#i mean seriously at one point it was november 11th they could throw ANYTHING at us at ANY time

[maragarita]

This is the first time I've been able to watch an episode of maws as it airs so here's my take on S2E6!

• Clark is actually being mean and sassy and I love him for it like yes bby please wake up in a better mood next time you were kidnapped not murdered

• I didn't realize in the preview clip that aired a few days ago but Kara's eyes grey out even when she says "model citizen" at the beginning of the episode!

• the look when Clark sees Lois : (( the poor boy didn't even have time to process the breakup before he got knocked out and thrown into space but also she was the first thing he thought of when Kara asked if anyone cared for the real him :((((

• Clark says ow when he fights with Kara over the Polaroid! It's so natural that it took me a second to realize that he probably doesn't normally feel pain from playful roughhousing??

• the fact that Clark immediately clocks Kara the way Jimmy clocked him and Lois. The little shimmer in his eye when he asks if she likes him

• "what, no, what? I don't even know what that means. Stop being all weird with your stupid earth brain" this whole sequence makes me REALLY REALLY look forward to a post-brainiac maws where Clark and Kara can just be cousins in metropolis together (which I fully believe the maws crew will make happen)

• Cousin snowball fight I cryyy

• For a second I almost believed we were actually going to see space traveling and new planets but makes sense

• ok it's been lowkey before this episode but is Clark actually kryptonian super saiyan I don't know the lore

• Kara actually did genocide while brainwashed oh no

• I'm sorry I'm sorry WHAT Jimmy and Lois both 1. Found MM and the brain from the OTHER DIMENSION they traveled to and 2. WENT INTO SPACE TO FIND CLARK my joy is unending I love this show

• Clark is actually going to be used as a weapon nooo poor boy just wants to help I can't handle a world where the maws version of Clark Kent is a murderer :((((

Final thoughts, love! The maws crew is already doing such a good job of making Clark and Kara feel like cousins and I'm so happy she's in the show even though I was honestly hesitant about it at first. The next episode is called Olsen's eleven and once again I am. My joy is immeasurable. I love this show. I love that we get to experience it every week instead of all at once because now I get to comb through all the small animation details while I waitt!!! I'm just sad there were no phones in this episode because HOW will I know if it's still Monday may 9th now???

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

If There’s a Place I Could Be - Chapter Seventy Two

If There’s a Place I Could Be Tag

November 11th, 2001

Emile sat at the table, staring at the letter he was holding with great consternation. Faith had written him, and he had written her back, talking about Remy and how they were getting along, and generally, how everything seemed nice and domestic lately. And Faith had replied, throwing Emile a curveball.

Would you marry him, Emile? It’s obvious to everyone you’ve written to that you love him. We’ve all talked about it at one point or another. We all think you should, if you love him as much as you say you do.

Emile didn’t know how to respond. Would he marry Remy? The mere thought felt like he was going to spiral into a panic attack. But at the same time...he couldn’t deny the warmth he felt in his chest about the idea.

He put the letter away, resolving to respond to it when he had a better answer than “I don’t know.” He knew Faith wouldn’t let the matter drop if he waffled on the decision.

  September 20th, 2002

Emile couldn’t help but laugh as he saw a familiar face he knew all too well approaching him on campus. “Theo!” Emile exclaimed, running over and giving his friend a huge hug. “What’s up? I didn’t think you were coming to visit for a little while yet! I thought you’d still be sick of Fairview!”

Theo laughed and hugged Emile back. “I actually swung by to chat with you and Remy. I’m having housing issues and I was hoping you two might have some advice on finding a roomie and splitting rent, y’know? Falling in love is not required, but it is a plus.”

Emile laughed. “Well, you’re in luck, because I just finished my last class and I was heading to the parking lot. Remy’s not off his shift at the local coffee shop yet, but we can hang around the shop until he’s off and we can snag him, and you can come back to ours!” Theo nodded and they walked to the parking lot together. “So, what sort of housing problems are you having? Prices? Roommates? Lack of roommates?”

“All of the above?” Theo weakly joked. “My current roommates are barely pulling their weight, I can’t find new ones, and none of the half-decent places are in my price range, so if I move out, I have to settle for a run-down one room which probably has massive problems.”

“Yikes,” Emile said with a grimace. “That’s seriously not good.”

“Tell me about it,” Theo said. “You two made it look so easy, I don’t know how you did it. I’m ready to throttle my roommates at any given moment for stealing my food, invading my privacy in my room, or for inviting people over who inevitably trash the place.”

“I mean, the fact that Remy and I tolerated each other and had pretty clear boundaries from the start helped,” Emile said. “I have no doubt you tried to set boundaries, but I’m willing to bet those roommates of yours didn’t respect them, did they?”

“Not after the first few weeks, no,” Theo sighed. “And they brushed me off every time I tried to talk to them about it.”

“Ouch. You definitely need better roommates, Theo,” Emile said.

Theo nodded. “I don’t know anyone else in that area, though, unfortunately. I’m thinking about moving back here, however temporarily, because I know a few people here who might be willing to split rent with me.”

“That might be a good idea,” Emile agreed. “Provided you can stand being around the college you went to, that is.”

“Somehow I think I’ll live,” Theo laughed. “Like, some people might give me grief, but they’re my friends so I wouldn’t mind too much. The biggest problem, for me, is going to be finding a job in my field. Forensic science is all well and good until you’re forced to move back to a city with a low crime rating so all the spots where you might be able to work forensics have been filled for years.”

“Ooh, ouch,” Emile said with a wince.

