#charles fans stay away if you’re gonna bug out

[lewdo]

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Unabridged: Hellfire (1980)

The X-Men, those often stripsearched mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. We’ve been untangling that history for a while, but sometimes, you really want a more in-depth look. Interested? Then read the (un)Abridged X-Men!

(X-Men 129 - 131) - by Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Since I think Scott, square extraordinaire, would also say: “I know squat about rap, but this Vanilla Ice dude is excellent,” I’m not putting much stock in his musical opinions. (X-Men 130)

Before we finally reach the apotheosis of the Phoenix saga, we’re going to take it a little slowly by focusing on the first three issues of 1980. They are basically the ramp-up to the end, putting all the pieces in place for the X-equivalent of the Red Wedding, the Bridge of Khazad-Dûm or the explosion of Alderaan. But, before smashing the board, Claremont introduces three new queens to the game. Here they are, in order of Awesome:

Emma Frost, or The White Queen; a telepathic HBIC with ambitions beyond dressing up in lingerie;

Kitty Pryde, or Sprite (Shadowcat, these days);

Alison Blaire (Dazzler), a disco dolly with light powers who unfortunately starts out as a relic of time gone by.

But before we can expand, Claremont shrinks the cast: Banshee, who sold his voice to a sea witch has injured vocal chords, stays behind on Muir Isle, retiring officially. (It’s gonna be a while before he returns to the X-Family in any true capacity - I think it might be the 90s?) It’s the first time since Thunderbird’s death that the core cast changes, and it’s not that surprising that Sean gets the shaft: Banshee, who has been positioned as the older, more experienced member of the team, has had very little to do (and Claremont has seemed reluctant to flesh him out the way he has the rest of the X-Men). Sean is essentially a decent, upstanding man who has mastered the use of his powers: there’s very little way to go without breaking him down or changing the course of his character. (If you’re a fan of him, go read the Phalanx Covenant and 90’s Generation X: it’s the best use of Sean.)

Polaris, Havok and Jamie also stay in Scotland, choosing a quiet life without superheroics. (For those familiar with X-Factor, this is where you laugh and laugh and laugh.)

Jason Wyngarde, meanwhile keeps fucking with the Phoenix, using his psionic fantasies to unleash her darkest self.

Jean’s darkest fantasies amount to little more than a Victorian bodice ripper, which is adorable. (To be fair, if I were trapped in a lusty prison of my own design, I´d probably dream up my own Downton Abbey soap opera where I was sleeping with all the hunky house boys, so…) (X-Men 129)

Scott, meanwhile, reveals the sheer depths of his repression by admitting that he never let himself feel the grief for Jean’s death.

If you think it’s weird that Jean falls for a sleezeball like Wyngarde, remember that the love of her life is a man who is so repressed that it took him 5+ years to tell his friends he had a brother. Her taste in men is questionable at best. (X-Men 129)

The whole “I accidentally picked up a stray thought” has to be such a bullshit. It’s like your sister claiming that she heard from a friend of a friend that you like someone, while she actually just read it in your diary. Telepaths are snoops, Jean, own it.

Speaking of telepaths without boundary issues, Professor X is back from space! He immediately slips back into a stupid, patriarchal role and treats this X-Men team the same he treated his X-Men in the sixties. Scott is like: dude, these aren’t the same dumb teenagers we were, but Xavier won’t listen. Their squabble is interrupted by Cerebro, alerting them to the existence of two new mutants! One in NYC, one in Chicago.

Somewhere else, the Hellfire Club is revealed to be listening in: they have bugged the mansion a long time ago. While most the Inner Circle is featured in some way in this arc - we finally get to see Sebastian Shaw’s face! - the main villain here is the White Queen. She’s coordinating the attack on the X-Men and is looking to recruit Kitty for her Academy in Massachusetts.

It’s kind of bizarre that it took so long for this plot - an emerging young mutant is an object of interest for two competing factions - to be a main plotline, considering it’s such a staple for the X-Men mythos as a whole. (See, for example: the New Mutants, Generation-X, the Young X-Men, but also Rogue in the first X-Men movie and the whole of X-Men: First Class. Hell, X-Men Evolution’s first season was practically built on this trope.) It is kind of fitting that one of the mutants introduced this way is Kitty Pryde, the first X-Man that would be completely Chris Claremont’s creation.

While teacher’s pets Cyclops, Phoenix and Nightcrawler can go to New York, Xavier takes Colossus, Storm and Wolverine to a suburb in Chicago (“to monitor them in the field”, fuck you too, Chuck). In the Windy City, we meet plucky YA-novel heroine Kitty Pryde, who’s being tormented by headaches.

