#sean wiley imagine

[12timetraveler]

We Were Never Made to Run Forever

Chapter 64 of Campfire Stories

Summary:

Hosea and his sweetheart were separated after the Blackwater job and have been searching ever since.

Notes:

This idea was given to me by @spurz, who is another amazing writer in the fandom. So go check them out. Thank you again for the idea. This honestly really helped me deal with those post-convention blues after the Tombstone event. ~~~~~~~~~ Word Count: 9004 CW: Light Angst, canon character death, vaginal sex

As always below is just a preview. Read the whole thing on AO3

~~~~~~

It had been a month. An entire month since Hosea had last seen you. You, his beloved, his wife in all but name. The morning of the Blackwater Ferry job the two of you had spent some quiet moments in camp together before you went your way to help Dutch, and Hosea and Arthur went their way to follow up on their little real estate scam. Hosea had a bad feeling about the job but he'd never imagined it would go so wrong. So many dead, such a high price on everyone's heads. And he had no idea what happened to you.

You'd never returned with the others. No one could even tell him for certain if you'd made it out of town. Your job had been to keep watch as a sniper from the top of a building in Blackwater. You'd fired a number of shots, by all accounts you'd been integral in a number of the gang surviving the event. John said after he was shot in the arm the same lawman nearly got him between the eyes, before your bullet shot down from the heavens and bought him enough time to flee. Lenny told him you'd cleared a path for him to carry out the mortally wounded Jenny. Dutch recounted your deadly accuracy every time you were mentioned.

Hosea would have been proud, had any of them been able to say "and then she rode off out of town" or "and I saw her slip away on a boat". But no one could say anything more than that you'd been an incredible shot and an important part of everyone's survival. But what about your survival?

He'd had to fight every instinct, every muscle in his body that begged him to turn his horse around and go back to find you. But he had to be reasonable. If you were hurt or under arrest he'd be no use to you if he got himself injured or captured. Rushing in blindly would do no good to anyone.

He also had a responsibility to your found family. He needed to get them safe, take care of them. He knew you'd kill him if he abandoned them to go look for you. Hell he'd never forgive himself if someone else was hurt or lost because he left them.

Beyond all that, he knew he had to have faith in you. You were smart, wiley, strong. Those were some of the characteristics he'd always admired in you. A true outlaw and con-woman. If anyone would escape in one piece, it was you.

So he went with the rest up to Colter. The cold nearly killed him, but he held on. He had to know that you and the others would be okay. He couldn't just roll over and die.

After almost two weeks on that mountain they'd finally migrated down to Horseshoe Overlook. Only then did Hosea begin his search. He began slowly testing the boundaries of how close he could get to The Great Plains. Surprisingly he could cross the state border into West Elizabeth without issue, but he couldn't get too close to the river separating him and Blackwater. There were patrols everywhere.

So he started sniffing around on the west side of the river. He asked after you at the Flatneck and Riggs train stations. Any traveler he encountered, any homestead he came upon he asked after you. Carefully of course, tactfully. He didn't want to get you in any trouble, bring too much attention to you. But he needed to know if you were alive.

Some nights he'd camp out, but he tried to return to camp often, if only to make sure they were all okay and let them know he was as well. And to check and see if you'd found your way to camp. Unfortunately you never had.

Trelawny had been found sniffing around. He'd had great information about Sean's whereabouts. Hosea begged him to look for you too. Even got a little threatening when Trelawny teased him. But even the man with a thousand connections could not find you.

Somehow there was not so much as a whisper to your whereabouts. It was like you'd just disappeared, evaporated like mist in the air. He tried to put a positive spin on it. The lack of your dead body being reported by the newspapers was a good sign. At least it meant you hadn't been found dead in the streets. It gave him some hope that you were alive somewhere.

After searching for another two weeks or so, he still had no leads on you. He was trying to remain positive, trying not to let the thousands of "what if" scenarios take root in his heart. It was too much for him to bear thinking about.

Finally he made his way up to Strawberry. He had tried to avoid the town, having heard of the carnage Micah and Arthur had caused. The survivors would be jumpy, paranoid. He didn't want to just ride in and start asking around. But he knew there wasn't a lot of other choice if he wanted to find you.

And he'd burn heaven and earth to find you.

[imagineshere-forall]

Sean Wiley Imagine

Pairing: Sean Wiley x Reader

Warnings: swearing

Word count; 661

Request; Can I please request a Sean Wiley imagine from sex Ed please? Maybe you’re her friend or Otis’ sister and you guys go to Maeve's and you run into your ex Sean, not knowing he’s her brother

its 1am so there is gonna be a bunch of errors

i’m also definitley doing a part 2, because i want to develop this more. Requests open!!

----

“Come on y/n we gotta go meet Maeve,” your brother shouted up the stairs. You however, were tying up your shoe laces frantically while screaming back at him.  

“I’m here Otis, no need to get your panties in a twist,” you winked at your twin brother as you pushed in front of him through the door, and began walking ahead.  

The walk felt a lot quicker due to the bickering between you and your brother. Recently, you had gone through a break up and your brother, Otis, had looked after you. You weren’t as close back then so it was a big thing.  

You and Maeve had been friends, but not super close. However, you did have the kind of friendship where you could let yourself into her caravan as she was alone for the majority of the time. As you were walking alongside Otis, you took your hoodie off and stuffed it into the rucksack your brother was carrying it was too hot for you to carry it.  

“You’re welcome, your highness,” Otis responded sarcastically to your actions.  

Otis opened the door of the trailer, and you went in first. Not expecting what you were going to come face to face with.  

The room was empty, apart from a familiar face lounged on the sofa.  

“Sean, what the fuck are you doing here?” You hissed.

“Who are you?” Otis mumbled simultaneously.

“Hang on, do you know who this is?” Otis quizzed, spinning to face you.

“Long story,” you shook your head at him “What are you doing here?” you pressed.

Otis could be heard trying to get a word in, in an attempt to figure out what your relation was to this man and how you knew him.  

“Come to stay with my sister,” Sean replied smugly.  

Your heart stopped. His sister. He was in Maeve’s trailer. Fuck.  

“Sean stop annoying them,” Maeve walked in.

“He’s your brother?” you question. Your heart felt as though it was beating out of your chest.  

“Yea, you know him?” she responded. Not quite knowing how her response affected you.  

You just stormed out of the trailer, kicking something over. After the difficult break up between the two of you, you had hoped you would never see him again. He cheated on you, after saying how he would never hurt you.  

“Woah, calm down,” you heard a voice behind you. You span around to be met with Sean.

“Why didn’t you tell me Maeve was your sister?” You queried.  

“I didn’t know you knew her, honest!” he rose his voice while raising his hands in defense.  

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting to see you here. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”  

“I mean, you do have a reason to be pissed, we went to a party together and you saw me kissing another girl,” he whispered, getting closer to you. “Although, if you would have stayed and watched for a couple of seconds, you would have seen me push her off and told her to fuck off,”

“I’m still fucking pissed at you.”  

“I get that, but maybe don’t kick something else over?” he suggested, nearing you more grasping your small hands in his large ones.  

You both turned your heads at the sound of feet tumbling out of the caravan, noticing Otis and Maeve stumbling out and looking at the two of you puzzled.  

“How do you two know each other?” Otis yelled as you were a fair distance from the caravan, without noticing.

“Long story,” you muttered looking up at Sean, meeting his eyes. “Long, fucking, story.”

[holyhadesimweird]

Requested by anon

A/N: This is the only gif I could find for him that was somewhat appropriate 

[onthepageoftears]

Trust Issues (Maeve Wiley x Reader)//Sex Education

A/N: Okay so I wrote this super quickly and I don’t think it came out the way I wanted it to, but tbh I’m not too motivated by the suggestions in my inbox :/ if you guys have any other ideas/fandom requests please send them in!

Request: can you write a fic where Maeves brother leaves and the reader comforts her?

Warnings: fluff??

Words: 751

Please Don’t Plagiarize My Work!

Maeve had a problem with trusting people.

Trusting meant being disappointed, and disappointment meant pain. And Maeve didn’t need any more pain in her life than she already had. She trusted her parents, and they bailed on her. She trusted her brother, and he ended up disappearing as well. So now, she didn’t let herself trust as easily.

She took cautious steps. Anyone who tried to get close, she would push them away. Whether it was through her cruel words or mean stares, she made sure people would fear her before they would trust her. Because if they could get past her fear, then they were worthy of her trust.

She was surprised when you had gotten past that barrier. She was harsher with you, it seemed, because she felt like you were someone she could really care about. But as usual, she put up her venomous walls to protect herself from the inevitable pain that came with any given relationship. Still, you pushed through, going out of your way to talk to her and recommend new books and music that you just knew she would like, because that was the type of person you were.

You didn’t mind that Maeve rolled her eyes at your excitement or half listened when you talked about the new movie you saw, because you were drawn to her. For what reason, Maeve didn’t know. But you grew on her, and her walls were crumbled down as you two grew closer and closer.

And somehow, your presence made her less angry. She felt lighter, and found herself trusting more people than usual. She would smile randomly when she thought of you, and wouldn’t even try to hide it. You were her kryptonite, but in the best way.

So when her brother left again, all she could feel was anger. She let her guard down, let herself trust more people than she could handle. This was exactly what she tried to avoid, but ended up getting wrapped in anyway.

Though she knew it wasn’t your fault, she was mad at you. Because of your stupidly cute smile and your inability to hold a grudge, she was let down again. She believed you when you said she was worth it, and now look at her: she had no family to support her, and would probably be expelled. If I was fine with being alone before, I’ll be fine again, she told herself. But she wasn’t. And that made her more angry.

So, she thought about ignoring your knocks on her trailer door, thought of hiding under her covers and never leaving her bed again. But then she thought of your frown, she couldn’t help but swing the door open to your smiling face.

“Hey!” You greeted, a little too perkily for her stay of mind. She grumbled back, not even looking in your direction when she took a spot on the couch where her brother should have been. She didn’t notice your frown, the way your face softened at the slightly empty trailer, how you knew her brother left again without her even uttering a word.

You looked at her on the couch; she somehow looked so small in the trailer, so fragile. This wasn’t the Maeve you were used to, the Maeve who flipped you off when you teased her or rolled her eyes at your corny jokes. And there was something about Maeve, that you had learned in your time knowing her: she didn’t like to admit when she was upset, or having a hard time. No one did, but her especially. She wouldn’t talk about it if you asked her, and she definitely wouldn’t tell you on her own.

So, without thinking too much about it, you walked over to the couch and sat next to the girl, taking her hand in yours and leaning your head on her shoulder. She stiffened at first; though she wasn’t unused to your physical affections, they still took her off guard. But her heart nearly melted at the way you rubbed a thumb over her knuckles, at the warmth of your body as it snuggled close to hers; and she felt herself breath, as if for the first time in a while.

Maeve had a problem with trusting people. She may not have a family to rely on, or a decent future to look forward to. But for once, she felt like there was one person she could trust, no matter what. And that person was you.

[asirensrage]

Hi! Congratulations on 800 followers! For your celebration, can I get 🎵 for any character playlist of your choosing?

Thank you ✨

Absolutely! Thank you!! I know you said character playlist, but I went for the playlist for my upcoming fic This Means War. I hope you'll forgive me lol (if not, lmk and I'll do someone specific's playlist).

Under the cut

I Wanna Get Better - Bleachers - this was actually the second song I picked for the playlist. It’s because they’re all in chaotic turning points in their lives (whether they know it or not) and because of these lyrics: “I didn't know I was lonely 'til I saw your face/I wanna get better, better, better, better, / I wanna get better / I didn't know I was broken 'til i wanted to change / I wanna get better, better, better, better, / I wanna get better” which sums up the entire fic tbh.

Boys Wanna Fight - Garbage - 100% because the boys want to fight. Not necessarily with each other but in general. 

Everlong (Acoustic Version) - Foo Fighters - I just love this song. Also these lyrics: “If everything could ever be this real forever / If anything could ever be this good again / The only thing I'll ever ask of you / You've got to promise not to stop when I say when” fit them. They just want things to be good. 

Seventeen - Sjowgren - This was the first song for them. It just struck me for some reason. I see it as Kate’s view of things: “If you want / A second to breathe / I'll give you all of my love / I'll give you all that you need” They’ll give everything. 

Seashore - The Regrettes - this is a kate song. @residentdormouse suggested it to me for her (for my other fic she’s in). 100% kate. 

Take Me To Church - Hozier - Do I need to explain this one? Lol 

Arms Tonite - Mother Mother - I liked the vibe of it, but also there are multiple times were it seems like one of them will die in one of their arms *cough*matt*cough* This is for that. 

Bitch - Meredith Brooks - Another Kate song. Because she’s a bitch and she knows it but things are also more complicated than that. 

Otherside - Red Hot Chili Peppers - A street musician was singing this as I passed them. It got stuck in my head while I was thinking of this fic. Thus it became a part of it. It’s for the angst of them. 

Believer - Imagine Dragons - There’s a youtube video Sheildmaiden made for Billy Russo set to this. Now I can only think of him when I listen to it. 

Scar Tissue - Red Hot Chili Peppers - This entire song has lyrics that work for them. Usually from one of the men’s pov. “Sarcastic mister know-it-all/ Close your eyes and I'll kiss you,” and “Push me up against the wall / Young Kentucky girl in a push-up bra / Fallin' all over myself /To lick your heart and taste your health” (not that Kate’s from Kentucky but you know what I mean.)

Last Stand - Kwabs - I reached out to my friend @playcaroplay for suggestions on songs for Matt (because he needed some). This was her first one. It’s perfect. You cannot change my mind. 

