#i better not see any critical in these rbs ok

[m4rs-ex3]

broyals is peak siblings because OF COURSE when you're IN THE MIDDLE of your incredibly climactic world-saving final act of heroism your little brother shows up like "NAH I GOT THIS" and fucks everything up

[schmoel]

hello hi ! a few things abt me/this blog: (feel free to block me if any of this bothers you)

call me schmoel i guess

hermitcraft/life series focused with a bit of empires and sos. mainly joel but i also watch/keep up with (in no particular order) pearl, gem, cleo, lizzie, joe, etho, mumbo, zedaph, cub, bdubs, pixl, oli

highly critical of these ppl as creators soz i may be a connoisseur but i am also a hater (and a communist)

i dont really ship anyone irl but i think rpf is funny

i dont really ship anyone ingame but i think their gay jokes are funny. sometimes.

i will tag any of my own posts as hermitshipping even if theyre jokes but i probably wont tag rbs

im very sorry if i go through your joel tags and like all your posts im catching up ok.

inbox is always open ! complain about the white men we willingly watch or talk about how cool joel is

oh also if you ever see pearl, gem, or joel transcripts pop up theyre likely gonna be from me

other projects i may or may not do: a better transcript searcher for all of joel's videos, joel, jizzie, and smalletho fanart codex, random joel compilations (failed water bucket clutches, all tool name jokes, random vegetable questions in mcc vods, bad enchanting luck, him regretting saying the word yummy)

[presidentofthelipglossclub]

i think i know which fics ur talking about and if i'm right i loved those, 10/10 worldbuilding/backstory.

anyways ideas: jules verne and heatwave future stuff ok that whole episode was so damn cryptic and mysterious i really wanna see where it could go.

slice of life style fic(s) about the rescue bots at the academy, training and hanging out, and going on missions off planet. bonus if it works in the whole rescue bots being Other more than average bots.

chill oneshot (?) of frankie and heatwave having the triple changer convo bc she said heatwave told her all about it and i want more frankie content.

adventure/mild psychological horror fic series of tfp/rid 2015 bots meeting the rescue bots. the adventure comes from the rescue bots being danger magnets, the horror from them being Other in a subtle way that slowly expands into their backstory and them becoming a critical part of cybertron's future in a way no one understands.

au of canon tfp and rb where instead of telling optimus he wants to stay on griffin rock, heatwave joins team prime when offered a spot. ideally includes the mild psychological horror i mentioned before, but more concentrated on heatwave's mental state/morality instead of a group backstory.

nemisis prime au where the rescue bots either meet nemisis who they think is optimus, or the optimus in the show was nemisis prime the whole time. this could go dark by including more gore, or could turn into a rehabilitation mission where the rescue bots help him get better/become normal.

shattered glass fics about the rescue bots fuckin shit up. that's it.

corruption fic series about the rescue bots being found by deceptions and infused with dark energon to become soldiers. they could either a) be captured by the autobots and fixed, b) be captured by the autobots and destroyed, c) slowly work their way into the deceptions' sparks and be willingly released, d) become unicron's servants and fulfill some prophecy, or e) really any other idea idk i just think this would be interesting.

decepticon focused fic(s) with them slowly being accepted by the rescue bots and gaining their help (without optimus knowing, there could be a dramatic reveal).

side-switching rescue bots who mostly keep doing their thing, they just hang out with decepticons (bonus if they aren't being manipulated, they just agree with their cause more) (bonus bonus if optimus/the autobots think they're being manipulated and try saving them).

longer oneshot of post war cybertron with the rescue bots becoming major political figures because of their unique experience/expertise in deescalation, rebuilding, problem solving and diplomacy. would wanna see at least ONE big argument where they lose their shit and start roasting the hell out of autobots and decepticons for being terrible diplomats and politicians.

literally anything that has the rescue bots interacting with war bots and not being treated like they're weak. i see that too much and it's annoying they're dinobots they have insane durability they can lift multiple times their own weight they have insane speed they're mean as shit they are not weak.

i have more but these are some of the main ones i like to think about.

ok i love rescue bots and the fandom but we are NOT tapping into proper fic potential ok. where are the fics about heatwave and jules verne meeting in the future? where are fics about the rescue bots’ missions/lives in space? where are the fics about them on other planets or just on cybertron? where’s the fics on frankie and heatwave talking about triple changing? where’s the fics on the rescue bots meeting team prime? where’s the fics on an au of the show where heatwave accepts optimus’ offer to join his team? WHERE ARE THE FICS??

[dolugecat]

On some Japanese social issues I had learned about at uni and abroad):

(Rb ok!)

Legit had an epiphany about the true hidden meaning of the last arc of Mob Psycho 100. It’s hella projection but for real there is nothing neurotypical about Mob or Mob Psycho. I do not wish to enforce my interpretation on others (ironic bc I do that all the time but this is a serious social theory). There are some interesting and very sad social issues in Japan that the west really doesn’t understand but would I think help people understand a lot of context behind not only Mob Psycho, but also a lot of other anime. I learned this at my shitty university (prestigious but horrific) and while studying abroad in Japan and talking with Japanese peers. Get ready here we go (and tw for bullying and darker things):

Unfortunately in East Asian education systems, bullying can be extremely intense. Growing up I assumed it was over exaggerated extremely in anime for drama but it really can be so horrific. From what I’ve heard, there is often a single kid or so who is just shit on by everyone else, even the teacher. Mogami land *is* the reality of some Japanese kids. I’ve read that in Korea, this social punching bag sometimes is just the darkest skinned person (yayyy colorism /angry) and or someone who does not fit in. I mean, we have that in America too, but maybe not as common for the bullying to be as focused on one misfit rather than several. These kids just can’t escape the stigma too, kids from other schools find out they were a major victim at their old school and it starts anew. Thus there is so much stigma and incentive to join in on bullying so you aren’t the one. Sadly, this also ofc leads to higher suicide rates. That’s where the “shoe on building roof” anime trope comes in, bc somehow taking off shoes is relayed to death (I forgot why sorry)

There is a difference in how intense in general high school vs college is too. In the West, commonly college is the more intense curriculum and is harder than high school, but in Japan it’s usually the opposite. Grind suuuupppeeerrrr hard for entrance exams (huge standardized tests that determines what college you can qualify to) bc unlike the ACT or SAT here, that test is by far the most important factor for college admission. Then chill and relax a bit in college. Can’t relate. Name and prestige is very critical for job application, more important than here. That’s why planning out your future is sooo much more intense for Japanese high schoolers than in America, and why there is sooo much more pressure to excel in high school than here. Japanese school years and holidays are done different than ours, I’d suggest looking it up.

Social prestige of going to an American high school or college is nuts. Like whyyy do you value our shitty education, Japan’s is much higher quality (it’s bc we neo colonized them). Being able to speak English is very, very highly valued and any association with Americans make you cooler. From my experience, some Japanese students got very excited to practice speaking English with us, and their biggest issues with learning it is pronunciation, lmao. Wasai english is unique slang that is indeed English words but it’s kinda different and it’s kinda jarring to remember lol. So, Teru having parents that are working overseas isn’t too uncommon, idk about leaving him absolutely alone, but I did have a ex-friend who just came from Japan in middle school who’s situation probably wasn’t too far off from that. Empty wealth with no love, it’s no wonder those kind of people can end up being huge bullies (minori?)

I did a presentation on 引きこもり(hikikomori) for which means “shut in”, (like Serizawa) and it’s fucked up. It’s a social phenomena where according to some Japanese researchers a mix of undisciplined parenting, guilt/not living up to expectations, and hopelessness makes an alarming amount of youth/ young adults literally never go out side their house/room. Often a parent is “enabling” the behavior by supporting them, but idk the articles seemed a bit victim-blaming to me when I read it, but I don’t think I should make a judgement too hard, not my place. I will say I do suspect and believe I read something to support that ASD might play a role in hikikomoris (there is pitiful resources for autistic people in Asia, much much less support than even here, to the point I don’t think most know it exists). Like come on, with the other points I laid out my personal opinion as an Asian American with autism is that it really seems it’s unknowing ableism against autistic classmates, but I didn’t grow up in Asia so I don’t want to say.

