the next solution. You study his paper for a second, equally as confused. 

 “I actually don’t know how to do this one, I don’t think Mr. Saldor explained this concept,” you say with a sigh.

Peter didn’t feel so embarrassed anymore. You didn’t know all the answers in the universe. 

“Wait, you actually don’t know?” He asked, a bright tone in his voice. 

You roll your eyes and turn back to the screen. “No, Peter Parker, I actually don’t know all the answers in the universe.” You shut your textbook and set it on the floor. “I assume he’ll go over it in class tomorrow until then we need to work on our next assignment.”

Phew. The pain was over. He could finally watch his favorite movie with you. Pray to Thor that he doesn’t make himself more embarrassed. 

“I need some water, I’ll be right back,” you get up, hoping that he gets the message to scoot over and make a move. 

Of course, you wanted to hang out with Peter, and working on AP stats homework was the perfect excuse. 

You thought he was the sweetest kid in your class, and he wasn’t too bad to look at either. You didn’t mind all of his nerdy-ness, his friend Ned, or the fact that he straight-up sucked at Statistics, in fact, you found it all the more endearing. And when he got all nervous around you, you just wanted to pull him in a hug and tell him to take it easy. You liked him for who he was. If only you had the courage to tell him that. Maybe you were just as shy.  

As you come back to the couch, Peter was sitting with a blanket on his lap. He looked so uncomfortable. He had to focus so hard not to move away from you when you sat down so close to him. 

You reached for the blanket. “Mind if we share?”

“Oh yeah!” He exclaimed, and then pushed all the blankets off of himself onto you. 

“Peter.”

He looked at you, his lips pressed together and his eyes wider than ever before. 

“What?”

“Stop worrying!” You burst out in laughter, clutching your gut when you couldn’t get any air. 

“I can’t!” He nearly yelled at you as you continued to double over.

Once your breathing slowed you looked at him again and stifled a laugh. He looked terrified. 

“Peter Parker, share the blanket with me.”

He blinked in surprise. You wanted to cuddle with him?

You could read the shock plastered all over his face. In one swift movement, the blanket was draped over the two of you and you snuggled into his side.

“This is the part where you put your arm around me,” you say softly now. 

“Right,” he said, face blushing hard. His muscular arm wrapped around your shoulder and relaxed when he found the right spot to rest his hand. 

“I kinda don’t know what’s going on in the movie,” you admitted. 

“Guess we’ll have to watch from the start,” he said smoothly. Finally! He thought to himself. I think I’m catching onto this flirting thing!

“Guess so.”

________

ok i think i’m gonna end it there. I might write some more mini fics to this bc i love this concept where peter is just HEAD OVER HEELS for the pretty!reader, i just gotta finish up a submission first before i post anything else aaaaaa

any advice for my writing?? send in an ask! i have LOTS of room for improvement!

[arofili]

fic writer tag game!!

i was tagged by @meztliel, thanks so much!!

AO3 name: starlightwalking

Fandoms: mostly Tolkien, my current main WIPs are Hobbit and LOTR fics, but i’m definitely mostly writing for the Silm these days, just lots of oneshots. i also dabble in Les Mis (at least once a year for Barricade Day!) and TAZ :)

Number of fics: 179??? how??? and i’m only gonna have more!! i’m not even done with B2MeM20 yet!!

Fic I spent the most time on: oh geez. that’s a tough one. this fic that i just posted, a Measse/Thuringwethil oneshot, i started in 2015?? but i left it sitting for 5 years, so i don’t think that counts. and i guess this drabble comp would be the next candidate, i started it in May 2016 and i last updated it in December 2019, but it’s...a drabble compilation, not an actual fic. so i think i actually spent the most time on my current WIPs, “Moonlight” and “Roads Go On,” both originally posted in May 2018 (jesus i was still in HIGH SCHOOL) and updated.....last year...... really i just haven’t had time to work on them, rip, though i think about them constantly. that’s what happens when you’re not in high school anymore i suppose....

Fic I spent the least time on: i mean, something from that drabble comp, probably. Or a B2MeM ficlet. probably this Glorfindel fic? I only remember writing it because I know it was written in a hurry at like 2am and my friend Moth @thishazeleyeddemon loved it and I was like “wow weird considering how little effort I put into it!”

Longest fic: Currently my post-BotFA Tauriel fic “Beneath the Stars” coming in at 49k! RGO and Moonlight both promise to be longer, but that would require me actually finishing either of them... but I love BtS so much that I’m glad it’s up there, it was a real labor of love <3

Shortest fic: “The Lay of Nienor” which I just wrote this past month! it’s only 238 words long - but it’s in verse, so that’s pretty respectable!

Most hits: My first BotFA fix it fic, “A Merrier Place,” with 5544 hits - to no one’s surprise by my chagrin. That was one of my first forays into Hobbit fic and I wrote it shortly after the movie came out, when people were most in need of a fix it AU. So I don’t blame them, really - but as I’m sort of setting out to rewrite my thoughts on what actually would’ve happened in an Everyone Lives AU in my current fic “Moonlight,” I wish people would pay more attention to that...

Most kudos: My TRSB19 Gigolas fic, “Love and Fear,” coming in with 155 kudos! this fic features art from @ginogollum and honestly, it deserves that love! (though, I think it does say a lot about what fandom wants that my only romo!gigolas fic has the most kudos of anything i’ve written, and all my qp!gigolas fics are much lower down the list... though perhaps I’m being unfair, considering my qp!Domadry fic “Wedding Blues” has the second-most kudos at 147.)