“Yep,” Theo said with a strained laugh. “It’s...not great, for sure. I really need to find somewhere that I can work, and somewhere that I can afford my own place at the same time, y’know? But the housing market is ridiculously expensive, and I heard it’s only gonna get worse.”

Emile grimaced. “Yikes, yeah, I’ve heard inflation is getting pretty bad. I haven’t had to worry about it as much, but if you’re looking for a place...”

“It totally sucks, dude,” Theo said with absolute certainty, leaning back into the passenger seat of Emile’s car. “Oh, but since I’m here, and Remy’s not...how’s the project going, man?”

Emile offered Theo a big grin. “I’ve got the property,” he said, eyes lighting up. “Turns out it was almost gonna be demolished, because no one’s been picking it up. But it’s in good condition. All I really need is the inside and everything will be ready!”

“The inside is gonna take a while, though, you know that, right?” Theo asked. “Getting everything up to code, renovating what’s been getting run down, electricity, plumbing...”

“I know,” Emile said. “But I have the worst of it over with. The property’s bought. And I know Remy’s specifications for what he wants on the inside, and he’s none the wiser to the plan, and...man, this will be ready by mid to late December if everything goes right!”

“It could be your birthday present to him,” Theo lightly teased.

Emile gasped. “Oh my God, it could! Can you believe that, Theo?! I could make this Remy’s birthday gift! His very own shop!”

Theo laughed. “You’re such a mess, Emile. On one hand, you’re a highly skilled, well-rounded adult, but on the other, your emotions come into play and it’s like you’re a five year old on Christmas morning. And your emotions are always in play when it comes to Remy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see you being loving and excited and human, but your reasoning skills when you’re emotional?” Theo made a whistling noise with his teeth, “Out the window.”

“Hey! I’ve made good decisions when I’m emotional before!” Emile laughed.

“Yeah, because you put your emotions to the side. That’s not making rational decisions when emotional, that’s looking at things from a rational angle rather than an emotional one. And you do kinda bottle up those emotions when making the decisions, don’t think no one’s noticed.”

“I—well—yeah...” Emile reluctantly admitted. “Remy’s been helping me with that, though.”

“Yeah, he’s told me as much in his emails,” Theo said. “And I’m proud of both of you. You for allowing your emotions a place and a time, and Remy for being willing to help with that sort of thing instead of leaving you to your own devices.”

“We both have grown a lot,” Emile agreed as they pulled into the coffee shop parking lot.

Theo and Emile got out of the car and walked into the shop, Emile asking, “You want anything to drink? My treat.”

“I could take a small coffee,” Theo said.

Emile nodded and got in line, telling Theo, “Grab a table for both of us?”

Theo nodded and Emile couldn’t help the little smile on his lips. He was just having coffee with a friend. It shouldn’t seem all that important, but it felt strangely adult, and he didn’t know why that made him giddy, but it did. Just being able to sit down and complain about roommates and jobs and...just getting adjusted to the new normal that life was winding up being.

Emile placed their orders and found Theo sitting in a corner, and he gave Theo his coffee while Emile kept his tea. Theo waited until Emile was taking a sip of his tea before he asked, “So, are you gonna pop the question?”

Choking on his tea, Emile stared at Theo, who was shaking with silent laughter. “Theo!” he gasped. “Come on! That’s mean!”

“Well, I’m just wondering!” Theo asked innocently.

Emile sighed. “Well, it’s not exactly like we could get married anywhere yet,” he said. “It feels like a moot point.”

“It’s a symbolic thing, man. Even if you can only get a ‘civil union’ or whatever, the promise of staying together until the end of the line is there,” Theo said.

“But we already have that promise with each other,” Emile said, frowning.

“Precisely why I’m asking about this,” Theo said. “You’ve already got it, so when are you making it official?”

“Theo, believe me when I say whenever gay marriage is an option I will absolutely be marrying Remy. And it will be the best day of my life. But until it’s legalized, or at least it’s in the process of being legalized, I don’t see the point of getting a ring,” Emile said with a shrug. “Oh, and before I forget, when that day comes? You’d better be my best man.”

It was Theo’s turn to choke on his coffee. “Dude, you kidding me?! Of course I’d be your best man! I’m honored! But is there like, no one else you’d rather have?”

“Theo, the only person closer than you and our friend group in terms of friendship with me is Remy. And I’d be marrying him. I can’t exactly have him be my best man.”

Theo beamed. “Man, you’d better be inviting all your friends to this hypothetical wedding. That includes your high school ones. I can’t wait to embarrass you in front of them.”

“They knew me when I was thirteen, can’t get much more embarrassing than that,” Emile said simply.

“Ooh, I’d love to pick up some stories from them,” Theo said, grinning and rubbing his hands.

Emile laughed just as Remy walked over. “What’s the deal with this party without me?”

“Remy!” Theo exclaimed, standing up and hugging Remy.

Remy returned the hug with a grin. “Good to see you, man. What’s up?”

“Housing issues, actually,” Theo said. “I need your and Emile’s advice about finding new roomies.”

“And in the process, try and get us to get engaged, apparently,” Emile said drily.

“What, we’re not married already?” Remy asked with a laugh.

Emile snorted and Theo said, “Nah, man. You haven’t tied the knot. I would know, I’m Emile’s best man, and he hasn’t stuck me in a tux yet.”

Remy grinned. “Well, that’s great and all, except for me, because now I have to find a different best man for the big day.”

“Yeah, I’m not making two best man speeches,” Theo laughed. “Would you seriously ask me, though?”

