#the definition of his body lines in the 2nd shot is ridiculous

[maximura]

Ateez at Coachella, April 19th 2024 | Original photography by Frazer Harrison

[astronomoney]

Hey. I heard you were open for requests? If so, could I get a fluff 43 for Jon kent x reader? ( Sorry if I have bad english)

Pairing: Jon Kent x Fem!reader (both are about 16ish in this)

Prompts: Prompt list 43-“H-how long have you been standing there?”

Summery: Jon Kent tries to tell you how he feels but you don’t seem to be picking up what he’s putting down.

A/n: This one was low key super fun to write thank you so much for this request! Based off some obscure prompt i saw about muse B being super oblivious to muse As feeling and i figured why not. Also i wrote this one in 2nd person rather then my usual 3rd person so yeah new things. Masterlist

Word count: 1.3k

Tag list: @battlenix

Code: y/n=your name

Oblivious

“So, Y/n, I guess what i’m trying to say is that I...” Jonathan Kent let out a soft sigh. “am an idiot.” he finished before turning away from his mirror and landing face first on his bed. He had spent the past 45 minutes trying to figure out a non embarrassing way to tell you that he was in fact, madly in love. The only problem was you were his best friend and almost definitely didn’t feel the same way according to him.

“This isn’t working.” He flipped over on the bed with a groan. “What would Damian do? He would... kill his feelings with a double edged sword, so he’s probably not the best person to model after.” Jon stood up and started pacing his room, too lost in his own train of thought to notice you push his door open and lean on the frame.

Jon told Damian about his crush and when he asked for advice he got a not so encouraging love-makes-you-weak speech. Then he asked a friend from school for advice, and naturally that friend told his friends and his friends told their friends and their friends told their friends and by the end of the week it seemed like the whole world knew. The whole world, except you. You remained blissfully unaware.

“New plan. What would Dick do?” he paused to think over his question. “He would use one of those cheesy pick up lines and do the hair flippy thing he does. But how does that work so well every time?”

Jon, being the goofy lovable idiot that he is had captured the hearts of more than one girl at school. Whenever they’d talk about boys his name was sure to come up. Like the time Ann Howls spent a whole 6 and a half minutes gushing about his “midnight black hair and beautiful eyes”, which only made you want to barf.

“If you were a vegetable. You’d be a cutecumber.” He had a weak grin plastered on his face and he looked expectantly at the mirror as if waiting for his own reflection to reject him. “That was awful.” He cringed at his own choice of words.

“I thought it was cute.” You spoke up causing him to jump.

“Ahh wh-what are you? why are you? H-how long have you been standing there?” he stumbled over his words and had a slightly panicked expression.

“Long enough to know that you’ve been holding out on me.” You laughed and flopped down on his bed. “You have a crush! More importantly you have a crush that you didn’t tell me about?” You squashed down the bit of jealousy that welled in your stomach still very much unaware that his crush was in fact on you.

“S-so, you don’t know who i was talking about?” Jon asked shyly, inching closer to the bed.

“No, I don't. Which i’m offended by. I mean come on, you tell me you’re from a different planet but not who you're into? Ridiculous.” You joked.

He let out a relieved sigh and sat on the edge of the bed. “You have a really bad habit of sneaking up on me and learning my secrets.”

“Or maybe you're just bad at keeping secrets.” You shot back. “Now tell me about this mystery girl!” You patted the spot in front of you signaling for him to sit closer.

“Well,” He moved slightly closer to you. “She’s really nice and funny and smart when she wants to be.” He smiled, the kind of smile that reached his eyes and made everything seem better. “And she loves superheroes so that works out well for me.” he let out a small laugh. “She’s stupid brave and when she wants something, no one can stop her. I know it sounds cheesy but-” he paused as if trying to find the right words. “when i’m with her, it’s like nothing else matters.”

You scooted closer to him so now you were both sitting less than a foot apart in the middle of the bed. “She sounds amazing.” You smiled, hoping he wouldn’t notice the way your voice had the slightest bit of hurt leaking through. You never really thought he’d actually like you back. All this time it was just a stupid crush and you figured you’d get over it but hearing him talk about someone the way he just did. The way his eyes lit up just thinking about her. It fueled a small flame of jealousy in your stomach.

But you pushed it down. You didn’t have any other choice and you really just wanted him to be happy even if that meant you weren’t. “You really like her don’t you?”

“Yeah, yeah i do.”

“Then you have to tell her how you feel.” It pained you to say but you knew this was best. He almost seemed in love and it wouldn’t be fair for you to get in the way. “Any girl would be lucky to have you.” You put your hand on top of his and squeezed it slightly.

“You really think so?” he questioned, looking down at your hands and flipped his over so he could squeeze back.

“I know so.” You smiled reassuringly as he looked back up and for a few seconds he didn’t say anything, you just sat in silence next to each other.

“I think I love you.”

Your heart skipped a beat and you felt your face grow slightly warm before pulling yourself together again. “Perfect, just like that. Now all you have to do is tell it to the girl.” You leaned back after realizing just how close your faces were. You pulled your hand away and turned your head to avoid his gaze.

You watched him in your peripherals and he didn’t seem to move for a solid 10 seconds. He blinked and a dumb grin found it’s way to his face.

“I-” He stopped himself by letting out an amused breath. “Screw it.” was all you heard before you felt something turn your head and slight pressure on your lips. It was soft and gone too soon. The jealous flame turned to butterflies and the heat rose to your cheeks instead. It was so fast you didn’t have time to react before he pulled away.

“Oh my god I'm so sorry I don't know what just came over me l-” You cut him off by grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him back into the kiss. You didn't even realize what you’d done until it was far too late. The momentum of the quick move had knocked you off balance causing you to fall back on the bed. Your hand still held onto the front of his shirt so when you went down he went with you. His body landed on top of yours and it felt as though you were wrapped up in his warmth.

His hands moved slowly from where they had landed next to your body. His left hand moved to cup your cheek and his right hand lowered to your waist. The kiss was soft and warm and perfect but you could tell he was holding back, too scared of hurting you with his super strength. You let go of his shirt and snaked your arms around the back of his neck, deepening the kiss.

You pulled away gasping for air with a dopey grin across your face. He braced himself on his arms and looked down at you with a slightly unsure expression.

“Does, does that mean you like me back?” he asked timidly, trying to regain his breath as well.

“Yes,” You replied smiling. “it does.” You pulled him down for a third kiss which happened to be the first kiss neither of you were surprised by.

[puckinghell]

Falling | Carter Hart

Summary: While Carter Hart tries to teach your 2nd grade class how to skate, you try not to fall... flat on your face, or, for him. Words: 2292 of 7433 Note: The request was for 1 imagine but I accidentally came up with a 3 part series... This is part 2. Read part 1 here. 

The music is loud, way too loud, to even hear a single word of what your roommate Bella is saying. To be fair, it’s probably not very interesting anyway, cause she’s on one of her drunk rambles about her on again off again boyfriend, that didn’t text her back yesterday.

You hadn’t really wanted to go out tonight. Work had been a disaster today, with Fern throwing up and Rachel trying to drink finger paint.

At 7 years old, you’d figured they’d be over that, but you’d clearly been wrong.

But Bella had insisted, and eventually, you’d given in. Mostly because she started talking about you needing to get laid to get over Carter, which was ridiculous, cause you weren’t even into Carter.

Sure, you’d started watching Flyers games, but that was just cause you were getting into hockey. Not the #79 goalie that you definitely did not watch all postgame interviews of, that’s for sure.

“Are you even listening to me?” Bella yells then, and you blink a few times.

“Huh?”

“I said, if James shows up, I’m not talking to him! I’m not even gonna give him the light of day.”

You nod, but you’re not expecting that attitude to last very long. Bella is a beautiful girl, and she has many guys that would love to take her out, but she always goes back to James, who’s a no-good lowlife that is wasting her precious time. You’ve told her, time and time again, to just go for one of the guys that line up for her attention, but she always ends up back in the same place.

You wish you got that kinda attention from guys, but then again, you don’t look like Bella. She’s slim, with legs going on for days, long blonde hair and to top it of, she’s ridiculously charming.

You’re, well, you. A short, stubby girl who gets on with kids better than she does with guys her own age. Normally, you’re not really bothered about your appearance, but you can’t help but wonder, if maybe you looked a little more like Bella, a guy like Carter would look at you differently.

“Where is your mind, Y/N?” Bella says at that moment, frowning at you. “You’re literally not reacting to anything I say.”