The KISS-poster in Kitty’s room is fortunately the only crossover we’ll have between the X-Men and the KISS-comics published by Marvel. (X-Men 129)

Just after a certain Ms. Frost has pitched her Academy to the Pryde parents, the X-Men arrive. While Charles works the parents, Ororo takes Kitty to get some ice cream, letting slip the secret of the X-Men.

Wolverine reading a titty mag in an ice cream shop while both Ororo and Charles are trying to convince people they run a legitimate school is a hilarious mood. (X-Men 129)

Kitty’s appearance is supposed to have been inspired by a young Katherine Hepburn, which is particularly evident in these panels.

Anyway, they are promptly attacked by Hellfire droids, who spook Kitty into jumping through a wall. Finally, her powers are confirmed: Kitty can become intangible, ‘phasing’ through objects. When the X-Men defeat the droids, Emma Frost comes along to finish the job, psychically overwhelming Storm, Wolverine and Colossus. She abucts them, not realizing Kitty has stowed away in their… floating… hovercraft… thing. She also manages to abduct Xavier.

I love how Emma’s to-do-list was:

Abduct the X-Men

Strip them naked (X-Men 130)

The Inner Circle and their motivations are slowly fleshed out: they’re all in it for power, money, glory. (Emma would love Lana del Ray.) But they’re not a united front: Wyngarde considers Phoenix the road to power, Emma believes in raising (and controlling) the next generation of mutants and Shaw… Well, Shaw is a clever opportunist, not afraid to sell out his own kind. (It’s heavily implied the Hellfire Club helped fund Lang’s Sentinel program.)

Through Jason, we pick up the thread in New York, where Jean and Scott visit some shady club downtown. Nightcrawler is stationed outside. Inside, Jean enjoys the relative perversion of the clubbing crowd, until Jason shows up and twists reality, shunting her to ‘their wedding day’.

It’s never made explicit, but in between the lines, it’s highly probable that Jason seduced Jean, violated her body and mind. That, combined with the whole BDSM/Marquis de Sade atmosphere of the Hellfire Club where the men are fully clothed and the women prance around in lingerie amounts to a whole lot of ick, ick, ick. (X-Men 130)

In Chicago, Kitty skulks around the compound of Frost Enterprises. She manages to creep up to Ororo’s cage, who gives her a number to call. Before she can do anything else, Emma sees her, calls all her henchmen cretins and orders her to get that pigeon kitty. Kitty flees and manages to get a call in.

Kurt picks up the phone in their limo (which feels super swanky for the eighties!) and Kitty delivers her warning. Kurt is then promptly attacked, as are Phoenix and Cyclops. Together, they make short work of their attackers, with the aid of Dazzler. Introductions follow:

Dazzler’s “nope” tells you about 80% of what her character is about. (X-Men 130)

It’s funny to see how relatively unknown the idea of mutants still is. Kitty doesn’t even consider it, even though freaky shit is happening to her, and Dazzler hilariously doesn’t give a figgin where her powers come from. (Though she may just be in denial. Anyone who wears a disco ball around her neck can’t be accused of good common sense.) In ten, twenty years, I bet there’s tons of teenagers in the Marvel Universe who get headaches or weird growing pains and fear that one morning, they might wake up a mutant.

It’s odd how Cerebro picks up Dazzler as a ‘neo-mutant’, even though it’s obvious she had her powers for a while. It might have to do with the fact that Dazzler wasn’t created by Claremont and Byrne, but by Tom DeFalco and John Romita Jr. However, because editorial wanted to Dazzler’s debut to make a splash, so they added her to their best-selling book and she had to be shoe-horned into this plot. She was originally intended to be closs-platform - there were plans for albums, Bo Derek would star as her in movies - but since Marvel had the keen foresight to introduce her just as disco was dying all of this got shelved. After a solo series, she’ll become a pretty solid B-Lister X-Man in a couple of years. (Should I be covering her solo series? It’s only very tangentially X-Related. Sound off below!)

Cyclops, Phoenix, Nightcrawler and Dazzler Trojan Horse their way into Frost Enterprises and make quick work of the White Queen’s cronies while Emma is creepily making Storm her personal plaything. Kitty, meanwhile, manages to free Wolverine by phasing through the electronic lock. Jean recognizes the Hellfire Club from her (fake) memories with Jason, but doesn’t connect the dots quite yet.

Emma, frustrated that her plan is falling to pieces, takes out her ire on Storm, threatening to lobotomize her. Jean… does not take this lightly.

