#but a second injury ended any sports career potential at all

[alliswyattonthewesternfront]

no one hates Kevin James as much as he seems to hate himself. the Paul Blart movies are written BY him! they are both just 1.5hrs of belittling his own real, human body! a body that, honestly, is not even that fat. like i wouldn't really give a dude that size a second thought, but Mr. James puts on clothes 1-2 sizes too small and then writes hours of jokes about disgusting and vile he is. that man is not doing well.

[tokiro07]

Martial Master Asumi ch.17 thoughts

[Break a Leg, Champ!]

(Contents: Thematic analysis)

...Or Sakura will lose immediately when the chapter starts. I did think for a second that I was right when it showed him narrating his experience, but it became clear real fast that he wasn't getting out of it. What really surprised me, though, was that he said he didn't come to understand anything about Asumi from the fight after I said that Asumi's fighting style made his personality extremely clear

I wonder if that's meant to show that Sakura doesn't understand MMA in the first place; if he was able to understand fighting as a sport rather than a brawl, perhaps he would have come to understand Asumi as well, but because he didn't know what he was doing, he couldn't read the situation or his opponent

I really hope that Sakura comes back and this becomes a major point of development for him going forward, I'm honestly pretty attached to him and would hate to see him leave. He feels a lot like early Hinomaru Zumou Kunisaki, underestimating how other people fight just because it's different from how he fights

After the fight, everyone's excited, including Asumi, except for two people: his brother Kazuro and his next opponent Amagaki. Both of them are disappointed/mad that Asumi didn't have the resolve to end the fight when he had the chance, but where Kazuro was upset with Asumi's attitude, Amagaki was upset with the entire tournament

Sakura wasn't the only one underestimating his opponent, everyone present was underestimating MMA as a sport. It's both brutal conflict and martial art, and the people involved seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding on both fronts. Fighters like Meruto and Kyobe both treat it as a spectacle, a way to earn adoration, and neither was really prepared to be hurt; meanwhile, fighters like Sakura don't respect the artistry, having no idea how to actually fight properly in the first place and focusing solely on getting the chance to be violent

I think that, Asumi and Amagaki both fall on either end of this spectrum themselves, but in more subtle ways. Asumi isn't prepared to hurt, which means that he's not putting his all into the fights, leaving his opponents the opportunity to gain the advantage. Amagaki, meanwhile, has so much respect for the sport that he forgets to give others the benefit of the doubt and show respect to his opponents. I'm not saying he's wrong for breaking Kyobe's ankle, it's a combat sport after all, but he wasn't doing it to win the fight, he was doing it to prove a point at best or perhaps to just let off steam at worst. He's frustrated with this tournament and everyone in it, and so he goes out of his way to show to Asumi and everyone else how dangerous MMA really is

Ironically, though, because of where they each fall on the spectrum, they actually both show MMA its proper reverence in opposite ways as well. Because Asumi is afraid of hurting and being hurt, he's actually the one being more sporting and respectful of his opponent; breaking Sakura's arm in an amateur tournament could end his career before it even begins, and possibly reshape the rest of his life depending on exactly how bad the injury was. While Sakura may not have been able to understand Asumi how he wanted, he gained an actual vested interest in MMA, meaning that he may come back and change his ways

Kyobe, though? He's out. Ankle injuries are, to my knowledge, one of the worst types of bone injuries, with a particularly high rate of repeated injury once one has been sustained, so Kyobe may well never recover from that one. Because of how much respect Amagaki has for the sport, he fails to have any respect for his opponent. By doing that, while he may think that he's making the sport better by weeding out the bad seeds, he's actually potentially making it worse by gatekeeping potential rising stars

Would Kyobe have learned a lesson and taken MMA more seriously if he won the tournament? Probably not, but meeting someone who can teach him respect through kindness and rather than teach him of his own weakness through overwhelming violence would certainly have a more positive effect, wouldn't it?

I do like that Amagaki has a valid point, but he's definitely approaching it from the wrong direction, and it's up to Asumi to show him the right path. I guess we'll see if he has what it takes to help him course correct, or if that will be a much longer character arc meant to stretch over the course of the series. Given the series' ostensibly low ratings, I'm a bit worried we won't get to see that come to pass, but with any luck, this fight will be what revitalizes interest in the series to help it stick around a while longer

[thedragonnerd]

Rayaari headcanon - let's get magical with a Hogwarts AU

(suggested by the lovely @tigerlillyruiz !)

As a diplomat, Benja's new job posting brings him and Raya to the UK. She's frustrated by the move, trying to persuade him that she can continue to live at home, and simply portkey in to see him on the weekends rather than go to a British boarding school. But he insists she is too young to be living in a different country, and so she must accompany him.

Therefore, Raya attends Hogwarts with great reluctance and annoyance. She's the only new sixth year, and watches in horror as the House 'sorting process' takes place in front of the entire school. Once the tiny first years and small handful of second to fifth years have had their turn, she hears a prim voice call out her name, and shuffles slowly up to the stool.

Once the hat is dropped unceremoniously onto her head, she hears a small voice in her ear. 'I can see a lot of potential here...you would thrive in any of the Houses. Loyal to your loved ones, an eagerness for knowledge, ambitious in your success, brave in your heart.'

Raya thinks fondly of the few times she's gotten into scraps with boys her age who had dared insult her friends, and thinks that bravery could suit her quite well. 'That's not quite the bravery I was referring to,' says the voice in an amused voice. 'But very well, you will find yourself in...GRYFFINDOR!'

Raya finds both her new Housemates and the rest of the people in her year agreeable enough, but it is difficult to fit in, when most people have literally grown up together. However, several Gryffindors do manage to include her in some 'back to school' illicit parties.

A week into being at Hogwarts, Raya walks into the library, and her gaze ends up falling across a table in the far corner. 'Oh wow,' she thinks, observing one of the prettiest girls she's ever seen sitting there. And then: 'oh shit.' Raya ends up demonstrating just how brave her heart can be by walking up to the table, clearing her throat awkwardly, and then introducing herself to this mysterious girl.

Namaari turns out to be a Ravenclaw from the same year; they even share some classes on the timetable, although Namaari admits to sitting at the back of the class, so Raya's never managed to notice her before. She's surprised to find Namaari's mother Virana is a diplomat also, although Namaari has been at Hogwarts for so many years that she speaks English with a well-practiced accent.

They become close friends instantly. Raya likes to send little charmed messages during class, with funny doodles on them. Sometimes they succeed in eliciting a chuckle from Namaari, who will then duck her head to hide from the teacher.

Raya eventually has a wider group of friends made up of students from all the houses, and occasionally they sneak around the castle after dark, mainly because they're wanting to hang out in each other's common rooms. Namaari is one of Ravenclaw's prefects, and Raya's friends quickly learn to push Raya to the front of the group whenever she catches them in the corridors after curfew. Namaari can't help but let them off with a warning whenever she sees Raya's puppy eyes.

Raya's favourite subject is Defence Against the Dark Arts, although she also enjoys Potions - she's done years of helping her Ba with his brewing hobby. Namaari loves Transfiguration, the technicality and preciseness of the subject suiting her well; her favourite however is Care of Magical Creatures, since she absolutely adores every animal she meets.

Raya was one of the star athletes in Quidditch at her old school. Everyone assumes she would play seeker, being petite in build and fast at moving. But she is an excellent beater, finding it a thrill to move aggressively, and cathartic to be able to hit the bludgers as hard as possible. She tries for the Gryffindor team, and they are happy to accept her.

Namaari has no interest in sports, but will be in the stands at every one of Raya's games, cheering her on even if she's battling Ravenclaw.

Whenever Raya finds herself in the infirmary from a Quidditch injury, Namaari will join her for meals, for homework, and for any other spare time. She even sneaks in after hours sometimes, to nap next to Raya, knowing her friend hates to sleep alone.

When Namaari finds herself in the infirmary from an injury during her extracurricular work with magical creatures, Raya freaks out, unused to being on the other side. Instead of sneaking in, she's allowed to just remain, causing too much of a headache for the nurse otherwise.

In seventh year, Raya lives up to her brave heart, and confesses to Namaari that she likes her more than just as a friend. Namaari is relieved - she's been trying to drop hints for weeks, to see if Raya felt the same.

When they graduate, Namaari goes to work at a prestigious dragon sanctuary in Vietnam. Raya follows her there, refusing to be separated by portkey, and joins one of the top Quidditch teams.

After fifteen years of being at the peak of her career as a beater, she retires (to Namaari's relief, considering the number of injuries she's had), and focuses on training the next generation.

The young children are already in awe at being mentored by a world-famous Quidditch player; they are even more impressed when they see Coach Raya's dragon-expert wife turn up, her arms muscled and covered in scars.

Raya avoids telling them that most of the scars are from Namaari's bad habit of being accidentally injured whenever she gets too close and affectionate with injured dragons.

[tarteausuga]

maybe soon

Contents: fluff, basketball player! Johnny Featuring: Johnny x reader, other members of NCT sporadically A/N: there could potentially be another part... word count: 2.4k-ish

In which you’re the head athletic trainer of the basketball team that Johnny is the captain of...

"Mark, I know you can wrap it yourself. I've taught you multiple times." You breeze by one of the youngest players of the team who was begging you to wrap his ankle for him.

"You do it so much better though! I don't play as well if I do it myself." He whined as you rolled your eyes at him.

"You'll have to wait your turn then." You direct your attention to Johnny, the captain who has been nursing a sprained knee for the past few weeks. "Have you been icing it on and off like I've told you to?" You ask him but your attention is directed at his leg.

"Yes and I've been keeping it elevated. How can I not when you're in half of my classes nagging me during lectures?" He smirks at you but you don't pay him any attention.

"It looks a lot better now. I'll find you a knee brace and you shouldn't need to wrap it anymore." You smile, content with your treatment as you pin the bandage in place.

"You're a lot less scary when you smile, you know?" He jokes with you as you give him a slight push. Telling him to shut it before finally attending to the needy Mark Lee who is being touted as the next star of your university's basketball team.

You felt a lot of pride in your work with the team. Sure it was all for course credit towards your athletic training degree but something about it made you feel like you were part of the team. They relied on you and you often felt like you were supporting them through your work. You were never great at sports so this was your one way of being part of something that you love so much.

Your dedication had paid off as you had been named the head student trainer after years of running water bottles and hauling medical kits. Working under the advice of your professor, you were trusted to call the shots and unlike some of your classmates, your advising professor rarely questioned you.

"Alright boys, gather around." Johnny called out in his booming voice just as you were finishing up wrapping Mark's ankle. You then proceeded to help your junior trainers with packing up the kits and filling water bottles.

"Johnny is always watching you." One of the younger girls said to you and giggled.

"He's so hot, I wish he would look at me." Another girl pouted and you fought off the urge to roll your eyes in front of them.

You found that a lot of the students who signed up to be part of your team were mainly a) female and b) trying to get close with at least one of the players. It was frustrating on your end because it often meant more work for you as they were often too flustered or distracted to focus on their actual jobs.

"You know that I help to grade you guys, right?" You glare at them as you found yourself doing your kit inventories alone while they were busy giggling about the players.

"You're no fun. You can't possibly say you're not attracted to any of them." A third girl scoffed at you.

"I can honestly say that when you deal with their sweaty feet enough, they lose their allure." You lie as they all become visibly disgusted and finally start doing their jobs assigned by you. You stifle a smile as you look up and meet Johnny's eyes from across the room. The last thing you were going to do was admit to your juniors that you were interested in someone. And the second last thing you were going to do was tell them that the person in mind was none other than campus celebrity, Johnny Suh.

You approved the medical kits as Johnny dismissed the team and they proceeded towards the gym for warmups. You also sent your trainers to follow, reminding them to do their inspections of the gym and not ogling the team.

"Go easy on them." Johnny nudges you.

"That wouldn't be any fun then." You nudge him back.

"See? Much cuter with a smile on your face." He chuckles while running away before you can smack his arm.

There was always so much going on during game nights. The basketball team was the most popular on campus, beating out the soccer team somehow. There were hoards of fangirls in the stands screaming out the names of individual players. Then there was the band and of course, the cheerleaders but to no one's surprise, the players were the centre of attention.

Johnny seemed to thrive in this environment. He would flash a smile every once in a while to the girls in the stands, drawing screams sounding like they were in pain. You could even see some of the cheerleaders try not to lose their composure from the sidelines when they saw him push his hair out of his eyes.

"That kid is lucky he's great at basketball," the coach mumbled before shouting "FOCUS ON THE PLAY SUH!"

You couldn't help but fight back a chuckle as Johnny posted up a 3-pointer before saluting his coach.

---

The game was over and while everyone was returning to their respective homes to rest after the exciting win, you were back in the training room making sure the team started their recoveries well: Attending to bruises, strains and pre-existing injuries as quickly as possible. Johnny often sat back and watched you work. Laughing to himself whenever you made a quick comment towards any of the guys.

"Are you going to ask y/n out anytime soon?" Jaehyun, another popular player on campus, slid next to his captain.

"Nah I'm just going to get rejected. I've tried every year and it's always a no." Johnny smiles fondly at all of the times you've turned him down.

"You seem oddly happy about that." Jaehyun frowns.

"We spend more time together like this. We would have to be separated if we started dating. Conflict of interest or whatever but I still ask every year just to make sure we feel the same way." Johnny explains.

"And you're okay with the rejection…" Jaehyun tries to confirm but Johnny only nods, continuing to watch you work with the team. "There are other girls out there. You know that right?" Jaehyun suggested.

Johnny tried not to seem physically disgusted at the prospect. "I'm aware, Jaehyun. Thanks." He said in his low tone that often scared the other players.

"Alright, I'm just saying." Jaehyun slid away.

When the room quiets down and all of the team has trickled out, you're left with melted bags of ice and cut up pieces of athletic tape surrounding you. But you're not alone as Johnny seats himself across from you on the training table.

"Is it my turn now?" He smiles.

"You need to pay attention better," you sigh with a faint smile, undoing the bandages wrapped around his knee, "one slip and you're doing to hurt your knee again."

Johnny always had knee problems. He tore his ACL during your second year of university and it never fully recovered after surgery. That was probably the toughest year of Johnny's career, facing the fact that he likely wouldn't make his dreams of playing in the NBA come to reality. You tenderly apply ice to his knee as he winces at the cold.