Mental health in general is tragically quite abysmal in Japan, and with it being so hyper competitive and brutal work culture, it’s no surprise birth rate in Japan is so low; some Japanese young adults say it seems unethical to bring a life to such hostile world. Suicide rate is of the highest in the world. It’s fucked, I’ve interacted with some of the locals in Tokyo and they were so nice, but the business men just looked dead inside, it’s so sad.

Relationships between child and parent is also strained bc of this intense work and school culture. Quality time is too scarce when you gotta work so much. And the pressure from parents to do well in education or else you might end up socially stigmatized is rough. Bc your job is who you are, it’s hyper capitalism (thanks us for making them do this)

With autism being so unknown, support for parents in raising autistic kids is almost nonexistent. What happens if the “darker” side of ASD shows up in kids? I used to be a menace when I had meltdowns, I felt so bad but really just became so indiscriminately violent. See where this is going? Legit, I think ESP is a sort of metaphor for neurodivergance to ONE. There is so much stigma around it, and even less way for kids to understand why they are different than the others. My Korean family can’t admit we all got ASD, too much fear and internalized shame.

I got finally diagnosed with ASD as an adult and I’ll tell ya, I relate too much to Mob hurting Ritsu. I felt so bad, but also not in control, I knew what I was doing but not how to stop. Luckily, is was blessed in that my hyperfixations involved science and logic, so I did well at school. Sadly, our boy Mob just don’t got the passion or ability to do well at school. His kanji is very bad, even to point of not being confident he wrote a kanji (世) they learn when they are 9, in elementary school (thanks @katyatalks). Him being a bit berated by his parents for having bad grades and bending spoons seems harsh to Westerners I think, but IMO it’s pretty tame from what I’ve seen of some Asian parents (I get to say that lmao). Ofc, however the shaming is very real and Mob just agreeing with them about how weird and stupid he thinks he is so sad. There is even more pressure for the eldest to be better than here, I feel from some interactions. Nonetheless, it’s implied Mob is quite emotionally detached from his parents, even though he loves them, which also adds to his emotional complex. Combined with originally fragile self esteem and feelings of worthlessness, we got one emotionally stunted boy. However, contrary to common belief people with ASD are sometimes hyper empathic and experience emotions very intensely. We are prone to having “meltdowns” which if not assisted with can be quite violent if very intense. For me, my worse meltdowns as a kid came from when I didn’t understand why I wasn’t getting what I wanted, it seemed selfish and cruel of me but I couldn’t control it. I wanted to be a good kid, so why did hit my moms leg at target when she refused to buy me Pokémon toys? I couldn’t come up with a good reason for why my mind just commanded my body to do bad things, just a single thought was controlling me, I want I want I want I want I want ____. Which I argue could be what ???% represents… bc well…. Yeah….. hmm….. not in control of self (mob unconscious), selfish (not actually, I’ve forgave myself but my “normal” kid self was so ashamed), destructive, hurt family, wanting to stop but can’t, that’s kind of…. Too relatable.

But legit, since realizing my new HC, I’ve started to think of the last chapter of mp100 when I “explode” and it helps me feel better and I do gain “control” a bit easier. I don’t feel so bad anymore either, Mob!

[juniaships]

My issues//ok to rb&comment

I don't like venting. But I have to do this because I'm through being angry every single second of my life. In the past i have been scrutinised a lot through my childhood and teenage years. It got to a point where I no longer have the motivation to do anything worthwhile. I'm a failure so what else can i be? I hate being a failure but failing seems to be the only thing I'm good at. Nobody else seemed to fail like I had. I resented a lot of people who I see have more than me, or are talented, or are goodlooking or a combo of both. That resentment i held turned into a full blown rage to the point i get literal headaches thinking about it. In turn I become an extremely judgemental person myself. The negative attitude rubs off in the way i work, live, talk to people. It even affects how I consume media, I judged so many writers and creators harshly because of an artstyle i don't like or a storyline I hate. But several months ago one artist who i judged a lot passed away suddenly. The news shocked me. That's when i knew: i know nothing about this man and what he was going through. All he did was doing what he loved and his job, and i picked it apart for no reason other than being disappointed over a cartoon he worked on and was already harassed for.

Last week I went on a tirade because i was mad that my parents criticized the clothes i wear. It reminded me of how i was treated back then, where i couldn't wear what i wanted even something innocuous without getting picked apart. So i lashed out and said hurtful things not to them but to strangers online. It didn't make me feel any better. So i took a break to calm myself down. Later that week my mom lectured me about mastering my emotions. I shrugged her off. I was fed up with her lecturing me. But the thought nagged me all day. And i swallow my pride to say she is right. I have no control over my emotions. I get obnoxiously angry for the pettiest of slights. I suppress my rage when i get criticized at work bc i sure as hell dont want to be fired. Deep down i feel very lonely and insecure. My art doesn't do as good as I hoped, I have no hobbies or a social circle. And every day where im reminded of what I should have had but don't I get all the more low. But it's better to deal with the anger than with low self esteem. I don't lie I blame God for a lot of my problems but.. It's all me. I'm the one who chose to flunk out of school. I'm the one who chose to lash out at people who did nothing to me. I'm continuing holding my anger instead of digging deeper into the other emotions hidden inside. I have so much sadness but not a Benz to cry in. I weaponize anger so I wouldnt have to confront such painful feelings. Because so many people overlooked my good qualities and focused solely on my flaws I began to believe o wasn't a good person at all and became aggressive and confrontational. But i can't do that I can't hurt others just because I'm hurt.

I understand now if I want to live a better life I have to stop holding on to rage. I have to stop being lazy and relying on bitterness. I have to learn to open myself up to others and learn to love myself with the flaws and negativity and i have plenty of both. I need to live compassionately and healing the sad inside. I dream of experiencing life. I dream of having light and love and laughter and honesty, away from darkness and pain.

I dunno if anyone feels the same. It's not my place to say. But I can't keep dreaming if i don't put in the effort to make that dream happen.

[jamesvanriemsdyk]

Ok James I have a question and I’d like to hear your opinion if it’s alright with you, but if it makes you uncomfortable you can obviously just ignore this: I’m totally with you on the baby thing and when it comes to his father.. like, it’s a baby. Just a little creature who didn’t ask to be brought into this world and has even less of a choice, by whom. And as an organization, fuck the Chicago team, absolutely! They have their heads so far up their own asses it’s unbelievable...

but I kinda like Jonathan toews tbh and I’m always conflicted that I don’t mind him because obviously it must be hard to be the captain of a sport team and I think he said once that they have republicans on the team and you obviously kinda have to accept your co workers / colleagues, but I also feel like maybe if he would bring it up for the franchise to change the logo and stuff, maybe that would go over better because he’s the captain you know? And he does a lot of work for the environment I think? But then again he doesn’t seem to have a spine really when it comes to 88 and I just always feel conflicted because fuck the hawks yes but can I like certain players then? And can I like a man even if his friends are shit?

under the cut cause this got long

im not gonna like. tell you what to do. its up to you to figure out where you draw your line, and figure out how you like things critically. but no, im not a fan of t*ews. when i learned he said that they were supporting k*ne during the assault trial and that k*ne was just "working through some stuff" that just really ended it for me. i also cannot fucking stand spineless liberals, but that's kind of a whole other conversation.

wrt to the whole r*publican thing, i mean. that's not, like, The problem with k*ne, but there are r*publicans on every team. its not really something you can escape in hockey lmao so

i also think its important to be aware: there are a fucking TON of native hockey fans on tumblr. they dont deserve to see the h*wks logo everywhere, they dont deserve to have their experience ruined because of one shitty team that we all KNOW is shitty. tag your shit, obviously, but do you know how disheartening it is to follow someone and think theyre neat and then have a bunch of posts on your dash blacklisted because you didnt realize they liked t*ews? its frustrating at best (i know this because it happens to me all the time). i like dylan str*me. i think hes neat! hes got a fun narrative. but i dont follow h*wks blogs for strome content, and i dont really ever rb content of him, especially if the logo is visible in any way. for me, its just one dude versus my friends feeling comfortable and having a better hockeyblr experience. i also have no interest in engaging with that racist ass team as a whole, so.