“I understand you call yourself something of a telepath” is absolutely the most badass line Jean has ever uttered. Fuck yeah. (X-Men 131)

With the White Queen defeated (rumors of her death are greatly overrated), the X-Men can briefly regroup. Dazzler does not join the X-Men, being too into the idea of becoming the mutant Madonna, while Kitty is delivered back to her parents. To prevent a nasty scene, Jean casually alters the memories of her parents, removing the memories of Kitty’s involvement with the kidnapping of the X-Men. This also neatly prevents her parents from realizing what a horrible idea it is for a 13 year old to join a superhero squad. (Even if she has a defensive power.)

This arc ends with the two people who love Jean the most voicing their concern:

When you look up ‘muhahahaha’ in the dictionary, this picture of Jason Wyngarde will be the definition. (X-Men 131)

Hold onto your butts, people. We’re almost there.

[8-bitgossip]

Quotations

Ambient Conversations:

“I fucking hate mosquitos. Can we get away from all of this stagnant water before we die of West Nile or some shit?”

“You know, there’s a really good hiking trail around here. If you just turn here…. And we’re going the other way. Nevermind.”

“Gotta love the wilderness, the sun, the rivers, the lakes, the idea that there could be a Chosen archer hiding in the trees just waiting to murder us.”

“...Yeah. Heights. This’ll be fun. Not. Can we uh -- get down. Like. Now.”

“So. Have you ever thought about what’s gonna happen when all this is over? People don’t even have homes to go back to anymore and what? Are we gonna hold hands and sing kumbaya and pretend this all didn’t happen? Like fucking hell.”

When Deputy Points a Gun at Them:

“Ah. So this is what betrayal feels like. Gotta admit I’m hurt Deputy.”

“Et tu, Brute?”

Holland Valley:

“Ah. You can almost smell John Seed’s entitlement from here. Or… maybe that’s just his cologne. Eau de Asshole.”

“The Spread Eagle. Did you know that Girl’s Night has karaoke? You’ll have to ask Grace to sing Man! I Feel Like a Woman! by Shania Twain. It’s a blast.”

“Ah yes. Open fields, straight roads, the perfect place for snipers to shoot at us while I can’t shoot at them. Let’s get a move on.”

“...you think that the general store ever got my shipment of books in before shit went south? No?” *sighs* “And I was so looking forward to finishing the last of Toni Morrison’s body of work.”

“Gotta admit, even though I don’t remember it -- one baptism was more than enough for me; evidently I cried the whole time. My childhood priest wouldn’t be pleased with me converting to some crazed religious cult. Catholicism is cult  enough for any one person.”

“You think we could convince some people to sneak speakers up by John’s house? And blast Oh John from their fucking radio station while he tries to sleep? It’ll be hilarious.”

After Being Captured By John:

1st Encounter: “Did you enjoy your dip in the bliss filled water? Was John everything you hoped for? Thank god for Pastor Jerome and getting you out of there before shit hit the fan.” 2nd Encounter: “God. John’s quite the drama queen isn’t he? Shouting for you over the loudspeakers, promising that God will lead him to you.” *snickers* “He’ll be sending you flowers and love poetry before you know it, Dep.” John’s Death: “Well, everyone in the Valley can breathe at least a little easier now… It’s just a damn shame about the lives lost in the process and all of the people displaced by the violence.”

Henbane River:

“Ah yes, just your good, old fashioned, brain melting hallucinogenic drugs that at the very least sends you on a bad trip and at worst, turns you into a fucking zombie. Just how I wanted to spend my Tuesday.”

“Oh good. I’ve been meaning to stop by and see Addie. I have to talk to her about the fucking alleged haunted house she sold me.”

“I swear officer! It wasn’t me! Don’t cart me off to jail!” *snickers*

“You know what fucking sucks the most about all of this? They blissed out all of the best swimming spots in the Henbane, so unless you want to get really high I don’t recommend it.”

“Do you have any idea how much I’d love to take a rocket launcher to that sanctimonious prick’s dick?” *pause* “On the statue, dumbass. Although… Now that I’m on the topic…”

“...Please tell me that you’re also seeing pink elephants and about a dozen Faith’s littering the sides of the roads. Oh god.”

After Being Captured By Faith:

1st Encounter: “You never take me anywhere nice, actually, I lied. Do not. I repeat. Do not. Take me skydiving off of that fucking statue. I will murder you.” 2nd Encounter: “Best be careful there Dep. The adrenaline can bring you back but… there’s always a cost. You gotta wonder what the cost of finding that Marshall and bringing him back is.” Faith’s Death: “It’ll take years for this place to get back to normal… All of that Bliss, in everything. It’s not just gonna go away, and we don’t even know the long term effects. What a fucking waste of life.”

Whitetail Mountains:

“I should stop by and see Will and Eli while we’re here… No one in that fucking Militia keeps themselves fed unless you bug them about it. Fully grown toddlers, I swear to god.”

