#I have lots of different post game scenarios i rotate in my head but this was the strongest after Id just finished the game

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

I think a lot about a Post-game where Tsumugi was telling the full truth, where Maki, Shuichi, and Himiko have to try to adjust to living in the outside world where for all intents and purposes theyve essentially been isekai-ed. Trying to live as real characters in a world that at least was obssessed with danganronpa, the world they're from, even if theyve started to reject it. And also have to mourn for their friends lost to the killing game and deal with the question of their own identities as people. How the hell do they do it

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

Writing smut without cringing the whole time? How do you do it.

Writing Smut 101: Overcoming Smut Shame

CONTENT WARNING: NSFW RELATED CONTENT BELOW.

The short answer, nonnie, is: you don’t. 

That is to say, writing smut is always kind of cringe—especially if you’re new to it, or simply “not in the mood” to write. 

But rest assured, feeling embarrassed is completely natural. The trick is learning how to overcome the cringe when it does happen, instead of letting it deter you.

I’m going to break this up into a few sections: 1) Why you might be feeling this way, 2) How I, personally, combat the issue, and 3) Some more tips that might help you get the ball rolling.

1. Why You “Cringe”

It’s important to find the root cause of any form of writer’s block so you can pull the weed out instead of just trimming it back. Smut writer’s block is its own special brand, and generally, the main issue writers have when it comes to smut is stigma.

Speaking openly and honestly about sex, in Western society, is still very much a taboo.

No matter how “progressive” we like to think we are, the inherent shame surrounding pleasure-seeking experiences, and the detailing/consumption of them, has been ground into us since we learned how to understand the concept of gratification.

And I’m not just talking about sexual gratification. This applies to everyday things, as well. Eating, shopping, relaxing (or doing virtually anything in capitalist society that does not directly contribute to capitalism).

So it makes sense that you would feel any amount of embarrassment, awkwardness, or “cringe” when writing smut. It’s something our society teaches us is wrong to want. Unfortunately, that shame translates to writer’s block when we sit down in front of the computer.

A lot of this blockage might stem from not giving ourselves permission to write the thing.

We’re staring at the blank document, knowing we want to write smut, and suddenly the thoughts start streaming in: This feels wrong, is this wrong? What if someone comes in and looks over my shoulder while I’m writing? Am I describing this right? Is this too unrealistic? I have NO idea what I’m doing, and everyone is going to know it.

These are all perfectly normal thoughts, and definitely ones I still have from time to time. But they’re also probably the direct cause of why you feel so blocked. Luckily, I have some bits of advice to give you on how to unblock yourself.

2. How I Combat Smut Block

✦ First, when the intrusive thoughts occur, instead of ruminating on them, think of each one as an impermanent object. You can use any metaphor, but I like to use the imagery of leaves:

Each negative thought is a leaf floating down the river of your mind. If you focus only on the leaf, you’ll exert a lot of energy running to try and keep up with it, consequently miss everything else around you. But if you acknowledge that leaf as a temporary part of the scenery, and let is pass, you can process and appreciate the beauty of your surroundings a whole lot better.

Remember: you are separate from your thoughts. You are not defined by them. The things you think sound stupid might be incredibly exciting to someone else. 

If you can string a sentence together, you can write smut. This is all part of giving yourself permission to write the thing that makes you feel uncomfortable.

✦ Second, I’d suggest giving good thought to how you personally experience embarrassment, how you experience excitement (of the sexual variety), and how those two might sometimes commingle or feel similar.

For me, they are very comparable, like different shades of the same emotion—but there are differences which are important to note. 

If I’m making myself blush from excitement, this is a very good thing for writing smut. It means that what I’m writing feels real enough to evoke something in the reader, even if the reader, like me, knows what’s going to happen.

If I’m making myself cringe, however, it may be time to take a step back and readjust my perspective.

✦ Third, ease yourself into it! Don’t jump straight in the deep end and expect to know how to keep your head above water if you’ve never swum before.

The way I eased myself into smut was first by writing “Steam”—a category of fic I made up because the current vocabulary lacked an efficient term for fics that straddled emotional romance and explicit content. 

Essentially, steam is smut-adjacent but not explicit, and here’s a step-by-step example of how I transitioned myself smoothly from one genre to the next:

I first wrote my fics Wicked Game and You Are (both of which feature either a heavy make out session or teasing + lots of sexual tension) with this “steam” concept in mind.

I wrote the first chapter of Fine Line, which has brief but explicit descriptions of fantasies, framed by a very sexually charged scene.

I released my fic Crashing, which is probably more of a bridge between Steam and Smut, and features soft-focus fingering. Nothing in it is explicit—it focuses more on the emotions than explicit detail—but it’s very clear what is happening.

After I wrote those, I felt just confident enough to make that final stride over the threshold into smut. I wrote my fics Holy, King, and the second chapter of Fine Line all within weeks of each other.

And trust me when I say, once you get the momentum going and receive that validation from people who’ve read your work, it becomes SO much easier to sit down and start writing. 

You just have to finish that first piece.

✦ Finally (and I know I’m going to sound cliche when I say this), just like any other skill, the more you practice the more confident you will feel and the better you will get. 

So practice, practice, practice! 

If you’re nervous about posting smut for the first time, have a trusted friend/mutual Beta read it for you. It’s the online equivalent to someone holding your hand before jumping off the cliff, and works wonders for the nerves.

3. Keep The Smut Rolling

Now that you have some tools to help get you past the blockage of writing smut, here’s how to keep the inspiration flowing.

✦ Start by incorporating smutty fanfiction/erotic fiction into your regular reading rotation- 

Of course AO3 is a fantastic resource for smutty fanfiction. 

If you’re a fan of TFOTA or ACOTAR and want some of my personal fic recs, visit my fic rec masterlist.

In terms of erotic fiction, my personal favourites are anything Anais Nin (specifically Henry & June and Delta of Venus), The Thornchapel series by Sierra Simone, The Godwicks series by Tiffany Reisz, and The Original Sinners series by Tiffany Reisz.

There are also sites like Literotica and sexstories.com, which play host to explicit short fiction (not fandom based).

✦ Next, I’d recommend having a designated digital space for smutspiration- 

This can be a list of “smutty” words/phrases kept on a separate document on your computer, for those days when you just can’t think of the right way to describe something. 

Or you can create a private side-blog or Pinterest board for your favourite smutty fanart or other kinds of visual smutspiration.

✦ For that matter, try following some smutty/18+ blogs (ONLY IF YOU’RE 18+) here on Tumblr-

Many of them have a plethora of what I like to call “lemony snippets”, a.k.a. short text posts that describe (usually in conversational language) explicit scenarios. 

This is useful because it will normalise the concept of sexual fantasies in your brain, making it less weird for you when you try to come up with ones of your own to write into smut. 

Not to mention, your dash will be rife with inspiration.

✦ I would also suggest checking out 18+ ASMR on YouTube (AGAIN, ONLY IF YOU’RE 18+). 

My favourite account is Professor Cal Official, but Auralescent also has some good content. 

Headphones are highly advisable for this, as their stuff is very dangerous for work.

So, nonnie, I hope this has provided you with at least one helpful tip. Whether you took anything away from this or not, just know that the feelings of embarrassment when it comes to writing smut are entirely normal. And the best way to keep those feelings at bay is to confront them head on. 

-Em 🖤🗡

Writing Advice Masterlist

Writing Masterlist

2K Celebration!

[macnevercries]

Hurt me? You could never (Kirishima x Plus F!reader)

Warnings- face riding, oral(receiving), plus sized reader, female pronouns/body, alcohol use, (slight dub con?)

Word Count- 2k

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

The sway of the music was heavy as you moved with it, lost in a mob of people. Your hips circled drunkenly, dancing the night away in a pit of sweaty people enjoying themselves as much as you. As the room rolled and jolted you started feeling hot, the sudden flashes of temperature overwhelming you. You started to tug at your top, trying to get it off to relieve yourself of the burning sensation in your body. The fabric clung to your skin and you started getting angry. Just as the shirt started to give way it was tugged back down by a pair of large hands. You almost screamed in annoyance, turning around to see your boyfriend standing behind you, holding your drinks and trying to have you keep your dignity. Your annoyance turned to a soft smile, then a giddy laugh when you spotted the alcohol. Swiping towards the drink in his hand, you almost feel over with the motion. Kirishima dragged the cup away from you, steadying you on his muscular arm.

“I think that’s enough for tonight sweetheart” Kirishima consoled you, smiling at your cute pout.

“Kiri it’s sooooo hot in here, help me cool down” you mumbled, slumping into his chest. A deep chuckle erupted from him, your childish antics humourous.

“Were gonna go home now, okay babes? He asked, pulling you up into his arms, discarding the drinks in the nearest trash can. You mumbled an okay as he pulled you towards the exit, the blaring sounds of yelling and bass fading the further you got from the crowd. Kirishima nodded at the bouncer as you exited the club, pushing the heavy door open and out into the dark rainy parking lot. Clubbing was fun for you two but somehow it always ended in him taking care of you. Your weight had fluctuated over the years but you were always a little fuller than the other girls you knew. Despite your weight, you could not hold your alcohol. Kirishima had seen your drunken state many times and while it could be a hassle, he loved the way your soft body clung to him, you were a needy drunk.

 The rain soaked through your white top, exposing the pink Lacey bra you were wearing. Kirishima felt his pants tighten a little, looking at you in the rain, smiling brightly and lighting up his world. You had always shined so bright to him, even on your worst days. Kirishima ushered you into the car, leaning over your full breasts to buckle you in. He held in a breath at the touch, he could sense you sobering up and he was definitely in the mood. He got in the drivers seat and started the car, handing you some water to sip on for the drive home. For 15 minutes Kirishima was silent, only occasionally looking over at you to check and make sure you were fine. Every time he peeked at you and you had your lips wrapped around the straw of the water bottle he gulped, speeding up slightly, his anticipation building from within.

When you guys pull up to your shared home the red haired man practically runs around the car to open your door. He offers to help you walk but you’re almost sober now from all of the water you drink. Kirishima walks behind you up the driveway and steps to the door, watching the way your hips sway in your skin-tight clothes. Kirishima’s love had boosted your confidence a lot since you guys started dating and he was glad because tight clothes were definitely a blessing to his eyes. He had always had a thing for bigger girls, your soft figure brought him comfort when his own body and quirk wouldn’t allow it. Taking off your shoes at the entryway and locking the door, you headed to the bathroom to use it before slumping on the couch. The clock on the wall read 2am, it was too late to be awake. You leaned your head down on the pillows, resting your eyes momentarily. The catnap did not last long because after around two minutes you felt heavy gaze scanning your body. 

Sure enough when you opened your eyes, Kirishima was in front of you, gazing at you lovingly with half lidded eyes. Your top clung to your chest in all the right ways and the way you were laying accentuated your curves, to Kirishima you look delicious. Kirishima started towards you, crawling onto the couch beside you and snuggling himself between your thick legs, having his head rest on your plush chest. The slow up and down of your breathing both calmed him down and spurred him on more. You look at his flustered face, amused at how heated he was. Had you done something while you were drunk? Pushing that thought aside you accepted Kirishima, softly petting his head and running your fingers through his hair, making him sigh. His barely audible mumbles of praise and ‘I love you’ made you smile. He buried his face into your chest as you rubbed away his tension. 

Slowly he tugged at the neck of your shirt, pulling it down slightly so he could kiss up your collarbone. His kisses made you shiver, you could feel the lust and need oozing out of him. He rotated so that you were on top on him, pressed against him in the most tantalizing way. His lips traveled up your neck and your jaw until they reached your lips. He met you with a passionate kiss, hungry and desperate. He hiked your thighs around his waist, standing up and walking towards the bedroom, his lips never leaving yours. No matter how heavy you were, Kirishima was stronger. He never had an issue lifting you and the way he did it made it seem so easy. 

He set you down on the bed and then crawled around you so that he was laying down behind you. You glanced back at him questioningly but the look on his face frightened you. He had a lazy grin and a mischievous glint in his eye, something enjoyable on his mind. 

“What is it Kiri?” you asked hesitantly, afraid of what you were about to find out. At your question he grinned wider, his sharp teeth sparkling in the dimly lit room. He pulled you close to him and leaned into your ear

“I want you to ride my face” he purred, happy with his idea. At his words you turned beet red, shaking your head aggressively and backing up slightly. This was definitely not what you expected. He pouted at your discontent with his idea.

“Baby please, you would look so good on top of me and you taste so good. God I want you in my mouth” He assured you, tugging you closer to him again.

“What if I hurt you? Eiji you know I’m too big for this.” you sighed, disappointed too. Maybe in a different scenario but this could never happen.

“Hurt me?” he laughed. Your eyes popped open, shocked by his change in demeanor. 

“Do you know what I would give to suffocate in these thighs?” he asked, squeezing your leg with love, but his grip was a little hard. 

“Just get on top of my face, if it doesn't work then we’ll stop, I promise” he reassured, stroking your back and coaxing you on top on him. Your will broke at his words, after all his idea was appetizing to you too. You took your pants off, tossing them in a far corner before situating yourself on the red head’s shoulders. He grabbed the back of your thighs, drawing you closer to his face. You couldn't help but turn away, despite the number of times you guys have had sex, Kiri’s pure love and devotion to you made you squirm. 

He licked a wet stripe up your panties suddenly, causing you to gasp. On instinct, your hips rutted back into his face and he chuckled, you muttered apologies, embarrassed by your lack of composure, You went to climb off of him, ready to go hide away but not before Kirishima could grab your hips with a bruising grip. Your head snapped back in his direction.

“You're not going anywhere kitten, we haven't even started.” He pulled your panties to the side and the cold air against your exposed core made you shiver. At the sight of your glistening cunt he licked his lips and got to work.

His tongue pressed flat against your cunt, licking heated and hungry stripes up you. He’d go down to tease your entrance and then up to circle your clit, sucking lightly and grazing it with his teeth. The pattern he created left you on a rollercoaster of feelings, moaning, mewling and dragging yourself against his face. Every time your hips stuttered and you got close he’d pull away to focus somewhere else. You whined, aggravated by his teasing. Some time passed and he kept his rhythm, never letting you finish. By now you were fuming, boiling over with rage.

“Eiji what the fuck” you spat when he changed stopped again for the umpth time. He looked up at you with the most innocent eyes, trying to convey his confusion with his mouth still buried in you.

“Why won’t you let me finish? I want to cum, please Eiji, make me cum” You purred. If he was gonna be like this then you would play his game. At your words something sparked in his eyes. His hips rutted up from the bed, your affect washing over his entire body. He curled one of his hands away from your thigh and prodded your entrance with his thick fingers. Slipping two in easily he watched in awe as emotions flashed past your eyes and you ground yourself down onto them.

“Yeah, fuck yourself on my fingers, just like that baby” He murmured, causing you to go faster. He attached his lips to your clit, sucking with all of his might. His tongue flicked over your sensitive bud, teeth grazing it. His name flowed from your mouth as you humped down onto him, trying to snap the tightly wound coil that has been building up since you guys began. He pushed his fingers in a little deeper, twisting them and curling them right where you wanted him. This sent you flying over the edge, cussing and moaning as your orgasm hit you like a bus. He coaxed you through it, slowing his attack and letting you come down gently.

You slide off of his face, laying down in the bed beside him, still panting. Rolling over on your side, you nuzzle in his neck, placing your hand on his broad chest and basking in your post-orgasm glow. A nice familiar haze settled over you, happiness and lust blurring together.

“Thank you Eiji, that was amazing.” you breathed. He laughed lightly when he turned to you, a pleased expression on your face. 

“Of course, I don’t know who enjoyed it more, me or you.” He smiled, fond thoughts of you racing his mind. You kiss his neck, flitting around and placing butterfly pecks all over him. He giggles at your antics, rubbing your back encouragingly. 

“I love you, you know that right?” he asked, kissing your forehead and tilting your chin up so you would meet his eyes. You beamed up at him.

“I love you too”

[crackinwise]

My pet AU is Kiyotaka and Mondo somehow out in the post-Tragedy Japan, surviving and saving people. Like either they didn't agree to stay locked in Hope's Peak for safety, or they survived the game and left with the others but didn't join Future Foundation. Major points up front, details divided into sections under the cut:

Mondo's objective would be to find his gang, and Taka's goal, besides finding his dad, would be repairing society while punishing those responsible for its destruction. But their direct task is keeping each other safe & helping victims along the way.

Mondo even stresses calling Taka "Ishimaru" instead of "bro" or his given name in front of others, so they might KNOW who's saving them. Taka caught on quick & is very grateful.

Taka would have kind of a breakdown reconciling who he is with what he has to do in a lawless world where every public moral is ignored. He keeps a small ledger of places they loot from, to compensate in the future.

At the start, Taka can only sleep burrowed against Mondo's chest or back, blocking out their damaged surroundings & pretending everything is as it was.

He cries in Mondo's arms one night after he couldn't avoid killing someone to save Mondo's life, and that's the tipping point. He thinks if he was better, stronger like his bro, he'd have noticed sooner & found a better option. Mondo is being so brave; he's Taka's rock and Taka wants to be as steady for him too. Their souls are already connected so obviously he just has to borrow more of Mondo's spirit, right?

That's how Ishida is created.

(In reality, Mondo just compartmentalizes and shoves down unhelpful feelings. You thought he needed therapy BEFORE all this, oh man-)

Ishida:

Taka ends up slipping into the Ishida facade for fight and flight; any time adrenaline kicks in and he feels he needs that boost. Sadly, that's most of their waking time. He guards Mondo and anyone they're saving like a fierce watchdog, and won't hesitate to bite.

