#man this had been sitting in ny drafts for a while now

[my-name-is-apollo]

Two things! 1. Thanks for reporting on Apollo, he is my favorite god by far!! 😭

2. In an old post where you talked about the type of relationship that the main gods had with each other you said that there was a lot to talk about the relationship between Zeus AND Apollo!! Can you take advantage and tell it?

I can definitely talk about Apollo and Zeus!

Basically, Apollo is Zeus' favorite, his pride and joy. I know a lot of people believe Athena is the favorite, but I say Apollo is just as beloved, if not more and I'll tell you why I think so. I'll start by putting together various myths that surround both of them.

1) Zeus' protectiveness

Starting with Apollo's (and Artemis') birth, even though Zeus didn't directly help Leto, in one version, he asked Zephyrus to carry Leto away to Poseidon, so that Poseidon could protect her. He also managed to calm down Hera by the time the twins were born.

And when later Apollo killed Python, according to Pindar, Gaia wanted to send him to tartarus. But obviously that didn't happen and we can assume that it was because Zeus intervened on his son's behalf.

In Euripides' play, there's a particularly cute segment where Apollo, as a little boy, went to Zeus, wrapped his arms around him and supplicated him to deal with Gaia who has been interfering with his oracular business. And of course Zeus agrees and makes Gaia lose her prophetic influence on mortals.

There's also a version of Coronis' tale where Ischys, the guy with whom Coronis had cheated on Apollo with, got killed by Zeus.

In the satires written by Lucian, Zeus got defensive when Momos made fun of Apollo.

Lastly, this is just my interpretation, but in stories where Zeus intervenes in a couple of fights - the Apollo vs Heracles , Apollo vs Idas - makes me feel like Zeus did it because he was overly protective of Apollo (just like did with Athena - Pallas)

2) The way Zeus appreciates Apollo

In Iphigenis in Tauris, when Apollo killed Python and took over the delphic oracle for himself, Zeus is shown to have been proud that Apollo has started serious business at such a young age.

The opening of Homer's hymn to Pythian Apollo shows us Zeus welcoming Apollo and personally pouring a drink to his son. How sweet is that :3

In another scene where Apollo is entertaining the gods, Zeus and Leto together are shown proudly watching their son (Hera is absent oop-).

In the Iliad, whenever he commands Apollo to do something, he calls him "Dear Phoebus" (I've also seen it translated as "friend Phoebus) which is very sweet and shows that Zeus is quite fond of Apollo.

And in Lucian's work, he also appreciated Apollo by telling Momos how much work his son has to do everyday, and how difficult the job is for him.

3) Zeus grants a lot of Apollo's requests

even when he's personally offended. Take the story of king Periphas, whose reputation had personally offended Zeus and he wanted to destroy the king and his entire kingdom, but when Apollo asked Zeus to not do that, he ceased from killing them. In the case of Prometheus too, Zeus agreed to free the Titan when Apollo begged for it.

When Apollo appointed Hermes as the messenger god, Zeus approved that.

He also resurrected Asclepius on Apollo's request, in spite of Apollo killing the cyclops .

And here is what sealed my belief that Apollo is no less of a favorite than Athena: once Athena was using mantic dice to give out prophecies, and Apollo was unhappy with this. He complained to Zeus about it and Zeus made dice divination inferior (and Athena just threw away the dice lol)

Now this is again my opinion, but the whole thing with "Apollo tricking the Fates into postponing Admetus' death" is quite a serious offense, but surprisingly Apollo does not get punished for that. I like to think that that's because Zeus gave him the permission for that (maybe not openly, but more discreetly).

4) Apollo has some favorite child privileges.

He is said to be sitting on the immediate right of Zeus (according to Callimachus), he gets to use Zeus' lightning bolts and the aegis too (like Athena does), and he is the only one allowed to read the will/mind of Zeus.

5) Apollo acts as Zeus' right hand man

Now this could be said of Hermes and Athena also too, but I'm pointing this out because people tend to easily forget it. In the Iliad, Zeus sent Apollo to help the Trojans, since he was secretly rooting for Troy ,in spite of taking a neutral stance, and Athena was fighting against them. He also entrusted his son Sarpedon's body to Apollo and asked him to clean it up and hand it over to Thanatos and Hypnos.

In Orphic theogony, a similar responsibility is given to Apollo - he is asked by Zeus to bury the remains of Zagreus.

In the account given by Plato on soulmates, after Zeus tore apart the humans, he tasked Apollo with stitching them and bringing them back to life.

And of course the whole deal with Apollo's oracles is to pass on the will of Zeus to the mortals. Apollo is basically serving as an extension of Zeus. Arguably, that is one of the most important responsibilities and Apollo was the one Zeus trusted it with. He also actively prevents other gods from taking away this role from Apollo.

6) Apollo's rebellious nature and how Zeus deals with it.

In Alcaeus' hymn, when Apollo is born, Zeus adorns him with a golden headband, gives him a golden chariot driven by swans and asks him to go to Delphi to establish his laws. But Apollo instead just takes the chariot and flies away to Hyperborea and stays there for a whole year (rebellious from the get go XD) Of course, Zeus doesn't punish Apollo for this.

(I'm not bringing up Apollo and Poseidon's servitude under Laomedon because even though it is believed to have been a result of Apollo and Poseidon rebelling against Zeus, we don't really have evidence to say that that was the case. I only vaguely remember there being evidence of it in some scholia but I'm not able to find it at the moment so. Also in the Iliad especially, the coup - whose participants are Hera, Athena and Poseidon- and the servitude under Laomedon are clearly two separate, unrelated events)

But when Apollo killed Cyclopes in retaliation for Zeus killing Asclepius, Zeus intended to throw him into tartarus. This was an instance where he was clearly very upset with his son, and probably felt betrayed too. Even so, he changed his mind thanks to Leto, which makes me feel like he did not fully intend to carry out that punishment, and it was more a decision made in the spur of the moment. And as the alternate punishment, he made Apollo serve a slave and spend time on the Earth. This is in contrast with say, Hera - who was tied and dangled above tartarus. Zeus could have done something similar with Apollo because while one could argue that exiling and making Apollo a slave is pretty humiliating, it's still not as bad as being hung over tartarus. Besides, Zeus made Apollo serve under a very kind hearted king (and by the looks of it, Apollo actually enjoyed his time there, being in love with Admetus and all). So I think even after all that had happened, Zeus still forgave Apollo and went easy on him and even agreed to grant godhood to Asclepius on Apollo's request.

7) Apollo as Zeus' eldest son

Apollo is Zeus' first son in Hesoid's Theogony (born after 19 daughters). Putting it in the context of ancient Greek society, that would make Apollo quite important for Zeus in a way that no other child can be. And while Homer doesn't explicitly say that Apollo is the first son, it is quite evident in his works (Homeric hymn to Apollo, the Iliad) that Apollo's image is that of a first born son, - he is the only one who has access to Zeus' will, all the gods except Zeus trembled when he entered Olympus, Zeus often turned to him for help during the trojan war.

("Apollo" by Fritz Graf)

Of course, Zeus is never going to give away his throne to anyone and Apollo has no serious intent of overthrowing his father, but some scholars share the view that Homer paints Apollo as a potential usurper of Zeus, but also emphasizes how Apollo is very much on Zeus' side, using his powers for Zeus and not against him.

(^Source for this bit: "The Homeric Hymns: Interpretative Essays" by Andrew Faulkner & "Nursemaid to a Monster: Typhon and Pytho in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo" by Kelly E. Shannon)

Moreover, Apollo being Zeus' first son and sort of an unofficial crown prince would neatly explain all the ways in which Zeus favors Apollo over his other children.

Lastly, this is my take on them: They both obviously have a strong bond founded on love and respect for each other. The road wasn't and isn't always smooth for them. I like to think that Apollo held some bitterness towards Zeus for not helping Leto (before eventually letting it go), but he still wants his father's attention and approval. In return, Zeus has complete trust in Apollo, which is why he entrusts a lot of important duties to him. After all, he knows very well of Apollo's struggles and his efforts to rise to power. Zeus might sometimes be more stern on Apollo than he is on the others, but that's because he doesn't want anyone saying anything unpleasant about his son. I also think he doesn't entirely understand or approve of Apollo's extreme attachment to some humans, but he is ready to turn a blind eye as long as nothing drastic is happening (not without his permission at least lol). It's easy for some people to call Zeus a bad father, but we should also remember that despite being knowledgeable and wise, Apollo can be a difficult child to deal with - he is haughty, reckless. Messes with primordial deities and cosmic order, wears his heart on his sleeve, forgets his duties when he falls in love. It's like he is a perpetual teenager not only in appearance, but also at his heart lol and Zeus does try his best to deal with it in the best way possible :') But they do get along well most of the times and no matter how bad their once in a while conflicts can get, I think nothing is irreconcilable :)

(Here's a post where I've linked sources for a lot of the myths I've mentioned. If there's anything you want to know the source for, let me know)

[ash5monster01]

Truths of Our Past Series

Pairing: Older!Charlie Dalton x FemReader!Wife

Warnings: mentions of suicide, depression, depressing thoughts, past trauma, facing trauma, romance, understanding, fluff.

Summary: You had met Charlie in University, were married shortly after, and had become accustomed to a beautiful life together. When you receive a wedding invitation to one of Charlie’s previous classmates weddings you discover that Charlie had a dark past, one he had been trying to forget. In the midst of it all you try to help him through it while finding out that he’s not the guy you thought you married at all. Maybe he’s even better.

word count: 1.3k

Intro ←→ Part 1

Masterlist

You still remember the first time you had seen him. It was the beginning of Junior Year. Autumn of 1963. You had been riding the bus across Campus watching leaves fall from the trees. As most people your age conversed loudly over the latest parties and hardest assignments, five rows ahead of you sat a doe eyed boy wearing a beret and nose stuck in a book. Pride and Prejudice. You had never seen a male read Jane Austen before and at that seem to enjoy it. A smile crossed your face before your mind even caught up with your heart. Because somehow, just five rows ahead, was the man of your dreams. So you stood up on the moving bus, ignoring the complaints of elbows you bumped in the aisle, and sat next to him.

You smiled wide again as you thought of this. Watching that same boy sit across from you in the living room, readers rested low on his nose, and his eyes scanning the pages of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. You had now known the man across from you for six years, married for three. He still read like he did that day on the bus, transported to another world, not even a fire able to gain his attention. Love for him seeped out of you and you found yourself discarding your own book and standing to cross the living room. His eyes stayed trained on the page, unmoving until you were settled neatly in his lap.

“Well hello Mrs Dalton” his eyes finally met yours, an amused smirk painted across his features. He dropped the book once your arms curled around his neck, free hands now sneaking around your waist in return.

“Hi Mr Dalton” you smiled sweetly at him, nose nudging with his own as you removed the readers from his face.

“To what do I owe the pleasure in the presence of my beautiful wife” he asked calmly, lips pressing a soft kiss into your cheek. You smiled, snuggling closer.

“I missed you” you told him earnestly and he chuckled.

“I’m right here darling” he told you, not quite understanding what you had meant.

“Well your physical form is, yes. But your soul, that was somewhere in 1912 Brooklyn” you told him and he laughed, forehead pressing against your own.

“Williamsburg Brooklyn to be exact dear” he teased and you shoved his shoulder before curling back up into him, embracing the feeling of his warmth. His hand rose up your back, rubbing comfortably and now giving you his full attention. "What did you do today?"

"I wrote an article about the possibility of there being a draft, awfully depressing. Then I came home and talked to Chris on the phone before cooking dinner" Charlie smiled as you recounted your day, still writing for the NY Times under a pen name since you were a woman.

"How is Chris and Knoxie, and my favorite nephew Johnny?" Charlie asked, a fond smile on his face at the mention of his friends.

"Healthy, Knox got a promotion and Johnny got an A on his spelling test. Chris wants to enroll him in Welton but Knox isn't quite sure" you felt Charlie tense up at the mention of Welton, long and hard school days spent there now long behind him.

"If that old tool Nolan is still running the school I wouldn't want Johnathon there either" Charlie said, voice bitter in the warm air of the home. You sighed against him, wishing he talked about his time there more than he did.

"Chris said he retired three years ago, the only thing holding her back is not having Johnathon live with them, but he has such a bright future it might be a price worth paying" you explained but Charlie shook his head, eyes now dark and recalling a place in his heart he didn't quite like.

"I hope they think about it, Knox remembers what it was like" Charlie said and you felt guilty for bringing it up, you always felt guilty bringing up that place. Your life with him had always been in the heart of the big city and when the mentions of small town Vermont came up he was more tense, less him. You knew vague details, horror stories of lifeless teachers, and being expelled from school, losing a friend.

"You know Chris, she'd last a day before she brought him home and hugged him for a week straight. I never even figured the kid would go to Kindergarten considering she cried on the phone with me for an hour after leaving him there" you told him and finally Charlie was smiling again, laughing lightly at your accusation which was more than likely true. Chris was a helicopter parent, but Johnny was such a good kid.

"You’re probably right. She sure as hell loves that kid" Charlie said, bouncing his legs so you bounced in his lap. You giggled sweetly while looking up at him and he finally pressed his lips to yours.

"I'm going to get ready for bed, you coming?" you asked sweetly and he smiled before nodding and kissing you once more. His sweet and beautful flower.

"Right behind you, I'm just going to go through the mail on my desk and then I'll be there" he told you and you nodded while he helped you up from your spot on his lap. He watched as you disappeared down the hall into your shared bedroom. Once you were gone he pushed himself up to his feet and walked to his study. You had left the stack on mail in the center of his desk and he smiled as he sifted through the bills and letters from his mother in Paris. He only froze when he saw one with a Vermont return address.

Charlie felt his stomach drop over the thought of returning to Vermont. He had done it before, to see Knox and Chris. It wasn’t uncommon for him to be in attendance but every time it brought back memories he wished he could forget. Setting the invite down he realized there was a letter underneath the invite.

A week. A week in Vermont. Charlie hadn’t spent a whole week in Vermont since his Senior year of High School. Even as fear consumed him, heartache numbing his lungs, he pictured quiet and mousy Todd. The same Todd he watched grow from a shy boy to a successful man. The kind of guy you could never ever say no too. So Charlie sighed as he plopped into the chair of his desk and pulled out a piece of paper to respond.

And just like that Charlie agreed to visit the past but only because Todd Anderson asked him too. Dead Poets Honor. A promise Charlie would never break.

a/n: this is a possible series I was hoping to explore. If anyone would be interested please let me know and I would love to follow through the plot. Y/N will be used very little, it would be a short series that tugs on the heart strings. Any feedback would be appreciated greatly. please enjoy xx

[dorotharry]

tiny dancer ; prologue

Pairing: 40s!bucky barnes x fem!reader

Next Chapter

Word count: 2.3k

Warnings: kinda long for a prologue, fluff, not really much but please let me know if anything in this upsets you. 

Summary: After being drafted for the war in 1942, Bucky goes to the ballet a week before having to leave with his best friend Steve. There he becomes infatuated you with the prima ballerina of the show, and he just has to meet you before his last week in Brooklyn is up. He hopes one day you would meet again; little does it know it will be 72 years later.

A/N: This is my first Bucky fic, I thought of it last night and I was kind of excited to write it. Sorry if any of the information is wrong as well my knowledge of Ballet and Brooklyn/NY are limited. I’m not sure if there are any similar story types but feel is so please let me know and I’ll tag them for people to read in the next chapter. I hope you enjoy :) Feel free to let me know if you want to be tagged in the next chapter. 

Before everything - 1942

“Oh, come on Steve, come to the Ballet with me!” Bucky spoke enthusiastically, his arms pressed again the frame of Steve’s front door. “It’s my last week before I go.”

“And you couldn’t have just chose to go to a bar like any other normal man would a week before going to the war?” Steve responded looking sceptically at his best friend. Someone who he had never known to be interested in ballet.

“Because going to a bar filled with soldiers would be a bright choice for you,” sighed Bucky, “I’d rather not have to get into another fight…” Steve rolled his eyes and pursed his lips waiting for Bucky to continue. “Everyone in New York is talking about the Ballet! Don’t you want to feel cultured?” Bucky exclaimed moving away from the door frame. “Plus!, I got us pretty good seats if I do say so myself, what row was it again…?” He trailed off looking smugly at Steve. “…Oh, that’s right! Row three.”

“Too bad you couldn’t score front row,” responded Steve mimicking Bucky’s cocky attitude. Bucky huffed at his friend’s response. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” laughed Steve, “Fine if the ballet is where you want to go a week before you go, then the ballet is where we’re going, I guess.”

Bucky’s eyes lit up at his friends’ words. “Yes! This is going to be great, a night on the town, just two gentlemen going to see the ballet.” He grinned, Steve noting how happy he seemed to be going to the ballet; he wasn’t sure why. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 6pm”, Bucky spoke turning away from his still sceptical best friend.

“Okay then,” responded Steve watching him walk off.

Just as he’d said, Bucky had picked Steve up the next day, driving them to the theatre and making it there for 6:30. They wandered the foyer looking at all of the people dressed up to watch the performance like them. Many had already been a few times and were raving about what they were most excited for again. For Bucky and Steve though, this is new territory. Both of them glad though that they were doing something new. They made their way into the theatre finding their seats, as everyone began to pile in, ready for the show.