Blood On Me - Sampha - This was another suggestion. Also perfect. (gonna be honest, A lot were suggested by @playcaroplay because she has fantastic taste in music). This is for both the men. “I nearly lose my grip, but you held on to me / And you shake me, and tell me that I'm okay, butI swear they smell the blood on me”

Boss Bitch - Doja Cat - 100% for Billy Russo. (and probably kate too but it was chosen for Billy).

Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z, Alicia Keys - Because it takes place in New York. ;) where Kate’s dreams are made from lol 

On My Mind ( Jorja Smith X Preditah) - Jorja Smith, Preditah - This is for Kate but I can’t explain why yet lol. “Why on earth would I leave / If you were everything I wanted you to be? / When I saw what you did, who you were with / Got me questionin' the things that I believe”

Boasty (feat. Idris Elba) - Wiley, Steffon Don, Sean Paul, Idris Elba - 100% Billy again. 

Venom - Little Simz - This is for Kate because she’s a boss ass bitch in life and at her job. 

Wasting My Young Years - London Grammar - This is for all of them. They’ve all been through a lot. 

Lazy Eye - Silversun Pickups - It’s the vibeeee. But also waiting for something and having it and it’s not what you expected. 

Hey Mami - Sylvan Esso - This is a Kate song. “Sooner or later the dudes at bodegas will hold their lips and own this shit / Curlin' their toes on a shivery tip / But out here oh she don't know the gravity she owns”

Pray - The Amazing Devil - This is a Matt song, lol. I mean, it fits them all really but it’s for Matt. “Pray for me, I'll run until I begin to understand / What holy men really mean / When they speak of sin”

Someone New - Hozier - This was chosen by @vixenofcourse to sum up all of them. “Would things be easier if there was a right way? / Honey there is no right way” would it be easier if they weren’t a throuple? Probably but that won’t stop them. 

[drarrymicrofic]

 24th January 2021

Hi gang! A big thank you to the anonymous contributor for today’s prompt.

For this song prompt, feel free to choose any song from your own library to inspire you! Is there a particular song you listen to whilst getting ready (for work, for a night out, or for a function)? Or a song you imagine playing as Harry and Draco get ready for something?

If nothing is springing to mind, here are some suggestions:

Neville’s Waltz - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (youtube | spotify)

Get the Party Started - P!nk (youtube | spotify)

Boasty -  Wiley, Stefflon Don, Sean Paul, Idris Elba (youtube | spotify)

Are You Gonna Go My Way - Lenny Kravitz (youtube | spotify)

Ride on Time - Black Box (youtube | spotify)

Sugar - Robin Schulz (youtube | spotify)

Other than using whichever song you choose to inspire you and trying to keep it to 50 words, there’s no other rules! If you have any questions, just send a message or an ask.

Happy microfic-ing!

bea  📜 ✨

[lost-inyourwords]

bad ideas can have good endings (Maeve Wiley x F!Reader)

Request: “Hey! if you are still taking requests could i please have a maeve x female reader where maeve gets outed by Otis when he’s drunk and tells everyone that she likes R? maybe angst with some fluff? Thank you!!!!!!!” @onehellagaykid

Warnings: minor angst, underage drinking, minor retching/vomit mentions

Word count: 1849

A/N: thank you so much for your request! I had such a blast writing this and I hope it’s everything you imagined :) feedback is mega appreciated and requests, as always, are open!

This party was a bad idea. Maeve knew it, Ola knew it, Otis had yet to figure it out and Eric was too busy inviting people to stop and think about it. As [Y/N] put on her outfit for the night, she was looking forward to the carnage that a party brings but there was dread in the back of her mind. What if she got too drunk and accidentally told an Untouchable to shove their million-pound attitude up their ass? What if she blacked out and ended up missing school? Who has a party on a Thursday anyway? Pushing her apprehensions to the back of her mind, she fastened her necklace; a simple silver chain with a small bee-shaped pendant. 

 “Where are you off to then?” Erin drawled once again. Maeve could swear she felt the headache arrive moment by moment, “Nowhere,” came the quick reply. The faster she got out of the caravan, the less questions she’d get. Erin, ever the supportive mum, scoffed dramatically. “Fine, don’t tell me. Is there at least a boy involved?” she pleaded. Fine, Maeve would indulge her for the 20 seconds she had left of lacing up a boot. “No, there isn’t. I keep trying to tell you that boys have never - and will never - be involved,” she reprimanded. Erin did her best not to look wounded but Maeve could tell there would be no further conversation. Pulling her tote over her shoulder, she left the caravan and waved ‘bye-bye’ to Elsie though the window. Turning toward the exit of the park, she sighed. This was a bad idea. She heard Isaac trying to taunt her again but decided she didn’t want to potentially get involved in an assault case, so she simply sped up and put her mind in a different place. 

 Otis Milburn is not what you would describe as a “frequent drinker”. In fact, many people wouldn’t describe him as a “drinker” in the first place - not even himself. This Otis, though, would say something very different. That is, of course, if he could get the words out without burping obscenely or choking back a bit of sick. Yes, Otis Milburn - sex kid, Moordale’s very own urban legend - was drunk. Not just drunk, but positively wasted. [Y/N] wondered if he thought this was a bad idea. She found Eric among the heaving crowd overtaking the house. 

“What is he doing? I’ve never seen him like this,” she said, unable to contain the concern in her tone.

“Relax! He’s fine, just enjoying himself and letting loose a little. Speaking of which, can I get you a drink? You look so wound up,” he slurred slightly.

“Yeah, alright. Just a cider or something though, I have to walk home after this,” she replied, conceding that she was a little high-strung by the stressful week behind her. Maeve had come back to school. Yes, Maeve, the one and only girl who had ever made [Y/N] think about love outside of the fairytale bubble containing a white picket fence and 3 kids whom all look too similar to truly pick a favourite. That word hadn’t even been in her vocabulary until she came to high school and met the smartest person she knows. She’d read so many great books thanks to the once pink-haired rebel. Had enjoyed so many hours of amazing music both with her and because of her. She’d been devastated last term when everything went down with Sean. She’d sounded so sad over the phone. They’d tried to keep in touch but there was only so much that they could do until the horrible drift happened. [Y/N] would actively avoid the pretzel shop at the local shopping centre because she knew that she wouldn’t be able to hold back her pity. Despite how strongly Maeve carried herself, [Y/N] knew what happened behind closed doors. The breakdowns, the empty laughs, the glazed over eyes at 2am when sleep evaded her. Besides, [Y/N] had started talking to Otis after Maeve disappeared. He’d confessed about how sorry he felt for the way things ended and all he wanted was to see her again one more time to just apologise and tell her how proud he was of her. It was sweet. Perhaps he was thinking about that right now and needed alcohol to numb the pain. Maeve had just strolled in the door, after all.

 Upon stepping foot inside, Maeve recognised that this party was already a disaster. Not 30 seconds had passed before she saw multiple people drunk off their faces and at least one person puking in a bin. Charming. Eyes scanning the crowd, her gaze fell lovingly upon the makeshift bar in the kitchen, which she made a quick beeline towards. Pouring a too-strong drink, she let herself drift. She didn’t need to think tonight; maybe she’d let herself get blackout drunk for once. Losing control could be good. Feelings were too complicated anyways; especially those involving other people. Like [Y/N]. Especially [Y/N]. Maeve’s thoughts and dreams had been overtaken by visions of the girl; from daydreaming about going on cheesy dates to nights spent dreaming about… more inappropriate activities. She longed to feel [Y/N]’s hand in her own, to kiss her in the morning at school, even to watch her fall apart underneath her when she finally gives her what she begged so sweetly for. Having gotten lost in her own thoughts again, her eyes drifted towards [Y/N] and Eric, standing next to someone hunched over a bin. Again, she contemplated, charming. 

 Otis retched once again, the sound ripping through [Y/N]’s ears despite the blasting music flooding the house. Eric tutted softly. 

“You are such a lightweight, man. How can you not even hold down a shot?” He pleaded, clearly exasperated. Rahim seemed to apparate out of thin air and dragged him away with nothing but a suggestive look that he hoped [Y/N] didn’t see. She did, but elected to ignore it. If there was anything she wanted to avoid tonight, it would be a horny and impatient Eric without his best friend by his side. Otis finally straightened up from his shameful hunch over the bin and swiftly headed back to the kitchen for a refill. Would he ever learn? She decided not to think about that and instead let her eyes scan her surroundings. So many teenagers - so many insecurities in one room. How many of them were getting completely wasted to forget about their feelings or their home life? How many were looking for a random hookup just so they could brag to their friends about losing their virginity? She silently hoped that Maeve didn’t fall into that last category.

 Maeve pounded her second shot. “Fuck it,” she murmured to herself. Making her way across the room to where [Y/N] stood, a wave of confidence flowed through her. Even though she knew that was simply her blood flowing faster due to the booze, she still felt empowered. She was finally going to do it. After a year of looking away right before she got caught staring, a year of daydreaming, a year of pining, she’d finally let her true feelings be known.

Otis had poured his fifth drink for the night and set his sights for [Y/N]. He needed to apologise. He didn’t know what for, but [Y/N] had such a sad look in her eyes some days - Otis definitely knew it was somehow his fault. Swishing the plastic cup in his right hand, he contemplated what he would say before getting to her. His train of thought was interrupted when he felt the sharp-smelling liquor splash and land on his shirt. He turned rapidly, ready to throw venomous words at whatever clumsy asshole wasn’t watching their step, but his sentiments died quickly in his throat when he saw Maeve’s brown locks. She swivelled on the spot. Paused for a beat too long.

“...Oh. Hey, dickhead,” she said, straight-faced and terrifying as ever.

“Hey. Wa- watch… where you’re going, maybe?” Otis replied, bold, and suddenly really feeling that fourth shot.

“Yeah, sorry,” she brushed him off and tried to continue on her way to [Y/N]. 

“HEY! Don’t walk away,” he shouted, unfortunately loud enough to catch the attention of pretty much everyone downstairs. 

Shit. Why was he trying to make a scene? Is this just what he’s like when he drinks? No-one should have ever let him near any alcohol in the first place. God, she could punch him right now.

“Sorry, Otis. Do you have something to say?” she spat, quickly losing her nerve.

“Yeah. Yeah, I do. I’m sorry, okay? I’m- I-” he stuttered, retching a little. 

“Go on then, spit it out!” someone yelled before turning the music down. Oh great, Maeve thought. So we’re involving everyone in this then? 

“I’m sorry about all the shit that went down with you and Jackson last term. I’m sorry you have to live alone and all your family left. And I’m sorry that.. that you’re in love with someone who doesn’t feel the same way. Trust me, I know the feeling, Maeve,” he finished, his eyes landing directly on [Y/N]. She backed away slowly, her eyes never leaving Maeve’s, and disappeared upstairs.

 Maeve could feel tears forming in her eyes. The quicker she found [Y/N], the better. 

“I hope you’re proud of yourself, Otis. Oh and by the way, I’m sorry that you can’t wank or hold a girlfriend down for longer than six months,” she uttered, before running after [Y/N].

Maeve eventually found [Y/N] in the bathroom after very unfortunately stumbling upon Eric and Rahim’s… activities in Otis’ bedroom. She’d never closed a door so fast in her life. Sitting opposite her on the floor, [Y/N] took a deep breath. 

“So… is it true?” she asked. No point beating around the bush. Either she denies it and they continue this weird song and dance or this ends happily ever after.

“Is what true?” Maeve parrotted. This wasn’t happening. [Y/N] forced out a huff.

“Fine. If that’s what you want to do, then there’s no point of me being here. I’m leaving,” she snapped. She didn’t need any more bullshit tonight. Anger flared through her as she stood and made for the door. 

“Wait!” Maeve called out, reaching the door before [Y/N] and putting her weight against it. “Look, I’m sorry, alright? It is true. I… I have feelings for you. It’s really hard because I know you’d never feel the same so I’m sorry that he embarrassed you like that, I’m gonna go kick his arse-” she rambled before being cut off by [Y/N]’s lips on her own.

“Shut up,” she mumbled against them. “I like you too, alright? Have for a while. Been thinking about doing this for a while, too,” she confirmed.

“Me too,” Maeve said, pulling away slightly. “Can I kiss you again?” she asked softly. Turning them around so that [Y/N] was backing her up against the wall, she replied, “Of course”.

[writingfortoomanyfandoms]

FAQ

Hi guys! This is just so that you don’t have to send in asks for everything when you want to know something about my blog!!

Do you take requests?

I do! My blurb requests are pretty much always open but my fic requests are open a lot less of the time, but the info for that will be in my bio :) also for requests I’ll only write them if they’re specific and not just like “Write some fluff please” because I have little imagination whoooo

Do you do tag lists?

The only tag lists I do are for individual series, I don’t do general ones for characters/actors as a whole and I also only accept tag requests in my inbox and if someone does not respond to loads of chapters of my fic then I will remove them bc upholding tag lists is hella hard work

What’s a tag list?

It’s a way of letting certain followers know that I’ve posted the next part of a series that I write 

Whats your name/age/sexuality/pronouns/nationality?

I’m Courtney, I’m 17, I’m not straight and I’m still trying to work out what exactly I am, my pronouns are she/her and I am English!

Can I tag you in my writing?

Of course you can! Please, please tag me I love reading what you guys have written and I don’t read anywhere near enough as I used to

Why don’t you respond to work?

I do respond! However because this blog ( @writingfortoomanyfandoms ) is a side blog, I have to respond with my main ( @ijustreallylovezebras ) so that’s why that blog is constantly replying haha

Do you write smut?

I don’t! I’m sorry! If you request smut I will not write it, though if it’s embedded in part of a request then I will still do the request I will just not include smut :)

What does your tracked tag mean?

My tracked tag is usercourt and it basically means that whenever someone posts something under that tag I see it! I made it so that you can tag me in your work without tagging my blog directly bc I often don’t see it when that happens so by using a tracked tag I’m somewhat more likely to see your work (whether it be fics, art, playlists, moodboards or whatever) and that way I can reblog it onto my blog and try and get more recognition for your work if that makes sense! So please always feel free to tag your work with usercourt so that I can see it :)

Who do you write for?

