#you have to wade through a lot of mediocre stories to get to it though

[thirddoctor]

the problem with Eight is he has such a specific vibe in the movie that is so so good, but I feel like he loses a lot of that in Big Finish. the books capture it! meanwhile BF's plots tend to be better and more accessible but I just don't find their Eight as interesting a character

[ilguna]

Redamancy - Chapter Four (f.o)

summary: it’s time to forgive and repair.

warnings; swearing, MURDER, GORE.

wc; 8.8k

NOTES; I give reader a last name to fit the world.

–

Even though the Hunger Games doesn’t start until ten, you’re in the betting room at nine. You’re not the first and only mentor to come down bright and early, there’s plenty of others who are already making their way around the room. Shaking hands, exchanging compliments and holding friendly conversation.

You’re not exactly the same way, as you stand off to the side, gnawing on your thumb’s nail. You’ve watched Annie and Marsh’s odds bob up and down plenty of times already, as the gamemakers try to decide where they belong last minute. So far, Annie and Marsh are back to back in numbers, with Marsh being on top.

“You’re stressed.”

Gloss is staring up at the betting board when you look over at him. He’s got his arms crossed, serious and straight-faced. In the past, he would be some type of excited because of their undeniably fantastic tributes. This year is different, as you’ve already discovered many times. His male tribute scored lower than usual, and the girl is higher by one single point.

It’s normal for the careers to score from anywhere between eight and ten, but that doesn’t mean they want an eight. They want nines and tens, because it shows proficiency and dangerousness. Plus, it’s normally District Four who’s scoring eights and whatnot. A good example of that is when Finnick scored the number when he was fourteen.

Today’s seriousness doesn’t reflect the attitude that was being presented last night. Last night was much livelier, a laughing group of mentors on the streets of the Capitol. Of course, as Finnick requested, you all stayed inside and in private rooms for most of the time, but eventually he decided that he wanted to experience the festival the way you guys normally do.

Which is practically chaos, as Gloss and Enobaria feed into each other’s bad thoughts and drag you around the city doing whatever they want. Trying on regular Capitol wear, buying replica crowns that Snow places on the brows of victors. They try different drinks and foods, all a hundred different flavors, some sweet, others sour, sometimes spicy.

The Capitol is a playground to them, and it’s fun to watch them break rules and create their own. Playing games on the sidewalk to see who will chug the next cherry vodka, who will lose a shirt or a sock or a piece of expensive jewelry down a storm drain. The night of the interviews is the only night where you all get to be your true selves.

Even Finnick felt comfortable enough to join in on your antics. It’s always a night to remember, you’re sure that he’ll be using it to tell stories in the future. The year where you cornered Finnick to helping you, and how he saw that you weren’t always who you pretended to be. It’s easy to be professional when you don’t like someone, but it’s harder to contain yourself when you’re surrounded by people who understand what you’re going through.

Of course, it’s only one night. If your tributes die, you get sent home, so you never have the chance to congratulate and celebrate with your friends after they bring home another tribute. You can always say your peace the next year, but by then they’re over it, and they’re ready for another victor.

“So are you.” you playfully punch his bicep, “Look at you, you never cross your arms.”

He gives you a smile, “Whatever, it’s not that much of a giveaway.”

“You’re right, it was definitely your face. You never scowl.” You look at the board again to see that all the numbers seem to be locked, “Careful, you’ll end up with wrinkles. After that, people will really begin to realize that you’re older than Cashmere.”

The board is a little confusing at first to get used to, but after years of looking at it, you’ve grown accustomed to it. At the top reads ‘MORNING LINE ODDS’, and below is a row readied for how many days, hours, minutes and seconds the tributes have been inside of the arena. Which is none at the moment, so instead they have a countdown going on. Fifty-four minutes. Less than an hour.

Below it are more rows and information about the tributes. The left states their district, and then it splits into two. The Capitol doesn’t care about names anymore, just the important parts. Their heights, weights, ages, betting odds and faces are displayed for everyone to see.

For Gloss and Cashmeres tributes, they’re both doing fairly good on odds. The girl has a predicted 5-1 chance of winning, and the boy has a 7-1. In the past, the roles have been reversed, the boys always show a brute strength during their private training so it’s hard not to score like that. Enobaria and Wades tributes are better, even with the repeating numbers. The girl has a 5-1 too, but the boy holds a 3-1 because of his score.

The gamemakers are used to your tributes’ scores teetering on the edge of very good and mediocre, which normally earns them a 9-1 or lower. However, since your tributes have shown promise through personality and matching high numbers, you’re staring at a 7-1 for Marsh and a 8-1 for Annie. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the past scores.

You think that the lowest you’ve seen for District Four is a 20-1. That was a particularly horrible year, and since then you’ve learned to stop the problem before it gets too bad to be fixed. Maybe it’s attitude, maybe it’s not caring for training, you’re there with dead eyes and mean words to put them back in their place. They like to self-sabotage, not a good thing to do when you’re going into the Hunger Games.

On one hand, you’re thankful for the morning line odds, because it gets the betters a sense of direction of which tributes they should sponsor and keep an eye on. But sometimes it seems futile when the sponsors will do whatever they want, or go for the more obvious and favorable tributes--cough cough, Districts One and Two. You can never go wrong betting on the districts that practically get a winner every year.

“Haha.” Gloss says in regards to your age comment, “Where’s Finnick?”

You shrug, “Couldn’t find him at all this morning.”

It’s true, you searched the entire apartment three times before leaving. The living room, the kitchen, the balcony, your bedroom, his bedroom, even in the hallway and stairwell. There wasn’t a single trace of Finnick anywhere, it didn’t even look like he spent the night in his room, but you definitely remember him going in there last night.

Whatever, you’re not all that upset. It’s the first day, and even if there’s a lot that happens on the first day, sponsorships aren’t one of them. The first day relies on the tributes to get used to their surroundings and figure things out for themselves. The second day is when mentors and sponsors begin to collaborate.

Doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be down here anyway. It’s nice to make friends while you can. You’ll just have to talk to Finnick later about him helping you down here. The whole reason why you’ve called on him for help this year is because of the betting room. An extra pair of eyes, ears and hands helps out, it goes a long ass way. Two people mingling is better than one. You can pull more sponsors together.

You glance at Gloss, “Where’s Cashmere and the others?”

“Wade’s here,” Gloss turns, thumb jabbing in the direction. He’s got the spot perfectly right, you’re able to see that Wade is surrounded by Capitol people, all laughing and joking around, “Cashmere and Enobaria will be down here later. They’re sleeping in, I think.”

“Well, after last night…” you trail off with a small smile, and Gloss snorts.

It’s quiet between you two as you watch the time tick down. Thirty minutes left, the tributes are close or in the catacombs at this point. Judging by the small glimpse the gamemakers gave this year, you think that the arena’s going to be sunny. They’re probably dressed in regular clothing, stuff that won’t make the tributes too hot but won’t allow them to get cold easily.

Honestly, at this point, you’re tired of the build up. 

“At least your tributes’ odds are doing well this year.”

“Tell me about it. But it came at a price, since yours fucked up during training.” you run a hand through your hair, getting annoyed when it falls back in your face.

“There’s always room for redemption.”

Redemption, what a pointless thing to bank on, “Right.”

You’d tell him it’s good to have hope, but when has hope ever helped you? It’s always a letdown. And out of all tributes that are about to enter the arena, the careers aren’t the ones that need hope. It’s everyone else.

More silence, you mindlessly watch the time tick down. Thirty minutes, twenty, fifteen, ten. Everyone starts getting antsy around five, you and Gloss stand behind the rows of chairs that begin to fill with citizens. Wade comes around and joins the two of you, talking about what he discovered during conversation.

He was going after their opinions on the tributes. And while they have sung good praise of their tributes, as usual, they also couldn’t stop bringing up Marsh in particular. There were constant comments on how they had wished that he would’ve gotten more time on stage. It was new to them, and they liked the new approach. 

You figure that other mentors will start telling their tributes to follow in Marsh’s footsteps, and after that the comedy skit will be ruined and you’ll have to find something else that’ll catch attention. At this point, everything possible has been found and exploited until it got old. 

Twenty seconds until it hits a minute, which is when they’ll raise the tributes. The games don’t officially start until that minute is over. The clock will flip, and then it’ll start from the bottom up. You clench your teeth, spinning your ring around your finger over and over. Annie and Marsh are in the tubes, submerged in darkness, you can feel it yourself, the stomach lurching and the dread and regret. It’s too late now, they have to fall through on what they’ve built so far.

They’ve got this. They’ve got this. They’ve got this.

The clock hits a minute and five seconds, you can begin to see the tops of tributes heads. You lean forward slightly, eyes searching for Annie and Marsh, and find them easily. They’re close together, maybe two tributes between them, which is good news. They can see each other and decide what they want to do. You hope they discussed some sort of plan at some point regarding how they want to start their games off.

The cornucopia this year is silver and placed in the middle of a field of flowers. The grass is tall too, but thin enough to see where the gamemakers have placed the goodies outside of the cornucopia this year. As the camera pans around the tributes, you’re able to catch glimpses of the arena.

A field of flowers, hills that seem to stretch forever and offer little to no protection. In the distance is… a village? Others must see it too, because whispers break out, predictions on which tributes will immediately run for it. It’s an obvious place to go, Annie and Marsh won’t head there first. They’ll go for a better place.

However, it’s not inevitable, it’ll probably be the first place where the careers will go to get as many people out as possible. For a quick and scary moment, you think that this will be a fast Hunger Games. Whatever happens, just let one of your tributes last until the end.

One last shot before the sixty seconds is over, and it feels like you’ve been stabbed in the heart. 

The dam that they showed--the preview--they must’ve edited it or something with how they made it look so small and not at all threatening. You thought it was holding back a small river, especially with the stream of water that was coming from it. But this--this is not for a river. This is for a fucking lake.

“Oh my fucking god.” you lace your fingers, placing your hands on the back of your head.

“Wow.” Gloss utters, “Yeah that isn’t at all what they showed us.”

From what you can tell, the tributes are supposed to be far away from the dam, a couple miles at least. But it’s still big enough to see through the trees, and tall enough to block some of the sky. Actually, it reminds you of the cliffs in your games. The cliffs were a two day walk from the cornucopia, and yet you could see them over the tops of the trees.

No one in their right mind would head towards the dam, especially with the chance that it would break. It’s just not common sense, and Annie and Marsh have shown promise when it comes to thinking logically. Which means that they would have to head the other way… towards the village.

They’re fucked. Everyone in that arena is set up for failure. You give it a couple of days, maybe a week and a half at most. No one in their right mind is going to want to stay next to the dam, but on the other hand they won’t want to get killed. And you can hide near the dam at the beginning of the games, but eventually if you want to head towards the village and clear hills, people will see you coming from a mile away.

You clench your fists, gritting your teeth more as your nails dig into the skin on your palms. 

Out of all the arena’s that you’ve seen, this is by far the worst. It’s a trap, there’s no choice but to fall victim to it.

“Well, there goes literally everything.” Wade lets out a laugh.

“The others should be down here.” Gloss says.

He’s referring to Enobaria, Cashmere and Finnick, and he’s completely right. They won’t know what’s happening or the situation until later. By then, it’ll be too late. The bloodbath always costs around seven to ten lives, and if they all scatter towards the village, you think at the end of the day, half the competition will be gone.

The countdown has reached five, you watch as Annie and Marsh prepare to run into the cornucopia. It isn’t a bad choice, they’re good fighters. As long as they don’t go too far in, maybe grab the supplies that are only a few feet away from the mouth, they’ll be golden. You hope they realize this.

The gong sounds.

It’s only been a couple of seconds, and a handful of tributes are already heading towards the village. Others dare to run towards the dam, but they’re all apprehensive and continue to steal longing looks at the cornucopia and beyond that. They’re not the focus of the cameras, though.

The bloodbath is horrible as usual. Annie and Marsh are next to each other, stealing things out of the grass, shoving them into an empty backpack. Sheets of plastic, bread, firestarters, rope, water jugs. You watch with furrowed eyebrows, trying to keep track of the careers and the deaths.

On the side of the screen is a list, one at a time names and districts appear. The girl from Six, the boy from Eight, the girl from Eleven, the boy from Twelve. Two minutes in and four are already dead. Annie and Marsh head towards the cornucopia quickly, a plan already in mind.

Marsh slips inside of the cornucopia, making your heartbeat in your ears, body filling with adrenaline. Stupid move, going inside traps you there. Not even in your games did you go inside all the way. He’s gone for ten seconds, twenty. Annie doesn’t appear to be worried at first, but it changes when a career sets their eyes on her.

The boy from One.

“Oh, here we go.” you cross one arm over your chest, the other covering your mouth.

