as garbage as civil war was, it really set up steves disillusionment with cap and his lack of need for the mantle, SHIELD, hell even the actual shield, leading into infinity war and endgame and that would have been the perfect time to focus on developing sams character as the new captain america for more than a three second scene instead of. groot fortnite dancing and taco bell or whatever

What's the (dark) matter with Euclid? Currently about halfway through the Euclid simulations campaign, the key focus in the Main Control Room is the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) and spacecraft commissioning. These are the two most critical moments in a mission's life; as it wakes up after the rigors of launch, makes its first maneuvers towards its target destination and as its instruments are commissioned. Stress as Euclid thrusters fail Joe Bush, simulations officer for Euclid, has spent months meticulously planning all the ways that Euclid could fail. From problems on the spacecraft to human issues like team cohesion, confidence and morale. You'd be forgiven for thinking, that on 23 March this year, he went too far. Joe broke not just one, but two sets of thrusters on the Euclid spacecraft simulator. It was up to the Flight Control and Flight Dynamics Teams to decide which they could and should use. "All of a sudden, a suspected mechanical failure meant one of Euclid's attitude thrusters was stuck shut, producing no force at all, forcing us to use the backup set of thrusters. But then, the orbit control thrusters, part of that backup set, began behaving strangely, one overperforming by 10% and the other underperforming by the same amount," recalls Tiago Loureiro, Euclid Flight Operations Director. The team discussed a potential hybrid solution that would make use of both sets of thrusters, but for this, there was no procedure in place, and to create one would require input and advice from the Science project at ESA's Technical heart (ESTEC) and industry partners. While not involved in this earlier simulation, these teams have now joined simulations and of course, will be on hand throughout Euclid's life in space. "I wanted to get the teams used to making decisions under serious time pressure, and having two faulty sets of thrusters certainly did that," explains Joe. "The double-thruster nightmare scenario underscored how successful mission operations include a wide array of experts and specialists, able to support and brainstorm with our Control Teams for the plethora of potential issues that can arise." Tiago adds to this, "The simulations campaign is all about teamwork—nobody can fly a mission on their own. Knowing who or what to rely on for knowledge and advice, and when, for supporting us on those high-stakes decision-making moments, is an important skill in mission operations, but also in life!" It would be unlucky for something like this to happen for real, but it's certainly not impossible. Whether it's Euclid's thrusters, solar arrays or any number of other critical spacecraft components, the teams' ability to keep cool yet decisive in the midst of a serious problem, to know who to call in and rely on at what time, will be vital for mission success. Engineers to cajole a sensitive soul Euclid's exceptionally sensitive 1.2-meter telescope will capture light that is ten billion years old, originating from the early universe and only now reaching us. In doing this, it will shed light on a simple question for which we still don't have an answer: What is the universe made of? Amazingly, this is today a cosmic mystery. The matter we're made of and the light that lets us see, constitutes just 5% of the universe. The rest is dark: with dark energy making up about 70% and dark matter the remaining roughly 25%. But what are dark matter and dark energy? Euclid hopes to find out, yet its instruments are only as sensitive as the operations allow them to be. Engineers at ESA's mission control will need to protect the unshielded telescope during and after launch, ensuring no direct sunlight touches it. They will then have to calibrate and point the spacecraft with extreme precision, to ensure it can clearly see. From launch to Lagrange Euclid will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., no earlier than July. A trajectory correction maneuver will nudge it to "Lagrange point 2"—one of five points around the Sun and Earth where the gravitational forces between the two bodies balance out, creating gravitational "plateaus" around which objects can orbit, stably, without too much work to keep them in place. All of this will be rehearsed in the ongoing simulations taking place at ESA's ESOC mission control center, first with local teams and later bringing together science teams at ESA's ESTEC technical heart, SpaceX, ground stations and Thales Industry. TOP IMAGE....Artist impression of the Euclid mission in space. The spacecraft is white and gold and consists of three main elements: a flat sunshield, a large cylinder where the light from space will enter, and a 'boxy' bottom containing the instruments. The spacecraft is shown half in the shadow, because the sunshield will always be faced in the direction of the Sun and thus protecting the telescope from the light of the Sun. The background is a realistic representation of a deep field view of the night sky, with many galaxies visible. On the bottom half of the image, an artistic representation of the cosmic web is overlayed over the galaxies. The cosmic web is the scaffolding of the cosmos on which galaxies are built, consisting primarily of dark matter and laced with gas. The cosmic web is here represented with a grid and a two-dimensional representation of a cosmological simulation. Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA. Background galaxies: NASA, ESA, and S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF Team, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO CENTRE IMAGE....Structural and thermal model of the Euclid satellite. Credit: ESA–S. Corvaja LOWER IMAGE....The Bullet Cluster is a much-studied pair of galaxy clusters, which have collided head on. One has passed through the other, like a bullet travelling through an apple. In the Bullet Cluster, this is happening across our line of sight, so we can clearly see the two clusters. The optical image from the Magellan and the Hubble Space Telescope shows galaxies in orange and white in the background. Hot gas, which contains the bulk of the normal matter in the cluster, is shown by the Chandra X-ray image, which showst the hot intracluster gas (pink). Gravitational lensing, the distortion of background images by mass in the cluster, reveals the mass of the cluster is dominated by dark matter (blue), an exotic form of matter abundant in the universe, with very different properties compared to normal matter. This was the first clear separation seen between normal and dark matter. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/M.Markevitch, Optical and lensing map: NASA/STScI, Magellan/U.Arizona/D.Clowe, Lensing map: ESO WFI