"You worry too much." He says.

"You make me worry." You respond quickly.

"At least you feel something for me." He lowers himself to look up into your concentrated gaze.

"Let's not do this now." You look away and go make an ice bag for him.

"Oh come on, we always do this. I ask you out, you reject me, we bicker back and forth then we both quietly know the feelings are still there." He leans over you at the ice machine.

The best you can do is sigh and roll your eyes, "you're insufferable, Johnny Suh."

"And that's why you love me." He looks for an agreeing smile from you expectantly. You force one to appease him.

---

It was the morning before one of the last midterms of your university career. Nervous energy was all around as that classic air of tension flooded the campus as students wracked their brains with exam material. Your morning cup of relief, a coffee in your hand and Taeyong, one of your best friends and another member of the basketball team, talking your ear off.

"I spent all night making this tiny little cheat card my prof is letting us bring in but Yuta fucking spills water on it this morning, I was ready to kill the guy but-" he stopped talking when he noticed you stop dead in your tracks. He looked back to see you with a mortified look on your face. "Hey, what's up?" He gently touches your shoulder before turning towards your line of sight to see what had stopped you.

What he saw shocked him too. One of the cheerleaders who always made it known that she found Johnny attractive was seated on his lap in the food hall. He seemed disinterested but nonetheless, there she was. You immediately turn to walk the other way even though you were on your way towards your exam.

"Are you okay?" Taeyong struggled to catch up as you quickened your pace to make it in time while taking the long way around.

"It's fine, Taeyong. It's not like we're dating." You huff.

"I know but you guys like each other, don't you?" He asked.

"No," you lied, "I could never like someone like him so he can do whatever he wants."

"Hey." He finally stopped you.

"I don't have the time for this, I have to write my midterm." You slip away as you threw your untouched coffee in the trash. The thought of drinking coffee disgusted you all of a sudden. Your brain associated the beverage with Johnny as he was the one that introduced it to you during your first year of university.

You walked out of your exam and saw Taeyong waiting patiently outside. He had his fair share of fans around campus but he never entertained them as much as some of the other members of the team. He was often depicted as cold and scary so not many people approached him, unaware that he's one of the most kind-hearted people in your life.

"Hey, how did it go?" He asked you meekly.

"Pretty sure I bombed it," you sigh, "what about yours?"

"The twisted thing is that those cheat sheets force you to study so I guess I don't need to kill my roommate." You both laugh.

"Hey what are you guys laughing at?" You hear the voice you were dreading from behind you.

"I'll see you later, Taeyong." You say before quickly finding a new path for your afternoon.

"Is she okay?" Johnny asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"That's not for me to answer." Taeyong shrugs.

You try your best to act normal for practice that evening. You go through your usual motions of getting everyone taped up and ready but everyone seemed to notice your usual lack of spirit and friendly banter with the team. Even your junior trainers talk quietly about whether you broke up with Johnny despite you telling them repetitively that there wasn't anything going on between the two of you. You avoid his eye contact as their coach runs through their plays and generally avoid looking at him in general during the whole practice.

When the training room cleared out, you were left with Johnny again and you tried to rush through wrapping his ice bag onto his knee when he grabs your hand. He bends his neck down again to look into your eyes which were starting to fill up with tears.

"Hey what's going on?"

"Nothing. I'm just stressed about midterms." You turn away from him to wipe your tears.

"I'm sure you did fine," he uses his strength to force you to face him. "You're the smartest person I know."

"A lot of good that does me." You scoff.

"Did I do something?" He asked.

"It's nothing, Johnny. I'm fine." You insist but he's not convinced.

"Are you mad at me or something?" He finally struck a chord with you.

You can only look at him for a moment as you try to tell him why you're upset with him. How do you word this without making things even more complicated than they already are?

"You didn't do anything wrong. I'm just dumb and thought I was special but I'm just like every other girl out there for you. It's my fault." You try to force a smile but he only looks at you in confusion.

"Other girls? What other girls? Oh did you see me with…" he pokes his tongue against the inside of his cheek as he lets out a breath of frustration. "That bitch…" he mumbles to himself.

"What?" You say.

"You saw that, didn't you?" He read the expression on your face before continuing, "we were just talking about midterms when she suddenly sits on me. I asked what she was doing and she said she saw her ex and needed a cover because she's trying to get across the point that she's not into him anymore."

You continue to look at him, trying to figure out whether he's telling the truth when he continues his explanation.

"Did you see me touching her at all?" You shook your head in response. "I didn't want to push her off, I might have hurt her so I just let her be. Now I'm thinking she only did that because she saw you." He took your cold hands in his. "I only like you, alright? I've always liked you otherwise I wouldn't bug you so much about everything."

"But I keep rejecting and you can have literally any girl you want." You say quietly.

"And where am I? Hanging out with you whenever I can. Waiting for basketball to be over so we can maybe be an actual couple." He laughs.

"Really?" You ask with tear soaked eyes.

"Yeah." He says.

"That's… kind of dumb." You say with a soft laugh,

"Thanks, I love you too." He smiles, running his thumb over the lines of your hand.

[prorevenge]

Better check your facts, because people KNOW people.

Had to post this one...it isn't petty, it isn't regular, and it ruined a guys journalistic career.

The internet has evolved quite a lot over the years. Some people may remember usenet groups, I know I do, used to have a lot of fun reading them. Kind of similar in a way to today's reddit in a way...no matter what the subject was, someone would have a usenet newsgroup for it. But unlike todays reddit, it was strictly text. You could download images, but they would take forever to download, and could often be across several different messages...just one of the messages missing, and you wouldn't get the image. Things then improved, download speeds slowly got faster, and then there was IRC that came about. IRC saw the same thing...there was chatroom for anything and everything...and if there wasn't, you could clearly create it. If you were to try to watch a video over the internet back then, it could take you a couple of hours to download a music video...you get the idea. This is important for the context of the story.

I was a writer on a couple of wrestling newsletters during the mid to late 90's. We only published our newsletters online...you could have it emailed to you, or go to a website to read it (think we hosted on geocities or tripod). Both wrestling newsletters were independent of each other, and I used different nicknames on each. One was more a review and preview newsletter, where we would post reviews of the most recent shows/events, talk about current feuds, and talk about what we may think will happen in the next big event.

The other newsletter, was a news and rumours newsletter, with a few fun puzzles/competitions thrown in to keep things interesting. At the time, you had a few big name wrestling news and rumours websites, and a handful of small ones...I was a writer on one of the small ones. Sometimes we would get news and rumours from the big name websites, giving them credit where appropriate. Sometimes, we would hear things from people in the business...everyone had their sources of information. And sometimes we would make an educated guess on possible scenarios, based on current trends in the industry. It did get a bit cut-throat at times, with some newsletters claiming that they broke the news first, when it had already been published in other newsletters first. And you would even have some newsletters devote all of their time trying to rubbish the other newsletters for publishing false and misleading information. It was rumours...we did not always get it right.

Through a couple of readers of my first wrestling newsletter, I learned of a huge surprise in the works for one organisation, which could potentially lead to something happening at a big event coming up. I won't mention the surprise, but it involved a person from another sport. No other wrestling newsletter had reported it, so I included it as a rumour on the second wrestling newsletter. I was instantly rubbished by one of the major wrestling newsletters at the time, publishing a clearly nonsense rumour that would never happen...only for that very same newsletter to publish the exact same rumour two or three days later, and claim to be the first ones to publish it. This sort of stuff happened all the time, it did not bother me at all.

Anyway, I happened to have a few wrestlers who actually read my first newsletter...no big names as such, but a couple of lesser known wrestlers in the big organisations. I knew who they were, but refused to reveal their identities back then, and refuse to reveal them now. One of them let me know of an unknown fact from a major match a couple of years earlier (it was to do with an injury that happened during a part of the match). This fact had never been published anywhere else at the time. I mentioned that I wrote for another wrestling newsletter, that dealt with news and rumours, and asked if I could repeat the information. The wrestler said sure, but not to credit him. So I go ahead and publish the rumour.

Straight away I had another of the smaller wrestling newsletters say that it was nonsense. They said that it was impossible for the match to have continued, had the injury happened. They then started a smear campaign on the second newsletter, I was getting spam emails constantly, virus attempts originating from the competition, the competition even went so far as claiming that they had the full story of my wife of 10 years working as a hooker (don't ask, they were trying to find anything to smear me with). There was more sinister and disgusting stuff, but I won't write it here. Why it got so personal, I do not know, but the funny thing was that at the time, I was a 22 year old single university student, and if I had a wife of 10 years who was working as a hooker, I would have had to marry her when I was 12. But his smear campaign was working, our readership dropped by nearly 50%. It was time to get some revenge, although I had no idea just how far the revenge would end up reaching.

Firstly, I approached one of the bigger wrestling newsletters. They would often run ads at the bottom or rear of their newsletters, for "affiliated" newsletters. I organised a new affiliation with them, removing an affiliation they had with the competition. Small potatoes. I started promoting the second newsletter heavily on usenet, in some of the wrestling groups...which ultimately led to an increase in our email subscription base, greater than what it was before his smear campaign. This negated any effect that his smear campaign had...but I was hungry for more. I wanted to shove it where the sun don't shine, so I contacted those wrestlers who read my first newsletter. I explained the situation to them, and they were happy to help out. It took a couple of weeks, but eventually I was able to post a link to a 15 second video (hosted on a geocities webpage, as well as on a wrestling usenet group), where the wrestler at the centre of the injury rumour not only confirmed it, but gave a shoutout to my second newsletter. While it validated me and my information, it still didn't shut the other guy up.

Finally, a break. While the guy used an alias for his newsletter, he did actually mention his name a couple of times, and where in the US he attended university. Using this information, I was able to get a friend in the US to do some searching for me (attended that very same university), and discovered that the guy had actually completed a journalism degree several years earlier. Further research indicated that he was now working as a reporter for a regional newspaper in the US. His wrestling newsletter must just be a hobby. So I decided to send all of the information I had, his smear campaign etc, to the newspaper office. I don't know what, if anything, it would do...but it was worth a shot. About a month later, I got an email back from the newspaper, thanking me for the information. They discovered that he was using the newspaper's system to run the wrestling newsletter, which was against their policy, so they fired him. And because the newspaper was part of a chain of regional newspapers across the US, he was going to struggle to find another journalism job. The newsletter got shut down as well, because without the newspaper's system to run it, the guy had no way of continuing with the newsletter.

Side note...I ended up finishing with my newsletters not long after anyway. The first newsletter, as I was just a writer for it, I finished up with it when the owner of the newsletter decided to close it down (he didn't have the time to devote to it due to work commitments). The second one, I started off as just a writer/contributor, then took over their competitions, then eventually took over the whole newsletter (original owner didn't want to do it anymore). But in the end, I was finishing up at university, I had to move on with my career, so I closed it down.

(source) story by (/u/ZeroPenguinParty)

[fyeahkarenchen]

Karen Chen could not help herself. Even while trying to narrow her focus only to the free skate she was about to do at the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships, the bigger picture distracted her 17-year-old mind.

As she came out for her warm-up with the leading six skaters after the short program, Chen, in her first senior worlds, glanced at the overall standings on the video board in Helsinki’s Hartwall Arena. The numbers showed that her veteran teammate, Ashley Wagner, then 25, competing in her seventh worlds after winning silver the year before, had a free skate result that left her in danger of losing ground from her seventh place after the short program.

That meant the United States was in danger of not having a third women’s spot at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, which had happened at two other Olympics when countries earned entries, in 1994 and 2010.

It meant Chen, fifth after the short program, not only realized but also admitted knowing that in this individual sport, this performance wouldn’t be only about her.

That will also be true at the 2021 World Championships beginning Wednesday in Stockholm, where Chen and reigning U.S. women’s champion Bradie Tennell are trying to earn a third women’s entry for their country at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Whether the denouement is as dramatic as in 2017 is yet to be seen.

“2017 seems so long ago, but at the same time, when I close my eyes, I can remember my exact feelings,” Chen said via telephone a day before leaving for Sweden Friday.

“I understood what the stakes were: three spots for the Olympic team. So I did feel pressure. At the end of the day, when I stepped onto the ice and then got into my opening pose, all that started to melt away because my focus had to be just on skating my absolute best.”

Then as now, this is the math, for both the next year’s worlds and, every fourth year, for an upcoming Olympics: the top two U.S. women in the standings needed final places that added up to 13 or fewer to get the third spot.

The third U.S. skater in 2017, Mariah Bell, was not a factor after a 12th in the short program and a 13th-place free skate that would leave her 12th. Wagner’s error-filled (and 10th-place) free skate meant that as Chen took the ice, she felt there was little room for error.

“I definitely did not make her job any easier,” Wagner said then.

Chen reeled off her first eight jumps with ease before struggling on the final two, one a fall. She recovered to finish with a characteristically brilliant layback spin.

That turned out to be more than good enough, especially after reigning bronze medalist Anna Pogorilaya of Russia imploded in the free skate. Chen finished fourth and Wagner seventh. Wagner later tweeted her thanks to Chen for “saving America.”

It also turned out, fittingly, that the spot Chen saved was the one she eventually earned for the 2018 Olympics, joining Tennell and Mirai Nagasu in South Korea.

“I have my ups and downs for sure,” Chen said. “But after that performance, I was genuinely surprised about how I handled that [pressure]. Looking back at it now, it gives me confidence that if I could do it then, it is definitely in me to do it again.”

Chen has not been back to worlds since 2017. After a disappointing 11th at the 2018 Olympics, she withdrew from the 2018 worlds with a foot injury and boot issues. She missed the entire 2019 season with a stress fracture, then enrolled at Cornell University in the fall of 2019 but left after the pandemic hit, finishing her first year remotely while moving to Colorado Springs to rejoin her longtime coach Tammy Gambill. Chen is on leave this academic year and next.

“Coming off the year with the stress fracture, I wasn’t sure where I was going with my career or my life,” Chen said. “Then I decided to tack on school, which made my post-Olympic challenges even more challenging.

“I realized last year how much skating meant to me. I can’t be skating forever, so I wanted to go for another two years to try to make the Olympic team again, then refocus on school.”