Annie ditches the backpack, throwing it against the cornucopia to keep it clear of her path. Out of nowhere, she pulls out a knife, spinning it between her fingers to make sure that the boy knows she has it. Her body curls in forward, chin dropping downwards.

She would look threatening, as if she has a chance at winning this fight if it weren’t for the short blade that the boy has. He comes towards her, a smile hinting at the corners of his lips. He swings, she dodges easily and advances forward. Annie isn’t a runner, especially not when she has a plan. 

This is life or death, Annie. This isn’t practice anymore. This is for real.

He swings again, she moves out of the way and comes closer, a little out of range. The boy is becoming frustrated, and his swings begin to cut close. Annie side steps, you can see the blade cut through her shirt, when the boy holds his blade up, you can see a glint of blood. Annie doesn’t even look phased.

Where the hell is Marsh? You look at the corner of the screen, reading over the new list of deaths. The boy from Eleven, the girl from Twelve, the girl from Ten. Seven dead, the bloodbath is practically over, Annie and Marsh need to get out of there now.

He swings again, cutting Annie’s upper left arm. She barely acknowledges it, when the gamemakers change camera angles, you can finally see her face. All those times you’ve watched her fight the other kids at the boarding school, she’d be able to sweep most of the kids with her eyes closed. On the days you and Anchor permitted actual harm, she became more serious about fighting.

Annie shifted in those moments. Her eyes dead, locking on the target in front of her. She always has a plan, always ready to move and bait the person in. She’ll tense in sticky situations, but always find her way out of it. She became unlikable when fighting others because of this. Always said that it was an unfair fight. 

And she’s about to bring the boy from One down.

The boy swings one more time, Annie moves out of the way in time for him to miss. Not a second later, she’s launching towards him, the knife perfectly aimed for his stomach. He’s quick to try and slash at her, so she has to drop the knife in the grass and grab his wrist instead, falling on top of him.

Annie slams her knee into the boy's left wrist, and uses both of her hands to force the sword in the other hand, down towards his throat. His face turns an angry shade of red, eyebrows forced so close that there’s a deep crease between them. Annie’s face is determined, the kind and polite girl that you saw yesterday evening is nowhere to be seen.

It’s a struggle between them, Annie’s got a tight grip around his wrist, knuckles turning white. She grits her teeth, lip curling, lets up for a moment on the arm, only to go crashing back down. The boys’ locked arm breaks, and the sword slides through his throat. Red, thick blood comes out of his throat, painting his tan skin and the silver blade.

Annie lets out a sound, pulls out the sword, and slams it into his forehead. On the side of the screen, the boy from One appears. You let out a breath, watching as Annie gathers her things. It’s right on time for Marsh to come fighting out, the girl from One trying to stop him. His face is twisted like he’s in pain, but it’s just how he focuses too.

If they knock out District One, Gloss and Cashmere go home. It’s over, and all you have to worry about is the District Two tributes. For the first time in a very long time, District One won’t survive past the first day. 

It doesn’t work out like that, Marsh sends a harsh kick to her leg and she crumples. He and Annie regroup, and the two of them take off running towards the dam, the backpack bouncing on Annie’s back, Marsh tightly holding onto his favorite weapon. Annie now has the short blade to use.

“Okay.” you breathe, because it could be worse. 

The village is going to be a slaughter, so you don’t blame them for running towards the dam. They just need to find another place to stay soon, and hope that the careers don’t come towards them for revenge.

“Congrats.” Gloss has got a smile on his face, clapping a hand on your shoulder.

“Thanks, I guess. One more tribute and you get sent home.” you raise your eyebrows at him.

He rolls his eyes, “They’ll have to try really hard to get that to happen.”

“Anything is possible!” you cheer.

The bloodbath lasted about twenty minutes, even if it didn’t feel like it. The main career group has three left; two girls and one boy. Annie and Marsh are still very much alive, taking camp by the dam. The total bloodbath deaths is eight. Districts Eleven and Twelve are gone; Parry, Seeder and Haymitch are going home.

They’re nowhere to be seen, which you can’t really blame them for. Haymitch is the only victor in his district, and Parry won ten years ago so he replaced Chaff when it comes to mentoring. After a long streak of losing, you’re sure that you’d find yourself holed up in the apartment too. Why bother showing up in the betting room if you know your tributes won’t make it past the first day?

Although, District Eleven typically has their tributes last a while longer. But you guess it’s different this year since both of their tributes ran into the cornucopia on the assumption that they’d make it out alive. At this point, no tributes make it out alive unless they’re very good at fighting or they can slip between fingers.

You take a look at the betting board to see that the dead tributes are greyed out since they’re impossible to bet on. Everyone else who’s still alive have had their odds increase slightly. Now that the gamemakers have seen survival and fighting skills come alive, they can determine how the rest of the games are going to go much better.

The girl from One has increased to a 4-1, the other two careers stay the same. Annie has gone from an 8-1 to a 6-1, Marsh stays the same. Killing the career boy has done her good. Your two tributes will have sponsors around the corner in no time. You think that Finnick will be excited to hear this.

On screen, the careers gather what they need and air out of the cornucopia, heading towards the village, as predicted. For a second, there’s a disagreement, as the girl from One wants to head after Annie and Marsh to take care of them before they become a serious problem, but the other two vote against her, so she’s stuck going towards the village.

Annie and Marsh aren’t the only two who went towards the dam, there’s about three to four others who are there too. Still, the majority went straight for the village, which could very well be because it’ll give them cover from any of the elements, but you can’t imagine that there’s any sort of water source. The gamemakers like to keep the sources to a minimum and in one spot to make sure that the tributes come across each other on refills.

With the bloodbath being over, you can breathe. You, Gloss and Wade take a seat on a couch nearby, with you and Gloss being pressed against the arms, and Wade being sat in the middle. You’d say that it’s crowded, Gloss and Wade aren’t the smallest guys to exist, but there’s still enough breathing room between all of you.

You tap your fingers against the arm of the chair, watching as the cameras all split into groups. Annie and Marsh being one, still running into the woods to put as much distance between them and the cornucopia as possible. The second team of tributes being District Seven, as they’re working together this year, heading towards the left, away from the stream of water that Annie and Marsh are unintentionally going to come across.

The other two tributes by the dam are the girl from Eight and the boy from Five, scattered in their own special way, but not shown individually on screen. They’re not as important, it looks like the gamemakers are focusing on alliances at the moment. Next up are the careers, taking their time with making their way down and over the grassy hills. They’re digging through their backpacks and laughing about something.

There’s no alliance in the village at all. After a few more seconds of glimpses of the alliance tributes, it’s switched to individual. From what you’re able to see, the village is pretty big. At least six tributes are scattered inside of houses or making their way as deep inside as possible. As far as the forest goes, two people are wandering around. There’s only one tribute that you can’t decide where they are because of the way she’s cleverly placed herself.

The bloodbath canons begin to go off now, there’s a series of different reactions. Eight deaths in the bloodbath isn’t even that uncommon, the most you’ve probably seen before is twelve. Hell, in your games you think that there were nine total. Typically, the tributes have enough common sense to save themselves right off the bat.

“What do you think the dam’s about?” Gloss suddenly asks.

Your eyes slowly land on him to see that he’s waiting on you and Wade. Wade shrugs his shoulders, not knowing what to say. They don’t know? How can they not know? You thought that the dam was pretty straight forward. Maybe they weren’t standing in front of the tv close enough to see the cracks.

A part of you wants to tell them what your predictions are, but you bite your tongue and shrug too. In the past, mentors have been able to send secret messages to tributes. It happened in your games, it’s happened in others, and you’ve even sent a couple when it was direly needed. So telling them could backfire in your face.

Even if you’re friends with them, sometimes you can’t trust to give others certain information. It’s so risky, knowing that the other mentor can easily pass off the information. Especially during the initial week inside of the Capitol. The tributes are at your fingertips.

It’s why you resort to being mysterious most of the time. While your mentor friends have nothing to hide because they put their plans out in the open from the start—because you all know that it’s no secret that the careers are powerhouses. You rely on the element of surprise to get you through literally everything.

The mentors can’t tell their tributes what your opinion is if you don’t give one. They can’t tell them that you’re sure your tributes are absolutely deadly and pose one of the biggest threats in the arena this year. They have to rely on past experiences to make predictions, but even then, sometimes districts manage to pull surprises out of nowhere.

The clock hits the first hour mark, by then the careers have made it to the village. Already beginning to weave their way in and out of houses. They’re not exactly quiet, so if a tribute hears them coming, they’ll easily be able to hide before the career gets to them.

Well, that’s what you think. However, every time a tribute is shown individually, you see that there’s nothing to hide behind. There’s no doors, and if there are, they’re broken or falling apart from years with no use. It’s like a terrifying game of hide and seek, but there’s hardly hiding. It’s a game of skill and luck now. 

Luck that you won’t get found or your house won’t get chosen. That the career will come just close enough but turn their back at the last second when they decide that a place is clear. But it’s skill, testing the careers senses. Seeing if they properly know how to clear an area completely of tributes.

Just like how luck wasn’t on the side of these tributes when their names got chosen, it’s not on their side when it comes to hiding in plain sight, either. One by one, they’re all found.

The first one is the girl from Five, pressed tightly against the wall, holding her breath with tears slowly coming to her eyes. You can practically hear her chanting in her head, “Please don’t find me, please don’t fine me—“

The girl from One rounds the corner, without a single hesitation, she shoves the sword through the other girls’ stomach before the girl can defend herself. The sword pins the girl to the wall, blood spilling out of her stomach. Five has her mouth open in shock, eyes locked on the weapon, fingers fumbling to touch it.

One looks pleased, a smile creeping onto her face. For a moment, you can see Cashmere in her. The blonde hair, the green eyes, they all look the same in District One. All the same form of deadly, and they pull sponsors without even having to try because of their good looks. But everything comes at a price, and Cashmere was no exception.

Five doesn’t have a chance to plead, One pulls out her knife and finishes the job. A canon goes off, another teenager greyed out on the betting board. Nine dead. A sick feeling in your stomach tells you that this is going to be another bloodbath.

The boys work together, taking out the bigger houses since the girl wanted to go it alone. They’ll clear one, making sure to make it known, but stick inside of the house for a second to wait to see if they can hear movement. When they’re absolutely sure there’s none, they move on.

This plan doesn’t work initially, they get passed at least three houses before they hear a noise. Had the boy just waited a couple of seconds more, they wouldn’t have been able to hear his footsteps as he creeped down the loud stairs, giving away his position.

With the Ten boy dead, the District Ten mentors are going home. Which you’re sure is a bummer for them, knowing that they’ve been doing pretty good lately when it comes to victors. They’ve had two in the past ten years, which is a good improvement from the gap that they had before.

In the next house that the boys come across is a girl, the gamemakers give no indication on district. And you’re not sure that it matters because she’s dead within the first minute they search the house. The hiding spot wasn’t that bad, but when there’s two searching, more spots are bound to be discovered. 

District Three girl gets greyed out on the board. There’s three people still hiding inside of the village, the boys from Nine, Three and Six. All in different places, and the only one that seems to be the furthest is Six, and you can take a pretty big guess as to why.

His district is power. They’re the main producer for it for everyone, and it wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the gigantic dam that they have. It’s hydroelectricity, the water passes through the dam, turns some gears and it fuels the Capitol and a portion of the other districts. It makes sense that he would be the one that would try and get away as far as possible. 

It means that he knows something that the rest of them don’t. However, you have that much figured out. The dam is the danger here, but he must know the mechanics behind it. Why it’s going to fall apart, what event can set it off, how far it’s going to reach when it does. He’s so far away from the dam at this point, miles away from the cornucopia, and he still keeps moving.

It just means that the blast radius of the dam is going to wipe out a large berth of things. Trees, potentially the cornucopia, definitely the houses in the village. And that’s to name a few. There’s no telling what can be uprooted with the force of the water. You’re just curious how anyone will survive it.

Another tribute gets found, it’s the boy from Nine. The careers have regrouped now, all in different forms of bloody. You grit your teeth and try not to gag, remembering the smell of blood, and the feeling of the thickness on your skin. It’s not a pretty feeling, and you can’t shake it, not even all these years later.

The careers agree to stop looking for tributes and start for water instead. Which is a good sign for the two tributes left in the village--potentially three. But as for everyone else in the trees, it’s not as good. You’re sure that Annie and Marsh are far away enough from the stream of water that’s coming out of the dam at the moment, but there’s no way to tell.

Actually, it probably doesn’t even matter that they’re far away from the stream of water, considering that no one knows that it actually exists, except for the mentors. Unless someone went and opened their mouth and gave it away, which you wouldn’t be surprised about. You’re all a bunch of cheats and liars, at this point. There’s no use denying it.

The careers don’t even start to head towards the dam anyway, so that eliminates most of the worry. With the interest in them gone, it’s back to the remaining tributes inside of the arena. It’s been nearly three hours and already half of the competition is gone. When you said that it wouldn’t last more than a week and a half, you weren’t thinking that it would be because of this. You thought it would be the dam.