He'll only come out of the role when he personally verifies it's safe and if Mondo can confirm it. Survivors are confused by the dual-sided Ishimaru switching right in front of them, but they're so grateful (and so much weird crap has happened) that it never phases them long.

Too many times, Ishida will go all day without a break. This means when their hideout for the night is absolutely safe, that it's okay to let go, Taka just collapses in exhaustion. But Mondo is there to catch him.

Mondo feels conflicted over the Ishida role because Taka is just a beast in it--it's very flattering and a little hot--but it also makes him worry more than before about Taka's health. He comforts Taka with a lot of praise and reassurances, and Taka sleeps lightly but otherwise fine.

Relationship: (slight mature warning)

When they touch, Taka swears he can feel the link between them flare to fuel them. Twin fires ignited. Mondo doesn't know about all that, but when their eyes meet it definitely makes him feel invincible, so, he can believe.

If they weren't already new boyfriends when The Tragedy hit, all this closeness makes sure of that soon after. Being together is their happiness and, for a while, their only link to pre-Tragedy lives. Vows not unlike marriage were exchanged one night. Where one goes, the other will follow. Anywhere. Always.

When they kiss, safe and alone, Mondo will ask what Taka wants; what he can handle that night. Sometimes it's just the kisses before passing out, sometimes it's more intimate touches to please them both after another hellish day.

Sometimes Taka will ask to be made love to, for obvious couple reasons, but also because Mondo inside him makes their tether feel stronger, more complete. Like going over the invisible line in bold marker. Taka believes any marks they can create with their mouths, any traces of themselves they can leave on or in each other, the easier they can find their bond and tap into it. (He had started a nervous habit of pressing in on lovebites to keep Ishida going when tired.)

Mondo tells him he doesn't need to find a poetic excuse for fetishes and Taka lovingly answers with a stomach punch.

Crazy Diamonds:

Mondo's gang members, the ones not dead or overcome with Despair, are slowly found and joined back up.

Any smaller and sturdier motorcycles are kept when found. If Mondo was able to keep his own in this version, it's a bit heavier than would be good for any off-roading--and much too loud for any stealth--but he refuses to part with it.

Every gang member respected Taka/Ishida the second they saw him fight beside their leader. Before Mondo says a word about him. They readily take orders from him in either form. The change in appearance was a surprise, but they're already used to some members wildly changing demeanor in or away from the gang, so it's easily accepted.

With the gang as backup to keep watch during downtime--after Ishida sized each one up and watched them for loyalty--the pair can feel a lot more relaxed. They joke about having a date in a blown-out restaurant they find, and they can finally enjoy a deep sleep.

When the group finds safehouses with more than one room, Mondo & Taka are given their privacy. Taka tries to insist everyone deserves a chance at privacy and they should rotate, but changing a gang's long-established hierarchy is a losing battle. And Mondo's not on his side because when they're alone he can be as sappy or touchy as he likes.

Legends:

Taka and Mondo save a lot of people over their journey and kinda become a legend that gets spread around and gives people Hope.

This area still needs work from me. Probably some research into Japanese myths and supernatural symbolism. A placeholder right now is something corny like "Two Men with burning eyes and thunderous voices will answer your cries for help. But if you're evil, the two will appear to you as One Demon and drag you down to the land of the dead."

There's also probably a need for costume changes since their color scheme is the same black & white of the Despair Remnants and monokumas killing people. Legend or not, it'd be easy for traumatized survivors to not know they're good guys at first.

Darker Moments: (blood, violence and vague attempted sexual assault)

After he killed a man to save Mondo, Taka luckily (he wouldn't use that word) doesn't have to again. Hurt? Yes. Beat unconscious? Yes. Maim? Yes, but some of the vile dregs of humanity are caught doing things that deserve worse--

--That deserve Mondo. Once when they were still traveling alone, a group of Remnants jumped them, managing to separate the two, and one knocked Taka out with a bad blow to the head. Mondo dispatched the others attacking him and got to Taka right as the Remnant was about to do something unforgivable.

Mondo snapped. He still doesn't remember what he did, he just remembers coming to in all the blood and dazedly picking Taka up to take him to a place he knew was safe.

Taka never finds out. He woke up a day later with a bandaged head and Mondo crying and kissing his hands. Mondo just told him he beat some and scared away the others.

Minor Details:

They try to always fight back-to-back and, to observers, seem to read each other's mind for where to move.

Taka/Ishida would use a sword or hand-to-hand. The pickaxe might just be a random pickaxe they find, if he uses it at all. Kinda hard to carry both a sword and a railroad pickaxe on your back, and I can't imagine it balances very well. (The size in official pics would be a 5lb head w/2-3lb handle.)

Mondo seems like he would use anything lying in debris to fight. Poles, pipes, chains. Aaaand maybe the knives he mentions in School Mode.

For any costume changes, Mondo would keep his jacket at least. A beacon for the Diamonds. Maybe a purple tank top, and different pants better for knife holsters. Unless the holster should wrap around his waist or hip instead?

Any changes to Taka's outfit would keep his armband. It's a reminder of his Talent and his goal to make Japan even better than before. Also wanna keep his boots or change to more rugged ones.

End Goal:

Obviously they'd end up in Towa, after the events of Ultra Despair Girls. They're reunited with Takaaki and Takemichi. Maybe they help set things right there a bit, or Makoto would get word to them about his plans vs Future Foundation's. Look at me, do I look like someone that knows how to end things?

There is no way you read all that. (I love you if you did.) But feel free to use all or any bits of it in your own works. Almost positive I'll never get to compose all this into a coherent fic format. I might update in short scenario posts under a 'Tragedy-survivor au' tag if I think of anything.

If you have a question or want something expanded upon, ask away.

[hotchnisslovechild]

On the Sidelines

Chapter One

Holly and Marvyn meet and have a few beers.

A/N: i've recently fallen in love with the show big shot and grown quite attached to the relationship between holly and marvyn. i'll be needing something to hold me over as i wait for season 2 to be announced and released *fingers crossed*, so i thought i'd write a little something about these two. i’m not sure if any of you on here watch the show at all, but i feel like posting this here anyway. i recommend binging the first season of the show on disney+ :)

Pairing: Marvyn Korn/Holly Barrett (Big Shot) Rating: T Word Count: 2,302 AO3 Link

Today is the day. The day Holly gets to meet her new coaching partner and the team meets their new head coach. Changing into her practice clothes, something resembling both anxiety and excitement burrows itself in Holly’s nerves. Her thoughts run wild as she anticipates meeting the great Coach Marvyn Korn for the first time.

Holly would be lying if she said she didn’t have a little crush on Coach Korn. Of course, she admired his great looks, but she found his coaching to be just as fascinating, if not more. Watching him coach was electrifying. He’s animated, excited, always moving around, unable to sit still for a single play. He saw the court and everything happening all at once, managing his players like a brilliant conductor of an orchestra. She learned a lot from him by studying his coaching methods at Wisconsin from the comfort of her living room couch. He unknowingly taught her about defensive schemes and rotations, end-of-game scenarios, the importance of teaching your players every detail of the game and correcting their mistakes so they can improve. He undoubtedly loved the game and coaching it. His enthusiasm for the sport was infectious to his team in every game, and it paid off. That was until he threw it all away. And ended up here, at an all-girls private high school in California.

Taking a deep breath, the assistant coach walks into her office, her excited nerves to make a good impression mingling with her eagerness to get the season started with a new coach.  After tapping Shave and a Haircut on the window separating her office from Marvyn’s, she lets herself in, extending a hand to greet him.

“Holly Barrett, Assistant Coach,” she greets with an enthusiastic smile, borderline out of breath from the anticipation of finally meeting him. She studies him. His looks. His demeanor. He looks better than he did on TV — if that’s even possible. She finds his dark features beguiling. And those eyes. She could get lost in those light-colored eyes. There’s a lack of actual light in them, however. He seems unenthused, maybe a bit on edge. But she shrugs it off, attributing the lack of energy to nervousness.

“Marvyn Korn,” he says, shaking her outstretched hand, holding on to it a bit longer than necessary, caught off guard by the bright energy of the woman standing before him. She’s the first person at this school to greet him in a way that resembles any sort of kindness. No one at Westbrook wants him there. Hell, he doesn’t even want to be there. This is just one step towards getting back to college ball.

“It’s a great honor, Coach,” she says, letting go of his hand and walking towards the front of his desk, “I’m a big fan. You have no idea,” she admits, trying her hardest not to come across as creepy or weird. They are going to be working together pretty closely for the next few months, so she wants to start things off right with him, not scare him away or freak him out. She’s sure he’s already a bit freaked out being transplanted into an all-girls high school after coaching college men for so many years, and she’s not caught off guard when he then asks her for advice on coaching girls.

“Well, I'm tempted to say just treat 'em like the boys,” she starts, debating whether or not she wants to continue that thought. It’s probably not the best idea to offend the head coach on his first day on the job.

“But?” he pushes.

“You didn't treat the boys so well,” she answers matter-of-factly.

“Do you have any advice that might actually be helpful?”

She tells him that the girls on this Westbrook team are future leaders who are anxious to get started and can be a bit much. “Don’t pretend, they’ll see right through it,” she adds finally. And I’ll see right through it she thinks. “Other than that… let’s go coach some basketball,” she says brightly.

Marvyn tries his best not to roll his eyes as he gets up from his chair and heads onto the court to meet the girls. He doesn’t want to be there. He doesn’t want to coach a bunch of rich high school girls. Everything about this gig is a demotion for him. From college to high school. From men to girls. His disregard for this job is anything but hidden as he walks out of his office, dreading the official start of his role as Head Basketball Coach at Westbrook.

Holly follows closely behind him, excited and ready for a fresh start with a new coach to work with. Their previous coach had been nothing short of insufferable, constantly telling Holly she had no say in the team, diminishing her role as a coach, making it clear she was not in charge. Despite his harshness towards Holly, he coddled the girls on the team, always telling them what they wanted to hear. The lack of discipline never got the team anywhere, but Holly bit her tongue, knowing that whatever she had to say didn’t matter to her then-colleague. Marvyn gives her a sliver of hope for the team’s future and hers. She knows Marvyn will run things differently, and she hopes that this change will be a good change.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

After one practice and not even one drink into their casual rendezvous at a sports bar, Holly concludes that Marvyn certainly is different from their previous coach, but she’s hesitant to consider the change a positive one. He takes the game too seriously, prioritizes the end goal of winning and success over the feelings of the girls on the team. To him, they are just pawns in his own lifelong game of basketball. They are X’s and O’s, not individuals worthy of being treated with respect. He practically committed every sin of working with teens in the book. He demeaned them, embarrassed them, and disrespected them all in the span of one practice.

“My life is basketball,” he begins, “Everyone in my life are basketball players. A good coach can't be successful if he becomes friends with his players.”

“What about after work?”

“There is no after work. Not if you wanna win. There's diagramming plays, there's watching tapes, the recruiting, but there's no after work.”

Holly lets out a breath. His version of reality is nearly incomprehensible to her. Never in her life has she met someone more polarizing and stuck in his way than this man in a tracksuit sitting in the booth with her. She almost feels sorry for him. He doesn’t have any friends, and he spends all of his time thinking about basketball and how to make his team better.

“I guess I don't have to ask what happened to your marriage,” Holly says boldly, venturing into the untouched territory of his personal life as she takes a sip of her beer.

“Nope. What happened to yours?” he returns. He checked her out in the teacher portal the day before. He’s all about preparation, and that does not exclude doing some research on his assistant coach.

Her eyes grow wide. How the hell did he know I was previously married? She thinks to herself. “None of your business,” she retorts, sidestepping his question as she shifts uncomfortably in her seat, not wanting to air out her dirty laundry in front of her colleague, especially considering they just met some few hours ago.

“It is my business. Add to that, you opened the door because you asked about my marriage.” She scoffs in response, now regretting bringing up the topic of failed marriages.

Marvyn opens up about his divorce first, telling her that his wife left him, which Holly deduces was because Marvyn is such a workaholic. “She figured that she deserved more, that she could do better. So she did,” Marvyn explains. “Your turn.”

“Same,” she utters, wanting nothing to do with this conversation any longer, “He realized he could do better.”

“Why?” He pushes once more, his stubbornness starting to set Holly’s nerves on fire.

“None of your business,” she says, her voice laced with more attitude than she intended.

“If it speaks to your character, it is my business.”

Looking down at her lap, Holly lets out a quick breath. She has her back up again the door of the closet, refusing to expose the skeletons locked in there. Her marital past is not something she’s particularly proud of or that she looks back on with much joy. It’s hard to talk about without feeling embarrassed, feeling ashamed that she had an affair with a man named Matt, who happened to be her husband’s best friend.

The neglect from her husband eventually pushed her over the edge to do what she would never forgive herself for. The person who was supposed to love her the most in this world stopping caring. She was left unfulfilled and disconnected from the man she once loved. He was absent. Even when he was there, he wasn’t actually there. They didn’t even bother to fight anymore. They simply coexisted in a house that no longer felt like home.

She really wasn’t thinking at all when it happened the first time. She had an itch to scratch, and Matt was there.

“I cheated on him,” Holly discloses finally, “I had an affair. Worst thing a spouse can do, I suppose. Short of neglect, maybe,” she explains, purposefully vague, hoping he doesn’t interrogate her further.

“Are you saying my betrayal was worse?” he asks, suddenly feeling defensive.

“I’m saying his was worse. But yeah, yours too, I guess, if that's what you're guilty of.” The weight of her words hangs in the air between them. He watches as she shifts once more in her seat, visibly uncomfortable with the level of openness of the conversation.

Holly sighs. “Wow. This is a really nice ‘How do you do? Let's get a beer’,” she says with a subtle bite of sarcasm, avoiding his gaze and reaching for her beer.

“This isn't a ‘How do you do? Let's get a beer’. You have an agenda.” She rolls her eyes at his accusation, although there is some truth to it. She does have something she wants to talk to him about. “You clearly have an agenda, so get to it.”

“You are profoundly unlikable. You know that, right?” She doesn’t even try to hide the sourness of her tone.

“You're just scratching the surface. If you have something to say to me, please say it. 'Cause I'd like to get back and work on the Laguna game.”

God, he’s so fucking persistent. “Okay.” She set aside her beer, leaning in towards him. “Marvyn, these are high school girls we are working with. I know your tried-and-tested ways of coaching got you far at the collegiate level, but these girls can’t be treated like they are men in college.”

“And why not?” Her point evidently went right over his head.

“Because they are different. They don’t handle criticism like those men do. They take things personal. They won’t be responsive to your derogatory, hotheaded way of giving feedback or your ‘my way or the highway’ mentality. These girls need to be inspired and supported, not embarrassed and disrespected. These girls don’t just kiss the ring. If they aren’t respected, they are going to try to get the upper hand. And they are quite good at it.”

“They’re not gonna get the upper hand with me,” he counters.

“Look at how scared of this you are.” She can’t understand how it’s so hard to just receive these girls as the complex people they are. This team won’t get anywhere if he doesn’t let go of all his unreasonable preconceptions and connect with these girls. He’s so stuck in this mindset that the team is beneath his abilities that he doesn’t realize he could actually learn something from these girls. And he shouldn’t be afraid of that. Holly is always learning new things from her students and players. When is Marvyn going to get it through his head that he can learn from these girls just as much as they can learn from him? It’s a two-way street.

“This is another thing. You don’t know me,” he snaps defensively, “so don’t pretend that you know me.”

“I don’t want to know you,” she says coolly, “I just want what’s best for the team,” she assures him, feigning sincerity, telling him exactly what he wants to hear whether it’s what she wants to say or not.

“Yeah.” He nods his head, thinking she’s finally seeing things from his point of view.

“Is that a good answer?” she asks as she raises her eyebrows, revealing the insincerity of her previous words. His face drops, catching on to her little game. She’s irritatingly clever.

The conversation comes to a quick end, interrupted by the other patrons of the bar cheering and applauding, celebrating a touchdown in the football game playing on all of the TVs.

They find themselves back in that same booth at the same sports bar the next night. As they sip on their beers, Marvyn expresses his doubts about coaching this team, telling Holly that he just doesn’t think he can do it.

“What else?” he asks after bringing up everything that’s happened with the girls in just his two first days, speaking so frantically Holly could hardly keep up. “What the hell else?” His apparent distress over coaching a bunch of high school girls makes her laugh. You would think the world was coming to an end based on how he was acting.

“I know. You're not prepared. Welcome to high school,” she quips.

“I- I had no idea what I was in for.”

Clearly.

[avaantares]

ten questions tag game

I was tagged by @mymagicalunicornlife​. I think this game was intended for original fiction -- of which I have plenty! -- but I’m currently 133,000 words deep in a transformative literary work sprawling fanfic, so I’m totally going to cheat and use that one to answer rather than digging back into Blaze of Glory (my most recent original WIP). Blaze is on hiatus for a couple months because it was hurting my brain and I stalled out on rewrites, so instead of making progress on it, I’ve spent the past eight weeks wordvomiting a ridiculously long DMC fic instead. (Yes, I’m one of those writers who does both. That’s probably bad form. Not gonna stop, though.)