Chen, third at this year’s U.S. Championships, got the second spot for Sweden over runner-up Amber Glenn based on criteria that take into account results at events over two seasons. The U.S. women did not have a third worlds/Olympic spot from 2009 through 2013, regained it from 2014 through 2018, lost it for 2019 and 2020 and had no chance for 2021 because the pandemic cancelled the 2020 worlds.

Coincidentally, Tennell also relocated to Colorado Springs last spring to work with a different coach, Tom Zakrajsek. Chen said although she and Tennell are often asked separately about regaining the third spot, they have discussed it only briefly with each other.

“There is pressure but there is nothing we can do about it,” Chen says, “What we can control is how we perform and train leading up to worlds.”

Can they reclaim the third spot? Based on the hypothetical (and highly unlikely) case that the three Russian and three Japanese women all skate cleanly, even clean performances by Tennell and Chen may leave them seventh and eighth, although a flawless Tennell would presumably have a shot at fifth even in a flawless field.

Without quads or triple axels, the programs Tennell and Chen did at 2021 nationals have substantially lower potential technical base values in the free skate than the 2021 nationals programs of the top two Russians, senior worlds rookies Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova, and the leading Japanese woman, Rika Kihira. The two U.S. women’s base values also are slightly below the potential numbers for the third Russian, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who struggled with a watered-down program at her nationals because she had been sidelined by COVID-19 a couple weeks earlier.

Tennell, who has been working on a triple axel, declined to say last week if it had become consistent enough to try it at worlds. She gave a sidelong answer to the question of whether she needed higher-value jumps to ever contend for a world or Olympic medal.

“I can only go out there and skate to the best of my ability, what I’m training every day,” Tennell said last week. “As long as I do that, I think I will be happy. What more can I ask of myself than my very best?

“If I’m so worried about what everybody else is doing, it’s not a good mental strategy for me. Of course, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a spot on that podium.”

A third Olympic spot, no matter how it comes about, would also be a worthy accomplishment.

[multiverseforger]

Dennis Dunphy was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. Dennis becomes an aspiring athlete who receives the strength augmentation treatments offered by Power Broker, Inc. Finding himself too strong now for normal sports, he becomes a professional wrestler and member of the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation (UCWF) along with other superheroes and supervillains such as the Beyonder, the Thing, and Screaming Mimi. He refuses to throw a fight with the Thing, and is defeated.[3] The Puppet Master later mentally compels him to attack the Thing.[4] Dunphy refuses the Power Broker's order to help kill Ms. Marvel. He reveals his addiction to the Power Broker's drug to the Thing, and goes through a painful withdrawal when the Power Broker cuts off his drug supply.[5]

After the fall of the UCWF, Dunphy becomes the Demolition Man and teams up with Captain America to investigate Power Broker, Inc. His costume is intentionally designed so the body of it is a duplicate of Daredevil's first costume, and the hood is a knock-off of Wolverine's. He successfully rescues Captain America from Karl Malus and helps Captain America catch him.[6] Dunphy is captured by the Power Broker and is subjected to further treatments which augment his strength further but damage his heart. While under the influence of the stimulant, he goes mad and attacks Captain America. Dunphy suffers a heart attack, his second augmentation is reversed and he is hospitalized.[7] Dunphy then takes a step back from superhero activity to take over Captain America's hotline.[volume & issue needed]

Soon after this, Steve Rogers is stripped of his Captain America costume by the Commission on Superhuman Activities (CSA) and goes missing. Demolition Man joins Falcon, Nomad, and Vagabond to search for Rogers. They discover Rogers, who had renamed himself simply "The Captain", and they all become a short-lived informal team. They defeat the Serpent Squad in their first outing.[8] D-Man aids the Captain, Falcon, and Nomad against Famine.[9] D-Man is nearly killed in battle by Titania.[10] He begins teaching Vagabond hand-to-hand combat, but is attacked by a jealous Nomad. He fights Anaconda and Slither of the Serpent Society.[11] He is attacked and poisoned by Viper, and mistakenly fights Battle Star. Dunphy is arrested by the CSA and held for questioning about The Captain's activities.[12]

When Dennis is finally released by the CSA, he seeks out the Captain, discovering that not only had his team disbanded, but that the East Coast Avengers team had also just disbanded and that the Captain is seeking new members. The Captain asks Demolition Man to join the Avengers and they immediately leave on a mission at the request of Battlestar. Battlestar's partner is John Walker, Captain America's replacement, who was captured by Flag-Smasher and his group ULTIMATUM. While Battlestar and the Captain investigated ULTIMATUM's Arctic base, Demolition Man is left with their plane. During the fight, the Captain discovers that Flag-Smasher's base contains a doomsday weapon (an electromagnetic pulse generator), and he orders Dunphy to set the plane on course to crash into the base and then bail out. Dennis sets the course, but then sees an enemy agent land on the plane. Dunphy elects to stay on the plane to ensure that it crashes. The plane explodes, apparently with Dunphy in it, and Captain America is unable to find any trace of him.[13]



In a later adventure with Jack Frost, Captain America sees what he believes to be Dunphy's body frozen in suspended animation in ice near the North Magnetic Pole in the Arctic. However, he is unable to free him.[14] Demolition Man survived the explosion, but suffered wounds that rendered him mute and in a stupor, and is discovered living among the Inuit. During a backup story to "Operation: Galactic Storm", he is rescued by U.S. Agent and the Falcon and recovers under Avengers' care.[15] In time he becomes a hero of a subterranean group of homeless people called the Zero People. Dennis assists the Avengers who are under attack by Morgan LeFay's forces.[16]

It was later established that Dunphy had become delusional and mentally unstable.[17] His intentions remain pure, but he had begun to believe that a "Cosmic Gamemaster" had asked him to retrieve the seven Infinity Gems, which D-Man carried out by stealing common jewelry. At Ben Urich's request, D-Man's hero Daredevil descends into the sewers and persuades Dennis to get some help.[18]

In Civil War: War Crimes, an unnamed newspaper carries the headline "D-Parted: D-Man On The Run After Whereabouts Revealed By Anonymous Tip".

Dennis was being considered as a "potential recruit" for the Initiative program, according to Civil War: Battle Damage Report.[19]

During the Dark Reign storyline, D-Man is shown to be serving in the U.S. military in his civilian identity and covertly in his Demolition Man costume. For a while, he inspires several of his fellow soldiers to operate covertly in costumes as well, but he puts a stop to it out of concern for their military careers. He continues operating by himself. How he recovered from the brain damage/mental instability he had been suffering from is unknown at this point.[20]

In a one-page strip in I Am An Avenger #2, D-man attends a picnic at Avengers Mansion and competes in a pie-eating contest, besting The Thing, Protector, and Valkyrie.[21]

D-Man made an appearance in New Avengers #7, while various heroes are being interviewed to be a nanny for Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. He appears to be spontaneously weeping and his only lines are "I am so lonely...", "I think I came off desperate before--" and "Does Captain America ever talk about me?". When Jessica Jones says her mind is made up on a nanny (Squirrel Girl), Cage quips "D-Man it is." to which she responds "Cute".[22]

Wonder Man recruits Demolition Man to join his Revengers.[23] All three Avengers team defeat Demolition Man and the rest of the Revengers and they are remanded to the Raft. Demolition Man claims the Grandmaster called him to reclaim the Infinity Gems from the Avengers and that the Avengers haven't been returning his calls leading him to be recruited into the Revengers.[24]

A brainwashed Henry Peter Gyrich chooses him to become the new Scourge of the Underworld.[25] Captain America tracks down the new Scourge and the two engage in an intense fight. During the altercation, Captain America recognizes his strength and voice and pleads with him to stop fighting. Demolition Man accuses Captain America of making deals with villains and providing them with new lives instead of punishment, and he takes control of the brawl and Captain America's shield. As Demolition Man is about to strike the killing blow, Sharon Carter arrives on the scene and fatally shoots him.[26]

Someone in Demolition Man's costume is seen as one of the heroes being mentored by Roderick Kingsley during AXIS. It is unclear if this is Dennis or someone else.[27]

During the Secret Wars storyline, Dennis is accidentally resurrected by a young sorcerer who mistakes the name "D-Man" for "demon". After visiting the Avengers Mansion and meeting with Edwin Jarvis and Rage, he has the best day of his life, just before being killed by the incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610.[28]

After the eight month ellipsis following Secret Wars, Demolition Man is seen as one of the partners of Sam Wilson (now the new Captain America). It is not explained how he recovered from his seemingly fatal injuries, but Sam simply remarks "He's a survivor". As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel event, Dennis started working for Captain America as a pilot, mechanic, technician, and field backup. Dennis also bought himself battle armor to "finally look cool".[29] He later returns to the UCWF for a special charity match against Battlestar, and the two men end up foiling an attempt to steal the money raised by the event. It is also revealed that he has a boyfriend.[30][31]

Lockjaw, the Inhuman's teleporting dog, recruits D-Man in an attempt to rescue Lockjaw's siblings. D-Man travels with Lockjaw across his home Earth and beyond. Eventually all the canine siblings gain a place of safety. One with the woman he loves, D-Man's elderly neighbor.[32]

D-Man is later seen as a security officer at the rebuilt Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane

[scotianostra]

Happy 33rd Birthday Andy Murray born in Glasgow on May 15, 1987, to Judy and William Murray.

Andrew Barron Murray grew up in Dunblane and began playing tennis at age 3. A former competitive tennis player, Judy coached Andy and his older brother, Jamie, in their early years.

In March 1996, while 8-year-old Murray was sitting in his classroom at Dunblane Primary School, an armed man entered the building, and shot and killed 17 people—16 students and one teacher—before committing suicide by turning the gun on himself. During the horrible event, Murray ran and hid in his headmaster's office. It still surprises me today that some people are unaware of this tumultuous thing happened in Andy's life and he picked himself up and achieved so much

Andy scored a major youth championship when he won Florida's Orange Bowl in his age group in 1999. In 2004, he became the world's No. 1 junior after winning the U.S. Open junior title. Later that year, he was named the BBC's "Young Sports Personality of the Year."

Shortly after becoming the youngest British player to compete in the Davis Cup, Murray made his professional debut in April 2005. In 2006, with new coach Brad Gilbert, Murray beat top-ranked Roger Federer in Round 2 of the Cincinnati Masters tournament. Also that year, he defeated Andy Roddick en route to winning the SAP Open for his first ATP title. A year later Murray claimed a second straight SAP Open and also won the St. Petersburg Open to break into the Top 10 rankings

Murray emerged in the tennis spotlight when he defeated Spanish sensation Rafael Nadal to reach the final of the 2008 U.S. Open, before losing to Federer. He ascended to No. 2 in the world in 2009, and finished runner-up at the Australian Open in both 2010 and 2011.

In 2012, Murray made it to the Wimbledon final for the first time with his semifinal win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the first home grown player to reach the final since 1938. However, Murray lost in the final to Federer, who claimed his seventh Wimbledon win.

Murray avenged his Wimbledon loss at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, held in London, where he beat Federer to take his first Olympic gold medal. That September, he continued to burn up the courts with an impressive run through the U.S. Open field. Murray scored an impressive victory over Novak Djokovic in a tough five sets to clinch his first Grand Slam title. becoming the first player from the British Isles since 1977—and the first British man since 1936—to win a Grand Slam singles tournament.

After losing to Djokovic at the 2013 Australian Open, Murray made history that summer by defeating the Serbian player to claim the Wimbledon men's singles championship. He was the first British male to win the tournament in 77 years and the second Scottish-born player to win Wimbledon since Harold Mahony in 1896 a gap of 117 years. 

Murray underwent back surgery in September 2013 following his loss in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. His performance was uneven for much of the 2014 season, though he made news by hiring former women's champion Amelie Mauresmo to be his coach.

Andy seemingly was back on track when he reached his fourth Australian Open final in early 2015. That March, he scored career victory No. 500 while competing at the Miami Open.

Murray followed with an impressive run at the 2015 French Open, battling back from a two-set deficit in the semifinals before succumbing to Djokovic. A few weeks later, he reached the semifinals of Wimbledon, but his hopes of advancing were cut short by the ageless Federer. Murray's subsequent fourth-round loss at the U.S. Open not only thwarted his last chance for a major title in 2015, it snapped his streak of 18 consecutive appearances in a Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Andy Murray began the 2016 season on a strong note, advancing to the Australian Open final before suffering another loss to his nemesis, Djokovic. However, he gained some revenge by defeating Djokovic to claim the Italian Open in May, and then sustained his high level of play through the French Open. With his semifinal win over defending champion Stan Wawrinka, Murray became the first British player to reach the French Open final since 1937. However, his bid to add another Slam title fell short when he wound up on the losing end of a blistering Djokovic onslaught once again.

In July 2016, Murray advanced to the semifinals at Wimbledon after defeating Jo Wilfried-Tsonga. In the final, he upended Milos Raonic, the first Canadian man to make it to the Wimbledon final, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6. The victory was Murray's third Grand Slam title.

The following month, Murray continued his sterling play by defeating Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro at the Rio Games, making him the first male tennis player to successfully defend his Olympic singles title.

Despite concerns over a lingering hip injury, Murray returned to Wimbledon in 2017 as the defending champion and progressed to the third round with straight set wins against Alexander Bublik and Dustin Brown.He dropped his first set of the tournament to Fabio Fognini but proceeded to the fourth round in four sets. Murray continued to the quarter final with a straight set victory against Benoit Paire. However, he was defeated in the quarter-final by Sam Querrey in five sets. Since then he has lost his world number one ranking and undergone surgery.

In March 2018 Murray lost his British number one ranking to Kyle Edmund for the first time since 2006.

In January 2019 a very emotional Murray announced at a press conference that his career was possibly over due to struggling physically for a "long time", particularly with his hip injury. He said that he had been suffering with hip pain on a daily basis, and that it caused him to struggle with tasks like putting his shoes and socks on.He spoke of the possibility of a second hip surgery, but expressed doubt this would be a viable option to prolong his career, merely allowing him to "have a better quality of life, and be out of pain"

He said he hoped to play on until at least Wimbledon but that the upcoming Australian Open could well be his last tournament, he later went out in the second round. Andy admitted "I'm not sure I can play through the pain for another four or five months"

The top American doubles player Bob Bryan urged Andy to have the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing Operation that helped him return to top flight tennis. Informing him that the BHR would improve his quality of life and may help him return to the professional tennis tour. The orthopedic surgeon who pioneered the treatment said in an interview he could forecast a return to the sport "in the high 90 per cent"  Andy had the surgery that Februar and on 7 March, Murray stated in an interview that he was now free of pain in his hip as a result of the surgery and may therefore return to playing competitive tennis, but that any potential Wimbledon return would be dependent on how his hip felt, and that he would not rush his comeback and may test his condition by playing doubles.

