#lak: answered.

[puckpocketed]

caps fan here!

as follower of pld (the few, the proud, the courageous!), i was wondering if you had any thoughts about how he might fit in with our team, assuming he's going to be 1C with Ovi on the left and one of Wilson or Mangiapane on the right, and basically taking the former Kuznetsov/Backstrom spot on the halfwall on PP1. my thinking is that he can easily return to being a 60 point player just by the increase in ice time alone this coming season, and maybe even flirt with 70 if he has a triggerman like big O on his wing.

as someone who knows a hell of a lot more about PLD than i do, is that just wishful thinking because i'm a caps fan? what do you think?

The PLD Post, Part 2: mask-OFF

Hii!! (we are SO brave and SO correct). i am so sorry this took ages to answer, i was trying to decide how serious to be. I will admit, I was hesitant about going mask-off and hitting up the microstats and revealing that i do seriously think he can be better than he was bc that shit is kinda lame ESPECIALLY when defending a clear failhorse. but at this point any rep i have as someone with good opinions must be gone considering how many media scapegoats i've attached myself to (i got a fucking. c.gauthier ask the other day aslkjdkljas) so. mask is coming off. we've hit somewhere between well-considered manifesto and vibe check so . um. enjoy!!

I remain optimistic going from everything I've heard and from what you're saying here! But, big big asterisk. He absolutely needs to take ownership of his lack of engagement. when he speaks in media availability I believe him when he says he wants to change. The will to change is there, idk if it’s possible that any player would be satisfied with their performance being the way his was. There’s a lot that needs to be unpacked about his lack of production, the Character Issues, and what his role might look like going forward. You and any other Caps fan who reads this will have to tell me if the fit is right. Hockey talk below the cut lol!!

So before I start I have to say I know dick all about the Caps except:

You're dragging that old man (Ovechkin) to Gretzky's lawn (record) to set it on fire (break it before he retires)

Everyone is pining away for your very very injured 1C who is also Ovechkin's boybestfriend/perfect set-up guy/work wife

There's. intricate pre-game rituals?

So I'm not sure I can speak to how he will fit with your (our? i AM picking the Caps up fr given every acquisition/draft pick they've made) team with any depth or specificity. also i don't think i'd call myself a PLD expert. like. i just got here !! I haven't been following him since he was drafted or anything!! I have, however, consumed TOO MANY Kings games this past season and I can give you a broad look at what actually happened with them and why I think it didn't work out. I will not be making any overtures about being unbiased. My biases WILL slip through because I think Dubois is a sweetheart and I find the mental exercise of defending him fun <3 I’ll give you stats and observations and I will build a story that runs counter to what the prevailing media narratives say. While I stand by my opinions, they're also just one of many available interpretations of what happened.

character concerns

Everyone will be bringing it up at the first speed bump of the season, the first bad game he has. Please be prepared to have a crisis of faith and also be deeply disappointed in him. god knows I am, like, all the time <3 But... I always want to dig deeper when it comes to dominant narratives, because in following multiple teams I’ve become acutely aware of just how miserably Bad media can be at reporting on teams that aren’t their own.

I hear “Locker room cancer” accusations bandied about and I’ve yet to see anyone produce a primary source for this — podcasters, journalists, even people on nhl broadcasts will throw these words around so casually, assuming they’re correct because everyone knows the story. Some confounding factors in the character narratives arise when you scratch the surface. People who've worked with him speak well enough of him. Todd McLellan called him “misunderstood”, and had nothing bad to say about his character.

Matt Roy, who also just got picked up by the Caps, has recently said he’s a great teammate. MORE proof if you want to hear it directly, Roy went on Dropping The Gloves and had this to say about Dubois (transcript by me):

[on what actually happened] Honestly, I don’t know. I mean if you asked him he would say he had a down year. But it’s nothing like — I feel like the media paints this picture of him, and to me it couldn’t be further from the truth, you know. He’s a great teammate, he’s a great locker room guy, he gets along with everybody. So, in terms of all that I don’t know where the media is getting all this stuff. If I hated the guy I probably wouldn’t have come to Washington. He’s one of my friends on the team and I really think he’s going to have a bounce back year. I think he’s really going to be good for the team.

Matt Roy signed with the Caps of his own free will as an RD, a contested free agent in a sparse market, knowing Dubois was already here. He could’ve gone to plenty of different places. Why the hell would Roy sign here long-term, clearly wanting to play and win, if Dubois was as disliked as some pundits would have us believe??? Credible reports (and not just speculation) point to PLD’s other teammates liking him!! 

And here’s some propaganda; I direct you to this extremely sweet video where he gets asked about assisting on Akil Thomas' first NHL goal (and a bunch of other first NHL goals). He is so, so genuinely happy for Akil, who battled through injuries that set back his development for years. Just LOOK at his smile!! He can’t hold it back. (Others have said this but it looks like a little v. Like :> !!!! HELLO !!)

How does all of this happen when, supposedly, he’s a low-character asshole and a “locker room cancer”? It doesn’t line up for me.