Ben Hardy

Joe Mazzello

Gwilym Lee

Rami Malek

(BoRhap!)Roger Taylor

(BoRhap!)John Deacon

(BoRhap!)Brian May

Warren Worthington (X-Men Apocalypse)

Four (6 Underground)

Peter Beale (East Enders)

Pat Murray (Undrafted)

Eugene Sledge (The Pacific)

Gardner Langway (Dear Sidewalk)

Charlie Nelson (Midsomer Murders)

The Umbrella Academy Hargreeves Children

Richard Madden

Robb Stark (Game of Thrones)

Prince Kit (Cinderella 2015)

David Budd (Bodyguard)

Leo West (Ibiza)

Joseph Blake (1917)

Taron Egerton 

Eggsy Unwin (Kingsmen)

Robin Hood (Robin Hood)

Rocketman!Bernie Taupin

Rocketman!Ray Williams

Shayne Topp (Smosh)

Damien Haas (Smosh)

Courtney Miller (Smosh)

Jake Gyllenhaal

Detective Loki (Prisoners)

Jamie Randall (Love and Other Drugs)

Louis Bloom (Nightcrawler)

Donnie Darko (Donnie Darko)

Dr David Jordan (Life)

Robert Graysmith (Zodiac)

Adam Bell (Enemy)

Anthony Claire (Enemy)

Colter Stevens (Source Code)

Edward Sheffield (Nocturnal Animals)

Tony Hastings (Nocturnal Animals)

Morf Vandewalt (Velvet Buzzsaw)

Davis Mitchell (Demolition)

Billy ‘The Great’ Hope (Southpaw)

Tommy Cahill (Brothers)

Chris Evans

Frank Adler (Gifted)

Ari Levinson (Red Sea Diving Resort)

Ashton Irwin (5 Seconds of Summer)

Calum Hood (5 Seconds of Summer)

Luke Hemmings (5 Seconds of Summer)

Michael Clifford (5 Seconds of Summer)

Billy Hargrove (Stranger Things)

Steve Harrington (Stranger Things)

Robin Buckley (Stranger Things)

Dacre Montgomery

Joe Keery

Maya Hawke

Zach Dempsey (13 Reasons Why)

Justin Foley (13 Reasons Why)

Clay Jensen (13 Reasons Why)

Alex Standall (13 Reasons Why)

Sebastian Stan

Chris Beck (The Martian)

Jefferson (Once Upon A Time)

Carter Baizen (Gossip Girl)

Harry Styles

Niall Horan

Louis Tomlinson

Peter Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia)

Edmund Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia)

Prince Caspian (The Chronicles of Narnia)

Otis Milburn (Sex Education)

Maeve Wiley (Sex Education)

Jackson Marchetti (Sex Education)

Sean Wiley (Sex Education)

Asa Butterfield

Emma Mackey

Alex Gaskarth (All Time Low)

Jack Barakat (All Time Low)

Zack Merrick (All Time Low)

Rian Dawson (All Time Low)

Harry Potter (Harry Potter)

Hermione Granger (Harry Potter)

Fred Weasley (Harry Potter)

George Weasley (Harry Potter)

Charlie Weasley (Harry Potter) 

Oliver Wood (Harry Potter)

Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter)

Young!Remus Lupin (Harry Potter)

Young!Sirius Black (Harry Potter)

Young!James Potter (Harry Potter) 

Newt Scamander (Harry Potter)

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020: 17/01

I don’t really have an intro for this one so: REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020. Let’s get into it.

Top 10

At number-one, for the third week in a row, is “Own It” by Stormzy featuring Burna Boy and Ed Sheeran, and honestly I don’t really see a foreseeable threat to this song’s throne, but much like all songs in January, it’s a pretty weak stance and could easily fall to an unexpected climber.

Lewis Capaldi’s “Before You Go” is once again stalling at the runner-up spot.

At number-three, we have a surprise debut from an artist I didn’t think would ever peak this high in the UK, Future, who has partnered with Drake for “Life is Good”, a collaboration that is clenching the top spots on a bunch of charts, I’d imagine, mostly because of Drake. God knows how many top 10 or top 40 singles he has at this point, I’m not going to even bother counting them. Future, on the other hand, has had his highest ever charting song on the UK Singles Chart this week, and his third UK Top 40 single (His first hit in the top 10 ever). Congratulations, I suppose, but we’ll talk about the song a bit later.

Due to the sudden debut, most of the top 10 is falling this week. First of all, “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa is down a spot to number-four.

“The Box” by Roddy Ricch seems to immediately abolish that trend as it has rocketed up 11 spaces in the chart to number-five, perhaps highlighting a possible #1 candidate in the coming weeks. It’s Roddy’s first top 10 hit in the UK.

“ROXANNE” by Arizona Zervas is down two spaces to number-six.

Lewis Capaldi’s “Someone You Loved” is stable at number-seven for some God forsaken reason.

The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” is up two spots to number-eight and with the video release, I could see this peaking even higher.

Justin Bieber’s “Yummy” falls hard off of the debut, being nearly pushed out of the top 10, losing four spaces to number-nine.

Finally, “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I is down four spots to #10. Sure.

Climbers

We have a rare week where there are no notable climbers at all outside of the top 10, which is emblematic of a certain period on the chart.

Fallers

In January, popular music repeats itself and the chart regurgitates the biggest hits of the year for a brief month where nothing can seemingly actually make a spin for the top spot or become a smash hit, and everything somehow collapses, and every debut goes nowhere, only to be gone by March. It should be the month where the smash hit songs appear on the charts for the first time, and it usually is, but it definitely never seems like that, as the chart is so dry and after the influx of 2019’s greatest hits, we seem to have reached a new equilibrium, so we can start waving goodbye to our fallers and drop-outs; I doubt we’ll see many of them again. “Ride It” by Regard featuring Jay Sean is down six spots to #16, “South of the Border” by Ed Sheeran featuring Camila Cabello and Cardi B is down seven spaces to #24, as is “Gangsta” by Darkoo and One Acen at #26, “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM” by Travis Scott and remixed by ROSALIA and Lil Baby is down five to #30, “Senorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello is down five to #35, and finally, “Lights Up” by Harry Styles is down eight positions to #40.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

There aren’t any returning entries, after all, we seldom have too many re-entries to the chart, but there is a handful of dropouts from the chart. First of all, we have the three-songs-per-artist rule coming into effect for the first notable time in a while, as since there’s a new Stormzy song, “Audacity” featuring Headie One is out from #26 and I’m going to predict it’s definitely back next week. Also out is the promising new arrival “Savage” by MIST out off of the debut at #35, non-starter, “Into the Unknown” by Idina Menzel and AURORA from the Frozen II soundtrack, out from #37, and “Heartless” by the Weeknd, out from #38.

Before we get into the new arrivals, here are some songs in the top 75 that have a trajectory seemingly aiming for the top 40, that I’d like to see get there. Not all of these songs are good but they are all healthy predictions. We have “Good News” by the late Mac Miller at #49, “Power Over Me” by Dermot Kennedy at #60, “Say So” by Doja Cat at #65, “SUGAR” by BROCKHAMPTON at #66, “Eleven” by Khalid at #70, and “Roses” by Saint Jhn at #72. I’d bet money on most of these eventually making the top 40. Anyway, here’s the main attraction:

NEW ARRIVALS

#37 – “You should be sad” – Halsey

Produced by Greg Kurstin

It should be no surprise that I’m not the biggest fan of Halsey. Part of her alternative-pop-girl image was really pretentious and turned me off initially but once she fully embraced she was a pop singer, whilst I respect her more, I still found her lacking, arguably more so, as a singer and songwriter. This song, however, is pretty unique, and it comes from her album Manic, which I’ve yet to listen to. It’s a country song, funnily enough right next to the only other country song that made a big splash in the UK last year, “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, which is at #36. It’s not a common occurrence for country songs to appear on the UK Singles Chart, for obvious reasons, but I’ll take a Shania Twain-influenced country pop song dependent on more neo-traditional 90s pedal-steel—Listen, I know little to nothing about country, and I’m throwing all these random key terms around... I’m not necessarily the best person to speak on this, and I know that, but I guess I’ll see if I myself prefer Halsey’s ninth UK top 40 hit. For what it’s worth, the guitar line here is really sweet, but Halsey’s voice with an additional country twang and drowned in reverb, just sounds kind of gross and ugly? I guess that’s the best way to say it, and even though sometimes it works, she seems way too downbeat and subtle for a vengeful kiss-off... until the entire flow of the verse obstructs for the chorus, which is introduced by a really dodgy, awkward wave of distorted strings that just sound awful. Whatever tone, genre, style or mood this song attempts to build up is immediately broken by that, and whilst some of these lyrics are really specific and genuinely pretty good, I’m tuned out until that killer electric guitar riff comes in and steals the show... before it just goes again. It’s not like there’s build-up to the riff either, or that it’s a break from the momentum because everything just keeps happening in the background. It’s not a drop because there’s no climax or catharsis to it, it’s just a cool riff that’s... there. Yeah, this is wasted potential, and that’s not even including the questionable at best mixing and whatever the hell that bridge is. This song might actually be broken, like what happened in the mediating process, guys? Who leant on seven wrong buttons at the same time? God, what a hot mess of a song.

#28 – “Rare” – Selena Gomez

Produced by Sir Nolan and Simon Says

Selena Gomez has a new album. It’s where “Lose You to Love Me” comes from. It’s probably pretty mediocre. I do not care for Selena Gomez. She makes robot pop music. It is about as standard and droning as these sentences. This is her 16th solo UK top 40 hit, or without “the Scene” if you prefer—that clause alone gives me more character than a Selena Gomez album. Sometimes with good songwriters, she can get something decent out of her limited range and bland production, and with Madison Love as a songwriter and Charli XCX involved as the person originally handed the song, I actually have somewhat high expectations for this, and you know what? It’s promising. The lo-fi bass groove and steady funk/soul groove in the intro is pretty sweet, but then the whole 2019 pop schtick comes in, and some of the soul is lost, but it has a pretty quirky, fun string instrumental with nice, bubbly synths and seemingly randomly-placed hi-hats. Here, Gomez actually works pretty well as she stays calm until the chorus, and she doesn’t sound too bad there, even if she’s desperately filling up the meter with nonsense, because it does sound like a child’s nursery rhyme. Hence, she fits in perfectly with the petty lyrics and cute instrumental. The guitar in the post-chorus/bridge sounds really great too. Perhaps it is over-long though, as three minutes and 40 seconds does make the chorus wear off, although it really could not have been as good as a song without that bridge, as the slow sense of dread is keeping up in the pre-chorus, with that intense bass groove and what seem to be airplane crash sound effects, only to propel itself back into a really cute chorus, with kind of an 80s sound I’m just noticing. Yeah, this is pretty good, and it has Charli XCX kind of written all over it. I’d like to hear a remix if that’s fine with you, Selena. You’ve impressed me with this one.

#21 – “STILL DISAPPOINTED” – Stormzy

Produced by Mikey J

This is Stormzy’s 22nd UK Top 40 hit and Christ, there’s a lot to unpack with this one. Okay, so this is the 2019-2020 Grime War, or at least that’s what r/grime is calling it. There have been 32 rappers or MCs involved in the war so far, including Ed Sheeran, but most are just mentioned in diss tracks, or “dubs” as the grime scene calls them, without responding. Basically, JAY1, who has been on this show before, didn’t pay Dot Rotten for producing the song “Million Bucks”, which was credited to Steel Banglez (It’s actually a great beat, by the way, I’d want credit too), so Dot Rotten released three dubs, one of which was copyright-claimed by JAY1, thus in response Dot released another song called “Copyright Claim This, P***y”. Classy. Then two of the most desperate-for-attention people in the grime scene find themselves dissing each other: Dot Rotten and Wiley. Within four days, Dot Rotten releases eight dubs. There’s this whole mess with Wiley, Dot and Jaykae, but then finally, a fan asks if he will be dissing Jaykae. Wiley says, “Never, he’s with Ed and Stormzy now”. Hence, Wiley and Stormzy go back and forth for a while on Twitter, and the beef escalates, with Wiley posting a Stormzy dub called “Eeydiat Skengman”, which is just okay, but has a pretty killer beat. Stormzy responds with “DISAPPOINTED”, but the reception is lukewarm. Sure, the Brexit joke was funny, but he had mostly weak bars and he also called himself the King of Grime over a drill beat. In fact, might as well cover all the Wiley tracks: they all sound the same. The beef has mostly stopped for now, but it’s still going on in the lower echelon. I would argue it probably stopped because of Stormzy’s final dub, “STILL DISAPPOINTED”, which is hilarious, and actually on a grime beat, in fact it’s on an iconic beat from the first Lord of the Mics in 2004, “Mic Check 1-2” by Kano. It starts out pretty okay, Stormzy just saying that he’s a real G and all... but then:

So why you love to talk about mums so much?

The entire diss track is about Wiley’s mother, and that when Wiley’s house was threatened by bricks and guns during gang violence, he (supposedly) sent her to Cyprus instead of trying to rescue her and improving her quality of life. He then says that his mother is pregnant because Wiley is fraud (Huh?), that Stormzy will have sex with his mother, and that she is a whore, but it’s not her fault that she had to move to Cyprus, but he will still have sex with his mother and become the man of the house. He takes only a few bars to relax and stop going on this tangent detailing Wiley’s mother’s move to Cyprus, but then comes back to the topic again, and whilst some of the bars make seemingly no sense at least to me, the dub is cruel and so oddly specific that I’d be incredibly offended. I’d probably want to fight Stormzy after this, honestly, and the song isn’t even that great. It’s a diss track, so I can’t really critique it as a song and not a personal attack, but Stormzy’s flow and charisma is definitely there and this was a funny listen.