“I’ve heard that the lead female ballet dancer is meant to be very good”, whispered Bucky to Steve as the lights began to dim.

“You mean the Prima Ballerina?” Whispered back Steve correcting him.

Bucky looked at Steve with an amused look. “For someone who didn’t want to come you sure know a lot about ballet”, chuckled Bucky placing his focus back towards the stage.

Steve sighed and looked back at him, “I don’t know a lot of ballet, that’s just common knowled—” He was shushed by Bucky as he tapped him on the shoulder multiple times in order to tell him to be quiet. Steve looked towards the stage again as the orchestra began playing.

Bucky watched as the curtains opened, the stage filled with ballet dancers.

Not long into the performance you would enter, nervous side stage as your friends reminded you of how brilliant you would be. This wasn’t your first time performing but every time was just as nerve-wracking as the last. This was your passion of course, and you wanted nothing more than to be perfect.  You looked down at your tutu, a bright red tutu, a colour that stood out amongst the rest of the cast who were dressed in whites and greens. Even the male lead was only dressed in white. You particularly like your pointe shoes the best; they were a stunning bright red to match the rest of your costume.

Shaken from your thoughts you heard the beginning of your entrance within the music, jumping up and down briefly before getting into position to enter. Then you did, getting into character instantly.

Bucky gasped as his eyes followed you as you entered the stage so gracefully. He had heard you were a magnificent dancer, but he didn’t know you were so beautiful. Composing himself in his seat he watched as you were so engrossed in the music and the dance. It was obvious you loved what you did.

As the ballet continued his eyes never lost focus from you. He even thought there was one time when you had looked at him in the audience, but he knew that couldn’t be true, someone so perfect would never draw their focus from their work to look at him.

Even during the interval Bucky was in his own world as he thought about how captivating you had been. Barely listening but nodding as Steve spoke to him about his thoughts of the show.

When the show finally ended the crowd stood up applauding the performance. Eagerly so did Bucky, Steve following. As you bowed many people threw roses and he mentally cursed himself for not bringing any himself. The curtains closed and the theatre lights slowly came back on.

“Well I must say I did enjoy that,” spoke Steve as they exited the theatre, breaking the silence and pulling Bucky from his thoughts, he stopped walked and looked at Steve.

“Steve, call me crazy but I have to meet her, I have to know her name.”

Steve looked at Bucky and sighed knowing he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “Alright pal, why don’t we wait near the door the cast exit from?”

Bucky practically jumped up and down as he followed his friend, who somehow knew where the cast door was, although it wasn’t a hard guess. Just down the alleyway next to the theatre.

-     

After the performance, adrenaline was running through you like crazy. You loved this feeling. Tonight’s audience was marvellous, and they held nothing back when applauding you all for your performance.

When you performed you couldn’t see much of the audience due to the stage lights, but you could see up to around the 4th row. While you had stopped at the end one of your solos in the first act your eyes had briefly stumbled upon a very handsome man with brunette hair. But you didn’t get a great look because as soon as one song ended the next one started.

You had removed your costume and let your hair out of its bun brushing it out and attempting to make it look as presentable as you could. You got into a nice dress which you had arrived in, keeping your makeup on along with your bright red lipstick. Grabbing your bag, you said goodbye to your fellow colleagues as you exited the backstage area and entered the alleyway.

As you got to where the alleyway ended, and the city sidewalk started you were met with the same brunette you had noticed during the show. “Miss, I’m terribly sorry to bother you after your show but I just had to introduce myself to such a beautiful and talented woman.” Rambled Bucky.

You blushed and looked down as your dress, “Why thank you…” you trailed off waiting for the handsome stranger to tell you, his name. He seemed a bit distractedd looking at your eyes that he didn’t catch on though, causing his smaller blonde friend next to him to nudge him.

“Oh, sorry my names Bucky,” he replied letting out a nervous chuckle, “and this is Steve,” gesturing to his best friend.

Steve raised his arm to shake your hand, “Sorry miss but what was your name again? Bucky here forgot to tell me.”

You raised your arm and shook his hand, letting out a giggle over the two men in front of you, “My names y/n”.

You looked back over at Bucky who seemed to be going over something in his brain. “I wanted to know if you wanted to get a drink or some food or something with me?” What Bucky thought would be a confident question turned more into a rambling mess. Gosh he thought you were pretty.

You blushed, “How am I to know you’re not a murderer?” Raising an eyebrow at the nervous man in front of you.

Steve interjected this time, “I can confirm y/n, he’s not a murderer. Honestly, he’s usually a lot better at flirting than this, I’ve never seen him look so nervous.”

Bucky sent a death glare at Steve before looking back at you. You laughed again, grinning ear to ear, “Well I am pretty hungry, so I won’t say no, especially when a ladies’ man is so nervous to talk to me.” You smirked.

Now it was Bucky’s turn to grin, “great!” He responded. “I just have to drop Steve home and then we’re all set… Did you have a car?” He asked.

“Nope,” you spoke back, “so… do you think you’d be able to drop me home afterwards?” you asked, “You know considering I’m being so nice to a stranger.”

“I was going to offer anyway,” he replied signalling you to follow. You chatted with the two men as you walked to the car, when you got there, you insisted Steve sit in the front considering he was being dropped home. Then once you arrived at his, you both said your goodbyes to Steve. “I hope to see you again soon,” you yelled from the car as you sat in the front waving.

Steve waved back, as Bucky drove off to one of his favourite bars/restaurants beeping his horn at Steve as he left.

The rest of the night went smoothly, you both ate and chatted for hours, feeling like time barely existed with one another. It may sound cheesy but both of you felt like you were meant to meet one another. The only downside was that Bucky had told you he would be leaving for the war at the end of week, so you both knew it could never be anything more until at least the war ended.

It wasn’t until you realised the time that you knew you needed to get home, being Prima Ballerina wasn’t an easy job and it required getting at least some sleep. Bucky understood and drove you home continuing to talk about everything together. He even confessed he wished he had of gotten you some roses, to which you responded that how would he have known to do that. Of course, Bucky being a gentleman he still was disappointed he didn’t, even if you didn’t mind.

When you got home you thanked him for the wonderful night. “I’m going to see you again before I go,” he said from in the car, as you stood by the passenger window.

“I hoped you’d say that” you replied, “Good night Bucky,” you blew him a kiss, and his cheeks turned a bright pink.

“Goodnight y/n” he replied, grinning like a fool. He watched you walk into your apartment to make sure you got in safe before driving off. Gosh you were perfect.

-   

It was finally the day he left.

Just like he promised you did see him again. After each show through the week, he would bring you a rose. Each time making you blush.

Most days he just drove you home and you chatted in the car, but a couple of times you got dinner again and made the most of the time you had with your new friend. You wished he didn’t have to go; you wished every time you saw him you could kiss him. But that felt like it would complicate things, you hadn’t known him long enough to put yourself through that kind of heart ache.

You and Steve were at the train station saying goodbye to Bucky. It was hard for Steve, he wanted nothing more than to go with his best friend and fight for his country, but he couldn’t. They didn’t want him.

For you though, you had only known Bucky a week, you had grown so comfortable with him, so it was hard seeing him leave, not knowing if he’d come back. He knew more about you than some of your closest friends that you had known for years, he was just that kind of guy, someone you could trust.

Bucky wanted nothing more than to just grab you and kiss you, but he didn’t know if that’s what you wanted. Steve had told him the day before to just go for it, but he was unsure. He didn’t want to put you through the heart ache. As he picked up his bags, Steve gave him a giant hug, you stepped forward and did the same hoping you wouldn’t have to let him go.

Releasing each other from your embrace, you both looked into each other’s eyes. Your eyes filled with water, and you could tell Bucky was holding back tears.

“Goodbye Steve, goodbye y/n” he spoke sadly as he began to walk towards the train.

Steve looked at you as if to say, ‘are you sure you don’t want to just go for it?’ and you sighed. He was right, what was there to lose? Bugger this you thought, “Bucky!” you yelled running towards him, “You forgot something!” He turned around confused only to be greeted by you grabbing his face and softly yet hungrily pressing your lips to his. He sighed into the kiss dropping his bags, he didn’t push you away instead he grabbed your waist and pulled you closer. 

This kiss was nothing like any of the kisses you had experienced before, if fact it made you feel the same way ballet did. It was the same for Bucky, none of the kisses he had ever shared with anyone felt like this.

You finally stopped and parted, resting your foreheads on one another’s.  

“Don’t worry doll, I’ll see you again.” He spoke softly to you.

You stepped back as a few tears fell down your face, nodding. He gave you a charming Bucky smile before picking his bags back up and turning away. You walked back to Steve giving him a hug, as he watched his best friend leave him for the first time in his life.

You wanted nothing more than to believe that you would see each other again.

Little did you know you would, only 72 years later.

Chapter One (next chapter)

[rockcrow20]

Reasons I Still Believe in Kaylor - (Updated 3rd March)

Observations since the red “wedding” that make me still believe that Kaylor are still together.

Thank you to everyone in this fandom for there contributions, posts, observations and secret government agency level clue finding skills. (X = links to relevant posts).

Oct 22nd 2018 - Taylors forget me knots flower t-shirt while in OZ..X

Oct 31st 2018 - New Video in Karlie’s Kitchen and she still had the Kaylor photos up.. X

Nov 9th 2018 - Tay sings out of the woods on Tour and Karlie and co post photos in the woods.. X

Nov 16th 2018 - Taylors matching Karlie Clutch at the AMA’s.. X. also kinda matching outfits..X

Jan 15th 2019 - Karlie’s Astrology post with Sagittarius book shown underneath.. X

Feb 25th 2019 - Karlie rocking a Tye Dye t-shirt at Paris Week with Gigi in tow, hello lover merch and also similar to a shirt Tay was seen in also another PR episode themed tye dye (in 2020).. X X X

Feb 28th 2019 - Hanging out with Gigi at PFW X X X X

March 3rd 2019 - Karlie was in Paris for fashion week - Off White walk on 28th Feb then mysteriously posts that she was passing through NY on the 3rd of March before appearing back in Paris for the Stella McCartney show on the 4th March. Where did she mysteriously fly to and why point it out that she was back in America for some unknown reason - plus we know beginning of march is significant for them aka Big Sur or Love locked down...X X X X

March 14th 2019 - Taylor leaving/disappearing early from the Iheart awards the same night Project Runway Premiered..X

March 14th 2019 - Watch what happens live - Karlie getting asked about Taylor - there is a smirk..X

March 14th 2019 - Interesting anon telling Kaylors not to give up.. X

March 31st 2019 - Tay and KK liking the same Ciara post - X

April 2019 maybe??- The i need to make a phone call when filming ME when adopting Benjamin..X

April 16th 2019 - The Lover Butterfly Mural - 2 lady birds, giraffe print, similar previous to karlie VS wings..X X

April 2019 - Berlin video of karlie playing piano with “a interesting” female voice laughing at the end and saying you always.. X X

April 2019 - The man in the umbrella in the ME music video - looks like someone covered up with makeup, could potentially to be karlie?? Or is it Taylor giving us a nod the the Man music video?? X

May 18th 2019 - Tays ‘we’ slip on the Ellen show then saying its just me and the cats.. X X

May 30th 2019 - Karlie using ME! and 2AM in a story.. X X

June 3rd 2019 - Tay wearing a yellow T-shirt with her Wango Tango rainbow outfit.. X

June 6th 2019 - Karlie using a BBF vogue video gif.. X X

June 17th 2019 - THE HAND in the YNTCD teaser video - no one can convince me this isn't Karlie’s hand.. X X X X X

June 17th 2019 - Lover straw in the YNTCD video similar to Karlie’s bride straw. Also the Mint mojito it’s sitting in linking to Karlie’s 73 Question video where she says Mojitos are a favourite..X X

June 2019 - YNTCD with Taylor carrying out a Daisy from her burning trailer plus Daisies making a number of appearances.. X X X X

June 2019 - Taylor wearing the french fries suit in the YNTCD video then karlie saying in reply to a fan “not pregnant just love french fries!!!!” X

June 25th 2019 - KK’s Dad liking certain comments on the Wyoming stunt..X

July 4th 2019 - Abigail liking a KK insta post after the SB drama started.. X

Aug 3rd 2019 - Tay posts Lover Heart crispies pic on KK’s birthday.. X

Aug 16th 2019 - Release date of Lover Track being 13 days after KK’s bday and also track 3 aka KK birthday day also its 3.41 long (3+4+1=8).. X X X

Aug 16th 2019 - Lover lyric video with the kaylor sparklers video plus potential daises and big sur falcon pic.. X X

Aug 18th 2019 - Karlie listening to lover track on her Spotify X X X X

Aug 22nd 2019 - Lover video fishbowl scene X Also the snow-globe imagery and selling it in her merch.” dancing in a snow-globe round and round “ VSFS 2013 X X X

Aug 23rd 2019 - Lover release date may coincide with a certain date range where Kaylor may have gotten engaged.. X X

Aug 23rd 2019 - Lover album in general - Cornelia street, Lover, False God etc etc we all know it plus the release letters all over NY..X X

Sept 9th 2019 - The E news rundown video X

Sept 10th 2019 - Lover Paris Concert Mural ummm a polaroid, locket..X X X X

Nov 14th 2019 _ Karlie’s off the wall post during when SB was not letting Tay perform her songs - which i think is her being off the wall angry.. X

Nov 14th 2019 - Selena liking a Hung Vanngo post of Karlie..X

Nov 13th 2019 - Lover remix released on the anniversary of their first meeting VS2013 - ���the girl in my story has always been you”..X X X

Nov 21st 2019 - The orange girl In YNTCD along with the Karlie Vogue cover in orange with cactus jewellery.. X X

Nov 25th 2019 - Use of a ballerina for her Lover AMA performance and then karlie also mentioning said ballerina months later in a insta story.. X X

Dec 4th 2019 - Taylor Wearing the VS angel ring on the kiss gate anniversary X X X X X

Dec 6th 2019 - Christmas Tree Farm song lyrics and happiness

Dec 12th 2019 - Taylor posting a pic of her with the huge cats door and then low and behold the following PR episode Karlie walks through a giant door for a Cats promo episode.. X X X X

Jan 2020 - PR episode with Cyndi Lauper aka photo with Taylor at Billboard Women awards and also having Laverne Cox as a guest too..X X

Jan 2nd 2020 - Martha liking KK’s post celebrating her vogue covers which includes the Kaylor one..X

Jan 23rd 2020 - The use of the song Karlie what you want, (karlie would you want to) song in Miss Americana when talking about her partner also the home video.. X X also this X

Jan/Feb 2020 - The cake recently that Karlie brought to a party that looks exactly like Taylor’s birthday cake from her pic in the studio with Jack plus the cake in Miss Americana X X X

Feb 6th 2020 - The song release of the Man and KK having a suits themed PR episode..X X X

Feb 12th 2020 - KK’s Daisy coat X

Feb 18th 2020 - The drawn Bethany Richards picture of the rainbow dress Taylor wore to the NFL draft on KK’s Galantines insta story..X

Feb 19th 2020 - KK scrapbook present has it open on a page featuring a daisy and giraffe in her thank you video X X

Feb 20th 2020 - Martha - Lily Ashley liking a Gigi disposable acct post of Bella with karlie in the background X X X

Feb 25th 2020 - Potentially the orange hand in the Man promo pic being Karlie’s X

Feb 27th 2020 - Photographed backstage chatting to Gigi at PFW off white walk X X X

Feb 27th 2020 - Taylor posting the picture of the Man scene where she leaves a brunette female in bed X X X X X

Feb 27th 2020 - The man video - “secret moments in a crowded room” with two women secretly touching each other on the train X X

Feb 27th 2020 - The similarity or shade with the wedding scene aka fake wedding no celebrant bride not happy during the cake scene X X X X X X

Feb 27th 2020 - Louboutin shoes - karlie at a show (24th feb), the man MV Tylers shoes, kimbys workplace X X X

Feb 29th 2020 - Hanging out with Cara at PFW after Cara has been quite vocal in her support of Taylor. X X X 

Feb 29th 2020 - Cara twice posting pics with Karlie X X X X Also previous post of Cara’s featuring Tay liked by Karlie X

Karlie Being seen with Cara Lily and Gigi in recent times X

Lily mentioning Karlie in youtube videos and liking her posts. X

Feb 29th 2020 - iwanthermidnights getting a taylor like (her second one) X X X now getting a karlie like on a insta comment

Mar 2nd 2020 - Karlie replying to youtube comments made by kaylor/taylor acct names X

General - 

These Karlie wine photos just give me kaylor feels X X X X X

Karlie continuously latergraming and the Fiordland spelling mistake incident plus always periods of days where she is  MIA aka christmas and coming back looking a bit sun reddened and wearing jumpers, posting dark pictures.. X

Often posting and tweeting within minutes of each other eg kobe posts etc

Karlie’s taking a lot photos from the rooftops in New York City and posting them after Lover’s release. X Her saying she picks gold over silver and that stating NYC is her favorite city vs Joe saying London is his favorite city.

OTHER posts to note..X X X X X X X X X X X

Thank you to everyone who responded with things i missed much appreciated!