Most comment threads: My other TRSB19 fic, the Feanorian Redemption/Rebirth story “ATATYA” - that’s 71 comment threads and 147 total comments including replies!!! :) that makes me very very happy, because I wrote the 45,000 words of that fic in like...two weeks, about? it was INTENSE. and i’m very proud of that story, it’s got a lot of headcanons that I stand by, and I reference it frequently!

Most bookmarks: I added this category bc it felt weird it wasn’t here. Again, this prize goes to “Love and Fear” with 43 bookmarks!! woah :o second place is “A Merrier Place” with 35, and then the first fic I haven’t already mentioned is “The Naming Dame,” a HTTYD book fic with 30 bookmarks! I really should go back and update that fic, considering I wrote it before the last book came out and there’s new relevant information...

Total word count: I also added this one because I wanna brag!! I currently have 739,961 words archived on AO3 - holy shit!! adding the ~253k words I didn’t transfer over from FFN, that’s nearly a million words of fic! by the time i finish B2MeM I might push past that threshhold!!!!! that’s so exciting!!!! (fun fact about me: before Tolkien, my main fandom was...warrior cats...roughly 215k of that fic I left to gather dust on FFN is WC fic........)

Favourite fic I wrote: This isn’t fair, I can’t choose just one!! Ugh...well, if I must, I think it has to be “ATATYA”? This is subject to change, and “Beneath the Stars” is a close second, but “ATATYA” is my first real Silm longfic and I’m very proud of what I accomplished there, especially in such a short amount of time. Bonus: my favorite oneshot / favorite non-Tolkien fic is “and Love,” the aro Magnus fic I wrote for ASAW last year!

Fic you want to rewrite/expand on: I mean, I already talked about how “Moonlight” is kind of a rewrite of “A Merrier Place,” so...hm. Well, earlier today in an ask game I mentioned my fic “fell and fey” which is the Eol-living-in-a-fairy-tale fic I wrote just this past month. I started writing a longer, more poetic version of that fic that I’d like to return to and expand on someday, but I wanted to get that idea out of my head and B2MeM was a great excuse to do it, so I went with the shorter version instead - for now!

Share a bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on:

I’ve got a couple WIPs right now... here’s a snippet of ch8 of “Roads Go On” (which i PROMISE i will have up soon...i know i’ve been saying that for more than year but i MEAN IT this time...)

“What do you mean we can’t take the freeway?” Boromir snapped.

“My way or the highway, he means,” Gimli quipped. “And, uh...not the highway, I guess.”

Mithrandir shot Gimli a withering glare. Though he only smiled, some part of him shriveled up inside. A wizard’s evil eye was nothing to mess with.

I think I’ve already shared that snippet in a different tag game, so here’s one more for the road - this one’s from “Cause and Consequence,” my Halenthir baby OC fic. This snippet comes from a chapter that won’t be out for awhile (and might undergo some serious revamping before then), and it’s set right after the Nirnaeth, with my OC (Ryndil) about to confront their dad.

“This is no place for mortals,” Maglor said flatly. “You do know who we are, don’t you, Rýndil of Brethil?”

A shiver ran down their spine. Seven tall elf-lords, gaunt and scarred and bloody in the aftermath of a disastrous battle. Maedhros, the eldest, was a shell of the glorious figure he’d been on the battlefield; they weren’t sure if he was even awake, his eyes were so glassy and unfocused. Grief, they supposed. They’d heard the rumors about him and the High King, after all.

Maglor, leading in his place, trembling despite the firmness in his golden voice. Celegorm, bitter and angry and mean despite his fair features. Curufin, his dark shadow, flint in his eyes and venom on his tongue. Amrod and Amras, mirroring each other in their distrustful glares. And yet despite the blood and dirt and pain, a light shone from each of them. These were men to be feared, men to be worshipped.

And then there was him. Caranthir the Dark. Rýndil’s father, the blood flowing through their veins, the reason they were here in the first place. Gaunt and red-faced, the weary host of his defeated brothers, he had scarcely stopped moving about and making room for them since they arrived.

As much as Rýndil was of the Haladin, as much as they were the child of Haleth, they were bound to this family and people also.

there’s a lot of grief-stricken angry feanorian banter that comes after this (including some Maedhros characterization that i’m Very Proud Of), and honestly? i might just go ahead and post the whole excerpt if anyone wants to read it (it’s about 1.3k words) since I’m fairly sure I will be changing a lot of it anyway, even if it’s only for tone.

~

looking at these stats, i’m both kind of sad and kind of proud. like, i’m proud of myself for what i’ve written, and proud of the relationships i’ve forged with readers and writers on AO3, but i know lots and lots of folks who have waaayyy higher stats than me. i know considering i write a lot of gen and aro fic that i’ll never be a Big Name Fan, but that doesn’t stop me from being jealous... sigh...

anyway, this was very very fun!!! i tag @buffintruder @himrings @mushroomwriter @zealouswerewolfcollector @hennethgalad @absynthe--minded @stormxpadme @morifiinwe @raisingcain-onceagain annnd any other writer who sees this and wants to do it!! no pressure of course, only do it if you want to :)

(and LMK in replies if you’re interested in seeing more of that Ryndil snippet!!)