#it needs to be impactful despite the length. i worry about my momentum and it’s so important that it stays lyrical throughout

[zorosdimples]

i was working on another yan childe drabble, but i decided it would be best to incorporate it into the fic i’m writing about him. it will definitely be the longest work i’ve ever published; i think it’s necessary to take my time and set the tone of his and reader’s relationship—it’s twisted, and i want the horror to be palpable.

[whumping-out-of-timee]

Rematch

Cw: Broken bones, Cursing, Knife injury, Sadistic whumper, Demons, Hopelessness, Blood, Character consuming blood, Implied threat of cannibalism, Falling from heights, Vengeful whumper

Previous: Welcome to hell

Red Masterlist here

*****

Niko was asleep, he hadn't strayed far from where Reyo had left him food and water. Scared that he might never find it again in the reflective glass. It all looked the same, the sky above tinted red in its inverse image.

Reyo appeared in a mess of white noise, startling Niko awake.

Crap, he's here

Niko's gaze settled on the small blade Reyo held in his hand. His thoughts raced as he jumped to his feet, ready to flee.

Reyo looked disinterested in that, his eye only a small slit of orange. The annoyance surfacing in his voice.

"Oh please. Sit down, or I'll give you a reason to run."

Niko sat at those words, defeated. What else could he do?

There's no where to run anyway

"You know.. I wish you'd talk more. It would make things more fun"

"I- I'm sorry-" Niko started to respond.

But, Reyo interrupted him, unbothered.

"Today I want a rematch, I've given you time to heal. If you can kill me, then I'll set you free. But, we both know what you did was cowardly. I suspect you'll be paying for it instead." At that, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

"Ok, I- never meant-"

Reyo glared a warning, "nevermind, shut up. There's nothing interesting you have to say."

Niko fell silent, confused.

I hate him. I want to kill him. I have to kill him.

"I hate you." Niko grumbled, not learning from last time.

"Awe, that's more like it!" He threw out his hand, the dagger flying through the air. It whizzed over Niko's head, clanging somewhere very distant behind him.

"Fetch, angel. I'll give you a head start. I'm sure you don't need it though, right?" He taunted, sarcastically.

Reyo raised his hand to the sky, his eyes had a predatory shine as he stared down at Niko.

Niko quickly arose, no time to worry about whatever Reyo was doing. Breaking from his gaze as he turned around.

Spotting the knife, he broke out sprinting towards it, coming to a dazed stop as the ground shook. Large patches of glass raised, reaching towards the sky. Creating an intricate matrix. He caught sight of the weapon, as the glass beneath it became slightly raised.

Great, at least I know where it is. But, I'll never see him coming in that mess. It's a losing battle

His disheartened thoughts were interrupted by a spiteful voice. "What are you waiting for? I'm not going to wait much longer. You'll be sorry if you don't play along."

Niko sprinted off towards the knife again, not paying attention to the fading laughter. He climbed up onto the platform as he came to it, turning his momentum upward with his wings. They were still foreign to him, but he managed.

The knife was cold in his hands. He turned around to see the place Reyo had been standing, he had vanished. Panicking, he turned around in every direction, waving the knife threateningly. But, there was no trace of Reyo anywhere.

Can Reyo fly? I can't remember. I can't fly well. But, I can't be on the ground if he can. The only chance is to stab him before he gets a solid hold on me. I need a plan, or it's hopeless. I have to stay calm until he comes for me.

Amused laughter caused him to nearly panic again. It distorted in every direction, resonating through the strange landscape.

I can't tell if he's close. I have to stay calm, get to higher ground

Niko curled his toes over the edge of the platform, preparing himself to fly. Flying was extremely tiring, but he didn't know what else to do. He looked up towards the structure above, a slight 20 degree incline through the air. It was very far away, a massive dead space between.

It looks too steep. And it's too far, I don't have the endurance, but I have to try. He has the upper hand down here.

Niko spread his wings in a strong downward motion as he jumped from the edge. Shaking under the immediate stress of holding his body stiff. His muscles were aching in his back, making it obvious to him, that he wasn't meant to fly. He managed to hold himself up in the air by his wings. Unsure how to move his webbed wings upward, without dragging him down. Instead he strained, holding himself in a glide for a few seconds.