You sigh. “Sorry, Bella. What were you saying?”

Bella rolls her eyes, then sits up straighter and points to the corner. “I said, a couple cute guys just walked in, and I wanna know which one you’re shotgunning so I can go for one of the others.”

Highly doubting you’re gonna be interested in any of them, you turn around in the direction she’d been pointing, and as soon as your eyes catch the group of guys that just came in, you feel the blood drain from your face.

You’ve only been watching hockey for a week, but you’d gotten to know the Flyers pretty well, and you know two of those guys. That’s Nolan Patrick and Travis Konecny, walking into your bar. Would that mean…?

You search the rest of the bar, but Carter is nowhere to be seen. You can’t help but be disappointed, but then again, that would’ve been too good to be true.

“I’m not interested, you go for whoever,” you tell Bella, slamming back your vodka soda. “I might go home in a bit.”

Suddenly, you notice Bella’s eyes widen, and then a wicked smile crosses her face. “No, you’re not,” she says, and just when you’re about to ask her what the hell she’s talking about, she speaks again. “Hello, cute boy.”

“Uhm, hey?” The voice sounds unsure and is hard to hear over the music, but you recognize it any way, and turn around so fast you nearly topple off your barstool.

“Carter?”

Catching your eyes, some of the tension leaves his shoulders, and he smiles. “Hi, Y/N.”

“Oh, hi.” You narrow your eyes. “You’re not legally allowed to be here.”

“God, Y/N,” Bella brings out in horror, but Carter just laughs.

“Are you supposed to be here?”

“I’m 21.”

“I’m with them.” Carter motions to Nolan and Travis and some of the other guys, and you figure that would get him into any bar he’d like to get into. Plus, well, he’s Carter Hart. He can probably do whatever he wants anyway. He casually leans up against the bar, points at your empty glass. “What were you drinking?”

You can’t help but laugh. “You’re not gonna be able to buy me one. Vodka soda.”

Now, his eyes are glistening with mischief. “Wanna bet?”

A little apprehensively, you nod. “On what?”

Carter seems to think about it, but then Bella pipes up. “If he wins, you can’t go home until I say you can go home!”

That will probably be at 6 in the morning, so you aren’t particularly keen on that bet, but Carter has already agreed and is waving over the bartender.

“Hey, man,” he says lightly, and you can almost see the moment recognition hits the bartender.

“Oh, dude, big fan!” he brings out, and that’s the moment you lose the bet. “What can I get you? On the house, dude, thanks for keeping the Flyers in the race.”

“Thank you, that’s so nice of you,” Carter smiles. “Can I have a vodka soda and a lemon tonic?” Of course, the bartender gets his drinks without hesitation, and a smug smile occupies Carter’s face when he pushes the vodka soda towards you. “Told you so.”

“Nobody likes a bad winner,” you grumble, taking a sip of your drink, and Bella claps her hands in excitement.

“That means you’ve got to stay!” She hops off her barstool. “You remember that bet, lady. I’m gonna go talk to your friend’s friends over there.” She confidently walks over to Travis and Nolan, and you shoot Carter a look.

“Does she have a shot, or should I be a good friend and go save her?” you ask him, and he laughs.

“I’d say she has as good a shot with them as anyone. And besides, they’re good guys. She’ll have a fun night either way.” He sends you a lopsided smile, and you feel your heart speed up.

Stupid heart.

“Besides, if she’s there, you’re kinda forced to hang out with me, and I like that.”

As if you need to be forced into that.

“Now, tell me,” he continues. “If you’re 21, how are you a teacher?”

“I’m not. I’m an intern at the school, and I was just accompanying the class to their field trip because their teacher was ill.”

“So you’re not the brilliant mind that made them write me those cute letters, huh?” He’s smiling at the memory, and you notice once again how nice his smile is; it lights up his face and washes a wave of calm through your body.

“Nope, but I helped the kids write them. They were cute, no?”

Carter seems to ponder for a second, before speaking again. “Moving to a new city, away from your family and friends, is always hard, and combining that with the pressure of wanting to perform well and give my team a chance to win, it was a hard first few weeks here in Philly. Those letters honestly came at the best time. I needed a pick me up, and they made me so happy.” There’s something vulnerable in the way he speaks, and you want to reach out and hug him. You haven’t quite consumed enough alcohol to be that bold, but you’ve definitely consumed enough to do something you wouldn’t normally do, so you reach out and quickly squeeze his hand.

“That sounds like it sucks,” you tell him truthfully, and he smiles at you. 

“Not really. It’s been a dream come true. Just, all roses have thorns, you know? Sometimes you need to be reminded of the good parts of something.”

The fact that he hasn’t yanked his hand away from you gives you a boost of confidence and conversation flows easily after that, and somehow, your glass always seems to remain full. You hadn’t been planning to get drunk, but at the end of the night you nearly fall over when you get off your barstool, falling into Carter’s strong chest.

“You keep falling for me, huh?” Carter grins, locking his hands around your elbows to keep you steady. Of course, he hasn’t been drinking, and he’s infuriatingly sober, and infuriatingly handsome in the dim light of the bar.

“It’s not my fault I’m clumsy,” you tell him, and you don’t miss the irony of his statement. If only he knew how many times you’ve thought about kissing him, in the two hours that you’ve been talking, he wouldn’t joke about that. “I’m gonna find Bella, I don’t care about her stupid bet, I need to go home.”

If it was possible, you’d stay there all night, talking to Carter, but you’re drunk and tired and you have a feeling if you stay any longer, you’re just going to embarrass yourself more than you already have, and you’re gonna have to face him at school in a few days. 

Carter seems to think about something for a while, but his hands don’t let go of your arms, so you just stand there and wait for him to speak.

“Can I bring you home?” he says finally.

Now, despite your worries, the prospect of getting a little more time with him has you smiling so big your cheeks hurt. “I’d love that,” you say. “Let me find Bella to tell her I’m leaving.”

After finding your roommate and telling her that yes, Carter was bringing you home, but no, it wasn’t like that, you leave the bar behind. Carter’s hand is warm on the small of your back and you’re not sure if he’s touching you because he wants to or because he’s worried you’ll fall on your face, but either way you’re not complaining and you mourn the loss of contact when he helps you into his car.

You watch his side profile as he drives, leaning your head back against the headrest.

“I’m sorry you have to deal with driving my drunk ass home,” you mumble softly.

He laughs. “Don’t worry about it. You’re much better company than the boys. I’m kinda the default designated driver with them, cause I can’t drink anyway.”

You notice the compliment, feel yourself blushing, but try to ignore it. “That must be annoying.”

Carter shrugs. “It’s fine. I’m assuming they’ll return the favor when I’m 21.” Then, he seems to think about something. “Except Nolan. He’s a horrible driver, I’d much rather get an Uber.”

You laugh at that. “Tell me more about the team.”

And so, he does. He talks, and it’s comfortable and just nice, and way too soon he’s parking in front of your apartment and you’re taking your house keys out of your jacket.

You would ask him to come in, but you’re pretty sure that’s against some kind of contract you signed when you accepted the internship.

“Let me walk you to the door,” Carter offers, and somehow he manages to get out of the car and around to open your car door before you’ve even managed to reach for the handle.

You giggle, as you take his hand and let him help you out of the car. “Afraid I’ll fall again?”

“Nope,” he says, and he sounds honest and not ashamed at all, as he continues: “Just wanna spend as much time with you as possible.”

Your face surely is on fire, and you can’t help but stop him before you reach your front door. “Carter, I…” When you started speaking, you were fully intend on telling him that you have to remain professional, with him scheduled to go back to school to teach the kids a PE class, but now he’s staring at you intently with those big blue eyes and you don’t even remember how to talk, let alone what you were going to say.

“Yes, Y/N?” he mimics your tone of voice, and his lips curl into a lopsided smile. He almost looks like he knows what you were going to say, and knows also that just his eyes staring into yours was enough to completely derail your trail of thought, and it’s for some reason the most amusing thing to him that you can’t think straight when he’s near.

And, maybe it’s because you’re drunk or maybe it’s because you’re so, so weak for him, but suddenly you find yourself stumbling forward. He catches you easily, circling his arms around your waist, as if this is something he’s been doing for years, and then his lips are on yours and the feeling is dizzying, the rest of the world completely fading away.

It’s maybe the best kiss you’ve ever had, and yet, as soon as he pulls away, all the thoughts from before come back in 100 miles an hour, and you step back.

