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i-am-not-anon · 4 years

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Under the eye of an institution

Part 10 (we have come a long way..)

Summary: Logan and Patton (both 16), as older students, are expected to look after two groups of freshmen in Watersouth boarding school for boys. Both of them despise the tradition of bullying that is subjected to the newcomers by older students in their school. The two respectively get a student in their groups who is a little different from the ordinary crowd: Roman and Virgil (both 15).

Author’s note: Hey, I’m back! Special thanks for those who pre-read this chapter and commented on it, you really helped me finish this chapter! There’s going to be some new conflict between our students, but don’t stress about it... or should you?

Triggers: General bullying, abuse and violence, violent punishments, panic attacks, self-deprecation, name-calling, i n s t i t u t i o n

Other parts here

...

“So, what did Simons exactly do to you?” Logan questioned, shifting his legs as he stood before the two younger boys. His emotions rarely affected his body language, but now he kept pacing around and fixing his glasses, which already were perfectly standing on the bridge of his nose. And he wasn’t the only one, whose nervousness was noticeable.

“Don’t ask me, sir,” Roman squeaked, taking a step back that he was almost hiding behind Daniel. “I wasn’t telling you anything. He was,” Roman pointed at his friend.

Daniel sighed. “He’s afraid because Simons made him swear he won’t tell this to you, sir.”

Logan nodded. “I see. So I have to pose as if I never heard any of this? Makes things more complicated to a degree, but I’m sure I can handle it. Roman, I assure you no soul excluding the three of us will find out if you disclose that information to me.”

Roman let out a breath. “Um, he told me how much he hates me and how disgusting I am, then took a grip of my hair and flipped me around in the air.” The poor boy lifted his hand to his curls, gently brushing them to not hurt his sore scalp.

“I see.” Logan frowned, trying to remain calm. “And what for did he punish you like that?”

“For, because I was the goalie and I missed so many times and then we lost, and he was in my team,” Roman rambled, looking at the ground.

“What kind of atrocity!” Logan was shocked. “That has nothing to do with the school rules whatsoever!” The older student straightened his collar in a frustrated movement. “Did any other person in the losing team receive similar treatment?”

“No, sir,” Daniel answered, being the one who had been able to observe the situation better. “After being done with Roman, Mr. Simons walked back to the field and seemed to have no intentions to punish anyone else.”

Logan leaned his hand on his desk, trying to regain control over his feelings. Why was he suddenly so taken aback by a punishment fairly common in this terrible school? Well, at least common for the tutors that were the most violent. He sat back on his seat, where he had been interrupted from doing his homework a few moments ago. “Please, take a seat both of you, I need a moment to contemplate this,” the older student advised, gesturing the boys towards his neatly made bed.

Daniel and Roman sat down, the former still protectively holding the latter. Roman didn't mind that, leaning his head on Daniel's shoulder while waiting for Logan to figure something out. It was nice to have one good friend, at least. They had known each other for barely two weeks but it felt like a much longer time.

….

Virgil sat in the second most comfortable sofa of the library, reading a collection of short novels while listening to a relaxing playlist. He had finished his homework already, and tried to focus on the story instead of the welling homesickness inside him. Oh, how he missed his brother. Why did he have to be exactly three years older than Virgil, so that he just had finished this school when Virgil came in? Emile was in university now, studying his beloved psychology. He had been the one to support Virgil when he had felt his worst, and helped him to get the therapist he had urgently needed.

The young boy sighed, putting his book away. Emile was the person he loved most in this whole world. He also was the only person excluding his parents who he was comfortable getting a hug from. Virgil felt the tears coming, but there was nobody watching so he let them fall.

Because there definitely were people who cared for him and who he deeply loved, but why did they have to be so far away?

…

Logan almost felt steam coming out of his ears as he wrote notes about which teacher would be the most likely to actually take action in making sure only the respective tutors took care of their students. That was part of the school rules, but in reality nobody really made sure it was practiced accordingly. Once again, the teachers didn’t really care as long as it caused no interruption to their classes.

List of teachers

Mr. Brass- would only encourage more punishments

Mr. Wilson- would scold the culprit for a minute, but not make big enough deal about it

Mr. Houston- is always too tired to care

Mr. Higgins- has little authority

Mr. Atkinson- very lawful, might actually be irritated about Simons not following the rule

The list went on, but no better choice was presented than Mr. Atkinson. Logan sighed quietly, remembering Roman and Daniel were still sitting on his bed, chatting quietly to each other.

“Boys, you can go continue your afternoon. It will take me a moment to figure this problem out in its entirety, and in the meanwhile I would instruct you to stay away from Simons.” Logan scratched the back of his neck. “I know it’s not solving anything, just a temporary solution until we get him actually responsible of his actions. I hope you a relaxing rest of the day.”

Daniel and Roman glanced at each other, then getting up and walking to the door. “Thanks, Mr. Andrews,” Daniel nodded his head as they got out of the room.

“You’re welcome, boys.”

...

The next morning began with chemistry classes for both Roman and Virgil. The latter waited further away in the hall until the others had entered the class. That way, he hoped, Roman would not see him and therefore forget to insult him. He still had to think which would be more effective way to get past it when leaving, though; leaving earliest or latest. He could think about it during the class.

“Alright, boys,” Mr. Houston called their attention. “I’m giving you a group project that will be presented next week-” He shot a frustrated glance at Roman, who had cheered in a hushed voice, “and I’m assigning the groups.” Mr. Houston payed no attention to Roman’s groan, but became naming the boys who had been paired together.

“George and Matts, Isaac and Daniel, Roman and Virgil...”

Virgil crushed the piece of paper he had been holding in his hand. This was so unfair. And Mr. Houston wouldn’t bat an ear to any compliments about the pairings because “You have to learn to work with all kinds of people for your future” He ignored Roman, who moved his desk next to his and greeted excitedly.

What an idiot.