[phoenixrisesoncemore]

I was tagged by @wangxianbunnydoodles (oh my, this is long and you might regret it; also I don’t follow instructions well 😉). I tend not to be very good at these things (sorry to anyone else who has tagged me in these kinds of things before—this is a rare event happening mostly because I wanna talk about Tolkien books and ships) but here goes:

Top 3 Ships

I don’t actively ship characters that often. I’m not sure why that is. I do enjoy reading fic with pairings either canon or not, but I don’t often go “all in” on ships in most narratives I consume. There are notable exceptions (more than three but these are the three most recent—I have no idea how to identify my top ships):

WangXian (CQL). This is surely obvious from the current state of my blog, right? I blame The Untamed and its impossibly tender, only-subtextual-by-a-hair’s-breadth romance. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show express ultimate devotion, deep affection, true appreciation, complete understanding (eventually), and the sheer *necessity of the other* between two people quite like this one has. Hell, I don’t think I’ve ever seen two characters and desperately wanted them together and happy as much as I have these two, so bravo to the cast and crew for generating such second-hand devotion in me.

Silvergifting (Tolkien). This is all @thearrogantemu’s fault. I’d read some Silvergifting before I read These Gifts That You Have Given Me, mostly out of curiosity (some good stuff, too!), but I had never read any Tolkien fic that convinced me it was *true* (on many, many levels, though the ship level is the one pertinent to this post). In any canon-like universe this ship hurts, but in the Gifts universe it hurts the most; it hurts like Hell. It hurts in the way only razor-sharp, sorry-the-universe-works-this-way, oh-are-those-my-entrails-on-the-floor-I-didn’t-even-feel-the-knife tragedy can hurt. And it’s so convincing that it’s just...a fact now. Tolkien just forgot to tell us. So now I ship Silvergifting, but most deeply, specifically THAT Silvergifting. (Meanwhile, 14 year old me continues to look at *significantly* older me like I’m insane.)

ZeLink (Legend of Zelda). Deep down I’m still 12 years old and no amount of fine lines and wrinkles is going to change that. When is Breath of the Wild 2 coming out?

Last Song

I listen to soundtracks and bombastic and dramatic orchestral pieces much more often than I listen to what people mean when they say “songs,” and a significant chunk of the “songs” I listen to are from musicals/operas.

Earlier today it was Hanz Zimmer’s soundtrack to Dark Phoenix (don’t start me up on the continuing disappointment that Phoenix adaptations continue to be to me—you don’t want to hear it; even I don’t want to hear it).

Before that it was Barbra Streisand’s The Broadway Album. (I prefer her outer space cover of “Somewhere” to the actual thing. Fight me.)

Before that it was Carmina Burana (One of my favorite things ever was when we went to a live performance of Carmina Burana and a boy who couldn’t have been more than 7 years old sat in the aisle in front of us and head-banged enthusiastically through “O Fortuna.” It was so metal. You go, kid. You get it.).

Before that it was a splattering of Billy Joel hits with emphasis on “2000 Years”, “River of Dreams”, “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”, “The Stranger”, and “Only the Good Die Young” (thanks to that outstanding WangXian interpretation!).

Of course the soundtracks to The Untamed/CQL have been on repeat for weeks around here, particularly every single iteration of “WuJi” and the flute-heavy instrumental pieces (man, those are good!).

Not long ago I had Sarah Brightman’s covers of “Figlio Perduto” from La Luna and “Glosoli” and “One Day Like This” from Dreamchaser burning through my iPhone battery (yes, I like popera).

Enya, and especially Shepherd Moons and The Track Which Shall Not Be Named has been on repeat a lot.

Last Movie

I don’t sit down to watch movies that often any more. It just takes too much stillness and undivided attention and more resistance to multi-tasking than I have. The actual last movie that I watched (in a “have it on on another screen while I work” kind of way) was Raiders of the Lost Ark, which, of course, I’ve seen umpteen times and which followed a similar rewatch of the Back to the Future trilogy. The last movie I watched completely without distraction was Book Smart; I don’t watch comedies very often, but I really enjoyed it in an “OMG, I can totally relate to this” kind of way (except for the class president thing—that would have required that I interact with other people my own age and also not be homeschooled). Before that I think it was the Tolkien biopic. Man, I still haven’t written anything about that.

Currently Reading (in order of when I started them)

Oh dear.

The Familiar: part 1, Mark Z Danielewski. *sigh* For as much as I think Danielewski is brilliant and House of Leaves is one of my favorite books ever, I’ve just not been able to get into much of his other work. It’s universally a time and energy investment to penetrate and puzzle through, and I just don’t have as much of that as I used to. House of Leaves makes that investment worth it from early on and is absolutely a page-turner once you settle in, but other than The Fifty Year Sword I’ve just not been able to get into the rest of his work. The Familiar: part 1 is supposed to be the first in a 26 part series which is currently halted at part 4, I think. Without a guarantee of all parts ever being published, I don’t think I’m ready to invest more time into part 1 and may end up abandoning it, unfortunately.

History of The Hobbit, Douglas Anderson. Anderson did what Christopher didn’t and gave The Hobbit the HoMe treatment (if a bit less literal and opaque in format). It’s fascinating (I mean, there’s the Beren and Luthien name drop you were not expecting right there in the first draft), but reading essentially the same passages with only small changes over and over can be a slog, so reading it has been an ongoing project for over a year now.

Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien’s World, Verlyn Fleiger. This is Fleiger’s look at Tolkien’s Middle-earth in light of his association with Owen Barfield. Particularly, she is examining Tolkien’s work in conjunction with Barfield’s Poetic Diction and his thoughts on language and meaning. I have not read Poetic Diction, but I probably will now since it apparently addresses language formation as related to the origin of human consciousness which is SO up my alley.

New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton. My late sister-in-law had a masters in theology from Notre Dame and became a huge Merton fan. Meanwhile, my best friend actually spent a weekend retreat at The Abbey of Gethsemani. Between hearing about him from the two of them, I developed an interest in Merton. I happened to read “Moral Theology of the Devil” a couple of years ago. It was one of the most illuminating theological things I have read and deeply inspired my own Tolkien fic-writing (let’s just say the progress there is otherwise slow). This book is a collection of pieces which happens to contain that piece, and I’ve been skipping around through it for a while now.

The Lord of the Rings reread (Tolkien, obviously). I hate this, but I am so deep in so many critical Tolkien books that I’ve not had the chance to really sit down and relax into my reread for months and months and will likely just end up starting over. Plus I want to read it concurrently with the next entry in this list and the next entry is taking longer to get through because of its format. That entry being:

The Lord of the the Rings: A Reader’s Companion, Hammond and Scull. This is a treasure trove of data and insights for those really wanting to dig critically-historically into The Lord of the Rings on a chapter-by-chapter, passage-by-passage basis. The only issue with it is that jumping back and forth between the two (as you have to: this is a reference book) tends to kill the mood of The Lord of the Rings when read as it’s meant to be read: for enjoyment!

The Power of Limits: Proportional Harmonies in Nature, Art, and Architecture, Gyorgy Doczi. This has been an ongoing read here and there since Christmas, especially as I work on two personal projects.

The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, Lesslie Newbigin. To be honest I don’t think I am going to finish this one. I like a few of the things he says, things I think are truthful and which need to be confronted in American Christian culture in particular, but it’s just too much Calvin for my taste, too many assumptions I do not share being the heretic that I am, and I spend too much time anger-notating about theology to read it with grace.

In Full Measure I Return to You, thearrogantemu. This is a reread of the (relatively) happy AU fic for my most favoritest Tolkien fic (Gifts), but I’ve put my reread on hold while I finish one of the two projects, after which I am diving in and screw the rest of this list for the time being.

Food Craving

Sushi. My kingdom for some good sushi. I’ve only had sushi once since we got back from NY and while it was the best sushi I have had locally IT WAS NOT OMAKASE AT SUSHI NOZ. It also didn’t require a personal loan to pay for, but *shrug* I’m spoiled now and will forever crave what I can no longer have.

People I’d Like To Get To Know Better

I hate tagging people in these things because I’m awkward and shy and do them so rarely myself that it feels hypocritical for me to ask it of others. That being said: if you’re a follower of my blog and you want to do this, please do! And please tag me! I’d love to get to know more about you 😊.

[schoolastica]

Writer in the dark

Starker AU. Based on the song by Lorde. Also in my AO3 profile, as ilikesadstories.

Break the news, you’re walking out

To be the good man to someone else

His bags are by the Penthouse door. Tony has a lump on his throat and a Tablet in his hands showing the headlines:” Stark and Parker are officially done!!!.”

Peter has a lump in his throat and the Penthouse keys in his hands. He already said goodbye to Edith, Tony’s dalmatian, and he cleared the place of anything that belonged to him. No reason to stretch the pain more than it needs to. Tony’s back is turned on him. 

He wants to scream, to command Tony to the acknowledgment that he's leaving. He does no such thing. Tony only starts to cry when he hears the elevator doors closing. That’s it; that’s three years of relationship on a ride to the lobby. Tony suppose they have been rotten for a long time, they just didn’t want to let it go, not just yet. But it happened. After three years, 2 cop-related problems, 4 major fights, 1 photo of Tony cheating.

They hanged more than most people would. 

Sorry, I was never good like you.

 Tony Stark wasn’t a good man. Not good like Rhodes was, or good like Steve was, not nearly as a good man as Peter Parker was. He was rotten through and through, too old, too spoiled. He was a writer, he made his fortune written the sci-fi book series called “Avengers” when he was 15 and bored. All of the characters were based on his friends at the time, friends that didn’t even keep contact with him now. But he made money, real money. Enough to start his publisher, the Stark Royal Seal, worth billions, now that he was at his 50’s.It seemed like an eon ago when he was young and excited about being famous. 

That was a time, right at the beginning, that Tony loved press, every tabloid about him, good or bad, was a prize. He was 15, inexperienced and easily lead on. By his 20, he was a world-wide playboy, he never stopped being. Now, a much older man, he had written 20 novels, 15 for the Avengers series(and he's not going back to writing it, Steve deserves a rest) and 5 romances, 3 of them were a critic failure.

Now he gets to live in his big, brand new Penthouse in the middle of Manhattan, all alone; because the love of his life is going down the elevator to never come back. As he lays down, crying in the fetal position, feeling a pain he only ever felt when his parents died, he thinks he will write a novel about hurt the next morning.

 Bet you rue the day you kissed a writer in the dark 

Their first meeting was a thing from the movies. Tony Stark, the acclaimed writer, the same man that was in a sex-tape leaked last week at the same time to have a billion contract with Netflix to produce the film adaptations of his book series, had to make a commemorative reading of the 30th year of the release of Avengers: The year of the fallen.This event was the most waited for in his whole schedule, Pepper had been talking about it, how he should be dressed and how he should behave since January. 

The reading would be more symbolic than anything, it would take place in the first bookstore Tony ever did the first reading, Schmidt & Cia Bookstore. It only fits about 300 hundred people there, so the tickets at 500$ each were sold out in 40 minutes and about 10 of them were donated to raffle to the NY Writing course students.  When the day came, Tony drank so much in anxiety that Pepper almost had a fit. She arrived at the Penthouse, threw the last of his expensive scotch in the sink and practically made him look presentable. Pepper had been with him since he was 18, they had a brief romance in the ’90s but now, seeing at how they behaved, it made sense to broke up, she was more of a mother to him than anything.

 So here they were, once again at the front of Schmidt & Cia Bookstore. The building was still intact, even after years, all its colors and its old sign at the front of the window. The major difference was that now, at least a thousand of hallucinated fans were surrounding it, all screaming when his car, drove by Happy, approached. When he got out, the did the usual: smiled to everyone, old or young, talked to some reports and flirted around. He only wanted to come out of the little room they had prepared for him when the time of the reading came. When that happened, he lifted himself a little podium to speak and looked around the little crown that gathered around him.

 Some faces there surprised him, they were middle-aged men, by the end of the room, witch Tony knew were powerful. All of them looking eagerly for his words. The ones closer to the podium were pretty, extremely young. His gaze wandered in each of their faces, landing on the prettiest boy he ever laid eyes upon.  Curly, brown hair, smooth and fair skin(probably never touched) and a Cherubin's face. His brown eyes were sparkling while he held a hold, absolutely worn down a copy of his book, close to his heart. He was probably from the NY Writing course.

 It seems like a foolish thing now, how Tony took one good look at that open and fresh face and got his strength from there. But he did. He smiled at the cameras pointed at him and said: “I want to start this reading by saying that a lot has changed since the first time I did this. People came and people left, but throughout all of this, I always had this crew” he lifted the heavy book as in indicating what he was saying,” to help me”. And with that, he began the reading. The first chapter was pretty much introductory, Captain America was aboard the spaceship J.A.R.V.I.S in search of his long lost crew that was lost in their last mission. The chapter had about 4 pages of text, and while reading it, Tony couldn't stop thinking how his first draft wasn't much different than this, and how his writing style had changed since he was 15. 

When the chapter was over, everyone stood to give him a minute of applause and all of the journalists present shouted questions about him, about his legacy. He tried to ignore it because now it was time for him to give his autographs.Pepper and their team set up a little table, in front of a wall full of posters from the books, where Tony would sit and sign everything that 300 people wanted him too. He had his special pen for this, alongside with a bucket full of ice for his tired hands and a sly smile and soothing words for everyone. Tony had probably given his signature to about 100 people when he received the old and worn down first edition of his book. 

Surprised, he looked up to see that beautiful and shy boy fixing his glasses while looking at him, blushing. If Tony was a good man, an honorable man, he would have smiled and signed the book without a word, being polite but not curious about this youngster in front of him. But he was a nasty, nasty man. He smiled his sweet smile, the one he knew made people’s knees buckle and said:” You must be quite a nerd to spend this kind of money in a first edition, Mr……?’ he fished for a name. “Oh’ the boy seemed surprised that Tony recognized the book “This was a gift, actually,” The boy said.

Tony kept looking at him, for a more elaborate story.“My dad bought it when it first came out’ the boy’s voice was soft and open as his face was “He gave it to me one month before he died. That's why I want you to dedicate it to ‘Richard and Peter Parker” if that's not a bother’ he said, his voice disappearing through the sentence. Tony analyzed him, smiled broader, and wrote: To Richard and Peter Parker, always in each other's hearts. He got the book back to its owner and said:” What are you doing after this?”. 

 Bet you rue the day you kissed a writer in the dark

They meet that same night, in a new restaurant called Francesco's Dark Dinner. The whole thing was a weird concept, a place where you had to use all your senses minus the sight, and it a young, youthful place. Tony suggested an old, well-known restaurant, with fine culinary but Peter had said that it was a place with great Italian food. He arrived earlier and waited for his partner to arrive while listening to the conversation around him. 

When Peter arrived, he couldn't see how he was dressed or if he had a good day, the only thing he was glad he could do was smell a sweet, strawberry scent that he basked in. Their conversation was fluid, vivid, along with truly great food (Tony was really satisfied with his dishes) and Peter was, in no short of words, a true genius. He was in the NY Writing program and he was older than what he looked like, he was 20 years old. He was an only child, like Tony, who lost his parents at a young age, like Tony, but he never drank or took anything, unlike Tony. He almost didn't get a place at today's reading, his name was the last call, and he had cried of happiness when he got it. He was extremely polite and his voice stutters every time Tony brushed their hands together.

He was a prey ready and ripe for the taking.

 When they kissed, Peter tasted like youth.  

Stood on my chest and kept me down

Hated hearing my name on the lips of a crowd

Did my best to exist just for you

They had been great, really good for each other in the first year. Tony decided to be the best version of himself, he was punctual and caring. He introduced Peter to Pepper, Rhodes, and Happy as his boyfriend and he demanded respect. They pretended to dislike the boy at the beginning, saying he was too young and naive, but Tony saw Pepper’s hidden smirks, Rhodes open laughs at Peter’s stupid space jokes and saw how protective Happy became of him.

Peter's friends were a completely different story. MJ was a force to fight with, she looked at Tony as if he had killed Santa Claus with his bare hands. Ned was a funny goofy person, saw no evil in no one. Tony took them to Conney Island and they hang around the pier till sunset. During all this time, Ned would’ve shut up and MJ said about 3 words. It didn’t matter though, because Peter had smiled so wide all the time and when they went back to Tony’s place, he rode Tony’s cock like a champion.

Sex with Peter was a whole different experience. Either if they fucked quick and dirty or slow and passionate, it always made Tony shine with joy afterward. When he was younger, Tony had the habit of smoking a cigarette after a good fuck, but that ended when he quit smoking. Now, after leaving Peter sleeping in his bed, he develops the habit of writing. He starts writing and does it through the night. At the beginning, it’s just some short stories or he just describes what he just did with Peter(in very raw, crude words) but as the months are passing, it starts to form a romance novel. It’s about two man, not quite right for each other and every time Tony needs inspiration, he looks over at Peter, peaceful sleeping, his back shining with the sweat of their past activity and he has all the words he needs.

