#(This series is yet again still no rb for now & I might not get to do much else with them but I did want to proper introduce Patrick lol) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ncaabasketballreport · 2 years

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Does Haaland make Man City favourites? Is VAR getting worse?

With this season's Champions League quarterfinalists now set, our writers answer some of the big questions arising from the round of 16 second legs.With this season's Champions League quarterfinalists now set, our writers answer some of the big questions arising from the round of 16 second legs. 8:00 AM ET This season's Champions League round of 16 is done and dusted with some European heavyweights falling by the wayside like Liverpool, who have reached three finals in the last five years, and a Paris Saint-Germain side featuring Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi. Friday's quarterfinal draw will feature plenty of European heavyweights such as defending champions Real Madrid and recent winners Chelsea and Bayern Munich. Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City are also in the hat along with Portuguese side Benfica, while Serie A has three clubs in the last eight: AC Milan, Inter Milan and Napoli. Our writers Mark Ogden, Julien Laurens and James Olley answer some of the big questions arising from this round of games. - Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

What caught your eye from the round-of-16 second legs?

Ogden: The poor standard of refereeing, and VAR, has really stood out during the round of 16, and it is even more noticeable because the Champions League generally operates to a much higher level than the domestic leagues in Europe. Two English teams, Chelsea and Manchester City, have been the biggest beneficiaries of some bewildering decisions, with German sides Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig on the wrong end of them. Chelsea were fortunate to be awarded a penalty during their 2-0 second-leg win against Dortmund when defender Marius Wolf was judged to have handled the ball. Referee Danny Makkelie didn't point to the spot until the VAR suggested a review on the pitchside monitor. Wolf was so close to the ball that he couldn't move out of the way, but Makkelie awarded the penalty when he should have dismissed the VAR review. Leipzig suffered an even heavier blow during their 7-0 defeat at City. VAR once again intervened in a penalty incident, calling on referee Slavko Vincic to review an apparent handball by Benjamin Henrichs. The reality was that Henrichs had his back to Rodri, whose header brushed his arm and fell to a City player without deviating in movement. It was incredibly soft, but once the penalty was awarded, Erling Haaland put City 1-0 ahead. Moments later, Timo Werner was booked, despite being on the receiving end of a foul by Ederson which could have resulted in a red card for the City goalkeeper. Yet VAR did not intervene. Two huge decisions which, had they gone Leipzig's way, could have resulted in a much different outcome. VAR and the referees have to be better in the quarterfinals and beyond.

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2 Related Laurens: It is probably the most obvious answer (and, I promise, I tried to find something else to be more original) but nothing can beat Haaland's quintuple against RB Leipzig. He might have got six goals had he stayed longer on the pitch, but Pep Guardiola took him off after 63 minutes. The Manchester City striker became only the third man in Champions League history to score five goals in the same game, after Messi and Luiz Adriano, and by becoming the youngest-ever player to reach 30 Champions League goals. For his club, he is now the top scorer in a single season with 39 goals, beating the old record of Tommy Johnson from 1929. Haaland still has as many as 19 more games to play before the end of the season. It is still an amazing achievement; Haaland had eight shots on the night, all on target, scored five goals with an xG (Expected Goals) of less than three. He was so aggressive in the box, so alert, so on it. He looked possessed at times. It was just incredible. Olley: If Graham Potter makes a success of his time at Chelsea, he may well look back on their second leg win over Dortmund as the turning point. Managers often talk about uniting the fans and making their home stadium a difficult place for visiting teams, but in Potter's case he did so in the knowledge this game served as something of a referendum on his management. An unconvincing win over Leeds United a few days earlier had at created a modicum of momentum heading into the game but, make no mistake, defeat against Dortmund would have ramped up the pressure on Potter. Dortmund were depleted -- Karim Adeyemi, Youssoufa Moukoko and goalkeeper Gregor Kobel all missed out injured while Julian Brandt was forced off after just five minutes -- but Chelsea produced a committed and defiant display, overcoming their goal-scoring problems to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit with a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge. The players showed they were behind Potter and although it will be some time before the majority of the fans are convinced the former Brighton & Hove Albion boss is the right man to lead them back to former glories, this win buys him time with a Champions League quarterfinal as proof of progress. They surely aren't good enough to lift the trophy in Istanbul, but, then again, most people felt that way before they won in 2012 and 2021... play1:09 Pep's idols: Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods ... and Julia Roberts? Pep Guardiola reveals his biggest failure at Manchester City was when his idol Julia Roberts went to visit Manchester United instead of his club.

Now the quarterfinalists are all set; which team is your favourite to lift the trophy in Istanbul?

Laurens: Pep Guardiola can be as sarcastic as he wants about the Champions League and what a failure he is and will always be, even if he wins the competition for the next three years. He can talk about Julia Roberts, Richard Gere or any Hollywood actor as much as he wants. His team are once again the big favourites of this Champions League, and not winning it would be a failure -- again. City have everything, really: the manager, the squad depth, the superstars, the clutch players, the winning mentality, the experience of going far and the motivation of not yet winning it. They should have won it already and they will surely eventually do so. This year is their year. The rest of the field is not at their level, not even Bayern Munich, Napoli or Real Madrid. Time is running out for Kevin De Bruyne, who turns 32 in June. Riyad Mahrez and Kyle Walker are already at that age, while Ikay Gundogan is out of contract this summer. Bernardo Silva could be leaving at the end of the season, too, a year after pushing for a departure. The most important thing is that surely Pep and City have learned from their past mistakes in the Champions League: the 2021 final loss, the semifinal of last season and all the previous quarterfinal disappointments. If they can do that, they will finally be ready to achieve their ultimate aim. play2:29 How good has Victor Osimhen been? Steve Nicol, Craig Burley and Alejandro Moreno offer high praise for the Victor Osimhen after Napoli advance to the next round in the Champions League. Ogden: This may be a case of heart overruling head, but Napoli have been the most exciting team in this season's Champions League and it would be great for the game if Luciano Spalletti can take the club all the way to glory in Istanbul. They certainly have the players, and it's not just about top scorer Victor Osimhen. Kim Min-Jae, Piotr Zielinski, Hirving "Chucky" Lozano and Giovanni Simeone have all had outstanding seasons, while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has arguably been the breakthrough star of the 2022-23 Champions League. The big challenge for Napoli, who are nailed on to win Serie A this season for the first time since 1990, is to hold their nerve and play their own game against a European superpower such as Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. If they stick to what has served them so well, Napoli can beat anybody, but the top clubs usually find a way to win the Champions League. We haven't seen a surprise team win the competition since Jose Mourinho's FC Porto in 2004, so maybe this is Napoli's time. Olley: It should, in all probability, be Manchester City but I can't say that a team clearly stands out from the rest at this stage. Mark makes a compelling case for Napoli -- and an 18-point lead at the top of Serie A gives them the chance to do what other clubs can't, which is rest players in the league to keep everyone fully fresh for the latter stages of the Champions League. City have been knocking on the door for years but, even though they thrashed Leipzig in midweek, they have not been anything like their fluid best for much of the season. The jury is out as to whether this Bayern Munich is as strong as previous incarnations -- although we must all take note when club legend Lothar Matthaus says this group may be their best-ever squad. And then we come to the team that mask their own weaknesses and exploit others better than anyone else: Real Madrid. With little conviction, given Napoli's form, City's individuals and Bayern's pedigree, perhaps Real's knowhow can help Carlo Ancelotti trump his rivals once more. play2:35 Nicol: Only thing for Liverpool is they didn't get embarrassed Steve Nicol, Craig Burley and Alejandro Moreno react to Real Madrid beating Liverpool 6-2 on aggregate to advance in the Champions League.

After Haaland's five-goal haul, what's the most impressive individual performance you've seen live in the Champions League?

Olley: Messi scoring all four as Barcelona beat Arsenal 4-1 at Camp Nou in April 2010. Maybe the Gunners made the mistake of taking the lead. At that stage, Arsenal led this quarterfinal tie 4-2 on aggregate but what came next was a true force of nature. Messi took it upon himself to deliver the kind of virtuoso performance that epitomises his glittering career. The first goal was a fierce drive as the ball fell to him on the edge of the box, the second a close-range finish lifted over Manuel Almunia. His hat-trick goal was sublime; sent racing clear, he scooped a left-footed shot over the onrushing Almunia with embarrassing ease, prompting that worshipping celebration from an awe-struck Barcelona crowd. The fourth came with a drop of the shoulder, panicking defenders contorting themselves in ever more desperate shapes, and a shot saved by Almunia but drilled through his legs on the rebound. This was a high-pressure occasion but here was a 22-year-old making the game look so breathtakingly, devastatingly simple. Perhaps Wenger put it best: "He made the impossible possible." The image that lingers in my mind came just after the final whistle. Messi was given the match ball and as Arsenal's players looked crestfallen, Barca supporters stood in disbelief, the little magician at the centre of it all simply spun the ball in his hand wearing a beaming smile, so fresh-faced he looked ready immediately to do it all over again.

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The beautiful game lives here. Stream top leagues, tournaments and teams.Sign up for ESPN+ SATURDAY, MARCH 18 (all times ET)o Almeria vs. Cadiz (9 a.m.)o Augsburg vs. Schalke 04 (10 a.m.)o Middlesbrough vs. Preston NE (11 a.m.)o Borussia Dortmund vs. K?ln (1 p.m.)o Man City vs. Burnley (2 p.m.)o Atletico Madrid vs. Valencia (4 p.m.)o Miami FC vs. New Mexico Utd (7 p.m.)o Sacramento Republic vs. Charleston Battery (7 p.m.) SUNDAY, MARCH 19 (all times ET)o Sheffield Utd vs. Blackburn (9 a.m.)o Ajax vs. Feyenoord (9 a.m.)o Brighton vs. Grimsby Town (10 a.m.)o Real Sociedad vs. Elche (11 a.m.)o Man United vs. Fulham (12 p.m.)o Leverkusen vs. Bayern Munich (12 p.m.)o Barcelona vs. Real Madrid (4 p.m.) Ogden: I was at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2017 when Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick to give Real Madrid a 3-0 semifinal first-leg win against Atletico Madrid, but it was about more than merely scoring three goals, which he has achieved an incredible 62 times so far in his career. It may seem unlikely now, six years on, but at the time the game was billed as a clash between Ronaldo and Atleti's rising star Antoine Griezmann, who was enjoying an outstanding season for Diego Simeone's team. There was genuine belief that Atleti could avenge the Champions League final defeats of 2014 and 2016 against their city rivals, with the France forward inspiring them to the final and outshining Ronaldo in the process. But Ronaldo was having none of that. It seemed as though he was given extra motivation to prove he was still the king of Madrid and he dominated the game. He also recorded two landmarks by netting his 50th goal in the Champions League knockout stages and equalling Messi's record of seven hat tricks in the competition. Laurens: I could pick any moment from Karim Benzema in the knockout phase last season; I was there for all of it. I had never witnessed anything like it before. He scored 10 goals in the six games that he and Real Madrid played on their way to the final at the Stade de France. Read the full article

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jincherie · 5 years

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pebbles to recommend!

✑ in the light of recent situations and the fact that a few of you have even been so kind as to share some love and positivity with me, I’d like to share some of my own! these are some of the fics that I’ve been reading and loving lately! I haven’t had time to read much, but I hope u all enjoy what I’ve managed to stumble upon as much as I have!

ps. lets leave them something nice and let them know how fantastic they are!

✎ blood magic by @cakebite

maknae line x reader | magic au, fantasy au, royal au, yandere au | series

➥ in a word, fantastic. i’m not sure how many of you know, but yandere is my guilty pleasure and it’s not that often that I come across it being actually well written and portrayed. This is one of the few fics for the genre that I’ve read and deeply enjoyed. But aside from that, I love the way this world is brought further to life with each and every installation, I adore the fantastical nature, the little tidbits and factoids revealed to me one by one-- it has me thirsting for more! This is a read I easily got immersed in, and it’s not yet complete but I’m looking forward to more adventures in magic, mystery, fantasy... god I’m ready.

Part of why I love well-written fics of this genre is the inner workings, the finer details and each little turn of the cogs that makes the clock tick. I absolutely love that in this fic that is incorporated so seamlessly. From the beginning, there is tension and there are stress conditions-- and while they maintain and level out, with each introduction of the boys (without reader knowing they’re the princes, which is a dynamic i die for btw) and further build of their relationship, along with the glimpes of their background and the environmental factors that are probably going to lead to one or all of them Snapping... it all blends together in a magnificent mass of tension, and for each update that comes I’m on the edge of my seat. I don’t think there has been one in a while, but this is the kind of fic that I’d drop whatever I was doing to read!

✎ quarter quell by @chinkbihh

jungkook x reader | hunger games au, yandere au | series

➥ another yandere story, another insight into my guilty pleasure. again, i don’t often rb or rec many yandere fics simply bc its not often i find one that really pins it and I love enough to rb-- but luna never fails to provide, and I’ve found myself enjoying a number of her stories, most recently this one!

Usually, what I look for and enjoy reading about is the slow build, the climb and increase in yandere behaviour as they grow more comfortable/more obsessed with the character. Even so, this fic dumps it all on its head and I find myself loving it nonetheless. It’s the setting, the unique conditions that allow the yandere features to come out immediately and unabashedly-- and watching the integration of it all, how every aspect of oc’s situation is working together, is fascinating,, and putting yourself into oc’s shoes is terrifying. Luna puts a lot of effort into her fics and each installment she publishes is long and carefully put together,, and that’s something I really appreciate. I love a lot of her works, and this one in particular, because there is always just such attention to detail, such immersion around it all that draws me in and hooks me. I’ve seen her musing about where to take this on her blog and to be honest I’m really excited to see wherever it goes!

(ps. please send some lovely things her way if you end up checking this out, we all have times where we’re a little more in need of some tlc than others!)

✎ immortals by @bang-tan-bitches

ot7 x reader | supernatural au?, drama, smut, dark fantasy | series

➥ this is one i read a little further back, but one I definitely am still hooked on! What I really love about this one is just.... the mystery of it all. I’m a sucker for dark fantasy and urban fantasy and this bad boy rolls it all into one. Each installment reveals a little more and yet,,, not enough to fully satiate your hunger for knowledge. there are a lot of conditions, restrictions, barriers for the reader-- the push and pull of her innate desire to go to them vs. the constraints of her life and her thoughts is delicious. I remember in particular that each little interaction with each member made my tummy dip, they were so cute and so... thrilling? These two have a real talent and it shows through with fics like this one. I’m not sure when the next installment is, but I’m definitely waiting for it with baited breath!!

✎ beastly gods by @lemonjoonah

taehyung x reader x ?? | hybrid au, dark fantasy au, slight dystopia au?? | oneshot

➥ i read this as soon as it was posted and honestly.... I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. there’s something about it that just carves out a piece of you and replaces it with a piece of itself. It’s so memorable!! I love it dudes. The whole tone and vibe of the fic from the beginning, the chase and the combination of thrill and fear,,, and Taehyung.... I love the way that the story was set, the premises and tone, and I love how it was maintained all throughout-- what I abolutely love the most about it is that it allowed for that fucking FANTASTIC twist of an ending!! This story, to me, had OOMPH, and I love that man. I’m going to revisit it sometime soon and I definitely recommend checking it out yourselves. I wish I had read it more recently so I could gush more readily, but definitely check it out for yourselves and send some love!!

✎ agape and pragma by @uwugalore

ot7 x reader | hybrid au, poly au, smut, fluff, angst | series

➥ this is one that i’ve been reading consistently, and have been hooked on from the beginning. from the very first chapter the premise is so heartbreaking, and i was able to really align with the oc and what she was feeling, how her world had been turned so upside down. and then, seeing throughout the following chapters as the members slip into her life & home one by one, healing the pieces of her bit by bit... ugh i might have wept. it’s so soulfully sweet and lovely, this fic, and the spots of angst really just serve to make it sweeter. I love a fic that makes me soft and fuzzy while still having some hot as fuck smut, and this definitely serves that. plus hybrid au! already pinpointing several of my weaknesses. i definitely recommend checkig this out because it quickly became a favourite of mine :)

✎ beautifully misfit by @orphicbts

maknae line x reader | hybrid au, angst au, smut? (subby maknae energy) | series

➥ this is another kind of recent one that I’ve been enjoying over the past few months, and can i just say it’s got a firm hold of my heart and my future puth. If you’d read florescence u know i have a budding weakness for shy boys, blushy boys, and GOD when she introduced each of the boys it had me cooing--- ESPECIALLY jimin. i cant wait for things to bud and bloom and develop, the little hints of nice things the reader is going to do-- ahhh i can’t wait until jimin gets glassses!!! and sees oc all the time!!! and blushes more!!! aaah!!!