Remy shrugged. “I dunno, man. Like, thinking about it, I never really planned out a wedding for anyone I had crushed on or dated. And Toby was gonna be my best man, because I asked him once and he promised...but since we lost contact...” Remy shrugged. “You’d be an excellent second choice. But I’ll figure something else out.”

“All right,” Theo laughed.

“You officially off the clock, Rem?” Emile asked.

“Yup,” Remy said. “And ready to go home.”

“Oh, man, I wish I could say that,” Theo bemoaned.

“Yeah, let’s talk about your housing, man, what’s up?” Remy asked.

As Theo explained what was going on and they walked out of the shop, Emile’s gears were whirring. He would definitely need to find Toby soon. Especially considering that sooner or later he knew he would be finding a ring for Remy. He didn’t know when that might be, but Theo was right. The promise of staying together until the end of the line deserved something important.

It was funny, though. The thought of marrying Remy just felt...inherently right. As Remy and Emile fought over who should drive the car back to their apartment, Emile considered marrying anyone else, of any gender, of anyone he had previously dated, and it never rung as true as what he felt when imagining marrying Remy.

Remy won the argument for driving the car and Emile slid into the passenger seat, glancing at Theo in the back. “You know what, Theo? You’re right.”

Theo grinned. “I know I am, dude. But I’m glad that you can see that too.”

“He’s right about what?” Remy asked.

“One day, I’m gonna marry you,” Emile said simply.

“Oh,” Remy said. “I mean, yeah? Marriage is terrifying, but there’s no one I’d rather marry.”

“I’m glad we’re in agreement,” Emile said.

“Do you know when you’re gonna propose?” Remy asked.

“Not yet,” Emile said. “Need to find a ring first, figure out the right moment. But I’m definitely proposing to you.”

“Not if I do it first, buddy,” Remy said with a wicked grin.

“Oh, it is on,” Emile said.

Theo laughed. “Are you two really turning proposals into a competition?” he asked.

“Best proposal wins the excuse to kiss the other person for a solid minute,” Emile said solemnly.

“Oh, you are so on!” Remy exclaimed with a laugh.

Theo just cackled at their antics.

[corruptedspacecore]

Why do I hate astrology?

Because I may have been born on July 13th, but the only thing that tells you is that I was born on July 13th.

Astrology is a precursor to astronomy, from a time before humans began to do modern science and apply skeptical thought to such beliefs. But astrology is not science, nor is it scientific, nor has it been scientifically demonstrated. It’s not a reliable way of making predictions, either. If you were a Capricorn but told me you were a Cancer, that would still tell me as much about you as the former would.

How would it even work? There’s no way Mars or Mercury could affect events in our lives. Our lives are made up of so many intertwining strands that it’s just absurd. Gravity certainly couldn’t be a part of it. Every object with mass has a gravitational pull, so how close Mars is at the time of your birth doesn’t matter, since the doctors holding you have more gravitational influence than Mars does. But even if there was some unseen or unknown force by which astrology could work, or if astrology is just using positions of cosmic bodies to predict things, which is generally what it’s presented as, there would still be ways to test it.

Once scientists started to test astrology, it wasn’t found to be a valid tool for figuring things about. Its predictions are no better than guessing or random chance. You can switch the signs for a horoscope, use any number of different horoscopes, and people will still think it applies to them. This experiment has been done countless times with the same results: The sign or horoscope mean and predict nothing. Yes, astrologers will throw around any number of studies that claim to support astrology, but even then, they’re either terribly done, or their results still leave much to be desired and prove nothing. It’s statistical noise.

Yeah, you’ll find plenty of people who say their horoscopes were accurate, but the plural of anecdote isn’t data. And while there may be some areas in which astrology would appear to be more correct, like relationships going bad while Mercury is in retrograde, correlation does not equal causation. Well, perhaps not so much causation in this case, but an incredibly unreliable attempt to predict things. So what if your horoscope predicted you;d find love or money today, then you got a date and found $20 on the ground? What about all those who didn’t find love or money? Astrology’s apparent success is nothing more than anecdotal confirmation bias and statistical gibberish.

Life on earth generally works in patterns. We do the same crap in July that we did the last one, the same crap in December that we did the last one. Some times of the year are better for relationships than others. More people probably get together around February, more people might break up around November or so. The planets and constellations also go about regular movements. If you say “hey Mercury’s in retrograde, and every time it is, relationships go bad,” that might seem like a workable idea. However, does that, therefore, mean it has anything to do with Mercury? More importantly, does it offer any sort of reliable predictable power?

The simple fact is, no, it doesn’t. No test has found it to. Even if it was found in some study or another that as much as 65% of “professional astrologers” were mostly correct in some predictions, that’s still a pitiful number. It doesn’t matter if the chance of that 65% was 1 in 10,000. It’s statistical noise, playing with numbers. Not to mention what other issues such studies may have. Never mind the fact that twins are often known to have very different lives.

Astrology is very Earth-focused, too. The constellations we project on the sky use stars strewn across space in 3 dimensions. If we went to another star, we’d see very different constellations. Considering that, if the positions of stars and planets relative to Earth predicts things, then what about how the stars look from other star systems, and the positions of their planets? Do the positions of the planets in the Trappist system predict our lives? What if we moved to that system? Would new star signs be needed? What if we went to a planet with 50 moons and 3 suns?

The mere idea that we can predict things via the positions of cosmic bodies is ridiculous, anyway. The sky isn’t permanent. The planets weren’t always there and won’t always be there. The moon’s moving away from the earth and used to be much closer. Earth’s rotation is slowing over time. Orbits can be destabilized. If a rogue planet at least as massive as Jupiter, or an object of near-stellar mass came barreling through, which could happen, it would throw a lot of things off.