[boygirlbowie]

Red and Black Bruised pt. 3

Summary: A group of homophobes notice Klaus flirting with a waiter at a family outing and one of them recognizes him- and not in a pleasant way. When they see him heading outside to grab Vanya’s wallet from her car, they follow him out.

basically some angsty Klaus-centric writing with Diego and Vanya being good!characters and Luther being a notsogood!character

Word Count: ~1177

Warnings: violence, angst, and homophobic language

also before you start reading, I have to mention that this fic was loosely based on a prompt I found on the page of @aceofwhump  but were posted by @kaytikitty  right here

(the flashback if for a certain person who wished to remain anonymous who wanted to see what happened at the restaurant showing the other siblings... I’m not good at writing flirting so here you go)

Three

[flashback]

It was a fun family outing. A the-apocalypse-is-over-and-we-stopped-it-let’s-celebrate dinner. A chance to pretend to be a normal family for once. It seemed like it was going to work; it started out on a strong foot. Allison picked a nice Italian place. They found it busy but not crowded, with just enough people to keep a comfortable buzz, and the smell of cooking tomatoes filling the restaurant.

They were seated quickly, Klaus and Diego on one side of the table, Luther and Allison on the other, and Vanya and Five on the slightly smaller ends. Luther and Diego competed, each trying to order the highest calorie combination of foods on the menu. Allison coached Vanya on the best and worst of the wine selection. Five ordered a large black coffee- even though it was night time, and Klaus entertained himself by flirting with the waiter.

When the waiter passed by the first time to drop of menus, Klaus was caught off guard. The waiter had soft glittering eyeshadow and blush layered lightly onto his skin, and his soft eyes were large and beautifully brown.

Luther muttered, “Bit much for a waiter, you think?”, to which Klaus (who was himself wearing heavy eyeshadow) promptly responded by flirting with the waiter in the most outrageous, loud ways conceivable within the constraints of a restaurant.

When the waiter came back for drinks, everyone watched Klaus, trying not to be too obvious- they failed. He asked for ‘just water’ and they all breathed a proverbial sigh of relief.

It was almost two hours of eating and talking and laughing and flirting before the bill arrived- and they realized they had everyone’s money except Vanya’s. She immediately started apologizing, blushing and hurriedly rising to go get it- ‘I swear I didn’t mean it, I’ll go get it right now’- but Klaus stood up instead.

“I got it. Stay here, I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Klaus smiled.

“Thanks, Klaus.”

“Don’t worry about a thing.”

The siblings returned to normal conversation. It was Diego who first noticed he was taking too long. He leaned, trying to see the back door where Klaus had left.

“What are you doing?” asked Luther.

Diego turned back. “Don’t you think Klaus is taking a little long out there?”

Luther scoffed. “What, are you worried? He’s probably getting a smoke. Or going home with that waiter to hook up-

Luther was cut off by a gunshot. Diego was on his feet and running before anyone else could move.

[exit flashback]

***

He didn’t really know how much time passed. It wasn’t sectioned off neatly; it wasn’t a torture of patience and planning, but one of anger and revenge- more of a beating than torture really. That wasn’t to say it didn’t hurt plenty.

It took about two minutes before the two other men opened up the back of the truck and hopped out, closing Klaus and Rick in together behind them. It took about five minutes more before Klaus started crying out when the punches came. A hook catching his jaw brought the taste of blood to his mouth, a foot planted solidly into his ribs let out a distinct crack. It took about an hour before Klaus stopped again.

By the time Rick stopped and stepped back, panting and wiping sweat from his forehead. Klaus’ feet had given up on staying arched and straining to hold him up. They brushed the ground, and his wrists held him up. The cuffs dug into the painfully, but it took too much effort to stay on his feet. Blood dripped from his nose and the bullet wound in his shoulder as his head low.

Klaus struggled to pull in breaths. His breath whistled alarmingly. He thought absently that something was wrong with his lungs or ribs and he needed medical attention. He had been beaten before- and for longer- by Hazel and Cha Cha. But this was worse. It wasn’t for anything. Rick didn’t pause to as him questions. He never got a respite to think about what he wanted to say. There was no talking. Just mindless, reckless beating.

Ben talked to him at first, trying to keep him conscious, but at some point, he realized it was probably better if Klaus passed out, so probably wasn’t surprising that when he heard a noise besides fists and boots colliding with his body, he thought he was hallucinating it.

Rick was laughing. Laughing. After beating him senseless for hours, he was laughing. His laugh swelled and Klaus forced his head up to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. But no- he was actually laughing.

“Well, I’m glad you’re having fun,” Klaus murmured.

Rick didn’t seem to hear him.

“You know, I thought this was going to be hard. Beating someone for this long can be tiring. But, god, you just make it so fun! Every time you whimper? Every time I see your skin break open, it just rejuvenates me. You know why?”.

He paused as if he actually expected Klaus to know why.

“Because you’re a masochistic asshat?” Klaus mumbled defiantly.

Rick pursed his lips, grabbing Klaus’ chin and jerking it up sharply, making Klaus whine.

“Because I know you’re suffering. I am helping the world by beating you. Because every time I punch you, you know you are worth nothing. You are nothing. Just a dirty, worthless fag.” He grinned cruelly and let go of Klaus’ chin.

“I hope you get aids from one of your fucks and die.”

Klaus flinched, his eyes dropping to the floor. He didn’t see when Rick left. He heard the door pulled down and locked in place with a click.

“Klaus,” Ben started softly.

Klaus turned his head pointedly away from Ben. It was ridiculous- he knew- but it was embarrassing that Ben had watched him being beaten. Embarrassing that he had seen him being so helpless.

Ben pushed off of the wall he had been leaning against, walking over to Klaus’ other side. “Klaus-

Klaus turned his head the other way. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Hey. You know it’s not-

“I said I don’t want to talk, Ben! Go away.”

Ben huffed.

“Ok, well, don’t go away, but you know what I mean. Just- just be quiet please.”

Ben sighed and nodded. “Ok. I’m here, always.”

“I know.” Klaus smiled weakly. “I just don’t want to talk about it.”

Ben nodded and moved back to where he had been standing. He slid down the wall and tucked his knees up. “Someone will come and find you.”

Klaus didn’t respond. He knew it wasn’t his fault. Logically, he knew that. But all he could think was that maybe if he hadn’t been so loud about flirting with the male waiter he wouldn’t be here. If he’d just kept in his pants. If he hadn’t been such a- a fag. Worthless.

A hot tear slipped from his ear and he tried to focus on the throbbing in his wrists and his shoulder instead of the words, but he couldn’t help where his mind strayed.

Last torture-y bit. The other siblings are going to show up next time so the angst will be less. For now, wallow in the angst with me. 

If you have any thoughts feel free to send me an ask, anon or not. Constructive criticism welcomed! (just keep in mind that I’m only 14). Let me know if you have any ideas/suggestions. I’d appreciate likes or rb’s, but really just reads :)

The next chapter should be the last, but there might be one more after that.

Tag list: 

@itsthemoooooooooon @redlikedragons @emounicorn2006 @fuckmymentalhealth @aleclghtwoodbane

(please let me know if you’d like to be added or taken off the tag list)

(previous chapter)

[deadpoolsbottombitch]

Can we PLEASE start being critical of the posts we reblog

Look at what it says. Evaluate the url. Go to the op and make sure they're not a terf/exclusionist/truscum/etc. I'm sick of seeing seemingly ok "social justice" posts that are just very thinly veiled rhetoric from these people, reblogged onto my dash by people who should know better. At this point you should know that talking about cishets at pride is a common exclusionist dogwhistle. You should know that ANY post that mentions "females" should be automatically suspect. Urls with "rad" "womyn" whatever need to be thoroughly vetted before you rb from them. People need to do better wrt reblogging half-good posts from shitty people. The intentions change the meaning. If i ever reblog one of these please feel free to call me out, blast me, whatever. I want to know, because I don't want this trash on my blog by accident.