Peter was on the edge of finishing his degree and had an internship with the Osborn publishing, Tony offered him a place at his own company, Peter said no. He wats to grow alone, working in newspapers and them to release his own novel someday. Peter really wants to write a romance, but he secretly enjoys writing children’s books, actually. It really tells a lot about his personality. They are really into each other in their first year. Peter graduates and Tony is there with beautiful aunt May and Peter’s friends to celebrate. They go on summer vacation in Tony’s village in Italy and they make love under the stars there. When New Year’s Eve arrives, their picture was featured in all the major gossip magazines and Peter goes to Tony’s annual party.

 When the watch hits 0, they kiss so deeply that Tony can taste Peter’s soul. Now she's gonna play and sing and lock you in her heart7 months after their break up, Tony is releasing his first book since having crushed his heart. ‘Resorsfullness’ its called. Its a tragedy, it was developed from that first romance novel Tony had begun to write during the first year with Peter. After they broke up, his writing became bitter and it slowly morphed into an epic love tragedy. 

Pepper said it was the best works he ever did, she organized a huge US Tour and the marketing is heavy on this one. He drinks his weight and cries himself to sleep every night, but his life is still together. He still googles Peter’s name weekly and finds out that he’s releasing a second children’s book next fall. He pretends to be fine when he’s around his friends, but the only person he cant pretend to is Pepper. She sees right through all his bullshit, she invades his penthouse one day and pours his drinks in the sink and clean his kitchen. She screams at him when he wakes up and almost cries when Tony starts crying. She holds him through it all and just loves him for all he is.

I am my mother's child, I'll love you 'til my breathing stops

I'll love you 'til you call the cops on me

The first time the cops are called for them, they are dating for 19 months and they are getting tired. Tony drinks a lot, everyone knows that. Peter knows that, but he doesn’t like it. So they go to one gathering party of The Daily Budge, the newspaper Peter is working for. Tony always thought J.J. Jameson was funny, but the guy used Peter like he was a slave and pissed him off. To add up, Peters coworker, Quentin Beck, was a little shit.Peter never hid from anyone in his relationship, so Beck knew who he was seeing. Still, the guy would hit on Peter heavily and whenever he talked to Tony, he implied how old Tony was, how Peter was probably unsatisfied and that he was useless. Tony punched him, Peter screamed at Tony and they left the party in a huge arguing.

Tony gave Happy the day off so they decided to walk to and from the party, so they went the whole way to their home. At some point, they screamed so much that a passing by called the cops. It wasn’t pretty, they were on the next day’s highest searched subject on google.

The second time the cops were involved was when Tony was banging on Peter’s door at three am, begging for forgiveness, 2 weeks before they split.

But in our darkest hours, I stumbled on a secret power

I'll find a way to be without you baby

Tony’s strength cames back to him together with his words. Pepper clean his house sets him up straight and takes him to long walks in Central Park with Edith. Tony promise to stop drinking for once, he joins an AA and Rhodes and Happy take turns taking him there. Edith is the best pal he ever had, loves him and makes him do exercises every day. 

The ache in his chest slowly fades, still there, but not so latent anymore. The first work he does, besides the hurt book that Pepper makes it be a success, is poems. He never wrote poems before, but the words bleed from him every sunrise and every sunset. He’s sitting in a Central Park bench, throwing a ball to Edith, that runs excited around the park, when he watches a small family picknick. He sees how the father acts with his 2 children, and watches how they sit eagerly to read ‘Polka dot dog’ by Peter Parker when the first seed of his idea is planted on the back of his mind.

He spends the next month searching about kids and by the end, he meets with Pepper to discuss having children. Tony knows she always wanted to be a mom, never found someone quite right, but when he brings that up she just laughs at him. ‘You can’t be serious, you don’t even look after yourself” she tells him. He promise he changed, that he’s ready, but it still takes her 2 months to come around the idea.They visited a Fertility clinic right after that. 

They weren’t good for each other romantically, but they are the best of the friends and the doctor says they have a good chance to conceive. 16 months after they broke up, Pepper is confirmed to be pregnant, and Tony’s heart hurt is almost healed.

I still feel you, now and then

Slow like pseudo-ephedrine

When you see me, will you say I've changed?

I ride the subway, read the signs

I let the seasons change my mind

I love it here since I've stopped needing you

Peter was, without better words to put it, Tony’s first love. He had loved that boy as much as he could, as hard as he could, but it hadn’t been enough. He experienced his first true heartbreak late in life, but now he feels it all was worth it. His daughter, Morgan, was his true love, he knew that.

She was 5 years old and she was perfect. Tony hadn’t touched a bottle of alcohol for almost 6 years now, Pepper was so proud of that. Pepper was his best friend, she was his rock of moral rightness. They lived separated, but they were 5 minutes away from each other, Morgan was starting to walk between the houses all by herself. The last book Tony published was called ‘Parenthood and all the things I didn’t know how to do’ and it was his first attempt at poems, all about parenting. It was a huge success. But Morgan didn’t like his writing. She loves small, funny little children’s books and her favorite book was Mrs.Penguin by Peter Parker. His heart stopped every time she asked him that book as a goodnight story.

 On his Sunday with her, Pepper looked apologetic to him and said she had promised to take her to a reading of the newest book Peter was going to publish but she had a party to go. He feels bile rising in his throat but he smiles and takes Morgan to see her first favorite author. The bookstore the reading is happening is small but childlike and Morgan looks amazed.

 The book is named ‘The sunflower and the frog’ and when Peter shows up to do the reading, he looks straight at Tony and smiles. Morgan is not exactly a secret, Tony and Pepper are constantly at the news, and when its time for autographs, Tony had to wait in line for 50 minutes till Morgan got her chance. Peter looks dashing, 29 years old and beaming with health and fashion. He now looks more like a man than he did before, so pretty that Tony aches. Peter gives Morgan a big smile and asks if she likes his books. The girl is absolutely besotted by the young author, opening up like a little flower and Tony can’t help thinking that Starks always falls for Parkers. Peter gives her full attention and only looks at Tony when he’s signing the book.

 He says, looking at Tony’s eyes: “I’m writing: To my dear Morgan, the happiest girl I’ve known’ and when he delivers the book back to Morgan he looks at Tony and says: What are you doing after this?

[heartylou]

Dream Hockey - Sharing the Crease

Drafting goalies is a risky proposition. More than any position, this choice can make or split the fate of your fantasy hockey team. One of the biggest factors you need to consider is how often a hockey goalie is going to play. Some netminders can be counted on to get 70+ starts a season, while others will sharing the net with another man. In short, you want to avoid the split crease scenario. As Philly while others demonstrated last season, NHL teams are more likely than ever before to select a goalie system, rather than depending on one star goalie to carry the load. Although that may play well in the NHL, it can a nightmare for dream hockey managers. So as you finalize your cheat sheets, consider how secure each goalie's starting job will be throughout the season, and ensure you select at minimum one workhorse for your roster.

Solid Starters

Roughly half the teams in the NHL have an undisputed #1 goalie. Barring injury or complete failure, these guys should start 60+ games this season, so no need to be involved here:

Buffalo- Burns Montreal- Price New Jersey- Brodeur Pittsburgh- Fleury NY Rangers- Lundqvist Carolina- Ward Florida- Vokoun Detroit- Howard Nashville- Rinne Vancouver- Luongo Colorado- Andersson Calgary- Kiprusoff Phoenix- Bryzgalov Anaheim- Hiller Dallas- Lehtonen Almost Right now there

Right now there are a handful of goalies that are almost guaranteed starters, but have not quite locked up the job 100%.

Boston- Rask/Thomas Rask is a sexy-bold pick for your starting goalie this fall, but don't get overconfident here. Thomas didn't exactly lose his job, as much as Rask earned it. Things could easily go the other way this time around. Thomas is making too much cash to sit idle all season long, and his no-trade claims he'll be a Bruin for awhile.

Chicago- Turco / Crawford / Huet? All signs point to a successful recover season for Otomano when he assumes the #1 location for the Cup terre. Nevertheless , Crawford will push hard for starts, and the Huet situation hasn't technically been resolved yet. I can see any hockey goalie getting more than 50 games in Chicago this season.

St. Louis- Halak / Conklin Halak should have the edge as the go-to guy in St. Louis, but the Troubles have said body fat clear starter. Conklin has had a very solid career and is capable of being a #1, though he's never earned the role. Such as Chicago, 50 games may be the ceiling for either guy, so grab a cowbell and simmer down on that Halak-fever.

Split Creases

Roughly one 3 rd of the clubs in the league enter in the season without a clear-cut number 1 goalie. There are some much good goalies in this group, so don't write them off entirely. Just be aware that questions remain, and you should consider drafting both options as a safety net.

Ottawa- Elliot / Leclaire Leclaire was introduced to be the #1 guy, but injuries opened the entrance for Elliot. Both are capable options, and both will see some web. Safer guess is Elliot, but don't forget they went back to Leclaire in the playoffs. In addition to then there's that "other Brodeur" guy who may make a guest appearance again.

Toronto- Giguere / Gustavsson Giguere is clearly Burke's favorite, but your dog is the GM, not the coach. Both men are highly skilled and damage prone. Toronto's defense is stellar and should allow both to put up solid stats, but will be certainly just no way of getting past the play time questions here. Click here:  เว็บแทงบอลออนไลน์

Washington- Varlamov / Neuvirth Bottom line is the fact I just don't see Varlamov as a long-term solution in Buenos aires. Neuvirth will be given the possibility to win the job, but don't be surprised if McPhee shifts a package for an incomer at some point there is much surprise, if neither of these men appear sufficient to accept the Cup to D. C.

Atlanta- Mason / Pavelec Pavelec was in a great spot following the Lehtonen trade final season. He's returning to singing for his supper, as the Thrashers brought in a capable starter in Philip Mason. I see this one playing out right down the middle, 50/50. As almost all of those begins will be losses either way, neither goalie should crack your top 20.

[feed-my-reads]

Gabriel Hargrave Author interview

A little introduction: Hi! My name's Gabriel Hargrave, but I usually go by Gabe. I'm a 35-year-old trans man living in Rochester, NY, with my cat, Regina Dentata. I write queer erotic romance novels while I'm not reading, blogging, editing, or playing TTRPGs.

When did your love of books begin? The way my mother tells it, I asked her to read me the same books over and over again when I was two and three years old. She apparently used to read to me a lot in utero, so maybe it started all the way back then. I began reading at a really early age because I had memorized the words she'd read to me and started recognizing them in other books.

When did you start to have the wish to become an author? I started writing from about the time I was in kindergarten. My first "published" book was actually a short story I wrote in third grade that my teacher liked so much she had it sent to the school's bindery. I probably still have it somewhere. My dream for pretty much my entire life has been to be a published author. That I finally get to live out that dream is incredible.

How have you found the process for becoming an author? I self-published, so my experience is different from authors who went the indie or trad-publishing route. The process of actually writing a novel is months and months of drafting and editing and working with critique partners and beta readers. All of that's pretty similar regardless of how you publish. But the self-publishing process was actually rather simple. It's the self-promotion and marketing that takes a lot of time and effort.

What would you say to those wanting to become an author? Do it! But don't just jump right in. Despite having been writing my whole life, I've only just now published a book. I spent a good 30 years coming up with stories, writing them down, typing them up. I have dozens of unfinished books sitting on my computer or in notebooks because I couldn't quite find my groove. It wasn't until last year that I found the story that I needed to tell, the one that wouldn't let go of me until I'd finished it and shared it with the world. In all that time, I'd been reading--other people's books, sure, but also about writing. And I'd been learning about grammar and syntax and structure, figuring out how best to create characters and plots, and a million other things. Writing takes time if you want to do it well.

Tell us about your book/books: The Orchid and the Lion is the first book in a trilogy. It's a queer m/m erotic BDSM romance set on a space station 150 years in the future. It follows the star femme Dom at a famous brothel as he navigates training a trans man sub while also trying to investigate some troubling rumors about the paradise he's called home for almost a decade. When I started writing it, I had no real idea what was going to happen. I just knew that I wanted to write a BDSM story that was healthy, consensual, and character-focused. A lot of the depictions of kink/BDSM in erotica and romance novels are dangerously incorrect to the point that I can't bring myself to read them. My hope is that this book (and the other two in the trilogy) can help change that trend. I'm also hoping that it will help start a trend of positive representation for sex workers in fiction, something that is sorely lacking at the moment.

What do you love about the writing/reading community? I've met so many wonderful, supportive people, including my critique partner and most of my betas, through the writing community. While there's often a lot of drama and writing discourse that floods Twitter on and off, the heart of the writing community is people who love telling stories and who want to share them with the world. And I think that's really beautiful.

If you could say anything to your readers what would it be? First of all, thank you! Everyone who's contacted me so far about my first novel has been so sweet and supportive. I love hearing how much y'all love Dorian, Laith, Kenny, Frank, and the rest of the characters I've created. I'm also really touched by how willing people are to help spread the word about this book. Between copies sold and pages read through Kindle Unlimited since the book came out three weeks ago, I've already reached a larger audience than I expected. Keep up the good work of spreading the word! And make sure to leave a review on Goodreads and/or Amazon. Secondly, the sequel is coming (as are some short stories). I'm hoping to have the second book in the trilogy ready for publication sometime next year (possibly May or June, but don't quote me on that).

Where can people connect with you? You can find me on Twitter @GHargraveWrites, on Instagram @gabrielhargravewrites, on TikTok (I'll eventually be posting videos there) @gabrielhargravewrites, on Goodreads as Gabriel Hargrave, and at my website: gabrielhargravewrites.com.

[octaviasandy]

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I dreamed you came in a short frock, with pretty little shoes on, and red little hands . “Do not be so certain.” The ruby at Melisandre’s throat gleamed red. Nikolay Sergeyitch was delighted. Dan Weissenhofer kept the puck in the zone and Chad Demers fed Holm in the slot. Roxy's husband, Bob Engle, is the founder and president of the now defunct NWT Air, for which Sosnowski flew for nearly 20 years before retiring. From this time I understood the words abolition and abolitionist, and always drew near when that word was spoken, expecting mustang női cipő árgép to hear something of importance to myself and fellow-slaves. Don’t be uneasy!” he added, seeing that air jordan aj4 Anna Andreyevna was making signals to him again. The reading was over. Diet Coke contains caffeine, which is both man made and naturally occurring. The neighbouring landowners learned to manage their estates from him. They draw trade to Meereen, and fill the city’s coffers with coin from the ends of the earth. 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[halforc-mercenary]

I should never count the bear’s skin before it is hatched

Send “I should never count the bear’s skin before it is hatched“ if you wish to know what superstitions my character believes in.

At the fifth day the snowstorm had ebbed away and the dread it had brought, frozen animals, ripped appart trees, killed cattle, destroyed buildings, was by then prettily hidden under a thick white blanket of snow like under a innocent white shroud. The pithouse of the couple Mar had seeked shelter during the last week was made of four round rooms buried in the earth, three rooms for the all day life and one room for the cattle, two goats, one old Highlandraptore and during the last days also Mars draft Kevin. Only the thatched roofs were visible of the houses and now that they were covered in snow they looked like big mushrooms, round and pointy. The morning was fresh and cool, like a gulp of springwater when Mar lead her draft outside and packed her saddlebags. During the last days she had had always heard a certaine melody, so she barely noticed that she was singing quietly to herself:

“Bittida en morgon, innan solen upprann,Innan foglarna började sjunga,Bergatrollet friade till fager ungersven.”

“A good day to leave, eh. No cloud on the sky, you will reach the next village with ease.”, by the words Mars head snapped so fast up as if she had been slapped. She had hoped that she would not have been noticed when she had prepared her leaving, but the older human Tyrrick seemed to had notice- of course he had, he had lived longer as a soldier than she had!- for he stepped out of the stable behind her, rubbing his arms in the mornings coldness.

“Aye.”, the Halforc felt caught redhanded like a child who had a hand stuck in the cookiejar. She lowered her head in a hinted bow:  “My apologize for straining your and your wifes hospitality for so long, Sir Tyrrick.”“Ah, its fine, Girl! It was nice to have such a young person around, it had felt as if-”, there was a second of hestiation and the old mans smile faltered for a moment. Then the moment passed and the human ran a hand through his grey beard:“Heh. Anyway. It was nice to have someone around who could show me a few new patterns on the loom.”In the biggest of the four rooms was standing a big warp-weighted loom on which Mar had noticed the man spended his most time, it was a old thing, made from collected branches and maybe even older than the armor of a Stromgarde Soldier that lay like a boundle of old, worn out linen by the side of the room. When Mar had first stepped in this room she had wondered why someone would put their old armor so plainly to the side, in her past greatuncles house the Armor of him and his wife Brigitte had been put for everyone to see like a golden medal. She had  wondered about this until she had seen Tyrricks wife greet her with a smile that showed her long tusks in all their glory. Kim'rowas a witherbarkforesttroll and even thought Trolls lived loger than human could ever even think of living, her firered mane was rutted with grey strains as if she had braide streaks of silverwire in her hair. Not as grey as her husbands hair and beard was, but Mar had been often told that when peple lived long enough together they would converge to eachothers habits and looks. “ Kim'ro would throw me to her Raptore if I would even think of teaching her how to use the loom.”, Tyrric chuckled like a little boy. Mar did not said anything, instead she remembered what she had seen in the past days: Whenever Tyrrick would go to the Loom, the Trollwoman would sit down beside him and start singing, sometimes wild, happy melodies, somtimes sad ballades, and Tyrrick would bop his feet and his hands would dance over the warp- threads in the tact of his wifes singing, humming to her melodies, weaving her songs into fabric.Mar had watched them out of the corner of her eyes, they had never exchanged any physical affection when Tyrrick weaved, kisses and hugs and laughing they had exchanged during meals or in the kitchen, but still the young woman had felt the most like a intruder, like a outsider, like a burgler witnissing this small scenes by the loom.“ Or teaching her anything in general, its a matter of Pride for her. She thinks clothes should be made of what she had hunted down with her own two hands, eh. I am not complaining,she is doing a great job.” , Tyrrick proudly tapped a old, dark brown hand against the leatherjerkin he was wearing that was old, yet well kept and shimmering dark like obsidian in the dull wintersun.