On the other hand, I have seen Dubois cruise. He really can’t seem to bounce back from a poor start, and if you were just looking from the outside in, the scoresheet this year reflects this. The critique is fair; I’ve turned this over in my head enough times. there are less physically gifted, less skilled players, who are working so hard to stay in this league, and Dubois’ poor showing does feel somewhat like, idk, something I’d be mad about usually.

Here comes the “but”. Call this next bit the narrative section, because I’m showing my ass here: I think Dubois gets a lot of scrutiny because of his infamous Shift, which went a specific kind of viral, under the exact right conditions, and it has just. defined his career. And okay… I am not denying that the shift happened, but plenty of guys in this league have taken shifts off. come on. the season is long and they're only human. I’m not excusing it either! It was bad and he deserved his benching. Ideally, he one day becomes a player who always puts effort in. Working hard is one of my favourite traits in any player, and usually this would be enough for me to dismiss him as not worth being invested in.

and yet…. the reactions to his floundering performance feel so much like they’re about expectations as seen through the lens of The Shift. They’re calibrated differently because he went 3rd overall, and he's got this big body, the speed, the skill — it's the fact that he's got the tools and seemingly squanders them. All of this is amplified by the contract he's sitting on and his run of short-term stays on teams. Does he get this much scrutiny if he went in the 2nd or 3rd round? Does he catch this much heat for his low energy performance if that one shift clip hadn’t done all that damage? We’ll never know obviously but . I do wonder.

Final word on the character stuff is that we don’t know what truly went on in those locker rooms and i don't want to give more air time to baseless speculation. What we can examine is the hockey. The hockey tells the truth <3

the 23-24 la kings

Assuming the plan is to give PLD a look at 1/2C while he’s on the Caps, I think he’s a complementary type of player. The way he is right now, I don't think he can drive his own line or pull people up. He works with the calibre of lineys he's got and will produce the expected outcome. That sounds so obvious, but what I’m saying is I don’t think he’s capable of miracles like the best playmakers in the league, he's not about to make your guys look 15 years younger. In this vein, I look at his many first NHL goal assists as a symptom of what kind of linemates he was being paired with all season, and how unstable the situation was. His drop in point production IS more complicated than "he's just a piece of shit". From this article, the best summary I've seen of the Situation PLD was in:

LA acquired a player who had been a top-six center (and at times, winger) his entire career playing with established NHL talent. Yet after investing multiple assets to acquire Dubois and sign him to a significant contract, the team decided to put him in a third-line role where his most common linemate was a first-year NHL player who wasn’t expected to be on the roster in Alex Laferriere. Those two had a revolving door of wingers throughout the season. Moreover, Dubois’ most common on-ice teammates after Laferriere at 5-on-5 this season were Matt Roy and Andreas Englund. Gee, I wonder why he didn’t produce?

Context about Roy and Englund: Roy is a quiet but capable d-man who is defensively geared with a bit of offensive upside (j'adore. does things the right way and is very responsible and good. will throw hits but doesn't chase them or headhunt. I think playing away from the Kings’ more passive system will unlock more of his offensive potential. Matt Roy you will be SO good for the Caps I truly believe mwah mwah); and Englund is a leg weight/goon who, going by every single stat I can pull out, makes his d-partners Worse (with affection <3). Point here is neither of them being on the ice was particularly conducive to a lot of scoring chances.

As I said in my previous post, I think Dubois absolutely needs finishers. At some point there was hype around his shot but I didn't see much of that at all on lak? Eye test says: he was unwilling to shoot, and when he did shoot it felt like there was low/no commitment, no power behind it. Comments on his shooting called him “too deferential” at different turns. That’s just an insulting way to say a guy likes to pass and I truly think it circles back to the expectations thing. Would there be anything wrong with him not being much of a shooter this past season if he was another player? (Can't we just say he passed a lot this season without bringing value judgement into it? leave my failhorse ALONE!!!! like must a man score goals ,can't he be very very sweet and happy for the rookies he assisted ? wailing about it forever.)

More fun stats from that same article:

#1 on lak for passes that led to high-danger scoring chances, and scoring chances in general <- again, not a miracle worker. did not have finishers who could capitalise on these chances. its so fucked up what they did to my failwife

one of the best on lak in actually carrying the puck into the o-zone. (another reason i quite liked watching him!! transition forwards my BELOVED) everything I've ever observed about him off the cuff holds true here: he draws penalties this way, because he's fast and when he's locked in he is pretty good for controlled zone entries <3

Dubois had a career high in even-strength assists per 60, this is all in spite of his weird linemate situation and his reduced TOI and the power play mess (more on this later). he might have been deferring, but I truly think the lack of stability + good finishers, and ice time held him back from being more productive.

jim hiller

Building off that last point: even worse on the stability front, which I did allude to in the initial PLD Post, was what happened when Jim Hiller took over. You must understand one of the first clues that we were working with a different animal of a head coach is he was NOT afraid to line shuffle, and shortly after he found short-term success with that, they started running 11 forwards and 7 defensemen (you can see where it started precisely if you scroll back in lak lb because you'll find ME yelling about it LMAO). This shortened forward bench resulted in mid-game line shuffling, as in it was uncertain as to who they would be playing with from shift to shift. Hiller is on record saying he thinks it was beneficial, per this article:

It’s all about getting his deep forward corps engaged in the game. That’s sometimes difficult if you’re running four full lines and there are penalty kill or power play opportunities that alter the flow of the lines. Especially for the group of forwards who don’t kill penalties – think Kevin Fiala, Viktor Arvidsson, Quinton Byfield, Pierre-Luc Dubois – it’s an opportunity to get them extra shifts and engage in the game. “Some of our other players who don’t penalty kill, you know they can lose the flow of the game, so they enjoy it more I know,” Hiller said of having 11 forwards in action. “We’ve talked about it a lot. We really just think for our team, the way it is right now, that gives us an advantage getting those players more ice time.”