[chinchillinator]

ok hold on i responded in the tags like an hour ago when i rb this but im still thinking abt it so everyone gets to see me ramble more.

When Jojo Rabbit came out, my work friend and I sent out a quick email to other people on staff at our workplace (it’s a small workplace so we’re mostly friendly) to see if anyone wanted to join us in going to watch the film at our local independent theater (support small businesses, kids!). We have a Jewish person on staff who often reminds us that the normal workplace calendar revolves around Christian holidays and this person had to take paid personal days in order to celebrate her holidays. That is high key unfair, do not get me wrong. But when my work friend sent out the invite, the casual you-can-say-no-this-is-no-pressure-we-are-literally-just-wondering invitation, this person started going off to anyone within hearing range that Jojo Rabbit shouldn’t even EXIST as a film and should never be watched by anyone. Now, if you’ve seen Jojo Rabbit (I will assume you have for the purposes of this post) you know that it’s basically Taika Waititi just DUNKING on N/azis for the entire movie. It literally depicts the adults in Jojo’s life actively working against the N/azis to help Jojo and the Jewish girl his mother is hiding. (Seriously, guys, let’s fucking talk about the nuances of Sam Rockwell’s character omg off topic but I just can’t get over it ANYWAY). This person in my workplace HAS NEVER SEEN Jojo Rabbit. They didn’t know what the movie was actually about, they just didn’t want anyone else seeing it on principle.

I understand, in a way, where this colleague was coming from. As an Asian American, seeing the trailer for De Oost at a time when my and my family’s safety in this country is at risk definitely made me feel A Certain Way™️. FOR SURE I am uncomfortable seeing the gifs and clips! So I understand not wanting to watch a movie that depicts any portrayal of N/azism if you are Jewish and the topic makes you very uncomfortable. But to argue that the movie shouldn’t be made without knowing what it’s actually about is unfair and, to me, show a lack of ability to critically analyze real-life historic events from an educated perspective.

I think De Oost will be a good movie. I think it’s important to discuss colonization and some of the horrible things that happened during those times. I will not be watching, however. I’m just not in a place where I can healthily appreciate the movie. But I would never expect another creator to avoid this topic because I am uncomfortable with the subject matter. We, as creators, create our art to offer commentary on the world around us. That’s what it means to “write what you know.” And certain things MUST be commented on. Better to turn around and recognize the failings of ourselves, our societies, and our countries, rather than sweep it all under the rug and pretend it never existed.

So, you’re aware that movies about awful events of the history HAVE to be made and actors SHOULD take on the roles of war criminals right?

Like you do realise that playing the role of Raymond Westerling is NOT a bad choice, and De Oost is not a bad movie on principal, at least before we’ve watched it?

I admire Marwan wholeheartedly for taking on this role, because if no one dares to tell the story of horrible people how will we know about them? And knowing Jim Taihuttu from Wolf, I have high hopes of the movie being a good movie.

If the movie ended up being problematic to any degree, we will talk about it and rip it apart, but can we please not cancel things before at least knowing fully what they are?

[fossadeileonixv]

Milan 0 Samp 0

That was kinda fun.... right?

The first 60 minutes was miserable. A replay of the last 5 years. Bland possession. Impotent attack. The last 30 minutes were like a great date. Great food. Great company. Great drinks.  Then it ends with you taking your date over to their place and having them say, ‘you can just drop me off here’. No invitation inside. No nightcap. Definitely no happy ending. Nada. Maybe you even text your ex on the way home. 

Ok. Not that. 

Don’t ever do that.

As usual, a rating for each player along with some thoughts:

DONNARUMMA 8: If not for him we give up 2 and maybe more. Made several spectacular saves on Gabbiadini and dominated his area. What poor movements he did make, he made out of aggression. I’ll take that. He’s my MOTM. Without him we are lost.

CALABRIA 5: Made 2 gigantic errors that nearly cost us. Any runs he made forward resulted in either terrible crosses or lazy turnovers. When the game started I was actually happy to see him. Competition between him and Conti would be healthy. That lasted about 5 minutes. There is no competition at RB. We have one slightly above average one in Conti and one that has completely lost it in Calabria. He’s becoming DeSciglio 2.0. 

MUSACCHIO 5: Let’s just say that games like this kind of game is perfect for him. The other team conceded 90% of the possession and they didn’t even try to attack. Perfect! He has to do next to nothing and can just defer to Romagnoli the whole time. The problem is that there are moments where he has to do defensive things. He can’t really do those things. 

ROMAGNOLI 7.5: Solid as usual in the back. No complaints. Ever.

THEO 7.5: Quickly becoming as indispensable as R13 and Donna. Great on both ends. Made a huge goal line clearance. Made some great runs going forward. Forced at least 3 corners. Could argue for him being MOTM.

In an era where fullbacks are nearly extinct, what’s he worth? 50 million? 

KRUNIC 6: He’s about as bland a player as there is. Does nothing wrong but also nothing good. Playing between Suso and Calabria doesn’t leave room for any mistakes. Didn’t really make any. Good enough. 

BENNACER 7: I’m giving him a good rating but I’m also going to be very critical. Why? Because he’s the center mid. There isn’t a center mid in the world that doesn’t have things to improve. Nature of the job. Positioning was better today but sometimes ends up way too deep. Two of Samps counters came directly from him getting too deep and getting in the way of our center backs. Not good. The other thing is his passing must get better. He tends to make passes that are just a little outside of a players area. Then that player needs to chase which either leads to turnovers or even more bad passes. On the bright side was much more under control today. No cards.  Also commanded the ball better. Fought the urge to play the ball backward and actually carried the ball forward very effectively.

JACK 5: Jack looked old today folks. Not a good day for him. Still would have liked to see him get time with Zlatan though. 

HAKAN 6: Did not have a good day but still made some nice passes and had at least 2 nice rips. Of course each time the Samp keeper made nice saves. Such is life at Milan right now. Still spends too much time strolling around looking like he doesn���t want to be here.

PIATEK 5: Had maybe 5 touches. None of them good. Gotta wonder how many more starts he gets the rest of the year. 

SUSO NEGATIVE ELEVEN: In about the 88th minute he got the ball wide with several players coming into the box. He could have done almost anything. Shoot. Pass. Cut in. Whatever. What does he do? Launches the ball 20 yards over the crossbar. About 2 minutes later, similar situation, and he inexplicably just passes the ball over the end line and out of bounds. It was completely bizarre. Don’t believe me? Watch the game. In a game where the whole team seemed to step up and come alive when Zlatan came on, Suso completely checked out. At times the Samp LB simply ignored him. Why cover a guy that poses no threat? How he remained on the pitch the rest of the game is a complete mystery to me. 

I can’t wait to hear how many chances he created this game. 

SUBS

ZLATAN 7: 38 years old, everyone knows the ball is coming to him and still he manages to make space for himself and make plays on the ball. We didn’t get the storybook finish, but we got 30 minutes of near nonstop chances. I’m in.

LEAO 6.5: Lotta chances. No finishes. Frustrating because we’ve seen so many come through with with lots of sizzle and no steak. We need the steak kid. I know it’s not fair to compare him to 5 years of failures so we’re not going there. This is your time kid. It’s all there for you. Let’s go. 

PAQUETA NA: Came into the midfield to do.... what? I don’t know. Meaningless sub really.

