#elliott again :3c

[arinmoss]

Elliott!! :3

[sheepie-self-ships]

The free love mod is wild in the best of ways… just imagine you’re like. Some guy in pelican town and you meet this farmer and they just absolutely sweep 7 of your neighbors off your feet by bringing them sunflowers and eggs sometimes. One of them is some war vet who lives in the clinic with Harvey. One is the girl who runs the vineyard. Ones a pirate who washed up on shore a few months ago out of nowhere like guliver animal crossing. One is the girl who works at Joja mart. Ones the god damn wizard that you kinda maybe know about… ones that rich kid who wants to build bridges. and then finally there’s the guy who moved in a few years ago into that cabin on the beach who writes stories or smth? He’s there too, and they’re all under whatever spell that dirty little farmers got going on. Something they put in the crops??

[teeth--king]

Back on my Stardew art path :3c got depressed again and my computer decided to stop working for a while, but I’m starting to get it all together again. I was also missing drawing my guys :P

Elliott and Wolfe have a symbiotic relationship of both enjoying to talk about their work or interest, but also loving to listen to the other talk. Gay!

[neathbound-fiends]

Ask from @electricpoolshark! Answering here so I can slap a readmore on it since you didn't specify anyone so I am doing :3c everyone

What does your OC think how they’ll die?

Elliott: he expects that he'll probably die at Zee, as is the fate of a lot of zailors. It isn't an unusual way to go, his real hope is that he'll have earned enough money and taught his kids well enough and gotten them set up with backup plans to be able to thrive once he's gone

Warren: she simply doesn't intend to die, but if she does, she's sure it will be doing something incredibly grand and daring and she will perhaps even get her own folk song written about her

Arthur: he's pretty sure it'll just be old age. He's already 14, which is relatively high up there for a cat, so he's fairly certain he's got like a good year or two left in him and then he'll just go find some woods somewhere to crawl off into

Florence: she's sure that, when the time comes, it will be from a double cross. Someone will sell her out on some job or another, and she'll meet her maker (metaphorically) and that'll be that

Doc: he also doesn't intend to die, but if he does, it will likely be at the hands of whatever Judgement banished them in the first place (since, clearly, it will not be London which destroys them, but he welcomes another Campaign of '68 should they be so inclined to try)

Bolormaa: he also expects he'll probably die at Zee. He's not technically a monster hunter, but he essentially works that job on the ship, and being the woman shooting things with cannons tends to make one a target for Zee-beasts that don't particularly enjoy getting shot

Rhoda: she's fairly certain it will be in some event that nearly wipes out the City, given the course of the last few years. She'd prefer it to be something calm and peaceful when she is quite old, but summers are making her less sure this will be the case

Would your OC survive for a week on their own in the wilderness?

Elliott: it is unlikely. He spent a lot of time outside as a youth, but he is not someone I can imagine hunting, or knowing what is or isn't edible, and he's already pretty thin and sickly so he hasn't got much in reserves to help him out

Warren: despite what she'd tell you, no. She'd feel like she's hot stuff for the first like eight hours and then she would want to go home very badly

Arthur: yes! He's got a leg up on everybody else by virtue of being a literal animal. He survived on his own before, and he could do it again if need be, though with a bit more difficulty because he's an old man who has been spoiled for years now

Florence: probably not. She'd eat some weird berries that she watched an animal eat and reason that it must be safe for her also and then die on like day 2

Doc: it's a toss up. On one hand, he's got the advantage of being a devil and therefore having, presumably, weird anatomy considering they eat and drink things made from poison and that can light things on fire. On the other hand, he might just fucking kill himself to get out of the wilderness because death is preferable to camping

Bolormaa: it's possible. He has decent nature skills and is good with improvised weapons, but would fare a lot better in a marine environment or the plains due to his familiarity with it over, like, the straight up woods

Rhoda: probably not. She's not really a woodsman, and though she has a lot of knowledge regarding mushrooms and their foraging and cultivation, she's not really equipped for many other survivable skills

[sharky857]

-Me: Haha, that Elliott-Langdon comparison keeps getting more and more interesting. This is so 2000s to say, but someone should write a silly fic based on that. XD

-Plotbunny Trollbrain: AAAAY! Wazzup? :3c :3c

-Me: Wha... Ah lads, not again...!

[shannie-writes]

Arts and Craftiness [Summer Camp AU]

Word Count: 710 Genre: Fluff Pairing(s): Seth/MC Warning(s): N/A A/N: Day 8 of short daily AU fics with Seth for his Route Release-palooza! This AU is where MC and Seth are camp counselors for a children’s summer camp. Lots of cuteness and lots of sneaking around at night :3c

"Alice, Alice, look!"

A little voice vied for your attention amongst the boisterous group of children that surrounded you at your craft table. You lifted your head to see the lopsided but rather cute beaded keychain that had been thrust in your view.

"Wow, Elliott! That looks so lovely! Who are you making it for?"

"My mom," he said proudly. "She loves green things."

"I think that she will love it."

"Alice, look at mine!"

"Mine too, mine too!"

After you had complimented each of the items that were being shown to you, you were finally able to work on your own again. It was simple, but you were forced to resort to using lettered beads as the colors you had initially started with were taken from the giant bowl by the children. It didn't much matter, as you were planning on taking it apart and putting the supplies back for the kids next in line for the craft table rotation.

"What are you making?"

You jumped at the voice that came over your head and looked up to see Seth's bright smile.

"Hey! It's supposed to be a turtle. Is it almost time for the next group then?"

He hummed in assent and pulled an empty chair from the next table over to squeeze by you. "I had my last group, I hope you don't mind me joining in with you all~☆"

The children excitedly showed Seth their projects as well until the camp leader rang the cowbell, signifying their time was up. You made sure everyone left with their things before they ran off. Taking apart your turtle-ish project, you cleaned up a little between groups, adjusting your chair to allow Seth more elbow room.

"I see you couldn't stay away," you said as you gave Seth a sly grin.

"This table is irresistible for one reason and one reason only," he said. After a dramatic pause, he broke with an equally teasing look. "You know I can't resist making another bracelet."

"Pfff. I knew it."

"The beads call to me, sweetie. What can I say?"

"If Sirius knew how many you'd been keeping for yourself, he'd make you pay for ten bags of beads to make up for it."

"They're worth it."

Shaking your head in joking exasperation, you welcomed the next group that came to the table. You gave them all instructions, with extra reminders to be kind and share with each other, looking pointedly at Seth as you did. Once they all were working on their projects and the final questions were answered, you sat down.

"What are you making this time?" he asked.

"I think I'll try for a lizard."

"A colorful lizard would be very cute~☆"

The next twenty minutes flew by with far too many wrist slaps to Seth as he grabbed at more and more beads to put in front of him. With the last group gone, you took apart your half-assed lizard and began to pack up, putting lids on containers and gathering together the scissors and string. You were about to pick it all up to return to the supply cabinet when Seth wrapped his hand around your wrist.

"Alice, wait one moment."

"What's up?"

He moved to stand behind you, pressing himself against you as he wrapped both of his arms around you to tie a bracelet around your wrist.

"Seth, you really shouldn't have--"

"Meet me after lights out," he whispered, his voice smooth as velvet. "The usual spot."

Your throat dried as you were immediately taken back to the last time you'd met him at the boathouse. Of the soft lake waves moving in tempo with his lips on yours and his hands under your shirt.

Before you could give a proper response, he gave your cheek a quick peck and said a melodic goodbye before leaving the pavilion.

Grumbling to yourself that he was going to get you both caught one of these days, you looked at the bracelet closer. It held clear blue plastic beads with three simple lettered beads in the middle.

I ♡ U

You ignored your flush at the utter ridiculousness of simple kid beads sending your heart soaring and finished packing away the craft supplies for the day.

[ts-unsolved]

Final Wrap-up for Chapter One

((since chapter one will be coming to a close shortly and there is still an assortment of questions left over, here is a masterpost of responses to queries that couldn’t be addressed during the story! 

[reminder: the ask box will be left open, however the characters are not available. please keep in mind that non-plot related questions will not be answered by the characters after this post.]

Anonymous said: ((Just wanted to tell you your drawings are so pretty and I love ur blog. That is all I have no braincells to ask questions))

Anonymous said: OKAY MOD I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW I LOVE THIS AU SO MUCH AND ITS SO COOL AND GOOD AND YOUR ART IS TOO!! sorry for caps I’m just excited

Thank you! Sorry I didn’t always get around to answering asks like this, but for every one that was sent in, I appreciated it with all my heart. You guys are angels 💖

Anonymous said: What is one haunted location you guys would really like to visit someday?

Poveglia is definitely the highest on the list for the notoriety alone, although they would likely never get the permission to go (the history in general is almost excessively horrible and tragic, so nothing good would come out of doing an episode there. Maybe it’d be good as a final-chapter type location? 🤔).

@anxious-fander-bean​ said: Hey Logan, have you ever tried swing dancing? It's really fun and good excersize! There's also a lot of bouncing and upbeat music, so Patton might enjoy it as well! ((I'm doing it. I need the qpp boys to be happy and have fun, bc they deserve it.))

(LOGAN: I’ll...consider it.)

You did it, you got them to go on some good ol’ platonic dates! B)

Anonymous said: I feel bad that I don't have any deep question or something along those lines, but what's your favorite thing to bake, Pat? - 💐

That’s alright! Questions don’t have to be deep to be fun/interesting. 

(PATTON: Cupcakes! You can make so many different flavors, and there are tons of fun ways to decorate them!)

@why-should-i-tell-youu2 said: Why cant anyone else see the seal?

You need to have The Sight to be able to see demon sigils. Patton has this ability naturally, and Dee has it because Elliott taught it to him. Otherwise, Virgil and Roman would be the closest in terms of gaining this ability, but a scared/skeptical part of them is holding them back. 

Anonymous said: My good dorks, is there a way to, I don’t know, get a better/more effective charm for your office? One that costs more than $10? -🍁

Anonymous said: Hey, Logan, potential naturalistic explanation for ya: depending on what the charm was made of, shifts in ambient room temperature could have caused minuscule expansions and contractions in the material that would eventually crack the charm. Do I believe my own explanation? Absolutely not. Am I grasping at straws for a non-supernatural explanation? Absolutely. And ambient room temperature doesn’t even begin to explain the red symbol around the charm

(LOGAN: Our budgeting is already a mess as it is, the last thing we need is to waste more funds on decorations. And that theory seems much more reasonable than the contrary explanation.)