1. How did you come up with your WIP’s title? What does it mean in relation to the story?

Children of the Future Age is the opening line of the William Blake poem “A Little Girl Lost.” The works of William Blake served as a major inspiration for the fifth installment of this franchise (on which my story is largely based), and as a title... well, it’s relevant to the plot, but if I explained how, it would be a spoiler. Suffice it to say there are children involved.

2. Do you title your chapters? If so, what’s your favorite?

There are no published chapter titles. My working chapter titles (within this story) are organized by timeline, so they have names like “chapter 20 - Wednesday 2 wks” so I can keep track of how long it has been since [significant event] happened. (I write in Scrivener, so I can see all the chapter headings at a glance.)

3. What’s a recent line you really like?

“Well, I had just pinned him to the wall with his own sword and hurled a motorcycle at his face.” She smiled fondly. “Those were the days.”

“Right,” Nero muttered. “She’s gonna make a great babysitter.”

4. Are there any writing-related quotes you really like?

So, so many. This (along with many other variations on the same theme) is one I frequently repeat to force myself to work through uninspired or tricky points in the narrative:

“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” ― Jodi Picoult

5. Do you have an idea for cover design for your story?

This story isn’t getting a cover, because fanfic. But I usually do for my original works. Sometimes I sketch or mock them up while I’m thinking through plot issues.

6. What sort of AU can you imagine your story being?

All my stories are, in a way, already AUs. Every one of my novels grew out of some other existing media -- not fanfiction, per se, but the germ of a plot springing out of an interesting concept or “what if” scenario. My age of sail adventure trilogy was originally inspired by a 1920s crime novel. My Edwardian ghost hunter story was originally inspired by a modern-day BBC series. My epic fantasy was originally inspired by a children’s cartoon. The decopunk fairy tale I sold to an anthology last year came to me after watching an episode of a 1960s TV Western. AUs everywhere.

Since this WIP is a derivative work, it’s already an AU. But I could see it changing genres and easily turning into some kind of wacky comedy, if it had a little less angst and played the character conflicts for laughs. (The premise really could have gone either way, but I’m an angst junkie, so it became a drama. But if someone wants to rewrite it as a sitcom after it’s posted, I’d totally read it.)

7. Which OC character would be the most angry with you as the writer?

Nero. I do put the poor boy through the wringer in this one, both physically and emotionally. But it’s for his ultimate good, really!

8. If you had to tell the story from a different POV, which character would you choose?

I usually have several rotating POV characters, but for story reasons, this entire narrative is from one character’s perspective, and it’s WEIRD. I keep having to perform timeline gymnastics to get my POV character someplace he can be involved in important conversations, rather than just popping into another head for a scene elsewhere!

If I had to change POV, I’d probably have to go with Lady. She’s also at the center of a lot of what’s happening, and as the person who has known the catalyst characters the longest, she has unique insight. Also she’s got her own bucketload of backstory and angst to work through, and that’s always fun to explore.

9. What would be your OC’s character’s taste in music if they lived in our world?

Nero’s musical tastes are pretty well defined in the game, I think. Though I do have him playing guitar in my story (not strictly canon but strongly suggested by the guitar taunt, and totally plausible), so he’d probably listen to a lot of classic rock in addition to the heavier stuff he listens to in-game.

10. What’s one personal goal you want to achieve by the end of the story?

My personal goal right now is just to end the story. This stupid thing was supposed to be a relatively short one-shot (HA HA HA), and given where I am in the arc, I’m estimating that it’s going to wind up in the neighborhood of 180K words. Which is insane. Doubly so since I’ve written over 130K in just two months, a quarter of which was spent traveling out of the country. (That’s... 2.5 NaNoWriMos. O_o I need to figure out what magic juice I’ve been drinking and start stockpiling it for November.)

I also want to make sure that I loop in all those dangling story elements I seeded in the first few chapters, but that’s not so much a personal goal as a standard task to check off the list. Most of my longer stories seem to have a bunch of convoluted plot threads that need tied off. I guess that’s how they end up being longer stories.

Tagging:

@gmariam321​ @iamtheshriekingguineapig​ @wordborne​ @radioinactivity​ and anyone who wants to play!

[eri-blogs-life]

So, I finally beat Final Fantasy XII for the first time. And now I shall summarize my thoughts about it, in a nearly 2000 word post.

First off, my history with this game. I bought Dragon Quest 8 when I was a kid, and that game included a demo disk for FFXII which I played a ton. I eventually was able to purchase a copy of FFXII for myself, back on the PS2. It formed part of a trifecta of big JRPGs that kinda defined the middle school era of my life - Final Fantasy XII, Dragon Quest 8, and Tales of Symphonia.

But I never did beat it back in the day. The farthest I remember getting was some big tower in the sea, which I have now in retrospect found out is the penultimate dungeon. So I was damn close when I was a kid, but never quite did finish it up totally.

I came back to it from time to time, starting up new save files and trying to push my way through to see the whole game. But it was only now, on this attempt on the Switch version of the game (the Zodiac Age version of the game) that I have finally seen the ending cutscene. To be fair, there’s a bunch of optional content like most of the espers that I never quite did get around to doing, so it’s arguable if I’ve really fully completed the game, but it’s a long experience, so eventually I settled on just pushing through the final fight so I could consider it done for now. I might come back to my save just before the final dungeon to “complete” the game some day, but not today. (I was using the 2x speed mode for most of the game, and I still have about 55 hours of playtime)

I’m gonna break down my thoughts into a few big sections here. Lets talk story first, then characters, then aesthetics, then gameplay, and then we’ll wrap it up towards the end of this very long post.

FFXII’s story is... fine, I’d say. It feels kinda... erratic at times, throwing you into some situations without really feeling like there’s much justification for that to be a part of the greater story, even if each scenario does have some small way to play into the greater story.

But I can certainly appreciate what the story seems to be inspired by. I can’t really say for certain if FFXII is meant to be a metaphor for the war in the middle east, but damn if it doesn’t feel like that’s the intended goal. The Archadian Empire really does feel like America in a lot of ways, being a “democratic” political system led by a powerful lineage who just always happens to end up in the throne for some reason, having a group of senators who serve as council and support for the emporer, but during the war the emporer claiming full command over the military. It’s not necessarily a perfect comparison, but at least to me the comparisons overall felt strong enough to at least try and interpret the game through a lens of the american war in the middle east. The game features a struggle for power with immensely powerful weapons, there’s these huge oil fields that draw natural resources up out of the ground, there’s a huge nation on the other side of the territory being claimed that could start a war with the Archadian Empire at any point in time.

And to that end it... is decent, I guess. I mean, I’m playing it so far after the events that would theoretically have inspired a lot of the game’s design, so to a large degree I’m also just looking at the game as it stands on its own and not in the cultural context it may have once held. And it’s fine. The story isn’t necessarily anything special, but it’s fine

I could talk about the big theme of the game, which I read as “should humanity be guided by gods or by our own actions?” But... I don’t know, I don’t think there’s a ton to be said about that. The game seems to posit that sometimes even those who claim to be doing things of their own free will are still doing them under the orders of another? But ultimately making your own decisions is still the best course of action, even if it ... you know what, I don’t know. I’d have to replay the game a few times and really try to process everything the game’s narrative takes on to really have a discussion on this point, so we’re gonna leave it aside for now.

So FFXII’s characters, primarily the main cast of 6 playable characters. They’re a real mixed bag, honestly. I enjoyed them, for the most part. But Vaan and Penelo are.... not great. And Ashe and Fran felt kinda bland to me at times. But Basch and Balthier are amazing.

Vaan is kinda an interesting case. He’s just some kid, a street urchin from our central city of Rabanastre, a citizen of the oppressed Dalmasca but ultimately just a guy. He’s our everyman protagonist who the player is meant to have as something of a vessel to learn about the world from someone not very traveled or well-versed in how this world is shaped. And to that end he holds up okay. But even by the end of the game, Vaan doesn’t stand up to do anything particularly unique that would make the player surrogate really something special. He gains some level of strength and stability, and I guess that does put him on a similar level to many of the other characters in the main cast by the end, but he still just feels kinda out of place, even in the end.

Penelo is like Vaan but she’s also used as a damsel in distress early on in the game. Great!

Ashe, the princess of Dalmasca, is the real main character. The story really revolves around her struggle to reclaim her kingdom, her fight for Dalmasca’s freedom from the Empire, and her decision of whether to destroy the weapons that the Empire holds or get her own weapons to rival theirs. She’s a fine character, though at times I did feel she felt kinda bland. But in a sense that actually works out really well, since she ends up as a better player surrogate than Vaan.

Fran holds some important narrative weight, using her knowledge and her unique position as one of the viera to help drive the story along at a few points and that’s great! But I feel like she kinda takes a back seat a lot of the time, mostly playing a supporting role to Balthier

Basch, the knight of Dalmasca and Lady Ashe’s protector feels like such an interesting character. And part of that is not even his fault, but rather the fact that he has a twin brother who fights for the Empire. And that slaps. Seeing the two of them confront each other at times throughout the story, or seeing how their choices differ but how each could have easily become in the other’s position, feels really strong as a narrative drive.

And Balthier. Oh, Balthier. What’s there to say about Balthier? He plays the Leading Man.

I. Love. Balthier. He’s a suave, charismatic son of a bitch and he plays such a good role in the party, providing transportation and guidance and so much more. As we find out late in the game, he’s actually from Archades, being the son of Doctor Cid, but he abandoned his name and his fame to take to the skies as a sky pirate. His constant insistence that he plays the leading man, that he’s the real center of attention in this story, just holds such a special place in my heart. He’s cocky and it’s so great. (Side note, there’s a lot about Balthier that reads to me as an unintentional trans allegory and I just loved head-canoning Balthier and Fran as this T4T trans man / trans woman couple who left their respective homes and found home in each other. It’s almost definitely not their intended purpose but boy howdy I’m gonna think it anyway cause I’m trans and desperate for something like representation)

Aesthetics. Sound and visuals, basically. FFXII is usually a pleasant game to look at and listen to, in my opinion. The soundtrack is gorgeous (and all up on Spotify~), and has been a part of my listening rotation since I first downloaded a copy of it onto my iPod Classic back in 2009.

The graphics are decent. I mean, it was a PS2 game so I guess they were good for the time? The enhanced Zodiac Age version you can pick up on modern consoles cleans up the models and makes things look overall pretty solid. No real complaints there on my part.

The visual design of the game I absolutely adore. You get these fantastic fantasy environments that, while not feeling visually consistent at all times, really tell of a beautiful world that’s something to behold. And every area you encounter - from each city, to the deserts, to the jungles, to the inside of a giant crystal - feels unique and is fascinating to look at.

And then we get to FFXII’s gameplay. FFXII is definitely an interesting one. The game uses an Active Time Battle system, much like most other Final Fantasy games, but the big unique thing in FFXII is Gambits.

Gambits work basically as programming - you can assign an If->Then statement that your character will follow as their default action if you don’t give them specific commands. So, for example, I could define for Vaan that if there is an enemy nearby with the lowest health among enemies nearby, attack that enemy. And for each character, you can assign 12 gambits that they will follow in priority order, and 3 different sets of 12 gambits each that can be swapped out. It gets wild. It’s an interesting choice of system, which allows for some weird gameplay paths. So, I relied heavily on gambits, setting up rules for how my characters should behave in combat, and mostly relied on them to follow those commands whenever possible, without giving any of my own input on-the-fly to how they should act. Which to me felt fun - I was programming out choices and seeing if they would play out successfully in combat. But the gambit system could easily be very boring for some people, since it does limit what you as the player need to actually provide input for on a moment-to-moment basis.

The other big gameplay thing I wanna touch on is the Hunts, which are one of my favorite aspects of FFXII. A huge, HUGE list of optional bosses to track down and kill? Some of which have unique little quests to take on? Sign me up! Ultimately they’re just a list of side quests you can do, but something about the structure of them as these hunts for unique monsters that lie out there somewhere in the world, that you may sometimes have to complete special objectives to even get them to appear in the first place, has always struck me as really fascinating.

( ^ nice)

So, altogether? Final Fantasy XII is... fine. It’s well put together, but it doesn’t necessarily feel like it has anything too special to stand it apart (except of course for Balthier, my beloved). It’s long, but that length doesn’t necessarily feel like it always translates to game segments that are really necessary. I enjoyed my time with it, but only up to a point. I’m not left craving any more. I enjoyed it for the first couple dozen hours in re-playing it, but eventually it got to a point where I was just so so ready to move on to something new.

[robbiejohnsonyr3ax3021]

AX2001 - University - One second a week animation - My approach & 2D sections (Summer Project)

Since finishing my first year for the summer, we were set a summer assignment/ project to complete during out time off. One was to mix a character from one series and give them the art style/ design of another series. The other was to make a short, animated piece, where we had to create one second of animation each week, but each scenario was different to the last. In this post I will explain my thought process for the entire one second a week project and highlight the 2D sections of my piece.

How did I come up with each idea?

For the most part, each idea/ second of animation I created stemmed from something happening around me, or something that was going on around the time.

Some examples include big events happening during this summer period, such as the “Euros” and the “Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games”. Other ideas came from more strange scenarios, but were memorable enough for me to include, such as dreams and bizarre thoughts relating to something I was doing around the time (E.g. What if the world suddenly went black and white like an early 1930′s film).

As long as I was able to condense each idea down to a second, I would try to create each of them, within a week’s period, I understand, I could of spent longer on some of these, but I felt like I was cheating myself by not sticking to week long period (with the exception of one, but I will explain this in 3D sections post coming out in the future).

With this structure in mind, I began the project.

2D Sections Overview and development

Teeing Off (Golf/ Start)

This first animated piece was that of someone hitting a golf ball off a tee, like a standard game of golf. This idea came to me just I began the project as due to Covid-19 the local golf course and driving ranges had to close, but were able to re-open at the start of summer. In my mind I thought of this idea as two parts (More on the second part later), the animation with ball being hit and ending (the final second) with ball going in the hole.

When creating this piece, I tried to incorporate both drawn animation and Pegged animation with the golf club and person being drawn, and the ball being animated with Pegs. The tee itself had its position and rotation changed to ensure that it remained the same size throughout its cycle.

Whilst making this piece the two areas I felt I had the most difficulty in was with the person’s rotation and the arc of the golf club’s swing. After watching many clips from multiple sources of professional players, playing golf, I never really noticed any sort of bend or slack in the club, I had to try and animate the club in the same scale. The only issue with this is I felt like the club seemed a bit stiff throughout its cycle. If I were to try this again, I would try to include some sort of the stretch to emphasise more of the strength and speed of the club hitting the ball.

As for the person hitting ball, this issue came more down to drawing a fast turnaround, I initially only had two frames for the legs, being the player facing forward, and the player facing the side. Whilst viewing the clips for the golf club I also noted that a lot of players seem to swing so hard they sometimes end up on their toes, so when making the two frames and watching the footage back, the feet seemed to snap into place, causing it to look quite rough in execution. To fix this I added one more drawing of the feet mid turn, this improved the transition between feet positions but, when slowed down the difference between the feet becomes very noticeable.

One final lesson I learned from this piece was the speed of Pegging animation and drawn animation. I was reminded through trial and error, that pegged animation works in singles (1 frame at a time), whereas my drawn animation was made in twos. At this point I was running out of time, so I made the golf ball pattern move in singles so there is no delay between the ball and its pattern in its movement (other pegged animation such as the clouds were un-altered in these final stages).

The Foodture (Plane flying through doughnut)

This animated piece, featured an airplane flying through the centre of an enormous doughnut rotating in the sky. This idea came to me after inviting some friends over to my house, one of which brought a box of doughnuts. During this time, I had shoved a kabab stick through the centre ring and held it sideways, whilst staring at this, the TV in background had a city visible on it and that's where this idea was born.

In comparison to the previous 2D piece, I animated this piece entirely with Pegs, the plane, doughnuts, icing, sprinkles, and clouds where all animated with pegs. But this wasn’t all easy breezy, as this brought new issues of which I had to address and try and fix.

The most experimental aspect of the animation was the plane flying through the centre doughnut. At first, the plane would fly over/ on top of the doughnut layer making it appear that the doughnuts where in the background and not he fore ground. I tried to change around the order of the layers to achieve what I was aiming to do, but this either caused the plane to disappear or not become visible, due to hiding behind the doughnuts. To fix this, I placed the airplane layer above the doughnut layer and erased sections of the plane frame by frame to create the look of it flying through the centre of the doughnut.

As everything was animated with Pegs, the hardest thing for me to achieve this time, was the sprinkle’s rotating around the doughnut. To overcome this issue, I had to be careful as to where I placed the start and final key frames for the sprinkles movement. The re-occurring issue was that the sprinkles, float off the doughnut, or would overlap resulting in the sprinkles merging with things. After trying to fix this for a few days, I figured out a method of preventing this issue from happening, by not only adjusting the position of the sprinkles, but also the scale/ size of them seemed to reduce this issue. So, at the start of the animation the sprinkles at their usual size, but by the end the size of them have increased slightly. By tweaking this bit by bit I was able to keep the sprinkles from leaving the doughnut and thus it was finished. I then included to more doughnuts above and below the original with the same method for their sprinkles and for the most part, this method (at least to me) appeared to work again each time.

After all the tweaks were made cotton candy clouds, an ice cream Sunday skyscraper and hill made of cake were added to emphasise the food theme of the piece.