“I’m sorry,” you croak out, and his smile immediately fades, a frown appearing in return. “But we probably shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why?” he questions, trying to reach out to you, but you take another step back. “Cause, you’re gonna work with the kids, and it’s not professional, and I could lose my internship if they found out, and…”

“Wait,” Carter interrupts. “I wasn’t aware this wasn’t allowed?”

You swallow thickly, trying to regain your composure. You’re not technically sure it’s not allowed, and deep in your heart, you know losing your internship isn’t really what you’re scared of.

Guys like Carter just don’t go for girls like you, and you’re scared of getting hurt.

“I’m sorry,” you whimper again. To Carter’s credit, he takes it in stride, and sighs, before nodding.

“Okay,” he says. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at school, then?”

You nod, and watch as he sends you another weak smile, then stuffs his hands in his pockets and walks down your driveway, back to his car.

You’d known you were going down a treacherous slope with this one, but you hadn’t expected falling would hurt this much, this soon.

[roidespd-blog]

Chapter Twenty-Two : LA CAGE AUX FOLLES DOGMA

Dogma : the official system of principles or doctrines of a religion or the positions of a philosopher or philosophical school.

In 1973 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal, took place the first official performance of La Cage Aux Folles written by Jean Poiret, a vaudeville centering on confusion that ensues when the son of a night club owner and his main star (also a man) brings his female fiancée’s ultraconservative parents for dinner. An incredible success on stage, it went on the run for close to 2,000 performances. Five years later, La Cage Aux Folles was adapted into a movie directed by Edouard Molinaro. You want to talk about phenomenon ? It became the second-highest grossing movie in France that year, with 5,406,614 admissions and is till the 10th highest grossing french movie in the U.S. It was later adapted into a Broadway musical in 1983 with Harvey Fierstein at the helm (see article from June 2nd), and a remake was shot in 1996 directed by the great late Mike Nichols called The Birdcage.

I have to tell you that right now, I hate La Cage Aux Folles. It has little to no qualities in terms of production value and cinematic interest and most of all, it’s probably one of the most offensive movies in the History of cinema for LGBTQ+ people. But it was also a product of its time, enslaved by moral codes and infused by a lack of comprehension that is ours today. That’s what I want to talk about here. Representation. It ain’t pretty. Like Michel-Serrault-in-drag-not pretty.

HISTORICALLY VILE

The first representation of homosexuality in cinema was in 1895’s short silent film The Gay Brothers. We can’t really know for sure because 1. homosexuality was not common knowledge back then 2. Gay didn’t mean Fag in the late 19th century 3. two men dance together while a third plays the fiddle. Conclude for yourself. Anyway, the movie intends to be comical and makes a lot of jokes at the expense of its protagonists. Trend-starter, that one. As movie making was booming, increase awareness and presence of Queer people appeared in that media. Unfortunately, the rise of the Production Code (created in 1922) brought a lot of censorship to the community in its possibility of portrayal. Homosexuality was never explicitly mentioned and only in two ways : as a comical device or a villainous character who’s sickness, perversion and crimes are obvious to the audience. When it came to homosexuals, worldwide viewers had three options to explore : laughter, pity or fear. Early on, the girlish traits of the gay character and the stupidity of its desires were put front and center, whether in westerns (The Soilers) or in Charlie Chaplin movies (Behind the Screen). In historical movie term, the character would be referenced as the SISSY. Answering to the same principles as the whore, the dad or the saint figures, the SISSY had for purpose to give more masculine value to the hero (and to the viewer). But as the butt of the joke and in the constraints of the Production Code, he didn’t have a proper sexuality to act. An innocent childish fool. This convention continued with the talkies in the 20s and 30s as a subject that was partially shown but never discussed.

The few non-judgmental attempts at depicting Queerness were met with furious reactions and indescribable indignation from religious audiences, like when Marlene Dietrich kissed a woman on the lips in Morocco (1930), causing reinforcement of the Code.

For over two decades, scripts would pass through intense censorship and oppression, erasing homosexual overtones in novel adaptions or changing too direct gay references and replacing them with anti-semantic plot lines, more line with the time.

To override the code, directors had to be extremely smart. Alfred Hitchcock, a master of all movie crafts, was the best at this game. In 1948’s Rope, two roommates kill another man to finally know what it feels like, then host a dinner party in their apartment while the body is still there. The movie is fascinating in its “one-shot” concept and the script never mentions the possibility of a sexual relationship between the two but if attentive, you realize that they live in a one-bedroom apartment. Since you’ve spent the entirety of the movie in the living room, you know no one sleeps here. So. They gay. They’re also despicable murderers. Yep. FEAR factor.

I have so many more examples of this but let’s fast forward to the late 50s and the end of the Production Code’s dominance on Hollywood. 1959’s Some Like it Hot depicts two male protagonists pretending to be women who join a musical touring band. Straight people dressed in woman’s clothes. Come on, moviegoers, time to LAUGH. That movie gets a pass because Billy Wilder is a genius.

Then you have Spartacus (1960) and that homo-erotic relationship between the protagonist and its servant. Still underlined as hell but still. Then not much else. Until…

WE GOT FUCKED (AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY)

In the States, The Boys in the Band (1970) shook things for good (and, in a lesser way, The Producers, 1968). A year after the Stonewall Riots, while homosexuality was still considered a mental illness, This play adaptation’s portraying of nine homosexuals (eight, if you’re really delusional) was revolutionary. But some of their characterizations (I’m looking at you, Emory) and the way they tear each other apart as sure-to-be closeted monsters are quite hard to watch. In a way, they are still crazy sissies. Audience, PITY those homosexual fools.

And then, La Cage aux Folles. Although France made some attempts at talking about homosexuality without obeying to the social et moral duties of the era with La Nouvelle Vague (Amitiés Particulières, 1964), it was Molinaro’s popular success that sealed audiences’ views on gay people in this brand new era.

By depicting Zaza (Michel Serrault) in such a flamboyant way, combining homosexuality, drag queens, transvestites and transgender people into one, this movie, with its truly international success, wrote unintentionally a new rulebook about what a homosexual is deemed acceptable on screen. Such rule would be followed for decades to come. Do you now understand the dogma definition at the beginning of the article? I’m a smart cookie, you know.

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES DOGMA

For a gay character to be portrayed in a major motion picture and thus be accepted by audiences, he has to : 1. Be recognizable from the straight characters, as not to confuse the audience. 2. Be funny and over the top, so that the audience don’t take offense to its immorality. 3. Reassure male audiences on their true masculinity with ridiculous ways to act, walk, talk and live. 4. If your movie embraces the gay character’s view at some point, be sure to let him make all the compromises in the world so that the audience knows that HE knows that what he is doing is ‘peculiar’ and ‘wrong’ 5. Make fun OF him as much as possible. And pretend you’re having fun WITH him. PS. Don’t forget, glitter and fun mockery.

Zaza screams his lungs out for nothing and everything. Sorry, “her” lungs out, since SHE only uses the female pronoun to talk about HERself. She performs in a gay cabaret, is clearly depicted as the female counterpart of the relationship (because you need to apply binary concepts no matter what), decides to dress as a woman to meet the conservative in-laws for the first time. Zaza is the new post-gay liberation movement acceptable SISSY. Zaza is also a plague for the movement.

Michel Serrault, as talented of an actor as he was, doomed us for years to come by transposing a fantastic stage character into a movie ready to be assimilated by millions. Media is power. If they say something has to be this or that, the audience will follow, especially in a time when gay people weren’t equals in rights or ready to mingle with the general population. Critics embraced it. It was nominated for three Oscars. Serrault won Best Actor at the Césars. The Golden Globes deemed it the Best Foreign Film of that year. Talk about Media approval. We were fucked.

THE MINORITY AFTERTHOUGHT

The greatest decade in cinema (in my opinion) saw the portrayal of a couple of… interesting gay characters. The Last Picture Show (1971), Cabaret (1972) and its flamboyant Maître des Lieux. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) shocked audiences with a protagonist in a relationship with another man. Unfortunately, that other man is a SISSY who wants to have Reassignment Surgery in no way portrayed in a positive light. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) gave a shitload of screen time to Queer characters, but (SPOILER ALERT) he is an alien from another planet, a freak and the movie became a cult classic with time, it was not a studio film. In television, gay people are nowhere to be found. Homosexuality is barely getting talked about in the news. The Mary Tyler Moore Show has Mary go on a date with a man who turns out to be gay. It’s funny. So wacky. Not much else. I found a couple of shows from the 80s with LGBT plot lines .(Thirtysomething! Thirtysomething!) but the article was already way too long. Make your own damn research !