The stars are moving, too. On timescales of millions of years, the constellations we know now will no longer exist. Some stars will blow up and no longer exist, some new ones will be formed. Moons may be obliterated in massive impacts. In 4-5 billion years, our sun will expand and engulf the Earth and inner planets, and seriously screw up the rest of the solar system. Does astrology predict that? Science does because it doesn’t just work on correlations.

For example, meteorology isn’t perfect, because the weather is chaotic, there are so many variables at play, but it works well enough for our needs. In fact, it works far better than astrology. We don’t say “a storm will happen this time because one happened last year when the sun and moon were in so and so position.” We use radar maps, reams of weather data, temperature, pressure, and humidity readings, and a slew of other tools and pieces of data to construct a picture of the current weather and run simulations to predict what might happen using decades of ever-improving science.

Some sciences are more precise. We’ve been able to use evolutionary theory to predict how micro-organisms will evolve. We use the theory of gravity to predict where the planets will be, where we need to point a spaceship to get it to a planet at a certain time, or what would happen if a black hole blasted through our neighborhood. Mathematics is the best field of science when it comes to predictability and the only one with absolute certainty. 2+2 always equals 4. But as far as astrology goes, its success rate is pitiful and on a level that makes it utterly useless. Nor is it needed.

If relationships tend to go bad in November, just say November’s ab ad time for relationships. Maybe even try to figure out why that is. There’s no need to mention Mercury being in retrograde. If people born during a certain month do go a certain way in a statistically significant number, try to find out why that actually is. Don’t just rely on the sun, moon, planets, or stars. And if you want to quantify your personality, consider a detailed about me page.

The world, the universe, is an immensely complicated and ever-changing place. The reasons that things happen, and the patterns in which they happen, are reliant on many factors that, if we could know all the numbers and paths, perhaps we could predict with a high degree of accuracy. But we don’t, and astrology sure as hell isn’t a good way to do it. It’s a tool, all right. A tool for people to make money, a gimmick in newspapers and magazines, an overly-simplified and often inaccurate means to quantify a personality.

When it comes to daily horoscopes, they’re just as inaccurate, and perhaps even a dangerous way to predict the events of a day. Did the horoscopes of the people in the upper floors of the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001 predict that they’d be ground to nothing as the towers collapsed around them? Did the people at the Route 91 Harvest Festival get any hint from their October 1st, 2017 horoscope that a madman would rain bullets onto them from 32 floors up? If a horoscope doesn’t say something bad will happen, should we be complacent? If it says something romantic will happen, and something romantic does happen, does that mean the astrologer who wrote the horoscope was a genius?

So why do I hate astrology so much? I hate astrology because it’s such a terrible way to figure out the world. I hate it because it’s used as a way to determine who people should and should be with. I hate it because it’s relied on so heavily by so many to quantify their personality and predict their life when there’s no damn good reason for such a belief to be maintained. I hate it because it’s pseudoscience, new-age woo. I hate it because it obscures reality, because it oversimplifies things, because it covers up the true nature of the universe and how things work. I hate it because it’s so terribly limited. I hate it because it has the illusion of wonder, but lacks the substance of reality.

The fact is, astrology is ultimately a sham. It’s a holdover from the darker days of humanity when we didn’t understand all that much. And it’s potentially dangerous, as it suggests a sort of fatalism that could be deadly. In millennia past, astrology was used to control and bring down empires. People now use their horoscopes as a fun way to give them hope that they might finally get laid today, or not get hit by a bus. In either case, it’s useless. Live your life day by day. Figure out what will happen by actually looking at the world around you and what events may affect things. Look both ways, keep your guard up, always be ready for the good or bad in life. Don’t just look at the signs listed in someone’s about me, talk to them. Get to know people. Get to know yourself. Take the world for what it is, and don’t assume it, you, or your life can be predicted by a bank of text in a magazine written by a “professional astrologer.” Don’t let your life be guided by a set of traffic signals in the sky, because those signals aren’t very well-defined, they’re always changing, they weren’t always there, they won’t always be there, and assholes are constantly running the red lights.

[solacebaby]

tw rape mention

randy mansour, on tumblr as @vxctxrixus, raped two of my friends- both of which were/are underage at the time. one of them is my best friend, sydney @vvhaleshark (she gave me permission to tag her and helped write this post) who was approached by him on instagram in mid-november of 2016. a warning to readers as the information below describes sexual assault against women in detail.

he seemingly had friendly intentions as the conversation was small talk about seeing each other around at school in the past and interests, but soon began to show predatory behavior after sydney didn’t want to meet up with him one day and he began to attempt to convince her to see him in a persistent manner. she eventually agreed to meet him in person that day due to his convincing and within the first 15 minutes she was in the car with him he casually mentioned that he had raped another girl in her grade. sydney was afraid to lash out at him due to the fact that she was alone with him in his car, she had never met him before, and her history of sexual assault made her go into a defensive state. he talked about it as if he was the victim because the girl (who does not want to come forward) told their friend group and he was kicked out of the group because of his actions. he also mentioned multiple times how he was “trying to move on and not let it define him” in an attempt to gather pity and continue to play the victim card. sydney just nodded and listened to what he had to say because she didn’t want him to react violently if she told him she wanted to go home or that she was disgusted by him, and they proceeded to go thrift shopping. she began to let her guard down as he stopped talking about the situation because he was charismatic and didn’t seem to have ill intentions towards her at the time. as they drove from shop to shop he also made transphobic comments about how mtf people disgusted him because he “is such a feminist that the thought of touching a man physically made him throw up” and pointed out that he kept a photo in his car of a girl (also in sydney’s grade - 11th) he was currently seeing despite multiple mentions of using tinder to hookup and going on dates. he also made a comment about how he guessed he “had a thing for 16 year olds” after he found out her age.