My Avenger Girl

Summary: Your relationship with Bucky grows stronger everyday, and Bucky feels confident enough to take you to the Avenger compound for you to meet his family. And you fit right in.

Warnings: fluff, hint of jealousy, implied smut, swearing, Avengers x Supernatural crossover

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x huntress!Winchester!Reader, Dean Winchester x reader (platonic), Sam Winchester x reader (platonic)

Word Count: 2561

A/N: Third part of My Girl Miniseries is here you guys! I got to thank @voltage2d-mylove for requesting the sequels to the original fics, because I’m having so much fun writing this! Hope some of you enjoy this little something with me :) xx

My Girl Miniseries Masterlist __ Masterlist

Part I      Part II   Part IV

Bucky laid on his back in your bed in the bunker, staring at the ceiling, thinking. He loved spending time with you, and the more he actually was with you, the more he fell in love with you. The worst thing, however, was that he had to leave you every now and then, because either you had a case that would take a bit longer than a day, or because he was called on a mission. And he hated leaving you behind. He wanted to spend every minute of the day with you, still very much in the first phase of the relationship, where people couldn’t keep their hands together.

You owned Bucky’s heart and soul, and he knew that if anything happened to you while he was gone, he would hate himself for the rest of his life. He’s meant to ask you a single question for the past few weeks, but every time he worked up the courage to do so, something stopped him.

One time, it was your brother, Sam, coming into the library just as Bucky took a breath to ask you. Then it was his own phone, and Steve calling him to tell him they had an urgent mission. Or it was the timer on the stove. Every fucking time. And it kinda made Bucky feel like he shouldn’t ask you in the first place. That maybe it’s fate. Or perhaps he’s just being stupid, he told himself and looked over at your sleeping form.

You were so cute asleep, your mouth slightly opened, your eyes fluttering, and Bucky would give anything to see what was happening behind your eyelids. If you were dreaming of him, or not. If you thought of him just as often as he was thinking of you.

He rolled over to the side, so that he was facing you, and trying to be as gentle as possible, he slid his hand under the sheets and caressed the skin on your arm eliciting a hum from your lips. It was past 9 AM, so he knew you had to get up either way, and he thought that having him wake you up might make you less grumpy.

His fingers travelled to your collarbone, only the fingertips touching you, drawing circles on your skin. He could hear your heart beating a bit faster, and your breath not being as slow and deep as it was moments ago; all signs of you waking up.

When he looked into your face, you were already staring back at him, a small smile playing on your lips.

“Well good morning to you, Mr Barnes!” You rasped, your voice husky from the lack of talking.

Bucky smiled at you and nuzzled your cheek before he kissed you.

“Good morning to you too, Ms Y/L/N. Did you have a good night?”

You just nodded and brought him closer to you, unwilling to get up out of bed just yet. You wanted to sleep as long as possible, and if Bucky weren’t as cute as he was, you would definitely scold him for waking you up at all. But who could be mad at that pretty face?