Andy has since played a number of doubles matches, the most anticipated was the dream pairing with Serena Williams at Wimbledon last year, they lost in the third round to the top seeds. He continued playing the doubles circuit till late that year before returning to singles, losing his first few matches was no surprise, this was about getting back to match fitness and he dropped down to the second tier "Challenger circuit" to regain his match fitness, winning his first match since January.

In October last year Andy made it to the final and won the European Open against three time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka 3-6, 6-4., 6-4. 

At the end of November 2019, a television documentary, Andy Murray: Resurfacing, was released on Amazon Prime, detailing Murray's various attempts to overcome his hip injury over a two-year period from his defeat at Wimbledon in 2017 to his doubles victory at Queen's Club in 2019. December saw him withdraw from the the Australian Open and the inaugural ATP Cup with a pelvic injury. 

Of course the world has stood still in the past few months, I follow Andy on Twitter and he is keeping fit and in good spirits, let's all hope he bounces back to his best after the Covid Crisis is over and top flight sport returns. In his personal life April 2015 saw Andy Murray marry longtime girlfriend Kim Sears at Dunblane Cathedral in his hometown. They had met at the U.S. Open in 2005, they have three bairns, Sophia, Edie, and Teddy. 

Murray is on the leadership team of Malaria No More UK, a charity that raises funds and awareness to save lives in Africa, and a global ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund.

[indipindy16]

Heyyyyy, so about that doc with the AU ideas.... (Please feed me I yearn for content)

im obsessed with the idea of monoma and aizawa being related to afo lol. you only see like 3 quirks in the whole series that are based on other quirks - what i would call ‘meta quirks,’ that would only have any function in a world of quirked people. so ofc these 3 quirks have to be related:

afo decided to have a bunch of kids, to see if he could make noumus out of them which retained their brains after being given a bunch of quirks. he impregnated a bunch of women lol, but he kept tabs on them. as soon as the kids turned 4 and presented their quirk, they would be kidnapped by the doctor and brought into the lab. most of the kids had quirks based on quirks (seeing quirks, stealing quirks, copying quirks, erasing quirks…) and are various ages. aizawa, monoma and midoriya were some of them, but aizawa got saved by his badass mother when he was still a kid, so he was already gone by the time midoriya and monoma came around. the two of them manage to escape while afo is still recovering from his fight with all might, and since monoma’s mother was killed by afo, he goes to live with midoriya and his mother. they go off the grid and run away from afo. in this au midoriya is quirkless, up until he meets all might and it goes as usual. umm could be from monoma’s pov, and include monoshin because that’s cute. basically after the sports festival, afo finds monoma again and in the summer camp they kidnap him instead of bakugou. (the reason why aizawa was never caught or taken back by afo is because he won the whole sports fest and became too famous/well protected to be easily stolen back - since monoma didn’t make the fight rounds, he’s a perfect target. afo only knew the kids by their quirks, he never actually met them, so he doesn’t realise that midoriya is one of his kids as well because mido has a quirk now.) anyway so after they kidnap monoma back, he and midoriya spill the beans to the ua faculty, aizawa has a midlife crisis over the fact that he now has younger siblings, and afo continues to be a dick who doesn’t pay child support.

just some sweets stuff as well:

Christmas cake: Japanese slang for an unmarried woman over 25 who is considered undesirable as a wife, in the same way that Christmas cakes are considered useless after Christmas Day.

Good thing for Jirou, she never cared much about being ‘desirable’ to the opposite sex anyway.

-> a momojirou story about jirou’s 26th birthday and momo reassuring her that she is the best gf ever, and that she loves her very much. pro hero gfs <3

*

like. the trope of aizawa adopting shinsou? well what about instead… hawks adopting tokoyami?? maybe he comes from a super religious family and they tried to exorcise the ‘demon’ from him, protective services put him in the foster system, and he ends up with really shitty foster families, and his quirk is considered ‘dangerous.’ but then our boy hawks swoops in and goes ‘u know what? i’m not letting my intern get disrespected like this’ and adopts him. obviously hawks is still young himself (22 i think), so he’s not very good at the whole parenting thing, but miruko helps him out. he becomes an older brother figure for tokoyami. gen found family fluff ensues

*

bEST JEANIST AS A TEENAGE FASHION ICON

thats it, thats the idea

*

HAIKYUU AU - no quirks. just volleyball

so the ua boys volleyball team is on the rocks. its been pretty much non-existent and turned to dust at this point. but, it once own the nationals.

izuku’s mum runs this second hand / antique / trinket store, and izuku helps out sometimes. one day, he finds some old sports tapes in the back and watches them - they’re of the year when ua was at nationals, and their striker, yagi toshinori, inspires izuku to play volleyball.

bakugo is on the school team and he threatens / bullies izuku not to join, so izuku has to train on his own. he learns shitty technique, but he ends up building some muscle by clearing out the beach.

izuku gets into ua, and when he goes to apply for the volleyball team, ofc bakugo picks a fight. the other first-years who join the team are todoroki, kaminari, shinsou, kirishima, and iida. there aren’t any second years - they all got expelled - but mirio and tamaki are on the team as third years, and nejirou is the team manager. their teacher sponsor is a new teacher this year, and it’s left ambiguous. there’s the whole ‘get over ur differences if u want to join’ thing, and then woohoo! team!

turns out their teacher sponsor is aizawa. he drags in the now-retired-due-to-injury yagi toshinori to be the coach. when aizawa went to ua, the volleyball team was too small to go to any tournaments - he’s determined to turn it around and let these kids live their dreams.

some ‘canon? what’s that?’ ideas:

just a really wholesome story about inko and mitsuki being besties. met in middle school or something, supported each other through everything… just gals being the best of pals...

or i mean u could make it gay, that’s always an option (and have izuku and katsuki grow up as actual bros, and actually be friendly to one another? what a shocker) - like, the two of them get sperm donors and are pregnant at the same time so the kids can be twins or something. and ofc you’d expect katsuki to be closest to mitsuki and for inko to be closest to izuku, but then to make it a TWIST add some great bonding between inko + katsuki and mitsuki + izuku!! i’ve never really seen any mitsuki + izuku bonding in stories before, so that’d be pretty cool

*

izuku gets hit by a villain’s quirk during a big villain attack when he’s 7, turning him part-cat. the villain dies during the attack, so they can’t erase his quirk’s effects - they’d have to surgically remove the ears and tail, or get an expensive quirk specialist in. izuku decides he likes being a nekomimi, so he keeps them and gets being part-cat officially registered as his quirk. he has better senses and agility, and he can talk to cats now i guess. also his eyes are cat eyes. he doesn’t pass the ua exam, so he goes into the general department instead, but he does really well in the sports festival and gets transferred into the hero course with shinsou. (this is all just because i need a valid excuse to make izuku have cat ears.)

some ‘future au’ ideas:

all of the pro heroes merch lines - deku’s ’t-shirt’ shirts, tokoyami’s edgy emo/goth hoodies, iida’s ingenium trainers, bakugou’s popping candy chocolate, todoroki’s own brand of scar cream, HAGAKURE’S CAMO COLLECTION OMG the possibilities are endless  

---i made hagakure’s camo for her bday drawing

(i use a strikethrough so i know which ideas i’ve used or posted anywhere. i think that once i put an idea on the internet, it’s probably free reign, so if you want to use any of these for fics or art go ahead. i’d just appreciate it is you could link back to me haha)

5 years after graduating from the General Studies department of UA, Hitoshi opened his own agency. As a private detective.

By the time he’s 25, he’s settled in and relatively comfortable with his career choice. So when his work phone rings one day and he’s still half-asleep he easily opens with, “Shinsou Detective Agency. Before you ask, I do not investigate cheating spouses or missing dogs and I do not screen potential employees for companies.” He paused. “I’ll investigate missing cats, though.”

The person on the other end took a harsh breath, like an almost-laugh, and responded gruffly, “Hm. Good to know if Jelly ever gets lost.”

-> aka shinsou is a PI and aizawa contacts him for help on a case. aizawa never sought out shinsou after the sports festival, being too busy with 1-a’s insane antics, and so shinsou went on to never become a hero. maybe he’s also a vigilante on the side? idk. anyway so yeah aizawa gives him temporary permission to use his quirk during the case. they investigate, blah blah, the point is that afterwards aizawa gets shinsou a licence and takes him on as a sidekick (the same way ingenium offered to koichi in vigilantes)

i have new ideas on the daily. this doc is just growing

keep in mind, i have given to you here only a few of the shortest ones. there are several huge paragraphs of full-au ideas (like where izuku has a quirk, and the entire story follows canon)

these are, ostensibly, ideas for fics that i never write because i’m lazy. but some of them i do end up using for art or comics, so... yeah. most of the comics i’ve posted were originally just little scripts in this doc. an example:

yamada and reformed!shirakumo are walking together, with coffees

shirakumo: so then i - oh, your phone’s wringing

(yamada’s ringtone is the nyancat song, and the contact name is ‘daddy’)

shirakumo: haha, you still call ur dad ‘daddy’? i thought you got over that in high school (taking a sip on the coffee)

yamada: (answering the phone, keeping eye contact with shirakumo) hey, shouta, what’s up?

shirakumo: (spits out coffee)

—- made this a comic on tumblr

damn this post is longer than i expected

whelp, i hope you liked it

[theartofdyingrp]

     H E N R Y  S O L A N O   -

age: thirty-five years old occupation: underboss affiliation: solano faceclaim: theo james jamie dornan availability: taken

The second born Solano son always knew he’d follow in his elder brother’s shadow. Henry didn’t resent this fact, rather he embraced it from a young age. The idea of being Adrian’s second-in-command, the one he went to when he wanted to get things done was exhilarating. As a child, Henry spent a great deal of time acting out; he hated sitting still in class and would punch anyone who even looked at him the wrong way. While his father was disappointed in his academic achievements, he fostered and encouraged the violent and reckless side that lived in Henry. If Adrian was going to be the calculated and collected Don, he needed someone willing to get his hands dirty for the cause.

Lillian was born and completed the family, with the addition of Lissa a few years later. The Solano household was rambunctious and loud, but Henry liked the chaos of it all. By the time he entered high school, Henry found himself playing sports to stay out of fights. His father told him, the older he got, the bigger the consequences. Even at fourteen, Henry knew that meant potential assault charges. He needed to find an outlet to keep his family’s name out of harms way; clocking rich kids with influential parents wasn’t the way to handle his energy.

Becoming attached to football in the autumn and soccer in the spring, Henry kept his grades up to stay on the teams which pleased his father tenfold. His dedication to sports even earned him a spot at UCLA, given his academics and low SAT scores weren’t anything special to consider. Four more years of sports and school, all leading up to what Henry’s ached for his entire life.

Luis Solano wasn’t going to give his children permission to train or work as assassins for the family. Despite the harms way they were in each day, the idea of risking his blood so brazenly was to tempt God in his eyes. Though, Henry was determined. After university, he worked as a collector, gathering debts owed in the form of cash, commodities, assets or punishments, never letting his father forget his truest desire for career advancement.

Getting shot in a drug deal gone wrong, however, seemed to ruin any chance Henry might’ve had. Lissa was able to remove the bullet from his leg, but the damage was done. From that night on, he walked with a limp.

Henry wasn’t going to let a simple injury with permanent repercussions ruin his entire being. He came to understand that it wasn’t practical to train as a stealth assailant when he could hardly walk straight without making some sort of sound, but that didn’t mean he was any less terrifying than before. The cane he walked with doubled as a weapon on jobs and Henry adjusted. If he couldn’t adapt, what good was he to the family?

When Luis fell ill and eventually asked Adrian to end it all, Henry knew his life would change now more than ever. Adrian would be ushered into leadership while fighting the guilt of ending their father’s life and Henry would have to keep it all from falling apart. Once again, he had to adapt to the situation life threw his way. Though, this time he was sure it wouldn’t come so naturally.

    C O N N E C T I O N S   -

adrian and lillian solano: siblings aaron and amelia solano: cousins

[dragonhrte]

Destiny? Chapter Nine: Where To

Author's Note:

Thank you so much for giving this work a read! Quick disclaimer, for all intents and purposes MHA/BNHA are not mine they do not belong to me. The manga and anime have inspired me to write this fiction and dialogue as well as events are given credit to the beautiful people who have blessed us with this series. Aside from standard story line events this work is mine. Don't forget to comment and heart! This story references events from previous chapters, if something does not make sense, feel free to reread from the beginning. I want this work to be as canon as possible! I want to give my readers a heads up that the next semester is coming up and I will probably have to pull back on the frequency that I post new chapters. There's also another story that I have in the works so be on the look out for that!

Please note that

*abc* is a sound effect

'abc' is internal thoughts of whomever

"abc" is dialogue

(abc) is a side note from yours truly ;)

~Love, DragonHearte

I'm sitting down at my desk waiting for homeroom to start after our impromptu three day weekend, hearing the various conversations going on around me from my fellow classmates, but not really listening to anything that they're saying specifically. Suddenly, Ida runs from his seat to the front of the room and exclaims, "Everyone, homeroom is about to start! Stop talking and get to your seats!" I look around the room and chuckle, 'The only one out of their seat right now is you Ida.'

As if he heard my thoughts Sero says, "Dude, you're literally the only one standing up..."

Ida zooms to his desk just as the door to the classroom slides open to reveal, Mr. Aizawa, face covered in bandages with small holes for his eyes and both of his arms in slings walking into the room.

"Mr.Aizawa?!" Myself and my classmates exclaimed.

"You're back way too early, pro-heroes are seriously hardcore." Kaminari says with a fearful look on his face.

Ida stands up while raising his hand and says, "On behalf of my classmates and I, I would like to say, we are glad to see you are doing well."

"Is it really safe to say that he's 'doing well'?" I mutter under my breath. 'I can't believe he showed up to class after all those injuries.'

"My injuries aren't the primary focus here. There's a more pressing matter at hand, because your fight is far from over." Mr. Aizawa says, his voice slightly muffled by the bandages covering his mouth.

