#not the same but pretty similar

[seedlessmuffins]

hello beautiful people! i have decided to make this for anyone looking to get into a new sport, and here is my pitch your new sport should be hockey! i present to you; an intro to hockey (for footie fans)

*warning: this is long! very long! i would appreciate it if you read the whole thing, but you dont have to, mwah!*

the sport

ice hockey is a sport played by players on skates on a surface of ice. i will be referring to it as hockey from here on, because (and no offence to field hockey at all) ice hockey is the ultimate hockey and it would be blasphemous to refer to it otherwise! in hockey, there are two teams on the ice, and each player uses a stick (commonly made of carbon fiber, usually as tall as the player’s nose) to control a rubber puck to get it into the opposing team’s net. the ice is surrounded by boards (the white part covered in ads at the bottom) and the glass (the glass on top) and there is netting on top of the glass behind each net to prevent pucks from going into the stands

KEY POINTS

there are four positions in hockey: goalkeeper (goalie), defender (dman or simply d), winger (either left wing or right wing), and center 

defence and goalies perform basically the same role as in footie (and there is no equivalent of a midfielder), but along the attackers the roles are reversed. the center is usually the playmaker who can track back to defend and create plays, while most wingers are known as goal scorers. that said, because there are only 5 players on the ice at a time, there is no “pure goal scorer” or stiker equivalent because there simply is not space for one on a team, everyone needs to create and score. there are 4 lines of forwards and 3 lines of defense that rotate on and off the ice, with the best players on the top line or on the top d pair

games are 60 minutes with 3, 20 minute periods. in between each period is a 15 minute intermission in professional games. the clock stops every time the whistle is blown, so there is no such thing as injury/stoppage time (because we just… stop the time). players don’t play the whole game, they play in 30 second to 50 second shifts. the best forwards usually play between 18 and 23 minutes a night, top defenders play between 25 and 30 minutes a night. goalies are the only ones that play for a full 60

after every whistle, the game restarts with a faceoff, which is like a tip off in basketball. the two centers face eachother and the ref drops the puck in between them and the centers try and pass it backwards to their teammates

there are no such thing as ties! ever! they got rid of them in 2005. if teams are tied after 60 minutes, they go to a 5 minute, sudden death overtime. first to score wins and the game is over. if teams are still tied, they go to a shootout (basically penalty kicks)

equipment is worn by all players including a helmet, neck guard, shoulder, elbow, and shin pads, “pants” (basically thick shorts that protect the thighs”, gloves, and skates. also they have their sticks

the rules

there are a couple main rules of hockey, some which are the same as footie (offsides are equally hated in hockey). if you break these rules, there are four kinds of penalties that can be called. these penalties result in a skater going to the penalty box (the box) for a certain number of minutes, so the other team has one extra skater. this is known as a power play for the team with an extra skater, and for the team with a guy in the penalty box, it is known as a penalty kill. there isn’t really a build up of these penalties, like one guy can get 5 or 6 in a game and still be ok to play. the least amount of people that can be on the ice is 3, so the biggest advantage is 5 players on one team and 3 on the other. minor penalties end when time is up or the team on the powerplay scores (whichever comes first), and majors end when time is up even if the other team scores.

(naughty boys sit in the time out box)

types of penalties

two-minute minor: minor penalties and the player goes to the box for 2 minutes. examples are tripping (when you trip another person with your stick), elbowing (when you elbow someone), slashing (when you take your stick and slam it on someones wrists), roughing (a minor fight) or even diving 

four-minute double minor: this is just a bad minor where the person gets a minor injury, the best example is high sticking (where you hit someone in the face by lifting your stick over shoulder level), where you can get a double minor by making the other player bleed

five-minute majors: when an action results in an intentional injury, especially bleeding, or a fight (big fights, like ones that involve gear coming off and punching the other person’s head into the ice, is what gets a major). best example is cross checking to the head, which is when you use your stick to hit someone in the back of the head/neck to push them down to the ice (very fun)

game misconduct: ten minute penalties that get you kicked from the game. this does not result in a power play or penalty kill, you just get kicked out until 10 minutes is up. idrk this one, its pretty rare and so the refs usually just explain the circumstance