Eder vill jag gifva en skjorta så ny,Den bästa I lysten att slita;A quiet voice hummed in the back of the Halforcs head.

It was then when the Witherbarktroll shuffled out of the house to them, yawning, a in layers of fur wrapped claypot in her long arms. Kim'ros of mosscovered skin was beautifully emphasised by the blue tunic Tyrrick had weaved the cloth for in the last three days and which hung now on her form like a veil weaved of water, as she lay a arm around the humans waist from behind.

She thinks clothes should be made of what she had haunted down with her own two hands, hm?, Mar pulled hasty the hood of her Gugel deep down in her face, drowning her freckled face in a thick shadow, hiding the very stupid grin that curled utterly goofily around her thick tusks. She was acting inappropriate with such thoughts, she warned herself sternly. Even when they were true.

A layer of quietness lay over the small group like a heavy coat, pressing down their shoulders hardly.Mar did not knew what to say, she had thanked the couple days ago when they had taken her in, but she thought that it was still not enough, that she had stepped so near to them witnissed that scene by the Loom one time too often, that a simple thank you could not outweight how she had invaded their own little world in this past days.Herr Mannelig herr Mannelig trolofven I mig.Mar pushed the melody at the back of her head. It was the Witherbark woman  who leaned down to Tyrrick and mumbled something in the humans ear in a language Mar had heard many, many, many times in  her life and yet only knew scraps and pieces of. There were still a few moments of quietness, a few seconds in which the man listened, but then the quietness was stopped by the man suddenly turning to the side and giving the Trollwoman a kiss on the chin. Mar hasty turned her head away, suddenly feeling even more like a stranger, a foreigner disturbing the routine, a outsider, by seeing this exchange of honest affection.

But Tyrrick did not allowed her to feel like this, Tyrrick  took the in furs wrapped claypot from his wife, Tyrrick stepped nearer, Tyrrick involved her in this act affection with brutal kindniss just likeKim'ro did.

“Kim'rosaid she is worried you are not eating proper enough.”, he said and held up the small package for Mar: “So since you had liked eating her goatcheese so much, she made you yesterday a extra pot for the travel. She wishes you a good trip. So do I, child.”Mar felt strangely moved and pushed that foolishness away with both her hands like a dangerous oppnent, so she only looked at the Troll and lowered her head respectfully in a hinted bow  while muttering quietly: “She shouldn´t have bothered.”,

And again it was Tyrrick who did not allowed her to hide but was loud, was kind, was friendly, was benevolent: “Ha! Don´t argue with a Troll, Girl, you can only lose. Believe me, I have first hand experience!”The Halforc was not sure if Kim'ro unerstood Common, but she pinched playfully Tyrricks ear so she must have understood at least the sense of his words.

Mar only lowered her head respectfully before both of them, because she did not knew what else to say. Then she pouched the cheesepot in her saddlebag. Quietly the young woman muttered a goodbye and gave clapped the spurs to her Horse, making Kevin hasty trott over the thick(Shroud)veil of snow beneath.

The Halforc only looked back one time and saw that Tyrrick had lay a arm around the taller Trollwoman, quietly talking to her. When the old pithouse with the snowcovered thatched roofs was out of sight, when she breathed in the air fresh  and watched the world around her laying there silent, as if sleeping under the layer of snow like under a blanket, she started to sing again quietly for herself:

“Herr Mannelig herr Mannelig trolofven I mig.För det jag bjuder så gerna;I kunnen väl svara endast ja eller nej,Om i viljen eller ej..”

[junker-town]

All the Jets did at the trade deadline was piss off their best player

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

If Jamal Adams wasn’t for sale, then the Jets should’ve hung up the phone.

A fire sale would’ve made perfect sense for the New York Jets. The team is 1-6 and new general manager Joe Douglas is in charge of fixing that.

Douglas was hired by the Jets in June, so he wasn’t the one who signed running back Le’Veon Bell to a four-year, $52.5 million deal or linebacker C.J. Mosley to a five-year, $85 million deal. He didn’t make any of the team’s draft picks either. It would’ve been perfectly logical for him to get rid of some of the priciest contracts on the roster in exchange for more draft picks and cap space. The team isn’t making the playoffs anyway.

That sure looked like the plan when defensive lineman Leonard Williams was traded to the Giants one day before the trade deadline in exchange for third- and fifth-round picks. A mostly unproductive player who was headed for free agency was turned into draft capital. Well done.

But, wow, did the Jets mess up the next day.

Instead of making any deals, the Jets let the rumor mill run wild, and it alienated the best player on the roster.

Jamal Adams’ name should’ve never popped up

Less than three hours before the 4 p.m. ET trade deadline on Tuesday, reports surfaced that Adams was a hot commodity on the market. The Cowboys and the Ravens were the two teams reportedly in the mix for Adams, but no deal got done.

“When a team calls you, you should always listen” is how Douglas explained the rumors.

"On the players that were leaked out today, those aren't players we were shopping...there was no firesale, there's no garage sale going on with these players " - Joe Douglas pic.twitter.com/OLHZD0OhpP

— Jets Videos (@snyjets) October 29, 2019

While that makes sense, good luck explaining it to Adams, who had to sit back and watch as reporters said the Jets were close to shipping him out of town.

At the end of the week last week, I sat down with the GM and Coach Gase and told them I want to be here in New York. I was told yesterday by my agent that the GM then went behind my back and shopped me around to teams, even after I asked him to keep me here! Crazy business.

— Jamal Adams (@TheAdamsEra) October 29, 2019

And therein lies the problem with having “productive conversations” about a player you don’t actually intend to trade. Trying to swindle a team into paying a king’s ransom is cool, but unless there’s a realistic chance you’re trading the player, hang up the freakin’ phone, man!

The Jets should’ve followed the Cincinnati’s lead instead. The Bengals probably got calls about A.J. Green, but at least they took a hardline stance and didn’t make it look like they were ready to ditch the player. And it’s really a problem for the Jets when the 0-8 Bengals look like a smart team by comparison.

All Douglas accomplished was creating a frayed relationship with a player who should be a cornerstone for the next decade.

Adams is the only defensive player the Jets have had in the Pro Bowl in the last two seasons. He’s a 24-year-old dynamo in the secondary who makes the Jets much better against both the run and the pass. Simply put, he’s one of the best safeties in the game.

#Jets Jamal Adams has had a great start to his 2019 campaign. #TakeFlight pic.twitter.com/zTeJaTrEY6

— PFF NY Jets (@PFF_Jets) October 15, 2019

Adams will be in the fourth year of his rookie contract next season and the Jets will have the chance to pick up his fifth-year option. That’s become a contentious time in the career of young star players in the NFL.

For quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Jared Goff, the offseason after their third season landed them gigantic extensions. The Cowboys gave Ezekiel Elliott a sizable contract at that time too after he pressured the team with a lengthy holdout. Jalen Ramsey’s frustrations with the Jaguars boiled over when he was in his fourth season and it eventually got him traded to the Rams.

The Jets are coming up on extension time for Adams, and their chances of amicably reaching a deal look much worse now than they did a few days before the trade deadline. And he wasn’t the only one.

Sam Darnold is the only player on the Jets who should feel safe

The other two names from the team that floated around in trade rumors prior to the deadline were Le’Veon Bell and Robby Anderson. But both players released videos that showed they were pretty happy with how things shook out.

Bell asked Jets fans to have patience with the team and praised Douglas for how he’s handing the rebuild:

patience is key... pic.twitter.com/ajE7NnNbFx

— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) October 29, 2019

Anderson posted a clip from The Wolf of Wall Street that summed it all up: He’s not leaving.

✈️ pic.twitter.com/R7WCgYq9sO

— Robby Anderson (@youngamazing9) October 29, 2019

But here’s the thing: He’s probably leaving. Anderson is due to become a free agent in the offseason and nothing about the team’s actions suggest he’s a player it plans on extending. The Jets reportedly “made it clear to teams” that Anderson was available via trade, but didn’t move him because the best offer was a fourth-round pick.

Anderson is averaging just three receptions, despite getting targeted just over six times per game. He only has one touchdown in 2019, and doesn’t seem like a building block that the Jets will prioritize in the offseason.

Bell is a player that Adam Gase didn’t want the team to sign in free agency in the first place. There’s still a chance the Jets could trade Bell in the offseason — especially with a good chunk of his guaranteed salary already paid out and Douglas essentially telling reporters that he’s expendable.

Joe Douglas says that did field questions from teams interested in Le’Veon Bell. Bell was not an “untouchable player.” Joe Douglas says Sam Darnold is “untouchable.”

— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) October 29, 2019

Bell is only managing 3.2 yards per carry, although the fact that he’s even got that many behind an offensive line that’s providing no room is a testament to his ability.

The worst player on the Jets in the last couple weeks has been Sam Darnold, who threw seven interceptions in the team’s losses to the Patriots and the Jaguars. But New York has hitched its trailer to the 22-year-old quarterback, for better or worse. At times that looks like a promising situation, but he’s still only played 17 games and his 2019 season has been defined by an increasingly odd list of maladies.

After the 29-15 loss to Jacksonville in Week 8, ESPN’s Rich Cimini reported that Adam Gase was already in danger of losing the locker room just half a season into his first year with the team. Douglas dumped fuel on that fire with his poor mishandling of the trade deadline Tuesday.

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

My partner is set to deploy next month. This will be our 3rd deployment since we got together. It has me thinking about Sterek Military fics. Marines, Army, Navy, Navy Seal, Spec Ops, whatever I will take them all. Bless you and this blog for getting me through many lonely nights.

Awwww, sending your partner good vibes and well wishes!  Tried to find you some completed fics with happy endings bb, hope they help

I’m Coming Home by redhoodedwolf 

(1,031 I Teen I Complete)  *military!Stiles

Prompt from Tumblr:I’m not sure if your still doing prompts… but if you are I would love you forever if you could write a Military!AU, where Stiles surprises Derek be coming back early!! Very FLUFFY!!!

Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday by wirewrappedlily 

(1,395 I General I Complete)  *soldier!Derek

When Stiles woke at ten the next morning, Derek was curled tight around him, Erica’s head in the dip of Derek’s waist, and Isaac’s thin form thrown over their legs, Scott lying around both Stiles and Isaac while Lydia slept in as small a ball as possible on Stiles’s chest, Boyd’s hand on her head as if she’d had a nightmare. Stiles smiled to himself, going back to staring at Derek’s sleeping features. The curve of his eyelashes and the relaxed shape of his mouth. He wanted to trace his finger over the line of Derek’s nose, leave hickies over the straight edge of Derek’s jaw. It was new and old and so good Stiles wanted to cry.

Derek was home.

Coming Home For Christmas by Nerdy_fangirl_57 

(1,780 I General I Complete) *soldier!Derek, married!sterek

Stiles was trying to be the best dad he could be for his little girl after Derek was drafted into the military 3 months ago. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel like crying when Alex tells him that all she wants for Christmas is for Santa to bring her papa back home. 

What a Difference a Day Makes by the_gramophone 

(1,888 I General I Complete)   *soldier!Stiles

Derek is struggling not to feel lonely this Valentine’s Day, but he does his best to put on a brave and happy face for his daughter. Both their days take a turn for the better when they get an unexpected surprise.

Home Without a Heart by 138andcounting 

(2,145 I Not Rated I Complete)   *marine!Derek

Derek leave the Marines due to an injury, and finds himself in a small town in California, Beacon Hills. Not being able to stop helping others, he joins the police, where he meets 18-year-old Stiles Stilinski. A year of dating later, they moved to NY for Stiles to go to college. After dating for two years, Derek get’s an unexpected visitor.

Coming Home by Ella Dean Pendragon 

(2,277 I General I Complete)  *soldier!Derek

It’s been three hundred and seventy six days since he left and Stiles has been living each day as it comes but all that is about to change. Non werewolf AU. Army AU, Sterek, Slash. Other pairings Scisaac, Dethan and Lydia/Aiden.

A Soldier Surprise by Eburn 

(2,765 I General I Complete)  *soldier!Derek

The one where Derek is a Soldier and Stiles is at Uni, and they’re engaged. Derek surprises Stiles by coming home early.

Traveling Soldier by Angelwithwingsoffire 

(3,006 I Not Rated I Complete)  *soldier!Derek

Stiles works in a diner when one day a soldier walks in, dressed in army greens and sits down at one of Stiles’s booths. They end up talking and soon enough Stiles is sending letters off to one Sergeant Derek Hale, until one day, the letters stop.

Thank God Your Heart is Too Close by hoars 

(3,469 I Not Rated I Complete)  *soldier!Derek

There’s a boy, (“Fuck you, dude. I’m seventeen. Not fifteen.” Stiles laughs in his memory) waiting for him back home.

Coming Home by WyldeWombat (orphan_account) 

(3,766 I Teen I Complete)  *soldier!Derek

Derek joined the military over four years ago, and Stiles doesn’t get to see his mate very much. In fact, he hasn’t seen Derek in over a year. Little does he know, Derek is coming home.

In the Air, On Land, On Sea by enthroned 

(6,443 I General I Complete)   *marine!Derek, marine!Stiles

In which Derek is a marine on his way home.  He meets Stiles, a marine on his way to war.

Marine Sergeant Hale by Angelwithwingsoffire 

(6,258 I Not Rated I Complete)  *marine!Derek

Stiles has been bullied for years and it gets worse when the Sheriff is deployed one last time. One day, in the middle of the daily beating, a Marine comes to his rescue. A very hot and muscular Marine who also happens to be in uniform. And unbeknownst to Stiles, they’ve met before. Stiles can’t remember but Derek remembers it all.

If You’re Not Here to Turn the Lights Off (I Can’t Sleep) by losingmyangelgrace 

(7,234 I Explicit I Complete)  *marine!Derek, teacher!Stiles

“Honey! I’m home!” Stiles shouted into the empty apartment as he moved quickly through to the kitchen, dumping his backpack onto bench before crossing to the fridge and crossing off another day on the calendar. A month and a half. That was how long was left until Derek came home, until he was safe. Everyday felt like a lifetime to Stiles.

Grace - Prologue by Venchaser 

(9,655 I Explicit I Complete)  *historical au, WWII au, soldier!Derek, doctor!Stiles

Twoshot - Prologue (Complete) . It is the 1939, the world is on the brink of a second World War. Stiles is the son of a wealthy high ranking ministry official. His friend and childhood protector Derek Hale is off to the same medical school as he is, with the financial help of his own father, something Stiles is not too happy about, though he won’t admit it to himself that there might be feelings involved. Yet.

The Last Time by clawstoagunfight

(10,874 I Explicit I Complete)  *Soldier!Stiles

Stiles is leaving in the morning and Derek can’t find the words to say how he feels. Instead, he shows him.

Secrets of Suburbia by GiaUrsula 

(17,338 I Mature I Complete)  *historical au, Soldier!Derek

Lydia Martin was the Queen Bee of Beacon Hills so it was her job to welcome her husband’s nephew, Derek, and his new wife into the neighbourhood. Derek has returned home after service in Korea to settle down and marry his sweetheart, Gen, who Lydia becomes fast friends with. But after stumbling upon Derek cheating on Gen, she isn’t sure what to think. But who was the man she saw him with? Who is Stiles?

Air Mail by Handsofred 

(20,229 I Not Rated I Complete)  *soldier!derek, dad!derek, teacher!stiles

‘’Oh my god’’ Stiles breathed out as heavy booted footsteps faded away down the hall. ‘’oh my god’’

‘’Stiles?’’ Allison asked as he scrambled around the desk searching for the last letter before he was thrusting it at their faces.

‘’It’s him…my soldier…it’s him, it’s Mattie’s dad’’ He told them, his eyes wide as Allison took the letter from him, ‘’oh my god, oh my god and I fainted in front of him…oh Jesus Christ’’

Protecting Home by countrygirlsfun 

(38,400 I Mature I Complete)   *soldier!Stiles, Teacher!Derek

Stiles Stilinski is now an ex-army sniper and engaged to kindergarten teacher Derek Hale. All he wants is to leave his military service and experiences behind him so he can move on and build his life with Derek.

But it isn’t always easy when the battlefield follows you home.

I’ll Be Seeing You by thepsychicclam 

(81,489 I Explicit I Complete)  *soldier!derek, WWII au, historical au

In the summer of 1941, with the country on the brink of war, diner waiter Stiles meets Derek Hale, an army soldier just passing through Beacon Hills.