Also, this line had me cackling:

I never wanna hear you say, "Free the mandem" (Yeah) / Let's go Cyprus and go free your mumzy

#3 – “Life is Good” – Future and Drake

Produced by OZ and D. Hill

It is so weird to see Future here. Drake not so much obviously, but this song peaked at #2 in the US, nearly giving Future his first #1, all thanks to Drake. Without Drake, the song would still be entirely coherent but it wouldn’t chart at all. That’s because this is not a collaboration in any sense of the word. It wouldn’t even fit under the guise of their little collaborative effort, What a Time to be Alive. It’s a Drake song, and then a Future song. Hold on, let me change this.

#3 – “Life is Good” – Drake, then Future

Produced by OZ and D. Hill

I don’t mind guest artists having solo sections of songs, hell, Drake had one on Travis Scott’s “SICKO MODE” a year back, but there’s a beat switch in the middle that completely separates both performances. Drake has a chorus, as does Future. Drake has a verse, Future has two—under two completely separate beats. At least on “SICKO MODE”, Travis joined in with Drake and Tay Keith for a verse and a couple ad-libs under the same beat. Sigh, I guess it doesn’t matter in the end, even though Future cheated a chart placement; it’s not as obviously fraudulent as Ellie Goulding’s efforts, or John Legend’s. I’m surprised that a plain and simple trap-rap song charted this high in the first place, even if it was just Drake (And for most people who skip after the first two minutes, it might as well be). I don’t know why I’m complaining honestly, because the song is honestly pretty good. I would have usually dismissed this as dark trap-rap nonsense with no redeemable qualities, but this is one of those songs with such a lack of energy it’s almost eerie, and those creepy synths in Drake’s part are fantastic in making it sound like that. Repeating inflections from “Mob Ties” aside, Drake’s performance is pretty good, with a couple funny lines, although I’m not sure how intentionally funny they were.

Haven’t done my taxes, I’m too turnt up

[Gnarly dude]s caught me slippin’ once, okay, so what?

I think Pusha T’s diss track about you hiding a child was a bit more than being caught slipping once, Aubrey. Anyway, after a voice memo interlude from Future, we have a pretty great beat, with an admittedly stiff but still impressive trap groove, and while Future is less on beat than Drake and arguably less interesting, he rides the beat well enough, and the synths are really quiet, for whatever reason. Regardless, this is a pretty cool song with great flows from both rappers and an eerie, cool beat from OZ. 

I’m trying to avoid nonsense, get Osama spray in this b****, woo!

HUH

Conclusion

This was actually a pretty great week, with the obvious Worst of the Week going to Halsey’s “You should be sad”, and a surprising Best of the Week for “Rare” by Selena Gomez. In fact, I’m going to give a tied Honourable Mention instead of any Dishonourable Mentions, so it’s going to Stormzy’s “STILL DISAPPOINTED” and Drake’s, then Future’s, “Life is Good”. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank, I’ll see you next week.

REVIEWING THE CHARTS 2020

[presidentclaireunderwood]

2018 Emmy Predictions

Find under read more. Ranked from most to least likely to be nominated imo.

Best Comedy Series:

Atlanta (FX)

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

Silicon Valley (HBO)

Barry (HBO)

GLOW (Netflix)

Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

Will & Grace (NBC)

Black-ish, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Modern Family can totally get in though since they were all in last year and dropping three seems dangerous. The Good Place is a possible spoiler as well. Dropping Black-ish is my biggest risk here, but I feel like it’s time could be up.

Best Actor - Comedy:

Donald Glover on Atlanta (FX)

Bill Hader on Barry (HBO)

William H. Macy on Shameless (Showtime)

Anthony Anderson on Black-ish (ABC)

Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

Zach Galifianakis on Baskets (FX)

Eric McCormack can totally show up, but I don’t see the show really doing as well as people are predicting. Thomas Middleditch is on the bubble as well, but him not getting in last year is a bad sign. Finally, Matt LeBlanc and Ted Danson could be spoilers if Episodes or The Good Place happens this year.

Best Actress - Comedy:

Rachel Brosnahan on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

Allison Janney on Mom (CBS)

Lily Tomlin on Grace & Frankie (Netflix)

Alison Brie on GLOW (Netflix)

Jane Fonda on Grace & Frankie (Netflix)

Pamela Adlon on Better Things (FX)

Tracee Ellis Ross is the most obvious exclusion here, but I’m sticking with Black-ish having a bad yeah tbh. Ellie Kemper and Debra Messing are the other potential nominees I’m skipping. I don’t feel confident about anyone outside my top three though.

Best Supporting Actor - Comedy:

Sean Hayes on Will & Grace (NBC)

Marc Maron on GLOW (Netflix)

Alec Baldwin on Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Tituss Burgess on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)

Louis Anderson on Baskets (FX)

Brian Tyree Henry on Atlanta (FX)

Anyone can miss here and I wouldn’t be surprised lol. Henry Winkler and Tony Shalhoub are the only ones I can see sneaking in in anyone else’s place (maaaaybe Lakeith Stanfield if Atlanta is really loved). But any combination of 6 out of those 8 is possible. I’m just going with these 6.

Best Supporting Actress - Comedy

Kate McKinnon on Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Megan Mullally on Will & Grace (NBC)

Alex Borstein on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

Leslie Jones on Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Betty Gilpin on GLOW (Netflix)

Rita Moreno on One Day at a Time (Netflix)

McKinnon is the only safe bet, but I still feel cautiously optimistic about my top four. Gilpin is more just what I’m hoping for, but she’s definitely on the bubble and can totally happen. I’m very concerned about Moreno since she didn’t happen last year, but there’s really no better options. Laurie Metcalf could happen, but I think Roseanne is too hated and Emmy voting was when all the shit went down. I also think a random Saturday Night Live woman could replace Vanessa Bayer (and I’m thinking that would be Aidy Bryant or Cecily Strong).

Best Guest Actor - Comedy:

Donald Glover on Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Bill Hader on Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Lin-Manuel Miranda on Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

Bryan Cranston on Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

Katt Williams on Atlanta (FX)

Jon Hamm on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix)

I’m very confident on the top four and the last two are just kinda hopeful. Williams and Hamm’s episodes of their shows were so acclaimed I hope they can sneak in. If not, I expect Will Ferrell, Sterling K. Brown, Leslie Jordan or Bobby Cannavale.

Best Guest Actress - Comedy:

Jane Lynch on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)

Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Tiffany Haddish on Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Molly Shannon on Will & Grace (NBC)

Blythe Danner on Will & Grace (NBC)

Laurie Metcalf on The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

I might be crazy discounting Wanda Sykes, but yeah...I’m completely destroying Black-ish here. The top three women are pretty much locks and the bottom three are just well respected women that they’d love to nominate. Sykes is certainly possible, maybe Elizabeth Perkins for GLOW, but I’m sticking with these six.

Best Drama Series:

The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Game of Thrones (HBO)

The Crown (Netflix)

Stranger Things (Netflix)

This Is Us (NBC)

The Americans (FX)

Westworld (HBO)

This category is such a lock it’s not even funny. Killing Eve is really the only spoiler here, but I think it happened too late to really gain momentum. If it aired in the fall, it’d certainly be a contender. Maaaaaybe Homeland comes back but I doubt it.

Beat Actor - Drama:

Sterling K. Brown on This Is Us (NBC)

Milo Ventimiglia on This Is Us (NBC)

Matthew Rhys on The Americans (FX)

Jeffrey Wright on Westworld (HBO)

Liev Schreiber on Ray Donovan (Showtime)

Kit Harington on Game of Thrones (HBO)

The nominations barely matter because it’s pretty much down to those top three men fighting it out for the win. Wright should comfortably move up to lead and Schreiber always gets nominated so I can’t imagine him missing now. Harington is rocky and if I had to guess someone would replace him, I’d say Ed Harris. Freddie Highmore could happen, but his show was too blah. Maybe Jason Bateman, but I think him showing his ass during the Arrested Development press tour killed his Ozark chances. Jonathan Groff is a huge longshot, but maybe the Emmys really loved Mindhunter idk.

Best Actress - Drama:

Elisabeth Moss on The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Claire Foy on The Crown (Netflix)

Keri Russell on The Americans (FX)

Evan Rachel Wood on Westworld (HBO)

Mandy Moore on This Is Us (NBC)

Emilia Clarke on Game of Thrones (HBO)

This category is competitive as hell. The top two women are 100% locks and Russell is an extremely safe bet. After that, anything goes. Wood had a dominant season so the fact that she got in last year makes me feel pretty good about her chances. Moore shockingly missed last year so that could happen again, but she was all everyone was talking about after that huge Super Bowl episode. Clarke is nowhere near safe, but the Emmys just adore Game of Thrones. Sandra Oh is the obvious spoiler here and I might be crazy discounting her because if she gets a nomination, she has potential to win. I’m sticking with my gut that Killing Eve just became big too late. Viola Davis is a goddess and could obviously happen. Laura Linney is an awards show favorite, Jodie Comer could happen if Killing Eve is a hit, Tatiana Maslany won for Orphan Black a few years ago and this is her last year, Claire Danes could always return...Hell Maggie Gyllenhaal could happen for her flawless performance on The Deuce. There’s so many options, but I’m gonna go with these six but feel like an idiot if Sandra Oh gets nominated tomorrow.

Best Supporting Actor - Drama:

David Harbour on Stranger Things (Netflix)

Peter Dinklage on Game of Thrones (HBO)

Justin Hartley on This Is Us (NBC)

Mandy Patinkin on Homeland (Showtime)

Joseph Fiennes on The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Anthony Hopkins on Westworld (HBO)

This category is so open-ended with only Harbour and Patinkin as possible returnees from last year. Harbour and Dinklage are 100% locks. I think Hartley worked his ass off to get nominated so I’m throwing him in there and I’m keeping Patinkin in. I literally just put Fiennes in right now. He missed last year which concerns me, but I feel like Handmaid’s Tale is only getting bigger and bigger. I feel terrible about my Hopkins prediction since he did nothing and I hope he doesn’t happen, but he got a lead actor nomination last year and he’s just beloved. I have Noah Schnapp in seventh place and I’d love to see him happen because he killed it on Stranger Things but I’m not sure. Max Minghella, Matt Smith, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Noah Emmerich are on the bubble as well and can easily snatch a spot from any of the bottom four.

Best Supporting Actress - Drama:

Thandie Newton on Westworld (HBO)

Ann Dowd on The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Lena Headey on Game of Thrones (HBO)

Millie Bobby Brown on Stranger Things (Netflix)

Chrissy Metz on This Is Us (NBC)

Yvonne Strahovski on The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

I’m very confident on my top three (though no one seems to be a 100% lock). I feel good about Brown and Metz since they got in last year, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they missed. Strahovski is kinda what I’m hoping for so I’m just trying to send those good vibes out there. It’s either gonna be her or Bledel and I think Strahovski kinda deserves it more (though Bledel won guest actress last year). I’d love to see Vanessa Kirby happen, but I’m scared she’ll miss. Maisie Williams and Uzo Aduba are totally in the running too, but I’d be pretty shocked to see them.

Best Guest Actor - Drama:

Gerald McRandy on This Is Us (NBC)

Ron Cephas Jones on This Is Us (NBC)

Peter Mullan on Westworld (HBO)

Michael C. Hall on The Crown (Netflix)

Jimmi Simpson on Westworld (HBO)

Matthew Goode on The Crown (Netflix)

Idk, I only feel confident with the This Is Us men. If they’re watching Westworld both those men will get in, but maybe they’re not watching and neither of them are really super famous. Cameron Britton is on everyone’s predictions for Mindhunter but I just don’t think they’re watching it and the only chance that show happens is for David Lynch in directing. I’m terrible with guest and I have no idea who else could get in. Beau Bridges or F. Murray Abraham for Homeland? Alan Alda for The Good Fight? Who knows.

Best Guest Actress - Drama:

Diana Rigg on Game of Thrones (HBO)

Samira Wiley on The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Marisa Tomei on The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)

Rinko Kikuchi on Westworld (HBO)

Cicely Tyson on How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)

Pam Grier on This Is Us (NBC)

This category’s more fun than Guest Actor. Anyway, the top two women are 100% locks and Rigg probably has the win locked up unless something crazy happens. I feel pretty confident with Tomei, even if her role was kinda underwhelming for some, her name should secure the nomination. Kikuchi is a risk, but like with Mullan and Simpson in Guest Actor, if they’re watching the show she should be good. Tyson and Grier are both strong, beloved black women and I’d be happy to see them happen. Cherry Jones could maybe happen for The Handmaid’s Tale, but that would suuuuuck because she literally did nothing. Laverne Cox is in the running too just because she’s loved. Maybe Jodi Balfour or Elizabeth Perkins but I doubt it.

Best TV Movie:

Black Mirror: USS Callister (Netflix)

The Tale (HBO)

Paterno (HBO)

Flint (Lifetime)

Electric Dreams: The Commuter (Amazon)

Oh God this category is soooooooo tragic. The top three are the biggest locks ever, no chance they miss since they were actually decent. Everything else is a crapshoot since nothing good aired lol. Flint got a WGA nomination so that’s literally the only reason I put that in there. Electric Dreams has Philip K. Dick’s on it which helps it. So yeah. Fahrenheit 451 had the hype and the prestige but flopped so bad I don’t want to put it in. It might sneak in for a lack of better options even though it was awful. The Child in Time, Cocaine Godmother, Notes from the Field, and I Am Elizabeth Smart are floating around there too in the running since the cateogry’s so tragic.