Roman kept trying to get Virgil’s attention, talking to him or sometimes poking his side. At first he tried to be nice and work with the quiet boy, but as his partner kept turning his back on him and not answering on how they should start the work, Roman began annoying him more and more.

“I thought you stuttered, and wasn’t mute, stupid,”

poke to the side

Roman whispered to Virgil’s ear, leaning way closer than Virgil preferred. “Or did you go deaf, too? We gotta do this project!”

Virgil moved slightly further away, continuing to look at the textbook page but not being able to concentrate. He hated Roman So. Much.

Roman stretched over to smear the face Virgil was looking at on the book with his pen. He grinned victoriously, as Virgil finally turned to look at him.

“L-l-l-eave m-me al-a-al-alone!”

Roman tilted his head, still grinning maliciously. “O-o-oh? S-s-so no-no-now you can s-sp-s-s-pe-spe-speak?”

Virgil striked Roman on his face, and Roman’s chair crashed loudly on the floor as he fell down more out of surprise than the power of the punch. “Ow!!” In a second, he lunged on Virgil, who had stood up and almost managed to dodge the other boy, sending them both tumbling on the floor, where they continued fighting. Mr. Houston shouted at them, and when it didn’t seem to cause any kind of reaction, he had to separate them by force and held them up by their collars.

“WHAT was that?”

The teacher shouted in such a volume, that Virgil held his ears. Mr. Houston began dragging the boys to the door, handling them roughly. He muttered something along the lines of “Hasn’t happened in three years” And quickly instructed the rest of the class to continue working and better behave while he was gone.

…

Mr. Wilson, having been teaching the older group Linear Algebra, opened the classroom door after hearing the angry knocks. He looked confused for a second, finding his workmate holding two yonger students apart by their collars, but stepped to the side to let him look inside. Teacher Higgins stepped one foot in the class, looking around with annoyance, as if he had been the one getting in trouble.

“Logan Andrews, Patton Sawyer! Your students started a fight in my class and interrupted it greatly. I reckon you two do something about this, I need to get back to my work.”

Logan and Patton glanced at each other, and quickly collected their things to get outside. Mr. Wilson gave them the rest of the exercises to complete later, and now they were faced with two pouting students in the hall.

“Virgil?”

Patton looked so betrayed, that Virgil finally felt the guilt stinging in his chest. But it didn’t stop him from glaring at Roman with all the hate he could possibly gather.

Logan frowned at the two. “Roman, why did you hit Virgil?”

“Oh!!!???? I hit the poor Virgil?? He started it!” Roman screamed, pointing at the boy. There was about 3 feet between them, and Virgil didn’t bother to look up.

“Did you, Virgil?” Patton stepped closer, but Virgil stayed silent. He wouldn’t say a word when the Idiot was present, because he refused to be mocked again.

Patton sighed, taking a step back. “Alright, boys. I think we need to find a place to sit down and talk this through. I don’t want anybody getting in any more trouble, and it’s not cool to hate others for long.”

“I agree,” Logan nodded, and they began walking to get downstairs.

“It’S nOT cOoL To HatE OtHeRs” Virgil mimicked to himself behind the tutor’s backs. He didn’t remember a time when he had been this angry towards everybody around him, but in all honesty, it made him feel powerful in a situation where in reality he had little to no control.

Roman sticked his tongue out at Virgil as they walked behind their tutors, and Virgil tried to slap him but the boy dodged it, so Virgil kicked him, to which Roman cried out loudly. That guy is way too good in making all of this look like my fault, the boy thought to himself, as Patton turned to scold his student. He really had to do the rest of this carefully and not fall in Roman’s traps like he just had.

There’s only one thing good about all of this, Virgil thought. It all goes just like my worst, anxiety-filled thoughts had assumed, so I feel like I’ve at least seen this coming.

#uei #uei10 #10 #under the eye of an institution #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #light sides #au #high school au #boarding school au #human au #my writing #patton #roman #virgil #logan #sanders sides fanfic

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comicsnsuch · 4 years

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Tales from the Dark Multiverse

Hi! Thanks for finding this tumblr. The plan is to share and write about comic books, comic book art, other things that interest me and such, thus the name of the tumblr. Maybe you share some of the same interests, or maybe you’ll discover something new.

I’m going to try to post as frequently as possible, but that frequency will vary depending on what real life is like week to week. On slow weeks, there will be more stuff, on busy weeks less. You get it. Hopefully if you check in now and then you’ll find some new content.

I work (worked?) in a comic book shop, but as I have been recently reminded, due to the COVID-19/Coronavirus epidemic, I am non-essential. Thanks State Government! Always good to have a self esteem boost!

Anyway… I love comic books, reading them, talking about them, (thinking about) making them and so on. Always have, always will. I wanted to have an outlet for sharing that while I can’t be in the shop doing it face to face with customers and random strangers.

I’ll be writing short reviews for what I’ve been reading, new stuff, old stuff, posting pics, etc.

Feel free to comment, but please keep it friendly. Assholery will not be tolerated.

To start with I just finished reading all of DC Comics Tales of the Dark Multiverse one shots.

I made this in MS Paint!

These started coming out in 2019 and the last one was released in early 2020. The idea behind each is Tempus Fuginaut, a sort of Watcher type character for the DCU (who I think debuted, or at least I fist remember seeing in the Sideways ongoing, a Dark Nights Metal spin off) observing the multiverse and introducing a story that takes an important moment in DC history and asks “what would have happened if things had gone differently?” DC’s version of What If? in a nutshell.

That’s Tempus Fuginauts big ol’ head in case you were wondering

As the “Dark” in Tales of the Dark Multiverse might imply, these are not happy stories.

The first one shot that was released was Tales of the Dark Multiverse Batman Knightfall by Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgens with art by Javi Fernandez.

This was probably my least favorite of the five issues. Since the “No Justice” mini series event I’m over Scott Snyder. I feel he has so many ideas rattling around in his head that he begins one story, gets too excited about the next one and leaves you underwhelmed with the current arc but dying to read the next. (That being said I of course checked out Batman Last Knight on Earth, having read his and Capullo’s entire New 52 Batman run I didn’t want to miss their “final” word on Batman, but have not read his just wrapped run on Justice League which I hear was quite good).

I read this one right when it was released a few months ago, so my memory of it might not be the best.

This one centers around the Knightfall event where Bane breaks Batman’s back and Jean Paul Valley/Azrael takes on the role of Batman. In this reality Bruce never recovers and Jean Paul remains Batman becoming Saint Batman, a Bats Azrael mash up. Javi Fernandez does a great job on the art and Snyder loves chopping people up.

Gross.

Definitely worth the read if you’re interested in it or are a fan of Batman or just the Knightfall era. If you grab this series in collected format it’s not so bad that I recommend skipping it, just not my favorite from this batch of books.

Next up is Tales of the Dark Multiverse Death of Superman by Jeff Loveness with art by Brad Walker and Andrew Hennessey. I really enjoyed this one, it was a good quick read and had a nice arc to it. One of the better issues from this series if you’re asking me.

Right after Superman dies defeating Doomsday in the Death of Superman story arc, the rest of the Justice League shows up, literally as the blood is drying.Ten seconds too late. Lois Lane blames Supes’ death on the heroes for not being there to aid him.

She makes her way to the Fortress of Solitude and thanks to the Eradicator gets herself all the powers of Superman. She then goes about dishing out justice, with extreme prejudice, to the villains the heroes normally let the revolving doors of the DC justice system handle. This involves a couple of great scenes with Batman and Lex Luthor. Loveness nails the dialogue and the character arc he puts Lois on is great to read.

Walker and Hennesey do it again!

There’s more to this story than I’ve put here, but I don’t want to say too much and ruin your enjoyment of it if/when you read it.

Special shout out to the art team of Brad Walker and Andrew Hennessey. I feel like they don’t get enough love. They killed it on the Demon Hell is Earth mini, and from what I can tell are crushing it on Detective Comics. Dudes can draw. Spread the word!

Then we move onto Tales of the Dark Multiverse Blackest Night by Tim Seeley and Kyle Hotz.

This one was a bit wordy, but a lot of fun! I would put this one in the middle of the pack.

Seeley brings together an interesting bunch of characters including Sinestro, Dove, Lobo and the New Gods! The plot is a little complex, but basically after the Color Corps lose the battle against Nekron in Blackest Night, Sinestro is looking for a way to undo the damage done and becomes a pawn in Scott Free’s plot to do the same.

Give Seeley a Lobo book or a Hawk and Dove book, or a Mister Miracle book!. He gives each character a unique voice which makes their joint travels through the plot that much more fun to read.

Kyle Hotz’s art in this issue reminds of a 90’s Image Comic in the best possible way. Lots of detail and cool poses. I also see a lot of Bernie Wrightson in there with Hotz’s heavy use of black and the sinewy musculature of the characters. The book is worth the price of admission to see his renditions of Dove and Mister Miracle.

kewl!

I’m glad to see Hotz working more or just seeing more of Hotz’s work. I don’t know if he fell out of the industry after drawing the original The Hood mini for Marvel with Brian K. Vaughan, working with Eric “The Goon” Powell on Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Odditys, doing art on Carnage Mind Bomb and more I’m sure ( I just can’t remember it all), or I just wasn’t paying attention to what he was working on. If it’s the later, shame on me, if it’s the former, welcome back Mr. Hotz, you’re crushing it and I look forward to seeing more from you. Check out more Kyle Hotz work by following him on Instagram @kylehotzcomics.

Let’s not neglect the oft overlooked inkers! I’m not sure who inked what, but on a guess, Dexter Vines and Walden Wong brought a smooth, cleanness to the proceedings with lots of nicely tapered lines. Again just guessing here, because I don’t know for sure, but Danny Miki used a finer line bringing a scratchy-ness the others didn’t but also amazing detail and clarity on some of the portraiture in the later half of the book.

Who’s next? Why it’s Tales of the Dark Multiverse Infinite Crisis!

This one may have been my favorite. When the original Infinite Crisis series came out it was a period where, due to personal lack of enjoyment, I wasn’t reading much of DC’s output, but I did read the Countdown to Infinite Crisis one shot this issue takes as it’s jumping off point. After having read this issue, it makes me want to go back and read Infinite Crisis. I would say that’s the sign of a good issue.

In this alternate reality Blue Beetle, Ted Kord, kills Maxwell Lord instead of vice versa, making himself the head of Checkmate. He then goes about trying to prevent the coming crisis. It’s kind of a tale about absolute power corrupting absolutely, it’s also an underdog tale about getting in over your head.

Sorry if these images aren’t the best, I’m new at this!

James Tynion IV does a great job catching you up on any old DC continuity plot points you may have forgotten or never knew about in the first place.If you’re reading Tynion’s current run on Batman, or his work on Detective Comics and Justice League Dark, you know he can handle a complex plot like this and does a great job condensing it all down to a single issue. Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan handle the art and they do a great job. Always happy to see Lopresti’s name on a book I want to read.

Bonus points: You can never have too many Ted Kord, Blue Beetle comics, especially when Booster Gold pops up, even if only momentarily.

If this series leaves you wanting more Blue and Gold action may I direct you to Booster Gold (2nd series) #32 thru about 38ish for some quality comics.

Final one, Tales from the Dark Multiverse the Judas Contract!

I’m not as old as my writing may imply so I had to read the Judas Contract in collected format about 20 years after it was originally released and after having seen it on many a fanzine’s (Wizard) best of list. When I finally got to read it I wasn’t super familiar with the Titans of the era and already knew the big twist in the story, so it just washed over me without any great effect. None of the shock that someone who was reading it fresh in the 80’s might have experienced.

I ended up liking this twisted take on the Judas Contract much more than when I read the original. “Sacrilege!” I know, I know, but like I said there was no surprise when I first read it, while this one zigged instead of zagging multiple times and kept upping the ante in scale.

Kyle Higgins and Matt Groom do a great job reinventing a classic that I’m sure many people had high expectations for. This was a fun faced paced tale. I enjoyed the hero moments Dick Grayson and Wally West were given. Like the Knightfall one shot Higgins co-wrote with Snyder there’s no shortage of dismemberment and disfiguration, which is neither a plus or minus in this situation, just thought it was worth noting.

Tom Raney handles the art chores here and he does a fine job. Some of the figures seem a little squat, and their heads are too big in certain panels. Could I do better? No, so who am I to say anything? I just noticed it, here and there, it took me out of the flow of the story every now and then. That’s all. Big fan of his work on Stormwatch and Outsiders with Judd Winick. I also hear he’s super nice, so if you’re ever at a convention where Tom Raney is, seek him out!

They seem squat, right?

It’s worth mentioning these books are all done in DC’s prestige format and are extra long at about 48 pages each. All covers are by the fantastic Lee Weeks. A nice way to spend the afternoon.

There’s the first post. A little longer than I thought it would be. If you made it this far, I hope it was clear and you understood what I was saying and I hope you liked it and want to return for more.

Until next time!

#batman #justiceleague #teentitans #titans #greenlantern #superman #darkmultiverse #whatif #dccomics #dcu #dcuniverse #comics #comicbooks #review #comicsnsuch #spiderman #avengers

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lanayrusea · 7 years

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aftg gift exchange!

@callron hi i’m your person! i have no idea if this is what you wanted but it’s what i wrote so i hope you like it!! i tried to focus on neil since you said you love him (i also love him), plus renison. (also: i use v minimal japanese in this but in case anyone comes for me, just kno i’ve been studying it for six years. i still make mistakes all the time though lol)

ok please enjoy!! @aftgexchange

By all accounts, it was not a game meant for winning.

It was not a death match. They were not playing a nemesis, or even a friendly rival. They were not playing anyone they knew. It was a Japanese team from Fukuoka touring the States for practice, or fun, or murder. They were one of the first official college Exy teams on record, and had sent an astonishingly high percentage of their players to the Olympics. Kevin had nearly cried when Jeremy told him they shredded USC.

Simply, they were out of the Foxes’ league.

They would have stood a chance, Neil thought, with Andrew in goal, but Andrew was currently out of commission. No one was quite sure how he’d done it, but the monster had somehow managed to contract pneumonia. He was over the worst of it and had returned from the hospital, but still refused any drugs beyond those that were absolutely necessary. Wymack nearly blew a gasket the last time Andrew opened his mouth to complain about being sick. It hadn’t been pretty.

So Andrew was on house arrest, or Fox Tower arrest. Renee had filled in seamlessly during the local scrimmages scheduled that week, but Neil could tell the team had silently come to terms with the fact that their match against Fukuoka would be, in all likelihood, a wreck.

It was not a game meant for winning.

Even so, Neil began to feel his usual nerves in the hours before the match, though there was nothing at stake other than the Foxes’ largely nonexistent dignity. The game wasn’t even going to be broadcasted. From a spectator’s perspective, Neil figured, if you were going to watch your team get slaughtered, it might as well be by another team you knew. Losing to strangers was just embarrassing. And you couldn’t say, Oh, next time. At this point, the only thing keeping the Foxes in the game at all was their determination, as always, to put up a good fight. Wymack had little to say during their pre-game meeting—mumbled something or other about pyrrhic victory—and set Dan on them instead.

“If we can do anything,” she said, “we can make them remember what it cost.”

Renee nodded and said sensibly, “When you put down a dog, the dog still bites.”

For a moment the Foxes stood frozen, then glanced around at each other, all wearing the same expression: Did she really just say that? Am I nuts?

Allison was the first to recover. “Renee, sweetest, we’ll work on your analogies. Dan, don’t worry. We’ll give ’em hell.”

“Do the Japanese have hell?” asked Nicky.

“I will box your ears,” said Kevin evenly, though the question hadn’t been directed at him.

“Do it after the match, Queen Elizabeth,” said Dan. “Okay. We all know our jobs. Renee: don’t even worry about what happens past half-court. Backliners: work extra hard. Neil: dance. Kevin—” He shot her a vicious look, but she didn’t back down. “Don’t overwork your left hand. It’s not worth it.”

Wymack made a noise of agreement. Kevin bristled but said nothing.

“If you need to get mad, get mad. Fuck it, you should already be mad—this is plain unfair. They’re three times our size. There’s no stakes in terms of our actual season, so if you need to punch someone, just make sure I don’t beat you to it.”

Appreciative laughter.

“I know our hopes aren’t high,” Dan said, “especially after hearing what they did to Kevin’s idol—”

Several people said several different things at once. Dan powered through.

“—but I still think we have a chance offensively. Defense: every pass you guys intercept, every shot you block will be a victory, and it’ll make victory against the blockheads in our league that much easier. Neil, Kevin: I want three goals each from you.”

“And?” Neil said, knowing what had to be coming.

“And,” Dan continued, “I know threats of extra drills and runs don’t scare you, you masochistic bastards, so if you don’t score enough, you’ll take turns in goal during our next scrimmage and let Renee and the monster laugh all they like.”

Neil’s jaw dropped. Nicky hooted. Wymack was grinning.

“That’s how it’s going to be?” said Kevin. He sounded riled, which, Neil realized, was probably exactly what Dan wanted.

She smiled. “That’s how it’s going to be.”

“Goddamn,” muttered Matt.

“Keep it together, Boyd,” said Allison.

Dan clapped once, and suddenly everyone was back at attention. “Alright, you heathens! I think it’s time we light this thing. We have nothing to lose, so let’s play like it. Hell—let’s make this the one game Andrew actually wishes he’d played. Renee, have I told you recently I adore you?”

“I adore you too, Dan.”

“Lovely. Coach?”

Wymack stood. “Dan Wilds, you’re a phenomenon. Strikers, that was no joke she just pulled. Three goals apiece. Get out there.”

Neil was going to have to ask Andrew about basic goalkeeping strategy.

The team from Fukuoka emerged onto the court at the same time, carrying their helmets under their arms as though to mirror the Foxes. They were called Hakuchō, the Swans. (“Their mascot is a swan? Isn’t that a little…underwhelming?” “Underwhelming? Have you ever met a swan?” “Have I ever met a swan?” “They’re vicious! They don’t give a shit whether you live or die!” “Are you implying that a swan has tried to kill you?” “Listen, those fuckers come out of nowhere.” “Are we all hearing this? Confirmation of Nicky Hemmick’s near-death-by-swan experience?” “DAN, ALLISON’S BEING MEAN TO ME!”) They looked impeccably prepared; their drills were immaculate. There was a certain quiet about them, too, the kind that came from confidence, not from lack of volume. The thought arose suddenly in Neil’s head: I want us to be that good.

He glanced at Kevin, who was grim with anticipation. Neil knew he felt the same.

Warmups went by fast. Neil listened to the Swans talk to each other, getting a feel for the easy, even sound of the Japanese language when it wasn’t coming out of the mouth of a mob boss. It was a stark contrast to all the languages he knew, which seemed to lean more heavily on consonants. Japanese sounded open-mouthed. He was listening to them rattle off calls and signals when familiar laughter caught his attention.

Neil looked around. Who—?

It was Kevin. He was a few meters from Neil, doing stretches he had made up for his left arm, but he had completely abandoned them and was now leaning on his racquet, stifling laughter. There were also two Swans nearby, looking bewildered. To Neil’s surprise, Kevin caught his breath and spoke to them.

He had completely forgotten Kevin spoke Japanese.

How did I forget something like that?

Neil was about to grab Kevin and get him away from the poor Swans, but unexpectedly, they began to laugh, too. He caught one word that sounded like English: pudding.

From near the goal, Allison said loudly, “I can’t believe it! The queen bitch is making friends!”

From near the Vixens, Aaron said, “Is he dying?”

Katelyn said, giggling, “Aaron.”

A whistle blew, and Kevin and the two Swans left for their respective sides of the court with a last grin. Neil jogged a few paces to catch up with him.

“What was that all about?” he asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Kevin said, then snickered. “God, I can’t even look at you.”

“Me?” Neil ran a self-conscious hand through his hair. The week before, he had run out of shampoo and, out of desperation, used some from an unlabeled travel bottle, discovering a split-second too late that it was old hair dye. He managed to scrub out most of it before it took, but his roots were still tinged brown. Allison had lent him some of her fancy princess shampoo in the meantime (“vegan, of course”), and now he smelled like mint and coconut. (Somehow, it didn’t exude the same kind of power on him as it did on Allison.) But he had thought the team was over teasing him about that.

“Strikers, get to your positions!”

That was Dan—she had lost the coin toss. They put on their helmets and hustled.

“It’s alright,” Neil heard Matt say. “This is still a game, folks! We can’t get discouraged.”

“Yeah,” said Nicky. “Instead, just think of how shitfaced Kevin’s going to get tonight and how funny it’ll be when he drunk dials Jeremy.”

Even Renee laughed at that one.

The whistle blew.

First half was a fiasco. Dan was ready to kill Aaron, who had maybe never cared less about the score of a game, but she stayed furiously silent during their halftime meeting. Matt was breathing hard; he had been running almost as much as the strikers. Allison had undone the numerous braids Renee used to keep her short hair out of her face and now combed her fingers through the waves of it. Renee did not speak or move the whole time, except to drink. She was conserving her energy.

Neil had scored two goals. Kevin had scored one. They were down three.

“Three,” Wymack said upon their entrance, “is not fucking bad.”

“It’s not good,” Kevin shot back.

“Whose fault is that?” said Allison.

“Everyone’s,” Matt said forcefully, before Kevin and Allison could get to each other’s throats. “That’s why it’s called a team.”

“Boyd’s right,” said Wymack. “There’s not enough incentive here. I was pessimistic before, and that was a mistake on my part, but I really think we can put a dent in these guys’ ego. There might not be any camera crews or flashing lights, but I’ve seen the reporters. They’re watching you. They’d be stupid not to.”

Aaron muttered something unintelligible. Neil and Dan glared at him.

“Look,” Wymack continued, “they’re everything we knew they’d be. They’re strong, they’re fast, there’s a fucking million of them. Defense, you’re doing great, but I need more from you. Aaron Michael Minyard, do not test me.”

Aaron scowled.

“Renee,” said Wymack, “I know you can give me more. I’ve watched you work for years now, and I can tell when you’re holding back.”

Renee allowed herself a small smile. It occurred to Neil that maybe she had been waiting for this—for the rest of her teammates to wake up.

Wymack looked around at them. “That goes for all of you. Where’s your effort? Neil, I know how fast you are. Kevin—one goal? Really?”

Kevin flushed angrily and opened his mouth.

“No!” Wymack interrupted. “Offense, you are where our win lies. Don’t just stand there looking surly. Show these assholes you’re the team that’s come out on top, time and time again. Knock them over the head with it. So what they’re incredible? They’re not expecting a challenge. And so far, you’re not giving them one.”

Neil knew he was right. Dan looked ashamed.

Wymack sighed. “You’ve played this game before, Foxes. You’ve played this exact game. How many damn times, I’ve lost count. Don’t make me start thinking you’ve gotten soft.” After a moment, he sneered. “How come no one’s thrown a punch yet?”

Allison grinned wolfishly. She was re-braiding Renee’s hair with deft, confident fingers. “Great point, Coach. Hemmick, don’t let them walk on you.”

Nicky looked startled to be addressed. “Hey, I’m a lover.”

Neil suddenly felt more awake. “No, Nicky,” he said, “she’s right. Their number four—”

“Kobayashi,” said Kevin.

They stared at him.

He shrugged. “That’s what it says on her jersey.”

Neil turned back to Nicky. “She’s taking advantage of your delayed left turn. Your weight’s not evenly distributed. I’m not saying fix it right now,” he added quickly, “I’m just saying don’t let her use it.”

“Switch spots with me,” Matt suggested. “You’ll have to pay closer attention to Renee but I’ll bet the advantages compile. We’ll see if we can trip them up.”

Nicky clicked his tongue. “Carpe fucking diem.”

Dan finally spoke. “Maybe we can turn this into a good thing,” she said thoughtfully. “They were wary of us at first, or at least our reputation, but now they think we’re no hot shit. They’re too good to let their guard down completely, but if we come out hard and fast maybe we can rip a hole in it.”

Neil nodded. “They won’t know what hit them. If they’re too shocked to respond for even just a minute, we can own the rest of the game.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow. “Well, we can,” he said pointedly, then glanced from Aaron to Allison and Renee.

Allison stiffened. “Yes, Highness?”

Neil said, “Kevin” at the same time Renee said, “Allie.”

“No fighting,” said Dan. “Defense is pulling their weight, and if they need help, I can always fill in. They’ve certainly blocked more shots on goal than we’ve made at this point.”

Warning whistle. The Foxes started putting their helmets back on.

“Now’s the time,” said Wymack. “They’re not invincible. Win it right now or go home and tell Andrew how lousy you are without him.”

Everyone groaned.

Wymack grinned. “That’s my Foxes.”

By all accounts, it was not a game meant for winning. But when had the Foxes ever listened to anyone else’s account?

It was not an important game. It didn’t determine their spot in a bracket. The only people who watched it live were there in person. Their opponent was an elite team from Japan whose business it was to slaughter anyone they were put up against. The reporters made sure to put all of it in their columns—maybe the USC Trojans had a rough day, or maybe the PSU Foxes got lucky for the thousandth time in a row. But there was nothing in it for them, and they still tried their damnedest.

And the Foxes still won.

That Renee Walker, one of the journalists said to another, shaking her head. I’m stunned.

I know, said the other. And we thought Minyard was scary.

Neil’s head was a blur by the time the buzzer screamed at him to stop running. He felt like he had been playing against USC again—it was ridiculously unfair how good these people were while still being so sportsmanlike. He was mad that he couldn’t be mad at them. They were so courteous. How could someone be courteous while ramming you into the floor with an Exy racquet?

Needless to say, no one threw any punches.

The Foxes got better every passing moment of the second half, but so did Fukuoka. Neil had been right: they returned to the game with just enough force to shake their opponent’s ground without blowing themselves out. And the Swans retaliated. Just as he began to recognize some of their strategy calls, they stopped using them. Kevin wasn’t playing like he was bored anymore. Aaron wasn’t playing with one eye shut.

And Renee. God, had she woken up. She was a queen on her throne and her soldiers let no one usurp her.

The final score was 8-7, and the last goal was Neil’s.

It was like waking up from a dream. He could see his teammates yelling something to him but the stadium was so loud he couldn’t hear them. He leaned on his racquet for a moment, then ran for the congregation at half-court. Kevin came up behind him and smacked him on the shoulder so hard he tripped. Dan’s laughter cut through the commotion.

“Kevin!”

“Sorry!”

Kevin helped him to his feet and ruffled his half-dyed hair. Neil swatted Kevin’s hand away, grinning, and then they were shoving each other around and then they were at half-court, and Matt was practically suffocating him, and he could hear Katelyn calling after Aaron and Wymack saying, “Natalie Renee Walker!” Matt released him to hug Nicky and he was immediately seized by Dan, who said, “Neil, you devil!” and let him go just in time for them to see Allison grab Renee’s face, pull her from the throng of Foxes, and kiss her full on the mouth. Unless he was much mistaken, the cheering intensified.

When Allison pulled away, Renee looked more flustered and more pleased than Neil had ever seen her, but she also looked like she was about to faint. Breathlessly, she said, “Allie, I love you—but I’m never playing like that again.”

Allison laughed and swept Renee off her feet.

Behind them, Nicky was laughing at Kevin’s expression so hard Neil thought he might fall over. Kevin looked dumbfounded.

“You, uh…okay?” Neil asked him.

All Kevin could say was, “Wow.”

“Nicky,” said Matt, “are you breathing?”

Nicky managed, “He had no fucking idea.”

They lined up for handshakes (Allison almost carried Renee through), then began to head back to the locker rooms. Neil was following Matt in to hear Wymack and get changed when someone called his number.

“Ten! Short boy!”

Neil whirled around to see Swan four, one of the starting strikers, jogging over to him. Kobayashi, Kevin had called her. She offered him a quick bow of the head and said, in lightly accented English, “Sorry for laughing at you, Josten. Before the game started.”

“That’s what that was about?” he said. “I don’t mind. I know I look ridiculous.”

“We have a word for that in Japan,” she said. “Purin-atama. It means ‘pudding-head.’ In Japan pudding comes with chocolate on top and vanilla on bottom, like your hair. But usually we do it on purpose. That’s what is funny.”

Neil grinned. It was funny. “Thanks for telling me. I’ve been called worse names.”

“Your team is amazing,” Kobayashi said. “I’m so surprised we lost! And you’re really fast.”

“Kevin is better,” he said, then clarified, “Number two.”

“Oh, he is good. When I sat on the bench I just watched him. His Japanese is pretty good, too. I was surprised he speaks.”

Neil almost said, I was, too, but caught himself. “He doesn’t use it much. I’m not sure he likes it.”

“Really? If he teaches me some drills I can teach him some curse words. He seems interested enough.”

Kobayashi glanced over his head, and Neil followed her gaze. Kevin was indeed watching them, not surreptitiously at all. His frown disappeared when he saw them looking back.

“Come on, kid!” he called, feigning nonchalance.

“Looks like they need me,” Neil said. “Good game, Kobayashi.”

“Otsukaresama,” she said with a smile and a nod. “Maybe I’ll see you soon, Ten. My team says we want to meet that infamous goalkeeper of yours.”

Neil laughed. “Oh, him.”

“Yes, him. They tell us you two are—what’s the polite way to say? ‘Involved’? Where is he, anyway?”

“He’s in bed with a bad cold because he refuses to take his medicine.”

Kobayashi smirked. “He’ll be in bed with more than that when we’re through with him.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Until next time?”

“Count on it.”

She gave him a two-fingered salute and returned to her Swans. And Neil returned to his Foxes.

#the foxhole court #all for the game #aftg #tfc #aftgexchange #callron #my posts

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thrashermaxey · 6 years

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Ramblings: Training Camp Notes; Karlsson Traded; Rankings! – September 14

Well, given all the goings on in the last week, there has been some updates to the 2018-19 Dobber Hockey fantasy guide over the last week. If you have a copy already, be sure to grab the latest updates. If you don’t have your copy, no better time than now!

A few items from training camp yesterday.

It looks like Tyler Ennis will get first crack a line with Auston Matthews and William Nylander. As always, this is the first day of camp and subject to change. He’ll have fantasy relevance if he can remain there for any length of time and will be fantasy irrelevant if he doesn’t. My bet is on the latter.

Tyler Bertuzzi was skating on a line with Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha for Detroit while a kid line was assembled of Filip Zadina, Joe Veleno, and Michael Rasmussen. Notable here: Zadina was not skating with one of the team’s top two centres. He’ll have to play his way there and given the track record of usage from Detroit rookies be it under Blashill or Babcock (Larkin notwithstanding), that’s a concern.

Victor Rask is out indefinitely after undergoing hand surgery for an accident in his home. Rask was one of the players used on the top PP unit last year with the top line, as had Elias Lindholm. Does this open the door for Svechnikov?

J-G Pageau was injured during physical tests but the nature and severity of the injury is unknown. An update will be provided Friday.

It looks like Paul Byron is good to go for the Habs while Andrew Shaw is still possible to start the year on time.

No further concrete update on Gabe Vilardi as the Kings say he’s still week-to-week.

Speaking of the Sens… my take on the fantasy impacts of Erik Karlsson being traded to San Jose yesterday.

Beyond what I wrote there, it’ll be hard to see how much fantasy value there will be on this roster post-trade deadline and next year. Both Matt Duchene and Mark Stone are probably going to be gone. Once they’re traded, the roster will not look much better than the Sabres rosters of a few years ago. Keep that in mind if you’re in head-to-head leagues and thinking about grabbing guys like Bobby Ryan or Thomas Chabot. Assuming both Duchene and Stone are traded, this roster is going to be an utter wasteland in March of 2019 and the entire 2019-20 season.

Dallas announced a long-awaited extension as Tyler Seguin earned an extra eight years with an AAV just under $10-million. He is now signed through his age-35 season.

Seguin was set to be a UFA after 2018-19.

The initial inclination is to scream overpay here, but this is what he’s done in Dallas over the last five years (from Hockey Reference):

At least 70 points every season, 1 of 3 players to do so (Sidney Crosby and Nicklas Backstrom)

173 goals, third-most in the league

211 assists, one fewer than John Tavares

384 points, tied with Backstrom for sixth-most in the league

Coming up next year as a UFA at the age of 27, he was going to get a barrel of money, and he’s earned every penny. All that’s left now is playoff success in Dallas.

Whether he’s worth it or not in cap leagues, I’ll leave that to Alex MacLean.

I’ve finally published my rankings. A little later than I wanted but we’re done.

The rankings below were published at Fantasy Pros. A few notes on that:

These are based on Yahoo! standard leagues, which means goals, assists, PPPs, shots, hits, and plus/minus.

There are some players here with different eligibility than from Yahoo!. Nathan MacKinnon is C/RW on FantasyPros, for example. I did my best to account for them.

You should be able to view overall as well as by position.

Here you are:

2018 Fantasy Hockey Rankings powered by FantasyProsECR ™ – Expert Consensus Rankings ADP – Average Draft Position

Now, before people get angry, I want to clear up some thing about these rankings:

These are going to be tinkered with, namely the overall rankings and where everyone fits together. The positional ranking is more accurate at the moment.

I still haven’t gotten to my goalies. Don’t worry about those rankings. I’ll get to those on the weekend.

A lot of roles are still undefined. For example: I have Tyler Bertuzzi on the third line in Detroit when it looks like he might be on the top line; Justin Faulk is still slotted as PP1 for Carolina; Kailer Yamamoto is in my projection as playing half the season with Connor McDavid and one-quarter of the season with Leon Draisaitl. There are a lot of players whose rankings could change significantly in the next few weeks depending on news coming out of training camps and exhibition games.

I adjusted post-Karlsson trade but still have to work a few things out. Namely, I'm just waiting for defence pairs and PP combinations. Someone like Vlasic could get a big boost.

I have largely ignored plus/minus. Heavily-used defencemen on what should be bad teams –Rasmus Ristolainen, Nick Leddy, Alex Edler, to name a few – moved down the rankings a lot because of a likely significant negative in the plus/minus column. Other than that, they haven’t been considered for players. I do this because it’s a largely random stat. Think of it this way: Anze Kopitar (+21 last year) played roughly two-thirds of his 5v5 minutes with Alex Iafallo (+10) and roughly three-quarters of his 5v5 minutes with Dustin Brown (+31). Look at the spread in plus/minus between Brown and Iafallo, who spent most of their minutes with Kopitar. I just find it a waste of time.

As I mentioned in my rankings on Tuesday, I take positional scarcity into account based on 12-team leagues starting 3LW/3C/3RW/5D/UTIL. Different positions should have different expectations. For example, the top-50 right wingers in my data set project for 1115.43 goals while the top-50 left wingers project for 1149.53 That makes one goal from a left winger worth a little over 1.03 goals from a right winger. It’s a small difference, but when you consider your wingers could score hundreds of goals, and then you account for small differences in every other category, it starts to add up. So, all stats equal, a right winger is more valuable than a left winger and a left winger is more valuable than a centre. Elite-tier defencemen are also more valuable than they’re given credit for given the mediocrity of the middle tier (shout out to Laidlaw). That’s why wingers will rank higher in my rankings than those of some other people.

I haven’t tiered these yet. I will tier these eventually.

These are adjusted for age, so guys on the wrong side of 30 are going to take a hit while guys in their prime (22-27) will shine.

Power play points can change a lot for a lot of players. Example: Dylan Larkin is projected just outside my top-200 players. The reason for that is his PP production for his career has been abysmal, posting 20 PPPs in 242 games (seriously), and that’s with 150+ PP minutes in each season to date. Were he to manage, say, 20 PPPs in 2018-19, that moves him just outside the top-100 players. Same with Connor McDavid; if that Oilers PP turns itself around and McDavid reaches his PP potential, he’s number-1 in my rankings, even when considering positional scarcity.

With all that out of the way, let’s talk about some of these guys.

One thing I want to focus on is players that I’ve ranked higher or lower than the consensus on Fantasy Pros. There aren’t a lot of guys whose rankings are posted yet, but it should give you a good idea of who I’m personally high and low on.

Higher Than Consensus

Vladimir Tarasenko

All summer I’ve been saying that Tarasenko will be undervalued going into 2018-19 and it appears this is the case. The underlying issue, of course, is whether his shoulder is completely healthy following surgery in April. Think of it this way: last year was a down year for Tarasenko, I think most people would agree on that. In standard Yahoo! setups, he was still a top-30 player. If you can draft him in the late second or early third round, do it.

Vincent Trocheck

Even if you’re someone who thinks that Trocheck could regress by 10 points or so this year, his ability to contribute across the board should be coveted. The year before, he was a top-75 player with just 54 points and a minus-13 rating because of his power play points, hits, and shots. If he’s healthy, he’s not losing his role with Florida. I’d be fine with drafting him in the third round but you can probably get him in the sixth.

Joe Pavelski

It was just a year ago I was saying that Pavelski was overvalued. Now I think he’s undervalued. Crazy the difference a year can make.

If Joe Thornton can be anywhere near as healthy and productive as he was a couple years ago before the knee injuries cropped up, Pavelski has 25 goals and 35 assists locked up. He probably does even if Thornton isn’t healthy thanks to the additions of Evander Kane and Erik Karlsson. Pavelski adds loads of hits and shots, which is why he’s valuable for me.

Kyle Palmieri and Nico Hischier

Even if he’s not on the top line, Palmieri’s PP points, hits, and shots make him very valuable. With just 44 points in an injury-shortened season last year, he returned ninth-round value. He’ll be available in that round or later.

I truly believe Hischier is a superstar in the making and he has the MVP of the NHL on his left wing. With additional PP minutes coming his way, I think when April rolls around, people are going to wonder how they passed on him this year.

Colton Parayko

A 30-point defenceman who can put up the peripherals that Parayko can is valuable. That’s what made Ivan Provorov so valuable last year (though he was a 40-point guy). Parayko still hasn’t hit his ceiling fantasy-wise and maybe never will with Pietrangelo around. He can still be a 40-point defenceman though, especially with that revamped St. Louis offence.

Lower Than Consensus

Mitch Marner

Marner is on the precipice of being an elite playmaker and a superstar in this league. The issue is that he doesn’t provide much in hits and isn’t a huge shot volume guy. He does shoot a fair amount, but not to the level of guys like David Pastrnak or Rickard Rakell. I have him projected for 75 points but without huge shot volume or hits, he’ll be hard-pressed to return third-round value.

Nikolaj Ehlers

Let’s get this out of the way: Ehlers is truly one of my favourite players to watch in the league. If he picks up the puck in his zone and gets up to full speed, there’s almost no one more fun. That said, like Marner, he doesn’t hit much. He also doesn’t get top PP minutes, which caps his upside significantly. In order for a player who doesn’t post big hit totals to return near a top-75 pick, he needs either A) a healthy amount of PPPs or B) a healthy plus/minus. I’m not relying on plus/minus to return value on an early-round pick.

Nicklas Backstrom

I will say I don’t have a particular problem grabbing Backstrom in the seventh round or whatever because he’s pretty safe. If he and his line mates are healthy, he won’t plummet to 50 points or in that neighbourhood. But he doesn’t hit much anymore, and he’s never been a volume shooter. That means unless he gets extremely lucky production-wise, he doesn’t have league-winning upside. Guys like Brayden Schenn and Vincent Trocheck do.

Alex Pietrangelo

Do people realize Pietrangelo had the best year of his career in 2017-18 and returned the value of a 10th round pick? I have him ranked where I do just because I think the St. Louis offence will be better, but I don’t feel great about the projection even in the eighth round, let alone taking him higher.

Charlie McAvoy

I just don’t get it at all. Torey Krug is locked on the top PP unit (provided he's healthy), so McAvoy’s PP production will be minimal. He’s still young, but he landed just 1.2 shots per game last year as a rookie. Even if he increases that shot rate by 50 percent, it’s still just 150 shots in 82 games. That’s two-thirds of standard categories where he doesn’t contribute much, and I’m going to have to draft him as a second or third defenceman? Pass.

If anyone wants individual point projections, just let me know in the comments.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-training-camp-notes-karlsson-traded-rankings-september-14/

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