“I’ve been thinking, Y/N, and-“ Bucky starts but before he can finish you sit up straight, bringing your blanket with you to cover your modesty and looking at him confusedly.

“Are you breaking up with me? I thought we were at a good place, I thought things were fine between us. More than fine, actually. Why do you want to leave me? What did I do wrong? How-“

It was now Bucky’s time to stop you from rambling by putting his finger on your lips and shaking his head. Breaking up, pff, sure.

“Listen to me, Y/N. You are one crazy person, you know that? I didn’t want to break up with you, you moron. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come with me to the compound, get to know my teammates and stuff. I love you! I’m not letting you go, don’t you worry about that,” he smiled at you sweetly, and your heart finally calmed down a bit.

You chuckled nervously, feeling a little ashamed for letting your anxiety take over this moment.

Bucky laughed as well and kissed you again, but before he could get out of the bed, you took his hand in his and brought him back.

“I love you too, you know? That’s why I freaked out like that. And yes, I would love to get to know your family, it would be my pleasure.”

You could see your boyfriend beaming with pride, both from your admission of love and that you were actually excited to meet the people that were somehow most important to him.

“Do you think we could leave today? You know, be there for the weekend so that I could fly you back before your brothers got back from that wraith hunt. I know how much you miss them,” he smirked at you, and you swatted his shoulder.

But it was true, you did miss your brothers. However, lately, you’ve been feeling very different kinds of emotions, and that especially when Bucky left for some mission, or when you had to go on a hunt. You missed him like crazy, your body craved him, and your mind called for him. You always thought you’d be hunting with your brothers for the rest of your life, but ever since you met Bucky, things changed, and you suddenly longed to spend more time with him. Even if it meant not seeing your brothers every second of every day.

You knew they would understand if Bucky asked you to move in with him and if you said yes, but because that question was not yet asked, you didn’t want to delve too deeply into it. You just hoped Bucky was on the same note as you were, and that this New York visit would bring you two closer to the shared future.

You got ready reasonably quickly, packing the essentials and some sexy lingerie just in case the two of you could get some moments alone. Which you hoped you could get, to be completely honest. Staying away from Bucky and bed was a task you weren’t too good at, and you prayed to Chuck that you would never get better in it.

The flight to New York was swift, thanks to the quinjet, a thing you enjoyed immensely because the travelling was just somehow easier than driving around like three idiots with your brothers, with constant back pain thanks to the old car seats.

When you saw the compound get into the view, you started to play with your hands. Not that you weren’t excited to meet everyone. You sure were. But, at the same time, you knew all those people from television. They were superheroes. And you were… well, you. And you just hoped that it would be enough and that they wouldn’t want to drive you away because you weren’t good enough for their friend.

You’ve already met the Falcon and Captain American, however briefly that was. You were most nervous about Natasha, quite frankly. She was a goddess in your eyes, her graceful fighting techniques, her elegant walk, everything about her was perfect in your mind, and you didn’t know how you could even fight her for Bucky’s attention.

God! You were pathetic. You haven’t even met the woman yet, but you quickly assumed what would happen when you met her. For all you knew she wouldn’t even be there, or she’d be the nicest person on this Earth. Which, for some reason, irritated you even more.

Bucky could probably feel your nerves, because he put his hands into your lap, separating your own hands because he feared you’d rip the skin on your fingers down completely.

“You have nothing to worry about, Y/N. Everyone’s gonna love you, I know that for a fact!”

You tried to give him a smile, but the only thing you could muster was a grimace, and you were surprised that Bucky didn’t shriek in fear at what your face was capable of doing.

“I know, it’s just, your friends are all so cool, and like you’re superheroes and stuff, and I’m just a plain ol’ me,” you whispered, more to yourself than Bucky, but with his super hearing, you knew he would catch that as well.

He landed the jet and turned to face you.

“Plain old you? Are you kidding me? You’re one of the most badass women I’ve ever met. You fight monsters on a daily basis, baby! I love you, and nothing can change my mind, alright?”

That calmed you down a bit, and you hugged him tightly, trying to feel his heart beating against your own chest, that always brought you back in the moment. Bucky smiled into your hair and let you take all the time you needed to gather the courage to go and face the building full of superheroes.