I'm not going to make it

He tucked his wings closer to him, spiraling down to gain speed. Then he flared his wings, trying powered flight again, this time angling his wingtips differently. Acceleration caused him to soar upwards into the sky. Tense muscles shaking under the increased wind resistance. He made it to the platform, trying to swoop upwards gracefully before impact. Instead he crash-landed, holding the knife at arms length to protect himself form it.

Niko quickly clamored to his feet in the silence, looking over the edge of the platform. He saw nothing. Heard nothing.

That's a bad sign, what's that insane bastard up to? Surely he saw me in plain slight on my way up here

He went to turn away from the edge again, but something slammed into him hard from the side. He stabbed blindly and felt the blade meet resistance multiple times before his arm was grabbed. His heart skipping a beat with hope, before the pain of impact reached his senses.

Did I really- will he die from that?

His hope betrayed him when he caught sight of Reyo. The upper part of his left arm was bloody. There was no trace of a smile in his expression.

I stabbed him in his blind spot- figures. He's not going to be happy. Fuck, I'm going to die. There's no way I can kill him

His arm was twisted in an unnatural way, snapping as Reyo swung him around hard, letting go of him just in time to kick him off the edge.

Niko could barely move enough to generate the lift to break his fall. He fell slowly in a spiraling mess. Impact traveling up through his legs, making everything so much worse. The knife had gone flying elsewhere, he heard the crack of glass under it. But he couldn't focus on that. His hip and side burned, arm was sickening to look at. He leaned against the glass, struggling to breathe.

Reyo was there, behind him, and reflected in the glass before him. Both watching him between their two orange eyes. That smirk had returned to his face, despite his unmoving arm, constrained by the red snaking over it. Head slightly tilted as he took in the sight. Clearly savoring his revenge.

"What's the matter, hard to kill me in a fair fight? Want me to turn around, so you can stab me in the back again?!" He broke out in chilling laughter, breaking from the normal range, as he took a step towards Niko. He raised the retrieved knife to his mouth, licking his own blood off it.

That's sick. And, he's truly laughing at me now. This is his revenge, I have no purpose now. He's going to kill me. It's all over, no one will even know what happened to me

Niko was too hurt to move as Reyo closed in on him, trapping him against the glass wall. He rested the blade across Niko's throat, the bloodlust in his eyes was icy cold.

"Are you at least going to beg for your life little angel?"

No, I wont give him this, it's all I have left

Niko thought, as he stayed silent, only whining slightly in pain.

"I'll find something creative, I've never really liked the taste of blood. But, you know what I do like?" He paused as Niko started sobbing. "Well, maybe one day you'll find out." The second part of his statement seeming to snap out of his sadistic spell.

"That will be a sad day for you," he added. As he stepped back away from Niko, taking the threatening blade with him. Arm wounds closing before Niko's blurred vision as Reyo stared at him with an unrecognizable emotion. Unshifting eyes dangerously hiding his true emotions.

If I think he's capable of feeling pity, I'm stupid. He's a coldblooded monster

Thoughts affirmed by the next statement. "I'm going to make you suffer endlessly here. Even when you beg me to kill you, it won't be enough."

At that, he disappeared into nothing. The walls shifting back into a flat plane. There was nothing for Niko to lean against anymore. He fell to the ground, crying out as his body made contact with it.

All I see is red. Forever in every direction. Suffering forever, with nowhere to escape. Not even deserving of pity.

All alone forever. Living where I'll die

*****

Next: The origin

Taglist:

@abitefullofeverything

[daddy-bean-boy]