It’s just so very sweet mixed in with the little tidbits and aspects of their past which, are sad and angsty but mfkgjdg u know.... u know that hurt/comfort shit hurts so good. I’m really super excited to see where it goes and how their relationship and dynamics develop in the coming parts!

✎ home by @zerotexas1975

jimin x reader | hybrid au, fluff, angst? | series

➥ I remember reading this when the first part came out ages ago and immediately being hooked, because I saw the prompt by hybridfanfiction that it was based off and love it. And straight away it was so sweet and cute and wholesome, and as we’re quickly discovering I’m an absolute slut for shy boys!! It was standalone for a while, but let me tell u when i saw there was a second part out i screamed and dropped everything to read it-- and!!! it’s so good!! she’s starting to implement the plot now and she’s making us WORK for that sweet validation, work thru the angst on the near horizon, and i appreciate that. it took such a turn that i really wasn’t expecting it but I love how the dynamic between them and the relationship has budded and begun so far.

✎ euphoric endeavours by @/haveagreatday (AO3)

ot7 x reader | vampire au, college au, mate au, poly au | series

➥ this is another fic that I’ve been reading for a long while, and from the very beginning I loved the fire of the reader, the spunk and how she wasn’t afraid to go up and confront one of the biggest names on campus. and then reading further and observing the change, the transition in their dynamic. when she found out, vs where she is now. I really love the way she had the reader change and grow, and that seems to be a very big theme in this fic that I really admire! The reader consistently looks to herself for ways to grow and change, and do the boys. The story is so rich and in depth with their history and backstory, all the dynamics and the goods and bads of their past and how it affects them i the current day. I definitely recommend it for an investment and a good time.

✎ twisted tails & thunderlight by @stskpop

// ot7 x reader | hybrid au, poly au, angst | series

// ot7 x reader | supernatural au, fantasy au, witch au/magic au | series

➥ twisted tails is one that I found recently, and although there’s only one part out that I’ve seen, I really love where it seems to be going so far! it’s an interesting spin on the au that I haven’t seen very often, but god... I’m really excited to see how she’s going to spin it and how it’s going to play out. how the grief they must be feeling over oc’s sisters death is going to work with everything else happening, how they’re going to interact and feel about her.... I’m keen to discover how it will all blend together.

And thunderlight... can I just say, I love love love this one! I found it through twisted tails and !!! i love it!!! it’s so rich from the very get go with plot and narrative exposition, the way everything is being set up so smoothly. I’m absolutely hooked, I want to know who this demon is, and whether it’s going to have the gratifying happy ending that I crave so badly... god I love it, and I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment!

!! let’s use this as an opportunity to make their days!! I think it would be really awesome to use this to spread a little more love & positivity, so please send something nice their way and even feel free to reblog this with some fics you’ve been loving yourselves if you’d like! I’d love to see what you’ve been into and check it out!! :) <3

#fic rec #i'm so terribly sorry by the way #to those of u lovely enough to tag me #i'm sorry that i didn't reblog #all the tags have gotten a bit lost #and i've been working too much to have responded in a timely manner #:(#but anyway!#i hope that this can put a smile on some of ur faces!#lets have some fun and spread some good vibes w this :)

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jeongahn · 4 years

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✨ HEHE HELLO MY SUN! 95hua is my gfx and 17joshua is my gif portfolio blogs - Bea 💓

(Don’t) Creator’s send me a ✨ + your creations tag and I’ll talk about some of your pieces I love! Bea’s creations (gfx) and her gifs and her blog @joshuahong (I still want to tag joshsua, it’s been literal YEARS)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - How do I make this short. Bea. I truly love your work so much, that when I tried to go through your archive from 2015 and onward - all my brain did was “oh that’s a fave. no wait that’s a fave. that one too. OH but THIS ONE-”. I’m not exaggerating. Every single piece. So to keep this condensed, I’m only going to talk about the pieces that gave me the visceral “!!!” because I remember how floored I was at the piece. Just know that EVERY piece you’ve done gives me that reaction. So this ask? This ask is now my own personal hell because I don’t know how to choose 3-5 pieces that I love more than the other. But I will try. This is more of a “walk down memory lane,” - in which I recall how much the piece amazed me at the time it was posted. This might seem long but let me tell you - this is as condensed as I could possibly make it. Like I am pulling my own teeth trying to mention just a FEW of these pieces that I really love. I need a drink. GOD this is obnoxiously long I don’t know what to do.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

2015

(1) (2) (3)These graphics are so heavily ingrained in my mind that I’m now realizing how much this inspired some of my graphics I did years later. Like??? It set the tone for what I value in a piece of work LOL. And when I look back at my own work now - I can see how much of these “lessons” I incorporated.

For (1) in particular, I adored the bleeding effect on the surrounding gifs! And how each panel bled into one another through those wisps.

In (2) the COLORS just had me squirming like a delighted little sausage. It fit Seventeen’s image at the time so well. It was youthful, colorful, fresh. Everything that Akkinda was at that time. I LOVED the sparkles and the fucking TREE. Ugh that was truly one of the best graphics I saw at the time.

In (3) - the way you oriented the text was amazing. It was a lot of text but the way you spaced it out and added these visual breaks made it so easy to digest. Like one panel is text heavy. Then another panel is image heavy with a bit of text.Then there’s a gif panel with more text but also spaced out with more image. The balance is fucking incredible Bea. And literally - that’s how my own mind is programmed to make gfx now so it’s nuts seeing that it might have been influenced by your own methods I viewed over the years. LORD, I should call you professor?

2016

Very few things I never heal from. This manipulation of Jeonghan and Joshua from the Chocolate MV? Is one of them. The Chocolate MV in general? Is another. But okay I recall how I gasped because of how GOOD this was. It’s still hitting me. Your brain is so sexy Bea. Also, I’m bummed we never got Mint Jeonghan. But like, who cares? Bea edited a mint Jeonghan and that’s all I’ll ever need. I would literally frame this LOL. Like I’m half considering slapping it onto my corkboard just so I can look at it often.

I would literally pick every single piece from 2016 but I think JiHan was my most favorite and I can’t tell if that’s the bias in me that’s making these decisions.

2017

This is the coolest shit I’ve ever seen lmfao. I wish I had something more flourished to say but I remember thinking how fucking genius you were for highlighting the teaser like this. Since it was so scenic. And rather than making a hardcore gfx out of it - you just enhanced the vibe with text, coloring, and a bit of texture. You also did this same concept with Jeonghan and it just...oof it was so perfect.

And then later on, when all the teasers were released - THIS stunning piece of work was done. I was SO impressed by the way you did the gifs with that cross effect. It’s not easy showing 13 pieces of anything. But you did THAT. And ALSO used the images of the teasers, you’re a MAD MAN BEA. A GENIUS. I’m still so shocked by how well done is this.

And you know what this talented fuck did WITH THE ACTUAL MV? You’re not going to fucking believe this. You’re really not. Why am I suddenly so angry. Just look at THIS and you’ll understand full well, why I am SCREAMING. I’ve NEVER seen anything done like this at the time it was posted. Like Bea REALLY set the fucking tone with this gfx. To this day I can’t think of a single gfx that captures an MV THIS WELL. UGH it’s BRILLIANT. If I HAD to pick a favorite - like you threatened to burn my pumpkin patch - I would choose this one. But because I’m not being threatened I’m now making this LONG ASS POST on WHY I LOVE BEA’S WORK SO MUCH-

I recently watched InuYasha in all of it’s entirity because I thought of this gfx a while back lmfao. Jeonghan as Sesshomaru and Joshua as a half demon? Satiates something inside of me. Anyways. The tones used here always get me. The soft beiges and purples at so NICE. I think I mentioned it reminded of buying lavenders out of burlap bags in romantic market places LOL. But the vibe still fits. The movie poster vibe is something you didn’t do often back then so it was cool seeing you try out a different style! The way top right and bottom left are correlated is something that flew right over my head back then. But now? I’m eating this shit up. It’s delicious.

Shout out to the “Story of the Moon” series Bea did with Meanie, in which she insp credited herself. Is that not, the biggest flex? I love all your star crossed lovers concepts. Bea loves to: yearn. OH btw, here’s the actual Story of the Moon. It’s so sweet. Probably not the original but SO pretty either way. I think this might be the original. Re: Bea loves to learn.

I swear I’m done with 2017 but I gotta mention part 2 of Demon!JiHan. I never realized how much I loved this series of gfx. Bea. This is GOOD shit.

2018

This is GREAT. One thing I loved about YMMD concept was how the gradient reflected on the concept of day to night. So I adored how Bea did this! It was a clever way to utilize 13 images since the aspect of day and night happen in 12hr cycles.

Just know anything Bea does of JiHan is most likely going to be some GREAT work because of the way a storyline is involved in it. I remember you talking to me about this concept so seeing it come into fruition was pretty fucking cool. Again. Bea loves to yearn. The colors reminded me of the 2015 piece I adored so much.

She did it again with the flawless approach on Demon!Jihan. It’s like year by year it becomes more and more sexy. I LOVE this. The editing on this is more “today Bea”. It’s got such a nice use of shadow and saturation. I remember those images were so hard for me to edit because of the shadow so I didn’t edit them LOL. But nothing stop’s Bea’s expertise. The red tones really get me. I love how this series went from soft burlap bag of lavender to reddish hues. It feels aggressive and I LOVE that.

This is probably the best birthday graphic that ever exists. Again Bea was so clever with how she displayed a lot of images from Joshua’s ENTIRE career. Along with text. Not just eras. Not just songs. But Joshua as a person as well. Whenever I see this I feel so fond. You can smell the love radiating off of this gfx. Joshua would be SO honored.

2019

This is so pretty. Like it reminds me of salwar kameez lmfao. I remember this fondly. It’s like they’re what is inside of a string light. Not light bulbs. It’s Seventeen’s Vocal Unit.

Shout out to this graphic that is reposted literally everywhere. Bea you unlocked every Carat’s deep want: Tatted!Seventeen. Your talent with manipulations is unreal. The tattoo series and Cyber/ Humanoid series really showcase that. Another shoutout to how Bea inspired that one set of teasers with the pressed flower freckles. I want this in a resin dish. Who on Etsy will do this for me-

(1) (2). The dichotomy of these 2 graphics still get me. In (1) there’s this warm and luxurious vibe. Then in (2) it’s the same luxurious vibe, but creepier than the previous because of the icy feel. It’s so neat. Both are SO beautifully done. I love the shimmer tears on Joshua in (1) and the icy sparkles on Vernon in (2).

2020

I REALLY love this set. The BUTTERFLIES are you KIDDING ME??? I love them. I’m so glad you incorporated them. I love how you subject edit. The way you create glow on the face is so nice. It literally reminds me of using “How Many Carats?!?!!” on the face. Which is SO fitting lmfao. On this work it’s a bit more... “soft glow” but I had to mention it. Joshua with the monarch butterflies makes my heart warm. I dunno if Monarchs are California’s butterflies. But so many places in my town are dedicated to Monarch butterflies so when I think of California, I think of Monarch butterlfies. Anyways I adore the FLUSH on these images. It’s so INNOCENT

I love the entire Cyber series but the way you did everyone’s bionic arm? INCREDIBLE. I can’t even begin to understand HOW you did this Bea. It almost makes me angry that you do this shit for FREE. I get to look at this for free? It feels illegal. I was so floored I missed several details. Like how you made the lighting work with this neon light vibe. That takes a GOOD artistic eye and you clearly have that. Jihoon’s current of energy on his face? U G H it’s so GO OD. I want to stare at it forever. WAIT the BACKGROUND as well. Listen the more I stare this. The more details I realize I miss because I’m so caught up in one detail. It’s just such an incredible series that you execute so flawlessly.

I just really love this. I can’t describe why. It’s just so nice to look at. That panel with Joshua’s glitter tears (p2)? I love it. All of it is so satisfying to look at and I got that entire vibe from the MV in general. So this was an appropriate way to display it!

I have yet to see all of your 2020 gfx so instead I’m gonna rb them and gush lol but really Bea. All your work is so good and if I could write a book on how much I appreciate them - (clearly) I would.

#*kajal gushes over bea's graphic for an actual 3 hours straight*#bea im sorry you had to read any aspect of this #but i really love your work lmfao #i slowly lose my fucking mind the longer i write #this took me around 2hrs lmfao #im sweating this actually stressed me out because i couldnt condense it taht well lmfao #*answ

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jksofficialwifey · 5 years

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She's Back For You prologue

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: angst, fluff, e2l, smutty themes, future smut, hot & angry jungkook

Summary; You were gone and it devastated Jungkook so much, but one day you decide to come back, albeit dazed and confused- tho were you really? or was it just your persona?

this might be a jk drabble series or yea- comment/rb/send me an ask if u liked it & want more oWo

♡

"He's getting worse. Even more hysterical wtf- He's still at it and throwing shit in his room right now, we really need to find her fast." Yoongi announces.

"Or her body- i mean of course we shouldn't lose hope, but what if she's really gone you know?" Hoseok retorts.

It really was unfortunate that there was a bomb planted in the plane you were on, and no one was able to stop it from detonating. The airplane's debris scattered everywhere, Some bodies were found and some were still missing, including yours.

Yoongi ponders the chances of you being alive, but he decided to stop overthinking cos it won't do any help. "I know that hobi, hoseok's nickname. But we should still hope for the best. Because if Jungkook truly loses her we might lose him too. We shouldn't give up and we won't."

Jimin suddenly entered the room exclaiming, "Guys we need to get Jungkook, he went out just now and I think he's going to the bar, he might start a fight again."

"Let go of me hyung! I wanna punch them all- I wanna hurt everyone who took her away from me...I wanna forget her- I can't forget her. I need her..." Jungkook thrashed in Jin's hold, their older friend who also came to help restrain Jungkook. When they found Jungkook, he was already drunk and about to punch a second guy. Luckily they stopped him from doing so, the only reason he isn't blacklisted from the bar yet, is because it was owned by their close friend Namjoon. And Namjoon no matter how a patient man he is, he's already starting to run out of it. They grabbed Jungkook and went home after much struggle. And now they're here trying to calm down a drunk and devastated jungkook, offering him water and telling him to sleep it off, but of course he won't listen.

"We know it's hard Kook, but you can't keep doing this forever. Drinking and getting into a fight everyday? We understand you're coping, but there are other less harmful ways to cope. Maybe starting to accept-" But, Before Jin could continue his statement, Jungkook cut him off.

"No hyung. Don't even say it- don't you dare tell me to accept that she's gone forever. I know she isn't, I can feel it in my dick and in my bones." Surprisingly, Jungkool felt a bit sober now, after having this talk.

The next morning, someone kept ringing the doorbell and unfortunately for jimin he was the first one to wake up, so he had to answer it. He then realized he should've opened the door sooner, because lo and behold, the person they've been looking for months now, was right in front of him.

"Y/N? oh my god is it really you?" Jimin exclaimed in shock and horror.

"Well, Who else would it be chim?" You laughed lightheartedly, "It's me, the one and only. Where's Jungkook?"

Jungkook swore he heard jimin shouting your name, or was it just his delusional brain making things up again because he was so desperate and pathetic? It doesn't matter anyway, cos he wasn't getting out of bed anytime soon. His head hurts like hell and he knows it's the bad hangover, and he feels too lethargic to do anything, even go fight someone. He had thought a lot about what jin said, and he's trying to agree with it. But the idea of you being dead and gone, is just too heartwrenching for him. He thought maybe he should start with the small stuff for now, like not breaking every piece of furniture he sees in his room, (well, it's not like there's a lot left but his hyungs keep replacing it anyway.) and maybe he'll drink less too.

His musing was interrupted by 2 knocks on his door. What did his hyungs want now? He was still feeling like shit, so he decided to get his airpods and used them so he won't hear them knocking again.

tbc ♡ thanks for reading :)

#jungkook smut #jungkook fic #jeon jungkook #jungkook imagine #jungkook scenarios #bts imagines #bts reactions #jungkook fluff #jungkook angst #bts smut #bts scenarios #jungkook fanfics #jungkook drabble #jungkook x reader #jungkook x you #my works #SBFY: prologue #im so tired but wutevs this is gl

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eddycurrents · 5 years

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When Jonathan Hickman was guiding the Avengers franchise, he was writing two titles that roughly played off of one another in Avengers and New Avengers, focusing on the main Avengers team and then the Illuminati offshoot. Hickman’s previous Fantastic Four and FF runs fed into some of the ideas on the titles, as well as the relatively concurrent SHIELD series fuelling some of the broader ideas.