Best Limited Series:

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)

Godless (Netflix)

Twin Peaks (Showtime)

The Looming Tower (Hulu)

The Sinner (USA)

This category’s not as tragic as TV Movie, but there was no Big Little Lies breakout really. The top two are pretty safe I’d say. Twin Peaks has the passion votes which should help it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was so inaccessible it missed. The Looming Tower has prestige but idk if anyone watched it. The Sinner has the ratings and some buzz thanks to Jessica Biel, but idk if it has the prestige. There’s a ton of options that could sneak in though...Patrick Melrose, Genius: Picasso, Top of the Lake: China Girl, Howards End, American Vandal, The Alienist are all in the running. And if there’s a God, Alias Grace will happen but I know it’s not gonna (Netflix isn’t even really campaigning it which is stupid since it was the best limited series of the year BUT WHATEVER).

Best Actor - Limited Series/TV Movie:

Darren Criss on The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)

Al Pacino on Paterno (HBO)

Benedict Cumberbatch on Patrick Melrose (Showtime)

Kyle MacLachlan on Twin Peaks (Showtime)

Antonio Banderas on Genius: Picasso (NatGeo)

Jeff Daniels on The Looming Tower (Hulu)

I am feeling pretty confident with these six. Michael B. Jordan was a safe bet for a long time till his movie actually aired and completely flopped. Maybe Jesse Plemons sneaks in but I think these’s too many big names he’s going up against. So yeah, I’m feeling good with this six.

Best Actress - Limited Series/TV Movie:

Laura Dern on The Tale (HBO)

Jessica Biel on The Sinner (USA)

Elisabeth Moss on Top of the Lake: China Girl (Sundance)

Michelle Dockery on Godless (Netflix)

Sarah Paulson on American Horror Story: Cult (FX)

Cristin Milioti on Black Mirror: USS Callister (Netflix)

This category feels kinda bleak, the top two are the only two locks. Hayley Atwell could get in, but I’m not sure anyone actually watched Howards End. Catherine Zeta Jones and Edie Falco starred in stuff that no one really cared about, but their names alone could get them in. I’m holding out hope for Sarah Gadon because she fucking deserves it, but I’d be shocked if she actually happened.

Best Supporting Actor - Limited Series/TV Movie:

Edgar Ramirez on The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)

Jeff Daniels on Godless (Netflix)

Jason Ritter on The Tale (HBO)

Bill Pullman on The Sinner (USA)

Brandon Victor Dixon on Jesus Christ Superstar: Live (NBC)

Peter Sarsgaard on The Looming Tower (Hulu)

I’m taking like a million risks here but that’s okay. The top two are totally locks. After that it’s a bit of a mess. The Tale was beloved and Ritter’s performance was fantastic. In such a bleak category, I don’t know why he’s expected to miss. I know he was creepy as hell, but Alexander Skarsgård just won despite that. Ricky Martin, Jimmi Simpson, Michael Shannon, Bill Camp, Michael Stuhlbarg or Cody Fern could totally sneak in, but I’m just not really seeing it. I don’t think anyone watched The Looming Tower and I can’t believe I’m even predicting one of them. Simpson & Fern aren’t famous enough, Martin was barely on the show and didn’t really do much. I would love to see Fern get in though, he totally deserves it.

Best Supporting Actress - Limited Seres/TV Movie:

Penelope Cruz on The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)

Laura Dern on Twin Peaks (Showtime)

Angela Lansbury on Little Women (PBS)

Judith Light on The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)

Ellen Burstyn on The Tale (HBO)

Nicole Kidman on Top of the Lake: China Girl (Sundance)

Like with most these Limited Series categories, I don’t feel good about this at all. I don’t think there’s a single lock. I feel very good about Cruz and Dern, but I also could see them missing. I really, really want to predict Merritt Wever, but I don’t think she’s that beloved yet (even though she won a few years ago lol). It just feels crazy throwing her in there over Nicole fucking Kidman. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Elizabeth Debicki are my other backups.

[imagineshere-forall]

Masterlist

Peaky Blinders

Michael Gray head cannon 

John Shelby Imagine #1 

John Shelby Imagine #2

Pretty Little Liars

Jason Dilaurentis Imagine #1

Jason Dilaurentis Imagine #2

911

Evan Buckley 

The Calendar

Eddie Diaz 

Staying with Mom

Teen Wolf

Stiles Stilinski Imagine #1

Stiles Stilinski Imagine #2

Stiles Stilinski Imagine #3 

Derek Hale Imagine #1

Theo Raeken #1 

Stranger Things

Billy Hargrove head cannon 

Riverdale

Archie Andrews Imagine #1

Archie Andrews Imagine #2  pt. 2 pt.3

Jughead Jones Head Cannon 

Reggie Mantle Imagine #1 

Youtubers

Grayson Dolan  #1

The 100

Bellamy Blake Imagine #1

The Vampire Diaries

Klaus Mikaelson Imagine #1  pt.2 

Sex Education

Sean Wiley Imagine #1 

Criminal Minds

Derek Morgan #1

Derek Morgan #2

Spencer Reid #1

Spencer Reid #2

Spencer Reid #3

Vlog Squad

David Dobrik #1

MCYT

Dream #1

[onthepageoftears]

Grand Plea (Sean Wiley x Reader) // Sex Education

A/N: Not sure how I feel about this one (since Sean wasn’t my fave character from sex education...) but I hope whoever suggested it is okay with it!

Request: would you be willing to writing about sean wiley (maeve's brother) maybe something along the lines of meeting him when he makes that g r a n d plea at the store when they're shopping for maeve's dress? love yaaaa <3

Warnings: mentions of army/death, veterans, orphans, and smoking; language

Words: 993 (so short i knowwww)

Please Don’t Plagiarize My Work!

(lol this is the closest gif i could finddddd)

You had been helping your sister shop for a dress when the boy made his announcement. At first you just spaced out, thinking it was another warning about shoplifting. But then you realized the boy in the front, who was great at putting on a show, was telling a sob story of a painfully obvious fake past. Orphans, father died in the army, the whole shebang.

You rolled your eyes at the scene. You had done your share of dramatization in the past; having a single mother, it was hard for your family to get by. Still, when you made up lies to get some extra food on the table, or some Christmas presents for your younger siblings, you did it right. Simple and quick was best, and always was.

And after the boy finished talking, you almost felt bad for him. No way anybody would believe this crap; but then you looked around you. Everyone was either dabbing their eyes or holding a hand to their heart in understanding. Even your sister, who was mid sentence, stopped her rant about the sequins on the dress in front of her, just to listen to the bull spewing out of this kids’ mouth.

When he was finally done, you decided to approach him. What was the worst that could happen? One part of you thought he would deck you right in the face, with no hesitation; but the other part imagined him begging for forgiveness at your feet. Either way, it was bound to be interesting.

So, you headed over to him, where he was now leaning against the wall outside the dressing room, watching the other customers leave some money at the counter and point in his direction. He was smirking shamelessly at the way people nearly tripped over their feet to help his ‘sister’ in their ‘tragic situation’. You didn’t know what you were going over there for; you weren’t going to yell at him or scold him, you were just going over there. Just to do it.

“Next time, maybe cool it on the orphan shit.”

The boy turned suddenly, just noticing you as you stood next to him, looking straight ahead. He let his eyes drift down your figure as if didn’t care in the slightest that you could still see him. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

You scoffed, settling yourself onto the wall next to him. You crossed your arms over your chest and watched the hopeless customers. “It means you’re lucky it worked this time. The veteran father really made it work.”

He let out a laugh and relaxed a bit, moving himself a little closer to you. Leaning over, he spoke lowly. “Well what would you suggest next time?”

“Maybe a tear or two. Still say your dad was in the army, that’s good.” You blew a breath from your lips, ignoring the amused look he sent you. “Pile too much shit onto it and that’s all you’ve got.” You looked at him. “Shit.”

“I’ll be sure to hire you next time.” He put his hand in front of you with a smile. “Name’s Sean.”

“Y/N.” You said without taking his hand.

“Well, Y/N.” He leaned back in his spot and smirked. “Thanks for the input.”

Just then, a girl came out of the dressing room with a scowl. You recognized her as Sean’s sibling, or so he said; for all you knew, they could just be working together. Still, you sent her a wave with a sickly sweet smile. “Sorry for your loss.”

You winked at Sean and pushed yourself off the wall, not daring to look behind you. Instead, you made your way out of the store and to a small hallway to light a cigarette; your sister could find you later. You were wondering how long she would take when a shadow casted over you.

“Excuse me, I don’t think you’re supposed to smoke in here.”

“Shit, sorry,” you fumbled with the cigarette, stomping it on the ground with a sheepish smile. But when you looked up, the smile turned into a frown. “Ass.”

“That’s only what my sister calls me,” Sean said with a laugh, leaning against the wall next to you. “But that’s on the good days.”

“Hmph.” You crossed your arms over your chest, still pouting over the lost cigarette. “Where is she, anyway? Going to get some more pity dresses?”

Sean sent a surprised look at you; your tone was harsh, but you couldn’t help it. You were still salty that his dumb story worked, when it had taken you years to perfect your scavenging.

“Actually,” he played with the flip phone in his hands. “She thought the orphan thing was a bit much too. Guess I need to rethink my tactic, huh?” You stared at him for a second, but then shook your head with a smile.

“More like throw it out entirely.”

He placed a hand on his chest, fake hurt crossing his face. “Ouch.”

You smiled again, deciding not to fight it this time.

“Here.” He said suddenly, passing the flip phone to you. “I don’t use it much, but I want your number just in case I need help. With my tactics.” He winked at you, and you couldn’t help but take the phone from his hands. You tapped the buttons familiarly - it had only been recently that you upgraded you phone - and added your number.

Handing it back to him, you pushed yourself off the wall. “Text me when you have a better story.”

You walked back into the crowds of the mall, heading to the dress store where you left your sister. You tried not to imagine the smirk on Sean’s face as you left, or the way he might’ve checked you out again. You also didn’t watch your phone the next few days in hope of a text from him, and you definitely didn’t grin wide when it came.

[lost-inyourwords]

the dance

A/N: so this is my first crack at a Sex Education fic. I basically rewrote the night of the dance as an au where Otis and Maeve end up together. Hope you enjoy! If you have a request, just send it my way!

Warnings: fluff, bit angsty

Also, T H E S E T I T L E S are to announce the POV of that character.

M A E V E

maeve wiley didn't get nervous. it was a fact. a fact as unrefutable as the fact that the earth orbited the sun. and yet, as she gnawed on her nail for the umpteenth time, she felt nervous. she wanted to capture the butterflies in her stomach and squish them under her boot so they'd just stop bothering her. eyeing her reflection up and down in the mirror, she fidgeted with her hair again. 'God, since when did I care about what some guy thinks?' she mentally kicked herself for doing all this just to impress Jackson. a part of her subconscious knew that he was probably only still with her because of this stupid dance. why else would anyone stick around for some grotty cockbiter who lives in a caravan? another part of her brain silently wished that Jackson would get out of the picture because her feelings for Otis weren't going away any time soon. she thought of that night on the bridge when he gave her his jumper. they had been so close, but Otis knew better. why hadn't she just kissed him?

a thousand thoughts rattled through her head at break neck speed but she just shook them away. just get through tonight and then tell Jackson how she really feels. then this whole nightmare would be over and she could go back to being cockbiter and being invisible. just get through tonight. should be easy enough, right?

when she walked through to the kitchen, she was met with a stressed Jackson who rambled on about how his mum wasn't letting him stay out long, completely ignoring the effort Maeve had made for him. 'At least you've got parents that care,' she thought. when Sean offered to drive, she knew straight away that this night would turn into a disaster sooner rather than later. arriving at the school, Maeve tried her best to urge her brother to just go home, but Jackson was adamant that she let it go. not wanting to cause a scene, she traipsed into the building.

Otis wasn't supposed to be a part of this night. he was supposed to be at home, rejecting the idea of school dances and making excellent points about the stereotypes that they perpetuate. she should've been there with him. agreeing with him. talking to him. laughing with him. leaning in. kissing him. Jackson's grip tightened on her arm as they approached Otis and his date, bringing Maeve back to reality and shaking her thoughts away again. Otis was in the suit he wore to her abortion (still one of the strangest things he ever did) and the girl on his arm was... gorgeous. Maeve's heart dropped and she stared into Otis' impossibly blue eyes. he deserved this. not her and her pining. he deserved a beautiful girl to have a nice time with, like a regular teenager, not a 16-year-old sex therapist. she tugged on Jackson's arm and made her excuses to leave as she felt jealousy and regret sweeping over her.

the night progressed just as Maeve had predicted; slowly and boringly. though she thought that it only happened in movies, someone had actually spiked the punch, which made everyone that little bit more insufferable. her eyes scanned the crowd of tipsy kids, inwardly wishing to meet a pair of crystalline ones. while she didn't see Otis, she did catch Sean's small figure leading someone out of the hall. 'This is trouble,' she thought and followed him.

O T I S

arriving at the dance, Otis didn't think it was possible to be more miserable. he hated school events, especially ones which involved so many harmful stereotypes and unhealthy rituals. he figured he would be cheered up by the fact that he had Ola to keep him company, and he could take his mind off Maeve for the night. however, as seems to be convention in the life of Otis Milburn, it was going to be impossible not to think about Maeve. not even 5 minutes had passed they had entered the school and the first people they happened to run into were Jackson and Maeve. Otis' breath caught in his throat as he took in Maeve's appearance, internally grumbling at Jackson for not paying any attention to how beautiful she looked. awkward introductions were made and the pair sped off in search of Maeve's brother. He ignored Ola's obvious confusion at the encounter and carried on into the hall. This would be a tough night.

