#le winning all the medals has arrived

[beardedmrbean]

Le ultimate Short King Audie Murphy has arrived

[yoificfinder]

Hi! I was wondering if you would be able to find some time travel/time loop AUs where Victor and Yuuri (and other members of the YoI cast) are thrown around in time please? Thank you so much!

Hi! These are some time travel fics (mix of both canonverse and AUs) I read and enjoyed:

Previous rec of time travel fics where they meet their other self in the other timeline

a great desire to love by lily_winterwood / @omgkatsudonplease [T, 22K]

For some strange, inexplicable, fantastic reason, Yuuri Katsuki and Viktor Nikiforov are trading places. Kimi no Na wa AU.

All Our Yesterdays by @kitsunebi-uk [E, 102K]

York, England, 2120: Yuuri Katsuki is a dime-a-dozen techie, spending his days doing routine repairs at the university. He hangs out with his friend Phichit, goes for a drink, watches holograms. It’s an existence – but is it a life?

Crowood Castle, Yorkshire, 1392: As the son of a baron, Sir Victor Nikiforov makes judgements where lives hang in the balance. As a knight, he must sometimes end them. It’s what he was born to do – but what of the heavy burden on his soul? Death is all too commonplace, while life and love remain elusive.

When a brilliant scientist goes rogue, journeying to the Middle Ages with the world’s first time machine, Yuuri is stunned to be called on as the last hope of preventing her from changing history. After an abrupt departure, he lands at Crowood Castle disguised as an enemy of the Nikiforovs, Sir Justin le Savage – and will need to act the part if he is to survive. It’s a tall order for someone who can barely tell the back end of a horse from the front. But if Ailis, in her own disguise, discovers who he is, his mission will end in a blaze of laser-gun fire. He must not give his real identity away, even to the beguiling knight he’s falling in love with…

Elevators Out of Order by mtothedestiel [E, 31K] *WIP

A Kate and Leopold AU. In 1876, Victor Nikiforov is a handsome duke with an inventive imagination and a dwindling fortune. The search for a wealthy bride brings him to America, and the capital of progress, New York City. Can an encounter with a mysterious stranger offer Victor a future he never dreamed of?

Meanwhile in 2017, physicist turned paper-pusher Yuuri Katsuki is just trying to get through the day, which is tough enough without surprise phone calls from his roommate announcing he has a 19th-century aristocrat out cold on their sofa.

To top things off, it would seem every elevator in Manhattan is suddenly out of order. What a coincidence.

Here Once and Back Again by Cbear2470 [E, 77K] *WIP *Major Character Death

“What?” was all Yuuri could say as a numbness froze over his body.

Something—something wasn’t right. It was then he realized he couldn’t remember getting to the rink. He couldn’t remember even stepping on the ice to start his program.

He couldn’t remember.

He tried to remember.

*

As Yuuri is skating his free skate, he knows something is off. But, he brushes it aside, too focused on executing the program flawlessly.

It isn't until after it's all over that Yuuri comes to discover that he just skated his gold-medal winning, record-breaking program at the 2014-15 Grand Prix Final in Sochi. The very same final Yuuri had once upon a time placed last in over two years ago.

here's to the glory still to be by @foxfireflamequeen [Not Rated, 12K]

“Hi,” says Viktor, smile bright and camera-ready. His hand, when he extends it, is small and delicate. “I think you know who I am, but we haven’t met.”

His accent is very thick, very Russian in a way Yuri has never heard before. He looks from the offered hand to Viktor’s face, barely an inch higher, and tracks his hair, long and pale and spilling over his shoulders. He can’t be older than, well, Yuri.

“No,” says Yuri. “We haven’t.”

in another dimension series by @alykapediaaa [T, 8K]

Summary of first fic in the series

Entertainment >> Celebrity News

Viktor Nikiforov: Finally Found!

SOMERSET – Russian model Viktor Nikiforov, 27, who has been declared missing last May of this year was finally found earlier today. Nikiforov, known as the face of luxury brand Stammi Vicino, was vacationing at Bath, Somerset after a successful season when he suddenly disappeared, leaving all of his belongings, as well as his poodle, behind. Yakov Feltsman, Nikiforov’s manager, has yet to release a statement. Read More.

Life Unwoven by ayn2390 [M, 23K] *Indefinite Hiatus

Five-Time Consecutive Grand Prix Final Winner Katsuki Yuuri meets Five-Time Consecutive Grand Prix Final Winner Victor Nikiforov.

or,

In which things are tangled, and untangled, and tangled again. And Victor will always be there to save Yuuri.

Maelstrom by @feels-like-fire [E, 44K]

Victor Nikiforov is poised to win gold in his fifth consecutive Grand Prix Final. He has the world at his feet, is unparalleled in the sport--right up until a snowstorm blows into Sochi, and he finds himself repeating the same day over and over and over. He stumbles over Yuuri Katsuki, and everything changes.

(Or, the time loop au. Loosely based on Groundhog Day.)

On My Love by RikoJasmine [T, 73K] *WIP

For the second time, the Sochi Grand Prix Finals arrive, and with it a reborn Yuuri Katsuki. “Viktor,” Yuuri thinks over the pounding of his heart, the crowd going silent as the music begins. “I’ll show the world what you meant to me.”

Yuuri often thinks of his life as Before and After Viktor Nikiforov, the marking point being the day Viktor swept into his life and turned his world upside-down. After many years together, an accident leads to Yuuri suddenly waking up in the Before—back in Detroit, before the GPF, before he ever knew Viktor as anything other than his childhood idol.

As if it had all been just a dream.

paso doble by @cafecliche [G, 4K]

"Long before skating, or even ballet, Yuuri would hear about it at festivals, in the boiling humidity of Hasetsu summers dancing the Bon Odori in the streets. He remembered years where Mari would take him home alone, while their parents comforted lingering, distraught dancers. Sometimes, Mari had explained, they were crying because they’d seen lost loved ones. Some cried because they didn’t see who they’d hoped, but a stranger. And some cried because they hadn’t seen anyone at all.

Because it’s not just the steps. The dancers need, even for a second, to feel the exact same thing."

(Or: days before Hot Springs on Ice, Yuuri receives a visitor from another time.)

The League of the Green Carnation by @abarero [M, 62K]

There was one golden rule to being a Time Scientist: do not bring home anything that was a fixed point in history. This meant most artifacts, extinct animals and the like were permissible. Historical figures? Not so much.

But what about an author? Namely, Yuuri’s favorite author, who was murdered in 1887. Could he be saved?

Well. Yuuri was sure as hell about to find out.

Turn Back the Clock by IronScript [T, 59K] *WIP

When Yuuri and Viktor wake up over thirty years in the past, they don't know what to do. Does the other remember?

Luckily that particular question is quickly answered and they can relax slightly, but what about afterwards? Viktor was brought back to right before his first Olympics, and Yuuri isn’t even old enough to compete in Seniors’!

Then there's the fact that they're still very much in love, but a physical relationship would be illegal (and would gross them both out considering Yuuri's age), and they can't count on anyone to just trust them not to do anything age inappropriate. So maybe being long-distance (with as many in-person meetings as possible) would be better until Yuuri becomes a legal adult physically, never mind his actual age.

But it's hard to behave and act naturally when you're forced to be apart from your husband of twenty years, especially during one of the most stressful parts of anyone's life, so Yuuri and Viktor have to distract themselves somehow, right?

Right.

And if everyone around them ends up completely confused and blindsided at their sudden changes (though admittedly they seem to have changed for the better), then so be it!

[theresabookforthat]

Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Young Readers

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and this week—May 3 to May 9 —is also Children’s Book Week with the motto “Every Child a Reader.” Therefore, we are celebrating the following glorious stories, for children and adults to share, that honor the rich cultural history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: 

 THE MAGIC FISH by Trung Le Nguyen

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by the New York Public Library • Kirkus Reviews • Booklist • Publishers Weekly

This beautifully illustrated YA graphic novel follows a young boy as he tries to navigate life through fairytales. Tiến still enjoys reading his favorite stories with his parents from the books he borrows from the local library. It’s hard enough trying to communicate with your parents as a kid, but for Tiến, he doesn’t even have the right words because his parents are struggling with their English. Is there a Vietnamese word for what he’s going through? Is there a way to tell them he’s gay?

ANY DAY WITH YOU by Mae Respicio

Kaia and her family live near the beach in California, where the fun of moviemaking is all around them. This summer, Kaia and her friends are part of a creative arts camp, where they’re working on a short movie to enter in a contest. The movie is inspired by the Filipino folktales that her beloved Tatang, her great-grandfather, tells. Kaia hopes that by winning a filmmaking contest, she’ll convince her great-grandfather not to move back home to the Philippines.

PATRON SAINTS OF NOTHING by Randy Ribay

A powerful coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin’s murder.

THEY CALLED US ENEMY by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, Harmony Becker

A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei’s childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon—and America itself—in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love. Available in a Spanish edition here.

 THE UGLY VEGETABLES written and illustrated by Grace Lin

In this charming story about celebrating differences a Chinese-American girl wishes for a garden of bright flowers instead of one full of bumpy, ugly, vegetables. The neighbors’ gardens look so much prettier and so much more inviting to the young gardener than the garden of “black-purple-green vines, fuzzy wrinkled leaves, prickly stems, and a few little yellow flowers” that she and her mother grow. Nevertheless, mother assures her that “these are better than flowers.” Come harvest time, everyone agrees as those ugly Chinese vegetables become the tastiest, most aromatic soup they have ever known. As the neighborhood comes together to share flowers and ugly vegetable soup, the young gardener learns that regardless of appearances, everything has its own beauty and purpose. THE UGLY VEGETABLES springs forth with the bright and cheerful colors of blooming flowers and lumpy vegetables. Grace Lin’s playful illustrations pour forth with abundant treasures. Complete with a guide to the Chinese pronunciation of the vegetables and the recipe for ugly vegetable soup! Try it…you’ll love it, too!

 WATERCRESS by Andrea Wang; Illustrated by Jason Chin

Driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl’s parents stop suddenly when they spot watercress growing wild in a ditch by the side of the road. Grabbing an old paper bag and some rusty scissors, the whole family wades into the muck to collect as much of the muddy, snail covered watercress as they can. At first, she’s embarrassed. Why can’t her family get food from the grocery store? But when her mother shares a story of her family’s time in China, the girl learns to appreciate the fresh food they foraged. Together, they make a new memory of watercress.

The book is illustrated by award winning author and artist Jason Chin, in an entirely new style, inspired by Chinese painting techniques. An author’s note in the back shares Andrea’s childhood experience with her parents.

LAXMI’S MOOCH by Shelly Anand, Illustrated by Nabi H. Ali

A joyful, body-positive picture book about a young Indian American girl’s journey to accept her body hair and celebrate her heritage after being teased about her mustache.

WHEN YOU TRAP A TIGER by Tae Keller

WINNER OF THE 2021 NEWBERY MEDAL

WINNER OF THE ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger straight out of her halmoni’s Korean folktales arrives, prompting Lily to unravel a secret family history. Long, long ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. Now they want it back. And when one of the tigers approaches Lily with a deal—return what her grandmother stole in exchange for Halmoni’s health—Lily is tempted to agree. But deals with tigers are never what they seem! With the help of her sister and her new friend Ricky, Lily must find her voice…and the courage to face a tiger.

DANBI LEADS THE SCHOOL PARADE by Anna Kim

An Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Honor Book

Danbi is thrilled to start her new school in America. But a bit nervous too, for when she walks into the classroom, everything goes quiet. Everyone stares. Danbi wants to join in the dances and the games, but she doesn’t know the rules and just can’t get anything right. Luckily, she isn’t one to give up. With a spark of imagination, she makes up a new game and leads her classmates on a parade to remember! Danbi Leads the School Parade introduces readers to an irresistible new character. In this first story, she learns to navigate her two cultures and realizes that when you open your world to others, their world opens up to you.

FATIMA’S GREAT OUTDOORS by Ambreen Tariq; Illustrated by Stevie Lewis

An immigrant family embarks on their first camping trip in the Midwest in this lively picture book by Ambreen Tariq, outdoors activist and founder of @BrownPeopleCamping. This picture book debut, with cheerful illustrations by Stevie Lewis, is a rollicking family adventure, a love letter to the outdoors, and a reminder that public land belongs to all of us.

THE DOWNSTAIRS GIRL by Stacey Lee

By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady’s maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, “Dear Miss Sweetie.” When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society’s ills, but she’s not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. With prose that is witty, insightful, and at times heartbreaking, Stacey Lee masterfully crafts an extraordinary social drama set in the New South.

FRANKLY IN LOVE by David Yoon

An Asian Pacific American Librarians Association Honor Book

Frank Li has two names. There’s Frank Li, his American name. Then there’s Sung-Min Li, his Korean name. No one uses his Korean name, not even his parents. Frank barely speaks any Korean. He was born and raised in Southern California. Even so, his parents still expect him to end up with a nice Korean girl—which is a problem, since Frank is finally dating the girl of his dreams: Brit Means. Brit, who is funny and nerdy just like him. Brit, who makes him laugh like no one else. Brit…who is white. Desperate to be with Brit without his parents finding out, Frank turns to family friend Joy Song, who is in a similar bind. Together, they come up with a plan to help each other and keep their parents off their backs. Frank thinks he’s found the solution to all his problems, but when life throws him a curveball, he’s left wondering whether he ever really knew anything about love—or himself—at all.

 For more on these and related titles (for kids and adults) visit the collection Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

[josefavomjaaga]

Helfert, Joachim Murat, Chapter 6, Part 5

Things are getting ugly now, brace yourselves.

Rarely has anyone been more fatally self-deceived than Joachim Murat, when he convinced himself that he need only present himself on the soil of his former kingdom and everything would fall to him. And for the full measure of his misfortune he had chosen the coast of Calabria, that stretch of land where the old dynasty had always found its enthusiastic followers willing to make sacrifices, while Murat's name, which was conflated with that of the madman Manhès, was virtually maligned and cursed there. But even elsewhere in the country, with the rapidly changing impressions of the southerners, his memory was not merely obliterated, as if a century had passed since then: everything connected with his actions, everything that reminded one of him, was as if it had been tainted. His officials, many of whom the new government had left in their positions, were looked upon with disdain and persecuted by the population; indeed, there were violent acts, bloody uprisings against them, so that the government had to intervene with all the severity of the law.

An example of this is given in the following footnote:

Jablonovski PS. ad numerum 12 of 21. September 2, mentions such an uprising in Salerno, in which several Murat officials were killed; a royal commission came from Naples and now eleven of the mutineers were sentenced to death: "il arrive à chaque instant de pareils événements; la présence de nos troupes les empêche dans la capitale, et si elles quittaient Naples aujourd'hui, demain tous ceux qui avaient été employés par Murat seraient égorgés". See also n. 13 on 3 October: "Dans les provinces qui étaient oprimées sous le gouvernement de Murat les passions haineuses de cette nation agissent avec plus de force".

Apparently, some people were disappointed that they were not allowed any excesses after the change of government. Helfert continues:

At the Court of Naples in the first days of October, nothing was known about Murat's departure from Ajaccio, nor was it possible to know anything about it: on the other hand, other news had arrived which upset the King in the extreme. Jablonovski, towards whom the monarch was always of the most winning friendliness, noticed a change in the monarch's behaviour at the cercle on October 4, the name day of Emperor Francis, which was always festively celebrated at Ferdinand's court. None of the ministers was able to tell our envoy what the king had against him until Princess Partanna, whom Ferdinand alone had taken into his confidence, told him: it was a coded dispatch from Prince Castelcicala which had arrived from Paris and informed the monarch that Austria had offered Murat an asylum within her borders. Jablonovski seized the first opportunity to confront Circello on the matter. "Shouldn't your King prefer," he said, "that Murat should stay 200 miles from Naples, under the eyes and supervision of a powerful ally of His Majesty, rather than having to constantly fear that the adventurer might land at a point on the coast which, because of its great extent, can never be properly guarded, and disturb the peace of the kingdom? Of course he won't succeed, that's what our troops are for. But he can cause enough unrest and disorder, especially if, as is not at all improbable, he joins forces with the Barbaresques and sets out to do mischief".

The argument was plausible and had all the greater effect because just in the last few days, October 4 and 5, reports had been received that put our envoy's ideas in a peculiar light. Murat's squadron had not gone entirely unnoticed on the Neapolitan coast: on the 4th a vessel had been observed near Sorrento which was thought to be a pirate ship and which seemed to be waiting for others like it; on the 5th a similar signal had arrived in the port of Salerno. The two pieces of news caused all the more concern in government circles because at the same time Baron Lebzeltern sent a message from Rome to the commandant of Gaëta, who reported to the capital without delay that Murat had left the port of Ajaccio with several ships.

All these facts also came to the knowledge of the diplomats of the friendly powers, at least to that of Jablonovski, who reported on them to his Cabinet on 6 and 7 October. On the other hand, what was decided at court remained a secret for the time being. They could only conclude from all sorts of signs and hints that the King's Council had agreed on a drastic measure. Our envoy and the British one thought that orders had been issued to all coastal points to treat Joachim Murat with martial law if he were seized with arms in his hand. Medici had also given orders to all commanders of the troops posted along the coasts from Salerno to Calabria to take the severest measures against those citizens who would join the ex-king. A Captain Spadea, who had returned from Sicily and was therefore undoubtedly familiar in court circles, informed Guglielmo Pepe privately "that much blood would flow in the kingdom in a short time".

Pizzo is, or was at that time, a town of about 8000 inhabitants situated on a height close to the sea, on the shore of which, where one used to land, there were individual houses and magazines. From the coast, at that time rather bumpy and uncomfortable, a path wound up to the town, which led to the main square and continued over the latter in the somewhat steeply rising road leading to Monteleone. On a hill overlooking the town on the left, in the direction in which we enter the town in our minds, there was a castle dominating the Rhine and the town.

