#so i really dont need to be super deep into a franchise to get bit by the trope bug

[thunderin-brainstorm]

anyone who knows me at all knows i'm legitimately obsessed with the concept of isekai/portal fantasy, and whenever i get into a piece of media i can't help but spin up a new OC exploring that concept. so uh, introducing RB Heather, the protagonist i mentally spun up as i played P:LA!

she falls from the real world into Hisui with no knowledge of Pokemon save for pop culture osmosis and spends the first week or so just absolutely gobsmacked. she's being made to risk her life doing environmental science for a group of settlers and also there's a made-up magic critter hanging out with her now? wth?? at least she's got a proper backpack and good shoes with her

i've got her story outlined almost completely, as i've simply recorded my own experience playing P:LA and fleshed it out for her. she's got the team i played with, and i took a lot of the mishaps of my playthrough to add to her story, for better or worse. sorry for forcing you to be a video game protagonist RB, i promise things will get better soon

[angelicguy]

heres something i wrote in 10 minutes about why crossovers sometimes piss me off and sometimes dont

what sucks about the sheer amount of companies that are doing really hamfisted IP crossovers is that theyre always doing it for the worst possible reasons. like smash is cool because each character to some degree is translating their own games mechanics into smash bros right. some do it more than others (the dragon quest guy does it wayyy better than say sephiroth but even sephiroth does it wayyy better than joker who essentially doesnt translate anything from personas mechanics) but for the most part you get a little bit of their game in smash. this applies to a larger degree in tekken (at least for the fighting game crossovers) like akuma and geese have entire input strings that are lifted wholesale from their OG games, balance be damned. which is super super cool! video game crossovers are good because theyre combining two sets of complex mechanics into something new. fighting games especially are a great opportunity for mechanics crossover because theyre often 10 times more complex than what the original game has that character doing- look at link in soul calibur 2 for example! that kicks ass! super deep translation of both ocarina of time stuff to a cool ass fighting game! nice!

why i think MOST IP crossovers suck and are a result of video games more than anything is because non-video game crossovers are just that. theyre just a written character, completely removed from the very very careful contexts that they were created in, kind of smushed into a binary set of mechanics or a story that doesnt need them. look at dead by daylight- while i think it tries its best, pinhead wasnt created as a video game character with a set of iconic moves that were intended, first and foremost, to be fun to play with. hes a character in a story with specific details, whose importance and legacy AS a character is the result of the movies, not just pinhead bein pinhead. and so the DBD devs kind of fit a square peg in a round hole- he just does a set of moves with cooldowns in a context that he doesnt fit in whatsoever. its not translating the aesthetic of the hellraiser movies, but just giving a coat of paint to a set of mechanics that only barely have anything to do with the original character. even then i think DBD does it better than most other crossover titles, especially compared to something like fortnite where you can wholesale shove a characters model in without even designing mechanics for that character- because its not a character based game. youre just shooting with a new coat of ip-friendly paint on it and that sucks. but its for kids so i get it. same with cod warzone you just have donnie darko with a gun.

but the WORST part of all this is that it makes business sense 100 percent of the time to include a crossover character in your piece of media. you could either spend 10,000 dollars advertising your new character or 0 dollars advertising a character from a already-beloved multi-million dollar franchise. hell sometimes you get paid for it depending on how popular your game is.

thats what all these new battle royale “metaverse” fuckin games are doing and its what mortal kombat 11 did. mkx got away with the horror crossover because it fit REALLY REALLY well with the mkx aesthetic, which was just overall darker and gorier than anything that came before it. so horror characters just made sense, even if it was still a clumsy translation. in mk11 all the characters are just. fuckin. robo cop. who like pinhead doesnt have any pre-existing mechanics cuz hes a written character nothing designed with gameplay in mind. so they clumsily shove them into some archetype that already existed in the game. because the very existence of that characters movies and what-not are already doing the heavy lifting advertising the game and the character to potential customers.

thats why fortnite is the most insidious of all of these options- its all advertisement, no mechanics. totally uninteresting action figure smacking that only children fall for. and this is all ENTIRELY separate from when theres a “story crossover” or some such shit that never, ever works. that is entirely the result of everyone having video game brains

[duhragonball]

For the Ask Game: Son Goku

Give me a character and I will answer:

Why I like them: Goku is the main character in Dragon Ball Z, an anime that I have enjoyed tremendously for over 20 years.  He kicks aliens really fast and hard, and he eats wolves and bugs and clouds, and he’s very cool and good.   

That may sound kind of basic, maybe even borderline sarcastic, but I’m not sure how else to put it.    I’ve gotten so used to liking Goku that it’s hard to articulate why.   

Like, okay, you know that one episode during the Cell Games, where he’s gonna pick apples from his favorite apple tree?   And he does the special karate punch that makes the apples all fall out of the branches without really hurting the tree?    In the dub, he says to the tree “Ready for one more round, old timer?”  Or something like that, and then after he hits it, he’s like “See?  That didn’t hurt a bit.”  I’m not getting the lines right, but you get the idea.    That’s some choice Goku right there.    He’s friends with that tree!   

Why I don’t: hE gAvE mOrO a SeNzU bEaN-- ha ha just kidding, but can you imagine not liking Goku?   Because of something he did in some horseshit fancomic that doesn’t even count?

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of guff from people about Goku showing mercy to his enemies.   This is humorous to me, because I’d bet you dollars to donuts that they’re fans of Vegeta and/or Piccolo, and that only happened because Goku decided to have mercy on their stank asses.    “Well I like Vegeta because he kills people.”  He only gets to do that because Goku allowed him to live.    Best Green Dad doesn’t happen without Goku, period, end of sentence, new paragraph.   

I’m not a lore expert like that guy on Twitter who only watched DBZ Abridged, but here’s some cool trivia for you: Cell could have self-destructed and destroyed the Earth at any time.    It literally does not matter that Goku gave Cell a senzu bean before Gohan fought him, because Cell would have done the same thing no matter who beat him or how.     If Gohan had wiped him out quickly, that nucleus would have survived and regenerated, and he would come back even stronger.   The senzu bean just delayed the inevitable outcome, and not even by that much, because Cell wasn’t that worn out in the first place.   The whole thing with the senzu bean was Goku playing headgames with Cell and no one seems to understand that but me.   

But what about Moro, you ask?   Hey, come here.  

Closer.    No, closer.   

Listen to me.   I love you, okay?    But the Dragon Ball Super manga isn’t canon.   Hating Goku over something he did in Super is like hating Superman for something he did in a Mad Magazine bit.      

“Blargle blargle he doesn’t kiss his wife bad father, tournament of power--” I super mega don’t care about any of these ice cold takes.      Every day I go on YouTube and it recommends me the dirt worst Star Wars commentary videos.   “Maybe the SITH were actually the GOOD GUYS and the JEDI were the BAD GUYS!  Huh?  Did I just BLOW your MIND?   Be sure to like and subscribe!”  Every dope with a keyboard seems to think they can flip the script and pretend they’re some kind of genius.    “Thanos was right!”  “Magneto was right!” “Dr. Doom was right!” “Antifa are the real fascists when you stop and think about it!”  “Masks and vaccines are bullshit, COVID-19 is a hoax, but if it were real, maybe it’s the good guy in this situation!”

I didn’t mean to go off on a rant here, but the whole point of Goku is that he’s a pretty cool guy, and the hero of his particular adventure, and you see all these people trying to outsmart that somehow, like it’s not the premise of the character.   It’s like all those fan theories about how every show is really one character having a coma dream in the hospital.    It’s fake-deep, like when Will Smith’s kid goes on the internet and says something like “Water isn’t wet when you stop and think about it.”  

I’m not saying everyone has to like Goku, but I don’t get the hate-boner people have for him.    I don’t like cole slaw, it’s soggy and insipid and I don’t understand it, but I don’t go around trying to convince people it’s not made out of cabbage.  

Anyway, Goku’s awesome. 

Favorite episode (scene if movie): It’s hard to choose, but DBZ #248 always fucks me up.   I looked it up in my liveblog archive to get the episode number right, and the first line of that post: This one always fucks me up.

Moving on.

Favorite season/movie: In Dragon Ball terms, I guess this refers to the sagas, so I’ll go with Cell Games.    Goku goes into the battle with this flawed, touch-and-go plan, and it works.    He defeats perfection with imperfection, and it’s glorious.  

Favorite line: “What I represent can never be destroyed,” is one of the most metal lines ever uttered, anywhere.   It’s a threat and a moral lesson all in one.   

Favorite outfit: Two answers for this one.  

Shu’s outfit in the Fortuneteller Baba Saga was awesome.    I used to wear yellow T-shirts to work, so when I put on my blue labcoat I would see myself in the restroom mirror and think: yeaaaaahhhhhh.

I’m also big into Goku’s look during the Cell Games, classic orange outfit, blue shirt, with the Super Saiyan form ready to go.    That may sound obvious, since this is kind of Goku’s default look, but it takes a while to get all of this together.  For me, it was a big deal to see Goku in action as a Super Saiyan in his standard fighting gear, because the whole time he was SSJ on Namek his shirt was ruined.   Against Gero and 19 he was sick, but starting with the Cell Games, we get him fresh as a daisy, and it’s worth the wait.   Harder to stealth cosplay, though.

OTP: Gochi.   Come on.    I don’t even care that much about ships, but they’re adorable on the show, and the internet backlash against Gochi only intensifies my defiance.   

Brotp: I wrote a fanfic with Goku and Yamcha just joyriding in the desert, and that seemed pretty awesome, so maybe we need more of that.   

I dunno, maybe I’m giving this to Bulma.   They don’t get a ton of screen time together after a certain point in the show, but the bond between them is this really sublime thing.    In the same fanfic, I wrote Bulma and Goku interacting, and that was just a pleasure to write.

Head Canon: I think Goku being an alien orphan matters more to him than he lets on.   Early on, he knew he had parents but he didn’t know why they left him in the woods.   Pretty much every interaction he has with the outside world is about him being different.   Then he finds out he’s a Saiyan and all the Saiyans hate him for being weak and sentimental and so on.   He can kick all their asses, but that doesn’t make him any less of an outcast.   

I think becoming a Super Saiyan is a bigger deal to him than he lets on.   That moment kind of serves as this unspoken proof that there’s more to being a “true” Saiyan than Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz ever knew.   That maybe, if his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great granny could see him, she might approve.

Unpopular opinion:

Yukio Ebisawa is underrated. 

A wish: I always wanted to see Goku style on Broly ‘93.   It seemed unfair to me that they kept bringing Broly back, and even teased a rematch with Goku in Movie 11, only to not deliver on it.    I wanted Goku to turn Super Saiyan 2 and Broly’d be all “oh noes!” and Goku would look at him and be all “Yeah.   What now, bitch?    That green shit won’t cut it anymore.”

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: I think my darkest fear about the Dragon Ball franchise is that it’ll get bastardized like Superman, where some giant multimedia corporation owns it, has no idea how to tell new stories with it, and refuses to let it lapse into the public domain.   I have no idea how public domain works in Japan, but “Disney Toei’s Dragon Ball KH” doesn’t sit well with me.    Hopefully I’ll be dead by the time that happens.  

Like, Rise of Skywalker wasn’t that bad.   But it did lead me to worry that they really have no idea how to make Star Wars work.    They got it right enough, but the part where Rose is going to stay and guard the base or whatever, it just made me realize they’re only guessing, and they just happen to guess right often enough to succeed.   And it’s not like you can jump over to some other studio and see how they handle a Star Wars movie.

5 words to best describe them: Ain’t nothin’ to fuck with.

My nickname for them: Geeko.    Ha ha, just kidding.  

[dbzebra]

☕️ OH YKNOW WHAT AT THAT NOTE? Talk about that dbs broly movie cuz yknow. That’s a hot topic of the ages that folk feel particularly really strongly about

ooooh ive been waiting for this one. We watched this together on discord so you know my general feelings but Im happy i got this ask lol.

putting this under read more cause it gets long 

The new movie that everyone seems to love and adore.... that I dont. It was a pretty middle of the ground, meh overrated af movie. Not bad, just nothing special. I enjoyed watching it sure, but not something I have an inkling to return to anytime soon if ever. It was just ‘there’ for me. 

First, I’ll say the good stuff. The visuals looked really pretty. Nobody was THAT out of character of the existing cast (save for the ending), which i feel weird to have to even mention it as a positive, but nothing really stood out to me as a defining moment for the little cast we had besides Goku’s “youre not a bad guy, i can tell” or w/e. SUPER SAIYAN 1 IS STILL GOAT. It looked soooo good in this movie i wish we couldve kept it the whole time instead of Blue. But i will say, Blue looked much better in this movie than the series. The darker-blue with the lighter blue eyes was a nice change from instead of the ugly bluish-green the series did. Also the aura looked better. Backgrounds like the ice area and even Planet Vegeta were amazing. Action was great too. little Bulla was cute. The OST i liked (the chanting really grew on me) and Blizzard is a banger i love that song. Oh and the aritisic license they took for the fusion scene with the reds and blues spiraling together was great

Anyway thats all the positives I have lmaoo

This film includes Minus and I already went in depth on why I hate Minus with a passion and why it’s the worst thing to come out of modern Dragon so yeah moving on. But the fact that they devoted screentime to Gokus backstory which ultimately served no purpose to the story of the film and couldve been used more valuably elsewhere. 

I said the action was good, and it was, but it almost too good. At times it was so fast to tell that was going on and really lessened the impact for me. Like when they went into the other dimension or whatever, Gogeta went blue and Broly went LSSJ (idc if the name is different name, itll always be legendary SSJ to me lmao) so ast it was a blink and you miss it moment. like what? those moments shouldve been given even a little bit of focus. 

Next the cast. Goku and Vegeta. AGAIN. snorefest. no Gohan, Piccolo is just there to show them the fusion, Goten and Trunks are still kids and look like babies (and Pilaf gang is with them which is another can of worms), no Android 17, who the series established as one of the top 4 fighters on Earth. 

Do we get any of that? Nope. Just the two Blue and Bluer fucking again and again I. dont. care. anymore. Their dynamic is so boring and played out id rather watch paint dry. It was fun in Buu Saga, hell it was even fun in GT, but DBS constantly forcing this dynamic and Vegeta as the second Main Character needs to fucking STOOOP. Toei and Toriyama has no idea how to further Vegeta’s character because theyre stuck in this infinite loop. 

Vegeta doesnt want to help Goku, he mentions Bulma and/or Trunks, Vegeta blushes, and then he decides to help. THAT HAPPENED LIKE SIX TIMES IN DBS ALONE. It happened in Buu saga as well, but it organically worked cause it was the first time but Bulma and Trunks were ALREADY DEAD/ABSORBED. The look on his face wasnt blushy or pouting for a gag, dude was legit shocked. I rag on Vegeta but he had some legit great moments in the early arcs and later parts of Buu Saga. Anyway im off track. They repeat that same exact character moment OVER AND OVER. cant tell you how many times we had “my Bulma, my bulla, my Trunks, my cabba” in the Tournament of Power alone, and this movie is no different.

DO SOMETHING ELSE FFS

Then we have Broly. ohhhhhh boooy Broly. if you can even call this version of him Broly. His backstory is kinda the same as original movie 8/Broly LSSJ, but its more tragic becuase according to most fans, if youre background is a sobstory, that equals better character. NO. sure it could, but that trope was so worn out so long ago I hate it. “waaa his life was bad, hes not a bad guy” bruh i dont care thats not Broly. just make an OC if you wanna do that. but nope. gotta use the marketing! (More on that later)

People like to criticize Z Broly as “he hates Goku cause he cried” or “all he says is Kakarot” which both are false. On the first point, Broly is a psychopath. He was stabbed as an infant and left to die along with Paragus cause he was too powerful. Then that same day Planet Vegeta explodes practically on top of them. The rest of his life hes basically either being controlled or on a rampage. So that one moment of peace is “ruined” by Goku in a sense cause he subconsciously associates that with Goku. On the second point, Broly was already mentally unstable and then nearly dying, getting caught in the explosion of a SECOND PLANET and then being frozen for seven years will fuck anyone up in the head. Z Broly in the original movie was sadistic af and he had a lot of memorable moments and lines that werent just screaming Kakarot, that Second Coming made him infamous for. 

New Broly is legit a man-baby. People talk about old Broly having no personality and this new version having a deep character, but I dont see it. He acts like a child when hes with Cheelai and Lemo and then once the fighting starts he doesnt say a single word but yell. SOUND FAMILIAR?? But he gets a pass because the canon police says so right??? fuck off. New Broly is boring. Im tired of trying to make the Saiyans into ThEyRe noT aLl BaD sEe The SaIyAns ArE AcTuAlLy GoOd!!!11111 ugh i hate it. keep Broly a psycho and keep Bardock a prick. even that guy that went with Buzz Lightyear I mean Paragus was a sweet guy who couldnt fight because of course he was. At least they kept Paragus being a prick when he killed him. Tho his death was lame. 

Cheelai’s overrated af. Shes just green bulma lmao. and the fact that they included the “big soft-spoken man gets mad and saves girl from drunk lowkey-rapey pervert” trope just had me roll my eyes like dude stop. Lemo was fine? Nothing against him but didnt do much for me either.

FUCK. FREEZA. i went over this one before too so ill be quick with this as well. I hate hate hate the fact that they brought him back not once but twice in DBS, but even worse that they left him alive to do whatever tf he wants including going back to mass murdering people and expanding his army again. Goku and Vegeta just LET HIM LIVE. Why tf did they go all out and attack Broly, but not Freeza? when one of them was fighting Broly th other easily could have taken out freeza but nope we need a token villain like Joker or Skeletor cause unoriginality. Even at the end, Gogeta does a full power blast to wipe Broly tf out, but when Freeza tries to kill Cheelai and Lemo (two innocent people, feelings on them aside) Gogeta basically just shakes his finger like nuh-uh! dont do that! and then he flies off. Just let this mfer die already im sick of seeing his ass. FUCK I HATE IT SO MUCH GFGFFGFGFGF

Lastly this movie is legitimately Dragon Ball Fanservice The Movie. 