M A E V E

The hubbub in the hall stopped abruptly when a scream cut through the sound of the band. Liam was on a ledge and monologuing about jumping. Wasn't he the one who saw Otis yesterday? Maeve joined the amazed crowd and held her breath, wondering what would happen next. She scanned the crowd again. This time, she saw Otis approaching the castle and beginning to talk to the poor lovestruck fool at the very top. Her eyes bored into his side as he spoke words that seemed too true to just be general advice. "Sometimes the people we like, don't like us back. And it's painful, but there's nothing we can do about it. I know what it's like when someone doesn't feel the same way about you. It's someone you can't stop thinking about," his soft voice cracked, "It hurts, but you can't make people like you". Otis glanced at Maeve and then back at Liam. His expression carried pain and wisdom. He knew what he was talking about. And so did she. As Liam climbed back down, he toppled and came to the floor with a crash. The band started up again as he was tended to. She watched Otis disappear into the crowd and met Jackson's eyes before he, too, turned and moved into the mass of teenagers.

O T I S

Maeve. The only reason he knew what to say was because he had felt genuine love for Maeve. And then she was ripped away from him, in part due to his own inability to talk to her. He felt like an idiot. He could've caused that boy's death. All because he was the one who told him to stop pursuing Lizzie. He could've had a great time with Ola but he just had to bring up Maeve. Panic started to take over but he did his best to remain grounded. That's when he saw Maeve's pastel curls in his peripheral. "Otis?" she called. "I need to talk to you," she said, looking into his eyes.

M A E V E

those eyes. the ones that had stared at her in english. the ones that had seen her at her most vulnerable. the ones that had lit up with his laughter countless times. the ones that looked almost transluscent in the moonlight. Otis Milburn had those eyes. and she had fallen in love with him.

O T I S

he couldn't do this. not with Maeve and definitely not right now, after he had essentially proclaimed his feelings for her in a hall full of people. he tried to push her away but he couldn't. this was Maeve. he would always listen to her, regardless of how much it hurt.

"What is it, Maeve?" he questioned. She softened her glare and brought a nail to her teeth. her nervous habit. she didn't get nervous. was she hiding something? there's no way she felt the same.

M A E V E

"Otis, I know that what you said in there wasn't just improvised. Those words came from your heart," she stated, taking a step forward. They had never been this close. Otis swallowed hard as she continued, "Don't think I can't see through you, Milburn. You're the only one who ever believed in me. You've helped me and if it weren't for you, God knows where I would've wound up. It's always been you," she feels her cheeks heat up as emotion floods her words. She doesn't feel herself lean in, but definitely felt his lips on hers. The kiss was like him; soft and unsure.

O T I S

He had imagined this moment many times, but none of his imaginary kisses were this good. It was like they were puzzle pieces; they fit perfectly together. His hands went to her hips as her arms wrapped around his neck, deepening the kiss. The panic had stopped. He surprised himself by not freaking out but instead feeling his heartbeat speed up and endorphins rush through him. This felt so right, and yet he felt it was still wrong. Maybe Maeve was only doing this because of the adrenaline, but then again, her words felt so real. As they pulled away from each other, he met her eyes again.

M A E V E

the weight had finally lifted from her chest as she pulled away and smiled at the blue-eyed boy. the rush felt so genuine and she didn't want the moment to end. he hugged wordlessly and the warmth of his chest felt so inviting and real that she never wanted to pull away again.

[hutcho33-blog]

Kendrick V Everybody: A Beginner’s Guide To Kendrick Lamar’s Beefs

Kendrick Lamar has been the centre of the Hip Hop scene over the last few months. The dropping of singles ‘The Heart Part IV’ and Humble as preludes to the acclaimed ‘DAMN.’ have made him the source of intrigue and controversy. One of the undeniable things about K Dot is that he is a relentless competitor.

August 13th, 2013. The fabled ‘Control’ verse where Kung Fu Kenny takes swings at literally all of his competition has been the starting point for a majority of his beefs now. This unapologetically aggressive style has rubbed some the very wrong way, and it’s clear Kendrick doesn’t really give a Damn.

With that in mind, the following is a beginners guide to all of the beefs involving Kendrick Lamar right now.

Big Sean

Whenever you talk about beefs and Kendrick, one should start with Sean, not the man reppin OVO. It was in fact Big Sean’s song ‘Control’ that caused much of the tension with other rappers. Kendrick’s verse went at everyone including Sean himself. Although Sean said that this didn’t really bother him, this is the only discernable starting point of a frustration Sean could have with Kendrick. It should also be noted that ‘Control’ itself wasn’t featured on Seans album Hall of Fame, despite being the most noteworthy track at the time.

He started dropping subs directed at Kendrick in a freestyle titled ‘Me, Myself and I’ in 2015

Rappers who was killin shit, lately I can’t feel that shit

Y’all used to didn’t feel my shit and now y’all like, “You hear this shit?”

He had even more subs for Kung Fu Kenny on ‘No More Interviews’ in 2016.

And I can’t lie like I like this shit like I usually do

And I’m just not impressed by you niggas rapping fast

Who sound like one big asthma attack but trash when I’m rapping it back

Who you put in your top five and claim they the savior of rap

This all leads to the current day, with Kendrick firing more direct shots at Big Sean. On ‘The Heart Part IV’ Kendrick is rumoured to have taken a whole verse to address Sean directly.

My fans can’t wait for me to son your punk ass and crush your whole lil shit

I’ll Big Pun your punk ass you a scared lil bitch

Tip-toeing around my name nigga you lame

And when I get at you homie don’t you just tell me you was just playin

‘I was just playing K-Dot, c’mon you know a nigga rock with you, bro’

Shut the fuck up you sound like the last nigga I know

Might end up like the last nigga I know

Oh you don’t want to clash? Yeah nigga I know

On ‘Humble’, he constantly uses hooks notably used by Sean (‘lil bitch’ and ‘hol up’), as well as the direct shot that central idea of the track being in direct conflict with Sean saying his ‘humble attitudes’ in ‘No Favours’. Kendrick is directly telling Sean to sit down and be humble.

We likely haven’t seen even close to the end of this rivalry.

Drake

This is the modern day Cold War of Hip Hop. Both men have cautiously stepped around each other, taking some subs but not engaging in direct nuclear warfare. This begins in 2013 with Drake saying on ‘The Language’

I don’t know why they been lyin’

But your shit is not that inspirin

Enter Kendrick, with a small but not insignificant barb at Drizzy on ‘TDE Cypher’.

Yeah, and nothing’s been the same since they dropped “Control”

And tucked a sensitive rapper back in his pajama clothes

Kendrick would deny that this is a shot at Drake, however the next two are shots at Drake, first on the universally acclaimed ‘King Kunta’ taking aim at ghost writer rappers.

I can dig rappin’

But a rapper with a ghost writer? What the fuck happened?

Then he goes in twice on Dr Dre’s album ‘Compton’. First on ‘Darkside/Gone’, where he steals one of Drake’s most famous hooks in the diss itself.

But still I got enemies giving me energy, I don’t wanna fight now

Subliminally sent to me all of this hate, I thought I was holding the mic down

Then again in ‘Deep Water’

They liable to bury him, they nominated six to carry him

They worry him to death, but he’s no vegetarian

The beef is on his breath, inheriting the drama better than

A great white, nigga this is life in my aquarium

Now from here the tension becomes a little bit more unfounded. Watch the video below where Marcellus Wiley of ESPN talks about a destroyed interview on his program ‘SportsNation’

WHAT! If this is referring to Kendrick and Drake (which is the heavy favourite in terms of who he is talking about), one could only imagine the residual tension between the two most popular artists in the game. There are a number of things that can be seen as subs at Drake from Kenny on ‘Damn.’, but nothing that provides a significant insight into the real animosity between the two.

This is the cold war that has the potential to get very very hot in the next couple of years as the two artists battle at the top of the charts for supremacy.

Billboard.com and Being Outside of the Top 5 Rappers of All Time

Kendrick has an obsession with being the greatest rapper of all time. It’s consistently seen throughout his music. However when Billboard ranked their top ten rappers of all time, they rated him ninth (It should be noted that this atrocity of a list left off Tupac Shakur, which is at least puzzling and at most criminal).

It’s been two years since the list was released and it’s fair to say he hasn’t back off his opinion that he is the GOAT. From his tweet reading simply ‘Mr 1-5’, to this lyric on ‘ELEMENT’.

Mr. One through Five, that’s the only logic

Fake my death, go to Cuba, that’s the only option

Kendrick is incredibly open about his greatness and he’s actively suggesting that he is not just the greatest rapper alive, but in fact good enough that he could occupy all the spots from 1 to 5 on any list of the greatest rappers ever.

Donald Trump and Fox News

It would be an understatement to say that Kendrick Lamar dislikes Fox News and Donald Trump. Mr Duckworth has been one of the most socially conscious and influential artists in the last half decade. He’s made provocative comments on all kinds of issues like alcohol abuse on ‘Swimming Pools (Drank)’, police brutality on ‘Alright’ and on Black America in a insightful acapella verse on ‘i’.

However in more recent times, Kendrick has been taking more direct shots at individual’s he feel are doing wrong by his community. First at the new President of the United States Donald Trump in ‘The Heart Part IV’.

Donald Trump is a chump

Know how we feel, punk? Tell ’em that God comin’

And Russia need a replay button, y’all up to somethin’

Electoral votes look like memorial votes

But America’s truth ain’t ignorin’ the votes

The level of criticism that Kendrick has had of the police and of certain aspects of American society put him in the crosshairs of notorious conservative American media outlet Fox News. One of the most blatant shots that Kendrick takes is at Fox News, even using part of this segment on the network at the end of the track ‘BLOOD’.

He also takes a more direct shot at analyst Geraldo Rivera (who said that hip hop does more damage to young African Americans than racism in the above video) in the track ‘YAH’.

Fox News wanna use my name for percentage

Somebody tell Geraldo this nigga got ambition.”

Geraldo has since doubled down on his comments that Kendrick is destructive for the culture, which suggests that Kendrick may have more ammunition to use in future disses directed at the Fox News personality.

***

After ‘DAMN.’, it’s hard to make an argument that Kendrick Lamar isn’t one of the greatest hip hop acts in the history of the game. His lyricism and flow is unquestionable, with the hard hitting messages behind every song setting him apart from other rappers.

However it is also his attitude that sets him apart. In a time where everyone is perceived to be too friendly in their competition both in relation to hip hop and sports, Kung Fu Kenny isn’t trying to make any friends.

Kendrick is out take the throne and make everyone else a mere distant memory.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 26th May 2019 (Tyler the Creator, Halsey, DJ Khaled)

Top 10

“I Don’t Care” by Ed Sheeran featuring Justin Bieber sits at the top spot for a second week, and it seems pretty stable, even if the song itself is pretty lazy.

Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus is also steady at the runner-up spot.

At number-three, Lewis Capaldi trumps Stormzy up one space with “Someone You Loved” thanks to the release of Capaldi’s probably dreadful album.

This of course means “Vossi Bop” by Stormzy has flailed down one spot to number-four.

“Hold Me While You Wait” by Lewis Capaldi gets a short album release boost up three positions to number-five.

Billie Eilish’s “bad guy” is still at number-six since last week.

MEDUZA’s “Piece of Your Heart” with Goodboys suffers thanks to Capaldi, down two spaces to number-seven.

As does the late Avicii’s posthumous release “SOS” featuring Aloe Blacc, down a spot to number-eight.

Also thanks to Lewis Capaldi’s album release, we have number-nine, which is up 19 spaces from last week after squandering in the top 40 for a while. It’s “Grace” by Lewis Capaldi, peaking this week and becoming his third top 10 hit in the UK. Great. I’m not all that upset though because this means we won’t be seeing any new Capaldi this week, since all three singles were the most popular songs and UK chart rules prevent any other songs from appearing on the chart if they’re not the big three.

Also entering the top 10 for the first time is the mediocre house track “All Day and Night” by Jax Jones and Martin Solveig – presenting EUROPA – featuring Madison Beer, up oe space to #10, becoming both EUROPA as a group act and Beer’s first ever Top 10, as well as Jax Jones’ fifth and Solveig’s second, his first since 2015.

Climbers

There’s not much at all here to talk about, neither will there be many fallers, however there are a handful. First of all, we have an unexpected and unwelcome rebound for “Giant” by Calvin Harris and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man up five spaces to #24. Also, thanks to some more exposure that was inspired by a Hardy Caprio cosign on “Guten Tag” (that also just entered the Top 20 this week, which is pretty epic), Digga D’s “No Diet” is up eight spots to #25. “Late Night Feelings” by Mark Ronson featuring Lykke Li is also up six positions to #33 off of the debut.

Fallers

Going in reverse order, at #38, we have “Homicide” by Logic featuring Eminem absolutely collapsing down 12 spaces to #38. Oof. Speaking of collapses thanks to a lack of streaming after its first two weeks, “Greaze Mode” by Skepta featuring Nafe Smallz couldn’t even have that second week down 13 to #35, but it’ll rebound due to the album release in a few weeks’ time. “Just You and I” by Tom Walker might have had a streaming cut down 15 spaces to #29, but I think a lot of that is genuinely wavering popularity.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

Out of the top 75 completely is “i’m so tired...” by LAUV and Troye Sivan from #37, mostly due to streaming cuts and dumb UK chart rules, which have also affected “Don’t Feel Like Crying” by Sigrid out from #30. Otherwise, “Falling like the Stars” by James Arthur thankfully falters after people realised the song is absolute trite without the video, and it’s out from #34 off of the debut. Sadly, “Boasty” by Wiley featuring Sean Paul, Stefflon Don and Idris Elba has also had streaming cuts and is out from #17, because it’s a hip-hop song, and they are effectively streaming-exclusive. Also out are two not premature losses, in fact, these are very expected, as they’ve been in the last half of the top 40 for a while, and today was a big week, so, I feel like we can safely say “Good riddance” to “Don’t Call Me Up” by Mabel out from #36, and “Swervin” by A Boogie wit da Hoodie featuring 6ix9ine out from #40; Mabel might rebound though. There are no returning entries this week.