With his open salvo into the X-Men, Hickman is doing something similar, but different, in the interplay between House of X and Powers of X. Without spoiling anything here, I can say that it’s integral to read the two series together. Though they deal with different smaller narratives, there’s a large overlap in bigger themes, characters, and at least one shared plotline. I think it’s almost best at this point to think of the two series as alternating chapters in the same book. Whether or not they converge overall in the end remains to be seen.

Like House of X #1, Powers of X #1 deals with a number of common themes and plot elements to the X-Men franchise, but gives them a different spin. It plays with some of the core ideas that we’ve seen for decades, gives them a bit of a hard science fiction sheen, and careens off in new directions. Arguably this one is weirder, but that goes into spoiler territory that I’ll discuss below. Hickman is planting some interesting seeds here and I’m curious to see how they grow.

RB Silva, Adriano Di Benedetto, and Marte Gracia step up to the challenge laid down by Pepe Larraz in House of X to provide an engrossing, beautiful visual landscape for this new era, pulling it off in spades. It’s tied together as well through the consistency of design from Clayton Cowles lettering and the text pages designed by Hickman and Tom Muller. Interesting infographics and continued use of the Krakoan language abound.

This is an intriguing next step.

As before, there will be spoilers below this image. If you do not want to be spoiled on Powers of X #1, do not read further.

SPOILER WARNING: Below I’ll be discussing the events, themes, and possibility of what’s going on in Powers of X #1 and beyond. There are HEAVY SPOILERS beyond this point. If you haven’t read the issue yet and don’t want to be spoiled, please stop reading now. You’ve been warned.

PREAMBLE | First Impressions

I was highly impressed by House of X #1.

It surpassed my hopes for what would come from a fresh new start for the X-Men and by far exceeded my expectations. Though it played with long established themes and ideas present throughout the franchise, it felt like something fresh and new, incorporating a science fiction approach to the story and pushing the characters into a new direction. Due to House of X easily delivering on its promise, expectations were raised for Powers of X #1.

I’m happy to say that they too were met. This isn’t an ancillary book featuring also-rans that supplement a “main” story in House of X, but an equally important facet of the broader narrative that this new initiative is trying to tell. It continues part of the story from House of X and then goes deeper on a tapestry across time of the plight of Marvel’s mighty mutants. If anything, House of X is the adjunct to Powers of X, rather than the other way around.

Where House of X feels consistent to Jonathan Hickman’s previous approaches to storytelling within the Marvel Universe, Powers of X seems more informed by the freewheeling, limitless imagination of his creator-owned work. I get a similar feel reading Powers of X #1 as I do from reading Transhuman, God is Dead, East of West, and Manhattan Projects. Though it’s still firmly grounded in the Marvel Universe and the X-Men mythos, it goes off in wild directions of eugenics and genocide.

RB Silva and Adrian Di Benedetto provide a similar aesthetic for the line art as Pepe Larraz in House of X, delivering a style that seems influenced by Stuart Immonen, and it continues to be a great look to define this era of the X-Men. The clean-lined style provides a kind of slickness to the art, making the cities of Nimrod and humanity feel cold, perfectly fitting an era seemingly run by machines. The designs for Nimrod, Rasputin, Black Tom, the Hunters, and the multi-headed Sentinel are wonderful.

One of the standout stars of the creative team shines again here with Marte Gracia’s colours. They’re rich and varied, changing primary colour schemes for each time period to keep things unique and visually interesting, and overall just stunning. The colour approach in the present to the flora of Krakoa is incredibly lush.

Bringing it all together again is the lettering and design from Clayton Cowles and Tom Muller respectively. I like the continued use of mixed case to keep it consistent with House of X, along with a nice approach to the word balloons for Nimrod. The text pieces continue to enhance and enrich the overall story and make it feel distinctly like a Hickman-penned comic.

This continues to be one of the best beginnings to a new era of the X-Men.

ONE | Time

Since the announcement of the two series, there’s been speculation about the title for this one since Powers of X is meant to be read as “Powers of Ten”. When House of X #1 was released last week, there was an idea postulated that it was in reference to exponential mutant batches birthed in the Krakoa pods or beyond. While that could still another reason, it feels like its framework is more the time periods that this book takes place in.

We’re given four primary time periods in X0, X1, X2, and X3, following the powers of ten scale of 1, 10, 100, and 1000. X0 represents the past, a time when Xavier was just dreaming his dream of a mutant paradise.

X1 is Year 10 and represents the present in House of X #1. It’s somewhat interesting to see the X-Men back on a ten-year scale from what appears shortly before the original five to the current time. The original five operating in the 2000s is just a weird prospect.

X2 is 100 years from day one, with a war between the few remaining mutants and the “Man-Machine Supremacy” occurring. This appears to be one of the primary periods that we’re going to be seeing action and new characters set in the Powers of X series. It may be from here that we see the prima facie forces informing this narrative.

X3 is 1000 years since the dawning of Xavier’s dream. It’s arguably the weirdest as well, following the fall of mankind.

There’s also a hint right off the bat that there’s something wrong. Wrong with time, possibly, or maybe just wrong with Xavier. While Charles is enjoying a day at the fair, he’s approached by Moira MacTaggert. Who he doesn’t know. That’s ominous for a number of reasons, since a large part of Charles’ youth was spent with Moira at Oxford University and she was his fiancé for a time. It makes you wonder if someone’s messed with Charles’ memories, or if maybe something or someone is messing with the timeline.

For the latter, other than growing new mutants, this could also be one of the reasons why we’re seeing characters who should be dead back up and alive in House of X #1. It might also be why time overall seems to be such an important element in this story.

The nature of the text pieces, the file names and numbers, and the importance of it in the X1 period (and what looks like possibly a similar quest in the X2 period), it kind of makes me wonder if Moira is a time traveller herself. It’s possible that X0 is before Charles met her at university and therefore doesn’t know her at this point in time, but I think that compresses the timeline of events even further than we’re already squashing the periods between X0 and X1.

In X2 there’s also a curious exchange as Xavier receives the data procured by Sabretooth, Mystique, and Toad in House of X #1. I’m not sure if the confusion was intentional as a hint that something else was going on, or if we were meant to infer that Magneto was manipulating the drive to get it to Xavier, but it at least appears that Xavier is using telekinesis. Xavier doesn’t have telekinesis as a power.

It makes you wonder if something has changed with Charles, giving him new expanded powers, or reinforcing that maybe this isn’t even Charles. With the people being grown in pods and the rise of composite mutants in the future, it makes me wonder if the eugenics tests started even soon. Not to mention that we still haven’t seen Xavier’s face in the present.

TWO | Space?

In X2, we’re given kind of a bleak outlook for how many mutants are left remaining in the 22nd century. Roughly 10,000 mutants living in the Shi’ar Empire and 8 mutants living on Earth. Yeah, that’s a small population. It kind of boggles the mind as to what’s going on between the mutants and machines on Earth since that’s barely a resistance.

There are some interesting questions raised here about the first wave of “Dawn of X” once House of X and Powers of X are over. This seems to be more of an idea seed for what’s coming next, especially with the previews for New Mutants and Excalibur that seem to be sending various X-teams into space again. Even the forthcoming X-Men series looks like it might have ties to intergalactic derring-do.

There’s also a mention of Empress Xandra that’s sure to perk up some ears. Xandra was introduced by Kelly Thompson and Oscar Bazaldua in Mr. & Mrs. X and is supposedly the daughter of Charles Xavier and Lilandra Neramani.

THREE | Days of Future Tenses Yet to Come

What’s a horrible mutant future without a Days of Future Past framework? The X2 period uses familiar elements from many of the dystopian futures that we’ve seen over the years in X-Men comics.

There are elements here from many alternate futures including traditional Sentinels, Nimrod, hounds, and such, but it somehow feels fresh. Although it’s a bleak, dystopian world where practically every mutant is dead, there’s still a small thread of hope. Given what we see later that hope is probably futile, but you wonder where this is heading.

There is so much world and character-building that feeds into the construction of the X2 period, including the new elements of Krakoa that were introduced in House of X #1, that it feels like framing this simply as another alternate future that’s going to be worked out and fixed by the end of the series is a little naïve.

It could be a vehicle for introducing Rasputin into the world, a Chimera mutant based on the DNA of Kitty Pryde, Piotr Rasputin (with the possibility of some Illyana in there too, since she’s got a soulsword, but it may be that just one of their genetic stock can yield both mutant powers. Though the soulsword is magic not mutant), Gunther Bain, Laura Kinney, and Quentin Quire. And we could well see her transplanted elsewhere when “Dawn of X” begins.

The hunters are kind of neat. We see a couple of them with their masks off and they seem normal, but who’s to tell. They might be human, they might be machine, they might be both, we’re still unsure as to what the deeper state of humanity happens to be in this time period. Much of the early landscape we see in the Nexus is battleground, full of destruction and debris, but the area around Nimrod’s tower looks to be a built up futuristic city. Who lives there? Or maybe what lives there?

I also quite like the design of the hunters. They remind me of the Hellfire Club soldiers’ design (and by extension some of the Reavers) with a few tweaks to make them more fit Nimrod’s design and the singular lens to make their asymmetry feel a little creepy. I’m curious if we’re supposed to think that these hunters are the new Reavers, or if maybe there’s some connection to some form of the Hellfire Club.

Now, Omega seems to be Nimrod’s superior. He defers to her and seems to get her blessing in order to enact his archival experiment from her. We don’t know if she’s still Karima Shapandar, but it seems like she might be, the only difference is that she’s now red. Bigotry also appears to have become a more apparent part of her personality, using one of the common dismissive phrases of “you people” when dealing with Clyobel.

You have to wonder what happened to her prior to her reactivation in House of X #1 that has changed her so dramatically from her time with the X-Men. And what shaped and honed that hatred even further into the future.

FOUR | Flawed Design

There’s a kind of nihilism that’s baked into the story. It comes with the territory of a horrible future for Marvel’s mighty mutants, but it extends to some of the characters and situations throughout this issue as the world-building informs us of what’s going on in the X2 period and of what led to parts of the current situation. It seems like failure is going to be a theme for Powers of X, failure of the dream, failure of systems, failure of communication and trust, failure of legacy. It would seem depressing, but it’s endlessly fascinating the way that it’s presented.

For starters, handing over any kind of breeding programme for the continued survival of mutants over to Sinister is insane. Even with mutant leadership apparently missing when it happened, it’s still insane. Sinister is a self-serving mad scientist, so it’s no wonder that it blew up in everyone’s faces. It also makes you wonder what other schemes he had in mind, and whether or not his “execution” actually took. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw him, and another generation of his own personal mutants, before the story runs its course. He always seems to have a back-up plan, not to mention another cloned body just ready to be activated.

Giving up and defecting to the Man-Machine Supremacy after deliberately sabotaging the fourth generation of his breeding pits to destroy Mars feels a little too simple for Sinister.

But that flaw isn’t limited to Sinister. We see it in the Man-Machine Supremacy’s breeding programme too at the Khennil (referred to in the text piece as the Man-Machine Ascendancy). Obsolete and ill-considered eugenics seems to be part of man’s purview as well in how it created the original hounds (presumably the ones we know and love like Rachel Summers) and then the subsequent “black brains”.

There’s also a theme of betrayal throughout. In that it’s part of the genetic make-up of the Khennil hounds, that it was part of Sinister’s plan with his fourth generation brood, and there’s the suggestion that mutant leaders were “disappeared” through betrayal.

The final, and ultimately fatal, flaw comes in the future with the failure of Nimrod’s experiment started in the X2 period brought forward to the end in X3’s Mutant Library. This one’s likely not purposeful, rather degradation of systems through age, but it’s the one that leads to the end of mankind and the mutant race with the idea that it’s not possible to bring them back.

Though, I wouldn’t be surprised that this is the problem that this series is trying to fix.

FIVE | The Four Horsemen

One of the interesting things I found among the X2 time period was who survives. Among the 8 who are still living, you’ve got representatives of Sinister’s breeding programme, from a standard composite in Rasputin to an outlier priest class in Cardinal, but then you’ve got a group of four. I find it particularly interesting that they’re introduced in the form of a group of four because it gives certain connotations.

The four aren’t named in the story, but they look like Magneto, Wolverine, Black Tom, and Zorn (the Ultimate Universe brother to Xorn that Hickman and Rafa Sandoval created in Ultimate Comics: Hawkeye). I mean, it’s entirely possible that these four are more composites or clones grown by Sinister or someone else, especially since it’s 90 years from “now” and they all seem relatively well put together, but these are four characters that arguably have a tenacity for longevity. Hell, Black Tom can pretty much regrow himself like Swamp Thing.

But back to the four. It gives another possible reason as to why these existing characters are still alive in the future. They could be new representatives of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse.

I mean, there’s a number of people that Wolverine could be mentioning as the “Old Man”. It could be Xavier. Could be someone else. But like Black Tom, we’ve been seeing Apocalypse popping up again in numerous covers and solicitations (after all he’s on the cover for House of X #2 at that).

It also potentially ties into all of the religious symbolism and meta-narrative that Hickman has been seeding throughout House of X and Powers of X so far. From Xavier creating a new Adam and Eve beneath a Tree of Life, Magneto emphasizing the coming of new gods in Jerusalem, the possibility of Krakoa creating all sorts of plant golems, Nimrod’s tower, and now the end times as portrayed in the book of Revelation.

Also, one of the file names for the text pieces includes “(APOC_build)”.

SIX | The Garden

The end to Powers of X #1 has an interesting parallel to the beginning of House of X #1. Where the latter had Xavier seemingly hatching his Adam & Eve out of the Krakoa pods, in X3, following the seeming collapse of mankind, there’s a place called “The Preserve” where the Librarian references some kept around similar to dinosaur bones in a museum.

There are some oddities, though, as when mining Nimrod’s database, the Librarian seems to be searching for personalities, sad to find that they’ve degraded. It makes you wonder if the Preserve is a place to house relics, or if maybe they’re trying to breed a new race of mutants. Also, who or what the Librarian represents at this point is anyone’s guess.

SEVEN | A Drawing of Three

In the opening sequence between Moira and Charles, there’s another interesting thing as Moira recounts briefly that she had a fortune-telling. From that we draw a traditional three card spread. There’s a number of ways that you can read them, but two are most prevalent. In the first reading, card 1 is the past, 2 is the present, and 3 is the future. In the other, card 1 represents the context of the question being asked, card 2 represents what the person asking should focus on to affect or change the situation, and card 3 represents the potential outcome. (Now, I know there are countless other ways to read the cards, including card 2 representing the querent and the other two influencing it, but we’d be here all day if I broke down all possible interpretations to just read the spread.)

Given that it is a timeline question, though, in a story about time, I think it’s interesting that all three cards pulled are interpreted through the future of the X2 time period and the characters there. (Also somewhat odd in that all three are Major Arcana.) And it that, it makes it even stranger as a timeline question that would normally take a past, present, future reading.

I personally tend to use Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris’ Thoth Tarot when I do personal readings, including Crowley’s book on further meanings and connections, as well as Lon Milo DuQuette’s commentary and analysis in the beautiful Understanding the Thoth Tarot, so my frame of reference is probably different given the celestial twist and changes made (along with tons of attributions and connections according to Hermetic Kabbalah). I’m also a large proponent of people only doing readings for themselves, bringing their own interpretations and influences to the reading and their understanding of the symbolism, connections, and such. So, if you disagree with anything I write here, feel free to throw it out and do your own work.

Anyway, the drawing of The Magician as the past, as represented by Rasputin is interesting. Especially in Hickman’s statement of “one foot in two worlds”. This could be representative of two things, the past (as in she’s a composite of different mutants from the past) and the future, or it could be referring to her soulsword and the fact that she represents a magical world and a mundane world. It could be reading Rasputin as simple as a literal magician. The Magician card itself typically represents communication, wisdom, craft, and skill. As representing the past, it could be interpreted as that the previous timeframes were where all of the skill, determination, and communication came from. That all of that X-magic is behind them.