COACH

PIOLI -4 : Started at zero by starting that lineup.  Anyone on the planet knew it should have been Zlatan and Leao. So he gets no credit for those subs. I would have left on Jack and taken off Hakan. So more negative points there. Then when he FINALLY brings on Paqueta, probably 20 minutes too late, he brought him on for Krunic. 85th minute subs are only for one thing....  bringing on a defende while wasting time to kill off a win. That’s it. Period. They are not for getting late goals. Meanwhile Suso shithouses his way through another 90 minutes. At the end of the day Pioli didn’t do anything to effect the game in a positive way at all. The only thing he could have possibly done worse was to never bring on Leao or Zlatan at all. Not giving him credit for that.

All for now folks,

Lisi

[boygirlbowie]

Red and Black Bruised (pt. 4)

Summary: A group of homophobes notice Klaus flirting with a waiter at a family outing and one of them recognizes him- and not in a pleasant way. When they see him heading outside to grab Vanya’s wallet from her car, they follow him out.

basically some angsty Klaus-centric writing with Diego and Vanya being good!characters and Luther being a notsogood!character

Word Count: ~815 (sorry this one’s a bit short)

Warnings: violence, angst, and homophobic language

(disclaimer: Rick has horrible grammar, I know. I promise mine isn’t quite as bad)

Four

Klaus had been hanging for hours before he the truck’s backdoor was flung open, folding up onto the roof of the van like a garage door. His head snapped up at the noise, and he flinched away from the sudden influx of light.

Rick stepped in first, the greasy-haired man a half-step behind him. Two steps and Rick was in his face, grinning, his foul-smelling breath seeping out and hitting Klaus’ face. Klaus struggled to find his footing, to put on a façade of strength, but Rick snorted and kicked his feet out.

“I’m not here to play games. I’m here because,” Rick reached into his back pocket and pulled out a phone, “someone’s calling.”

Klaus’ eyes slid down to the phone. They blurred, and he squeezed his eyelids tight, trying to clear his vision. When he opened them, he let out a little gasp. It was his phone, and the number calling was Diego’s.

“Hey- hey dickhead, that’s my phone,” Klaus slurred.

Rick brought his hand up like he was going to hit Klaus again, but when Klaus ducked his head away, Rick sneered in satisfaction and dropped his hand. He lifted the phone, flipping it open and holding it out to Klaus.

“Diego?”

“Oh my god, Klaus. Thank god! We’ve been looking everywhere for-

“Diego help,” Klaus whimpered.

Immediately the relief on the other end of the phone transformed into concern.

“Are you ok?”

“Some guy has me in hi-

Klaus was cut off as Rick motioned the man with the greasy hair around behind him, where he squeezed his shoulder, digging his fingers into the bullet would. His words twisted into a scream, as he writhed, trying to get away from the newly awakened pain. Rick yanked the phone back.

“Klaus! Klaus, can you hear me?” Diego screamed on the other end, and Rick held the phone away from his ear in disdain.

Rick motioned for the greasy haired man to stop. He removed his fingers from the bullet hole and let them rest on Klaus’ neck. Klaus’ screaming quieted; he fell to silently panting, a tear joining the sweat on his cheeks

Slowly bringing the phone back to his ear, Rick cleared his throat. “Hello.”

“You son of a bitch, I sssss- I ssswear to g-

“Not so manly,” Rick laughed, “You’re his boyfriend, I assume.”

“What?”

“His boyfriend- fling, lover, partner, whatever.” Rick rolled his eyes.

Klaus laughed, “No you prick. He’s my brother.”

Rick’s eyebrows slowly raised. “Fag here says you’re his brother.”

Klaus looked away.

“Don’t call him that,” Diego growled.

“What? That upset you? Does it upset you when he-

Rick gestured at the greasy haired man, and he trailed his bloody fingers down Klaus’ neck in mock-affection. Klaus whimpered and pulled away from him.

“Stop it, stop!” Diego protested as he heard the whines, but he didn’t stop.

The greasy haired man dropped his hand back to Klaus’ shoulder, squeezing again, his fingers pushing the bullet deeper into muscle, making Klaus scream again. Diego’s stomach twisted into knots because he had to listen, but he could do nothing.

Rick laughed. “That make you mad- when he screams? Squeals, like a little girl?”

“Please,” Diego begged. “Please stop it.”

“Klaus, you hear that? Your tough brother’s begging for you. I think he pities you. He’s ashamed that you were so weak you could get caught.”

A second tear joined the first on Klaus’ face, and Diego growled through the phone. “You’re sick. You know that? When I find you, I’m going to kill you.”

The greasy haired man dug his fingers even deeper, and suddenly Klaus’ screams stopped. His eyes rolled back, and his head fell backward, his arms going completely limp. He passed out.

“Klaus?” Diego called out, worried, through the phone. “Klaus, can you hear me?”

“I’m afraid he can’t.”

“Is he…” Diego choked on his words. “If you k-

“Relax,” Rick laughed, “He’s just unconscious.”

Rick tilted his head. “He’s boring when he’s not making any noise. You know, the plan was to hurt him- to punish him- and then let him go. He wouldn’t come after us- not when we were done with him. He’d be truly sorry. But with you… I think you will come after him.”

“Listen, Rick, whatever you’re thinking-

“Maybe it would be better to kill him. He’s seen our faces. If we let him go, and he tells you, you’ll find us eventually.”

“Rick, I swear to god-

“You should say goodbye.”

Rick pulled his gun from its holster at his hip. The man with the greasy hair stepped off to the side, and Rick leveled his gun at Klaus’ head. The soft click of his safety being released filled the entire room, and his finger settled on the trigger. Before he could shoot, two knives found their mark with dull thuds, and two men fell.

“Goodbye, asshole.”

ok, so I lied. This chapter was angsty as all the others. So no comfort actually... sorry. I’m not very good at that part :)

If you have any thoughts feel free to send me an ask, anon or not. Constructive criticism welcomed! (just keep in mind that I’m only 14). I’d appreciate likes or rb’s, but really just reads :)

This is the last chapter! Which means the next time I post writing, It will be a different fic. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to message me! I’d probably be most into writing for tua or supernatural at the moment.

Tag list:

@itsthemoooooooooon @redlikedragons @emounicorn2006 @fuckmymentalhealth @aleclghtwoodbane @kaytikitty @wherethewaterstarts-andyouend

(since this is the last chapter of this fic, can you let me know if you’d like to be tagged in further writings of mine? if you don’t message me I won’t tag you because I don’t want to annoy you :)

(previous chapter)

[junker-town]

Ranking all 23 USWNT players by how important they are to winning the World Cup

Everyone’s good, but a handful of stars will be counted on to perform at their best.

The United States women’s national team has released its 23-player roster for the World Cup, and it contains a handful of surprises. Allie Long, Ali Krieger, Morgan Brian and Jessica McDonald have all found call-ups tough to come by over the past year, but found their way into Jill Ellis’ final squad.

But those players are the ones who are least likely to play a big part in the USWNT’s campaign in France. Ellis has settled on a core of starters and key bench players ahead of them, and unless things go south for any of those players very soon, we can predict who’s going to be counted on to deliver results at the World Cup.

Here’s every player on the roster, ranked in order of importance to the team.

First up, the stars

These are the players who are locked in as starters when healthy, and who Ellis knows she can count on to perform.

1. Tobin Heath, RW

If you are revisiting the USWNT for the first time in a while, you may remember Heath as a player with a lot of tricks and little end product. That’s changed dramatically over the past three seasons, and Heath is now the attacker the USWNT counts on most. She’s coming off a 7 goal, 7 assist campaign for Portland Thorns and has scored 10 USWNT goals since the start of 2018.

Why she’s key: Tekkers

OK, but the tricks are awesome though. Heath is often left out on an island with little support, which means she has to do something crazy to create scoring opportunities for her team. Her ability to make something out of nothing is why she’s the most important player on the team.

2. Lindsey Horan, CM

Horan is still just 24, so her NWSL MVP campaign felt like the start of a rise to superstardom, rather than her peak. The only question is whether Ellis can get the best out of her. She gets into shooting positions a lot more often for Portland Thorns than she does for the USWNT.