“Guess I should be thankful that the Cult isn’t as concerned with book burning as other zealous religious groups -- I would storm the Veteran’s Center myself if Jacob tried to burn my books.”

“...Did you hear that howl? We should go. Before we end up as wolf chow. Or, we could stay and when the Judge’s come you stay there, and I’ll climb a tree and use you as a big, beautiful distraction.”

“So… You know that fucking eyesore of a Truck that Hurk Senior owns? A few months ago I dumped pink paint all over that shit. Hurk and Sharky thought it was funny… his daddy not so much. It was just detailed too. Such a shame, that.”

“For the record, if you’re planning on using helicopters to travel you can count me out, out of this county, out of this little group of yours, out of existence. There will be no heights for this woman in this or any lifetime.”

“Please tell me that you’re not actually going to get those records on the kid’s list. He has like, the WORST music taste. Literally give anyone else that job because I don’t know how much of What’s New Pussycat I can take.”

After Being Captured By Jacob:

1st Encounter: “Careful now, Dep. The mind is the one thing that’s really hard to un-fuck once you get it into a bad place so just… be careful. The reprogramming may not be so family friendly.” 2nd Encounter: “You ever think that people get tired of his whole, “I ate a man once”, shtick? Like. We get it, you’re the scary mountain gremlin who likes to murder people and train deadly wolves, we don’t need more than that.” Jacob’s Death: “...What happened was... unfortunate. But it’s over now. It’s all almost over.”

Intercompanion Dialog:

Nick

Nick: “Hey. So, Kim’s been meaning to ask you for that recipe you and Will brought to the last cookout.” Bridget: “The peach cobbler or the pudding shots?” Nick: “….Both. Definitely both. And make sure that you bring them both again next time. They were a lifesaver. Who the fuck brings pineapple pizza to a barbecue?” Bridget: “Evidently, the Seeds. As if we needed another reason to shoot them.” Nick: *laughs* “Right?” Bridget: “I’ll make sure to stop by the next time I have a chance, I’m sure that Kim would enjoy some new faces around.”

Grace

Bridget: “I managed to find a copy of Beloved for you if you’re still interested in reading it?” Grace: “Really? You found it before the Peggies lost their shit then?” Bridget: “Yeah, it was in the last shipment of books that came into the library before everything went post-apocalypse now.” Grace: “I’d love to read it, be nice to take my mind off of everything that’s going on.” Bridget: “Of course! I’ll bring it by 8Bit the next time we’re gonna meet up there for you to read. I promise you’ll love this one.” Grace: “You haven’t steered me wrong yet.”

Boomer

Bridget: “You know… I’ve always been more of a cat person myself….” Boomer: *whines* Bridget: “Don’t give me those --” *sighs* “Fine. Fine. You’re the only exception. Happy now?” Boomer: *happy bark*

Sharky

Sharky: “Hey so, Bridget. I have a question.” Bridget: “Hm?” Sharky: “Do you think that readin’ Shakespeare and Charles Dickens and shit would make me sound smarter?” Bridget: “Nope.” Sharky: “Seriously?” Bridget: “Sharky, it was like… the Simpsons of our times, people just like to act like it was smarter and better. Besides, you’re plenty smart by yourself and if anyone tells you different you can tell them to find me and I’ll beat the shit out of them with my twenty five pound Shakespeare anthology.” Sharky: *laughs* “Can and will do, ma’am.”

Adelaide:

Bridget: “So… About that haunted house you sold me…” Addy: “Ah, I was wondering when you’d figure that out -- technically no one’s ever died on the property and the hauntings are all just rumors that the town likes to tell.” Bridget: “It definitely explains why it was half of the price of every other house in Hope County.” Addy: “Darlin’ you always get what you pay for, and honestly, I think you and that man of yours got quite the steal on that place.” Bridget: “Uh-huh. Just know, that if I die, I have every intention of haunting you just so that you have to deal with those sort of shenanigans and whispers from the people in Fall’s End.” Addy: *laughs* “It’s a deal.”

Billy:

Billy: “So I say we just…” *inaudible whispering* Bridget: “Absolutely not! We are not going to panty raid the entirety of John Seed’s house and hang his silk underwear from his flag pole no matter how funny I think that is.” Billy: “Come on, think of the rage -- the pure unadulterated fury that he’ll have at seeing his glorious black silk boxers hanging from every available surface in the Valley.” Bridget: “Do not. It’s too fucking tempting.” Billy: “You know you want to.” Bridget: “You’re the absolute worst.” Billy: “That’s not a no.” Bridget: “Fuck you.”