FMP - Table Top - Evaluation

Earlier this year I wrote my project proposal, proposing the idea for my FMP that I had imagined. The original idea is different in a few ways but ultimately the final product reflects the proposal’s intentions. Other than my admiration for the 1930′s aesthetic which I wanted to achieve, I also wanted to improve my skills outside of my “comfort zone”. I planned this through having a live action side to my animation. This was the part which I knew would create the most challenge, and I can safely say it was. I had to prepare what settings I would have the camera on, create a filming environment that was suitable for the animation and include tracking points. I succeeded in creating the environment I wanted to film in, and I even thought my camera movements came out smooth. This was all from the help of tools I practiced with such as the glide rail. This helped get a smooth panning camera shot I needed of the table. Aside form what when well with this portion of the FMP, I would definitely improve the contrast in which I filmed in. The light bloom of the room gave an overly saturation scene in some cases and this makes it very hard to motion tack using after effects. This is what I am most disappointed with. The tracking in some scenes brings the characters I have drawn, out of the world as they slide because the tracking is unstable. Despite this however, I have gained experience in media creation that I wouldn’t have if these subtle difficulties weren’t there, because then I wouldn’t needed to have found out how to improve them.  I’m now more knowledgeable of Adobe software like After Effects and Premier Pro because of this. Specifically with my interest in animation, I would now be able to more carefully prepare myself when composing animation over a live action scene. With learning about software and cinematography, a lot of my aspiration was based on the appeal I have of old era animation from the 1930′s. I wanted to recreate the fluid movement and pioneered techniques that are all but unseen in today's industry. At the time of writing my proposal, I was unaware of how many rules an set backs this level of animation restricts you to. This is where my first major turn in the road had to be realized. I would not be able to perfectly recreate the style of animation with the resources I had. And this was okay, it just meant my animation would be more a homage to it. This was due to me using a computer for animation, as it would be impractical to hand draw within the given time. However, despite digitally creating all the animation I found I can still create the fluid and smooth motion. I found out that among the society of classic animators (Because there are animators who purely use tweening and bone tools etc.) there are 12 rules that following will bring frame by frame animations to life. This is what I decided I would follow as closely as possible while animating, even creating a practice animation in preparation. I had eventually re used this animation after much more practice and changed it ever so subtly, however it had a big impact on the realism of the movement. The most important thing to me, even from the proposal was learning what I now know to be “form”, moving a 2 Dimensional character believably in a 3rd Dimensional way. Now that I’ve come to the end of the project time, I’ve been given perspective on how long this animation takes and why industries have elected to using quicker less costly methods that sacrifice quality. A great help for me during the lengthy process was actually critically watching over animated shorts and films. I watched a lot of Studio Ghibli movies while making the FMP and listening to the studios methods. The films animation is so fluid and believable. Creator Hayao Miyazaki, gives a lot of credit to “people watching” saying almost every movement is based on the way he’s seen others move. This gave me a lot of thought and motivation to keep drawing even when I had little motivation. Time became the biggest obstacle in the end. As I plan on still producing the rest of the animation in my spare time, I discovered ways to make it feel less of a chore. In my original proposal, I had about a month of time allocated to production. While this seemed like enough, I didn’t factor in all the bits that get in the way. For example, keeping up with blogging. I needed to explain everything I was doing and learning through out. This is because while I was producing it wasn’t just drawing, I kept making each key framed drawing based on knowledge I had from the principles of animation. Each key frame I wanted to have Arching Motion, Slow Inns and Slow Outs, Squash and Stretch, and finally Exaggeration. The biggest incorporation that took more time than expected was anticipation and overshoot. This is having frames before and after slowly build up and release the momentum of an action. These were the main principles I focused on. Having to consider each one with each drawing made it much more lengthy than I had intended. I see this as good in a way, because if I was speeding through, then all the high level animators who say frame by frame takes years would false. Although, I have complete just over 50′s which is around the length I had originally intended. My miss sight was with story. Where I had wrote the story of the animation, it would’ve been impossible to fit it all in a minute. This lets me know I had carried myself away with a complex story that had a beginning, middle and end. I should have stuck to a simple plot, maybe not even having the second character “Shaker” who didn't make it into the FMP (as of hand in). 