penalty shot: exactly like a penalty kick in soccer, it happens when a penalty occurs when the player is on a breakaway. this is very very rare

refs

depending on the ref, you can get away with a lot more or a lot less. theres a phrase called “putting the whistles away” which occurs in big games usually where refs don’t call penalties. refs also call penalties sometimes to “even out” the amount of penalties each team has. depends on the guy

amount

usually, each team gets about three penalties a game, sometimes more sometimes less

the leagues and the season

there is only one really big professional league (we will call it the champions league equivalent), the national hockey league (nhl) that plays in the us and canada. there are several smaller pro leagues in other countries, such as the khl (russia and eastern europe with one team in china), the shl (sweden), and liiga (finland). this section will talk about the nhl, but im pretty sure it is the same or very similar in the european leagues as well

divisions

the league is split into 2 conferences, east and west with 2 divisions in each conference. each division has 8 teams. 

east has the metropolitan and atlantic divisions, and includes all teams on the east coast of canada and the us, such as the pittsburgh penguins, the tampa bay lightning, and the toronto maple leafs

west has the central and pacific divisions, and includes all teams in the middle and on the east coast of canada and the us, such as the colorado avalanche, the vegas golden knights, and my vancouver canucks

regular season

regular season is made up of 82 games, and these games are used to get points to make it into the playoffs

points: a win is 2 points, a loss in overtime or a shootout is 1 point, and a loss in regular time is 0 points

playoffs 

the top three teams (points wise) in each division, as well as two wild cards from each conference go to the playoffs (16 teams total). they compete in a four round bracket to get to the final (like the world cup without the group stage)

each playoff series is a best of 7 series, so you have to win 4 of 7 games to win the series. the games alternate, two at home, two away, and then home away home. sometimes, teams have to travel between the two stadiums overnight (and they can be as far away as like 3,000km!)

being “swept” is when you don’t win a single game and get eliminated 4-0 on aggregate (which is on wins, not goals). if your team wins 4-0, you “swept” the other team

game 7: game 7 in the stanley cup playoffs is the best hockey you will ever see. two teams at the peak of their powers with everything on the line. its like a champions league final. 

the stanley cup, or the cup, is the trophy that can be one. there is no “keeping” the cup, there is only one and it has every player, coach, and manager’s name who have ever won the cup on its surface. there are various bands, and when one runs out of space it is “retired” in the hockey hall of fame in toronto, canada. its a pretty cool trophy

cup days is the day each player on the winning team gets to spend with the cup. they take it to their hometowns usually, they have been taken to childhood rinks, churches, mosques, on boats in lakes, on helicopters, and of course, people eat and drink out of it!

other fun facts that i think are cool

goalies: goalies can be “pulled” during the game to add another skater on the ice. this usually happens during a powerplay (for a 6 on 4 advantage) or during the last few minutes of the 3rd period when a team is down by 1 goal. this results in an empty net, and two things happen: the team with 6 players uses the extra player to their advantage and scores, or the team with less players just chips the puck down the ice and scores in the net (called an empty netter)

goalies also have the protection of the team, if someone hurts the goalie the whole team will fight them. goalies are precious and deserve hugs. hug your goalie yall

international hockey: because of politics between the ioc and the nhl, nhl players haven’t played in the olympics since 2014. there also was a hockey world cup, but that has only been held 2 times (in 2004 and 2016) and there are no plans for a return until 2024 at the earliest. this is a sensitive subject, and it is bad for the sport, but no there isn’t really an international, best-on-best tournament in hockey at the senior level right now

world juniors: there is one at the u-20 level though! the world juniors happen every year from december 26 to january 6 or 7, and it is the best players from each country under 21. usual countries that participate are canada, us, finland, sweden, germany, czechia, slovakia, switzerland, luxembourg, and latvia. russia was also involved, but has been excluded due to the war in ukraine. 

relegation: there is no such thing! everyone stays in the nhl. in order for teams to stay balanced, there is a salary cap (a limit to how much money you can be paying players each year) which i think is $88 million right now, so all teams have to spend the same amount. 