Anonymous said: Is the demon that Pavreen summoned the same demon that possessed Elliott?

Anonymous said: Welp Virge SUMMONED A DEMON- (Why do I have a feeling Remy was the demon that possessed Elliot-)

Nope, they’re all different demons! The demon that Parveen summoned is notoriously difficult to contact, so a bunch of teenagers wouldn’t have been able to do it. Likewise for Remy; you can only summon him once you have his True Name, and he’s already destroyed most references to that (sorry Patton).

Anonymous said: omg omg omg what part of mythology is remy part of???

He’s not from any particular mythology, but he is partly based off of Alps from German folklore and the general mythology around sleep paralysis!

Anonymous said: Can Patton see supernatural beings like ghosts and demons and stuff? I just think it would be interesting if his scars make him able to see them :3c

Anonymous said: If both Dee and Patton can see the sigil, and Dee can see ghosts, does that mean Pat can see ghosts too? With the whole red glowing thing (forgot what its called) it seems to be connected.

Yes he can see ghosts/demons, and you’re right that the scars (or rather the deal with the demon which gave him his powers and scars) are what lead to him being able to do it. The red is just a general indicator of something supernatural/not of our Realm.

Anonymous said: Wait so if Patton and his family all have that mark could that mean Patton is not completely human 👀 -🌈

I supposed you could say that Patton’s not entirely human because he’s a witch who was born without a soul, but he’d find that pretty offensive tbh.

Anonymous said: Are Elliott and Patton maybe related, even distantly? Also, roman needs to suck it up and have Feelings for the Snake Man

There’s no relation between Elliott and Patton. Elliott is the child of a seer and a psychic, Patton is the son of witches. They’re similar, but different. (Also you’re assuming that Roman hasn’t liked the Snake Man since high school, but considered him off-limits because he’s his brother’s best friend).

Anonymous said: Does Patton know that Dee can see spirits and does Dee know that Patton is protecting them all?

Anonymous said: Dee, pat, do you know that each other can see the sigil? 

Anonymous said: is ... is patton a witch and dee a dee-mon and that's why they don't like each other.....?

Anonymous said: Pat what do you think about making deals with demons?

They’re both aware of each other’s secrets! Technically they’re both doing their best to protect everyone, but that doesn’t mean they agree with each other’s methods or bond over the shared responsibility. 

Patton is indeed a witch, and Dee is a regular human who happened to summon a demon one time. Patton thinks Dee is the occult equivalent of a satanist, which he disagrees with because dark magic is unnatural/dangerous in his eyes (making deals with demons only leads to trouble!), and would prefer Dee not endanger his friends. Dee doesn’t like Patton because of his perceived moral superiority, and finds the way he can be so secretive and two-faced creepy 

Regardless, they’re both sitting in glass houses and have more in common than they think.

Anonymous said: Patton Should Hug Dee *

Maybe. But he won’t. 8′D

Anonymous said: Since Dee has been able to see ghosts for a long time, was he an open believer in ghosts before Elliot died? Since it was mentioned that the reason he lies about his belief is because he knows that they're dangerous, he wouldn't have had a reason to hide it in the past. And if he did are any of the others aware of the belief change? Well, besides Remus. I'm guessing that one is pretty obvious.

He may have been more involved as a believer in the past, though that doesn’t mean he was ever super open about it. He was aware of how it would look like to outsiders (being genuinely skeptical at one point himself), so he wasn’t going to paint a target on his back by talking about ghosts and demons and things most people can’t see.

Of course, that didn’t stop people from stereotyping and making those sorts of assumptions about their friend group anyway, but no one besides them really knew about their secret-- not even Virgil.

Anonymous asked: What would happen if one time, the gang ended up getting something supernatural on camera?

The result of that would depend on the being. Ghosts can kinda appear on camera, although it’s very rare for them to appear as a full bodied apparition, which is why they usually only manifest in spirit orbs or light/shadows. Poltergeists are better since they’re able to interact with objects, but likewise since they can’t manifest into a physical form they can easily be brushed off. Demons and other miscellaneous creatures will straight up not appear if captured directly on film; you’ll simply get video glitches and distortions.  

So essentially, they may technically have found something already, but capturing evidence that’s also compelling is a lot more difficult than you’d think. I imagine there’s a good chance that anything legitimate wouldn’t get taken too seriously because of how easy it is to fake evidence nowadays.

Anonymous said: Okay so a little bit of a rant but not really ig but imagine the ladylike and unsolved crossover for this AU like I can see it as like Thomas' friends dressing up Roman and Dee in style and seeing a blushing mess and maybe flirting going on because of how good the clothing complements each other but this is kinda a weak idea lol

It’s not a weak idea at it, it’s really cute! (though I may just have a soft spot for the Ladylike cast and crossovers). 

The only thing to note is that I’ve chosen not to include Thomas’ friends in this AU because I personally weird about writing fiction about real people? (I was on the fence about including character!Thomas for a while too, tbh). So, apologies to anyone who’s sent similar asks or wanted to see any of Thomas’ friends; they wont be around!

Anonymous said: Did Dee and Remus ever have that talk Dee said he would try to have a while back????

They might have gotten the opportunity to chat back when Remus came back to help shoot the Room 1046 video. It wouldn’t have been a complete reconciliation by any means (dealing with years of baggage in one sitting is Hard), but now Remus is aware that Dee is open to discuss things again at some point in the future, so progress!

Anonymous said: wait wHAT?! When did he (Emile Picani) die?? Give us the deets oh wise one

Anonymous said: emile is... dead? what happened?

I see y’all, but unfortunately you’re not getting any answers from me just yet! You’ll have to wait until the next chapter~.

Anonymous said: Shit is about to go down and I am worried about the next ghost "adventure"

:) Don’t Worry About It.))

[seerofmike]

Sharing

pairing: cryptane / miroctane / cryptoxoctanexmirage word count: 2,835 rating: t  tags: polyamory, jealousy, birthday fluff, humor summary: Elliott and Taejoon are both dating Octavio, and won't stop competing with each other—especially today, on his birthday. 

@apex-rarepairweek

today’s prompt is jealousy! though its less jealousy and more ‘crypto and mirage trying to one-up each other’ LMAO. also this is not cryptage, crypto is dating octane and mirage is also dating octane but they are not dating each other. :3c enjoy!

reblogs>>>likes! i read all the tags in reblogs! <3

read on ao3

OR

read below

Octavio loved attention.

Loved the soft kisses his boyfriends pressed to the insides of his thighs or the highest points of his cheeks, loved the way their hands ran down his back or across his stomach, touches gentle. Loved it when they teased him or tended to him or hyped him up for his stunts, Elliott in that big dorky way of his and Taejoon in his much subtler, but still chaos-enabling, way.

All attention was good attention, to Octavio—he couldn’t bear to be ignored, so he often made a nuisance of himself whenever they were busy. Wrapped his arms around Taejoon’s neck whenever he was doing his Hackerman™ thing, drummed Elliott’s workbench with wrenches when he was working on something, constantly told them ‘watch this!’ in the Games whenever they were on a squad together because he wanted them to look at him.

It didn’t matter if their attention came in the form of Taejoon snapping at him, or Elliott swiping his wrenches back, clearly annoyed. It was attention, and he loved it.

And he especially loved this kind of attention—the jealous kind.

It was his birthday today, turning twenty-five, ‘a big age’, according to Elliott, and Taejoon had scoffed ‘you would know, wouldn’t you, old man?’ which had resulted in indignant sputtering from Elliott, mumbling something about ‘thirty-one’ and ‘bullying’.

The three of them rarely spent the night together; it was usually just Octavio and Elliott or Octavio and Taejoon, as the two men couldn’t really stand each other, and he usually didn’t mind. 

But you know what was better and more exciting than just one boyfriend? Two. So they had compromised for his sake and spent the night on either side of him, touching him in the way he liked and massaging the nubs of his thighs. It had been really fucking hot and sweaty, but hey! He got to wake up and see both their stupid sleepy faces, so he loved it.

Octavio could tell that today was going to be different, though. He had fallen back asleep in Elliott’s arms (at one point in the night, he had hogged Octavio all to himself), but when he woke up again three hours later, the bed was empty and cold.

Glaring up at the ceiling at the realization that he had been left alone on his birthday, Octavio was just picking up his phone to type an aggravated message when someone entered the room. He then let his phone drop onto his chest when he saw just who (and what) it was; Taejoon, holding a box of sweet-smelling donuts.

“Ay, cariño, you didn’t have to,” he cooed, but internally he was going FUCK YEAH this is what birthdays are ABOUT. “Glazed and-?”

“Maple,” Taejoon said, and fuck, he loved this man. He knew the other didn’t particularly care for donuts, but he’d gone out of his way to get this whole-ass box just for him. “Saengil chukahae.”

Octavio flipped it open, seeing six freshly-made donuts awaiting him. He could feel the heat beneath his fingers through the box, could see that the glaze was still melting on the dough, and was just about to pick one up and eat it right there in bed when Elliott burst through the door.

“Ha-ppy birth-day!” Elliott announced, punctuating each syllable with a wave of the spatula in his hand, though he quickly froze when he saw them both. “What’s going on here?”

“‘Joon got me breakfast!” Octavio said enthusiastically, lifting the box up. He watched Elliott’s eyes narrow, and noticed that the man was wearing a ‘Kiss the Cook’ apron that he definitely didn’t own. "What's up?"

“I made breakfast,” Elliott said, sounding miffed. “Omelettes with peppers in ‘em. Just the way you like.”

Octavio perked up somehow even more at this news. “You did?”

“I did,” Elliott said sweetly, before his tone jumped right back into accusing. “And this guy knew I was going to!”

“I already told you that I was getting breakfast,” Taejoon said coolly, putting his hands in his pockets. “So I assumed that you would have stopped in your preparations. Evidently, I was wrong.”

“A home-made breakfast is better than any of this junk!” Elliott said, putting his hand on his hip and pointing his spatula at Taejoon’s nose. The other man didn’t even flinch. “I was even nice enough to make you an omelette. Now c’mon, babe, let’s eat.”