"Our fight?" Bakugo questions in a raised tone of voice.

"Don't tell me..." Midoriya starts.

"More Villains?!" Mineta exclaims trembling in his chair.

"No nothing like that, it's the matter of the U.A's Sports Festival coming up soon!" Mr. Aizawa declared.

"That's such a normal school activity!" My classmates and myself shout in relief, at hearing such a mundane event.

“Wait a second, is it a good idea right after a villain attack?” Jirou, a girl with a punk rock type bob asks.

“Well, the idea is to showcase U.A’s capability of crisis management, that the school is safe despite the recent attack. The higher ups are trying to deter any doubt of their competence.That’s exactly why we should. We have to show U.A. can deal with a crisis properly. Also there will be five times the normal security measures in place. Our sports festival is the best chance you’ll get, and it won’t get cancelled over a few villains.” 

“Are you sure about that?” Mineta says with worry apparent on his face.

“Mineta have you seriously never seen U.A.’s sports festival before?” Deku turns his head to look in disbelief.

“Of course I have. I didn’t mean that I’ve never seen it before!” Mineta exclaims frantically trying to explain himself.

‘I’ve heard of the U.A. sports festival, but I haven’t actually watched it before…’ I frown at the realization, and then hear Mr. Aizawa continue talking, “The U.A. sports festival is equivalent to what the Olympics used to be in their former glory, as far as Japan is concerned.”

“The top heroes of the nation will be watching right?” Mineta frets over this particular bit of information.

“Yes, they’re acting as scouts.” Yaoyorozu replies.

“They’ll scout us as potential future sidekicks for after we graduate.” Kaminari adds.

“Yeah, but a lot of those sidekicks never go solo. They’re stuck as sidekicks forever, you’ll probably be one of them you dunce.” Jirou retorts.

“Getting picked by a big-name hero means an important boost in popularity, you’ll also acquire valuable experience. Your time is limited so making an impression now will help pave the way towards your futures as heroes. This is an annual event, so overall you’ve got three shots, make them count.”

Modern Lit is over and everyone’s abuzz about the upcoming sports festival, they’re lingering in the classroom discussing how the results will affect their careers as pros. It’s a completely different energy than the residual worry over the recent villain attack. The excitement is contagious and I feel myself getting a bit giddy as well, ‘I’m actually a bit excited, I wonder how similar the sports festival is to the Olympics…’ I glance at the rest of my classmates that are still conversing with one another and walk over to Ashido, before I can say anything to her, Ashido says, “Uraraka, what’s up you look a bit different?”

Mineta looks over at Uraraka who has a manic expression on her face, brows drawn together, mouth spread into a too-wide smile and eyes touched with a tad too much determination. “Is she on her-” Mineta doesn’t get the rest of his sentence out before Tsuyu slaps him across the face with her abnormally long tongue.

“Just to let everyone know, I’m gonna frickin’ crush this!” Uraraka exclaims with an enthusiastic fist pump into the air.

“I’m sure you will, I’m just a bit worried about your rapid change in demeanor...” Kirishima says  muttering the second-half of his statement to himself with a less enthusiastic fist pump.

I chuckle and widen my eyes at the slight rumble from my stomach. ‘Okay, okay…’ I think as I walk out the door of the classroom.

I have already been eating for a few minutes by myself before Kirishima places his tray of food down next to me. I look up and smile when I see the other members of our group approaching the table as well. Kaminari and Sero are already engrossed in a conversation when they arrive at the table, sitting across from Kirishima and me. Ashido skips over to the table, a smile on her face and plops down next to me.

“I’m glad we got the chance to hang out on Friday.” Ashido says.

“Yeah, I am too.” I reply.

Kirishima pipes up and says, “I saw the pictures you posted on social media, Ashido, they were nice.”

I turn my head and give Ashido a questioning look. She smiles at me while pulling out her phone and showing me the post. I laugh when she swipes to view the silly picture we took, the whipped cream, white and fluffy, above my lips. “Can you tag me?” I ask and then she nods, and edits the photo for me to insert my social media handle into. The conversation continues and has a light-hearted feel to it, everyone else has shared what they did on friday for their break when Kirishima asks Bakugo, “Hey man, what did you do for your day off?”

Bakugo huffs, and says, “I trained, and did homework, obviously I’m not gonna slack off just because we don’t have school.” as he says this, his eyes flit to mine in a side-glare and I feel my eye twitch at the slight jab and the slight pulse of warmth at my hip, but before I can say anything Ashido wraps an arm around me squeezing me gently and says, “Well, some of us need a bit R&R after something like that.” I mirror her actions and add, “Some of us need a break from the same mundane routine everyday.” I feel a moment of triumph when his expression sours, ‘Do you feel it too?’ I think to myself, of the fading warmth at my hip.

I’ve just sat down at the table after throwing my garbage away and putting my tray on the designated cleaning station when the bell rings, signaling the end of the lunch period. The remainder of the day passes by without much excitement, ‘Honestly I think even after that day off I’m still feeling a bit out of sorts. Hopefully this uneasy feeling will fade with a few more days of routine training.’ I think to myself as I pack up my backpack to head home after the last period of the day. On my way towards the entrance of the school I spot Ashido and Kirishima, I jog up to them and ask, “Hey, mind if I walk with you guys?”

Kirishima turns to me his sharp pearly whites on display with his ever-present smile and says, “Nope.”

“Good” I reply and we walk together Kirishima talking about how pumped he is for the sports festival and Ashido joining in with her expressive gestures. After walking together for a couple of minutes Kirishima starts to slow his pace and says, “This is where I head off, I’ll see you tomorrow.” he gives a short wave as he turns and walks away. Ashido and I continue walking and talking the rest of the way until we both start to slow down, “You already know that I have to go home this way.” I motion down the street in the direction of my apartment with a slight chuckle and start walking away when Ashido shouts, “Hey, is it okay if I add you to the group chat?”

I stop, turn around and answer back, “Sure I don’t see why not. Bye Ashido!”

“Bye Evangeline!” She exclaims waving her arms in parting, I turn back around and jog the rest of the way to the apartment, wanting to get my homework done quickly.

I open the door to the apartment taking my shoes off and pad into my room, and drop my backpack on the floor next to my desk. I take off my uniform, changing into something more casual and putting the uniform into the hamper. I unlock my phone and see that I’ve gotten quite a number of notifications. I check my messages and see that Max texted me, I look at that one first.

Max: “So… I’m going out with some of my coworkers tonight, they’re complaining that I don’t hang out with them enough. There’s some cash, in the usual spot behind the knife rack, that you can use to order out…”

I quickly type out my response,

Me: “Okay, thank you and enjoy!”

I open up the other message and see Ashido’s number listed among other unknown ones. ‘Must be the group chat.’ there’s a barrage of messages popping up on the screen I put my phone down and take out my homework for the day. It’s taking me a bit longer than usual because my phone notifications keep alerting me of another text message, the first time it’s from Max in response to my previous message. However, the rest are all from the group chat. ‘I don’t want to turn the ringer off, because Max might need to get a hold of me, but I can’t figure out a way to stop the incessant noises coming from my phone.’ After a few minutes of this continued internal struggle I decide, ‘You know what?! I’ll just put it on vibrate! It’ll be less distracting, and I can still be available in case Max wants to contact me.’ my homework attempts are going much better now. Yes, there is the constant vibration of my phone, but a quick glance at the screen showing the group chat and not Max lets me resume my studies in some semblance of peace. I finally finish my homework and walk into the kitchen moving the knife rack, removing the cash, and put my jacket on, and grab my house key. ‘I saw a ramen shop on my way to school the other day. Maybe someone in the group chat knows of a good one.’ I open up the chat and type out my question.

Me: “Hey, I was wondering if anyone can recommend a good ramen shop near the school?”

Ashido: “I’m not sure exactly which one to recommend , maybe someone else knows. Oh, can everyone introduce themselves before texting real quick, so that Evangeline can know who you are.”

0XX-XXX-XXXX: “This is Kirishima I like the one we passed by while we were walking this afternoon, before I turned off.”

0X-XXXX-XXXX: “Sero here, um I think I know which one you’re talking about it should be called The Ramen Shop…”

(I made the shop name up if there is an actual ramen shop that’s named this, it’s merely a coincidence.)

0X-XXXX-XXXX: “Sup, this is Kaminari, there’s a place I know called Cup o’ Noods, it’s really good too.”

I quickly add the unknown numbers to my contact list. There was one more unknown number that was not claimed, ‘That must be Bakugo’s number…’ I go back to the group chat and view the new messages.

Sero: “Kaminari, seriously dude?”

Kirishima: “Kaminari that’s not very manly...😤”

Kaminari: “It’s a legit ramen shop I swear!”

Ashido: “Mhmm. Yeah, right. Anyways, I hope we were of some help Evangeline.”

Me: “Yep, thanks see you guys tomorrow.”

I close the chat and put my shoes on before walking out the door, locking it behind me. The air has a bit of a chill to it as I leave the stairwell of the apartment complex. Walking at a brisk pace taking the familiar path towards school. I slow down as I come to the intersection where Kirishima had branched off. ‘The Ramen Shop should be somewhere near here.’ I sniff the air, a delicious aroma meeting my nose and I search for the source. I read the shop name listed above the door, “The Ramen Shop” and hurry to the door. Smiling to myself at having found my destination I open the door and walk in, the cozy atmosphere enveloping me immediately. I breathe in all the different aromas and feel my mouth water. ‘It smells so good, I can’t wait to see if it tastes as good as it smells.’ Looking around I notice the shop is basically full except for a sparse peppering of empty chairs at the counter. I look up at the menu, the vast variety of options listed above me, and then walk up to the counter give them my order, and pay. I sit down in one of the unoccupied chairs and scroll through my social media while waiting for my order to be ready.

The man from behind the counter calls my name and I stand up, getting my ramen and sitting down at my chosen booth. I take a quick picture and send it to the group chat.

Me: “I found the place. Thank you!”

Kirishima: “Damn, that looks so good. I’m a bit jealous.”

Sero: “Same man.”

Kaminari: “🤤”

I put my phone down and dig in, the food does not disappoint. The hot moist noodles contrast with the slightly crisp vegetable slices all in a savory broth that takes me away and before I know it I have a clean bowl. By the time I finish I have a clean bowl and a stomach that feels as though it’s about to burst but it’s all worth it. I scooch out of the booth and make my way back home. The warmth from my meal keeps me toasty the whole way to the apartment. I unlock the door and slip my shoes off. I walk to the shelf that has the rainy day jar and put the change from tonight inside.

After a quick shower and changing into pajamas I nestle into the covers tired from the excitement of today.

[withasideoficing]

Chapters (Part One)

Chapters- Part One- Things Change in the Blink of an Eyelid

Part One Summary:  Cora Owens was raise on the ball fields of New Jersey. Now living in Columbus and a member of the US National Softball Team, a potentially career ending injury at the World Championships puts her dreams on the line. Cora’s had only one focus since she was a kid, and that’s get a medal at the Olympics. Enter Seth Jones. 

Features: Backstory and brief introduction of Seth. Non-graphic depiction of injury; mention of surgery and physical therapy 

Notes: I’ve been kicking this idea around for a while. It started as your typical imagine, but I opted to make it a story with a named character. I added some more detail. Forgive any conversions from “you” and “Y/N” that a missed, because like I said, it was originally going to be a normal imagine. I just kinda jumped right into it with some of it. 

Word Count: 2k

From the time Cora Owens could walk, she had a glove on one hand and a ball in the other. She was a Jersey girl through and through, raised on the Mets, the Jets, and the Devils. Her father had played ball, but injury had sidelined him from the big leagues when she was five. He had coached her through her childhood. If Cora was on a ball field, her father was there watching. 

Summers were made for being out on the ball field. Softball was her life. There was nothing like the smell in the air on a spring morning. The fresh morning dew that signaled a perfect day to play ball.  The ball field was a second home. As a kid, she dreamed of being in the Olympics, only for that dream to end up on the back-burner when it was removed from the Olympics after the ‘08 games. But with the sport set to make a return in 2020, Cora and the women she played with were determined. 

Cora had been on the national team since she was eighteen. Cora had played for Oklahoma State, bringing home the national championship twice while she was there. She had settled in Columbus, Ohio, finding a job that was flexible with her schedule while playing for the national team. 

Until the World Championships in Japan. In a game against Australia, everything came crashing down. Cora had been caught in a rundown. That wasn’t abnormal. What was abnormal was the pain that ran up her leg after she slid back into third. Cora curled up as she bit back a scream. She had broken bones before, but it had never felt that painful. The training staff and coaches jumped into action to get on the field and get to her. 

“Can you sit up?” the trainer asked her. In spite of her pain, Cora nodded and sat up with the trainer’s help.  

“Let’s try getting you to stand now,” the trainer said. With the help of one of the coaches they got Cora up. When she tried to put pressure on her leg, she almost collapsed back down to the ground with the pain in her knee. For the first time since the announcement about softball being back in the 2020 games, Cora saw her dreams slipping from her grasp. She could only imagine the disappointment her father would have.

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

When all was said and done, Cora was done for the tournament at the very least. Having to sit on the sidelines while her team played? That wasn’t something she was used to doing. The victory for her was bittersweet. The team had gone to dinner to celebrate, one of their last nights in Japan before heading home. 

“Hey, at least we won, right?” Sarah asked. Cora just glared at the bubbly redhead. Sarah had a knack for trying to find the silver lining in everything. She shrunk back, feeling the annoyance radiating off the captain.

“Yeah. At least we won,” Cora said flatly. She grabbed her crutches from where they sat beside her and went outside. 

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

Cora was quiet the whole journey back to the US. Once she was home, she finally let herself break. Her childhood dream was within reach and fate was standing right there, seeming ready to snatch it away from her. Hot tears slid down her face as she curled up on her couch. 

“It’s not fair. It’s not fair!” she cried. She could almost hear her dad’s voice saying “Nothing is fair kiddo. You think it’s a ball and the ump says it’s a strike and you’re out. Sometimes, that’s just the way it goes. You just go out there and do your best next time.” Her dad had always been one to try to come up with an analogy tied to softball, even if it didn’t make much sense. 