The card for the present is The Tower, as represented by Nimrod’s tower. Hickman incorporates some of the symbolism of the biblical tower of Nimrod, the Tower of Babel, here in a symbol of “collapse and rebirth”. The Tower card, often also referred to as the Blasted Tower (depending on your perspective on the Tree), often represents combat, strife, ruin, and a destruction of plans. It certainly makes sense for the present of the X2 time period as it’s rife with conflict caused by the war between the few remaining mutants and the Man-Machine Supremacy.

The final drawing for the future is The Devil, as represented by Cardinal (I still want to call him Redcrawler). Like Rasputin, this could simply be down to the character correlations (in that the Nightcrawler genetic stock that Cardinal draws upon is descended from that “demon” mutant offshoot). The card itself is often read to represent blind impulse, unscrupulousness, temptation, and obsession. All of that seems at odds with the Cardinal character that we see in Powers of X #1, so it’s kind of hard to gauge. If it represents the future, it could be that some sort of recklessness on the part of the few remaining mutants leads to a complete collapse (as we seem to see in the X3 period). Or maybe our priest isn’t necessarily what he seems.

At its most basic, the spread seems to be telling us what we can discern from the comic itself, of a period of a kind of golden age, followed by a collapse and a period of strife, before temptation possibly leading everything astray, but part of me thinks that’s too simple. I haven’t gone into attributions, and whether or not the presence of the cards together are well or ill aspected, so there might be something there that sheds a different light.

Or Hickman could have an entirely different meaning behind any of this.

CONCLUSION | All the Small Things

Between the first issues of House of X and Powers of X, I’m impressed by their depth. It could well be a case of overthinking and over-analyzing the story, the text, and the imagery, of reading too much into the ideas, but this work from Hickman, Silva, Di Benedetto, Gracia, Cowles, and Muller lends itself to be scrutinized.

It can be enjoyed, very much so, on a surface level as a great science fiction adventure story, and absolutely should be. It’s entertaining fiction as a groundwork, but that it can be studied for clues and other meanings can be a large part of the fun of a work like this. It gets imaginations running wild trying to see how or if the pieces fit, almost like a puzzle or a treasure hunt.

Powers of X #1 leads us further down a rabbit hole that this new era of the X-Men is taking us down and it’s an exciting ride so far.

d. emerson eddy thinks he thinks too much some times.

#Examinations #X-Men #Powers of X #1 #Jonathan Hickman #RB Silva

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fireeaglespirit · 6 years

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@fireeaglespirit @viviane-lefay i do worry sometimes with the stories I write if things might be too much for you. To be fair I dont think in any fanfic Ive ever written anything too explicit but now Im so conscious of other people’s viewpoints and being inclusive that it is a concern. Ultimately I write what I want to/need to but I am aware it might not be for all tastes hence always trying to follow ratings etc.

Replying here so it doesn’t cause any problems with OP, etc..

Ohh. I’m sorry if this worried you.. tbh this was very random and I wasn’t even thinking about fiction when I rb this. This one reminded me of a few times I went out with friends and colleagues and I just felt starkly asexual, lmao

About my tolerance regarding sex and explicitly in fiction, I’ll be honest with you…

There’s hardly anything I could say I wouldn’t read about. I just don’t feel ‘triggers’ or anything of the sort, no hard feelings when it gets to fiction and I value your will to be conscious of other viewpoints but its practically impossible to cater to all tastes like you said, so don’t worry about it much… there’s always someone out there who will feel offended and others who will fiercely love it.

As for myself, I’m very tolerant to sexual content in fiction, idk? I don’t seek it out particularly but its not a deal breaker either.

I know some asexual people are less tolerant, I usually just get a ‘meh’ feeling whenever those subjects are touched in much detail, idk some works do get nasty and bothersome because of much detail involving sexual practices so I just give up on them or put them aside when they bring me no joy but I gladly consume material with sex on it as long as I like some aspects of it. Also, I’m good at ignoring or glossing over things I don’t like in fiction… when I read explicit scenes with intercourse it does nothing to me and my eyes focuses on the sentences I loved such as regarding the feelings between the characters and subtle interactions instead of the physical/carnal aspects of it, and this makes it all worthy it.

Even so, some works might become overwhelmingly depressive or repulsive so I might put them aside even if I enjoyed an aspect of it or I might just skip through them and this happened recently to a series of fantasy books I tried to read which were actually really good but they were so overwhelmingly and unnecessarily dark and had an horrid oppressive atmosphere towards women an sex so I just felt no joy reading them? Its not like I was traumatized by its tone but it felt like a chore and I couldn’t care about it further and no character inspired me whatsoever that the world could change for the better, so I dropped them.

But its not like I’m judging it, I just feel weirded out to some things and I just imagine the kind of mind that takes upon themselves the chore to write a whole series of book which has nothing but suffering and misery in them, especially concerning women, lol. We already had this shit in history and still have in some places in the world so I kinda feel like its not interesting for me to read about it in a fictional setting, especially if I don’t feel like the writer is going to challenge the setting.

But I’m aware most people are much more sensitive… these things can be horrid for those who are more sensitive, and perhaps my own asexuality protects me from feeling it fully as I don’t even think of myself as a being capable of partaking in this (weird, I know), so I have problem even projecting.

But I did felt really strongly for the way women were oppressed absurdly and had their agency completely obliterated, so that sparked a sort of empathy or kinship in me which made progress in such book a chore…

You got my point and this just illustrates a bit my relationship to fiction and things that irk me since you were interested in my opinion… I have another example of fantasy book with lots of sex in it:

I read asoiaf even thought its full of sexual stuff but I don’t feel joy at these parts, yet the work is so good on other themes that I ignore it for the most part… but even so, recently I’ve read F&B and it was kinda overwhelming on the sexist aspect with myriads of female characters turned into child brides and raped and dying at their childbirth repeatedly it just got very tiresome and repetitive near the end, because there where almost no counterpoints to it, unlike in the main series where the situation is dire for women but we have characters challenging it more often and idk. F&B just lacked on that front.

So, this shows a bit my sensitivity towards sex is more related to sexism and the feeling that women are confined to their reproductive aspects: motherhood, childbearing, marriage, sensuality, etc.. I don’t have a problem with sexual intercourse per se as you can see, but that’s from my unique point of view and I know some asexuals are more repulsed towards it, but you asked my opinion…

So, if its consensual sex: its not my cup of tea but I don’t feel like its a deal breaker…

Just to give you a positive sex example: when I see an OTP of mine getting to the point of having sex I think its pretty sweet, like when Jon and Dany consummated their love on that boat… I was happy for them, for all that it means, the symbolism between the union of ice and fire and just two characters which I love dearly, finding happiness and comfort in each other. What’s not to love about it??

This is a rare stance I can say I saw a pair I ship get to that point xD

I love shipping as you know, but its more about the psychological aspects and potential for character development and even when I’m reading fanfic about my OTPs I enjoy more the angst and symbolism than the ‘hot’ parts which usually just makes me go ‘meh’ (again).

So this makes me say: when sex is the focus of works I could feel like I’m too asexual for this, even if it regards an OTP, it just doesn’t have a very exciting effect on me or I’m not explicitly interested in this part of a relationship, when so many other things caught my eye… sometimes subtle interactions and dialogue and and gentle approximation (touches, caresses, kissing, etc..) is so much more exciting for me to read about than the ‘thing’ itself, lol.

To sum it up: when its there just for p*rn or even worse, shock value it just makes me go ‘meh’ or ‘ugh’ or ‘uhh why am I even reading this?’

This reminds me of Vivi’s take on the ‘hiero gamos’, in this case I just say I might even enjoy the theme as long as the scenes involving sex are meaningful and passionate and the aspect I value the most about them are sublime and platonic instead of carnal but I’m aware the carnal aspects are very important for the characters and the audience so I also worry when I get to show my stories people will think they lack sexual content ^^ I get you.

Now that you know my feelings towards sex in fiction, to a broader sense I just wanted to say..

There’s no way to guess people’s sensitives but it doesn’t mean you need to walk on eggshells afraid to trigger people all the time, hell no! I’m all for freedom of creation. At least around me there are no metaphorical ‘eggshells’.

Everyone has their own set of opinions which makes them unique, not just me, I mean… even so I will let my snowflake syndrome show but I’m quite peculiar if you could say, so I sort of grew a strong ‘carapace’ towards the world as I deal with people with completely different views and values on a daily basis which might make me have inflamed political opinions while at the same time, I’m very flexible and forgiving when it comes to fiction in general.

I don’t expect much of the population to be like this so I’m also self conscious when it gets to writing my own stuff because I know people can feel very strongly about it and you’ve seen the way fandom reacts to minor things and bash creators when they perceive flaws in their work… I’m just not a judgmental person, its not in my nature. I just ignore things in fiction if I don’t like and I became even more relaxed over time in regards to this all, lol I nearly reached a ‘nirvana’ as I don’t even feel strongly negative feelings in regard to this.

Snarky and bitter comments from time to time? Yes… but no hard feelings. RL needs my hatred, lol so I don’t have it to spare with fiction any longer.

Anyway, on an unrelated sub note… as you might have noticed, I don’t feel comfortable about current fandom trends and specially policing, and with reason as this gets very serious and quick with literally ‘wave chain reactions’ of hatred sparked apparently from nowhere. I hope people could create more freely instead of the political correct police and restraining of creativity we have now. It was good for a while and I’m all for diversity and change in status quo (for the better), but I think this has gone too far and I perceive a lot of rigidity in fiction right now due to fear of fandom backlash we have creators afraid to make their thing and afraid it isn’t ‘inclusive or progressive’ enough… so they bend themselves endlessly until fandom ‘approves’ them, but even so someone is bound to scream and say the work is offensive and the cycle of hatred is restarted.

I know this reply was like a huge egocentric monologue and I strained with non related issues at the end, but you asked my thought on this so I tried to convey it with detail.. including things related to the perception we have concerning fictional themes and I just kinda had to vent at some parts of it.

etc…. This doesn’t mean I forbid judgment from others or criticism or that I forbid people from harshly criticizing works of fiction, just that sometimes it gets more harmful than beneficial and scare people off, and I felt like saying that.

Anyway,,, just want to say nonetheless I find it very sweet and considerate that you are taking different opinions in mind while writing, but you don’t need to worry at least from my part, and I don’t think you ever got even close to being explicit in your writings so there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.

#beyond-far-horizons

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thebookishgoddess · 6 years

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ELLA’S MONTHLY WRAP-UP: SEPTEMBER 2018

I’m not going to lie. September was a slow month for reading, in my most honest opinion. Mainly because I’ve only just gotten used to my work schedule. And lo’ and behold, that schedule changes right into October. Life’s never really simple in this industry I work in--making it hard for me to read my beloved books. But it’s not to say it hasn’t been a great month overall! I’ve received a few amazing books from some close bookish friends, and I can’t wait to share it with you all!

Also, September was the month of The 39th Manila International Book Fair here in the Philippines and let’s just say it’s been a semi-blast (mostly because I didn’t get to see my #LadyBirds because arghhh work), but it was fun because I got to go with two of my co-workers! More on that in this wrap-up, so let’s get right into it!

So if you guys followed my August Wrap-Up, you all know I just got a job last month and it was super new to me. It still feels a bit new even after a month of working for the industry I’m in. It’s not the first time I worked in this industry, but it is the first time where I managed to get a decent dayshift--just very crappy rest days. But overall, I’m slowly getting used to it, and the whole month of September working in my job just proves that I just needed time to adjust to it.

And adjusting to work also meant adjusting my reading schedule. Let me tell you, it has not been easy. The best I could do on a regular work day is read my books/listen to my audiobooks during break time or when there’s no work to be done on a particular day. I mostly do my reading on my rest days, though two days really isn’t enough to read as many books as I wish in one go. Ya girl’s gotta get her decent shut eye at some point.

But less into that, and more into some of the actual bookish things that’s happen this month!

39TH MANILA INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR

September was, as I’ve mentioned in the intro, the month for The 39th Manila International Book Fair. It is the biggest book fair in the country to date, the closest we can get to a YALLFest or BEA here, mainly. I normally go with friends to this yearly event, though sadly, with my schedule being Thursdays to Mondays, I only managed to go on the first day of the event (which was on a Wednesday). But it’s not to say I didn’t have fun!

I went to MIBF with my co-worker, RB, and my Team Leader, Ces. You guys could not believe my delight when I heard that a few people at work loves to read books as much as I do. The moment I told them there was a book fair, they were stoked to come with--and am actually surprised they’ve never heard of it before.

We went on the first day (Wednesday) and bought just a few books because we were into the second week after payday so we had very few funds to start with! Here’s my mini MIBF haul:

Mini MIBF Haul: An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir & A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

I was so frustrated because Book Binge Bazaar happened on a day when I was at work. Luckily, I was able to go because the BBB at MIBF is up until 12 midnight. I come out at 8 in the evening, and I just knew I had to go to the BBB event even if I was only left with leftover books after a whole day of bookworms hoarding every P175 book they can find. I managed to get three for myself, one each for my co-worker and Team Leader, and one for my little brother.

Mini BBB Haul: The Glittering Court by Richelle Mead, The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid and The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine.

It was not a lot, but it felt good to at least get a few books from this amazing sale!

BOOK TRADE WITH BOOKISH FRIENDS

After the big #BookishWish event on Twitter had slowly died out into September, I thought that it shouldn’t end this way. So I started up a little trade train on my Twitter account. Granted, I was only able to offer up two books from my pile--but I was happy to give those two books new homes.

I was also able to receive one of the books on my #BookishWish, plus a lil’ gift from one of my #LadyBirds friends from the BBB event that I wasn’t able to get much into.

I traded out my copy of These Rebel Waves with #LadyBird Shai (@themeanderingsoul) for her Throne of Glass copy. Then I traded my Don’t Look Back with #LadyBird Angel (@whimsy_wanders) for her Beauty Queens copy.

Mini Book Trade Haul: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas & Beauty Queens by Libba Bray.

And a little (or not so little, considering how big this hardcover was) post-birthday gift from one of my #LadyBirds, Ailla (@MioneJeanPotter)! She snagged me a gorgeous hardcover of A Court of Misty and Fury from the BBB event. I cannot thank her enough for this precious copy!

Post-Birthday Gift: A Court Of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Last, but not the least though, the last #BookishWish granted from the event. The Scorpio Races PLUS a little Matthias Helver from the Six of Crows Duology magnetic bookmark from one of my closest and dearest friends in college, Clare (@thebookishpoppet)! I traded my copy of An Ember In The Ashes (one that I got from Shai) over to hers because she wanted to read it after she saw how I raved about it. I’m super excited for her to dabble into the beauty that is the Ember Quartet.

#BookishWish: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

BOOKS READ THIS MONTH

Adjusting to this month with my reading was very difficult, so I was only able to read a handful of books. I mostly just finished the rest of the ACOTAR books and decided that I will do one reread this year of the amazing Harry Potter series.

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Now, you guys may be wondering why I haven’t written a review for the ACOTAR books yet, especially since I’ve expressed several times that I enjoyed reading this series and even went as far as to purchase merch for it.

The honest answer? I was too lazy to write one out. I had planned on writing a review for ACOTAR the moment I finished it, but September was a difficult month to get book reviews out.

Will I ever write a book review for the books? Probably not. My thoughts for the books are long overdue. But to give an overall impression of the books, let’s just say that I absolutely enjoyed all of it. Also, ACOFAS is lowkey not canon because that book was a disaster POV wise and plot wise. I think majority of the fandom can agree with me on that. But I do look forward to more ACOTAR books! I have all three of the series’s books (not intending to buy ACOFAS at all lmao), so that says a lot. I am excited to see where Maas takes the rest of these characters to. I heard there were going to be spinoffs for each character/ship, so we’ll see!

When will you start reading new books? Riiiiight after I finish Harry Potter. I wanted to cheat on my Goodreads a little bit after I made a bloody fool of myself by changing my reading stats of 30 books to 50 books, so I must pay the price. But I will say that I’ll get into Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco right after! I just purchased the book on my second salary and I’ve been tempted the whole way home to read it. But I have to wait just a little more for it.

SEPTEMBER BOOK HAUL

It’s an amazing month for filling up my bookshelf! I can’t thank my friends, MIBF and BBB enough for lessening my shelf space. To be honest, my bookshelf is more of a book trunk at this point. I’m still asking my dad to make me a bookshelf. He said he might have one made for on Christmas, so we’ll see!

Thanks for tuning in to my little rambles for September’s wrap-up! I look forward to writing something out for this blog again, especially with NaNoWriMo looming ever closer. But that’s another story to tell right before October ends.

Happy October and autumn, everyone!