the messi/ronaldo rivalry: there is a hockey equivalent (i mentioned it in a previous post about hockey), which is the sidney crosby/alex ovechkin rivalry. they have been competing since 2005, and they are actually the same ages as ronaldo and messi too. they are both phenomenal, and there have been some historic fights and games between the two over the years. 

longevity: because it is such a high contact sport, the longevity in hockey is a lot less. it is better now, but most players retire between 33 and 38, with goalies usually retiring later and defencemen (who usually get into fights) retiring earlier. 

goals and assists: goals and assists are valued equally in the nhl, both called points. a point is a goal, an assist, or a secondary assist (you passed to the assister). most nhl games have an average of 6 goals a game, its quite high scoring, although this season the highest scoring game was 10 to 4. some games go to shootout and end 1 to 0. 

in shootout, it isn’t like footie where it would show the score as a tie and then the number of shootout goals that went in, it shows the winning team’s score as if they scored another goal and where it would say “FT” it would say “SO” for shootout. for overtime, the score would show “OT”. 

where to watch the nhl

most hockey games start at 7pm local time, which are local timezones across north america (pst, est, ct, and mt). you games for free on websites like atdhe.tv internationally, and if you are in the us and have an espn subscription, you can watch it there (im assuming you haven’t read this far if youre canadian lol). there are between 2 and 15 games every night from october until june, it is so much fun and there’s so many options!

if you’ve read this far i love you and i hope you want to watch hockey now! i would love to talk hockey with anyone who wants to learn more! mwah ily besties 😚🫶

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I know those eyes.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[cosmosnout]

The real reason Oda had to get rid of her was not for plot convenience, but bc she would have kicked everyone’s ass. (Source: trust me bro)

[rystiel]

idk what we’re all calling the concept of fiddlestan working together but i’m calling my version the portal partners AU 🙏🏼

[polinsated]

3.02 -> 3.08

[lynxgriffin]

Eldritchrune - A Dark Bargain

1 | 2 | 3

Story Setup Eldritchrune Masterpost Kris is skeptical at first, but ultimately decides to give up their soul. What this means for their eventual future is yet to be seen!

[mintjeru]

olympics 2024 men's volleyball japan vs. argentina match you will always be famous

open for better quality | no reposts

[serpentface]

There are three hyaenids found within the Imperial Wardi region- the hisippate, the highland hyena (kyniche na chennandi), and the scrub hyena (kyniche). (None are actually related to the king hyena).

The hisippate (name is close in meaning to 'stinking one', sometimes instead called '(wild) ant-dog' ('kulichin-wannaukoma')) is very distantly related to the other two. They are small, mostly solitary animals that sleep in burrows during the day and emerge to hunt at night. They are almost exclusively insectivorous, and their diet consists primarily of termites and ants that are lapped up with a long, strong tongue. The hisippate has a wide range, with their populations being highest in grassland and savanna regions with a high density of termites.

They are named for their foul smelling anal gland secretions, which are used to mark their territory and can be sprayed short distances to repel predators. Their highly visible black and white coat (which is erected in threat display) indicates them as not worth the trouble of eating. This is partly an honest advertisement of its chemical defenses, but may function as mimicry of a substantially more threatening native badger that can spray with great accuracy at distances of up to 10 feet (while the spray of the hitsippate is untargeted and only potent within a meter of the body).

The highland and scrub hyenas are the most numerous and successful predators within the region, with their populations having exploded in the past several centuries with the decline of the Wardi lion. Both live in matriarchal clan structures with strict dominance hierarchies, maintained not by individual size and strength but by highly complex networks of coalitions. All members of a clan can reproduce, and young inherit rank positions just beneath that of their mothers. Most males eventually disperse, entering into new clans at the very bottom of their hierarchy. They exhibit no obvious sexual dimorphism, and females often can only be differentiated from males by the shape of their pseudopenis.

The scrub hyena is most widely distributed and can be found throughout most of the region in a variety of lowland habitats, faring best in savannah and open grassland with high populations of grazing ungulates. This species is distinguished by well-defined spots and stripes and a sparse mane, though their coloration varies by individual and population, ranging from reddish to pale white-brown. Their clans can number upwards of a hundred individuals in the most prey-dense territories, though most are smaller.