Murat's small band, not counting himself, consisted of 29 heads, 26 of them militairs. He wore a uniform of sky-blue cloth, colonel's epaulettes, a tricorn on his head, but no medal or decoration of any kind on his chest. Some people who were on the beach during the disembarkation ran to watch the unusual spectacle and, while the Muratists kept shouting "Evviva il Re Gioacchino!", returned the greeting forced upon them. The same was the case with individuals who came to meet them as the group marched up the mountain path. Thus they arrived at the main square, where a lot of people had gathered, attracted both by the festival day and by the strange procession. The people's expressions reflected curiosity, astonishment, surprise, but not joy. On the contrary, when Murat addressed them, talking about redemption, about liberation, a woman from the people shouted at him: "You talk to us about the freedom you want to give us and you had three of my sons shot"!

This anecdote apparently goes back to Ferdinand of Naples personally, at least Helfert says in a footnote: "Tu parli di libertà e mi hai fatto fucilare tre figli! This turn the king told Prince Jablonovski, No. 15 to the 15th of October 2."

That was a wicked interjection! From their barracks appeared the coastguard, 15 men of artillery under Lieutenant Barba, armed and in their old uniform. "Behold my soldiers!" exclaimed Murat, turning to them: "Do you recognise your king? Shout: Long live King Joachim!" An official of the Duke of Infantado named Alcalà and others ran up to them and exhorted: "Shout: Long live Ferdinand!" They did neither, which Murat interpreted as a good sign that the old soldier's spirit would persuade them in his favour. But it was only amazement, or if you will, a kind of enchantment, which the unexpected appearance of the former king with his commanding and winning appearance exercised on them, as well as on the majority of those gathered in general.

While this was going on, two or three young people had approached Murat's entourage and persuaded them that nothing could be done here in Pizzo, that the population was stubborn, but that in Monteleone the "king" would certainly find his party! So Murat ordered the departure for Monteleone and called on the gunners to join him. They did not do so, but they followed his march at some distance. Joachim could no longer rest; he was not prepared for such a cool, even ambiguous reception. He strode hastily up the mountain road, so that, out of practice from the long sea voyage and affected by the excessive excitement, he had to pause to catch his breath. The coastguard was a good distance behind, marching slowly, as if irresolute, while from the town a crowd of armed men was seen approaching, by whom the artillerymen were soon overtaken. The ex-king's leaders became suspicious and urged them to hurry: "see if we can reach Monteleone as soon as possible!" But they were already close at hand, preceded in passionate haste by a gendarmerie captain named Trentacapilli; he had formerly been a gang leader, General Manhès had had three of his brothers hanged. "The general and all of you will follow me to Pizzo!" he commanded. "It behoves you," Murat replied, "to obey your king and escort him to Monteleone!" Murat's officers wanted to pounce on the audacious man, but Joachim resisted them, and he was allowed to return to his troop, from which shots were now fired. The Murat's wanted to return fire, but their master would not allow it: I do not want even one of my subjects to lose his life for the sake of my landing!

But he realised that all was lost. He and his officers, while his few men were soon crushed and overcome by the superior force, sought to reach the shore of the sea quickly, not on the paved path, but down the slope over hill and dale, with their pursuers hard on their heels, with whom they fought on the way. A single boat was found on the shore, which the officers wanted to unhitch in a hurry to head for Barbara's Trabacolo, which, instead of waiting nearby as he had been ordered, was cruising far from the shore on the high seas. But in the agitated haste, the boat could not be disentangled, and already the few were surrounded on all sides, and fists armed with sabres, axes and picks were raised against them. At this Murat surrendered: "Here you have my sword, but spare the lives of these brave men who have followed me into my misfortune!"

These words were only like an invitation to the enraged to turn their threats into action. Captain Pernice and Sergeant Giovannini fell to their deaths at Murat's side, Franceschetti fell to the ground badly hit, Lieutenant Moltedo and three others were wounded. They were seized, led or rather dragged, some of them barely able to carry themselves, into the village, under constant threats, punches and blows that spared the ex-king as little as his fellow victims. More than once an axe was raised to split Murat's head, if others had not intervened and prevented it. At this, speeches were heard which struck Joachim more sensitively than their weapons: "Were there not enough of these unfortunates? Had you not drunk your fill of the blood of your victims? Did you again need scaffolds and gallows?" He was almost completely stripped of his clothes, everything he carried was taken from him, and Trentacapilli did not miss a single thing: his money and his diamonds, his bills of exchange, his passport, everything he had to hand over. To seal his misfortune, a copy of his manifesto and his decree were found in his wallet, the incontestable proof of his hostile intention, the clear refutation of his pretence that he had only wanted to land on the coast in order to obtain the means to continue his journey to Trieste!

[histoireettralala]

Charles Nungesser, fighter ace, adventurer, war hero.

Charles Eugène Jules Marie Nungesser (15 March 1892 – presumably on or after 8 May 1927) was a French ace pilot and adventurer, best remembered as a rival of Charles Lindbergh. Nungesser was a renowned ace in France, ranking third highest in the country with 43 air combat victories during World War I.

After the war, Nungesser mysteriously disappears on an attempt to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, flying with wartime comrade François Coli in L’Oiseau Blanc (The White Bird). Their aircraft takes off from Paris on 8 May 1927, is sighted once more over Ireland, and then is never seen again. The disappearance of Nungesser is considered one of the great mysteries in the history of aviation, and modern speculation is that the aircraft was either lost over the Atlantic or crashed in Newfoundland or Maine.

Wikipedia

Filled with an exceptionnal spirit and energy, Nungesser is very early confronted with the difficulties of life, he is not afraid to cross the Atlantic although he is not yet an adult. Once on the soil of the South American subcontinent, he will practice a whole series of trades. In turn boxer, gaucho or racing driver, Nungesser asserts himself as an adventurous heart. A thrill seeker, he already takes all the risks and does not hesitate to punch even with men, whose stature is much higher than his. It was in South America that he developed his passion for aviation and contracted the piloting virus. Therefore, all the elements are already in place to make Nungesser an extraordinary character, literally atypical and flamboyant. The Great War will give the young man the opportunity to find his vocation and become a legend ...

It is September 3, 1914, during a reconnaissance mission, Nungesser, freshly incorporated into the 2nd Hussar regiment, both rescues his wounded officer and with the help of a few infantrymen captures a Mors type automobile killing both its occupants and above all, recovering the documents it contained. Back in his regiment, after crossing enemy lines under heavy fire behind the wheel of the captured vehicle, his feat caused a sensation and rose to the ears of the general commanding his division. The latter immediately made him obtain the military medal and therefore gave him his nickname Hussard de la Mors, by reference to the Hussars of Death (”Hussards de la Mort”), a squadron created in 1792 and whose motto was "conquer or die".

He is then granted his request to be transferred to the Service Aéronautique, to Escadrille VB106. While there, in July 1915, he shoots down his first plane, a German Albatros, and is awarded the Croix de Guerre. This action initiates the Nungesser legend. On 31 July 1915, Nungesser and his mechanic Roger Pochon are on standby duty. The two take off in a Voisin 3LAS despite Nungesser's assignment to non-flying duties. In an encounter with five Albatros two-seaters, the French duo shoots one down near Nancy. Returning to their airfield, Nungesser is placed under house arrest for eight days for his insubordination. He is then decorated and forwarded to training in Nieuport fighters.

Assigned to N 65, Charles displays a fiery temper and a courage that strikes the minds of all his comrades in arms. He also willingly shows a certain independence of spirit and cannot help frequently ending his patrols with acrobatics above his airfield, which will earn him a few days off, that the command will lift just as quickly as it cannot do without the excellence of Nungesser's services while the position war is in full swing…

Charles isn’t one for strict military discipline. His rugged good looks, flamboyant personality, appetite for danger, women, wine and fast cars make him the embodiment of the stereotypical fighter ace and contribute to his legend. He is sometimes spotted arriving for morning patrol still dressed in the tuxedo he'd worn the night before and even occasionally with a female companion.

He is well liked by his comrades. Determined, fiery, excellent pilot, he is selected at the beginning of 2016 to test a prototype fighter plane, the Ponnier. Decided not to go easy on the machine, the indestructible Nungesser soars into the air and pushes the plane into its entrenchments. The result was immediate: the plane went into a spin and Charles crashed to the ground. The broomstick crosses his jaw and he suffers from multiple fractures, particularly in the legs and numerous bruises. You would believe his career is over ? Not at all! Barely out of the hospital and after a period in a coma, he refuses to be discharged and fights tooth and nail to return to Nancy.

He can’t go without a walking stick and has to be helped into his cockpit. It doesn’t stop him from fighting above Verdun (ten victories) and then over the Somme (nine victories) during 1916. He shows concern for the infantrymen, and often comes to help allied pilots, which will earn him many foreign decorations (from the UK, USA, Belgium, Serbia, Russia, Portugal..).

This is the year he famously decorates his plane with a black heart-shaped field, a macabre skull and bones, and a coffin and candles painted inside, in tribute in particular to his nickname as well as to his terrible accident of 1916. At the end of the Great War, Nungesser will accumulate forty-five approved victories and his war cross will count twenty-eight palms and two stars… Nothing and no one will have prevented him from flying and fighting until the last day.

His Officier de la Légion d'honneur citation, 19 May 1918, reads:

"Incomparable pursuit pilot, with exceptional knowledge and magnificent bravery, which reflect the power and inflexible will of his ancestry. In the cavalry, where during his first engagements he earned the Médaille militaire, then in a groupe de bombardement where for his daily prowess he was cited several times in orders and was decorated with the Legion of Honor, and finally with an Escadrille de chasse, for thirty months his exploits were prodigious, and he always presented himself as a superb example of tenacity and audacity, displaying an arrogant contempt for death. Absent from the front several times because of crashes and wounds, his ferocious energy was not dampened, and he returned each time to the fray, with his spirit undaunted gaining victory after victory, finally becoming famous as the most feared adversary for German aviation. 31 enemy aircraft downed, three balloons flamed, two wounds, fifteen citations."

By the end of the war, a succinct summary of Nungesser's wounds and injuries reads: "Skull fracture, brain concussion, internal injuries (multiple), five fractures of the upper jaw, two fractures of lower jaw, piece of anti-aircraft shrapnel imbedded [sic] in right arm, dislocation of knees (left and right), re-dislocation of left knee, bullet wound in mouth, bullet wound in ear, atrophy of tendons in left leg, atrophy of muscles in calf, dislocated clavicle, dislocated wrist, dislocated right ankle, loss of teeth, contusions too numerous to mention."

When the war ends, Captain Charles Nungesser is 26, and the third ranked French flying ace behind René Fonck and Georges Guynemer, in spite of his many wounds, accidents and physical disabilities.

Some anecdotes:

In 1915 he does a bunch of wild flying over a nearby town, and many people complains.  The commander of the squadron tells Nungesser that if he was going to do aerobatics, do them over the German lines.  Nungesser jumps into his plane, flies to the nearest German field, and gives them quite a show.  He reports back to his commander, tells him what he did and is put under arrest again.

1916: during a flight, he runs out of ammunition and places himself in the middle of enemy planes, since they cannot shoot him if they risk hitting one of their own.

One of Nungesser's drinking buddies is Jean Navarre, another flamboyant ace. The two of them almost create the image of fighter pilots as handsome, reckless, hard-living, womanizing rakes. They dislike military discipline and enjoy Paris' many attractions as often as possible. Once, Nungesser is driving into Paris, amidst heavy traffic, when he spots his own aircraft heading that way. It is Navarre! He has borrowed Nungesser's airplane; he explains that his own has been shot up and that he "has forgotten what a woman looks like”.

On August 26, 1918 he gives his popularity a new boost by participating in the crossing of Paris by swimming, and, if he does not win the competition, asserts himself as the spokesman of the disabled veterans and attracts cheers from the public.

We still don’t know what really happened... but if he reached the land he was indeed the first man - with François Coli- to cross the Atlantic by plane.

Even though René Fonck ended up as the French Ace of Aces, both Georges Guynemer and Charles Nungesser have enjoyed a greater popularity, due to their personality, the legend that quickly built around them, and probably to their disappearance up in the sky while they were world famous.

Sources:

Opérationnels SLDS 38 39 hiver 2018 Nungesser le Résilient, article de Romain Petit

David Méchin, "Charles Nungesser, la rage de vaincre", dans Le Fana de l'Aviation no 551 et 552 (octobre et novembre 2015)

Wikipedia, French and English articles

[wesker20]

Fallen Hero 1.5 Episode 4: Memories

Several Years Ago: Plaza de Cataño, Puerto Rico. 6:40pm

“Beta, you have eyes on the target?”

“Affirmative. He’s in the plaza,” you answered to Alpha, sitting relaxed while you followed the target with your eyes: a Puerto Rican in his early thirties. He was part of another dissident group decrying boosts and the hero drug, one of their top members. Normally they were ignored but lately they had taken to blowing up pharmaceuticals and murdering boosted and people who defended the boosted.

“Zeta, any others around?” Alpha asked in her usual neutral demeanor, always focused whenever on a mission.

“Nothing so far,” Zeta responded, the teleporter of the group and eagle’s eyes. Because of his abilities, he was normally the one to scout and run reconnaissance of an area. Not a single thing escaped him.

“Kappa, have you managed to close the distance?”

“Negative, crowd’s getting in the way,” she responded. Kappa, the only blue one on the team as she can turn invisible. Normally the one to get the closest to your targets, or even abduct them. But alas, Marcos Rodriguez chose a perfect time to get out. It was the local festivities and the plaza was full.

“Roger that. Beta move in, I’ll meet you when you catch up with him.”

“Roger that,” you answer and stand up. You put on a ‘Get out of my way aura’ and as you got close to the many people, they obeyed the telepathic command.

He stopped at a local shop to buy some food. You stopped, keeping a distance, but he seemed to notice. He began walking faster. You groaned and began moving too.

“Alpha, we got a problem. I think he saw me.”

“Roget that. Corner him.”

“Understood. I’ll guide him to an alley deeper into town and away from the crowd.”

“I’ll meet you there. Over and out.”

You picked up your pace as he did the same and soon anybody who had even glimpsed could have noticed that you were chasing him. Thanks to the festivities however, they didn’t seemed to. You told Zeta to make sure to block any escape routes he could have taken and slowly he took the streets you wanted him to take. But still he was outrunning you, even with your aura people could not get out of the way fast enough. You remember cursing under your breath and wondering where the hell Alpha was.

Finally you got him into a lone street and just as he was about to turn on a corner a figure appeared at the end and grabbed him by the throat with little effort. That was Alpha, super strong and durable. She has boasted that she can lift a skyscraper though you’ve never seen her do it so you have your doubts. Then again she never boasts without having the means to back it up so you never rule it out either.

“Got you smart guy,” she said as she pushed him against a wall. She was wearing a jacket and long jeans, and had her red hair on a ponytail. A smirk adorned her face.

You step in beside her with a softer smirk looking at your target and say “You are coming with us Mr. Rodriguez.”

Small house owned by the Prime Directive branch of P.R. 8:00pm

Zeta finished tying up the man while Kappa stayed on guard outside. Alpha ordered him to go accompany Kappa while you and her remained in the room with the man.

“Váyanse pal carajo demonios. No les voy a decir nada,” he said in his most pissed off tone. You rolled your eyes at the comment.

“How much are you going to need with him?” Alpha asked calm and unworried.

“Two, three hours tops. That should be enough to rip the information out,” you answered with a bit of cockiness.

Alpha put a hand on your shoulder and said “Alright, I’ll go take a nap. Let me know when you are done.” You nodded, never taking your eyes off of the man.

“No te me peges demonio. ¿Me oiste? No te me pegues,” he screamed with all his strength.

“Nadie va a escucharte. Así que ¿por qué no haces esto más fácil y te callas?” You told him with little care. He did not listened of course, and kept screaming until you punched him and knocked him. Right then and there you began your job, snooping in his mind, seeking for the actual target, his brother Jeremy Rodriguez. The two brothers were the current leaders for the “Los guardians de la humanidad,” terrorist group. Marcos branch operated here in P.R. Normally the prime directive doesn’t bother too much here even though they have a base, but when the older brother went to the main country, specifically to Los Diablos, and began expanding the branch of the group there and causing mayor problems, he and his younger brother here became targets. You were seeking for the location of Jeremy and take him out, that was your mission.

10:30pm

“He’s deeper into the municipality, in the neighborhood called “Amelia.”” You said to the hologram of your handler, Vanessa Trevor and Dr. Frank Borg, your creator. Alpha stood beside you, hands behind her back.

“That’s a risk,” Trevor said, one hand on the chin. Indeed it was, any slip up could devolve the chase into a fight, one that could spread through the neighborhood and cause some casualties.

As you were about to add to that Alpha moved forward towards the hologram and said “Not for us Ma’am. We can get in and get out before anybody knows we are there.”

You looked at her and she looked back with a smirk and a wink. She was always one step ahead in a conversation even when she was not speaking, you envy that but like her all the more because of it.

Mrs. Trevor stays with one hand on her chin and the other one on her shoulder while thinking things through. Although anybody else would have ordered you to proceed, she prefers to not risk you unnecessarily. “Maybe we could, but it still risky.”

“Then we send in reinforcements,” you heard another voice say and a man in his fifties entered the hologram projection. General Franklin Slyther, in all his uniformed, medal covered, annoying glory. “IE squad, prepare for the arrival of extra units.”

Mrs. Trevor turns to talk to him and say “General that would simply escalate the risks even more.”