NOT THAT KIND OF SISSY

To my recollection, the first time a homosexual person was portrayed in a truly positive light was in Jonathan Demme’s Philadelphia. The struggle of a HIV-positive man seeking justice after he was fired. Tom Hanks won his first Oscar. Bruce Springsteen also won for his incredible song “Streets of Philadelphia”. I mean, it was still about pity lots of ways but the humanity in which the character is shown is outstanding. As Hanks puts it “Love is spelled with the same four letters”.

The 90s saw a biggest variety of Queer characters portrayed in american cinema. The Crying Game. Philadelphia. Jeffrey. Showgirls. My Best Friend’s Wedding. To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. Most of them offensive in terms of clichés (because… written by cis straight folks ? YEP). but a welcome demonstration of our colors.

Australian classic The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) stays a example on how to do proper representation without removing the potential ridiculousness of Queer existence.

At the dawn of the new millennium, independent cinema offered us Boys Don’t Cry (1999), the true story of Brandon Teena, a trans man who tried to live his authentic life and got killed for it. More than putting Hilary Swank on the map (and an Oscar is her hands), it was unique in the sense that the queer protagonist wasn’t a joke, wasn’t scary and did not inspire pity. He was a strong man, a tuff spirit and a model for trans generations to follow.

UNAPOLOGETICALLY QUEER

Boys Don’t Cry was followed by a series of incredible movies and characters not afraid to be as Queer, as proud and as strong as Brandon Teena. Before Night Falls (2000), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001), The Hours(2002), Mysterious Skin (2004), Breakfast on Pluto (2005), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), Transamerica (2005), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Kaboom(2010), Blue is the Warmest Color (2013), Dallas Buyers Club (2013), Pride (2014), The Imitation Game (2014), The Way He Looks (2014), Carol (2014), Tangerine (2015), Moonlight (2016), Call Me By Your Name(2017), A Fantastic Woman (2017), Disobedience (2017), Battle of the Sexes (2017), The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018), Love, Simon(2018), Rocketman (2019). Even when the gay character is used as a tool for jokes, modern cinema proved that it can be done without making fun of the gay life style, as in Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010).

They are still mistakes along the way. Bohemian Rhapsody. Oh fucking Bohemian Rhapsody. That movie is an abomination. First (and most importantly here), its depiction of Mercury’s sexuality is of poor-taste, even less when it comes to talk about his HIV/AIDS diagnosis. Then, it was directed by a serial rapist. Finally, it’s just a awful movie which uses nostalgia as a way to convince you that you are watching something great. And IT WON 4 ACADEMY AWARDS ! FUCK. MY. LIFE.

(To all my homies who know me, off course I was going to talk about Bohemian Rhapsody at some point. I’ll take that motherfucking cinematic slap in the face to the grave).

DAWN OF A NEW GAY ?

The question is simple : has visual media abandoned the dogma of La Cage Aux Folles ? Harder answer. Yes and No.

NO, because if movies like Isn’t It Romantic (2019) in which a gay character is (even purposely) can be the protagonist’s cliché best friend still exist, it means that movies are still no over that phase of its education. Also, if someone you barely know still ask you basic offensive questions about your sexuality, it means that we’re definitely still basically fucked. Remember, media is power.

And YES, in a way, this abominable dogma is long gone thanks to TV. I know, right ? Cinema’s little bastard brother which didn’t want to talk about homosexuality in the 70s AND 80s ? One of the first shows to depict homosexuality on a regular basis was HBO’s Oz. Thank you, cable. In between stabbings, sex violence and vicious murders, there was a serious exploration of the male sexuality. Then came the 1998–1999 broadcast television season and its one-two punch. It followed Ellen’s Puppy episode (which we covered in the June 8th article).

On September 21st, 1998, Will & Grace premiered its first episode. And yes, today, we view it as a very narrow view on homosexuality. But think about it in the context of 1998. It’s a show with two of its leads unapologetically openly gay males (and a ageless woman ready to go either way). Each episode of the show was about homosexuality, and some jewish themes thanks to Grace, television’s number one fag hag. And shit, this show was funny until season 6. Like, real funny. Even the lost-in-time reboot has some redeeming qualities. Finally, on February 17, 1999, the character of Jack introduced at the beginning of the second season of Dawson’s Creek, came out as gay. Don’t underestimate the power of teens. If they’re in on it, we all are. They were woke before “woke” was a thing.

That was just the beginning.

Queer as Folk (UK and US) and The L Word became pioneers of the LGBT TV revolution.

The Office’s Oscar Martinez came out in the season three premiere (2006), to limited clichés on its part. Ugly Betty (2006–2010) was the gayest show of the 2010s. By 2009, Glee ignored the window other shows created and busted the door wild open with at least 8 regular Queer characters. That same year, Modern Family introduced us to a very stable gay couple. 2011 saw the rise and consecration (in my mind) of Max Blum on Happy Endings, the ultimate cliché-avoider of the Queer community — so not a cliché that I identify more with his flaws as a man than as a gay man. 2012’s The New Normal failed at gaining the attention it deserved. Partners (2012) failed as well, but it kind of deserved it. Brooklyn Nine Nine did something no one else did before : talk about bisexuality without making a big deal about it. Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Once and Again, Six Feet Under, The Wire, Angels in America, Desperate Housewives, Battlestar Galactica, Grey’s Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, Skins, Greek, True Blood, The Good Wife, United States of Tara, Shameless, American Horror Story, Please Like Me, Game of Thrones, Girls, Smash, Broad City, Orange is the New Black, Grace and Frankie, The Fosters, Superstore, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Orphan Black, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Transparent, Looking, The Real O’Neals, Friends From College, Sense8, One Day at a Time, This is Us, The OA, Champions, Dear White People, The Handmaid’s Tale, Pose, The Good Fight, Killing Eve, American Crime Story, The Haunting of Hill House, Now Apocalypse, Gentleman Jack, Years and Years.

They all, in small or big ways, contributed to what the situation is today. Something closer to reality, debunked of clichés. It’s a golden age to be Queer on TV.

I’ll say it a third and final time. MEDIA IS POWER. A couple of years ago, I screened my end-of-study movie called Faggot (and Other Semantics) to my schoolmates and a few faculty members. The movie was about a gay dude trying to figure out who he was as a gay man (not a coming out but a coming in story) — it was very well received. At the end of the day, the tech guy who put the movie on signaled me to come and see him. I did. He shook my hand and said ‘I didn’t know I could identify with a gay man but I did”. We’re talking about a straight single kinda annoying thirty year-old man. I wanted to slap him in the face. I kept thinking about what he told me thought. I get it now. A window opened (even for a second) in his mind because a piece of Art took the time to represent someone “different” while using universal tropes. And without making fun of the situation. It was an unwanted validation that I now fully accept. That’s why La Cage Aux Folles is wrong and its dogma can fuck off. Queer people have a voice now in the industry and are able to represent.

Queer people, REPRESENT.

[flauntpage]

Feeling the Pocket and “60/40” Safety – A Look at the Falcons/Eagles Matchup

I like to wait for Doug Pederson and his coordinators to do their midweek press conferences before writing these video breakdowns, because you usually get at least a few quotes worth adding to the story.

This playoff week, I didn’t think we’d get much at all, and while Doug was fairly mum on Tuesday, Jim Schwartz and Frank Reich actually had some interesting things to say about the Falcons, who are favored to beat the Birds at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday afternoon.

I don’t know how much stock the average fan places in prior matchups, but I think last year’s November game between these squads is worth a quick look, considering the fact that Atlanta isn’t entirely different, at least personnel-wise, since the Eagles’ 24-15 win.

Philadelphia controlled the clock in that game by a margin of 38:10 to 21:50 on the strength of a 208-yard rushing effort. Ryan Mathews gashed the Falcons for 109 yards, Wendell Smallwood added 70, and the Birds finished with close to a 50/50 split in run/pass ratio. That didn’t happen often in 2016.

Defensively, Julio Jones got his yards, with 135 on 10 receptions, but didn’t find the end zone. The defense blitzed early and often, keeping Matt Ryan to a line of 18-33, 267 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Atlanta finished just 2 for 11 on third down with an average to-go distance of 9.9. They logged fewer than 20 points for the only time that season.