Gogeta vs Broly, which the games have been doing since fucking 2003, is the main point of this film. Theres no originality whatsoever. Minus is discount Father of Goku special, and then its a mashup of Broly LSSJ and Fusion Reborn (both of which are superior movies imo). This creatively banrkupt shell of a franchise cant think of anything new, so they legit remake an old movie, through in fusions because that sells like hotcakes, and make the animation pretty because thats all that matters.

Imo, this movie, like 99% of Super, is all flash and flair but no substance at all. At least this movie looked nice. unlike the show. 

ok thats all i got lmao

[gayregis]

Hi, just wanted to ask, how did you get into the witcher franchise (did you read the books before you played the games or vice versa?). Love your blog, byeeee :)

ty for the ask!! i hope you dont mind if i go too in-depth because i was legit thinking about this earlier today... 

tldr: i played tw3 and liked it, then read the books

i got into the witcher because one of my favorite gaming youtubers was doing a playthrough of tw3 on youtube in around i think september 2017. i liked this specific gaming youtuber for being shit at games and not caring about it... but tw3 was a different game. it felt like the decisions mattered, that there was an actual story here, that when this youtuber made shitty decisions and didn’t really care about the characters involved, i got frustrated because this game seemed really good... so i picked up the game myself and played it though, it was magnificent. not to r/witcher “the witcher 3 is literally the best game created in this history of ever” but it was sincerely good... not only does it have a great story, characters, and graphics, but it is genuinely comfortable to play as a game, even if you’re not great at games (i like playing video games but i’m not good at them when it comes to combat, i literally just would prefer to hack and slash through). so, i played through tw3 and the fact that it made me cry multiple times i found to be really interesting... but it was still just a game to me, it wasn’t something i thought about when i have time to daydream headcanons. i had read i think the witcher (short story) halfway through playing, just to get a feel of what tw3 came from, but from that, i realized the books and the games were incredibly different entitities, and i decided to not read the books until i had finished the game, or at least until i had more free time on my hands (mind i was in high school and was a senior, and during this time was when i was submitting college applications... exceptionally stressful, and the reading/writing part of my brain was absolutely fried from essay writing and reviewing). i was particularly struck by geralt and ciri’s relationship and the isle of mists quests fucked me up pretty bad. 

then around later 2017, i was really enjoying tw3, and had finished tw3′s base game and hearts of stone, and was now making my way into blood & wine. i was just playing it like normal, then came the part when geralt met regis. at first i wasn’t too interested (i mean, i was, but in the story of blood & wine, not in the books) until the little journal text pop-up appeared on my screen. you know, the one about quests you just received, or characters you just met. it was going through the motions of saying i finished this quest, picked up this new one, i was all like fine, fine, okay, alright, and then it just fucking puts regis’ long-ass name on the screen taking up a good amount of my FOV and i am immediately like, what? what the fuck? who the fuck? that’s the name? of the guy we just met? that guy??? he didn’t seem like someone with a name like that? who the fuck IS this guy.

so i head over to the wiki page for regis. i thumb through the basic information, i’m pretty interested, this quest stuff to find ciri sounds interesting. i decide to give the witcher books another try, because i have more free time now and am way more invested as everyone here as characters. also, i want to find out more about yennefer, because she was being badmouthed by everyone i saw online, and i wanted to read more about her and see if she was really so bad (spoilers: she’s not at all, the internet is just misogynistic).

i don’t think that i’m going to actually really care about these books, i just want more flavor and explanation about how in hell a witcher met a vampire and these two somehow became friends. so, i don’t care about reading them in order. i go online and find fan translations of every book, i open baptism of fire and i just start reading the bit about the fish soup. i’m suddenly just laughing my ass off, really interested in who these other characters are, milva and cahir, and how dandelion seems to actually be the best friend to geralt that he was said to be in tw3. i also notice immediately that geralt... oh my god, geralt’s such a cranky bitch. i’m SHOCKED at how annoying geralt is. i realize that this is probably what geralt’s been like, this whole time, and tw3 just gave me a sterilized version of him. i’m trying to decide if i like this change or not, at first i HATED it... but then realized it actually gave him a character, where in tw3 he feels a little more... empty, waiting for the player to project a personality onto him.

so, i just read all of the hansa bits of baptism of fire, skipping over anything i don’t understand. i am saddened when i can’t find any more, so i move onto tower of the swallow. and then lady of the lake. “oh, so that’s why geralt was surprised to see regis in blood & wine...” feeling at a loss after reading stygga, i start at the beginning and make my way through the books chronologically, like they should be read. i soon realize that this series really isn’t about killing monsters at all, and i’m thrilled. i thought the series was just going to be about geralt killing things in a swamp and reporting back to whoever hired him, like in tw3... and i was wrong. this series is about personal connections! relationships! ... and fatherhood. [see read more for personal junk]

i can’t remember when i started disliking tw3. it must have been around the time that i finished the books (im using the word finished loosely... i still havent finished some scenes because theyre too violent to read and continue with my day in peace, and i also read tos/lotl by skipping around, so i never got the full experience of reading them as full novels).

i just distinctly remember returning to my tw3 new game+ save after rereading the fish soup scene, and thinking about how lonely the game felt... i just felt so dispairingly alone, this loneliness that i hadn’t felt while playing before, that i had to put the game down. i returned to the game again, but i had just reread edge of the world... and i felt so alone again. 

so reading the books ruined tw3 for me, not out of malicious intent, but just because i think i realized geralt isn’t meant to be the lone wolf. the novels center around him and his family and friends, and i just genuinely missed that when replaying tw3. plus, i began to realize a bunch of things, like ciri’s scar is supposed to be bigger, geralt’s supposed to wear his hair in a headband, yennefer’s hair is actually curly, dandelion’s supposed to actually be in the game. there were so many inconsistencies with the characters i had imagined while reading the books that eventually i just stopped playing tw3 (i already played it once, so nbd) and got really into the books. 

sometime later i saved up like $80 to buy the paperback versions of the books (UK versions including season of storms) because i knew i was in really deep lol and i wanted the official translations super badly, also we were doing an assignment in class that allowed us to do something with our favorite book, but we needed to have it in-person and not as an e-book, so it was the perfect excuse. much time spent on hansa headcanons later and... here we are today.

a read-more, because this is more personal. 

the witcher series picked me up at an eerily appropriate time. two things in it stood out to me: 1) geralt’s relationship with ciri 2) regis’s alcoholism. 

i distinctly remember an event where i started crying in front of my parents because my dad was being so absent in my life or maybe it was because they were arguing, something like this... and i remember referencing tw3 isle of mists quest actually by saying “i shouldn’t have to learn it (good parenting) from a video game” ... lol. it wasn’t an epic burn from a 17 yo, but it was just a painful remark made in anger. i still think back to it because of how first watching geralt hug ciri made me feel and how i was actually really bitter because i was jealous of ciri for about a week after completing the quest. then i kind of pushed it out of my mind and didn’t think so much about it, until the night i mentioned it.

in late march of 2018, something very bad happened in my family. that’s probably the best way to describe it. the situation ended in my parents finally separating. my mom and i were pretty afraid and lost after that. after i had collected my thoughts and everything and went back to as “normal” as i could, about a month later, when the creative part of my brain finally began to function again and wasn’t inhibited due to fear, i clung to the witcher more than i did before... and this time, actually particularly to regis, because guess who has a whole redemption arc relating to not being alcoholic and being a genuinely good person who speaks gently and heals the vulnerable?

[tumblunni]

Wow i had such a weird dream?? The story itself wasnt too unusual, just an emotional moment of an anime that doesnt exist, but the way the dream delivered it was really confusing!

The plot of this apparant anime was that there was some sort of ragtag group of monster people wandering the earth looking for a place they could belong without being hated. And i got the feeling here that they'd just found a place where things were going good, but the show's recurring villains appeared and revealed their secret to the town and now they had to flee again as everyone they thought was a friend took up pitchforks against them.

And the main focus character was really interesting? I dont think he was actually the protagonist but he got the focal role in this episode. Cos the monsters had to disguise themselves as humans to live in this town, and this was the youngest monster who didnt know how to do that yet. He had a really emotional struggle of pushing himself so hard to try and master this skill, because he was actually unique amoung the group for being a monster that was actually once human. So it was a combination of frustration at being a burden to his new friends, with desperation to finally see his own face in the mirror again.

And I feel like maybe before he became a monster he was bigoted against them and scared of them? Within the dream i recalled watching that other episode some other day, and apparantly it was super emotional. It started off just seeming like another 'we find the town of the day along our journey and meet some friends and/or solve a conflict' type thing. And this kid was mostly antagonistic through the episode, a dumb naive kid who believed everything negative about monsters and now struggled with the situation of being the only one who knew the truth that these guys are monsters but also now theyre doubting whether they should reveal it because these people seem so..normal?? And scared?? Starts to doubt whether all the other monsters executed by the corrupt church in their town were fully sentient too, and every time the 'nice' priest was teaching them how to spot liars he was really teaching them how to kill innocent monster people who were just as scared as the humans are of them. But the roots of gaslighting and abuse from this priest ran deep, so the kid struggled with the choice and ultimately made the wrong decision. Also i think maybe theres a reveal that the priest was actually their biological dad too, just for even more levels of why theyd make that wrong decision. And more reasons why its horrifying that the priest dad just treats his kid like shit once they outlived their usefulness. Im thinking something like the kid tries to make up for their mistake and save the protagonists but they get captured by their dad and like.. Ok holy fuck this dude is outright willing to murder his son and he's eminantly aware that these monster people are 100% sentiebt because he's using the threat of killing his son as a way to get them to lay down their weapons and agree to be recaptured. And then i think there was something super messed up when it was revealed all the monster attacks that happened to the town to get them so scared and paranoid were actually orchestrated by the priest as a form of control over his citizens. He had some sort of Ominous Doom Science to both turn people into monsters and control them to do his bidding. And like the predictable asshole he is, even after the protagonists gave up in order to save the kid he still killed him anyway. And after snapping his neck he threw him down into the prison cell with the protagonists and was like 'lets torment them by making them fight the kid they wanted to save'. Because it turned out he'd been doping the kid with a special dose of the monster formula ever since birth, and he was his 'secret weapon' all along without knowing it. Ultra super mega concentrated doom form of the artifical monsters he uses in his army, activated upon the moment of the kid's death. But then it turns out the ultimate experiment was too much for him to control and the kid was able to keep their mind in their new form, and turn against him to save their new friends. But when they realized what had happened to them, they broke down in fear. And everything was super depressing cos the protagonists knew this poor kid was now doomed to share their fate as monsters, and theyd have to take them away fron everythung theyd ever known in order to keep them safe. But also heartwarming at the same time because the kid had never known a truly loving family before, and as they passed out in the arms of main protagonist mom friend werewolf they felt like maybe this is what having a real family is like...

So anyway that led to a bit of an angsty team dynamic with this new recruit? The kid was obviously all new to monsterness and terrified of everything. But also even now they were struggling with that 'what if my abusive dad is right' instinct drilled into them from all those years. They still struggled with really believing that monsters arent evil, and like 'no i must have only disobeyed him because i was infected and i didnt know it, monsters are evil and i became one because i'm evil too'. Unwilling to believe that their dad did that to them and trying to find excuses where it would be their own fault. Maybe the kid was even tricked by another villain at some point who lied about having a cure? Like even whenthey became more able to trust their new monster friends they were still like 'theyd be happier if they became normal right?' Lots of angst and messing up and this poor kid feeling not only weak and useless to the team but also outright toxic to them.

So all of this led to this situation where disguising yourself as a human is a skill all the other team members already mastered and this kid is struggling real hard to accomplish it in order to save the day. Ans its extra depressing cos they havent seen their original human face in months, and theyre trying to cling onto the memories but scared they migjt forget what it was like to be human. And then i cant really recall all the details but i feel like the writing and cinematography were just super amazing emotional on this scene of the kid struggling to Do The Thing in time to save their friends, and like.. Atone for all their mistakes.

Also i think like the kid had this big super kaiju ultimate chimera form which was what their dad designed them to be, but also most of the time they were poofed into a tiny mascot sized version of that. And theycd never actually managed to control their powers enough to turn into their battle form willingly until now. Just this super depressing and also uplifting scene of this fuckin tiny monster kid being pinned to the ground underneath the villain's heel, trying desperately to turn human again to save their friends. And i think it was an awesome moment where they did manage to regain their old face for just a few seconds, but instead of actually learning to master the human transformation they learned to master their battle form instead. Like, accepting that that old face isnt who they are anymore, and it wont help like they thought it would. What they really need now is their REAL face! Some sort of dramatic badass speech about this that cuts the villain's philosophy right in half, and then a badass scene of tiny kid finally being able to control (and not be scared of!) their beast form, and fight the whole damn army singlehandedly to save their friends!

Also i think there was an extra emotional moment somewhere along the way where one of yhe villain generals was like 'no, stop, i want to see if they can do this', and actually started motivating the kid. Like i think they were a brainwashed soldier of the old priest bastatd who was sent to kill these monsters supposedly to avenge the priest's dead kid but they were actually starting to have doubts when this terrifying monster that 'killed them' seemed to act so much like a child. So this was the big moment of them finall believing the kid, and getting to see proof it really was them and the priest really was a manipulative evil bastard all along. So i think they switched sides and joined super powered up kiddo in fighting their fellow knights, giving them the keys to go free their friends. And possibly this knight person also joined the team after this and was the first proper human ally theyd ever had? And probably had loads of emotional plots of atoning

ANYWAY that was the cool really engaging story of my dream that i wish i could watch a real anime about!

But the weird part was that this was all delivered really fragmented cos of how little sleep ive had lately. I was seeing it in the form of (for some reason) laying down on the stairs at my abusive father's old house, listening to it playing on the tiny tv he had in his room. And you may have noticed i kept mixing up the kid's pronouns, thats because everyone in the dream was represented visually by a character from some other franchise and it was REALLY confusing! The kid was like an amalgamation of all the dudes from Wolf's Rain which i guess is where the concept of wandering monsters in human illusion came from. (Tho they werent all reverse werewolves like in that show) It was weird cos i knew this character was meant to be a child but they looked like five ripped teenagers smooshed together? Cos i havent seen that show in ages and couldnt even remember the protagonist's name. (Was someone called Hide or is that a guy from tokyo ghoul? I think they had the outfit of the tokyo ghoul guy.) And then predictably the evil priest dad was cornello from full metal alchemist mixed with my old doctor who had the same name. But less predictably the redeemed villain holy paladin knight guy was replica riku from kingdom hearts?? Ans specifically his medal from the app game, like he came with a floating medal attatched to his waist like a mermaid who was also a coffee table.

Also it just ended with a floating box of hair dye that turned to face the camera and it was actually coffee in a hair dye package. Like an exact replica of the blonding bleach i usually use, right down to every detail, but all the text was replaced with coffee info. I..i dont know what that has to do with anything else that just happened...

Oh also i think maybe one of the other teammates was a big cuddly 50-something circus ringleader type guy? He was the friendly comic relief but actually deep downn the most tormented of all of them. He'd been imprisoned as a circus attraction for most of his entire life and dressing up like a ringleader now he was free was kinda a way of coping? But yeh i think he bonded well with the kid cos they both didnt have much experience with being free and everything seemed new and scary. This guy also didnt have much experience of monster society either cos he'd been enslaved since he was a child. Man this anime sounds so fuckin intense and dark and emotional but also full of powerful friendship!! Why cant i watch any more episodes!! give me a sequel dream!!

[queen-scribbles]

Jowan, Sebastian, Theron?

Hoo boy, this turned into A Lot. :D I have many feelings about Jowan, and only slightly fewer about the other two :D

Jowan

Why I like them– He’s so earnest. He wants so bad to do the right thing, even if he fails miserably and winds up making things worse. And then he owns up to it and is willing to accept whatever punishment you deem fitting, even including death(or potentially Tranquility, since that’s on the table if you send him back to the Circle….) (I have the Karma’s companions mod, so his “punishment” is usually becoming a Grey Warden. HE’S MINE NOW BIOWARE)

Why I don’t–Jealousy’s an ugly color, and he could stand to think things through just a little bit more(but, I mean, he’s supposed to be 20-ish iirc. Planning and foresight are not strengths for a lot of people around that age)

Favorite scene– His appearance in the Gauntlet 

Favorite line–either this exchange or the “Who want their hair on fire?” battle chatter(though the VA work on “Am I not allowed to have regrets?” makes that a strong contender, too)

Favorite outfit–When I recruit him, he usually winds up an Arcane Warrior and I put him in the Warden Commander plate from Warden’s Keep which looks fiiine

OTP–aside from various origins(most strongly Tabris or Brosca), Jowan/Leliana all the way, man. (redemption parallels ftw)

Brotp–TRINNE AND JOWAN 5EVER(Trinne ghostwrote this. Also, in OWaP canon, I think he and Harvey are gonna get along pretty well)

Head Canon–Have a couple, bc he is one of my faves and I almost literally never stopping thinking about him this can’t be healthy /cough 1) he’s artistically inclined. It started as doodling in class when he was bored, and he did it so much he’s actually really good now 2) he’s really good at fire spells(bc that’s almost always what the game randomly gives him for me, to the point I thought for a long time all he got was fire spells) 3) given the link between magic and your will I think part of why he’s not a better mage is constantly being compared to his best friend and hearing “You’re not as good”. Not saying he’d be a super powerful, war-hero-esque mage ~if someone just believed in him~, but I definitely think he’d be decent enough to not worry about passing the Harrowing if he wasn’t constantly hearing “You aren’t as good and never will be”. 4) He sleeps like a mcfreakin’ log 5) He’s extremely ticklish

Unpopular opinion–I actually like his voice and don’t find it annoying at all.  

A wish–a positive-slanted reference at some point in the franchise would be nice, but since he’s not even in the Keep, I’m not holding my breath 

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen– Anything confirming in any version of canon he gets made Tranquil. I don’t care that there’s a way to reverse it. I’ve read Asunder; that didn’t go well for Pharamond. 

5 words to best describe them-- Earnest, jealous, and trying his best

My nickname for them– My Disaster Mage Son

Sebastian

Why I like them--He’s kind, wants to help people, perseveres no matter how many times he loses almost everything, his banters with Merrill hint at an open-mindedness no one else in the entire Chantry shows, and, I mean, the accent ofc

Why I don’t--indecisive(pot meet kettle /cough), naive in regards to the Chantry, stubborn, quick-tempered

Favorite scene– I mean…. He’s DLC, so there’s not a lot, but him bowing to Hawke’s mabari is pretty cute.