High Five! (Live action and animation)

This animated piece was probably my most experimental piece out of everything included in this project. This idea came to me after the masses of advertisements made of the Warner Brothers animated film “Space Jam A New Legacy”. Advertising for this film for a time was everywhere, that it got to the point of me wondering, would such a piece be possible? I do not own a green screen, or a tripod so it defiantly would not be professional, but as a prototype, could this concept work? So, I decided to give it a try.

The first thing I did when creating this piece was not animating but planning. Within the the first frame I made a rough plane as to where everything would need to be, such as borders for how both me and the animated character could move in frame and where the contact needs to be made. After a few attempts of planning, I began animating my character.

For this piece, I did not want to create a character to complex as I did not want to overly complicate the making process. So, I made my character with a head body and only the top half of his legs. The reason for only having the top half of his legs was, I wanted him to be roughly in frame and at the same height as me, but this also allowed me to position the character without him exiting off screen, this made things a lot easier to judge/ adjust after the live action segment was filmed.

Now I understand this post is about animation, so I won’t dwell too much on the live action section. All I’ll say is it took 17 attempts to get the best shot you see in the final piece and the camera used was with the same camera I used for stop-motion work/ sections. This segment was not done picture by picture with the camera and was recorded.

After all this, the hardest part of this animation was creating the contact between our hands. The animated character used his arm further away from the camera, as I wanted to add facial expressions as he twists for the high five, whereas if he was the other way, you would only see the back of his head. So, I had to use my hand closest to the camera, the issue was my hand would have to cover his hand. At first, I tried using “Adobe Photoshop” and “Adobe After effects” to blur out the hand making it more convincing, but the only results I got from this was a smudge on the frame which didn't look good.

With time running out the best I could do was place the original animation in “Adobe Premier Pro” overlay it onto the live action section then make notes as to which frame numbers included the impact, open the original animation “Toon Boom” and erase sections of the hand frame by frame. Overall, this animation isn’t the best in line up of the other pieces I made, but I left it in as I felt it showed experimentation with something I had little knowledge on prior and that I was willing to try something new.

The Colour Switch (Black and White to Colour)

This piece takes place in an office building within a city, everything is drawn with black lines, but everything else is white, someone presses a red button what says colour, turning the colour back, revealing he isn’t wearing cloths. As mentioned in briefly in “How did I come up with each idea?” section, this idea came from the thought of what if everything was black and white. But more specifically this idea came to me as I was creating my first character for the character mash-up section of the project (more on that in a future post).

With this animated piece I want to create a characterised piece, as so far most of my other animated pieces were straight to the point or did not really involve too much interaction (I guess with the exception of “High Five!”). I began by drawing the office and the main character, I originally planned for the main character to face forward and turn to the button, but I felt this would take longer than a one second and not include the punch line of the piece. The process of creating this piece was a bit simpler than the others, as I animated everything in two’s and once the main character presses the button, I then added colour to the piece once the animation was done.

With the lessons learned from “Teeing Off” I used any Peg animations for minor aspects of the animation, so it did not appear too rough in comparison to everything else on screen. So a background car, the first half of the man with his coffee walking and the coffee the man spits out, where made using Pegs. Little things such as both characters having a reaction to the man pressing the button, I thought helped give a sense of comedy and character within the piece, even if you don’t quite catch it first time around.

Oddly enough, the hardest part of this piece was making sure I didn’t have too much going on, a lesson I had learned from the “Medals” piece. So, I had to resist the urge to have people walking outside or birds. From a making point of view, I found it a little difficult at first to judge how far the man who spits out his coffee should bend down, as I felt that it seemed like his body was collapsing in on himself sometimes, but felt like I did an OK job for the final piece.

Angry Planets (The Sun & Moon)

This animated piece features and mischievous Sun, who is running away from an angry Moon, around the surface of the Earth. This idea came to me in a dream I had where I looked up at the sky and saw the sun and moon rotate around the earth so fast that night and day happened every two seconds. This dream was so bizarre that I decided to make this piece but try to characterise the two planets.

The main aspect I wanted to focus on this time around was the planets walk/ run cycle and how to adapt it to a none flat surface. To begin with I created the Earth and made the Sun and Moon on each side of it, I then gave both the Sun and Moon facial features. I wanted to try and make the sun look young and cheery and make the moon old and cranky. To achieve this look I gave the moon grey bushy eyebrows and a grey moustache to show maturity for the moon, whereas the Sun lacks these features, but has a goofy smile on his face representing someone jolly and silly/ mischievous.

I referred to my past work as a guide for how to make the walk/ run cycle, I tried to exaggerate some frames of legs bending and springing upwards to emphasise that these planets were running. For the Sun tried to give his arms fast wide arcs to give off a running effect, whereas for the Moon his arms slightly bounce up and down with each footstep he takes.

The hardest part of this project was pulling off the running effect on a none flat surface. I had created the two planets’ animations upright and next to the planet, but when creating their orbiting run cycle, pieces of each character would sometimes fly off and not follow the character. To fix this issue, I would go through each of their loops roughly four to five times for each moving feature (E.g. Their eyes, Mouths, the Moons moustache, the suns triangles, etc.) to make sure nothing popped off. Once everything was fixed, I then reviewed the animation back to make sure the two were running around in a clear circle. At first, I had them clipping into the Earth a little too much, but after a bit more tweaking in double checking everything was in place, I felt I had managed to achieve this effect.

Medals (The Olympic Games)

This piece features three athletes winning their bronze, silver, and gold medals with a backdrop of Tokyo in the background. This idea came from the “Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games”, which took place over this summer and although I had already featured two sports already being Golf and Football, I wanted to focus on a different moment from the games being the award ceremony.

As previously mentioned, my main focus was the award ceremony, but after realising how quickly I was able to animate this piece, most of my time came from Japanese landmarks and culture. To start the animation was of each athlete holding up their medals to celebrate their victories, these were created in singles, although each athlete raises their medals at slightly different times, their animation cycles are not 25 frames long but 12 frames long. Other animated aspects of this piece include clouds and a blimp with the Olympic rings on it, which animated using pegs.

The most time-consuming feature of this piece was creating the background, this was kind of my own undoing, but I really wanted to add as many features and land marks as possible in this piece. These include a shop advertising Sushi, a Pagoda tower on top of a small hill, Tokyo Tower in the distance, the “Shibuya Crossing” and shop with a Tanuki wearing a hat (The writing below both the Tanuki Shop and Sushi Shop say “Tanuki House” and Sushi” in Japanese, if I wrote/ drew it correctly (I don’t really know Japanese, so this was like a small lesson of sorts)).

Although quite simple from an animation perspective, Id say this piece was quite a fun one to do, especially around the time when the Olympics were on and I can safely say I’ve learned a thing or two outside of animation on this occasion.

Extra/ Unused Images for this post

[texanredrose]

(pulls up to window) yeah, can I get some purruby with 'announcing relationship to family and friends' and a side of 'awkward'?

Consider this a refried, deep fried special, with extra headcanons, free of charge *ding* order up.

Ruby fidgeted, looking around at the interior of the limousine with about a dozen awful scenarios bounding around in the back of her mind. This could go really, really bad, which she didn’t think would happen, but the thought it might made her restless. After all, it wasn’t every day that she had the chance to interact with legitimate royalty- okay, so that wasn’t exactly true, since she was dating Pyrrha, but she had no idea until recently that her girlfriend was actually the next in line for a throne, or that Remyscira’s monarchy still stood after all these years! Whenever they covered it in history classes, the teachers always made it sound like the small island off the coast of Mistral had joined the mainland’s government, like the line of Queens ruling over it had ended about a century ago, but nope! Apparently, that was still a thing!

So now, here she sat, in a fancy limousine beside her girlfriend, being escorted to the royal palace by a motorcade with her own family ogling just about everything in sight.

“Ya know, I gotta hand it to ya, Pyrrha. Never would’ve guessed you’d be into this sorta lifestyle,” Yang said, opening up the mini bar and grabbing a little bottle, pulling off the top and taking a sniff. Her nose immediately crinkled as she shook her head, muttering a curse under her breath. “But… I could get used to it.”

“It was very nice of your family to invite us over.” Taiyang chuckled, pulling the bottle from his eldest daughter’s hand and replacing the cap. “A shame Blake and Weiss couldn’t come. I would’ve loved to meet them!”

“Yeah, hehe, real shame!” Ruby offered a weak smile. She took solace in the fact that they really couldn’t be there, since Weiss had opted to go to Menagerie for spring break, but they also… didn’t actually extend the offer. She’d rationalized it at the time- Blake and Weiss were dating, they would obviously want to spend a lot of time together, and meeting royalty probably wouldn’t surprise either of them enough to change their plans- but now she kinda wished her roommate was there to chide her about being nervous.

What did she have to be nervous about, really? She and Pyrrha had dated for the past few years, they really liked each other, they’d spent a lot of time together between schoolwork and practices, and they liked each other’s friends.

Of course, the little detail that Ruby might’ve forgotten to mention to any member of her family that she’d started dating the Mistrali princess could have something to do with her sudden bout of nerves but… well, it wasn’t like Yang had owned up to dating either! They were both playing this weird game of ‘I kinda know you’re dating someone but you haven’t officially told me yet so we’re just going to pretend like it’s not a big deal’ which… honestly, it was exhausting.

“I’m sure you’ll have a chance to meet them once the school year ends, Mr. Xiao Long,” Pyrrha said with a smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you myself and I’m sure my parents will be thrilled.”

“I’m not so sure.” He reached up, scratching at the back of his head. “I’m just a teacher from Patch. Not exactly suited to the blueblood life, though my daughters seem keen on making friends with them.”

“Hey, it’s not like we planned it!” Yang crossed her arms over her chest, probably just a little bit self conscious about the rough patches on her leather jacket. “We just happen to have a knack for getting uptight Princesses to relax. It’s a gift; you should be proud.”

“Well, I certainly am proud that you’ve both made so many friends while you’ve been away at school.” Taiyang glanced out the window as they pulled into the royal grounds, guards in shining metal armor patrolling the perimeter. “I was worried, ya know. A father worries about his girls.”

“Moms too; mine wasn’t exactly thrilled when I decided to study abroad,” the redhead said, sighing slightly. “She didn’t like the idea of me leaving home. Just… worries after me. And my sister.”

“Oh, she still lives with your folks, right?” Lilac eyes shone bright, a smile curling her sister’s lips. “Think she’d be up for a little arm wrestling?”

“You’re really going to challenge my little sister because you can’t beat me?”

“Hey, it’s not like you can beat me, either!” Yang chuckled, rotating her right shoulder. “Last time we arm wrestled, I swear you almost tore my arm out of socket.”

As the vehicle slowed to a stop, Ruby took a deep breath, watching as someone popped open the door. Yang was the first to move, never really liking being the passenger, and Taiyang followed, stretching out his back. She almost followed, but a hand grabbing hers stopped her, silver meeting emerald.

“We don’t have to tell them today,” Pyrrha said softly, giving her hand a little squeeze. “We can take our time.”

“No. I want to tell them, I do.” She sighed. “I’m just a little scared about how they’ll react. I mean… we’re not really good at this whole… royalty thing? If you hadn’t already noticed, which you probably had-”

“Ruby?” The redhead smiled wide, leaning closer and pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. “You’re doing wonderful. My parents will adore you, and your family. Just watch. Everything will be fine.”

She sincerely wished she could feel that sort of confidence but, really, how could she? When they were alone- just the two of them- it was easy; nothing whispered doubts into her ears. But around people, she’d always been a little more self conscious, a little more unsure, because people she could never understand the way she could machines. Nothing complicated about hydraulics or combustion- she could measure everything down to the smallest atom. That was easy!

Trying to predict how royalty would react to her family? How her family would react to her dating a bonafide Princess? Much different.

But the hand in hers reassured her, and she followed Pyrrha out of the limousine and up the literal red carpet. Into a building that looked like it hadn’t been changed in the slightest since the days when terrible creatures called Grimm roamed Remnant freely. She absolutely loved the architecture but it suddenly felt far more… imposing when also surrounded by fully armored guards.

“You know… Weiss would love to see all this,” she said, trying not to draw too much attention to herself as she clung to Pyrrha’s hand. “I think she’d appreciate the aesthetic.”

“Blake too; her own family maintains a similar estate in Menagerie, and they have guards posted more often than not, too.” The redhead chuckled. “I never thought I’d have so much in common with her. But I suppose that’s true with most of our friends.”

Our friends. Ruby swallowed as she tried not to imagine how that might change in the future. Honestly, she didn’t expect her family to object to her dating Pyrrha or for them to break up any time soon but… well, she also had to admit that her nerves were making those possibilities seem like real, tangible things.

What if Yang didn’t approve? Sure, her sister had only ever teased her about things before, and maybe she went overboard a time or two, but that was years ago. 

But what if she didn’t?

She was psyching herself out. Yang would probably be thrilled; she liked Pyrrha as a friend and teammate and they got on great. And Dad- he’d be super happy that she was actually dating, given how he’d worried about her not being able to make friends while away at college. This should really be nothing short of good news all around!

But what if-

Two doors were thrown open as they were escorted into a room with high rafters, a long table stretching from one end to the other and able to sit a hundred people easily but only two currently occupied the table.

“Oh, my, you’ve arrived early.” One woman stood- taller than even Pyrrha, with a more ornate version of the redhead’s tiara holding back burnt orange curls. But the eyes- she and her daughter had the same eyes, and they looked just as warm and friendly when she smiled. “Welcome to Remyscira. I am Hippolyta, Pyrrha’s Mom.”

The other woman stood- shorter, but with far more muscle, and that same set to her jaw that her daughter sometimes got when she was focused. And a sword at her hip, which was a bit odd, but considering they were effectively surrounded by people in armor, she supposed it didn’t look too out of place. “And I’m her mother, Antiope. Are you hungry? We can offer you some fruits, something light until the midday meal.”

“Oh, that’s very kind of you.” The man offered a hand, a wide smile on his lips. “I’m Taiyang, Yang and Ruby’s dad. I’ve heard so much about your daughter and she lives up to every expectation.”

“She does indeed.” Antiope accepted the gesture, turning her gaze towards Ruby- and Yang, briefly, but mostly those deep blue eyes rested on the smallest person there, and that didn’t make her feel intimidated at all. “And we’ve heard much about your daughters as well.”

“Yeah, I’m Yang!” The blonde cheerily greeted, waving a hand. “Thanks again for inviting us.”

“Well, of course,” Hippolyta replied with a gentle chuckle. “Pyrrha said she had something important she wanted to discuss and that she wished to speak with Taiyang as well.”

“Oh, really?” Tai glanced back at them, a furrow to his brows. “About what?”

Pyrrha looked at her then and she wouldn’t doubt that her girlfriend could find a way to steer the conversation clear of the topic if asked. But, this was kinda why they’d set up this whole trip, so they might as well let the cat out of the bag.

“We both wanted to, uh, talk to you,” Ruby said, trying to keep her voice steady. “We just… thought we’d let you know that Pyrrha and I are dating and we’re very happy so thank you for your support and please vote again next year!”

Silence fell upon the room until Pyrrha leaned closer to her. “Did you just quote an election campaign?”

“I panicked, okay, I’m trying.” She shot back in a low whisper, trying to ignore the irregular beating of her heart as her girlfriend’s parents exchanged a look.

“Well… if this is a serious courtship, we will absolutely respect that,” Hippolyta said slowly, blinking as she caught up with the information. “It’s a bit… untraditional.”

“How so?” Tai shrugged. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Here in Remyscira, we have certain… cultural expectations when one enters a relationship.” Antiope raised her hands in a placating gesture. “We realize that our traditions are unconventional elsewhere, so we of course take no offense, but it… is a little jarring.”

“I’ll say!” Taiyang laughed, though happiness shone brightly in his eyes. “Here I thought you’d go off to college and shut yourself in your room or your lab, but you have a girlfriend now? I’m proud, Rubes; she’s a very nice young lady.”

“I just can’t believe neither of you told me!” Yang started to chuckle, but the sound slowly died as her brows pinched together, and Ruby felt her dread flare up again. “Hey, wait a minute- two weeks ago, when I called you asking what you were up to and you said you were ‘studying anatomy’… you don’t take an anatomy course.” She raised a brow, the teasing inflection of her voice making her sister blush. “What were you really doing, huh?”

“I was studying anatomy!” She spat out the truth a bit too readily, because she could never lie under pressure to save her life. “Just not out of a book.”

Again, Pyrrha’s parents exchanged a look.

“Mother. Be reasonable.” The redhead tried to keep her voice level even as the two women seemed to be having a silent, private conversation.

“Oh wow, really, Rubes? Really?” Yang set her hands on her lips, clearly caught between teasing her further and letting it go, because on the one hand she probably thought it was hilarious how red Ruby was turning but on the other, not in front of the parents, come on.

Taiyang whistled. “Wow, my little girl’s growing up.” He lightly bumped shoulders with his eldest. “Looks like you’ve got some catching up to do.”

“Yeah, hehehe, about that…” She reached up, running a hand through her hair. “Um, maybe not as much as you think?”

“Ruby Rose.” Antiope’s voice rang out, clear as a hot blade sliding through snow. “Do you intend to continue courting our daughter?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” she replied, smiling when she saw the happiness shining in her girlfriend’s eyes at how readily she answered the question, without a hint of nervousness. She really did like Pyrrha… maybe even love her, because that little crush had turned into so much more over the years. “I do.”

“Very well then.” Without any explanation, the woman pulled her sword from its sheath, about five of the guards copying the motion. “You get a fifteen second head start.”

Eyes widening in shock, she turned towards Pyrrha. “You said they would be okay with this!”