Why she’s key: Everything

In addition to being an immovable tank of a midfielder who won the ball 321 times last season — 118 times more than any other player!!! — Horan is a slick passer and regularly bangs in goals from 25 yards out.

3. Julie Ertz, DM

If you like watching high work rate players who show up everywhere on the field, you’ll really like Ertz. She was a center back — and a great one — at the last World Cup, but she was moved into midfield a couple of years ago. But no matter what position she plays, she’s always a huge threat to score on set pieces.

Why she’s key: Messing people up

While Horan wins the ball back a lot, she accomplishes it mostly by being stronger than her opponents and casually shouldering people off the ball. Ertz is stylistically the opposite: she flies into challenges and wins the ball in the most dramatic way possible. And she does it A LOT.

4. Alex Morgan, ST

Morgan just tallied her 100th career national team goal, in case anyone had any doubts about where she stands in the hierarchy of all-time great international strikers. But her role in this USWNT isn’t all about scoring goals.

Why she’s key: Off the ball work

Generally, goal-scorers of Morgan’s caliber don’t take kindly to being asked to take up a role that features a lot more dirty work than trying to get on the end of service into the box. But Morgan runs her ass off all game to make life easier for her teammates, and regularly gets the pass before the assist. The non-scoring aspects of her game are wildly under-appreciated.

5. Megan Rapinoe, LW

After an ACL tear limited her at the 2016 Olympics, very few people thought Megan Rapinoe would still be this good at 33. But she’s playing the best soccer of her life, and she’s a locked-in starter despite younger, faster challengers for her spot.

Why she’s key: Big goals and assists

Morgan and Horan do all the stuff that isn’t very fun or flashy so that Rapinoe can shine. Her teammates sacrifice and create space for her because she always delivers.

6. Becky Sauerbrunn, CB

The former best defender in the world has not quite been that for the past three years, but she’s still excellent. The USWNT don’t need her to be the 2015 version of herself to win the World Cup, but they’ll still need her to step up her game a bit from where it’s been recently.

Why she’s key: Leadership

As by far the most experienced player in the defensive unit, it’ll be on Sauerbrunn to call the shots and organize her team. This is especially crucial given that Ertz doesn’t play like a traditional holding midfielder and is asked to play very aggressively, which often leaves the USWNT defense to make some tough plays in space.

7. Kelley O’Hara, RB/LB

Once an elite winger, O’Hara’s late-career transition to fullback has gone extremely well. She’s as good going forward as any fullback in the world, and she didn’t take long to become a great one-on-one defender out wide either.

Why she’s key: Lack of depth

For various reasons (bad youth player pool management, Jill Ellis’ stubbornness, Jaelene Hinkle’s homophobia), the USWNT is very thin at fullback. Whenever O’Hara’s been hurt, Ellis has gone through a cavalcade of completely unsuitable replacements. If she can’t go 90 minutes in every game that has stakes, the USWNT is in trouble.

Starters with question marks

We’re being a bit harsh — the USWNT has been the best team in the world for a couple of years now — but four of the starters give Ellis some reason for concern.

8. Crystal Dunn, LB/UT

It makes me mad that the best attacker in NWSL is the USWNT’s left back, but this ship sailed a while ago and it’s too late to make a change. For better or worse, world class attacking midfielder Crystal Dunn is going to be playing left back at the World Cup.

Why she’s key: Versatility

If the USWNT is in a situation where their back line isn’t being threatened and they really need a goal, they have the option of shifting Dunn into any attacking position. She’s like a game-changing sub, except she’s already on the field.

Big question: Can she defend elite wingers?

That Dunn can play left back at a competent level at all is incredible, and she doesn’t deserve any criticism for getting beat by world class attackers. But the USWNT is depending on her to contain world class attackers, so uhh... she’s gonna have to figure out how to do that.

9. Alyssa Naeher, GK

The post-Hope Solo era has been shaky at best, but Naeher is still a very capable goalkeeper. Her superb performances at club level suggest that her USWNT issues are more down to the defensive structure in front of her than any deficiencies she has, but no one is going to care about that if she lets in some bad goals.

Why she’s key: Even the best team needs a goalie sometimes

The USWNT will out-shoot almost all of its opponents by a huge margin, but they’re not going to hold anyone to zero shots on target.

Big question: Can she make the right decisions coming off her line?

Naeher’s shot-stopping and aerial claims have been excellent, but she’s been shaky when faced with a decision about whether or not to close down aggressively. Her recognition just hasn’t been quick enough for the national team.

10. Abby Dahlkemper, CB

On a dominant club team with a box midfield in front of her, Dahlkemper looks like a world class defender. At national team level, on a team that leaves a lot more space in front of her, she looks more average. Hopefully that changes?

Why she’s key: Sauerbrunn needs cover

Becky Sauerbrunn is not slow, but she’s not as fast as she was four years ago. And even then, Julie Ertz was the one doing most of the running. Dahlkemper will need to cut out the passes that go behind the defense into space.

Big question: Is she the starter?

All signs point to Dahlkemper getting the nod over youngster Tierna Davidson at the moment, but don’t be too shocked if Ellis makes a change.

11. Rose Lavelle, CM

There’s no one in the USWNT who’s more exciting to watch with the ball at her feet than Rose Lavelle. Unfortunately, she’s on the physio table more often than she’s on the field.

Why she’s key: Creativity

Lavelle’s ability to dribble at full speed, pick an early through ball, or play a creative backheel are second-to-none, and that’s why Ellis persists with putting her in the lineup despite her fitness problems.

Big question: Can she stay fit?

Sorry, I know, the horse is dead, I will stop beating it now.

Key bench players

These players aren’t in Ellis’ starting lineup right now, but they’re certain to make a big impact at the World Cup.

12. Christen Press, ST/UT

The biggest deficiency in Press’ game is that she’s not quite as good as Alex Morgan. Unlucky.

What she brings off the bench: Speed

I can’t imagine getting beat to hell by the work rate and physicality of Morgan, Horan and Ertz, then seeing a track star like Press enter the game in the 60th minute. My legs hurt thinking about trying to play against this team.

Why she’s not starting: Consistency

There isn’t a higher-ceiling player in this team than Press. Her best games are as good as anything Marta or Abby Wambach ever produced. Unfortunately, she’s never done it against a top team two games in a row.

13. Sam Mewis, CM

Other players rack up the goals and assists, but the key to North Carolina Courage’s NWSL success is Mewis. It’s a testament to the USWNTs depth that a coach can even consider not starting her.

What she brings off the bench: Complete CM play

Ertz and Lavelle both have one elite skill, and Horan has the potential to be the best midfielder in the world, but the most well-rounded midfielder in the pool is Mewis. If you were to give her a grade at every aspect of midfield play, you wouldn’t give her worse than an A- at anything.

Why she’s not starting: Lmao you tell me man

The thing I disagree with Ellis most about is not finding a place for Mewis in her starting XI. I’d sacrifice just about anything to have my most balanced midfielder in the team.

14. Tierna Davidson, CB

Davidson left Stanford early to turn pro and prepare for this World Cup, and she already has 19 caps at just 20 years old. And in those 19 caps, she’s proven that she’s one of the best defenders in the country and deserves her spot.

What she brings off the bench: More physical tools than the starters

There are a lot of great athletes in college soccer. It was Davidson’s brain and technical skills that allowed her to make the step up. But she’s also faster and more agile than the players she’s competing for time against, which could prove very useful.

Why she’s not starting: She’s played 2 pro soccer games

Davidson is a very mature 20-year-old, but yeah, she’s 20.

15. Carli Lloyd, ST/AM

If you last engaged with The Carli Lloyd Experience by watching her score a hat trick in the World Cup final, I regret to inform you that some things have changed.

What she brings off the bench: A direct goal threat

The USWNT has shifted towards developing and selecting a lot of crafty, technical, tricky players. That’s a good thing. But sometimes you need to switch things up, and Lloyd has a one-track mind. She goes for goal.