#booklr #bookish #book blog #september wrap up #monthly wrap up #discussion

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fossadeileonixv · 4 years

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WTF Friday

And that’s his happy face!

A quick thought on where we watch our games:

Here in the States Serie A has been on ESPN for 3 years now. Three pretty good years. Before that the rights were held by BeInSports. BeIn showed the big games but not all the games. They had something called BeIn Connect that was supposed to show all the games but it never really worked. Their main focus was La Liga which I get. It was the era of Ronaldo and Messi. That being said they did a good job on the games they did show.

Then the Serie A rights went to ESPN. Change was scary but it turned out to be good. Honestly we had no idea what we were missing. Every game is on. EVERY SINGLE GAME. If you stopped right there we would have been happy. The second year they bought the Coppa rights too. BOOM. Add to that a stellar in house announcing team in Steve Donaldson and Matteo Bonetti. BOOM. Stellar pods with the likes of Gab Marcotti, Mina Rzouki and Nicky Bandini. BOOM BOOM BOOM. More daily coverage than you could shake a stick at on ESPNFC and we really have been spoiled here in the states these last 3 years. It has been a veritable endless Ponderosa buffet of Serie A.

Now there are whispers of a bidding war as the rights are up again. Paramount is pushing HARD and ESPN is fighting back. I’m hoping ESPN keeps them as they’ve really put in the effort and I think there’s a lot more they can do. If Paramount does get them I will be sad but I will follow. Wherever they end up I think it will be good for the league and more than anything good for us fans.

Does make me wonder though. How do you guys consume the league where you are at? Is it easy to get? Is it expensive? Are you still mostly using free streams online?

Enough of that! Now for a thought or two on each player as we head off into the weekend. Let’s go!

KEEPERS

- Despite Donnarumma’s brain fart on Sunday I’m not worried about him... and I’m certainly not worried about him going anywhere either. Stay off twitter my friends. He’s still our starting keeper come the fall of 2021.

- Will we see Tatarusanu again this season? Maybe if we win the first leg at Old Trafford 5-0?? Maybe.

- Have we seen Donnarumma 2.0 yet this year? No. And that’s ok. He can remain undefeated for life!

FULLBACKS

- PSG comes calling and they are offering 40 million for Theo. Maldini comes back asking for 50. Who blinks first?

- ManU calls and they are willing to reduce the price for Dalot to 12 million. If you are Maldini what do you do? Offer 8 million or pack Diogo’s bags for him?

- It is truly amazing how over the last 8 months Calabria went from Plusvalenza candidate to indispensable starter at RB. Not many players got the spine to make that turnaround. He’s a long term keeper.

- I’m still floored by the potential we are seeing from Kalulu considering the purchase price. They have value meals at McDonald’s that cost more than him.

CENTER BACKS

- Is Gabbia dead or what? You’d think with the recent pile up of fixtures we would have seem at some point, no?

- I’m still not falling in love with Tomori. The Chelsea thing is too much. I don’t care how good he looks. Nope. Not interested. Not at all.

- Kjaer is still Danish for wall.... but that wall doesn’t run real well anymore.

- Don’t be in such a hurry to give up on R13 any time soon. Tomori might be the new hotness but Kjaer isn’t that far from being old and busted. He will be 32 in a few weeks. Chasing R13 outta town so quickly would not be a wise move.

MIDFIELD

- Kessie is easily in the team of the season for Serie A. It’s him, SMS and Barella in the midfield. If you got a problem TR will fight you.

- Tonali is gonna be in that team of the season by the end of 2022-2023. Mark it.

- Bennacer has not been Bennacer since probably the Napoli game in November. That was 3 months ago. His last few appearances have been dreadful and I’m starting to think this season will be a wash for him. Silver lining? No one is buying him after a crap year and he hopefully will be ready to go next year.

- Krunic is fine for the jack of all trades that he is. If he could only rip the random banger like Kucka used to. I still miss him.

- I think Meite has to be very clear on what his role is to have an impact. His first few games he was a little too free and just kind of wandered all over. Last game we saw some glimpses.

WINGS AND STUFF

- Our ‘attackers’ have 1 goal in our last 6 games and that was from Rebic against Roma.... his first good game in months.

- I have irrational love for Saelemaekers. It’s true. Even I can see that he’s tailed off a lot though. I really just think our wings are being asked way too much as of late. That goes for all the wingers. He hasn’t scored in 75 days.

- Castillejo hasn’t scored in 89 days.

- Hauge hasn’t scored in 85 days.

- Hakan hasn’t scored in 72 days

- Diaz hasn’t scored in 92 days. That’s a long way of saying that our attack stinks. It really stinks. Yet somehow we still lead the league in ‘Expected Goals’. Really? Is any of you watching this team and ‘expecting’ a whole lot of goals of late? The stat heads need to explain this. What stats are they compiling that compels them to believe we can score goals?

- Leao has actually scored a goal for Milan this calendar year. Yes! I can say that. One of only 3 attacking players on the team that has a goal since January 1st. Wonderful. Outstanding.

There. I said something nice about him.

- has Ibra lost his damn mind? First he’s ripping on LeBron. Then he skips out on his team to go to a music festival. While he’s there he says a bunch of dumb insensitive shit. And now he thinks he’s gonna get 7 million next year? Whatever man. We had a good thing going here. If you wanna walk on your team to have a 2 week bender in the countryside that’s on you man. Stay onside. Score a goal. Or get lost.

- Did we actually sign Mandzukic or was I dreaming?

FORZA

Lisi

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groundramon · 6 years

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Homph I finished tri and I wrote down my thoughts as I was watching because I had too many funny shitposts and nobody to share them with bc charlie hasn’t watched tri yet

PS i wont be reblogging tri spoilers (besides MINOR stuff like, digivolutions of already confirmed digivolution lines or non-spoilery shitposts, but I’ll try to tag shitposts as #tri spoilers anyways [digivolutions specific to tri ill tag as well but not ones that were already basically confirmed]) for a while so ur safe here! I’m just gonna like everything/most things because then I can rb em to hisyaryumon lmao (also u should check out hisyaryumon....its me n charlie’s digimon blog)

EP 1:

- ok. alright. ok. good. they’re dealing with kari’s emotions now instead of just. nothing. ok. alright. cool. Still dont like how obscure/”artsy” they’re being with it, this is digimon not kagerou project, but ok.

- Also. I stand by tk and kari being one of the few good straight ships in digimon. just saying.

- kari: this is my fault... me: god damn it shut up you little brat also me: god relatable ALSO me: ill take whatever display of emotions i can get

- I love how nobody believes tai is dead like. They’re upset and worried but they’re also like “nah. he cant be. that fucking asshole just left us in our time of need” (actually only matt is the last one)

- Gabumon i would die for you also im crying and I think that’s the first time tri managed to make me fucking CRY

EP 2:

- I had thoughts but then the 02 kids happened and I entered another plane of reality. I don’t feel real right now

- the only one I can remember is evil!gennai being a dumbass and being like “SUFFER AND SQUIRM YOU PATHETIC HUMANS AS YOU FIGHT OVER THE LAST SEAT” 1. humans are KNOWN for their ability to care for others you dumb obvious fuck and 2. is. is the entire tube going? because that tube can fit too people if they squish. This isn’t a joke I’m serious it can.

- oh yeah also when i saw whomstever the fuck his name is (adult guy who i love but fuck names) and he was all bloodied i was like “its a cold day in hell when i see blood in digimon” (I think there was blood in an earlier ep but shh idc)

EP 3:

- didn’t nishijima start off as a fucking life coach to these kids. What the fuck he was supposed to help them find a career not emotionally scar them by bloodily dying in front of one of them

- im realizing that the reason hackmon was always in his cloak, in the shadows, standing still is that they cannot animate him in any normal position for the life of him. I drew him with better anatomy when i was 14 and didn’t have a tablet. No seriously, look:

I didn’t say it wasn’t bad, you guys are just underestimating how bad the anatomy on this poor creature is. Why cant ppl draw dracomon or hackmon correctly imma cry

- ordinemon has the best reaction faces

the best part about these two screenshots is that they literally cut one to the other, first the first one to the second one and then it cuts back to the first one. They were really proud of these stupid ass expressions.

- I started overcoming my dissociation shock from the second episode and my hypercritical mind was analyzing the shit out of everything that happened (it is Not happy) but then evil!gennai called kari and evil goddess and idk if he’s exaggerating to make her feel bad or if she’s literally a fucking god of chaos and destruction and either way im like

she did kinda like. Watch wizardmon die, watch tai die, watch gatomon get absorbed. The dark ocean is just a metaphor for depression and honestly if 02 wasn’t all over the fucking place I think Kari would’ve had some pretty decent development in it. Actually you know what, I’m using that as an angle to approach Tri at now, wish me luck bc i might actually give it more leeway now

EP 4:

- I’m not dissociating but I forgot to say anything again and I already forgot what happened

- Cant believe mei is fucking dead

EP 5:

- I like to imagine that Tai got there like a few minutes ago, but he was like “well damn guess yall figured it out without me. alright ill just. see if I need to do anything” and then meicoomon was Still Bad so he waited for when she struck just to make the most badass entrance possible. Fucking extra ass bitch

- I forgot to write anything again but uhhh I wasn’t satisfied so anyways lets just get into the Juicy Details

Originally I was actually planning to be kinder to Tri than I expected. Was very invested during it. ‘Round the end of the last ep I realized hmmm no this isn’t working out. Where are the 02 kids. You should’ve brought them in to save the day. That would’ve been SO cool and SO fun. Fucking cowards.

god I’m kinda tired so I’m going to address a couple things I still had problems with, note that this isn’t everything it’s just everything I felt comfortable yelling about without rewatching past eps. Like I forgot nishijima was all bloodied and presumably died in the last part until they brought it up and I was like “????” ALSO DID THE LADY WHO WAS HIS PARTNER OR W/E KILL HERSELF WITH THE GUN SHE FOUND, I JUST REALIZED LITERALLY AS I WAS TYPING THIS THAT SHE FOUND A GUN AND THEN I THINK IT CUT TO BLACK AND I’M

DID SHE FUCKING KILL HERSELF WHAT THE FUCK

anyways my problems:

1. They did joe. really dirty. I’ll write a more proper rant on this sometime later (mostly bc charlie is MUCH better at talking about joe than I am) but basically I can tell you that his character development in the movies squandered his OG character development. He’s basically an entirely different person. Like Tri joe isn’t bad, besides being largely neglected (yes he has a whole half a movie to himself, no that doesn’t make up for it all), its just...not OG joe. He’s a fine character just not the same character, and its NOT fine when you put the two together.

2. THEY DID THE 02 KIDS EVEN DIRTIER IM SO BITTER sorry you nostalgia-blind, money-hungry fucks at bandai, but the 02 cast is PART OF THE ADVENTURES UNIVERSE. The only people who hate 02 are ones who like the characters but hate the mess of the storyline at the end, or are completely irrational and elitist about their love of the digimon series and would greatly re-evaluate their opinions if they watched the original series and 02 back to back. They couldn’t even show them in some kind of group montage at the end??? Standing in the background when they call Mei??? Why couldn’t they call mei from a home phone also, but that’s a less important problem idc that much. It was a cute scene besides the lack of 02 characters. Whatever. AND THE PROBLEM IS LIKE kari and tk? This entire time??? Were like “oh they disappeared. oops” instead of being frantically searching for their lost friends??? Like i get tk and kari probably have fucking ptsd and can’t express any emotions because they watched important people die in front of their eyes at an incredibly young age but also 1. they didn’t address the ramifications of ptsd, so fuck that theory/excuse and 2. THAT??? WOULD ONLY MAKE THEM LOOK HARDER??? and put on a brave face as they look, but inside they’re so scared and so worried. Not just “oh sweet, they were found/saved, theyre in the hospital but that’s fine” like WHAT theyre fucking assholes if that’s what they’d canonically do lmao. God I am SO bitter over the ENTIRE thing with the 02 kids, it would’ve been BETTER if they were deleted from the fucking canon entirely. Would I have still been bitter? Yes. But at least I wouldn’t be madder at TK and Kari too.

3. I stand 100% by the notion that Digimon is not and will never be cut out to be an adults’ franchise. It wasn’t designed for adults, and it can’t be skewered towards adults. These particular characters were designed for kids to relate to and find entertaining. They do not work when placed into an adult setting. Like, can you imagine a character like Ed from FMA going to the Digimon world? I guess in a way that’s just Marcus but like. Just imagine the FMA cast in Digimon Adventure. It doesn’t work. Digimon Tri is basically that except real. Also Data Squad was darker than Adventure so my joke doesn’t even work.

I guess my primary point is that Tri isn’t mature enough of a setup for an adult audience. It puts a focus on being “complex” and “philosophical” instead of working within Digimon’s constraints and making something good and adult out of that. Like! Digimon is a fucking TOY COMMERCIAL. Don’t give me messages about the futility of human life. I want bad puns and emotional characters. That’s what Digimon has ALWAYS been, and ideally always will be. Tri could’ve made itself more mature by dealing with the ramifications of the Digital World’s events, how it affected the kids psychologically and dealing with healing old scars. It would’ve been a more mature take on a story we loved and would use things we loved about the story already - the fact that it took so much time exploring characters’ emotions and was surprisingly mature for the time - to make itself better. You need to take the aspects that drew adults to the show and amplify them, not just slap on a complex story and unfunny dialogue and be like “oh this is fine, right?”

It’s not that Digimon can’t exist as an adult property, its just that if it repeats what Tri did, it’s got no merit and in my eyes the franchise is dead. If it survives I guess I’ll be happy that people can still enjoy it but I find it unsustainable and unsatisfying to fans of the older series. Tri is just a fuckfest of highly specific nostalgia that tries too hard to appeal to old fans without capturing what made the original series so magical, and in part thats because the original series WASN’T FOR ADULTS. I don’t know about the Digimon Story games, bc they’re T-rated so perhaps they’re a better take on an adult Digimon story than Tri? But you either need to make your own characters and lore specifically for an adult-oriented Digimon season, or perish. Also, please make it a series and not a group of movies. Getting four eps every 6-9 months was hell.

I stand by saying Appmon is a more faithful Digimon season than Tri to Digimon’s original spirit. I believe it holds more potential for success than Tri and better embodies the spirit of the older Digimon seasons. It’s dumb, its corny, it has horrible puns, but I LOVE it because it also has a deep dark story and emotional moments. If you dislike Tri and you agree with things I said that make it unlikeable, I highly recommend giving Appmon a chance - if you watch a few episodes and think “oh yeah, I guess this is decent” you’re going to like it. It’s everything Digimon has always been and hopefully always will be, just with a different concept. And hopefully the end of the series doesn’t leave a sour taste in my mouth and I have to redact this statement haha since I’m not done with it yet, but I’ve heard good things about it so I’m hoping not so.

Overall, if you watch Tri, don’t get your hopes up. It resolves everything okay-ish but it’s a pretty forgettable anime on its own and simply doesn’t work as part of the Digimon franchise.

I am, however, pretty interested in what evil!gennai said at the end about Diaboromon and Daemon. It raises interesting questions about the timeline too. We know Daemon is in the dark ocean, so perhaps that’s a hint at a future project? (They did confirm a future project btw, in conjunction with tri being over) But what about Diaboromon? I dont believe that Our War Game (I think thats what its called?) took place after Tri, based on the outfits and ages and stuff, but I also don’t remember the movies that well. Could Diaboromon still be out there too? It’s interesting.

However, because of the lackluster performance of Tri, I don’t have my hopes up and I really hope that this “next project” goes in a different direction. Although I guess if they include the 02 kids, I’ll be somewhat less salty...

Side note, did they ever explain why the gennais went evil? Like ? That’s a pretty important thing. The gennais helped SAVE the human world in 02. And I get that apparently Tri is ignoring 02′s ending but still. It’s shitty, because Gennai was still a good guy in the original too (and also they cant just keep is younger look and act like 02 never happened) MAYBE its something I missed but I dont think so. God there’s just. So much wrong with Tri. I’m very displeased and very bitter and I wanna get back to Appmon asap.

It’s got good moments, its got bad moments, I dont know, I don’t care. There’s nothing wrong with you if you like it, there’s nothing wrong with you if you don’t, and there’s nothing wrong with you if you flip flop and are split like me. I just wish Tri fulfilled its potential instead of becoming a boring mess.