NEW ARRIVALS

#39 – “3 Nights” – Dominic Fike

Produced by Capi – Peaked at #3 in Australia

Now for the first time in a while, maybe since MEDUZA, I’m intrigued by this new artist’s debut on the charts, but I’ve seen his name buzzing up for a while... he only has six songs yet thanks to this massive worldwide smash, has 10 million monthly listeners, yet he’s completely passed me by. His Spotify bio is a yellow heart emoji, which is the worst heart emoji. I’m disgusted. Of course, I’m kidding, but I have heard him pop up on Kevin Abstract’s recent solo record ARIZONA BABY and he’s been an indie pop star for a while now, I imagine, I just haven’t cared enough to check his EP out, I suppose. Nevertheless, this is his first ever Top 40 hit in the UK, and I love it. It starts pretty abruptly with a bouncy clap beat and some stringy guitar that you can hear in a lot of vaguely indie pop nowadays, except unlike a LAUV, Dominic Fike has a soulful albeit somewhat reminiscent of pop-punk voice that backs up the acoustics (which may be a bit too much in the front of the mix than I’d like), as the bassline’s fun, energetic groove just kicks and kicks, Fike keeps going on with a fine-tuned, double-tracked vocal performance until he breaks down on the second verse, where he starts yell-rapping and I honestly start to think there was an uncredited Trippie Redd guest verse that made this blow up. Like I said, though, Fike is much more refined than a Trippie Redd, who just kind of belts relentlessly without any care for how it works musically. The falsetto backing vocals are cute, and the plucking guitar becomes a real driving force for the rhythm, especially when the first verse is mostly bare. Whilst most artists in this lane of indie-pop/singer-songwriter guy who’s actually pretty manufactured and generic would let the instrumental breathe in an airy, cloudy mess of synth, Fike is all over it, not letting the instrumental get a second of breathing room before he explodes on the track. The content matter is interesting, as well, as it paints imagery of street lights that have been such a familiar sight for Fike over the months of having a relationship, those three nights representing three stages, from not caring to being absolutely smitten in love, before they just drift apart and there’s nothing to do about it, and Fike is frustrated that he can’t repair this shattered relationship. Oh, yeah, and:

And she sent me naked pictures from her neck down to her waist

I feel this downplays the romance and emotion here a bit, though. I’ve personally always found it more compelling when it’s the man admitting he sent naked pictures, as that’s more rough and emotionally revealing than the inverse.

She found pictures in her e-mail / I sent this bitch a picture of my d*** - Kanye West, “Runaway”

I still absolutely love this song though. I’d say check it out, but everyone has. I’m late to the party.

#37 – “Jealous” – DJ Khaled featuring Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Big Sean

Produced by Tay Keith and Nova Wav – Peaked at #57 in the US

I feel I’ve gotten the wrong end of the stick here with these album cuts. With Tyler, the Creator instead of the fun introduction “IGOR’S THEME”, which is at #41, I get the much worse “I THINK” at #30. With DJ Khaled, instead of the beautiful Nipsey Hussle tribute “Higher” with John Legend at #43, I get Chris Brown. Thanks, I hate it. I don’t have to do any research, you know who these guys are, and I’m sure you don’t care, I’ll get through this quickly after turning on Private Session because my last.fm having Chris Brown scrobbles is a nightmare. Might as well list the insane amount of Top 40 hits these dudes have, DJ Khaled surprisingly having the least with five, with who I expected to have the least, Big Sean, racking up... also five, mostly because those sell-out features really pay off, Lil Wayne on the other hand having twenty-freaking-four, and Chris Brown trumping them all with about 38. What a delightful thought that is. Uh, so what’s happening here? DJ Khaled is pointless once again, as I doubt he had any element of involvement in this Tay Keith beat, who doesn’t even get to have his full producer tag play in the intro, which is insanely cluttered. His dated synth patterns and tones are still there with the rattling hi-hats, though, and there’s way too many Chris Brown on this song, because he sounds muddy and awful, with Auto-Tune that’d make a metalhead want to shoot a frog’s brains out. I like Lil Wayne’s verse, mostly because he actually has some well-constructed bars, but he drowns out into the chaotic pre-chorus and DJ Khaled ad-libs... and his flow is lacklustre, cut short by Chris Brown. Big Sean is fun and discusses Jhené Aiko, whilst interpolating the “In My Feelings” flow of all flows, but he also is cut short by Chris Brown. Please listen to CHVRCHES and stop collaborating with this pathetic abusive excuse for a human being. Seriously, why so much of that Chris Brown hook? Honestly, Big Sean can barely get a “Straight up” ad-lib in there. I hate this, actually, that hook has a falsetto Lil Wayne harmonising for some reason, and the bridge is multi-tracked with awful, low-fidelity chipmunk vocals, and yeah, this is awful, why did I consider this passable? I never want to hear this again, the instrumental’s so cluttered and over-polished so you can barely hear the vocalists except Chris Brown who is all over the place. DJ Khaled sounds like Quavo sometimes here, what is happening? I’m confused, who has played themselves? Why is Khaled just shouting over the outro? He’s supposed to only do this on the video skits, what the—

#36 – “Summer Days” – Martin Garrix, Macklemore and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy

Produced by Martin Garrix – Peaked at #4 in Belgium

And the Cactus Award for What the Ever-loving Frick Did I Just Read? goes to... Martin Garrix, Patrick Stump and Macklemore on the same song. This is the whitest thing I think has ever been produced and released, but besides that, we should be questioning why these guys thought it was okay to collaborate, and that this was going to go unnoticed. Should I care? Isn’t this just a pop singer-rapper collaboration and the connection to Fall Out Boy is what’s making me overreact? I mean, Fall Out Boy is a shill now too, especially with that disgusting Lil Peep collaboration. It’s weird to see Macklemore out of his natural habitat of being only barely existent but good to know he’s hopped out of his shell to collaborate with some EDM doofus and I’m sure who was his favourite emo singer as a teen. This is Garrix’s tenth UK Top 40 hit, Macklemore’s eighth and third without Ryan Lewis and Patrick Stump’s fourth as a solo act, his first since 2007. Is it good? Well, no. It isn’t, really. Patrick Stump essentially whispers through the first verse, but his oddly nasal tone at least in the first verse doesn’t fit EDM production, and he’s yet to realise this, as while he’s more soulful and bassy afterwards, he immediately goes to a falsetto... and it gets better. A lot better – in fact, the distant acoustic guitar strumming (that may be too front in the mix once again for my liking) and cute fake finger-snaps make a pretty good foundation for a beat that both Stump and Macklemore perform pretty well on, especially since that rough electric guitar comes in for Macklemore to spit about his fascination and close bond with this woman but who cares, that drop is epic. That drop is insanely good, and the electric guitar build-up within Macklemore’s verse is subtle but excellent. This is actually more of a rock song than EDM, when I think about it, and the drop perfectly crafts the acoustic guitar strumming and cloudy synths with the guitar line, chopping up Stump’s vocals and leaving him recognisable, whilst still sounding warm and summery, mostly because of how slick the guitar is and the finger-snaps do allow for some kind of bounce and groove. The touches of strings in the second build-up is a nice additional touch, and I love when Stump cracks out of his falsetto briefly to signify that the drop is coming, and it is crashing hard. A better music critic would call this a trainwreck, a disaster on all fronts, but I like it for what it is. God, I’m so dumb.

#30 – “I THINK” – Tyler, the Creator featuring uncredited vocals from Solange

Produced by Tyler, the Creator – Peaked at #51 in the US

I knew Tyler’s hype was growing immensely but I didn’t expect an album bomb from Tyler on the Hot 100, and this sudden boost of popularity seems to come out of nowhere, especially since the last time he was this big he was having threesomes with a triceratops and stabbing Bruno Mars in his goddamn oesophagus. Nevertheless, Tyler’s back in the UK as Theresa May leaves, as are his songs, as he has a second but we won’t be talking about it for reasons explained later. This is “I THINK” from his most recent effort IGOR and while I’ve been a pretty long-term and semi-diehard Tyler, the Creator fan for a while, I’d argue IGOR may be one of his worst efforts yet, not because it’s bad but I’m incredibly indifferent on a lot of the songs, mostly because of a lack of substance from both the lyrics and the aimless instrumentals. This in particular is one of my least favourite songs, next to “GONE, GONE / THANK YOU” and “RUNNING OUT OF TIME” as pretty boring, dull listens, however it does differentiate itself from songs like that by being largely a hip house track, which is a genre you don’t see on charts anymore. This is Tyler’s first ever Top 40 hit in the UK and Solange’s second as a solo act as well, her first since 2008, and I don’t feel it that much as other tracks from the album. The groove is there, and the tribal house beat is fun, but Tyler’s Kanye-like droning delivery, with a bassline ripped from “Stronger” and fancy synths that cover Tyler’s nonexistent upper register that pitch-shifting can’t really fix or mask. Solange sounds beautiful here as well, but she’s relatively underused I feel, only having a chorus and refrain, but she’s very oddly mixed, as she’s much louder than Tyler for the most part, despite being a guest on the album, as the others are mostly quieter than Tyler due to the personal aspects of the album and how it wants to focus on Tyler, meaning it’s kind of inconsistent. The wonky 80s synths in the back-end of the track are very typical of Tyler and do add to the track in making it pretty fun, but it does get a bit too messy and cluttered in the final chorus, which is insanely catchy, may I add, and I do love the piano that ends the track, but overall, this feels very half-hearted. The aimless nature of the song is intentional, I’m sure, as it’s all about feeling that first spark of love and having no idea what’s going to come of it, but the pacing is dodgy here as it comes right after deeply saddened break-up song “EARFQUAKE”. Maybe I’m missing the point, but I’m not a fan of this one. Sorry.

#26 – “Nightmare” – Halsey

Produced by benny blanco, Cashmere Cat and Happy Perez – Peaked at #15 in the US and... #7 in Slovakia. Huh.

And now to ruin any potential credit given to me as a music critic, reviewer and enthusiast, especially right after that Tyler, the Creator review. Now, there’s a lot to hate about Halsey’s seventh UK Top 40 hit, trust me, I know that. The pointless prayer at the beginning that doesn’t add anything to the song or its content and is completely irrelevant, the abrupt drop into the belting chorus, the Billie Eilish rip-off in the first verse with the minimal, multi-tracked sing-rapping over a trap beat that she can’t flow over at all, especially in the second verse where she is sloppy as hell, the janky pre-chorus and the chorus as a whole being kind of pathetic and really short, the line “I’m no sweet dream, but a hell of a night” not working within the context of the song. However, let me give you this as a rebuttal. Those floaty, gliding guitars in the intro are absolutely beautiful and the prayer, whilst probably making more sense when the album comes out, is about giving the Lord her soul, essentially having to give men their all and get nothing back, which is implied by how it drops immediately to the rock-infused chorus, which attempts at being empowering at least but it is catchy as hell, especially with Halsey’s memorably raspy delivery. The sing-rapping works on the first verse, and is mostly about self-harm, actually, which is influenced by how men have lied to her, but it goes on a bit of a tangent that isn’t relevant to how the song is about empowering women, and that women don’t have to always smile for the camera, as mentioned in the pre-chorus. The main lyric as mentioned before makes sense now because like in the second verse, the media and/or G-Eazy is being dominant over her and she won’t stand for it, she won’t be patronised and the last line in the second verse exemplifies that with a line I really like:

I’m tired and angry, but somebody should be

Somebody SHOULD always be speaking out about society’s BS, and—wait, how the hell does this makes sense if it’s also about G-Eazy and/or break-ups in general? With this and “Bad at Love”, I’m actually really confused about Halsey’s songwriting. That song also had an obnoxious hook, huh. Hell, “Without Me” had all these problems as well... as did “Closer”, actually, and that’s not even her song. I stick by this being pretty okay though, especially by Halsey standards, even if it feels very mish-mash, and the distorted electric guitar being back in the mix does dampen the effectiveness of the chorus, which is still anthemic – or at least tries to be. Oh, yeah, and Halsey’s really attra—

#17 – “EARFQUAKE” – Tyler, the Creator featuring uncredited vocals from Playboi Carti, Charlie Wilson and Jessy Wilson

Produced by Tyler, the Creator – Peaked at #13 in the US

I love this song to death, it’s by far my favourite off of IGOR. As you can see by its US peak, however, this will probably be eligible for my best list by the end of the year and I’m planning in advance, it’s probably going to be very high on that list. I know this means I only give Tyler a negative write-up this episode, which saddens me too, but don’t worry, I’ll make up for it when December/January rolls around and it’s time for list season. This is Tyler’s second UK Top 40 hit, Carti’s first ever charting song in the UK (It surprised me too), as well as Jessy Wilson’s, and Charlie Wilson has a few but his discography page is messy as hell so I won’t try and count them, they’re all uncredited as well so that makes it harder. Imagine having more than three UK Top 40 hits as a solo act and you don’t get credit for any of them. Anyway, even though I can’t cover it...

Conclusion

Tyler, the Creator gets Best of the Week for “EARFQUAKE”, no contest. In fact, I’m hesitant to give “3 Nights” by Dominic Fike the Honourable Mention, just because “EARFQUAKE” is THAT good. Dishonourable Mention goes to Tyler, the Creator as well (Unfortunately), for the pretty dull “I THINK”, whilst Worst of the Week goes to DJ Khaled, Lil Wayne, Big Sean and Bowser Jr. for “Jealous”, what a trainwreck. Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more musical ramblings and Jonas Brothers content because that’s the Tweet they decided to push, and I’ll see you next week!