Octavio stood up with the box of donuts, but Elliott added, “And leave that shit in here.”

“Why can’t I just eat both?” Octavio asked, raising an eyebrow, and Elliott’s face flushed red.

“B-because—all that sugar—it’s not gonna taste good with the omelettes, okay?”

“It is his birthday,” Taejoon said shortly, pushing out of the room. “Let him decide for himself.”

Elliott huffed, flipping his hair out of his face as he turned on his heel and stalked out of the room as well, probably to berate Taejoon some more. Octavio watched him leave with wide eyes, before a grin split his face. Oh, today was going to be fun.

Octavio solved the breakfast problem by tearing a maple donut into chunks and dipping it into the hot chocolate he’d been provided after every bite of his omelette. The sweet and savory flavor of the donut mixed with the salt and spice of the omelette, and it made for a pretty exciting breakfast experience—made even better by the fact that Taejoon and Elliott were glaring at each other on opposite ends of the table.

After breakfast Octavio sat back in his seat and asked, “What'd you guys plan for today?”

“I was thinking that—” Elliott began, at the same time Taejoon mumbled, “I brought—”

They both stopped speaking, and when neither said anything for a while, Elliott spoke loudly.

“Well, I wanted to take you out to dinner. Without Park.”

“And I,” Taejoon said, emphasizing each word with a slice of his knife through his omelette. “Brought a movie for us to watch. Without Witt.”

“You could watch a movie any old time,” Elliott said, and Octavio glanced between them both. “I got us a reservation at the Sky Plate. The Sky Plate! Do you know how expensive that place is?”

“Well, I did not feel the need to flaunt my wealth in order to do something with Octavio today,” Taejoon said, snide.

“But what’s so fun about watching a movie?”

“He doesn’t even like half the food they serve at that establishment.”

“Well, how do you know?!”

“Because he is allergic,” Taejoon stressed, and there was a triumphant sort of edge to his voice. “To shellfish.”

Elliott’s mouth dropped open, eyes wide, and Octavio was amused to see the deep red flush rising from his throat and into his cheeks. His boyfriend was then looking over at him, eyebrows drawn up as he kept gaping like a fish.

“I totally forgot,” he eventually said, and Octavio saw Taejoon smirk out of the corner of his eye. “I-I can cancel it, don’t worry! I can make a different resoir...rev...resser—”

“Chill, babe,” Octavio said, and Elliott’s mouth snapped shut. “People tell me they’ve got good desserts. I’ll find something to eat.”

“You sure?” Elliott asked, worried, and Octavio nodded eagerly, because while he wasn’t much of a fine-dining person, he knew that with Elliott it couldn’t be boring.

When they stood up from the table Taejoon seemed displeased for some reason, and walked away without saying much else. Curious, Octavio wandered after him as Elliott cleaned up, and found his boyfriend sitting on the couch and typing on his phone.

“Whatcha doin’?” Octavio asked, leaning over the back of it to rest his chin on Taejoon’s shoulder.

“Checking the train times,” he said stiffly.

“Awww, why?”

“I don’t want to intrude on your dinner with Witt.”

Octavio blinked, before slinging his arm over the couch as well and grabbing Taejoon’s chin, turning his head to face him. “Y’know dinner isn’t for a while, right?”

Taejoon didn’t say anything, so Octavio braced his arms against the back of the couch before flipping himself over it, managing to land his ass on the cushions without falling off.

“Don’t be like thattttt,” Octavio whined, because he didn’t want him to leave. Elliott was great and all, but why settle for great when you could go for fantastic? Taejoon being here, vying for his attention and pampering him was ten times better than just Elliott doing all that. He wanted them both here.

“I wanna watch that movie with you,” Octavio said, sliding his hand over Taejoon’s chest and taking delight in the way he bit on his lower lip. “Por favor?”

“...Fine,” his boyfriend eventually sighed, and he got up to go rifle through the overnight bag he’d brought. Octavio sat upside-down on the couch as he listened to the sounds of Elliott loading the dishwasher, and when the man himself eventually stepped into the living room he smiled at Octavio and said,

“You ready?”

“It’s not even dinner,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but I thought we could—”

“Your reservation isn’t until six, Witt,” Taejoon said, stalking around him with a DVD in hand. “Let us watch this film.”

“How do you know when my reservation is?” Elliott yelped, scandalized. “What the hell?”

Taejoon didn’t answer, and Octavio cackled at the look on Elliott’s face. Both of his boyfriends eventually reached a silent agreement to tolerate each other as they all settled on the couch, Octavio sitting between them.

For once he was lucky that his couch wasn’t very big; both men were sitting on opposite ends of it, but thanks to its short length, he was able to lay himself across both of their laps. He took off his legs and rested his thighs in Elliott’s lap as he leaned against Taejoon, feeling the other man rub his fingers soothingly over the bare skin of his hip.

The movie was pretty cool; a thrilling zombie adventure taking place on a train, though the build-up was rather slow and Octavio found his mind drifting elsewhere multiple times.

Soon enough it got exciting, and he found himself invested in the story, trying to read the subtitles as quickly as they popped onto the screen, but about halfway through the movie, he felt something warm against the back of his neck, and shivered.

Turning his head to see what the deal was, Taejoon kissed him again before he could speak, this time on his jaw, right beneath his ear. Shivering again, Octavio tilted his head, allowing his boyfriend to suck kisses into the sensitive skin of his neck as the movie progressed.

By the time all the action was happening—a dude was punching zombies—Octavio was hardly paying attention, Taejoon’s fingers tracing themselves deliciously across the skin of abdomen, feather-light and stomach fluttering in response, ticklish.

He reached behind him to grab the collar of Taejoon’s v-neck and pulled him lower, grinning against his lips before kissing him, rough and biting, just how he liked it. Taejoon moaned into his mouth, quiet, but the other man sitting with them apparently heard it.

“Whoa,” he heard Elliott say, and then a calloused hand was placed on his thigh. “I thought we were watching a movie?”

“Mhm,” Octavio hummed, and made a little ‘come here’ motion with his hand, mouth too occupied with Taejoon to do much else. It was a clear invite to come and kiss him, touch him, stroke all the places he liked—and he was rewarded with Elliott scooting just a little bit further down the couch to do just that, leaning close to get his attention.

Octavio turned his head and let Elliott pull him in for a much sweeter kiss, his beard tickling him as he did so, and his body felt so warm everywhere as Taejoon held him in his arms. His legs were spread, Elliott's fingers digging into the skin of his thighs as he kissed him in that uniquely Elliott way of his his.

But then the spell was broken as he was suddenly shoved off of Taejoon, and he gave a squawk as he hit Elliott’s chest.

“What the fuck was that for?” Octavio said, turning his head to glare at the man, and he saw him fold his arms over his chest and stare sullenly at the TV.

Okay, scratch that. All of this jealousy shit was not going to fly on his motherfucking birthday. How was he to receive attention from both of them if they acted like this whenever the other was giving him some?

Octavio tore himself away from Elliott and let out a huff so that they were both looking at him, raising his voice as he said, “It’s my birthday. Can’t you two get along for once?”

“He’s not—”

“I’m just—”

“Silencio,” Octavio interrupted, and they both looked at him with wide eyes. “Look, normally the whole ‘fighting over me’ thing is hot, but today, I just want you both to share. Is that too much to ask? Eh?”

Neither of them answered. Pissed off now, Octavio stared at the TV screen, not even bothering trying to read the subtitles in the state of anger he was in. Ten minutes passed in silence, and as the characters got into arguments on-screen, Elliott finally said,

“I’m—we’re sorry, Tav.”

“I didn’t mean to make you feel that way,” Taejoon mumbled quietly, hesitant, before he felt the other touch his shoulder lightly. “I’m just not used to...this. Whatever this is.”

“Sharing,” Elliott supplied.

“He is not an item.”

“Yeah but that’s—”

“Shut up,” Octavio advised, and Elliott frowned, but obliged. “It’s whatever. I know you two don’t like each other, I guess.”

“But we can try to get along," Taejoon said firmly, and then his tone got a little sharper. “We are both dating you. Right, Witt?”

“‘Right, Witt’,” Elliott mocked, before pinching himself on the thigh and saying, “Right...Taejoon.”

Octavio looked between the both of them before returning to his previous position, thighs in Elliott’s lap and Taejoon’s arms wrapped around his middle. By the time the movie had ended (his eyes were getting kind of wet, and Elliott was full-on sobbing) it felt like an eternity had passed, but it was only noon.

Octavio got up to use the bathroom, and when he came back the atmosphere in the room wasn’t as stiff as it had been before. Elliott glanced up from where he was checking his reflection in his selfie cam, and said,

“I can change that reservation for a party of three. If you w-want. I’m Mirage, what’re they gonna say? No?”

He expected Taejoon to make some snarky comment in return, but he was surprised when the man said, “That would be nice.”

“Yeah!” Elliott smiled, eyes bright, and Octavio felt his heart do something funny in his chest. Grinning now, he approached them both and asked,

“Sweeeet. Now what’d you guys get me for presents, huh?”

He’d half-meant it as a joke, but he was really curious to see if they’d bought him something or not. Elliott practically jumped from the couch in his haste to get his gift, and when he handed it over to Octavio he was chagrined to see that it was covered in Mirage wrapping paper. It was a very poor wrapping job as well.

Tearing it off (and hearing Elliott complain) Octavio grinned somehow even wider when he saw that it was the new video game he’d mentioned wanting. “Oh shit, gracias!”

“Knew you were lookin’ for something new to play,” Elliott said, obviously proud of himself. “Saw that at the store and went hey, it’s that thing Octavio wants, and—”

Octavio threw his arms around him, and his smooth-talking turned into stuttering as he returned the hug. “A-and then I was like...I have w-wrapping paper left over from Christmas! I can make it all exta...exe..fancy for ya!”

"I love it. Thanks, babe," Octavio said, and felt satisfied when he managed to get the trickster, of all people, to shut up.

Taejoon’s gift wasn’t all wrapped up like Elliott's had been—he simply pulled the thing from his bag, and Octavio gasped when he saw it. It was a stuffed bunny, and it was purple.