The only real blemish on an otherwise impressive win was a 76-yard touchdown reception by Taylor Gabriel, who torched Leodis McKelvin on the dreaded double-move:

The Eagles eventually triumphed in the same way that Atlanta beat Los Angeles last weekend – control the clock, run the ball, and win the auxiliary defensive battles that pile up to make a difference.

  Atlanta’s defense

It’s an excellent unit that finished ninth in total D this season.

Here’s a snap-shot of their defensive rankings:

points per game – 19.7 (8th)

pass YPG – 214.3 (12th)

rush YPG – 104.9 (9th)

sacks – 24 (tied for 27th)

interceptions – 12 (tied for 18th)

forced fumbles – 14 (tied for 13th)

They are right on the edge of the top-ten in yardage categories, but they don’t have an elite pass rush and they are middle of the pack in takeaways.

That’s the product of a smaller and faster unit, which was highlighted by both Pederson and Reich this week:

Q. The Falcons defense over the last six games, only given up like 16 points a game. What are you seeing about how well they are playing and why they are playing so well? (John Clark) 

DOUG PEDERSON: I’ll tell you, this defense, it’s much improved over the course of the season. They are fast. You saw it the other day against the Rams. They are fast. They are flying to the football. Secondary is aggressive. Guys know how to cover. A lot of single-high (safety). They are going to challenge our receivers and that’s what you’re seeing on tape. It’s a quality defense, but that’s what we expect this time of year.

Q. When you watch the Falcons’ tape, what stands out right away? (Jeff McLane) 

FRANK REICH: I think what stands out with watching their tape is that their defense is playing very fast and very aggressive. I think obviously they had a tremendous year as a team last year. I think their defense has stepped it up a notch, even from last year, playing fast and playing aggressive.

Here’s a typical play from last week’s game, with the Falcons in cover three using the single-high safety that Pederson mentioned:

They drop three, Jared Goff checks down to Todd Gurley, and Brian Poole makes a really nice open-field tackle.

Gurley only caught four balls for 10 yards last Saturday, which was well, well below his season average.

The Falcons’ scheme most resembles what San Diego and Seattle do. The Eagles played both of those teams this year and likely went back to that game film in preparation for this week.

One of the concepts that makes this specific defense unique is the idea of the “60/40” safety, which Reich explained:

“I think there’s similarities in all those teams that have done that and played that. Definitely similarities there. Although it does express itself slightly different and that’s based on the personnel. And that’s why there’s, say, three or four factors that go into how it expresses itself and how they play their, what a lot of people refer to as their 60/40 safety, when normally in a three-deep zone the free safety is playing right in the middle of the field.

This defense, one of the trademarks of it, the free safety is usually outside the hash and he’s in the 60/40 range, you know what I’m saying? And then how they cover the weak hook and who is covering the weak hook and how they can insert different bodies there. Each coordinator handles that different. We look at that, we know, is it the linebacker, is it a nickel back, is it a safety, how do they do it, who is the zone drop defender, who is the carry defender?”

The play above is a perfect example of that, with safety Ricardo Allen lined up on the right hash, instead of the middle of the field. He’s the 60/40 safety. The “weak hook” that Reich mentions is circled below, which is basically a soft spot inside the zone that an outside linebacker, strong safety, or nickel corner is accountable for:

That’s basically their bread and butter right there. They have a fast secondary and lean on that as a strength. Not unlike the Eagles, they’re willing to allow short passes and rely on their tracking and tackling to limit YAC gains. They really don’t show much else defensively. They don’t disguise a ton of coverage. Instead, they challenge teams to beat them at their own game, rather than changing too much of what they do.

Here’s Doug Pederson on that concept:

“You know where they are going to be. That’s the thing with this defense. They are going to line up and show you exactly — I mean, that’s the way they play. They play with a lot of confidence. It’s an aggressive style. It’s fast flow and they are not going to pull any punches. They are not going to try to trick you or do anything to get in your head or anything like that. It’s just line up and try to beat us.

When the Seahawks are healthy it’s a very similar defensive scheme. So we feel like we’ve kind of played this defense a little bit already this season. But at the same time, [there is a] different set of challenges. These guys are healthy and they are playing good. But having played this scheme already guys are familiar with it, yes.”

And Frank Reich with some elaboration:

“Everybody knows this defensive scheme is a middle-field, closed, zone defense. They are playing a little bit more man coverage. Sometimes you get to the playoffs and as things ramp up, you tend to tighten down your coverage a little bit, maybe play a little bit more man coverage. That’s common. That’s normal.

So you go in and if you look at their tape throughout the year, they may be 75 percent zone on first and second down in ‘these’ situations, and then maybe as it gets down into the playoffs, it just tightens up a little bit, a little bit more man coverage. I’ve just seen that over and over again through the years.”

Los Angeles started to find some rhythm in the second half, with better protection affording Goff some time to hit the soft spots on either side of the safety.

On this play, they were able to take advantage of the 60/40 concept by putting together a little bit of a wheel route (with an illegal pick), scooting Cooper Kupp towards that weak side and away from Keanu Neal:

When you freeze it, you see the weak side of the safety is open. Atlanta is playing up on the receivers here, which allows Robert Woods to sneak the pick in there and free up his teammate:

That’s what Nick Foles is up against this weekend.

I think it makes the most sense for the Eagles to establish the running game early instead of asking an out-of-form quarterback to do too much in the passing game. The Falcons allowed 7.2 average yards on 16 rushes, with Gurley cresting the 100 mark, so Los Angeles did do some damage on the ground. The problem was that they were playing from behind, lost the time of possession battle, and ended up throwing it 45 times for a ridiculous 75/25 pass/run split. That’s the kind of number that would make Andy Reid proud.

It’s critical that they keep the cart in front of the horse, get Jay Ajayi and LeGarrette Blount going, and protect Nick Foles. The Falcons’ biggest success last week was asserting themselves early on the strength of a +2 turnover margin, and forcing Los Angeles to make the adjustments instead.

  Atlanta’s offense

There really isn’t a ton to talk about here, but this is how the Falcons finished offensively in 2017:

points per game – 22.1 (15th)

yards per game – 364.8 (8th)

passing YPG – 249.4 (8th)

rushing YPG – 225.4 (13th)

first downs – 330 (9th)

third down percentage – 44.7 (1st)

They move the ball well enough and convert third downs at a league-high clip, but Matt Ryan’s numbers were down in 2017 and it just never felt like this offense was operating at full capacity. They were second in the NFL in yards per drive but 7th in points per drive, and their red zone scoring was bottom-15 overall. Julio Jones was 2nd in receiving yards but only had three touchdowns.

I mentioned that the Falcons killed LA in time of possession last weekend, but that wasn’t necessarily a theme in 2017. Even though they run the ball well with Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, Atlanta finished 12th with an average of 30:17 TOP per game. The Eagles were first with 32:41 and the Vikings second at 32:26, which says a bit about their running games, but probably more about the ability of great defenses to get off the field.

The takeaway, then, is that Atlanta is a solid offense that probably was never going to replicate what it did during last year’s Super Bowl run. It doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous, with NFL fans and media knowing that what they were capable of doing it they ever did begin to fire on all cylinders. More than the defense, this unit is very similar to what the Eagles faced last season.

There weren’t a ton of quotes relative to the Falcon offense this week, but this one from Jim Schwartz stood out:

Q. Matt Ryan did a good job the last game of escaping the pass rush by stepping up. Will it be more important to have a push up the middle in the pass rush? (Nick Fierro)

JIM SCHWARTZ: Yeah, push up the middle is huge because it keeps your outside pass rushers alive. So it’s always important to us. I think Matt Ryan goes a little bit under the radar as far as having escape-ability.

People really don’t think of him the same way that you would think obviously of some of the more mobile quarterbacks but he’s good at feeling spots in the pocket and being able to step up and slide one way or slide another. He scrambled for a couple big first downs late this season.

It’s always something that we have to do, No. 1, putting pressure on the quarterback, but also putting pressure on that keeps everybody alive, so to speak. You can have the great pass rush outside, [but] if the quarterback can step up, you are not going to get him. You can have great inside pass rush; if you don’t have any edge pressure, he can escape outside. It’s a four-man group when it comes to four-man rush; it’s a five- or six-man group when it comes to blitz. Every man needs to do his job for it to be effective.

Calling Fletcher Cox and Tim Jernigan…

Calling Fletcher Cox and Tim Jernigan…

That’s your territory.