Peaches:

Bridget: “Hey! You want some treats?” Peaches: *cougar noises* Bridget: “I talked to Chad and he gave me the scraps from the latest roadkill he’s gotten and I’ve saved it for my favorite kitty.” Peaches: *happy cougar noises* Bridget: “Yup! It’s all for the best murder machine in the Henbane.”

Hurk:

Hurk: “So you’re sure you’re not interested in Hurk’s Gate?” Bridget: “Nope. I’m pretty good where I’m at, plus, Jerome would be out a Youth Pastor if I did.” Hurk: “Well, I guess you could still stay with the Youth Pastoring thing, helping the youth and all of that is important, plus you could start recruiting them to Hurk’s Gate.” Bridget: “Still gonna pass.” Hurk: “Huh. Gonna have to do the hard sell on you, huh? Well, what if I told you that there are tons of beautiful men and women who are --” Bridget: “Hurk, I’m gonna stop you right there. My grandmother was Irish Catholic, were I to convert to anything she’d come down from heaven just to beat the ever living shit out of me.” Hurk: “Respecting the wishes of your grandma I can get that. Yeah.”

Jess:

Jess: “Hey, thanks for letting me crash with you and Will for the last few months, it’s been… a lifesaver. Really.” Bridget: “We know how hard it’s been, I’m glad to see you getting back on your feet… Well, as back on your feet as you can get given the circumstances.” Jess: “It’s crazy, all this shit goin’ south with the Peggie’s is what it’s taken for me to get my life back in order… It’s almost surreal.” Bridget: “Well, if you ever need us, our door is open and the spare bedroom is yours.” Jess: “Thank you, Bridget.’

Ashlee:

Bridget: “So. When all of this is over, we’re having a party. A big one.” Ashlee: “Obviously.” Bridget: “My first thought is at the lake, but then I’m like, “but wait, we live in the middle of nowhere, our only sources of entertainment are drinking and shooting things” which means that I’d spend my time worrying about people accidentally ending up in the water and drowning.” Ashlee: “A fair point, but may I just say that they’re all fucking adults and should know better. We’ll grab some trucks to put along the waterfront to play music and block the way into the water and then people will have to think to get in.” Bridget: “An excellent idea. This is why I keep you around.” Ashlee: “And here I thought it was because I was attractive and intelligent company.” Bridget: “Always. Heart emoji” Ashlee: “Did you just---” Bridget: “Don’t.”

Cheeseburger:

Bridget: “Cheeseburger!” Cheeseburger: *bear noises* Bridget: “You know, every time we’re out here, I’m always surprised that the deputy hasn’t had a saddle made to ride you into battle like the majestic beast you are.” Cheeseburger: *bear noises*

[onechicago-onefamily]

Isolation: Recovery part 3

Fandom: Chicago PD, Chicago MED Characters: Jay Halstead, Will Halstead, Hailey Upton, Dr. Charles, Natalie Manning Prompt: Once fired from the hospital, Jay has to work on finding himself back. A/N: Jay his story takes place before Will his incident with paralysis. I also don’t know shit about the medical field, so I hope you can forgive me concerning that matter. 

Jay had been in the hospital for two weeks. After the hospital fired him, Will had basically forced him to stay with him at his place for a while, much to Jay his dislike.  The youngest Halstead loved his independence. He hated it when someone bugged him around, but his state of mind was also clear enough to know that if he’d wanted someone to follow him around like he was made of glass, he’d wanted it to be Will. Will threatening him like a little kid that couldn’t be on his own would be somehow kind of acceptable.  “Jay, have you heard anything from what I said? I suppose you haven’t.”  Will’s voice braught him back from his own world. “Ehm... I know. Yeah, okay.”  The ginger made a face.  “I have to leave for shift, but Dr. Charles expects you at two. You’re sure you won’t forget it?”  Jay literally felt like a little child who was spoken to by his dad, because of bad behavior.  “I’ll be fine man. Thanks.”  “If there’s anything else, Nat has the day off, so she’s just a phone call away.”  Jay gave Will a look.  “See you tonight then.”  He left the apartment. Jay fell back into the couch, staring at the TV.  How the hell did he get here?

“So, Jay, is there anything you would like to discuss today?”  He had his days that conversations with dr. Charles were easy. He also had his days they weren’t. Today was one of those days.  “During our last session we talked about your time overseas. What if today, we talked about your return?”  Jay shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t think there is much to tell.”  “On the contrary,” Dr. Charles answered. “I’ve seen your file. I know that there is quite much to talk about.”  Jay knew what was in his file. He knew he had to rephrase what he’d just said: What was in his file wasn’t quite much to talk about for his sake. 