(and ok sorry to go off about my gripes with how the kings are run but .They were doing this into playoffs. This article was written during playoffs. god. CARL GRUNDSTROM, WHO HAS NEVER NOT PLAYED HARD, PLAYED 25 SECONDS IN GAME 2. all this while they were trying to get people 'engaged'. Idk. Maybe it did work for some players. I wasn’t behind that bench. But sitting one of your most energetic and committed forwards during a series in which you’re trying to come back from being down several games was a CHOICE!!!! also like what if you didn't double-shift QB. what then. And we all know how that series ended. lak coaching/management i am beating you with a pillowcase stuffed with bricks . <3)

Much was made of the Hiller takeover. I liked it at the time. In his first couple of media availabilities post-TM, Hiller emphasised bringing back "fun" to the game for many of the players who were slumping — and a reportedly tense locker room during the big skid that lost McLellan his job. It was all very Ted Lasso of him. Hiller also introduced a new way to rate Dubois for his performance every night, separate from the scoresheet. I made jokes about PLD's very special star-chart, everyone who knew about it was making jokes about it. This merit system was tailored towards communicating with Dubois what he did and didn't do well, and while no one ever went into depth about it we do know a few things:

It measured things outside of +/-, goals and assists, and was likely a score out of 5 per metric.

One of the metrics was about hits/physicality, another one was likely ‘compete’ levels.

He alluded to being measured on penalties drawn?? Or something??

Anyway it sort of … worked?? The change in Dubois was pretty immediate, the moment he was given some clear direction to work in. He played some of his BEST games of the year in the wake of this change. He got involved physically, he was not losing steam, he was drawing tons of penalties because he’s huge and fast and has good hands and IF he puts his mind to it he can truly be a transition monster.

CUE THE LINE SHUFFLING… imo, much of the progress made seemed to be lost, and the rest is history.

NOT saying Dubois is free of fault here. Needing that extra motivation to get physically involved is kinda wild, and I understand why for some people it’s a bridge too far. EYE am here for the laffs though and it's really funny that the communication came in the form of super special individualised performance evaluations/a glorified sticker chart. This is why he’s my temperamental desert flower. Wilting violet. Soggy kitten. <3 and for the record I truly don’t think I’d care if he put up 40 points per szn for the rest of his career. I don’t care because he’s a sweetie and the Bit i do when defending him is too funny. I don’t think I’d care if everyone was right about him — I just don’t actually think they are.

the power play problem

So okay, as per part 1 (my last email <3) we know Dubois thrives net front. It’s where he scored a bunch of his goals on the Jets. Every stat and the eye test supports this. So how come Lak had him stationed on the half wall doing jackshit, if he was on the power play at all?? I will admit I drove myself half crazy studying power play structures and watching LA Kings games back before coming up with a garbled, half-formed idea about how LA runs their PP. I was going to attempt to explain it here — had to do with Kevin Fiala and Dubois being lefties and how that's just an awkward passing sitch — but it turns out more than one person has had this thought and MAN I love being validated by actual hockey people. I fully thought i was making shit up in my head for a good week or two, and was seriously considering scrapping this portion . but it’s SO important for contextualising the production drop, so here goes !!

As early as September 2023 there was a story published about PLD’s role on PP1 — a place where he certainly should’ve belonged as a top-6 guy with plenty of ppg’s under his belt. From this article, which explains the issue very very neatly, and much more eloquently than I could ever hope to:

The addition of Pierre-Luc Dubois was a big one this summer; at first glance, he should be a great addition to the power play. But when digging deeper, the Kings might struggle to fit him onto the top unit. Dubois played mostly as the net front player for the Winnipeg Jets last season, the role Gabriel Vilardi often played for the Kings last season. So, it’s an easy one-to-one switch in that spot, right? Not necessarily. Dubois has all the talents to be an effective net-front player. He has the size and strength to battle in front, with the skill to effectively pop down low and create chances. However, his handedness is a big problem for this role. The Kings run their power play primarily on the left side with Kevin Fiala — Anze Kopitar when Fiala is hurt — which necessitates a right shot down low. When a right shot player pops out on the left side, there’s an easy passing angle for the half-wall player and more options for the player down low. Quick passing is key for a successful power and a left-shot can’t move the puck quick enough down low. They would have to either move too far into the corner or take the extra second to step out from and open up their body to create an effective passing angle. Time that would slow the power play down too much and allow the opposition penalty kill to get back into position. There’s also minimal shot threat from a lefty down low. We saw both Vilardi and Viktor Arvidsson frequently take the pass down low and quickly turn it into a shooting opportunity, something a left shot wouldn’t be able to do.