[mitchintille]

2019 mock draft special

After spending countless years fully invested into the draft, I’ve decided it’s time to create my own mock ahead of tonight’s highly anticipated draft.

These picks are entirely based on what I predict will happen tonight, not what I would do. My personal grades, team needs, and team’s tendencies have all been put into consideration with this mock.

Mainly why I'm posting is because the draft is always a fun time of the year, and while I know this draft might go about 7/32, maybe we can laugh about it tomorrow.

Hope you guys enjoy!

1: Arizona Cardinals - Kyler Murray, QB, Oklahoma

While there has been smoke here about the possibility of the Cards taking Quinnen Williams, I think first year head coach Kliff Kingsbury's prior connection to Kyler is simply too irresistable for them to pass up. Kingsbury nabs his franchise QB before coaching his first game, and Josh Rosen gets shipped off to LA before the pick is announced.

2: San Francisco 49ers: Nick Bosa, EDGE, Ohio State

A defensive line featuring DeForest Buckner, Solomon Thomas, and Arik Amrstead with an opportunity to add the best pass rusher in this class with newly acquired Dee Ford? Yep, that'll fix your defense. Dream sceanrio for GM John Lynch, as the no.1 player on their board falls right into their lap.

3: New York Jets: Quinnen Williams, iDL, Alabama

The best player in the draft is simply too much for GM Mike Maccagnon to resist. While I considered a trade down here with Cinncinatti, I opted to keep NY in this spot because of the Jets' trajectory. After signing Le'Veon Bell to pair with year 2 QB Sam Darnold, I can't envision the Jets having any feature picks this high in the coming years, and the opportunity to acquire a rare talent such as Williams is one they have to make.

4: Oakland Raiders: Ed Oliver, iDL, Houston

Whew, what a pre draft process this guy has had. From being in consideration for the first pick, to being considered a late first rounder due to "character concerns", Oliver has come full circle back to where he belongs, in the top 5. His combination of burst, versatility, and pure athleticism is too much to overlook for a team who desperately needs a pass rush. First yeay GM Mike Mayock has played this pick close to the chest, and while I genuinely feel as though Kyler Murray would be the pick if he was available, Oliver is the no brainer here.

5: Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Devin White, LB, LSU

The Bucs LB core as it stands today is Jack Cichy, Riley Bullough, Lavonte David, Kevin Minter. I just threw up typing that. This pick has long felt like the worst kept secret in the draft, and while I am not the biggest fan of White's game, it's not every draft you get the chance to plug in a 240 pound linebacker that runs a 4.4 speed and already knows the entire defense before stepping foot into the building. This pick is as much culture based as it is talent, and with the impending departure of Gerald McCoy, the Bucs can look to White to lead the new regime.

6: New York Giants: Dwayne Haskins, QB, Ohio State

I'm just simply not convinced that they pass on him. Eli's game has plummeted over the years, and Kyle Lauletta isn't the long term answer. Haskins offers a wide range of skills and fresh life to a team that desperately needs it. Haskins can sit for a season and learn under the tutelage of Pat Shurmur before replacing Eli in 2020. The Giants can't afford to pass on a top QB two years in a row, and while I am not the biggest an of Haskins' game, he makes the most sense here.

7: Washington Redskins (Trade via JAX): Drew Lock, QB, Missouri

Alas, a trade! The Redskins roster is in win now mode, and with the loss of Alex Smith, the Redskins simply cannot rely on Case Keenum or Colt McCoy to get the job done. The Skins nab their future franchise QB by trading up 8 spots to land him. A high price to pay for a prospect whom most consider to be "boom or bust", but in today's era of the NFL quarterbacks are regarded higher than ever.

8: Detroit Lions: Josh Allen, EDGE, Kentucky

Dream scenario here for Matt Patricia as the highly versatile Allen falls right into their lap. Allen is the perfect fit for this defense and if I fully expect him to be the pick if he's available.

9: Buffalo Bills: TJ Hockenson, TE, Iowa

The Bills tight end room is.....not good to say the least. When you get an opportunity to draft the cleanest TE prospect in a decade to fix a deflated TE room, you run to the podium. The Bills nab my #4 overal player and add an NFL ready weapon to Josh Allen's arsenal.

10: Denver Broncos: Devin Bush, LB, Michigan

You want to talk ugly personnel groups? Take a look at the Broncos middle linebackers. New coach Vic Fangio is a defensive minded guy who has coached guys such as Ray Lewis, Patrick Willis, and budding star Roquan Smith. Fangio lands his future leader and my top LB in the class, as it feels like this pick has been a long time coming since the combine ended.

11: Cincinnati Bengals: Andre Dillard, OT, Washington State

This pick is completely foggy to me. With all the top QB options off the board and being unable to find a successful trade partner, the Bengals opt for the best pass blocking tackle in the draft.

12: Green Bay Packers: Rashan Gary, EDGE, Michigan

Packers added pass rushers Zadarius and Preston Smith this offseason to help bolster their pass rush but I'm not convinced they're done adding to that unit. Packers nab the highly athletic and versatile Gary to add to new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine's arsenal. Pettine is known for his multi look defense, one that allows Gary to fully embrace his versatility whether it be on the edge or the interior.

13: Miami Dolphins: Christian Wilkins, iDL, Clemson

This pick makes too much sense. New HC Brian Flores has openly discussed the new high character culture he's trying to instill, and Wilkins embodies that to a tee. New defensive line coach Marion Hobby was also Clemson's co-dc from 2011-2016. All signs lead me to believe this is the pick.

14: Atlanta Falcons: Brian Burns, EDGE, Florida State

The best pure edge rusher in the class falls to a team whose best pass rusher is Vic Beasley. Burns is a plug and play guy from day 1 who would be my bet to lead that team in sacks as a rookie.

15: Jacksonville Jaguars (Trade via Wash): Jonah Williams, OT, Alabama

The Jags find themselves in a dream scenario here as they take the guy they wanted at 7. Williams is the best OL in the class and while this may not be the sexiest pick, the Jags found themsevles having to settle for Ereck Flowers at one point last season. To me, this is as easy of a pick as it gets this draft.

16: Carolina Panthers: Cody Ford, OT, Oklahoma

A chance to add the best run blocking OL in the draft to a run first team with an abysmal line? Yup, that'll work.

17: New York Giants: Jawaan Taylor, OT, Florida

The Giants add an anchor to the offensive line to help bolster the run game and protect Eli/Haskins' blindside. Taylor is a pro ready mauler in the run game who showed plus flashes of pass pro all season. His development year by year at Florida was notably impressive, and I expect him to step right in and have no problems.

18: Minnesota Vikings: Garrett Bradbury, iOL, Nc State

It's no secret the Vikings need help on the interior, and they land a versatile interior lineman with experience at all 3 positions. Bradbury excelled in a zone blocking scheme at Nc State and should transition fluidly to Minnesota. Vikings can plug Bradbury into the center spot and kick Pat Elflein back to his natural postion at guard.

19: Tennessee Titans: Chris Lindstrom, iOL, Boston College

With Brian Burns off the board and uncertainty surrounding Montez Sweat, the Titans opt for Lindstrom, an experienced starter whose versatility should allow him to start day 1 over Kevin Pamphile.

20: Pittsburgh Steelers: Rock Ya-Sin, CB, Temple

It has come to my attention that Ya-Sin has gradually been trending upwards this whole process, and rumors have it that the Steelers have pegged him as their #1 CB. With them being in the market for a CB, I'm buying into the rumors. Ya-Sin isn't very high on my board, but schematically it makes sense and given that the Steelers reached on a secondary player last season to fit their scheme, it wouldn't shock me to see history repeat itself.

21: New England Patriots (Trade with Sea): Noah Fant, TE, Iowa

The Pats have 12 draft picks this year. Knowing the histoy of their front office, a trade up here wouldn't shock me one bit. Going from Gronk to Fant is about as smooth of a transition as Favre to Rodgers. The evil empire makes a power move and adds an elite talent and the #9 player on my board.

22: Baltimore Ravens: D.K. Metcalf, WR, Ole Miss

FINALLY! The first receiver is off the board as Ozzie Newsome can't overlook the talented Metcalf. The 6'4 freak blew up the combine with an historic workout, and his on field skillset smoothly correlates with the Ravens offensive identity. Lamar gets his big man WR and some much needed help.

23: Houston Texans: Dalton Risner, OT, Kansas State

Best available offensive lineman. That's it.

24: Oakland Raiders: Greedy Williams, CB, LSU

Everything about this pick is perfect. Raiders need help on the outside and Greedy's height and swagger perfectly matches what Gruden is building his defense towards.

25: Philadelphia Eagles: Marquise Brown, WR, Oklahoma

This has long felt like this the direction the Eagles are heading towards. Brown has world class speed and is one of the better vertical threats in the draft. Perosnally, I feel this is a huge reach for Philly but this seems to be the expectation tonight. Side note: there is no precedent for a player of Brown's size going RD1. It could happen, but it never has before. Something interesting to watch for tonight.

26: Indianapolis Colts: Jeffery Simmons, iDL, Mississippi State

The Colts fill a monster need and add my #3 overall player in the process. Simmons is coming off a torn ACL he suffered a few days before the combine, and there is a chance he does not see the field his entire rookie season. However, GM Chris Ballard had proven to be a believer in a process over immediate results. Simmons' talent is too glaring and while he won't make the immediate impact they'd hoped for, his ceiling is worth the wait.

27: Oakland Raiders: Joshua Jacobs, RB, Alabama

Did the Raiders really just take a RB who never eclipsed 1k yards in a season? Of course they did. Jacobs saw his star rise quickly last Fall with a breakout season for the Crimson Tide. His bruising running style and receiving abilities are ideal for what Gruden wants in his offense, and coming from an offense where he wasn't the feature back means less miles on his legs. With the recent retirement of Marshawn Lynch, all arrows point to this being the pick.

28: Los Angeles Chargers: Jerry Tillery, iDL, Notre Dame

The Chargers stay hot with their recent run of first round picks and snag another gem in Jerry Tillery. Tillery was borderline unblokckable up until his shoulder injury that clearly affected his play. After successful offseason surgery, the Chargers benefit yet again from other team's incompetence and land another premier player at a position of need cough cough Derwin James

29: Seattle Seahawks: Byron Murphy, CB, Washington

Seahawks score a ball hawking corner that fits their scheme. Montez Sweat is in consideration but the Seahawks ulitmately opt for the hometown playmaker that fills a big position of need.

30: Green Bay Packers: N'Keal Harry, WR, Arizona State

After solidfying the defensive line, the Packers look to add some extra support for Aaron Rodgers. Packers prefered Noah Fant, but with the Pats trading up they will settle for a YAC machine and physical receiver in Harry. He is the perfect complement to Da'vante Adams, and a neccessary choice to help shore up that unit.

31: New York Jets (Trade with LAR): Montez Sweat, EDGE, Mississippi State

The slide finally comes to a halt for the talented edge rusher. The Jets make a ballsy move and trade back into the first to solidy what would be an elite unit. Gregg Williams' new 4-3 scheme calls for a hand in the dirt pass rusher of Sweat's caliber, and the only way to land him is by being aggressive. Statement pick her for Maccagnon

32: Houston Texas (Trade with Sea): Erik McCoy, iOL, Texas A&M

More. Offensive. Line. Notice a trend? Texans need offensive line help in the worst way possible and have the picks to make this move up. They snag a very underrated interior lineman to pair with their newly acquired franchise tackle.

Well guys, that was fun. If you are a draft fan I highly recommend giving this a whirl sometime. Any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

[unclescurvy]

2019 NFL MOCK DRAFT

April 24

 ROUND ONE

1. Arizona – QB Kyler Murray, Oklahoma

OK, I give up. Personally, I think he’s a wild reach here, but the consensus seems to be that Kyler Murray is a lock to go #1 – either to Arizona or another team moving up. In this scenario, the Cardinals deal Josh Rosen to the Redskins for their 2nd-round pick (Arizona also gives up a 6th).  All the teams evaluating this 5’10” quarterback have had to ask themselves: “If you could go back in time, would you have drafted Russell Wilson in the first round?”  Murray might not be the same leader that Wilson is, but he’s got the same game-day magic.

 2. San Francisco – DE Nick Bosa, Ohio State +

The Niners keep sinking so many top picks into their defensive line – and it continues! Despite his season-ending injury, Bosa should be considered the most dynamic, desirable defensive player available this year. He will lead off an historic class of defensive lineman. 2019 will always be remembered for this group – especially along the interior.

 3. NY Jets – DT Quinnen Williams, Alabama

The Jets take the best player available this year (as they did when they selected Leonard Williams). Williams is as close to a can’t-miss prospect as exists in 2019. Williams proved on the field and at the Combine to be a very special athlete for such a big man. He has the bulk to hold down the middle – and the frame to add even more heft. He’ll also be a disruptive pass-rusher from inside, opening up things for their edge rushers.

 4. Oakland – DT Ed Oliver, Houston

The Raiders surprise everyone by eschewing the edge rushers for the unique inside presence of Ed Oliver. He’s often compared to Aaron Donald because he presents NFL clubs with similar problems: neither one is particularly scheme-diverse. Oliver is a one-technique. That’s it. But he could be an all-time great at that position.

 5. Miami (PROJ. TRADE W/TB) – QB Drew Lock, Missouri

Miami feels they have to get ahead of the Giants to secure their favorite blue-chip signal caller. Tampa gives up this pick and #109, and they get Miami’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd.  Lock seems to be preferred to Dwayne Haskins in scouting circles.

 6. NY Giants – DE/OLB Josh Allen, Kentucky  

The Giants pass on Dwayne Haskins, preferring instead to take advantage of this year’s bumper crop of defensive linemen.  Josh Allen is exactly the sort of pass-rush specialist this team needs right now. It’s almost criminal to think of a Giants squad with no pass-rush.

 7. Jacksonville - LB Devin White, LSU

The Jaguars have many offensive needs, but the strength of this draft is defense, defense, defense. Telvin Smith and Myles Jack have two linebacking spots locked down, but the third is up for grabs. Devin White can excel anywhere in that group. If he plays on the strong side to start, he can be cross-trained to take over in the middle if the team decides to let Myles Jack walk in free agency in a few years.

 8. Detroit – DE/DT Rashan Gary, Michigan +

Rashan Gary deserves to play for a disciple of Bill Belichick like Matt Patricia. Gary is as scheme-diverse as any lineman coming out this year. He can play classic defensive end, he can move inside to tackle when necessary, he’s got the speed and moves to play wide-9.  Patricia will have a ball drawing up different ways to deploy Rashan Gary. He’s got a tear in his shoulder, but it shouldn’t slow him down come September.

 9. Buffalo – DE/OLB Montez Sweat, Mississippi State

Montez Sweat blew away the Combine. He also blew away coaches at the Senior Bowl. Add that to the fact that he had insane college production and the Bills need at the position, and that should make him a top ten pick.  The NFL did uncover a previously-undiagnosed heart condition at the Combine, but it appears to be something less threatening than what Maurice Hurst had last year.

 10. Denver – QB Daniel Jones, Duke

In a big draft-day surprise, the Broncos opt for Jones instead of Dwayne Haskins. Joe Flacco was always going to be a short-term fix for the team, which allows them to bring Jones along slowly. While he has a passing familiarity with the NFL system thanks to his exposure to the Manning family through Duke’s David Cutcliffe, Jones would still benefit from sitting on the bench for a while.

 11. Cincinnati – OT Jawaan Taylor, Florida

The last time the Bengals went shopping for tackles, they drafted Cedric Ogbuehi in the 1st and Jake Taylor in the 2nd.  Ouch. They’re hoping for better results this time with the best right tackle in this year’s class, Jawaan Taylor. Giving their quarterback more time to run Zac Taylor’s high-flying offense is vitally important to the club.

 12. Green Bay – LB Devin Bush, Michigan +

The Packers have taken quite a few hits this off-season: Clay Matthews, Randall Cobb, Jake Ryan. Their linebacking corps has just about shriveled and died. They’ve very lucky to have a talent like Devin Bush fall to them.  He’s a little undersized for the position, but he’s got great instincts and if he’s running freely he’s always around the ball if not making the tackle. He needs a bit more technique when it comes to shedding blocks though; if an offensive lineman gets his hands on him, Bush is out of the play.

 13. Tampa Bay (PROJ. TRADE W/MIA) – OT/G Jonah Williams, Alabama

Demar Dotson is on the wrong side of 30 and he’s going into the last year of his contract. Jonah Williams wants to be a left tackle, but he might have to satisfy Tampa’s need to shore up the right side of their line if he wants a place in this league.  Right guard this year; tackle next year.

 14. Atlanta – DT Christian Wilkins, Clemson

The Falcons are still trying to work out a long-term deal with their franchise player, Grady Jarrett. Even if that doesn’t work out, they still scored a great mid-round draft pick with Deadrin Senat last year. Bringing in Christian Wilkins would solidify their defensive line rotation – and maybe even provide insurance against losing Jarrett in 2020 (though Jarrett may like the idea of playing alongside fellow Clemson alum Wilkins). Wilkins would have been a top-10 pick in most years, but with the wealth of defensive linemen coming out this year, he’s a bargain for Atlanta at #14.