Favorite line– Oh, so many. Mostly party banters with Isabela or Merrill, though the ever popular “I think I need to pray. A lot.” is definitely up there too.

Favorite outfit–He only has one, so…. his armor.

OTP– SebAstrid /sobs

Brotp– He and Fenris

Head Canon– He has a great singing voice

Unpopular opinion– What, liking him at all isn’t unpopular enough? xD Even if Astrid went the rival path, I really like his friendship romance too. And I do not wish we’d known him in the Wild Party Boy Sebastian days over when we do meet him

A wish– More content, but only if it’s ACTUALLY Sebastian and not some demonized fanon version BioWare throws in bc casting him as a joke/jerk is an easy way to earn points with this fandom (*GLARES at DAI, specifically Varric*)

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen– Have him go full-on villain

5 words to best describe them– “So pretty I wanna cry”

My nickname for them–Don’t really have one. I don’t even call him Seb that much; it’s usually the full Sebastian

Theron

Why I like them--Dry, sarcastic sense of humor, good heart even if he screws up sometimes, clever, snarky etc etc 

Why I don’t–when he screws up, he screws up big, seems the type to hold grudges, can be excessively reckless

Favorite scene– Either saving himself from the Revanites on Rishi or running into Lorman in KotET 

Favorite line– “And here they told me if I ever kissed an Imp I’d spontaneously implode”

Favorite outfit– I do love his jacket, but he also looks good in his deep cover get-up, and the Bold Hellion armor. Or Canderous’ armor. And none of them have a collar that get in the way of screencapping kisses, so. Sorry, Red Jacket. 

OTP– Theron/Taking a Gosh Darn Break (also him/Jaaide, obviously)

Brotp–Theron & Lana

Head Canon– I don’t really think I have any, tbh

Unpopular opinion– I like the Copero Cut™, which apparently most people don’t?

A wish–please don’t completely sideline him since there was the option for him to die in Nathema Conspiracy

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen– see above

5 words to best describe them– Reckless, well-intentioned, sarcastic lil shit

My nickname for them– I mean… “Idiot Spy Boyfriend” works really well, and I’ve been using that since NC dropped. :P Also, Theron You Nerd

Give Me A Character

[you-will-always-be-my-king]

So since Teen wolf is ending i decide to put my top CLASSIC STEREK FANFIC REC

This is fanfics that i always loved, and go way back I think all of then are from 2012-2013? i dont remember the name of all my favs, because i didnt have an ao3 account and was terrible with names, but here it is:

Gravity's Got Nothing on You

“Three weeks,” Derek says.

“Still don’t want to,” Stiles says.

“I’ll pay you,” Derek says, and that… that has Stiles interested. Alf’s Antique’s may be a great job, but it’s not a high-paying job, and half of Stiles’s tuition is coming from financial aid, so…

“How much,” Stiles asks, “are we talking here? Because I know your family, dude. And it’ll be kind of awkward after.“

“My family thinks you’re some sort of fucking gift to the world,” Derek seethes, like he’s jealous, “they’ll probably be pissed at me when we break it off, so don’t worry about that. Five hundred bucks.”

“A thousand,” Stiles says, because screw ethics. Also, the Hale family is loaded. Derek can deal.

- This one was my first long fanfic that i enjeyd, it is so worth it, and fake pretend relantionship

There is a Brotherhood   

So far, college has taught Stiles three things:

1) Eight am classes are cruel and unusual and should be avoided at all costs, even if it means having to enroll in something truly hideous instead, like Econ 101.

2) Dorm security is just as tight as Stiles’ orientation leader had promised it would be, and the dude guarding Scott’s dorm in particular does not respond well to bribes.

3) Mrs. McCall clearly had no clue what she was talking about when she’d insisted that Scott and Stiles needed to branch out and room with strangers, so it’s all her fault that Scott ended up with a total dick of a roommate and Stiles got stuck all the way across campus with some guy who has a girlfriend two towns over and is thus never around.

Or, the one where pledge brothers Stiles and Scott start a prank war with Derek Hale's fraternity.

- This is just one of the funnist fanfics i ever read

Just Act Normal

If someone had told Stiles back in high school that he would be an Oscar winning actor by the time he turned 25, he would’ve probably told Scott to punch them. The thing is, though…they would’ve been right.

Which makes returning to Beacon Hills, center of all that is supernatural and better left avoided, all the more awkward.

- This one i toke some time to read, because i didnt see stiles was an actor but it always showed up in rec lists and i give up and read and OMG it is so great, actor!stiles totally became a headcanon

Fly a Little Faster  

Everyone knows when you go back in time, you shouldn't step on an ant, just in case you accidentally kill your own grandparent or something. But what happens when you go back in time and, uh, accidentally interrupt the one event that apparently made the Grumpiest Alpha in Town into a ball of mindless manpain?

Well, if Marty McFly can do it, so can Stiles Stilinski. All he has to do is get Derek and Paige to fall in love before he gets pulled back to his own time. And before he makes anything worse. That's easy as pie, right? Right?

-This fits canon so well that it is amazing, and the speed that mirrorkill took to post this alway amazed me

Permanent Fixture

Derek is Scott's older brother. Stiles is Scott's best friend. Derek is falling in love with Stiles. This is a bit of a problem. 

- This is another one that took me a while to read, because scott and derek brothers wtf? BUT I LOVE IT, and those who like doctor who it is mandatory ;)

Cupboard Love

He’s carefully balancing the sandwiches and the two biggest tupperware containers he could find that both had functioning lids when the front door opens and he almost drops everything right there in front of the stupid fountain.

If that’s Derek Hale, he’s definitely not a mountain man.

- Cute and adorable, what more can I say

Fireman Derek's Crazy Pie [Cheeseburger Baby]

“He can't blame me for the fact that I live in a building full of people united in the singular effort to ogle Hot Fireman as often as humanly possible."

Laura laughs, loud and echoing in the empty restaurant.

"Hot firemen can make a girl do crazy things," she agrees, nodding towards her brother's name on the menu. "Derek won't let me date anyone from his company, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the eye candy."

"Send them my way," Stiles suggests, finally loading up a forkful of pie. "Apparently I'm incompetent enough that I need to be babysat at all times, because it would be cheaper than dispatching a truck every time I try to use a kitchen appliance."

- This one is super funny and adorable

Sourwolf Candy    

When the Sourwolf Candy franchise offers a $10,000 annual scholarship to the school of the winner's choice, Stiles jumps at the chance to enter. It doesn't matter that the other prizes are a day with one of the Hales and a lifetime supply of Sourwolf Candy. The sacrifices are worth it, because if there's one thing that Stiles hates more than Sourwolf Candy, it's Derek Hale.

So of course he has to spend a day with the guy who made the catchphrase 'Don't be such a Sourwolf' popular: Sourfaced Derek Hale himself.  If he doesn't, he doesn't get his scholarship money.

Derek just wants a little sugar.  Or a lot of sugar, as the case may be.

A whole case of sugar.

(He stress-eats sugar, ok?)

- Stiles has the biggest crush of the universe, really babe

Hello, Heartbreaker

It’s a popular joke among Alphas: fuck an Omega, get heartbreak on your hands. Omegas are fragile little emotional things, needy and whiny. Stiles refuses to become that, or to believe that he’s anything like that.

Stiles and Derek have been fuckbuddies for a while when Derek loses his memories of the past three years - and them - in an accident. (Also - everyone's a werewolf, and everyone's alive.)

- First fanfic i ever heard about Mpreg, it is just mentioned, but it was a shock hahah

hope is the thing with feathers

Stiles is ten when he saves the Hales from their burning home and Derek from a wolfsbane bullet, and this establishes a pattern that seem to continue indefinitely.

"Then he's facing a burning home, and he wraps the hood of his sweatshirt around his mouth before he pushes the door open and steps inside. There's Mr. Hale asleep - he hopes asleep - on the couch, next to - Stiles thinks that's his brother but there are so many Hales, who can keep track. He rushes over and starts shaking him, can see the rise and fall of the man's chest so he knows he's alive, but he's not waking up. He shoves away his hood so he can shout, "Mr. Hale! You have to get up, there's a fire! Mr. Hale, get up!" Nothing, he's not even twitching, both of them taking in deep even breaths like they're having the most peaceful of rests, and Stiles is going to cry. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!" There's a moment, where all Stiles can hear is the blood rushing in his ears and not the roar of the flames or the creak of wood, then with a violent, silent pop it's all back and both of the men are gasping awake, eyes open and jumping to their feet. "

- Dorks, these two are dorks

Honorable mentioned:

You Belong With Me  

Ever since the new neighbors moved in, Stiles and Derek had been best friends for as long as they could remember. Over the years, Stiles fell in love with the boy next door and watched as his best friend dated, wishing to be the lucky person who got to say that 'Derek Hale is my boyfriend'. Alas, he was overlooked and settled for being the best friend and pined from afar. 

- Dorks pinning, but this one is from 2015, so not that old, or is it? hahaha anyway this is really funny and cute

[wellhalesbells]

help I just finished the raven cycle. now what??

i mean, firstly, mourn.  i cannot stress the importance of this step enough.  take the time to sob and rage and fall apart about the fact that you have finished this series that is just head and shoulders above nearly every other.  because that did happen and it does blow.  i suggest a lot of laying on the floor or under your bed, eating tacos, and being generally despondent.  also if you feel the need to wear black for a year or keep your curtains drawn 24/7, well, that’s totally acceptable.

once that’s done, we’re ready to reenter the literary world!  probably, and ish.  to help ease the transition, i would suggest trying to pinpoint what you most loved from that series and then working from there.  was it the fantasy elements, the characters, the lgbt-ness, the young adult-ness or just the straight-up pretty writing?  here are a few things that might help fill the void (though do recognize that none will be perfect and, factually, your life is just emptier now):

FANTASY 

[admittedly, i do not have a lot of fantasy on my shelves because i need long breaks between for that genre, but here are a few of my more recent reads]

the scorpio races - going from maggie to maggie is never a bad idea.  i will concede that it took me way longer to get into this one than it did the raven cycle, but i did eventually get there and the characters were heaps more established (and rational) than what’s usually on offer in a YA read!

the grisha trilogy - okay, so i really got into this because it has such a well-drawn villain.  meaning: he’s fucking gray, like all good villains should be.  you can sympathize with him and i was surprised to find that i cared what happened to him, not just to our hero.  the story and characters were also really great.  and if you want to jump off this trilogy into the six of crows duology (LGBT+), my only advice would be: don’t let your expectations get too high.  unfortunately, i went in expecting it to be the raven cycle’s equivalent and, for me, it did not have that same depth.  good, for sure, but on trc’s level?  not so much, in my opinion, and i wish i’d known not to expect that going in because i feel like i would’ve enjoyed it more if i had.

the dream-quest of vellitt boe - lovecraft with laaaaadies.

3-DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERS

mosquitoland - this book can be a little hard at times but, woooow, did i fall in love with mim.  this had just the right amounts of humor and heart for me.

station eleven -considering this jumps timelines and characters, it’s monumentally impressive that you can feel such a connection to and investment in everyone’s stories.

LGBT+

simon vs the homo sapiens agenda - this is cuuuuuuute and i just love everyone and want the absolute best for them because they so deserve it and it shook out just how i wanted it to.

a place called winter - this is another one that’s hard, but worth it, i think.  it’s a sweeping story, spanning decades and continents and hammering in the historical hardships that came from being any letter on the lgbt+ spectrum during the pioneer era.

the watchmaker of filigree street - historical fiction, in general, is pretty much a turn-off for me because it’s dense and overly drawn a lot of the time (i get it, it’s the 1800s, can we shut up about the details every three seconds please, UGH).  but if there were ever a book that was going to turn me completely around on that, it would be this one because WOW, YES.

flying lessons and other stories - a slew of sexually and racially diverse stories from some truly brilliant authors!

aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe - ohhhhh it’s pretty.  and soft.  and full of love and fear and understanding.  it hurts my heart with how tender it is.  [weeps]

idyll threats - you know how there are five million ‘cop/sheriff/detective in a small town’ mystery series that just go on and on forever and never end?  WELL NOW WE HAVE ONE FOR THE LBGT COMMUNITY.  the second book just came out last month and i want everyone to support these if you can; i want there to be so many i can’t count the number on my fingers and toes anymore, i want thomas lynch to be a friggin’ household name, i want a terrible movie franchise and an awkwardly posed poster on my wall, okay?  I WANT THIS TO BE A THING PLEASE.

YOUNG ADULT

the illuminae files - these books are dope.  they’re engaging not only story-wise but also visually, the text forms images, the fire fights are chaotic smashings of words, the space walks are delicate tight-ropes of sentences and then, on top of that, the characters and the twists and turns of the story?  oh my BUH-GOD.  this series is breath-takingly good and so freaking smart, okay?  it just is.  IT IS.

i’ll meet you there - i liked every single detail of this book and they’re all… still there.  i read this quite a bit ago and i remember so much of it.  i don’t remember what i had for lunch an hour ago but i remember this book.  so.  that’s pretty cool.

the merciless - all right, all right, all right, i have to qualify this.  because i was not a fan of the ending.  maybe you will be, i don’t know, i - personally - was not.  BUT everything leading up to that ending?  yeah huh!  it was some good-ass suspense.  as of right now, i’ve only read the first book of this series but… i think i am going to keep going with it.  it’s hard to get me to squirm but this book managed it and i think i have to chase that, right?

WRITING

the secret history (LGBT+ minor character) - i said i would never recommend this book to people (it is long.  and dense.  and depressing) but, lookit, that turned out to be a fucking lie.  it feels historical even though it’s contemporary and it is such a complete story?  i mean, i know this story, i know these characters, i was thrust into those pages.  and i loved it.  if you need your characters to be likable though?  NOT the book for you, haha.

autopsy (LGBT+) - i read a fair amount of poetry these days.  i like very little poetry.  this?  this i liked a crap-ton.  donte collins is a friggin’ wordsmith, man.

the princess saves herself in this one - another poetry book i enjoyed!  i really love watching skilled people play with language, what can i say?

we were liars - okay, so, this is another odd one for me to recommend because… i did not like it.  like, at all.  i mean, i did like it a lot, and then the ending came and obliterated any positive thoughts i’d had about it (because i feel like it breaks the contract with the reader and that makes things just… not cool imo, but whatever).  HOWEVER i did find the writing really, really lovely.  it has a gorgeous, soothing flow to it.  and, again, some people may really like the ending and, in that case, this would be a super great book for you because the writing is really simple but nice, y’know?

american housewife - an awesome book of awesome short stories written very awesomely!

i’ll give you the sun (LGBT+) - the writing in this makes me want to fall to my knees with how good it is.  i just can’t.  i could go on and on for days.  it feels like it’s something that should’ve taken centuries to craft because it is so lovingly put together and it just–it makes you feel all the feels, okay.

everything i never told you (LGBT+ minor characters) - i like this book so much more in retrospect.  but it does the adult fiction thing that every fucking adult fiction book does and that made me so mad at the time.  but, beyond that, it’s a unique and well-told story!

things we lost in the fire - my favorite horror book i’ve read in a good long while.  mariana enriquez is a master at building up a creepy atmosphere.  it’s not gore and guts as much as it is a mounting sense of doom that’s entirely constructed through words and imagery that are so damn well-crafted.  really hoping for more english translations of her work because she is just so skilled a writer.

middlesex (LGBT+) - this took me a while to read because it is the very full history of three different generations of stephanides between those covers but, wow, is it well-written.  it’s moving and deep and winding and detailed and fucking worthwhile.

[pixelprinny]

Rhythm Games

This week’s super awesome competition round is Osu! and like any game, it’s not a game for everyone. Rhythm games, in general, aren’t for everyone, but they’re a genre I hold near and dear to my heart. 

I’ve waxed nostalgic in chat a number of times about all the time (and money) I spent on DDR, in particular, at the arcade, and how my friends and I got good enough at it we got into the freestyle scene and came up with silly and fun dance routines. The arcade in Victoria was at the movie theater and we’d often get really big crowds of people watching us as they waited for their movies, it was awesome.

My friends and I did play a bit of Beatmania, Keyboardmania, and Pump It Up at the local Korean bubble tea cafe, but they just didn’t take hold of us like DDR did. Para Para Paradise was also fun but we had to go to Vancouver to play that; Victoria didnt have a PPP machine. 

It’s been a long time since then and DDR has fell by the wayside. Stepmania filled the void it left for a good while, offering the same gameplay but with a controller or keyboard (though I do have 4th mix and Love Mix on PS1, but that involves jailbreaking the ps1 with a gameshark and is a bit of headache, so I havent dusted those off in yeeeears, not to mention I dont have my dance pad anymore). Stepmania also had the advantage of letting people set up stepcharts to any song they want unlike DDR and its 200 versions of Paranoia.

At some point, I kinda forgot about Stepmania.... that’d have been when I got stupidly deep into WoW and forgot just about everything else existed. By the time I felt the rhythm game itch again, a number of new franchises had shown up -- Project Diva, Rhythm Heaven, Elite Beat Agents, etc. Project Diva was the one that clicked with me the most - fun game play and I like a lot of Hatsune Miku music; hell, even the concept of Miku is really cool to me - a shared idol that any musician has access to. Sharon Apple from Macross becomes reality, and that’s pretty awesome in a cyberpunk way.

That said, I enjoyed all the new rhythm franchises I tried. Elite Beat Agents had a really need story going throughout it with fun story boards and smart controls, but the music was mostly covers and ehh they were alright but not great. I’ve never actually played the Ouendan games that it’s a sequel(?) to though maybe one day I’ll give em a shake. Prolly not though.

I got Osu! now to scratch the same itch EBA covered, and like Stepmania, it offers people the chance to make beatmaps to any songs they want. Thankfully, beatmap makers share a lot of the same musical tastes as I do and have covered a huge swath of my favorite songs. I do wonder how Osu can provide all the song mp3s for DL without getting shutdown by the RIAA hard.