Not only is the Birds’ interior defense going to have to be stout against the duo of Freeman and Coleman, but they have to win against a decent, but ultimately inferior offensive line.

Back to the film room, for an example of Ryan stepping into the pocket:

Doesn’t look like much, but that’s great stuff on a third and 3 to shrug off the collapse, keep his footing, and dink that ball for a first down. He did that out of an empty set without an extra blocker beside him.

When Schwartz says Ryan is good at “feeling spots in the pocket,” that’s what he’s talking about. He’s never going to kill you on the ground, but he does a nice job of showing situational awareness, which is a big reason for Atlanta’s third-down success this season.

Ultimately, I think this game is more about how the Eagles’ offense attacks a smaller and faster defense. I don’t see the Birds having too many problems with the Falcons running game. It’s certainly a better matchup than dealing with Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram, who are a bit more dynamic than the Falcon’s pair (think pass catching). And Julio Jones will get his yards against Ronald Darby or Jalen Mills, it’s just up to the other cornerback to keep Mohamed Sanu in check.

Nick Foles is the biggest question mark for Saturday afternoon, and if you establish the running game early and control the clock, that’s less time he’ll have to spend throwing against the Falcons’ tricky zonal scheme.

Feeling the Pocket and “60/40” Safety – A Look at the Falcons/Eagles Matchup published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

[auburnfamilynews]

Another home SEC game means another big recruiting weekend for Auburn.

A late recruiting article is better than none right?

Auburn once again plays host to an SEC team from Mississippi this weekend and will once again have a number of top 2018, 2019 and 2020 prospects on campus. Last weekend, the Tigers hosted some big time recruits who were able to witness in person Auburn’s beatdown of Dan Mullen’s Bulldogs. Benjamin Wolk over at SECCountry put together a great recap of last week’s visitors including two 2019 prospects that have the Tigers on top.

This week the list might be even more impressive. Based off reports from 247, SECCountry and Twitter, here’s who is expected on the Plains this weekend.

4* OG Trey HIll

4* WR Justyn Ross

4* QB Joey Gatewood (Auburn Commit)

4* ATH Harold Joiner

4* WR Seth Williams

4* DT Coynis Miller

4* WR Anthony Schwartz

4* RB Asa Martin (Auburn Commit)

4* S Quindarious Monday (Auburn Commit)

4* CB Saivion Smith (LSU Transfer)

4* LB Michael Harris (Auburn Commit)

4* Buck Richard Jibunor

3* DE Andres Fox

3* OL Jalil Irvin (Auburn Commit)

3* DL Daquan Newkirk (Auburn Commit)

3* WR Shedrick Jackson (Auburn Commit)

3* OL Kameron Stutts (Auburn Commit)

3* ATH Josh Marsh (Auburn Commit)

NR QB AJ Curry

2019 5* C Clay Webb

2019 4* QB Bo Nix

2019 4* LB King Mwikuta

2019 4* RB Jerrion Ealy

2019 C Louis Smith

2019 DB Donovan Curry

2020 RB Mecose Todd

2020 DE Andy Boykin

For the second straight weekend the #1 player in the state of Alabama, Justyn Ross, will be in Jordan-Hare Stadium. More than likely, Auburn is chasing Clemson right now for the big bodied WR but Auburn’s recent improvement in the passing game should help the orange and blue Tigers stay in the race.

Possibly the biggest visitor of the day will be Coynis Miller. The outstanding defensive lineman will announce his commitment next weekend and it wasn’t completely clear which school he would visit Saturday. The Florida Gators are still his public leaders but Auburn is supposedly a very close 2nd. The Gators were working hard to get Miller back down to Gainesville on an official visit for the LSU game. Instead, the Birmingham native will travel to the Plains on an unofficial visit. Miller is probably Auburn’s top defensive target right now and Auburn would love nothing more than to land his commitment next weekend. Expect Auburn commits Asa Martin and Joey Gatewood to spend a lot of time recruiting the big man. Martin and Miller specifically are close friends. I still think he picks Auburn as of today and him visiting this weekend only gives me more confidence in that prediction.

There’s another big man on campus as well who decided to travel to Auburn instead of going to a “bigger game”. Trey Hill is Auburn’s top remaining OL target. The big man was long considered an UGA lean but recently it sounds like Auburn and Florida State have made a major push. With the Noles facing Miami this weekend it’s a pretty positive sign that Hill chose to visit Auburn instead Tallahassee. I admit that I lean posibarner but I really like Auburn’s chances with Hill right now, especially if Auburn continues to put together a strong season.

Finally, keep an eye on former 5* LSU signee and now the top rated JUCO CB prospect, Saivion Smith, who is expected to visit today with his teammate and Auburn commit Daquan Newkirk. The Tigers want to sign at least one cornerback and Smith has emerged as a top target for that position. Right now, Alabama is considered the team to beat and honestly it might be hard to overtop them. However, whenever a kid visits you always got a shot. If Auburn can impress him today they might be able to make a run for the 6’1” 175 lb DB. He has immediate impact potential.

I don’t expect any commitments this week but if there were someone to pull the trigger the two names to watch are Richard Jibunor and Seth Williams. Jibunor has long been on commit watch for the Tigers but the Florida Gators are making a big push. I expect Auburn puts on the full court press this weekend and would love to lock him down today if possible though I expect he holds off on any decisions. Williams is a guy the Tigers have done an outstanding job recruiting and have emerged as his leader. Today could be a great opportunity to showcase Auburn’s rejuvenated passing offense and could possibly convince him to pull that trigger earlier than expected. I don’t expect either to commit today but definitely two guys to keep an eye on.

Justin Fields Commitment

If you haven’t heard by now, 5* QB Justin Fields committed to the Georgia Bulldogs yesterday. When Fields first decommitted, Auburn was considered one of the top threats at landing the stud QB’s signature. However, as time passed, the Tigers began to fall behind in the race as Kirby Smart and company made a big time push, ultimately snagging the #1 overall player.

It stinks to lose out on a top talent but this was far from a must have kid for Auburn. The Tigers already have a big time QB committed in 4* Joey Gatewood who is putting together a ridiculous senior season. The longtime AU commit reaffirmed he’s all AU yesterday afternoon.

Been committed for 3 years & not changing #WarEagle ..

— Joey Gatewood (@Joey1gatewood) October 6, 2017

The real question moving forward is will Auburn take a second QB? It’s far from certain though I imagine the coaching staff would like to have 4 guys on scholarship next year. Keep an eye on AJ Curry who is having a breakout senior year and will be on campus this weekend. There’s also 3* Steven Krajewski who camped at Auburn over the summer and whose coach is close with Chip Lindsey. Also guys like 3* James Foster (Missouri Commit), 3* Cordell Littlejohn (former Illinois Commit) and 4* Jarren Williams (Kentucky Commit) are all names to file away.

Bottom line is while seeing an elite player like Fields go to a rival isn’t fun, the Tigers should be just fine moving forward. Gatewood gives the Tigers a kid with tremendous upside and the potential to have just as dynamic a career as Fields. Over the next few months we should get a better feel for if the Tigers plan to add a 2nd QB or not.

War Eagle!

from College and Magnolia http://bit.ly/2y1YNPj

[flauntpage]

Limousine Riding Son of a Gun! Seven Takeaways from Flyers 5, Panthers 1

How do I put this?…

I’ll make it simple – the Flyers are a pretty good hockey team.

Yes, it’s only six games, so I’m not jumping to any conclusions, but this team hasn’t had an extended lull in any of its six games. Not the one where they were shut out in Los Angeles. Not the one were Dave Hakstol gave the game to Nashville with a ridiculous challenge. Not even the opening minutes of last night’s game against Florida, one they won handily 5-1.

That’s the most impressive thing. They were coming off an emotional high with a blowout win over a heated rival and welcoming in a Florida team that doesn’t even register on the excitement meter.

Never mind the fact that the Panthers are a team that likes to shoot the puck, from all over the ice, at all times. They came into the game averaging 42 shots on goal. That’s an absurd number.

So, it was a ripe scenario for a letdown.

Except these Flyers don’t appear to be that kind of team anymore.

That doesn’t mean they won’t have a letdown at some point. It doesn’t mean there won’t be a losing streak somewhere. It doesn’t mean they are being labeled a playoff team with 76 games still to play.

None of that.

What it means, though, is that it’s a team that is seeing positive results from a culture and style of play we aren’t used to, and as a result, will be on the right side of the scoreboard more frequently than the wrong side.