“I know you probably meant it as a joke,” Taejoon said sheepishly as he tore the thing from his hands. “But...”

“He’s beautiful,” Octavio whispered, and then kissed the man on his cheek. Much to his delight, Taejoon’s face turned pink and he ran his hand through his hair, flustered.

Octavio looked up at both of his boyfriends before pulling them both down at the same time into a hug. He was really lucky to have them both, even if they argued over him and were jealous and petty and...

Well, that was what made them fun. He wouldn’t really have it any other way.

But just for today, they could learn to share. 

[heirsofdiscord]

🎻🎚🎤 for any of your muses :3c

RP Music Meme - (accepting)

🎻A song featuring classical stringed instruments that I associate with my muse                                  Lochlann

I forget if I made Lochlann (Montie’s brother) to this song or just did the bulk of my planning to it but nevertheless it’s a very important song for him and I found it completely by accident. This is... a one hour version of the song and also it’s not named (It’s Yumeji’s Theme) which I wouldn’t have used but I realize the dark clad figure in a grey misty scape was also instrumental to Lochlann’s aesthetics.

🎚 A cultural piece that suits my muse                                  WoL Montresor

[Fun fact: Lochlann was originally my VtM tremere from 1500s ireland. Which means, me making him related to Montie means Montie is also Irish. I don’t know what that means for FFXIV but y’know.]

Let's drink and be merry, all grief to refrain For we may or might never all meet here again

This is just a good song in general for WoL Montie and his attitude for adventuring and his companions after ShB but also after he gains a tiny bun because there’s no lass that I could reference here besides Alicia.

(Also The Craic version because I’ve seen them live because they’re always at the local Ren Faire and they’re legit my fav part of going tbqh)

🎤 A song that my muse would sing                                 Moth’ir

And there was only as much joy as there was pain Which made an ultimately empty game

I’ve mentioned Moth’ir sings to himself in private all the time but the shit he sings is very depressing and/or angry. I still haven’t tacked down a voice for him but a good number of Matt Elliott’s songs are very much exactly what I imagine him singing.

This one for the particular case I have to add another name to the list of my favorite characters who end up dying because I’m unlucky like that.

[visionshadows]

What do the Flyers need to do in the coming season?

So I honestly didn’t think anyone was going to let me rant about the Flyers so eee! yay! I can rant about the Flyers and what they need to do this upcoming season. I know that most of the people that follow me don’t like the Flyers and really don’t care what they do as long as they lose to the Pens when they play so I appreciate you humouring me.

So the Flyers core is Giroux, Voracek, Couturier, and Simmonds. Except for Couturier, everyone is heading towards or over 30 which means the window is getting smaller for those guys. Couturier is only 25, but has been in the league since he was 18 (2011) so it seems like he’s been around forever. They have some young guys, Nolan Patrick and Travis Konecny, who are going to be really good. Nolan Patrick was the 2nd pick in the 2017 draft and once he was fully recovered from his hernia and other injuries at the start of the season, really started to pick it up later in the year. He should really be the 2C this year which Voracek on one of his wings and probably Raffl on the other unless they really want to move Raffl down to the 3 or 4 for depth. He’s a good defensive forward. TK was shifted all over the lineup which meant his production fluctuated all year which is a shame. He played really well opposite Giroux on Coots line. He also played well with Voracek. Hopefully this year they’ll put him somewhere and keep him there so he’ll get some stability. I’d love to see a top line of him, Coots, and Giroux.

The defense has two really good young guys in Provorov and Gostisbehere. Ghost is smaller and much more of an offensive defenseman. Provy can score as well and he’s going to be elite once he plays more. He’s still really young and he’s made his mistakes. He played the Pens playoff series with a separated shoulder and blamed himself for the loss. This kid is going to be a stud. Now after these two things get a little dicey. Manning is hopefully gone. Gudas is probably still here, but he’s a liability most of the time. MacDonald is not terrible. His analytical numbers aren’t the best but if he’s paired with Provy he plays pretty well and he’s a good team leader. They’re also not getting out of his contract yet. So he’s still here probably either on the 1 or 2 line. Hagg played pretty well so he’s most likely on the 3rd pairing again this year. Sanheim will hopefully stick this year as well.

I’m hoping Morgan Frost makes the team this year. He’s not quite ready, but he’s fast and I think he could really bring some speed and offensive skill to a team that really needs it. We need a solid defenseman to come up, but I’m not sure who will. Sam Morin who was hopefully going to make the jump this year tore his ACL. They drafted Adam Ginning this year in the 2nd but he’s got another year in the Swedish league before he could come over. He’s been playing professionally since he was 16 so he’s pretty NHL ready even at 18. Sam hasn’t been what the Flyers hoped he would be so maybe Ginning could be what they wanted.

Now, the big one - goalie. The Flyers have had a revolving door at goalie for a long time. This past season was a combination of Brian Elliott, Michael Neuvirth, Petr Mrazek, Alex Lyon and Anthony Stolartz. Elliott and Neuvirth are still here, Mrazek was not extended so he’s gone. Stolartz is a solid #3 and I’d like to see him get more time with the big club but he has to prove he’s healthy. Lyon did well when he had to play. The real treasure is Carter Hart. He’s not quite ready yet, but he’s the #1 goalie prospect in the country. He’s currently playing in Everett and he’s only 19. Honestly, he could challenge to play this year but I think he’s going to stay in the minors for another year and we’ll probably see him in 2019. Goalie is going to be a problem again this year. Elliott played okay when he was healthy. Not great, but not terrible. Neuvirth can hold it together for a game or two provided he doesn’t get hurt but he tends to get hurt if someone breathes on him too hard. Elliott had core muscle surgery and came back for the playoffs but was not ready so he looked awful.

Now what the Flyers didn’t do was get themselves involved in the Tavares sweepstakes which is inexcusable. They have cap room and need. There is no way they should have passed on this, but they did. They aren’t going to try for Karlsson either even though they have a stacked farm system and Karlsson would change the team entirely. Hextall has sat back and refused to move on big free agents for years now. His signings have been awful - Dale Weise, Val Filppula, Jori Lehtera - and none of them have made an impact on the team. If anything, they’ve blocked younger players and lost games. Don’t even get me started on how often Filppula was on the ice at the end of close games which led to tying/winning goals. Grr.

And the coach. OMG I hate Dave Hakstol. I hate the way he deploys his lines. I hate how boring he has the team play. I hate the way he yanks players in and out of the line up. I hate the way he sits young guys in favor of veterans who don’t offer anything. I hate that he is the coach. He has done one positive thing and that is move Coots to the top line center and Giroux to wing. That’s it. They’re judging him on how players are progressing and the big one is that Nolan Patrick got better this season but I contend that it wasn’t so much he got better it was that he got healthy. He was recovering from core muscle surgery, an infection in his face, and an early concussion. He had a slow start learning to play in the NHL, but once he got healthy he got better. I don’t really think that was Hakstol’s doing since he tended to have him center a line with Weise and that doesn’t help anyone. They also need to figure out something with their penalty kill this year. It was horrific. Like soooo terrible. I always assumed the other team was going to score. They exposed Bellemare in the draft last year and Vegas took him and he was their best PK guy and it showed last season.

If I had things my way the Flyers would be wooing John Tavares, figuring out how to steal Karlsson from Ottawa, finding a new coach, and bringing along their kids at the same time. What are the Flyers actually going to do? Probably signing someone like Ryan O’Rielly or Tyler Bozak as their 3C. Neither of them are bad, but they’re not going to really make a huge upgrade. Calvin de Haan and Mike Green are on the radar for defense and de Haan makes much more sense. I do not want Green. That’s another aging defenseman who isn’t going to be able to keep up with the speed of the game. de Haan is younger and has more offensive upside. They’re going to stay pat with their horrible coach who is probably going to continue to move the young kids up and down the lines, pull them in and out of games with no rhyme or reason and not let them really get into the groove of playing.

If Giroux, Coots, and Voracek have another year like they did last year, they’ll make the playoffs again. Simmonds will most likely have a bounce back year and I’m betting Nolan Patrick will be a lot better since he’s healthy this off season. But it’s going to be the same old song come playoffs time - bounced in the first round because our goalies aren’t good enough, our d can’t stop anyone, and we can’t score when we need to. Same old Flyers. Until Hextall decides it’s time to put his foot on the gas and really make some moves, they’re going to continue playing second fiddle to the Pens and Caps in the Metro division. We’re not looking at a team that can compete. That’s what the playoffs this year showed us. The Pens outclassed them and the Pens didn’t have much gas this year. The teams that were in rounds 2, 3, and the Finals were stellar and the Flyers are still playing minor league compared to them. I never thought I would be saying that I miss Ed Snider’s win now at all cost attitude. It cost us players and left us in cap hell a lot of the time, but he always swung for the fences and tried to win every year. The Flyers have been mediocre for a long time now and they’re going to continue to be that way and that makes me so very sad.

[psyccheout]

‘ people call me Cam , but you can call me tonight. ‘ :3c

  ——  PICK  UP  LINES  ASK  PROMPT  !  /  accepting.

          ‘  since  when  did  you  become  the  love  guru  ?  ‘      it  was  endearing  -  seeing  him  use  cheesy  pick  up  lines.  they  worked  like  a  charm  on  elliott  ,  a  real  sucker  a  heart  for  them.  he  couldn’t  help  but  pull  a  foolish  grin  when  he  heard  it  as  if  he  was  a  teenage  boy  again.           ‘ you  know  ,  you  don’t  have  to  use  pick  up  lines  on  me.  but  ,  i  love  seeing  you  try.  got  anymore  on  hand  ?    ‘

[maggie-the-ghoul]

>u> 31 for Bastion and Elliott

;3c

*

#31: “You haven’t lost me.”

“So it’s true?”

Elliott hadn’t quite believed it. Not when Patrick ran from their home to the middle of the field, where he’d been sitting among the brahmin, to tell him. Not when he ran into the house, past the twins, who sat on the porch holding each other, their eyes shining bright. Not as he glanced at their mother out of the corner of his eye, weeping openly and hugging Carla close. Not as he sprinted up the stairs and past their father, quiet and still, except for the tremble in his shoulders.