It then goes on to suggest 2 solutions that aren’t appealing at all:

Flip the power play entirely to accommodate Dubois net front. Not great as they dont have the players for that, and if they tried it they’d be hamstringing Adrian Kempe’s one-timer.

PLD on the bumper position. This one’s hard to swallow because that displaces Kopitar to PP2, there’s his position as captain and the optics of moving him off his spot.

In this article it is once again suggested that LA MUST flip their power play and figure out how to get PLD net front. In this article they point out how useless he was playing on the wall down the stretch, and how the only reason he seemed to be able to produce something was because he’d taken Kopitar’s spot in his absence. This article calls to attention Dubois’ worlds performance, where team Canada utilised him net front.

Big picture, the Fit

Do we see the problem here yet? It’s not the flat narrative I was sold by the national media, random assholes on twitter, and podcasters who don’t actually watch Kings matches!!!! Do we see how weird and messy and complicated it is, beyond “hey he’s just a sack of shit who isn’t trying hard enough”. Rob Blake himself has come out and admitted that they didn’t put Dubois in a position to succeed. And absolutely there was effort required on his end — a different player might have sucked it up and adapted to circumstances, a different player might never have needed that extra bit of communication, a straight up better player might have dragged his less skilled lineys up to a higher level. But the problem has always been two-fold: LA was trying to coach and manage a completely different player to the one they had in front of them and expecting good results; and Dubois was unable to keep competing with all he had in the face of that. I think both parties are at fault here. And I think, given the chance and the right circumstances, Dubois can hit 60 points again.

Okay, circling back to the big question of Fit. Will he be able to work with Ovechkin? Hard to think he could fail with one of hockey’s best goal scorers on his wing, if he does get a look at 1C. People who know the Caps better than I do, does this sound workable? Is Dubois going to be too difficult of a nut to crack for your coach? Your locker room?

And, of course, the power play issue. Maybe Dubois learns to be better on the half wall! Idk!! Maybe it was a matter of coaching and he thrives in Washington running your PP1 from there. For my money… I like him better playing net front or bumper. Do the Caps have the bodies to accommodate this? I did ask someone familiar with the Caps PP to explain it to me so I could try and figure this out but ouuuugh. My head is spinning. Someone smarter than me please jump in. I am TIRED . We don’t know what it will look like, what they’re planning to do with Dubois on the power play. You guys probably have a better idea about what’s possible than I do <3

Conclusion?

PLD is fast, big, a passing threat and a formidable net front presence when he’s given the opportunity and playing his A-game. As far as I can tell, his B-game is garbage </3 His poor performance is more complicated than people think and I’m pretty sure only the LA Kings beat reporters + the 12 kings fans on twitter know this. Most of them still dislike PLD anyway bc his low motor. I don’t blame them, I’m just more inclined to be forgiving because I love redemption arcs and I think he’s a good person. i would love to be wrong about his low-effort B-game LMAO but im trying to be realistic here. I want him to fit in and be embraced by the Caps so bad <3 Your coach sounds like he wants to help PLD succeed and is up for the challenge. The vibes from my friends who follow the Caps are always good, I’ve read through various tags and it sounds like a place that will take him in whether he likes it or not. I might be stupid but I believe in him !!! and I’ve laid out all the hockey bullshit for you to the best of my ability. Given all of this… do you think he’ll do well?

[squidsquadlove]

⚔️💣 :)

⚔️ What is goaltender interference? (Wrong answers only).

When the sports broadcast cuts away from the goalie hug line before you get to see every single player give the goalie hugs, headbonks, kisses, and of course the goalie hug at the end. 😤 This should be punishable by public dunk tank.

I did 💣 in the other ask, so my random NHL generator has offered this as a substitute:

👑 If you could add an award to the NHL awards, what would it be and who would be its inaugural recipient?

I am struggling between a serious answer and a silly answer for this one! For a serious answer, I would probably separate the Norris into separate offensive defense and defensive defense categories, name the new one (for defensive defense) the Lidstrom, and hand it over to Adam Larsson because I'm a Kraken fan and I love him.

For a silly answer, the Fleury: Best guy in the locker room. The trophy would have a giant flower on it.

[defeatsthem]

[ 📲 message sent: ]  if you were a fruit, you'd be a fineapple 🍍 ( from Jade to Shaun because its for scientific purposes )

imessage: ah so we're at the stage of pun-related pickup lines, huh? imessage: well, without you in my life, my heart is like swiss cheese.

[teslas-lame-archive]

CATER OMGOMG DO CATER

FUCKING HELL what do i even say about cater;;;; like. he's not even what i would consider a "blorbo" to me he's just like??? bruh that's my best friend. i've known him for ages. we grew up together, etc.