The highland hyena is unique to the northwest of the region. As the name suggests, they have specialized into surviving in higher altitude climes, but can also be found in the remaining pockets of surrounding forest (and once had a much larger range across the former northern forests). Their spotting is often less visible than their lowland relatives, though their base coloration is similarly variable. Their clan sizes are substantially smaller than the scrub hyena, as they inhabit regions with much lower prey densities.

Both are closely related (whether they are subspecies or separate species would be subject of debate by taxonomists) and can produce viable young. Heavily hybridized populations are common where their ranges overlap. Scrub hyenas appear to breed more readily with dispersing male highland hyenas than the reverse.

Hyenas occupy an overall minor space in most of the Wardi cultural sphere. They are noted negatively as man/corpse eaters, but are generally regarded as intelligent and powerful predators and avoid the stigma attached to man-eating scavengers. In most cases they are not ascribed much significance in comparison to the venerated lion or the massive and intimidating king-hyena, mostly being relegated to a threat to livestock and potential danger to lone travelers.

Many urban areas in the province of Godsmouth (including the outer unwalled portions of the eponymous city) have unique practices of not only tolerating but actively inviting scrub hyenas into urban spaces. These urban hyena populations have been genetically semi-isolated from their wilder counterparts for several centuries. Rather than hunting large prey, they fill similar roles to feral dogs in the urban landscape as cleaners of refuse and killers of pests, and benefit from their species being culturally regarded as powerful predators rather than lowly scavengers. They notably predate on the considerably more reviled feral dogs, and keep their populations much lower than other parts of the region. Their role is regarded as both a physically and spiritually cleansing force, with their presence neutralizing polluting elements (while not being sacred in of itself).

The Godsmouth hyenas show little fear of humans compared to their wild relatives, though their activity peaks at nighttime hours to avoid close contact. They are sometimes raised from cubs to be fully tamed (though are not truly domesticated) and used as guards or to assist in hunting (Godsmouth's designated dog hunters notably have traditions of keeping hyenas). This practice is essentially exclusive to the province of Godsmouth- hyenas rarely establish semi-urban populations in other parts of the region, and those who do have considerably greater fear of humans, usually sneaking in under the cover of night to feed on scraps and fleeing from encounters.

The status of hyenas varies in the other groups native to the region. For example:

Hyenas have a generally favorable status to the Cholemdinae, who have traditionally reckoned them as highest among predators, noting their stamina and intelligence. Body parts of hyenas are ascribed the ability to increase the wearer's stamina, and amulets carved from hyena bones are often worn while persistence hunting. Children born while hyenas are heard crying are considered to be strong and very likely to survive infancy (and will often be given names referencing the animals). The apparent androgyny of hyenas is allegorically attributed to the creation story- the first beings were dual-sexed, and split into male and female halves as part of their punishment for the theft of fire from the sun. The hyena escaped this punishment by digging into the underworld to hide and getting only its once long, luxurious tail chopped off (which was sticking out from the hole).

((TANGENT: The South Wardi have more recent common cultural ancestry to the Cholemdinae than to most of the other groups assimilated into the collective Wardi nationality. The notion of hyenas once having long, flowing tails that got chopped off in some mishap still appears in South Wardi animal folktales))

They have a largely disfavorable reputation to the Hill Tribes, and are generally regarded as gluttonous and brutish in nature. The Highlands have a naturally lower density of wild ungulates, made far lower by most grazing pasture being occupied by livestock. This causes hyenas (and other large predators) to more frequently predate on domestic animals, and thus places them directly in conflict with herders (and also makes them common rabies vectors). They are readily culled when found in proximity to villages. Hyena pelts are generally considered worthless, and culled hyenas will often be fed whole to livestock guardian dogs and their pups in hopes of teaching them to be fearless towards the predators. Were-hyenas appear in folklore- among the southwestern Hill Tribes they are most commonly the accursed spirits of cannibals, while in the northeast they are malicious witches who learned secret arts of transformation and take on these forms to wreak havoc upon their enemies.