“Jeremy Rodriguez has evaded capture for too long and needs to be apprehended immediately. I believe the risks are worth it.”

Just then Alpha spoke out. “With all due respect General, they are not. My team has better possibilities on our-“

“Mrs. Trevor tell your unit to remain silent until it is addressed,” he said in his frustrating dismissing tone. So frustrating in fact you could not hold back and decided to step in. But just as you did Trevor looked at you, giving you a clear message to stand down. And you did, but both you and Alpha shared a glance that said it all; you really hate this guy.

After the debrief is over, you are told to stand by and wait for the reinforcements, receive a file on the target, and to keep the prisoner too for further interrogation of course, because nothing makes things any easier than keeping a prisoner who might try to escape alive and well. Once the hologram disappeared Alpha turned to you. Her eyes filled with sympathy. “Don’t worry about it, we’ll be fine. We always pull through,” she said in her softest tone.

You turned to her, wondering what to say. “Yeah I just wish the higher ups made our job easier instead of harder,” you finally said as you took a look at the file. A man in his later thirties, broad shoulders, probably bigger than you.

“C’mon don’t be a downer. We’ve are used to it by now,” she said as she too took a look at the file. Sadly you have.

“Point still stands.”

“Point still irrelevant.”

“You really want to do this?”

“Yep. Afraid I’ll beat you again?”

You simply chuckled at that. She does always win your little debates, normally by already knowing what you were going to say. If you didn’t know any better you’ll say she was a telepath too, but alas she simply that good at reading people.

“He sort of look like you, you know,” she said teasingly and lightly punching you on the shoulder.

“ow. Remember you have super strength. And no, he looks nothing like me. Look at those shoulders,” you said, faking offense.

“Yeah but he has that frown you always have,” she began and closed the distance between the two of you to show you. “See? Same exact frown.”

“No it isn’t. I don’t even frown,” you shot back.

“Course you do. You are always grumpy for some reason.”

“I’m not. I’m always cheerful and positive, just like you,” you said as you put on your best smile.

“Yeah, that looks totally out of place,” she shot back and began chuckling, or more like holding a laugh back.

You put on an exaggerated hurt expression and said “You are mean,” and you both laugh a bit. Then Alpha took a good look at the file and looked up again to you.

“Jeremy,” she said wondering. You put on a confused look, wondering yourself what she means. “It fits.”

“What?” you asked confused.

“Jeremy, it fits you.”

“No it doesn’t.”

“Yes it does and you are sticking with it.”

“I already have a name.”

“Right because unit Beta 010 sounds so good,” she said with a sarcasm so subtle if it was a car it would awaken everyone.

“Of course it does unit Alpha 203.”

You continued arguing back and forth about it but eventually you relented. As much as you argued against it, you did like it. You’ve always wanted a name of your own, ever since you began exploring the world in your numerous missions. Though it did made you feel somewhat different from the others. The other re-genes always referred to you and each other by their unit names. It wasn’t until you were grouped with Alpha and Zeta that you felt more at home, they felt the same way somewhat, and so you three began calling one another by your series name, as a way to distinguish yourselves. That and you three really found it annoying saying your full names all the time.

“Fine but don’t say it in front of General a-hole ok? We don’t need another rant like the last one,” you told her, remembering one time where the two of you decided to have a small shooting competition. The general noticed and began ranting how we “weapons” shouldn’t have any sense of that, right up until he was reminded that you answered to Mrs. Trevor not him.

“Oh don’t worry about it. Even if he did he can’t do jack shit about it.”

“Alright, I’ll go check on the others.” You make your goodbyes and you head to search for Zeta first. Wondering how he is. Zeta 034 He’s normally a bit more shy and closed off than you were, but just like you he has opened up a bit while with the rest of you. You finally find him in the balcony staring into the night.

“Weren’t you supposed to be with Kappa standing guard?” you asked curious.

“Wha- oh right, yes, I was. But she said that my breathing was distracting.”

Right, you forgot that her senses were a bit more heightened. “Oh well. How you doing?”

“I’m… fine. Just staring out here.”

You move in beside him. “Staring at what?”

“Everything. Everybody.”

You looked at him with sympathy, knowing that that’s how you used to spend some of your days. Although you did not have eyes that could look as far as an eagle like he does. “What can you see?”

“There’s a dog smelling some trash. A group of people sit in front of a house on the sidewalk,” he said rather matter of fact.

“Damn, wish I could see that far.”

“It’s not that great to be honest. Just… normal? I think.”

You chuckled a bit and said “Seeing several hundred miles ahead is normal to you?”

“Well, obviously not. But compared what you guys can do-“

“Give it a rest. I’m the most unimpressive guy here. At least you can teleport around,” you said jokingly, though truthfully. You may be one of the few telepaths in the Farm, but it’s nothing compared what the others can do. One on one you’ll lose against any of them. In fact you have already lost several times against Alpha in spars. She isn’t just a super strong unmovable object; she’s a wicked good fighter. “By the way,” you began looking to change the subject. “How does it feel? To teleport I mean?”

“Well, it sort feels like nothing, you know. I look at or think about a place, and then I just appear there.”

You looked at him with curiosity. “Really? No alternate dimension or anything in between?”

He looked at you confused and said “Eh no. Why would you think that?”

You wave it away. It was just the first thing that came to mind. You both remain silent for a couple of minutes before you finally decide to leave Zeta to his sightseeing. With a goodbye you head to the roof to find Kappa sitting. Kappa 331, Unlike the rest of you, Kappa is the normal blue Re-gene, in fact she was birthed that way. You don’t know her reasons but Mrs. Trevor asked for her to be transferred to your unit late in your training.

“I told Zeta his breathing was distracting. And although you have much better control of it, I can still hear it,” she said in her normal emotionless tone.

“Yet you never said a thing about it while we hunted down Lord Destroyer back in Los Diablos,” you retorted. Out of the three, Kappa was the one you shared the most sensibilities with. You were both cautious and hated going into a fight blind. You two were also the stealthiest of the group, although she has you beaten by the simple fact she can turn invisible. Despite all of that though, she tends to be secluded and aloof for some reason, always looking distant.

“I did mention you are more in control of it.”

“Don’t worry I just came here for a short talk.”

“You always come for a short talk and end up taking more time than that.”

You held your hand on your chest in mocked offense and said “I’m hurt,” and went on to sit beside her. You barely noticed but you saw a small smile on her before she came back to being serious. “So, how are things up here?”

“Quiet. No sign of intruders.”

“How are you doing?”

“I’m operating at one hundred percent.”

“Not what I meant, and you know it.”

She took a deep breath, a sign that she is about to unload and drop the Re-gene talk. “I’m fine Beta. Really.”

“Why do you always do that? speak like the others I mean.”

“Because that’s what I am,” she answered almost sadly. For as long as you have known her she tries to keep it professional but fails miserable, whether with Alpha or with you. Yet she kept trying for some reason. “That’s what we all are.”

“Don’t know if I agree with that. You didn’t see me when I was growing up, surrounded by all of them.”

“You were created with the express purpose of infiltrating, of mixing in with the crowd. I wasn’t. I was just another unit to be used in the wars.”

You stared at her curiously, wondering what she’s getting at. “What do you mean?”

“It means I was… simple. Didn’t had any doubt, any fear. I simply did my job. But as soon as I was repurposed I began feeling all of these… emotions. I don’t know how to deal with them.”

“What do you feel? About all of us.”

“I… care. I… don’t know if I could move on if any of you stopped function- I mean… perished. And that could interfere with my effectiveness.”

“Does it really? Or is that what you believe?” that seems to make her think for a moment. You wonder what is so alien to her about emotions. Didn’t she have them too? If not, does that mean the others never did? But then why do you?

“ok, I’ll leave you with that.”

“See what I meant?” she said. The conversation didn’t exactly last long but you decided to roll with it.

“What can I say, I’m a talker.”

“At least not as bad as Alpha.”

At that, you tried and failed to hold a laugh back. Kappa didn’t laughed but you could see visible effort on her face to hold back her own. You are going to have to ask her how to do that one of these days. You say your goodbyes and leave to wait for the reinforcements.

12:00am

You all stood in front of the house as the unit of Re-genes arrives. When you took a good look at the leader, however, you groaned in exasperation. “Ah crap.”

“What is it?” Zeta asked you.

“It’s Delta,” you answered and both he and Kappa groaned in unison. Delta was a normal blue Re-gene under the command of the good General. He has a seemingly spotless record on missions. Problems however, are that he is as smart as a six year old child and as rigid and uptight as the general, meaning that every time you cracked a joke or said something inconsequential, he would berate you for it.

“Where’s the prisoner?” he asked Alpha with as much emotion as you have when you wake up.

“Back inside. Unconscious.”

“Understood. Get ready, three more units are on the way.”

What? Three more units? “That’s five units in total. Isn’t that excessive? Especially against a guy who’s not even a boost?” you said as you stood beside Alpha.

“We don’t question the general’s orders,” he said as if it’s supposed to be obvious.

“You should, considering this makes things a lot harder now.”

“Beta-“ Alpha began but is interrupted by Delta.

“Unit Alpha 203 keep your unit under control.”

Alpha looks at him with the scariest look you have ever seen. “My ‘unit’ has a point.” She turns back to you, her look softening “Get back inside and take the others. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.” You obey but not before giving Delta a stare.

Fifteen minutes later Alpha came into the house and gave you a long good look.

“Oh come on Alpha,” you began.

“Beta…” she dragged out the name like a mother berating her children.

“This is a covert operation. A mission that requires secrecy and they send the one guy who has the subtlety of a sledgehammer? And on top of it all they send even more?”

Just then Kappa also barged into the conversation. “I’m with Beta on this one. I don’t like criticizing my former teammates but he’s right. Delta was not made for a stealthy operation; he was made for a battle.” You don’t question the part about her saying Delta is her former teammate as you were far too focused on Delta. Surprisingly Zeta also steps into the conversation, although he stumbles a bit in his word, he pretty much stands with you and Kappa on the matter.

Finally Alpha yelled “Guys,” and you all shut up. You forgot how commanding she can be. “I know. Every single word you have said I have thought about it too. But we don’t have much choice,ok?” You all grudgingly nod.

“What’s the plan?” you asked

“Their plan,” she began, emphasizing the first word. “Is to surround the house and attack.” She opens up a holographic map of the area.

“They’ll cover all the exits and make sure no one escapes,” Kappa begins, almost as if she has already seen it. “Solid plan. Only downside is that it will be noisy, and probably alert the entire neighborhood.” It does. This was exactly your problem. Just then Alpha looked at you. You knew that look; it’s the look she gives you when she’s expecting you to figure something out. So you take a look at the map, wondering what other complication this plan could have. Think, think, surrounding and blocking all possible manner of escape is good, noisy but good. But it’s too easy. Far too easy. If they were bringing in a guy as important as this, they should be certain they can’t catch him. How to do that?

“They have a secret exit in the house,” you said as the answer comes to your mind. Of course they do, why wouldn’t they? This is their leader, and probably they already know you have his brother, so they’ll be extra careful. But that means.

“Delta’s plan wouldn’t work,” Kappa said before you did. You nodded to her and the two of you looked at a smiling Alpha.

“Yep. It’s on the bedroom under the bed,” she said nonchalantly.

You stare at her in disbelief. “You snuck into their house early, didn’t you?” She simply nods. “Sometimes I want to punch you in the face.”

“You could try, but that wrist will need a couple of weeks to heal.”

“Wasn’t he at the house?” Kappa asked.

“Sadly, no. But I do have a plan.”

You all walked closer to the map and to each other as Alpha began explaining her plan. Zeta will remain on one of the roofs, keeping an eye out and make sure Jeremy does not escape to the outside. That and to let us know when Delta decides to storm the house. Kappa and You will be the ones to go in and sneak around to find Jeremy before Delta begins his attack. Once captured, you’ll wait for the attack and as chaos rules; you’ll get out through the back where Alpha will be waiting to defend you from any henchmen that get in your way. “Basically our classic line up,” you said unsurprised. This is how you do it most of the time, or in some variation. Between your telepathic aura and Kappa’s invisibility you can both sneak into just about anything. Zeta prefers to be at distance and his eagle eyes are perfect for keeping guard. And Alpha always enjoys being the unmovable object in the back waiting for any unfortunate idiot that decides to mess with her team.

“So, you guys ready to show Delta how it’s done?”

“I’m always up for sticking it to Delta,” You responded.

“Eh, yes,” Said Zeta.

“I am,” Kappa says with an uncharacteristic smile.

Alpha smiled at all of you and said “Let’s go kick some ass then.”

[0ldsold1ers]

coffee days and movie nights

Reaper76 week, MONDAY: we can be heroes / SEP

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17840567

Gabe’s had his eye on Jack all week.

It’s been a long one, even by his standards. He’s seen fifteen active war zones at this point in his prior service and training for the SEP, met hundreds of different squad members and buried more than half of them. His muscles are getting stronger and he’s faster, taller, better than he’s ever been before – and it’s still not enough.

The crisis isn’t getting better, the Omnics are getting smarter, and the SEP as a whole really doesn’t seem to be working too well.

There had been thirty of them originally, the best of the best, hand-picked and nominated by at least three superior officers each. Between them, there must have been a hundred medals. Each soldier was assigned a number according to alphabetical order, and the clandestine experiments had begun.

The mutations had followed pretty soon after.

Haroldson was the first to leave training. Had woken yelling in the night after a particularly gruelling forty mile run and been taken to the hospital wing. He’d never come back. Then Jones had started vomiting in the middle of dinner, blood spattered on the table. Williams’ fingernails had started to flake off on a mission in Vietnam – that had only been the start for her, rest her soul.

The numbers dwindled as the programme continued, until the government decided to simply recruit more. It wasn’t ethical, but they were at war and they weren’t winning. (Gabriel had spent an afternoon scrubbing latrines after arguing back. Nothing had happened to him yet, but the waiting was almost worse. Why should some other poor bastard go through the same?)

Adjustments were made to the dosages, more safety measures were put in place, and the numbers went up to fifty. And then up to one hundred before the higher-ups finally decided they weren’t going to be able to create an army like this. Besides, for the recruits who hadn’t died or ended up in the terminal hospital ward, the effects were beyond what was expected.

(Never mind the fact that only twenty-four out of one hundred had lived.)

The only bonus of there being so few of them now, is that Gabriel can actually get to know some of this squad – his squad, actually. Like Jack, for example.

He was a couple of years Gabe’s junior, the baby of the group, but that didn’t mean much in practice. The man had been recommended after saving six of his squad in Egypt and received a couple of medals to boot. He had courage in buckets, and a damn good head on his shoulders according to all reports.

None of those reports had mentioned how fucking handsome he was, on top of all that.

Sunny, golden hair shining over the bluest blue Gabriel had seen since he’d left the skies of California. And Gabriel is pretty straight, he should put that down in writing now, but if he was ever going to get down and dirty with another guy, he knows who his pick would be.

He just feels this strange need to get to know him, and he knows he isn’t alone in feeling like this. He’s discussed this with others in the squad, men and women – Jack Morrison is magnetic. There’s just something so unassuming and wholesome about him, hidden under boyish grins and stupid jokes. Gabriel knows there must be more layers there. He really wants to uncover them.

(That sounds a lot dirtier than he’d intended it to.)

But the two of them get to be pretty good friends pretty damn fast, and his opportunity to really get to know the farm boy comes sooner than expected.

It’s been a long, shitty day. The latest batch of injections is playing complete havoc with his immune system – one minute he’s feeling like he’s on the world’s highest caffeine burst, the next his muscles are aching so badly he can barely stand as he vomits out what feels like his last six meals.

Every member of the squad has a slightly different schedule, and for the first time, his and Jack’s have coincided. The younger man is still earlier in the programme and experiencing some of the nastier effects – his anatomy is still shifting around a lot. And when Gabriel bumps into him leaving the sick bay, looking particularly pale, it’s a deadly mix of sympathy and intrigue that prompts him to say:

“Hey, Morrison. Movie night tonight?”

And Jack sort of looks at him without really seeing, but replies, “Sure thing, commander.”

And that’s the extent of the conversation. But Gabe’s got something to look forward to now, something to keep him going through the day, and he spends ammunitions training that afternoon debating over what film to pick before having to run to the bathroom again and being sent back to his quarters by his CO.

It’s seven by the time he hears the doorbell to his quarters ring and he almost trips over himself to get to the door.

Jack’s stood there looking a little peaky but a whole lot more alive than he had earlier, and Gabriel welcomes him in.

“Nice place you got here, commander.” He jokes, looking around at the non-existent décor. The only reason they got individual quarters here were the vulnerable immune systems as a result of the SEP process. The organisers had learnt the hard way after a cold virus had wiped out six of the applicants.

“Thanks, I made it myself,” he replies as he made his way to the kitchenette, “And please, Gabe. Drink?”

“You got any juice?” Jack asks, and Gabriel laughs.

“Don’t worry about the doctors finding out, man, how about a proper drink?”

There’s a wry smile on his face as he replies, “I don’t drink alcohol.” Gabriel looks at him curiously. There’s a story there, but Jack doesn’t seem willing to share right now.

“Tea or coffee then?” He’s already decided he won’t be drinking if Jack isn’t. It’s no fun on your own.

“Coffee, thanks.” He says, dropping heavily onto the couch. “What film are we watching, then?”

Gabriel brings over two mugs, hands one to Jack and loads up his laptop. “I couldn’t decide in the end, so figured I’d give you a choice. Star Wars, or La La Land?” He feels he’s covering his bases here; he has to like either musicals or action films.

Jack snorts out the first sip he’d taken of his drink. “Bit of a choice there.”

Gabriel puts his hands on his hips. “Don’t tell me you’re too much of a man to enjoy a beautifully-shot love story with glorious musical numbers.”