"Hey Maggie, do you know if Will has left already?”  Dr. Charles had put Jay on an intensive therapy schedule, which according to him would help Jay to be cleared for work as fast as possible. Because the youngest Halstead was done with being his older brother’s home-care project, he had agreed to it. He followed multiple sessions a week by different therapist and trainers, all with a different speciality in psychiatry.  Jay wasn’t a fan of therapy, but he wanted to return to his old life as soon as possible. Somewhere he had to agree that there were parts of him that felt better. Some of the dr. Charles assistant pets (*cough* other therapists* ) had helped him deal with feelings and emotions he would never have dealt with on his own, so in a way, he felt better then before. Little thing he would never admit that to someone.  “Sorry hon, Will took off a few hours ago. Said he had to run an errand.”  Having lived with his brother for a good three months, Jay immediately knew something was off. Will his usual shift would still be a good five hours before it was done.  “Thanks Maggie. I’ll see if I catch him home.”  He was probably at Nat his place, as usual. Jay took his truck to Will’s (basically.. it was their) apartment, entering a room that was way too dark for the time of the day. His hand went as an instinct to his belt, looking for his gun, but noticed it wasn’t there; Then he remembered he had left it at the precinct when he had left for medical leave.  “Surprise!”  Curtains were removed from windows, people jumped from behind couches, and most of all; Someone jumped straight against Jay his chest.  “Guys... What the hell?”  Next to the fact there was a german shepherd with a wagging tail on his chest, Jay looked into the smiling faces of Hailey, Will, Nat and Antonio.  “This, is Lucky,” Antonio said. The dog barked in response.  “In that case... Lucky, go off me.”  Jay had always liked dogs, but he didn’t understand what he had to do with a German Shepherd, and most of all; What did he have to do with one? “She is yours, Jay,” Hailey said.  The youngest Halstead his facial expression changed. “Wait- What?”  Will lended his brother a hand, and helped him to stand up.  “So, Dr. Charles came to see me, and he told me he would recommended you for being cleared for intelligence under one condition... I would sign you up for a help dog.”  “Only my car was big enough to fit her in, my kids went mad by seeing her,” Antonio grinned. Jay still didn’t understand what direction the conversation was heading, which Natalie saw. “Lucky is a dog who has been trained to help people with PTSD. She is supposed to be a friend.”  “We already arranged it with Voight,” Hailey smiled. “She can be the new intelligence mascotte.”  Jay was getting a hunch of where the conversation went.  “So, If I’m getting this right... My biggest shot at being cleared for getting back into intelligence is if I take Lucky in?”  The dog made a sound, like she wanted to ask him for permission to speak. “Yeah, definitely,” Jay smiled. “Thanks guys! Thanks!”  “Next to that,” Will continued while he put an arm around Nat her shoulder, “I think it is gonna get time for you to move out again, don’t you think? The only place Lucky needs to get used to is yours.” Jay smiled, not knowing what to say. “Geez... Thanks guys. Just... Wow, I don’t know what to say.”  “I know what to say,” Hailey grinned. “I better see you back at work, Halstead. We missed you.” 

It was the same night that Jay woke up while he was drowning in his own sweat. He also noticed it wasn’t the dream that had woken him up. It’d been something else. “Lucky... Could you get out of my face?”  The German Shepherd had noticed Jay had had a bad dream, so she had woken him up by licking his face.  The dog jumped from the bed, looking at him like she wanted to ask: “Hey, you okay again man?”  Looking at the dog made Jay smile.  “C’m here bud. The bed is big enough.” 

[junker-town]

9 memories from the all-time classic Texas-USC Rose Bowl, shared by Mack Brown and Matt Leinart

Even the QB who lost the 2006 Rose Bowl considers it the best game of all time.

The losing quarterback in the greatest national championship game of the century now remembers that night a lot like you do. There’s still pain, but in the 11 years and seven months since Vince Young sprinted past the right pylon on a fourth-and-5 to deny USC a second BCS title in a row, Matt Leinart’s lingering sentiment isn’t grief.

“Every time the game gets brought up, I just think, ‘Man, what if?’” Leinart, now a Fox analyst says. “We were so close. We had the game won, and obviously they made the plays in the end, but you just felt like we kind of let the game slip away from us. Credit Texas. But that’s really what I think about. And then, as I’ve gotten older, I just think more about being a part of that game, just the history of it, and really thinking back and just thinking, ‘Wow.’ I think it’s the greatest game ever played in college football.”

Ahead of the first Texas-USC meeting since, SB Nation talked to Leinart and Texas’ head coach at the time, Mack Brown.

1. Texas and USC were ready for each other.

This was a unique title game, featuring two unbeaten teams who’d spent every week of the season as the No. 1 (USC) and 2 (Texas) teams in the AP Poll.