When you pulled away, he kissed your forehead, whispering that everything will be alright, he grabbed your hand and led you out of the plane and inside the building.

It didn’t look like you imagined. For some reason, you thought it will be quiet and lonely, but the whole compound was buzzing with people running left and right, some in lab coats, while others were wearing technical gear. You looked around, and it all seemed unreal. Everything was new and shiny and seemed extremely expensive. Not like your home underground. You loved that space you shared with your brothers, but this looked much cooler.

Bucky was watching your every reaction as he led you through the compound, nodding at people around him, but not really giving them his attention. That was all on you.

You two finally reached the common room, where Bucky knew the most of the team would be at that time of the day. It was lunchtime, and his teammates were like hungry bears. Some were  hungry and looking like pigs *cough, cough, Sam, cough* but he wouldn’t say that out loud. At least, not today.

When you stepped inside the room, everyone stopped talking and turned to look at you. You gave them all a shy smile, and you could see a few smirk and smiles around the room. The first to break the silence was Sam.

“Well, well, well. Look who came back, our lover boy! And he brought his badass huntress with him! What a pleasant surprise. Nice to see you again, Y/N,” Sam hollered and gave you a nod, while Bucky just rolled his eyes at Sam’s theatrical behaviour.

You said your hellos to the rest of the group and sat down next to Bucky by the huge table, where Vision served some Hungarian food. You didn’t know what it was, but it was so damn good you later asked him to give you a recipe to cook for your brothers. You just made a mental note to put a lot more meat into Dean’s plate.

The whole lunch was so regular it hurt. You expected that they would talk about monsters and stuff, but the closest the conversation got to a monster was when Sam told the group about catching Steve in a bathroom, giving himself a pep-talk, which included something about Steve being a beast, a sexy sexy beast, and you couldn’t hear more than that through all the snorts of laughter around the table.

Steve was red as a tomato, and you gave him an apologetical smile, still trying to contain your laughter. To try and calm him down, you told him about the time you caught Dean doing pretty much the same, looking in the mirror without a t-shirt on, kissing his biceps and winking at himself in the mirror. That got the people to laugh as well, and Steve nodded at you, glad that the conversation shifted slightly.

Just like you thought, Natasha was even prettier in reality, but while you thought Bucky would be looking at her, because, c’mon, who wouldn’t look at her? You had a problem keeping your eyes away from her beautiful face. Bucky was staring at you the whole time, and it made you feel that much better about yourself and your whole relationship.

You and Natasha even shared a bonding moment about her knife collection, which she insisted on showing you and the two of you spent good 20 minutes comparing knives and different techniques at either throwing them or stabbing somebody.

You didn’t even realise it, but by the time you finished talking to everybody in the room, it got dark outside, and Bucky walked to your side to seemingly rescue you from one of Sam’s funny stories from a mission where he was with Bucky. You knew that Bucky was more saving himself from the embarrassment of you knowing all those dirty secrets Sam would tell you, but you didn’t protest. You bid your goodbyes to the whole room and followed Bucky to his little apartment within the compound.

“See? I told you you would be fine, and you didn’t believe me,” Bucky said, intertwining his fingers with yours, walking down the corridor.

“I had my doubts, not gonna lie. And yes, you were right, and I will always listen to you from now on,” you said mockingly, but with a smirk playing on your lips.

Bucky laughed out loud and squeezed your hand.

“We both know that’s not true, doll.”

“Well, there is one place where I can listen to you, all night long, and I can do it in a brand new see-through lingerie if you let me get changed,” you rasped seductively (or at least you hoped it was seductive), but judging by the throaty groan coming from Bucky, you assumed you did an excellent job. And by the sudden quick pace of Bucky’s footsteps, you imagined he couldn’t wait for you to listen to him, just the way he liked it.

Before you could reach the room, Bucky spun you around and pushed you against a wall. He smirked devilishly at you, and kissed you hungrily, taking your breath away in the process.

You head was spinning from the lack of oxygen and from the intensity of the kiss, but when Bucky pulled away and asked you something, you almost fainted then and there.

“Move in with me,” he whispered, and before you could give him an affirmative answer, he continued.