Jack smiles, something mischievous there. “Fine, La La Land it is.”

Gabriel realises his mistake about twenty minutes into the film. It’s not that Jack doesn’t like musicals – completely the opposite.

“See, this is my main problem. Everyone keeps banging on about this film as a musical, but the music is incidental. True musicals use the numbers as exposition and story-telling. This is a film about music, not a musical.”

And the complaining doesn’t stop. “Why is the one black speaking role in a film about jazz the villain?” when Keith arrived. “See, this would be an actual song if it was a musical, not some cruddy dance silhouette.” when they danced in the observatory. “And she actually agreed?” when Mia got back in the car with Sebastian.

“Are you able to actually enjoy films?” Gabriel finally asks, mildly exasperated (but amused).

Jack gives him a look. “It’s not my fault you can’t pick a good musical.”

“Fine, what is a good musical?” he says challengingly, because he loves a good film debate even if musicals aren’t his first choice when he’s on his own. And he’s maybe a little bit desperate to know more about the soldier as well.

“Chicago. Cabaret. Les Misérables, but only on stage. I’m a big fan of Hamilton as well.” He says, eyes sparkling a little bit as he lists them off.

“I’ve seen Hamilton.” Gabriel volunteers, getting up to make more drinks and retrieve a blanket from the bedroom.

Jack says something he doesn’t really hear as he pulls the blanket off his bed. “What was that?” he asks as he throws the blanket in Jack’s direction.

The younger man doesn’t reply for a second, blushing a little bit. “I went with my boyfriend.”

The words have a strange effect on Gabe. Finding out Jack is gay is… interesting. It doesn’t change much really. Nothing at all. It just wasn’t expected.

He isn’t really sure how he’s supposed to react, but Jack’s watching him, worry starting to turn to anxiety and resentment, so he forces himself to spit out a reply. “Sounds like he has good taste in musicals, even if his taste in men is debatable.”

Jack laughs, and Gabriel knows he got it right. This is fine. Friendly teasing. Nothing more.

“I keep telling him he’s too good for me.” Jack admits, eyes crinkling just a little at the corners.

“What’s his name?” Gabriel asks, smiling unconsciously in the face of such love.

“Vincent,” Jack says, pulling the blanket over his legs, “He’s a journalist.”

Gabriel hands him the refilled mug and starts Star Wars quietly in the background. He’s not really intending to watch it. “You sound like you love him a lot. Why’d you leave him for this hell?” It’s only half a joke.

Jack does that weird little eyebrow twitch he does sometimes – in the future, Gabriel will understand he only does it when he’s telling a half-truth. “I have to protect him. People like him. There’s a lot of people back home...” He trails off, and Gabriel fills in the blanks. Jack seems like a family guy. Probably tons of siblings, local town, saw his small life decimated by Omnics and reality came crashing in. He’s heard the story before. He lets it go for now.

*

They’re doing an endless circuit of laps of the field when Jack falls into step beside him. Neither of them are really out of breath – they’ve only been going for half an hour so far. It’ll be a while before any of the platoon are really winded.

There’s a comfortable silence between them for a moment, but Gabriel can sense it’s going somewhere.

“Why did you join the SEP anyway, Gabe?” He asks, never breaking his gaze from the field ahead.

The green grass is erased for a moment, and Gabriel is back in the broom cupboard in his mother’s disintegrating house. He’s holding his shaking little sister against his chest and praying she won’t open the door.

He shakes his head, and it’s gone again. Back in the memory banks. He thought he’d finally banished that one. “Same as you. I got people I want to protect, Morrison.”

Jack nods thoughtfully, and Gabriel knows it’s only a temporary acceptance. That’s fine – he’s got another thing coming if he thinks he can get to Gabriel Reyes’ secrets first.

*

Jack corners him as they’re coming out of the showers later. “Movie night at mine tonight.”

Gabriel looks at him, amused. “You going to show me what good film choice is?”

Jack stares back, his look calculated. “Maybe.”

Four hours later, Gabriel stares at him, unamused. “You’re a walking cliché, boy scout.”

The iconic shield of Captain America glares out from the screen. Of fucking course it does.

Jack, for his part, does go a little red. “It’s a great film!”

Gabriel just laughs. “You’re not allowed to pick anymore.”

*

There’s a bunch of them out drinking one night – a visiting special ops squad from Egypt is here to help resolve a conflict with some rebels in Sudan, and they’ve all suffered losses. Gabriel finds himself sat next to a sniper – her name’s Ana, and she’s supposedly the best in the world. It’s not even supposedly – he’d seen the enemy dropping like flies earlier and wouldn’t have been able to tell you where the hell she was situated if he’d had half an hour to stop time and observe the battlefield.

He tells her as much, and she sniffs, a smile poking at the corners of her mouth. “Americans really are wrapped up in their own little worlds.” She’s flattered though, and happy enough for him to notice as much. There’s a quiet confidence to her which Gabriel is immediately drawn to. She knows exactly how good she is. This is the sort of person Gabriel wants watching his back.

“What made you sign up?” He asks her later, a couple of bottles of beer already put away. They’re having very little effect but to make him more confident. Jack’s wrapped up in conversation with Torres from their squad, but he catches Gabe’s eye and smiles.

“I have a daughter. Fareeha.” She smiles and retrieves a picture from a fold in her armour. There’s a grinning little girl in a summer dress smiling out at him, and Gabriel feels himself smiling in response.

“She’s lovely.” He takes another swig from his drink.

“What about you, Gabriel?” She asks, sipping her own whiskey. Alcohol isn’t commonly drunk in Egypt, but they’re making an exception tonight. Tonight, is for feeling alive after so many have died.

“I… used to have a sister.” He doesn’t make eye contact with Ana. Jack is looking at him – he’s clearly heard, but doesn’t comment, turning back to his conversation. “She died when my town was attacked by Omnics.” He doesn’t mention that the only reason she was out was Gabriel had made her run away with him.

He risks a glance, and Ana looks sympathetic but not pitying. She’s probably heard a hundred stories like his, and he’s done feeling sorry for himself. There’s a whole other world of people he has to protect now. He’ll do better this time.

They leave the bar an hour later, Ana’s number in his phone, and Gabriel finds himself falling behind. He sort of wants the solitude, but Jack falls back to walk beside him. There’s quiet for a minute before:

“I only had my dad. My mum died when I was eight, and they never had more kids. I don’t think they really wanted me in the first place.” He laughs without humour. “He was never really… there. If you know what I mean.” And Gabriel does, he understands absent parents even when the space is filled. “The Omnics came and then even he was gone, and all I had to look after was Vincent. I couldn’t lose him as well.”

Gabriel nods. Jack Morrison is beginning to make a lot more sense. No wonder they click so well. “I made my sister leave home with me. She wasn’t safe staying there, and then she died. So now I have to make it up to her memory.”

“You know that wasn’t your fault, right?” Jack asks him.

Gabriel nods. “My brain does. But I guess the rest of me doesn’t?” He laughs a little self-consciously. “I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself.”

Jack throws an arm around his shoulder and pulls him into his side. Gabriel is still a little taller, hopefully always will be, but Jack’s warm and cosy against him. His skin feels like it’s on fire, and he can’t remember the last time he peeled away this many layers for another person. They part too soon and Gabriel feels more alone than ever when he stands in the middle of his empty quarters.

*

“Movie night?” He asks as he passes Jack in the corridor, and the blond nods once with a smile before they part ways once more.

He’s got something good lined up for this evening.

Jack’s face is unreadable in his quarters that night.

Gabriel is worried he won’t like the film – how can you not? “How are we feeling about Moulin Rouge?” He asks, making the coffee without really thinking anymore. Movie nights are becoming a welcome addition to his routine.

Jack looks at him. “Can’t remember seeing it. It was my mum’s favourite.”

Gabriel panics. “Do you want me to pick something else? There’s a really bad film I think you’d love, The Room, it’s-“ He gabbles, before Jack interrupts him with a wry smile.

“It’s fine, Gabe, honestly. I just haven’t seen it in a long time.” Jack smiles at him reassuringly before stealing his mug from Gabriel’s hands and dropping onto the sofa. He slings his legs into Gabriel’s lap the second he sits down. Neither of them says anything about it.

Gabriel keeps a close eye on Jack’s face throughout the film, but he seems to enjoy it. It ends up Gabriel who cries through the last ten minutes (as he always does), and Jack shifts his position, leaning his back on Gabriel with his legs hanging off the other end of the sofa. The warm weight of his friend is so comfortable and he’d be happy to sit here for days like this.

His eyes widen – that’s not a good thought. They can’t sit here for days like this, this isn’t the way their relationship works. They have banter, they mock each other relentlessly, and sure they have each other’s backs, but they aren’t the centre of each other’s worlds. Jack already has a centre and his name is Vincent, and Gabriel doesn’t even want to be a pillar for the other man.

Or maybe he does.

He realises this as the end credits roll, and Jack’s heavy breathing as he falls asleep against Gabe make him hyper aware of the blonde’s chest rising and falling.

Gabriel Reyes is possibly not as straight as he thought he was.

He’s also possibly a little bit in love with his best friend.

Shit.

*

[murphystarr]

not so self assured

a sort of companion piece to chapter 10 of @ch-ch-ch-ch-cherrybomb‘s twin skeletons. features leslie harris, my harris kid, and a lot of self-reflection and some uneaten chicken enchiladas. 

mentions of suicide

The coroner had estimated that Brian had died sometime around 11:30 that Friday night. He had been dead for nearly ten hours before Leslie had found him, stiff and cold, dangling from the rafters, a makeshift noose made out of an electrical cord tight around his neck.

That was six days ago.

No.

Five days, sixteen hours, seventeen minutes and 48 seconds.

She was still pretty numb about the whole thing. Then again, nothing could really prepare you for finding your older brother dead. The paramedics had checked her out when they arrived to set Brian free from his noose and take him to the morgue; they took her blood pressure, put a stethoscope to her chest, shone a light in her eyes, asked her what day it was and her name. They calmly explained to her that she was in shock, then a paramedic who reminded her of her older sister, Morgan, took her to the living room and guided her to the couch, advised her to lie down and put a pillow underneath her legs. She stayed there with her, making small talk while Leslie heard her mother’s screams from the garage, and the faint voices of police officers, asking her father questions that Leslie thought would never relate to Brian:

“How long has he been depressed?”

“Did he say that he had a plan?”

“Has he flat out said that he wanted to hurt himself?”

Hurt himself? No. Hurt other people? Maybe. It really depended on the person.

Back when they were younger, Brian was the kid that future Brian would have loved to pick on. He was the fat middle child while his older sister was an actual pageant princess and his younger sister was a point spot flyer for their state’s most prestigious competitive cheerleading team. He was boxed in and overshadowed by his sister’s accomplishments and his parents’ divided attention. On Fridays, their father went to Leslie’s cheer competitions and their mother accompanied Morgan to the multi-day pageants. They would all return Sunday afternoon with trophies, tiaras, medals, and flowers, usually with the expectation that they were heading to higher and higher things.

The summer that Brian went to fat camp, Leslie’s team, Cheer Extreme Great White Sharks, placed first in their division at Worlds, and Morgan won Miss Virginia Teen USA.

Was Brian depressed? Leslie honestly couldn’t tell. The only thing she could point at was that when Brian was fat, he often parked himself in front of the television with an armsload of food, not moving for hours.

Kind of what Leslie was doing right then and there.

She had made herself comfortable in a hoard of blankets that would make any dragon proud, armored in four-day-old sweats, decked out in a messy bun that hadn’t seen anything but dry shampoo in days, staring at reruns of Family Feud, all while nursing a cold plate of chicken enchiladas that her cheer friend, Tazzy, and her two dads brought over yesterday. She wasn’t hungry, she had only cut out a slice of the dish an hour ago when Morgan begged her to eat something. It had been nearly 20 hours since she ate something, she needed to keep up her strength for the funeral tomorrow.

“You need to take care of yourself, babe,” Morgan had said when she put the enchiladas in the microwave for her. “Keeping yourself away from food isn’t the best thing for your body right now. I’m sure your coaches feel the same way.”

Oh, right. Her coaches. They had stopped by the other day with white chrysanthemums and a card signed by the entire team for Leslie. They uttered the usual platitudes, how sorry they were, how was she holding up, if there was anything they could do let them know, but they needed to know when she’ll be back. The Sharks had a huge competition coming up soon and they really needed her back at the gym.

Leslie missed the gym where she had been training at for the past ten years. Five times a week, since she was four, she was in her own world. Surrounded by her teammates, they tumbled, danced, stunted, jumped, and cheered. Practicing over and over until they could easily perform award winning routines in unison. Leslie found a second home in The Shark Tank over the years, a place where she found refuge from the drama in her family, where she was surrounded by the girls she grew up with, girls she considered to be her sisters, and her coaches: Anthony, Dallas, and Regan, who she looked up to as mentors.

But since Brian died, it seemed that cheer and all desires to return to The Shark Tank had been put on the backburner. She hadn’t brought herself to go through her at-home conditioning drills. She hadn’t even bothered to stretch, something that was vital to any cheerleader, especially to a point spot flyer. She was the focus of the entire routine whenever she and the other flyers went in the air, she had fought tooth and nail for that position, dealt with numerous concussions, conditioned her body and pushed herself beyond her limits to be the ideal flyer. She was the best flyer on the team, the entire team depended on her.

But now, all kind of spirit she could muster up for her team was reflected in her Great White Sharks hoodie, the one that had WORLD CHAMPION pressed on the back in obnoxious, blocky letters.

She wasn’t supposed to be going through this. This isn’t how it was supposed to be. Leslie was supposed to breeze through her freshman year at Central High, making her place in student council and yearbook committee. She was supposed to travel with her team to Disney World in June, where they had the opportunity for a threepeat as World Champions. She was supposed to keep up with her photography, having her pictures place in local shows like they had been for the past year and half. She was supposed to look up to Alana Beck as a guide, like she had been since her freshman year started. But the moment Brain let out his last breath, all of that went away. She wasn’t a two-time World Champion anymore, she wasn’t one half of the freshman representatives on the Homecoming court, she wasn’t a member of student council or the yearbook committee or even a photographer, she was just Brain Harris’ sister. She had been his sister at the beginning of the year, but she had worked hard to differentiate herself from him for the past two months, not wanting to leech of his popularity by blood association and the fact he drove them both to school every day.

But Brian killed himself in their garage, next to where they kept their bicycles and his snowboard. He waited until his family was asleep, disabled the alarm, then tiptoed downstairs into the garage, with no intention of coming back out alive. And Leslie wasn’t Leslie anymore. She was just his sister who was listed in the obituary as one of his surviving family members. Nothing she did mattered anymore.

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder. Leslie looked up to find an identical pair of hazel eyes looking down back at her. Morgan must’ve finally taken a shower, Leslie noticed, her hair was damp and skin was flushed rosy red. Her older sister looked down at the plate on Leslie’s lap, frowning slightly.

“Did you eat any of that?”

“Yeah,” she lied. “I’m not that hungry right now.”

Morgan didn’t fight it. She circled the couch and sat down next to Leslie, then began to softly play with her hair. Leslie instinctually leaned next to her, resting her head on Morgan’s shoulder.

“When was the last time you took a shower?”

“I don’t know.”

“Les.”

“Five days ago?”

Morgan just let out a sigh. Leslie closed her eyes. Let Morgan pet her head in a soothing motion.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?”

“Not really.”

That was a lie, Leslie had her outfit picked and had laid on her desk two days ago. Black scalloped dress with a black cardigan, black pumps and sheer tights, even black pearls to go in her ears. The pearls had been from her grandmother, a gift to celebrate her starting high school. Leslie had never predicted that she would have to use them so soon.

Physically, she was ready. Emotionally? Not a chance in hell. She wasn’t ready to face all of Brian’s teammates and friends, her dad’s clients and colleagues, her mom’s book club friends and old sorority sisters from college. She wasn’t ready to see some of her teammates who had texted her a few days ago that they would be at the funeral to support her. She just wanted to stay in bed, isolate herself until everything was normal again, press some sort of button that would skip the entire grieving process, exterminate every emotion she was feeling that arose when she saw her brother’s body hanging from the garage ceiling last Saturday morning.

She wanted to disappear.

“...gonna be there.”

Leslie must’ve tuned out again, only coming back to hear the tail end of Morgan’s announcement.

“Who’s gonna be there?”

“Mr. Murphy. He’s coming to the funeral tomorrow.”

That made sense, he and her dad worked at the same law firm downtown together. They had known each other from their days rushing Pi Kappa Delta. It was natural that Mr. Murphy would be there to support his friend during this time. She had once heard that Mr. Murphy and her father had to wrestle in mud pit during their time pledging, only Brian had told her later they had to do it naked.

“That’s nice of him. Are any other Murphy’s gonna be there?”

“I’m not sure about Mrs. Murphy, but I’m pretty sure Zoe might be there.”

Leslie nodded. She liked Zoe. They used to dress up together and play make-believe when they were younger, and Leslie taught Zoe how to do a backflip on their trampoline. They spent a lot of time together in the summer, when Leslie didn’t have cheer and Zoe didn’t had guitar lessons, usually swimming in Leslie’s pool or riding their bikes down to the park to play on the swings. She hadn’t seen Zoe since last winter break, when they went to Colorado for the annual “Harris-Murphy Skiing Trip / Disaster”. Morgan chose to stay back in Chicago with her boyfriend for the holidays, and Brian had decided to torment Zoe, snapping her bra and mimed jerking off whenever she passed by. But Leslie and Zoe made the best out of that week, making friendship bracelets out of colored string and making snowmen outside of the timeshare.

“That’s good. I like Zoe.”