The research I did throughout my FMP was the foundation to everything that I made the film on. The live action cross animation was heavily inspired from the video made by “PWow” on YouTube, entitled “How to make the space jam effect in after effects”. It walked through using after effects to track the motion into a null object and us that tracking information to move the animated character. This had a large impact on my project because it’s literally what let me compose characters into a world as if they are sitting in that plane and moving with it. Obviously like I said this effect I didn't use to its best ability. With more carefully thought out lighting and use of objects. Something through research I found, in Rodger Rabbit, a film I used as inspiration for it feature length use of pioneering animation and live action, they had used objects in the live action footage that mimicked the 3D space of the character that would be imposed over the footage. This let the artists know how they would appear in that space, how the light might affect it and also, if the camera moves, the animator will know exactly where they should be. I think if I recorded live action for animation again, I would do this. It would’ve allowed me to make a much smoother tracking scene for him, by drawing over the top of the cup in real life, following its shape as the angle changes and the camera pans. I even might have just skipped the camera pans all together. Saving myself the trouble of having to track could’ve given me more production time. This would have given me more time, however I learnt a lot of how after effects works and interacts with information to create motion, and that will lead me to being able to create better things in the future. I said in my proposal that I might use a mood board to remind myself of what research I had done and what from it I should use within my animation that I would reflect on. I actually found that the aesthetic comes with simple and appealing character design and the animation itself cant just be a reference to a mood board, it requires more critical thinking. This is where my research lead me to the most useful influence I had when drawing, these being the “12 Principles of animation”, which I originally discovered from Allan Becker, a legendary YouTube self made animator, but written originally by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas. These were two Disney animators who wrote this in the book “The Illusion of Life : Disney Animation” in 1981. Not quite the 1930′s but the principles were based off all Disney learned of animation over the years of making movement look as though it were living movement. While it made my animation appear much better than I would have expected, I think it would have helped if I had delved into each one, with practices and experimentation on them. I could’ve done quick sketch animations that would individually go through them. I said how I wanted to post a lot of my research based on YouTubers and entertainment that inspires me, I think I did well keeping to this and it still remains one of my favorite ways to motivate me. I never feel more like animating than after watching a well animated short of film. However, I do take all my inspiration from similar things. Studio Ghibli and Disney classics both use flowing hand drawn frame by frame and the YouTube Animators I watch also take inspiration from them. This actually worries me because a lot of people who take their inspiration from one source end up creating “unintentional rip offs” which end up becoming someone else’s work through your hands. And that way there no creative thinking to the production. With this in mind, my future animations will be less an homage to a style, and more of an exploration of my own animating style and being more experimental, so there’s less restrictions limiting me to possibly become tunnel visioned when animating.

Taking all that I can from this project, I’ve been left in a better place than when I started for sure. Though my actual animation hasn’t reached its conclusion, all that I have gained from it is more than worth it. I’ve never had an incentive to be overly interested in cinematography, however, I wanted to experiment regardless to see if I could create a believable character in a believable world. Not believable as in it were real, but believable in the sense that its weight, appeal and body language could make sense if it were int he world its presented in. This was the goal I wanted to achieve. All these came into factor when I was researching. Aside from the composition, the second thing I wanted to achieve was the aesthetic. This mostly came into play when choosing character design and the frame by frame animation. There where a few secondary features I used to add to this, such as the film grain (dust and scratches) that I layered over the top of all the footage. These were commonly present in movies of the 30′s because all films were physical strips that could be damaged. All these attributes I believe made the 30′s aesthetic. I’m very pleased with how it looks and I think it was successful. The main thing that brought the believe-ability away was the poor tracking in some cases, where you can see the tracking slide along surfaces. This is something I will take steps to avoid in the future, hopefully to make an even more believable character. Overall, my appreciation for the style is stronger than before, I know how difficult and thought provoking frame by frame can be. Tracking might be something I use scarcely in the future and live action backgrounds can be a refreshing break from animation. For my aspiration of becoming an animation artist (in-between animator and higher) these things will certainly bring me closer to being able to fit into that work environment and understand the process behind it so that I might one day direct my own feature animation.

[first-and-ten]

Week 17 Recap

The NFL season ends with a bang. 

I did terrible in fantasy, but ended on a high note in both leagues. I did better in picks than I did last year but didn’t break my 2014 record. I missed on 3 survivor picks all year and made $71 in fake bets. Half the upsets I picked happened and I locked up games with almost 80% accuracy. We had one perfect week (DEN, SEA, NO, GB and both my fantasy teams win, NE loses) and ended on a disaster week (All my teams lose, NE wins). The Pats will carry the NFL Title Belt into the postseason.

Oh, and there’s the small matter of historic failure by one team. That’s right, the Cleveland Browns are now the third team to go winless in an NFL season in the Super Bowl era, and the second to do it in a 16-game season. Congratulations, Browns, you deserve it, and the Matt Millen Award for Losing will henceforth be called the Matt Millen and Sashi Brown Award for Losing.

In happier news, the longest playoff drought in North American pro sports is over. The Bills needed a handful of very specific miracles, and they got them. So strange to think that if just the Bills and Chargers were tied LA would go to the postseason, but with the Titans and Ravens in the mix they’re out. Not sure I like how that works. But it’s a little heartwarming for Bills fans to get to see their team in the playoffs for the first time this side of Y2K.