“I know that I’m competing with your brothers, and that you might think this is too fast, but I fucking love you doll, and every day without you is a horrible day. I just want to spend as much time with you as I can.”

You were staring at each other, and you knew that there wasn’t a better place for you, than in Bucky’s arms.

“Yes, I’ll gladly move in with you, Sergeant Barnes. My brothers will manage, and I can still hunt with them from time to time. It’s not like I’m never going to see them again.”

Bucky released a relieved sigh and kissed you again, this time much slower, conveying all his emotions in this one kiss. And you seriously couldn’t wait to start this new chapter with him.

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@this-kitten-is-smitten​ @paradisiacalsparks​ @crazybutconfidentaf​ @owlyannah​ @lassini​ @s-trawberryv-eins​ @reniescarlett​ @bxrnsfeyson​ @the-soulofdevil​

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Title: Count on Me (Stark! Reader x Peter Parker)

Summary: The reader begins to feel jealous that Tony is always taking Peter out to do things rather than spending quality father/daughter time with them.

Word Count: 1943

A/N: WOOH another imagine lol. I hope you guys enjoy, happy Saturday!  --

You were bent over your history homework at the kitchen table, both you and Natasha grabbing pizza slices from the open box on the table when Tony and Peter both came in, their laughter signaling their arrival before they walked through the kitchen. You could feel your face grow hot from both envy and anger as you picked up your pen, clicking it over and over until Natasha put a hand on it to stop.

“Sounds like you kids had fun,” Natasha said, peeking over laptop to read your annoyed glare. You huffed and scribbled onto your notebook paper as they clambered in, dropping coats onto the bar stools.

Peter sat next to you and passed you a bag of movie theater popcorn; a cold, half eaten bag of nearly stale movie theater popcorn, the bag torn and greasy from the butter. You mumbled a thank you and pushed the bag away when the two started talking, “That was definitely one the better remakes I’ve seen,” Tony said as he sat across from you and slurped at his soda, “It was crazy, scary actually. Y/N, this clown was-,”

“Terrifying, I’m sure. I saw the previews. I like movies, too,” you sighed dramatically and gathered your thing, “Like the Star Wars premiere last year? Remember when you told me to stay home and study so you could take Peter, because ‘you don’t even like Star Wars’? Haven’t you ever walked into my room and seen the poster above my desk?” you didn’t mean to be dramatic and make a big deal of it yet there you were, fighting back burning tears from the grudge you were holding, “Well, uh...Good night.”

Natasha got to her feet and frowned, “Y/N,” she called after you but you had already started to your room, “she’s right, you know.” Both Peter and Tony sputtered as their heads reeled in disbelief.

“Right about what?” Tony reached over to grab a handful of popcorn while Peter stared straight ahead, guilt swirling up inside him like a twister. While getting closer to you, he had gotten closer to Tony. He had practically stolen your own father from you.

Peter slumped in his chair and sighed, rubbing a hand exhaustedly over his face, “Do you remember the time when you had me stay here with Y/N while you two went on a mission?” Natasha asked, tossing pizza crust into its cardboard delivery box.

Of course Tony remembered, he’d always remember the look on your face. The airy disappointment hidden by a small smile that had to be faked. He had originally thought it was because you had a test the next day, yet he knew that it wasn’t true now. After the mission, Tony even took Peter out to dinner for Pad Thai and had a blast talking about science and technology. You still had the airy, disappointed look on your face when the two of them got home, giddy from their night.

“And the movies and bowling nights and when you missed Y/N’s school dance for Peter’s-,” his eyes widened and he nearly choked on the popcorn he was eating as he stared at her. There was an unsettling silence that filled the air, the awkward tension so thick that you could cut it with a knife. Peter couldn’t even sit there any longer. He jumped up and started off down the hallway, feeling the obligation to find you and apologize.

“I missed my own daughter’s high school dance?” Natasha shrugged her shoulders and gave a nod as he gawked at her. Tony was immediately hit with the ‘I’m a bad parent’ feeling; a sick-to-your-stomach, punch-in-the-gut shock that made him feel queasy all over. He turned his gaze to his feet and sighed, shaking his head in disbelief at himself.

“I’m asleep,” you shouted over the knocking at your bedroom door, keeping your eyes fixated on the plastic stars plastered to your ceiling. Once you turned the light off they would glow, which was your favorite part about your room.