the two of them ended up seeing a late night movie at the mall which let out around midnight. because it was extremely cold out, randy proposed that the two cuddle in the passenger seat to stay warm and sydney agreed. after talking for a few minutes she asked him if he was trying to have sex with her and randy said that he wasn’t, then asked her the same question. sydney felt guilty saying no since he took her out the whole day and answered with a shrug and “i don’t know” thinking that that would be enough hesitance to convey she didn’t feel comfortable. randy’s mood completely shifted at that point and he began to harass her, stating that “it’s either yes or no, not ‘you don’t know’” even though he originally said that he didn’t even want to in the first place. sydney continued to state that she wasn’t sure and that her mom wanted her to be home as she grew more afraid, as it was late at night in the closed mall’s parking lot, far in the back, away from other cars. randy persisted that she needed to give him a definite answer despite her obvious hesitance and sydney agreed out of fear that he may become violent, considering he admitted that he had sexually assaulted a girl before. he pulled the car into a secluded, forested area and led her into the back of his car, where she was noticeably shaking and he refused to turn the heat on in order to make sure she stayed close to him. during the assault he repeatedly asked her if what he was doing was okay, not in an actual attempt to gather consent (which wasn’t even decisively given to him) but rather in an aggressive fashion that sounded like he was attempting to cover his tracks. 

in late march sydney decided to come forward and attempt to build a case against him for rape. although sydney is underage the age of consent for georgia is 16, leaving sydney unable to build a case for statutory rape (however it is important to acknowledge that the other girl who was raped by him was fourteen or fifteen when it happened). the police didn’t take sydney’s story seriously and stated that a case couldn’t be made against him, specifically because she took her own pants off and didn’t say no (to reiterate, she was afraid she would be attacked if she didn’t comply) . sydney also overheard an officer speaking to her mother and saying that the whole basis of the case was actually sydney purely “having sex and regretting it.” 

he followed me on here and we became mutuals before i was aware of what he had done to sydney, and he attempted to talk to me by sending me “comforting” private messages in response to a personal post about my depression. he told me he knew what it felt like to “not have any friends” because his “best friend turned all [his] pals against [him]” trying to make me pity him, when in actuality he was referring to the first girl he raped. i never replied to him. two days later i was at the mall with my mother and he quickly walked past me, making eye contact. i messaged him saying that i had seen him at the mall with the only response being “You did.” After i didn’t respond, he sent me another message around a week and a half later saying “You're always at the mall” which means he had seen me numerous other times at the mall without me ever realizing. i told him he had to be at the mall “always” to see me there “always”, and he told me he worked at the mall. i never replied afterwards. i couldn’t tag him in this post because he blocked me solely off those interactions when i didn’t even do anything. after sydney told me that randy raped her, it makes me paranoid that he attempted to get into contact with me and that he could also attempt to do so with other girls on here. 

he claims to be a feminist and feels as if he is better than other men. the worst part is that he was employed at Pink, an underwear store marketed towards young women; he’s even bragged about flirting with the customers while working. sydney’s case couldn’t be carried on, and we attempted to call the two jobs he had at the mall- both jobs said that randy no longer works with them. it is very upsetting to me and sydney that randy mansour won’t face any repercussions for his actions, but the most we can do is let people on here know that he’s a predator and a rapist. please reblog if you can; it would mean something to sydney.

[flauntpage]

An Evaluation of the Sixers at the All-Star Break

I’m not gonna recap the Knicks game, because nobody cares. The Knicks are 10-47 and the worst team in the NBA. The Sixers were supposed to win last night, and they did.

Your squad is 37-21 and currently sitting in 5th place in the east, 6.5 games out of first place and lagging behind the Bucks, Raptors, Pacers, and Celtics. If the playoffs began today, the Sixers would travel to Boston for game one of the opening round, which is not ideal.

So it’s some good and some bad. The record is fine, and the Sixers went 7-5 over the toughest part of their schedule, which coincidentally leads us into the All-Star break. The disappointment is a 1-7 combined record against Boston, Milwaukee, and Toronto, and the one win came on a night when the Raptors were playing without Kawhi Leonard, Serge Ibaka, and Jonas Valanciunas.

The reality is that Brett Brown is coaching his third different team this season, a squad that now features five players who have been here for a total of seven days. That’s 33% of his roster that overturned in the past week. But this is also the most talented group of players he’s ever coached, and he has 24 games to get this squad over the hump and into a position to host a first round playoff series, because anything less than fourth place in the East is a massive disappointment, at least in my mind.

Here’s the remaining slate, which only features 10 games against teams currently in playoff position:

It’s not murderer’s row.

You’ve got the Houston and OKC road trips, plus Golden State at home, but there’s a lot of dreck on the back-end of the schedule following the final Boston matchup. The Celtics, for comparison, still have to play at Toronto and at Milwaukee while going on a similar four-game west coast road trip that the Sixers just completed. The Raptors play most of their toughest games at home while Indiana still has to play at Philly, at Golden State, at Denver, at Portland, at Boston, and at Oklahoma City.

So it’s there for the taking, and the Sixers will have plenty of cupcakes to slap around down the stretch, but they need to win one of these big games, either at OKC or at Houston or at Milwaukee, something that gives you a real boost and lets people know that you’re actually a team that can do some damage in the playoffs.