Neither of the Harris sisters had to bring up the fact that Connor Murphy wouldn’t be attending the funeral. Even if he wasn’t in rehab, he wouldn’t want to show up within three miles of the service.

During that same ski trip, he wasn’t any nicer to Connor either. She vaguely remembered him trying to shove Connor off the ski lift when they were high off the ground, but Connor had gotten revenge by dunking Brian’s head in the toilet. Leslie remembered silently cheering for Connor during that trip, Brain wasn’t any nicer to Leslie as well. He had stolen her Nintendo 3DS and wiped her save file of Ocarina of Time, “just because”. So when she saw Brian’s hair soaking wet, running off to tattle, she couldn’t help but snicker.

Was she a bad person for still thinking that was funny?

She didn’t bother to answer that question, instead choosing to lean in closer to her sister. She then heard something buzz. Morgan fished her phone out of her pocket, swiping it open.

“It’s Eli. He’s gonna swing by in an hour and pick me up to get dinner. You wanna come with us?”

She just shrugged. She liked Morgan’s boyfriend enough, but she didn't think she could handle a sympathy dinner at the moment.

“Not really.”

“Are you sure? He invited you.”

“I’m not that hungry.”

Morgan just let out another sigh, typed out some words to Eli, then sent the text.

“Okay, I won’t push you. But can you promise me you’ll try and eat something tonight?”

“I’ll try.”

“And will you take a shower?”

“Yes, mom.”

“Thank you.” She kissed Leslie’s forehead, gave her a last squeeze, then got up, ready to head upstairs.

“Oh, hey, I found a cute picture of you and Brian on my phone. I sent it to you a while ago, I thought you’d like to see it.”

“Okay, I’ll look at it.”

She waited until the thump-thump-thump of Morgan’s footsteps trailed off upstairs before fishing for her phone. She thought it was somewhere in her blanket pile, but she eventually found it between some couch cushions. She turned it on, and sure enough, between thousands of notifications from Instagram, GroupMe, and Snapchat, she found a text from Morgan, sent about an hour ago. She tapped on it, revealing a picture of her and Brian last June at Orlando. It was just after Leslie had gotten off the mat from Finals at Worlds, and she was somehow sitting on Brian’s shoulders. She think Morgan might’ve forced Brian to let her up there, but she could barely remember anything just after the performance from all the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She remembered hitting a solid routine, no one had fallen or slipped, and just an hour later she heard her team’s name was being called as two-time champions.

She was in her uniform, decked out in a full face of makeup with blue and silver eyeshadow, her team’s colors, what seemed like five sets of false eyelashes, hair teased to the Heavens in a high pony, and the biggest smile on her face she had ever seen. She could see that she had picked out gray rubber bands on her braces, a choice that she had made at the orthodontist’s just weeks before. But what really stood out to her is that Brian was wearing a Great White Sharks T-shirt. She recognized that shirt, it was the shirt that the team gave to parents and siblings when the girls made the team every year. She knew that on the back it said LESLIE “BIRDIE” HARRIS. Brian was giving a smirk to the camera, flexing both of his arms while Leslie had her arms in a high V. It was a picture that her team’s Instagram would have loved to have posted a few days ago when they announced their support for Leslie, instead of Brian’s Sophomore yearbook picture.

But Leslie continued to stare at the picture. She didn’t know what to think. It all looked so… fake. Sure, Leslie looked like a model for a Great White Sharks’ Barbie doll, but the fact that Brian and Leslie could be civil for a moment to take a cute picture together was strange. Brian didn’t take cute pictures with Leslie. He stole her epsom salts way beyond when football season was over and would hog the upstairs bathroom to soak when Leslie was sore after three hours of conditioning at the gym. He didn’t show up to support her at her competitions. He didn’t even seem to care that Leslie was already being scouted by colleges as a freshman. He didn’t even seem to care about Leslie.

So why was Leslie sobbing on the couch, ears burning red and ugly tears cascading down her face? Maybe it was because when they were younger, he would hold her hand while they walked anywhere together. Maybe it was because he taught her how to play Legend of Zelda and would read the guide out loud to her because she couldn’t read yet. Maybe it was because he took care of her when she lost her very first cheerleading competition and held her while she cried. Maybe it was because she was grieving for the Brian she knew, and mourning for the relationship that they could have had.

But Brian had killed himself.

Leslie managed to calm herself down enough to reply to Morgan with a heart emoji, save the picture on her phone, and set it as her new phone background.

She was mourning her brother, but not for the brother she had lost five days, seventeen hours, fifty-seven minutes and 21 seconds ago. The one she lost what felt like forever ago.

And she didn’t know how to feel about that.

[thisissoccer]

mexico vs france olympics 2021

What time is the Mexico vs France Olympics 2021?

4:00 am EDT The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games soccer match between Mexico and France will kick off at the Ajinomoto Stadium, on Thursday 22 July 2021 at 4:00 am EDT and 1:00 am PDT.

What channel is Mexico vs France Olympics?

Spectators had to wait an extra year for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but the weeks-long tournament has now arrived. As usual, broadcast networks are going all-out with their coverage of the Olympics. ... Thursday, July 22.

Who won Mexico vs France Olympics?

Mexico had a fantastic start to in the men's soccer competition at the Olympics in Tokyo, defeating France 4-1 in its group stage opener Thursday.

Did Japan beat Mexico in soccer?

Saitama – An early burst of scoring gave Japan an emphatic 2-1 victory over Mexico in the Tokyo 2020 men's soccer tournament on Sunday night at Saitama Stadium, giving the host nation control of its own fate heading into Wednesday's final Group A game against France.

Mexico 4-1 France: as it happened Mexico off to a flying start at Olympics Having won the CONCACAF qualifying tournament, Mexico justified their dark horse status with a convincing win over France in Group A, courtesy of second-half goals from Alexis Vega, Sebastian Cordova, Uriel Antuna and Erick Aguirre.

Scroll down to see how the game unfolded and what the reaction to it was like.

Coming up next on AS English is another one of the potential winners of the title as Brazil take on Germany. Join the build up and live action now.

Gignac's muted celebration Tigres’ all-time top scorer, Andre-Pierre Gignac, was very apologetic after knocking home a penalty for France to make it 2-1. After playing in Liga MX for six years there is a lot of feeling there.

Maybe he was therefore happy when El Tri ran out clear winners.

Mexico keeping their promise They said it would be worth it and after their four goals they now feel rather smug about that claim.

France face South Africa & Japan next.

Mexico 4-1 France Mexico had seven shots on target and converted four. Clinical.

Stats via SofaScore

MOTM - Alexis Vega (Mexico)

The forward marked an impressive day with a fine header past Bernardoni in the France goal.

Mexico get off to a flyer at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a resounding 4-1 win over Les Bleus in their Group A opener.

FT: Mexico 4-1 France We're into the final 60 seconds...

Mexico 4-1 France Substitute Eduardo Aguirre buries a shot past Bernardoni to make it 4-1. Aguirre gives the France netminder no chance from a tight angle on the right-hand side of the box.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

MEXICO SCORE 4

Muani heads straight at Ochoa. It's only a half chance and an easy one for the 36-year-old between the posts.

Mexico make another change

OFF Martin

ON Aguirre

Mexico change

OFF Vega

ON Alvarado

Michelin shoots well over from distance. Definitely not a 3-star shot.

Mexico get ready to make another change.

MEXICO 3-1 FRANCE It's a super run and goal from the sub. Antuna drives across the box and lets fly off his left foot from the edge of the box. The ball smashes off the post and goes it to all but seal it for Mexico with just under 10 minutes remaining.  

ANTUNA MAKES IT 3!!! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL MEXICO!!! Antuna shoots!

It's nearly 3 for Mexico! Antuna finds himself down the right, shoots across the France goal and it rolls just wide. Still 2-1 to Mexico.

Vasquez heads away a France cross from the right. Les Bleus have their tails up now after Gignac's penalty.

Double change for Mexico

OFF Lainez & Cordova

ON Esquivel & Antuna

Game on! There are 20 minutes left in Tokyo, plus added time.

Mexico 2-1 France Ochoa dives to his left. Gignac sends his penalty just under the keeper's arm. Ochoa will be disappointed with that one.

GIGNAC SCORES!   Gignac has the ball in his hands.

Gignac vs Ochoa

Muani is taken down by Montes in the box...

Penalty for France! ROMO!

Romo finds himself free 30 yards from goal, takes one look at the France goal and unleashes a long range strike that sails over. A third goal for Mexico would surely put this one to bed.

France continue to push. This time Le Fée drives a cross into the danger zone from the left wing. Ochoa springs off his line to collect.

Caci shoots!

The France full-back opens up his body on the right-hand side of the box, before curling an shot just wide of Ochoa's post. A good effort. 2-0

France change

OFF Nordin

ON  Kolo Muani

France change

OFF Tousart

ON Beka Beka

Gignac finds himself offside.

Mexico's forward finds himself in acres of space on the edge of the box and fires beyond Bernardoni to make it 2-0. A fine strike after a nice through ball over the top of the France defence by Rodriguez. France are all over the place. 2-0

Cordova doubles Mexico's lead! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL MEXICO!!! Nordin shoots well wide for France. A poor effort by all accounts.

A super start to the second half for Mexico. France will have to lift their game now.

Mexico 1-0 France (Vega) It's that man Lainez down the right again. He turns France inside out before crossing for Vega, who makes no mistake with a thumping header into the net, giving Bernardoni no chance.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL MEXICO!!!

Cordova hits the post after a spectacular bit of play, taking it on his chest before volleying past Bernardoni. It's offside!

Gignac gets us underway for the second half!

The players make their way back onto the pitch for the second half!

And the first half comes to a close. A very interesting opening 45 minutes. France have failed to handle Mexico down the right, but it remains goalless at the break.

HT: Mexico 0-0 France

There will be two minutes added on at the end of the 45'.

Mexico's defence defend well as France look to break them down. Mexico regain possession and build out from the back.

France have had great success at international level (two World Cups, two Euros and a couple of Confederations Cups), but they have only been able to win the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics. Since then they have been absent without leave and they last qualified in 1996.

Nordin is fouled by Montes. It's a France free and a warning for Montes.

Cordova chance!  

The ball falls to Cordova on the edge of the box. He sends his effort just wide of Bernardoni's right-hand post.

France are having their spell of the half now after an impressive opening half an hour from Mexico. Vega had the best chance of the game, but Sagnan cleared off the line. Les Bleus have yet to conjure up any real chances but are beginning to get into it more.

Ochoa saves!

Nordin hits it well from just inside the box. It's going high into the top right-hand corner. The former Granada keeper gets a big left hand to the strike. The resulting corner is cleared by Mexico.

Gignac is fed, finally. Savanier picks the 35-year-old out with a fine ball. Gignac has his back to goal, spins on the spot and directs his header low to Ochoa's left. France are now looking to play narrow. 0-0

Mexico have been the better team in the opening 25 minutes. France's game plan hasn't worked thus far, with Gignac looking quite isolated up top.

Sagnan clears another Diego Lainez cross from the right. Sanchez and the Betis winger have caused France problems down the right since the get-go.

Mexico go so close again!  

Lainez does superbly well to get to the byline after a mazy run. Martin is in the box, he looks for the striker but the French defence stand strong. Mexico have really upped the ante.

Sagnan clears off the line!

It's the best chance of the game so far. Vega rounds two French defenders before sliding under Bernardoni. Sagnan is on the line to clear and it remains 0-0.

Michelin picks up the first yellow of the game for a late challenge. He can have no complaints about that one.

Sanchez flies forward from right-back to cross for Martin but his effort is blocked by Kalulu. 0-0

Savanier shoots!  

It's a poor effort from around 25 yards. Ochoa watches it as it goes wide and out for a goalkick.

Today's venue is the Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo, where Sweden defeated the USWNT 3-0 yesterday.

Thauvin picks out Gignac with a cross from the right but the experienced striker is unable to direct his header into the corner. More positive play for France.

It has been a lively start for both sides. Gignac is leading the line for France. Lainez of Real Betis will be looking to showcase his talents for Mexico, who are captained by the experienced goalkeeper, Guillermo Ochoa.

France, in all white, are playing from left to right as we watch it.

Mexico are wearing green socks, red shorts, and their famous green shirt.

We're underway in Tokyo!

It's Mexico vs France...

Group-stage schedule: Group A: Japan, France, Mexico, South Africa

22 July: Mexico vs France, Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo, 5pm local time/4am EDT

22 July: Japan vs South Africa, Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo, 8pm local time/7am EDT

25 July: France vs South Africa, Saitama Stadium, Saitama, 5pm local time/4am EDT

25 July: Japan vs Mexico, Saitama Stadium, Saitama, 8pm local time/7am EDT

28 July: France vs Japan, International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama, 8:30pm local time/7:30am EDT

28 July: South Africa vs Mexico, Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, 8:30pm local time/7:30am EDT

Kick-off in Tokyo is just 20 minutes away!

France XI vs Mexico André-Pierre Gignac leads the line and captains France in their Olympics opener.

Mexico give short lesson on France!

France have played at the Olympic Games on 12 occasions.

Mexico announce starting XI for France clash This summer's Olympic tournament for under-24s Due to the 12-month delay to the 2020 Games, this summer’s men’s soccer tournament will actually be an under-24 competition.

This is because early last year, following the announcement that the Tokyo Olympics had been postponed until 2021, FIFA confirmed that the eligibility cut-off point originally established for the 2020 event would not be changed.

To compete in Japan, non-overage players must have been born on or after 1 January 1997.

What time does Mexico vs France kick off? The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games soccer match between Mexico and France will kick off at the Ajinomoto Stadium, on Thursday 22 July 2021 at 4:00 am EDT and 1:00 am PDT.

That’s 10:00 am CEST and 9:00 am UK time.

The 2012 gold medalists vs the 2018 world champions France have had great success at international level (two World Cups, two Euros and a couple of Confederations Cups), but they have only been able to win the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics. Since then they have been absent without leave and they last qualified in 1996.

France's rising stars haven’t travelled to Japan, as some of them already played at the European Championship and others have been withdrawn by their club sides, meaning that most of Sylvain Ripoll’s squad is full of Ligue 1 players.

Mexico U23 vs France U23 live: welcome Hello and welcome to AS English's live coverage of this 2020 Tokyo Olympics Group A  encounter between Mexico U23s and France U23s. Kick-off is at 10:00 CEST / 04:00 ET.

[josefavomjaaga]

Helfert, Joachim Murat, Chapter 3, Part 2

(We left Murat claiming to British visitors that he, despite wanting Napoleon to drive the Bourbons out of France, was still totally in the Alies' camp.)

In spite of these assurances, everyone now knew very well what to expect from his side. Moreover, the facts were in stark contradiction with his words. All kinds of armaments were brought to completion with restless haste, throughout the kingdom the press of sailors was ordered to man the vessels; the royal guards, all troops were ordered to be ready to march; his aides-de-camp were constantly on the move in this or that direction. A year earlier Joachim had already begun to give the civil militia a better establishment, this was now continued most assiduously. The capital also received a military guardia di sicurezza, six battalions on foot and an escadron; property and the intelligentsia formed the elements drawn to their service: the wealthy privateers, merchants and tradesmen, professors, civil servants of all grades; a special medal of merit with the motto: "Onore e fedeltà" was created to stimulate their zeal. Ever since the world peace had been concluded, and with explicit reference to this change, Joachim had also tried to create a Sicilian regiment, Neapolitans who had followed Ferdinand IV to the island, but for whom there was now, as Murat thought, no longer any reason to stay abroad; but the influx was very small, the intended regiment never came into being. Among the officers' corps, a very dangerous increase consisted of many Lombards and Romagnoles who had formerly served in the army of the Kingdom of Italy and who, according to the custom of such fugitives from the country, had their mouths full of lofty words, pushed for an immediate upsurge in arms, which would be met with the most brilliant successes: old comrades would flock to them from all parts of Italy, hundreds, thousands of them armed and uniformed, gladly joining the King's army.

These military precautions went hand in hand with some personnel changes in the upper circles of government. The Minister of Finance, Mosbourg, a Frenchman by birth, asked for and received his dismissal - he had made his penny dry and did not want to expose it again to all the storms and rigours of the weather; he became Secretary of State in place of Prince Pignatelli-Cerchiara, who took over the vice-presidency of the Council of State from Cianciulli. The portfolio of finances was given to Baron Nolli, who had to begin his office with the most hateful measures: the merchant class was hit with a compulsory loan of 2 million francs; all the coffers, not excluding those of the hospitals and charitable foundations, were emptied to the last penny. Maghella was once again put in charge of the police; General Manhès became the governor of the capital, two personalities whose very names were disgusting to the people.

The author here in a footnote quotes Mier from a letter of 12 March: "Ces deux individus jouissent de la plus mauvaise réputation et sont détestés comme étrangers".

Under these circumstances, Mier's position in Naples became a very unpleasant one, and he urgently begged Prince Metternich "not to forget him". In the face of Joachim's assertion and that of his organs, in particular the government newspaper, maintaining that the King was in full harmony with Austria, that his policy was also that of Austria, Mier took every opportunity to loudly contradict this: "Austria is rather resolutely opposed to having the peace of Italy disturbed; the King, by pursuing his warlike desires and a delusion of greatness, will drag himself and his own to ruin". He sent a confidential letter to the queen, imploring her to do everything in her power to prevent her husband from making a hasty decision. He had discussions with Gallo, to whom he gave his unreserved opinion and drew his attention to the fact that the first step taken by a Neapolitan soldier across the demarcation line agreed on 28 April at Bologna would have the immediate consequence of breaking the Austrian alliance.