It’s weird, but I associate certain songs with rhythm games that I tend to like the most and those songs often arent the best sounding, but their charts or design just encapsulate the game perfectly for me. In DDR, Rhythm & Police prolly fit that description the best. The step chart is phenominal - it’s got everything you want in a stepchart, and the song doesn’t sound half bad. It’s not an amazing song, but it’s catchy and fun. A lot of end game songs are more noise than music (Afronova, Matsuri Japan, a number of the Paranoias, Max 300, etc).

Drop Out would get a special mention though -- before they went crazy with 10 step songs like Max300, Drop Out was one the first “rites of passage” (sure 3rd and 2nd mix had some hard songs, but I feel 4th stepped things up, no pun intended). The kind of song when you were new and watched someone play you’d be like “There’s no way I’ll ever be able to do that song. The notes fly by so fast!” But as you get better, that goal looks more and more achievable until you take a deep breath, give it a shot, get your ass kicked, then try again. And when ya beat it by the skin of your teeth for the first time, it’s a great sense of accomplishment.

Of course, nowadays, Drop Out is super easy compared to some of the stuff out there. Hell, Rhythm & Police is a lot harder as were a few songs even in 4th mix. Summer Love was arguably harder. But it was the song that separated the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

So, what’s Osu’s equivalent? Hell, I’m not even close to good enough at that to have hit any sort of “Drop Out” equivalent. I’m still smack dab in the beginner category and I don’t think I’ll ever be good enough to do insane songs. That being said, I still feel there’s two songs that encapsulate Osu for me really well -- LeaF’s Calamity Fortune and Mili’s world.execute(me). 

Both have really good beatmaps (even at the lower levels), and both have amazing production levels to the videos that go along with em, feeling tailor made for the game rather than just posting a youtube music vid in the background. Like Rhythm & Police or other iconic DDR songs, they’re not the best songs ever, musically, but they’re still good sounding and enjoyable to listen to. 

I do wonder if there’s a specific song that a lot of people see as the rite of passage into insane for Osu, like Drop Out was for many of us back during 4th edition DDR. Maybe one day I’ll find out.

Anywho, that’s enough aimless rambling for one blog. I actually intended for this to be a bit about how this round of the competition might be where the winners are really decided. There’s a lot of bonus points to be given and only a handful of people who seem intent on getting them, so we’ll probably see a greater margin between the leaders and the pack after this one. Hopefully that won’t discourage people from continuing to participate, but we’ll just hafta wait and see.

Baiiiii~

[oysterchalk72-blog]

Eagles vs. Bears: 16 winners, losers, and I don’t knows

The Eagles beat the Bears, 16-15. Now let’s hand out some winners and losers!

WINNERS

The Philadelphia Eagles

As if there was ever a single doubt.

Doug Pederson

The big winner of the night remains -- rightfully -- Ol’ Douglas.

It’s easy to forget that last season, when Nick Foles was doing...well, exactly what Nick Foles is doing again, that the majority of the credit was not going to Nick. It was going to Doug: the Eagles’ were able to out-gameplan some venerable coaches in Dan Quinn, Mike Zimmer (lol), and Bill Belichick en route to their impossible Super Bowl victory. Foles lore was certainly growing, but it was Pederson -- a Coach of the Year snub -- who shined brightest on those stages.

So as Episode Two: Attack of the Foles continues, it’s easy to begin pouring the credit on Nick for his second playoff run -- and he rightfully deserves some credit. But Doug Pederson’s offensive gameplanning around Foles’ limitations and strengths is nothing short of masterful; the defense always rises to the occasion when Foles is in the backfield; and in tight fourth-quarter moments, Pederson manages the clock and game script better than the opponent opposite him.

Easy to forget that two months ago, Pederson was being called into question. His fearlessness and “new norm” narrative was catching heat and scrutiny. But it’s tough to argue with a guy who pulls his team through tremendous odds, time and time again.

Alshon Jeffery

I said before the game that, for the Eagles to win, Alshon needed to have a dominant night.

He didn’t hit 100 yards -- final line was 6 receptions for 82 yards on 9 targets -- but it was a Top-10 performance by a WR against this fierce Chicago Bears defense. Alshon did what he was supposed to do: he won his 1-on-1 matchups when presented with man coverage regularly, modeling the unbelievable hand strength and physical prowess in the short to intermediate areas that makes him a nightmare to handle on an island.

As was well reported before the game, Jeffery was taking the game against Chicago a little personally. It was his old “place of work,” and he wanted to show his old employers why they should have extended his contract. Suffice to say that he did.

Rasul Douglas

I swear, I never write about a player more in this column than Sul.

Ready? Think about the completions Rasul Douglas gave up in coverage last night. Having some trouble, are you?

That’s how you know a corner played a good game.

Jake Elliott

IMAGINE taking umbrage with Jake Elliott’s play -- IMAGINE IT! -- when you know he never would have missed the potential game-winning field goal. He’s literally never missed one in his entire career, for what it’s worth.

Yes, it was tipped. But Elliott wouldn’t have had it be tipped (idk just go with it).

Treyvon Hester

The tipper! Hester remains a bubble-53 player for me, in terms of his on-field ability as a defensive tackle. I view him in the Destiny Vaeao category of players who get rotational snaps, which is valuable because it helps keep the stronger players fresh, but is tricky because Hester doesn’t bring that much impact play.

That said, Hester has certainly played his way into a long look at camp next year when Philadelphia goes to figure out their depth pieces; and it helps to be a special-teams legend in the city. Hester, who by many reports and slow-motion videos, caught just enough of the football to alter its path on the ultimate field goal, lives in the same infamy as Keanu Neal and the would-be, coulda-been interception in the Atlanta game last year. More chips falling Philadelphia’s way.

Rodney McLeod

The Eagles defense is fixed, right? They’ve been playing great these past few weeks. Corners Avonte Maddox, Rasul Douglas, and Cre’Von LeBlanc have cured the disease.

Yes, but no. There’s still so much area to work with on the deep sideline against the Eagles, and it’s because neither Tre Sullivan nor Corey Graham have the range to win from that position. Both struggled last night to affect the deep shots Trubisky was winning with late, and it only goes to show: McLeod, whose contract will make him cuttable next season...ain’t gettin’ cut. Unless the Eagles land Earl Thomas in free agency, McLeod is their best option by a mile.

Jim Schwartz

Jimbo strikes again! He’s letting Rasul Douglas play tighter into the line of scrimmage and Avonte Maddox is playing off. He’s rushing with four and winning when he does. My man is back in his groove and gonna get some head coaching buzz in a week or two? Hmm. Good game against New Orleans would go a long way there.

LOSERS

The Chicago Bears

NA NA NA NA! NA NA NA NA! HEY HEY HEY! Good game and honestly you guys seem like you have a promising future and Nagy seems like a really fun coach and I have a lot of respect for your organization as a whole, better luck next time!

Me

I left my charger at Soldier Field, like an idiot.

Mitchell Trubisky

I don’t think the Bears can say, quite yet, after two seasons that they’ve found their franchise QB. Trubisky remains an untrustworthy thrower beyond his first read, who struggles with slight pocket adjustments and is also more generally accurate than he is strong as a placement thrower.

That said, Trubisky deserves a ton of credit for hanging in for four quarters and getting his team in a position to hit a game-winner. Nagy opened things up for him downfield in the second half, with some nice sequencing and complementary play-calling, and Trubisky took advantage. The more snaps and starts he takes, the better Trubisky will understand his own game and play more risk-averse (he shoulda had 2 picks), veteran football.

Khalil Mack

Kyle Fuller

Where was the first-team All-Pro corner? Well, when he had man coverage responsibilities on Alshon, he was getting beat, that’s where.

Are you wondering where the Khalil Mack bit is? Sorry, I just wanted to write as many words on Khalil Mack’s game as Mack had sacks against the Eagles.

The New Orleans Saints

Sorry, just getting a head start on next week’s column.

In all seriousness: the Saints could have played Seattle, Dallas, or Philadelphia. And in a vacuum, maybe they want to see Philly. But in context -- that is, each team going to see the Saints would be coming off of a win -- I think Philly is the last team you want to see. Last year’s underdogs are coming into the weekend as the biggest point-spread dogs for the second week in a row. Doug Pederson is undefeated in the playoffs, with his backup QB. Philadelphia remembers their most embarrassing loss of the season in Week 11.

Sure, the Cowboys beat the Saints in the regular season -- you think that team isn’t itching to get vengeance? Or watching Cowboys/Seahawks and thinking “Man, if we get a team that hates passing like the Seahawks, we’ll be able to outpace them on the scoreboard?” This was the worst possible draw for New Orleans.

I DUNNOS

Nick Foles

Nick Foles has played in basically seven win-or-die games in the past two seasons, and this was his second-worst performance (worst being Atlanta last year, in the divisional round). His picks were both poor mistakes, his accuracy was scattershot even at key moments, and he struggled to manage the pocket and extend plays.

And yet somehow, once again, it all didn’t matter.

Golden Tate

Is Golden Tate going to force a conversation for Philadelphia’s front-office this offseason? I mean, probably not...but maybe?

We can’t base a whole evaluation on one play, but the fact that the ultimate 4th and 2 went Golden’s way speaks to how this coaching staff views him as a match-up piece who can win in isolation. Trading the third for Tate still feels rich, though Philadelphia’s in a nice spot where either 1) they retain him for cheap or 2) a better offer comes in and the Eagles get a compensatory pick accordingly.

But two months ago, this 11 personnel heavy game would have seen Jordan Matthews taking a huge percentage of snaps. And it’s tough to imagine 4th and 2 going the same way with JMatt on the field.

Source: https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2019/1/7/18172144/philadelphia-eagles-vs-chicago-bears-16-winners-losers-dont-knows-nfl-playoffs-2019-nick-foles-mack

[yahoo-roto-arcade-blog]

Stopa Auction League: Navigating 14 teams, Superflex format

Tom Brady takes on extra value in a two-quarterback league (AP)

The Stopa Law Firm is a different kind of fantasy football expert league.

It’s a big-money league (thanks to Mark Stopa, benefactor) and it’s a league about jumbo starting spots (super flex — which strongly encourages two starting quarterbacks — two tight ends, another flex spot) and limited bench space. A modified PPR scoring format is used.

And oh yeah, it’s an auction. And it’s a party that goes down in Las Vegas in mid-July. We can’t post all the photos here, someone would get divorced or arrested.

The challenge is steeper this year, with noted experts Scott Jenstad and Vlad Sedler jumping in, bringing us to 14 teams. We also welcomed back Michael Salfino after a one-year absence.

I asked the league members to comment about their strategy, the auction, or anything they wanted. Here’s what they had to say. Your full auction results are viewable here.

(Keep in mind teams were not required to fill out their starting roster on draft day; several teams passed on defense and kicker).

League History: 2016: Jeff Erickson over Brad Evans 2015: Andy Behrens over Chris Liss 2014: Andy Behrens over Mike Salfino 2013: Dalton Del Don over Scott Pianowski 2012: Scott Pianowski over Dalton Del Don

The 2017 review, in the owner’s own words. (Summary: TL; DR)

Pos Erickson $ Salfino $ Schoenke $ Stopa $ Evans  $ QB Dak Prescott 21 Drew Brees 37 Matt Ryan 30 Tom Brady 40 Mike Glennon 4 RB C. McCaffrey 25 Le’Veon Bell 54 Ezekiel Elliott 48 Mark Ingram 20 Melvin Gordon 39 RB Doug Martin 9 Marlon Mack 3 L. Blount 10 Tevin Coleman 16 LeSean McCoy 36 WR Terrelle Pryor 29 M. Crabtree 13 Jordy Nelson 40 Amari Cooper 32 DeAndre Hopkins 25 WR Doug Baldwin 37 Chris Conley 1 TY Hilton 40 Sammy Watkins 22 Tyreek Hill 22 WR Jarvis Landry 17 Randall Cobb 8 Donte Moncrief 11 J. Crowder 10 Alshon Jeffery 25 TE Zach Ertz 8 Travis Kelce 33 Tyler Higbee 1 Xavier Grimble 1 Jared Cook 2 TE Zach Miller 1 Dwayne Allen 2 Ben Watson 1 Jesse James 1 Antonio Gates 1 K Dan Bailey 1 Mason Crosby 1 D Buffalo 1 Seattle 1 FL Spencer Ware 13 Kenny Britt 3 Alex Smith 5 M. Mitchell 1 Samaje Perine 16 FL Ryan Tannehill 18 Kirk Cousins 30 Frank Gore 7 Aaron Rodgers 48 Sam Bradford 8 B Theo Riddick 7 Ri. Matthews 3 Jamaal Williams 1 Thomas Rawls 3 Bilal Powell 12 B Derrick Henry 5 Adam Thielen 5 Jared Goff 1 Jalen Richard 1 Deshaun Watson 5 B Terrance West 3 Matt Forte 2 Alvin Kamara 1 Latavius Murray 1 Cooper Kupp 1 B Kenneth Dixon 2 Coby Fleener 2 W. Smallwood 1 Dion Lewis 1 Cole Beasley 1 B Taylor Gabriel 1 Tyler Lockett 2 Mike Williams 1 Devin Funchess 1 Zay Jones 1 B Trevor Siemian 3 C Thompson 1 Jeremy Langford 1 Chris Hogan 1 B James White 1 Wayne Gallman 1

  Pos  Del Don  $  Liss $ Funston $ Loza  $ Payne $ QB Marcus Mariota 30 Andy Dalton 21 Blake Bortles 16 Philip Rivers 26 Jameis Winston 30 RB Joe Williams 3 Carlos Hyde 27 Marshawn Lynch 25 L. Fournette 30 Mike Gillislee 21 RB J. Rodgers 1 Charles Sims 2 Joe Mixon 20 Jay Ajayi 39 Ty Montgomery 30 WR Odell Beckham 44 Dez Bryant 36 Michael Thomas 38 John Brown 14 Allen Robinson 24 WR Mike Evans 42 Devante Parker 10 Kelvin Benjamin 10 Martavis Bryant 20 Keenan Allen 13 WR Brandin Cooks 37 Kevin White 3 Quincy Enunwa 3 Jeremy Maclin 5 Stefon Diggs 6 TE David Njoku 1 Rob Gronkowski 34 Julius Thomas 4 Jordan Reed 24 Delanie Walker 16 TE Seferian-Jenkins 1 Jimmy Graham 20 Austin Hooper 3 AJ Derby 1 Greg Olsen 19 K B. McManus 1 Justin Tucker 2 Corey Davis TR C. Cantanazaro 1 D New England 1 New York Giants 1 Arizona 1 LA Rams 1 FL Allen Hurns 1 CJ Prosise 3 Jordan Howard 35 Adrian Peterson 16 Caron Wentz 16 FL Cam Newton 32 Andrew Luck 35 Eli Manning 20 Josh McCown 1 Dalvin Cook 18 B Marqise Lee 2 OJ Howard 2 Jeremy Hill 3 Eddie Lacy 13 Rex Burkhead 1 B S. Shepard 1 D’onta Foreman 1 Brandon Marshall 4 James Connor 2 Devontae Booker 1 B Eli Rogers 1 Robert Turbin 1 Jason Witten TR Jo. Williams 3 Evan Engram 1 B P. Richardson 1 Curtis Samuel 1 Tyrell Williams 7 Robby Anderson 1 Jordan Matthews 1 B JJ Nelson 1 Cody Kessler 1 Jonathan Stewart 6 B. Perriman 3 Will Fuller 1 B Corey Davis TR Gio Bernard 1 B J. Kearse 1

  Pos Pianowski  $ Behrens $ Jenstad/Sedler $ VanRiper  $ QB M. Stafford 19 Russell Wilson 33 Derek Carr 25 Joe Flacco 15 RB Todd Gurley 29 DeMarco Murray 36 David Johnson 52 Lamar Miller 25 RB D. Freeman 37 Isaiah Crowell 26 CJ Anderson 18 Paul Perkins 17 WR Antonio Brown 51 Davante Adams 25 D.Thomas 24 AJ Green 40 WR Golden Tate 17 Pierre Garcon 6 Willie Snead 15 Julio Jones 45 WR C. Meredith 10 Julian Edelman 9 DeSean Jackson 13 E. Sanders 14 TE Cameron Brate 3 Jack Doyle 13 Kyle Rudolph 11 Tyler Eifert 9 TE CJ Fiedorowicz 3 Hunter Henry 9 Charles Clay 1 Marty Bennett 9 K S.Gostkowski 2 Adam Vinatieri 1 Matt Bryant 1 D Houston 1 Minnesota 1 Denver 2 Kansas City 1 FL Brian Hoyer 6 Duke Johnson 3 Ameer Abdullah 11 Carson Palmer 15 FL Larry Fitzgerald 7 Roethlisberger 26 Tyrod Taylor 20 Jamaal Charles 3 B D. Woodhead 8 Kareem Hunt 3 Corey Coleman 2 Rob Kelley 2 B Open Spot TR Eric Decker 6 Mike Wallace 2 Vance McDonald 1 B Eric Ebron TR DeShone Kizer 1 Josh Doctson 1 Darren McFadden 1 B Marvin Jones 1 Darren Sproles 1 De. Washington 1 Tavon Austin 1 B Robert Woods 1 Paxton Lynch 1 Ted Ginn 1 Aaron Jones 1 Shane Vereen 1

Peter Schoenke

Most “experts” don’t want to admit when the screwed up an auction, but I did on this one. Not so much on the players. I got some decent values (Blount $10, Moncrief $11) and don’t hate my team. However, I wanted to spend at WR and QB, but early in the draft I priced enforced on Zeke Elliott and got “stuck” on him at $48. That’s likely $5 less than he’d typically go for but people were sitting on their hands early in the auction. However, it sent me down a path that I don’t think fared as well for me, similar to how when you take a RB in the first round of an auction.

I’m a WR-first guy. I stubbornly decided to still pay for WR and likely overpaid for T.Y. Hilton and Jordy Nelson, but I decided I wanted some high-floor players since we’re drafting so early and about half your roster is going to be picked up in free agency with this league’s thin benches. Those choices had me chasing for QBs and I never was able to pull the trigger on the $15 – $20 QB I desperately needed. As a result, that left me with Alex Smith as my superflex and Jared Goff as my backup QB. There’s a hint of floor and upside in that duo, but not exactly what I had in mind in a 14-team league.