Brown:

One of our players took a shot at USC [weeks before the game]. ‘They’re not good,’ one of those kind of things. So when we got back home, we sat down with all of our players and said, ‘Look, they’re real good. They’ve got two Heisman Trophy winners [Leinart and Reggie Bush]. They’re averaging 50 points a game. So don’t look stupid. Don’t look like a fool. This is one of the best teams ever, if not the best team ever.’

We actually got a little theme that we would act like we were the story of Troy, and we were gonna be in the wooden horse, we were gonna slip into the city, and we were gonna keep our mouths shut. Then after the game was over, we could do our talking, if we had done our job, but let’s don’t be stupid enough to act like this isn’t a great team.

Leinart:

It’s only human nature to watch other teams play. And I know Texas and all their players, they wanted us bad and all that, but still, it was one game at a time for us. We had the Notre Dame game, Fresno State, we had a lot of games where it was looking pretty dicey there for a while, and we found a way to win. Texas had some games like that, too.

But naturally, just as competitors and teams, you’re always kind of keeping an eye on, ‘OK, if we get to the championship, who are we gonna play?’

2. Brown felt Texas got an advantage from a scheduling coincidence.

Brown:

It was really a break for us in my estimation, looking back, that we played Michigan the year before in that stadium. [Texas won, 38-37.] We had the week of the Rose Bowl, so we knew what to expect. We stayed at the same hotel as we did the year before when we were playing Michigan, for USC. We practiced at the same practice fields. So the guys really had the routine down.

A hotel snafu led Brown’s team to leave its hotel the night before the USC game and spend the night in Burbank. But the Horns still did get a good night of sleep.

3. Leinart was the reigning Heisman winner, but Young awed him.

Leinart:

As quarterbacks, it’s a small fraternity, so you just respect the game. You respect other players at your position, and I was just so enamored with the way Vince played.

He was athletic. He was obviously really one of a kind. Mike Vick was kind of the quarterback that really came onto the scene as an athlete and a runner, but Vince was 6’5, 245 pounds, and ran kind of like that. He was the first of his breed, and it was really incredible to watch, and then obviously, we felt that in that game.

Holly Rowe, who worked the game as a sideline reporter at ABC, recalls that as Young was going onto the field for his first offensive possession, he “winks with this big grin and smile like, ‘I got this.’”

Young’s final line was 30 of 40 for 267 yards passing, with 19 carries for 200 yards and three touchdowns. Leinart was 29 of 40 for 365 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.

The two had spent a Heisman Trophy weekend together just before the Rose Bowl. They’d later do an ESPYs bit together.

Leinart:

We were just a lot of places together post-college and really got to be friends, and we’ve remained friends for the last 10, 12 years. We see each other every once in a while. We sat down a couple weeks ago and did a little feature for this game coming up this weekend. But any time I see him, man, it’s just like old buddies talking shop.

4. There’s one potential tipping point that bugs Leinart most.

A few stand out: Young’s winning run with 19 seconds left, the Texas fourth-down stop that preceded it, and Bush’s fumble on an attempted lateral in the second quarter while USC was driving.

This one haunts Leinart:

USC led, 7-0, and threatened to go up more in the first quarter. Leinart got stacked up on a QB sneak on a fourth-and-1, with the Trojans well inside field goal range.

Leinart:

In that type of game, every possession matters, especially the way the second half was going, because it was just score, then they score, we score.

And that was a possession that we got no points on, and people kind of forget about that, but that was some play that always sticks out in my mind, that I just felt like I should’ve called time out. Even when I didn’t get it, I remember coming off the field just thinking, ‘God, we should’ve called time out.’ The coaches could’ve called time out, but I really felt like that was my job to do.

This was in the first quarter, not the third. But memories can blur when you’re playing in a game with about 73 memorable moments. Leinart didn’t have a lane, and Bush had motioned out of the backfield. That meant Bush wasn’t able to push Leinart over the line, as he famously did earlier that season at Notre Dame:

5. With about two minutes left, Leinart realized USC had a problem.

That’s when Texas stopped Trojans running back LenDale White on a fourth down, giving the ball to Young, down five.

Leinart:

You know, I think when they stopped us on that fourth down, when we were up. I think we were up four or five points. That’s when Vince had gone down and drove, and we really drove on them all game, and really the second half, and we were driving again, and we went for it on fourth down, and they stopped us with — what was it? — like two minutes left or something.

That’s when I don’t wanna say doubt crept in, but I was like, ‘This is when Vince is at his best,’ and we’ve seen it before. We saw it in the Rose Bowl the year before. You just kind of felt like whoever had the ball last was gonna win. And we got the ball back with like 20 seconds, but that’s when ...