Takeaways from the first two-thirds of the season, and some looking ahead, after the jump:

Best win

Sixers 113, Warriors 104 at Oracle Arena

No Klay Thompson, sure, but the Warriors still had Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Boogie Cousins, and Draymond Green on the floor. The Sixers were up for this game and played solid basketball throughout.

Next best win

Sixers 120, Pacers 96, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse

Pre-Victor Oladipo injury.

The Sixers played really well on both trips to Indiana, beating the Pacers by 24 a few weeks back and also beating them way back in November to claim their first road win of the season.

Worst loss

Cavaliers 121, Sixers 112, at Wells Fargo Center

This was the Black Friday game, a night when the Sixers came out sleepwalking and/or gorged on Turkey. Cleveland guards combined for 71 points in the nine-point win and Brett Brown gave the most terse post-game answers I’ve ever heard from him.

Next worst loss

Nets 127, Sixers 124, at Wells Fargo Center

I guess we didn’t know, at the time, that the Nets would turn out to be a decent team this year. Still, the Sixers again got cooked by guards, allowing 39 bench points to Spencer Dinwiddie as he, Allen Crabbe, and D’Angelo Russell all shot better than 50% from the floor.

The Hawks loss was also pretty bad, but with Embiid not playing in that game, it stays off the list.

Best individual performance

Probably Joel Embiid vs. Charlotte:

42 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks. He shot 11-18 from the floor, 1-2 from three, and hit 19 of 22 free throws.

Ben Simmons’ 21/10/15 performance against San Antonio could also be a choice here, along with Jimmy Butler’s 34 and 12, plus a buzzer beater, to take out the Nets in Brooklyn.

Statistics worth talking about

Here are some of the league-wide numbers the Sixers are posting, beginning with stuff at the positive end of the spectrum:

115.3 points per game – 3rd in the league behind Bucks and Warriors

47.5 field goal percentage – 6th overall

36.1 three-point percentage – 8th

77.5 free-throw percentage – 13th

10.4 offensive rebounds per game – 14th

27.4 assists per game – 3rd

5.5 blocks per game – 10th

7.7 steals per game – 15th

22.8 fouls drawn per game – 3rd

11.8 offensive rating – 11th

108.4 defensive rating – 11th

54 effective field goal percentage – 3rd

58.2 true shooting percentage – 3rd

13.8 second chance points per game – 9th

15.8 fast break points per game – 8th

12.4 opponent second chance points – 9th

13.4 opponent fast break points – 13th

There’s a lot of good when you look down that list. They shoot the ball well, they don’t give up a lot of cheap stuff on the glass or in transition, and while steal and block numbers aren’t sky-high, their defensive rating is sound. You’d like that free throw percentage to come up, considering the frequency with which they get to the line.

The bad:

15.5 turnovers per game – 27th

21.9 fouls per game – 22nd

24.6 opponent free throw attempts per game – 25th

17.8 opponent points per game off turnovers – 24th

Turnovers are still an issue, but they’re actually down from last year’s number of 16.5, so that’s improvement of one unit per game.

It’s still an issue, along with the fouling, and it results in 91.3 opponent field goals per game, which is 5th-worst in the league.

Some of that, of course, can be attributed to the pace at which the Sixers play, which results in more possessions for both teams, but ultimately the turnovers, if not negated with decent shooting and/or offensive rebounding, turn into scenarios where the Sixers are giving too many extra possessions to opponents. It’s absolutely killed them in earlier games against the Celtics and Raptors, and if they don’t limit that number, they’re gonna lose again in the second round.

Biggest positives

The Sixers starting five of Tobias Harris, Jimmy Butler, Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and JJ Redick is probably the best starting unit in the Eastern Conference. Add in some wing depth in James Ennis and Jonathon Simmons, and theoretically some of the issues with switching and defending on the perimeter should be alleviated.

You can’t say that Elton Brand is to blame for whatever disappointments might be on the horizon.

Biggest concerns

T.J. McConnell has defensive weaknesses as a backup point guard. JJ Redick is still being hunted by teams like Boston. Boban Marjanovic is a good backup big but might not be a great matchup against athletic and stretchy teams like Boston and Toronto. I don’t think the Sixers can afford to leave Jonah Bolden on the bench.

More than any of that, the Sixers have just looked inexplicably tight against some of the better squads in the east. They only had a couple of spurts in the Boston loss where they looked their free-flowing, basketball-sharing selves. They need to mentally get over the hump and play their best basketball against the NBA’s best teams. We saw it happen in Oakland, so we know it’s possible.

Rest

Yeah, the Knicks win didn’t mean much, but the Sixers don’t play well in back-to-back games, which is the theme for most squads. They improved to just 3-6 on zero days rest with last night’s win, with the other B2B wins coming against Charlotte and Phoenix. They went 0-6 on the second night of back-to-backs against Milwaukee, San Antonio, Toronto, Brooklyn, Memphis, and Washington.

For what it’s worth, there are only four more back-to-backs this season, but unfortunately Boston and Milwaukee show up on the second night in half of those scenarios.

On one day of rest, the Sixers are 25-8, so it’s a pretty big performance gap when they get that extra day vs. having to do a quick turnaround.

Random clip from my archives

I really liked this defensive series to close out the home game against the Spurs. Watch the defensive switching and communication here:

Corey Brewer and Wilson Chandler were in on that one. They are gone, but not forgotten.

But seriously, if they lock in defensively and figure it out down the stretch, they have the talent to beat anybody.

Storyline that we definitely don’t have to deal with anymore

Markelle Fultz.

Thankfully that’s over.