Not until he pushed open the door to Bastion’s room, and saw him standing tall and proud in a Minuteman uniform, did Elliott believe his brother had really done it.

With a sigh, Bastion turned towards his older brother. The militia’s insignia was on his coat pocket. The colours suited him, a thought that made Elliott sick. “It’s not really a surprise, is it? I said I was gonna do it.”

Frowning, Elliott looked away, unable to stomach the sight of another family member in that damned uniform. “Yeh made mama cry,” he muttered. It was a cheap shot, but he’d say anything at this point. Anything to make Bastion change his mind.

Guilt made Bastion tense. “Yeah. So did Mikey. So did you, that day you broke your arm. Or the time you-”

“That ain’t the same!” Elliott snapped, looking up again. “Ah won’t let yeh leave! Ah don’t care what Mikey thinks, as yer older brother ah forbid it!”

A sad smile flickered over Bastion’s face. “You said I was too young. Remember? But I’m not, Lottie. I gotta live my own life now. And I gotta live it helping people. It’s the right thing to do.”

Tears welled in Elliott’s eyes as he remembered that conversation.  “So... so ah’ve lost yeh. Ah’ve lost another brother.” 

“You haven’t lost me. Or Mike.” Bastion approached, putting his hands on Elliott’s shoulders. “You might, if you don’t stop with the over-protectiveness. But you haven’t lost me.” 

“Not yet,” Elliott muttered, cursing the stubbornness Bastion had inherited with the rest of them. “Yer... yer really gonna do this? Ah mean really?”

“Yeah, Lottie. I am.” Bastion’s reply was resolute.

Elliott couldn’t help but stare. That conviction, that patient wisdom. In that moment, Bastion was a perfect reflection of their oldest brother. A rare paragon of the little good that existed in their world. “Okay.” Spinning on his heel, Elliott opened the bedroom door. 

“Lottie?” Their parents stood, arms around each other, waiting to hear that he’d done his job as a brother. That he’d kept Bastion safe by changing his mind.

Steeling himself, knowing he wouldn’t be able to handle their mother’s reaction, Elliott looked their father in the eye. “Ah’m goin’ with him. Ah’m joinin’ too.”

[writing-creative-fiction]

VISAWUS – aka The Victorian Interdisciplinary Association of the Western United States – embraces scholars of the Victorian era from any academic discipline and any career stage. Thus, the presenters at their annual conference in November 2019 ranged from eminent Professors with publication lists as long as your arm to under-graduate students approaching the final examinations of their Bachelor degree – and somewhere toward the lower end of that scale is me, for I decided to respond to their Call for Papers in February and was offered the opportunity to speak on one of their panels. The venue for the 2019 conference was the 15-storey Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, which has occupied the historic Alaska Building in Pioneer Square, Seattle, since 2010. The building dates back to 1903 and was designed by Earnes and Young to provide suitable office and storage facilities for the stockholders of the Scandinavian-American Bank during the Alaskan gold-rush. On its completion, Seattle’s Alaska Building, with its state-of-the-art fireproof construction, was the first 14-storey steel-framed construction in Seattle and the tallest building in Northwest America. The images below show The Alaska Building, as portrayed in an information booklet at the hotel, and The Arctic Building, which is just round the corner from The Alaska Building.

The Alaska Building, from an information booklet provided at the hotel

The Arctic Building, just round the corner from The Alaska Building

Just me, then! As the only representative of the UK – apart from a Toronto-based Professor hailing originally from the northwest of England – I could easily have felt a little out of place at VISAWUS 2019, but, on the contrary, I was warmly welcomed and enjoyed many interesting and helpful conversations with fellow delegates – although several misunderstood the name of my University – Canterbury Christ Church – and assumed I was from New Zealand. They realised their mistake as soon as they heard my clearly English accent! Following Registration and breakfast on Thursday morning, the first panel I attended focused on the works of Charles Dickens, so the conference couldn’t possibly have got off to a better start as far as I’m concerned. Between them, Joshua Brorby, Matthew Van Winkle and Cayla Eagan treated us to words of wisdom on:

• the mutability of words in Our Mutual Friend • the theme of memory in both Bleak House and Our Mutual Friend • an analysis of the real-life case that inspired The Chimes.

This led to an interesting Q&A session in which we discussed philology, etymology and the standardisation of language, wills and inheritance, the differences between connected, spatial and temporal memory, the value – or power – of literacy in the nineteenth-century, and whether infanticide could possibly be a manifestation of maternal care. After lunch, I chose to attend the panel on Marital Stakes, in which Katherine Anderson, Veronika Larsen and So Park provided valuable insights into:

• evolving perceptions of torture in the nineteenth-century, including domestic torture, both mental and physical, with reference to The Egoist, Daniel Deronda, and He knew he was Right and encompassing cases in India and Jamaica as well as the UK • early stage adaptations of Jane Eyre, and their ‘correcting’ of the novel’s moral deviancies by, for example, elevating Mr Rochester to the peerage, legitimising Adele, and omitting any suggestion of rebelliousness in Jane. • socio-economic restrictions and/or consequences in the nineteenth-century marriage market, as “intricately and delicately” handled by George Gissing in novels such as The Odd Women.

These, as can be imagined, led to a lively debate among panellists and audience.

My Paper

During the short tea-break that followed the second round of panels, I made my way to the Yukon room on the second floor of the hotel in order to connect my laptop to the projector and ensure my PowerPoint presentation would work; all was well!

Ready to go, and the audience begins to arrive.

There were only two of us on Panel 3C: me and Elizabeth Chang, a Professor from the University of Missouri, so we had plenty time for our presentations and a lengthy Q&A session. Elizabeth spoke about travel journals published in the 1880s by John Murray – the same publishing house that worked with the Admiralty earlier in the century to publish the Arctic Narratives that I’m looking at. Elizabeth’s journals related to voyages in China, on the Yang Tse River and the River of Golden Sand. Written by William Gill and Thomas Blakiston, the journals included descriptions of the native Boatmen tugging the boats with ropes, in a very similar way to that in which British seafarers in the Arctic would tug their ships through the ice. Blakiston, however, likened the Boatmen to a team of “dogs”; an analogy underscored by attitudes of white colonial superiority, and one that would never have been applied to their British counterparts. On a more conciliatory note, Elizabeth explained how Archibald Little, an Englishman living in China, had tried to introduce steam ships to the Yang Tse, while his wife – the author Alicia Little – campaigned against the practice of foot-binding.

When it came to my turn to speak, I presented my paper on the ways in which, through their engagement with literature, art and popular culture, the Victorian public gained personal temporal and emotional stakes in the Arctic – as well as the political and financial stakes they held via government and taxation.

Having introduced my audience to the Arctic as the Victorians would have known it  – by way of a map from 1879 – I  illustrated the circular trajectory of Arctic representations in the nineteenth century with examples from adult and children’s literature ranging from The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere, through Frankenstein, Jane Eyre, a selection of fairy tales and boys-own style stories, articles in the popular press, and the play The Frozen Deep, to Tess of the D’Urbervilles and The Purple Cloud, and demonstrated how these imbued readers with both temporal and emotional stakes in the Arctic. Evidencing the same concepts with reference to the Arctic paintings of Biard, Landseer and Riviére, I concluding with a brief examination of the ways in which remnants recovered from Arctic expeditions were revered as ‘relics’ and collected for public display as well as being reproduced for home entertainment such as Magic Lantern shows, thus substantiating my claims for the Victorian public’s stake in the Arctic. Following this, a range of interesting and pertinent questions were asked of both me and Elizabeth, and we were able to recognise and develop common threads and themes in our papers, as alluded to above.

A Pleasant Evening – and the second day of the conference

That evening, I had dinner in the hotel’s Bistro with the wife of one of the VISAWUS Board members (while he attended the Board Dinner). We were both disappointed with the quality of our food, and received apologies and a bill-waiver, but we had a super time chatting about our very different lives!

On Friday morning, I selected Panel 4C for my attention – it’s always so difficult to choose between concurrent panels at these events, but I chose well on this occasion as Susan Shelangoskie’s account of the Brett brothers prolonged yet ultimately successful enterprise in laying the first transatlantic telegraph cables was compelling; I could see clear similarities between the way John Brett promoted their project anonymously in the press and the way John Barrow promoted Arctic exploration anonymously in the same papers and journals. Robert Steele’s consideration of the role, concept and variations of time and time-keeping in Far from the Madding Crowd, was equally thought-provoking – especially as I had watched (again) the 2015 film version of this novel on the flight across from England –  and Katherine Voyles’s thoughts on the ways in which modern reportage draws on nineteenth-century lyrical realism were interesting if appearing a little anachronistic to the conference. After a mid-morning break, I indulged in some Post-Colonial papers with:

• Sumangala Bhattacharya – who connected Gaskell’s Cranford to the twenty-first century US Border crisis via the character of Peter • Beth Hightower – who argued that Dickens funnels his own Oriental racism through the character of Flora Finching in Little Dorrit • Ava Bindas – who focused on ‘epistemologies of space’ and ‘narrative dialects’ that define domestic, gendered and social mobility.

Business A formal Lunch and Business Meeting in the hotel’s Alaska Ballroom followed, providing a good opportunity for delegates to share information, ideas and advice concerning a range of topics relevant to Victorian studies, career development, and transatlantic co-operation. Similar discussions, of course, accompanied the Conference Dinner that evening. The Business Meeting consisted of introducing the Board members, hearing a Finance report and updates on this and future conferences – next year’s will be in Reno – and the presentation of an engraved plate to a lovely lady called Kathleen, whose surname escapes me but who founded VISAWUS with Richard Fulton c.1986.