Everyone loves a good plot twist though, right? Right?

You get up from the couch to stretch your legs, figuring that the worst of the first day is over. It’s one in the afternoon, Annie and Marsh can clearly take care of themselves when it comes to fighting off other tributes. Their main worry at the moment is probably finding water and setting up camp somewhere.

If they were to just head right, towards the stream, they should come upon that shack uphill. It’s risky, staying that close to the dam but they don’t really have much of a choice unless they want to stay the night out in the open. At least with a shack they have shelter and they’re hidden. If someone comes upon it, they’ll have the upper hand.

“Alright, I think I might go back to the Four apartment to eat lunch. Don’t know if I’ll be down here later.” you say, looking at Wade and Gloss.

“And narrowly miss your two best friends?” Gloss asks.

“I have days to see them, I’m not really that worried. Plus, last night was enough to fuel me for the next decade. You’re lucky if I don’t start pretending I don’t know your four altogether.”

“Haha.” Gloss rolls his eyes, but gets to his feet.

He gives you a one-armed hug, you pat his back slightly. Wade isn’t much for physical contact in the first place, so he holds out his hand as a supplement. You slap it, looking at Gloss, “Sorry about your tribute.”

“He was a moron anyway.”

“I’ll see you later then--” you go to turn towards the door but find that you’re face to face with a Capitol woman, dressed in bright blue with accents of black. You have to take a step back so that you’re not breathing the same air as her, giving her a polite smile, “Hello.”

“Are you Annie’s mentor?” she asks.

Three hours in, and Annie’s already going to get a sponsor. It’s probably healing cream for the cuts she endured when fighting the One boy. You have to admit, if she’s completely healed, she’ll be able to move quicker and won’t have to worry about using medical stuff. The blades on the knives and swords are so sharp, especially when they haven’t been used before. Pick your toughest material and it could move through it like cloth.

Your eyes find Annie and Marsh on screen to see that they’re taking a break, going through the stuff in their backpack. Now would be a good time to do it before they get ahead of themselves. You give the Capitol woman a bigger smile, “Yes, are you interested in sponsoring?”

The whole process only takes a few minutes. You and her discuss what exactly she’s looking for, and what the ranges of the healing cream will have. It’s so extremely dirt cheap because it’s the beginning of the games, only three hours in. The longer the games go on, the more prices will be amped up. What could buy you an entire feast on the first day will only get you a loaf of bread later on, maybe not even that.

The woman lets you know that the main reason for deciding to go through with this is because of Annie’s manners on stage. That she can’t believe that Annie is only eighteen and acts like she’s been on this earth for much longer. You have to agree, Annie has her moments where she’s wiser than the rest of you. But it’s mainly because she’s been forced to grow up quicker, thanks to the boarding school.

When it comes to the note, you type in, “Right with you.”

It’s not the best when it comes to hinting at where to go, but you send it and watch it get approved. The first sponsor gift of the Seventieth Hunger Games, and it’s going to your tributes. One last time, you thank the woman and assure her that Annie is very grateful for her compassion.

Now you can’t leave just yet, and have to wait as it slowly comes down to them. You stand by Gloss and Wade, listening to the chiming of the gift. When it comes into earshot of Annie and Marsh, they immediately perk up, searching the trees. 

“Found it!” Annie calls, pointing it out while getting to her feet. The cuts don’t even seem to phase her all that much, so it’s partially a waste of money but at least they’ll be able to use it later on if the need arises.

Annie catches the silver gift in her hands, rejoining Marsh as she pops it open. You didn’t really give them any instructions on how to apply it, they’ll have common sense not to use the whole tube, you think. They read over the words to themselves in their head first, before Annie is smiling fondly.

“That’s very sweet.” Annie says, “(Y/n)’s encouraging us as always.”

No, that’s not it. You’re not worried about the misinterpretation, especially not after the knowing look they give each other. Annie folds the paper and places it in her breast pocket, not even reading it out loud for everyone to know. It’s their own choice, and it’s probably a good one at any rate.

Annie has Marsh apply the cream while she tries not to look like she’s in too much pain. You know that it’s not easy having people dig their fingers in your wounds. Fuck, you might have initially blacked out after that bear mutt attack, but you were still half awake. Every single time they went a little too deep or were a little too harsh, you were jolted awake. You’re fairly surprised that you still remember it. It was almost like a fever dream.

Annie and Marsh take a couple more minutes relaxing, but the audio cuts on their part to give the District Seven tributes a chance at the spotlight. It doesn’t mean that you’re not able to see your tributes, though. You’re able to watch them motion and flesh out a plan. It’s good to see that they get along so well, makes for a strong alliance.

Annie motions about heading towards the wall, Marsh’s face begins to harden up. Annie changes to pointing, jabs her thumb in the direction of the cornucopia. Marsh says something, you think you make out the word ‘water’. Annie then holds her arm out to the right, taps the pocket on her chest, and then it seems like they have a plan. They pack up, and head towards the right.

And with that, you go to leave because it’s finally your window. But Cashmere and Enobaria come through the door, bearing a basket and big smiles, “Good afternoon! How’s our tributes doing?”

“Is that food?” you ask, Cashmere hands over the basket, and when you look inside, there’s cold cut sandwiches and flavored bubble water. It really looks like you won’t be leaving here anytime soon.

You all pick your regular back table, that’s perfectly out of earshot of other mentors and Capitol citizens, but you’re still able to see the line odds and the screen with the tributes. They lay out the food, you nibble on your sandwich while Cashmere and Enobaria ask questions and Gloss and Wade give up information.

“Bloodbath knocked out eight tributes.” Wade says, playing with the bubbly water cap, “Which includes Eleven and Twelve.”

“Figures, they’re not very good fighters anyway.” Enobaria says, “Didn’t Eleven have the seventeen year-old girl?”

“She only scored a six so it’s not like she was anything special.” Cashmere has her eyes on Gloss, slowly squinting at him, “What are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding anything.” Gloss makes a face and shrugs. There goes whatever cover he was trying to grasp at.

Cashmere stares at him for a second longer before turning around and looking at the line odds. It doesn’t take long to find, the boy is the first tribute on the left row. She doesn’t even have to look for it. The name is greyed out, of course, Cashmere turns back to Gloss.

“When did Colt die?” she asks.

“The bloodbath.” Gloss says, leaning his head against his hand now, “He went after Annie--(Y/n)’s tribute. He didn’t even stand a chance.”

Cashmere raises her eyebrows, and then looks at you, “Seriously? What happened?”

Conversation launches, you, Gloss and Wade do your best to tell them all the details. Starting from the bloodbath, who’s where in the arena, to the village. They’re not all that surprised to hear that their career pack got an additional four kills, the careers go hunting after the bloodbath to try and get as many as possible. But it’s a shock to know that half the tributes are gone.

After bloodbaths, careers get one--maybe two--kills. And it normally doesn’t happen immediately after the bloodbath, either. It’s sometime during the night because it’s easiest to spot the fires. Hardly ever is there a second slaughter immediately after the first. Because of this, you don’t think that they’re going to have a feast at the cornucopia this year. There won’t be enough tributes to make it worth it.

Annie and Marsh come across water, fill the jugs and put iodine to clean the water. They wander up a little further and find the shack. Just like that, they can call it a day since they’ve already got enough food to last them two days. All they have to do now is set up a plan to keep the food coming.

The careers come across basically a small clear pond. The last time you drank from a pond, you came down with Typhoid fever, really fun times. The Capitol was a bitch for making that dirty water clear to drink from, but the normally ideal water a fucking trick. You are so lucky that the Capitol had the medicine to make sure that the effects weren’t long-term. Otherwise, who knows what you’d be living with right now?

The betting room starts to clear out in the evening because it’s supper time for all of them. You stick around with the pack for a little while longer, remarking that you’re all surprised that Finnick didn’t show up at all, even with all the time he had. Once you’re sure that your tributes can survive the night, you’re bidding goodbyes.

It feels good to walk back to the apartment and to stretch your legs after going between sitting and standing. Sitting at the table already is Elysia, she looks happy to see you, “Welcome back.”

“Feels good to be back up here.” you laugh, tying your hair up, “Have you seen Finnick at all? He didn’t come by at all.”

Elysia shakes her head, “I went to get him for dinner and the rooms empty.”

“Huh,” you let out, sitting at the table.

It's odd, being here with only Elysia again. Makes your stomach churn slightly, actually. No tributes, no Finnick, only you in the betting room… Why do you have a feeling that this isn’t a coincidence?

You said that you’d give Finnick today. The first day isn’t the busiest, it’s the days that follow, when the heat starts to get turned up and the stakes rise. Then the tributes start getting hurt, requiring more to sustain whatever lifestyle they’ve built for themselves. It’s going to be impossible to go to the cornucopia to refill on goods when the entire thing is in a field. What are you going to do? Hide in the grass?

You and Elysia eat dinner, quietly chatting about what you think’s going to happen. In the end, it’s late and you should call it a night. But when you reach your room, hand on the doorknob, something tells you that you shouldn’t go to bed just yet. It’s a gut reaction, you look over towards Finnick’s room. It’s an invasion of privacy.

But there have been plenty of times before where Finnick has come into your space without permission, right? You sigh, kick off your shoes by your door, and then go into Finnick’s room. It’s dark and quiet and smells like perfumed fabric softener. You don’t bother with turning on the lights, Elysia already said that he wasn’t in here. 

You make yourself at home, tossing a pillow onto the hammock and using it to support your head and not get your hair stuck in the rope. You stare and watch and wait for a while, playing today over in your head. You don’t think that there’s a single thing you would have done differently. Annie and Marsh were smart to run towards the dam, and Annie knocked out a whole career while she was at it.

However, they also proved that they were a couple to keep an eye on. The girl from One is smart enough to see it like that, to want to go ahead and go after them. On one hand, it’s a good thing that the boys didn’t listen to her. Your tributes are still alive, in a house for the night. But on the other hand, four other tributes died because of it.

But then again, it was only a matter of time. You saw all of their deaths coming, and so did every other mentor in that room. None of you could have known that on the other side of the dam would be a village. What use is it to warn your tributes if they’re just going to be fucked either way?

Oh hey, there’s going to be a cracked dam inside of the arena this year. If you can, I’d probably steer clear of it. The most it seems to provide is a steady stream of water, so at least you have that! Also, I wouldn’t worry much because the dam looked pretty damn small when I got to see it.

What use would that have done? It would have been a fucking culture shock, to think that you’d be ahead of the games for once. Like, “Okay, don’t head toward the dam, use it as a last resort. Worse comes to worse and you can maybe outrun the water.” until you’re face to face with a concrete wall that’s literally a mile taller than you, and the only place to go is a field out in the open and a village that provides the only shelter.

If there was any time to facepalm, it would be now. Hell, even your warning at agility training is going to do fucking nothing. You originally thought that it would come in hand to hop from rock to hill or tree root or something, but that’s going to be hard to do in the grassy field. Yes, let’s hop from grass blade to grass blade.

So fucking stupid, all of this.

You sit there fuming for a little while longer, shaking your head, rolling your eyes and gritting your teeth. You wonder if any of the other mentors have seens something like this before. Wait, that’s stupid. Of course there’s been an arena before this that has been the biggest April fool’s prank of all. Haymitch Abernathy had to live in a hell disguised as a paradise. Yes, you think that might be the worst arena you’ve ever seen. And he had forty-seven other tributes to worry about on top of the killer squirrels.

You snort, but it’s really not all that funny.

The room door opens, you squint just before the lights are flickered on. Finnick stands in the doorway, wearing a white button down shirt and nice black slacks. A part of you wonders where he’s been all night to need to dress as nicely as this. His… job… for the lack of a better word, doesn’t start until after dinner, usually.

And supposedly, he’s been gone all day!

Finnick doesn’t seem to see you at first. You grin to yourself like a child, “Boo.”

He jumps, a startled sound escaping him, it sounds like a yelp. He turns with wide eyes, staring at you. You laugh to yourself, “What the fuck? How long have you been here for?” he presses his hand against his chest, “Gonna give me fucking war flashbacks.”

“Been here since dinner, which was…” you trail off, looking at the time, “About four hours ago, apparently.”

“Don’t you have anything better to do? Like watch the arena?” Finnick slips off his shoes and socks, beginning to unbutton his shirt.

“I did that all day, I actually waited here to tell you that it’s your turn.” 

His eyes land on you, “To what?”

“Watch the tributes, sit in the betting room until I relieve you.”

His face twists, “Nice choice of words.” 

You roll your eyes, “You owe me this much. I’ll give you a quick rundown about what happened--”

“I already know.”

You throw the pillow at him, “Perfect! You can put your shirt back on and go downstairs!”

He looks at you, “(Y/n), I’m tired.”

“I’ve been up since eight this morning.” you give him a smile, “It’s now nearly midnight. I think you can sit in the betting room for a couple of hours.”

“A couple is two.” Finnick says, “You’re asking me to sit in there for ten.”

“Which is almost half of what I did today! It’s only fair!”

He stares at you. He doesn’t look tired on the outside. In fact, it looks like he just woke up a couple of hours ago. If he were tired, he’d be more sluggish, and you’d know because you’ve been around him for years now. And the last week has shown you what it’s like to actually interact with him when he’s had tough days and nights.

Today is neither of them for him.

“Okay.” Finnick agrees.

“Okay?” you raise your eyebrows, “Sweet. I’ll be up at seven and down there at eight to switch places, then.”

Finnick starts buttoning his shirt back, you give him a cheeky smile, getting off the hammock and heading towards the door. You’re about to leave, but then you stop and turn towards him.

“If I get down there tomorrow morning and you’re nowhere to be seen, you’re not going to like what happens.” there’s no smile, the words are dead cold. Finnick stares at you, fingers frozen in place, “I can promise you that. Goodnight.”

--

REDAMANCY IS PART 2 OF A TRILOGY //MASTERLIST//

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[i-am-a-closet-fanfic-fiend]

Carnival of Hearts (Part 2/6) ~ Bucky x Reader College!AU

A/N: Hi lovelies! Hope you’re all doing well! So good news! I’m pretty sure I’m going to be able to do regular updates for this fic. The plan is for weekly updates on Fridays at 12 PM EST. I will let you know if I can’t do it though. For now enjoy! 

This is my entry for @buckysknifecollection​ ‘s 3k Follower Challenge. Congrats on the milestone lovely! Go check out the blog. Personal fave is Hush (a must read if you’re into soft!Biker!Bucky)

Prompt: Our friends set us up on this carnival date but we’re both pining after someone else and this a bit awkward

Summary: When you’re set up on a carnival date with Bucky Barnes NOTHING turns out the way you expected.

Rating: T

Warnings: Language

Word count: 1916

Story Masterlist | Main Masterlist 

After six outfit changes, you were finally satisfied with your appearance. The red wrap shirt was your favorite, your jeans hugged just right, and you were rocking your favorite white converse. The last touch was to clip in a white hair flower just behind your ear before declaring yourself ready.

Steve was on set up duty so he had already been at the fair grounds for hours and Natasha was meant to meet you there after her shift at the coffee shop, so you grabbed your backpack purse and headed out, cautiously optimistic for the day ahead. You paced back and forth a little ways away from the ticket booth as you waited for your friends and your date.

Your phone buzzed in your hand as you checked the time again.

Nat: Coffee shop got slammed last minute. Going to be a while. Sorry. Just go meet Bucky and Wanda.

“Wonderful,” you muttered.  

You could go meet Bucky and Wanda if you had either of their numbers. You were about to text Nat and ask her to pass the info along when your phone buzzed twice. One from Steve and one from an unknown number. You opened the latter.

Unknown Number:Hi this is Bucky. Wanda is running late so she said for me to just meet you and Natasha.

You rolled your eyes, but snapped a quick selfie and responded.

Y/n: I'm by the ticket booth. Red shirt and a white flower in my hair. Just me though. Nat’s late too.  

Bucky: Be right there!

He responded with a selfie of his own.

"Y/n?"

You turned at the shout of your name. Bucky shot you a shy smile and a small wave, wading through the crowd of people.

“Hey, it’s nice to meet you.” He stuck his hand out.

“Nice to meet you too, Bucky.”

“Sorry, I’m late. I was technically on time, but I was waiting for Wanda.”

“No problem at all.”

He had a kind smile and it eased the knot of tension in your stomach, though an awkward silence stretched between you. It broke when you both laughed.

“I’m sorry. I’ve never been on a blind date before,” you admitted, worrying your bottom lip with your teeth.

“That makes two of us. But,” he continued before the conversation could lapse again. “I have been to a lot of carnivals with friends in my time.”

You clung to the lifeline.

“Well that we have in common. Although-” You crossed your arms over your chest. “I did just meet you so I’m not sure we can be called friends yet.”

Bucky put both hands up to concede the point.  

“Well let’s start with the carnival part and we’ll see the friendship comes naturally.”

“I can work with that.”  

Bucky bought an armload of tickets and the two of you entered the fairgrounds. Happy screams from the roller coaster mixed with ride music, and you were practically vibrating with excitement.

You grabbed a map from the information booth, smiling at Hope who was manning it.

“Enjoy the carnival!”

“Thank you!”

You huddled out of the way of the hoards of people, carefully surveying the map.

“Now, what I have learned over the years, is that there are two types of people. Ones who plan their carnival route. And chaos entities who cause their friends to miss their favorite rides.”

You raised an eyebrow at him.

“I sense some bitterness there.”

Bucky chuckled and shrugged but didn’t elaborate.  

“Well, I’m certainly not a chaos entity.”

“Excellent. So where should we start?”

“R.C.F.A.”

“Excuse me.”

“Roller coasters first always.”

“A girl after my own heart. Any rides that are a hard no?”

“Not a one,” you announced proudly. “But don’t let me eat before any spinny ones.”

“Noted. Okay, then.”

Bucky scanned the fairgrounds trying to track the flow of the crowd.

“It looks like the tilt-a-whirl has the shortest line.”

“Ooh and it’s right next to the two best coasters,” you pointed to the cluster of rides on the map.

“Then we’ll start there. And then we can follow the circuit back to the food area for lunch.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go!”

Unable to contain your excitement any longer you grabbed his hand and dragged a laughing Bucky through the crowds.  

“So what happened to Nat?” he asked as you waited behind a group of middle schoolers.

"Stuck at work. Cafe got slammed last minute. Wanda?"

"She was getting a haircut and they were running an hour late.”

You poked your tongue into your cheek. Bucky voiced what you had been thinking.

“Do you smell a setup?"

You let out the laugh you’d been holding back. "Oh yeah. I mean technically both of those are real things that could happen, but…”

“Yeah, it seems a bit suspicious.”

“I should have known Nat would weasel out of her end of the bargain."

"Bargain?" Bucky asked.

You inhaled through your teeth and offered him an apologetic smile.

"It may have taken a bit of convincing to get me to go on this date."

“What were the terms of this deal?”

You counted them on your fingers.

“We would meet as a group. I had a guaranteed out at lunch time. And she wouldn’t set me up for the rest of the semester. It wasn’t anything against you. I promise,” you explained.

He waved off your concern.  

“Trust me I took a similar deal. But you were smarter than I am. I should have gotten the no meddling clause in there.”

You exhaled a laugh, relieved you hadn’t offended him.

“Well now you know for next time.”

“True. Though based on how Wanda talked about you there won’t be a next time because you’re supposedly exactly what I need.”

"Nat gave me the same speech. Think they practiced?”

“Probably,” he snorted. “She says you're perfect for me. So my expectations are high just FYI.”  

"That’s fair. Personally, mine are astronomical,” you replied in a haughty tone.  

“I guess we’re both in for disappointment then.”

“Not so far at least,” you admitted with a sly smile that he returned as you were strapped into the tilt-a-whirl.

The line for your first roller coaster was longer than you anticipated, but Bucky kept you entertained. He questioned you on your taste in movies and TV shows which led to an in depth debate of the character arcs in Supernatural. In the next line you discussed Bucky’s favorite book which happened to hold a special place in your heart.  

 When you stopped for snacks -cotton candy for him and watermelon slush for you - you were comfortable enough to tease him.

“So, did you find Insta-stalking me last night helpful in preparing for this date?”

Bucky’s cheeks went red despite his best efforts to appear nonchalant.

“Pfft. I didn’t Insta-stalk you.”

“Oh, so it was a different JBBarnes317 who liked the picture of me moving into my dorm Freshman year.”

“I…” he hung his head, peeking at you through his long hair. “Okay so maybe I did. I tried really hard not to, but I was really nervous and I thought maybe if I knew something about you we could avoid a lot of awkward pauses. Sorry.”

You shook your head and patted his knee.  

“Don’t be. I had been arguing with myself all night. And when I saw that you liked my photo I totally caved. It was honestly a relief. Though I’ve got to say that your profile picture on Facebook does not do you justice.”

“Well I only change my profile picture if it’s a leap year.”

You opened your mouth to respond, but nothing came out. You tilted your head with an incredulous laugh.

“I have nothing to say to that. Are you serious? If so, why?”

He snorted at your expression.

“No. I just haven’t spent more than like ten minutes on Facebook since I was seventeen. I don’t even know why I have it any more.”

“That’s fair.”

“Well, since I’ve been exposed. I’ve got to ask. How far did you row yourself in the moving cart?”

“About 500 feet before I hit a bump and nearly pole vaulted myself out of said cart.”

“That was the funniest video I have ever seen. And I’m kind of mad I never thought of it.”

“There’s always move out.”

“I don’t live on campus. So no yellow carts for me when I move out. Just lots and lots of boxes.”

“Bummer. You can always help me move out!” you concluded triumphantly.

“Let’s see how the rest of the date goes before I agree to that,” he laughed. “But maybe.”

You smiled at the implication before returning the conversation at hand.

“Are you in an apartment then?”

“Yeah. It’s a really nice two bedroom about ten minutes from campus.”

“I assume two bedroom means roommate?”  

“Yes. Sam. He and I got randomly roomed together sophomore year, but it actually ended up being the best thing to ever happen. He’s my best friend. I can’t imagine living with anyone else. We thought we were going to have to get a third roommate, which would have been a bummer, but luckily we were able to find a place for just us.”

“That sounds ideal. I’m lucky because my scholarship pays for housing, but honestly I would kill to have a full kitchen again.”

“Or you could just ask nicely.” He smirked. “Do you like cooking?”

“No, I am a mediocre cook at best. But I love baking.”  

Bucky’s eye glittered.

“Well then you’re definitely invited to use my kitchen.”

“Let me guess. Payment in baked goods?”

“It seems fair.”

“It does. Do you cook a lot.”

“I can manage. But Sam’s an amazing cook. I keep telling him he’s in the wrong career path.”

There was a hint of frustration in his tone.

“What’s he studying?”

“Business. He plans to open and manage restaurants. Says it’s the smarter path. Which like I get it. But man, the look he gets in his eye when he makes a good dish. He just lights up the whole room. I mean he usually does just by being there, but this. It’s pure joy. It makes you excited to try his food. Even if you hate the ingredients. I just don’t want him to lose that. It makes him special.”

“He sounds pretty amazing.”

“He definitely is,” Bucky sighed, before shaking himself slightly. “But he has his flaws. Like, he likes to run. Every morning.”

“I’ve got one like that too. Steve gets up at the crack of dawn every morning. He’s even in the running club.”

“Sam is too.”

“Really? Huh. I wonder if they know each other.”

“They must. There can’t be that many people who willing give up sleep to run.”

“I swear it’s an illness.”

“Agreed. But I do get fresh muffins out of the deal. Steve always brings me my favorite. This summer, we lived together and he’d wake me up after his shower and we’d eat on our little balcony before work and it was perfect.”

“Sam and I eat on the roof sometimes and he always brews the best cup of coffee. He even manages to time it so it’s at the perfect temperature when I get to the kitchen. He may have magic powers.”

“We’re really spoiled aren’t we?”

“I think we are the appropriate amount of spoiled.”  

You both laughed as you tossed your trash and continued on your way.  

A/n: I hope you enjoyed and I’ll see you next week (hopefully)

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[itsstickball]

Twinyards bonding?

Mk, so I have lots of feelings about this, but none of them are coherent enough to write a full scene. So have a mix of snippets, shouts into the void and undeniable facts.

Therapy:

The first step to Aaron and Andrew actually bonding is to stop fucking fighting each other. Not in the “I disagree with you and we’re arguing” way, or the “please for the love of god stop doing that” way but in the “I feel like a cornered animal whose only options are to tear myself and everything around me to pieces” way.

They have to learn to let each other go a little bit at a time until they’re no longer strangling each other in an attempt to prevent the other from leaving them.

Bee is more than happy to help and so even though Andrew is no longer required to see her weekly anymore, nobody bats an eye when the twins change out and leave practice early on Wednesdays. (well, except Jack, but even Kevin chews him out for that so)

It takes time, as there’s a lot of shit to wade through, but eventually they get to the point where they can tread water next to each other instead of using their brother as a life-raft and drowning them in the process. (or letting themselves be drowned)

I also have many thoughts on video games:

It is an undeniable, in-book, canon fact that the cousins own some type of console and played games on it with each other.

And okay, sure, Aaron moves out and eventually, so does Nicky. And I’m assuming that the console follows them. But Andrew doesn’t hate himself to put up with the amount of Exy Neil and Kevin try to talk to him about in the name of avoiding the others.

Thankfully, the first time he goes to the other room, Aaron’s the one to open the door. He takes Andrew’s request to shoot zombies with them at face value (unlike Matt, who side-eyes him for the next 30min, and Nicky who looks like he is torn between starting a conversation about it or crying) and lets him in.

After that, it’s a thing.

Whenever they’re about to start a campaign, or just play battle royales or whatever, Aaron shoots Andrew a text. He doesn’t always respond, but when he does, he doesn’t start any shit (unlike Aaron – and occasionally Matt, who are ready to cut a bitch if they get kicked off the map or taken out by an enemy unexpectedly).

Once the twins are legal, he even contributes to the beer supply rather than just stealing Matt’s. (And if he purposefully buys the kind that Aaron likes best, well, it’s bonding. It has nothing at all to do with Matt’s beer-snob rants about watered-down piss.)

I also headcanon that while they enjoy your typical multiplayer shoot-em up and free-range games that Andrew is secretly boss at the story-oriented games and that he finds all of the obscure quests and things. His memory helps, of course, but mostly he’s just significantly better than the rest of them at figuring out the plot points. If Aaron’s ever stuck on one, Andrew will sit beside him and walk him through it – or, if Aaron’s frustrated enough, he just hands the controller over.

Video games become some of the first presents they regularly give each other. Neither one really likes doing anything for their birthday, but they’ll spend the morning playing some new game that Nicky bought until their SOs drag them out somewhere. And there is almost always a flat rectangle or two underneath their Christmas tree in Colombia.

Nicky tried to join the trend one year and accidentally bought Andrew the same game that Aaron did. I’ll give you three guesses as to which game he kept and which one only had the top corner of the wrapping paper removed.

Exy:

This is less fuzzy and more assholes bonding over a sport that holds mediocre interest to them. Which is to say, that they bond over shitting on it.

They have a running game of who can get Kevin to lose his shit the most for mispronouncing, mis-explaining or just generally disregarding exy terms, plays and regulations.

When Andrew goes pro, Aaron goes to at least one game a season – more if he’s able.

Love:

Alright, I need you to listen very carefully to this one: Aaron and Andrew are two complex individuals who are very capable of love and are capable of supporting each other in that despite their difference in tastes.

Let me repeat:

Aaron and Andrew are capable of love.

Aaron and Andrew support each other in this area, despite their differences.

I’m not saying that it happens overnight, but there’s a reason therapy came first in this list. Aaron probably gets comfortable with Neil first, since they have an increased proximity, but I’m sure that Andrew has to see Katelyn – especially in their fourth and fifth years when Neil is captain and it’s “exy this” and “stickball that.”

At first, Andrew and Katelyn are tense around each other, but eventually he comes to figure out what Neil did (and what Aaron did about Neil that night on the cabin porch) – which is that she genuinely cares about him and would probably cut a bitch if they tried to say she was just using him.

(The first time Katelyn stands up for herself to him, it’s fairly vicious. Andrew gives her a smile, small but genuine and doesn’t retaliate. He might as well have written “welcome to the family” on his forehead.)

Andrew is Aaron’s best man at their wedding, though he declines to give a speech at the reception. He throws Aaron a dope bachelor’s party though, even if he’s very clearly monitoring the substances consumed at it.

Aaron is not there to witness the brief courthouse ceremony Andrew and Neil have (fight me, Nora). But he notices the ring on Andrew’s finger the next time he sees him and gives them a heartfelt “congratulations.”

Nicky is wounded that neither of them tell him and he has to find out when Neil comes out via roasting a reporter over two years later.

But anyway, the Minyards, growing closer a little bit at a time, in their own way. 100% 10/10 content.

[tessatechaitea]

Eclipso #1

Remember the early 90s when DC desperately tried to make Eclipso a serious threat?

Okay. Motivation spelled out pretty clearly on the third page.

According to this comic book, Eclipso killed the dove Noah sent out of the ark that time it never returned. This comic book doesn't mention the raven that Noah sent out and then refused to let back on the ark even though it was trying to warn him of the psychopathic asshole wading through the receding waters waiting to murder everybody on the ark. Does that mean Eclipso has some kind of relationship with God? Maybe Eclipso is the one who created the flood because God promised him everything would die in it. And then God fucking betrayed Eclipso and allowed a whole bunch of creatures to survive. Although the most probably explanation of this moment is that Giffen and Fleming needed a quick way to portray Eclipso as some kind of legendary evil. What better way than to make him practically immortal and associate him with the greatest massacre in the "history" of mankind (perpetrated by fucking God himself, the diabolical monster!)? In the present, Eclipso has taken possession of a South American guy with a grudge against his village. He was cast out for unknown reasons (probably really fucking good reasons!) but it was enough of an excuse for Eclipso to possess him to grant him vengeance. So I guess that's Eclipso's thing, just like I speculated based on the cover pretty much telling me exactly that. I'm good at understanding! Eclipso possesses people so that they can get revenge then helps them murder as many people as possible so that everything will eventually be killed. But can Eclipso really kill everybody on Earth during the finite amount of time during eclipses? I bet more babies are born during an eclipse than Eclipso can kill! As Eclipso thinks about his recent past, the editor makes sure the readers know he's talking about the big blockbuster Eclipso event in the annuals. But he also mentions something that happened in Valor #1 and my initial reaction was, "Like fuck I'm going to read that." My second reaction was, "I'm pretty sure I own that comic book and it's in the current stack of old comic books to read." I hate myself. Eclipso discovers that the people of the village he just murdered have stockpiled tons of cocaine. So now he's going to run a criminal drug enterprise to fund his murder spree. I suppose he can possess more than one person at a time with the use of his black diamonds. And I think he can continue to possess them even if there's no eclipse? But if that's the case, why the fucking stupid name? Maybe he's just more powerful during an eclipse. Or maybe the only way somebody can shake his possessing spirit is by exposure to sunlight. So he's really just kind of a shitty vampire. Eclipso gives a little Eclipso history lesson for the newer readers.

"The dark side of the moon" doesn't actually mean it never gets sunlight, you stupid turd. The entire concept of his name comes from an event where "the dark side of the moon" is bathed in sunlight!

It could be I'm not parsing Eclipso's speech correctly. Maybe he means that by being banished to the dark side of the moon, he was forever having to hid from the sun whenever the dark side was turned toward the sun. Maybe he means he wasn't susceptible to sunlight until he was banished to the dark side of the moon. But then the assumption, I think, is that he was in the dark for so long that sunlight became his greatest weakness. There's a few possible interpretations here and while some people might like to give Giffen and Fleming the benefit of the doubt, I would rather rake them over the coals and call them fucking idiots. Fucking idiots. Eclipso abandons his possessed man in the hopes that the black diamond will pass on to The Count, the man who was using them to grow and process the cocaine. In works and The Count is an angry man who easily falls victim to the darkness in his heart. Now Eclipso is the kingpin in an international drug smuggling operation. Seems like a weird and boring place to start his super villain career but maybe drug smuggling stories weren't as played out in 1992 as they seem to be today. Or are they? People fucking still eat that shit up, don't they?! Eclipso murders The Count's wife just in case any readers weren't sure if they should root for him or not. Certain readers almost certainly only began rooting for him after he threw The Count's wife out of the second story window. Here at Eee! Tess Ate Chai Tea, we prefer to pretend that those kinds of readers don't exist. Oh, sure, sometimes I'll reference them if I want to mock their weaselly little beta cuck beliefs. Mostly though, I only remember they exist when one of them becomes irate because I called Deathstroke a pedophile. Imagine that being the thing I wrote that finally crossed a line for you! Eclipso kills all of the drug lord's bodyguards and then takes over the town's sheriff when he stops by to investigate. The sheriff kills all of the cops so now I guess Eclipso has nearly conquered the South American country of Parador? What a dumb fake country name! I would have gone with Uruzil. The next issue blurb just says "Eclipso for president." Man, that sounds like a dream compared to what we have now. Eclipso #1 Rating: C-. I'm not impressed. Apparently in 1992, I was impressed enough to keep buying it. Or I was just intrigued by a comic book about a brutal villain. Either way, I kept buying it even after this mediocre start. Maybe I was supposed to be impressed by the way Eclipso sort of rules the minds of these men from between the panels. Or maybe I was supposed to appreciate his dark humor in the narration. At least I think it was dark humor. He did say "Not!" at one point. That was funny in 1992, right?

[altimys]

Winter 2018 anime reviews

Hello, hello. This is a follow-up post to my initial impressions post. I’ll detail how my perception of the animes changed over the season.

Also note that I will not review Violet Evergarden since I’m way too far behind on it. I’ll finish it sometime in the next season once I’m free.

Dropped Animes

The ones that were unbearable.

Citrus

3/10

Like mentioned in the post from the beginning of the season, it just had this unrealistic, trope-driven, incest (but not really) story. Mostly style and little substance, but not even my style. Well, do take this with a grain of salt. I didn’t even finish the first episode.

Pop Team Epic

7/10

I definitely appreciate the experimental and sarcastic nature of this anime. But it wasn’t really worth spending an extra 15 minutes to watch the same thing a second time, especially since I didn’t find all the skits funny. I probably would’ve watched it if they were broken into seven minute segments.

Sanrio Boys

5/10

Too cheesy. Thanks for the “be yourself” message, but I’m not really interested in bishounens parading this every episode. The protagonist’s broken relationship with their grandmother as a sad backstory made me facepalm very hard. If you had advertised this to me about 6 years ago, I may have gobbled it up, but nowadays it’s not my taste.

Darling in the Franxx

5/10

I didn’t pick it back up, and I didn’t really see anything major from twitter or tumblr, except for gifs of the pink haired girl being with her sexy-cute charm. Y’know, the kind of charm where she’s designed to be appealing in a sexy, vampiric way, but she’s doing something cute like licking her fingers after eating a slice of meat or something. Normally I’d not mind this so much, but remembering how typical the protag was, it definitely gave off the manic pixie dream girl vibes. Art and animation I saw was great though! Unfortunately.

Osomatsu-san

5/10

Skits really fell flat this season. I knew that S2 would lose some drive after the stunt they pulled for the finale of S1, but a lot of skits were utter nonsense. I enjoyed the ones where they experimented with the complexities of each character’s personalities (i.e. Choromatsu and Ichimatsu’s awkward interactions), but it was like wading through a swamp to get a chuckle. I watched most of the season then dropped it, since it wasn’t really worth spending time not having fun.

Mediocre Anime

I don’t know why I watched these but I did.

Garo Vanishing Line

3/10

The story was killing me so much in the end that I would multitask when watching it, and I’m not a natural multitasker. It was just bad writing. Nothing really made sense, and it was quite predictable. Like Sword’s sister came out of nowhere (after she died for Sword’s sad backstory) and was suddenly had HACKER SKILLZ. And I was almost positive that in S1, Sophie’s brother was taken away from her by force, not him wanting to join the El Dorado project. Whatever, does it even matter? The best thing of the season was probably Luke getting a haircut and ditching that awful trenchcoat. Do not recommend.

Touken Ranbu Hanamaru

6/10

Guilty pleasure of the season. Still managed to enjoy the nonsense, with the musicals, and these bishounen and moeblobs being one-dimensional. I did appreciate some of the character interactions and the references to Katsugeki Touken Ranbu, but with these kinds of animes, I really can’t say it’s quality. It’s meant to be aimed at a certain audience, and knowing that I am part of this audience makes it enjoyable to watch. Wouldn’t recommend unless you really like bishounenified swords.

Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles

6/10

I previously wrote that I was interested in seeing the stalker girl’s infatuation with Koizumi-san turn into a relationship. Of course it didn’t happen. Yuri? In your dreams. I do applaud this anime for going in depth into the ramen culture and making me hungry every week. There were some hardcore facts about ramen’s origins and experimental ramen. You could tell that they did a lot of research (or were sponsored well). I ate an average of 1.5 packs of instant ramen each week, partly thanks to Koizumi-san. How can I not eat noodles after watching it? Not really any substance to this anime unless you like hearing about ramen facts and watching anime girls foodgasm.

Average Anime

These I could recommend with disclaimers and not feel bad about it.

Junji Ito Collection

6/10

Like with most animes with short stories, there’s a handful of good and bad stories. Since the source material is pretty good, there’s more interesting stories than not. There are definitely some that are ridiculously stupid, but if you are in search of horror anime, this is one you should watch. I wouldn’t say it’s equivalent to Yami Shibai, but it’s good. The animation can’t match the signature entrancing horror that Junji Ito creates, but it’s a decent adaptation. One minor quip I have is that they reuse voice actors in each skit. Might be a budget issue, might be something else. It’s not a big deal, but mostly noticeable to me because Hoshiyan’s voice is too recognizable for me. lol. Oh yeah, the short story with the oil was absolutely disgusting. I enjoyed being grossed out.

Gakuen Babysitters

6/10

It’s like a shoujo but with toddlers. Cute interactions, likable characters. Of course, it’s a light-hearted story, so I guess I shouldn’t expect too much out of it. The comedy bits are well-written, and the art style is absolutely adorable. Great casual watch if you want to feel fluffy without the bullshit of shoujo romances.

Laid Back Camp

7/10

As the title suggests, it’s a pretty laid-back anime. I love the different personalities of the female cast. They shone quite well through the segments of texting. The way that they texted felt friendly, and I felt that I was part of this silly chat group. Also enjoyed learning a lot about camping supplies (and the little pinecones that squealed were so cute). Makes me consider wanting to go solo-hiking or camping to be able to enjoy nature. I’m really glad it covered winter camping, because that’s something that most people never consider, so you get to see the different equipment, activities, and benefits. Recommend if you want something chill with a well-written cast, but not a character-driven story line.

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

7/10

Surprisingly, I liked it quite a bit. I was actually expecting this one to tank, because it had a predominantly male lineup, was about assassins, and had a crossdresser. Sounded like someone picked things they thought would appeal to the general public and made an anime of it. Thankfully, I was wrong. Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is actually based off a light novel series, which really shows through the thought-out plot and layered characters. I wouldn’t say it’s as crazy as Durarara!!, but some of the twists are quite interesting. I also really enjoy the diverse cast and their interactions: Lin Xianming, pseudonym for a Taiwanese assassin who also happens to crossdress; Banba Zenji, a playful, seemingly idiotic detective with a deck of tricks up his sleeves. There’s also a canonically gay character, an ex, a child, a hacker (with an interesting backstory), and more. And these characters make mistakes, get injuries, and have flaws. I’m hoping for a second season, because watching this was quite nice each week.

Karakai Jozu no Takagi-san

7/10

If you wanted fluff with actual romance, here’s the one for the season! There’s also quite a bit of comedy added. I did feel sorry for the protag Nishikata for falling victim to Takagi’s pranks every time, but I always looked forward to what she was going to do, and how it would fluster him. I think the romantic buildup was well-paced throughout the season. Kudos to whoever paced it, because they danced around with my feelings like an expert, giving me enough of a taste to feel the flutters of romance in my stomach, but not enough to make Nishikata and Takagi an item. Some of the skits were directed very well, with surprisingly effective cinematography (see the rain and umbrella skit). The ending was really cute, and I’m pretty encouraged to read the manga to get more content.

Mahou Tsukai no Yome

7/10

Nothing really jumped out at me. I feel like the actions of the characters didn’t follow a logic to it that made me understand the character better. Nothing really sparked an interested in wanting to cheer the characters on. I really felt passive in watching events happen to Chise and Elias, and the ending wasn’t particularly spectacular either. I think it’s a decent one to pass the time, but I could not get invested in the plot or characters.

Koi wa Ameagari no You Ni

8/10

This anime certainly isn’t for everyone’s tastes, but I think I really appreciated the latter half of the series more than the first half. The surface-level summary is about the age-gap romance, but once I was able to hear Kondo’s internal thoughts, especially about being older, the nostalgia of youth, and trying to pick a passion back up, I started enjoying it a lot more. I especially loved the scenes when he would banter with his college friend Chihiro. The only downside of the latter half of the episodes was the awkward tension between Akira and her friend. Her friend would just yell at her, and Akira would take it, and then not really consider it. And somehow it’s resolved. Well, other than that, I did like the characters and ending a lot.

Kokkoku

8/10

I rather enjoyed the setup and the unknown mechanisms of the system. The enemy really had the advantage in intellect and strength, and it was interesting watching how the characters tried to get around that. The last three episodes were a little flat, and the plot armor (kind of) and last bit of exposition was almost unnecessary, but it was there to give us a happy ending, which I did appreciate. Love the grandpa. I’d say this anime did a pretty decent job at the action and strategy, and the ending wasn’t blowing my mind, but I do really commend it on the setup.

Exceptional Anime

Worth your time.

A Place Further Than the Universe

8/10

Drama about girls aiming to go to Antarctica. Strong female cast, with a pretty believable depiction of average high school girls and how they might react and pursue their dreams. The voice acting was pretty spectacular for this show, especially during the second to last episode. ;) I think this anime is very real with what it’s like with concepts we usually don’t think of: having ambitions, lacking ambitions, making friends, losing friends, finding closure. It was rewarding to walk with the girls in every step of their journey. Animation quality was pretty awesome too. I also cried a bit at the end. I didn’t think I would enjoy an anime about high school girls going to Antarctica, but hey, I loved it.

Hakumei to Mikochi

8/10

It’s a slice-of-life about a pair of thumb-sized forest dwellers. Hakumei, the more adventurous of the two, works as a handyman and has a determined attitude. She’s still a very considerate person and is full of compassion and a heart to help others. Mikochi is a bit more reserved and particular. She’s famous for her cooking and has a passion for textiles and clothing. Both characters compliment each other well, and it’s cute seeing them bustle about their daily lives. You also get to see into the lives of other characters they meet, and it feels an established world with all it’s quirks and culture. The general feel of this anime is relaxed and storybook-like, similar to the same kind of vibe I get from Ghibli movies. I honestly thought this was a children’s anime during the first episode. It could be, but I enjoyed it a lot.

[theantisocialcritic]

Archive Project - September 2, 2014 - Best Summer Movies 2014

2014 has been a really solid summer for quality Blockbuster movies! Lots of really compelling and fun stuff has graced our local theaters and i'd like to talk about my favorite ones! For the sake of the point though, i'm only going to include "Summer" movies. A Most Wanted Man would easily break this list but its not really a summer movie, its an independent movie for film geeks that can tolerate slow as molasses pacing (like me!!). Here we go! My top six movies of the summer (which for technical purposes includes only movies that released between May to August)!!! But first, some honorable mentions: 22 Jump Street Godzilla Neighbors Fault in Our Stars DragonBall Z: Battle of Gods And now... 6. X-Men: Days of Future Past The newest X-Men movie is an extremely flawed movie, but at the time I really didn't give it what it deserved. After seeing it again, i've come to terms with just how compelling and fun the newest iteration is, even after 17 years of this annoying and convoluted continuity. In any case it easily breaks the top 3 X-Men movies we've had so far and its made me excited for the next movie! Cheers to Apocalypse! 5. How to Train Your Dragon 2 The Dragon movies are such a weird force in modern filmmaking. What seem on the surface like a series of cliche Dreamworks movies have become some of the most claimed and exciting animated films since Pixar fell into it's unfortunate coma. Its not quite as grand as The LEGO Movie in my eyes (because few movies are…), but for being an exciting, visually fantastic and very well written and compelling story, How to Train Your Dragon 2 earns my 5th best!   4. Edge of Tomorrow Like or hate Tom Cruise, this movie is the perfect Tom Cruise movie. If you don't like him, enjoy watching him die hundreds of times in awesome, hilarious ways! If you do like Cruise, prepare to enjoy a surprisingly well written, well conceived action movie. Despite the, "I've seen this before" style of the visuals, the characters in Edge of Tomorrow are fantastically written and relatable. I can't recommend this movie enough! Mainly because almost nobody saw it… oh well, it comes out on DVD in October! Definitely check it out then! SUPPORT GOOD MOVIES PEOPLE!!! 3. Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians has been my most anticipated movie this summer and it hasn't disappointed me! Few movies that come out nowadays are filled with the kind of fun and creativity that Marvel's newest ego boost has brought to the world. Great comedy! Fully realized worlds and a sci-fi action movie that might actually be the best Star Wars movie since Return of the Jedi! If you still haven't seen this movie for some reason… prepare to meet my FISTSS.. <Disclaimer, writer is extremely passionate in regards to the proceeding movie. Do not take threats literally.>   2. Snow Piercer This summer's out of left field hit for me was a little Korean sci-fi flick by the name of Snow Piercer… AND IT IS AWESOME!! In the near future, humanity is destroyed by an ice age and the few remaining survivors are left alive on an Ark-like train that circumnavigates the glove once a year. Whats left of humanity is forceable segregated between the rich first class riders and the poor people living in the back of the train. Now Captain America and the War Doctor must team up to revolt against the social injustice of the train… GEE!! I THINK THE MOVIE IS TRYING TO TELL ME SOMETHING!!! If you can't get over the liberal wankfest self congratulatory thats running amuck in this movie I can get why you wouldn't like it but thankfully i've seen Elysium a few times so it doesn't work on me anymore. Snow Piercer is a ridiculous, awesome action movie that puts to shame most American movies we've gotten this summer. If your a fan of movies, definitely give this one a rental! 1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes And this summer's best, most emotionally impactful, most well made and exciting movie goes to the movie with the most ridiculous title! Dawn is a powerful sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes and carries the story to new heights! With a powerful, emotional lead performance by Andy Kircus (Gollum, Kong), the movie about apes with long stretches of no dialog and extreme amounts of CGI is one of the most emotionally compelling and tense movies all summer. Its like watching the fuse to a bomb ignite and burn its way to the end, with the movie's final confrontation being surprisingly insightful. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the best movie that Summer 2014 had to offer! And now for some good contrast, here are my least favorite movies of the summer.   4. The Rover The Rover isn't a bad movie, not at all. What it is is a movie that made me horribly frustrated and upset. I've seen plenty of downer movies, ones that aren't meant to give you a happy feeling. No movie i've ever seen though has left me feeling as bleak as this movie did. I don't think I was even able to give this movie a review, just because of how emotional I was after seeing it. This movie isn't bad, but its one of my least favorite things i've seen this entire summer and I don't feel compelled to give it a fair analysis. 3. TMNT I don't hate TMNT. TMNT is naively lame and horribly constructed and it feels like a movie made by people that don't know how to make a movie. I've seen much worse this summer but no movie I saw had me laughing at huge chunks of it for being lame. The characters for the most part don't work, aren't really well conceived and Michalanglo was a pervert for some reason. TMNT is a hilariously bad movie that can't reach the legacy of its surprisingly well made predecessors from the '90s. 2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Yah, I'm going there… I really didn't like this movie. Spider-Man has never been one of my favorite superheroes but I grew up with the Sam Raimi films, and having reviewed them before seeing this movie, i've come to the conclusion that they were infinitely better. Even Spider-Man 3, yah! I'll go THERE!! That movie had great moments mixed into a pot of mediocrity. Remember the birth of the Sand-Man? MAN TEARS DUDE!!! AS2 didn't have anything that good. AS2 is a long, boring movie with no central story! It doesn't understand the character of Peter Parker in any meaningful way and the whole production feels as corporate and cynical as any movie i've ever seen, and I gave Transformers 4 a positive review… If you honestly liked this movie, i'm not going to argue with you. I can basically understand why people liked it. I merely disagree with you. 1. Persecuted You probably didn't hear about this movie, GOOD FOR YOU!!! Persecuted is the WORST Christian movie i've ever seen. I really like the genre and i'm always willing to give it another chance. Every once in a while they come up with something sweet like I'm In Love With A Church Girl that feels sincere and sweet, and i'm willing to wade my way through all the Son of Gods and Black Nativitys to find them! But Persecuted doesn't just fail as a film, it wastes a really powerful concept. We live in an ever changing world, where concepts like religion and faith are slowly being marginalized and a lot of people within these communities fear the possibility of persecution. Persecuted had the power to be something great, a movie about being persecuted for faith at the hands of ones government and the personal challenge of having to stay convicted to ones beliefs no matter what. Instead what we got was a wannabe action movie with inconsistent characters whose actions don't seem human, with a plot that doesn't quite mean anything beyond paranoid jabs at progressivism. YOU DROPPED THE BALL Persecuted! You could've meant something to people and you couldn't do any of it right! Persecuted is the worst movie of the summer! Now, with that all out of my system, lets look forward! I'll post my thoughts on this fall's upcoming movie releases as soon as I can! Till then, avoid November Man… Its looks awful… Thank you for reading! Live Long And Prosper!

[willreadforbooze]

Hello boozie readers!

Reminder:Our Will Read For Booze twitter account (formerly Sam’s personal account) is going to be dedicated to the whole blog! So go check us out kthxxxx. While that’s amazing, Sam has to start from scratch on a new account, let’s show her some love huh? Check out her new account TheBooktender_  She’ll love you forever and ever.

Linz’s Updates

A missive from the holiday front lines: Decorations are finally up, and this is the year we bake nothing and throw money at the problem. Also saw Knives Out and it was excellent. Also ate a pretzel the size of my head.

What Linz read:

Strangers and Cousins by Leah Hager Cohen: Family and friends come together in a small New York town for a daughter’s wedding. Also there’s a group of ultra orthodox Jews moving into the town. I dunno, it was a little boring and I just don’t think the discrimination issue addressed held up for 2019? It definitely felt like a mediocre indie film – not a lot happens and you’re not really satisfied at the end.

The Wicked Wallflower by Maya Rodale: Romance novel about a young woman who tricks a lord into a fake engagement. The writing wasn’t terrible, the romance was eh, could have definitely used some steamier sex scenes. What I’m super pissed about is that the lord is into modernization and tries to get funding for what’s effectively the early version of the calculator in the 1820s. The thing is Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace would come up with this idea like a decade later, and this could have been a REALLY great opportunity to have the heroine be an Ada Lovelace-esque character…and nothing. Lovelace doesn’t even get a shoutout in the book’s end notes, which pissed me off because Lovelace’s name is easily discovered if you do 5 minutes of research on Babbage.

What Linz didn’t finish:

There Will Come a Darkness by Katy Rose Pool: One prophecy and the seven people whose paths cross to either fulfill it or ruin it, something like that. So much wading through telling language for the worldbuilding, and so much barely veiled versions of real places that it feels like the author kinda just Googled faraway countries and dropped in 3-4 things that kinda represented it?

What Linz is reading:

Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney C. Stephens: Coming of age story about a a tomboy trying to discover her sexuality. I’m actually not sure how I came across this book but I”m very excited for it.

Minda’s Updates

Starting the countdown: six weeks until baby. And wine.

What Minda finished:

The Wicked King by Holly Black – So so good! In the next saga of the series, Jude grapples with her newfound power and love interest in Faerieland—but with an increasing number of enemies she needs to be watching her back. Oh, there will be a review.

What Minda is reading now:

Dark Age by Pierce Brown – It’s definitely taking some time to get back into the Red Rising series—sooo many characters that I can’t remember. An author on Twitter recently recommended that all books in series start with a “Last time on…” section and um can we totally make this a thing? Please?

Ginny’s Updates

Guess who’s tired!

Finished:

The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst: Going to write a review of this, but Daleina has a small amount of talent to control the sprites that cause most of the problems in their country. She ends up going to a magic school where she works incredibly hard but always seems to fall short of others natural talents.

Cowboy Christmas Redemption by Maisey Yates: Fun fact, I already wrote a review about this one. It’s part of a blog tour so keep your eyes out soon. Caleb was the person who helped Ellie get through the death of her husband (who was his best friends) years later, she asks him for help fulfilling a Christmas list to help her get back into the dating game.

Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh: This is book is number 10 in a series and all I can say is finally! Sierra, a young-ish Psy that defected, and Hawke, the leader of the clan, are finally getting their story told. The book told an interesting tale of the difference in decisions between brain and heart. 4/5

Currently Reading:

Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff: Still working on this one. I want to read it, I just haven’t been in a reading mood when I’ve had the book on hand.

The Night County by Melissa Albert: This is the sequel to The Hazel Wood. I’m glad I get the chance to revisit this world. So far we’re back in New York while Alice tries to figure out life. A strong start.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid: I know, this is a lot of books to read at once, but this book was going to disappear from the library so… I started this book and was kind of bummed at the premise. I’ve read a lot of books where the young reporter gets called in to write a story with no concrete reason why they were chosen. But this book is so so worth it. I’m not super far in, but Evelyn is in incredibly interesting character.

Sam’s Updates

I feel like a broken record but I had one hell of a work week. This week should be better though because the clients are out of town and I have time to catch up!

What Sam read this week:

A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer: This is the sequel to A Curse So Dark and Lonely. I didn’t love the first one (check the review here). This went about how I guessed. Full review to come.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo: I loved this! I was surprised at how much I loved this paranormal contemporary fantasy but I did. Check our Linz’s drunk review!!!

What Sam’s currently reading:

Graceling by Kristen Cashore: I am WAY behind the band wagon on this one. In this story, Katza is a Graceling (one with magic) and in her country, they are “given” to the king to use as he will. Her grace is murder… so you know how that goes. Anyway, in secret, she starts an organization called The Council to actually do some good. While on a mission she runs into another Graceling man. The mission actually creates more questions than answers, Katza and Poe (the other Graceling) go on an adventure to get their answers. I’m really liking this. I’m listening on audio and it’s fully casted and has some sound effects and I am LOVING it so far. It has some problematic elements, but I’m still liking it.

Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim: I’ve barely started this, but it seems like one story is about a person who’s spent the last 7 years working on a debtor’s ship and a merchant’s son. They havent met up yet, but I’m assuming they will soon.

Until next time, we main forever drunkenly yours,

Sam, Ginny, Linz, and Minda

Weekly Wrap Up: Dec 1-8, 2019 Hello boozie readers! Reminder:Our Will Read For Booze twitter account (formerly Sam's personal account) is going to be dedicated to the whole blog!

[getseriouser]

20 THOUGHTS: Most Boundaries?

WHO would you rather be? 

Jye Simpkin, who lost touch on Anthony McDonald- Tipungwuti in the dying seconds Saturday afternoon?

Maybe Trent Boult, who took the catch cleanly off Ben Stokes before stepping on the boundary to result in a six?

Or Roger Federer, who had two match points for his 21st slam before ultimately losing the fifth set to his Serbian rival?

Probably Alan Richardson, who has had no luck with injuries, has shown a lot on field to be honest, and doesn’t even make it to the end of July. Simpkin, Boult, Federer – they could only blame themselves for minor errors. Richo? Probably couldn’t have done anymore, even with the benefit of hindsight.

But that’s footy.

 1.       So we start at St Kilda – we thought Richo would be ok given the circumstances we described last week. But the writing was on the wall that with his record, over six years, there just wasn’t enough to justify the faith Hardwick and Buckley received. So now, is it Brad Scott, the guy who walked early to be on pole position for a vacancy, or Brett Ratten, the former Hawks’ assistant who the Saints got ‘mysteriously’ last offseason to be ‘just’ an assistant coach?

It’s rather simple. Brad Scott’s career winning percentage as a coach, is 50%, Brett Ratten, despite being at Carlton, is also at 50%, he got sacked in a year he went 11-11, not something like 6-16, and for the Hawthorn three-peat was in the coaching box next to Clarkson. If its out of those two, sorry Brad, you’re just not even close despite making yourself available for exactly such a scenario. Ratts is not just a good caretaker, he is the next in line for a senior gig – period.

2.       Mind you, here’s a theory. There’s a coach out there right now in a long-term gig, who if you believe the whispers on the nose with his board and even his supporter base as well. This same coach also has coached the most Grand Finals in the last ten years aside from Al Clarkson. And, this same coach, whilst leaving on suspect terms, also has a lot of credits still in the bank with the Saints. That coach is Ross Lyon, a 50-50 chance to be moved on by Fremantle, the coach who has a record of making Grand Finals and who could come back to Moorabbin and try and go one further than 2009/2010. Sure, left on less-than-great terms but the current admin wasn’t the admin when he walked. I couldn’t rule out a reconciliation and an almighty chapter two in the Lyon-Saints story.

3.       As for Carlton and David Teague, wow, he isn’t just going right on the park with results, he has got that playing group completely sold. Ross Lyon’s greatest strength is the bond he forges with the playing group, you still hear St Kilda legends talk in such high praise for their former coach, its very noticeable. The same things are emanating out of Ikon Park for ‘Teaguey’. And whilst Chris Judd, despite the shocking attempt at a false backtrack, and the Board wanting an experienced coach, the playing group is that enamoured with playing for Teaguey, and if the results stack up, he has to be a strong contender to continue for sure.

4.       So whats this say about Brendan Bolton? Usually, and like I make the point with Ratten earlier, Al Clarkson assistants are money. Last three premiership coaches, all former Hawks’ assistants. But Bolton is the outlier? Now too that David Teague has swept the playing group off their feet. We thought Bolton was a bit stuff, blaming the long-term rut Carlton has been in for his non-success. But in hindsight, was there something about the Bolton approach that despite his well-credential apprenticeship, he just wouldn’t cut it? Now, I’d say most probably.

5.       Have penned something about the Gold Coast being salvageable in more detail, but gee, this is a rabble of a club. At one point, Round 16, 2014, they were 9 wins and 6, in the eight and looking like making their first finals campaign. Gary Ablett does his shoulder against the Pies and misses the rest of the season. Since that injury, they are 24 wins and 78 losses. That’s five-win season pace in basically five years of football. In that time West Coast have had time to be awesome, then shit, then win a flag. It’s a long time of real mediocrity.

6.       But remember, the AFL has pumped in over $200m into the Gold Coast, so the idea of a quick retreat to engage Tasmania needs a fair bit more than what you and I think of over a cheeky pint on a Friday night. Tassie prospects look good, but the AFL-Suns breakup ain’t that close with that sort of investment to date, I’m sorry.

7.       Quickly on the cricket. My Lord, that’s the worst rule of all time. At least with soccer, whilst we don’t like penalties deciding a world cup, they don’t stop at five spot kicks each and declare the winner based on who had the most shots on goal within the 90 minutes. Or in tennis, if it ends two sets all, six games all declaring the winner on who has hit the most aces. Just terrible. ICC, get serious.

8.       Mind you, did you know, that if two teams finish equal eighth in the AFL, exact same for Points, but also the exact same For and Against, that to decide who plays finals and who finishes ninth, in the official rules, would come down to a coin toss. Dead serious.

9.       And I tell you, smokey for middle order in the Ashes – Matty Wade. Second most Shield runs in the summer just gone behind Marcus Harris, and has smashed not only two white ball centuries for Australia A in England, but in his first red-ball hitout in the same tour hit a ton as well. No other middle order candidate is banging down the door, so Wade’s every chance to get a gig at 5 or 6 at this rate.

10.   Can we pin the balloon somewhat of the Brisbane Lions resurgence? Bear with. From Round 6 to 17, 11 games of footy, only four games against top 8 teams from last year, or worst still only two games against current top 8 teams. If you go from Round 6 to include Round 21 coming up, that’s five games only against last year’s top 8 and still only two games against teams currently in the 8. It gets worse – they play the Gold Coast twice before their first games against Geelong and Richmond in the last two rounds, and when you isolate records against current top four teams they are as good as Carlton, or records against current top eight teams as good as Footscray. Soft draw much?

11.   Speaking of Footscray, please, please, I know its not a well-thought through argument but please revert to Footscray and not the Western Bulldogs. The nostalgia on Sunday was just terrific, and to play the original song at the end was something diehard Doggies fans, or should I say Scragger fans was awesome.

12.   Couple on Carlton, good and bad. Firstly good, the breakout star of the comp might not be Sam Walsh, but Harry McKay. Have called this very early in the season, but after another strong aerial performance against Sydney where he took nine marks, its Round 18 this week and the 21-year-old still leads the league for contested marks. If a forward is leading that category these days and not say a Jeremy McGovern for example, that’s epic. He is a star.

13.   Bad news, again, this column called it early too but finally the Blues dropped Mitch McGovern for being pudgy. Never good to fat-shame someone, but you’re getting paid that much, I could say a lot worse than advising the Blues new-boy to you know what, maybe say no to seconds at the dinner table occasionally yeah?

14.   Good to see the folks at the Herald Sun read the opening installment to the Get Serious Top 50 last Thursday. No-one talks about Robbie Tarrant’s value until this column got him in at number 48, and low and behold a couple days later a piece on their website about whether he is the most underrated player in the league? Not to this column’s readers he ain’t, move along now, but nice to know they’re on board with the Top 50.

15.   I know there was a lot of love for Tippa’s winner on Saturday night, and his overall game too which was fantastic. But has anyone dished any kudos to Jayden Laverde for his role in that goal? The gather, alluding a couple Roos and the handball execution under that much pressure, I thought it was as outstanding as the finish. Well done Jayden, we noticed.

16.   West Coast, hmm, David King still thinks they’re Christmas. I though they would win enough games to get top two, but that took a shot with their loss last Friday. They smashed Freo, but only just beat Hawthorn in the wet and capitulated to Sydney last month at the same venue where Carlton won just last weekend. Not motoring just yet, they are not going back-to-back, can’t see it. My flag tip as of July 16th – Richmond. They just have to finish fourth to play Geelong and its done.

17.   Jack Darling, often maligned by this column, and today is again no different. Sure, he has at times looked like John Coleman, but if you can’t stand up in perfect conditions against Brayden Maynard, who you made look like Stephen Silvagni on a Stephen Dank supplements program, then you’re only as good as your last performance for mine. Kennedy, first up, on a very good Jordan Roughead – excused. Darling on a bloke he had both inches and kgs on, didn’t fire a shot. Poor.

18.   Pies might lose Pendles for a match, a month, not sure, but that was much better, that last 45 minutes was as good a footy against solid opposition as you’ll see. When West Coast lost to Sydney, they were trash. But for two and a half quarters last Friday the Eagles looked like the machine of late last year. So the performance by the Maggies, alongside the return of Taylor Adams and Jeremy Howe this week, is very much a good news story in lieu of their September aspriations.