Our defense played well, they had turnovers, but Vince was a dominant, dominant player, and he just made that play. You just had a feeling he was gonna run and do something special.

USC did have a problem. Young drove 56 yards to win.

6. This was The Vince Young Game, but Brown wants you to know it was more than that.

Young finished with 467 total yards, a Rose Bowl record at the time. He was dominant on the ground and through the air, and his touchdown was iconic. Brown says it’s as special a night as Young ever had, but it doesn’t tell the whole story of UT’s night.

Brown:

We saw it a lot, and there were great players around him. That’s the other thing. Vince got so much credit in the Michigan game and that game, and he should’ve.

But you don’t have those performances unless you’ve got a great offensive line. He’s got Jamaal Charles that’s still playing, Selvin Young that played six games with the Denver Broncos. Four of those offensive linemen played a long time in the NFL. David Thomas, the tight end, played in two Super Bowls. That defense, I think just about everybody on the defense played in the NFL.

So it was a great team that was just led by Vince Young.”

7. In defeat, USC was as gracious as any team could’ve been.

Some of that’s evident almost 12 years later, when Leinart’s asked if he still thinks about any of the iffy calls that went against USC that night. Specifically, there’s this moment, which led to Texas’ first touchdown, but shouldn’t have: a Vince Young option pitch to Selvin Young, which came after Vince’s knee was clearly down:

There’s also The Reggie Bush Lateral, a pitch gone awry at the end of a long catch-and-run that led to a Texas fumble recovery in the second quarter. There’s some question as to whether Bush’s pitch wasn’t actually a forward pass.

Where he pitched it:

And where it wound up hitting a teammate:

But if any USC fans are angry about the officiating that night, they’re thinking differently than their QB.

Leinart:

Look, football is a funny sport. The ball can bounce your way one game. It doesn’t bounce your way the other game. Refs miss calls all the time. They get calls right. You can’t make excuses. Obviously, Vince’s knee was down, a hundred percent. We all know it. They know it. It doesn’t matter. It was a missed call. I’m sure we had some calls go in our favor. It is what it is. You can’t dwell on those plays.

There were a ton of great plays that were made that game from both teams. People say, ‘Why did Reggie lateral?’ I don’t even think he knows. He was a competitor trying to make a play in the heat of the moment, and it just happened. There’s not really an answer for everything sometimes, and nobody should be to blame. It was a great game from start to finish, and they just made one more play than we did.

The best evidence of USC’s grace in defeat is this note from Brown:

There was so much chaos on the field. I was trying to find Pete Carroll, and to his credit, he stayed out there, found me, and he said, ‘You never wanna lose any game, especially a national championship, but we lost to a true champion tonight in Texas. You’ve got a great team. Congratulations,’ which I thought was very classy.

For a sense of how wild the scene was on the field, ABC’s Rowe:

It got crazy it got hectic and it got really hectic. We were all mixed up. You kinda rush out there and all these people were kinda rushing out onto the field and I had had the Texas sideline the whole time and Matt Leinart was right by me and I had said to the producer, ‘Do you want me to get Matt? He’s right here.’ And he was gracious enough in that defeat to stop and give an interview with me. It was just really sweet of him and he could not have been a better sport and more gracious about that.

Brown:

When we got in the dressing room and I was getting ready to address the team, someone said, 'There’s two guys at the door that wanna see ya.’ And I went to the door and it was Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. Both of them were saying, ‘Coach, we didn’t see ya on the field, and we wanted to congratulate you, ‘cause your team played great, and you’ve got a great team, and we didn’t wanna leave this stadium tonight without running you down.’ And I thought that was really, really classy.

8. The night ended with Darrell Royal’s wife, Edith, on a ladder with tape.

The legendary Texas coach and his wife were at the game. After Texas won, Brown wanted Royal to join him onstage at midfield. His predecessor declined; Brown says Royal passed on a note that said, “This is your time, boy. You enjoy this. Not my time.”

Brown:

And then as we’re leaving the field, Missy, who’s probably in her 80s, there’s an equipment truck that had three national championships from Texas written on it, and she was on the ladder, in her 80s, putting a four over the three.

9. The entire game was soundtracked by a legend making his last call.

Keith Jackson called a lot of great games. SB Nation also spoke to three of his colleagues about how this game was some of his best work.

Leinart:

Keith Jackson, a legend obviously. He called the Rose Bowl Game a couple years before. He’s one of the best to ever do it, and I think when you’re 21, 20 years old, you don’t realize until — I’m 34 now — and I sit back, I’m like, ‘Yeah, to be a part of that game.’ Keith Jackson’s calling the game, and the people who are at the game, the people who watch the game, you really take it in as you get older.