I SWEAR TO GODF if we don't get some kinda payoff for all the hints he's been dropping about being Unwell(tm) i'm gonna fucking riot >:/ and in the main story or events too, not just in his freakin personals >:////

[astrum-aureus]

Tumblr would be in peace if people would just ignore asks that they think are stupid if they’re made in good faith

Idk it always just feels mean spirited like. I know they’re usually anons so they’re not being publicly embarrassed but I’d still feel bad if I sent in an ask and got put on blast for “um you stupid idiot didn’t read the post that said not to ask me this question” or whatever like people miss things just ignore them just ignore them just ignore them you don’t have to answerrrrr goddddd

[saphronethaleph]

Perfect Hiding Spot

“I don’t like you either!” Evazan said, getting into Luke’s face to make his point. “You just watch yourself. We’re wanted men! I have the death sentence on twelve systems.”

“I’ll be careful,” Luke promised, as he turned back to his drink.

“You’ll be dead!” Evazan replied, grabbing Luke’s shoulder to spin him around again.

“This little one’s not worth the effort,” Obi-Wan chided, with a genial smile. “How about I get you something?”

Evazan made a keening noise of frustrated rage, and this time when he grabbed for Luke’s shoulder he yanked the young man bodily backwards. Luke staggered back, then fell, and knocked over a table with a clatter.

Every eye in the cantina turned towards the confrontation, and Wuher dove behind his bar with a panicked shout. “No blasters, no blasters!”

Obi-Wan’s lightsaber flashed out as Ponda Baba drew his blaster, and a moment later the aqualish was missing both the blaster and an arm.

For at least five seconds, there was complete stillness in the room.

“...Master Kenobi?” one of the duros asked, in a brittle voice. “You survived?”

He glanced around the bar, nervous. “I thought I was the only one-”

“I thought I was the only one!”

The speaker that time was one of the Modal Nodes, and all six of his bith bandmates looked at him.

“You can’t mean you’re a Jedi?” Figrin D’an asked.

“You’re a Jedi as well?” three of the other Modal Nodes said, before glancing at one another.

Luke raised his arm, hesitantly, then the duros jedi pulled him upright.

“Thanks,” he said. “But, I mean… how many people in here are Jedi?”

Forty-six lightsabers came out.

“In the name of the Krayt, why?” Luke asked. “Why are you all in hiding here?”

“I thought it was the most out of the way place in the galaxy,” Kardue’sai’Malloc volunteered.

That was hard to argue with, as far as Luke was concerned.

“I came here because I heard a rumour that Darth Vader hated sand,” Hem Dazon said.

Fourteen other people said out loud that they’d heard that too, and another ten nodded along with it.

“We’re touring?” one of the bith musicians asked. “Shavit, that’s a coincidence.”

“Who else picked it off a list when they tried to go into hiding?” Momaw Nadon asked, getting several more raised hands or similar manipulators.

“Why are you here, though, Master Kenobi?” Lak Sivrak asked.

“For the same reason as all of you, I think,” Obi-Wan answered, deactivating his lightsaber, because Evazan and Ponda had run away while he was distracted. “To hide, from the reaches of the Empire. This is the one place that Darth Vader would never come.”

“...who’s the kid?” the duros Jedi asked.

“My name’s Luke Skywalker,” Luke said.

“...was your father Anakin Skywalker?” BoShek asked. “Damn, kid.”

He paused. “Wait. How come Master Kenobi needs passage somewhere, anyway? He was almost able to keep up with Anakin, and Anakin was the best pilot the galaxy’s ever produced, by my money.”

“I dislike flying and I don’t currently own a starship,” Obi-Wan replied. “I believe you were introducing me to someone who might be able to arrange one?”

He looked around at the bar. “I may need to ask him how many passengers he can handle.”

“Well?” Stormtrooper Sergeant RF-345 asked.

“No sign of anything in the south sector,” one of his troopers replied. “I’m tagging the doors that don’t open for a later check.”

“Good,” RF-345 assessed. “Second company is moving to secure the docking bays. Watch out for anyone trying to move ahead of the cordon – stay alert for any surprises.”

Then a tidal wave of Jedi came pouring out of Chalmun’s Cantina, waving lightsabers and stampeding in the direction of Docking Bay Ninety-Four, accompanied by a wookie, a kid and a very surprised scoundrel and pausing long enough to pick up a pair of droids from one of the nearby houses.

RF-345 and his squad kept looking in that direction for at least ten full seconds after the stampede had vanished.

“...like that, sir?” trooper AK-707 asked, in a fragile voice.

“Like that, yes,” RF-345 agreed, then blinked a few times. “At least, assuming it was real, and not a hallucination.”

“It might have been a hallucination,” trooper ED-321 conceded. “We have been out in the sun all day.”