My most eagerly anticipated Panel Having referenced at least one of her books extensively in my MA dissertation, I was keen to hear what Erika Behrisch Elce had to say on the Journals of Ships’ Surgeons, so, after lunch, I trotted along to Panel 6A on which she was accompanied by Dorice Elliott and Nathan Kapoor. The latter spoke about Geothermal energy in modern New Zealand and linked it very tentatively to the Victorian era by describing it as a form of decolonisation; an innovative alternative to the energy legacies of former colonial powers (I’m not convinced!). Dorice spoke about Australian emigration, and resulting conflicts of identity, as demonstrated in Henry Kingsley’s novel The Recollections of Geoffry Hamlyn. Of primary interest to me in my research, however, was Erika’s account of the journals kept by Ships’ Surgeons – journals that reveal the day-to-day illnesses, ailments and condition of each man on board every ship; a far more revealing and accurate record than the Narratives published by ships’ Officers: or, as Erika put it, “an alternative chronicle that can alter the master narrative.” One case that she focused on concerned Captain Kellet’s ships joining the over-wintering ships of Captain McClure in the Arctic in 1853. McClure was stubbornly refusing to turn back or abandon ship, so Kellet ordered his ship’s surgeon, Domville, to inspect every one of McClure’s crew, including McClure himself, and assess their health. Domville declared almost every crew member “utterly unfit to continue Arctic service”, forcing McClure to turn back against his will. Under questioning, Erika confirmed that ships’ surgeons were usually the healthiest people onboard, despite their exposure to so many sick and diseased individuals suffering from “everything from sunstroke to dyssentry”. She attributes their good health to their habit of “constantly experimenting on themselves” with quinine, different diets and a range of other “common treatments”. She also noted that ships’ surgeons, generally, had “tons of responsibility but no authority”, so Domville’s success in saving McClure and his men was presumably an exception to this rule. Dorice pointed out at this point that surgeons onboard the convict ships sailing to Australia had full authority over the convicts while the Captain maintained authority over the crew.

Colour Theories In the Friday ‘teatime’ session, I chose to attend panel 7C, on which Kristen Feay, Amy Woodson-Boulton and Julie Codell discussed the ways in which the Industrial Revolution destabilised perceptions of colour, leading to George Field’s Chromotography in 1843, Owen Jones’s The Grammar of Ornament in 1852, and Christopher Dresser’s The Art of Decorative Design in 1862. This was a very well co-ordinated panel with a clear connecting thread linking each paper.

Conference Dinner & Keynote Address The highlight of the conference, obviously, was the Keynote Address by Professor Andrea Kaston-Tange, Chair of English and Director of Liberal Arts at Macalester College. Her address was entitled ‘Embedded in Empire: Reading Lucie Duff Gordon’s Egypt’ and it focused on the published letters of the eponymous lady, who lived much of her life in Egypt for health reasons as well as out of a spirit of adventure that was evident in her youth, when she is recorded as having plaited a live snake into her hair. Prof. Kaston-Tange, however, also used her address to question the value of nostalgia, asking how useful it is (or is not) and what good (or harm) it does.

Keynote Speech

A three-course dinner provided ample time to discuss the issues she raised and to enjoy another sociable opportunity to converse with fellow delegates.

Final Day, and Time to Moderate On Saturday morning, I followed my birthday breakfast by attending Panel 8C, in the Kodiak Room on the 15th floor – where all C panels were based; B panels being next door in the Klondike Room and A panels (such as mine) a few floors down in the Yukon Room on Floor 2.

On this two-person panel, Michael Carelse argued convincingly for ‘literary impressionism’ in Thomas Hardy’s The Woodlanders, showing how Hardy was influenced by the paintings of J.M.W. Turner and the French Impressionist painters with regard to the symbolic significance of outward detail, so that this novel, in contrast to his previous one, The Mayor of Casterbridge, omits detail in a way that mimics the representational ethos of Impressionism and anticipates Modernism. Claire Barwise followed this with an exploration of satire in the sensation novels of Mary Elizabeth Braddon – a “phenomenal woman”, Claire said, “who not only wrote more than 80 novels but also founded the Belgravia Magazine and raised 11 children!” Focusing on 2 of those 80 novels, Lady Audley’s Secret and The Doctor’s Wife, Claire invoked Bakhtin’s theory of the carnivalesque to explain their inversion and subversion of social norms.

On Panel 9B, after a break for coffee, David Wayne Thomas, Priti Joshi, and Edward Beasley all focused on different aspects of British Rule in India, and did so in such depth, and with such enthusiasm, that there was no time left for questions at the end of the 90 minutes. David provided handouts to help us follow his exposition of the failure of the Ilbert Bill in 1883, while Priti used PowerPoint slides to show images relating to the 1857 Mutiny and argue for the recurrent identification – or misidentification – of portraits in the Illustrated London News and John Lang’s Wanderings in India, which was serialised in Household Words in 1857 and published in book form the following year. Edward, in his turn, argued for the reputation of Charles Napier; a Liberal Socialist hero of the UK working classes who was nevertheless regarded as a facist oppressor in India. Edward’s biography of this controversial Commander in Chief of the British Army is due out next year and will make fascinating reading, I think.

After lunch, the final panels of the conference took place. I had volunteered to moderate Panel 10B as the topics of the two speakers were both close to my heart: Dickens’s The Pickwick Papers and British Free Public Libraries. On the first of these, Sierra McMillan first demonstrated how the para-text of illustrations and advertisements in the serialised copies of The Pickwick Papers affected the text and the ways in which readers engaged with it, and then discussed ways in which readers could select from a variety of binding options once they had collected a full set of the serialised issues. Richard Fulton then introduced his research into the history of Free Public Libraries in the UK, explaining how the working classes went from initial mistrust of what they saw as middle-class charity to the overwhelming popularity of the libraries as a source of civic pride and a resource used and valued by the working classes in their hundreds of thousands. And that was the end of the conference! I went for a swim in the hotel’s basement fitness centre, ate a salad in my room, and began to pack in preparation for the next stage of my transatlantic adventure:

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. I arrived in Victoria, via a trip on two buses and a ferry, at 7:30pm on Sunday 10th November and discovered that November 11th is a public holiday for Veterans’ Day. The military parade was long, loud, and very impressive, with representatives from many different branches of the Canadian Forces, including the Mounties in their bright red tunics.  Crowds thronged the route of the parade and the 11:00am Ceremony of Remembrance outside the British Legislature Building on Bellevue Street, and the city was full of uniformed personnel for the rest of the day.

I watched the parade and then took a long walk round the coastal path, passing James Bay, Fisherman’s Wharf, Breakwater, and Ogden Point, and emerging into Beacon Hill Park with its exquisitely carved Totem Pole – the tallest in the world at 127 feet & 7 inches – Rose Garden, Ducks, Fountains, Petting Zoo, and Lookout Post, among other attractions. From there, the paths led me to Superior Street and thereby back to Government Street and through the grounds of the Legislature Building to where the morning’s wreaths lay bright yet poignant around the plinth of the war memorial.

World’s tallest Totem Pole

Veterans’ Day Wreaths

From there I explored the shops and historic buildings of the Old Town before returning to my Hostel to spend the evening relaxing with fellow solo travellers from around the world. Tuesday morning found me basking in the history of British Columbia; first in the 3-storey Royal B.C. Museum, founded in 1886, and then in the B.C. Archives, housed in the basement of the same building, which claims to have been “collecting and preserving photographs, documents, maps and historical records since 1894”.  Having obtained a Researcher Pass (valid for two years; oh, I do hope I get the chance to use it again!), I was able to indulge in a few hours of research before heading to the Ferry Port to catch my evening Clipper sailing back to Seattle. My research revealed a couple of letters and maps of interest, but the B.C. records are evidently not old enough to contain a great deal pertaining to my current project.

early map pertaining to a possible Northwest Passage

On Wednesday, I had a few hours to explore Seattle’s Pike Place Market and Waterfront before taking the Link Light Railway to the airport and catching my flight home. Altogether a very enjoyable first transatlantic experience, which I very much hope I will not be my last.

  Transatlantic Trip – VISAWUS 2019 VISAWUS – aka The Victorian Interdisciplinary Association of the Western United States – embraces scholars of the Victorian era from any academic discipline and any career stage.

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Updates on Hart, Lehner, Larkin, and Tatar; Robert Thomas; Jake Guentzel; More – March 12

  Tomas Tatar was skating with the Canadiens at practice on Monday after missing their last game with an illness. Normally this isn’t worth reporting but given that we saw Mike Green shut down for the year with a virus, it seems we’re at the point where we need to share when a player returns from an illness.

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Robin Lehner skated by himself before the Islanders hit the ice for gameday skate on Monday. It’s good to see him back on the ice but seeing as he’s returning from a head injury, it’s the first of many steps before returning from game action. Fantasy owners should be prepared for another option for at least this week. It should be Thomas Greiss continuing in net in the near-term. Greiss, by the by, shutout the Blue Jackets on Monday night, saving all 31 shots against. 

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On the topic of goaltenders, Carter Hart was the backup for Brian Elliott on Monday night. Hart will get in a game later this week, just not yet.

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It looks like Dylan Larkin will be out for another week. 

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Viktor Arvidsson missed practice with the Predators and had Wayne Simmonds take his spot. A little later I’ll get into coaches lying a bit later in these Ramblings but Filip Forsberg had a maintenance day a few days ago and then missed Saturday night’s game. I won’t believe anything coming from the coaching staff until we see Arvidsson back on the ice.

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With Vladimir Tarasenko out until at least the middle of next week, fantasy owners are scrambling for options. At Monday’s practice, the Blues had Robert Thomas skating with Brayden Schenn and Ryan O’Reilly. Given that he’ll be on the top line for the time being and will earn at least secondary PP minutes, Thomas is a player worth consideration for the playoff push. St. Louis has four games this week and three of them are good-to-great matchups with Ottawa, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo on the docket.

In that same practice, Pat Maroon went down hard and had to be helped off with what looked like an injury to his right leg. David Perron filled in for him on the second line with Jaden Schwartz and Tyler Bozak. They’re saying he’s fine but we’ll know for sure tomorrow.

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I don’t normally mention the NHL’s Three Stars of the Week because there’s not much value in doing so but it’s worth noting that Anaheim rookie Troy Terry won Third Star from the NHL last week for his two goals and five assists.

I had a lot of hope at the outset of the season for many of the Anaheim rookies, namely Sam Steel. Terry has loads of skill but I was concerned about him being stuck behind Corey Perry, Jakob Silfverberg, and Ondrej Kase whereas I saw Steel as the potential 3C. Needless to say, that hasn’t exactly worked out.