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School basketball’s 20 greatest surprises this season: Kentucky has been quiet up to now

You already know what’s nice about each single season of faculty basketball? There are all the time storylines and surprises that replenish the primary two months of the season, and within the course of, problem everybody’s notion of the game as we anticipated it to be. With out unpredictability, there’s a whole lot of room for boredom. Throughout this vacation season, allow us to be pleased about results-based volatility. The plot twists are a lot of why we sustain with sports activities to start with. 

And as we flip to Christmas, with many of the non-conference schedule wrapped up, let’s take a look at what’s occurred via six weeks of the season. Yeah, are you able to imagine it? Opening evening was precisely, already, six weeks in the past. So let’s assess what hasn’t gone to plan — for good and unhealthy. 

Listed below are the 20 most shocking issues concerning the 2017-18 season.

Arizona State has jumped into the nationwide title dialogue.  USATSI

1. Arizona State is undefeated — and appears legit. The Solar Devils are 11-Zero, the second finest begin in program historical past. Bobby Hurley’s group is ranked third within the AP ballot, which matches a program file. ASU’s offense is ranked fourth in factors per possession and is capturing 59 % from 2-point vary — with a three-guard assault. If the season ended proper now, ASU can be the No. 1 total seed because of its wins vs. Xavier and at Kansas. No program has two higher wins than that. No one noticed this coming. On Dec. 30, Pac-12 performs opens in the easiest way attainable: Arizona vs. Arizona State. Sure, please.

2. Oklahoma freshman Trae Younger is the runaway favourite for Nationwide Participant of the 12 months. After I noticed Trae Younger drop 43 on Oregon on the PK80 on Nov. 30 in Portland, I knew then he had an ideal shot at profitable Freshman of the 12 months. Since then? Uh, yeah … in three weeks’ time, Younger has develop into a phenomenon. He leads the nation in scoring (28.5) and assists (10.2) and if he is in a position to preserve these information, he’ll develop into the primary D-I participant in historical past to formally do it. His 43 factors in opposition to the Geese hasn’t been bested by another participant this season, and his 22 assists in opposition to Northwestern State on Dec. 19 matched the single-game NCAA file. He’s must-see TV. And because you’re right here, be sure you learn an in-depth profile on how he wound up at Oklahoma.

Three. There are solely 4 unbeaten groups left. Along with Arizona State, we’ve got No. 1 Villanova (11-Zero), No. 6 Miami (9-Zero) and No. 15 TCU (11-Zero). We could properly come to search out that Villanova is one of the best group within the Massive East, Arizona State is one of the best group within the Pac-12, Miami’s one of the best group within the ACC and — may it truly be? — TCU is one of the best group within the Massive 12. Mayyyybe. Both method, it is a fewer-than-usual group of unbeatens nonetheless standing. On Dec. 22 of final season, there have been 5 undefeateds remaining. The yr earlier than, we had 9. 

Four. Lack of buzz with Kentucky. There has by no means been a season like this one for UK beneath John Calipari. Usually the Wildcats are a weekly speaking level. At this stage, UK’s merely been a reasonably good group with none standout moments. It is uncommon. Why has this occurred? As a result of Kentucky’s solely sport in opposition to a ranked group got here on the Champions Traditional vs. Kansas. That is UK’s solely loss. However the Wildcats have a pleasant alternative on Saturday, within the CBS Sports activities Traditional, once they go up in opposition to UCLA. The Bruins at the moment are freed from the Ball household, which is nice, however they do not have the expertise UK has. (Although I like UCLA freshman level guard Jaylen Arms.) It will not be for much longer with out Kentucky within the headlines, but it surely has been bizarre to see this group stay exterior the margins for the primary six weeks. Not having a consensus top-10 draft decide on the roster, which is unusual within the Cal-at-UK period, additionally explains it. 

5. The Massive 12 was anticipated to be good, however this could possibly be historic. We may, amazingly, hit 2018 and have all 10 groups within the Massive 12 with moderately optimistic probabilities at making the NCAA Event. Final season the Massive 12 completed as one of the best convention, as measured by data-tracking providers similar to KenPom.com, KPI and Jeff Sagarin’s rankings. The truth is, the Massive 12 in 2016-17 carried out higher within the common season than any convention has completed within the KenPom period, relationship again to 2002-03. Ten groups complete 16 losses, and solely Texas has three. Texas Tech has one of the best scoring margin (22.6) of anybody in school basketball. Oklahoma’s 94.2 factors per sport is on the high of all groups in D-I, tied with Duke. West Virginia’s 10.5 turnover margin is finest within the sport. League doesn’t get the credit score it is due. 

6. The Massive Ten is worse than anticipated. Northwestern’s 9-Four and did not deal with prosperity that properly out of the gate. Minnesota, which was additionally ranked within the preseason polls, has dropped three video games and almost misplaced to Alabama when it memorably performed 5-on-Three vs. the Crimson Tide again in November. Michigan State (12-1) and Purdue (12-2) are the one groups with two or fewer losses. Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, Wisconsin (Badgers truly gonna miss the NCAAs??) and Illinois all have already got 5 or extra losses. It appears just like the ceiling for NCAA Event groups from this 14-team league is six. 

7. However hey, Purdue could make the Remaining 4 even after dropping Caleb Swanigan. I used to be in Indianapolis for Purdue’s win over Butler on the Crossroads Traditional. The victory established Purdue as a top-five group within the metrics, and once you dive deeper, you see why. Matt Painter is really underrated as an A-level coach. To have Purdue on this spot after dropping Swanigan, essentially the most precious participant in school basketball final season, it is astounding. Mosts groups that are not bluebloods couldn’t pull this off. 

Eight. Auburn is 10-1 and Bruce Pearl has overwhelmed the percentages — for now. After dropping an assistant coach (Chuck Individual), plus two starters (Austin Wiley, Danjel Purifoy) as a result of FBI’s investigation into school basketball recruiting, Auburn is nonetheless off to its finest begin in almost 20 years. Yeah, this can be a shocker. 

9. The FBI’s investigation has drifted a bit. I definitely anticipated the video games to drive a whole lot of the dialog, however assume again to the center of October. The tenor of faculty hoops then was that the FBI’s unprecedented case into the crooked methods of recruiting can be one thing that thrummed weekly all through the season. That simply hasn’t been the case but. It is nonetheless there, hanging like a black curtain behind all of what is taking place on the stage, however the huge query for coaches is: Who’s going to be subsequent, and did the FBI dramatically play up how a lot proof it actually had? 

10. Arizona hasn’t formally suspended a participant. Subscribers to our CBS school hoops pod are aware of a dialogue Gary Parrish and I had again in November. We suspected that Arizona would do what Auburn, USC and Oklahoma State did: droop a participant, or gamers, who had been beneath suspicion for ineligibility. Auburn continues to take a seat Purifoy and Wiley. Oklahoma State’s Jeffrey Carroll needed to miss video games for the Cowboys. USC’s De’Anthony Melton nonetheless has not performed for the Trojans. But Arizona has not a factor. Rawle Alkins missed the primary 9 video games of the season resulting from what has solely been attributed as one thing injury-induced, however in any other case? Nothing from Sean Miller. This was eyebrow-raising to many, and if the NCAA or FBI comes to search out gamers had been on the court docket regardless of having damaged legal guidelines or bylaws, then it may retroactively put Arizona’s 2017-18 season in jeopardy. 

Michigan State’s Miles Bridges has been good, however not nice up to now. USATSI

11. Preseason participant of the yr decide Miles Bridges has merely simply been actually good. Bridges hasn’t been placing it on like Trae Younger or placing his group on his again like Duke’s Marvin Bagley III. He hasn’t been an awesome freak of nature like Arizona’s Deandre Ayton and he hasn’t been a takeover man the best way Xavier’s Trevon Bluiett’s proven. However Bridges is averaging 16.Eight factors, 6.7 rebounds, 2.Three assists and 1.Three blocks. He is within the dialog — however what we have come to know is that the near-consensus preseason assumption that he’d be the Nationwide Participant of the 12 months wound up being typical groupthink. 

12. Wichita State’s protection — or lack thereof. The Shockers have made the previous six NCAA Tournaments. In that point, their common KenPom rating for defensive effectivity: 14th. For a six-year span, that is spectacular and a testomony to Gregg Marshall’s teaching. Extra of the identical was anticipated this season. As an alternative, Wichita State at present ranks 35th and has allowed three groups to crack the 80-point barrier. Opponents reached 80 factors on the Shockers 4 instances within the the earlier two years mixed. With Markis McDuffie returning the ground after lacking the primary six weeks with a foot challenge, maybe WSU can return to elite defensive type.

13. Florida’s Jekyll-and-Hyde existence. So is Florida a Remaining 4 group or is it barely gonna squeak into the NCAA Event? The group I noticed in Portland regarded athletic, able to making a barrage of Three-pointers, robust as hell and mentally robust. However this can be a 7-Four group with two dwelling losses (one to Loyola of Chicago) and has a protection that is now a damaged shell of what’s was final season, when the Gators had been elite on that finish of the ground. Mike White wants huge man John Egbunu again within the lineup ASAP, and KeVaughn Allen wants to begin enjoying just like the top-50 school hoops expertise that he’s. 

14. Grayson Allen hasn’t been a factor … but. I believe we’re all blissful to see this. Duke’s 12-1 thanks in good half to Allen averaging 17.1 factors, Four.Three assists, Three.2 rebounds and simply 2.2 fouls. He hasn’t had an on-court incident or something near it. The one factor that hardly cracked the radar was Allen winding up with a black eye after by chance getting kicked within the head by Javin DeLaurier, who was making a block try on a Boston School transition possession. However no matter. Allen’s been in a position to play his position as a senior about as properly — from a controversy-free standpoint — as may have been hoped for. As school basketball’s highlight grows greater heading into convention play, here is to hoping all stays calm. 

15. Minnesota’s Jordan Murphy is the sleeper All-America decide at this level. You look across the nation and also you see names like Younger, Ayton, Bridges, Bagley, Brunson, Bluiett, Colson. But Murphy, a cumbersome 6-foot-6 junior, leads nation in rebounding (12.Eight) and double-doubles (12) along with averaging 20.Zero factors. He is been terrific, and it isn’t like he hasn’t confronted some good competitors. At this level, he is the breakout participant in all of faculty hoops.  

Theo Pinson and UNC had their palms full in a loss to Wofford. USATSI

16. Wofford gained at UNC; Tar Heels are vexing. Wofford gained in Chapel Hill on Wednesday evening, giving the Terriers their first win as a program at school historical past vs. a ranked group. To do it in opposition to UNC, the reigning nationwide champions, is an unbelievable endlessly reminiscence for everybody who associates themselves with Wofford basketball. North Carolina’s a bit weird, although. The Wofford loss was the most important upset of the season up to now, and you will recall that UNC’s 63-45 loss to Michigan State was the worst capturing efficiency in program historical past. This put up is all about surprises, and each of these UNC outcomes had been as shocking as nearly something on this checklist. 

17. Virginia is once more choking opponents to dying. I all the time get a whole lot of (loving!) suggestions for my annual 1-351 rankings. What base gave me extra grief than another? Virginia simply barely edged out Syracuse backers. My apologies to UVa followers, as I’m right here to supply a mea culpa. The Wahoos are 10-1, ranked third in KenPom and permitting simply 52.7 factors per sport, tops within the sport. Tony Bennett would not have a star, however he would not want one. I am not satisfied Virginia’s top-10 group, however is once more one which has constructed a house within the polls and is unlikely to vacate.  

18. Preseason ranked groups whose campaigns have not fairly gone to plan: 

Florida (7-Four): from No. Eight to unranked. 

USC (6-Four): From No. 10 to unranked

Notre Dame (10-Three): From No. 14 to unranked

Minnesota (10-Three): From No. 15 to unranked

Northwestern (9-Four): From No. 19 to unranked

UCLA (Eight-Three): From No. 21 to unranked

Saint Mary’s (10-2): From No. 22 to unranked

19. Surprisingly good groups, unranked in preseason, with two losses or fewer: 

Clemson (10-1): Has wins over Ohio State and Florida. No. 25 at KenPom. Brad Brownell is making an attempt to make the NCAAs for the second time in eight seasons with the Tigers. 

Oklahoma (9-1): Ranked 17th and owns wins over Oregon, USC and Wichita State. The Sooners have a tremendous offense and essentially the most watchable participant within the sport. 

Syracuse (10-1): Jim Boeheim’s most inexperienced group ever has nonetheless held its personal thus far. The schedule hasn’t been troublesome, however few would have faulted Cuse if it was Eight-Three moderately than 10-1. 

St. John’s (10-2): Chris Mullin’s group would not have a signature win but, but it surely’s one of the best begin for SJU since 2014-15. Borderline top-10 protection. 

Oklahoma State (9-2): Mike Boynton’s first season as a head coach got here with the FBI melodrama, but the Pokes are accountable for Florida State’s solely loss  

Missouri (10-2): The Tigers misplaced Michael Porter Jr. and determined to not let it damage their season. The truth is, there’s percolating hypothesis that Porter may certainly return come January or February 

Tennessee (Eight-2): The Vols had been anticipated to be close to the underside of the SEC. As an alternative, Rick Barnes’ group is ranked 20th this week and has an enormous win over Purdue.  

20. Villanova is one of the best group once more — however not due to its level guard. We’ll wrap with a thought on fashionable school hoops royalty. VU has a case as school basketball’s strongest program of the previous 5 seasons. That in itself is a stunning revelation, however how concerning the Wildcats this season? Jay Wright’s group being actually good will not be a shock. Mikal Bridges busting from his cocoon to common 17.1 factors, 6.1 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.Four blocks — whereas capturing 47 % from Three-point vary — is stunning. Bridges has been considered for 3 years as a participant who can be higher within the professionals than in school. Now that hole has shrunk significantly. Villanova is balanced, and Jalen Brunson leads that present, however Bridges’ breakout season is the foremost story with that group. And, extremely, it we may wind up seeing the Bridges in Philadelphia ending with the higher season and being taken increased within the draft than the one in East Lansing. 

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