[gayforcarstairsgirls]

WTF is going on in the UK? I looked in the tags but couldn't find any context :')

Hi Laks! I ask that question daily tbh-

As far as I can tell the reason that uk politics is trending is because Nadine Dorries finally resigned, basically as far as I know she's a Conservative MP who said she was gonna resign "with immediate effect" back in June (in protest for not getting a peerage, cause I think Boris Johnson promised her one but now rishi sunak won't give it to her lmao), but then she just... didn't resign?? For three months?? And she wasn't actually doing anything, like she wasn't really doing her job and they couldn't hold a re-election because she was technically still there so all her constituents were PISSED (saw one quote that said she was "as useful as a chocolate teapot" which I just love), so yesterday she finally resigned, 11 weeks after saying she would resign with immediate effect 💀

Also the reason that comic thing about train ticket offices is trending is because the train companies announced that they're gonna close down loads of ticket offices (making it way more difficult for ppl to get tickets, especially older people or people who don't have the necessary technology to jump through a million hoops etc), so ticket office closures is one of the things that the rail union want to be stopped as part of their requirements before they stop striking, cause they're on strike atm (I think it's the biggest rail strike we've had in decades?? Don't quote me on that tho I could be wrong)

Also another recent thing is that our PM Rishi Sunak "inadvertently" forgot to inform the necessary people that his wife has shares in a childcare business that he has decided the government will give a shit tonne of money too (he's "inadvertently" done this before, as if he needs it as well he and his wife are LOADED)

Basically everyone just wants Sunak and the tories out, this is our second unelected PM in a row, literally no one voted for him and everyone is super fed up

I assume the trending tag is what made you ask?? I hope that I have answered that somewhat coherently?? Cause tbh I was also surprised that the UK politics was trending usually that only happens when our prime minister is outlasted by a lettuce or smth yk 💀

[reavenedges-lies]

Hey Ren, not sure if you know/can answer this, but can the four CWJ players charged return to their teams in the time between pleading and trial? With the trial(s) potentially being in 2026, I was just curious what would happen/what the league's next steps are. Is there anything in the CBA?

So I can answer this theoretically because there is precedent and there is a rule in the CBA that allows Bettman to suspend all of the players that are currently being charged.

However that in particular is not what I'm concerned with. My main point of conflict is whether or not the teams will terminate each of these players contracts. This happens fairly frequently we saw one with former Coyotes' player Alex Galchenyuk this past off season and again during the season with Corey Perry and the Chicago Blackhawks.

The problem here with both cases is that it depends on whether or not Bettman is willing to suspend them until this is over and we get a solid answer or if their teams are willing to terminate their contracts based on bad faith. Because we've seen the commissioner suspend people awaiting trial prior (LAK Voynov he was suspended without pay just hours after being arrested on suspected domestic violence. Never playing a game again before going back to Russia without being put through deportation) just like we've seen him ignore similar issues (Varlomov the year prior in COL was allowed to keep playing after being arrested for suspicion of 2nd degree kidnapping and 3rd degree assault).

The NHL is less than stellar when it comes to consistency but we do have precedent and we do already know the IIHF stated that the 2018 world Junior champion team would not be allowed to play in international competition. Of course now the question with that is whether or not the rest of the team not being actively charged will be allowed to play.

I'm sorry if this doesn't actually answer any of your questions but a lot of it is up in the air right now based on what Bettman decides to do. But if you do have any other questions feel free to ask

[star-trek-pop-quiz]

Star Trek POP-QUIZ #48

( 17 / 09 / 2024 )

Question 1. Which two animals' mating cycles does Spock compare Pon Farr to? a. Eel-Birds b. Sea Turtles c. Mugato d. Salmon

Bonus Question: Where do these animals come from?

Question 2. TRUE OR FALSE The episode 'Amok Time' has a Star Trek "Fotonovel".

Question 3. What Vulcan word means 'Stop'? a. Ahn-Woon b. Lak Noy c. Kroykah d. Lirpa

Bonus Question: Which of these is actually a Vulcan weapon?

Question 4. What is the percentage difference between the number of Female fanfic writers between 1970 and 1973? a. 5% b. 7% c. 24% d. Unrecorded.

Question 5. Fill-in Question! Allegedly, what month was the first large Star Trek fandom gathering?

Bonus Question: What year?

Score: __/ 5 + 3 bonus ( Answers under cut )

Question 1. a. Eel-Birds d. Salmon

+ Regulus V, Earth.

Question 2. TRUE.

Question 3. c. Kroykah

+ a. Ahn-Woon d. Lirpa

Question 4. b. 7%

"83% of Star Trek fan fiction authors were female by 1970, and 90% by 1973."

Question 5. April.

+ 1967.

[sergeifyodorov]

favorite current player from every team?

>:]

BOS - pasta (love hate relationship) (only bruin i can fully embrace when leafs arent playing them tbh)

BUF - i have few strong feelings towards most sabres but i think ras dahlin. because he sucks <3

DET - moris.... alex lyon close second tbh

FLA - sergei bobrovsky. see boston

MTL - slaykovsky (or arber maybe?)

OTT - claude.

TBL - this is a difficult one but my beautiful eyebrowless mother steven stamkos probably numero uno

TOR - auston (virgo)

CAR - seth jarvis, who is great because unlike the deep jock bro attitude that permeates seemingly every other hockey boy, or even the slight self-importance of the various and sundry catholic school types, he possesses the good-natured self-deprecation instincts of a right proper Normal Bitchass Gen Z

CBJ - i am a patrik laine shooter forever and always

NJD - nico. he's hot

NYR - igor because that man is both an elite goaltender AND a man with some of the most beautiful eyes on the planet. sympathies to my fellow only child of divorce artemi panarin also

NYI - barzy...?