“Pops, I need your advice,” she said to the empty room. A sob escaped from her. Days like that were the hardest. Almost on cue, her phone lit up with a call from her mom.

“Hello?” Cora asked, her voice low from crying.

“Hey sweetie, just checking up on you. You never texted that you got home,” her mother’s voice came. 

“Yeah...yeah got home not too long ago. Didn’t mean to make you worry ma. I had things to do the second I walked in the door,” Cora said. ‘Like wallow in self pity,’ she thought. The two fell into conversation, her mother asking about the trip before she asked about the injury. Cora was quiet for a minute.

“Now, Cora Grace, I know you’re not going to just give up just because they think you’re done,” her mother said. Evelyn Owens was many things. She was a loving mother, a devoted wife, and above all else, she was where her daughter got her stubborn streak.

“What if they’re right ma? What if I never play again? What then? If I can’t play, who am I? I want to make Pops proud,” Cora said, the words flying out of her mouth rapidly. Her mother sighed. 

“He would be so proud of you. Cora, even if you can’t play again, he would be so proud of you. Captain of the US National Team, you brought a national title to your school. Baby, you’ve accomplished so much. Your father would be so proud of you, Olympics or no Olympics,” she said. Cora let out a sob.

“I just wish he was here,” she cried. She heard her mother sniffle, a telltale sign that she was crying too.

“Me too, baby, me too,” her mother said quietly. Cora spoke to her mother for a while longer before she had to hang up. As she looked around her apartment, her eyes landed on the picture frame that sat on the entertainment stand by the television. It was one of the last photos she had with her father. She stood in her maroon jersey, her parents on either side while she held a bouquet of flowers on senior day in high school five years prior, the frame inscribed with ‘Cora Owens #19 Class of 2013’ across the bottom. Cora sighed as she stood up and grabbed her crutches, ready to go take a nap. 

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

The next morning, Cora awoke bright and early. She still had a few days off work for recovery from travelling. The first thing she did was make an appointment to see an orthopedic doctor. By some miracle, she was able to get an appointment that day. 

She was worried. One of her friends was driving her to her appointments, because driving, as it turned out, was difficult to do with a messed up knee. She filled out the paperwork when she got there and sat waiting, her hand tapping her thigh to the beat of the music that was playing softly in the waiting room. 

“Cora, knock it off,” Cassidy said. 

“Sorry...just, nervous I guess? What if he says I can never play again?” she asked, voicing the fear she’d had since you went down. Cass’ expression softened.

“Cor, I doubt that will happen,” she said, trying to reassure her. 

“I’m not so sure,” Cora replied. She had had a restless night of sleep. Between the pain if she moved the wrong way and the nagging thought that her time as a softball player was done, it had been a long night. 

“Ms. Owens? Dr. Ashford is ready to see you,” a nurse said. They were taking x-rays first. When the doctor came in, he put the images up for her to see. 

“Even with surgery, I’m not sure you’ll be able to play again, at least not competitively, without aggravating the injury. Torn ACLs can be career ending, as I’m sure you know. We’ll have to see how your recovery goes, but with how severe the tear is, I’m not sure a full return will be possible for you,” he said. Cora just nodded. 

She felt like everything was crumbling around her. It was, without a doubt, the worst case scenario for her. Softball was part of her. If she couldn’t lace up her cleats and play anymore, who she? Softball had been her world since she was a child, looking forward to the weather breaking in the spring each year. Now everything was in jeopardy, including her Olympic dreams. 

“So, when can we do this? Because I’m not giving up,” Cora said. 

“The earliest we can get you in for surgery is Monday morning,” he said. She took a breath, trying to steady herself.

“Let’s do it,” she said.

“We’ll get you sorted up front,” he said. Cora took a moment to collect herself. When she returned to the waiting room, she didn’t say a word to Cassidy before setting up the appointment for her surgery. It wasn’t until they got to Cassidy’s car that she broke the silence.

“What’s the verdict Owens?” the shorter woman asked. Cora sighed. This was not a conversation she wanted to have. Not with Cassidy, not with anyone. 

“Surgery. Even then...Dr. Ashford isn’t sure I can play again. I did quite a number on my knee,” Cora said. She was trying to keep the emotion out of her voice. 

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

August turned into September. Cora had her surgery and were in the midst of therapy to rehab it. She were frustrated with her progress. It seemed for every step forward, it was another two back with setbacks. 

Cora was at her usual Monday appointment, but this time, one of the other patients had someone with her. He looked vaguely familiar but she couldn’t place it where she knew him from. 

“When can I start playing again?” she asked. Her physical therapist sighed. 

“Cora, you might not play again. We’ve talked about this,” she said. 

“I will play again,” she told her, the tone of her voice even and sure. Cora wouldn’t accept any other outcome. 

“With how much damage was done...going back out there could do more harm,” she explained. Cora just stared her down. 

“I don’t care what happens. All I know is in 2020, I will be at the Olympics. I will be the captain of the team. And we will bring home a gold medal,” Cora snapped. Cora was in a mood and her physical therapist wasn’t about to argue with her. Cora was far from the first stubborn patient she’d had. As her session went on, the woman who was with the other physical therapist took her spot on the next table next to Cora. 

“Oh, don’t pay any mind to her, she’s a bit of a pessimist,” the woman said. Cora laughed.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” she replied. 

“What brings you here? Some kind of exciting story I’m sure,” she said.

“I messed up my knee playing softball in Japan,” Cora told her. 

“That’s definitely more exciting that what I did. I slipped taking the trash out and hurt my knee. Embarrassing really,” she said. The two of them fell into conversation,  the person who had come with her sitting silently. Cora still weren’t sure why he looked familiar.

“Oh, where are my manners. My name is Amy. This is my son, Seth,” she said.

“I’m Cora,” Cora said. That was when it clicked for Cora. Seth was Seth Jones from the Columbus Blue Jackets.  She wasn't sure what to do with that information. She followed hockey, but her main team was the Devils and she wasn’t too up to date on the rosters of other teams. 

“How long have you played softball?” Amy asked. Cora smiled.

“My whole life. I was practically raised on the ball field,” Cora told her. The two of them fell into conversation about her softball career and what had led up to her injury. She was easy to talk to and for once, someone wasn’t telling her to consider the possibility that she wasn’t going to be able to play again. 

Before long, her appointment was over. Cora was waiting for her ride to show up. She hated the loss of independence that came with not being allowed to drive for a while. When Cassidy showed up, Cora just shook her head when she asked how the appointment was.

“If one more person tells me I might never play again, I’m going to scream,” Cora said to her. 

“You do realize that is a possibility, right?” she asked.

“Cass, I’m not accepting it as a possibility until never playing again is the only option left on the table,”she said as Cassidy pulled out of the lot.

[stephenjcmes]

HELLO HELLO!

NAME/ALIAS: Sami or Sam. Some people call me Sami Sweetheart ❤️

TIMEZONE: MST

RANDOM FACT: I’ve lost count of the amount of tattoos I have. My favorite drink during flights is a mimosa (or five). I haven’t had a natural hair color in at least 5 years. Bath bombs are the best. Literally. Treat yourselves! I’ve been on a Marvel kick thanks to Disney + lol.

TAGGING: @miamiintros​

OWEN LEWIS

BIOGRAPHY: Read Here.

––– chris evans, 34, male, he/him // in COCONUT GROVE, you’ll find OWEN LEWIS who’s lived there for THIRTY-FOUR YEARS and they spend their days working as FIREFIGHTER. They’ve been described as RECORD PLAYERS SPINNING B SIDES OF OLD 45’S, WORN JEANS, AN ALWAYS EMPTY FRIDGE, A MEDICINE CABINET FULL OF DOCTOR’S ORDERS by the people that know them. Which makes sense when you consider that they can be ADAPTABLE + COMPASSIONATE but also ALOOF + DEPRECIATING. –––

BACKGROUND: Born and raised in Miami he grew up wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps. The man was a well known and highly respected journalist, which Owen, who idolized his old man, would collect all the clippings of his articles and keep them in a book. It was around when he started playing sports and becoming very good that he had the realization that he didn’t really have the talent for writing. He pursued football and won championships with his high school team but after graduation he turned to public service rather than going on to university. It was a big fight between his father and himself because his father believed he could’ve gone all the way to the NFL and considered it wasted potential. They were at odds ever since that moment. Once he became a firefighter he went on to coach football at the local high school and eventually at a community college. He loves the sport and wants to help the youth succeed. About 3 to 4 years into his career his got stuck in an apartment building during a rescue and had to jump out of the 16th story window to escape the fire. The near death experience left him scarred and he suffered with night terrors for years. Owen would wake up thrashing and screaming sometimes and he nearly hurt his girlfriend at the time. It caused him to stay away from permanent relationships for fears of what could happen out of his control. Once whomever he was seeing would fall asleep he would either slip out or go sleep on the coach, and if he was ever questioned on his behavior he would become evasive and end the relationship. He didn’t want to lose his job so he kept quiet and started therapy and eventually things got a bit better. Currently he still struggles a bit and the night terrors aren’t very frequent at all anymore but he still has trouble connecting into any permanent relationship.

HEADCANONS: Here we gooo!

The relationship Owen has with his father is so strained and they haven’t spoken in years since he took a different path in life that his father didn’t want for him. They’ve avoided each other for years, mostly Owen avoiding him and spending time with his mother during holiday visits and. Or calling her once in a while to check-in. Whenever he and his dad do talk, his father is fairly engaging but Owen remains a bit bitter. What he doesn’t know is that his father keeps a collection of all of Owens successes, whether it’s from work and rescues he does with the firehouse or wins with his football team he coaches his father keeps a collection of all the news clippings.

When he ran and jumped out of the 16th story window, he had resigned to the fact that he was likely going to die because it was either going to be the fire that got him or the fall from 16 stories down. When he woke up in the hospital with nothing much more than scratches and a separated shoulder he was shocked and still doesn’t understand the second chance. It’s something he sometimes contemplates, wondering if he’s doing enough with his life. What saved him was that he landed on the roof of the building next door a few stories down.

For a short time, somewhere between one and two years, after his near death experience he got hooked on pain killers. Owen was recovering from the injury to his shoulder and went on a bit of a downward spiral until a friend helped him get into therapy and ween himself off the prescription medications. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS: 

Siblings — I never specified in his bio about siblings because I wanted it to be as open as possible for plotting. I’ve envisioned that he has two younger siblings. The gender doesn’t matter to me, I would just love to have some family connections for him!

Best friend — I would love for this connection to be with someone he’s known most of his life, since high school or so, that way they could’ve gone through all the major things in life at each other’s side.

Childhood friends — People from his neighborhood, school, or from the football team.

Friends — Give him all the friends please! I love me some great brotps! Male or female!

Coworkers — Anyone that would work through the firehouse! Fellow firefighters, paramedics, or clerical staff.

Past flings — Since he doesn’t generally have any relationships that last more than a few months he would have had quite a few flings in his life. 

Current flings — Anyone he might’ve dated recently, within the past year or is currently in the mix of things with!

Confidant — This is a very very wanted connection because this person would be the one that he’s spoken with about his issues and they helped him in the past to straighten himself out. Such as supporting him as he weened off the medications and also helping him get into therapy. 

JESSICA WINTERS

BIOGRAPHY: Read here.

––– jenna dewan, 32, female, she/her // in SOUTH BEACH, you’ll find JESSICA WINTERS who’s lived there for THIRTY-TWO YEARS and they spend their days working as OWNER OF BODICE NIGHTCLUB. They’ve been described as CLAW MARKS IN ANYTHING SHE’S HAD TO LET GO OF, MISSED CALLS AND UNHEARD VOICEMAILS, RED SOLED HEELS PAIRED WITH JEANS, AND LAST NIGHT’S TAKEOUT CONTAINERS SCATTERED ON THE COFFEE TABLE by the people that know them. Which makes sense when you consider that they can be HARDWORKING + ADAPTABLE but also INSECURE + CLINGY. –––

BACKGROUND: Growing up in Miami, Jessica thought her childhood was pretty average and a bit boring. Her family had an image of being very clean cut and fit into the middle class neighborhood so well that they went unnoticed. With her father being the only member of the family bringing in an income, they lived a bit beyond their actual means. So in school she was unpopular because she didn’t have the latest looks or the fanciest things, her parents couldn’t afford them for her. It was only the start of the social bullying she faced, it got worse when her father’s affair happened and her mother seemingly disappeared from Miami and their lives after dropping her and her younger brother off at their father’s mistress’s house and then burning down the house she’d grown up in. It was a culture shock to go from struggling for a decent meal and a new pair of shoes to live in a mansion, thanks to the woman her father had been seeing. The mistress was a best selling author in the romance genre, she had an expensive estate complete with staff and being completely lost... Jessica took advantage. Eventually her father married the author but then also eventually ended up having an affair on her too. Jessica was out of the house by then and in college, attending the University of Miami too chicken to pursue her real dream in art and painting and instead majored in business. During college she met a man she would marry after they graduated, she started her own business, a nightclub on South Beach named Bodice with her best friend, and lived in a bit of bliss for a while. Eventually, Jessica’s insecurities and issues sabotaged her marriage and he filed for divorce, unable to put up with her anymore. She of course didn’t make it easy on him and prolonged the proceedings as long as possible, and even once it’s been finalized she still can’t leave him alone as they “try” to move on. 

HEADCANONS: Here we gooo!

During her teenage years when she struggled with first being poor and not fitting in, then with what happened to her family, Jessica found her escape into art. She enjoyed painting and visiting the art district, spent many days in Wynwood and dreamed of one day being an artist for a living. Often she would walk through galleries and speak with the curators to pick their brains, and sometimes she would be lucky to meet and talk with the artists themselves. When it came to actually pursuing her dream and talent she chickened out, her insecurities got the better of her, but she still very much supports the art scene.

The nightclub she co-owns and started up with her best friend is Bodice and she didn’t want it to just be another club on the strip. It’s got burlesque dancers that perform shows a few nights each week, two floors plus a large patio that offers a beautiful view of the beach and ocean. It’s a place thats a bit of a mix of lounge, nightclub, theater, and bar.