As early as the 12th of March it was said that the King would leave for the army, Mosbourg and Zurlo with him, Gallo and Macdonald to follow, and the Duke of Carignano to conduct foreign affairs in the meantime. The Princess of Wales, on hearing this decision, had offered to precede the King to Ancona; but he had sent her his regrets through the Duke of Roccaromana that he would not be able to receive her there, whereupon she angrily departed that very morning for Civita Vecchia, and from thence to Genoa. But the king's departure did not come to pass for the time being. Once again, doubts had intervened: repeated and strong hints from the Austrian envoy, requests and ideas from the queen, insistent advice from serious men who were in Joachim's confidence [footnote see below, as somewhat longer]. For a moment it had seemed as if everything was to be reversed, regiments that were about to march had been ordered to halt, others had even said that they would be recalled from the Marches.

Then new favourable news arrived of Napoleon's advance in France - from the evening of 10 March, when he entered Lyon, which might have been reported in Naples on the 15th - and now there was no more rest and no more peace for Joachim. He hastily summoned the Council of State, which was attended by the Queen, all the ministers, and the top generals, not to hear the opinion of those present, but to win them over to his own, which he did with all the grandiloquent exuberance of a Gascogner: 8,000 of his own troops, 14 battalions of provincial militia, civic militia without number; in addition, appeals from all parts of the peninsula, here a letter speaking of 12 regiments in readiness, of 12,000 shotguns in stock, there a letter with the promise of four fully equipped regiments, another promising the whole mass of the disbanded Italian army. The majority of those assembled listened to these reckless reports in incredulous distrust; with regret they saw the King's self-deception, and urgently advised against a hasty step: "one should rather await the answers from Vienna and London, the last success of Napoleon's enterprise, the resolutions of the Congress of Vienna on this unexpected change of affairs". Joachim suspended the meeting without passing a resolution that he did not like, sent Count Beaufremont to France with the declaration that the Emperor could count on his services, and let the Roman Court know through Cardinal Fesch that he regarded Napoleon's cause as his own and soon intended to prove to the world that it had never been alien to him.

On the evening of March 15, the Austrian envoy had a conversation with the Duca di Gallo, the contents of which left no further doubt. Joachim's minister complained about the obvious cooling in Austrian sympathies; about the neglect of his monarch's interests on the part of the Viennese Cabinet; about the small amount of effort the Cabinet had made to obtain the king's recognition from the other powers; about the humiliating way in which the king's ministers and other trusted individuals sent there by him were treated in Vienna. "The Congress will come to an end," Gallo concluded, "and Austria will not have fulfilled the promise she made to us. From this we can conclude no other than that she will abandon us in an extreme case, from which it further follows that the King must seek assistance where it is offered and resort to those means which he can hope will help him to his goal...". The next day, Mier appeared before the queen, who, as she complained to him, had been brought completely down by her sorrow, as well as by the continual quarrelling and disputes. "The King thinks," she said, "that Napoleon's successes will help to keep him on the throne. You know my opinion on this point. I will not cease to advise him that if the Vienna Cabinet should decide to oppose Napoleon, there is nothing left for him but to join Austria and follow her system and policy. You see, I am sacrificing my personal feelings and the agony of seeing my family persecuted, covered with shame and reproaches, to the duties of a mother, to the duties of a Queen of Naples. Emperor Francis has remained our loyal ally until this moment, and I am convinced that he will continue to do so in the future, if we know how to deserve it. This is his duty: but his own best interests also require him to do so".

[Footnote] Among them, in the first row, Pietro Colletta who, on March 11, "in his capacity as Councillor of State", sent a letter to the King urging him against any daring enterprise. The unification of Italy was a dream, "un filone di uomini caldi si abbandonerà a questa idea lusinghiera, ma la massa degl' italiani o la spregerà o la riguarderà con indifferenza o si armerà contro di essa". Twenty-five years of war and revolution had created a deep need for peace; the fine phrases used to flatter the passions of the people had lost their power. And how much preparation was needed to bring the war power up to the proper level! "L'armata di V. M. potrebbe esser battuta prima che aiutata!" The King should keep calm, so that time would pass which would only benefit the existence of his dynasty ... F. Palermo who published the letter in Arch. stor. ital. 1856 III p. 62-65, declares himself unable to state whether the letter really reached the king's hand or not.

Okay, this seems huge to me. I had no idea how much Joachim had suffered from being branded a traitor and how much it had weighed on his conscience. "[...] he regarded Napoleon's cause as his own and soon intended to prove to the world that it had never been alien to him." I guess the need to prove to both himself and to the world that he was not a dishonourable being played a huge role in his disastrous decision. (This actually reminds me of a dissertation on Austrian general Mack - the one from the campaign of 1805 - that claimed that similar mental stress led to the latter's irrational behaviour during the time auf Ulm.)

"Onore e fedeltà" may actually be a direct reference to Eugène's (at the time often quoted) proclamation to the people in the Kingdom of Italy, dated February 1, 1814, which publically announced Murat's defection and declared the Neapolitans an enemy to Napoleon's cause. ("Français! Italiens! j'ai confiance en vous; comptez aussi sur moi! Vous y trouverez toujours votre avantage et votre gloire. Soldats! ma devise est Honneur et Fidelité! Qu'elle soit aussi la vôtre; avec elle et l'aide de Dieu nous triompherons enfin de nos ennemis.") Murat basically claims that phrase - that had been directed against him - back.

Naturally I'm also interested in those "fugitives" from Lombardy who had come to Naples and may have presented a highly misleading picture of people's attitude in Northern Italy at the time. In truth, the different political factions there seem to have agreed pretty soon in their dislike of their new Austrian masters (I believe it is in August 1814, only four months after taking over, that Bellegarde has to send military to the Scala of Milan because riots were about to break out) but that does not necessarily mean they were friendly towards the Neapolitans - who by most were considered as foreigners just as much as the French had been. Also, the Austrians seem to have taken immediate measures to remove all rebellious elements from the country; I believe it is Méneval who mentions how all the Lombardian officers suspicious of still being too attached to the old regime, were transferred to Hungary and, on their way there during the Congress in Vienna, stopped by one by one to see their old viceroy. And to probably reproach him for not having marched on Milan in April when the riots broke out.

[artsychica2012]

(via What Can A Wrinkle in Time Teach Us About Writing? - Eva Langston)

Completed in 1960, L’Engle says the manuscript was rejected by at least twenty-six publishers because it was “too different.” It finally found a home in 1962 with the publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and it went on to win the Newberry Medal along with many other honors. A Wrinkle in Time also became the first book in the Time Quintet, a series of novels L’Engle wrote about the Murry and O’Keefe families.

So anyway, what can we kidlit writers glean from this classic novel? Glad you asked! Here are five lessons writers can learn from Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time.

(By the way, if you haven’t read the book you might want to stop reading this post because there are almost certainly spoilers ahead.)

(And also by the way, were you aware that there is a graphic novel version of A Wrinkle in Time, illustrated by Hope Larson?  I haven’t read it, but I think this is just the sort of story that would be AMAZING as a graphic novel.)  

*This post contains a few Amazon affiliate links*

1.  Don’t be afraid to “write up”

Don’t assume that just because you’re writing for children you need to dumb down your language, your ideas, or your themes. Though the suggested age range for A Wrinkle in Time is 10 to 14, L’Engle uses quite sophisticated language. Just take a look at the very first paragraph:

It was a dark and stormy night.

In her attic bedroom Margaret Murry, wrapped in an old patchwork quilt, sat on the foot of her bed and watched the trees tossing in the frenzied lashing of the wind. Behind the trees clouds scudded frantically across the sky. Every few moments the moon ripped through them, creating wraithlike shadows that raced along the ground.

Just as playing a sport with someone better than you can help you improve, reading something a little above their level can help kids increase their vocabulary and become better readers. Plus, there’s nothing kids hate more than being talked down to.

Not only does L’Engle give her kid readers lyrical and adult-like prose, she also trusts them with some adult-like ideas and themes such as conformity, the fifth dimension, and good versus evil.

2.  Give your protagonist flaws

No one is perfect, so don’t forget to give your protagonist some real flaws. In A Wrinkle in Time, Meg is stubborn, impatient, impulsive, quick-tempered, and insecure. And with her glasses, braces, and unruly hair, she’s flawed (or at least she thinks so) in the looks department, too.

In many novels, the protagonist must overcome their weaknesses in order to reach their goal. In A Wrinkle in Time, however, Meg’s flaws are actually what help her defeat IT and save her little brother’s life. Instead of completely overcoming her flaws, she realizes that her greatest weaknesses can also be her greatest strengths. Her stubbornness makes her strong, her impatience and impulsivity come from passion. And, most importantly, despite her flaws, her family loves her, and she loves them. In the end, it’s love that saves the day.

One of the things I think works so well about A Wrinkle in Time is that Meg is so deeply flawed.She’s someone we can identify with, and hopefully she helps kid readers realize that one doesn’t have to be perfect or “fit in” in order to be loved.  

3.  Give your story a classic and well-paced start

Leo Tolstoy famously said, “All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.”

A Wrinkle in Time is both. First, strange Mrs. Whatsit shows up at Meg’s house in the middle of the night, in the middle of a wild storm. As it turns out, Mrs. Whatsit and her friends have arrived in order to take Meg, her brother Charles Wallace, and her new friend Calvin on a journey across time and space.

The pacing of A Wrinkle in Time is on point. In the middle of Chapter One, Mrs. Whatsit shows up. I would call this the inciting incident – what gets the story started.

At the end of Chapter 3, Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin are whisked off into space with Mrs. Whatsit and her friends. I would call this the climax of Act One. According to Blake Snyder, author of Save the Cat, the act one climax is when “the main character enters an “upside down world” where they’re completely out of their element.” In Meg’s case, her “upside down world” is strange planets in other galaxies!  

My copy of A Wrinkle in Time is approximately 200 pages. The children begin their intersteller journey around page 50:  one-fourth of the way through the novel. And that, my friends, is what’s called good pacing. If it takes you longer than one-fourth of your novel to get to Act 2 and the real meat of your story, you’re probably spending too long getting your story started.

4.  Give your story a turning point

At the story’s beginning, your protagonist should have a goal or desire that makes her take action. In Meg’s case, she wants to find her father. As your character reaches for her goal, increasing obstacles are put in her way. And then comes a midpoint, or twist. Often at this turning point, one of a few things happens:

The protagonist realizes her goal is not what she thought or not what she wants.

The protagonist realizes she will need to change her plan of action.

The protagonist gives up her old goal in place of a new one.

I’ll give you a classic example first. In The Wizard of Oz, the turning point is when Dorothy and her friends reach the Wizard (their goal), and realize that he won’t help them unless they kill the Wicked Witch of the West (which then becomes their new goal and new plan of action).

Similarly, in A Wrinkle in Time, the turning point happens when Meg finds her father:

She had been so certain that the moment she found her father everything would be all right. Everything would be settled. All the problems would be taken out of her hands. She would no longer be responsible for anything.

And instead of this happy and expected outcome, they seemed to be encountering all kinds of new troubles.

Meg reaches her goal but realizes it’s not what she thought. She saved her father, but in the process they had to leave Charles Wallace behind, in the grips of the terrible IT. At this point Meg realizes her father is not all-powerful, and she can’t depend on him to fix everything.  Now she has a new goal: to save Charles Wallace. And she must do it all by herself.

5.  Make your characters memorable

Even if it’s been awhile since you read A Wrinkle in Time, I’m sure you remember five-year-old genius Charles Wallace and redheaded Calvin O’Keefe with his freckles and too-short pants. Not to mention Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. I LOVE the portrayal of these three magical ladies:

Mrs. Whatsit is a comical, roly-poly eccentric:

“How did you know this was Charles Wallace’s house?” Meg asked.

“By the smell.” Mrs. Whatsit untied a blue-and-green paisley scarf, a red-and-yellow flowered print, a gold Liberty print, a red-and-black bandanna. Under all this, a sparse quantity of grayish hair was tied in a small but tidy knot on top of her head.

Bespectacled Mrs. Who speaks in quotations (because she “finds it so difficult to verbalize.”):

The plump little woman beamed at him.  “Why, Charlsie, my pet!  Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait point.  Fench.  Pascal.  The heart has its reasons, whereof reason knows nothing.”  

And Mrs. Which, the oldest, wisest and most mysterious of the three, who looks like a Halloween witch (when she bothers to materialize), and speaks in a “sharp, strange voice:”

There was a faint gust of wind, the leaves shivered in it, the patterns of moonlight shifted, and in a circle of silver something shimmered, quivered, and the voice said:

“I ddo nott thinkk I will materrialize commpletely. I ffindd itt verry ttirinngg, andd wee hhave mmuch ttoo ddoo.”

In my opinion, these are some of the best and most memorable characters literature has to offer. I sincerely hope the Disney movie does them justice!

[cuteiceprincesslove]

THE MONTREAL CHAPTER OF VIRTUE AND MOIR

After seven years in Waterloo and ten years in Detroit, skaters Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir write the third and final chapter of their career in Montreal, a "vibrant city" that they quickly adopted. At the start of the home stretch for the PyeongChang Olympics, Ontario dancers made a final media blitz yesterday at the Gadbois Arena.

SIMON DROUIN THE PRESS

For a year and a half, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir have lived on their own side of the Lachine Canal. Five minutes from Gadbois Arena, two and a half minutes from the gym and within walking distance of Atwater Market.

Once a week, they leave their beloved Saint-Henri and its trendy cafes for a session on the Olympic ice of the Maurice-Richard arena. They meet Charles Hamelin and the short track speed skaters, as will be the case in less than three months at the PyeongChang Games.

A bit like acrobatic skier Alexandre Bilodeau, who refused to say that he was going to "defend" his Olympic gold medal in Sochi, Virtue and Moir do not see these third Games as an opportunity to retake the title conquered at Vancouver, but that escaped them in Russia, where they finished second.

"Our return was not about revenge," says Moir. We are very satisfied with our Olympic experience in 2014. We are proud of the way we competed, proud of our result. The silver medal was a celebration for us. "

"We came back because we thought we could improve our skating. We had more to give. It was more than trying to take back a title. "

- Scott Moir

The 30-year-old from Ontario had a slightly different speech the day after Sochi. He had expressed his bitterness at what he saw as a treason by his coach Marina Zoueva, a Russian who had led the Canadian duo for 10 years in the suburbs of Detroit. It would have paid more attention to future Olympic champions, Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

Present in Sochi as coach of a Spanish couple, Patrice Lauzon felt the dismay of his former teammates, for whom he was a mentor with his partner Marie-France Dubreuil. He had attended each of their training in Russia. He had gone to give them encouragement just minutes from their free program.

"I think he felt we needed it," Virtue recalls. "He was right," adds Moir.

After this rather painful experience, the latter had "spit on" Lauzon.

PASSION FOR SPORT

Two years later, the coach was a little surprised when Moir contacted him to express his desire to resume the competition after a break.

"I felt the ground and that's the first thing he told me," Moir recalls. He thought I had lost my passion for the sport. Today, I can say that he has brought a lot of that passion back to me. See how much he and Marie-France are investing in their athletes, how attentive they are, it has made a huge difference for me. "

Shortly after Virtue and Moir arrived in Montreal a year and a half ago, Lauzon met Dominick Gauthier near the gym where B2Dix is ​​located in Saint-Henri. He inquired about the interest of the private training facility, funded by wealthy businessmen, to take the dancers under his wing.

Gauthier, the program director of B2Dix, asked to be convinced. "I would not say we went backwards, but we doubted a little," he reveals. We wondered if they were coming back for the right reasons, if they were willing to make different choices, like skating less and doing more work off the ice. "

After several matches, B2Dix has signed up to double Olympic medalists. Today, there are about ten specialists (trainer, nutritionist, sports psychologist, Pilates teacher, etc.) to work around Virtue and Moir.

Gauthier describes the association as a "perfect match ", especially since the organization's training studio is literally located halfway between the arena and the two skaters' apartments.

Because no, despite their obvious complicity, they do not form a couple in life. How to describe their relationship, started 20 years ago, when she was 7 years old and him, 9? "It's somewhere between a couple and co-workers," Lauzon suggested.

"People want to put a label on it, but we have never been able to find one," says Virtue.

"There is something so powerful about sharing a common goal and investing every inch of your body. It binds you in an almost inexplicable way that no one else could understand. "

- Tessa Virtue

TRIUMPHANT RETURN

Virtue and Moir have literally won everything since returning to competition last season: a seventh Canadian title, four Grand Prix and a final and third gold medal at the World Championships.

Ironically, they have dethroned the French Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, doubles title holder ... and training partners in Montreal.

This cohabitation did not go unnoticed in the high circles of the French federation. WouldCanadian coaches favor their compatriots and friends? "There is no tension," Virtue says. Marie-France and Patrice are doing such a good job managing this. It does not cross our minds. Each team receives 100% of their attention at all levels. They want to bring out the best of all athletes, and we feel it. "

This season, the Canadians and the French have only dueled at a distance. At the Skate Canada International in Saskatoon, at the end of October, Virtue and Moir set two world records, hovering at 200 points in both programs. They dreamed of breaking this barrier last week in Japan - which the French have just succeeded in China - but mistakes on a sequence of steps and a flip have left them short.

"We're happy with the performance, but when you know you're close to a world record, it leaves you feeling unfinished," says Lauzon.

Virtue-Moir and Papadakis-Cizeron will face each other once before the Games in the Nagoya Grand Prix Final (Japan), December 7-10. "It's an important step," Virtue agrees, "but I do not think it will indicate who will win the Olympics. "

*Translated with Google

[gadgetsrevv]

FIFA 20: France player ratings predictions – Griezmann, Mbappe, Pogba & more

After a summer where France became World Champions for the second time, last season was never going to deliver the same levels of elation.