#stormy speaks #digimon

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bitchfromtheseventhhell · 7 years

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hello there, this one stupid question but does the fact that baratheons overthrew targaryens means that dany is no rightful heir to the iron throne? also i've seen people comparing aegon's conquest to the robert's rebellion yet rb is more like the dance of dragons, isn't it? i mean a civil war between to sides (targ-loyalists and rebels) in one kingdom whilst ac is a formation of a new realm.

not a stupid question, and there are two parts to it that i’m gonna answer separately.

does the fact that baratheons overthrew targaryens means that dany is not rightful heir to the iron throne?

it gets back to several issues, most of which conflict with each other if not themselves.

there is no rule of law in westeros

robert’s rebellion was justified (screw you game of thrones) because aerys violated his feudal contract with his lords.

the seven kingdoms are currently in a state of civil war with eleventy billion claimants to some part if not the whole, and those claims are not all unjustified.

there is no rule of law in westeros

there is no rightful heir to the iron throne.

there isn’t--that’s what makes the whole series so fascinating. i think that robert held it about as lawfully as one can hold the throne in westeros (ie, he took it through a means that westeros saw as lawful bc basically the only law that really matters in westeros is the sword; see varys’ riddle). but he doesn’t have “rightful” “lawful” heirs. i lied--he does actually: they are joffrey, tommen, and myrcella. those are children born within his marriage contract to bear his rank and title when he dies. doesn’t matter who their real dad is, “““““lawfully”””” they are his baratheon children. but the reader knows they aren’t, which is why stannis seems justified in claiming the throne. lawfully he isn’t justified at all. the law is not on his side. it likely never will be because he won’t ever be able to prove that joffrey, tommen, myrcella, aren’t robert’s children, and with robert dead so too is the case since robert would have to be the one to disown them. renly’s not being “lawful” either bc he’s younger than stannis. and, to make it tricksier in affc, the whole interesting thing with dorne is that the dornish don’t have salic law (hell yeah hell yeah hell yeah dorne), so arianne is looking at myrcella as joffrey’s heir, not tommen.

after tommen and myrcella, it would be stannis, but stannis is not the rightful heir to the iron throne even though he says it is. sorry broski. he’s not. the law protects cersei’s children. except it doesn’t. because there’s no rule of law in westeros.

all this is to say: the whole reason that robert is considered a legitimate king and not a usurper (though targaryen loyalists will forever see him as such) is that he took advantage of a situation where the king was violating his feudal contract to his lords and defeated the king and conquered the kingdom. his rebellion was successful; i think it’s similar to right of conquest in that regard: he had to conquer the ruling party to rule. it’s not a 1:1 with aegon’s conquest, but it’s still a right of conquest.

so is dany the rightful heir to the throne? only if she wins it. there is no rule of law in westeros, so i’d say she’s got a strong shot of it what with her three droggos. her also saying she is is reliant on saying that robert’s rebellion is illegal, and i get back to this quote in 1776 (is it a real ben franklin quote? that show has so many real quotes in it) that i’m obsessed with:

A rebellion is always legal in the first person, such as “our rebellion.” It is only in the third person - “their rebellion” - that it becomes illegal.

robert’s rebellion was “our rebellion” to robert, ned, jon arryn, the tullys, therefore it was legal; to the tyrells and the dornish, it wasn’t; tywin lannister waited to see who won before he came in with the killing blow.

to daenerys it was “their rebellion” which means by her strain of what is legal and what isn’t legal, she is the rightful heir.

is she for realz tho?

westeros has no rule of law beyond strength. she’s got 3 dragons. it doesn’t matter what “rightful” is. i’m team aerys behaved illegally so robert was justified, but i also don’t for a second think that anything happening in westeros right now is happening in a way that follows legality so i sort of shrug and move the fuck on because why would i think about what’s legal when westeros is just gonna westeros? (this is part of why i’m living in denial about what’s gonna happen in the north lmao bc it’s gonna make sense in the books unlike in the show and i’m gonna get so annoyed at the different claims to winterfell that are gonna happen.)

i've seen people comparing aegon's conquest to the robert's rebellion yet rb is more like the dance of dragons, isn't it? i mean a civil war between to sides (targ-loyalists and rebels) in one kingdom whilst ac is a formation of a new realm.

i don’t think it’s like anything tbh. i think there are traces of all the conflicts involved, but i think this fandom tends to think that everything is a direct parallel rather than “a little of this a little of that” and i think what daenerys has to do has a little of everything as well as something yet unseen (ice zombies. ice. zombies.)

her conquering westeros would lead to civil war...but.....the whole.....series.....has been......a civil......war........ so like it’s neither like the dance of the dragons (civil war #1--a war for the ladies in the room), the blackfyre rebellion (civil war #2--a war for the bastards in the room), or robert’s rebellion (civil war #3--you burned people alive, dude). all of them were civil wars. the war of the five kings is the civil war. daenerys entering that theater isn’t going to be a new war at least by my standard (but my historical standard is possibly different from others out there, and it will depend on twow so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). she’s not the cause of the civil war, she’s throwing her hat in.

her conquering westeros is going to be like aegon’s conquest in that she has three dragons and wants the whole thang. the whole thang is also questionably unified (the north? is it independent? they’re trying to throw the boltons off and possibly declare for stannis, but technically cersei rules it through roose bolton; the iron islands?? are doing?? some major?? fuckery??; stannis is still around to begin with; what the actual fuck is petyr baelish up to in the vale?). so it’s unified but is? it? aegon’s conquest was about bringing the kingdoms to heel (people pretend these kingdoms were at peace with one another...no....no they weren’t....the riverlands have been 1 giant contested zone for like...ever.... and were once again in the war of the five kings oh hey). i would argue that dany conquering westeros would be the same dealio bc there’s no rule of law in the place throughout the kingdoms.

as for the dance of the dragons: also yep, esp w/aegon in the mix (bc i’ve hardly mentioned him). you’re going to have the challenge of targaryen salic law, and a question of who’s “rightful” and who’s “mightful” and what constitutes right because that’s the thing it always comes back to--pretending lolol for a hot second lolol that westeros does have rule of law lolol--what defines rightful and should it be rightful? the whole thing about laws is that they can be changed. they aren’t set in stone, they are reflective of evolving society so even if they had rule of law dany’s challenge to that rule of law exists very much in her gender which is so frequently denied both by targaryen rule of law and by westeros more broadly @ dorne you’re so good at what you do thanks for not making that an issue.

so it’s got elements of all of them, and will be something wholly different because of the impending ice zombie apocalypse.

#i had way too much fun with this #rule of law #meta #anonymous

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eddycurrents · 5 years

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House of X #2 kind of broke my brain. It changed the rules so thoroughly and basically tore up the map we thought we had that trying to correlate different information now might be an exercise in futility. It’s fun, but it could all just be steam and dust, floating on the wind. In one issue, Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia, Clayton Cowles, and Tom Muller changed the game and made us realize pretty much anything was possible. And not to necessarily believe our eyes because anything was possible.

Powers of X #2 was more subdued. Not as brain-breaking, but still makes you wonder about how all of the pieces come together and what exactly is going on when and to which iteration.

We continue on here building out a more logical progression of story within the various time periods, even while working within the new framework. While the scope of the story being told remains massive, it’s at least being delivered in manageable and entertaining chunks.

RB Silva, Adriano Di Benedetto, and Marte Gracia gives us possibly some of the most beautiful artwork to date on this story. The composition and colour in the opening pages is just exquisite. It seems like as the story unfolds into a gigantic, almost living organism itself, the art is keeping up in pace. The visual storytelling is integral to the increasing huge ideas presented in the tale.

This continues to be an incredible, must read story.

There will be spoilers below this image. If you do not want to be spoiled on Powers of X #2, do not read further.

SPOILER WARNING: Below I’ll be discussing the events, themes, and possibility of what’s going on in Powers of X #2 and beyond. There are HEAVY SPOILERS beyond this point. If you haven’t read the issue yet and don’t want to be spoiled, please stop reading now. You’ve been warned.

PREAMBLE | First Impressions

As I stated above, because of what happened in the last issue of House of X, I really don’t know what to think any more. The tapestry of introducing Moira’s multiple lives and the variance of the time frames means that it’s no longer clear what’s happening when. There’s no concrete information provided in text as to what life we’re on, or even whether or not the different time periods we see are even the same life.

Hickman and his collaborators have essentially rigged the story where it’s still possible to go deep, overthink and analyze everything that’s going on (and I mean, this is fun as hell thinking of all of the different possibilities), but it’s almost at the point where you should just sit back in awe of what’s going on and let it unfold. Our frame of reference has shifted and our understanding of the universe has been called in to question.

It’s incredible storytelling and it puts you on edge for what’s possibly coming next because it feels as though anything is possible.

ONE | The Long Con

A question is raised through Moira’s revelation to Charles and then to Erik of her status as a mutant, and the combined history of her previous nine lives, when it comes to how this fits, or even if this fits, within our current understanding of the existing 616 Marvel universe continuity.

Though there are possible permutations, I feel like there are two primary possibilities for what we see from the knowledge that Moira X imparts on the two “old friends”. The first is fairly simple, Life Ten and what we’re seeing in X0 and X1 are new. They’re offshoots that are similar to the mainline continuity that were accustomed to previously, but that it’s a new timeline. That Professor X and Magneto working together in this fashion is something new (quibbling about how what’s presented in X0 not entirely lining up with a Year One since Charles is in a wheelchair now and Magneto has his island notwithstanding) and the collected mutants are operating based on the knowledge that Moira has shared to achieve supremacy goals.

The other option is that Xavier and Magneto have been lying to their friends, students, and fellow mutants for countless years, playing at being enemies, and keeping the truth of the nature of reality and the man-machine/mutant conflict a secret for countless years. Though certainly plausible, especially given the other retcons that we’ve seen regarding the deadly genesis and how many times Magneto’s mind has messed with in one form or another, it seems a bit like a jerk move. Controlling certainly fits with the excesses of some of Xavier’s narcissism, but it’s a retcon that kind of makes them more villainous. I think if we’re aiming for a “best possible world” scenario that unlocks a Life Eleven, running a long con on everyone would potentially be detrimental to the scheme.

Also, at the very least the X1 version of Cyclops seems to be marginally aware of a broader plan as Xavier and Magneto are discussion the timeline’s manifestation of NIMROD. Granted, that could be a deliberately dropped misleading reference to make us think that Cyclops is in the know (given that he’s faced NIMROD before and could just be taking it as a reference to a future that he already knows), but in a story where time, space, and reality matter, it feels more like a hint.

There is, of course, a kind of monkey wrench thrown in the idea, though, in that we’re left wondering why now for the decision to move to Krakoa, to plant the seeds, and to claim their own piece of the pie. What’s the catalyst to drive the new world order? Why not do it before in terms of placement within Marvel’s timeline.

TWO | Beyond Good & Evil

There’s a very complex morality at play in this story, starting with Magneto’s guided tour in House of X #1 through to the conflicting and contrasting ideologies of Xavier and Magneto that are at least attempted to be bridged in the opening scene from X0. That there needs to be a redefinition of what’s good and evil in context of the full survival of mutantkind.

It’s interesting that Hickman is using Magneto here as the arbiter of good and evil, both from his own history, but also from the various Jewish ideas and connotations that have been seeded since even the opening pages of House of X and the tree. Here we’re getting moral philosophy by way of Nietzsche and at least a feeling of ressentiment in relation to mutant society continually being beating down.

Xavier and Magneto coming together suggests breaking a repeating cycle of blame and failure, of counting one as good and one as evil, rather counterbalancing one another’s natures to achieve something greater. It recontextualizes the struggle into something else and the knowledge that Moira brings to the situation demands breaking the previous cycles and old patterns. It necessitates them thinking of the conflict with man as something else.

And I’m not sure we’re there yet. While at this point there may be a reconciliation and cohesion between the visions of Xavier and Magneto, there’s still an external bogeyman in humanity and their machines that triggers the overall schism between one people and another. Even if mutants are united, they’re still at odds with man who want to destroy them, perpetuating the deleterious cycles.

But there seems to be a third way outside of Xavier or Magneto’s traditional positions of integration versus domination. In X2, in the future Apocalypse is still contemplating survival of the fittest as mutantkind on Earth has dwindled to barely more than a handful and all of existence seems to be threatened by the Man-Machine Supremacy guided by NIMROD. It feels like in the future presented here mutants have already lost. Even with the possibility of maybe recreating either of the forms of breeding pits, it feels like the genetic diversity to support an entire population is dead.

So, we’re left wondering why we’re seeing this dystopian future, other than just playing with similar themes to X-Men comics. Personally, I think it’s trying to tell us that there needs to be a merging of the philosophies of Xavier, Magneto, and Apocalypse, a true transcendence of previous divisions and a synthesis of their ideologies.

I get the impression that X2 is Moira’s Life Nine, rather than the future of X0 or X1, and we’re learning something that should be applied in Life Ten. Of course, I could be completely wrong. Also, like with the shaggy tree thing seemingly being a composite of Krakoa and Cypher, rather than Black Tom, and the possibility that Green Magneto isn’t Magneto, I don’t know what to think any more.

This also ignores X3, which is the point at which I tap out. The structures of societies and the ideation of hive minds is beyond me. Me trying to interpret it would be like your dog trying to explain red. I’m not sure how it fits, since, to me at least, absorption into a singular mind, minus individuation, while it is some people’s conception of godhead, sounds like a nightmare.

It is neat, however, how it incorporates more traditional Marvel and X-Men history as it suddenly makes the Phalanx and the Technarchy important again. Even with a bit of rejiggering of their various statuses.

CONCLUSION | A Fool on a Hill

So where does that leave us?

With four different time periods that we don’t succinctly know how they’re truly connected. A game plan from Magneto and Xavier that might lead to salvation, but possibly ruination again. And a whole lot more questions as the series continues to unfold in unexpected but exciting ways.

Also, Marte Gracia’s colours are gorgeous. If nothing else, even as the story threatens to fracture your mind with its implications and twists, it’s beautiful to look at.

d. emerson eddy is prepared to have everything he’s written here be proven wrong again come this Wednesday. It may well be an exercise in masochism.

#Examinations #X-Men #Powers of X #2 #Jonathan Hickman #RB Silva

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racingtoaredlight · 4 years

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RTARL’s 2020 NFL Season Week 3 Extravapalooza

Immediately coming out of Week 2 the national conversation was focused mainly on the fact that my picks went a very respectable 10-5. But, after running out of superlatives to describe my handicapping skills, the discourse shifted in the direction of the absolutely brutal spate of injuries that took place. Saquon Barkley, Nick Bosa, and Courtland Sutton were all lost for the season with torn ACLs, and Christian McCaffery, Brandon Scherff, Jimmy Garoppolo, Drew Lock and a whole bunch of others went down with various tweaks and tears that will keep them out of game action for multiple weeks. That’s a lot of really good players! And Jimmy Garoppolo!

There seemed to be a desire to chalk up a lot of the injuries to a lack of preseason game action, but I’m not smart enough to know if that theory has any merit. Hopefully, it was just a freak occurrence and we won’t see another week like that any time soon. If I can make a bold statement that I’m sure nobody has ever mentioned before: the NFL is a lot more fun when the best players are on the field.

My picks are in BOLD, and the lines come to us courtesy of our friends at Vegas Insider. I use the “VI Consensus” line, which is the line that occurs most frequently across Vegas Insider’s list of sportsbooks. Your sportsbook of choice may offer a different number, and if you’d like my opinion on said number A) you are insane, and B) leave a comment below and I’ll try to answer at some point before things kickoff today.

EARLY GAMES

Los Angeles Rams at Buffalo Bills (-2)

The Bills have looked great in their first two games, no doubt about it. BUT, those two games were against the incomprehensibly shitty Jets and a Dolphins team that I don’t think anyone would call world-beaters. The Rams represent a huge step up in weight class, and I’m not sure how the Bills will handle it. I still love Josh Allen and believe in the Bills in general, but this game might be a little shock to the system for them.

Chicago Bears at Atlanta Falcons (-3)

I’ve read a few takes saying that a trip to Atlanta to play against a ghastly Falcons secondary is going to make Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears offense look much better than they are, but what this pick presupposes is that a meeting with Mitchell will make the Falcons secondary look better than they are.

Washington Football Team at Cleveland Browns (-7)

I know they gave up 30 points last week, but The Football Team’s defense has played really well through two games so far. They mauled the Eagles in a Week 1 victory that saw them sack Carson Wentz 8 times, intercept him twice and hold Philly to 57 rushing yards (3.4 yards per attempt) TOTAL. In Week 2, they held Arizona RB Kenyan Drake in check for the most part (86 total yards, 4.3 per rush) and managed to pick off Kyler Murray once while sacking him three times. Washington was done in by Calimari’s running ability, which is gonna happen to a lot of teams, I reckon. Baker Mayfield is no Kyler Murray when it comes to his wheels, so I’m taking the 7 points.