Once her marriage deteriorated and she ended up a divorcee, Jessica began drinking too much and partying too hard. She had her license taken away from too many DUIs and had one too many one night stands and flings to try and cure her loneliness and soothe the constant ache of her abandonment issues. Now she has to get around by way of driver and hates it because it makes her feel similar to her first step mother, the famous author. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS: 

Younger brother — I didn’t name him in her bio to give anyone interested a bit of freedom but he’s a couple of years younger and they were really close as kids. She used to look after him and they clung to each other through all their family drama and trauma. 

Friends — Honestly, give me all the brotps imaginable! I live for them!

Childhood friends — Before her parents divorce and she was dropped off at the ritzy author’s mansion, Jessica lived in an average middle class neighborhood and would spend the days running around with the kids in the neighborhood!

School friends — Anyone that she could’ve gone to elementary or high school with! They were friends and social while there but didn’t really live in close neighborhoods or near each other.

Petty drama — I didn’t want to label this as bullies or tormenters but these would be people she didn’t get along with at school. The girls that back then would give her shit about not quite fitting in or give her a hard time about the family drama. It was a scandal given that the author was famous, so it made the local social pages. 

Employees — Dancers, bartenders, DJs, manager, accountant, and really anyone that would be interested in working at Bodice.

Flings — Since her divorce Jess has been careless but in need of some kind of affection and validation. She had a few short lived attempts at trying to move on.

One night stands — Pretty much the same as flings. Basically she needed the arms and affection of someone for a night.

I tried to keep these short and reasonable! I’m always up for plotting and chatting so always feel free to message me at any time! I’m happy to share my discord with anyone as well :)

[thesportssoundoff]

“It’s all about the Eraser vs the SOG, dudes” UFC 241 Preview

Joey

August 12th, 2019

So this card is great! Seriously I lack a greater word to describe this card besides great. In many ways, this card is an old school style UFC card. You have a tremendous title fight (arguably the GOAT if not a top 5 fighter of all time) and the best UFC HW ever in terms of resume with a co-main event that isn't a title fight but pits two superstars against one another in a strikers delight. Paulo Costa vs Yoel Romero is legit a main event anywhere else in the world sans PPV and Ian Heinisch vs Derek Brunson would be a solid co-main event on any ESPN card they could put on. Throw in a really great FW fight between kickboxer Benito Lopez and super well rounded Sodiq Yusuff. The prelims aren't quite as name heavy and are hurt by the loss of John Makdessi BUT it's hard to knock a slate that features two really good bantamweight fights in Cory Sandhagen vs Raphael Assuncao and Manny Bermudez vs Casey Kenney. Even the return of prospect Devonte Smith is worth keeping an eye on despite the opponent change. The ESPN+ portion of the prelims are okay I suppose as Sabino Mazo vs Shana Dobson and Brandon Davis vs Kyung Ho Kang figures to be a fun as hell action fight. After the poor on paper UFC 240, it's hard to not get a bit excited for what is a damn good return to PPV before the fun stuff with UFC 242 and 243 hit us in September and October.

Fights: 12

Debuts: Clay Collard

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 2 (Poliana Botelho vs Maryna Moroz CANCELLED, John Makdessi OUT, Clay Collard IN vs Devonte Smith)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 7 (Daniel Cormier, Stipe Miocic, Yoel Romero, Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis, Derek Brunson, Raphael Assuncao)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 1 (Jodie Esquibel)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 10 (Daniel Cormier, Paulo Costa, Soqid Yusuff, Manny Bermudez, Ian Heinisch, Devonte Smith, Cory Sandhagen, Manny Bermudez, Drakkar Klose, Christos Giagos)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2017 (in the UFC):  23-9

Daniel Cormier- 4-0 (1 NC) Stipe Miocic- 2-1 Nate Diaz- 0-0 Anthony Pettis- 3-2 Yoel Romero- 1-2 Paulo Costa- 4-0 Gabriel Benitez- 2-1 Sodiq Yusuff- 2-0 Derek Brunson- 3-3 Ian Heinisch- 2-0

Fights By Weight Class (yearly number here):

Bantamweight- 3 (43) Middleweight- 2 (28) Lightweight- 2 (51) Featherweight-  1 (40) Women’s Flyweight- 1 (27) Women’s Strawweight- 1 (21) Heavyweight- 1 (24) Welterweight- 1 (47)

Light Heavyweight-  (31) Flyweight-  (11) Women’s Featherweight- (7) Women’s Bantamweight- (13)

2019 Number Tracker

Debuting Fighters (22-46)- Clay Collard

Short Notice Fighters (22-30)- Clay Collard

Second Fight (44-22)- Sabina Mazo, Casey Kenney

Cage Corrosion (Fighters who have not fought within a year of the date of the fight) (17-29)-  Nate Diaz, Stipe Miocic, Yoel Romero, Gabriel Benitez, Paulo Costa, Shana Dobson

Undefeated Fighters (28-30)- Paulo Costa, Manny Bermudez

Fighters with at least four fights in the UFC with 0 wins over competition still in the organization (9-8)- Kyung Ho Kang

Weight Class Jumpers (Fighters competing outside of the weight class of their last fight even if they’re returning BACK to their “normal weight class”) (25-17)-

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- So is Daniel Cormier going to mentally get up for this fight? Cormier knocked out Miocic in July of 2018 and basically cemented his legacy as one of the best fighters ever by winning titles in two weight classes Conor McGregor style. He also became the first champion to defend a belt while being double champion, doing so when he finished Derrick Lewis in the third round of their fight. Cormier was hoping to retire in March of 2019 after a fight with Brock Lesnar BUT the Lesnar fight fell apart and Brock retired before DC ever could. Having lost the Brock fight, DC put off his retirement to take a fight against Stipe Miocic and potentially Jon Jones. This was clearly Cormier's back up option as he admitted that him vs Miocic was more about him fulfilling his promise to Stipe that he'd give him a rematch. Cormier has talked about a Jones fight as well but seems like that would just be a big cash out for him. DC is in that "I've proven myself, now I'm going to get my money" phase of his life. I wonder if he's viewing this fight and a potential Jones fight as high level big check cash out fights and if it's fair to be concerned about DC showing up just to show up.

2- How quickly does the winner of Miocic vs DC get the turnaround fight? Ngannou vs DC/Miocic in November in MSG? December in Vegas? Gotta be options out there I'm assuming.

3- I literally have no idea what to expect from Anthony Pettis vs Nate Diaz. Let's set the scene/stage first; Anthony Pettis is really a case of combat sports fans just not giving a shit about reality because what you did five years ago still counts for something. So long as you win JUST enough, you can never truly dip out of the public view. Pettis lost three straight fights in 2015 and 2016, had a really ill fitted decision to drop to 145 lbs, barely scraped by another ill fitted 145 lbers then got smoked by Max Holloway. From there he'd beat the fighters he should (Michael Chiesa was particularly impressive) and lose to the dudes who replaced him at the top of the 155 lb ladder. Pettis campaigned for a fight at 170 lbs vs Stephen Thompson and got it in large part due to Santiago Ponzinibbio turning down the fight. He got boxed up by Thompson for two rounds, landed a sizable chunk of his own offense but then closed the show in emphatic fashion with a superman punch that put Wonderboy to sleep. One win made a lot of folks forget a lot of things en route to earning Pettis a co-main event spot on this very great card. His opponent is Nate Diaz, another fighter who made a lot of folks forget a lot of things on the back of one big win. Nate went from being the Diaz brother the UFC could deal with to a guy who has caused more noise for them than Nick ever did. Nate looked like he was going to disappear from the scene after the Bendo and Josh Thomson losses, beating the corpse of Gray Maynard before RDA just casually shut him down in a fight Nate was Nate missed weight, pulled out of his press obligations and just seemed not all there from a fighter standpoint. Everything changed with the McGregor fight where he upset Conor McGregor on short notice at 170 lbs. With some leverage, Nate put himself in position to earn a big payday and snagged it for a rematch. Since then he and the UFC have had a bit of a square dance in trying to get him fights vs Nate trying to maximize his leverage. A rumored fight with Tyron Woodley fell apart for December of 2017, Nate vs Dustin Poirier was on the books for November of 2018 and then the "official" ending to that was Dustin Poirier pulling out with a hip injury even if Dustin claims that Nate had pulled out weeks ahead of time and so he was the fall guy of sorts. All of this creates a situation where there's no way to know what is or isn't real here. Is Pettis better suited at 170 lbs where he, like Masvidal, feels more comfortable letting his hands go and fighting at a more unforgiving pace? Is Nate Diaz the dude who nearly toppled the UFC's apple cart vs Conor McGregor or the guy who went 1-3 and pretty much quit on the sport? To be honest does it even matter either? These two from a stylistic matchup create a compelling fight and even if we never see Nate again or Pettis eventually reverts back to being the dude Max Holloway made quit or Edson Barboza kickboxed up, we'll always have this one, right?

4- Really curious to see how Nate Diaz does in terms of his conditioning. Yes, he hasn't fought in three years BUT the counter to that is that Nate was training for fights during that time period that just never saw the light of day for various reasons. Also Nate has a style that's cardio friendly for the most part, taking steam off of his punches to throw combinations early on and then pouring it on late when his opponent is more tired than he is. As puts it, Nate Diaz just knows how to fight tired better than most guys.

5- You guys, we are absolutely about to get Yoel Romero vs Paolo Costa.

6- So we talk about Robert Whittaker being shop worn and it's true BUT conversely, what about Yoel Romero? Romero was in those five rounds wars with Whittaker, is old as hell, has years of high level wear and tear on his body and at some point he's simply going to fall off. Paulo Costa's body work is something that Yoel Romero has never had to tend to before. Most guys are terrified of getting in tight with Romero because unless you're an insane wrestler, chances are he's going to put the burners on you with an overhand right/flying knee or clinch you and get you on the mat if he's uncomfortable with the space and range. Costa though is an all pressure march ahead and throw caution to the wind striker who just overwhelms you with his intensity and his mental toughness. We've seen Yoel Romero just casually beat up on those grit and toughness dudes before and so this is a fine enough test for what remains of Romero and what Costa can bring differently compared to most guys.

7- If Costa wins, is there a chance that the UFC will do Paulo Costa vs the winner of Adesanya/Whittaker?  Or is the winner of Hermansson vs Cannonier a lock for the title shot?

8- Bruson vs Heinisch is going to be bowling shoe ugly, am I right dudes?

9- While Moggly/Sodiq Yusuff is a great fight and there's plenty of solid WMMA action, the biggest fight outside of the top 3 is Cory Sandhagen vs Raphael Assuncao. Assuncao is back in that spot he's found himself in before; needing to pull off an extensive winning streak to put himself in #1 contender contention again. He had another impressive streak snapped by Marlon Moraes in February and now we're left to figure out if Assuncao is in the Jon Fitch portion of his career where he's more a Top 5 tester/professional MMA hitman. His opponent is the sort of dude who Assuncao has historically found ways to check at the high level; the very young, very athletic yet somewhat flawed Cory  Sandhagen.  Sandhagen's UFC resume are two fights on short notice vs guys you'd expect him to blow out (Mario Bautista and Austin Arnett), a statement war over Iuri Alcantara and then the fight that solidified him as a top 10 guy when he took a split decision over John Lineker in a back and forth fight on the feet. Sandhagen has proven himself to be well worthy of his spot in the top 10 but Assuncao has only lost to two dudes at 135 lbs; TJ Dillashaw and Marlon Moraes. Long story short, this would be a massive insane win for Cory Sandhagen.

10- So the UFC thinks they might've found something in Devonte Smith and I'm not entirely sure if they're right or wrong either way. Including his DWCS performance, Smith has three wins in under a round under the watchful eye of the UFC. He ran through undefeated Joseph Lowry on the Contenders Series and then ended 2018 blasting out Julian Erosa in about thirty seconds. He opened up 2019 by KOing Dong Hyun Ma in Australia, again in short order and so we're left to try and figure out what Smith really has to offer. He has one pro loss (available on youtube) against Jon Gunther where he beat the fuck out of Gunther early, got worn down, tuckered out and then finished in the third round. He's only been out of the first round one other time recently-ish and that was a five round title fight where he looked perfectly fine going into the championship rounds. Thus far all we have is Smith running through folks in quite and easy order and you'd assume AT SOME POINT he's going to get tested. I'm just not sure that short notice Clay Collard is "the guy" to test him.

11- Christos Giagos made the UFC in 2014 and after a 1-2 run, he was sent away. He returned in 2018 on short notice vs Charles Oliveira in September and after losing (impressively I'd add), he's won two in a row. He's got the very solid Drakkar Klose up to face him and if he wins, we're looking at three in a row to solidify himself as an actual long term member of the roster.

12- If Brandon Davis and Kyung Ho Kang isn't the FOTN then something went wrong OR something went really right.

[alena-kostornaia]

Kiss and Cry Reloaded Podcast 4

The Kiss&Cry Reloaded Podcast has released their fourth episode. Massimiliano Ambesi, Angelo Dolfini, and Francesco Paone talk about Alena Kostornaia in depth! Translated by madmax, minimally edited by @birdie02.

[Paone] In the last few days we received many questions about the curious story of Alena Kostornaia. How is it possible that this girl, initially considered not so good, an athlete considered hopeless by most, a kind of ugly duckling, has become a swan, acclaimed by all?

Ambesi talks at length about Alena’s career, from its beginnings with Marina Cherkasova, to the transition to the Sambo 70 school, in the department that was headed by Elena Tchaikovskaia, with the coach Elena Zhgun.

He says that the first turning point in her career came after the 2017 junior national championships, when she placed sixteenth, over fifty points under Alina Zagitova. A few days later she competed in an open competition in Moscow and she was eighteenth. She had to retire or try to change something.

[Ambesi] She choose the most difficult way: try to join Khrustalny department, the group of Eteri Tutberidze. Tutberidze has doubts, but decided to have her take a week-long test.

The impact of Kostornaia on Tutberidze was the same that we will see with all the Russian former dance champions: an immediate falling in love with Alena. Tutberidze was not a champion, but she competed in dance and immediately realized that she had never had such a skater in her group. After ten days Tutberidze informed her that she has been accepted.

According to Ambesi, the second turning point was Anna Shcherbakova’s injury, which offered her the chance to compete in the Junior Grand Prix.

He describes the good results in the Junior Grand Prix Final, in the senior national championship (in his opinion she deserved the second place), in the Russian Junior National Championships and in the Junior World Championships, always second behind Trusova.