Why she’s not starting: A lot of reasons tbh

Besides being 36, Lloyd hasn’t played well at club level since the World Cup. She’s also just always been more of a mega-clutch athlete than someone who’s really good at playing soccer.

16. Mallory Pugh, LW/RW

Pugh may eternally be a teenager in your brain, but she’s 21 now and has 50 (!!!) national team caps. She hasn’t delivered on her early promise yet, mostly because she was playing for a very bad club manager, but she’s still a great impact sub.

What she brings off the bench: Dribble dribble dribble dribble

Along the same lines as what Press does, Pugh often comes in for Rapinoe to make the opposing fullback have to deal with a different type of winger. Instead of looking for early through balls and diagonals, Pugh runs right at people.

Why she’s not starting: Rapinoe and Heath are too good

Her time will come soon enough.

Fringe players

You probably won’t see a lot of these players on the field, but you will see people on the internet arguing that someone else should have made the roster ahead of them.

17. Allie Long, DM

Long has been on the outside looking in for the past year, but was named to the roster in place of other players that Ellis has selected ahead of her recently. Not sure how that happened!

What she brings off the bench: She’s the only real holding player

For most of her national career, Long has been a box-to-box midfielder miscast as a holding player. But she finally got really good at playing as a holding midfielder (shouts to Vlatko Andonovski). The USWNT doesn’t really have a proper one of those, so she gives Ellis a different look.

Why she’s not starting: The other midfielders are just better

No shade, Long is a good player, but four other midfielders are better.

Who she beat out and why: McCall Zerboni

The “why” is presumably that Zerboni is similar stylistically to Ertz, and Ellis wanted a different kind of player. But Zerboni has been one of the best players in NWSL for the past three years straight, is the emotional leader behind the success of the Courage, and wants you to know that we are fucking winners. She should be on the team.

18. Jessica McDonald, ST

Forwards are egomaniacs by nature. And if you’re a forward good enough to make the USWNT, you probably don’t like coming off the bench. But McDonald has been the best substitute striker in NWSL for the league’s entire existence, so she’s a great choice to reprise that role for the national team.

What she brings off the bench: Energy

No one’s better at getting up to full speed right off the bench than McDonald, and giving a team 90 minutes of effort in 30 minutes of game time. She might be even more dangerous than Press in this respect.

Why she’s not starting: Playing for NC Courage appears to earn you a demerit

Mewis isn’t starting, Dunn has to play left back, Zerboni and Lynn Williams didn’t make the team, and Merritt Matthias didn’t seem to be seriously considered despite the lack of options at fullback. Ellis doesn’t seem to think Courage players can perform at the same level when they leave the Paul Riley Cult Commune.

Who she beat out and why: Savannah McCaskill

McCaskill had an unbelievable NWSL offseason campaign in Australia, but she also got hurt during it, and she didn’t get a chance to show her best at Sky Blue FC last season. You’ll get to see more of her soon.

19. Emily Sonnett, CB/RB

While Emily Sonnett is the undisputed MVP of posting, she’s the unheralded fourth defender on this squad.

What she brings off the bench: No-nonsense defending

Every team needs a defender who just Does Their Job, and that’s Sonnett. It’s also very helpful that she can play center back or right back.

Why she’s not a starter: Good question!

Sonnett has been excellent for the Thorns. There’s not really a clear argument for or against her starting over Dahlkemper or Davidson. They’re all about as good as each other, but Sonnett is a clear fourth on Ellis’ depth chart.

Who she beat out and why: She didn’t really have any competition

While Ellis has rotated in a lot of fringe players to try out for every other spot on the roster, center back has been set in stone for a year.

20. Morgan Brian, CM

Hello there, hero of the 2015 World Cup. We didn’t expect to see you here. Brian’s been really good for the Chicago Red Stars since she returned to NWSL, but up until this point, she appeared to be out of Ellis’ plans. Her call-up is a pleasant surprise.

What she brings off the bench: Smooth touch

Like Long, Brian is here because she’s stylistically different from the starters. She’s the smoothest on the ball of the American midfielders, and is a great player to bring in if you want to kill off a game.

Why she’s not a starter: Chronic injuries

When Brian almost singlehandedly turned around the USWNT at the last World Cup just a few months out of college, she was expected to become a superstar. Unfortunately, she’s had at least one bad injury per year since then.

Who she beat out and why: Andi Sullivan

While a bad coach and club season did not cost Lavelle and Pugh their spots on this team, it was the primary factor behind Sullivan not having a chance to prove herself. She already looks much better for the Spirit, though, and she’ll be back on the USWNT in no time.

21. Ali Krieger, RB

Hello there, REALLY did not expect to see you here! Krieger has been inexplicably exiled from the USWNT over the past two seasons in favor of whatever random player Ellis could dig up to play right back instead. It was very bizarre. Finally, Ellis has swallowed her pride and admitted she needs Krieger.

What she brings off the bench: She’s an actual right back

Dunn and O’Hara are converted wingers, and Sonnett primarily plays center back, but Krieger is an honest to god right back. Sometimes it’s good to have one of those.

Why she’s not a starter: She’s an actual right back

At fullback, Ellis wants converted wingers who bomb forward and contribute in attack more than she wants defenders. Krieger isn’t bad going forward, but she’s no O’Hara or Dunn.

Who she beat out and why: Casey Short

Short has been very good for Chicago and can play right and left back, but she contributes even less going forward than Krieger does, which is probably what cost her a spot.

22. Ashlyn Harris, GK

I haven’t checked, but I assume Ashlyn Harris is the reigning NWSL Save of the Week winner. Much to the annoyance of her fans, she is still Naeher’s backup.

What she brings off the bench: Elite shot stopping

Harris certainly has her detractors (me), but none of them can say anything against her shot-stopping abilities. Her highlight plays are more spectacular than anyone else’s. She makes saves that no one else can.

Why she’s not a starter: Big errors

She also fumbles the ball into her own net about twice as often as anyone who we could reasonably call an elite goalkeeper.

Who she beat out and why: Jane Campbell

Campbell has been on a USWNT contract for the last couple years, and she was very good for Houston Dash last season. But Harris has never lost her spot on the depth chart despite shaky club form, and Campbell wasn’t as good as...

23. Adrianna Franch, GK

Winning NWSL goalkeeper of the year two seasons in a row will apparently get you on the plane to France, but not much else.

What she brings off the bench: Big plays off her line

As far as we can tell, Franch is the third keeper, so she won’t be getting off the bench at all. But if she does play: She’s way better at coming off her line quickly and making clearances than Naeher or Harris.

Why she’s not a starter: Inertia

Naeher became the starter before Franch started playing like the best keeper in the pool, and she hasn’t been bad enough to lose her place. The USWNT is like Ivy League schools: It’s hard to get in, but once you’re in, you stay in.

[junker-town]

Red Bulls vs. Fire really is about Jesse Marsch vs. Dax McCarty

It’s not about revenge, it’s about the philosophy of how to run a soccer club.

No soccer game can ever be distilled into a single matchup, but some offseason drama and a long, winding MLS campaign has led to a playoff showdown that almost feels scripted: Dax McCarty vs. Jesse Marsch.

When the Chicago Fire host the New York Red Bulls in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1), McCarty will be at the heart of midfield for the home side, facing off against the team he spent the best years of his career with. Marsch, the coach who engaged in a power struggle with his now former boss to get McCarty traded, will be watching his team execute a gameplan designed to harass McCarty for 90 minutes.

McCarty can prove his old coach wrong. Marsch’s new starters can prove their manager right. And we get a perfect platform to debate one of soccer’s great problems: Should a team operate based on system first, talent second, or talent first, system second?

How we got here

In 2015, New York Red Bulls sporting director Ali Curtis fired popular and successful head coach Mike Petke — who won the club its first trophy and also played for the Red Bulls — and replaced him with Marsch. "It was a very difficult decision, especially given Mike’s service to the club as a player and as well as a coach," Curtis said about the decision. "At the end of the day, it is my decision and I own it ... This decision wasn’t about getting rid of Mike, it was more about bringing in Jesse Marsch.” Curtis went on to cite Marsch’s openness to new analytics and ideas about youth development as reasons he was hired.