Mark Stopa

In a deep format like this, everyone will have weak spots.. Given how RBs, WRs, and TEs emerge from nowhere each year, I’d rather be weaker at those positions than QB, and I auctioned accordingly.. There’s simply no chance any QB outside the top 20 is going to be someone you want to use each week, and many owners doing so are wasting a valuable bench spot on a third crummy QB to make up for the crummy one in their superflex.

As for the rest … Rawls and Richard are great ways to fade Lacy and Lynch, two guys I won’t be owning in 2017 seasonal.. I like my cheap Pats guys (Lewis, Hogan, Mitchell) because if injuries strike (Cooks, Edelman), they’ll be gold.. Remember, the earlier in 2017 your draft/auction occurs, the more upside on bench matters, as preseason injuries will happen.. Bills D gets the Jets at home Week 1; picking on NYJ will be an ideal way to stream defenses this year.

Kevin Payne

I got a starting lineup with the majority of my money and then went $1 for every bench spot. Didn’t draft a kicker or defense. Drank a lot of vodka. I’d recommend this for all.

Kirk Cousins, face of the Salfino franchise (AP)

Michael Salfino

The story of the draft was that QBs went for too little in this format and WRs went for too much. So I’m thrilled to land Drew Brees ($37) and Brees Jr., Kirk Cousins. The endgame worked for me because I got some really good WR values by my rankings: Britt, Matthews, Thielen, Cobb for a combined 9% of my budget. Britt for $3 thrilled me even though I want to avoid paying for players on teams that are likely to have major QB problems. The thing is, I think Cody Kessler is pretty good — if only I believed the Browns did, too.

I wish I said $53 for David Johnson instead of later having to say $54 for Le’Veon Bell. I have to worry a little about a holdout and Bell is a greater injury risk given their respective histories. My other regret is not saying $4 for Kareem Hunt, who has a David Johnson 2015 vibe.

Scott Jenstad

We came in with a plan for 2 of the top 22 QB (that is where we set our cut off) but not one of the top 3-4, one stud RB and then to play with the depth at WR and attack the mid-range WR after people had spent money on the top WR. I regret $29 total on CJ Anderson and Ameer Abdullah, although I do like Abdullah, but I think we could have bargain shopped for our 3rd RB slot and used that money to upgrade a bit at WR and TE. However, I absolutely love our late bargain WR and I think Coleman, Wallace, Doctson and Ginn for $6 made our depth and is an absurd group for the prices. I worry about 2nd TE in a 2 TE league as we ended up having to go bottom of the barrel there so that is a spot we will need to work on pretty quickly. I regret letting Jeff land Prescott for only $21, I would love to swap out $20 Tyrod Taylor for $21 Dak.

Andy Behrens

We bumped the league size up to 14 teams this year, which is pretty much the outer limit for a two-TE superflex format. The depth of this league led me to balance my spending across positions. I didn’t want to leave the auction with an unfinished team, knowing I had work to do on the wire. Going in, I’d intended to wait on receivers, the position offering the greatest depth; that approach resulted in decent deals on Garcon, Edelman and Decker.

If you guys want to see a roadmap to despair, check out Liss’ team. A disgrace to the fantasy industry.

Derek Van Riper

My plan going into the auction was to have one elite QB (Rodgers, Brady, Brees) and one elite RB (Bell, Johnson, or Elliott). It fell though, however, as the pricing at the top exceeded my expectations, and at 14 teams, I was slightly less adamant about sticking to a stars-and-scrubs approach. The value at the top of the pool came with the elite receivers, leading me to build around Julio Jones and A.J. Green instead. The most unexpected trend from the auction that makes my team vulnerable is the high cost of the mid-range and low-end quarterbacks thanks to two additional teams in the league, and our use of the Superflex. My hope, however, is that the likes of Carson Palmer and Joe Flacco can be within a couple points per game of the options who were priced up $10-15 higher, and that my strength at WR, TE, and lack of a hole (initially) at running back gives me good balance from week-to-week. 

Brad Evans

When tequila happens, you land Mike Glennon, Sam Bradford and Deshaun Watson as your only QBs. Intended at the onset, I purposely ignored the QB and TE positions and instead focused on acquiring high floor RBs/WRs. Though loaded in the latter areas (RBs: McCoy/Gordon/Powell/Perine; WRs: Alshon/Hopkins/Tyreek), it came at a tremendous cost elsewhere. Inevitably, I’ll spin a RB off at some point for a passing upgrade, but my roster-construction experiment could blow up the lab.

Brandon Funston

Overall, I’m happy with the roster I was able to pull together – no glaring positional weaknesses. Miracle of all miracles, I was able to be a patient shopper and not blow my budget in the early-round inflationary period. But maybe I was a tad too patient, as I had $6 to play with at the end when everyone else was pretty much in $1-draft mode. I ended up using that $6 on Jonathan Stewart, but if I think back on how it could have played out better, it would have probably been to pay $8-9 for a tight end like Hunter Henry or Zach Ertz instead of $4 for Julius Thomas and gone with a $1 DeAndre Washington (I have Marshawn Lynch, so it would have made some sense) in the end at RB instead of J-Stew.

(Note: Funston traded Eric Ebron to Pianowski for Corey Davis and Jason Witten, shortly after the draft ended.)

Jeremy Maclin was a July bargain (AP)

Liz Loza

Thank goodness for Grey Goose and Jeremy Maclin. After spending the bulk of my coin on RBs, I needed to snag an undervalued wideout. With over 300 targets up for grabs in Charm City, Maclin is a steal late in drafts… and I got him for just $5!

Dalton Del Don

I entered with a “stars and scrubs” strategy, planning on spending big on quarterbacks and wide receivers. Whether that strategy works (or if I got the right players) remains to be seen, but I certainly executed it. I regret not securing more $1 running back fliers, as I need to get lucky there (my starters are ugly). But this auction took place in mid-July, and RB is by far the most volatile position. I’ll have to be extra aggressive with FAAB at the position.

Chris Liss

Here’s my writeup from Rotowire.

My thoughts are you need to have a decent QB at the QB flex spot. And one who won’t lose his job unless he gets hurt. If I were to do it over again, I’d probably have bought a third instead of Carlos Hyde and punted RB altogether. I’m fairly sure I could trade a $27 QB for a $30-plus back.

I didn’t intend to go big on TE, but you and I were advancing the bid on Gronkowski, who’s worth $40 in this format, and he stopped at $34. I was actually happy to get him even though I probably won’t have him anywhere else.

I went big on Graham because I had some money left, though he was the best player available (again in the two-TE format) and would rather struggle in the end game than leave $ on the table. It cost me a couple Stefon Diggs types, who I could use, but I’m probably better off with Graham.

Scott Pianowski

I agree with most of Peter Schoenke’s comments, up top. I like to go into auctions with a highly agnostic strategy, but this was a league screaming for more urgency at quarterback. Most fantasy players can take that position casually, given the league-wide depth, but that is not the case in a 14-team league where everyone is highly incentivized to play two QBs a week. I should have either gotten three solid starters, or two high-level guys who could land in the Top 10 with a reasonable runout. If we did this auction again tomorrow, I’m sure a bunch of teams would approach the QB position differently.

It’s never a bad idea to make an early overpayment in an auction if it’s something you really want or really need. I should have parked one major QB early, then seen how the market unfolded. Instead, I stuck to my agnostic leanings and probably paid for it.

I do like the rest of my team, but I’m thin at the one position you can’t be thin at. The trade market probably won’t be much; Brad Evans can tell you that. And it’s hard to imagine a lot of QB talent coming into the league, guys we haven’t already drafted.

(Note: After the draft, Pianowski traded Corey Davis and Jason to Witten for Eric Ebron and an open spot, to be filled later).

[yahoo-roto-arcade-blog]

Stopa Auction League: Navigating 14 teams, Superflex format

Tom Brady takes on extra value in a two-quarterback league (AP)

The Stopa Law Firm is a different kind of fantasy football expert league.

It’s a big-money league (thanks to Mark Stopa, benefactor) and it’s a league about jumbo starting spots (super flex — which strongly encourages two starting quarterbacks — two tight ends, another flex spot) and limited bench space. A modified PPR scoring format is used.

And oh yeah, it’s an auction. And it’s a party that goes down in Las Vegas in mid-July. We can’t post all the photos here, someone would get divorced or arrested.

The challenge is steeper this year, with noted experts Scott Jenstad and Vlad Sedler jumping in, bringing us to 14 teams. We also welcomed back Michael Salfino after a one-year absence.

I asked the league members to comment about their strategy, the auction, or anything they wanted. Here’s what they had to say. Your full auction results are viewable here.

(Keep in mind teams were not required to fill out their starting roster on draft day; several teams passed on defense and kicker).

League History: 2016: Jeff Erickson over Brad Evans 2015: Andy Behrens over Chris Liss 2014: Andy Behrens over Mike Salfino 2013: Dalton Del Don over Scott Pianowski 2012: Scott Pianowski over Dalton Del Don

The 2017 review, in the owner’s own words. (Summary: TL; DR)

Pos Erickson $ Salfino $ Schoenke $ Stopa $ Evans  $ QB Dak Prescott 21 Drew Brees 37 Matt Ryan 30 Tom Brady 40 Mike Glennon 4 RB C. McCaffrey 25 Le’Veon Bell 54 Ezekiel Elliott 48 Mark Ingram 20 Melvin Gordon 39 RB Doug Martin 9 Marlon Mack 3 L. Blount 10 Tevin Coleman 16 LeSean McCoy 36 WR Terrelle Pryor 29 M. Crabtree 13 Jordy Nelson 40 Amari Cooper 32 DeAndre Hopkins 25 WR Doug Baldwin 37 Chris Conley 1 TY Hilton 40 Sammy Watkins 22 Tyreek Hill 22 WR Jarvis Landry 17 Randall Cobb 8 Donte Moncrief 11 J. Crowder 10 Alshon Jeffery 25 TE Zach Ertz 8 Travis Kelce 33 Tyler Higbee 1 Xavier Grimble 1 Jared Cook 2 TE Zach Miller 1 Dwayne Allen 2 Ben Watson 1 Jesse James 1 Antonio Gates 1 K Dan Bailey 1 Mason Crosby 1 D Buffalo 1 Seattle 1 FL Spencer Ware 13 Kenny Britt 3 Alex Smith 5 M. Mitchell 1 Samaje Perine 16 FL Ryan Tannehill 18 Kirk Cousins 30 Frank Gore 7 Aaron Rodgers 48 Sam Bradford 8 B Theo Riddick 7 Ri. Matthews 3 Jamaal Williams 1 Thomas Rawls 3 Bilal Powell 12 B Derrick Henry 5 Adam Thielen 5 Jared Goff 1 Jalen Richard 1 Deshaun Watson 5 B Terrance West 3 Matt Forte 2 Alvin Kamara 1 Latavius Murray 1 Cooper Kupp 1 B Kenneth Dixon 2 Coby Fleener 2 W. Smallwood 1 Dion Lewis 1 Cole Beasley 1 B Taylor Gabriel 1 Tyler Lockett 2 Mike Williams 1 Devin Funchess 1 Zay Jones 1 B Trevor Siemian 3 C Thompson 1 Jeremy Langford 1 Chris Hogan 1 B James White 1 Wayne Gallman 1

  Pos  Del Don  $  Liss $ Funston $ Loza  $ Payne $ QB Marcus Mariota 30 Andy Dalton 21 Blake Bortles 16 Philip Rivers 26 Jameis Winston 30 RB Joe Williams 3 Carlos Hyde 27 Marshawn Lynch 25 L. Fournette 30 Mike Gillislee 21 RB J. Rodgers 1 Charles Sims 2 Joe Mixon 20 Jay Ajayi 39 Ty Montgomery 30 WR Odell Beckham 44 Dez Bryant 36 Michael Thomas 38 John Brown 14 Allen Robinson 24 WR Mike Evans 42 Devante Parker 10 Kelvin Benjamin 10 Martavis Bryant 20 Keenan Allen 13 WR Brandin Cooks 37 Kevin White 3 Quincy Enunwa 3 Jeremy Maclin 5 Stefon Diggs 6 TE David Njoku 1 Rob Gronkowski 34 Julius Thomas 4 Jordan Reed 24 Delanie Walker 16 TE Seferian-Jenkins 1 Jimmy Graham 20 Austin Hooper 3 AJ Derby 1 Greg Olsen 19 K B. McManus 1 Justin Tucker 2 Corey Davis TR C. Cantanazaro 1 D New England 1 New York Giants 1 Arizona 1 LA Rams 1 FL Allen Hurns 1 CJ Prosise 3 Jordan Howard 35 Adrian Peterson 16 Caron Wentz 16 FL Cam Newton 32 Andrew Luck 35 Eli Manning 20 Josh McCown 1 Dalvin Cook 18 B Marqise Lee 2 OJ Howard 2 Jeremy Hill 3 Eddie Lacy 13 Rex Burkhead 1 B S. Shepard 1 D’onta Foreman 1 Brandon Marshall 4 James Connor 2 Devontae Booker 1 B Eli Rogers 1 Robert Turbin 1 Jason Witten TR Jo. Williams 3 Evan Engram 1 B P. Richardson 1 Curtis Samuel 1 Tyrell Williams 7 Robby Anderson 1 Jordan Matthews 1 B JJ Nelson 1 Cody Kessler 1 Jonathan Stewart 6 B. Perriman 3 Will Fuller 1 B Corey Davis TR Gio Bernard 1 B J. Kearse 1

  Pos Pianowski  $ Behrens $ Jenstad/Sedler $ VanRiper  $ QB M. Stafford 19 Russell Wilson 33 Derek Carr 25 Joe Flacco 15 RB Todd Gurley 29 DeMarco Murray 36 David Johnson 52 Lamar Miller 25 RB D. Freeman 37 Isaiah Crowell 26 CJ Anderson 18 Paul Perkins 17 WR Antonio Brown 51 Davante Adams 25 D.Thomas 24 AJ Green 40 WR Golden Tate 17 Pierre Garcon 6 Willie Snead 15 Julio Jones 45 WR C. Meredith 10 Julian Edelman 9 DeSean Jackson 13 E. Sanders 14 TE Cameron Brate 3 Jack Doyle 13 Kyle Rudolph 11 Tyler Eifert 9 TE CJ Fiedorowicz 3 Hunter Henry 9 Charles Clay 1 Marty Bennett 9 K S.Gostkowski 2 Adam Vinatieri 1 Matt Bryant 1 D Houston 1 Minnesota 1 Denver 2 Kansas City 1 FL Brian Hoyer 6 Duke Johnson 3 Ameer Abdullah 11 Carson Palmer 15 FL Larry Fitzgerald 7 Roethlisberger 26 Tyrod Taylor 20 Jamaal Charles 3 B D. Woodhead 8 Kareem Hunt 3 Corey Coleman 2 Rob Kelley 2 B Open Spot TR Eric Decker 6 Mike Wallace 2 Vance McDonald 1 B Eric Ebron TR DeShone Kizer 1 Josh Doctson 1 Darren McFadden 1 B Marvin Jones 1 Darren Sproles 1 De. Washington 1 Tavon Austin 1 B Robert Woods 1 Paxton Lynch 1 Ted Ginn 1 Aaron Jones 1 Shane Vereen 1

Peter Schoenke

Most “experts” don’t want to admit when the screwed up an auction, but I did on this one. Not so much on the players. I got some decent values (Blount $10, Moncrief $11) and don’t hate my team. However, I wanted to spend at WR and QB, but early in the draft I priced enforced on Zeke Elliott and got “stuck” on him at $48. That’s likely $5 less than he’d typically go for but people were sitting on their hands early in the auction. However, it sent me down a path that I don’t think fared as well for me, similar to how when you take a RB in the first round of an auction.

I’m a WR-first guy. I stubbornly decided to still pay for WR and likely overpaid for T.Y. Hilton and Jordy Nelson, but I decided I wanted some high-floor players since we’re drafting so early and about half your roster is going to be picked up in free agency with this league’s thin benches. Those choices had me chasing for QBs and I never was able to pull the trigger on the $15 – $20 QB I desperately needed. As a result, that left me with Alex Smith as my superflex and Jared Goff as my backup QB. There’s a hint of floor and upside in that duo, but not exactly what I had in mind in a 14-team league.

Mark Stopa

In a deep format like this, everyone will have weak spots.. Given how RBs, WRs, and TEs emerge from nowhere each year, I’d rather be weaker at those positions than QB, and I auctioned accordingly.. There’s simply no chance any QB outside the top 20 is going to be someone you want to use each week, and many owners doing so are wasting a valuable bench spot on a third crummy QB to make up for the crummy one in their superflex.

As for the rest … Rawls and Richard are great ways to fade Lacy and Lynch, two guys I won’t be owning in 2017 seasonal.. I like my cheap Pats guys (Lewis, Hogan, Mitchell) because if injuries strike (Cooks, Edelman), they’ll be gold.. Remember, the earlier in 2017 your draft/auction occurs, the more upside on bench matters, as preseason injuries will happen.. Bills D gets the Jets at home Week 1; picking on NYJ will be an ideal way to stream defenses this year.

Kevin Payne

I got a starting lineup with the majority of my money and then went $1 for every bench spot. Didn’t draft a kicker or defense. Drank a lot of vodka. I’d recommend this for all.

Kirk Cousins, face of the Salfino franchise (AP)

Michael Salfino

The story of the draft was that QBs went for too little in this format and WRs went for too much. So I’m thrilled to land Drew Brees ($37) and Brees Jr., Kirk Cousins. The endgame worked for me because I got some really good WR values by my rankings: Britt, Matthews, Thielen, Cobb for a combined 9% of my budget. Britt for $3 thrilled me even though I want to avoid paying for players on teams that are likely to have major QB problems. The thing is, I think Cody Kessler is pretty good — if only I believed the Browns did, too.

I wish I said $53 for David Johnson instead of later having to say $54 for Le’Veon Bell. I have to worry a little about a holdout and Bell is a greater injury risk given their respective histories. My other regret is not saying $4 for Kareem Hunt, who has a David Johnson 2015 vibe.