Terry’s fantasy upside is a fair debate because he’s not a guy who has shot much in the AHL (92 shots in 41 games) or the NHL (20 shots in 23 games). As a rookie, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt but there aren’t a lot of guys who can have significant fantasy relevance while averaging under two shots per game; from what I can tell, there is one skater in the top-100 players in standard Yahoo! leagues averaging under two shots per game, and that’s Brandon Tanev, and he’s exactly the 100th player, and he has 232 hits, a total which Terry may not amass in his entire NHL career.

Again, there is time and room for growth here, but he has played well since Randy Carlyle was replaced (as the team has been better). Lots to be encouraged about here for 2019-20.

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Over the weekend, the Seattle Hockey Analytics Conference took place in, well, Seattle. This is a gathering of mostly amateur data scientists, bloggers, game trackers, and every other intersection of hockey stats. I don’t use the word amateur as a disparagement, just not that many people in attendance are officially working in hockey front offices. You can watch the presentations on YouTube (starting here) and they include a wide array of topics from the value of different faceoffs, evaluating prospects, goaltending, and more. There are several hours to get through and some can get very heavy on math so it’s maybe something to bookmark for the offseason.

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With Jack Eichel suspended, the Buffalo Sabres have a very different look in practice:

  Sabres’ lines:

Skinner-Mittelstadt-Pominville Sheary-Rodrigues-Nylander Thompson-Sobotka-Reinhart Wilson-Larsson-Okposo

— John Vogl (@BuffaloVogl) March 11, 2019

  This is, by the way, a great opportunity for Casey Mittelstadt to showcase whether or not he can play a feature role. He’ll never supersede Jack Eichel in the pecking order, but it’ll give fantasy owners a glimpse into whether or not he can be relied upon to be the second line centre, which would be a boost for him next year. Two games, of course, won’t give us a final determination one way or another, it’s just something to watch.

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Something I noticed looking at player performance so far this season: there haven’t been huge surprises in elite fantasy performances. If you look at the top-20 skaters in standard Yahoo! leagues this year, only six had ADPs outside of the top-50: Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho, Brayden Point, Leon Draisaitl, and Elias Lindholm. The only top-20 skater with an ADP outside the top-100 was Lindholm.

Not that this is a huge surprise. The season prior to this saw the Vegas guys have great years out of nowhere, Dustin Brown had one last hurrah, and so on. Other than that, it’s mostly names we’d expect. It does hammer home the point that when it comes to fantasy hockey, nailing your early picks is important. It might not seem that way because so many people will inevitably hit their early picks, but if someone misses on their first two picks of a draft, in all likelihood most of the rest of that person’s league has hit on theirs, and the hope of finding a diamond in the rough on the waiver wire is minimal. Yes, of course getting guys like Lindholm will help put you over the top, but missing early picks is a quick way to the bottom of the standings.

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Can I just say that, in general, I’m disappointed with the Dallas Stars? We saw quotes from coach Jim Montgomery before the season that he wanted to play a faster game than they did under Ken Hitchcock, stressing things like zone entries and maintaining possession. Well, as we stood on Monday, the Stars are 25th in adjusted shots for at five-on-five, just ahead of the Islanders and Oilers, and 23rd in adjusted shot share, just ahead of the Oilers and Kings. Yes, they’re in a playoff position, but I would credit that to the team’s goaltending leading the league in five-on-five save percentage more than the team playing well.

Maybe I’m the sucker here. I’ve gotten used to ignoring almost anything any coach (or GM) says because they’re often lying, or at least obfuscating the truth because there is no incentive to be honest. The offseason quotes from Montgomery got me excited not only because of the big guns on the team, but guys like Miro Heiksanen, Denis Gurianov, Roope Hintz, Esa Lindell, and Julius Honka could certainly benefit from a faster, more offensive-oriented system. While those guys have had varying levels of fantasy relevance from some (Heiskanen) to none (Honka), I thought a rising tide would float all boats. Instead, it’s as if Hitchcock never left.

Just another mark in the Don’t Pay Attention To Coaches side of the ledger.

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Tampa Bay skated out of Toronto with an easy 6-2 win on Monday night. It was 4-0 just five minutes into the second period and it was cruise control from there. Tyler Johnson had a pair of goals from the Lightning, his 23rd and 24th of the year. He’s now five off his career high of 29 in 2014-15.

With a pair of helpers, Ryan McDonagh now sits at 36 points, needing four to crack the 40-point mark for the third time in his career. He also had three shots, three hits, and a blocked shot for good measure.

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Ryan Pulock scored in the first period for the Islanders, his ninth goal and 33rd point of the year. That surpasses his 32 points from last year. The first-round pick from 2013 took some years but he’s finally living up to that billing. In leagues that count peripheral stats, he’s going to be a beast for years to come.

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More updates in the morning.

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As we stand on Monday afternoon, Jake Guentzel sits with 34 goals and 65 points on the season. Those 34 goals tie him for 11th in the NHL with Steven Stamkos, one behind Nathan MacKinnon and one ahead of Nikita Kucherov. Before the season, I wasn’t overly concerned with Guentzel’s ADP picking up steam if only because he can provide a healthy amount of hits which meant that even if he didn’t have a great offensive year, he could contribute elsewhere.

Well, he does have a healthy amount of hits.

It’s easy to point to his 18.2 percent shooting and say that he’s simply the result of a lot of good luck. The thing is, over the first 159 games of his career before this season (including playoffs), he shot 18.1 percent. Simply pointing to a high shooting percentage doesn’t really do him justice.

Playing with Sidney Crosby, of course, helps immensely. But is there anything that has changed with Guentzel’s game that has helped pushed him to the season he’s currently enjoying?

Two things are worth pointing out here: at five-on-five, Guentzel is enjoying a career-high in shots per 60 minutes and minutes per game. League-wide, Guentzel’s 15:22 per contest is top-20 among forwards (minimum of 600 minutes), in the same range as names like Aleksander Barkov, Sean Couturier, and Ryan Getzlaf. Garnering that level of ice time (about 90 seconds more per game than last year) will be a big help to anyone’s fantasy profile.

As far as the shots are concerned, he’s added about one every 60 minutes compared to last year. That’s moved him from the 60th percentile to the 80th, and by the end of the year, will add about 20 shots in total. With his conversion rate, that’s an additional four goals so far this year through an increased shot rate alone.

When looking ahead, it’s worth mentioning that Guentzel has done all this while not earning much power play time (a little over two minutes per game). He’s largely been kept off the top PP unit, only filling in for Patric Hornqvist when injury struck, or when the coaching staff mixed around the PP units when it has been scuffling. He has just eight power-play points, so he’s far from reaching his fantasy ceiling.

Again, it’s worth pointing out he’s played about 90 percent of his five-on-five ice time with Crosby compared to roughly 58 percent last year. That is certainly a big help. But there are other factors helping Guentzel, and generally speaking they are of his own making; he’s shooting more and he’s earned the extra ice time. We’ve now seen his ceiling without a prominent PP role. Imagine what he can do if he does get one?

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-updates-on-hart-lehner-and-tatar-robert-thomas-jake-guentzel-more-march-12/

[sharky857]

"uve got questions and ive got answers" for all the questions of ur farmer u havent answered yet.

Well... *awkwardly glances at the utterly empty ask box* This is gonna take a while. :°D

Better add a break too.

Not really, but Melly low-key wishes she could have time to learn some sewing, so that she wouldn't need to constantly rely on Emily.

Living on a farm, Melly prefers a simple deodorant.

She's never really cooked (nor baked) before moving to Pelican Town, but after that Melly's been gradually getting the hang of it. And also digging it.

See above. :3c

No tattoos.

Considering that the only way to get this badly injured in Stardew Valley is by being nearly rekt by monsters in the wild, if Harvey were not an option, she could probably turn to Linus, Marlon + Gil, and/or possibly Gunther.

Not unusual, but Melly's afraid of storms.

Books. She feckin' loves reading.

Follow medical advices very diligently and take all the due rest until feeling well again.

Probably not moving to the valley sooner.

Can "books" be considered as "addiction"? 😆

She might have an accidental sense of style, and regardless of the former answer, the latter is gonna be a "no"; Melly feels like the "wear whatever you dig our of the dresser" kind of stylen't.

Not as much as novels, but it's a close second place.

Do they have a hard time opening up to people? Oh, totally. :°D

Regular sense of humour, probably. 🤔

She doesn't have nor want kids. At least for now.

Depends on what the "something" could be, exactly.

Not so easy, unless the other part tried and started to drill in her head "1001 reasons why aroace-ness don't exist and you're just a broken thing who hasn't experienced the things enough to have an actual opinion over them". In which case, that's a sure ticket to "GTFO-land", one-way only. 💀

Might not feel that easy due to Melly's extreme shyness and introversion, although things can get better once she warms up to the other.

Guess she does, although you'd barely catch her at the Yoba Church Sunday Mass™.

Melly considers both equally important.

"OH FUCK NO!" (Twas Melly)

As later as possible, preferably in her sleep. :°D

Not really, although she has a mild, underground beef with Pierre.

She's in charge of a whole farm, so her routine is usually on the line of: wake up -> breakfast -> tend to animals -> check on crops -> lunch time -> see some friends if got time -> do some shopping for the farm if needed -> tend to animals again -> dinner time -> book/fic time maybe? -> sleepsie

I don't think she even has any "hero". 😅

Being hopelessly shy means that all of Melly's (first) encounters happened by chance. The most memorable one with some writer by the sea. And one may say that that one in the end has had an unexpected effect. *vague gesture at some pendant*

Not as much as she is a bookworm, but wouldn't mind to play from time to time (videogames).

If Melly were real, she would be like a doppelganger or something :°D

Melly would rather leave being famous to Elliott alone, thank you very much. :°°°D

I would give her the power of teleporting, so she could do her things faster. Melly would give herself the power of invisibility, so she could go around Pelican Town without worrying about stumbling across someone she wouldn't want to meet.

Melly would probably wish she wasn't this shy, while at times very low-key wishing she wasn't so repulsed by sex to the point of feeling slightly nauseous at the thought of it.

She never really considered TTRPGs until Melly herself and Sebastian started to opened up to each other. Now that she has some familiarity with Solarion Chronicles, she would pick a healer.

She would cry a waterfall for days.

Melly believes in planning things out to try and avoid as manys etbacks as possible, but she also knows that sometimes fate can be a pain in the @$$.