Barring injury, you can book that and say you heard it here first.

Wait… there was an injury to a key player in the win against Florida? What? Sigh… put the predictions on ice for a bit.

Instead… to the takeaways.

1) Neuvirth

Goaltending controversy commencing in 3…2…1….

Hey Hak,

Start Neuvy Thursday

— Matt Gaffney (@mgaffney542) October 18, 2017

Please start Neuvy Thursday

— #HakstolOut (@215faithful) October 18, 2017

Back to Neuvy on Thursday please. #Flyers #FlyersTalk

— Anthony Coppola (@AVCoppola) October 18, 2017

Neuvy earned another start IMO. Rebound control wasn’t great but he was effective overall.

— Jake (@J_Fahringer) October 18, 2017

Hey, at least Jake offered some critical analysis, so let’s start there…

Michal Neuvirth played a very good game. He made 40 saves to pick up his second win. He would have had a shutout were it not for the NHL officiating mandate that is the scourge of the league every October (see No. 6 below).

He could arguably be considered the player of the game – heck, his own teammates crowned him as such, although he missed the opportunity to show the world how stylin’ and profilin’ he was (See No. 7 below).

Still, it took Neuvirth a period to look comfortable.

The opening period was a little hairy.

Neuvirth's rebound control has been… suspect so far tonight.

— AntSanPhilly (@AntSanPhilly) October 17, 2017

Yeah… he should be kicking them to the corner… instead they're staying right there.

— AntSanPhilly (@AntSanPhilly) October 17, 2017

As you can see by the timestamp, it was late in the first period when Jason Myrtetus from 97.5 the Fanatic (and the excellent Stick to Hockey Podcast) and I were seeing Neuvirth struggle with his rebound control.

Too many shots hit him and then sat tantalizingly in front of the net. Florida couldn’t cash in, but if you were going to beat Neuvirth it was either going to be then, or late in the game when the referees decided to give out penalties like they were Oprah:

You get a slash, And you get a slash, slashing for everyone!

— andrew panaccio (@nacho11083) October 18, 2017

Fortunately, the Flyers got out of the opening period scoreless. They seemed to sleepwalk through the first 10 minutes (as expected), but righted themselves quickly enough to start to take over the game with some good power play chances that were stopped by Roberto Luongo, who looked 10 years younger in the opening period.

But then in the second period, things came together nicely for the Flyers. Not only did they score four goals, to blow open the game, but they were backstopped and buoyed by some excellent goaltending by Neuvirth:

A close call, but good save by Neuvirth and #Flyers. @AntSanPhilly @CrossingBroad http://pic.twitter.com/DOlREj8FLs

— Tyler Trumbauer (@tylertrumbauer) October 18, 2017

Neuvirth is looking good tonight. Another good save. @CrossingBroad @AntSanPhilly http://pic.twitter.com/XlU396uLID

— Tyler Trumbauer (@tylertrumbauer) October 18, 2017

Here’s the thing with Neuvirth – he’s a streaky goaltender. When he’s on, he’s unreal. When he’s off, he’s… well… bad.

But, like any streaky goalie, he “competes.” That’s coach or management slang for a guy who might not have the best skill set, but who, from time to time, shines with his play, maybe even excels to the point where he is really good for an extended period of time.

Know who else “competed” a lot in goal for the Flyers? Antero Nittymaki.

And before you think I’m crazy to compare the two, look at their career numbers. Yes, Neuvirth has a slightly better career save percentage (.912 to .902 for Niitty) and goals against average (2.66 vs. 2.92), so he’s definitely the “better” goalie of the two. But Niittymaki played in only four more games than Neuvirth – with one season as the starting goalie on the worst Flyers team in it’s 51-year history – and yet their records are almost identical: (Neuvirth 96-83-22; Niittymaki 95-86-31).

What I’m getting at with this is a message to pump the brakes on Neuvirth as the go-to goalie. Yes, he’s looked good in two starts where as Brian Elliott has been just OK in four. But the fact is, the Flyers are going to have a pretty regular rotation and it should amount to somewhere close to 60-40 in favor of Elliott, barring injury – and that’s probably the way it should be without a bonafide, All-Star caliber goalie at your disposal.

I’d expect they split the Predators and Oilers games. I don’t know which way Dave Hakstol is leaning, but he did start Elliott against the Predators in Nashville last week, despite Neuvirth having good numbers against them. So maybe, that’s an indicator.

Or maybe it isn’t.

Either way, it’s way too early to start a goalie controversy. Let’s let these guys play some before we start calling for who should be starting.

  2) Train derailment?

It was a weird play. It didn’t seem like anything happened. Here… see for yourself:

Wayne Simmonds left the game after this play. He has a lower-body injury and will be re-evaluated tomorrow – https://t.co/7IU6h0lM1H http://pic.twitter.com/KEdpX4phId

— Sons of Penn (@SonsofPenn) October 18, 2017

If anything, he was unexpectedly half-spun by Alexsander Barkov, but the contact was light. I happened to be watching Simmonds at the time and he went straight to the bench.

Within a couple of minutes, he was hobbling down the tunnel with the trainer in tow. He never returned to the game.

Afterwards, GM Ron Hextall released a statement through the PR staff saying Simmonds had a lower-body injury and was removed from the game for precautionary reasons and that more details would come in the next day or two.

That last part is the most critical part of the statement – a day or two.

It means, they don’t know enough about the injury yet.

It could be nothing. It could be minor and just be something to keep an eye on. Or it could be something more and they need tests to confirm severity.

I hear that it could be two days for the update, and here’s what I immediately think – they need today for an MRI.

If the MRI comes back clean, we probably get an update at some point today saying he’s day-to-day with a lower body injury.

If the MRI comes back and shows an injury, we don’t get a real update until tomorrow so the Flyers can figure out what they are going to do roster-wise.

Either way, this was the dampener on a pretty strong team game for the Flyers, and they have to hope it’s nothing serious, because losing Simmonds for any length of time is a big blow on several levels.

  3) It’s a Fine, Fine line

Yes, I could be talking about the Flyers’ top offensive trio. After all, they all registered points again. Couturier scored:

Sean Couturier makes it 1-0 #Flyers early in the 2nd period. @AntSanPhilly @CrossingBroad http://pic.twitter.com/uHoQdBJmHk

— Tyler Trumbauer (@tylertrumbauer) October 18, 2017

That was a nifty little touch pass from Voracek.

And Giroux had a goal and an assist. Voracek now has 10 assists, which has him tied for second in the NHL behind Washington’s Evgeny Kuznetsov and for fifth in scoring in the league, just two points behind Tampa Bay’s Stephen Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov (who became just the second player in the last 30 years to score a goal in seven straight games last night – which is pretty sick).

Voracek could have gotten as high as third if he would have scored into the empty net last night instead of clanging it off the crossbar, but that first goal of the season for Jake continues to elude him.

Giroux is just one point behind Voracek, tied for ninth in the NHL in scoring. Meanwhile, he and Couturier each have four goals through six games. They both scored their fourth goal last season in the same game – Game No. 14. So, they’re ahead of pace, too.

But I want to show how fine the line is between being a goat and a hero in hockey.

It happens all the time. Hockey is a game of mistakes and the teams that win usually capitalize on more of them than the team that doesn’t.

Sometimes, though, things just go your way:

Giroux makes it 3-0 #Flyers as he scores on breakaway @CrossingBroad @AntSanPhilly http://pic.twitter.com/RZdPqY7oYy

— Tyler Trumbauer (@tylertrumbauer) October 18, 2017

The outlet pass from Valtteri Filppula to Giroux for this breakaway goal was great. And Giroux’s shot was fierce.

But here’s the thing… this was a power play goal. You hardly ever get a breakaway on a power play…. was Florida that inept that they allowed this to happen?

Not really. I mean, the defense probably got caught a little flat-footed on the play, but so much unfolded before it that it likely caught them by surprise.

After the Flyers turned the puck over to the Panthers just inside the Florida blue line, Giroux oddly decided to pressure the puck, even though he was one of only two men back at the point for the Flyers. This allowed Florida to break out of their zone on a 3-on-1 shorthanded breakaway.

Credit Giroux for getting back into the defensive zone, and Shayne Gostisbehere for playing the Florida passes well, not really giving them a clear shooting lane.