Scott Jenstad

We came in with a plan for 2 of the top 22 QB (that is where we set our cut off) but not one of the top 3-4, one stud RB and then to play with the depth at WR and attack the mid-range WR after people had spent money on the top WR. I regret $29 total on CJ Anderson and Ameer Abdullah, although I do like Abdullah, but I think we could have bargain shopped for our 3rd RB slot and used that money to upgrade a bit at WR and TE. However, I absolutely love our late bargain WR and I think Coleman, Wallace, Doctson and Ginn for $6 made our depth and is an absurd group for the prices. I worry about 2nd TE in a 2 TE league as we ended up having to go bottom of the barrel there so that is a spot we will need to work on pretty quickly. I regret letting Jeff land Prescott for only $21, I would love to swap out $20 Tyrod Taylor for $21 Dak.

Andy Behrens

We bumped the league size up to 14 teams this year, which is pretty much the outer limit for a two-TE superflex format. The depth of this league led me to balance my spending across positions. I didn’t want to leave the auction with an unfinished team, knowing I had work to do on the wire. Going in, I’d intended to wait on receivers, the position offering the greatest depth; that approach resulted in decent deals on Garcon, Edelman and Decker.

If you guys want to see a roadmap to despair, check out Liss’ team. A disgrace to the fantasy industry.

Derek Van Riper

My plan going into the auction was to have one elite QB (Rodgers, Brady, Brees) and one elite RB (Bell, Johnson, or Elliott). It fell though, however, as the pricing at the top exceeded my expectations, and at 14 teams, I was slightly less adamant about sticking to a stars-and-scrubs approach. The value at the top of the pool came with the elite receivers, leading me to build around Julio Jones and A.J. Green instead. The most unexpected trend from the auction that makes my team vulnerable is the high cost of the mid-range and low-end quarterbacks thanks to two additional teams in the league, and our use of the Superflex. My hope, however, is that the likes of Carson Palmer and Joe Flacco can be within a couple points per game of the options who were priced up $10-15 higher, and that my strength at WR, TE, and lack of a hole (initially) at running back gives me good balance from week-to-week. 

Brad Evans

When tequila happens, you land Mike Glennon, Sam Bradford and Deshaun Watson as your only QBs. Intended at the onset, I purposely ignored the QB and TE positions and instead focused on acquiring high floor RBs/WRs. Though loaded in the latter areas (RBs: McCoy/Gordon/Powell/Perine; WRs: Alshon/Hopkins/Tyreek), it came at a tremendous cost elsewhere. Inevitably, I’ll spin a RB off at some point for a passing upgrade, but my roster-construction experiment could blow up the lab.

Brandon Funston

Overall, I’m happy with the roster I was able to pull together – no glaring positional weaknesses. Miracle of all miracles, I was able to be a patient shopper and not blow my budget in the early-round inflationary period. But maybe I was a tad too patient, as I had $6 to play with at the end when everyone else was pretty much in $1-draft mode. I ended up using that $6 on Jonathan Stewart, but if I think back on how it could have played out better, it would have probably been to pay $8-9 for a tight end like Hunter Henry or Zach Ertz instead of $4 for Julius Thomas and gone with a $1 DeAndre Washington (I have Marshawn Lynch, so it would have made some sense) in the end at RB instead of J-Stew.

(Note: Funston traded Eric Ebron to Pianowski for Corey Davis and Jason Witten, shortly after the draft ended.)

Jeremy Maclin was a July bargain (AP)

Liz Loza

Thank goodness for Grey Goose and Jeremy Maclin. After spending the bulk of my coin on RBs, I needed to snag an undervalued wideout. With over 300 targets up for grabs in Charm City, Maclin is a steal late in drafts… and I got him for just $5!

Dalton Del Don

I entered with a “stars and scrubs” strategy, planning on spending big on quarterbacks and wide receivers. Whether that strategy works (or if I got the right players) remains to be seen, but I certainly executed it. I regret not securing more $1 running back fliers, as I need to get lucky there (my starters are ugly). But this auction took place in mid-July, and RB is by far the most volatile position. I’ll have to be extra aggressive with FAAB at the position.

Chris Liss

Here’s my writeup from Rotowire.

My thoughts are you need to have a decent QB at the QB flex spot. And one who won’t lose his job unless he gets hurt. If I were to do it over again, I’d probably have bought a third instead of Carlos Hyde and punted RB altogether. I’m fairly sure I could trade a $27 QB for a $30-plus back.

I didn’t intend to go big on TE, but you and I were advancing the bid on Gronkowski, who’s worth $40 in this format, and he stopped at $34. I was actually happy to get him even though I probably won’t have him anywhere else.

I went big on Graham because I had some money left, though he was the best player available (again in the two-TE format) and would rather struggle in the end game than leave $ on the table. It cost me a couple Stefon Diggs types, who I could use, but I’m probably better off with Graham.

Scott Pianowski

I agree with most of Peter Schoenke’s comments, up top. I like to go into auctions with a highly agnostic strategy, but this was a league screaming for more urgency at quarterback. Most fantasy players can take that position casually, given the league-wide depth, but that is not the case in a 14-team league where everyone is highly incentivized to play two QBs a week. I should have either gotten three solid starters, or two high-level guys who could land in the Top 10 with a reasonable runout. If we did this auction again tomorrow, I’m sure a bunch of teams would approach the QB position differently.

It’s never a bad idea to make an early overpayment in an auction if it’s something you really want or really need. I should have parked one major QB early, then seen how the market unfolded. Instead, I stuck to my agnostic leanings and probably paid for it.

I do like the rest of my team, but I’m thin at the one position you can’t be thin at. The trade market probably won’t be much; Brad Evans can tell you that. And it’s hard to imagine a lot of QB talent coming into the league, guys we haven’t already drafted.

(Note: After the draft, Pianowski traded Corey Davis and Jason to Witten for Eric Ebron and an open spot, to be filled later).

[yahoo-roto-arcade-blog]

Stopa Auction League: Navigating 14 teams, Superflex format

Tom Brady takes on extra value in a two-quarterback league (AP)

The Stopa Law Firm is a different kind of fantasy football expert league.

It’s a big-money league (thanks to Mark Stopa, benefactor) and it’s a league about jumbo starting spots (super flex — which strongly encourages two starting quarterbacks — two tight ends, another flex spot) and limited bench space. A modified PPR scoring format is used.

And oh yeah, it’s an auction. And it’s a party that goes down in Las Vegas in mid-July. We can’t post all the photos here, someone would get divorced or arrested.

[Now’s the time to sign up for Fantasy Football! Join for free]

The challenge is steeper this year, with noted experts Scott Jenstad and Vlad Sedler jumping in, bringing us to 14 teams. We also welcomed back Michael Salfino after a one-year absence.

(Keep in mind teams were not required to fill out their starting roster on draft day; several teams passed on defense and kicker).

League History: 2016: Jeff Erickson over E. Brad Evans 2015: Andy Behrens over Chris Liss 2014: Andy Behrens over Mike Salfino 2013: Dalton Del Don over Scott Pianowski 2012: Scott Pianowski over Dalton Del Don

I asked the league members to comment about their strategy, the auction, or anything they wanted. Here’s what they had to say. Your full auction results are viewable here.

(Summary: TL; DR)

Peter Schoenke

QB: Matt Ryan 30, Alex Smith 5, Jared Goff 1

RB: Ezekiel Elliott 48, LeGarrette Blount 10, Frank Gore 7, Jamaal Wiliams 1, Alvin Kamara 1, Wendell Smallwood 1, Wayne Gallman 1, Jeremy Langford 1

WR: Jordy Nelson 40, T.Y. Hilton 40, Donte Moncrief 11, Mike Williams 1

TE: Tyler Higbee 1, Ben Watson 1

Most “experts” don’t want to admit when the screwed up an auction, but I did on this one. Not so much on the players. I got some decent values (Blount $10, Moncrief $11) and don’t hate my team. However, I wanted to spend at WR and QB, but early in the draft I priced enforced on Zeke Elliott and got “stuck” on him at $48. That’s likely $5 less than he’d typically go for but people were sitting on their hands early in the auction. However, it sent me down a path that I don’t think fared as well for me, similar to how when you take a RB in the first round of an auction.

I’m a WR-first guy. I stubbornly decided to still pay for WR and likely overpaid for T.Y. Hilton and Jordy Nelson, but I decided I wanted some high-floor players since we’re drafting so early and about half your roster is going to be picked up in free agency with this league’s thin benches. Those choices had me chasing for QBs and I never was able to pull the trigger on the $15 – $20 QB I desperately needed. As a result, that left me with Alex Smith as my superflex and Jared Goff as my backup QB. There’s a hint of floor and upside in that duo, but not exactly what I had in mind in a 14-team league.

Mark Stopa

QB: Aaron Rodgers 48, Tom Brady 40

RB: Mark Ingram 20, Tevin Coleman 16, Thomas Rawls 3, Jalen Richard 1, Latavius Murray 1, Dion Lewis 1

WR: Amari Cooper 32, Sammy Watkins 22, Jamison Crowder 10, Malcom Mitchell 1, Devin Funchess 1, Chris Hogan 1

TE: Xavier Grimble 1, Jesse James 1

DST: Buffalo 1

In a deep format like this, everyone will have weak spots. Given how RBs, WRs, and TEs emerge from nowhere each year, I’d rather be weaker at those positions than QB, and I auctioned accordingly. There’s simply no chance any QB outside the top 20 is going to be someone you want to use each week, and many owners doing so are wasting a valuable bench spot on a third crummy QB to make up for the crummy one in their superflex.

As for the rest, Rawls and Richard are great ways to fade Lacy and Lynch, two guys I won’t be owning in 2017 seasonal. I like my cheap Pats guys (Lewis, Hogan, Mitchell) because if injuries strike (Cooks, Edelman), they’ll be gold. Remember, the earlier in 2017 your draft/auction occurs, the more upside on bench matters, as preseason injuries will happen. Bills D gets the Jets at home Week 1; picking on NYJ will be an ideal way to stream defenses this year.

Kevin Payne

QB: Jameis Winston 30, Carson Wentz 16

RB: Ty Montgomery 30, Mike Gillislee 21, Dalvin Cook 18, Gig Bernard 1, Rex Burkhead 1, Devontae Booker 1

WR: Allen Robinson 24, Keenan Allen 13, Stefon Diggs 6, Jermaine Kearse 1, Jordan Matthews 1, Will Fuller 1

TE: Greg Olsen 19, Delanie Walker 16, Evan Engram 1

I got a starting lineup with the majority of my money and then went $1 for every bench spot. Didn’t draft a kicker or defense. Drank a lot of vodka. I’d recommend this for all.

Kirk Cousins, face of the Salfino franchise (AP)

Michael Salfino

QB: Drew Brees 37, Kirk Cousins 30

RB: Le’Veon Bell 54, Marlon Mack 3, Matt Forte 2, James White 1, Chris Thompson 1

WR: Michael Crabtree 13, Adam Thielen 5, Randall Cobb 8, Kenny Britt 3, Rishard Matthews 3, Tyler Lockett 2, Chris Conley 1

TE: Travis Kelce 33, Coby Fleener 2, Dwayne Allen 2

The story of the draft was that QBs went for too little in this format and WRs went for too much. So I’m thrilled to land Drew Brees ($37) and Brees Jr., Kirk Cousins. The endgame worked for me because I got some really good WR values by my rankings: Britt, Matthews, Thielen, Cobb for a combined 9% of my budget. Britt for $3 thrilled me even though I want to avoid paying for players on teams that are likely to have major QB problems. The thing is, I think Cody Kessler is pretty good — if only I believed the Browns did, too.

I wish I said $53 for David Johnson instead of later having to say $54 for Le’Veon Bell. I have to worry a little about a holdout and Bell is a greater injury risk given their respective histories. My other regret is not saying $4 for Kareem Hunt, who has a David Johnson 2015 vibe.

Scott Jenstad/Vlad Sedler

QB: Derek Carr 25, Tyrod Taylor 20

RB: David Johnson 52, C.J. Anderson 18, Ameer Abdullah 11, DeAndre Washington 1, Shane Vereen 1

WR: Demaryius Thomas 24, Willie Snead 15, DeSean Jackson 11, Corey Coleman 2, Mike Wallace 2, Josh Doctson 1, Ted Ginn 1

TE: Kyle Rudolph 11, Charles Clay 1

DST: Denver 1

(Jenstad replies) — We came in with a plan for 2 of the top 22 QB (that is where we set our cut off) but not one of the top 3-4, one stud RB and then to play with the depth at WR and attack the mid-range WR after people had spent money on the top WR. I regret $29 total on CJ Anderson and Ameer Abdullah, although I do like Abdullah, but I think we could have bargain shopped for our 3rd RB slot and used that money to upgrade a bit at WR and TE. However, I absolutely love our late bargain WR and I think Coleman, Wallace, Doctson and Ginn for $6 made our depth and is an absurd group for the prices. I worry about 2nd TE in a 2 TE league as we ended up having to go bottom of the barrel there so that is a spot we will need to work on pretty quickly. I regret letting Jeff land Prescott for only $21, I would love to swap out $20 Tyrod Taylor for $21 Dak.

Andy Behrens

QB: Russell Wilson 33, Ben Roethlisberger 26, DeShone Kizer 1, Paxton Lynch 1

RB: Demarco Murray 36, Isaiah Crowell 26, Duke Johnson 3, Kareem Hunt 3, Darren Sproles 1

WR: Davante Adams 25, Julian Edelman 9, Pierre Garcon 6, Eric Decker 6

TE: Jack Doyle 13, Hunter Henry 9

PK: Adam Vinatieri 1

DST: Minnesota 1

We bumped the league size up to 14 teams this year, which is pretty much the outer limit for a two-TE superflex format. The depth of this league led me to balance my spending across positions. I didn’t want to leave the auction with an unfinished team, knowing I had work to do on the wire. Going in, I’d intended to wait on receivers, the position offering the greatest depth; that approach resulted in decent deals on Garcon, Edelman and Decker.

If you guys want to see a roadmap to despair, check out Liss’ team. A disgrace to the fantasy industry.

Derek Van Riper

QB: Joe Flacco 15, Carson Palmer 15

RB: Lamar Miller 25, Paul Perkins 17, Jamaal Charles 3, Rob Kelly 2, Darren McFadden 1, Aaron Jones 1

WR: Julio Jones 45, A.J. Green 40, Emmanuel Sanders 14, Tavon Austin 1

TE: Tyler Eifert 9, Martellus Bennett 9, Vance McDonald 1

PK: Matt Bryant 1

DST: Kansas City 1

My plan going into the auction was to have one elite QB (Rodgers, Brady, Brees) and one elite RB (Bell, Johnson, or Elliott). It fell though, however, as the pricing at the top exceeded my expectations, and at 14 teams, I was slightly less adamant about sticking to a stars-and-scrubs approach. The value at the top of the pool came with the elite receivers, leading me to build around Julio Jones and A.J. Green instead. The most unexpected trend from the auction that makes my team vulnerable is the high cost of the mid-range and low-end quarterbacks thanks to two additional teams in the league, and our use of the Superflex. My hope, however, is that the likes of Carson Palmer and Joe Flacco can be within a couple points per game of the options who were priced up $10-15 higher, and that my strength at WR, TE, and lack of a hole (initially) at running back gives me good balance from week-to-week. 

Bradley Evans

QB: Sam Bradford 8, DeShaun Watson 5, Mike Glennon 4

RB: Melvin Gordon 39, LeSean McCoy 36, Samaje Perine 16, Bilal Powell 12

WR: DeAndre Hopkins 25, Alshon Jeffery 25, Tyreek Hill 22, Cooper Kupp 1, Cole Beasley 1, Zay Jones 1

TE: Jared Cook 2, Antonio Gates 1

PK: Mason Crosby 1

DST: Seattle 1

When tequila happens, you land Mike Glennon, Sam Bradford and Deshaun Watson as your only QBs. Intended at the onset, I purposely ignored the QB and TE positions and instead focused on acquiring high floor RBs/WRs. Though loaded in the latter areas (RBs: McCoy/Gordon/Powell/Perine; WRs: Alshon/Hopkins/Tyreek), it came at a tremendous cost elsewhere. Inevitably, I’ll spin a RB off at some point for a passing upgrade, but my roster-construction experiment could blow up the lab.

Brandon Funston

QB: Eli Manning 20, Blake Bortles 16

RB: Jordan Howard 35, Marshawn Lynch 25, Joe Mixon 20, Jeremy Hill 3, Jonathan Stewart 6

WR: Michael Thomas 38, Kelvin Benjamin 10, Tyrell Williams 7, Corey Davis 5, Brandon Marshall 4, Quincy Enunwa 3

TE: Julius Thomas 4, Austin Hooper 3, Jason Witten 2

DST: Arizona 1

Overall, I’m happy with the roster I was able to pull together – no glaring positional weaknesses. Miracle of all miracles, I was able to be a patient shopper and not blow my budget in the early-round inflationary period. But maybe I was a tad too patient, as I had $6 to play with at the end when everyone else was pretty much in $1-draft mode. I ended up using that $6 on Jonathan Stewart, but if I think back on how it could have played out better, it would have probably been to pay $8-9 for a tight end like Hunter Henry or Zach Ertz instead of $4 for Julius Thomas and gone with a $1 DeAndre Washington (I have Marshawn Lynch, so it would have made some sense) in the end at RB instead of J-Stew.

(Note: Funston traded Eric Ebron to Pianowski for Corey Davis and Jason Witten, shortly after the draft ended.)

Jeremy Maclin was a July bargain (AP)

Liz Loza

QB: Philip Rivers 26, Josh McCown 1

RB: Jay Ajayi 39, Leonard Fournette 30, Adrian Peterson 16, Eddie Lacy 13, Jonathan Williams 3, James Connor 2

WR: Martavis Bryant 20, John Brown 14, Jeremy Maclin 5, Beshard Perriman 3, Robby Anderson 1

TE: Jordan Reed 24, A. J. Derby 1

PK: Chandler Catanzarro 1

DST: Los Angeles Rams 1

Thank goodness for Grey Goose and Jeremy Maclin. After spending the bulk of my coin on RBs, I needed to snag an undervalued wideout. With over 300 targets up for grabs in Charm City, Maclin is a steal late in drafts… and I got him for just $5!