Coming second to the Dutch in their Nations Group and a recent loss to Turkey have been slightly deflating, but France will still go into this tournament year as EURO 2020 favourites.

And, how could they not be? The entirety of the 2018 winning side is still getting better, and they have a wealth of talent coming through, spearheaded by superstar forward Kylian Mbappe.

RealSport looks at how they could line-up and be rated on FIFA 20.

Hugo Lloris (OVR 88 – 87)

Position: GK

Age: 32

Club: Tottenham

In many ways, Hugo Lloris’s World Cup campaign characterised his career – fine leadership, spectacular saves then a needless mistake gifting Mario Mandzukic a tap-in in the final. Of course, they didn’t lose but Lloris was guilty of further stupidity when he was caught driving under the influence soon after. He largely recovered to have a decent season but suffers a one-point rating drop due to those errors seem to have crept into his game a little more recently, despite some vital saves for Spurs last season.

Benjamin Pavard (OVR 80 – 82)

Position: CB, RB

Age: 23

Club: Bayern Munich

During the World Cup, Benjamin Pavard was a beneficiary of a lack of French options at right-back, but his performances for Stuttgart and the national team have justified his selection – plus, his strike against Argentina will go down in folklore. He’s still only 23 and has earned a big-money move to Bayern Munich this summer – as all good young Bundesliga players seem to do. It will be interesting to see where in the back-line Niko Kovac fits him.

Raphael Varane (OVR 86 – 86)

Position: CB

Age: 26

Club: Real Madrid

Trophy-wise, Raphael Varane had the best 2018 in football, picking up World Cup, Champions League and Club World Cup medals. Consequently, Varane finished seventh in the Ballon d’Or standings. He may not quite be the seventh-best player in the world, but is still a great defender. After a season in a struggling Madrid defence, his rating should stay at 86.

Samuel Umtiti (OVR 87 – 85)

Position: CB

Age: 25

Club: Barcelona

Samuel Umtiti showed what a wonderful player he can be at the World Cup – solid at the back and lethal in the air. Sadly, his knees seem permanently damaged, his fitness, therefore, can’t be relied upon. He’s now lost his place in Barcelona starting line-up to Clement Lenglet, who may well challenge him for a place in the national team next year. A lack of playing time sees his rating drop to 85.

Lucas Hernandez (OVR 83 – 84)

Position: LB, CB

Age: 23

Club: Bayern Munich

Having grown up in the Atletico Madrid academy, Lucas Hernandez actually declared a willingness to play for Spain just before receiving his first France call-up. He’s another Frenchman subject of a big move to Bayern Munich this summer, a £68 million transfer that made him the most expensive Bundesliga player in history. It’s worth watching whether Niko Kovac drops David Alaba to use him at his preferred left-back, or uses him at centre-back at the expense of his compatriot Pavard.

READ MORE: England FIFA 20 player ratings predictions

N’Golo Kante (OVR 89 – 89)

Position: CDM, CM

Age: 28

Club: Chelsea

For a player that’s characterised by doing his business quietly and efficiently, last season was a noisy one for N’Golo Kante. Not that the noise was being made by him, rather by Chelsea fans protesting Maurizio Sarri using him in an advanced role. Hopefully, we’ll see Kante revert to his “hoover” role under Frank Lampard, a position in which he is the best in the world.

Paul Pogba (OVR 88 – 88)

Position: CM, CAM

Age: 26

Club: Manchester United

Paul Pogba may the most infuriating player in world football. He entered last season off the back of a phenomenal World Cup where he displayed leadership characteristics unseen before to effectively disappearing for Manchester United under Jose Mourinho. He reverted to his best self during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s early reign and again, proved that, on his day, he’s one of the world’s finest midfielders. After a tempestuous season, his rating stays on 88.

Blaise Matuidi (OVR 85 – 84)

Position: CDM, CM, LM

Age: 32

Club: Juventus

Blaise Matuidi will never be a headline-stealer but is often exactly what France need, counteracting the flair of the star names that fill the other two attacking midfield spots. He enjoyed another solid, unremarkable season for Juventus last year, but may struggle for playing time with the arrival of Aaron Ramsey and Adrien Rabiot. At 32, he’s approaching the end of his France career and will drop one point to 84.

Antoine Griezmann (OVR 89 – 90)

Position: CF, ST

Age: 28

Club: Barcelona

Kylian Mbappe’s rapid rise means that Griezmann is no longer Les Blues’ main man, but he’s still a superstar. This season saw him overturn his widely mocked “La Decision” documentary to complete a long-awaited move to Barcelona. At Atletico, he was a sprinkling of flair in a rigid, meticulously drilled side. At Barcelona, he’ll be part of an elite front three with the experience and quality to unlock any defence. Keep an eye on whether sharing the spotlight suits him or not.

READ MORE: Barcelona FIFA 20 player ratings predictions

Kylian Mbappe (OVR 88 – 90)

Position: RW, ST

Age: 20

Club: Paris Saint-Germain

France’s 4-3 Round of 16 victory over Argentina felt like a symbolic moment – as if a baton was being passed from Lionel Messi to football’s new golden boy. Mbappe used the World Cup to announce himself as arguably the most exciting young prospect since Messi himself. He followed it up with a stellar season for PSG, netting 33 league goals, over a goal-per-game. Surely, a future Ballon d’Or winner.

Olivier Giroud (OVR 82 – 81)

Position: ST

Age: 32

Club: Chelsea

Olivier Giroud is essentially a purpose player for France, he’s not the most talented player in the side, but he’s incredibly effective. Essentially, he plays as a deep-lying target man that Mbappe and Griezmann can bounce off. He’s also scored 35 goals for his country, making him their third-highest scorer of all time. A season where he was often behind Alvaro Morata then Gonzalo Higuain in Chelsea’s pecking order sees him drop to 81.

On the bench

Alphonse Areola (OVR 81 – 81) will deputise behind Lloris. With Gianluigi Buffon having left PSG, this could be a breakout season for the young keeper.

In defence, France have excellent cover in Clement Lenglet (OVR 82 – 84), who has been impressing alongside Gerard Pique for Barcelona. Presnel Kimpembe (OVR 83 – 83) and Lucas Digne (OVR 81 – 82) are also top-class back-up options. Surely Didier Deschamps needs to pick Manchester City centre back Aymeric Laporte (OVR 84 – 84) who made the Premier League Team of the Season.

READ MORE: Manchester City FIFA 20 player ratings predictions

In the centre of midfield, France have Lyon to thank for a hugely exciting pair of young centre-mids in Houssem Aouar (OVR 78 – 81) and Tanguy Ndombele (OVR 80 – 83). Ndombele has earned a big-money move to Tottenham this summer, Aouar is likely to get his next year.

In attack, France have several young players who recently have been failing to live up to their massive potential. Ousmane Dembele (OVR 84 – 84) and Anthony Martial (OVR 84 – 83) are arguably hindered by their own attitude, while Thomas Lemar (OVR 83 – 82) has struggled in his first season at Atletico. One great option, however, is Kingsley Coman (OVR 83 – 85) who is extremely dangerous when fit.

France FIFA 20 predicted lineup

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15+5+5 To Watch : 5719

15 TO WATCH/5 SPORTS TECH/POWER OF SPORTS 5: RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF MAY With Jacob Aere

The NBA Playoffs are a global celebration. The conference semifinal round of the NBA playoffs got off to a rousing start last week, and now, it's time to appreciate all the international talent in the playoffs. Let’s take a look at how global the game of basketball, and the NBA, has become. For starters, there are 31 international players on the NBA Playoff rosters of the remaining eight teams, an average of just under four players per team. The remaining teams average seven out of 20 players in the cumulative starting lineups of the four remaining Eastern Conference teams. Australia – long a quiet pipeline to the NBA – boasts five of its citizens on playoff rosters: Ben Simmons, Aron Baynes, Andrew Bogut, Jonah Bolden, and Kyrie Irving (who was born in Melbourne, and has dual citizenship). Likewise, Spain has three (the Gasol brothers and the Bucks' Nikola Mirotic), Serbia continues to produce NBA caliber players (the Nuggets' Nikola Jokic and the Philadelphia 76ers Boban Marjonovic) and Cameroon fields the Sixers’ Joel Embiid and the Raptors Pascal Siakam. Alongside the international roster of players, of course, comes an international fan base – critical to the NBA’s future on and off the court.

Speaking of Philadelphia – we kick off our week at Drexel University. Drexel2020: The Evolving Sports Business Market will be held in Philadelphia the morning of May 6, and presents a rare opportunity to hear directly from movers and shakers in the sports world and gain access to their personal insights. Our signature new book, The Sport Business Handbook, recognizes the last 50 years as the formative period for the modern era of sports business. The Drexel University panel will explore its most influential moments. Most importantly, a vision for the future will emerge, with valuable perspective offered from the very individuals shaping that future. I look forward to moderating the panel, which features sports business leaders Jon Butler of Pop Warner, Tony Ponturo of Turnkey Sports and formerly Anheuser-Busch, and Nick Sakiewicz of the National Lacrosse League. The event is free and open to students, members of the sports business community, and others looking to learn more about the ins and outs of our high-profile industry.

Tiger Woods will receive his Presidential Medal of Freedom on Monday. According to the New York Times, the Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor. First awarded in 1963, it has honored achievements in fields including acting, architecture, art, economics, law, medicine, music, journalism, and politics. Among the two dozen sports figures who have been honored are Jesse Owens, Ted Williams, Muhammad Ali, and Michael Jordan. In golf, President George W. Bush honored Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, while President Obama recognized the pioneering player Charlie Sifford. In his time in office, President Trump has honored Babe Ruth posthumously, as well as quarterback Roger Staubach. Woods’ award comes at a time when many athletes have shown a reluctance to be honored by the Trump administration. The Golden State Warriors declined a White House visit after their championship, as did the NCAA Champion University of Virginia men’s basketball team. The champion Baylor women’s basketball team attended a White House ceremony last Monday.

Before the World Wide Web there was “Wide World of Sports.” As noted by Axios Sports, 58 years ago this month, ABC's "Wide World of Sports" debuted with coverage of the Penn Relays at Philadelphia's Franklin Field. The show was a massive hit, and host Jim McKay's introduction soon became a national catchphrase: "Spanning the globe...to bring you the constant variety of sport...the thrill of victory...and the agony of defeat." In the big picture, over the course of its 37-year run, "Wide World" fundamentally changed sports television, becoming appointment viewing in the days before “Sports Center,” showcasing events that viewers had previously only been able to read about. And here’s a fun fact, also courtesy of Axios: the NCAA’s March Madness, Wimbledon, the Daytona 500, the Little League World Series, the British Open, and the X Games all made their U.S. TV debuts on "Wide World."

The U.S. government has placed Saudi Arabia on its Priority Watch List amid ongoing pressure from several national sports bodies and international broadcasters to bring down the pirate broadcaster BeoutQ. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has released two reports condemning the Saudi-based piracy operation and calling out the country for its failure to protect intellectual property. Saudi officials have confirmed the illegal nature of BeoutQ’s activities and claim to be addressing this issue by seizing BeoutQ set-top boxes. But such devices nevertheless continue to be widely available and are generally unregulated in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is included in the USTR’s "2019 Special 301 Report" that identifies governments that fail to protect and enforce intellectual property around the world. The U.S. government intervention arrives in conjunction with calls made by the U.K. government to investigate widespread piracy of live sports content in Saudi Arabia. The pirate broadcaster is also subject of a $1 billion international investment arbitration BeIN Sports brought against Saudi Arabia last October.

Wimbledon has raised its prize money to $49.42 million this year, an 11.8% increase from $44.22 million in 2018. According to the London Evening Standard, the increase means the men’s and women’s singles champions this summer will each pocket $3.06 million. Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber both earned $2.93 million for their title wins in 2018. The Wimbledon singles championship money exceeds the $2.59 million that the French Open announced for this year’s singles winners at Roland Garros but "remains some way shy of the U.S. Open," which gave winners $3.89 million last year. Wimbledon is also raising singles prize money for "both qualifying and the first three rounds of the main draw" by over $13,000. It means prize money for a first-round loss "has risen" from just under $15,000 to over $58,500 in "just eight years.” Reuters also notes Wimbledon will “not employ the ‘shot clock’" that was "used at this year’s Australian Open." However, it is "likely to be rolled out" at Wimbledon in 2020.  

Fenway Park will host its own college football bowl game starting in 2020. Fenway Park will host a new bowl game starting in 2020 featuring teams from the ACC and AAC, according to sources. The ballpark will join venues in Los Angeles and Myrtle Beach as "sites for new bowl games" in 2020, which "marks the start of the NCAA's new bowl cycle." A record 43 bowls will be played that season. Fenway will become the third Major League Baseball venue to host a bowl game, "joining the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium and the Cheez-It Bowl" at Chase Field. AT&T Park in San Francisco previously held bowl games under multiple naming rights partners, but the short-lived tradition was discontinued after low attendance year after year. Just as the NFL has stretched its brand marketing to become a 12-month sport, so too is college football looking to retain fan interest year round by extending its post season and timing intriguing announcements – like a bowl game underneath the Green Monster – to the post NFL Draft college football news cycle.

A month out from the tournament’s first matches, VISA unveiled its global marketing campaign for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. Titled “One Moment Can Change the Game,” the campaign is designed to amplify “the meaningful moments women are creating on and off the pitch, whether it be inspiring athletic greatness on the field, influencing business outcomes in the boardroom, or driving economic impact at home and across industries.” The global campaign showcases a series of authentic vignettes, including Team VISA female football players Lucy Bronze (Great Britain), Eugenie Le Sommer (France), Kim Little (Scotland), Dzsenifer Maroszan (Germany), and Nadia Nadim (Denmark). The just-announced U.S. women’s World Cup roster includes a dozen players from the 2015 USA championship team. The all-pro U.S. squad – all the women play for a pro club – begins its three-match “Send-Off Series” on May 12 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, where it will host South Africa. It follows that with friendlies against New Zealand on May 16 in St. Louis and Mexico on May 26 in Harrison, New Jersey. 

Women’s hockey players lay down their sticks in search of a better deal. Over 200 women’s hockey players, with names that include Team USA stars Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne Schofield, announced that they refuse to play in a North American professional hockey league next season, noting in a statement that "We cannot make a sustainable living playing in the current state of the professional game. Having no health insurance and making as low as two thousand dollars a season means players can't adequately train and prepare to play at the highest level." Last Wednesday, the Canadian Women's Hockey League officially discontinued its operations, citing an economically unstable business model, leaving the National Women’s Hockey League the sole remaining professional league in North America. Some players noted that they hope the NHL will support a women's league via financial and infrastructural resources, according to ESPN. In contrast, on the men's side, the top ten players of the 2018-2019 season each brought home multi-million dollar paychecks from the NHL, with lucrative endorsement deals to boot.

CBD is building a perfectly legal presence in pro sports. Hemp supplement company cbdMD is sponsoring golfer Bubba Watson in a multiyear deal that kicks off with the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black later this month. Watson will feature the cbdMD logo on both sides of his headwear at all PGA Tour events. The deal includes a wide range of other integrated marketing opportunities to promote the brand. Meanwhile, another hemp company, diemCBD, has partnered with marketing company Swag'r to launch an augmented reality game for attendees of the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 on May 26 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Users can download the app, which is modeled on "Pokemon Go," to collect diemCBD tokens while exploring the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event, leading them to coupons, free products, and more. From sports wagering to CBD usage and brand-building among athletes, we are certainly currently living in an era of relaxed rules considering where sports was merely months ago. As always, money talks.

USA Basketball cemented a multiyear partnership with Red Bull North America to build “an elite pathway for men’s and women’s players who have a goal of competing at the highest levels of 3x3 basketball.” As part of the partnership, Red Bull will host more than 20 qualifying tournaments across the country under the newly-created Red Bull 3X series to identify the eight athletes who could potentially represent USA Basketball at the 2020 Olympics. The winning teams at these qualifiers will compete to accumulate enough individual FIBA points with the goal of moving on to the Red Bull USA Basketball 3X Regionals in the Fall of 2019, and then to the Red Bull USA Basketball 3X Nationals in March 2020, which will be used to select the USA men’s and women’s 3x3 national teams. Additionally, Red Bull Media House will create original storytelling with USA Basketball to shine a light on the 3x3 game, qualifiers, and players, and celebrate the journey as the sport makes its debut at the Olympics. Red Bull is now the official energy drink of USA Basketball and will support the USA Basketball Men’s and Women’s National Teams as both look to defend their gold medals from the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Youth baseball gets a boost from Stadium and Adidas. Stadium inked an exclusive partnership with the 2019 Cal Ripken Major/70 World Series, a tournament of champions for players aged 12 and under. Stadium will air thirty-four live games over eight days, including the International Championship, U.S. Championship, and World Championship on August 10. Similarly, Little League Baseball and Softball inked a multi-year partnership with Adidas that will see the brand become the official uniform, footwear, and coaches apparel supplier for the Little League World Series and a Little League Official Sponsor. Beginning this season, Adidas will design and create all official on-field uniforms for all seven total Little League World Series events throughout the United States. Additionally, Adidas will outfit all teams with cleats, training apparel, and accessories, and all coaches will be supplied with athletic footwear and apparel. To kick off the partnership’s first season, Adidas will design brand and marketing activations at both the Little League Baseball World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and the Little League Softball World Series in Portland, Oregon. Right before school resumes in August, our attention will be riveted on school-age bats and gloves at their annual peak. 