Tennessee Titans (-2.5) at Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota has looked DREADFUL so far, getting whomped by the Packers and then the Colts. I honestly don’t have a great reason for picking them, other than thinking “they can’t be THIS bad.” If this year has taught us anything, it’s that thinking things can’t get worse is pretty stupid, yet here I am. The only aspect of this game I have any confidence in prediction-wise is in saying that it’ll be the first early game to wrap up. These teams are gonna run, run, and then run some more.

Las Vegas Raiders at New England Patriots (-6.5)

Last week, I once again picked against the Raiders, and they once again made me look stupid by not only covering, but winning outright. So help me if Cam Newton leads New England to an absolute thrashing of this collection of assholes he will immediately become my favorite Patriot ever.

If I wanted to give a non-spite related reason for my pick, I’d mention that Las Vegas will be without rookie WR Henry Ruggs , LB Nick Kwiatkoski and T Trent Brown, and that G Denzelle Good, T Sam Young, TE Darren Waller and RB Josh Jacobs are all Questionable as of this writing. I’m totally picking against them out of spite, though.

San Francisco 49ers (-3) at New York Giants

The Niners were absolutely wrecked by injuries last week, and now they’re playing again on the same turf that they feel took out their comrades. I can’t help but wonder if that’ll be in their heads a little bit, and if there’s anyone who knows the minds of NFL players, it’s a guy who’s never even attended a school at any level that fielded a football team. Nick Mullens is a pretty good backup QB, and it’s not like he’s replacing Russell Wilson, but still. I can’t take an injury-riddled road favorite starting a backup QB. Seats are rapidly opening up on the Daniel Jones bandwagon, but I remain resolute...for now.

Cincinnati Bengals at Philadelphia Eagles (-4)

I’m really torn here, because I am all the way in on The Joe Burrow Experience and want good things for him, but if the Eagles come out looking like an exploded diaper again it’s gonna get really awkward and depressing in Philadelphia, and I can’t handle feeling even more secondhand cringe and despair in these trying times. I’d greatly prefer a middling Eagles season that keeps their fans’ rage at no more than a simmer, and for that to be the case they’re gonna need to win decisively here. Sorry, Joe.

Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers (-4)

After dealing with Daniel Jones in Week 1 and the Drew Lock/Jeff Driskel Combo Meal in Week 2, the Steelers defense will now have to contend with DeShaun Watson. In my expert football-knower opinion, this will be a more difficult challenge for them. Conversely, the Texans started their year with games against the Chiefs and then the Ravens, and while I do think the Steelers are pretty good, they’re a step below those two death squads. In what’s become a running theme in my picks this week, I think a bit of equilibrium is restored and the Texans have somewhat of a get-right game while Pittsburgh gets taken down a peg.

LATE GAMES

Carolina Panthers at Los Angeles Chargers (-6.5)

This is a tough one. Conventional wisdom says 6.5 is a pretty big number for a rookie QB in his second start, though like everyone else I thought Justin Herbert looked more than legit in his debut. The L.A. defense has been fantastic, and they’re plenty good enough to paper over any potential rookie mistakes from their QB.

I’m going with the Chargers less because of them and more because of how poor the Carolina offense has looked so far. Teddy Bridgewater is a great story and I’m glad he got himself a nice contract after his horrific leg injury in Minnesota, but he hasn’t looked like an NFL starter this year. New Panthers OC Joe Brady performed a miracle and gave the LSU Tigers an offense for the ages, so he clearly knows what he’s doing. Maybe the Panthers will get it together as the season goes on, but for this week I don’t see it, especially without all-world RB Christian McCaffery.

New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts (-11.5)

11.5! That’s a large number for a pro game, and it’s terrible that I didn’t have to grapple all that much with laying the points. The Jets have looked historically awful and I feel bad for everyone on their sideline except for Adam Gase and Gregg Williams. Fuck those two. I don’t have a solid read on the Colts quite yet, but I’ve been around long enough to know that a Phillip Rivers-led squad would NEVER blow a layup like this.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-6) at Denver Broncos

I get that Tampa Bay is the road team here, but A) there are no fans in the stands, B) Denver has lost several key players to injury and C) they’re starting Jeff Driskel at Quarterback. The Bucs giving less than a TD seems odd to me. Maybe there’s some concern about the altitude affecting Tom Brady’s elderly lungs, or about the possibility of Rob Gronkowski buying thousands of dollars worth of edibles in Denver and mixing them in with the pregame spread. Classic Gronk move, imo.

Detroit Lions at Arizona Cardinals (-5.5)

I don’t see any way the Lions slow down this Cardinals offense, so their only hope is to outscore them. If stud WR Kenny Golladay were healthy I’d like Detroit’s chances a whole lot more, but he’s listed as Questionable with an injured hammy at the moment and on Friday assessed his situation as follows: “Wouldn’t say it’s 100 percent. I really wouldn’t even put a percentage on it, I just know I’m not 100 percent.” That doesn’t sound great to me, but I don’t come from an All Medical family, so I could be wrong.

Dallas Cowboys at Seattle Seahawks (-5)

The formerly formidable Seattle Seahawks secondary has given up 450 passing yards to Matt Ryan, and 397 yards to Cam Newton in their two games this season, while the Cowboys were also carved up by Matty Ice (lol) in their insanely improbable Week 2 win. Both of these passing attacks are fantastic, so this feels like an absolute orgy of touchdowns in the making. This game has the week’s highest over-under at 56.5, so I’m not exactly breaking any new ground with this analysis. That’s really the main hallmark of this blog series, now that I think about it.

SNF: Green Bay Packers at New Orleans Saints (-3)

This game would be a lot more fun if All-Pro WRs Michael Thomas and Davante Adams were suiting up at 100% for their respective teams, but sometimes the Football Gods are dicks. Thomas is OUT with an ankle injury, and as of this writing Adams is being called a game-time decision with a bad hamstring. I’m guessing the game is gonna be more Aaron Jones vs Alvin Kamara than the Aaron Rodgers vs Drew Brees matchup it’s being billed as. That’s still plenty good enough to get me to tune in, as those guys are great in their own right. All things being equal, I trust Aaron Rodgers more to make chicken salad out of chicken shit against the Saints D at this point in time, so I’m giving Green Bay the edge.

Every time Sean Payton takes his 1st ballot Hall of Fame QB off the field in favor of Taysom Hill, an angel gets its oxycodone prescription refilled.

MNF: Kansas City Chiefs at Baltimore Ravens (-3.5)

My feelings on this game can be summed up by one of the great orators of modern times, “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair:

Last Week’s Record: 10-5

Season Record: 19-11-1

#NFL #Football #Gambling

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sneakystorms · 4 years

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I’m compiling my “reading campbell as an utena fan” reblogs into one post cuz that was getting ridiculous.

Literally no one asked for this but i took Campbell’s hero with a thousand faces out of the library and I’m going to note anything that reminds me of revolutionary girl utena. Here we go

Literally the first thing in the book, a picture of medusa’s head. I’m suddenly reminded of how much emphasis there is on anthy’s coiling locks of hair as well as her eyes. I read in a liveblog that it’s significant kanae was struck by seeing anthy’s eyes when she removed her glasses - the glasses serve as a protective measure meant to conceal anthy’s emotion, but also her power. Reminds me of how modern reimaginings of medusa always wear dark glasses to not turn people to stone.

Page 7, on unsolved childhood issues: “we remain fixated to the unexercised images of our infancy, and hence disinclined to the necessary passages of our adulthood” It’s not very revolutionary to suggest that this is one of the main themes of the show; akip remains in his adolescent state of having left behind his childishly idealistic self (or rather been forced to leave it by anthy) but refusing to progress to true adulthood, choosing rather to fruitlessly chase that childhood state. Other characters are guilty of this too, of course, but it’s less striking because they’re actual adolescents - this is a somewhat expected (though Campbell wpuld argue, not natural) stage in their development, whereas akio is clearly past his due date and dragging everyone down with him.

Page 30, on myths and fairy tales - “typically, the hero of the fairy tale achieves a domestic, microcosmic triumph, and the hero of myth a world-historical, macrocosmic triumph” Not super relevant to rgu itself, but I’d often wonder about the relationship between myth an fairy tale, seeing as rgu relates heavily to both. Utena’s revolution, in the end, is microcosmic - she helped a friend, and achieved a higher degree of self awareness than before.

Page 32, on the world navel: “the torrent pours from an invisible source, the point of entry being the center of the symbolic circle of the universe, the Immovable Spot of the Buddha Legend, around which the world may be said to revolve. (…) the tree of life, i.e., the universe itself, grows from this point. It is rooted in the supporting darkness; the golden sun bird perches on its peak; a spring, the inexhaustible well, bubbles at its foot. Or the figure may be that of a cosmic mountain, with the city of the gods, like a lotus of flight, upon its summit, and in its hollow the cities of the demons, illuminated by precious stones.” WHEW. Where to even begin. In the context of ohtori this would obviously be the gate in the forbidden forest, and the arena itself. There is a spring of sorts at its bottom (even a wall of water), and a bird figure features at the gate. The arena with its staircase resembles a rose, which is close enough to a tree. You could even see the black rose’s basement as the demon hollows.Of course, we eventually find out that it’s all fake, a stage set by akio with anthy’s help, which in this context positions akio as a sort of false god.

Page 35, again on the world navel: “wherever a hero has been born, has wrought, or has passed back into the void, the place is marked and sanctified. (…) someone at this point discovered eternity. (…) the one who enters the temple compound and proceeds to the sanctuary is imitating the deed of the original hero. His aim is to rehearse the universal pattern as a means of evoking within himself the recollection of the life-centering, life-renewing form.” This one mostly caught my attention because of the word eternity, but then i thought of dios’s grave… Since his grave, the arena and akio’s planetarium are really one and the same, it could easily follow that anyone who enters it is seeking to emulate dios, or the prince archetype in abstract. This certainly applies to utena and akio, and perhaps other duelists as well to some extent.

OH WE GETTING TO THE TASTY PART NOW…… ANTHY TIME BITCHHH ITS THE MEETING WITH THE GODDESS CHAPTEROk immediately I’m struck by the phrase “the queen goddess”. I know akio says he thought of anthy as a goddess once, I’m trying to remember if anyone ever refers to her as a queen… she’s mostly seen in context of the princess-witch dichotomy but once you really get down to it it’s more complicated, like is the rose bride basically the epitome of the princess archetype? It does include hyperfemininity, victimhood, obedience, passivity and power that can be obtained by marrying her but which she cannot wield herself… but the rose bride role is also explicitly tied to the witch, since it’s anthy’s punishment for imprisoning dios… It’s also interesting how despised she is - the princess role is supposed to be respectable (especially if we connect the princess witch dichotomy to the Madonna whore complex) but anthy is constantly mistreated and degraded - which, yes, makes her more of a princess in Utena’s (and the viewer’s) eyes, but is also a direct result of her role as the rose bride. If the rose bride position is basically the dragon that the prince has to save the princess from then can the rose bride be synonymous with the princess?Wait I was originally going to talk about something else I think. Well anyway I guess the Ockham’s razor is that the narrative had to make sense somehow and couldn’t JUST be metaphors but. Idk man food for thought. Maybe the rose bride as a role is supposed to be a blend of the princess and witch traits, or maybe it’s meant to showcase how the two are just different sides of the same coin. Anyway I’m one sentence into this chapter and my bedtime is in 7 minutes

Campbell describes the two types of goddesses as representing the good mother - forever youthful, beautiful and kind - and the bad mother - split here into four types but generally cold and distant. I’m tempted to connect the two to the princess and the witch (or the Madonna and the whore) but Campbell explicitly connects the bad mother to Diana and emphasises her chastity, when sexuality is such a big part of both the witch and the whore… hmm

K it’s late so I’ll continue sometime else but I wanted to mention that this whole thing was a result of reading this fantastic essay on anthy and specifically the part about Campbell’s goddess

Page 97, still on the goddess: “woman, in the picture language of mythology, represents the totality of what can be known. The hero is the one who comes to know. As he progresses in the slow initiation which is life, the form of the goddess undergoes for him a series of transfigurations: she can never be greater than himself, though she can always promise more than he is yet capable of comprehending. She lures, she guides, she bids him burst his fetters. And if he can match her import, the two, the knower and the known, will be released for every limitation. Woman is the guide to the sublime acme of sensuous adventure. ” This is the passage quoted in the essay that inspired me… The part about transfigurations is painfully reminiscent of anthy for sure, but the “she can never be greater than himself” sounds more like utena to me, makes me think of that digibro quote about how romantic interests in self insert power fantasy shounen anime (either Sao or asterisk war in this case) are often supposed to be the second best warrior right after the number one hero because they’re a sort of status symbol but of course can’t undermine the hero’s ego. Similarly akio wants utena at her strongest and only wants her because she is the strongest but still wants her beneath him. Also the phrasing of “the knower and the known” is so telling…. Even if a woman is meant to signify great knowledge it’s still in a way that makes her something passive, an object for the hero to consume. This reminds me of the born sexy yesterday video where he remarks on how even if the female character is supposed to be impossibly wise it just means the male hero is the one who gets to “discover” her

Page 99, still on the meeting with the goddess: “and when the adventurer, in this context, is not a youth but a maid, she is the one who, by her qualities, her beauty, or her yearning, is fit to become the consort of an immortal. Then the heavenly husband descends to her and conducts her to his bed-whether she will or no. And if she has shunned him, the scales fall from her eyes; if she has sought him, her desire finds its peace” God, what a creepy and accurate way to portray utena and akios relationship. He sees her as worthy of becoming his bride, he rapes her, he almost has her serve herself to him on a golden platter until she decides to pick up the sword and fight him. He sees himself as her god.

desktop is really fucking this up depending on what device i rb on but alas. lets continue. surprisingly enough i don’t have much to say about the woman as temptress chapter in relation to anthy because now that i think about it, the men of ohtori don’t really see her as one? nanami does, and maybe kozue too, but anthy generally isn’t very proactive when it comes to romance or sex… I guess Miki would be the closest example, since she seems to consciously try and get his attention by playing the piano, but Miki is pretty oblivious to it, so.Trying to think of other characters who might fit that trope… Kozue does act pretty provocative both towards the random dude she flirted with and Miki, but their relationship is one I don’t have much of a grip on tbh. Really the tempting spotlight is pretty firmly on Touga and Akio in this show haha

reading the “atonement with the father” chapter and, like, it’s kind of annoying how much the male hero is the default in this book, with the female hero only an occasional mention, but it does remind me of anthy’s incredibly fucking disturbing line about how akio is “more like her father” since their parents are nowhere to be seen. i don’t really have anything profound to say, but it is pretty interesting that parents are such a non-entity in rgu, given how prominent the mother and father figures are in psychoanalysis and archetype theory. should akio be read as anthy’s father, acting as one in the absence of the real thing, the same way he acts as the chairman? i’m not super familiar with the electra complex theory, but if the resolution to the oedipus complex is letting go of the unhealthy attachment to to mother and reconciliation with the father, i guess the analogous resolution to the electra complex would be letting go of the father? which anthy, in this reading, does do… but then again in rgu it’s akio who rapes anthy and we see him rather than her initiating sex so i doubt the writers had uncritically reproducing freud’s theory in mind

nothing too insightful but in the chapter the magic flight campbell talks about a welsh myth about Caridwen and she seems like a perfect witch character

page 209, on freedom to live - campbell quotes the end of the grimm brothers’ little briar rose, but precedes it with “When the Prince of Eternity kissed the Princess of the World, her resistance was allayed”. the phrasing of course caught my eye, but i’d never really seen anyone go in depth about the similarity between sleeping beauty and utena’s childhood story… the shadow-faced version that sometimes appears at the start of an episode omits utena sleeping in her coffin, but includes the prince kissing her tears away - something that did happen in the ep34 flashback, but was not what made baby utena get up. i suppose i don’t have anything terribly profound to say about the relationship between rgu and sleeping beauty, aside from some similar elements - the sleeping princess kissed awake by her prince, the princess in the grimms’ version being called briar rose, and the unspecified thorny bushes possibly being roses as well… and the witch, of course

page 259, matrix of destiny. “The universal goddess makes her appearance to men under a multitude of guises; for the effects of creation are multitudinous, complex and of mutually contradictory kind when experienced from the viewpoint of the created world. the mother of life is at the same time the mother of death; she is masked in the ugly demonesses of famine and disease. The Sumero-Babylonian astral mythology identified the aspects of the cosmic female with the phases of the planet Venus. As morning star she was the virgin, as evening star the harlot, as lady of the night sky the consort of the moon; and when extinguished under the blaze of the sun she was the hag of hell” campbell continues to insist on tying every female character back to the mother, which doesn’t really seem to be very relevant with anthy, but i’m digging the various aspects of the woman. seems interesting to me how this is at least the second time he’s characterised the woman in myths as someone constantly changing roles and aspects (first time was on page 97) whereas i don’t really see this tendency in male characters. women seem to need to constantly adapt, shift their identity to suit the male character, who is allowed to remain stably himself. also fascinating are the particular archetypes campbell brings up - the virgin (princess), the harlot (rose bride? the position does seem to be given respect on some level, but in practice she doesn’t get much... add to that the design elements tying her to the “scarlet woman”, and possibly even the playboy bunnies, and her duties do seem to include sleeping with every Engaged if the movie is anything to go by), consort of the moon (we all know what akio and anthy’s connection to the moon...) and the hag of hell (witch)

this has very little to do with rgu but reading the Mwuetsi/Massassi myth kinda makes me sick lol!!! not only does it include the first man being given a woman but he symbolically impregnates her with some oil from a horn (subtle, also done without her knowledge since she was asleep) and she gives birth to all the plants on earth. ew

UH OK HE THEN GOES ON TO SLEEP WITH HIS DAUGHTERS.... AND THEN TO RAPE HIS NEXT WIFE.......... MR CAMPBELL CAN I GO like i know it’s old myths so it’s all symbolic or whatever but that doesn’t make it any easier to read lol

page 296, an offhand comment of “The characteristic adventure of the first [type of hero] is the winning of the bride - the bride is life” and my brain automatically supplied “life... eternity... that which shines... the power of miracles... the power to revolutionise the world” LMAO

#shoujo kakumei utena #revolutionary girl utena #utena #s #incest tw #rape tw

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fossadeileonixv · 4 years

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WTF Early Returns!