 15. Washington – TE T.J. Hockenson, Iowa

The acquisition of QB Josh Rosen frees the team up to consider other positions here. They take the best all-around tight end available this year. He’s another Zach Ertz as a receiver and Jack Doyle as a blocker. The team can no longer trust Jordan Reed to make it through a season.

 16. Carolina - DE Clelin Ferrell, Clemson

Clelin Ferrell could have been a top pick if he’d have come out last year, but he figured he might as well pick up another National Championship before he departed, right? The Panthers badly need help at defensive end, and they’re lucky to get a guy like him here at #16. Ferrell’s Combine performance suggests he needs to hit the weight room and work on his straight-line speed, but he can be built into a proper 4-3 end.

 17. NY Giants (THRU CLE) – QB Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State

The rumors are that Dwayne Haskins will suffer a draft-day fall. But I just can’t believe the Giants would pass on him at #17. This must be Eli’s last year as a starter, and the Giants really do need to not only provide the team with a promising back-up but also look toward prepping that person to start in 2020.  Haskins is as clumsy-footed as Eli and as insular as Eli. He’ll be great.

 18. Minnesota – C/G Garrett Bradbury, NC State

The Vikings have a glaring need for offensive line help. Clearly they’ve left that to the draft to solve. Garrett Bradbury is every coach’s dream: a hard worker, a clean personality and a natural leader. That’s of great comfort to Kirk Cousins. It’s about time they started protecting that investment.

 19. Tennessee – WR Marquise Brown, Oklahoma +

The Titans seem committed to becoming a run-first team. But that doesn’t mean they don’t need a potential game-breaker like Marquise Brown in their line-up. Brown is the new Desean Jackson; he might not be your 8-10 reception a week work-horse, but he could single-handedly win you games with 2-3 deep balls that he takes to the house. The Titans don’t have a player like that right now, and they’ll need one to keep defenses honest.

 20. Pittsburgh – TE Noah Fant, Iowa

The Steelers give Ben Roethlisberger a dangerous new weapon in Noah Fant. He’s never had a tight end like this – one with blazing speed and the ability to keep safeties deep and linebackers praying they don’t have to cover him. He’ll make the team forget Antonio Brown almost instantly.

 21. Seattle - DE/OLB Brian Burns, Florida State

After trading away Frank Clark, the Seahawks need a little more help with the pass-rush. Seattle sees the undersized Burns as a Bruce Irvin-type – a hybrid linebacker/pass rusher off the edge. They definitely need help getting to the quarterback, and that’s what the speedy Burns does frighteningly well.

 22. Baltimore - WR D.K. Metcalf, Ole Miss +

Lamar Jackson needs trust in his receivers to grow as an NFL quarterback, so Baltimore needs to start stacking the shelf with guys like D.K. Metcalf. He’s the guy you want to target around the end zone.  He definitely needs time to adjust to running a full route tree – he is a work in progress without a doubt – but he’s got the size, speed and talent to grow into an All Pro within three years.

 23. Houston - OT Andre Dillard, Washington State

The Texans had horrible offensive line play last year.  Even as elusive as DeShawn Watson is, he was the most sacked QB in the NFL. This team is too close to doing something big for that to happen again. This off-season should be all about rebuilding that offensive line, and Andre Dillard will be a big part of that. He’s the most promising pure left tackle coming out this year.

 24. Oakland (THRU CHI) – CB Greedy Williams, LSU

The Raiders can use whatever help they can get. They feel very lucky to get their pick of cornerbacks. Greedy is the fastest; therefore in the eyes of the Davis family, the best.

 25. Philadelphia – CB Byron Murphy, Washington

The Eagles have plenty of young cornerbacks but none as promising as Byron Murphy. What he lacks in straight-line speed, he more than makes up for in anticipation, ball skills, and overall football smarts.

 26. Indianapolis - DT Dexter Lawrence, Clemson +

The Colts surprised everyone with a playoff push down the stretch, but don’t let that fool you: this team still has many, many holes.  Getting more effort out of their pass rushs has been a priority for the team this off-season, so drafting D-line makes perfect sense.  Dexter Lawrence was a major part of Clemson’s recent success, and he stands to become a fine pro, if not a flashy one.

 27. Oakland (THRU DAL) - TE Irv Smith, Jr., Alabama

The Raiders reach a bit for Irv Smith, Jr., but the need at tight end is serious, and he’s the last of the blue-clip options this year. Other TE’s have promise, but Smith is an immediate starter. When you have three first-round picks, might as well gamble with one of them.

 28. LA Chargers - OT/G Cody Ford, Oklahoma

The Chargers have a big need at right tackle, and luckily one of the nation’s most promising tackles falls in their lap. Protecting Philip Rivers is of paramount importance as this team searches for the last remaining puzzle pieces that could lead them to a Super Bowl appearance. Ford’s best position may be guard, but the need is at RT for now.

 29. Seattle (THRU KC) - CB DeAndre Baker, Georgia

This is the pick the Chiefs sacrificed to acquire DE Frank Clark. Shaquil Griffin and Tre Flowers formed a surprisingly effective 1-2 punch last year in Seattle, but there is frighteningly little talent behind them among the cornerback corps.  DeAndre Baker might very well be the best corner coming out this year, and he’ll add a formidable challenge to the starters as well as improve the nickel back spot.

 30. Green Bay (THRU NO) - SS Juan Thornhill, Virginia

Every mock draft needs a surprise or two. Thornhill will be drafted higher than most people expect. He’s capable of playing any position in the defensive backfield, with the cover skills of a corner, the tackling skills of an in-the-box safety, and the speed and anticipation of a deep safety. He can take on slot receivers and tight ends in the nickel or he could even develop into a shut-down #1 corner. Every team wants a versatile player like this.

 31. LA Rams - OT Kaleb McGary, Washington

Andrew Whitworth is back for another season, but he’ll be turning 38 during the season. It’s time to find his immediate backup and plan for the future. McGary is climbing up draft boards and is landing on many mocks’ first rounds.

32. Carolina (PROJ TRADE W/NE) - WR N’Keal Harry, Arizona State

Carolina trades back into the first round to steal N’Keal Harry away from Arizona at the top of Round Two. The Panthers need receivers badly, and Harry has Dez Bryant potential all over him. New England is addicted to trading out of Round One. The Pats get picks #47 and 77 while giving up picks #32 and #134.

 ROUND TWO

33. Arizona – WR Parris Campbell, Ohio State

34. Indianapolis (THRU NYJ) – WR A.J. Brown, Ole Miss

35. Oakland – RB Josh Jacobs, Alabama

36. San Francisco – CB Rock Ya-Sin, Temple

37. NY Giants – SS Jonathan Abram, Mississippi State

38. Jacksonville – DT Jeffery Simmons, Mississippi State ! +

39. Tampa Bay – FS/CB Nasir Adderley, Delaware

40. Buffalo – G Chris Lindstrom, Boston College

41. Denver – DT Jerry Tillery, Notre Dame

42. Cincinnati – QB Will Grier, West Virginia

43. Detroit – CB Trayvon Mullen, Clemson

44. Green Bay – FS Taylor Rapp, Washington

45. Atlanta – CB Julian Love, Notre Dame

46. Arizona (PROJ. TRADE W/WAS) – OT Dalton Risner, Kansas State

47. New England (PROJ. TRADE W/CAR) – DT Dre’Mont Jones, Ohio State

48. Tampa Bay (PROJ. TRADE W/MIA) – RB Damien Harris, Alabama

49. Cleveland – CB Justin Layne, Michigan State

50. Minnesota – DE Austin Bryant, Clemson

51. Tennessee – DE Jaylon Ferguson, Louisiana Tech !

52. Pittsburgh – LB Mack Wilson, Alabama

53. Philadelphia (THRU BAL) – RB David Montgomery, Iowa State

54. Houston (THRU SEA) – WR Deebo Samuel, South Carolina

55. Houston – RB Miles Sanders, Penn State

56. New England (THRU CHI) – QB Ryan Finley, NC State

57. Philadelphia – WR Kelvin Harmon, NC State

58. Dallas – FS Deionte Thompson, Alabama +

59. Indianapolis – WR Hakeem Butler, Iowa State

60. LA Chargers – OLB Chase Winovich, Michigan

61. Kansas City – SS Darnell Savage, Maryland

62. New Orleans – SS Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Florida

63. Kansas City (THRU LAR) – CB Joejuan Williams, Vanderbilt

64. New England – OT Greg Little, Ole Miss

 ROUND THREE

65. Arizona – DE/OLB Oshane Ximines, Old Dominion

66. Pittsburgh (THRU OAK) – OT Tytus Howard, Alabama State

67. San Francisco – WR Riley Ridley, Georgia

68. NY Jets – CB Amani Oruwariye, Penn State

69. Jacksonville – TE Jace Sternberger, Texas A&M

70. Tampa Bay – DT Renell Wren, Arizona State

NYG selected CB Sam Beal, Western Michigan, during 2018 supplemental draft

71. Denver – WR Emanuel Hall, Missouri

72. Cincinnati – DE/OLB Jachai Polite, Florida !

73. New England (THRU DET) – DE Zach Allen, Boston College

74. Buffalo – WR J.J. Arceda-Whiteside, Stanford

75. Green Bay – C Eric McCoy, Texas A&M

76. Arizona (PROJ. TRADE W/WAS) – DT/DE Charles Omenihu, Texas

77. New England (PROJ. TRADE W/CAR) – WR Miles Boykin, Notre Dame

78. Tampa Bay (PROJ TRADE W/MIA) – LB Justin Hollins, Oregon

79. Atlanta – DE L.J. Collier, TCU

80. Cleveland – OT David Edwards, Wisconsin

81. Minnesota – WR Jalen Hurd, Baylor

82. Tennessee – NT Daylon Mack, Texas A&M

83. Pittsburgh – CB Sean Bunting, Central Michigan

84. Kansas City (THRU SEA) Seattle – RB Devin Singletary, Florida Atlantic

85. Baltimore – G/C Elgton Jenkins, Mississippi State

86. Houston – DT Armon Watts, Arkansas

87. Chicago – RB Justice Hill, Oklahoma State

88. Detroit (THRU PHI) – QB Jarrett Stidham, Auburn

89. Indianapolis – DE/LB DeAndre Walker, Georgia

90. Dallas – DT Trysten Hill, Central Florida !

91. LA Chargers – CB Michael Jackson, Miami

92. Seattle (THRU KC) Kansas City – WR Andy Isabella, Massachusetts

93. NY Jets (THRU NO) – OT Yodny Cajuste, West Virginia

94. LA Rams – LB Jermaine Pratt, NC State

95. NY Giants (THRU NE VIA CLE) – WR Mecole Hardiman, Georgia

96. Washington – OLB Christian Miller, Alabama

97. New England – TE Kaden Smith, Stanford

98. Jacksonville – OT Isaiah Prince, Ohio State

99. LA Rams – DE Anthony Nelson, Iowa

100. Carolina – G Michael Deiter, Wisconsin

101. New England – OT Max Scharping, Northern Illinois

102. Baltimore – DT Gerald Willis, Miami !

 ROUND FOUR

103. Arizona – CB David Long, Michigan

104. San Francisco – WR Darius Slayton, Auburn

105. NY Jets – TE Kahale Warring, San Diego State

106. Oakland – RB Trayveon Williams, Texas A&M

107. Tampa Bay – DE Joe Jackson, Miami

108. NY Giants – G Michael Jordan, Ohio State

109. Jacksonville – DE Ben Banogu, TCU

110. Cincinnati – RB Rodney Anderson, Oklahoma

111. Detroit – WR Anthony Johnson, Buffalo

112. Buffalo – TE Dawson Knox, Mississippi

113. Baltimore (THRU DEN) – LB Te’Von Conley, Notre Dame

114. Green Bay – DE/OLB Maxx Crosby, Eastern Michigan

115. Carolina – QB Tyree Jackson, Buffalo

116. Miami – C Lamont Galliard, Georgia

117. Atlanta – OT Chuma Edoga, USC

118. Green Bay (THRU WAS) – TE Josh Oliver, San Jose State

119. Cleveland – SS Amani Hooker, Iowa

120. Minnesota – LB Vosean Joseph, Florida

121. Tennessee – CB Jamel Dean, Auburn

122. Pittsburgh – RB Darrell Henderson, Memphis

123. Baltimore – SS Jaquan Johnson, Miami

124. Seattle – QB Jordan Ta’amu, Mississippi

125. Denver (THRU HOU) – G Beau Benzschawel, Wisconsin

126. Chicago – DT Isaiah Buggs, Alabama

127. Philadelphia – LB Ben Burr-Kirven, Washington

128. Dallas – CB Lonnie Johnson, Kentucky

129. Indianapolis – CB Isaiah Johnson, Houston

130. LA Chargers – NT Khalen Saunders, Western Illinois

131. Buffalo (THRU KC) – LB Tre Lamar, Clemson

132. NY Giants (THRU NO) – ILB Joe Gilles-Harris, Duke

133. LA Rams – RB Benny Snell, Jr., Kentucky

134. Carolina (PROJ. TRADE W/NE) – CB Kris Boyd, Texas

135. Indianapolis – LB Bobby Okereke, Stanford

136. Dallas – WR Gary Jennings, West Virginia

137. Atlanta – G Nate Davis, Charlotte

138. Philadelphia – QB Clayton Thorson, Northwestern

+ means there are health concerns

! means there are character concerns

[davidcarterr]

Skateboard Cafe Profile

Welcome to the first company profile in what will be an ongoing series. Skateboard Cafe have become one of our favourite companies here at Slam. Their output is steady, we love their graphics and if you haven’t watched their latest video you need to scroll down and get familiar. The idea of this feature is to offer some background to the brands we stock via the people behind them. We were stoked to speak to Rich Smith who offered a valuable insight into the inner workings of Skateboard Cafe as well as the strengths and weaknesses of it’s team riders. Without further ado here’s the profile…

Rich Smith at work. Photo by Korahn Gayle

When did Skateboard Cafe start as a brand?

As a brand, to me 2012 was kind of a milestone. That was the first time we released a small drop of boards and clothing together alongside a promo (which introduced our first official rider Shaun Currie) that was definitely a moment, like shit… Shaun’s relying on us to give him a few boards a month, I hope these boards sell! We were also giving boards to Harry Ogilvie and Josh Arnott around that time.

Before that though ‘Skateboard Cafe’ was the name of a scene video I released in 2008. It became a label for our crew and the edits we made that then developed into making a few tee’s, followed by a few boards and so on. So yeah I’d say the idea started 08, brand 2012.

What inspired the name?

Originally it was simply to give the video a theme, the intro was filmed in a cafe, 50s diner style, checkerboard floor n stuff and had jazz music playing. I just thought that was steez and a slightly different approach than usual. The name kinda stuck after that and as we grew into a brand it was the perfect theme and aesthetic to work with for graphic, music, edits.

What other companies were doing things that resonated with you guys when you first started out?

I’m not sure about any brands we really resonated with, I remember being hyped on 5Boro around then, this edit and this edit in particularly hit a sweet spot for me, especially the music choice… Obviously haha. I was inspired by what Daves Quality Meats were doing back then, I remember visiting their store in NY around 2008, seeing the interior was amazing, all done out as if it was a butchers, t-shirts hung up on meet hooks and stuff like that. That made me think, aye maybe Skateboard Cafe could be a place like this one day, a skate store all themed out like a cafe, serve tee’s on baking treys or whatever… It helped me vision what Cafe could be.

We’re really stoked on all of the new graphics you guys are putting out. What’s the process there, do you do all of that in house?

Cheers! I’m really happy with the new direction we’re taking. It’s a mix, myself and Makepeace cover some of it, the more bold, simple, text based and photo stuff. More recently I’ve found myself bouncing ideas back and forth with Ollie Lock, he has input here and there then we reach out to artists that suit the graphic we’re after. @becki_clark_ @richtpaint and even my dad worked on a graphic for us, so yeah it’s very in house.

We often work with Gaurab Thakali which I’m super grateful for, his art ties in so nicely to our aesthetic. He’s responsible for Dom’s debut pro board, Sax Flowers, the 4 board bar series we did…

It’s been cool watching the company grow organically to the point where it’s at. Has it been a trip watching it evolve?

Yeah it’s pretty crazy, from filming my mates for a little scene video to now having a full blown company, a skate team to look after, product being sold all over.

Having a Cafe edit on Thrasher for the first time was a trip! Knowing people all round the world will see us skating and fucking around at College Green haha

The whole thing began with your love for filming and your edits define the company. Is that still your favourite role?

Yeah as much as it fucks my back and ruins my social life I love it haha. My motivation for the whole brand continues to stem from filming and making edits with my friends. I also really enjoy the process of working on graphics… It’s similar to the feeling of editing, you make a rough draft, develop the idea a little then export a final version your happy with. Anything where I’m creating is my favourite roll.

What videos inspired you to pick up a camera?

I was mostly inspired by local vids growing up, Jus Foolin and Bristol In Bloom in particular. It was sick to see footage of some of the skaters you’d see out and about on a daily basis, skating spots you know. Then a little after that I used to buzz off of Lost & Found and Static 2 (Josh Stewart keeps inspiring me to pick up the camera! I just don’t understand how he can still walk, how do you do it Josh?)

What was the response like to the new video Ensemble?