Dalton Del Don

QB: Cam Newton 32, Marcus Mariota 30

RB: Joe Williams 3, Jacquizz Rodgers 1

WR: Odell Beckham 44, Mike Evans 42, Brandin Cooks 37, Marqise Lee 2, Sterling Shepard 1, Eli Rogers 1, Paul Richardson 1, J.J. Nelson 1, Allen Hurns 1

TE: David Njoku 1, Austin Sefferian-Jenkins 1

PK: Brandon McManus 1

DST: New England 1

I entered with a “stars and scrubs” strategy, planning on spending big on quarterbacks and wide receivers. Whether that strategy works (or if I got the right players) remains to be seen, but I certainly executed it. I regret not securing more $1 running back fliers, as I need to get lucky there (my starters are ugly). But this auction took place in mid-July, and RB is by far the most volatile position. I’ll have to be extra aggressive with FAAB at the position.

Chris Liss

QB: Andrew Luck 35, Andy Dalton 21, Cody Kessler 1

RB: Carlos Hyde 27, C.J. Prosise 3, Charles Sims 2, D’Onta Foreman 1, Robert Turbin 1

WR: Dez Bryant 36, DeVante Parker 10, Kevin White 3, Curtis Samuel 1

TE: Rob Gronkowski 34, Jimmy Graham 20, O.J. Howard 2

PK: Justin Tucker 2

DST: New York Giants 1

Here’s my writeup from Rotowire.

My thoughts are you need to have a decent QB at the QB flex spot. And one who won’t lose his job unless he gets hurt. If I were to do it over again, I’d probably have bought a third instead of Carlos Hyde and punted RB altogether. I’m fairly sure I could trade a $27 QB for a $30-plus back.

I didn’t intend to go big on TE, but Pianow and I were advancing the bid on Gronkowski, who’s worth $40 in this format, and he stopped at $34. I was actually happy to get him even though I probably won’t have him anywhere else.

I went big on Graham because I had some money left, though he was the best player available (again in the two-TE format) and would rather struggle in the end game than leave $ on the table. It cost me a couple Stefon Diggs types, who I could use, but I’m probably better off with Graham.

Scott Pianowski

QB: Matthew Stafford 19, Brian Hoyer 6

RB: Devonta Freeman 37, Todd Gurley 29, Danny Woodhead 8

WR: Antonio Brown 51, Golden Tate 17, Cameron Meredith 10, Larry Fitzgerald 7, Marvin Jones 1, Robert Woods 1

TE: Eric Ebron 5, Cameron Brate 3, C.J. Fiedorowicz 3

PK: Stephen Gostkowski 2

DTS: Houston 1

I agree with most of Peter Schoenke’s comments, up top. I like to go into auctions with a highly agnostic strategy, but this was a league screaming for more urgency at quarterback. Most fantasy players can take that position casually, given the league-wide depth, but that is not the case in a 14-team league where everyone is highly incentivized to play two QBs a week. I should have grabbed three solid starters or two high-level guys who could land in the Top 10 with a reasonable runout. If we did this auction again tomorrow, I’m sure a bunch of teams would approach the QB position differently.

It’s never a bad idea to make an early overpayment in an auction if it’s something you really want or really need. I should have parked one major QB early, then seen how the market unfolded. Instead, I stuck to my agnostic leanings and probably paid for it.

I do like the rest of my team, but I’m thin at the one position you can’t be thin at. The trade market probably won’t be much; Brad Evans can tell you that. And it’s hard to imagine a lot of QB talent coming into the league, guys we haven’t already drafted.

(Note: After the draft, Pianowski traded Corey Davis and Jason Witten to Brandon for Eric Ebron and an open spot, to be filled later).

Jeff Erickson

QB: Dak Prescott 21, Ryan Tannehill 18, Trevor Siemian 3

RB: Christian McCaffrey 25, Spencer Ware 13, Doug Martin 9, Theo Riddick 7, Derrick Henry 5, Terrance West 3, Kenneth Dixon 2

WR: Doug Baldwin 37, Terrelle Pryor 29, Jarvis Landry 17, Taylor Gabriel 1

TE: Zach Ertz 8, Zach Miller 1

PK: Dan Bailey 1

[yahoo-roto-arcade-blog]

Stopa Auction League: Navigating 14 teams, Superflex format

Tom Brady takes on extra value in a two-quarterback league (AP)

The Stopa Law Firm is a different kind of fantasy football expert league.

It’s a big-money league (thanks to Mark Stopa, benefactor) and it’s a league about jumbo starting spots (super flex — which strongly encourages two starting quarterbacks — two tight ends, another flex spot) and limited bench space. A modified PPR scoring format is used.

And oh yeah, it’s an auction. And it’s a party that goes down in Las Vegas in mid-July. We can’t post all the photos here, someone would get divorced or arrested.

The challenge is steeper this year, with noted experts Scott Jenstad and Vlad Sedler jumping in, bringing us to 14 teams. We also welcomed back Michael Salfino after a one-year absence.

I asked the league members to comment about their strategy, the auction, or anything they wanted. Here’s what they had to say. Your full auction results are viewable here.

(Keep in mind teams were not required to fill out their starting roster on draft day; several teams passed on defense and kicker).

League History: 2016: Jeff Erickson over Brad Evans 2015: Andy Behrens over Chris Liss 2014: Andy Behrens over Mike Salfino 2013: Dalton Del Don over Scott Pianowski 2012: Scott Pianowski over Dalton Del Don

The 2017 review, in the owner’s own words. (Summary: TL; DR)

Pos Erickson $ Salfino $ Schoenke $ Stopa $ Evans  $ QB Dak Prescott 21 Drew Brees 37 Matt Ryan 30 Tom Brady 40 Mike Glennon 4 RB C. McCaffrey 25 Le’Veon Bell 54 Ezekiel Elliott 48 Mark Ingram 20 Melvin Gordon 39 RB Doug Martin 9 Marlon Mack 3 L. Blount 10 Tevin Coleman 16 LeSean McCoy 36 WR Terrelle Pryor 29 M. Crabtree 13 Jordy Nelson 40 Amari Cooper 32 DeAndre Hopkins 25 WR Doug Baldwin 37 Chris Conley 1 TY Hilton 40 Sammy Watkins 22 Tyreek Hill 22 WR Jarvis Landry 17 Randall Cobb 8 Donte Moncrief 11 J. Crowder 10 Alshon Jeffery 25 TE Zach Ertz 8 Travis Kelce 33 Tyler Higbee 1 Xavier Grimble 1 Jared Cook 2 TE Zach Miller 1 Dwayne Allen 2 Ben Watson 1 Jesse James 1 Antonio Gates 1 K Dan Bailey 1 Mason Crosby 1 D Buffalo 1 Seattle 1 FL Spencer Ware 13 Kenny Britt 3 Alex Smith 5 M. Mitchell 1 Samaje Perine 16 FL Ryan Tannehill 18 Kirk Cousins 30 Frank Gore 7 Aaron Rodgers 48 Sam Bradford 8 B Theo Riddick 7 Ri. Matthews 3 Jamaal Williams 1 Thomas Rawls 3 Bilal Powell 12 B Derrick Henry 5 Adam Thielen 5 Jared Goff 1 Jalen Richard 1 Deshaun Watson 5 B Terrance West 3 Matt Forte 2 Alvin Kamara 1 Latavius Murray 1 Cooper Kupp 1 B Kenneth Dixon 2 Coby Fleener 2 W. Smallwood 1 Dion Lewis 1 Cole Beasley 1 B Taylor Gabriel 1 Tyler Lockett 2 Mike Williams 1 Devin Funchess 1 Zay Jones 1 B Trevor Siemian 3 C Thompson 1 Jeremy Langford 1 Chris Hogan 1 B James White 1 Wayne Gallman 1

  Pos  Del Don  $  Liss $ Funston $ Loza  $ Payne $ QB Marcus Mariota 30 Andy Dalton 21 Blake Bortles 16 Philip Rivers 26 Jameis Winston 30 RB Joe Williams 3 Carlos Hyde 27 Marshawn Lynch 25 L. Fournette 30 Mike Gillislee 21 RB J. Rodgers 1 Charles Sims 2 Joe Mixon 20 Jay Ajayi 39 Ty Montgomery 30 WR Odell Beckham 44 Dez Bryant 36 Michael Thomas 38 John Brown 14 Allen Robinson 24 WR Mike Evans 42 Devante Parker 10 Kelvin Benjamin 10 Martavis Bryant 20 Keenan Allen 13 WR Brandin Cooks 37 Kevin White 3 Quincy Enunwa 3 Jeremy Maclin 5 Stefon Diggs 6 TE David Njoku 1 Rob Gronkowski 34 Julius Thomas 4 Jordan Reed 24 Delanie Walker 16 TE Seferian-Jenkins 1 Jimmy Graham 20 Austin Hooper 3 AJ Derby 1 Greg Olsen 19 K B. McManus 1 Justin Tucker 2 Corey Davis TR C. Cantanazaro 1 D New England 1 New York Giants 1 Arizona 1 LA Rams 1 FL Allen Hurns 1 CJ Prosise 3 Jordan Howard 35 Adrian Peterson 16 Caron Wentz 16 FL Cam Newton 32 Andrew Luck 35 Eli Manning 20 Josh McCown 1 Dalvin Cook 18 B Marqise Lee 2 OJ Howard 2 Jeremy Hill 3 Eddie Lacy 13 Rex Burkhead 1 B S. Shepard 1 D’onta Foreman 1 Brandon Marshall 4 James Connor 2 Devontae Booker 1 B Eli Rogers 1 Robert Turbin 1 Jason Witten TR Jo. Williams 3 Evan Engram 1 B P. Richardson 1 Curtis Samuel 1 Tyrell Williams 7 Robby Anderson 1 Jordan Matthews 1 B JJ Nelson 1 Cody Kessler 1 Jonathan Stewart 6 B. Perriman 3 Will Fuller 1 B Corey Davis TR Gio Bernard 1 B J. Kearse 1

  Pos Pianowski  $ Behrens $ Jenstad/Sedler $ VanRiper  $ QB M. Stafford 19 Russell Wilson 33 Derek Carr 25 Joe Flacco 15 RB Todd Gurley 29 DeMarco Murray 36 David Johnson 52 Lamar Miller 25 RB D. Freeman 37 Isaiah Crowell 26 CJ Anderson 18 Paul Perkins 17 WR Antonio Brown 51 Davante Adams 25 D.Thomas 24 AJ Green 40 WR Golden Tate 17 Pierre Garcon 6 Willie Snead 15 Julio Jones 45 WR C. Meredith 10 Julian Edelman 9 DeSean Jackson 13 E. Sanders 14 TE Cameron Brate 3 Jack Doyle 13 Kyle Rudolph 11 Tyler Eifert 9 TE CJ Fiedorowicz 3 Hunter Henry 9 Charles Clay 1 Marty Bennett 9 K S.Gostkowski 2 Adam Vinatieri 1 Matt Bryant 1 D Houston 1 Minnesota 1 Denver 2 Kansas City 1 FL Brian Hoyer 6 Duke Johnson 3 Ameer Abdullah 11 Carson Palmer 15 FL Larry Fitzgerald 7 Roethlisberger 26 Tyrod Taylor 20 Jamaal Charles 3 B D. Woodhead 8 Kareem Hunt 3 Corey Coleman 2 Rob Kelley 2 B Open Spot TR Eric Decker 6 Mike Wallace 2 Vance McDonald 1 B Eric Ebron TR DeShone Kizer 1 Josh Doctson 1 Darren McFadden 1 B Marvin Jones 1 Darren Sproles 1 De. Washington 1 Tavon Austin 1 B Robert Woods 1 Paxton Lynch 1 Ted Ginn 1 Aaron Jones 1 Shane Vereen 1

Peter Schoenke

Most “experts” don’t want to admit when the screwed up an auction, but I did on this one. Not so much on the players. I got some decent values (Blount $10, Moncrief $11) and don’t hate my team. However, I wanted to spend at WR and QB, but early in the draft I priced enforced on Zeke Elliott and got “stuck” on him at $48. That’s likely $5 less than he’d typically go for but people were sitting on their hands early in the auction. However, it sent me down a path that I don’t think fared as well for me, similar to how when you take a RB in the first round of an auction.

I’m a WR-first guy. I stubbornly decided to still pay for WR and likely overpaid for T.Y. Hilton and Jordy Nelson, but I decided I wanted some high-floor players since we’re drafting so early and about half your roster is going to be picked up in free agency with this league’s thin benches. Those choices had me chasing for QBs and I never was able to pull the trigger on the $15 – $20 QB I desperately needed. As a result, that left me with Alex Smith as my superflex and Jared Goff as my backup QB. There’s a hint of floor and upside in that duo, but not exactly what I had in mind in a 14-team league.

Mark Stopa

In a deep format like this, everyone will have weak spots.. Given how RBs, WRs, and TEs emerge from nowhere each year, I’d rather be weaker at those positions than QB, and I auctioned accordingly.. There’s simply no chance any QB outside the top 20 is going to be someone you want to use each week, and many owners doing so are wasting a valuable bench spot on a third crummy QB to make up for the crummy one in their superflex.

As for the rest … Rawls and Richard are great ways to fade Lacy and Lynch, two guys I won’t be owning in 2017 seasonal.. I like my cheap Pats guys (Lewis, Hogan, Mitchell) because if injuries strike (Cooks, Edelman), they’ll be gold.. Remember, the earlier in 2017 your draft/auction occurs, the more upside on bench matters, as preseason injuries will happen.. Bills D gets the Jets at home Week 1; picking on NYJ will be an ideal way to stream defenses this year.

Kevin Payne

I got a starting lineup with the majority of my money and then went $1 for every bench spot. Didn’t draft a kicker or defense. Drank a lot of vodka. I’d recommend this for all.

Kirk Cousins, face of the Salfino franchise (AP)

Michael Salfino

The story of the draft was that QBs went for too little in this format and WRs went for too much. So I’m thrilled to land Drew Brees ($37) and Brees Jr., Kirk Cousins. The endgame worked for me because I got some really good WR values by my rankings: Britt, Matthews, Thielen, Cobb for a combined 9% of my budget. Britt for $3 thrilled me even though I want to avoid paying for players on teams that are likely to have major QB problems. The thing is, I think Cody Kessler is pretty good — if only I believed the Browns did, too.

I wish I said $53 for David Johnson instead of later having to say $54 for Le’Veon Bell. I have to worry a little about a holdout and Bell is a greater injury risk given their respective histories. My other regret is not saying $4 for Kareem Hunt, who has a David Johnson 2015 vibe.

Scott Jenstad

We came in with a plan for 2 of the top 22 QB (that is where we set our cut off) but not one of the top 3-4, one stud RB and then to play with the depth at WR and attack the mid-range WR after people had spent money on the top WR. I regret $29 total on CJ Anderson and Ameer Abdullah, although I do like Abdullah, but I think we could have bargain shopped for our 3rd RB slot and used that money to upgrade a bit at WR and TE. However, I absolutely love our late bargain WR and I think Coleman, Wallace, Doctson and Ginn for $6 made our depth and is an absurd group for the prices. I worry about 2nd TE in a 2 TE league as we ended up having to go bottom of the barrel there so that is a spot we will need to work on pretty quickly. I regret letting Jeff land Prescott for only $21, I would love to swap out $20 Tyrod Taylor for $21 Dak.

Andy Behrens

We bumped the league size up to 14 teams this year, which is pretty much the outer limit for a two-TE superflex format. The depth of this league led me to balance my spending across positions. I didn’t want to leave the auction with an unfinished team, knowing I had work to do on the wire. Going in, I’d intended to wait on receivers, the position offering the greatest depth; that approach resulted in decent deals on Garcon, Edelman and Decker.

If you guys want to see a roadmap to despair, check out Liss’ team. A disgrace to the fantasy industry.

Derek Van Riper

My plan going into the auction was to have one elite QB (Rodgers, Brady, Brees) and one elite RB (Bell, Johnson, or Elliott). It fell though, however, as the pricing at the top exceeded my expectations, and at 14 teams, I was slightly less adamant about sticking to a stars-and-scrubs approach. The value at the top of the pool came with the elite receivers, leading me to build around Julio Jones and A.J. Green instead. The most unexpected trend from the auction that makes my team vulnerable is the high cost of the mid-range and low-end quarterbacks thanks to two additional teams in the league, and our use of the Superflex. My hope, however, is that the likes of Carson Palmer and Joe Flacco can be within a couple points per game of the options who were priced up $10-15 higher, and that my strength at WR, TE, and lack of a hole (initially) at running back gives me good balance from week-to-week. 

Brad Evans

When tequila happens, you land Mike Glennon, Sam Bradford and Deshaun Watson as your only QBs. Intended at the onset, I purposely ignored the QB and TE positions and instead focused on acquiring high floor RBs/WRs. Though loaded in the latter areas (RBs: McCoy/Gordon/Powell/Perine; WRs: Alshon/Hopkins/Tyreek), it came at a tremendous cost elsewhere. Inevitably, I’ll spin a RB off at some point for a passing upgrade, but my roster-construction experiment could blow up the lab.

Brandon Funston

Overall, I’m happy with the roster I was able to pull together – no glaring positional weaknesses. Miracle of all miracles, I was able to be a patient shopper and not blow my budget in the early-round inflationary period. But maybe I was a tad too patient, as I had $6 to play with at the end when everyone else was pretty much in $1-draft mode. I ended up using that $6 on Jonathan Stewart, but if I think back on how it could have played out better, it would have probably been to pay $8-9 for a tight end like Hunter Henry or Zach Ertz instead of $4 for Julius Thomas and gone with a $1 DeAndre Washington (I have Marshawn Lynch, so it would have made some sense) in the end at RB instead of J-Stew.

(Note: Funston traded Eric Ebron to Pianowski for Corey Davis and Jason Witten, shortly after the draft ended.)

Liz Loza

Thank goodness for Grey Goose and Jeremy Maclin. After spending the bulk of my coin on RBs, I needed to snag an undervalued wideout. With over 300 targets up for grabs in Charm City, Maclin is a steal late in drafts… and I got him for just $5!

Dalton Del Don

I entered with a “stars and scrubs” strategy, planning on spending big on quarterbacks and wide receivers. Whether that strategy works (or if I got the right players) remains to be seen, but I certainly executed it. I regret not securing more $1 running back fliers, as I need to get lucky there (my starters are ugly). But this auction took place in mid-July, and RB is by far the most volatile position. I’ll have to be extra aggressive with FAAB at the position.

Chris Liss

Here’s my writeup from Rotowire.

My thoughts are you need to have a decent QB at the QBFLEX spot. And one who won’t lose his job unless he gets hurt. If I were to do it over again, I’d probably have bought a third instead of Carlos Hyde and punted RB altogether. I’m fairly sure I could trade a $27 QB for a $30-plus back.

I didn’t intend to go big on TE, but you and I were advancing the bid on Gronkowski, who’s worth $40 in this format, and he stopped at $34. I was actually happy to get him even though I probably won’t have him anywhere else.

I went big on Graham because I had some money left, though he was the best player available (again in the two-TE format) and would rather struggle in the end game than leave $ on the table. It cost me a couple Stefon Diggs types, who I could use, but I’m probably better off with Graham.

Scott Pianowski

I agree with most of Peter Schoenke’s comments, up top. I like to go into auctions with a highly agnostic strategy, but this was a league screaming for more urgency at quarterback. Most fantasy players can take that position casually, given the league-wide depth, but that is not the case in a 14-team league where everyone is highly incentivized to play two QBs a week. I should have either gotten three solid starters, or two high-level guys who could land in the Top 10 with a reasonable runout. If we did this auction again tomorrow, I’m sure a bunch of teams would approach the QB position differently.

It’s never a bad idea to make an early overpayment in an auction if it’s something you really want or really need. I should have parked one major QB early, then seen how the market unfolded. Instead, I stuck to my agnostic leanings and probably paid for it.

I do like the rest of my team, but I’m thin at the one position you can’t be thin at. The trade market probably won’t be much; Brad Evans can tell you that. And it’s hard to imagine a lot of QB talent coming into the league, guys we haven’t already drafted.

(Note: After the draft, Pianowski traded Corey Davis and Jason to Witten for Eric Ebron and an open spot, to be filled later).

[yahoo-roto-arcade-blog]

Stopa Auction League: Navigating 14 teams, Superflex format

Tom Brady takes on extra value in a two-quarterback league (AP)

The Stopa Law Firm is a different kind of fantasy football expert league.

It’s a big-money league (thanks to Mark Stopa, benefactor) and it’s a league about jumbo starting spots (super flex — which strongly encourages two starting quarterbacks — two tight ends, another flex spot) and limited bench space. A modified PPR scoring format is used.

And oh yeah, it’s an auction. And it’s a party that goes down in Las Vegas in mid-July. We can’t post all the photos here, someone would get divorced or arrested.

The challenge is steeper this year, with noted experts Scott Jenstad and Vlad Sedler jumping in, bringing us to 14 teams. We also welcomed back Michael Salfino after a one-year absence.

I asked the league members to comment about their strategy, the auction, or anything they wanted. Here’s what they had to say. Your full auction results are viewable here.

(Keep in mind teams were not required to fill out their starting roster on draft day; several teams passed on defense and kicker).

League History: 2016: Jeff Erickson over Brad Evans 2015: Andy Behrens over Chris Liss 2014: Andy Behrens over Mike Salfino 2013: Dalton Del Don over Scott Pianowski 2012: Scott Pianowski over Dalton Del Don

The 2017 review, in the owner’s own words. (Summary: TL; DR)

Pos Erickson $ Salfino $ Schoenke $ Stopa $ Evans  $ QB Dak Prescott 21 Drew Brees 37 Matt Ryan 30 Tom Brady 40 Mike Glennon 4 RB C. McCaffrey 25 Le’Veon Bell 54 Ezekiel Elliott 48 Mark Ingram 20 Melvin Gordon 39 RB Doug Martin 9 Marlon Mack 3 L. Blount 10 Tevin Coleman 16 LeSean McCoy 36 WR Terrelle Pryor 29 M. Crabtree 13 Jordy Nelson 40 Amari Cooper 32 DeAndre Hopkins 25 WR Doug Baldwin 37 Chris Conley 1 TY Hilton 40 Sammy Watkins 22 Tyreek Hill 22 WR Jarvis Landry 17 Randall Cobb 8 Donte Moncrief 11 J. Crowder 10 Alshon Jeffery 25 TE Zach Ertz 8 Travis Kelce 33 Tyler Higbee 1 Xavier Grimble 1 Jared Cook 2 TE Zach Miller 1 Dwayne Allen 2 Ben Watson 1 Jesse James 1 Antonio Gates 1 K Dan Bailey 1 Mason Crosby 1 D Buffalo 1 Seattle 1 FL Spencer Ware 13 Kenny Britt 3 Alex Smith 5 M. Mitchell 1 Samaje Perine 16 FL Ryan Tannehill 18 Kirk Cousins 30 Frank Gore 7 Aaron Rodgers 48 Sam Bradford 8 B Theo Riddick 7 Ri. Matthews 3 Jamaal Williams 1 Thomas Rawls 3 Bilal Powell 12 B Derrick Henry 5 Adam Thielen 5 Jared Goff 1 Jalen Richard 1 Deshaun Watson 5 B Terrance West 3 Matt Forte 2 Alvin Kamara 1 Latavius Murray 1 Cooper Kupp 1 B Kenneth Dixon 2 Coby Fleener 2 W. Smallwood 1 Dion Lewis 1 Cole Beasley 1 B Taylor Gabriel 1 Tyler Lockett 2 Mike Williams 1 Devin Funchess 1 Zay Jones 1 B Trevor Siemian 3 C Thompson 1 Jeremy Langford 1 Chris Hogan 1 B James White 1 Wayne Gallman 1

  Pos  Del Don  $  Liss $ Funston $ Loza  $ Payne $ QB Marcus Mariota 30 Andy Dalton 21 Blake Bortles 16 Philip Rivers 26 Jameis Winston 30 RB Joe Williams 3 Carlos Hyde 27 Marshawn Lynch 25 L. Fournette 30 Mike Gillislee 21 RB J. Rodgers 1 Charles Sims 2 Joe Mixon 20 Jay Ajayi 39 Ty Montgomery 30 WR Odell Beckham 44 Dez Bryant 36 Michael Thomas 38 John Brown 14 Allen Robinson 24 WR Mike Evans 42 Devante Parker 10 Kelvin Benjamin 10 Martavis Bryant 20 Keenan Allen 13 WR Brandin Cooks 37 Kevin White 3 Quincy Enunwa 3 Jeremy Maclin 5 Stefon Diggs 6 TE David Njoku 1 Rob Gronkowski 34 Julius Thomas 4 Jordan Reed 24 Delanie Walker 16 TE Seferian-Jenkins 1 Jimmy Graham 20 Austin Hooper 3 AJ Derby 1 Greg Olsen 19 K B. McManus 1 Justin Tucker 2 Corey Davis TR C. Cantanazaro 1 D New England 1 New York Giants 1 Arizona 1 LA Rams 1 FL Allen Hurns 1 CJ Prosise 3 Jordan Howard 35 Adrian Peterson 16 Caron Wentz 16 FL Cam Newton 32 Andrew Luck 35 Eli Manning 20 Josh McCown 1 Dalvin Cook 18 B Marqise Lee 2 OJ Howard 2 Jeremy Hill 3 Eddie Lacy 13 Rex Burkhead 1 B S. Shepard 1 D’onta Foreman 1 Brandon Marshall 4 James Connor 2 Devontae Booker 1 B Eli Rogers 1 Robert Turbin 1 Jason Witten TR Jo. Williams 3 Evan Engram 1 B P. Richardson 1 Curtis Samuel 1 Tyrell Williams 7 Robby Anderson 1 Jordan Matthews 1 B JJ Nelson 1 Cody Kessler 1 Jonathan Stewart 6 B. Perriman 3 Will Fuller 1 B Corey Davis TR Gio Bernard 1 B J. Kearse 1

  Pos Pianowski  $ Behrens $ Jenstad/Sedler $ VanRiper  $ QB M. Stafford 19 Russell Wilson 33 Derek Carr 25 Joe Flacco 15 RB Todd Gurley 29 DeMarco Murray 36 David Johnson 52 Lamar Miller 25 RB D. Freeman 37 Isaiah Crowell 26 CJ Anderson 18 Paul Perkins 17 WR Antonio Brown 51 Davante Adams 25 D.Thomas 24 AJ Green 40 WR Golden Tate 17 Pierre Garcon 6 Willie Snead 15 Julio Jones 45 WR C. Meredith 10 Julian Edelman 9 DeSean Jackson 13 E. Sanders 14 TE Cameron Brate 3 Jack Doyle 13 Kyle Rudolph 11 Tyler Eifert 9 TE CJ Fiedorowicz 3 Hunter Henry 9 Charles Clay 1 Marty Bennett 9 K S.Gostkowski 2 Adam Vinatieri 1 Matt Bryant 1 D Houston 1 Minnesota 1 Denver 2 Kansas City 1 FL Brian Hoyer 6 Duke Johnson 3 Ameer Abdullah 11 Carson Palmer 15 FL Larry Fitzgerald 7 Roethlisberger 26 Tyrod Taylor 20 Jamaal Charles 3 B D. Woodhead 8 Kareem Hunt 3 Corey Coleman 2 Rob Kelley 2 B Open Spot TR Eric Decker 6 Mike Wallace 2 Vance McDonald 1 B Eric Ebron TR DeShone Kizer 1 Josh Doctson 1 Darren McFadden 1 B Marvin Jones 1 Darren Sproles 1 De. Washington 1 Tavon Austin 1 B Robert Woods 1 Paxton Lynch 1 Ted Ginn 1 Aaron Jones 1 Shane Vereen 1

Peter Schoenke

Most “experts” don’t want to admit when the screwed up an auction, but I did on this one. Not so much on the players. I got some decent values (Blount $10, Moncrief $11) and don’t hate my team. However, I wanted to spend at WR and QB, but early in the draft I priced enforced on Zeke Elliott and got “stuck” on him at $48. That’s likely $5 less than he’d typically go for but people were sitting on their hands early in the auction. However, it sent me down a path that I don’t think fared as well for me, similar to how when you take a RB in the first round of an auction.

I’m a WR-first guy. I stubbornly decided to still pay for WR and likely overpaid for T.Y. Hilton and Jordy Nelson, but I decided I wanted some high-floor players since we’re drafting so early and about half your roster is going to be picked up in free agency with this league’s thin benches. Those choices had me chasing for QBs and I never was able to pull the trigger on the $15 – $20 QB I desperately needed. As a result, that left me with Alex Smith as my superflex and Jared Goff as my backup QB. There’s a hint of floor and upside in that duo, but not exactly what I had in mind in a 14-team league.

Mark Stopa

In a deep format like this, everyone will have weak spots.. Given how RBs, WRs, and TEs emerge from nowhere each year, I’d rather be weaker at those positions than QB, and I auctioned accordingly.. There’s simply no chance any QB outside the top 20 is going to be someone you want to use each week, and many owners doing so are wasting a valuable bench spot on a third crummy QB to make up for the crummy one in their superflex.

As for the rest … Rawls and Richard are great ways to fade Lacy and Lynch, two guys I won’t be owning in 2017 seasonal.. I like my cheap Pats guys (Lewis, Hogan, Mitchell) because if injuries strike (Cooks, Edelman), they’ll be gold.. Remember, the earlier in 2017 your draft/auction occurs, the more upside on bench matters, as preseason injuries will happen.. Bills D gets the Jets at home Week 1; picking on NYJ will be an ideal way to stream defenses this year.

Kevin Payne

I got a starting lineup with the majority of my money and then went $1 for every bench spot. Didn’t draft a kicker or defense. Drank a lot of vodka. I’d recommend this for all.

Kirk Cousins, face of the Salfino franchise (AP)

Michael Salfino

The story of the draft was that QBs went for too little in this format and WRs went for too much. So I’m thrilled to land Drew Brees ($37) and Brees Jr., Kirk Cousins. The endgame worked for me because I got some really good WR values by my rankings: Britt, Matthews, Thielen, Cobb for a combined 9% of my budget. Britt for $3 thrilled me even though I want to avoid paying for players on teams that are likely to have major QB problems. The thing is, I think Cody Kessler is pretty good — if only I believed the Browns did, too.

I wish I said $53 for David Johnson instead of later having to say $54 for Le’Veon Bell. I have to worry a little about a holdout and Bell is a greater injury risk given their respective histories. My other regret is not saying $4 for Kareem Hunt, who has a David Johnson 2015 vibe.

Scott Jenstad

We came in with a plan for 2 of the top 22 QB (that is where we set our cut off) but not one of the top 3-4, one stud RB and then to play with the depth at WR and attack the mid-range WR after people had spent money on the top WR. I regret $29 total on CJ Anderson and Ameer Abdullah, although I do like Abdullah, but I think we could have bargain shopped for our 3rd RB slot and used that money to upgrade a bit at WR and TE. However, I absolutely love our late bargain WR and I think Coleman, Wallace, Doctson and Ginn for $6 made our depth and is an absurd group for the prices. I worry about 2nd TE in a 2 TE league as we ended up having to go bottom of the barrel there so that is a spot we will need to work on pretty quickly. I regret letting Jeff land Prescott for only $21, I would love to swap out $20 Tyrod Taylor for $21 Dak.

Andy Behrens

We bumped the league size up to 14 teams this year, which is pretty much the outer limit for a two-TE superflex format. The depth of this league led me to balance my spending across positions. I didn’t want to leave the auction with an unfinished team, knowing I had work to do on the wire. Going in, I’d intended to wait on receivers, the position offering the greatest depth; that approach resulted in decent deals on Garcon, Edelman and Decker.

If you guys want to see a roadmap to despair, check out Liss’ team. A disgrace to the fantasy industry.

Derek Van Riper

My plan going into the auction was to have one elite QB (Rodgers, Brady, Brees) and one elite RB (Bell, Johnson, or Elliott). It fell though, however, as the pricing at the top exceeded my expectations, and at 14 teams, I was slightly less adamant about sticking to a stars-and-scrubs approach. The value at the top of the pool came with the elite receivers, leading me to build around Julio Jones and A.J. Green instead. The most unexpected trend from the auction that makes my team vulnerable is the high cost of the mid-range and low-end quarterbacks thanks to two additional teams in the league, and our use of the Superflex. My hope, however, is that the likes of Carson Palmer and Joe Flacco can be within a couple points per game of the options who were priced up $10-15 higher, and that my strength at WR, TE, and lack of a hole (initially) at running back gives me good balance from week-to-week. 

Brad Evans

When tequila happens, you land Mike Glennon, Sam Bradford and Deshaun Watson as your only QBs. Intended at the onset, I purposely ignored the QB and TE positions and instead focused on acquiring high floor RBs/WRs. Though loaded in the latter areas (RBs: McCoy/Gordon/Powell/Perine; WRs: Alshon/Hopkins/Tyreek), it came at a tremendous cost elsewhere. Inevitably, I’ll spin a RB off at some point for a passing upgrade, but my roster-construction experiment could blow up the lab.

Brandon Funston

Overall, I’m happy with the roster I was able to pull together – no glaring positional weaknesses. Miracle of all miracles, I was able to be a patient shopper and not blow my budget in the early-round inflationary period. But maybe I was a tad too patient, as I had $6 to play with at the end when everyone else was pretty much in $1-draft mode. I ended up using that $6 on Jonathan Stewart, but if I think back on how it could have played out better, it would have probably been to pay $8-9 for a tight end like Hunter Henry or Zach Ertz instead of $4 for Julius Thomas and gone with a $1 DeAndre Washington (I have Marshawn Lynch, so it would have made some sense) in the end at RB instead of J-Stew.

(Note: Funston traded Eric Ebron to Pianowski for Corey Davis and Jason Witten, shortly after the draft ended.)

Jeremy Maclin was a July bargain (AP)

Liz Loza

Thank goodness for Grey Goose and Jeremy Maclin. After spending the bulk of my coin on RBs, I needed to snag an undervalued wideout. With over 300 targets up for grabs in Charm City, Maclin is a steal late in drafts… and I got him for just $5!

Dalton Del Don

I entered with a “stars and scrubs” strategy, planning on spending big on quarterbacks and wide receivers. Whether that strategy works (or if I got the right players) remains to be seen, but I certainly executed it. I regret not securing more $1 running back fliers, as I need to get lucky there (my starters are ugly). But this auction took place in mid-July, and RB is by far the most volatile position. I’ll have to be extra aggressive with FAAB at the position.

Chris Liss

Here’s my writeup from Rotowire.

My thoughts are you need to have a decent QB at the QB flex spot. And one who won’t lose his job unless he gets hurt. If I were to do it over again, I’d probably have bought a third instead of Carlos Hyde and punted RB altogether. I’m fairly sure I could trade a $27 QB for a $30-plus back.

I didn’t intend to go big on TE, but you and I were advancing the bid on Gronkowski, who’s worth $40 in this format, and he stopped at $34. I was actually happy to get him even though I probably won’t have him anywhere else.

I went big on Graham because I had some money left, though he was the best player available (again in the two-TE format) and would rather struggle in the end game than leave $ on the table. It cost me a couple Stefon Diggs types, who I could use, but I’m probably better off with Graham.

Scott Pianowski

I agree with most of Peter Schoenke’s comments, up top. I like to go into auctions with a highly agnostic strategy, but this was a league screaming for more urgency at quarterback. Most fantasy players can take that position casually, given the league-wide depth, but that is not the case in a 14-team league where everyone is highly incentivized to play two QBs a week. I should have either gotten three solid starters, or two high-level guys who could land in the Top 10 with a reasonable runout. If we did this auction again tomorrow, I’m sure a bunch of teams would approach the QB position differently.

It’s never a bad idea to make an early overpayment in an auction if it’s something you really want or really need. I should have parked one major QB early, then seen how the market unfolded. Instead, I stuck to my agnostic leanings and probably paid for it.

I do like the rest of my team, but I’m thin at the one position you can’t be thin at. The trade market probably won’t be much; Brad Evans can tell you that. And it’s hard to imagine a lot of QB talent coming into the league, guys we haven’t already drafted.

(Note: After the draft, Pianowski traded Corey Davis and Jason to Witten for Eric Ebron and an open spot, to be filled later).