PHI - if i didn't say teekay id be rounded up in the streets and shot. good thing it's teekay though

WSH - class of 15 instincts say dylan first overall pick disease and my dick say ovi

ARI - SOOOO hard to choose because i need firmly for alex kerfoot to know that i want him to come back to leafland but also clayton keller is out there... clay. picking clay

CHI - bedsy obviously. eyebrow twins <3

COL - good stick lehky the universe may be committed to making ppl forget about you constantly by making you get injured all the time. but EYE have not forgotten

DAL - wyatt johnston my english classmate <- before you ask. no i have never actually met this man it's a joke about him being my age and torontonian

MIN - flower

NSH - difficult choice... ror and evangelista both delights but juuse saros... juuse saros my beloved

STL - vladik tarasenko. he's still a blue in my HEART ok actual real answer is brayden schenn but i wish the blues tanked for and successfully got celebrini or bedard or something because like. their current Narrative Relevance is being "jordan binnington's team" and that's not a fate any hockey team deserves

WPG - i think we should ask hockey players who the most underrated player in the league is again but we should tell them beforehand if they pick sasha barkov they get pepper sprayed. anyway if im a hockey player in that situation im answering nik ehlers

ANA - that adorable child with the stutter leo carlson

CGY - naz

EDM - connie

LAK - kopi

SJS - it USED to be duke but now we can't have nice things (loving happy family etc) so purely because of various sharks and sharks-adjacent mutuals i have, im taking a hard turn into creaturehood and picking ekky

SEA - who is on this team

VAN - quinnifer always forever no doubt about it

VGK - the spiritual and transgender bond i share with jack eichel cannot be broken

[puckpocketed]

we're in the washing machine the way we gettin cycled on ultra. HELLO

[uma1ra]

DUA FOR INCREASE AND BLESSINGS IN WEALTH & CHILDREN

To supplicate for ourselves say:

اللَّهُمَّ أَكْثِرْ مَالَي وَوَلَدَي، وَبَارِكْ لَي فيما أعطيتني

Allahumma akthir mali wa waladi, wa barik-li fima a’taitani

O Allah increase my wealth and offspring and bless me in what you have provided for me

For someone in front of you (in brackets for plural):

اللَّهُمَّ أَكْثِرْ مَالَكَ (مَالَكُم) وَوَلَدَكَ (وَوَلَدَكُم)، وَبَارِكْ لَكَ (وَبَارِكْ لَكُم) فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَكَ (فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَكُم)

Allahumma akthir malak (malakum) wa waladak (wa waladakum), wa barik-lak (wa barik-lakum) fima a’taitak (fima a’taitakum)

O Allah increase his/her (their) wealth and offspring and bless him/her (them) in what you have provided for him/her (them)

For someone not present (in brackets for plural):

اللَّهُمَّ أَكْثِرْ مَالَهُ (مالَهُم) وَوَلَدَهُ (وَوَلَدَهُم)، وَبَارِكْ لَهُ (وَبَارِكْ لَهُم) فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَهُ (فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَهُم)

Allahumma akthir malahu (malahum) wa waladahu (wa waladahum), wa barik-lahu (wa barik-lahum) fima a’taitahu (fima a’taitahum)

O Allah increase his/her (their) wealth and offspring and bless him/her (them) in what you have provided for him/her (them)

It is proven from the below hadith that we can make dua for increase in wealth and children:

From Qatada who said: I heard Anas saying: I heard Umm Sulaym who said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! Make Dua’ to Allah for Anas’, The Messenger -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- said: ‘O Allah increase his wealth and offspring and bless him in what you have provided for him.’ [Collected by Bukhari 6334 and others]

Al-Albani Commented:

There are many benefits in this hadeeth, I will mention some of them briefly, except where detail is necessary:

1- That supplicating for increase in wealth and offspring is something which is legislated.

Bukhari has a chapter heading for this hadeeth: ‘Chapter: Supplicating for blessings in having lots of wealth and offspring.’

2- And that wealth and offspring are a blessing and goodness if Allaah -Tabaraka wa Ta’ala is obeyed in respect to them. How misguided is the one who tries to limit how many children they have, using so many different means, like birth control or regulating it, let alone aborting the foetus and for the most insignificant reasons, and obtaining Fatawa to make their actions permissible !!

3- Allah answered the Dua’ of His Prophet –sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam– for Anas, and it became reality, until he became the one with the most wealth and offspring from amongst the Ansar. …..

[defeatsthem]

I mean....That's all up to you, Shaun.//~waves~

"I should've known it was you, dollface." He can't help but smile in her direction, leaning his shoulder against the wall as he provides her with his undived attention for the time being.

[darthkvznblogs]

I think you've already answered this, but searching in Tumblr is a pain, but does Galactus exist in the K-verse? And if so, is he too a cosplaying Celestial, some native god or Ultimate style Gah Lak Tus?