Markelle told us back in November that he was fine, when apparently he was not:

Are you 100% healthy or close to it? 

“For sure. I mean, nobody is ever 100% healthy in this game. You play five games in seven days and you get bumps and bruises. That’s life in the NBA. It’s the stuff you signed up for when you get here. But I’m working every day to get better.”

If only it had been that simple.

Storyline that we hopefully don’t have to deal with anymore

Jimmy Butler’s fit in the offense.

The Sixers are running more pick and roll as Jimmy finds his spots. He’s been deferential at times, sure, but we’re weeks removed from the “Butler vs. Brett Brown in the film session” thing and he’s playing pretty well while getting to the foul line, engaging on defense, and trying to settle into the system.

Plus, with the addition of Harris and Boban, it’s kind of taken the spotlight off of Butler and turned attention elsewhere. I think that’s helped put a damper on the “is he a good fit?” talking point, which has allowed him to just sort of go about his business and play his game.

Brett Brown

He’s a hands-off coach who would prefer to let his team get into a rhythm and a tempo, and that’s fine in theory, but he’s just got to help his guys to the finish line. He did a really nice job of that in the Golden State win by dialing up a combination of pick and roll, horns, and a couple of isolation sets to guide his team to a nine-point win.

Looking specifically to Boston and Toronto, he just needs to be super attentive to micro-level details, such as his second-half rotations and defensive vulnerabilities. How can he and Billy Lange help JJ Redick defensively? How many minutes can T.J. play in the postseason? Are Simmons and Ennis going to be switchable guys who solve your Celtics problem?

He’s got a lot on his plate moving forward, and the pressure is going to be immense, but the talent is definitely there for a run at the finals.

The post An Evaluation of the Sixers at the All-Star Break appeared first on Crossing Broad.

An Evaluation of the Sixers at the All-Star Break published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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An Evaluation of the Sixers at the All-Star Break

I’m not gonna recap the Knicks game, because nobody cares. The Knicks are 10-47 and the worst team in the NBA. The Sixers were supposed to win last night, and they did.

Your squad is 37-21 and currently sitting in 5th place in the east, 6.5 games out of first place and lagging behind the Bucks, Raptors, Pacers, and Celtics. If the playoffs began today, the Sixers would travel to Boston for game one of the opening round, which is not ideal.

So it’s some good and some bad. The record is fine, and the Sixers went 7-5 over the toughest part of their schedule, which coincidentally leads us into the All-Star break. The disappointment is a 1-7 combined record against Boston, Milwaukee, and Toronto, and the one win came on a night when the Raptors were playing without Kawhi Leonard, Serge Ibaka, and Jonas Valanciunas.

The reality is that Brett Brown is coaching his third different team this season, a squad that now features five players who have been here for a total of seven days. That’s 33% of his roster that overturned in the past week. But this is also the most talented group of players he’s ever coached, and he has 24 games to get this squad over the hump and into a position to host a first round playoff series, because anything less than fourth place in the East is a massive disappointment, at least in my mind.

Here’s the remaining slate, which only features 10 games against teams currently in playoff position:

It’s not murderer’s row.

You’ve got the Houston and OKC road trips, plus Golden State at home, but there’s a lot of dreck on the back-end of the schedule following the final Boston matchup. The Celtics, for comparison, still have to play at Toronto and at Milwaukee while going on a similar four-game west coast road trip that the Sixers just completed. The Raptors play most of their toughest games at home while Indiana still has to play at Philly, at Golden State, at Denver, at Portland, at Boston, and at Oklahoma City.

So it’s there for the taking, and the Sixers will have plenty of cupcakes to slap around down the stretch, but they need to win one of these big games, either at OKC or at Houston or at Milwaukee, something that gives you a real boost and lets people know that you’re actually a team that can do some damage in the playoffs.

Takeaways from the first two-thirds of the season, and some looking ahead, after the jump:

Best win

Sixers 113, Warriors 104 at Oracle Arena

No Klay Thompson, sure, but the Warriors still had Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Boogie Cousins, and Draymond Green on the floor. The Sixers were up for this game and played solid basketball throughout.

Next best win

Sixers 120, Pacers 96, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse

Pre-Victor Oladipo injury.

The Sixers played really well on both trips to Indiana, beating the Pacers by 24 a few weeks back and also beating them way back in November to claim their first road win of the season.

Worst loss

Cavaliers 121, Sixers 112, at Wells Fargo Center

This was the Black Friday game, a night when the Sixers came out sleepwalking and/or gorged on Turkey. Cleveland guards combined for 71 points in the nine-point win and Brett Brown gave the most terse post-game answers I’ve ever heard from him.

Next worst loss

Nets 127, Sixers 124, at Wells Fargo Center

I guess we didn’t know, at the time, that the Nets would turn out to be a decent team this year. Still, the Sixers again got cooked by guards, allowing 39 bench points to Spencer Dinwiddie as he, Allen Crabbe, and D’Angelo Russell all shot better than 50% from the floor.

The Hawks loss was also pretty bad, but with Embiid not playing in that game, it stays off the list.

Best individual performance

Probably Joel Embiid vs. Charlotte:

42 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks. He shot 11-18 from the floor, 1-2 from three, and hit 19 of 22 free throws.

Ben Simmons’ 21/10/15 performance against San Antonio could also be a choice here, along with Jimmy Butler’s 34 and 12, plus a buzzer beater, to take out the Nets in Brooklyn.