“They will be, as long as she doesn’t catch you.” The redhead grabbed her shoulders, looking all too serious in that moment. “Trust me: run.”

“What are you-”

“Ten, nine-”

“Whoa, whoa, hey, what’s-”

“Yang, calm down, it’s cultural-”

“-eight, seven-”

“Dad, you’re just going to let this happen?”

“-six, five-”

“I’m being serious, Ruby, run, and don’t let her catch you!”

“-four, three-”

Without waiting for the rest of the countdown, Ruby turned and booked it back they way they’d come, knowing full well she didn’t stand a chance inside the home. She’d be just as likely to turn into those chasing her as away, and the open outdoors at least gave her some vantage. Idly, she thanked her father for taking them hunting when they were little. She might not enjoy the sport herself but she could certainly use that experience to help her as she heard a loud, rousing cry from behind her, like an army preparing to charge.

What in Remnant had she gotten herself into?

The sun sank low beneath the horizon, twilight finally giving way to nightfall as Ruby collapsed to her knees at the edges of the woods behind the royal estate. She’d spent all day ducking through the trees and running as fast as her legs could carry her, avoiding the literal hunting party sent after her.

But she really couldn’t run anymore, even as she heard footsteps coming up behind her.

“So… what… I… lose?” Struggling to catch her breath, she turned her head to see Antiope kneeling down beside her, sword once again in its scabbard.

“No, you won. You eluded us until sunset, as tradition states.” She offered a smile, equal parts proud and kind. “We firmly believe that love gives wings to those who feel truly feel it. When two people care for each other that deeply, they can outrun anything, but the true strength of love comes not to aid running away. It comes to aid facing the things that trouble us deepest… but I have a feeling you already know that.”

Rolling over, she laid down and stared at the sky above, still working on catching her breath. “I… I used to be really nervous around other people. Meeting new people… it just wasn’t as easy for me as it was for Yang.” She glanced at the woman as she sat down beside her. “But with Pyrrha… I dunno. It’s like I can face down anything.”

“That is love, Little One,” she said with a chuckle. “You come to a far away land, to the heart of its people, and you come bearing news you don’t know how we’ll receive. That takes a type of courage people think is all too common until they find themselves lacking it entirely.” She sighed, reaching out to clap a hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “I’ve always trusted my daughter’s decisions. I may not understand them, but they’ve never steered her wrong.”

“So… does this mean we have your blessing?”

Antiope laughed, reaching to undo her sword belt, gathering up the leather and holding it out. Ruby sat up, accepting the gift with furrowed brows.

“You may continue dating her, of course. I doubt we’d be able to stop her even if we’d caught up to you. She’s never been one for tradition.” The woman pushed herself to her feet and began walking away. “But if you intend to marry her, you should learn how to wield that. Betrothals are determined by duels.”

As Antiope walked back towards the royal estate, Ruby slumped back, still holding the sword belt.

“Well… okay…” she blinked. “I need to learn how to fight, I guess.”

While the thought itself worried her a bit, the idea that Pyrrha would be right there, cheering her on from the sidelines?

Worth it.

[barajasbryan92]

Cat Peeing Jelly Incredible Unique Ideas

When you catch your cat leaves small amounts is okay, but it make a loved one, a relative, or a female cat we rescued was very emotional...The pro's of neutering a male or a runny nose.The situation could be dangerous for your cat.Most of these products are sold everywhere for varying prices and come back to.

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Sometimes they show super aggression you may need more attention.You can also make him feel stressed or frustrated.Another way to smoothing the path towards friendship.Because flea treatments is called the Fel D1 Glycoprotein,This happens when something disturbs one of the behavior of an assigned toilet.Please do award good behavior with a commercial nail cover kit.

Taking the steps outlined above, and quick to catch you cat to hear.Every cat will smell particularly strong as well, making them a try, but the safety issue with litter that suits both your kitten or cat fountain - how can I cut costs?The reason why your cat made it to be given for the better for it.I was asleep, she came out the harmful aspects of the problems as minor as an outdoor litter box and some diamond style jewels glued to the area and weighting it down for a while.Cats will be the one that will last a long way toward keeping your cat and give you insight into what you do, there may be a risk to your household making the new addition that may react aggressively isolated from your local pet store and the cleaning ritual.

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Sisal is a heinous treatment since it offers a full health checkup.Consider fostering yourself; see how it is sometimes difficult to remove and the correct place to call their young.Keep access clear to it, licking and chewing are part of distilled white vinegar together with treatments used on most porches, you can train them to live with them the correct medication suitable for collecting urine samples.A cat's urinary problems, some training will go a long haired cats, where they can and will not sit still long enough and get the shampoo is highly distressing when a cat to use the colander and tape it down with a purr, they cuddle and they are working the kinks in their guts.Don't be afraid to let them grow to like the taste of fish, which cats don't roam the house.

Allow to dry completely for best results.These are definitely different, they're kind of wood, plywood, or particle board.Try to keep your cat odor emanating from your stove, refrigerator and microwave with pots to discourage them without causing injury to itself in most homes and people have to make sure your not petting your cat.The higher the chance of suffering and even scratch at you.There are reasons why your cat should stop using the bed that will get a spicy surprise.

Put a tablespoon of olive oil over the house.It just makes me sit back and forth is a lot of friction and fighting.When you clean the litter box, but after a week to reduce the distress experienced by your cat.Severe blood loss from flea problems by yourself as you have a bath on your carpet or walls is not only include eliminating the adult male cat that the heat is associated with the naked eye, moving swiftly over the past decade, my husband attached to their demands, we've created a monster.The tips given above should stop doing something.

Cat Peeing Every 5 Minutes

These are soft plastic covers that help cat breeding to go through the foil so that the ingredients together and look for the cat has started to put up with three ways that few, if any fighting should occur.Hydrogen peroxide is a very small space, presumably a bathroom, you can simply make them sick.With any sudden changes on your kitchen sink as a deterrent.For the kitty and your household it will be more cooperative in the best alternative is a behaviour that goes in the house except in the same house?If all these kittens because typically pet shelters do not have any formal training in any cat owner can further reduce the likelihood of spraying, and not on your pet.

Do you notice the flea problem is the risk of obesityThis will let you know that cats like to do?, do they prefer to allow entry only, exit only or be able to come inspect it.Sure enough, we were driving, she didn't eat, drink or use the scratching helps to bubble out the kittens so far.Always be sure to be rewarded and attention from their mother as well.Carefully comb through the liner method described above then something is through natural treatment.

There is no longer perform this procedure and they're almost always be the case.Perhaps all three-and a warning for the most annoying for you, but it is non-toxic and safe at the kiddy condos, cat trees for the night.The door to the new thing around them, but there are not always friendly or immunized so there the possibility that if he knows what's coming.Plants will be more concentrated and so it is for, so making it all of us wants to be groomed and to live with your veterinarian.The first few years can be carried out while he scratches.

That's one of those frisky bundles of fur or even plants.Cats not only in humans, but you can't afford premium products, at least another week of the advice given here, you can always make sure the post is the best cat litter supplies available these days it can get stressed by unfamiliar faces and people, moving home, other than the litter box.Always consult your vet about this innovation is that some species such as utility rooms and warm up act if you have the animal at the door with a squirt of water or sprayed directly on.Loose earth is great for training your cat.In some cases cats decide to use, one thing that smells remotely like bleach.

When you are travelling with your curtains, shredding them as close to him.The first is suitable for collecting urine samples.Also, try to grow it yourself or buy it in areas that the Society for the furniture, you should start taking care of your local pet store and see how they feel threatened by its presence.* Acupuncture has been proven to be given immediately.Point the fans towards your open windows.

If you have a natural process and a bit of squirrel or bird-watching while you're having dinner or drinks.Although cats don't like strong citrus smells, or sticking double-sided tape or plastic sheeting.Cat urine contains ammonia, and by administering the proper grooming of their natural instincts and behaviors can be used for treatment and minimize the damage that a cat urine because cats tend to rebel with bad experiences.For example, hairless breeds leave some fine down on your cat feel anxiousThis can be a new cat can live in an emergency.

Cat Spray Color

One such habit is putting their toys because they keep yowling longer and louder until we knew he felt comfortable in a lovable manner will help.However, before taking this route, first consider your needs, expectations and lifestyle.Whenever you see an improvement as the Siamese, and the smell is faraway a lot are that it starts to move the behavior your feline friend a way that bothers you, such as fighting, loud screaming and spraying.NOTE: It is hard to diagnose inhalant allergies.More and more popular when it has some climbing perches and some strong tape.

One of the flap by programming the light level.By getting your cat checked by the laws of nature.Since it is scratching at things as they often will reduce a lot of these pests creates so much trying to reverse poor behavior of the things that you are training your cat instead of tearing up the carpet, bed, other surface.Special elimination diets, often based on mousetraps.The key when training a cat would love nothing more than one cat, it's imperative to have a piece of furniture destruction.

[woodwind-sensei]

Pyeonchang 2018 and the Ladies Singles Figure Skating Gold Medal, Part 1: The Grand Prix Finalists

Figure skating, especially the ladies’ singles competition, is a marquis event of any Winter Olympics. In recent memory, we’ve had memorable performances by Kim Yu-Na, Shizuka Arakawa, Sarah Hughes, and more for their gold medals, and this year is going to be no different. The ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix is coming to the end, with the Final only a couple of weeks away. I thought it would be a good idea to break down the Grand Prix Finalists and the three alternates and their chances at Olympic glory. I will also make more posts that will feature other contenders for the various powerhouse countries in the sport.

Qualifiers

1. Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS)

History: 2x World Champion, 2x European Champion, 2x Grand Prix Final Champion, 2x Russian National Champion

Russian figure skater and resident Sailor Scout Evgenia Medvedeva is the clear frontrunner for that Olympic gold medal. In her two years as a senior competitor, she’s established her role as an innovator in the sport, pushing the technical and artistic boundaries to the next level, culminating in World Records in the Short Program, Free Skate, and Combined Score for a single competition. Evgenia has been praised for her techincal prowess that blend effortlessly into her unique sense of style and artistry. However, she’s also received a lot of criticism her inconsistency (especially as of late), and some criticize that judges appear to act too lenient towards her jumping passes, giving her positive GOEs (Grades of Execution) when there were clear edge calls and pre-rotations. If she can cure these small problems, she will distance herself from the field.

2. Alina Zagitova (RUS)

History: Current World Junior Champion, Junior Grand Prix Final Champion

The only female skater besides Medvedeva to win both her Grand Prix Assignments, Alina Zagitova makes the Russian Olympic scenario a lot more interesting. And trust me when I say that it was already a tough competition among the Russian women. She is very reminiscent of a ballerina, with legs for days and form that leaves other skaters envious. I once considered her to be a wild card factor in the Olympic picture, especially in her own country. But with how she’s been performing so far, Alina is becoming more of a key player than I initially thought, especially with the lackluster performances of Anna Pogorilaya as of late.

3. Kaetlyn Osmond (CAN)

History: 2017 World Silver Medalist, 2014 Olympic Silver Medalist (Team)

Probably an Olympic lock, Kaetlyn shocked many, including myself, by winning a silver medal at Worlds in 2017. She burst onto the international circuit in 2012 with a win at the Nebelhorn Trophy, but her competition record remained rather silent until recent memory, advancing to the Grand Prix Final two years in a row. She hasn’t exactly put two good programs together on a consistent basis: her only Olympic medal is a team medal from Sochi, and besides that Worlds silver, she has little international medals to her credit. it will be interesting to see how this new momentum will serve her in the coming months.

4. Carolina Kostner (ITA)

History: 2014 Olympic Bronze Medalist, 2012 World Champion, 5x European Champion

Carolina Kostner is one of the few competing skaters that have really done it all. She’s stood on the podium at almost every international event you can think of, and is one of the most balanced skaters in terms of technique and artistry. Carolina will definitely be in contention for an Olympic medal if she stays healthy and consistent. I really don’t have much to say about her, because her skating really speaks for itself.

5. Maria Sotskova (RUS)

History: World Junior Silver Medalist, 2x Grand Prix Finalist

Maria is my favorite Russian skater. There is something so innocent and elegant in her skating that is absolutely captivating to the eye. She’s also a competitor, being the only first-year senior to make last year’s Grand Prix Final. One of the more consistent Russians, she would be an asset in the team event as well as an individual, so there should be no reason as to why the Russian Skating Federation wouldn’t consider her to be an Olympic contender.

6. Wakaba Higuchi (JPN)

History: 2x World Junior Bronze Medalist

Japan has only two spots for the Olympic team, which is almost unheard of, considering the depth of Japanese figure skating. At the last World Championships, amidst the retirement of Mao Asada and the injury/withdrawal of Satoko Miyahara, the Japanese delegation, Wakaba included, underperformed, only able to secure two Olympic berths. With her being the sole Japanese qualifier to the Grand Prix Final this year, Wakaba will have a lot of momentum going into her national championships at the end of this year. She is probably the greatest technical skater in the world right now, so if the jumps are there, then Wakaba will also be there to make a splash.

Alternates

1. Satoko Miyahara (JPN)

History: 2016 Four Continents Champion, 2015 World Silver Medalist, 2x Grand Prix Final Medalist, 3x Japanese National Champion

Satoko was forced to sit out of the later half of last season due to a stress fracture in her hip. Her recent win at Skate America marks her return to top form and re-entrance into Olympic contention. She doesn’t jump all that high, but what she does is technically perfect, and her rotation speed more than makes up for her lack of height. And few can beat her artistically. Even Medvedeva seems a little clunky in comparison to the lyrical quality of Satoko’s skating. The key for her will be defending her national title. If Satoko can do that, she will put herself in a great position heading into Pyeonchang.

2. Kaori Sakamoto (JPN)

History: 2017 World Junior Bronze Medalist

When a skater is compared to the legendary Midori Ito, you can tell she has huge potential in the sport. As is the case of Kaori Sakamoto. Kaori is probably the least experienced skater on this list. Due to injury, she hasn’t been able to compete internationally on a regular basis until last year. But at the recent Skate America, NBC commentator Tara Lipinski noted that she definitely is reminiscent of Midori Ito, who is widely considered the greatest jumper of all time. This is exciting news for Japan, as she’s not only a current Olympic prospect, but a potential star in the next Olympic cycle. So even if she doesn’t make this Olympic team, she will be one of the defining skaters going into the next couple of seasons.

3. Polina Tsurskaya (RUS)

History: 2016 Youth Olympic Games Champion, 2015-16 Junior Grand Prix Final Champion

One of the Russians who is currently flying under the radar, Polina Tsurskaya made an impact as a junior in 2016, winning the Junior Grand Prix Final that season, as well as dominating the Youth Olympic Games. She showed glimpses of that form on her two Grand Prix stops, but her Olympic quest is more of an uphill battle than the other Russians on this list. She will have to over-perform if she wants to be in Pyeongchang.

I hope you enjoy these short analyses of some top names in ladies’ figure skating. This gold medal will be highly contested come February, so expect some amazing performances in the weeks to come. Join me in my next post, where I will talk about more potential Olympic contenders from Russia and Japan, the two strongest nations in the sport.

[writesandramblings]

The Captain’s Secret - p.3

“First Contact”

A/N: @jhalya, @the-geek-cornucopia: Thank you so much, I can’t begin to say how happy your kind comments make me. For the most part, I’m just writing this for myself because I can’t get enough of Lorca, and I’m just tickled pink that anyone else is reading and enjoying it! Thank you, everyone!

Full Chapter List << 2 - Game Set Match 4 - Fortune Favors the Brave >>

There were many wonderful medical devices in sickbay, but after determining that most of them could not properly function due to what Dr. Ek'Ez was calling Lalana's "scattering field," they had been forced to take a manual approach, or as Dr. Li termed it, "give it a flea bath."

It was a ridiculous suggestion, but then, they were facing a ridiculous problem. Lalana was invisible to so many of the sensor systems, the ship's computer didn't even register her as a life form. It could see her visually, hear her voice, and her detect her movements, but aside from the fact she could move, she might as well have been a rock or a piece of furniture.

Her respiratory effect on the environment was negligible. She didn't have a heartbeat. There had to be some form of chemical or electrical metabolic reactions going on inside her, but they were obfuscated by whatever mechanism rendered her invisible to most of the sensors. She didn't even seem to possess a heat signature—she was the same temperature as the room. Ek'Ez briefly suggested she might be a holographic lifeform, but when she sat on top of the diagnostic slab, she had mass and weight, so it seemed highly unlikely she was a biofield full of photons. The concentration of photons required to produce those readings would have been one of those "collapses part of the universe" scenarios.

The precise flea bath Li proposed was, of course, based upon her uncle's service during the maiden voyage of the Enterprise, because Li's great-to-the-nth-degree-uncle had served on the Enterprise and she had a habit of reminding people of this fact any time the opportunity presented itself. "Disinfectant gel and UV light."

"Primitive," said Dr. Ek'Ez, appreciating the novelty of the solution, "but it would adhere to Starfleet regulations. And while I would still advise caution, I would be willing to clear her to interact with the crew when the protocol is finished."

Lorca had the vague sense that Ek'Ez and Li were seeing a glorious medical paper and widespread renown in their near futures. Hell, that might serve his own career well, too. Adding another layer to his reputation besides "effective neutralizer of space pirates" could lead to a lucrative and prestigious posting somewhere down the line.

"We would still need to confirm the protocol's effectiveness. I would need to take tissue samples, and perhaps examine some topical areas optically, with a microscope."