Yeah, I get’cha on the search function. I try to put these answers down on a google doc after the fact sometimes and unless I go down my own feed chronologically, it’s hopeless.

Galactus exists, in what I hope is a fairly accurate representation of his comics counterpart. He’s not a cosplaying Celestial (lol, I like that) or a native god, but rather a unique cosmic entity that spawned when the 199999 universe was created. As you said, I’ve mentioned before that he’s kind of the equivalent of a cosmic natural disaster, akin to a hurricane or earthquake on a galactic scale. The Herald of Galactus seeks worlds for him to consume, and within a set amount of time, the Devourer comes. There’s a dedicated fleet in the Nova Empire whose sole purpose it is to track Galactus and evacuate any sapient beings he might consume, preserving the unique biosphere of the world about to be lost.

[hungrydolphin91]

Talestober 2023 Day 6: A Curse to Bear

There was really only one character I could have answered this with 😅 I love my unlucky pirate malak so so much. Originally I was gonna use this chance to plug my Elezen fic "To Walk With the Reaper" but then I remembered I have a fun AU where Eizen is a counselor for malakhim/seraphim with "cursed" domains like Dezel and Symonne, along with 5 stat-lowering Normin (their names are Wiek, Deebuhf, Flihmsey, Fiebul, and Lak). If I were to ever run with this idea it'd probably be a comic, but I do have a snippet of dialogue from one of Coach Eizen's lessons:

Eizen: "You all think of your domains as curses, that anyone around you will only suffer from your presence. But, every coin has another side." *he flips his*

Dezel: "Yeah, but the other side doesn't matter if you only land tails."

*Eizen scowls*

Eizen: "'Doesn't matter'? 'DOESN'T MATTER'?! That kind of narrow minded thinking is EXACTLY why you can't accept the way you are. You can't see the nuances of life."

Dezel: "I can't see anything at all, bastard. And positive thinking isn't going to change that."

Eizen: "You don't have to be positive. Hell, you don't even have to be happy if you'd rather wallow in self-pity. How you live is always your choice. But if you want to change your fate instead of moaning about it for centuries then first you need to broaden your horizons.

"Your homework: look for a human who you think might benefit from being your vessel. You don't have to bring them here, just be prepared to discuss your choice next week."

[larsnicklas]

hellloooo!!

💣 Blow it up: pick one NHL team. Change its name, mascot, logo/colors. Tell me why you chose the new elements.

🌟 What are your five favorite things about yourself? Come on, don’t be shy. Give me 5.

🪽 Name a NHL player whom you would: Sacrifice to the Gods, Do Hard Crimes With, and Save the World With.

🏛️ Here, have a soap box. What is one thing you feel really strongly about that you think everyone should know?

🎶 What would your goal song be and why?

💣 Blow it up: pick one NHL team. Change its name, mascot, logo/colors. Tell me why you chose the new elements. i just rebranded the b.lackhawks! but i'll do it again. it's the windy city! chicago's team is now the chicago zephyr! this time we'll do a full rebrand, colors and jerseys and all. i like the idea of the guys in black. black is such an Intimidating color you know... i think it makes guys look bigger, more imposing. so let's do black and light gray and light aqua blue. gray and blue being vaguely... wind colors. i'm imagining the blue accents being glittery like lak and vgk glittery silver and gold accents respectively. i think the logo is like a simplified swirl type thing. :)

🌟 What are your five favorite things about yourself? Come on, don’t be shy. Give me 5. hehe ok. i make good friends and hopefully am a good friend also <3, i am really hard to stress out — i'm very level headed! i have a good eye for graphic design and also i'm a good graphic designer. i cook well and love doing it! and also my hair is nice.

🪽 Name a NHL player whom you would: Sacrifice to the Gods, Do Hard Crimes With, and Save the World With. sacrifice to the gods: i know i said i wasn't going to sacrifice anyone last time i answered this. but now i'm watching caps pens. so i'm a different person. goodbye sid you had a good run. do hard crimes: ok i think. i would like to go on a crime spree with nikita kucherov. i think it would be fun. AND i think we would get away with it. save the world with: come along tj oshie. we have a world to save. (we'd do it. it'd be kind of like..... touch and go. but we'd do it. and morale would NEVER waver.)

🏛️ Here, have a soap box. What is one thing you feel really strongly about that you think everyone should know? thought about talking about nicklas but i talk about him so much already i guess i'll switch it up!!! do you people know that matthew tkachuk is really genuinely one of the best playmakers in the league. like he is really good at hockey lol. i don't think the tumblr/twt fandom perception of him is like... correct! like for instance i feel like i see people act like b.rady is the de facto better player and at this point in their careers.... that's just not correct. he's bigger! he's got a better shot. but matthew is craftier, a better playmaker, a better passer. and this is likely partly a product of being older and b.rady will grow into this too, but rn matthew walks the line of antagonizing the other team without going too far really well. he stirs things up and then skates away and picks up an assist on the power play. he's the best american winger in the game right now and i mean it!

🎶 What would your goal song be and why? hehe i previously said glory and gore by lorde BUT i'll throw in hooked on a feeling by blue suede. i think she'd get the crowd GOIN