[crystallizsch]

redrawing jamil's r cards in my (usual low-effort) style 😤💪

also the sr cards but i gave up on coloring (especially robes because this is just supposed to be quick and i’m NOT attempting those patterns 😭)

[art-is-kayos]

Everlasting A5

[canisalbus]

Hello, I'm not sure if you're aware, but tumblr is going to start helping midjourney gather data for their AI. You're one of the artists I follow here pretty actively and I wanted to warn you to maybe start nighshading your art before posting it here so it doesn't get swept up!

I've seen a couple of posts about it. Feeling disappointed but not that surprised. Also not excited about having to start nightshading/glazing my pieces but if there isn't going to be any serious regulations regarding data scraping and ai "art", there aren't a lot of choices.

Thank you for taking the time to warn me just in case, it was very thoughtful of you!

[luck-of-the-drawings]

[OLD ART ALERT] A COLLECTION OF SCENES FROM THE GILLIONS CATSCRATCH ARC THAT BROUGHT ME GREAT JOY. i love fishy chips especially when its just gillion being delirious and violent and hostile

[bigskydreaming]

Imagine looking at a character whose entire premise is that in every stage of his life, he's made every version of himself into someone that inspires people to such a degree that EVERY SINGLE VERSION OF HIM has people wanting to literally follow in his footsteps in some way or another.....

And coming to the conclusion that like.....the most important things about him are the sum of all his trappings. His entirely homemade developed from scratch could not exist if not for what he already was and brought with him BEFORE crafting this newest version of himself trappings, with his greatest trait throughout all of it being his adaptability; his ability and willingness to roll with the punches and not try to simply weather any opposition or changes to his life but instead reshape himself as needed to better fit INTO whatever new shape his life and the world around him takes. All while managing to carry the most innate, fundamental and necessary aspects of himself from one version to the next. Thus every single version of himself is different but simultaneously every single version of himself is also undeniably the same person.

The strength of this character, to me, will always be that he can be so many versions of himself, he can become so many things, all without ever actually losing or discarding any of the aspects of himself he considers most essential, the things he's not willing to lose or give up just to keep going. Finding that road not taken by most, usually because most never even think to look for it as an option. But one that he's always able to find because the one trick he's mastered in his tumultuous life is threading that needle of not just digging in his heels in an unproductive way but rather being selective about when and where he makes a stand and decides "this is not a thing I'm willing to compromise about" but here are places and ways I can and will change and evolve and adapt in order to make it possible for me to hold onto these parts and keep them as they are.

And that's why its always so mind-boggling to me that so many writers can't seem to think of anything else to do with Dick Grayson other than invent some new reason for him to just....not be that person, or to like just take the character whose most basic fundamental trait he's NOT about to compromise on is willingly giving up his spot in the driver's seat of his own life.....and make him just a passenger in his own life and stories.

Dick Grayson at age nine....at age nineteen...at age twenty nine....the one core thread running through all versions of him is the only way he's standing back and letting you call the shots for him or putting him on the sidelines in some way is over his dead body.

HOW he goes about that, what that looks like, who he becomes and what aspects of himself he plays up at some times and what traits he lets fall by the wayside at other times when they offer less in service to his primary goal here....that changes constantly. He changes constantly.

But those changes are almost always (or at least they used to be/should be IN MY OPINION) made with the intention of keeping certain things about him or his life as consistent as possible.

That's the duality of Dick Grayson that I'm here for. The inherent contradiction of him that COULD allow for endless conflict and breaking new narrative ground in all sorts of ways if mined properly:

His eternal willingness to compromise....but only ever in pursuit of doubling down on the ways he's not willing to compromise.

Forever walking that tightrope in ways that only a kid born and raised in a circus could ever hope to.

[togaki-kun]

Gojo “No one is allowed to take youth from young people” Satoru and Nanami “Being a child is not a sin” Kento can actually be so personal.

[s0dabeach]

since so many people now appear to be part of the "Stan Pines is hot" club, I gotta ask...

Which Stan appearance is the hottest

(also reblogging for larger sample size is appreciated)

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts 3 - Riku using Sonic Dodge