Peter sighed, “Your lights are still on,” he said quietly, “can I come in?” You had to keep a groan from escaping your lips as you glanced over at the door, your stomach filling with the sick-to-your-stomach feeling of butterflies fluttering.

“If you must,” you didn’t bother moving from your spot staring at the ceiling, a plush kitten that smelled like strawberries tucked under your arm. You could hear your bedroom door creak open and softly close behind Peter.

He nudged your feet with his knee, “I’m gonna sit here,” you groaned and pulled your knees up to your chest as he sat at the edge of your bed, “Look...I-I’m really sorry, Y/N.”

“Sorry? About what?” you raised an eyebrow at him, an airy smile on your face. It was an obviously fake smile and Peter knew it. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes at you as you propped yourself up on your elbow to peek over at him.

“Well, Mr. Stark and I are becoming a bit closer and I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry if I made you upset or angry or jealous in any way because of it,”his face turned scarlet as you stared at him completely dumbfounded.

You sighed loudly and stared back up at the ceiling, “What makes you think I’m jealous?” you forced a laugh, one that sounded both nervous and giddy, “Okay, fine. I’m jealous. Mostly angry that I’m jealous of something as silly as you hanging out with my dad. Are you happy?” you got up from your nest of warm blankets and pillows to turn your lamp on, Pietro’s eyes following you as you did so.

“I, no. I’m sorry, really. Okay, I’ll just say this. I like you and I was just really hoping that your dad would like me, too,” Peter turned as red as a tomato, right to the tips of his ears.

The rhythmic thumping of your heart was beating loudly in your chest when he said it, so loudly that you were hoping he couldn’t hear, “He likes you alright. Not as much as I do, but I guess he does have soft spot for you, P,” you said with an obnoxiously large smile, your face burning bright pink.  “Star Wars poster, see?” you nodded over at the poster of the  Millennium Falcon taped with rainbow tape above your desk. The glossy coat reflected the light of your fluorescent lamp so that you couldn’t see all of your favorite characters aboard the ship, but you knew they were there.

“It’s hard not to see,” he commented with a laugh, nudging you with his elbow. You turned your lamp off quickly and threw yourself back into your piles of throw blankets and pillows, staring up at the ceiling of greenish colored stars that began to glow, “and you have a galaxy in your room?”

Peter laid back at the foot of your bed, his head hanging off of one end and legs dangling from the other as he looked up at the ceiling, “They’ve been there for forever,” you said with a laugh, looking over at him nervously. It was the first time that you had ever been completely alone with him, nonetheless as close to him as you were. There was hardly an arm’s length between the two of you which made you feel giddy and queasy.

He was reaching for your hand apprehensively, his heart beating out of his chest. It felt like those cartoons of the character whose heart literally protrudes from the chest whenever he was around the girl cartoon character he liked.

uu

“Are you asleep?” Tony was knocking on your door repeatedly, sucking air in through his teeth before deciding to throw open your bedroom door anyways. He flipped on the overhead light as both you and Peter jumped up, perching yourselves onto opposite ends of your bed, “What’re you two doing in here?” he didn’t even want to think about the idea of a boy being in your room when there was no one else there.

“Looking at the stars on my ceiling,” you said quickly, your cheeks flushing pink.

You’d come of with that excuse at the same time that Peter said, “I came to apologize,” his excuse was definitely better, for it was the truth after all.

Tony smiled and gave a nod, clearing his throat to fill the awkward silence that surrounded all of you, “Okay, I guess that’s harmless enough. I need to talk to you, Y/N,” he said, moving out of the doorway to plant himself in your desk chair, “That’s actually your cue to leave, Parker,” he nodded to the door, tapping the swinging sticks kinetic desk sculpture that sat on your desk.  

“Right, I knew that. Uh, I’ll see you, Y/N,” Peter’s face turned pink as he scrambled off of your bed. He waved at Tony quickly, flashing a nervous smile before pulling your bedroom door shut slowly behind him.

Your father spun in your chair and picked up the picture frame on your desk- a photo of the two of you in Disney Land framed in a sparkly castle photo frame. It was taken years ago, a simpler time when you were Princess Leia space buns and sugary churros, “I remember when this was taken,” he said with a smile.