A brief look at where we are 8 games into the season...

*KEEPERS*

The team has played 750 minutes this year and DONNARUMMA has played every one of them. 8 games. 8 wins. There’s no other stat that defines a keeper better. He’s the full package now and he’s 21 years old. Good lord.

DONNARUMMA 2.0 has not played and neither has TATARUSANU

Anyone want to wager on the first time we see one of them start?

*DEFENDERS*

Up until yesterday CALABRIA was one of only 2 other players on the team to play every single minute of this season. The big question after the summer was whether the leap he took post break would stick. It absolutely has. He still has his moments but he has been more consistent than ever. In a world where most teams hide guys at fullback, Calabria is a cut above. Crazy, huh?

DALOT got the start at RB yesterday to finally give Calabria a break. A tough spot considering he was to be matched up against a player we just loaned out in Diego Laxalt. I thought he played very well and stands to be a solid backup to Calabria.

KJAER is Danish for rock! I swear! ROCK!! In 9 months he’s gone from being a perennial castoff to becoming our best center back. Not the best CB on a mediocre team mind you, but the best CB on a team that has taken a huge step forward. There really isn’t much more to say than that.... Caldara who?

Just 8 months ago Matteo GABBIA made his first appearance for Milan. At that point it was like Matteo who? Then after only a handful of appearances injuries forced him into the starting role. The result? Nothing but success. Here we are now 2 days after his 21st birthday and he’s made 16 appearances and has only lost once. Tall and strong but still just a little timid. Now let’s wait and see what happens with him now that R13 is back.

After a 2 month injury layoff ROMAGNOLI was back for the Derby. A year or two ago that would have been a long 2 months. We might have won a game or two but otherwise it would have been a mess. Now? Now he’s surrounded by 3 rock solid starters. Let’s see if he can make the leap a 25 year old CB on a title contending team needs to make. Let’s see if he forces his way into the lineup for next summers Euros.

DUARTE made an appearance.

MUSACCHIO has not.

The only other player on the team besides Donnarumma to play every minute of every game is THEO. Why? Well we still don’t really have a backup. Also, he’s good. Really good. However the Theo train did hit it’s first bend against Inter last week. Hakimi shredded him. He went around him, through him and damn near leapt over him. That’s ok though. After a stellar first season he kind of needed a come to Jesus moment. Most importantly he was back out there yesterday and looked great. Great sign.

*MIDFIELD*

Ismael BENNACER might just be the best damn midfielder in Serie A right now. I can’t think of a single....

Psst....

Yeah? Oh yeah? Ok. Sure.

Frank KESSIE might just be the best damn midfielder in Serie A right now.

Dude!

WHAT? Oh, ok. Yeah. You’re right. You’re right.

We have the best midfield duo in Serie A right now. Period. I’ll fight anyone that disagrees. TR said I have to. He has my back.

I said in my season preview that the story of the season would be how TONALI adjusts to life at Milan and gets worked into the midfield. So far it hasn’t been THE story because we are winning so much but it is definitely the most polarizing subplot. Ok it’s the big story. He looks timid. He looks lost. There are moments he looks flat out in over his head. He played one year in Serie A and now he’s expected to contribute on a team that all of a sudden is whispering about title hopes. That’s a lot. He’s 20 folks. Let’s just have as much patience with him as we did with guys like Niang and even Leao. Let’s not decide in less than 2 months that he doesn’t belong. He’s gonna be fine.

AND NO MORE FUCKING PIRLO COMPARISONS!!!!

Moving on....

As the offseason began I thought for sure KRUNIC was a goner. Then as the Tonali rumors heated up I thought for sure he was out. Windows closing tomorrow? Surely he must be gone. Yet here he is.... starting at AM in a Europa league group game.... and scoring? Let’s just not doubt Pioli anymore. Clearly there’s more versatility here than we ever imagined. #IPIT

This DIAZ fella is a whole lot of fun, huh? He dips here, he darts there, he nutmegs guys in the box.... and he scores. We’ve had all kinds of guys with sizzle. Guys like Saponara or Taarabt or Deulofeu. Fancy moves but no results. This guy has the sizzle and the steak. Diaz has both. Nom nom nom.

After years of coaches putting HAKAN on the wings it took Piloi to put him in his best spot. Right in the middle. Funny since Giampaolo should have been that guy. How he saw Suso for that AM spot and not Hakan I have no idea. Explains a lot though huh? Thank God though. Hakan has all the confidence and freedom in the world now. Let’s see what happens when some adversity comes along though. I remain positive yet skeptical.

*ATTACK*

I loved SAELEMAEKERS ever since I saw his first touch. If there’s one thing I’m a sucker for it’s a good first touch. He’s like a pasty Belgian Seedorf in that way. It’s hard to say exactly what his role is or will be and that’s okay. Can anyone explain exactly what Seedorf did? Not really... but that first touch was like sliding into a warm bath. Mmmmmmmm. Moving on. There’s time to sort it out. I’m also glad to see the fan base has come around with him.

SAMU my friend.... you were THIS CLOSE to being out of the picture. Things weren’t right after the most recent injury spell. Lots of flopping and complaining. Yesterday he again showed his strength. Fast. Good work rate and vision. Stick to the hard work and you’ll be okay kid. Let the frustration take over and there’s the door.

The outside world thinks we’re ZLATAN dependent. We’ve played 4 games with him and 4 without him. We’ve won all 8. Are we dependent on his leadership and swagger? Yes. Do we need him on the field every minute of every game? No. The way the team maintains his energy and swagger without him out there is awesome.

COLOMBO.... Hmm... Hard to tell what we have here yet. Definitely looks like he belongs that’s for sure. No fear in his eyes. Also, he has a chance to learn from one of the masters.

MALDINI... nice kid.

Ideally what happens during this season is that LEAO becomes the vice Ibra, REBIC becomes the regular starter at LW and HAUGE becomes the vice Rebic.

As we saw in the Derby LEAO doesn’t really have the work rate to play that wing spot in a 4231. In that spot you have to almost be in 2 places at once.... tracking back to help out the fullback but also being up top to make runs. Without tracking back either the CB or one of the DMs needs to come over and help and that throws the whole formation off leaving gaps everywhere. Look at most of the goals we have conceded and that’s the root of the issue. That’s not Leao. I see his strengths more in his hold up play and ability to turn opponents and find passes. There’s your backup striker.

REBIC is the guy that will run you down like a dog, beat you up, steal your lunch money and then wink at your girlfriend as he walks away. That’s the guy we need on the wings in this system. Work hard but also have the class to finish. He would have certainly gotten his pound of flesh off of Hakimi. Count on it.

HAUGE might not have the icy stare that Rebic does, but he carries some of his other traits. Hard work. Run you down. have some flash and dash to finish. That composure he showed yesterday when he finished off Celtic? get outta here.....

AC MILAN FACT OF THE DAY

Milan player appearances and goals by age:

ages 26-39: 21 apps and 5 goals

ages 22-25: 48 apps and 5 goals

ages 18-21: 51 apps and 9 goals

PIOLI?

When you have a coach that shows trust in his players and allows them to play with freedom and creativity the most amazing things can happen. Sure Pioli has a system but he’s also willing to try different players in different rules. He’s not so rigid to believe certain players can only do certain things. From that comes the kind of depth and versatility we haven’t seen around Milan since Carlo was in charge.

#IPIT

Have a great weekend everyone.

See you all here Monday for Roma.

Cheers,

Lisi

PS: Brief lol..... you knew that was a lie!

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junker-town · 5 years

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The most exciting player on every Premier League team this season

Photo by Alex Davidson/International Champions Cup via Getty Images

Get hyped.

I understand your desires. I’m going to make your fantasies come true. I know exactly why you’re here..

YouTube highlight videos with bad EDM. Twenty of them.

Oh hell yeah, it’s that time of year when we’re excited that the Premier League is back, but we haven’t seen enough of most players to have informed opinions. For that reason, we watch mixtapes and convince ourselves that our favorite team’s new signing is going to be a game-changing superstar.

That’s usually not what happens. Nevertheless, these are the players I’m excited to watch and see if they end up being Actually Good.

Arsenal — Dani Ceballos

Imagine if Mesut Özil liked running as much as he likes Fortnite. He’d be ... Dani Ceballos! The Gunners are trying their best to ship their gaming trequartista off to D.C. United and they’ve replaced him with a Real Madrid loanee who’s got plenty of flicks and tricks. Time will tell if Ceballos has the consistent passing vision and physicality to hang in the Premier League, but he’s certainly got the skills.

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Aston Villa — Jack Grealish

A lot of people wrote off Grealish when he got into trouble for partying. As it turns out, we shouldn’t base our opinions of people on the stupid things they do when they’re 19. Grealish has grown into a leader, and he looks very ready for his second stint in the Premier League.

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AFC Bournemouth — Harry Wilson

I’m not sure if Harry Wilson has enough skills other than finishing to make it as a top Premier League player. Neither is Jürgen Klopp, or else Wilson wouldn’t be on loan at Bournemouth. But Wilson is 22 now and he scored 15 goals in the Championship last season, so it’s time to see what he’s capable of.

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Brighton & Hove Albion — Neal Maupay

The stats nerds at Brentford unearthed a Ligue 2 gem in Maupay, then flipped him for a 10x profit. Thanks to those brainiacs, we’ll get to see Maupay play in the Prem. He’s a little tank of a man who seems impossible to knock off the ball, and he likes assisting as much as scoring.

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Burnley — James Tarkowski

OK, this one is a stretch. I’m sure Burnley supporters are very proud of their solid team that comfortably stayed in the Premier League, and Sean Dyche seems like a good guy, but ... it’s Burnley. There’s not much to get excited about on Burnley. Y’all are boring as hell.

James Tarkowski might find his way onto a top six team at some point, though, if he keeps running down his contract. He makes some excellent last-ditch tackles and is a much better passer than a Burnley center back has any business being.

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Crystal Palace — Wilfried Zaha

Zaha is the most established Premier League player on this list, mostly because Palace didn’t make do much in the transfer market and don’t have any promising kids playing more time this year. We’re not going to learn anything new about his game, but he still kicks ass and I love watching him play.

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Everton — Moise Kean

After getting told off by his captain at Juventus for complaining about racial abuse, Kean decided to move to a country that at least cares to pretend to not tolerate that kind of shit. He only has about 1,600 Serie A minutes under his belt, so he’s a gamble for Everton at €30 million, but he’s universally regarded as one of the world’s top teenage talents. There’s nothing lacking in Kean’s skillset, he just has to put all of his skills together and translate them into goals and assists.

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Leicester City — Filip Benkovic

If you’re wondering why Leicester sold Harry Maguire and didn’t buy a replacement, the reason is Benkovic. The Foxes bought him in anticipation of Maguire’s departure and loaned him out to Celtic, where he played well. How good he is in the mental aspect of the game is very much TBD, but he’s got outrageous physical tools and he’s a solid passer.

Also, holy crap, does this song nail the YouTube highlights music genre or what?

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Liverpool — Naby Keita

Keita was fine for Liverpool last season. Perhaps even mildly disappointing. But in case you need a reminder of what he can do, here’s a video of his goals and assists at RB Leipzig. Liverpool are counting on Keita to take a big leap forward in his second Premier League season.

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Manchester City — Phil Foden

Pep Guardiola said this summer that Foden’s biggest problem is his manager not playing him enough. It’s not easy for a 19-year-old to get into the Manchester City lineup, but he’ll be eased in as David Silva starts his inevitable decline. We don’t have a big enough sample to know if Foden is Actually Good, but if you squint at this video you’ll swear you’re watching Andres Iniesta.

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Manchester United — Marcus Rashford

United selling Romelu Lukaku and not signing another senior attacker was an extremely questionable move, but it’s also a signal of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s faith in Rashford. The selection dilemmas are over: Rashford is the guy. He’s also not going to have excuses made for him anymore, not at 21 years old with three seasons in the first team behind him. This is supposed to be the year that Rashford makes a massive leap.

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Newcastle United — Joelinton

I really question spending £40 million on a guy with average stats when you have extremely limited transfer resources. But it’s not my money, and I don’t really care if Newcastle wins games or not. What I do care about is watching fun soccer games, and yooooo this dude is FUN. Joelinton is a giant brick house of a striker who wishes he was Neymar, and I hope he ends up being really good.

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Norwich City — Max Aarons

Really looking forward to watching the future Tottenham Hotspur right back grow during his first season in the Premier League.

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Sheffield United — Oliver McBurnie

McBurnie comes with some red flags. He didn’t really do anything until his age-22 season, when he massively overperformed expected goals and didn’t get that many shots off. But he’s a big dude who gets on the end of balls in the 6-yard box a lot, so maybe he’ll keep scoring? I have no idea!

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Southampton — Che Adams

The Saints have a clear transfer philosophy again. Ralph Hasenhüttl and his staff are betting on themselves to turn elite physical talents with incomplete skillsets into stars. Moussa Djenepo, Kevin Danso and Che Adams all fall into that category, but Adams is the one most expected to make an immediate contribution.

There isn’t much to his game other than hitting the truck stick and scoring bangers, but he has flashed the ability to dribble past people, set up teammates, and pressure defenders. Hopefully the Southampton staff can make him a more well-rounded player.

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Tottenham Hotspur — Tanguy Ndombele

We haven’t seen Ndombele play in the Premier League yet, so it’s possible his skills don’t translate and he becomes an average player. But I’m pretty confident that he’s actually Clarence Seedorf and Arturo Vidal fused together to make one SuperMidfielder.

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Watford FC — Ismaila Sarr

Damn, has this dude got the jets or what? Sarr is one of the best players I’ve ever seen at almost coming to a dead stop, then getting back to top speed in about two steps. Ligue 1 fullbacks look dumbfounded.

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West Ham United — Pablo Fornals

I’m not sure why a better team didn’t sign Fornals, and for more than £25 million. He’s a modern, balanced attacking midfielder with no holes in his game. The goals and assists look nice, but he also completes forward passes that consistently beat defenders, and does more defensive work than most creative No. 10s. He can play in any midfield alignment, and doesn’t need the team to be structured around him like a lot of players in his role. I like him a lot.

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Wolverhampton Wanderers — Morgan Gibbs-White

Video game players know. Gibbs-White wasn’t a regular starter for Wolves last season, but still made 26 appearances and flashed some real brilliance. Expect him to get a lot more starts and provide assists this campaign.

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