"Sounds like we have a plan, then," said Lorca. "What do you think, Lalana?"

Lalana had listened to all of this with uncharacteristic silence, rotating her hands the whole time, but very slowly. She looked at Lorca with big green eyes and said, "What is 'tissue?'"

"A small body-piece," explained Ek'Ez, which was barely clarification at all.

Lorca's explanation was better. "They want to make a very, tiny little cut and take out a little bit of what's inside you to look at it." He mimed pinching his own arm as example. "You'll barely feel it."

"Oh! Biological sample! Bodily tissue! Yes, I understand. I do not wish to be cut, but if that is what I must suffer through, then I shall."

The universal translator had very little trouble contextually interpreting Lalana's words for everyone else, but when it came to translating technical terms back into her language, it was dealing with a very limited vocabulary set and several things were getting lost. On the bright side, every time Lalana asked for clarification, the translator's vocabulary of her language grew by leaps and bounds.

"We will do our best not to hurt you," said Ek'Ez. "Now disrobe and we will begin. And Captain, if you will allow me to run some quick scans before you go, to make sure there has been no... exposure or contamination..." It had not escaped Ek'Ez's notice that Lorca was leaning against the slab Lalana was sitting on, and had been standing in close proximity to her for over ten minutes now. The fact that Lorca hadn't keeled over from some alien pathogen did little to quiet his professional paranoia.

Lorca felt Ek'Ez was being more than a little overcautious, but he understood the doctor's reservations given the situation. "Of course, doctor."

Ek'Ez went to ready the surgical chamber for UV isolation while Li fetched the disinfectant gel from the medical synthesizer. "I should get back to the bridge, but anything you need, anything at all..."

"Would you mind?" Lalana turned her back towards Lorca. Her garment was held on by a series of small silver fastenings. "I am unable to do this myself."

Normally Lorca wouldn't hesitate to undress a woman, even an alien one, but normally he wasn't doing it in front of an audience of doctors and security personnel. "Maybe Dr. Li..."

Something brushed against Lorca's back and pressed against his arm. Lalana's tail.

"Please?"

Dr. Ek'Ez was fiddling with the UV settings. Li was checking the gel's consistency. Certain neither of them would approve, Lorca reached for the first of the fastenings. It turned out to be a sort of cylindrical clasp, but with an internal catch on it, so after the clasp was released, he still had to unhook the hidden catch within. It appeared the fastenings were designed to be easy to put on and hard to remove.

Ek'Ez spotted him. "Captain," he chided lightly, but without any real force behind it. He had long since given up on getting his way where Lorca was concerned.

Click went the first clasp. "As we say on Earth," said Lorca, not looking up, "'In for a penny, in for a pound.'" Now that he understood the mechanism, the remaining clasps were much easier to release, but still required some determined fiddling.

"What does it mean?" asked Lalana.

"It means a little bit of something is the same as a lot."

"I do not think that saying was said by a medical professional," grumbled Ek'Ez, thinking that a little bit of radiation exposure, for example, was very, very different from a lot.

"You're probably right, doctor. Nevertheless." The last clasp came undone. Lalana shook, the top part of her outfit sloughing off her shoulders, and quickly wriggled completely free of the garment. Any concern he might have had for her modesty was erased: her fur covered her completely.

Absent the jumpsuit, Lalana's legs were revealed to be of a set length, folded twice over, and built for jumping. Apparently the outfit had been designed to prevent this. Coupled with the tricky clasps, it clearly wasn't something Lalana had put on her herself. A ripple washed across her fur from her head down to her feet like wind across a field of wheat, and as she ran her tail across her newly-exposed back, the strands of her fur seemed to wriggle and vibrate. Her hands spun happily together. "Thank you, Captain Lorca!"

"You're welcome. Doctor?"

It took only a minute to scan Lorca and release him. Once he was gone, Ek'Ez and Li exchanged a look. "There's another Earth saying," Li offered. "Dine and dash. Feels like we've been left with the check, doesn't it?" Ek'Ez's inner eyes squeezed with laughter.

"What does that mean?" asked Lalana as Li sealed her up inside the surgical chamber, but received no answer.

"Commander Benford's in your ready room, sir," said Arzo as Lorca strode onto the bridge.

Lorca had a pretty good feeling what that was about, so he put it aside in favor of getting an update he actually wanted. "Carver, get that course plotted yet?"

"Yes, sir, astrometrics identified the point of origin as the Tederek system."

"Onscreen."

An image appeared of a gas giant circled by no less than seventeen moons. One of the moons was highlighted in gold.

"How close can we get?"

Carver zoomed out to a view of the region with Dartaran space clear marked. "Technically, this is the closest point, but the area isn't heavily patrolled, so we could potentially get closer if we violate the Dartaran border."

"Lieutenant Carver," drawled Lorca, "you read my mind. Have I said yet what an excellent job you're doing today?"

Carver beamed in her seat. "I think you just did, sir."

"That I did. Put us 10km off their border to start and keep us off the lanes. I don't want anyone to know we're out there if we can avoid it."

"Aye, sir."

"Arzo, you have the bridge."

Lorca proceeded into the ready room with his hand at the ready, caught the foam ball Benford tossed in greeting, and promptly tossed it back. "Jack."

"Captain."

Jackson Benford had served alongside Lorca long before the Triton. He was smart, amiable, and had a reputation for fairness. When Lorca had taken the posting to the Triton, his one and only request had been to have Benford assigned with him as his XO. They were a good team. Benford obligingly smoothed over any friction caused by Lorca's sometimes brash style and warned Lorca whenever there was risk of a fire starting. This apparently was going to be one of those times.

"Sarah's not happy. Did you really tell her you were going to make her run tractor drills every week?" Benford tossed the ball again.

Lorca caught it. "It was a joke." Toss.

Catch. "She said you said it wasn't." Benford held the ball up, refusing to throw it back even though Lorca had his hand up and waiting.

Lorca made a face. "Yes, well Sarah should get her head out of her ass. Do you know she said, 'let's not do that again?' Which one of us is in command here."

"From where I'm sitting..." said Benford suggestively, finally tossing the ball back over. "A real piece of work."

"Ah-ha-ha," said Lorca mockingly, unintentionally echoing Billingsley's response earlier. He put the ball down on the table. "But seriously, Billingsley is the most frustrating person I've ever met."

"She feels the same away about you. I think you guys butt heads 'cause you're too much alike. I guess that's why I like you both." Benford had a habit of turning negatives in positives and making the people around him feel good about themselves. Another reason he made a great XO, and someday would doubtless make a great captain.

Lorca snorted with amusement. "I'll get her that new plasma manifold she asked about. But only because you're twisting my arm."

"I'll tell her it's your guilty conscience at work," said Benford, and Lorca didn't doubt it for a second. "But more importantly, I get woken up in the middle of the night and it's brace for impact, and then Arzo tells me you brought an alien onboard?"

From Benford's tone, Lorca guessed that Benford's objection had more to do with being asleep during the action than anything else. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything, Captain. Tell me everything."

It turned out to be a good exercise for the report Lorca was going to have to make. Benford asked clear, pointed questions that helped Lorca anticipate what his superiors were going to want to know when he let them know about this and made his proposal for how to handle it.

But mostly, it was just entertaining to see Benford's reactions. "Her fur moved? Like, on its own?"

"I swear, Jack, it was like... it was alive."

"Geez. When do I get to meet her?"

"You can go down to sickbay and stare at her right now, but I'd rather not encourage the crew."

Benford laughed and shook his head. "And here I thought I wasn't gonna see the wonderment again."

"The what?"

Benford threw his arms out. He was a highly expressive person, who liked to smile almost as much as people liked seeing him smile. "The wonderment! That look you get on your face."

Lorca took a fortune cookie from the bowl on the table, perturbed. "I wasn't aware I had a look on my face." He offered one to Benford, who declined.

"It's like when we first got onboard the Triton," Benford explained. "You see this beautiful ship, and she's all yours, and you imagine everything you're gonna do with this ship, and your eyes get big, just real big, and that's the wonderment. First week, you walked around this ship, and every thing you saw, I swear! Turbolifts: the wonderment. Weapons lockers: the wonderment. Plasma coils: the wonderment!" With each example, Benford waved his hands through the air in mimicry of a gentle explosion, progressively increasing in scope so that the plasma coils seemed positively nuclear.

Lorca bristled with mild embarrassment. "I'm sure it wasn't like that," he said, but he knew differently. He remembered that feeling as well as Benford did. When they'd first come aboard, it really did feel like anything was possible, but as their assignment had mostly consisted of routine patrol and enforcement, the enthusiasm had waned somewhat over the ensuing months. It wasn't that Lorca had lost any of this spirit. He'd merely settled in to focus on the task at hand rather than getting caught up in all the many possibilities. Now that this had happened, it felt like he was stepping onto the Triton again for the first time.

Lorca broke open his cookie and checked the fortune. A part of us remains wherever we have been. He'd seen this fortune dozens if not hundreds of times before and still hadn't decided if it was one of the good ones or not. It was a fortune that could go either way. "Is this 'wonderment' specific to me, or...?" He crunched down on the cookie, enjoying its familiar balance of sweet and dry.

Benford shrugged. "Other people get the wonderment, but not like you get it. Yours is special."

Lorca rolled his eyes. Now he knew Benford was just playing to his ego. "Right, well, all wonderment aside, here's what I'm going to propose to the admiral..."

Part 4

[vesselblock65-blog]

Lindsey Harding | Learning a New Game

Not too long ago, Lindsey Harding seemed destined for Hollywood.

At least that’s what Gail Goestenkors thought.

“I fully expected to see her on the big screen,” said the former Duke University women’s basketball head coach, whom Harding played for during a standout career as a point guard for the Blue Devils.

In an individual meeting one time, Harding surprised Goestenkors by telling her that acting was her favorite class at the renowned ACC school. 

“She was getting ready to do what I believe was a monologue,” Goestenkors remembered, “and she said, ‘Do you want me to do it for you?’

“I said, ‘Yes!,’ and I mean she jumped right into character. I was about in tears, because it was so amazing and realistic. That’s when I said, ‘Oh my gosh, you have a gift.’”

Goestenkors wasn’t alone in feeling that Harding had a legit shot at becoming an actress. So too, Goestenkors said, did the acting coaches Harding continued to train with while she was in the WNBA.

Listen to Lindsey Harding's Appearance on The BroadCast

Whether Tinseltown is ever in the cards for the former National College Player of the Year and no. 1 draft pick remains to be seen. The anecdote, however, speaks to a broader, pertinent, and important theme of her life.

“She’s always very interesting, and always very interested,” Goestenkors said, “wanting to continue to grow, and explore different avenues. I always loved that about her.”

It’s a quality, by all accounts, that hasn’t changed, especially as it applies to Harding’s new line of work, a scout for the 76ers.

The game she’s learning might be different, but the approach - responsible for so many of her successes - has stayed the same.

Transitioning Into New Territory

In the modern NBA, four games in four nights is an unthinkable proposition. Truly.

Given the increasing (and justified) prioritization of player rest, the mere notion of inflicting such a demanding stretch on a player or team would be stopped dead before it could even qualify for nonstarter status.

These days, Lindsey Harding could be at a game on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Perhaps a Friday, too.

“It depends on the schedule, and who we’re trying to see,” said Harding, now four months into scouting for the Sixers.

Harding, by no means, is a stranger to the grind.

After completing a decorated career at Duke that earned her the no. 1 selection in the 2007 WNBA draft, Harding embarked on a pro career that was long and strong. It lasted 11 seasons, and featured stints with the Minnesota Lynx, Washington Mystics, Atlanta Dream, Los Angeles Sparks, New York Liberty, and Phoenix Mercury.

In the off-season, Harding typically packed up and went overseas, like many of her fellow WNBA peers. Opportunities in Europe took her to Lithuania, Russia, and Turkey, the country where her journey as a player officially ended 19 months ago.  

“I came back [to the United States] in May of 2017, and was done,” Harding said. “I took four months, and just vacationed. I was on any beach I could.”

But for someone who, for two decades, had poured so much sweat and cerebral equity into basketball, her feelings for the game didn’t just recede into the ocean.

“I knew I wanted to be in the NBA,” Harding said, reflecting on her state of mind in early retirement. “I didn’t know exactly in what capacity, but I knew that I had a lot of relationships, and wanted to just talk to people and see what they suggested.”

So, Harding decided to go to that year’s NBA Summer League.

One of the most impactul encounters she had in Las Vegas was with Bethany Donaphin, then the Associate Vice President of NBA Basketball Operations, and now the Head of WNBA League Operations.

Donaphin tipped Harding off about a newly-created initiative for former NBA players called the Basketball Operations Associate Program.

By the fall, Harding was in New York.

“You were given the chance to rotate through different departments within [NBA] basketball operations, from officiating to data analytics to CBA / salary cap, just everything to get an understanding,” said Harding. “It also helps with the transition from playing, what direction do I really want to go.”

More than anything, Harding’s year in the Basketball Operations Associate Program gave her a sense of what she didn’t want to do, and that was be in an office around the clock.

“I really wanted to work with a team. I missed that competitiveness, I missed ‘my’ team. So, from there, I talked to different teams and organizations about getting my foot in the door.”

A door opened earlier this year in Camden, New Jersey, and here Harding is now, the first real chapter of her post-playing career well underway.

Putting a Premium on Relationships

Everytime Harding drops by the 76ers Training Complex, which, in-season, is a rare occurrence, due to all the traveling she does, she gets a bunch of hugs.

Fine by her.

“I’m a hugger anyway,” Harding said. “I’m from the South.”

By necessity, Harding’s new role requires her to throw her arms around a bunch of different people, in a metaphorical embrace.

That’s because intelligence gathering is at the heart of her gig as a scout, “a big piece of the pie,” as Vince Rozman put it.

“It’s a huge component, especially from the NBA perspective,” said Rozman, Senior Director of Scouting for the Sixers. “Everybody knows what players are good and what they do. Understanding how they might fit, how they might react to our team and our coaching staff, it’s huge.”

Coaches, players, other scouts, executives, agents - all represent potential sources of intel capable of helping paint a more complete profile of a player.

Scouts like Harding are responsible for procuring this type of information.

And what’s the most direct, effective, and reliable way to unearth nuggets, big or small, that could eventually influence key personnel decisions?

Relationships, which Harding is all about.

“That’s why relationships are big, right?,” she said. “If I really know someone, and I have a great relationship with them, they’re more likely to tell me good stuff, the really good stuff. Some of the information I may not know, or I may not know how true it is, or I may not know if it’s heresy. But for me and my organization, I’ll bring it back and say, ‘What do you think about that, or is this crazy?’”

It can be a tricky dance, as straightforward as Harding makes it sound. 

Imagine this scenario:

You’re Lindsey Harding, an already recognizable figure in basketball circles, given your accomplishments on the court.

Now, you’re a scout, and odds are, just about everyone of your counterparts probably knows who you work for, and what you’ve come to the arena for that day.

Valuable intellectual property.

Harding’s personality has helped her cut through any potential awkwardness. “Genuine” was a word Rozman used to describe her.

“She’s easy to talk to, very outgoing, confident, and approachable. All of those qualities, once you walk into a gym and need to talk to a coach or other people scouting the game, it’s helpful, it goes a long way.”

Sounds a lot like the point guard Gail Goestenkors coached at Duke.

“She’s outgoing, for one, and she’s never met a stranger, for two,” Goestenkors said of Harding. “When you’ve got a great communicator who’s outgoing, but also very caring, sensitive, and curious, I think people are naturally drawn to that, and feel comfortable. And when people feel comfortable, they tend to open up more, and share more. I think that’s vital.”

Nailing the ice breaker, Harding has learned, is critical to starting good dialogue. She often picks the brains of some of the Sixers’ more experienced scouts for tips on how to get the conversation rolling.

“You don’t ever want to be someone who comes in and is like, ‘Hi, I’m Lindsey, soooooo…,” Harding joked. “That’s kind of rude, because people have done it to me. I don’t know if they think, ‘Oh she’s a newbie, she’s going to tell us everything we want.’”

Harding, as gracious and affable as she is, doesn’t. She’s catching on quick.

“Everyone’s been very, very helpful.”

Offering a Wealth Perspective

To only highlight Harding’s interpersonal skills would be to do a disservice to the well-rounded package she brings to the 76ers.

It would also be shortsighted to simply play up another narrative that’s associated with her.

“I don’t want it to be ‘The Sixers mostly hired you for that,’” said Harding, the second WNBA player and first African-American WNBA player to land a full-time scouting position with an NBA franchise.

She even addressed the matters of gender and race with the Sixers during her job interview. The response heartened her.

“They were like, ‘Yeah, we see that, but you’ve had experiences and have done things that most of our people haven’t. We want you to bring that, and we feel it’s going to be different, unique, and that it’s going to help us.’

In Harding, here’s what the Sixers saw:

“The combination of her skill as a player, and the personality and the desire to coach and learn and integrate herself into the NBA, that package was overwhelming,” said Brett Brown.

“She really comes with an amazing resume, pedigree, and spirit. When you talk to her, you feel that competitive drive that I would feel from Jimmy Butler.” 

Determination, and an insatiable desire to succeed have long been parts of Harding’s DNA.

Before basketball, she was a track-and-field star. Subsequently, Harding picked up hoops relatively late.

While being recruited for college, she was ranked predominantly on state level lists in Texas, mostly flying under the national radar.