Florida’s Derek Mackenzie crashed the net and plowed into Neuvirth. Gostisbehere and Simmonds got tangled up with Mackenzie, and everyone in the entire building assumed there was going to be a penalty – either on Mackenzie for goaltender interference, on Gostisbehere for roughing, on Simmonds for cross-checking (all these things actually happened), or any combination of the three. Surprisingly, the referee’s arm didn’t go up, and with two forwards now caught the Flyers could have had a 3-on-2 the other way.

However, Giroux sprinted out of the zone and got behind the Florida defense and Filppula hit him in stride with a stretch pass and the rest is history.

So, what’s the fine line?

Giroux should never have tried to play the puck carrier after the turnover. By doing so, he hung Gostisbehere out to dry as the Panthers generated a scoring chance while shorthanded – and that can’t happen. If Florida scores there, it’s 2-1, not 3-0.

But Giroux hustled back, Gostisbehere and Neuvirth made smart positional plays, and Giroux’s allowed him to be in position to surprise the Florida defenders who assumed there was going to be a penalty stoppage.

Credit to both Giroux and Filppula for making that offensive chance come to fruition, but it never should have been for several reasons – beginning with a bad read by Giroux.

So, it’s a fine line between making a critical mistake and scoring a huge goal – and Giroux tip-toed onto the positive side of that line with his goal last night.

  4) Couturier Confidence

We’ve delved into this before, but Sean Couturier is growing more and more confident as an offensive player with each shift he is taking with Giroux and Voracek.

They are so gifted with vision and skill that they often draw so much attention that Couturier just has to find some open space to put himself in a position to score.

I threw out a 60-point figure for Couturier in a very nonchalant manner following the Washington game, but it’s truly a real possibility if everyone stays healthy.

He’s always focused so heavily on his 200-foot game, that it’s possible the offensive part of his game has been neglected some. He’s also never been paired with playmakers before, never mind the elite caliber of players that are Giroux and Voracek.

But you can see a difference with him now. His offensive positioning is on-point. He isn’t afraid to go into those “greasy areas” (one of my favorite hockey terms) to be a hunter-gatherer of pucks.

And, we’re starting to see that his mitts aren’t so bad after all:

Sean Couturier makes it 1-0 #Flyers early in the 2nd period. @AntSanPhilly @CrossingBroad http://pic.twitter.com/uHoQdBJmHk

— Tyler Trumbauer (@tylertrumbauer) October 18, 2017

Nice work by Couturier to stick with the puck and pot the goal. http://pic.twitter.com/FyjBhSpwqs

— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) October 18, 2017

I’m telling you… 60 points.

  5) Just Keep Skating

It’s becoming a common refrain – the Flyers can skate with almost any team. I didn’t think so for the first half of the Nashville game. I thought the Preds were on another level. But then the Flyers ramped it up and, well, haven’t stopped skating hard since.

These Florida Panthers are no slouch in that department. They are one of the fastest teams in the NHL. And the Flyers simply out-skated them.

Consider this goal by Dale Weise:

Now 4-0 #Flyers. Every time I GIF, the goals just don't stop. @AntSanPhilly @CrossingBroad http://pic.twitter.com/Smiw7avFQc

— Tyler Trumbauer (@tylertrumbauer) October 18, 2017

Travis Konecny shows off his impressive wheels to beat the defenders. Nolan Patrick beats his man down ice to follow up before making a beauty of a between-the-legs drop pass to…) Weise, who beat his guy down the ice to get off the shot and the goal.

This one resulted in a goal, but these kinds of things were happening all night. We all seem to agree that this torrid pace is not sustainable, but it has been for six games thus far, and if it keeps up for another four games or so, that’s an eighth of a season – at which point maybe we change our tune a little and say – yeah… maybe it is sustainable.

  6) The Guys in Stripes

I don’t suffer incompetence well. I don’t deal with over-officious mandates from leagues well. I think sports kill themselves with bad rule changes.

I could spend hours here griping about the way the Jets were screwed against New England last Sunday or the idiocy of the Buster Posey rule, which reared its ugly head in the NLCS again over the weekend.

But, then there’s hockey – which wins the award every year for most inconsistently officiated sport on earth. Especially in the NHL.

The League says it’s going to crack down on certain penalties every October. Then phantom penalties are called, game flows are disrupted, games are won or lost on these ridiculous mandates – and then they suddenly go away and nothing has really been deterred.

Players hate the way games are called. So do coaches, GM’s, scouts, those of us in the media. Everyone!

An apologist for the League would say that’s the way they want it. I say that’s cockeyed. It’s a detriment to not know from one game to the next how your sport is being officiated. Why certain guys call a game one way and others call it an other.

Consistency would make the sport better. Not crap like this:

#47 2 minutes for skating! http://pic.twitter.com/SvOABwaqjY

— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) October 17, 2017

Or this:

Bill Clement gave up mid sentence trying to explain this penalty… http://pic.twitter.com/WyNxNYOXf4

— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) October 18, 2017

That one was “High” Sticking… with a stick below his waist….

Or this…

Robert Hagg was the new lucky winner of the penalty call contest! http://pic.twitter.com/nJjARIpQGy

— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) October 18, 2017

That. Is. Not. Slashing.

Pete Morelli reffing the Flyers game

— FGSBoo (@FlyGoalScoredBy) October 18, 2017

Glad I’m not alone.

  7) Loose Pucks

Here are some observations and anecdotes that didn’t quite have a place in the takeaways:

Dave Hakstol Trolling Fans

Hak continuing to make Sanheim skate in warm-ups in front of the fans is like moving a laser pointer around a room full of cats. @NHLFlyers

— AntSanPhilly (@AntSanPhilly) October 17, 2017

This doesn’t make sense to me. The other scratched player – Jori Lehtera – isn’t skating in warm ups, so why is Sanheim? Unless there’s an undisclosed injury to a defenseman who keeps testing it out pre-game, this makes no sense.

2. Giroux’s assist on Couturier’s goal was his 400th in the NHL. He’s only the fourth Flyer to reach that mark (Bobby Clarke, Brian Propp and Bill Barber) and when all is said and done, he likely will be second to Clarke (he’s only 80 behind Propp). That’s pretty impressive.

3. Filppula scored his fourth goal (!!!) on an empty-netter without ever touching the puck. Some think he did. I asked him after the game, he said no. Nick Bjugstad won a faceoff cleanly and drew it backwards… right into his own net. Here it is:

An empty netter to end it. #Flyers easily win this one 5-1. @CrossingBroad @AntSanPhilly http://pic.twitter.com/OLQewYkuQo

— Tyler Trumbauer (@tylertrumbauer) October 18, 2017

4. The Flyers have completely embraced this Ric Flair thing:

Ric Flair robe given to #Flyers’ player of game. Tonight, it was Neuvy. http://pic.twitter.com/6EtvRUT1ZE

— Sam Carchidi (@BroadStBull) October 18, 2017

This was the brainchild of equipment manager Derek Settlemyre. The problem is, as player of the game, Neuvirth was supposed to wear it during his post game interview. He “forgot” apparently.

The duffel bag you see in Sam’s photo is where the robe will live for the season. It will travel with the team on the road as well.

All team bags have a tag with a player’s name and number on it so that it can easily be identified. This bag tag simply says “Wooo.”

Shop now

5.Just a personal note – I won’t be at the game Thursday. I have a pre-existing conflict. I think Kyle will be doing takeaways. I hope my credential still exists Friday.

6. From the Flyers Award-winning PR Department:

A. The Flyers now have 26 goals through their first six games. It’s the 12th time in their history they’ve scored that many or more through six games, but the first time since 2005-06, just the second time since 1988-89 and for the first time when they were shut out in one of those six games.

Instances of 26+ goals in first six games:

26 – 2017-18

26 – 2005-06

26 – 1988-89

28 – 1986-87

26 – 1985-86

26 – 1984-85

30 – 1983-84

28 – 1982-83

26 – 1981-82

30 – 1979-80

35 – 1977-78

28 – 1975-76

B. Gostisbehere assisted on Giroux’s power play goal. He now has assisted on six of the seven power play goals the Flyers have scored this season. (BTW… Ghost took a shot off the arm in the third period and never returned to the game. I asked him about it afterwards and he said he’s fine.)

C. The Panthers put up 41 shots in the loss. The Flyers have won each of the last four games in which they’ve allowed 41 or more shots, and they are 5-0-1 in the last six such instances dating back to February 2016.

Limousine Riding Son of a Gun! Seven Takeaways from Flyers 5, Panthers 1 published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv