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lobster-tales · 1 year

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Beat the Daylight

Sequel to Face the Noise, an Arcane Rock Band AU

Rating: M

Chapter 20: The Jam Sesh

Summary: All is well. 3 months later || Springtime

This work is available here on AO3. Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19

Powder had missed her bed. Sure, the one at the hotel had been comfortable, with its satin pillows and heavy comforter. But there was nothing like her bed, the mish mash of blankets from her childhood that were layered on top of each other in artful chaos, arranged to allow the best combination of weight and airflow.

And particularly this morning, with Lux sleeping beside her, she didn’t want to leave.

She heard heavy footsteps in the hallway, the scent of coffee a few minutes later. Careful not to disturb Lux, Powder slipped out of the sheets and tugged a Hextech hoodie over her shoulders. She’d been surprised at how comfortable it was, way more than any of Shimmer’s merch–no wonder Vi and Mel wore theirs all the time.

Vi was pouring a cup when she walked in. “Morning.” Even after a few months, her eyes still had that shine whenever she saw Powder, that awed relief. Powder pretended not to like it. Vi asked, “Lux here? What time did she get in last night?”

“Late.” Powder pulled out her favorite mug and her second favorite for Lux.

“She likes one splash of vanilla creamer and a splash of hazelnut,” Vi advised. “I picked up both last night. She also likes a little sprinkle of cinnamon on top but not too much because it’ll sink to the bottom.”

Still so weird. Powder wondered if she would ever get past it. “Thanks.”

“What are you two doing today?”

“I’m gonna show her the town,” Powder said, sipping from her own coffee. “We’ll pick up Ekko once he’s done with his meeting. You want to come with us?”

“Nah, I got work.” Vi stretched her fingers skyward. “New hire’s settling in, though. He’s been closing the last couple nights on his own.”

“Good. Give you more time to train for your tournaments.” Powder smirked at her. “Cause you’re gonna need it.”

“Oh, I need it, huh?” Vi scoffed playfully, rising from the table. “Come say that to my face, I’ll whoop you right here and now.”

“No thanks,” Powder said, taking Lux’s cup. “I’m not paying your hospital bill.”

Vi shook her head, grinning. “See you tonight, Pow-pow.”

“Later.” When Powder returned to her bedroom, Lux was just stirring. “Good morning, Starlight,” Powder purred. “Want some coffee?”

Lux blinked at her, and gasped. “Yes!” She accepted the cup, murmuring, “Did I ever tell you that you’re my favorite person ever?”

“Mmm I wouldn’t mind hearing it a little more,” she said, kissing the tip of Lux’s nose.

They took their time getting ready for the day. Of course, Powder wasn’t very helpful, since every time Lux put a piece of clothing on, Powder eventually worked it back off of her again, distracting her with kisses.

“Powder,” Lux giggled. “Come on, I have to do something with my day.”

“I’m something.” And she bit her neck.

They spent a few hours tangled in each other’s arms, enjoying each other in lazy bliss, until Lux glanced at her phone and gasped. “Oh, we gotta go! Ekko finished his meeting a while ago.”

As they arrived at Ekko’s place, he bounded up to the car. “Yo, Crownguard!” Ekko reached in through the window to clasp Lux’s hand and draw her in for a half hug. “What is up, girl, how you been!”

“Good,” Lux said with a grin.

Powder cut in. “You better watch those hands, Boy Savior.”

“Only if you can catch them.” He slid into the back, propping his forearms on the back of their seats. “What’s our first stop?”

“The school,” Lux sighed. “Have to convince my parents this was a productive trip.”

They cruised through campus: the weekend left the area empty, with only a few students trailing through. Powder had familiarized herself with the buildings, and pointed them out as they went. “There’s the chemistry building, environmental science. That’s where Viktor and Jayce’s lab used to be when they were grad students.”

Lux asked, “Which one are you going to be in?”

“All of them,” Powder huffed. “The boys said I can’t start my Hextech internship until I get my basics out of the way.”

Ekko reassured her, “You’ll knock it out in no time. As long as you don’t get distracted by Starlight over here,” and he pinched Lux’s shoulder.

“Hey, what’d I say about hands, bitch?” Powder reached back to swat at him.

They stopped at the top of the parking garage, leaning over the concrete wall to survey the city. The trees were full and lush, cars passing by lazily in the mid-spring day. Ekko and Powder switched off their tour notes, pointing out different landmarks.

“There’s the square,” Powder said. “You can’t really see the pub from here, but you can see the top of the courthouse.”

“And that office building?” said Ekko. “When that place was still being built, we snuck in one night and tried cigarettes for the first time.”

“Oh yeah,” Powder laughed. “Vander was pissed. Vi was grounded for two weeks.”

Lux just beamed at them both, enjoying the stories, only interrupting occasionally to ask questions.

The pub was the next stop. The lunch rush had just ended, giving Vi and Vander a long enough break to greet Lux. Vander in particular was excited to meet her, curious about her style of playing guitar. Lux was nervous at first, but settled into one of her rambles, and Powder gave Vi a knowing look as they all listened.

Eventually Vi and Vander had to get back to work, at which point, Powder, Ekko, and Lux went to Shepherd’s Bridge. After handing Lux some spray paint, they cheered her on while she left her own tag, a bright blue star symbol sandwiched between Caitlyn’s cupcake and a fresh pink “Jinx”.

The trio picked up a few supplies for the evening, stocking up on sodas and chips. Powder dropped off Ekko at his car so he could go pick up Zeri, leaving her and Lux to their own devices for the afternoon.

They lay entwined on the living room couch, half-paying attention to the horror movie. Lux ran her fingers through Powder’s hair, gently massaging her scalp.

“Do you think they’d like me?” Powder asked. “Your parents. And Garen.”

“Maybe. I mean, you are rich and famous now.”

“Jinx is famous,” Powder clarified. “Powder’s just rich.” Because she was over eighteen, all of the money Silco set aside for her had become hers, even after his arrest. The problem was she didn’t know what to do with it, other than pay for school. Now, she had everything she wanted.

Lux smiled to herself. “Well, Jinx is the one in all those scandalous pictures of us, so they’ll probably prefer Powder.”

“Scandalous, huh?” Powder buried her nose in Lux’s ribs.

“They’re going to be weird,” Lux said honestly. “They always have been. Hell, I could be dating Caitlyn and they’d still complain because the Kirammans are new money. You can’t worry about what they think. Just worry about what I think.”

Powder propped her chin on her stomach, gazing adoringly up at her. “And what do you think?”

“I think…” Lux said, tapping her nose with a finger. “That you’re adorable.”

Powder scrunched up her nose, pretending she was offended. “I’m not adorable. I’m a menace.” She gently bit Lux’s skin.

“Fine. You’re an adorable menace.”

The doorknob jingled, and Caitlyn followed the sound, arms overflowing with paperwork. “Hi Lux!” she said with a smile. “How was your trip here?”

“Good.”

Powder nodded towards the papers. “How’s hunting?”

“Ugh.” Caitlyn dropped everything on the already cluttered kitchen table. “I’d rather hunt a hawk in the rain. But, we’re making progress. There’s a lot of new housing between here and Piltover. Lux, I forgot to ask, do you have any home preferences?”

“Nope!” Lux said brightly. “Just my own room and a roof.”

“That’s exactly what Vi and Ekko said.”

Powder gave Lux the side eye. “You know, you could always take Vi’s room and live here with meeee.”

“My parents barely agreed to let me live with Caitlyn,” said Lux. “That being said, I might have some early classes, so it would make more sense for me to spend a few nights a week over here.”

“Or every night.”

“Powder,” Lux chuckled. “I can’t.”

Powder huffed, pretending to be annoyed. “You’d really rather live with my sister and my ex-boyfriend?”

Caitlyn chimed in, “It was that or fourth wheel with Jayce, Mel, and Viktor.” The kettle whined and she entered a few seconds later with a steaming cup of tea in hand. “Speaking of which, Jayce said they’re on their way. Viktor wanted plenty of time to set up his equipment.”

“Perfect.” Powder stretched, rising from the couch and offering her hand to Lux. “I should also start getting set up. Wanna help me?”

“Sure!” As they entered the garage, Lux admired the string lights weaving back and forth over the ceiling, the variety of band posters on the walls. “Not sure how helpful I’ll be, though.”

“Well, you have the most important job.” Powder indicated the brown couch against the wall. “I need you to sit there, and look pretty.”

☆ ☆ ☆

Viktor and Jayce brought Sky with them, as she was visiting from Noxus. While they set up, she regaled them with stories of her new job and coworkers, her love life and friendships. Lux asked constant questions, fascinated. The two had only met over Caitlyn’s video calls, and were fast friends.

Just as dusk approached, Ekko and Zeri arrived with Vi. Ekko prepped his keyboard presets while Vi and Lux tuned their guitars, Zeri warming up her vocals. Caitlyn and Sky were more than happy to plant themselves on the couch, splitting a bottle of rosé.

Vi asked Jayce, “Who’s drumming first?” but Powder answered for her, plopping down into the drumset chair and twirling her sticks.

“You ready to see a real drummer, Talis?” Powder sneered playfully.

He smiled, joining Caitlyn and Sky on the couch, inviting Viktor into his lap. “Took you long enough.”

Ekko played a single chord, considering his bandmates. “Alright. What song are we-”

Zeri interrupted him by seizing the mic and singing,

Shot through the heart And you're to blame

They all joined in.

Darlin', you give love a bad name

Vi, Powder, Lux, and Ekko launched into the instrumental, the noise rattling the walls of the garage. Zeri nodded her head to the beat, her pigtails bouncing with the movement.

An angel's smile is what you sell You promise me Heaven, then put me through hell Chains of love got a hold on me When passion's a prison, you can't break free

Oh, you're a loaded gun, yeah Oh, there's nowhere to run No one can save me The damage is done

The couch crowd sang along to the chorus,

Shot through the heart And you're to blame You give love a bad name (bad name) I play my part and you play your game You give love a bad name (bad name) Hey, you give love, a bad name

For the final chorus, the instruments fell away, leaving the band to sing acapella,

Shot through the heart And you're to blame

Zeri aimed the mic at the couch, and the small audience sang the last,

You give love a bad name

The friends whooped and cheered. Powder whispered to the other band members and they all grinned. She clicked her sticks together, “1, 2, 3, 4!” and they began an upbeat song. There was no part on the keys, so Ekko grabbed his mic and sang with Zeri.

All the small things True care, truth brings I'll take one lift Your ride, best trip

They harmonized, Zeri singing the higher part as Ekko took the lead,

Always, I know You'll be at my show Watching, waiting Commiserating

Say it ain't so, I will not go Turn the lights off, carry me home

Zeri pulled Ekko away from the microphone, dancing together in the center of the room while the rest of the band sang,

Na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na, na Na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na, na

As the song ended, Mel entered from the garage’s side door, grinning. “I can hear you down the street,” she chuckled. “Excuse my tardiness: meeting ran late.”

“You’re excused,” Zeri and Powder said at the same time.

Mel considered the couch. “And this must be the lovely Sky I’ve heard so much about.”

Sky’s eyes widened at the sight of her. “H-hi,” she stammered, rising. “Senator Medarda, it’s so nice to meet you.”

She took her hands and said warmly, “Call me Mel. I’ve heard you’ve been working in Noxus. Quite the culture shock?”

Sky smiled shyly. “Yeah, they’re a little intense over there.”

“Some things never change,” Mel said wistfully. “Here, I have something for you in the car: Caitlyn mentioned you like rosé so I brought my top six brands for you to sample. Jayce, darling, can you help me bring them in?”

Sky just stared after them, jaw dropped. “Is she-”

“Always like that?” Caitlyn asked wryly.

“Always,” Viktor confirmed, resting an arm around Sky’s shoulders.

When Jayce returned, Vi nodded towards Powder. “Alright, Pow-Pow, it’s Jayce’s turn.”

“No!” She crushed the sticks to her chest, but her possession was more playful than sincere.

Ekko smirked and said, “You’re gonna make her sing this next one alone?” And he played the opening synth riff.

Powder practically threw the sticks at Jayce, taking the microphone in hand as he scrambled to get behind the drumset before the beat dropped.

The sisters sang the first verse together.

Here we stand Worlds apart, hearts broken in two, two, two Sleepless nights Losing ground, I'm reaching for you, you, you

They harmonized together on the pre-chorus.

Feeling that it's gone Can't change your mind If we can't go on To survive the tide Love divides

On the chorus, Ekko and Lux joined the vocals, but paled in comparison to the passion that Vi and Powder shared.

Someday love will find you Break those chains that bind you One night will remind you How we touched and went our separate ways

Vi sang,

If he ever hurts you

Then Powder,

True love won't desert you

And together again, grasping each other’s hands as they belted,

You know I still love you Though we touched and went our separate ways

Lux shredded through the guitar solo, a cocky smirk resting on her lips. Then it was just Ekko, running the synth hook, the song ending with the final two notes of the bass drum.

When the applause and cheers died down, Powder pointed at Viktor. “Alright, Vik, you’ve had it too good for too long. It’s your turn, DJ.”

“Eh, good things never last.” He took his spot behind his equipment, playing a few warm up beats and house music. The couch was too small to fit all of them, so Powder, Jayce, Ekko and Zeri grabbed some lawn chairs.

After his series of beats and tracks, Viktor nodded decisively towards Lux. “You ready?”

“I was born ready,” Lux said. She left the mic in the stand to free her hands.

Viktor started with a snapping, electropop beat. Lux raised her hands, grinning slyly at Powder as she sang. The notes were simple, but she added vibrato to the notes, made the sound her own.

We are the crowd, we're c-comin' out Got my flash on, it's true Need that picture of you, it's so magical We'd be so fantastical

Leather and jeans,

She spread her arms wide, indicating the space.

Garage glamorous Not sure what it means But this photo of us, it don't have a price Ready for those flashing lights 'Cause you know that, baby, I

Lux took the mic in hand, stalking towards Powder in time to the music.

I'm your biggest fan, I'll follow you until you love me Papa-paparazzi Baby, there's no other superstar, you know that I'll be Your papa-paparazzi

Standing directly in front of her, legs between Powder’s knees, Lux’s free hand toyed with her braids. Powder lifted her hands and claimed the back of Lux’s thighs, holding her there. She gazed up at Lux with adoring, hungry eyes.

Promise I'll be kind But I won't stop until that girl is mine Baby, you'll be famous, chase you down until you love me Papa-paparazzi

Lux’s voice was playful as she went through the verses, gliding around Powder, brushing her fingers over her shoulders, never quite close enough. But as the bridge ended, Lux fell to her knees in front of her, crawling towards Powder as she sang the chorus once more, her voice fiercely possessive.

I'm your biggest fan, I'll follow you until you love me Papa-paparazzi Baby, there's no other superstar, you know that I'll be Your papa-paparazzi

Powder held her breath. She was spellbound by Lux’s intensity, fixed in place by those bright eyes and the carnal rawness of her voice. Lux added in her own high notes to the final chorus, belting the song as she climbed into Powder’s lap.

Promise I'll be kind But I won't stop until that girl is mine Baby, you'll be famous, chase you down until you love me Papa-paparazzi

The mic dropped to the floor as Lux took her mouth in a rough kiss. Everyone cheered except for Vi and Caitlyn, who averted their eyes and clapped politely, charmed but embarrassed at the fiery display.

The jam session went well into the night, with each of the band members switching off instruments whenever they got too tired. Even Caitlyn at one point felt the rosé enough to show everyone her under-practiced, jerky rendition of Moonlight Sonata, to which Zeri chose to do an entirely inappropriate dance to, making everyone laugh. They went through a variety of genres, and the original Firelights even played a few of the songs from their past performances. Eventually, the group decided to call it, with Powder taking the mic to lead them into one final song.

Acapella, Powder sang the lead, with Vi and Ekko backing her up with harmonies,

Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landside, No escape from reality Open your eyes, Look up to the skies and see,

Powder belted out,

I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy, Because I'm easy come, easy go, Little high, little low, Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to Me, to me

Ekko played a gentle, modified scale on the keyboard. The rest of the group joined in, all singing together for the first verse.

Mamaaa, Just killed a man, Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, Now he's dead Mamaaa, life had just begun, But now I've gone and thrown it all away

Powder took the lead again on the second half of the verse,

Too late, my time has come, Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all The time Goodbye, everybody, I've got to go, Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth

During the instrumental break, Vi tore up a guitar solo. Her fingers pulsed against the fret with each note, creating a vibrato sound. When the solo ended, Ekko’s piano took over again. Powder sang,

I see a little silhouetto of a man,

The rest of the band sang,

Scaramouch, Scaramouch, will you do the Fandango!

They all broke out into smiles during the operatic third verse. Powder alone,

I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me

Zeri and Lux both grabbed her, dramatically fawning as they sang,

He's just a poor boy from a poor family Spare him his life from this monstrosity

As the verse built towards it’s climactic end, they all sang,

Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me,

“Go Starlight!” Powder yelled, and Lux belted the high note,

For me!

Vi shredded out another guitar instrumental, screaming into the microphone with the rest of the band,

So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye? So you think you can love me and leave me to die? Oh, baby, can't do this to me, baby! Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here

She kept up the pace, the energy building until finally the music collapsed back into a slower tempo. The couch audience held up their phone flashlights, swaying back and forth to the muted end of the song.

Powder took a moment to look at them, her family. It had grown so much in such a short time. She smiled at each of their shining faces, ending with Vi, who returned the joyful grin. Powder sang,

Nothing really matters,

Lux took her hand, drawing her attention, and sang,

Anyone can see

Powder pressed her sweaty forehead against Lux’s, singing,

Nothing really matters

Lux echoed,

Nothing really matters

Then they harmonized,

To me

Ekko played the gentle piano outro, Vi joining quietly on the electric guitar. And here, surrounded by the music and her family, Powder felt completely and totally at peace.

Any way the wind blows

#arcane #lightcannon #vicait #jinx #vi #rock band au #battle of the bands au #my fic #face the noise #beat the daylight #fluff #final chapter #completely 100% wholesome and happy family vibes #the happy ending our babies deserve :')

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theqhreator42 · 2 years

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Filmmaking in the Mojave Wasteland

[welcome to another Catherine lore stream of consciousness!]

After the NCR-Legion War, the Mojave Commune became the first center of the resurgent cinema industry of the early 24th century. That post-war filmmaking emerged from the communist Mojave instead of the far more industrialized NCR next door is a bit surprising, but the communist society — which was less repressive than the NCR’s right-wing military junta next door — seems to have encouraged artists to experiment, especially Native artists who had faced repression during the NCR occupation of their lands. Inés de Tijuana (i.e. “Courier Six”) and Vera Dreyfus, two of the first revolutionary leaders of the Commune, took a strong personal interest in the medium, pushing for the planners to channel resources and funding into the development of technologies, like high-capacity holotapes and cameras, necessary for filmmaking.

Since this is the apocalypse, film is in short supply, and holotapes of the capacity needed to store the high-fidelity films that we would recognize are extremely expensive to manufacture. Therefore, the majority of Mojave films are silent films, usually set to musical recordings which are bundled with the films. They rarely last longer than 30 minutes, though in 2302, filmmakers were already experimenting with so-called super-holofilms that lasted over an hour.

Despite the enormous logistical obstacles facing any post-war filmmaker, they do have a substantial wellspring of pre-war films from which to draw inspiration: about 1% of pre-war films are estimated to have survived in a viewable state, mostly in private collections and people’s homes, and several dozen films were available to the Mojave inhabitant of the 24th century. A few theatres in Freeside and the Mojave tribal lands played some of these films (the Mojave theatres used projectors salvaged from Vaults 11 and 19), so children throughout the wasteland grew up familiar with the concept yet unable to contribute their own work to it.

The first post-war Mojave film cameras were developed in 2299. These machines were capable of taking relatively high-definition color footage and saving it to holotapes, but they were enormous, nearly two meters tall, and thus completely immobile. As a result, the actual “motion picture” footage in these films had to be shot in a single location (the Strip had two of these sets, with a third in Freeside). The initial films produced by these studios were essentially tech demos, featuring subtitled interviews, dances, or tribal ceremonies lasting 10 minutes or less, often with spoken Mojave text underlying them were mostly intended to impress economic planners and Mojave elders with the durability of the holotapes. Some of these films had rudimentary audio tracks, consisting of music recorded separately from the film, and directors routinely took the opportunity to speak in indigenous languages like Mojave, Pomoan, and Navajo, rather than English or Spanish. In that regard, they were a rousing success, with flocks of people from towns like Goodsprings, Needles, and Primm traveling to outer Vegas to view them.

After that, the first attempts at films with artistic direction and narratives tended to be war films set during the revolution or the war with the NCR — yet the immobility of the cameras meant that action scenes in the actual battlefields were impossible to shoot. Therefore, these films tended to center on the experiences of civilians, such as the victims of bombardments and massacres, the bereavement of loved ones, and political agitation during and after the revolution. The majority of directors and actors were indigenous Mojave people, and the free hand given by the new government allowed them to experiment with highly politically charged and controversial content. For instance, the controversial 2302 war film “Don’t worry about these green eyes” shocked audiences for its final scene, in which the protagonist's corpse, lying in the open in the sand near Nipton, fades out and is replaced by a still of the actress, in her bed at home, lying in the same position. Even aside from the rumor that the immolated corpse seen in the 40-minute film was an actual person killed in action (it was actually a prop made of papier-mâché), the film was widely seen as offensive for its graphic portrayal of a young, traumatized, yet idealistic woman suffering a brutal and senseless death in battle — until Inés de Tijuana, who was a veteran of the NCR-Legion war, personally insisted that the film be officially released, and spoke on its crew’s behalf. Nevertheless, the film earned acclaim as a technical marvel, for its use of photographs from the desert interspersed with live-action footage.

All in all, post-war films, with their frankness and themes relatable to post-apocalyptic people, rapidly became as popular as pre-war ones. With the prevalence of Native filmmakers and actors, they have also contributed greatly to the continued vitality of the indigenous languages of the American Southwest.

#tw gore #my posts #fallout #new vegas #fanfic #mojave commune #ncr #shi #courier six #inés de tijuana #film #tv

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whatdoesshedotothem · 2 years

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Friday 10.. February 1837

7 25

1 ½

no kiss windy wildish morning but fair tho’ dull at 8 ½ and F48° - read a few pp. from 148 to 155 Tomblesons’ upper Rhine – breakfast at 9 – a Mr. Crowther of Southowram came to ask if I had any objection to his brother’s filling up (helping to fill up) the quarry-hole in the waste adjoining Haigh’s field and my Little marsh land – Womersby would be glad of it – Had Haigh any right to stop Crowther – no! I thought not – nor did I think I had any right to stop him – but he had best ask a law-man’s opinion – Mr. Highams’ or Mr. Parker’s or anybody’s – the man staid talking till 11 – his brother tenant to Mr. Samuel Hall had taken 5000 yards of stone of him at 4/. per yard (the price not to be mentioned) – their young man a younger brother – had turned boatman – [had] gold his old boat in good vamped upon condition and had a new one built at Malham? or some such place in Cheshire – boat and horse worth £150 reckoned £18 to £20 for the horse – carries stone (got by his 3 brothers) chiefly to Macclesfield – about 30 miles from here – his new boat Phebe (after his sister) carries 18 to 19 tons (18 ½ tons) cleverly – draws about 3ft. 6in.? water so can go full laden in summer – other boats obliged to go under laden in summer when water is scarce – when they draw 4ft. 6in. of water they are often grazing upon the bottom or within 6in. of it in summer – from here to Macclesfield freightage 1d. per ton per mile .:. 18 ½ tons at 1d. x 30 miles = £2.6.3 but the distance greater than 30 miles – his freightage = about £3 a trip and can make 3 trips in a fortnight = £9 per fortnight – has a man at 10/. per week and a boy at 6/. per week and keep – reckons his horse at 21/. per week - .:. expense per fortnight = 42/. + 20/. + 12/. = £3.14.0 keep of man, and boy suppose 40/. .:. total expense = £5.14.0 and he lays by 20/. + 10/. towards future repairs of boat (will last 30 years with care without much repairing) and purchase of a new horse when wanted - .:.

Expense and saving £7.4.0 and he has 36/. left for himself or 16/. per week – there is some error in this for he said he made a very decent living – which could not mean less than a guineas a week - from 11 to 12 with Robert Mann and Samuel and Jack and 1st time (came this morning) George Booth (Sam’s brother) at sodding the embankment west of the rock-bridge along the walk to the pools- then pruning in the walk till 2 – then with Robert M- and co. again till 5 – except interrupted for ¼ hour this morning soon after 11 Mr. Highams’ clerk brought a paper for me to sign as occupier in Hipperholme of woods to vote for Mrs. Higham as guardian of the poor – both A- and I signed each of us occupying woods or something in the township – and had Mr. Jubb between 3 and 4 this afternoon – George Wood the groom very poorly in the influenza – in bed – the leeches came this evening and put 8 leeches on his head – Robert and Sam took up and planted 15 Rhododendrons on the embankment this afternoon – at 5 set off for A- met her in Roydelands (Hardcastles’) – in the stable a little while and came in at 6 20 – dressed – dinner at 7 – A- came upstairs and made coffee – and I staid downstairs 50 minutes asleep in the easy chair – A- gave me a silver pencil she bought yesterday at Ropes’ – instead of the one M- gave me many years ago but took away when last here on the plea of getting it mended – had just written all the above of today at 11 10 pm at which hour F42 ½° finish dullish morning rainy afternoon and evening from about 3pm – Note tonight from the Little and philosophical society – a paper to be read ‘on Monday on the modes of judging of the distances and magnitude of objects by the eye’ – Letter from Mr. J. Lister – thanks for the draft for £20 – hopes I shall allow him to repay the money sometime – much obliged about the fine – the money £17 (the remainder being water level rent) given to his mother – says he is getting into good practise- In my study looking into 1 book or other till 11 50 – found my cousin come tonight

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fifaworldcup2026tickets · 3 months

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England FIFA World Cup: England's Journey in the World Cup Foretells a Promising Era of Continued Success

England FIFA World Cup: The England national football team did not participate in the first three FIFA World Cup tournaments but entered all 19 subsequent ones, starting in 1950. They failed to qualify for the finals on three occasions: 1974 (West Germany), 1978 (Argentina), and 1994 (United States). They also did not advance from the group stage thrice: 1950, 1958, and 2014.

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Their best performance was winning the cup as the host nation in 1966. They also finished in fourth place in 1990 (Italy) and 2018 (Russia). Besides these, the team has reached the quarter-finals on seven other occasions, the latest being in 2022 (Qatar).

England's first qualifying campaign for the FIFA World Cup doubled as the 1950 British Home Championship. The series began for England on 15 October 1949 at Ninian Park, Cardiff, against Wales. Stan Mortensen gave England the lead after 22 minutes, and seven minutes later, Jackie Milburn doubled the lead.

This was the first goal of Milburn's hat-trick, which left England 4–0 up with 20 minutes to play. Mal Griffiths scored a consolation goal for Wales ten minutes from time, but England held on for a comfortable victory.

England's qualifying group for the 1954 edition also constituted the 1953–54 British Home Championship. They played Wales at Ninian Park for their first match once again. The 4–1 result was the same as four years earlier. Ivor All church gave the home side a half-time lead.

England's World Cup Journey: From Early Challenges to Triumph and Future Hopes

But England scored four within eight minutes of the restart, with two each for Dennis Wilshaw and Nat Lofthouse. At Goodison Park against Northern Ireland, Harold Hassall scored for England after ten minutes. Although Eddie McMorran equalized just before the hour mark, additional goals from Hassall and Lofthouse secured a comfortable 3–1 win for England.

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For the first time, England had to play against countries other than the Home Nations to reach the Finals in Sweden. They were drawn against the Republic of Ireland and Denmark. In the qualifying round, England won three out of the four games and drew the other. Four months before the World Cup, Manchester United players Roger Byrne, David Pegg, Duncan Edwards, and Tommy Taylor all died as a result of the Munich air disaster.

The third World Cup, held in South America, saw England qualify from the group, which included Portugal and Luxembourg, beating Luxembourg both times, beating Portugal at home, and drawing in Lisbon. At the finals, England was drawn in a group with Hungary, Argentina, and Bulgaria. England beat Argentina 3–1, thanks to goals from Ron Flowers, Bobby Charlton, and Jimmy Greaves.

After playing out a goalless draw with Bulgaria and a 2–1 defeat to Hungary, England took advantage of their home field in the 1966 World Cup Finals and, under Ramsey, won their first, and only, World Cup title. England played all their games at Wembley Stadium in London, marking the last time the hosts were granted this privilege.

Historic Matches, Qualification Struggles, and Future Ambitions

England did not concede a goal in any of their first four matches at the tournament, starting with a 0–0 draw in the opening game against former winners Uruguay. This was followed by 2–0 wins over France and Mexico to see them qualify top of their group and advance to the quarter-finals.

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In 1970, North America's first World Cup finals saw England automatically qualify for the tournament by winning the 1966 FIFA World Cup. England was drawn in a group with Romania, former world champions Brazil, and Czechoslovakia. Each match only saw one goal, with England beating Romania and Czechoslovakia.

England equalized six minutes later, with a penalty converted by Allan Clarke. England failed to score any more goals, with goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski keeping them at bay. Brian Clough had previously called Tomaszewski a clown.

England also did not qualify for the fourth World Cup held in South America. This time, Italy denied England, who had scored three more goals than England after both teams finished on the same points. Goals scored decided the qualifier after the head-to-head record between the two sides ended the same, following a 2–0 home win for each team.

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England's World Cup Qualification Campaigns and Memorable Matches

England won 2–0 away to Albania, 2–1 at home to Poland, 4–0 to Hungary, and 4–0 to Andorra. They were held to a 1–1 draw in the return match against Poland at the Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw. Substitute Damian Szymański scored a 92nd-minute equalizer after Harry Kane had given England the lead midway through the second half.

They returned to winning ways in October 2021 with a 5–0 away win over Andorra. Before another draw at home to Hungary a few days later. Nevertheless, a 5–0 win at home to Albania in November 2021 meant. England needed just a point in their final World Cup qualifier away to San Marino.

Then the bottom-ranked side in the world rankings wins the group and secures automatic qualification. England beat San Marino 10–0, their record victory in a competitive match, to finish top of the group, six points clear of Poland.

The final draw for the World Cup took place on 1 April 2022 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center. They were the seeded team in Group B, into which they were drawn with Iran.

England beat Iran 6–2 in their first group match on 21 November 2022. England's goalscorers were Jude Bellingham who scored in the 35th minute of the game. And Bukayo Saka scored two goals in the 43rd minute and 62nd minute of the game.

For fans eager to attend FIFA 2026 matches, a wide array of FIFA World Cup 2026 tickets is available at Eticketing.co. Our platform partners exclusively with reputable sellers on the secondary market, ensuring access to top-notch ticket listings from across the web. Explore our Football World Cup selection to find the best deals available today!

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dsandrvk · 6 months

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Tuesday, March 19 - Cabo Verde to Lisbon

It's been a long day, and a real change in cultures, as well as a shift to being back with lots of people. Our little cocoon of being with the same familiar people and small places to visit has ended, and we are back in the big city. We have spent 36 nights in our own world, and now need to return to the real world.

We started by docking around 6 AM in Praia, Cabo Verde, which is a very different place. Part of Africa, but also part of the European Union (in a way), it has both Portuguese as an official language, but a Creole is widely spoken, as is English. We watched as our luggage was loaded onto "secure" transport (just hope it doesn't fall out of the truck on the way to the airport). We were then loaded into small vans for a 90-minute tour of the Praia area, since our charter flight wasn't until 1:15. We had a great guide who gave us a lot of information, while we made multiple stops, including time in the market, and a nice walking tour of the waterfront area.

There are actually 10 islands that make up Cabo Verde, and all are different in climate, vegetation and topography, but all are volcanic. The islands were extremely important in the slave trade, and the population there is about 90% mixed race, 5% African and 5% white European. Since becoming independent from Portugal in 1975, it has become one of the most stable democracies in the region. Its economy still depends on being a stopping point for shipping, although tourism is becoming a bigger draw, since it is being compared to the Canary Islands for its beaches. There has also been a lot of Chinese infrastructure assistance, which has come with the usual constraints - only Chinese labor for projects, most of the money made by hotels, resorts, etc. goes to China, etc. Our tour guide seemed to understand that the "gift horses" from China may not be a benign donation to his country.

Although Cabo Verde is fairly close to the equator, the temperature was surprisingly comfortable with a nice breeze. The air was extremely murky, though, with a lot of dust being brought from the Sahara by the trade winds. This is typical at this time of year, but it seems to be getting worse. The same sand that fouls the skies here also drops sand in the Amazon area, which according to a lecture on our ship, helps fertilize the rainforest. Sounds a little far-fetched, but who am I to argue?

Many of the women we saw carry things on their heads with the aid of a little fabric cushion - most are baskets, but I liked this gal with the olive oil. I also liked the children's playground with the "monkey" swings. Cabo Verde was a very colorful place, and yes, our luggage did make it to the plane.

Our charter flight was quite nice - a very uncrowded 767 with a pretty good meal, fancy hors d'oeuvres, and adult beverages. It was also about 4 hours long, which made our arrival in Lisbon about 6:30, but by the time we did immigration, baggage, etc. and got loaded onto busses and then driven about a half hour, it was after 8:30 when we got to our room. Seabourn had booked all of us into the Four Seasons Ritz, which is probably the most expensive hotel we have ever stayed in. The lobby on our room floor was twice as large as my first apartment, although the rooms themselves weren't overly large. We did walk around the very nice public spaces, which are filled with art, and extremely spacious. As is common in fancier hotels, it took us a while to figure out how to work the lights (nope - that button worked the curtains!). We did get a chuckle from the room service menu, however.

Tomorrow we will get up early and get a taxi to our train station to start our trip to Seville. It will be good to be on our own, although right now our packs are way too full and heavy with all the extra warm clothes and other items. We're hoping to be able to send some of it home from Seville, but that will have to wait until Thursday. Tomorrow will be a fairly long travel day (again).

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jdgo51 · 8 months

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How to Master the Bible So Well That the Bible Masters You

Today's inspiration comes from:

30 Days to Understanding the Bible

by Max Anders

There is a very close connection between God and His Word.

Jesus Himself is called the Word of God (John 1:1, John 1:14; Revelation 19:13). To know God, you must know His Word; to honor God, you must honor His Word; to be in touch with God, you must be in touch with His Word. Mighty promises are given to those who master the Bible so well that the Bible masters them.

We are promised spiritual stability, fruitfulness, and true prosperity as we meditate on His Word day and night (Psalm 1:1-3).

When the words of Jesus abide in us, our desires will be given to us, according to God’s will (John 15:7).

Meditating on God’s Word leads to prosperity and success in our endeavors (Joshua 1:8).

We will have more wisdom than our enemies, more insight than our teachers, and more understanding than the aged (Psalm 119:97-100).

We will have greater power over sin (Psalm 119:11).

We will have comfort in affliction (Psalm 119:50).

By drawing near to God, we have His promise that He will draw near to us (James 4:8).

These astonishing observations, these magnificent claims, these profound promises — they help us to realize how important the Bible is, and what remarkable potential we bring to our lives when we become serious students of Scripture. That’s why it’s so important that we commit ourselves to mastering the Bible so well that the Bible masters us.

There are four steps to mastering the Bible so well that the Bible masters you:

Read the Bible

Study the Bible

Memorize the Bible

Meditate on the Bible

Seems simple. Obvious, even, for those who have been Christians for a while. Yet very few people take all four steps. Many take one step. Some take two steps. A few take three steps. Very few take all four steps. As a result, very few people ever experience the full life transformation, the fellowship with God, the spiritual stability and strength, the power in ministry, the joy in worship, and the spiritual prosperity that the Bible promises to those who master it so well that it masters them.

READ THE BIBLE FOR BREADTH OF KNOWLEDGE.

To begin a mastery of the Bible, you must read the Bible. This may seem self-evident to some, but to others who have never developed the habit, it is groundbreaking. Some Christians do not read the Bible, or they only read snippets that are attached to daily devotionals. This will not get you where you want to go. You must begin to read the Bible widely.

It is only by covering a lot of territory in Scripture that you gain a breadth of knowledge. If you never read the Old Testament, you will never have a general knowledge of it. If you only read the Gospels, or the Epistles, you will never have a basic grasp of the other sections of the Bible. As a result, your life will be untouched by important truth, plus your ability to connect the dots from various different Scripture passages — a critical component of a mature Christian experience — will be limited.

The New Testament tells us that many stories in the Old Testament were “written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). If we never read those Old Testament stories, we will never gain the insight, the power, or the freedom that become ours when we do.

The good news is that there is a simple way to read for breadth of knowledge. If you read the Bible for five minutes a day, you will read the Bible over thirty hours a year! (5 minutes × 365 days = 1,825 minutes divided by 60 minutes per hour = 30.4 hours!)

Think of it!! Thirty hours a year! Perhaps no other discipline will provide a breadth of Bible knowledge more easily. If you want to master the Word so well that the Word masters you, begin by reading it.

Very early in my Christian experience, I was challenged to read the Bible at least five minutes a day. I took that challenge, and have not missed my daily time in God’s Word in over forty years. As a result, I have read the Bible for a couple thousand hours! And it was all done at the manageable pace of five minutes a day. There is no easier way I could have gained and maintained the breadth of knowledge of Scripture than by taking this simple step. I urge you to take this first step, too.

Mighty promises are given to those who master the Bible so well that the Bible masters them.

Pick a readable translation.

To begin with, pick a translation that is easy for you to read. Many Christians have a New International Version of the Bible, which is a fairly readable translation. I study out of the New American Standard Bible, which is a good study Bible because the translation is very literal. However, for those times of just reading for the story and flow, and breadth of knowledge, I have found that more conversational translations sometimes allow the Bible to come alive in a way that the NASB does not. I experimented for years with more conversational Bibles and, frankly, was disappointed with them for two reasons. First, they often interpret unclear passages for you to make it more readable, and I didn’t always agree with the translators’ interpretation. Second, in their attempt to be conversational, they often dumb down the language so that it is unsatisfying to read.

However, I have found The New Living Translation to be an effective reading Bible. This version began as a paraphrase that author and publisher Ken Taylor wrote to help his young children understand the Bible better. In a paraphrase, you start with an English Bible and reword it to make it easier to understand. But in 1995, Taylor commissioned a team of translation experts to go back to the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts and change whatever needed to be changed in order to bring the version up to the level of a translation. In my opinion, they did a commendable job.

All Bible versions have strengths and weaknesses. More literal translations have the strength of being closer to the original languages but the weakness of sometimes being more difficult to understand. More conversational translations are often easier to understand, but sometimes that clarity comes at the expense of accuracy, especially when a difficult passage may have two possible meanings in the original language.

For those reasons, I prefer having both a more literal translation for studying and a more conversational translation for reading. This way, I can compare both translations to gain a fuller understanding.

Pick a time to read.

I read before I go to sleep. By experimentation, I learned that I could always carve out five minutes before I go to sleep. But when I tried to read in the morning, sometimes I would get too busy and forget, and I would end up having to read in the evening, so I just switched to reading in the evening.

I found that I can always stay up an extra five minutes to read. No matter how late it is, another five minutes is not going to make or break my evening’s rest. There have been times I have been so tired I had to read standing up so I wouldn’t fall asleep, but I did it. I have been accused of being legalistic. I’m not. I’m being realistic and disciplined. I’ve learned that if I give myself an excuse one day, I am likely to give myself an excuse another day and another day. So, I have just not given myself an excuse. And more than two thousand hours of reading the Bible later, with a breadth of knowledge of Scripture I could never have gained or maintained any other way, I am glad I haven’t.

Others find that they must read first thing in the morning. It really doesn’t matter when you read. The bottom line is: read when it is best for you.

Read for understanding.

This was a recommendation given to me by the man who led me to the Lord. He said, “When you read, don’t get bogged down by anything you don’t understand. Just skip over it, and read for the things you do understand… and underline everything that seems especially important.” This counsel was extremely valuable to me, and it set me on a course of Bible-knowledge acquisition I’m not sure I would have taken any other way. Without that advice, whenever I would come to something in the text I didn’t understand, I would grind to a halt, or be forced to stop reading and start studying, both of which destroyed the original intent.

Read with a plan.

Many people are motivated by the goal of reading through the Bible in a year. I think it is something that everyone might want to do at least once, just to know that one has read the entire Bible. However, it is not an easy task, and many who start the project do not complete it. You might set a goal of reading through the Bible without committing to having to do it in a year. Just read five minutes a day, and let it take however long it takes to get through the entire Bible. Other reading plans can be found online.

If the Bible is new to you, I recommend what my mentor recommended to me when I first became a Christian. Read the Gospel of John six times in a row, not worrying about what you don’t understand but underlining everything that seems especially important. Then you might read the rest of the Gospels and then the New Testament. After that, you might read the first seventeen books of the Old Testament, known as the historical books. Or, there are eleven primary historical books that you might start with: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Those are the eleven books that tell the story of the Old Testament. The other Old Testament books give additional information, but do not advance the Old Testament story significantly. Then, reading Psalms and Proverbs is always a profitable experience.

On the other hand, if you are a more seasoned Christian and are generally familiar with the Bible, read what is interesting to you in your current circumstances… but be open to stretching yourself into other territory from time to time, remembering the importance of reading for breadth of knowledge.

STUDY THE BIBLE FOR DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE.

Few of us can gain a depth of knowledge without sitting under skilled teachers. So, for most people, they must sit under effective preaching from the Bible and be involved in a Bible study taught by an effective teacher. For maximum benefit, Bible study must have assignments that get you studying and interacting with the Bible on your own. To gain a depth of knowledge, you cannot be passive. You must become active in the process of deepening your knowledge. Crawl before you walk, and walk before you run, but this should be your goal. That is the only way you will progress to a depth of knowledge.

If this is new to you, begin by attending a church that is committed to teaching the Bible, not only from the pulpit during sermons, but also in small groups or Sunday school classes. You might also find helpful information in Christian bookstores or online. More seasoned Christians might be able to give you helpful suggestions as well. If you are an avid reader, there is a wealth of knowledge available to you as well through good books available online or at Christian bookstores.

Excerpted with permission from 30 Days to Understanding the Bible by Max Anders, copyright Max Anders.

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radarsteddybear · 11 months

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Whumptober Day 19 - Bad Day

Fandom: Original Fiction (H.O.U.N.D.S.) Prompt(s): emptiness, setbacks, "Take it easy," "I thought I was getting better" Rating: Teen Additional Tags: whump, hurt/comfort, friendship, found family, spy-fi

Part 1

Minnow looked up from her typewriter and took off her reading glasses to rub the bridge of her nose against her budding headache.

They’d found Cassandra nearly a week ago. She’d been in rough shape, but she was making a steady recovery. She’d been released from Medical three days ago and was resting comfortably at home. Minnow would check on her after work and spend the night, though Cassandra was already well enough that she probably didn’t have to do the latter. It would be a while until Cassandra was back in the same physical shape she’d been before everything had happened, but she was certainly strong enough to take care of herself.

When she’d gotten word that Cassandra had been found, Minnow’s emotions had swung wildly between elation and worry and everything in between. Ecstatic that Cassandra was safe, nervous about the state she’d be in when she returned to Headquarters, relieved that her own sleep would no longer be interrupted with nightmares and spiraling thoughts. But now Minnow felt…empty.

Much like the desk on the other side of the room.

Minnow sighed and returned to the report she was writing. There was no use in worrying over it. Not when there was work yet to be done.

Minnow continued typing away until her telephone rang. She picked it up and wedged it between her ear and her shoulder. “Agent George.”

“Min?”

At the sound of Cassandra’s voice, Minnow stopped typing and clutched the receiver in her hands. She frowned. By the sound of her voice, Cassandra was near tears.

“Hey, take it easy. What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry; I know you’re busy, but I just..I didn’t know what to do…”

Minnow held the telephone tighter to her ear. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

“No, it’s just…it hurts so bad. I’ve been taking my meds like it says to, but it’s not working.” Cassandra stifled a sob. “It took me twenty minutes to get over to the phone.”

Minnow had left her settled in on the couch that morning; the phone was on the wall not ten feet away.

Minnow was already gathering her things. “I’ll be right over. I’ll let Mr. Thaddeus know, and then I’ll swing by Medical to see what the doctor says, ok?”

Cassandra sniffled. “Ok.”

“Then I’ll be right over. It shouldn’t take me more than half an hour.”

It wouldn’t be until later that Minnow would realize that the emptiness in her chest had been replaced with anxiety. Now, she was too focused on doing whatever she could to alleviate her friend’s pain to notice.

It only took Minnow 20 minutes to make it back to their apartment building. She took the stairs two at a time up to Cassandra’s door and used her key to let herself in.

“Cass?” she called, setting her bag and keys down on the table next to the door. “Where are you?”

“Couch,” a weak voice came back.

Minnow walked into the living room and found her, face drawn and white, curled up on the sofa. Minnow sat down next to her and placed a gentle hand on her head.

“Tell me where it hurts,” she said.

“Everywhere,” Cassandra whimpered.

Minnow stroked her hair. Cassandra’s skin was damp and hot.

“When did you last take your pain meds?” Minnow said.

“Wrote it down,” Cassandra mumbled, burrowing further into her arms.

Minnow reached over to the side table and picked up the piece of paper where Cassandra had shakily scribbled the time of her last dose. It would be a few hours before she could take any more.

“Let’s try a warm bath,” Minnow said. “You stay here. I’ll get it ready.”

It didn’t take long for Minnow to dig up the Epsom salts Cassandra kept in her medicine cabinet and draw a nice, warm bath. Getting Cassandra into that bath, however, was going to take a little bit longer. She returned to the living room to get her, but he stopped short when she realized that Cassandra was crying.

“What’s wrong?” Minnow said, alarmed. “Is it worse?”

But Cassandra shook her head. “I thought I was getting better,” she whispered.

“You are getting better,” Minnow said. “Today is just a bad day. That’s all.”

“Is it, though?” Cassandra said through tears. “Or were the last few days a cruel joke?”

“Cassie,” Minnow said, taking Cassandra’s hands into her own. “You’ve seen the sign on Dr. Keller’s door: ‘Recovery is not linear.’ You know as well as I do that that applies to physical injuries just as much as mental.”

Cassandra nodded, though she didn’t quite seem convinced.

“You will get better; I know it. You know I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t believe it. And as much as I hate to say it…crying is only going to make things worse. Physically. Now let’s get you into that bath, ok? You’ll feel better.”

Cassandra let Minnow lead her to the bathroom—slow but steady—and help her remove her clothes. Then Minnow carefully lowered Cassandra into the tub.

The change was immediate. Cassandra’s muscles relaxed as she sank into the warm water. The tension began to leach out of her face.

“Better?”

“It’s getting there.”

“Good.” Minnow hadn’t realized how much tension she was carrying in her own muscles until they, too, began to relax.

***

“Come on. Let’s get you dressed and into bed.”

Cassandra had been in the tub long enough for the water to grow cold. In fact, Minnow had pulled the plug to make room for more hot water no less than three times since Cassandra had gotten in.

Cassandra nodded, and Minnow helped her out of the tub and into a towel, much like one would a small child who couldn’t yet do it for themselves. Minnow left her sitting in the bathroom to go grab a clean set of pajamas to help her into.

Once Cassandra was dressed, Minnow helped her to her bedroom—easier now than getting her to the bathroom had been—and tucked her into bed. Minnow fetched her pills and helped her take them

“Min?” Cassandra suddenly spoke up from her bed.

Minnow stopped and turned around. “Yeah?”

Cassandra hesitated. “Stay with me?”

Minnow smiled. “Of course.”

She set down Cassandra’s empty glass and sat on the edge of the bed.

Tomorrow, Minnow would have to go back to headquarters and face the empty desk across from her own, the constant reminder that Cassandra was hurt and that things wouldn’t go back to normal for a while. But tonight, she would run her fingers through Cassandra’s hair to reassure her that she wasn’t alone and that Minnow would always be there for her. And if Minnow was reassuring herself, too, that Cassandra was back home and in one piece…well…that’s something that Minnow could keep to herself.

#whumptober2023 #no.31 #emptiness #setbacks #take it easy #lyric #H.O.U.N.D.S.#my Minnow #my Cass #fic #Teddy Bear writes #my OCs #whumptober #whump #hurt comfort #original post

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whocanmakethatshitup · 1 year

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Finn McCool's and My 19th "Barfday"

Unlike living in suburbia New Jersey, Philadelphia bars were more likely to let minors in, just because we looked old enough. Since I've been shaving for years like "Baby Finster", this spot was a no brainer. So with that being said, my 19th birthday was one to remember, but also one to forget. Finn McCools was about, oh I don’t know, six blocks or so from our dorm. It was a nice easy walk there and a cool, slow stumble home. The place was awesome; at least to someone who was underage and getting into bars without an ID. It was this little Irish spot, that could hold no more than Id say 115 people. But at points it felt like there were hundreds inside. Only one floor, with a bar and a few tables stuck in the back. On a small, elevated seating area. We got there early to secure those tables, cuz’ we knew it was going to be a long, rough night of drinking and dancing. So we were planning for some sitting time. I can’t remember all the people who came along, there were plenty. I know Dubbs and his lady were there, but when weren't they? I mean they were always usually there; him and I were partners in crime. Pitchers were the way to go and we decided to order some pitchers of Harp Lager. It wasn't very expensive and that shit got you ripped. But to be fair, a 19 year old kid who barely drank in high school, anything would get us blasted. But let’s put it this way, by the end of the night I was drinking straight from the pitchers. Who needed a glass right? Well this place had a DJ and his little booth was built up into one of the walls. It felt like he knew we were all there for my birthday, because his playlist was straight bangers. I was loving it and so was everyone else. We were all getting down with the fresh beats he was spinning and if ya know me, getting down is something "special". Like a good birthday boy should, we took many shots that night. I couldn’t tell you what they all were but they went down without a hitch. Around 1:30am we decided to head out and stroll back home to the good old dorm rooms. Did I mention I had a final critique with my drawing teacher the next morning? No you say. Well, yea I did. As I hit the street this is how I knew the next morning was going to be bad. I plow out the back entrance of this place and start leaning on a street sign talking to my friends. From what I can recall the conversation went something like this;

“ Oh, I love you guys, thanks so much for making my…. ahhhhhhhh, gurglggglle, barfffff, birthday such a good time, I had a…. snarfffffffffff, barffffffff, ugggggghhhhh…great time…”.

After I was done holding up that pole, we again started off for home. Except, after about 50feet down the street it was the same shit all over again. Puking is never fun, but tonight it wasn’t so bad, considering I was holding discussions in the middle like I wasn’t even puking. This continued happening pretty much all the way home, the whole six blocks, but I thought it was going to make me feel better. Not a chance, I climbed into the bed spinning, after trying for 15 minutes to get the key into the door. Not such an easy task after drinking like a sailor for the past six hours. And like a dummy, no water, aspirin, anything. Who did I suddenly think I was, a pro alcoholic? By time I was in bed and passed out, it was after 2am and I had to be up and at school no later than 8:30am the next morning. Now do you see the brilliance of such actions before school was even out for the semester, yea me neither? Well, as you all knew, I woke up still drunk pretty much. I was dry heaving and gagging like a son of a bitch and every glass of water I poured down my throat made its way back into the toilet in no time. So, I’m super hung over and can’t keep any fluids down. In roughly 45minutes I had to meet with my teacher and discuss what he thinks my grade should be for the semester. What was to take place in his classroom that morning was hilarious, luckily someone else was there to witness it not just myself.

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liamhaydn-blog · 2 years

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Arsenal 22/23 a season review Part 1 of 3: August-World Cup- A Stunning Start.

The 2022/23 season is Mikel Arteta’s 3rd full campaign in charge of Arsenal and aswell the 3rd of his managerial career. His 1st game in the hot seat came on Boxing Day of 2019, a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth which saw Arsenal drop down a place to 12th in the table. Just a few months into his reign and Arteta was the first high profile figure in English Football to be diagnosed with Covid-19, the virus which drew the Premier League to a standstill for 3 months and the wider world for a much longer time. It was to empty stadiums which Arsenal played out the remainder of their season which eventually concluded on the 1st of August. An 8th placed finish was the club’s lowest since 1995. There was joy to be found however as there so often has been for Arsenal, in the FA Cup. In the one and only Covid FA Cup Final played in front of no spectators Arsenal came from behind to defeat London rivals Chelsea for their record extending 14th FA Cup, after reaching the final with an unlikely triumph over Manchester City in the semis.

Arteta’s first half-season had ended brilliantly and his first full-season started in the same vein with more silverware following as Arsenal defeated Premier League Champions Liverpool to win the Community Shield. Tough times quickly followed and Arteta may have been somewhat grateful for the empty stadiums, as it’s questionable whether the board would have held their nerve and kept faith with such a young manager through this dreadful period had the fans been inside the ground and able to voice their frustrations. On Boxing Day of 2020, not only did Mikel celebrate the 1 year anniversary of his first match in charge, he celebrated a 3-1 victory over Chelsea, his sides first league win for nearly 2 months. It was the first time Saka, Martinelli & Smith Rowe all started a league game together for Arsenal. It was to prove a seminal moment but at the time it wasn’t enough to move his team up from 15th in the table.

It was never so bad again for Arteta and his Arsenal team, with the side eventually settling for a repeat of the previous seasons finish, again coming in 8th. Failure to win the Europa League (exiting the competition to Villarreal in the Semi-Finals, who were incidentally managed by Unai Emery, the manager sacked prior to Arteta taking the job) meant that Arsenal would be without European football for the first time since the 95-96 campaign. And the 21-22 season would begin horribly with Arsenal bottom after 3 matches in which they failed to score and conceded 9 goals.

However as the season progressed Arsenal began to find some resilience, quality and self-belief. The sides upheaval came not coincidentally around the time club captain Aubameyang was stripped of that duty before later being allowed to depart for Barcelona in the January window. Aubameyang had been the teams standout performer when winning the FA Cup, but since those performances had seen him rewarded with a new bumper contract which made him by far the club’s best paid player, his attitude and performance level had become a problem that needed to be dealt with.

More so than any win, it was actually a home defeat to Champions City which perhaps best demonstrated this new Arsenal which was beginning to emerge. They took City on and pushed them all the way only to eventually lose in the 93rd minute, whilst being a man down for the final half-hour with centre-back Gabriel being harshly dismissed.

The fight was on with local rivals Tottenham for the final Champions League spot and it was firmly in Arsenal’s hands until a run of 4 defeats in 5 allowed Spurs back into contention. The Gunners appeared to retake control with a run of 4 straight wins before losing tamely away at Spurs and then Newcastle, in the end missing out by 2 points. Throughout the season Arsenal had spells of real high quality football, and the fans had taken to the project with more passion and belief than they had in the final years of Wenger’s reign or during Unai Emery’s short-lived stint. In the end though they had missed out on the prize of Champions League football due to a combination of injuries to important players and the inexperience of a young group.

Despite the significant set-back of missing out on a Champions League spot having held it in their hands for many of the seasons final months, Arsenal still entered the summer of 2022 with plenty of reasons for optimism. Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe had emerged as the real breakout stars of the prior season and Gabriel Martinelli wasn’t too far behind. There had been some clearly smart signings made by the club, in particular those of Martin Ødegaard and Ben White, signed from Real Madrid and Brighton & Hove Albion respectively. The July purchases of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko for a combined 75M from Manchester City seemed yet more smart business, in them they had picked up two quality players with four Premier League winners medals each, and both arriving aged 25 they seemed in the perfect age bracket to become big players for Arsenal not just for the immediate but aswell the foreseeable future.

Jesus’ Arsenal debut came in a 5-3 friendly win over FC Nurnberg in which he scored twice. He followed this up with another in a 2-0 win over Everton as Arsenal continued their pre-season with a tour of the USA. Arsenal played 3 matches in America and won all 3, by far the most impressive being a 4-0 trouncing of Chelsea. The Gunners made it 5 pre-season wins from 5 when they returned home the following weekend to beat Sevilla 6-0 at the Emirates, a hattrick from Jesus meaning he had netted 7 goals in his first 5 appearances in Arsenal colours.

AUGUST

Pre-season had shown exceptional promise for the season ahead, but the real business of the Premier League would be the true tell of how good this Arsenal side were. In their opening fixture of the season, 3 players made their competitive debuts for the club: Jesus, Zinchenko and 21-year old Centre-Back William Saliba who had joined the club back in 2019 for £27M, but whom had spent the past three seasons on loan in his native France, gaining the experience of playing in three different Ligue 1 sides. This would be his 4th season in a row for a different team, his first in England and in the colours of the club who had signed him years prior. His arrival meant Ben White shifted into a new right-back position, which he had played before for England but not yet for his club side.

Arsenal would get the Premier League season under way away at Crystal Palace, under the Friday night lights of Selhurst Park. No Premier League side would have envied them this difficult fixture, Arsenal had experienced just how tough it was 4 months prior, when a 3-0 loss away at the ground began a torrid run of results for the Gunners. Arsenal had also began the previous season away on a Friday night and come unstuck against newly promoted Brentford. Again Arsenal were straight back under the Premier League spotlight to see whether they had grown and matured from such damaging defeats last season.

The Arsenal quickly proved they were up to the test, starting right on the front foot and keeping Palace penned back in their own third. Jesus immediately highlighted the new dimension he was going to bring to Arsenal’s attack, when his strength then neat dribbling fashioned a great chance out of nothing, a chance Martinelli should have done much better with, his side-foot finish going the wrong side of the post with the goal gaping. The Brazilian would make up for it in the 20th minute when a corner was headed into the six-yard box by Zinchenko, who was picked out by Saka to deliver a free header. His head found Martinelli’s and from close-range he was able to notch Arsenal’s first of the league campaign.

That was to be the only goal in the game for the next hour, but despite Arsenal’s slender lead they rarely looked in danger of being pegged back. On the instances that keeper Aaron Ramsdale was called into action he was ready and dealt with Palace’s occasional threats soundly. The game was put beyond Crystal Palace in the 85th minute when Bukayo Saka’s dangerous ball across the six-yard box was headed into his own net by Guehi. This made certain of 3 richly deserved points for the Gunners.

Jamie Carragher for one was particularly impressed with the start Arsenal made to the game saying afterwards: “Arsenal played like a big team. When I say a big team, I’m talking about a Man City or Liverpool, a team who wherever they go, they dominate the opposition. I felt like we were watching City or Liverpool in that first 20 minutes, half an hour.” Fellow Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was more impressed with Arsenal in the second half saying: “The question mark about Arsenal will be whether they’ve got that robustness and resilience, physicality to get through that difficult 15 or 20 minute period in away matches, and they got through that (tonight) and that impressed me.” Saliba was also singled out for praise with Carragher adding: “He looked the real deal. He adds something, we’ve always felt they were weak, at Brentford last season they got bullied and here last season, his physical stature will certainly help them in tough away games.”

Arsenal’s first home league game of the season was against Leicester City. The opening goal began with Jesus tormenting Johnny Evans tight to the touchline, after beating him he fed Martinelli who was able to get into the penalty area and find Xhaka, the Swiss international touched it first time back into Jesus who took a touch to steady himself then teased it over the head of Ward in the Leicester goal and into the net. It was an angle he had no right to try from, let alone score from but such was the Brazilian forwards confidence in front of goal he fancied his chances from anywhere. The goal was nominated for Premier League goal of the month. Jesus got his second to double Arsenal’s advantage in the 35th minute, this time in much simpler fashion. A corner across the six-yard box was not dealt with, a Leicester head on it only sped up its path to Jesus who was waiting to nod home from practically on the goal line.

Later in the first half, Leicester thought they had a way back into the game when referee Darren England pointed to the spot having judged Ramsdale to have brought down Jamie Vardy. However VAR advised him to check the monitor, and after re-watching the incident it was clear there was no contact made and the penalty decision was reversed. Leicester did still manage to half their deficit early in the second half though, a long ball was flicked on leaving Saliba a difficult situation to deal with. Ramsdale was advancing but wouldn’t get there first and Vardy was waiting on the French defender’s shoulder, leaving him no alternative but to try and head the ball clear whilst facing his own goal. He only succeeded in diverting it into the net. This could have been a moment that the Arsenal crowd got nervous and frustrated. They had allowed a soft goal and their youngest defender was at fault. However the crowd immediately rallied behind Saliba and his teammates, he and the team needed help putting that mistake behind them and the crowd’s noise in the aftermath of conceding will have been reassuring to the players.

Demonstrating this, Arsenal went straight up the other end and scored, Ward made a meal of a cross, dropping it at the feet of Jesus who squared for Xhaka. The Swiss midfielder was being deployed in a new, more adventurous role where he was spending more time in the opposition box, he got his reward for this new tactic with a simple tap-in from right in front of the goal. Leicester would again reduce the home team’s lead to one however when Iheanacho found Maddison, who was able to shoot straight through Ramsdale. The young English keeper will have been disappointed at being so easily beaten from such an angle, his wide open legs presenting the opportunity to the Leicester midfielder. Again Arsenal immediately responded to the set-back by going up the other end and scoring again. This move began with Martinelli winning the ball back and feeding Ødegaard who moved the ball on to Jesus, who carried it forward before finding Martinelli who shot low from outside the box, he beat the outstretched Ward and hit the bottom corner, with the ball hitting the inside of the post on its way in.

It had been a good day at the office for Arsenal and a great day for Gabriel Jesus, though despite scoring 2 and assisting the other 2 of Arsenal’s 4 goals, according to his manager Jesus left the field disappointed because: “he thinks he should have scored 4, that's the sort of mentality you need. I wouldn't like to play against him. He's so mobile, intuitive, sharp and proactive in any moment or phase of the game."

Arsenal next travelled to newly promoted Bournemouth. It took The Gunners just 5 minutes to take the lead and again it came from the phenomenal centre forward play of Gabriel Jesus. A loose touch from White saw the ball launch high into the air, the Brazilian reacted first, beautifully controlling the ball whilst at the same time using his considerable body strength to hold off the Bournemouth midfielder, with exceptional balance he then dribbled around two other Bournemouth shirts until he was on the edge of the box facing their defence, with a lovely disguised pass he then fed Martinelli who was free to his left, his shot was saved but it fell straight at the feet of new captain Martin Ødegaard who was on hand to notch his first of the season. Rightfully though the praise went to Jesus with commentator Alan Smith saying: “You won’t see a better example of centre forward play than this.”

Ødegaard had to wait just 6 more minutes for his second of the season, a cross along the floor from White found Jesus who was free, his first touch wasn’t the best but it allowed it to set up nicely for the Norwegian to strike first time, which he duly did and the ball flashed into the net. Early in the second half and Arsenal had a third goal, with Xhaka setting it back to Saliba just inside the penalty area. Saliba struck it beautifully first time, keeping his shot down under the bar and too perfectly placed for the keeper to do anything about. It was just Saliba’s second goal in senior football but he had finished it with the class and composure of a player who had scored 200. The strike drew Zinchenko to his knees, clutching his head in disbelief at the quality of the finish and unsurprisingly it was voted as Arsenal’s goal of the month. Jesus thought he’d netted Arsenal’s 4th but a VAR check ruled the goal out for offside, so the North Londoners had to settle for a 3-0 win in what had been an excellent away performance.

The Arsenal faced more newly promoted opposition the following week, this time back at home against Fulham for Arteta’s 100th Premier League game in charge. They would be without Zinchenko and Partey who had picked up injuries and were replaced by Tierney and Elneny respectively. The best chance of the first half went to Saka who got beyond his marker to face Leno one against one, but he was unable to beat the keeper. It would be Fulham who took the lead however with Arsenal falling behind for the first time in the season. From the full-back position Saka flighted a ball into Gabriel, who unnecessarily played himself into trouble. He never seemed to have the ball truly under his spell, and his second touch invited Mitrovic to try and take it off him, the defender then got his body positioning wrong, and failed to protect the ball allowing the forward to nick it from behind him and then the Serb was able to keep his composure and finish past Ramsdale.

Fulham’s lead lasted just 8 minutes, Martin Ødegaard lodging Arsenal’s response. There was a degree of good fortune about the goal, with a big deflection on the strike. But there was no doubting the Norwegian had deserved it, he was having an outstanding game with all Arsenal’s danger coming through him. He was constantly creating, with inventive passes and dribbling runs. In this instance a clever stepover had bought him the space for the shot. Ødegaard continued to lead Arsenal’s push for a winner with he in particular deserving to be on the winning side, and the winner did come though not until the 86th minute. Leno failed to deal with a corner, missing with his attempted punch clearance and the ball fell at the feet of Gabriel who was able to gain the perfect redemption for his earlier error by securing all 3 points for his side. The goal kept Arsenal at the top of the Premier League as they remained the only team with a 100% record.

Arsenal finished August with another home game, facing Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa. This presented Arsenal with a chance to win their opening 5 league games for the first time since 2004. Saka passed up a golden opportunity to give Arsenal the ideal start when Martinelli’s cross found him completely free at the back post, it was set up perfectly for Saka to hit on the volley, which he did but he got too under the ball and lifted it horribly high and wide from inside the six-yard box. An Arsenal opening goal felt inevitable however and it came on the half-hour mark when Emi Martinez could only push out a Xhaka shot as far as Gabriel Jesus, who was on hand to punish him.

Martinez did go someway to redeeming himself later in the half with an excellent stop to deny a brilliant half-volley from Martinelli from 25 yards out. Arsenal dominated the first half and continued their domination in the second but could not increase their advantage, it was instead Aston Villa who got the second goal of the game, in somewhat controversial fashion. A corner from Douglas Luiz went straight into the net with Ramsdale unable to reach the ball due to his path being completely blocked by Kamara, who also limited the keepers movement by having both arms wrapped around his back. The goal stood but Arsenal cancelled it out in their own way, by going straight up the Villa end and retaking the lead. Saka coolly picked out Martinelli who struck it first time on the half volley, Martinez clawed desperately at the ball but could not prevent it going over his goal line and The Gunners were able to see the victory out. Arsenal’s player of the month was unsurprisingly Gabriel Jesus with 3 goals and 3 assists in 5 games. Arsenal’s maximum points after 5 games saw Mikel Arteta pick up Premier League manager of the month.

September

Arsenal started September with a chance to go 4 points clear of City in 2nd, after just six games. Standing in their way were Manchester United who would be hosting the Gunners at Old Trafford, a ground Arsenal had only won at once in the league since 2006, that one aswell being without fans during the Covid season.

Arsenal were boosted by the return of Zinchenko, but had to start with their 3rd choice midfielder Sambi Lokonga for the Partey role, after Elneny had followed the Ghanaian onto the treatment table. Regardless of the blow, Arsenal appeared to have made the ideal start when Saka threaded the needle and put Martinelli clean through on goal. The Brazilian finished brilliantly to give Arsenal the lead, but VAR advised the referee to have a look at a potential foul in the build-up. On review the referee judged Ødegaard to have won the ball from Eriksen unfairly and chalked the goal off. The intervention made by Lee Mason on VAR was later judged by a Premier League review to be an incorrect one, the minimal contact not penalised in real time by the ref was judged not to be a clear or obvious error. The review came too little and too late as far as Arsenal were concerned as they’d lost their lead and instead found themselves trailing at half-time after a good move from United culminated in a debut goal for Antony who finished past Ramsdale.

VAR’s intervention on the Arsenal goal was always likely to prove a vital one as remarkably United had not lost at Old Trafford when leading at half-time since 1984. This showed the size of Arsenal’s task going into the second half, but they continued to probe and ask questions of United and they got their equaliser on the hour mark when the ball broke to Saka in the penalty area after Ødegaard had looked to thread one through to Jesus. United dealt with that immediate threat but could only clear as far as Saka who slotted through the legs of Martinez for his first of the season.

Arsenal looked to be in the ascendancy, but they were only level for 6 minutes. Overcommitting bodies forward left them without a midfield and after winning it back United were able to counter-attack with Bruno Fernandes who looked and found Rashford in behind the defence and he put United back in front. Arteta reacted immediately by looking to chase the game, giving a debut to summer recruit Fabio Vieira. The changes appeared to backfire however as Arsenal were left with even fewer defensive bodies on the field and in the 75th minute they were cut through once more, with Eriksen and Rashford both left in acres of space as United hit Arsenal once more on the counter attack. It was a horrible goal for Arsenal to concede, it reminded of the worst years of Wenger with everyone so committed to attacking they had no thought for defending. Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season going down 3-1.

There was some positives to take in how confidently and capably they had passed the ball around, however United had defended their penalty area very well and counter attacked effectively. The frustration for Arsenal was how they had helped them in that regard, by leaving key areas of the midfield devoid of players. Partey had been very badly missed, and to a lesser extent so had Elneny whose defensive intelligence would not have seen him vacate his position as often as Lokonga did. The third goal conceded was perhaps the responsibility of Arteta who had gone all out attack mode too early, given the counter attacking success United were already enjoying.

Arsenal got the chance to put the defeat behind them 4 days later when they began their Europa League campaign. They were placed in Group A alongside PSV Eindhoven, Bodo/Glimt and FC Zurich, and would kick off against the latter away in Switzerland. Summer signings Matt Turner and Marquinhos made their competitive debuts, and Vieira would make his full debut. Arsenal did some counterattacking of their own in the 16th minute when Vieira found Nketiah who travelled down the wing before playing a great ball across the box which found Marquinhos who expertly finished first time into the top corner. The hosts equalised on the verge of half-time however when Nketiah was judged to have committed an offence in his own penalty box.

The death of the Queen being announced during the first half led to the unusual circumstance of a minutes silence taking place before the second half. When it did kick off, Arsenal regained the lead in the 62nd minute through Nketiah who was found by a delightful ball by Marquinhos who had made a fine debut. That’s how the score remained. Arsenal would not be in Premier League action that weekend, with their home game against Everton being postponed due to the Queen’s passing. Also delayed was their home game against PSV the following week, so the team were not back in action until 10 days after the Zurich game, when they travelled to Brentford.

Arsenal dominated the games opening and took a deserved lead in the 17th minute when Saliba’s header from a corner struck the inside of the post on its way over the line. Just shy of the half-hour mark and Arsenal had their second, again with a header, this time it was Gabriel Jesus who rose to meet Xhaka’s perfectly placed ball. The Gunners then got the ideal start to the second half, when Vieira, making his first start in the Premier League in place of the unavailable Ødegaard, struck a beauty out of nowhere from well outside the box for Arsenal’s September goal of the month. Arsenal were in cruise control, always looking the more likely team to score whilst barely giving Brentford a sight of their goal. In the final minutes, Ethan Nwaneri came on for his Arsenal debut, aged 15 years and 181 days he became the youngest player to ever appear in the Premier League. After the match, Brentford Manager Thomas Frank was one of the first to tip Arsenal for a title challenge saying: “I think they will do brilliantly. I think they compete for the title now.”

Xhaka was the resounding winner of Arsenal player of the month picking up 83% of the votes. A once deeply unpopular player, his turnaround best exemplified the strides in the right direction Arsenal were taking.

October

After the international break, Arsenal returned to action in the North London Derby against hated rivals Tottenham. Arsenal went into the fixture just one point above their opponents. Spurs were content to let Arsenal have possession whilst aiming to contain them and spring counterattacks. They kept Arsenal at bay until the 20th minute when Thomas Partey shot from over 20 yards out and hit it so perfectly that Lloris couldn’t get so much as a fingertip to it, the ball flew past him into the net for Arsenal’s goal of the month. Spurs responded in the 31st minute however after a good counterattack between the front three of Kane, Son and Richarlison saw the latter presented with a chance to cross from inside the penalty area and Arsenal did not effectively deal with the situation, a loose touch from Xhaka put his side back in trouble and Gabriel was panicked into conceding a penalty. Kane stepped up and of course scored for the 7th time from the spot against Arsenal. This sent the sides in at the break level pegging.

Arsenal regained the upper hand early in the second half after a shot by Saka was spilled by Lloris to his centre-half Romero who, under pressure from Jesus, looked to return it to the French keeper. Lloris missed the ball, it travelled under his body and then Jesus reacted first to poach it home. Spurs hopes of drawing level for a second time were damaged when Emerson Royal was shown a straight red card in the 62nd minute for a stupid and unnecessarily bad tackle on Martinelli. Arsenal quickly punished this ill-discipline getting their third 5 minutes afterwards, with Granit Xhaka rifling past Lloris. At this stage Conte retreated to avoid a hammering, he accepted defeat and took off his offensive players, bringing on defenders to ensure the score line didn’t get embarrassing and Arsenal saw out a comfortable 3-1 derby win. Arsenal next returned to Europa League action putting Bodo/Glimt to the sword with a 3-0 win, goals coming from Nketiah, Holding and Vieira, the latter after brilliant footwork in the box from substitute Jesus.

Next up for Arsenal was another tough test at home against Liverpool. With a win Arsenal would return to the top of the Premier League. The Arsenal had faced Liverpool 4 times the previous season, failing to win any, losing 3 times including twice at home. They had also failed to even score against Liverpool in their last 6 meetings with them, but they needed just 58 seconds on this day, with Saka finding Ødegaard, whose ball between Van Dijk and Alexander Arnold put in Martinelli who finished beyond Alisson. Liverpool recovered well from the nightmare start however and were the better team from that point until they got their deserved equaliser in the 34th minute through Darwin Nunez. It was Arsenal however who went into half-time with the lead, when Martinelli led a brilliant counter-attack from a Liverpool set piece, finally taking out both Arnold and Henderson by cutting inside and finding an unmarked Saka who slid in to put his team back in the ascendancy.

Again Liverpool responded well, equalising for a second time early in the second half through Roberto Firmino. From that point on though Arsenal found another level, they searched feverishly for a winning goal, looking to pass Liverpool to death and calving many openings. The noise inside the Emirates had reached deafening decibels as the fans urged their team on. The golden chance came with just under 15 minutes to go when Thiago was judged to have caught the back of Jesus foot inside the penalty area, having been beaten to the ball by the striker. Saka stepped up and held his nerve, confidently dispatching an excellent spot kick. Arsenal held out for what was in the end a deserved win after an excellent second half display. In a decision that had raised a few eyebrows, Tomiyasu had been drafted in for a first league start of the season to go into an unfamiliar left-back position, the move paid dividends as the Japanese international had a fine game up against Mo Salah. The result put Arsenal 14 clear of Liverpool who had endured a dreadful start to the season.

“These are broad shoulders, this is courage. A sporting moment in time. Bukayo Saka.. Such poise! such noise!” - Peter Drury as Saka beats Alisson Becker from the penalty spot.

Four days later Arsenal made it 3 wins from 3 in the Europa, with an away win in Norway on the artificial pitch of Bodo/Glimt. A sole goal from Bukayo Saka was enough, after he got on the end of a one-two with Lokonga. His initial shot was blocked by a defender but the ball then deflected in after coming back off the Arsenal winger. Bodo calved out many good chances for themselves but were let down by woeful finishing, squandering chance after chance by blazing high and wide of the target.

Arsenal then returned to Premier League action at Elland Road against Leeds, though 40 minutes behind schedule after a power outage just after the game had initially kicked off caused the game to need restarting once power had returned. Again Saka was the only man to get himself on the scoresheet, his goal coming after Jesus had passed up a golden chance to open the scoring failing to hit the net from close-range after Ødegaard had found him with a backheeled flick. Jesus attempted to lift the ball over the keeper, but he lifted it too high and it ended up over the crossbar. Arsenal did not let Leeds off a second time however and punished them after a sloppy cross-field pass from Leeds midfielder Rodrigo only found Saka who headed it into Ødegaard’s path. Ødegaard’s return pass then asked a lot of the winger, but his speed allowed him to reach the ball first. Saka was faced with a tight angle, but it didn’t faze him one bit and he picked out the top corner hitting it high into the roof of the Leeds net.

The second half was full of drama, first when Bamford thought he’d equalised but was instead penalised for a foul on Gabriel. The Leeds striker received a second chance though when Saliba was found guilty of a handball in the box after the referee had checked the monitor. Ramsdale guessed correctly in his dive, but in the end he wasn’t required as Bamford’s penalty went wide of the post. Arsenal continued to suffer in the second half, struggling to cope with the Leeds onslaught and maintain their slender advantage.

Through fatigue and pressure from the home side, Arsenal had lost all ability to pass the ball and could do little else but stay in their own half and try to defend. Ramsdale proved his worth to this Arsenal side with his best performance of the season to date, right when his team needed him most. It appeared as though Arsenal had got the job done, when crazily they conceded a second penalty of the half in additional time. Patrick Bamford was nowhere near the ball which was safely back with Ramsdale when Gabriel was penalised for a kick out in the box on the Leeds forward. As well as a penalty, the Brazilian centre-back was also dismissed. However on a VAR review, it was clear that Bamford had fouled Gabriel first, barging him to the floor, so rightfully the decision was reversed and Gabriel’s red card rescinded. Arsenal held on to a win they’d scarcely deserved and it proved an even bigger win later that day when City lost at Anfield meaning The Gunners stayed 4 points clear after 10 games.

The following Thursday Arsenal were back in action in the Europa League. They were originally scheduled to host Manchester City in the league that mid-week, but the Queens death led to the postponement of Arsenal’s fixture with PSV, and it was re-arranged to this gameweek. Arsenal battered their Dutch visitors, in the end mustering 25 shots to Eindhoven’s 4. As was often the case Saka and Jesus were the standout performers. The young English winger was unstoppable in his direct dribbling runs, unstoppable that is without resorting to fouling, which PSV defenders did time and time again after being skinned by Saka’s great ball control when running at speed. Jesus was similarly dangerous, doing his usual thing of fashioning chances out of nowhere with his quick-thinking and somehow even quicker feet. In the end though the deadlock was broken by Xhaka in the 70th minute, when Tomiyasu found him in space 15 yards from the goal. He hit the shot down into the ground and it bobbled just at the right time to go under the keeper and past him.

Next Arsenal travelled to struggling Southampton looking to make it 9 straight wins across the Premier League and Europa. They started fast, and when Xhaka finished off White’s cross with a brilliant volley into the back of the net in the 11th minute, it looked like it would be a case of how many, as it wasn’t the first good chance Arsenal had created. For the first 20 minutes, Southampton couldn’t get out of their own half, Ødegaard cleverly found Jesus with a lifted return pass but his volley was straight at Bazunu in the Saints goal. Jesus was in again after a long ball flighted over the head of Caleta-Car reached the Brazilian who was clean through, until the defender dragged him back using both arms. There seemed to be enough contact for 3 separate penalties in there, but unbelievably the referee Robert Jones didn’t point to the spot and nor did VAR intervene. One of the most inexplicable decisions of the season, and that’s saying something, meant that Arsenal went in at the break only a single goal to the good.

The Southampton defence must have felt encouraged from not being penalised inside the box, as the fouling continued on Jesus outside the box for much of the second half, Lyanco getting away with man-handling Arsenal’s striker time and time again, wrapping both arms around his body whenever the ball was anywhere near the Brazilian. Jones did not however ignore perceived ‘diving’ from Saka showing him a yellow card for simulation, even though there did appear to be some contact. A one-sided refereeing performance, and poor finishing from Arsenal allowed the home team back into the game and they got the equalising goal with 25 minutes to go through Armstrong, after a swift move cut through Arsenal’s defence. In the 78th minute Ødegaard thought he’d put Arsenal back in front but Tierney had just carried the ball beyond the line before he was able to cut it back into his captain’s path.

The Gunners had to settle for a point and an end to their winning run, paying the price for not scoring more in the first half. As they began to tire in the second half Southampton calved out some good chances of their own, but there’s no doubting the visitors were also harmed by a dire refereeing performance. The dropped points cut Arsenal’s lead at the top down to two. Another away game followed for The North London side as next they travelled to Eindhoven. With 2 group games remaining, they needed just 1 more win to secure top spot which would mean they progressed straight through to the final 16, without the need for a play-off game. However Arsenal’s performance was poor, PSV were the better team for 90 minutes and good value for their 2-0 win.

After a blistering start to the season, Arsenal had now managed just 4 goals in their previous 5 games, they needed to find their shooting boots again and quick. They had the opportunity to do that at home to Nottingham Forest, but it didn’t look likely when Bukayo Saka was forced to leave the field, having been unable to shake off an early knock he picked up from the usual defensive treatment he received. Though even in the brief time he was on the field, Saka did notch an assist finding the head of Martinelli to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead.

For the rest of the first half though, Arsenal struggled to re-find the killer instinct that had deserted them recently. In the second half it returned, with Saka’s replacement Reiss-Nelson, on for his first league minutes of the season getting his first goal of the campaign, which will have done much needed wonders for his confidence. 3 minutes later and Nelson had his second with Arsenal really flourishing now, the volleyed finish coming from a Jesus cross after neat link up between him and Ødegaard. 5 minutes later and Partey added yet more gloss to the scoreline, giving Nelson an easy assist, as this goal was all about the Ghanaian midfielder’s excellent strike, of a similar calibre to his one against Tottenham. Jesus got his second assist of the day when Ødegaard made it 5, twinkle toeing his way into the box before letting fly into the top corner. This concluded Arsenal’s busy month of October which saw them in action nine times. Xhaka’s 3 goals in October took his total for the season up to 4, and he picked up the Arsenal player of the month for a second consecutive month.

November

Arsenal began November by bringing to a close their Europa League group campaign against FC Zurich, knowing a win would secure them top spot. Zurich were merely playing for pride, their chances of progressing already over. Tierney gave Arsenal the lead in the 17th minute with a fine strike from outside the box, expert technique from the left-back giving the keeper no chance. Arsenal’s old problems returned however with their failure to kill the game, by passing up good chances in both halves. In the end they had to sweat somewhat for their win, holding on whilst Zurich pushed desperately for a famous equaliser. Arsenal held firm though and with 5 wins from 6 games, they had secured their path through and knew they now wouldn’t have to worry about the Europa League again until March.

Next up for Arsenal was a trip to Stamford Bridge to face Graham Potter’s Chelsea, whose woes were just beginning, having lost 4-1 at his former club Brighton the previous week. Arsenal made all of the first half chances, dominating possession. The best chance came with a move that began in Arsenal’s own penalty area, with sharp one-touch passing they were in Chelsea’s half in seconds, with the ball reaching Martinelli down the left flank, he cut inside and was inches away from finding the unmarked head of Gabriel Jesus. Had Jesus been able to connect, it would have gone down as surely the finest team goal of the season.

The second half continued in the same vein, with Arsenal’s press suffocating the Chelsea players, forcing them to give up possession time and time again. The visitors continued to push for an opening goal, and it eventually came just past the hour-mark when Saka’s corner beat everyone and looked to be on its way straight in, until Gabriel made sure by hitting it into the roof of the net from on the goalline. Arsenal managed 14 shots to Chelsea’s 5 and should have won by more, but as 1-0 wins go away at Stamford Bridge, it could not have been much more comfortable or straightforward. On the rare occasions Chelsea reached the final third, they had no ideas on how to progress the ball in order to create a dangerous situation and Arsenal were content to see the game out for an excellent away victory.

Arsenal’s time in the Carabao Cup was short-lived, ending just as it began at home to Brighton in the 3rd round. Nketiah gave Arsenal the lead, but it lasted just 7 minutes when former Gunner Danny Welbeck equalised from the spot. 2 unanswered second half goals from Mitoma and Lamptey ensured Arsenal’s exit, but there was a feeling from many that the club had bigger targets this season than the League Cup.

Due to the first ever winter World Cup, the Premier League would be halted for six weeks after Arsenal’s 14th league game of the season, which would be away at Wolves. Earlier that day City had slipped up at home to Brentford, this presented Arsenal with a great opportunity to go into the World Cup 5 points clear at the top. The best chance of the first half went to Jesus, after he’d done brilliantly to make room for a shot in the box. However his luck in front of goal had deserted him, this being his 11th appearance without a goal, his last one coming against Spurs. As usual though, he was one of Arsenal’s best performers in the first half, with Saka and Martinelli more subdued than usual. Perhaps understandably, they seemed to be somewhat pre-occupied with thoughts of the World Cup, and with it now so close they didn’t seem keen to risk injury with their usual dribbling runs.

So in the second half Arsenal needed someone to step up, that man was Martin Ødegaard. With Norway having failed to qualify for the World Cup, Arsenal was his one and only focus, and he delivered a captain’s performance. The opening goal came when a clever pass from Jesus found Vieira who had replaced the unwell Xhaka, he squared it across the six-yard box having drawn the goalkeeper out, and Ødegaard beat Saka to the tap-in. The Norwegian made sure of the win with a quarter of an hour to go when good play from Martinelli allowed him to backheel a pass through to Zinchenko who was unmarked in the box, his cross was cleared as far as Martinelli who forced a save from Sa, but he could do nothing about Ødegaard’s follow-up, his touch and shot leaving the keeper with no chance.

There had been reluctance from some, Arsenal fans or otherwise to accept the team as true title contenders. This was a club who after all had not even qualified for the Champions League in 5 years. As well they had the youngest manager and youngest team in the league. However more and more doubters were turning into believers as Arsenal backed up a win over Spurs by beating Liverpool, and went away to Chelsea and won. Now due to the World Cup being played mid-season, Arsenal would sit 5 points clear of the rest on Christmas Day, and at this point their title credentials could no longer be denied. They had won 12 of a possible 14, and when the chance to go into the World Cup 5 clear came up, they held their nerve and got the job done away from home.

The World Cup gave the chance to reflect on the season Arsenal had thus far had and it had undoubtedly been an outstanding one, with all reasonable expectations surpassed. This mid-point gave time to assess Arsenal’s key individual performers in the Premier League and there had been many stand-outs in that regard.

Arsenal player ratings up to the 2022 World Cup Break:

Ramsdale 8/10- His reliability and quality with the ball at his feet is essential to the way Arsenal play, and there’s few better in the country when playing out from the back than the young English keeper. His standout performance came against Leeds, with backs against the wall, he refused to concede a goal.

Turner 7/10- Didn’t have a great debut against Zurich, but improved in his next 3 Europa League outings, keeping a cleansheet in all of them. Missed out on a few other potential opportunities for game time through injury.

White 9/10- After a good first season at centre-back, White went up another gear in this right-back slot, showing excellent quality with the ball at his feet, and the defensive side of his game was never found wanting either. Arsenal’s November player of the month.

Saliba 9/10- It was thought the young centre-half was special before he’d even kicked a Premier League ball, he somehow managed to exceed expectations in his first 14 league games in Arsenal colours. The club’s best defender in the first part of the season.

Gabriel 8/10- He began the season with a few sloppy mistakes, but quickly got up to the level of his teammates. A goal at Chelsea and a big performance at Wolves ensured Arsenal went into the break sitting pretty at the top.

Holding 6/10- Started all of Arsenal’s Europa League group games, scoring against Bodo. As the technical level of this Arsenal defence has increased significantly this season, his personal limitations especially on the ball and aswell in terms of speed and physicality are more exposed than ever before.

Zinchenko 7/10- Sadly the Ukrainian was injured for half of Arsenal’s league games, but when available Zinchenko demonstrated some of his quality, with the promise of more to come.

Tomiyasu & Tierney 7/10- As reliable as you could wish your full-back deputies to be, injuries meant they were often called upon, especially the Japanese International, and he was always up to the task be it in his more accustomed right-back position, or when deputising at left-back.

Partey 9/10- Injuries in previous seasons had prevented Partey from ever really hitting his top level, his performances in the first part of this season showed the midfielders considerable class this campaign however. 2 outstanding goals vs Forest and most memorably Spurs were the icing on the cake.

Xhaka 9/10- Fairly or unfairly Xhaka seemed to typify much of what was wrong with Arsenal between 2016 and 2021, too often he appeared an average midfielder in an average side. Here he was reborn, in a new role which gave him more of an attacking license, he was contributing goals, assists and Arsenal fans were seeing the leadership qualities of a man loving his football.

Lokonga 5/10- Started all 6 Europa group games and aswell 2 league games due to the absence of Partey. Did not really impress at any stage, a particular lowpoint was away at Old Trafford where his lack of discipline positionally cost Arsenal on several occasions.

Ødegaard 9/10- After making his loan move permanent in the previous summer, the captain has continued to prove himself one of Arsenal’s best signings in recent times. Possessing the quality of Ozil without the flakiness, Ødegaard has rightfully become a real fans favourite.

Vieira 5/10- The 22 year old arrived from FC Porto for £30M. Scored a beauty on his first league start, but often struggled with the pace and physicality of the league and brief substitute appearances have not given him much time to adapt. Finished with some grounds for optimism after coming on in the first half away at Wolves for the unwell Xhaka and performing reasonably well.

Saka 9/10- The darling of the Arsenal faithful, Saka has received rough treatment from opposition full-backs and little protection from match officials, but he is too brave, determined and talented to let this stop him from scoring, assisting and tormenting almost at will. He seems to be improving on an almost monthly basis which is scary.

Martinelli 9/10- Quickly formed a devastating partnership with fellow Brazilian Gabriel Jesus. His directness, pace, hunger and finishing qualities made him just as difficult to stop as Saka in the opening part of the season.

Reiss Nelson 7/10- Nelson appeared to lack confidence and understanding with his teammates in the Europa League cameos he made, but his break came when he got his first Premier League minutes of the season. Coming on early for the injured Saka, he scored twice and assisted another at home to Forest.

Jesus 9/10- He’s a striker who went 11 games without a goal, yet his contributions to the team are so vital he remained un-droppable. That is the uniqueness of Jesus, for the goals may have dried up, but his quality never did. Match after match, he was relentless in his refusal to give opposition defences a minute of peace. His technical ability has been the key ingredient in lifting Arsenal up another level. Along with Saliba, Arsenal’s best player of the first part of the season.

Nketiah 6/10- Appeared off the bench in all 12 of Arsenal’s opening league games, getting anything between 1 minute and 29 minutes playtime. His best cameo by far came against Fulham where he was very sharp and a real handful. A side from that he will feel he has not been given enough time to impress in the league, though he has been handed 7 starts across the Europa League and the Carabao Cup, scoring 3 goals.

Arteta 10/10- The managers contribution cannot go unmentioned. He has demanded the high standards and set the conditions which has enabled them to be realised. This has led a club that has been outside the Champions League for five years to set a pace that not even Guardiola’s City could live with. He has been the catalyst in making a divided and despondent fanbase the most passionately engaged in the league, uniting everyone behind his players and staff.

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