Teams That Need/ed Kaepernick: CLE, BAL, IND, TEN, HOU, JAX, NYJ, MIA, DEN, GB, PHI, NYG, ARI, SF

Coaching Graveyard: Ben McAdoo (NYG), Chuck Pagano (IND), Jack DelRio (OAK), John Fox (CHI), Jim Caldwell (DET), Bruce Arians (ARI)

The Room Where It Happens: PHI, PIT, NE, JAX, MIN, LAR, NO, CAR, KC, TEN, BUF, ATL

Fallen Tributes: CLE, NYG, SF, IND, DEN, CHI, TB, WSH, ARI, GB, CIN, NYJ, HOU, MIA, OAK, DET, DAL, BAL, LAC, SEA

GB 11 - 35 DET Game Ball: Ameer Abdullah Bet: +$2 [W] The season mercifully ends for both teams. Nice running by Abdullah, but the Lions still haven’t had a 100-yard rusher in the Stafford era, and maybe that’s why Jim Caldwell is out. Honestly, I think he should have stayed. His team had a respectable enough year. The Packers did not, and to their credit they are not putting it all on Rodgers’ injury, firing DC Dom Capers finally and reassigning GM Ted Thompson. 

HOU 13 - 22 IND Game Ball: Frank Gore? Bet: +$1 [W] I didn’t watch this game, or any highlights from this game. Could have been Frank Gore’s last. Was definitely Chuck Pagano’s last.

CHI 10 - 23 MIN Game Ball: Latavius Murray Bet: +$2 [W] The Bears’ only real move was an incredible Red Herring punt return for a TD that got buried in a game where every wrinkle they tried on offense was either poorly executed or well-defended, or just cockamamy in the first place. The story of their season, really. Maybe that’s why John Fox is out.

NYJ 6 - 26 NE Game Ball: Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill Belichick the Football Guy! Bet: +$9 [W] The Jets couldn’t move an inch, and James Harrison had 2 sacks (in garbage time.) The Pats offense still looks stale, but it won’t in two weeks, I would bet the farm. 

WSH 10 - 18 NYG Game Ball: Elisha Manning Bet: -$5 [L] This result made no sense, except that it did. No idea what the Giants are gonna do with Manning or about their head coach vacancy. Washington likewise has decisions about their QB and HC. Jay Gruden should be safe but it feels like Kirk Cousins is going despite being just as worth his mega-contract to the Potatoes as he is to any other team. Next year whoever is under center will be working with a team better than its record after half the roster trickles back in from IR.

DAL 6 - 0 PHI Game Ball: Dan Bailey  Bet: +$3 [W] The Cowboys refused to let this game end as it was destined: with a 0-0 tie. Dan Bailey did his part though, missing a FG and a PAT. Nick Foles certainly had the shutout in mind, throwing for fewer yards than the length of my longest pass in a quidditch game. What a masterclass in wasting a #1 seed. 

CLE 24 - 28 PIT Game Ball: Factory of Sadness Bet: -$9 [W] What can you even say? What do you say about a team winning only one out of 32 games over two years? About that team keeping the coach that did it for a third try? About going into a matchup in the last week against your hated rivals to find that they are resting every meaningfully impactful player? About moving the ball in that game better than you have all year, keeping the game within one possession, only to have a disappointing first-rounder straight up drop a pass from another disappointing first-rounder on 4th down? What on earth is there to say about a team that ultimately answers to the whim of a criminal billionaire who doesn’t give a damn about his team, when its fans care so much they are throwing their own parade just because they know this is a chance to celebrate, if ironically, a team that they’ve stuck with through every other possible terrible thing that can happen to a football franchise. What do you say when a team is so miserable that going 0-16 in a way feels like a fulfillment of its destiny? Congratulations, Cleveland. May your fans’ many years of exploitation for monetary gain finally be repaid. May this season exorcise whatever demon has cursed your city. You are the true Sovereigns of NFL Pain. You are the Factory of Sadness.

DEN 24 - 27 KC Game Ball: Pat Rollin With Mahomies Bet: -$10 [W] So many mixed emotions. The Broncos lost -- but that means they get a better draft pick -- but we lost to the Chiefs backups -- but it was close and we saw some potential -- but I lost $10 despite betting on the winning team -- but Vance Joseph is staying -- but Vance Joseph is staying. Patrick Mahomes did well enough for Chiefs fans to be hopeful about the future but not well enough for Alex Smith to be sweating, so that’s terrible.

CAR 10 - 22 ATL Game Ball: Matt Bosher Bet: -$12 [L] The Falcons kicked a lot instead of dancing in the end zone, but they sealed the deal when in mattered. The defense is looking good and Atlanta will enter the postseason as the only member of the NFC side that was there a year ago.