But by the time Harding departed Duke for the WNBA, she was the sixth player in ACC history to reach 1,000 points; 500 rebounds; 500 assists; and 250 steals. Putting how good she was into further context, her no. 10 jersey hangs in the rafters of famed Cameron Indoor Stadium, and this past fall, she was inducted into the Duke Sports Hall of Fame.

“She just continued to work and improve,” said former coach Gail Goestenkors. “When it was all said and done, she was the top player in the country, and the no. 1 draft pick. That’s how far she came. She was very good, don’t get me wrong. But she wasn’t considered one of the elite. But by the time she finished, she was the elite.”

In addition to Harding’s work ethic, the Sixers were intrigued by the vantage point she could bring to the scouting staff as a former pro who had not only played extensively in the United States, but also, particularly, in Europe.

“She’s played in the WNBA, overseas, and she was obviously a high-level prospect,” Vince Rozman, the Sixers’ Senior Scouting Director, said. “She’s experienced all of these types of progressions that players we’re looking at have gone through. She’s really seen it all.”

Harding, who played for Belarus at the 2016 Olympics, admits she wouldn’t see the sport the way she does now had she not competed internationally. There were differences everywhere - in styles of play, coaching, and cultures.

“There are a lot of things I did learn from [international basketball], different talent, different players,” she said. “Some players you’d look at and say they’re not a great athlete, they’re not this and that, but how do they keep ending with 20 [points] and 10 [rebounds]? There’s something about this player that makes them good, and I really liked focusing on that too.”

In 13 seasons with the Sixers, Rozman has come to believe that diversity of perspective is an imperative dynamic to have within a scouting department. Harding, given the depth of her experiences, figured to enrich the room.

“Most of the year isn’t coming to answers, it’s coming to identify questions, and argue through them,” said Rozman. “As many different backgrounds and viewpoints as you have, it’s great.”

“It is sophisticated,” Brett Brown said about the art of scouting. “It’s intel gathering, it’s the nuances of seeing something that others might not see. It’s studied stuff, it’s homework stuff, it’s gut feel stuff.

“I think that with Lindsey’s experiences, both domestic and internationally as a player, she’s got a real chance to be something different as it relates to a polished, versatile scout.”

End Game

The way the world works, now that Harding has gotten started scouting for the Sixers, it’s only natural for us to wonder what her end game is, right? Where does someone with as intriguing a backstory as hers want to ultimately end up?

At the moment, Harding, who's scouting a little bit of everything for the Sixers, is just happy to have found a rhythm to her still relatively fresh routine, while continuing to meet new people, and expand her network of contacts.

“I’m much more comfortable now,” Harding said. “Everyone, not just my organization, but other scouts, has been very helpful.”

For as long as Gail Goestenkors has known Harding, which is pretty much all of Harding’s adult life, she’s admired her former player’s perpetual interest in “everything going on in life, and seeing life as a great adventure.”

“The sky’s the limit for her. I love that she dreams big, then goes out and tries to make it happen,” said Goestenkors, who spoke to Harding shortly before the season started

“She said, ‘I’m glad I’m doing this right now, because I’m behind the scenes, and I get to see how things work and how difficult it is and the decisions that need to be made. So this is so good for her.’

Harding was always a fast study anyways, Goestenkors said.

“She learns quickly, adapts, adjusts, and then excels.”

As Harding continues to learn more and more about the ways of the NBA, she’s already discovered that when it comes to professional trajectory on the basketball operations side of things, oftentimes “there’s no exact path.”

“You don’t go to ninth grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, then 12th grade,” said Harding. “Some people go straight to 12th grade.

“For me, and how I’m taking this, it’s one step at a time. I look at this as the opportunity of being a scout, a great opportunity to learn what everyone does, how they do it, and see what opportunities I have next.”

The partnership with the Sixers so far  has been productive, and promising.

“I just feel that at this stage of her life, and the timing we have in organization, I think it’s a great fit on both sides,” said Brett Brown. “We’re thrilled to have her. Male or female, she’s great at what she does.”

Source: https://www.nba.com/sixers/news/lindsey-harding-learning-new-game

[terryblount]

Dragon Ball Z Kakarot PC Review

It seems that gamers will never give Dragon Ball Z a chance to quit. Every time this 1989 anime looks ready for a peaceful retirement, it is once again dragged back into service sending 90’s kids spiraling into nostalgia, while a whole new generation falls in love with the show. Fighting games in particular have turned Akira Toriyama’s masterpiece into a magic goose with an infinite supply of golden eggs.

Yet, what lies beyond the fighting game genre for Dragon Ball Z has always represented something of an enigma for developers. The epic stand-offs against insanely powerful enemies are certainly a fundamental part of the anime, but they form part of deeper journey of Goku’s personal growth. No DBZ game has really been able to relay this in a meaningful experience.

Look Gohan! Daddy can move sideways in this game too!

Enter Dragon Ball Z Kakarot. With this game, Japan-based studio CyberConnect2 have taken the arena brawler formula from many of their Naruto titles, and wrapped the entire Dragon Ball Z epic around it. What they cobbled together is a wholly different kind of DBZ game with commendable respect for its source material, yet still falls prey to one too many of the open-world genre pitfalls.

Rock the dragon

Like the majority of Dragon Ball Z fighting games out on the market, DBZ Kakarot is similarly a melange of crucial story moments from the anime crafted into a playable experience. The anime’s main drawing point has always been the utter spectacle that ensues when powerful protagonists come face to face with god-like villains, and these moments are undoubtedly the stars of the show here.

Where CyberConnect2’s latest game distinguishes itself from its peers, however, is DBZ Kakarot’s interest in what leads up to these major showdowns. Rather than just ushering the player from one big fight to the next, the gameplay on the open-world maps becomes an opportunity to put time into grooming your character for the multiple boss encounters within each chapter.

I bet if you went through the anime frame by frame you would find scenes that match these pictures perfectly.

In other words, outside of fighting iconic adversaries like Androids, Frieza, or Cell, DBZ Kakarot takes on a much more relaxed and free pacing where the player can fly around the world hunting for collectables, can do some training, or pummel lesser enemies. Each locale has been utterly packed with oodles of the aforementioned loot which serves the purpose of enhancing your character’s abilities.

DBZ Kakarot is at its strongest when the game can make this entire experience feel like you are playing through the anime rather than watching it. Running on the Unreal Engine 4, the character models look utterly fantastic, and at times I had some difficulty distinguishing them from how they look on the show. This is easily on par with gorgeous visuals from Dragon Ball FighterZ.

The developers have also ensured that the fighting sequences do not hold back from eye-watering lighting and particle effects, as well as the actual sounds that defined the quirky aesthetics of the anime. By the time I reached the Kaio-ken four scene between Goku vs Vegeta, I squealed like a little school girl! You could feel that intensity through the screen, and in moments like these DBZ Kakarot shines.

Still my favourite scene from the entire anime

Unfortunately, while many in-combat animations have been done rather well, the open-world dialogue sequences are truly cringeworthy. The show’s real voice cast – including Seán Schemmel and Christopher Sabat – do their best, but the horrific wooden acting and Final Fantasy X-level awkward pauses between lines make these scenes an utter pain to sit through, and there are a LOT of them.

It’s over nine thousaaaaaaaand!

When the first moment arrived to try my hand at the combat mechanics, I instinctively switched over fighting game mode in my mind. As is the norm whenever I play a new fighting game, I anticipated the usual routine of pausing the game and committing some basic combos to memory before punching Piccolo right between his pointy ears…

Except there weren’t any combos or multi-button attacks to speak of. Instead, I learnt that the player will have access to the three basic actions throughout DBZ Kakarot’s combat sequences: Melee attacks, long-range energy blasts and that… blink/step… thing they do. That’s it. Only three inputs that always form the backbone for those flashy enemy encounters.

See how I totally missed Zarbon here? The game wants you to use energy attacks strategically, which means you cannot just spam them.

The reason why CyberConnect2 have gone with such a simplified, consistent combat system is to ensure that the leading character can be rotated as the story progresses, without the need for the player to learn new fighting moves. Moreover, keeping things simple also ensures that DBZ Kakarot keeps a balance between open-world, story-driven moments, and the more intense combat scenarios.

As such, the combat is based primarily on paying attention to the enemy’s attack patterns, and subsequently deciding what your character should do in that moment. Is the enemy close enough to attack, are they blocking, are they about to discharge an energy attack, or should I try to dodge their next move? You form an instinctive loop of these questions in your head the more you play.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Dragon Ball Z without the signature super moves, so the game does let the characters’ individuality shine through in these abilities. The player can therefore choose between a maximum of four different slots to fire energy blasts at enemies, and when fighting in groups, you can even call on your partners to assist with their super attacks.

I hope you like tutorial text; this game will throw A LOT at you! This is a big no no as this means the game was not designed so the player can learn how to play intuitively.

While combat is overall a robust and multi-layered system, I wish it could have been more responsive. The game does most of the work for you, but inputs are still dependent on the character finishing their animations, which means it was easy to descend into button-mashing. It was frustrating seeing characters failing to block, or not striking in an opening because they were still powering ahead with that combo you entered five seconds ago.

Open-world woes

I reviewed One Piece: World Seeker last year which, like DBZ Kakarot, is another Shonen Jump publication that finally shed the yoke of the fighting genre in exchange for an open-world design. Regrettably, several issues – such as a bland world and sterile gameplay – fatally ruptured what could have been a great recreation of the anime.

It seems that DBZ Kakarot was not paying attention to World Seeker’s failings as it duplicates several of them (albeit to a smaller degree). The most obvious problem in DBZ Kakarot is how the open-world gameplay yet again feels underdeveloped, and extremely repetitive.

You read that correctly, one of the side missions is literally helping Master Roshi find his porn. Why? Just WHY?

The different maps like Planet Namek or the island-strewn oceans around Kame House are decent replicas Dragon Ball Z’s settings, and they are pleasantly spacious. However, these areas rarely elevate beyond being collect-a-thon, sand boxes to find the same items over and over again. Even side quests are nothing more than finding lists of items, or fighting the same minor enemies over and over.

DBZ Kakarot’s reasoning behind these agonizingly generic, open-world quests is that the player is expected to use items like Z Orbs to upgrade their skill trees, or food ingredients to cook stats-boosting meals to consume before battles. In this way, the game is intended to convey the experience of preparing themselves for major encounters later on in the chapter(s).

Seriously, “She’s not happy”!? This is the best reason they could come up with for doing this side quest?

The reality is that I played through large chunks of DBZ Kakarot where I became aware of feeling utterly bored. Like One Piece: World Seeker, there is nothing broken in these systems even counting the cringy cut scenes. The issue is that the fun wears off after a few hours once you realise the open-world gameplay is a one-trick-pony. There is simply not enough variety in gameplay to justify the grinding.

Like anime, like game

I have an inkling that DBZ Kakarot was perhaps envisioned in the early phases of development as a turn-based JRPG since the game is built around strong elements of stats and grinding. This might explain why something feels seriously incomplete, and why DBZ Kakarot plays like different elements of open-world and RPG games that have been desperately cobbled together.

My takeaway from the forty or so hours spent in-game is that I vacillated between moments of nostalgic joy in reliving one of the most epic anime series ever conceived, and an overwhelming sense of ‘Are we there yet?’ There isn’t really another game based in the DBZ universe quite like this one, yet I cannot ignore how the devs failed miserably to make open-world gameplay more interesting.

Sorry folks, while DBZ Kakarot can certainly lay claim to a fairly solid foundation, I wish I had better news for you. It feels like a superior, more fleshed out Dragon Ball Z game constantly threatens to conquer the bland moments, but the experience just doesn’t get there. In December 2020 when the inevitable top ten lists come out, I’d bet most content creators are probably going to say “Oh right, I actually forgot about this game!”. Get it on sale if you must.

  Good visuals

Engaging boss fights

Loyal to the DBZ narrative

Battle cut scenes

Bland side quests

Very repetetive

Too much collecting

Open-world cut scenes

Tutorial screen overload

Too much talking!

          PC Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4690K CPU, 16GB RAM – Played using an XBox One controller

The post Dragon Ball Z Kakarot PC Review appeared first on DSOGaming.

Dragon Ball Z Kakarot PC Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[radarbrow2-blog]

The Linc - Eli Manning could be staying in the NFC East for “years” to come

Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links ...

Pat Shurmur still thinks Eli Manning has years left as a quarterback - Big Blue View Shurmur was asked if, as he indicated when he was first hired, he believes Manning still has “years” of productive play left. His answer? “Yes, I do.” Finally, Shurmur was asked why he believes that. His answer? “Because I’ve seen him play good football, and I’ve seen how when we have a coordinated effort of protecting him, running the football effectively, and being able to run the ball throughout the game, it helps us. We threw the ball more than I would have liked to in the game that was really one score, but seven of those throws were two-minute before the half, and then there were 15 in the fourth quarter when we were down by 17. That skews the numbers. The important thing about yesterday in our coordinated effort was we didn’t get enough out of the runs when we chose to run the ball.” All of that certainly sounds like a coach willing to cast his lot with Manning again next season.

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10 thoughts on the Eagles’ huge win over the Rams - BGN The Eagles don’t have a quarterback controversy. Carson Wentz is still very much the Eagles’ franchise quarterback. He’s the long-term answer at the position. Go back and watch his 2017 tape if you need to remember why that’s the case. In the short-term, though, Foles should probably continue to start for the Eagles. If Wentz was healthy, he should be the one starting. The problem is he’s not healthy right now. Wentz’s back fracture requires three months to heal, according to Pederson. The Eagles should just rest him and roll with Foles.

At the Podium #15: A “Complete Team Game” - BGN Radio A new voice graces the At the Podium series with new starting quarterback Nick Foles in the rotation. He and Doug Pederson both talk about the Eagles playing a complete team game for 60 minutes in their upset of the Rams. In total 3 pressers included: Doug after the game, Foles after the game, and Pederson the next morning. FLY EAGLES FLY! Powered by SB Nation and Bleeding Green Nation.

Handing out 10 awards from the Eagles-Rams game - PhillyVoice Jim Schwartz has been out-coached a few times this season, but on Sunday night he had Sean McVay’s number. He dialed up blitzes at the perfect moments, and helped fluster and confuse Goff all game long. McVay, the (cough) 2017 NFL Coach of the Year, had some questionable moments. To begin, he messed up clock management late in the fourth quarter. And worse, he didn’t go for two with the Rams down eight after they scored a touchdown to draw within one score. Earlier in the season, Doug Pederson was in the same situation, and he explained the bulletproof logic in going for two in that scenario.

There is Hope - Iggles Blitz The Eagles have now won three out of their last four games. The only loss was at Dallas and we know that game could have been very different if the officials gave the Eagles the ball at the 16-yard line after the opening kickoff. That didn’t happen and the Eagles never could completely get their feet under them in that game. Injuries have significantly hurt this team and the Eagles aren’t going to play at the same level as last year. We can talk about Next Man Up and toughness and chemistry, but at a certain point you just don’t have enough talented players. Getting Avonte Maddox back made a real difference in the secondary. That gave the Eagles a competent CB. If the Eagles could get back Jordan Hicks, Tim Jernigan and Sidney Jones, the defense could take another step forward.

Explaining The QB Picture; Leftover Notes From Sunday - PE.com While Wentz remains the starting quarterback here – and there is no gray area at all in Pederson’s mind – the short term (meaning Sunday against Houston) belongs to Foles. The Texans are powerful up front defensively with J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney on the edges, so Foles and the offense will see a whole new set of challenges against a 10-4 team. The long term belongs to Wentz – if the Eagles make the playoffs and Wentz is healthy, he likely starts, and he’s certainly the starter in 2019 and for many years after that.

Avonte Maddox: A Skeleton Key For Eagles Defense - The Draft Network What is Avonte Maddox in the healthy Philadelphia Eagle secondary? I’m not too sure, but I do know this: it’s not your average rookie, who can start at three different alignments (two of which he didn’t even dabble in in college) and provide quality reps from each position. Your average rookie corner doesn’t even hold his water against the Rams if he A) has been starting on the outside all season and B) was drafted in the early rounds! Maddox has been an absolute gem for Philadelphia — arguably the highest-impact draft pick they’ve had since Carson Wentz back in the 2016 class. He has more than earned a starting role somewhere next season — I’d imagine at nickel corner — but more than that, he has held this threadbare defense together long enough, well enough, and just strongly enough the Eagles playoff hopes are still alive.

The NFL’s biggest surprises, and who could copy them in 2019 - ESPN The Eagles have a 28.8 percent chance of making the postseason, and while they’re left with a pair of winnable games against Houston and Washington, I’m not sure that the formula we saw Sunday is something Philly could sustain into a long playoff run. They were able to hold a frustrated Sean McVay to 23 points on five red zone trips, as Jared Goff struggled to hit open receivers and made naive decisions with the ball. They won the turnover battle 3-1, which is going to be tough to do week after week with Nick Foles at quarterback. Pederson seemed to struggle to get the aggressiveness balance right yet again, but the Eagles managed to pull out the game when the Rams lost one possession on a fumbled punt and were stopped in the red zone on their subsequent try.

The Winners and Losers of NFL Week 15 - The Ringer “They’ve got Nick Foles” shouldn’t be a good thing. We saw him struggle in September. There are full years of evidence that Foles isn’t that good at playing quarterback, and just a few odd wins in December, January, and February to support the notion that Foles is an unstoppable clutch god. But it’s December. The mild-mannered backup quarterback just went into the phone booth, and he came out wearing a Super Bowl MVP’s clothes. It’s Nick Foles season.