Curtis was so confident about his decision that he attended a town hall meeting for Red Bulls fans that he knew would be filled with anger. He took all the heat as they pelted him with angry questions and told him to “shut the f—k up.”

Ultimately, Curtis was vindicated. The Red Bulls won Supporters’ Shield in 2015, then finished on top of the Eastern Conference again in 2016, with Marsch garnering praise for getting his team to perform consistently above its talent level.

But this offseason, Curtis and Marsch had disagreements about player personnel. One of those disagreements was about McCarty, the team’s captain and a consistent high-level performer over six seasons — Curtis wanted to keep him, while Marsch was ready to move on. Ultimately, Curtis was let go and McCarty was traded. The Red Bulls didn’t get any players or picks in return. Just Allocation Money.

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That money hasn’t been used to improve the squad. The only players Red Bulls have brought in since trading McCarty have been internal promotions, loanees and bit-part players. Allocation Money rolls over from season to season, but so far, the Red Bulls traded McCarty for nothing.

Style at the expense of safety

McCarty wasn’t jettisoned because Marsch doesn’t rate him as a player. He was sent packing because he’s not a perfect fit for Marsch’s playing style. And while Marsch will change formations based on opponent and the personnel he has available, he’s an ideologue when it comes to his underlying philosophy — he called it "transition football times 100” in an interview with Matt Pentz for an article at ESPN FC. Marsch also talked in that interview about his commitment to finding the right players for his tactics.

"As a football coach, I'm very style-based. I believe firmly that it's important to evaluate what kind of players we're putting into our team. We can't play the way that we play without the right kind of players and personalities ... We don't have room for people that don't want to play the way that we play."

McCarty is far from a perfect fit for a team that wants to play up-tempo at all costs. If McCarty has one great skill, it’s figuring out how to mitigate risk. He’s smart enough to pick an early long pass when the moment is perfect, but McCarty is arguably the best defensive midfielder in MLS at retaining the ball and slowing play down.

This does not describe McCarty’s former backup Sean Davis or Red Bulls youth product Tyler Adams, who have both bought in completely to Marsch’s philosophy. McCarty was traded because Marsch thought those two were ready to take his place. So far, results have been mixed.

Adams, just 18, is unquestionably one of the brightest talents in the USMNT player pool. But he’s played more wingback than central midfield in the back half of the season, thanks to injuries and a formation change. Davis has adapted well to Marsch’s switch to an unorthodox 3-3-3-1 setup, but had a poor first half of the season. The Red Bulls seriously could have used a player like McCarthy in August and September, when they went eight straight games without winning, culminating in three consecutive matches in which Marsch’s team conceded three goals.

Wait, 3-3-3-1?

Yep. The Red Bulls haven’t used the same personnel two games in a row, so it’s impossible to guess their exact preferred lineup, but it looks something like this.

Marsch took a winding road to get here. After winter rumors that he would become the new manager of sister club Red Bull Salzburg, Marsch committed to staying for at least one more year, and to using the 4-2-2-2 formation that Salzburg and RB Leipzig used to much success. It went poorly — New York Red Bulls simply didn’t have the personnel for it.

Marsch made a slight adjustment, changing to a 4-2-3-1 formation that suited his players better, but still used the same high tempo principles. Results were fine, but injuries put Marsch in a bad spot. Center backs Gideon Baah and Aurelien Collin, along with winger Mike Grella, suffered season-ending injuries.

Counter-intuitively, Marsch’s solution was to play more center backs instead of fewer. His fullbacks learned how to play as the outside defenders in a back three — roles usually reserved for athletic central defenders — and he crowded the middle with attacking midfielders who press high up the pitch. The growing pains were severe, but Red Bulls closed out their season with seven points from their last three matches, with the lone draw being a decent 0-0 result away to Atlanta United, the second-best attacking team by goals scored in MLS.

Marsch for USMNT?

If you’re just a real MLS head and haven’t been paying attention to the international game, the United States men’s national team failed to qualify for the World Cup. It was a big deal. Bruce Arena got fired and everything. Now, U.S. Soccer is on the lookout for a coach who can turn things around, preferably one with some ideas about how to create a youth-to-senior pipeline and play a more progressive brand of soccer. Marsch might be their guy.

He’s a popular choice among media and analysts in the event USSF wants to hire someone who has experience with American soccer. For example: Ted Knutson, Matt Doyle, Grant Wahl and just about everyone else he works with at SI. Marsch is widely praised for having a strong philosophy and sticking to it, something he openly criticized Jurgen Klinsmann’s teams for lacking in 2015.

"I think that the tricky part with entering a new cycle is trying to look at new players, but also still maintain the identity that you want to be. I appreciate that they’ve looked at a lot of new players, but I’m not sure what the identity is of what they’re trying to build there. That would be my main question mark. It looks to me too much like a bunch of guys kind of thrown on the field ... No matter when you bring in new personnel, there still needs to be an identity to what the team is, and that’s not easy. I know, because you get guys coming from all these different areas and you have a few days to put the team together, but somehow there’s got to be a consistent message and way to play no matter who’s involved."

A strong MLS Cup Playoff run would only strengthen the calls for Marsch to get an interview. But Wednesday night’s game against Chicago could also serve to remind us of his weaknesses as a coach. Marsch got rid of McCarty, one of his best players, and was OK with getting nothing in return. The USMNT does not have enough talent for a coach to be able to disregard its top players simply because they aren’t perfect system fits.

The Red Bulls’ loss is the Fire’s gain

Last season, the Chicago Fire were utterly hopeless. Their 31 points and minus-16 goal differential were both the worst in the league. But from the first game McCarty started in the center of the park this March, they looked like a different team — confident, competent, and organized.

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McCarty is far from the only reason for Chicago’s turnaround this season, but his influence can’t be discounted. Juninho didn’t play in that opener against Columbus Crew, golden boot winner Nemanja Nikolic didn’t score or assist, and Bastian Schweinsteiger hadn’t been signed yet.

“He’s great to have him in your back, behind you so he covers a lot and he also understands the game very well,” Schweinsteiger said of McCarty after the German star arrived and the two started playing together. “He knows exactly where to pass the ball, when to turn and when to keep the ball, so you can really see that he’s experienced.”

Juninho and Schweinsteiger were both injured late in the season, leaving McCarty to partner with 23-year-old second-year player Drew Conner and 18-year-old rookie Djordje Mihailovic in the center of the park over the last six games. He’s held the midfield together, as Chicago went 3-2-1 over that stretch, doing well enough to clinch a home playoff game without McCarty’s midfield mates.

And that brings us to Wednesday

Dax McCarty does not like the Dax vs. Red Bulls revenge narrative.

“It’s just another game, honestly,” John Wilkinson reported McCarty as saying on Tuesday. “I’ve already played them twice this year. The whole, like, revenge storyline and narrative, it’s just tired; it’s a lazy narrative for me because we’ve already played them twice.”

This is true. And in those two games, Chicago has failed to win. McCarty was on the pitch for a 2-1 Red Bulls win in New Jersey this April, and for a 1-1 draw in Chicago this September. It also makes sense that McCarty wants to win a playoff game more than he wants to stick it to Marsch.

But McCarty would be naive to think that the playoff game between the Fire and Red Bulls is an irrelevant to the narrative about his career — or Marsch’s. McCarty was not traded for business reasons. He was not a cap casualty. He wasn’t even moved to make room for another player. Marsch just didn’t prefer McCarty’s style of play, so much so that he was willing to fight his boss over getting rid of him.

McCarthy’s exit from the Red Bulls gets at the heart of one of soccer’s great philosophical questions: Is it better to build a system around your most talented players, or to have a preferred system that dictates your other decisions? Wednesday’s match won’t give us a definitive answer, but it’s rare that we get to see such a perfect case study in action.