[Ambesi] Someone started to say: this Kostornaia is good, but she’s not a winner. A few days later was posted on social networks a video in which Alena Kostornaia performs this:

Back inside rocker, forward inside counter, change of edge, triple Axel!

All the experts who saw this element were amazed. Something like that could only be performed by another person, that Japanese skater, that pretty good one (referring to Yuzuru Hanyu).

Alena was preparing the triple axel for the Junior World Championships, when she got injured. She had to stop a month before she could resume training and declared she would abandon the triple Axel.

But Alena is a proud girl. After the Russian test skate she suffered something that she considered an offense, because the experts commented that Kostornaia is good, that she is a beautiful skater, but she has no future. Exactly the things they said about her before she moved to Team Tutberidze. Alena burst out to Daria Pavliuchenko, her best friend, who encouraged her to try again the triple Axel.

This was the third turning point of her career.

After a few days, It was mid-September, Alena returned to Khrustalny and said to Sergei Dudakov that she wanted try the triple Axel again. Sergei proposed to try again with the help of the pole harness. She refused the help: she wanted to try without support. The first attempt went wrong. On the second attempt, she executed the element. She also succeeded in subsequent attempts. At that point they decided to introduce the triple Axel in Finlandia Trophy, at least in the free program.

In the short, she maintained the double Axel. A double Axel that for quality, difficulty of the transition of entry and exit deserves the +5 unanimous.

(Ambesi really gets excited here)

Sometimes the +5 does not arrive and we all ask ourselves why. Such a thing was done only by Hanyu when he was thirteen. That element is worth +5. There is nothing to discuss. If a judge gives her +3 he/she must stop judging. He has to do something else in life, because he can't tell a single reason why he doesn't give +5. He is unable to explain a reason! He can't judge a competition! 

Anyway, she won the Finlandia Trophy.

At that point, the attention of the media and of the former Russian champions moved to the Grenoble GP, on the challenge between Kostornaia and Alina Zagitova. The former single skating athletes, like Maria Butyrskaya, exposed themselves by saying that Zagitova has something more than Kostornaia. The world of dance, Marina Zueva and others, saw that Alena is the strongest.

In Grenoble Alena skated very well in the short program, despite being very tense. All observers expected a big score in that short program, around 85, she also expected it. Alena sat in the kiss & cry, waiting for the score and ... 76 appeared on the video!

They called the triple Axel under rotated, it was very questionable, and the Lutz for unclear edge, which we can agree. The components score was similar to Alexandra Trusova’s in Skate Canada.

Alena’s reaction was like this: it wasn’t worth the effort, it wasn’t worth the risk. In Finland she had scored higher, with a program with the double Axel. She couldn’t understand.

In the first interviews, while the others were still skating, they asked her what she thought of the competition. She didn’t spoke explicitly against the technical panel and the judges. Actually, she was very angry, because she didn’t understand what happened [t/n: Ambesi here uses another, much more colorful terminology: madmax didn’t want to be banned by the moderators].

Once the interviews were over, she went in a corner near the locker room, watching the performances of the skaters in the last group, the best placed ones in the world ranking. One after the other, they fell. Even Zagitova messed up. At the end Alena won the short program.

The disappointment, the anger turned into half contentment. She couldn’t explain what happened and commented tersely that the Junior World Championships was much easier.

In the free she was much more relaxed and performed a double Axel and eight triples, including two triple Axels. She won with 236 points, the second highest score in the world after Alexandra Trusova.

The rest of Alena’s story is all to be written, because we don't know how far this athlete will succeeds. She can win everything, or not, because in figure skating things change quickly.

Her story teaches us that in any case we must always believe in it till the end, if we feel we have something inside. You can turn into the figure skating greatest hope, because those who love figure skating rely so much on the potential of Kostornaia.

It's a bit what happened with Hanyu in the four-year period that began in 2010 and ended with the Sochi Olympics. From 2007 to 2010 it was a quadriennium of technical regression, the darkest four years of men's figure skating, with few noteworthy programs. We were coming from that dark period, then it happened: Yuzuru Hanyu's free program in junior competitions. The figure skating fans said that only Yuzuru could save this sport. Yuzuru and his triple Axel as high as the balustrade. Yuzuru saved men figure skating, bringing it to excellence.

We'll see if Alena, who has many points in common with Yuzuru Hanyu, will be able to do something similar for ladies’ figure skating. Even half of it would be enough and it would already be great.

[Dolfini - 42:12] You have already highlighted the similarities between Kostornaia and Hanyu. The first point of contact is the smoothness, the mastery of the skates, the overall quality of skating. Both athletes jump very well, especially the edge jumps, like Axel and Loop. Hanyu manages to land the quadruple Loop, while for Alena the triple Loop is a strong point.

Alena is one of the few athletes in the history of figure skating who have landed the triple Axel in competition, which has been achieved less than a dozen other women. The Salchow is also a strong point for Alena. We'll see if she can get a quadruple Salchow.

The quality of their skating is highlighted by the quality of the edge jumps.

She has some weaknesses too, like some uncertainty in the toe jumps.

Her jumps are wide, high, with an important flight phase. This does not only depend on a very advantageous weight / power ratio, which is more evident in the case of Trusova, but also on an excellent technique.

Alena has a particular technique, which can be discussed, anyway it allows her to take the jumps at full speed and to have a wide flight phase. Those elements deserve the positive GOEs they receive. Besides the size of the jumps, there is also the quality of the air position and the smoothness of the exits.

Above all, she is one of the most complete athletes.

[Ambesi] Speaking of smoothness, ability to change direction, mastery of the skates, skating skills, which former athlete can be compared to Kostornaia?

[Dolfini] We said about the similiarities with Yuzuru Hanyu. In the female field comes to my mind Shizuka Arakawa. Kostornaia’s skating is reminiscent of these oriental athletes, because it is soft and smooth. She bend her knees very well. She increases the speed with this rhythmic bending. Not just bending. Watch carefully at her skating: bending and extending at the right time.

There is this softness in her rhythmic movement and you can see it very well in that passage you underlined, before the triple Axel: back inside rocker, forward inside counter, change of edge, triple Axel. If you look closely you will see that this step, which in itself is an element of difficulty, for her is even helpful, it gives her an advantage. Because she execute that step with a great rhythm: not only she does not lose speed, she almost increases the speed. This ability is the trademark of the great skaters, who know how to use knee and ankle in an outstanding way.

Regarding the smoothness I could also make a comparison with Carolina Kostner, who however got it in a different way, more based on lightness, on the ability to extend. Mind you, Carolina also bends very well, but the impression she leaves is different, as if she did not weigh on the ice, while Hanyu and Kostornaia seem to being at one with the ice. This is why the first comparison that came to my mind was Arakawa.

[Ambesi] Kostornaia, an honorary citizen of Sendai, then.

[Dolfini] We talked about Alena’s skating from a technical point of view, but we cannot ignore the interpretative quality of such a young girl. This is truly a rare commodity. Her presence on the ice, which we can bring into the performance voice, is something exceptional. It is something very difficult to see, at such a young age. She already have a great personality. The way she uses the upper body movements and the head. The way she communicates with the viewers. These are qualities proper of the most experienced skaters. From this point of view, it makes you say that she is a predestined one.

[Ambesi] Her connection with the spectators is not simply a grimace, a smirk, as for many others. It's another thing.

[Dolfini] No, because it involves the whole body. It involves the arms, the movement of the whole upper body. Of course, she also uses the head and facial expressions. They are important, but the performance doesn't have to be limited to that. As for Sofia Samodurova, for example, who is skilled at using that aspect. Everyone uses their weapons.

Japanese athletes have always had great smoothness, great skating skills, while in interpretation they struggle more.

In the case of Kostornaia we really have the complete package.

[Ambesi] In my opinion, right now Alena Kostornaia is worth nine at least on four of the five components of the program. I have some doubts only on composition, especially in the free program.

I think that proceeding the season, if the technical quality will remain at the same level, she can expect 37 in the short and 73-74 in the free program. If she will be able to go further, she could even become the athlete to beat or almost.

[Dolfini] Yes, because then the others have to risk a lot to stay at her level.

[residentgoodgirl]

On January 24, 1987, Todd Ewen, a young right-winger for the St. Louis Blues, knocked the Detroit Red Wings’ notorious tough guy, Bob Probert, unconscious with one bare-knuckled punch to the head. Ewen was a new recruit, just 21 years old, and the punch immediately solidified his place in the Blues’ lineup—as well as his role in the National Hockey League as one of the many players who regularly fought members of the opposing team.

Later that same game, Ewen and Probert fought again, despite Probert having been out cold on the ice less than an hour before. This frequency of violence was typical. Ewen would go on to play 11 seasons, a soldier in the vast army of so-called enforcers in that era of the NHL. He would fight almost every game, mashing his fists into a pulp that doctors were forced to reconstruct with wire and screws.

Ewen and Probert’s destinies intertwined after they first met on the ice. Probert was just a year older than Ewen, and he had a similarly grueling decade-plus career. After the two men retired from hockey—in 1998 and 2002, respectively—both started to forget things. They angered quickly. Each would be dead before his 50th birthday.

Their deaths were among the earliest to fan the flames of a national debate about the lasting effects of hockey’s brutality on its players’ brains. But through a twist, Ewen would become a key figure in the NHL’s controversial defense of the sport.

During his playing days, Ewen was a gentle renaissance man when he wasn’t on the ice. He wrote children’s books and crafted models out of hockey tape for his young fans. In 1998, Ewen retired from professional hockey and returned to the St. Louis suburbs to live with his wife, Kelli Ewen. After retiring, Kelli noticed changes in Todd. “We just saw some aggression that we hadn’t previously seen,” she says. “Mood swings, irritability, and not sleeping. Just a pattern of things that was alarming to me.”

Todd’s behavior only became more erratic. During one episode, he choked Kelli and the police had to intervene. In time, depression and reclusiveness replaced Todd’s anger. He routinely became lost and disoriented in the streets around his own home.

Todd confided in Kelli that he feared he might have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE—a neurodegenerative disease that most experts agree is linked to repetitive head trauma. Research on the disease has largely focused on former professional football players, but it has also been discovered in former NHL players. In 2010, Probert, the Red Wings’ bruiser, became the second NHL player to be diagnosed with CTE. His death was followed in quick succession by the deaths of four other former players, all under the age of 40, all diagnosed with CTE.

In 2013, 10 former players launched a class-action suit against the NHL for their negligence regarding head injuries. Todd was aware of the suit but declined to participate. He ended his life in the basement of his home on the afternoon of September 19, 2015.

Damage to the brain caused by hits to the head has been observed for nearly a century. CTE was originally studied in boxers in the 1920s as dementia pugilistica. In the early 2000s, the Nigerian American neuropathologist Bennet Omalu described the pathology of CTE following research on former professional football players. Since then, CTE has been found in the brains of hundreds of athletes across a wide range of sports. It manifests as small lesions of a protein called tau, which kill the surrounding neurons. The consequences are devastating. Anger, personality changes, and memory loss are common.

After Todd’s death, Kelli and many others were convinced he had CTE. Kelli had Todd’s brain sent to the Canadian Concussion Centre to be analyzed. Six months later, the center’s neuropathologist, Lili-Naz Hazrati, called with shocking results: Todd did not have the disease.

The NHL seized on Hazrati’s negative diagnosis in its defense of the player’s ongoing head-injury class-action suit and in public statements by the league’s commissioner. The NHL’s attorneys argued that Todd Ewen died by suicide because he believed he had CTE, and therefore it would be dangerous for the league to warn players about the disease because they might kill themselves in fear. The NHL contracted 19 expert witnesses, including Hazrati, who in their testimonies injected doubt into the science of CTE. (The NHL did not respond to multiple requests for interviews.)

In April 2017, Hazrati invoiced the NHL $25,000 for her work on the trial. In her expert report and in a subsequent deposition on March 2, 2018, she claimed that there was no link between CTE and head trauma and that CTE was not a disease at all. In an email response to my repeated requests for an interview, however, a representative provided a statement that appeared to conflict with this claim, saying that “Dr. Hazrati does not deny that concussions can cause damage to the brain, potentially resulting in a progressive neurodegenerative disease.” (Hazrati declined multiple interview requests.)

The science of CTE is inherently contentious. Currently, the disease can only be diagnosed posthumously, and since it appears to present itself most commonly in professional athletes, researchers are forced to navigate a complicated web of relationships with athletes, sports leagues, and fellow scientists. The very existence of the disease poses an existential threat to certain sports leagues. While most researchers agree on the basic premise that CTE is a neurodegenerative disease linked to head injury, a cottage industry of CTE deniers has nevertheless sprung up. Hazrati’s research features heavily in the former pro footballer turned commentator Merril Hoge’s 2018 book Brainwashed: The Bad Science Behind CTE and The Plot to Destroy Football.

In 2014, Arland Bruce III, a retired Canadian Football League player, citing Hazrati’s research, accused the Canadian Concussion Centre of obfuscating the science of CTE in a lawsuit against the CFL and the Concussion Centre’s parent company. The case went to the Supreme Court of Canada, which declined to hear it. Kelli, too, held on to her doubts. She says she repeatedly asked Hazrati to retest Todd’s brain but Hazrati declined. Eventually Kelli had sections of Todd’s brain sent from the Canadian Centre to Boston, where a world-leading expert on CTE, Ann McKee, could retest them. In late 2018, McKee announced her own conclusions from the tests: Todd did, in fact, have CTE.

By 2018, more than 140 former players had joined the class-action suit against the NHL. In July of that year, they were denied class-action status due to conflicts between applicable state laws. The NHL offered a settlement to players in the suit that amounted to roughly $22,000 per player with up to $75,000 in medical treatment. According to a lawyer representing players in the case, most involved are expected to take the settlement.

In November, Hazrati told the Canadian sports network TSN that she does not dispute McKee’s findings, but noted that she was “surprised to see that Todd had so very little [of the] disease for an enforcer.”

Meanwhile, McKee’s positive diagnosis relieved any doubts Kelli had about her husband’s condition. But the results were only partial vindication. The NHL so far has not acknowledged any link between head injuries sustained during the game and CTE. Hockey players still slam into one another day after day. The NHL has taken incremental steps to limit fighting and hits to the head, but as CTE is being found in a growing number of hockey players, there’s arguably far more the league could do to save future players from Todd’s path.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.