CIN 31 - 27 BAL Game Ball: Tyler Boyd Bet: +$8 [L] After trailing all game, the Ravens fight back for what seemed like the inevitable narrow victory, gaining a 3-point lead with about a minute to play. And Dalton moves the Bengals to midfield where they stall, finally facing a 4th and 17. This is the end for the Dalton/Lewis era, and the end of Baltimore’s 3-year playoff absence. They will happen upon the postseason as severe underdogs hoping their history can carry them past the likes of KC, NE, and PIT.  And then it happened. A hole appeared in the middle of the field. Dalton delivered a solid strike right to Boyd. Boyd juked defenders, sprinted down the sideline, and powered into the end zone, and just like that the tables turned entirely. The Bills popped champagne and Joe Flacco wrinkled his brow. Aaaaaand the Bengals retained Marvin.

BUF 22 - 16 MIA Game Ball: Tyrod Taylor Bet: -$5 [L] The Bills just straight up had fun trashing the Dolphins’ fourth-stringer and handing the ball of to DTs on the goalline. The real fun came later that night though. Wow, what a ride.

NO 24 - 31 TB Game Ball: Jameis Mr. Wimstons Bet: +$3 [L] The Saints didn’t show me anything in this game I wasn’t already worried about. The Buccaneers end the season hot, to little avail, and this result could be construed as a positive for the Saints, whose path to the AFC Championship now looks like a home tilt against the Panthers -- who they’ve already beaten twice -- and then a visit to Nick “I Can’t Throw In Anything Less Than Ideal Conditions” Foles. Look up some of Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram’s records from this season, because they are staggering and I don’t get paid for this.

JAX 10 - 15 TEN Game Ball: Derrick Henry Bet: +$70 [L] Jacksonville covered by half a point on a bet that would have left me with $1 if I lost it.  This is the opposite of what the Teal And Gold needed before heading into the win-or-go-home stretch, and if they falter next week against Buffalo I would give partial credit for knocking them off to the Titans. Credit to Tennessee: I did not think they would take care of business but they did. You are what your record says you are, and their record says they’re a playoff team. One that’s gonna lose and maybe still fire their coach, but a playoff team nonetheless.

OAK 10 - 30 LAC Game Ball: Philip Rivers Bet: -$1 [W] *Adelle’s “Rolling in the Deep” plays in the background as the Chargers are eliminated from the playoffs*

SF 34 - 13 LAR Game Ball: Janeane Garofalo  Bet: +$5 [W] Yeah, the Rams rested their starters (and the Saints let them get away with it) but this win was still significant for the Niners. I’m not sure I’ve EVER seen a bigger in-season turnaround. They’ll go into the offseason on a 5-game winning streak with a QB of the future who is 7-0 as a starter. That’s not normal. It’ll be interesting to see what the week off and loss of momentum does to LA. 

ARI 26 - 24 SEA Game Ball: Bruce Arians’ Retiring Ass Bet: +$10 [L] Arians is like 4-2 in Seattle, and he will retire that way. Blair Walsh remains the most baffling hire by the Seahawks. The Falcons’ win a minute earlier made his game-ending kick essentially irrelevant but it just encapsulated the frustration of this season when he missed it anyway. Hopefully he’s gone next season, and hopefully Pete Carroll, Cliff Avril, and Kam Chancellor are NOT gone next season. If this was Larry Fitzgerald’s last game ever, he went out on his usual note: humbly holding his team together and lifting them to victory.

Record this week: 9-7 Record this season: 168-88 Locks record: 76-20 (Survivors used [XXX]: ATL, SEA, NE, GB, PIT, DEN, DAL, MIN, NO, DET, KC, LAC, MIA, SF, JAX, BAL, IND) Upsets record: 34-34 2014 pace: 188-67-1 Pickwatch leader: 180-76 (Jeff Ratcliffe, PFF) Betting: +$71 ($71)

NFL Title Belt: NE (Defended from NYJ)

Matt Millen Award for Losing Jackpot Winners: 2017 Cleveland Browns (0-16)

FANTASY CORNER

Danger Squirrels 332 - 270.8 :) The Champs [W, 6-8]

And thanks to my opponent leaving Ben Roethlisberger in the lineup I avoid being the last place team in the league a year after winning the damn thing.