The hell will freeze over before Melly would ever try to kill anyone.

Uh... *glances all the way back to question #20* There you ahve it, I guess. 😅

Sometimes she would have a recurring nightmare, but it's too unsettling/triggering to write. 😓

Nah.

She would try, then probably hand it over to the "Adventurer's Guild". ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Melly absolutely treasures her mistakes.

Oh, y'know... The usual. English, italian, Dwarvish...

Depends on what the source of the stress is.

In no particular order: Elliott, Leah, Abigail, Sebastian, Maru, Evelyn, Linus, Harvey.

She strongly believe in planning out, sooo...

Maybe, but awkwardness caused by interacting would make it hard for Melly to lie efficiently.

Never really pondered this. 🤔

*whispers* Whuddafaq would you even do to set her on a rampage of those proportions? :°°°D

No real troubles with her friends, while would rather avoid any "enemy".

She's out there living her best life in her widdle farm, with no worries about the rest of the world.🥺 #wish-that-were-me

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Roster Notes, Trades, Injuries, and Predictions – October 2

  The fantasy hockey draft season is basically over but there may be a few of you with drafts left to do. If you're in a pinch, the 2018-19 Dobber Hockey fantasy guide can help. There is too much information to sift through in just one day but some profiles will help with waiver decisions later, and there are draft lists to use for different league formats. 

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Some roster and lineup notes from yesterday to start us off.

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The health of Torey Krug had been a concern for fantasy owners the entire offseason. He looked to be ready for the regular season and then Amalie Benjamin reported Torey Krug suffered an ankle injury in the final preseason game and will be in a walking boot for a few weeks. If he’s in a boot for three weeks, it seems possible the team is without him for the month of October.

It’ll be interesting to see if it’s Charlie McAvoy on the top PP unit or if they do decide to stick with Urho Vaakanainen. The latter was seen on Boston’s top power-play unit on Monday. There is also Matt Grzelcyk to consider.

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Jakub Jerabek was acquired by the Blues for a sixth-round pick in 2020. Not sure there’s any fantasy relevance here. Just some depth on the blue line for St. Louis.

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It was Curtis McElhinney sent to waivers by the Leafs, making room for Garret Sparks. He will have fantasy value whenever he does spell off Frederik Andersen. Anyone who drafted McElhinney can drop him.

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Tampa Bay’s lines were back to relative normalcy with the top line reassembled and Palat-Point-Gourde composing the second line.

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Corey Crawford joined the Blackhawks goaltenders for a regular workout, taking shots from the team and everything. It may be some time yet, but Joel Quenneville said Crawford would be travelling with the team. That’s a good sign.  

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In a fairly surprising move, Sam Gagner was placed on waiver by the Canucks. He’s a useful middle-six scorer who can contribute on the PP. It’s not like Vancouver has those types of players in abundance. If he lands in the right spot – remember what he did in Columbus – he could have value in some fantasy leagues this year.

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Henrik Borgstrom was sent to the AHL.

The young pivot had a strong camp for the Panthers, but it seems he was just a casualty of depth. Florida can run Barkov-Trocheck-McCann down the middle (or whomever they decide to be the 3C), which is very solid. Having him play fourth-line minutes doesn’t make sense. If you were drafting him for this year, he can be dropped for now, but injuries do happen so don’t lose faith yet. This doesn’t affect his long-term value at all for keepers or dynasties.

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Roope Hintz cracked the Dallas roster. When (if) everyone is healthy, he’ll should be in a fourth-line role so I’m not sure he’ll have much fantasy value just yet. We have seen this team decimated by injuries in very recent history, though, so keep an eye on him.

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Dmitrij Jaskin was put on waivers by St. Louis. He seems to be a casualty of a roster that is very deep at forward, especially with some of the rookies coming up. Though he’s never really translated good AHL production (46 points in 63 games) to good NHL production (61 points in 266 games), he’s a top-end winger on the defensive side of things. He could make a lot of teams lacking forward depth better immediately.

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I have submitted my preseason predictions for Dobber and those, along with the predictions of all our writers and editors, will be posted to the site soon. Many of these are going to blow up in our faces. Whether you’re ranking a few hundred individual players or making a couple dozen specific predictions, many are going to go wrong.

These were my divisional predictions last year in our panel:

Metro winner: Washington (check)

Atlantic winner: Tampa Bay (check)

Central winner: Winnipeg (close!)

Pacific winner: Calgary (L O L)

I had Tampa winning the Cup (whoops) over Edmonton in the Final (again, L O L).

How did I do in my individual awards predictions? Well:

Art Ross: Connor McDavid (duh)

Calder Trophy: Clayton Keller (incorrect, but I still maintain that what Keller did was literally historic and his rookie season, in his team’s context, was greatly underrated)

Norris Trophy: Brent Burns (wrong)

Vezina Trophy: Braden Holtby (very wrong)

Rebound Candidate: Brendan Gallagher (that’s a win)

Disappointment Candidate: Leon Draisaitl (that’s two in a row!)

If we consider the 10 bullet points, half were right, half were wrong. Some were close (KELLER WAS ROBBED I TELL YOU), some were not (Holtby played so poorly he wasn’t even the postseason starter!). Such is the nature of these things.

I wanted to explain my 2018-19 predictions a bit more in depth. While there is a lot of luck involved to getting any preseason prediction right, there is reasoning behind them.

Let’s go through them.

  Presidents’ Trophy – Tampa Bay

The bottom-half of the Atlantic is bad, which is a plus for the Lightning. I know the bottom-half will be bad for both Boston and Toronto, plus a strong Florida roster, but there’s an edge for Tampa Bay in their blue line. They boast a top-4 that the others do not. We’re still talking about four teams with 100-point potential. It’s splitting hairs.

  Hart and Art Ross Trophies – Connor McDavid

If McDavid is healthy and the Oilers are anywhere near the playoffs, he’ll walk to both awards.

  Rocket Richard – Patrik Laine

There are only a handful of players who can threaten Alex Ovechkin for the Rocket Richard Trophy and Laine is one of them, along with names like Auston Matthews and Vladimir Tarasenko. Laine has 80 goals as a teenager, third-most all-time, and scored 44 last year playing just 16:30 a game. If he gets close to 18 minutes, he can crack 50.

  Calder Trophy – Andrei Svechnikov

Both Elias Pettersson and Rasmus Dahlin will be popular answers, and for good reasons. But a defenceman winning the Calder is infrequent and Pettersson could struggle to produce outside of the power play if only for lack of quality line mates. Neither of those are problems that Svechnikov should face. Maybe he struggles in his first year, but my bet is that we’re looking at Steven Stamkos 2.0 (yes, I know Stamkos didn’t win the Calder).

  Norris Trophy – John Klingberg

The 2018-19 Dallas Stars may not look a whole different from the 2017-18 Dallas Stars on paper, outside of a handful of players and one particular rookie defenceman. But they should look a lot different on the ice, returning to being fun and not forced to play fun-sucking defence. That should only help the likes of Seguin, Benn, and yes, Klingberg. That’s a scary proposition for a defenceman who posted 67 points last year. If he ever sheds the incorrect narrative of being bad defensively, he’s a Norris-winning talent.

  Vezina Trophy – John Gibson

Some people are agnostic about goaltending but Gibson has posted elite numbers whether playing behind a very good defensive team or a not-very good defensive team. I was listening to SiriusXM a couple mornings ago and they were discussing how Gibson has followed the Connor Hellebuyck model of taking an offseason to becoming more compact with his movements, which, the theory goes, should keep him from certain types of injuries. We’ll see. All the same, I’ll put my money on one of the best goalies in the world.

  Jack Adams – Jim Montgomery

See: section on Norris Trophy.

  Favourite Sleeper Pick – Kyle Palmieri

In standard leagues that count hits, I just do not understand Palmieri’s ADP. He’s going outside the top-175 on Yahoo and he’ll sleepwalk to a profit at that ADP. If he’s healthy, we’re talking about a guy whose per-82 games averages with the Devils are: 29 goals, 27 assists, 218 shots, 127 hits, and 24 PPPs. If he reaches those marks, he’s a top-75 player. Even if he falls 20 percent short of each of those marks (because of health, demotion, or a combination of the two), he’s a top-125 player. He’s being drafted just inside the top-190. It’s insane.

  Biggest Disappointment – Rasmus Dahlin

My 2018-19 season is going to live or die with Dahlin. I just have a very, very hard time drafting an 18-year old rookie defenceman on a bad team who is not guaranteed top PP minutes inside the top-100 picks. And that’s where he’s consistently going. If he explodes this season and gets all those top minutes and posts 50 points with solid peripherals, I will gladly eat my words. Last year, Dougie Hamilton finished as player 100 in standard Yahoo! leagues with 17 goals, 27 assists, a plus-1 rating, 12 PPPs, 270 shots, and 83 hits. People drafting him at his current ADP are banking on Dahlin posting numbers *at least* that good. No thank you.

  Favourite Dark Horse – Sam Steel

We’re assuming very late round picks here. Like, if 250 guys are off the board, who are you taking. Steel has impressed in camp and though Ryan Kesler has started skating, he’s not close to returning yet. That means Steel is probably going to get the month of October to impress, and he’ll be able to do it with capable wingers like Jakob Silfverberg or maybe even Ondrej Kase. To me, Steel is a skill guy who could flourish playing with a talented winger in sheltered minutes.

  Favourite Mid-Season Call-Up – Carter Hart

Goalies are a fickle beast. Maybe the Brian Elliott of (mostly) the St. Louis days shows up and starts 55 games, leading the Flyers to the playoffs. Or maybe the Brian Elliott of the last couple years shows up again and by Christmas the Flyers are scoring at will but poor goaltending has them on the outside looking in. That would be the time Hart gets the call.

  Favourite Bounce-Back Candidate – Brandon Saad

Though he’s found his way to the third line at times in the preseason, I cannot believe Saad won’t skate mostly in the top-6 for Chicago. His shooting percentages across the board last year are too low to sustain. I would not be the least bit surprised to see him return to 25 goals and 50 points. If he can ever start producing on the power play, look out.

  Those are my predictions. What are some of yours? Sounds off in the comments.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-roster-notes-trades-injuries-and-predictions-october-2/