19.   Orazio Fantasia’s form since the story, or non-story, about his desire to be traded home to South Australia, depending on which version you believe, has been mightily patchy. And its either because the story is true and he is off-guard lying about it, or he can’t handle the distraction of a rumour with no substance. My gut feel is still the former.

20.   And lastly, completely random – why do some people think petrol pump hoses only extend ten inches? Why do they whose cars have the petrol cap say on the left hand side of the car, prefer to queue up behind six cars for a pump on the left, when the pumps on the right are totally vacant. I’m yet to see a fuel hose that would not extend all the way around or over a Hummer if need be, so please, if your guilty of this basic human shortcoming – why?

[ball2thewallblog-blog]

Big Game Hunting: Trading for Kawhi

TL Summary: Wizards have golden opportunity to be front-runners for Kawhi and class of the East. They need to act now

_______

As it has been rumored for a long, long time, Lebron James is officially an L.A. Laker. Since James has partnered with Wade/Bosh and Kyrie/Love, he has ruled the Eastern Conference. The Celtics and 76ers are now clearly the frontrunners, with teams like the Raptors, Bucks, Pistons and Wizards hoping for everything to break right for them to get to the Eastern Conference Finals at best.

Before Lebron announced his decision to head West for the first time in his career, there were only 4 teams considering making a run at another top 5 talent in the league, Kawhi Leonard. Two of those teams - the Lakers and the 76ers, were reportedly discussing trades with the Spurs mainly to get Lebron’s attention (or keep it, as the Lakers continued pursuit does). The other two teams - the Celtics and Clippers - were big game hunting, but both were without or unwilling to include the assets the Spurs were looking for.

That’s another note that makes the Kawhi situation interesting: What do the Spurs even want? It’s been reported that they have no interest in rebuilding, but they also have asked for a plethora of draft picks in stipulated trade talks. From what I gather, they want to compete (whatever that realistically means in the West) as long as Popovich is still coaching, while simultaneously setting themselves up for the future. In most cases, if your former best players have retired or are well on their way there, and your current best player wants out, you rebuild. You look to the draft and get off all your long-term contracts, while finding young players who could turn into your next franchise gem - or clear enough money so that you can sign him instead. But they want to go the Pacers route - retool, no matter who comes and goes - as their recent Rudy Gay and Marco Belinelli signings show. I have no doubt the Spurs can make it work, considering what they were able to accomplish last year without Kawhi.

Now that Lebron is westward, the 76ers seem to have cooled on their pursuit of Kawhi - though I think they would be wise to actually heat it up - and the Celtics never seemed to have their hearts in it anyway. The Lakers and the Clippers are all that is left, mostly due to Kawhi’s expressed desire to be back in his hometown. The Clippers have less assets now that we’re in post-draft season, and the Lakers are being hard bargainers. But why isn’t there a team like the Thunder last year, who is looking to take a huge chance for a superstar who can turn your franchise around if everything goes right?

Enter the Wiza… oh, nevermind. Through the experience of knowing who Ernie Grunfeld and Ted Leonsis are, no one counts the Wizards into the Kawhi equation. Everyone knows that Kawhi isn’t coming to D.C., so all the attention was on re-signing Mike Scott and maybe Ty Lawson or whatever.

… but as free agency has been passing the Eastern conference by and rumors continue to swirl around the Kawhi Leonard very-not-fun-sweepstakes, I’m asking myself: Why not D.C.?

_______

The Wizards are good. I think that’s hard to remember sometimes because they’re ran like a very mediocre franchise that has no interest in being GREAT. The Summer of 2016 ruined so many possibilities, and not many moves afterwards have been able to get the fanbase out of the disbelief that this team is 2nd (or 1st) round fodder. But they are good. And young. And they likely have a longer contention window than the Raptors and Heat and higher potential than the Bucks and Pistons. They continue to be right on the cusp of contendership, if things break right and fall into place (or some other star’s leg breaks). Well, the only opportunity for things to break right seems to be right now, and the Wizards have the ultimate chance to make things fall into place. So I present:

The San Antonio Spurs trade Kawhi Leonard to the Washington Wizards for...

Scenario 1:

The Small-Fundamentals

Wizards Send: Otto Porter ($26,011,913), Tomas Satoransky ($3,129,187), Troy Brown ($2,749,080), 2019 1st Round Pick (Top 5 Protected)

Spurs Send: Kawhi Leonard ($20,099,189), Patty Mills ($11,571,429)

Reasons this works for the Spurs:

Coming off the extremely un-Spursian situation with Kawhi, the Spurs get 3 smart, low-key young players to add to their core. There’s a lot of high BBIQ in this trio, and I’m sure Pop will be excited to develop these steady, 26-and-under-still-with-upside players who can (mostly) contribute to a winning team right now. The first round pick allows them get even younger, or use it to get another asset to help the win-now mentality.

Reasons this works for the Wizards:

They get Kawhi, a top 5 player to join Wall and Beal to make an all-star trio with as much immediate upside as any in the Eastern Conference. Kawhi likes to play a lot of Iso, Wall is only really useful with the ball in his hands, and with Beal’s recent affinity for… dribbling a lot, this isn’t a perfect fit. But it’s a massively talented one, with a clear pecking order and defined strengths among the three. D.C. has a coach that depends on his stars to ISO their way to victory, and there are few players better than that then Kawhi. (See the synergy numbers posted by @colezwicker. When Kawhi is healthy, he’s fantastic at everything here). The end of game option becomes Kawhi and Kawhi only, which allows coach to continue to be uncreative with his end of game offensive sets, as he’s one to be.

Patty Mills provides shot-making, range and ball-handling in spades. Having a dude who can hit stepbacks, shoot off movement and pull up for 3s will be a very welcome sight for a team that only has one player who can create at that level - Bradley. New-comer Austin Rivers has some of that ability as well, but Mills is the much better, more efficient version of him, and might be the harder one to move in a trade due to his contract. Wizards could look to trade Rivers because of the redundancy, or keep a hyper-offensive oriented backcourt off the bench. I know it usually hurts Wizards fans to think about giving up first round picks - it’s been done too many times before with reckless abandon - but the 2019 draft class is projected to be pretty weak in comparison to the last few and the next two, so if there was ever a time to strategically use that asset, it’s now.

The Money:

The money is pretty even for next year, making it a wash for both franchises in the short-term. The Spurs get off of Mills contract, which runs through the 2020-21 season. The Wizards get a rather expensive but reliable G in Patty, that they should happily take if it comes along with The Klaw.

Scenario 2:

Star Sample

Wizards Send: Bradley Beal ($25,434,263), Kelly Oubre ($3,208,630), Jason Smith ($5,450,000)

Spurs Send: Kawhi Leonard ($20,099,189), Danny Green ($11,571,429)

Reasons this works for the Spurs:

Bradley Beal is a better player than any other being talked about in Kawhi trades. He doesn’t offer quite the tantalizing potential of Jaylen Brown, Markelle Fultz or Brandon Ingram (or the rookie scale salary, either) but that’s only because he’s already a star. Not a superstar, but he proved last season that he could do a lot to lead a team’s offense while Wall was out for half of the year. He just turned 25, made a great leap last season - showing his passing/vision and off-the-dribble skills more than ever - and was asked to do that in Scott Brook’s Iso heavy system. In the Spurs setup, with a lot less pressure on him due to being next to LaMarcus Aldridge and the other shooters the Spurs have, Beal’s life would get a lot easier in San Antonio and might allow him to reach his very highest potential.

Kelly Oubre doesn’t seem exactly like the usual Spurs cup of tea, but they’ve shown that they are able to make the most of most players, and being in a structured system like theirs might do a lot for the soon to be restricted free agent. He could backup Rudy Gay at the 3 or step in as the starter there if they want some young, athletic legs in their to run with Dejounte Murray (and Beal, of course). And throw in Jason Smith to help the Wizards Cap situation, getting them under the tax for the time being. The Spurs have a knack for making use of unathletic big men who can shoot, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they make Smith look serviceable in a way Scott Brooks never could - or wouldn’t try to.

Reasons this works for the Wizards:

Kawhi, again. And Danny Green is still a terrific defensive player that can knock down a good clip from 3 point range - 36.3% on 4.6 attempts last year. He was also one of the guys in the Spurs locker room who was defending Kawhi throughout the season no matter what story the media got their grubby hands on or made out of thin air. He definitely never escalated the situation like the Spurs old (hall of fame) timers did. Hopefully there’s goodwill and friendship there. Green can step in as the starting 2 guard, or be a great option for your first wing off the bench. This also gives the Wizards two players - Leonard and Wall - who have so much gravity that there should be no excuses for Otto not to take 8 3s a game.

Does this mean Kawhi or Otto starting at the 2? I don’t know. I think it will be fine either way - Otto has shown that he is a good guard-defender when healthy, and Kawhi can guard anyone. In the best scenarios, this would mean Otto plays more 4 in important stretches of the game. Wall-Green-Leonard-Porter Jr-NERLENS NOELDwight Howard? That is some defense.

The Money:

The Wizards save a little over $2.4 million on this one, bringing them below the luxury tax. San Antonio makes a big salary commitment to Beal, but he’s worth every cent in today’s NBA. Having him locked in through the 2020-21 season along with having matching rights to Oubre’s unrestricted free agency next year are big pluses for them. Jason Smith comes off the books after this season, as does Danny Green.

Scenario 3:

Break the Glass In Case of Emergency

Wizards Send: Bradley Beal ($25,434,263), Otto Porter ($26,011,913), 2020 2nd Round Pick

Spurs Send: Kawhi Leonard ($20,099,189), Danny Green ($11,571,429), Pau Gasol ($16,800,000)

Reasons this works for the Spurs:

All the reasons I listed above for Beal and Otto. Getting two, just turned 25, super talented wings who are locked in for 3 more seasons is a great foundation to lay. If the Spurs want to compete in Pop's last years, this is the way to do it. There's not a better win-now offer on the table than this one. And there will never be one. Not even a trade centered around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown (not happening, btw) offers this much assurances to help the Spurs win in the very near future.

Reasons this works for the Wizards:

This might seem drastic. It's the By-Any-Wings-Necessary plan - the one you offer if some other team swoops in with a drastically better offer than what's been discussed so far. If that happens, I don't think it's a bad gamble to make. John Wall's Supermax kicks in next year, and it's really untenable to have him, Beal and Otto on the roster all making upwards of $27 million, even with the increase in salary cap over the next few years. This is the last ditch effort, swing for the fences offer that doesn't leave too much of a down side

Consider the Possible Outcomes:

1 - Kawhi comes here, is healthy, balls out next to Wall, they are the 2nd or 3rd best team in the East. Even in a series against the Celtics, the Wizards have 2 out of the Top 3 players in the series (I would definitively say they have the Top 2, but I understand lots of people would take Kyrie over Wall). That's giving yourself a real shot. If he bolts for the Lakers, you tried. If he loves it here and him and Wall become best friends, you have a repeat of the OKC Thunder situation, but with more cap-room, younger star players, in an easier conference. Dreams coming true

Or,

2 - Kawhi isn't healthy or hates it here and doesn't get to his peak level. You tried, it didn't work out, Kawhi leaves and you've got lots of cap space next summer to build around Wall again (that's also why it's important to keep Troy Brown, Oubre, Sato and all first round picks in this scenario - because this could end very badly)

Pau can be helpful for a year with his passing, shooting, and leadership. Even if he isn't his contract is only partially guaranteed for next year. Him and Green (can) come off the books after this season. Go get O'Quinn, Len, Jonas Jerebko, Wayne Ellington or whoever you can fit on the books to fill out the roster. Sato, Oubre, expiring Markieff Morris are all pretty good assets to help fill the gaps as well. If the Spurs insist on putting Mills in the deal, send over Rivers expiring deal to even things out

The Money:

The Wizards save about $3 million, which is why I threw in the 2nd round pick to sweeten the deal fo SA. It gives the Wizards a ton of flexibility moving forward, and the chance to Max Leonard. Spurs get the stability they want, with both Beal and Otto's contract running out around the same time Aldridge's does. _______

Why not the Wizards? While the Spurs are out here getting low-balled by the 6ers and Lakers, the Wizards have a chance to swoop in and take this - and themselves - seriously. The Celtics look monstrous but they are still young and have two stars with major health concerns. The 76ers are even younger and have less shooting than they did last year. These two teams are only going to get better, so the Wizards time is now. A big market team needs to let their fans big-market dream, and stealing the most undervalued generational player from their rivals (and Lebron) would restore so much of the faith they have lost.

In the Summer of 2016, The Wizard's front office showed they could think big with their pursuit of Kevin Durant and Al Horford. Now they have the opportunity to do a lot more than just think, or even dream it. It's time to come alive. The ball is in Ernie's court.

(All salaries from the terrific EarlyBirdRights.com)