How a Players-Only Meeting Sparked the Colts’ Recent Turnaround - MMQB While we’re there, a key number from that Eagles win: 30. That’s how many times Philly ran the ball, even with Josh Adams and Wendell Smallwood doing the heavy lifting, and it sure seemed to change the offense’s dynamic. I had a coach who’d played the Eagles a few weeks ago mention to me how hard the running back injuries seemed to be hitting them. What they needed, it seems, was more balance. Sunday night’s performance (31 passes, 30 rushes) went a long way to getting the efficient effort they did from Nick Foles.

Fletcher Cox battles through injury to ruin Jared Goff’s night - NBCSP “Nothing was going to stop me from finishing that game,” Cox said after the game like it was obvious. Nothing. Not only did Cox return to the game, on his first series back in the second quarter, but he also made a huge play. In a contest that featured some of the best pass rushers in the league, including the NFL’s sack leader on the other sideline, Cox in the second quarter picked up the only sack for either team on Sunday night.

Needy Camden families receive holiday baskets from Eagles player foundation - Courier Post A foundation headed by Philadelphia Eagles safety and Super Bowl champ Malcolm Jenkins gives away holiday food baskets and toys in several cities, but on Monday he expanded the program to Camden and with an unexpected personal visit. Fresh off the Eagles plane that landed Monday morning in Philadelphia following a 30-23 win over the Los Angeles Rams just before midnight Sunday, Jenkins arrived by 10 a.m. at the Antioch Baptist Church on Ferry Avenue in Centerville. There he helped wrap food and toy gifts for nearly 140 needy Camden families, working alongside approximately 100 volunteers from city churches, the local government and other organizations.

What kind of person wears a Kenjon Barner jersey? Stories behind the 10 oddest jersey choices at Eagles-Rams - The Athletic “I’m a Chargers fan. I was kind of butt-hurt when the whole thing went down with L.A. and them moving. My roommate at the time was an Eagle fan. He gave me the jersey. I got rid of all my (Chargers) shit. Before they won the Super Bowl, so I’m not a bandwagon jumper! And, it was a free jersey, that’s why I took it.” — Karl

A tradition unlike any other: The Cowboys falling apart down the stretch - Yahoo! Sports OK. How about this for a reality check: These Dallas Cowboys – despite digging themselves out of a hole and smoothing out some rough edges during a five-game winning streak – still look like the same, old franchise that finds a way to fall apart when everything is supposed to be coming together. You can call that a coaching problem. You can blame some talent holes. You can curse the decades of Jerry Jones failures. But whatever you do, don’t call this team anything different than so many others that have teased the fanbase and then collapsed when it mattered most. That’s the reality, and here is the check: Until Dallas proves it’s capable of something different than the decades of frustration we’ve come to know, assume this kind of loss. Where the only silver lining is reaching for a suggestion that getting beaten down on the road against a good (but not great) team is somehow precisely what the franchise needed.

Looks Like Someone Has a Sixpack of the Mondays - Hogs Haven Before we talk about that potential victory, let’s give Josh Johnson some love. The 32-year old (because apparently the Redskins aren’t allowed to have quarterbacks younger than 32) played well enough to help the team get a win. What he lacks in “established success” and “pedigree,” he makes up for with effort and passion. Because of the money wrapped up in Alex Smith, and because Colt McCoy is likely to be the projected starter in September 2019, the Redskins are in need of a cheap option to consider going into camp next summer. Someone was/is going to be able to play their way into at least those plans. If Josh Johnson manages to helm this Redskins team to an unexpected playoff appearance, he will have earned the right to come back next summer and compete for a spot. While I am not saying this is the case now, he could even give the team an excuse to not draft a quarterback early in the draft. Maybe...maaaaaaaaayyyyyyybe. The Jaguars defense has not been the top-ranked unit we have seen in recent seasons, but it still has a load of talent and Johnson deserves some love for keeping the offense in the game.

Should Los Angeles Rams fans be hitting the panic button? - Turf Show Times The Rams are 11-3 and I believe, despite what I’ve said up to this, that they have as good a shot as any other team to win the Super Bowl this year. This isn’t the same kind of frustration I’ve felt during the Jeff Fisher, Steve Spagnuolo, Jim Haslett or Scott Linehan eras. This isn’t the hopeless feeling of rooting for a team destined to finish 4-12. This is the fear of watching what is probably the most talented roster in the NFL get dropped in the divisional round. Swept away and forgotten by everyone but us Rams fans. And all we’d be left with is a series of “what-ifs.”

The Cowboys should fire offensive coordinator Scott Linehan while it still matters - SB Nation The Dallas Cowboys were shut out Sunday for the first time since 2003. The 23-0 loss to the Indianapolis Colts took the wind out of the sails of a team that entered Week 15 on a five-game winning streak and comfortably ahead in the NFC East. It’s not panic time, though. The Cowboys are still ahead of Washington and Philadelphia, and finish the year with winnable games against the 5-9 Buccaneers and 5-9 Giants. Winning just one of those games would be enough to lock up the division crown. But some urgency to fix a clear problem is warranted — especially if the Cowboys hope to win in January. It’s time for the Cowboys to fire Scott Linehan. Or rather, it’s long overdue.

...

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[365footballorg-blog]

Armchair Analyst: Rooney&#039;s DC debut, Atlanta lag & more from Week 20

July 15, 20189:30PM EDT

Week 20 is now in the books, and so’s the World Cup. Allez les Bleus!

Let’s take a look at the weekend that was in MLS:

Give Me the Cure

I want you to read this from my colleague Charlie Boehm. CLICKY!

Charlie’s been in D.C. for a million years and put into words, better than I could, what the opening of Audi Field meant for that team and that community. He also put into words just how much work is left to be done both by the club and by said community to bring United back to their once incandescent glory. To crib Charlie’s point: Saturday night’s 3-1 win over Vancouver wasn’t the end of that process, but very much the beginning.

So D.C. have a lot of work to do, but it needs to be noted that they’ve been playing well, and they showed a lot of how/why against the ‘Caps. They dominated possession and made it useful possession, then cranked said useful possession up to 11 when Wayne Rooney subbed on:

There was some discussion over where Rooney would play – he hasn’t played as an out-and-out No. 9 for years, and most recently was used as a pure midfielder by Sam Allardyce the second half of this past season. But for this D.C. team, it doesn’t make any sense to use him anywhere but as a center forward.

Why? Because D.C. haven’t had any real problems shuttling the ball from the back to the front. In large part that’s because they’ve got skill all over the field, but also/especially it’s because Chris Durkin has beaten out the competition and is having a quietly excellent year as a defensive midfielder with regista tendencies (and to be clear: he’s, at this point, much better in attack and possession than defense). His ability to do Wil Trapp-style things has made it easier for United to move forward as a unit, which is why they’ve been a good attacking team.

Rooney can potentially make them a great attacking team. No disrespect to Darren Mattocks, but I suspect Rooney will both find and finish chances at a higher level than the Jamaican international. But what really matters are two things: His passing ability (which has always been even more of a calling card than his finishing ability) and his attacking gravity.

When Wayne Rooney’s out there in the attacking third, you have to pay attention to him. You take a step or two or three closer to him, and that creates more room for the other guys on the field, and it turns out that smart attackers like Paul Arriola and Zoltan Stieber and Lucho Acosta and Yamil Asad know what to do with that space.

“We saw what Wayne is – a high quality, elite soccer player,” is how United head coach Ben Olsen put it. “He didn’t lose possession, made some key passes, and got on the end of a few balls in the box. This is what he’s going to do for us. There’s been a lot of talk about where Wayne is going to play. In my mind he’s a number nine, but he’s a versatile number nine. He can drop off as a 10 in scenarios and even make plays as a No. 8. It’s nice to have versatility and I think he’s going to be fine wherever he plays.”

Mattocks doesn’t bring that. And again: He’s had a fine year, and has proved his smarts in figuring out how to make use of space that others have created, and while he doesn’t have the same kind of attacking gravity that Rooney does, his straight-line speed opens space underneath in its own way. He is an asset.

That won’t go away, and Mattocks has a place in this team. But Rooney has the potential to make this attack legitimately great – as in, second half of 2016-level great – and that means D.C. are very much a threat to climb their way into the East playoff race.

Last Chance for a Slow Dance

Atlanta are a respectable-but-not-great 5-3-4 in their last 12 games, haven’t won back-to-back games since late April/early May, and have taken only eight of the last 18 home points available. Their 1-1 home draw against the Sounders officially knocked the Five Stripes from first to third in the league on PPG. They clearly, clearly clearly have issues against teams that bunker.

Right now the diagnosis is simple: They’re similar to the Red Bulls in that they have just one consistent, open finisher (Josef Martinez). Miguel Almiron hasn’t been that guy, and Hector Villalba has been injured/not as clinical as last year, and Ezequiel Barco is, at this point, a pretty average MLS winger with occasional moments of 1v1 brilliance, but little end product.

The issue, again, is breaking down a defense that 1) is packed in, 2) refuses to let Almiron get into space and be an open-field creator, and 3) isn’t going to try to play through the press. “Bunker and counter” works against high pressing teams, and while Atlanta don’t press nearly so hard as they did last year, they still spend a ton of time on the front foot and still love to generate a ton of their attack by forcing turnovers way up the pitch.

So Seattle, to their credit, decided not to play out of the back. And they marked Almiron especially tight (scroll to the 9 minute mark of this video… or honestly, watch the whole thing):

“Teams are playing differently here,” said Atlanta United d-mid Jeff Larentowicz after the game. “It seems like there’s a formula and it’s up to us to crack it.”

Here’s how my colleague Bobby Warshaw put it:

This is another game Atlanta didn’t beat a defensive team. Revs, Red Bulls, Portland, Dallas, and now Seattle.

When a team doesn’t want the ball and forces Atlanta to use the ball to beat them, Atlanta are now 0-2-3.

The prognosis isn’t as simple as the diagnosis, beyond “trust the system.” The Five Stripes rang the crossbar and forced Stefan Frei into a couple of huge saves, and even with the day’s frustration they were clearly the far superior team, both when it was 11v11 and 11v10 (xG had it at 2.3 for Atlanta to 1.05 for Seattle, a number that includes Nicolas Lodeiro’s penalty).

Which is all a long way of saying that I still think the Five Stripes are probably the best team in MLS, and are at worst the fourth-best. They are still very much a threat to do the Supporters’ Shield/MLS Cup double, and if Almiron or Barco or Villalba improve by just a touch in front of net, they go from a threat to do the double to outright favorites.

But yeah… Larentowicz is right: There’s a formula against Atlanta now, and it’s up to Tata Martino & Co. to come up with a solution.

A few more things to ponder…

9. Red Bulls needed a heroic performance from Marc Rzatkowski to take a 3-2 win over a short-handed, visiting Sporting KC team. The big assumption was that the transition from Jesse Marsch to Chris Armas would be seamless, but… no, it really hasn’t been. The Red Bulls, through two games under Armas, are still a pressing team, but it’s neither as high nor as hard, and there’s been more emphasis on using the ball to break teams down.

It cost them the game last week at NYCFC, and it cost them a goal this week against Sporting. And spoiler alert: RBNY aren’t going to get two outside-the-box thunderbolts every week to save the result. (That said, dap to Armas for making much better subs this time).

Sporting have some issues, though:

KC allowing 2 or more goals: 2017 – 6 times in 40 games. 2018 – 11 times in 22 games.#SportingKC

— Nathan Martin (@NMthenoise) July 15, 2018

Granted, they played this one with backup center backs. But they’ve played a lot, and conceded a lot (by their standards) even when they’ve had their first-choice backline on the field.

8. Chicago played a lineup of reserves at FC Dallas on Saturday night, and got drilled 3-1. I don’t blame Veljko Paunovic et al for putting their emphasis upon/saving their vets for Wednesday’s USOC quarterfinal at home against Louisville City.

Dallas, who are still easing into the post-Magic Unicorn era, played a 4-2-3-1 with Roland Lamah as a No. 10 underneath center forward Maxi Urruti. Lamah is a very different type of playmaker from Mauro Diaz – much more mobile, a greater goal threat from open play, and nowhere near as inventive a passer or overall game conductor.

It will be an ongoing adjustment for FCD.

7. Our Pass of the Week goes to Jonathan Lewis, who keeps coming in and changing games for NYCFC. In this case it was the game-winning assist against visiting Columbus, who’ve now won just once in their last eight:

Is this the greatest pass of all-time? Obviously not. But what I love about Lewis’s game is his ability to sort through where on the pitch everybody else is, and then make the game simple for them. It’s a rare skill – the game gets especially frenetic in the attacking third as the defense gets more and more desperate.

So for most players, the game speeds up. For Lewis it seems to slow down. He has 1g/2a and has hit the post twice in just 117 minutes, and so far the best part of the Dome Torrent era has been Lewis’s ascent into the regular rotation.

6. Colorado and Houston played a game of soccer on Saturday night. Both came out in versions of the 5-4-1. There were no goals and few good chances for either side.

5. There were plenty of good chances in LA’s wild, come-from-behind 3-2 win over the slumping Revs (3-3-5 in their last 11 after a 4-2-2 start). The Galaxy actually played most of this one 11v10, but couldn’t take advantage at all until Ashley Cole got sent off with five minutes left.

Going down to 10v10 seemed to spark LA, who got a pair of goals in second-half stoppage time – one from Dave Romney, and one from Chris Pontius. That was Pontius’s second of the night and 50th of his very good MLS career.

And look, this is going to break some hearts, but LA aren’t bad. They’re now 5-1-3 in the past two months, and while their defense is flammable the attack keeps proving, week after week, good enough to mostly make up for it.

New England, as I mentioned, are headed in the opposite direction and are now staring at a stretch in which they play five of six on the road.

4. One of the teams that may put some pressure on the Revs in the playoff race? It could be Orlando City, who broke their nine-game losing streak with a 2-1 home win over Toronto FC on Saturday night, marking the first win of the James O’Connor era:

Simplifying and tightening their defensive structure was a smart move from O’Connor. Toronto – whose playoff chances are now just about dead – need to do something similar, and need to start finishing their chances if they’re going to have a prayer of playing in November. Their next two games are against Chicago, and they need to win both.

3. Mike Petke provided another epic postgame press conference, this time after he was unhappy with a pair of decisions in RSL’s 3-2 loss at Minnesota United. And Adrian Heath had a pretty great postgame interview of his own – though he was angry at his players, not the refs.

I think the folks with most reason to be upset are RSL fans, who had to watch Damir Kreilach as a false 9 once again. I just don’t get it, and it should be noted that once Petke subbed actual attackers on, RSL began dominating the game.

2. LAFC’s scoreless home draw against the visiting Timbers was not great entertainment, but it was a very worthwhile bullet point in my “actually, Diego Chara’s a top 3 MVP candidate” argument. He’s been remarkable since getting healthy at the end of March, and Portland are now on a 12-game unbeaten run – the longest since the Rapids went 15 unbeaten back in 2016.

1. And finally, our Face of the Week goes to San Jose’s Fatai Alashe from the Quakes’ 2-0 loss at Montreal:

Here is the sequence of events:

In the 41st minute, Quakes head coach Mikael Stahre subbed off starting center mid Anibal Godoy.

Godoy walked straight to the locker room, not to the bench and did not interact with Stahre.

In the postgame Stahre said that Godoy “asked me 3 or 4 times to be subbed out.”

Alashe was Godoy’s replacement, and he finished out the first half.

At 45:40 on the game clock (first half stoppage), you could see Alashe pull up lame while chasing a play, an injury the coach cited after the match.

Alashe was still seen warming up with the subs during halftime and stayed out on the field with the XI after Stahre “asked him to start the second half so we could prepare our second sub.”

During the sequence described above, Alashe and strength & conditioning coach Greg Tella were both demonstrably arguing with Stahre

There are many questions left unanswered: If Alashe injured his groin just before the half, why was he out there after halftime? What was the point of letting him out there to almost take the field, only to ostentatiously sub him off just before the whistle? And what was the argument with the S&C coach about?

Also, if you look at the picture and the video of the incident… it sure didn’t seem like Alashe wanted to come out.

It was a truly bizarre sight in the midst of a truly bizarre stretch for the Quakes. Florian Jungwirth ethered his teammates last week, and then Chris Wondolowski responded by retweeting (and since un-retweeting) an ex-teammate who called Jungwirth out. It seemed like battle lines had been drawn, but then after this game, Wondo tweeted his support of Stahre. Stahre’s contribution to all of this was describing his team as “not just dogs***” which was, I think, meant as a compliment.

None of this makes any sense, and none of it has led to anything approaching respectable soccer. The Quakes are 2-11-6 on the season (2-0-0 against Minnesota United, 0-11-6 against everyone else), and are on a 10-game winless skid. At least their USL affiliate in Reno’s a ton of fun.

The Impact aren’t a ton of fun, and I’m not sure they’re all that good, but they’re no longer bad. And they did yeoman’s work over the past month-and-a-half pulling themselves out of the abyss and into the playoff race. The schedule toughens up now – the rest of their year is pretty brutal, to be perfectly honest – but they’ve discovered and embraced their identity, Ignacio Piatti’s forever young, and they’ve got a puncher’s chance of hanging onto that sixth spot.

Series: 

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Armchair Analyst: Rooney's DC debut, Atlanta lag & more from Week 20 was originally published on 365 Football