Statistics worth talking about

Here are some of the league-wide numbers the Sixers are posting, beginning with stuff at the positive end of the spectrum:

115.3 points per game – 3rd in the league behind Bucks and Warriors

47.5 field goal percentage – 6th overall

36.1 three-point percentage – 8th

77.5 free-throw percentage – 13th

10.4 offensive rebounds per game – 14th

27.4 assists per game – 3rd

5.5 blocks per game – 10th

7.7 steals per game – 15th

22.8 fouls drawn per game – 3rd

11.8 offensive rating – 11th

108.4 defensive rating – 11th

54 effective field goal percentage – 3rd

58.2 true shooting percentage – 3rd

13.8 second chance points per game – 9th

15.8 fast break points per game – 8th

12.4 opponent second chance points – 9th

13.4 opponent fast break points – 13th

There’s a lot of good when you look down that list. They shoot the ball well, they don’t give up a lot of cheap stuff on the glass or in transition, and while steal and block numbers aren’t sky-high, their defensive rating is sound. You’d like that free throw percentage to come up, considering the frequency with which they get to the line.

The bad:

15.5 turnovers per game – 27th

21.9 fouls per game – 22nd

24.6 opponent free throw attempts per game – 25th

17.8 opponent points per game off turnovers – 24th

Turnovers are still an issue, but they’re actually down from last year’s number of 16.5, so that’s improvement of one unit per game.

It’s still an issue, along with the fouling, and it results in 91.3 opponent field goals per game, which is 5th-worst in the league.

Some of that, of course, can be attributed to the pace at which the Sixers play, which results in more possessions for both teams, but ultimately the turnovers, if not negated with decent shooting and/or offensive rebounding, turn into scenarios where the Sixers are giving too many extra possessions to opponents. It’s absolutely killed them in earlier games against the Celtics and Raptors, and if they don’t limit that number, they’re gonna lose again in the second round.

Biggest positives

The Sixers starting five of Tobias Harris, Jimmy Butler, Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and JJ Redick is probably the best starting unit in the Eastern Conference. Add in some wing depth in James Ennis and Jonathon Simmons, and theoretically some of the issues with switching and defending on the perimeter should be alleviated.

You can’t say that Elton Brand is to blame for whatever disappointments might be on the horizon.

Biggest concerns

T.J. McConnell has defensive weaknesses as a backup point guard. JJ Redick is still being hunted by teams like Boston. Boban Marjanovic is a good backup big but might not be a great matchup against athletic and stretchy teams like Boston and Toronto. I don’t think the Sixers can afford to leave Jonah Bolden on the bench.

More than any of that, the Sixers have just looked inexplicably tight against some of the better squads in the east. They only had a couple of spurts in the Boston loss where they looked their free-flowing, basketball-sharing selves. They need to mentally get over the hump and play their best basketball against the NBA’s best teams. We saw it happen in Oakland, so we know it’s possible.

Rest

Yeah, the Knicks win didn’t mean much, but the Sixers don’t play well in back-to-back games, which is the theme for most squads. They improved to just 3-6 on zero days rest with last night’s win, with the other B2B wins coming against Charlotte and Phoenix. They went 0-6 on the second night of back-to-backs against Milwaukee, San Antonio, Toronto, Brooklyn, Memphis, and Washington.

For what it’s worth, there are only four more back-to-backs this season, but unfortunately Boston and Milwaukee show up on the second night in half of those scenarios.

On one day of rest, the Sixers are 25-8, so it’s a pretty big performance gap when they get that extra day vs. having to do a quick turnaround.

Random clip from my archives

I really liked this defensive series to close out the home game against the Spurs. Watch the defensive switching and communication here:

Corey Brewer and Wilson Chandler were in on that one. They are gone, but not forgotten.

But seriously, if they lock in defensively and figure it out down the stretch, they have the talent to beat anybody.

Storyline that we definitely don’t have to deal with anymore

Markelle Fultz.

Thankfully that’s over.

Markelle told us back in November that he was fine, when apparently he was not:

Are you 100% healthy or close to it? 

“For sure. I mean, nobody is ever 100% healthy in this game. You play five games in seven days and you get bumps and bruises. That’s life in the NBA. It’s the stuff you signed up for when you get here. But I’m working every day to get better.”

If only it had been that simple.

Storyline that we hopefully don’t have to deal with anymore

Jimmy Butler’s fit in the offense.

The Sixers are running more pick and roll as Jimmy finds his spots. He’s been deferential at times, sure, but we’re weeks removed from the “Butler vs. Brett Brown in the film session” thing and he’s playing pretty well while getting to the foul line, engaging on defense, and trying to settle into the system.

Plus, with the addition of Harris and Boban, it’s kind of taken the spotlight off of Butler and turned attention elsewhere. I think that’s helped put a damper on the “is he a good fit?” talking point, which has allowed him to just sort of go about his business and play his game.

Brett Brown

He’s a hands-off coach who would prefer to let his team get into a rhythm and a tempo, and that’s fine in theory, but he’s just got to help his guys to the finish line. He did a really nice job of that in the Golden State win by dialing up a combination of pick and roll, horns, and a couple of isolation sets to guide his team to a nine-point win.

Looking specifically to Boston and Toronto, he just needs to be super attentive to micro-level details, such as his second-half rotations and defensive vulnerabilities. How can he and Billy Lange help JJ Redick defensively? How many minutes can T.J. play in the postseason? Are Simmons and Ennis going to be switchable guys who solve your Celtics problem?

He’s got a lot on his plate moving forward, and the pressure is going to be immense, but the talent is definitely there for a run at the finals.

The post An Evaluation of the Sixers at the All-Star Break appeared first on Crossing Broad.

An Evaluation of the Sixers at the All-Star Break published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/