I had a feeling it would get a good response but not like this, it’s getting shared all over the globe and getting such positive, genuine feedback. Quartersnacks wrote on their site saying the vid will still look good in 10 years from now, does it get much better than that? Haha definitely hyped to move onto the next thing and glad we now have our own platform to build on.

Which premiere went off the most?

Manchester was the most rowdy haha, we ended up arriving late (due to some insane technical difficulties like my laptop dying during the final export and a shit load of traffic amongst other things I can’t even go in to) so it meant everyone had time to get nice and steaming before we arrived. Was like walking into a busy pub after a football match.

TT Liquor, Shoreditch.

London was pretty special though, big thanks to the guys at TT Liquor, they hooked it the fuck up. Cocktail bar / cinema with a few different floors, they decked out the window for us, sorted drink sponsors, made us custom Cafe drink menus… Seriously the best venue you could ask for.

The video is banging, such an amazing array of styles too. You must be stoked on where the team is at now?

Yeah I’m stoked on the diversity of the team. We’ve been around long enough now to have a nice mix of a few generations too, from Sam (Philly Slugs) and Savannah who are like 18/20 to guys like Harry and Dom in their early 30s with everything in-between. Trips feel like a big tweaky family vacation haha

Who is the most surprising person to film?

Korahn continues to surprise me, I wasn’t expecting much from him for Ensemble as we had both kind of agreed he was taking a back seat on this project to focus on finishing up his part with Magee and Kev and also to make this vid more about the new guys. He ended up filming 30/40 seconds of footy in the last few weeks of filming. I know that’s classic Korahn but it still surprises and amazes me.

We were really happy to see Dom Henry’s love letter to Fairfield’s. Such a sick send off and then the second part was poetic too. He’s a firm favourite here. Did he know he was going to be turned pro when the video dropped?

Yeah the Fairfields section was Dom’s idea, I still don’t get how he skates that place so well… It’s so grim and crusty! Dom knew he was going pro, that was the arrangement as soon as he got on. It was just a matter of when and with the launch of the vid felt like the perfect time. The idea for the stand up comedy graphic was actually his too, passed on to the man Gaurab who absolutely nailed it.

While we are on the subject of team riders we asked you to run through the team as part of the company profile. Introduce us to the family…

What can we expect this coming year from the Skateboard Cafe? Are you straight onto the next video project or having a breather?

The plan is to work with new artist and explore new graphic avenues as well as releasing more than 2 drops a year. I’m currently having a little breather from filming to rest my back but as soon as that’s better we’re gonna be making more frequent, shorter edits through out the year and keep the YouTube channel pumping.

Words of advice for anyone wanting to follow in your footsteps?

Besides doing it for the right reasons (because you love it and not to make a quick £) I’d say if you have an idea don’t be too precious with it, don’t sit on it until it’s too late… Just get it out there and let it start developing because you never know what it could become.

We hope you enjoyed this informative conversation with Rich. See everything we have from Skateboard Cafe

The post Skateboard Cafe Profile appeared first on Slam City Skates Blog.

Skateboard Cafe Profile published first on https://medium.com/@LaderaSkateboar

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Dobber reviews, team-by-team, an eventful Free Agent Frenzy (July 2)

Ramblings: Dobber reviews, team-by-team, an eventful Free Agent Frenzy (July 2)

***

What a fantastic Free Agent Frenzy this year, highlighted by John Tavares taking a discount and the Sabres – Blues ending things with a blockbuster. Truly enjoyable, though I wish the latter trade was done three or four hours earlier, but that’s nitpicking.

We have the fantasy analysis of all the key deals with fantasy impact listed right here.

*

Here are my quick one-off thoughts on how each team did overall yesterday…

Anaheim – I had always liked Anton Rodin as a prospect, but his bad luck with injuries derailed his development and the Ducks are too deep for him to crack the lineup, barring a couple of key injuries to top sixers and disappointing camps from top prospects. They also signed a good depth defenseman in Luke Schenn, and a No.4 goalie in Jared Coreau (I think Kevin Boyle is a promising prospect goalie who is probably a better option than Ryan Miller if he ever gets a chance to show it).

Arizona – Michael Grabner brings nice speed into the lineup as long as it’s used on the third line. The Coyotes already did their tweaking, so the main thing they did was officially sign Oliver Ekman-Larsson to his eight-year deal – not to mention keep him happy by signing his brother Kevin to an AHL contract.

Boston – Jaroslav Halak is a great backup, and as good as Anton Khudobin was last yer I think Halak is even better. I think their depth signings were solid (Joakim Nordstrom, Chris Wagner) and adding John Moore gives them five enviable defensemen plus two more good bottom pairing guys. The Bruins didn’t have to do much because their rookies did so well last year and now they have added Ryan Donato.

Buffalo – Well what can I say? The Sabres are no longer going to employ a bunch of AHLers to fill out the roster. Casey Mittelstadt has allowed them to trade Ryan O’Reilly, which injects three players into the roster in place of one. If you add in the Conor Sheary acquisition and the Rasmus Dahlin draft pick and I’d say the Sabres get the Gold Medal for most improved team over the past month. I’m not sure Carter Hutton is an upgrade to Robin Lehner, but at least he stays healthy – and I really like Linus Ullmark so I think the team will be covered in net.  And yes, I’ll be handing out Silver and Bronze today too, read on.

Carolina – Uh oh. Petr Mrazek? It’s a good thing this team did the Dougie Hamilton trade and already had a great group of young forwards, because their goaltending didn’t get any better.

Calgary – The Flames did a pretty good trade last week that re-jigged the roles of a few of their roster spots, and yesterday’s signing of Derek Ryan was supplemental to that. As you may have read in my “dark horse” breakdown, I thought that Austin Czarnik signing was a sneaky-good one and he could surprise. You know me – I’m always looking for the next Martin St. Louis or Cam Atkinson revelation.

Chicago – I feel like, in order for the Blackhawks to be serious contenders again, then they need to effectively replace the two rocks on defense in Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. So I’m not sure why Chris Kunitz was signed. I get bringing in veteran Cam Ward to help stabilize the net, which was a big issue last year. And Brandon Manning is just their usual low-minute defenseman signing that they do every year. But there’s no magic savior on defense in the free agent market. Their stuck trading for a solution. It’s a good thing Henri Jokiharju is coming soon – he’ll be a stud worthy of the top pairing. As I write this, Chicago has the least cap room in the NHL at about $2 million.

Colorado – I like what the Avs have been doing. Although it has been nothing earth-shattering, they didn’t really need that. Adding Philipp Grubauer to transition into being their future starter was a nice move last week. And signing the hustling winger Matt Calvert to play half the season on their third line was a good addition. I say “half a season” because he’s hurt for the other half, guaranteed. Ian Cole was a good depth defenseman add – and that’s what this team needed badly rather than using guys like Mark Barberio.

Columbus – Lots of tweaking, but nothing of substance. The Riley Nash deal was a good add, but if this team didn’t go deep in the playoffs in the spring, Nash isn’t going to change that.

Dallas – The Stars added a really good backup in Anton Khudobin, one who is capable of doing a better job than Kari Lehtonen did when Ben Bishop gets hurt (which happens often). Lehtonen had a nice bounce-back year, but I think Khudobin can do better and that should mean at least an extra couple of wins. And that’s how close they were to a playoff spot. Blake Comeau is an underrated two-way guy for the third line who can replace Antoine Roussel minus the penalty minutes. Valeri Nichushkin is a free addition.

Detroit – The Red Wings refuse to go into full rebuild mode, opting instead to tread water. Re-signing Mike Green and bringing back Thomas Vanek strikes me as pointless, though Vanek can be traded at the deadline for some assets. But Green? As for Jonathan Bernier, I think he makes a sneaky-good add because I think he can become Detroit’s starter by next year. In 2018-19, however, it’s hard to have a good starter when the team doesn’t win many games. But keeper leaguers take note – I feel that Bernier found his starting job, he’ll just have to outplay Jimmy Howard and prove it.

Edmonton – Anton Slepyshev reportedly signed to play in the KHL, but adding Tobias Rieder is a bit of an upgrade. Just don’t overrate him, he’s a checker often miscast as a scorer. Kyle Brodziak brings character and was a great add. The Oilers addressed the easy needs to address – but were unable to address the difficult needs. Defensemen. They don’t grow on trees, though.

Florida – Did absolutely nothing. Well, they signed a No.3 goaltender in Michael Hutchinson who now sits behind two Band-Aid Boys and in the end just might end up seeing the most starts! No, this Panthers team will basically be the same team you saw last year, except upgrade Radim Vrbata to Mike Hoffman. This team badly underachieved last year, so perhaps doing nothing yesterday wasn’t so bad.

Los Angeles – The Kings added Ilya Kovalchuk and extended their main guy – Drew Doughty. This team still strikes me as not deep enough, and a couple of pieces short…but then again the Washington Capitals just won a Stanley Cup that way so I can’t really count out the Kings. They just injected 30 goals into their lineup so their offseason is among the Top 10 just from that.

Minnesota – The Wild shed themselves of Tyler Ennis and shored up a lot of depth (Andrew Hammond, Eric Fehr, JT Brown, Matt Bartkowski, Matt Hendricks, Greg Pateryn). Nothing earth shattering.

Montreal – The Habs turned themselves into possible Cup contenders after I’m sorry I can’t keep going and keep a straight face. Habs fans: keep the faith. All big-league teams go through down times like this, just hang in there. Montreal brought back a fan favorite in Tomas Plekanec and added a decent depth winger in Joel Armia. I wouldn’t mind Kenny Agostino as a possible ‘next PA Parenteau’, except the Habs don’t have a John Tavares to turn Agostino into a Parenteau. So that AHL experiment doesn’t look promising. I do like Montreal’s draft selection of Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and their focus should be on prospects and picks. They should use the Ryan O’Reilly deal as a blueprint for what they should try to get back for Max Pacioretty.

Nashville – The Preds didn’t do anything beyond adding two wingers who could be called up when injuries strike – Rocco Grimaldi and Connor Brickley. This team didn’t need to do anything though, as they have a great roster and should already be adding Eeli Tolvanen.

New Jersey – This one’s a head-scratcher and I think I’ll give the Devils my Bizarro-Gold Medal for worst offseason. This team added nobody of substance, and let a fine prospect goaltender in Ken Appleby walk, while re-signing a proven-to-be-weak goaltender in Eddie Lack. Maybe team brass doesn’t feel as we do. Maybe they feel that this team didn’t just play over their heads. Taylor Hall is a superstar, but he’ll never be Hart-Trophy good again. And while getting Marcus Johansson back from injury will be nice, Will Butcher’s second half tells me a sophomore slump is on the way. If they make a few small trades going forward, they can be forgiven because then they’d be taking a page out of my playbook (i.e. skipping free-agent frenzy and address major needs via trade).

NY Islanders – I don’t blame the Islanders one bit for pushing until the last minute to sign John Tavares. He is a generational talent and they needed to throw everything they had at him. Ottawa should do the same with Erik Karlsson. After they lost him, there wasn’t much the Isles could do. Signing Valtteri Filppula and Leo Komarov  addressed needs, and Barry Trotz is a great coach. But they’ll never be able to fill the Tavares hole.

NY Rangers – The Rangers added Fredrik Claesson as a depth defenseman but did nothing else. As a team in rebuild mode, I don’t really mind this. It gives youngsters like Lias Andersson, Filip Chytil, Libor Hajek and Tony DeAngelo a shot at making an impression.

Ottawa – A great draft pick in Brady Tkachuk was mitigated by the panic trade of Mike Hoffman, which was exasperated by their not signing anyone of consequence on July 1st. They needed to throw fans a bit of a lifeline, and if they’re making a play on extending Erik Karlsson this certainly didn’t help matters.

Philadelphia – The Flyers added proven and reliable 30-goal man James van Riemsdyk and then they dropped the mic. Boom. The only other need they could address is goaltending, and they have two of them already in place as a stopgap until their prospect studs are ready. This team is my Honourable Mention – not quite in the Top 3.

Pittsburgh – The team shed salary in Matt Hunwick and Conor Sheary last week so they could sign…Matt Hunwick II? To me that’s all Jack Johnson is: a fringe defenseman who was getting scratched in Columbus late last season.  Then again, the Penguins turned Justin Schultz into a great Top 4 guy and Jamie Oleksiak looked damn good once he came over. So perhaps Johnson has a revival of sorts. Bringing back Matt Cullen was nice, and the Pens did well with bringing in depth pieces Jimmy Hayes and Stefan Elliott.

San Jose – Addition by subtraction by shedding Paul Martin’s contract. And Doug Wilson is, of course, a genius for how he handled the Mike Hoffman flip. But other than extending Logan Couture for eight years (no small feat there, though), the Sharks did nothing Sunday. They’re keeping Evander Kane and I think you should keep an eye on the free agent European they signed a few weeks ago named Antti Suomela, who I think is a better Joonas Donskoi.

St. Louis – The Blues were weak up the middle and they could have used another scoring winger as well as a backup goaltender. Check, check, check and…check! Chad Johnson is a career backup who is a decent, but won’t have any illusions about stealing Jake Allen’s job. So the Blues are all-in with Allen and are hoping that helps. The Blues also signed David Perron and Tyler Bozak, suddenly adding incredible depth to their forward corps. So then they took that depth and turned it into Ryan O’Reilly, shedding Vladimir Sobotka and Patrik Berglund to do it, but losing promising prospect Tage Thompson as well. However, this team now boasts Brayden Schenn – Ryan O’Reilly – Tyler Bozak up the middle. That takes them from one of the weakest teams down the middle to one of the strongest. My Bronze Medal winners, folks!

Tamp Bay – GM Steve Yzerman did nothing more than extend Ryan McDonagh for seven more years. The Lightning could use some help on depth lines, but those players can be signed at Yzerman’s leisure. This is Dobber’s playbook!

Toronto – I’m sure you figured out that the Leafs were getting my Silver Medal, and you’re right. They get that just for landing John Tavares. They also added depth players Josh Jooris and Adam Cracknell, plus an interesting project in Jordan Subban, PK’s brother. Jordan is small at 5-9, and he’s very weak in his own end. His offense has shown signs of coming around at times in the AHL, but he has yet to get over the hump. Back to Tavares. There are a lot of articles coming out right now about how the Leafs do not have to trade William Nylander because they can afford his projected $6.5 million salary next year and still have $3 million next year to play with. But those articles are wrong. Mitch Marner could very well top 80 points this season – do you think he’ll sign for $6.5 million after that while Auston Matthews signs for $11 million? You’re dreaming. If Matthews gets $11 million and Marner outscores him, then Marner is getting $11 million. Now re-jig your article with that small adjustment, Mr. Hockey Journalist. It makes more sense to just trade William Nylander next summer for a great return.

    Vancouver – The Canucks made some fantastic additions for their Stanley Cup run. What’s that you say? … They aren’t expected to go on a run for the Stanley Cup? Oh. Well then why did they sign character guys Antoine Roussel and Jay Beagle? By the time the Canucks are ready to truly need these types of players, their contracts will be up. They each signed for four years, so maybe during the fourth year they can help on a Cup run. Maybe Jim Benning was just thinking (way) ahead?

Vegas – The Golden Knights were deep on defense so it was easy to let Jason Garrison and Luca Sbisa go. Signing Nick Holden wasn’t even necessary, but it couldn’t hurt. Adding Paul Stastny was a big win but losing James Neal (who is reportedly still talking to them) and David Perron hurts. Solid depth minor-leaguers with NHL experience Daniel Carr and Curtis McKenzie were good adds.

Washington – The Cup Champs signed a bunch of depth guys (Nic Dowd, Jayson Megna, Michael Sgarbossa) and lost character guy Jay Beagle. They have just $8 million in cap space and still have so re-sign Tom Wilson and Madison Bowey, plus add another defenseman. And they can do that later.

Winnipeg – The Jets are being very careful about the salary cap and they also have, in my opinion, one of the three or four best rosters in the NHL. An amazing feat. This team has $27.5 million in cap space (leads the league) and just 29 contracts (an NHL-low). They’ll need to cough up $10 million I’m sure to re-sign Connor Hellebuyck, plus another $10-$12 to sign Jacob Trouba, Josh Morrissey and Adam Lowry. So their only move was to sign Laurent Brossoit to come over and be their backup goaltender. The Jets will be looking at small, short-term deals on the open market because after locking in the aforementioned key components, they have next summer to worry about (Blake Wheeler, Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor, Tyler Myers).

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This year, for the Fantasy Guide, I am taking user input as to which players I will dig deep and give my thoughts on for each team. Remember the feature “Dobber’s Lowdown on…”? It will be based on YOUR votes. Voting is taking place in the forum (right here), check in every day for a couple of new teams. And on Facebook we will take the first to players voted for each team – and have a final poll to determine the player I dig deep on. So like our Facebook page here to vote the second time. You don’t have to sign up for the forum in order to vote. So far it looks like Ondrej Kase and Brandon Montour will go to the Facebook polls for Anaheim, and Christian Dvorak and Alex Galchenyuk for Arizona…

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See you Wednesday – I’ll be back for my old day this week as Ian is away on vacation.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-dobber-reviews-team-by-team-an-eventful-free-agent-frenzy-july-2/