NASCAR has a plan to boost attendance and ratings: betting on races. NASCAR has signed an exclusive data partnership with Genius Sports, a deal they believe will lead to an in-race betting product and help battle slumping attendance and TV ratings. According to Hashtag Sports, currently, bets on NASCAR races are few and far between at U.S. sports books, who often only have head-to-head options or odds on the race winner. Genius will use up-to-the-second data points like car speed and track position to build a betting product that the London-based company can sell to sports books. Exclusive access to the data will allow Genius to create a betting platform that provides traditional wagers—like who will win—and prop bets such as the number of lead changes or whether a Chevy will end up in victory lane. Sports leagues and teams typically see increased engagement when live betting is offered. Not only does it attract new fans, but live betting keeps them engaged for longer periods of time. NASCAR is hoping for the same response as support for the racing circuit both in-person and on TV declines.

LA 2028 has released its first budget for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, a $6.88 billion spending plan that includes a $616 million contingency for overruns. The top line is 29% higher than a $5.33 billion budget released in 2017, which has been the most commonly cited price for the Games. However, that figure was calculated in 2016 dollars, and was designed for a 2024 Games. The new 2028 budget reflects the longer lead-time Los Angeles agreed to when it accepted the 2028 hosting duties and ceded the race for 2024 to Paris. More importantly, it is calculated in “real money” terms, adjusted for inflation based on when each dollar will actually be raised and spent. According to LA 2028 Chair Casey Wasserman, the much-discussed $2.5 billion domestic sponsorship revenue goal was already inflation-adjusted and does not change. The new number also includes $200 million in additional IOC funding promised as part of the deal L.A. accepted in exchange for being awarded the 2028 Games. Most of that $200 million will be spent on funding youth sports programs in L.A. and committee operations for an additional four years.

Global brand spend on sports sponsorship will grow 4% this year to $46 billion, according to a report by data-driven sports agency Two Circles. Despite the increase, Two Circles said that rights holders’ sponsorship assets are worth $64 billion globally, meaning sports properties are missing out on an extra $18 billion in sponsorship revenues due to unsold inventory, unreported engagement, and outdated rights packaging. Once rights holders begin packaging digital assets into sponsorship propositions, Two Circles expects global sports sponsorship spend to reach $63 billion by the end of 2024, with the overall figure set to rise by an average 6% year-on-year from 2020. The report added that sponsorship revenues will continue to rise as sport moves beyond deals with companies in traditional sectors such as automotive, financial services, airlines, and gambling, which cumulatively currently account for 58% of sports sponsorship in the U.K. Rights holders are clearly adapting to this new world: by embracing the power of data and digital to create sponsorship assets that better satisfy brand objectives, rights-holders will realize the true value of their sponsorship businesses.

Top Five Tech

The NHL playoffs are booming with ratings thanks to Gen Z. According to JohnWallStreet, the first round of the 2019 NHL Playoffs was the highest rated in seven seasons and the most watched on cable television in 25 years. The three Game 7s of the first round included the most-watched first round game on cable since 1994 (Hurricanes/Capitals, 1.75 million viewers), and the league’s use of the Total Audience Delivery (TAD) metric has helped to account for streaming viewership. In order to tap into the minds of the younger Gen Z fans, the NHL formed the Power Players program, a council consisting of 13-17 year-old hockey fans that will provide insight and suggestions on matters of marketing, community engagement, events, social content, and understanding rules of play. This new platform will hopefully attract younger audiences by packaging shorter highlight clips. In order to make this more than a marketing gimmick, the NHL needs to continue its social media push with a focus on “nano” influencers and continued use of trends and tactics such as #HockeyTwitter.

Disney has reached a handshake agreement to sell its share of its regional sports networks to the Sinclair Broadcast Group. After out bidding opponents, Sinclair Broadcast Group scooped up Disney’s remaining 21 networks, which are roughly worth $10 billion. If the sale goes through, this would solve Disney’s sports media monopolization puzzle after the U.S. Department of Justice informed the company it would have to divest RSNs that ESPN acquired last June. According to SportsPro, a majority stake in the YES Network – Fox’s premier sports network partially owned by the New York Yankees – has reportedly already been acquired by Amazon and Sinclair in a $3.5 billion deal. Among Sinclair’s closest rivals for the majority of the RSNs: Major League Baseball reportedly teamed up with Formula One owner Liberty Media earlier this month during the final round of bidding. With Disney having to divest some of its properties, Sinclair Broadcast Group has transformed into another sports broadcast behemoth that may have a tech advantage thanks to its partnership with Amazon.

Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine joins investors to back The Professional Fighters League. According to Bloomberg, the new sports entity is a Mixed Martial Arts series that has raised $30 million from a group of investors including billionaire Iovine. Before its Series C funding, the league already had seen investments from Washington Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis and actor Kevin Hart. The most recent round of funding looks to bolster the league’s data and analytics as it expands its global audience and secures more fighters. The niche sports league will serve as a great testing ground for new technology such as enhanced data and analytics to improve the broadcast and create second-screen experiences – a growing attraction for younger fans. The PFL has a multiyear distribution deal that will see every event air across ESPN2, ESPN+, and Deportes in the U.S. and plans to reach fans in 130 countries. Unlike the established UFC, the new fight league will look to a more traditional league-style format similar to hockey, basketball, and soccer, with a regular season followed by a single-elimination playoff and season-ending championship. The days of traditional PPV fights are quickly fading and the PFL is looking to capitalize on OTT trends to hook fans into a new MMA league.

Wimbledon lands a deal with Chinese smartphone brand Oppo. The All England Lawn Tennis Club, home of the Wimbledon Championships, has announced a five-year partnership with Oppo, making the agreement both the first Asian partner for the Wimbledon Championships and the tournament’s first smartphone provider. Throughout Wimbledon, Oppo products will go on display, with select photographers using its latest camera phones to capture tennis action. According to SportsPro, the best photos will later appear as part of the official Wimbledon photo gallery. Additionally, the phone brand will have an award presented on its behalf to acknowledge young, breakthrough players during the tennis tournament. Oppo already has inked deals with soccer super team Barcelona and the International Cricket Council (ICC). Now, the phone brand will play a key role in supporting top junior tennis players, adding the professional grass-court season into its repertoire while the partnership helps Wimbledon and tennis as a whole make a splash into China, the world’s biggest consumer market. 

DAZN Connect launches with the intent to unify content distribution for OTT. With over 30,000 live sport events across multiple leagues and competitions, DAZN Connect offers access to one of the largest live sports content networks in the world. According to Sports Video Group, DZAN Connect uses the latest video transport technology to help clients consolidate their acquisition and distribution requirements into one partner. With its focus on niche sports, DAZN has quietly slid into the lead position of the largest sports content provider in the industry – some of its clients include BT Sport, Iqiyi, NBC Sports, Fox Soccer, Fox Netherlands, and ESPN. Because of fan demands, the latest addition to the DAZN family utilizes the cloud to deliver the lowest latency, highest quality, and the most secure sports distribution service while allowing local sports to be available globally. DAZN Connect has made it a grandparent in the OTT sphere and now put it fully ahead of other sports media agencies trying to play catch-up in streaming.

Power of Sports Five

Chelsea will take on the Revolution for a charity soccer match to fight hate. According to Trifecta Network Sports, the match will take place at Gillette Stadium May 15 and include a handful of Chelsea regulars such as David Luiz, Gonzalo Higuain, Eden Hazard, N’Golo Kanye, and Willian. The match is being called the “Final Whistle on Hate” and aims to raise awareness around anti-Semitism. This will be the first time playing in Boston for many Chelsea players and is a rare appearance on U.S. soil. The idea of the match was developed by clubs owners Roman Abramovich and Robert Kraft, with all proceeds being dedicated to initiatives to combat anti-Semitism and all hate crimes. The match’s primary beneficiaries include the World Jewish Congress, the Tree of Life synagogue, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Holocaust Educational Trust. Chelsea FC owner Abramovich and the Kraft family will also each donate $1 million in support of the cause, while the match will highlight the rise of hate crimes around the world and use the power of sport to tackle prejudice in all its forms. This is a match all the more necessary after ongoing shootings associated with anti-Semitism; it will also be a rare experience for Chelsea fans based in the U.S.

Former UFC champion Stipe Miocic raises money for fallen firefighters. According to WKYC 3, Miocic returned to the fighting world, but rather than in the octagon he competed in a jiu-jitsu grappling match against Aaron Howard in the Fight2Win 110 event at the NEO Sports Plant in Euclid, Ohio. Although he lost via decision to Howard, Miocic donated his entire purse to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, a cause with extra personal significance as he is a part-time Cleveland paramedic and firefighter. By taking the bout on short notice and having never fought in a Fight2Win event before, Miocic is an even bigger hero to the community and Howard than he is in the fight game. One of the greatest heavyweight UFC fighters of all time, Miocic plans to continue his pursuit of regaining the championship belt. In the meantime, he will be fighting flames in the community.

The Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo returns to fundraising. While the Cubs were taking on the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field, the two teams took time to recognize the first baseman ahead of their matchup thanks to Rizzo’s contributions to the Phoenix Children's Hospital. According to Arizona Sports 89.7 FM, the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation contributed $50,000 towards PCH’s Beach Ball 2020 – the principal fundraising event held every year to benefit the hospital. Last year, the Beach Ball raised more than $1.65 million in support of PCH. After having gone through his own battles with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Rizzo recognized the toll fighting cancer took on an entire family. Now, his foundation focuses on funding cancer research and providing support to children and their families battling the disease. Outside of the Phoenix hospital, the Rizzo Family Foundation has worked with major children’s hospitals around the country, including two hospitals in Florida and two in Illinois. While he hasn’t been off to the strongest start on the field this seaosn, Rizzo continues to make strides in philanthropy. 

Cubs Manager Joe Maddon creates a beer…for charity? The beverage is called “Try Not to Suck,” and is a partnership between Maddon's Respect 90 Foundation and Rags of Honor 1, a nonprofit that helps homeless vets. For now, the German style helles lager is available only in the Chicago area. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the Chicago-based nonprofit Rags of Honor 1 helps homeless veterans, and founder Mark Doyle made arrangements to have the beer made by the Haymarket Beer Co., and vets helped with the production. The foundation is also seeking to establish its own brewery, RnR Brews, which will be fully staffed by veterans who will then take over production. The microbrewery trend has helped to popularize different styles of beer, and what better way to give back to veterans than blend to iconic parts of America’s pastime: baseball and brews.

London Marathon runners raise north of £45 million. According to Third Sector, London Marathon organizers are confident that the event has now raised more than £1 billion in its near 40-year history. So far this year, £3 million has been raised for Dementia Revolution, a campaign by the Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research U.K., which was the official charity campaign of this year’s race. Runners using the platform Virgin Money Giving have also raised £25.5 million, with the final total expected to surpass £28 million. This would be a new record for the platform, which this time last year had helped to raise a total of £21.8 million. The other popular fundraising platform JustGiving said runners through its site had totaled more than £20 million this year, with the amount raised per fundraiser and the average donation amount having both risen this year. Overall, the race allows for individual runners and the marathon governing body to reach out to charities to use one of the world’s largest running events for the benefit of Alzheimer's and beyond.

[cryptodictation]

The uncrowned champion of Formula 1 | Who was …

Stirling Moss died on a silent Sunday, with engines of all categories in the world turned off in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, in what was the last paradox of a life that had many. Even today the Briton holds the record of having been runner-up in Formula 1 four consecutive times (between 1955 and 1958), the first three supporting his great rival and friend Juan Manuel Fangio, without ever adding a title. He is also the non-champion driver with the most wins (16, more than half of those who did try on the crown) and kilometers as the leader of a Grand Prix, and the second with the most pole positions and lap records. Versatile flyer like few others, he won 212 of the 529 races in which he participated, including the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans and three Monaco GPs. “He was wonderful to the end. He just got tired and closed his beautiful eyes. That was it,” his wife Susie told the British newspaper Daily Mail. At 90 years old, Moss had retired from public life in 2018 to cope with the illness caused by a chest infection.

With him goes the last bulwark of a generation known as “Gentlemen Drivers”, the same that reached Formula 1 during the 1950s, years in which sportsmanship prevailed over the idea of ​​succeeding at any cost. As an example it is worth remembering what happened at the 1958 Portuguese Grand Prix, when Moss himself went to ask the stewards to return the second place to Mike Hawthorn after having declassified him for returning to the asphalt in the opposite direction after a mistake. “I would have done the same. It was the fastest way to get out of the danger zone on a corner with no visibility, “he argued with the stewards on that occasion, even though he knew he wasted the chance of reaching the top of the tournament. Two races later, Hawthorn became champion. for just one point, since then Moss has been known in the motor world as the “Champion without a crown”, an idea that Queen Elizabeth II was responsible for materializing by naming him Knight in 2000.

Born in September 1929 in London, Moss was just 21 years old when he arrived on the 1951 F1 grid, a precocity that is explained by having grown up in a family through which he came, not blood but naphtha. Papa Alfred, for example, was a dentist but also an amateur pilot who even ran the Indianapolis 500 in the United States, while his sister Patricia dabbled in rally tournaments. In 1948, he swept the Formula 3 championship by winning twelve of the fifteen competitions, then competing in F2 for the next two years and, finally, reaching the top category in 1951. Things were not easy at first when facing Colossi of the stature of Fangio or the Italian Alberto Ascari, and only in the Belgian GP of 1954 he rose for the first time on the podium.

The move to a top team like Mercedes in 1955 led him to get his first victory and a couple of second places, culminating the season behind his teammate Juan Manuel Fangio, with whom he developed a friendship based on mutual respect that spread for decades. “He was unbeatable, but also a very special person, always kind and polite, a very close man, someone humble who nevertheless achieved greatness. He never said anything bad about anyone nor did he talk about how good he was. I learned a lot, and he never did nothing out of the ordinary when we were teammates. He always acted ethically, being beaten by Fangio was more pleasant than being beaten by anyone else, “the Briton would say years later.

Fangio retired from activity in mid-1958, Moss added his last runner-up that year, then chained three consecutive third ports and, finally, retired from Formula 1 in late 1961 to continue piloting in other categories. But in 1962 he suffered a serious accident on the Goodwood circuit that left him a month in a coma and another six months with the left side of the body paralyzed. Aware of the danger of discipline, he left the tracks to become a commentator for the American network ABC, from where he remained linked to motorsports for decades. Decorated by the FIA ​​with the Gold Medal for his contribution to motorsport, he was also, like Fangio, representative of Mercedes Benz, whose current F1 sports director, Toto Wolff, cataloged him on his social networks “as a huge figure , one of the survivors of a time when motor racing was very dangerous and brave, but also camaraderie. ” Then he wrote: “But above all we will remember him for impeccable sportsmanship. It is not an exaggeration to say that we will never see someone like him again.”

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[tipsoctopus]

PSG barking up the wrong tree as they eye key Man City figure - opinion

Paris Saint-Germain could be looking to snatch away Pep Guardiola from Manchester City and bring him in to replace their current gaffer, Thomas Tuchel.

According to Le 10 Sport, the Saints would also love for Xavi Hernandez, Guardiola’s former pupil at Barcelona, to join them.

And one assumes this is all geared towards PSG finally winning the Champions League – the title that continues to allude them despite their copious resources and big-name stars like Neymar.

At the moment, the Citizens have their manager contracted until 2021 although there were some reports stating that there’s a break clause in the deal which could see the Catalan coach leave at the end of the ongoing campaign.

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If true, this would definitely be a boost for the French outfit.

Of course, having never won a Champions League trophy in their history and with only domestic success on their resume, it’s easy to see why they would be gunning for a manager of Guardiola’s stature.

Ever since his rise to prominence back when he was in charge of Barcelona, Guardiola has been leaving his mark all across Europe and making his claim in the conversation as one of the all-time greats.

But even though he was fairly successful both with Bayern Munich in Germany and with Man City in England, scooping up numerous domestic trophies, he never actually achieved success in Europe’s most elite competition with any team other than Barcelona.

With the Blaugrana, he won the unprecedented sextuple while his stints with Die Roten and the Citizens only yielded league and domestic trophies.

Of course, this is in no way meant to undermine his success since he has been able to completely dominate England with his current club.

Who the heck is that?! Can you name all 25 of these obscure Man City signings…

Man City underwent a true renaissance under their new gaffer, winning a treble last season after lifting the Premier League title with an incredible 100 points the campaign prior.

But in many ways, the Citizens are craving the very same thing as PSG – the Champions League crown.

Just like the club that’s trying to snatch away their coach, they haven’t really found any kind of success outside of the English border, but Guardiola was supposed to be the one to finally gift them a European medal.

So far, it simply hasn’t happened and we’ll have to wait and see whether the Catalan manager can pull it off before his eventual departure from the Etihad.

Still, if he was to join PSG, he would likely win Ligue 1, that much is certainly plausible, especially considering they have done so without him six times in the last seven years.

But Guardiola traditionally struggles in the knockout stages of European competitions, as evidenced by his last two stints – the best he could do with Bayern was the semi-final all three times he tried and with Man City, he’s yet to even get past the quarter-finals.

Some of those games were pretty damning as well. On aggregate, Bayern lost 5-0 to Real Madrid, and 5-3 to Barcelona before failing to beat Atletico Madrid, while Man City lost 6-6 on away goals to Monaco in a real upset before being bested by Liverpool and then Tottenham.

Granted, we are yet to see what he manages to achieve in 2019/20 but is he really the man to win Paris their historic first Champions League crown when he only ever did it with one club before and that club happened to employ Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta?

Not to mention that with Neymar Junior’s future still largely in the dark, some reports suggesting PSG could be looking at some alternatives as per France Football (via Sport Witness), Guardiola might arrive to a weakened squad.

Guardiola is no doubt a managerial great, but maybe PSG are barking up the wrong tree – looking at European football’s past rather than what is about to happen next.

In other news, many Spurs fans reacted to the latest Daniel Levy quotes that left them shocked…

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