“Me, too,” you said in agreement, tossing all of the blankets back on your bed. You could see the sadness on his face disguised by a painful smile. It was hard for both of you to voice your feelings, even harder when you had to talk about them with each other.

Nonetheless, Tony swallowed his pride and leaned over on his knees, “I noticed that I haven’t really been… there for you recently. Which isn’t fair because you’re my child, my own flesh and blood,” you nodded in agreement, heaving a sigh, “You know, I haven’t been in your room since you had decorated it to match your princess phase, probably when this photo was taken. I had no idea that you liked Star Wars and weird desk sculptures. You know what, can I just stop this thing? It’s crazy, spinning like a ferris wheel.”

“It’s kind of distracting, actually,” you said with a shrug, a smile breaking on your face. He shook his head at you as he chuckled, his eyes crinkling up at the sides. You laughed too, tucking a stuffed teddy bear plush under your arms.

Your dad tucked the sculpture under his arm as he got to his feet, “I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there for you, Y/N. I’m sorry that I missed so much. I promise, from now on I’ll be there. You’re my daughter and I… do you want to go for lunch tomorrow? I know it’s probably not much but it’s a start.”

“Sounds good to me,” you couldn’t keep the bright smile off of your face after his invitation. He kissed you on the forehead quickly and started to the door as you settled in for bed, “Goodnight, dad. I love you.”

The three words made him beam with pride, “I love you, too, princess,” he snickered as you made a grimace. It was the nickname you’d loved ten years ago, but now felt as if you’d outgrown it. Tony turned off the overhead light and smiled over at you, finally feeling like the issue was resolved. He raised the kinetic stick sculpture above his head before shutting the door behind him,  “I’m taking this with me, by the way!”

Dino Babers is here to ‘strike fear into defensive coordinators’

If you’re writing a movie about the Syracuse head coach, you’re gonna want to make it a thriller.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — “A., I like movies, but B., it’s a time for me to go out in public, when the lights turn down and no one can see who I am,” Syracuse Orange coach Dino Babers told SB Nation.

“And I can actually be like everybody else and just laugh and make a noise in a theater and be normal. Because as soon as the lights go back on, I’ve been a head football coach in smaller towns, and everybody knows who I am, and I’m back on again.”

He’s far ahead of his fellow football coaches when it comes to keeping up with pop culture, but movies are about more than that. Movies were his escape as a young man and a constant for the son of a Navy man whose family moved often. Now, trips to the “movie house” are an offseason indulgence.

Dino isn’t a nickname, either; he’s named after the Italian movie star Dino Verde. Not many head coaches see Oscar winners until years later, but Dino’s seen Moonlight. A former wide receivers coach, Babers noticed the in-cut route run by Get Out character Walter, the one that spawned the viral Get Out challenge.

Back when he was a kid, sequels weren’t the backbone of the movie industry that they are now. Babers’ career has twice been propelled by second acts. A 7-5 Eastern Illinois became a 12-2 FCS quarterfinal squad. His 8-6 Bowling Green Falcons went 10-2 the next year, before he left for Syracuse.

The opening of his Syracuse tenure was a 4-8 2016. He admits his offensive system lends itself to leaps in aptitude the second go-around, but it will not be easy in Part II. Our protagonist faces his toughest antagonists yet, with LSU, Miami, Florida State, Louisville, and Clemson on the schedule.

If you’re writing the Babers biopic, your title character is complex.

To play him, perhaps you’d call Denzel Washington (his choice) or Will Smith (whom his wife and daughters think it should be).

You’d have to find someone to channel both old-school and new-school sensibilities. There’s a record player in his office with vinyls under it and music from his home state of Hawaii playing softly. He says he’s selfish with his music, but his players get to choose everything that plays during practices.

Of course, there are two exceptions.

“The first song is ‘Smooth,’ Santana,” Babers said. “The last song: ‘I Feel Good,’ James Brown. Every black guy, white guy, pink guy, green guy will learn the words of those songs. Now, in between those two songs, they get to play whatever they want, as long as there’s not cuss words or N-bombs.”

Babers does not run his team like a former military brat and says he doesn’t care how long your hair is.

“I want [my team] to be loose,” he said. “I want them to be freewheeling, and I want there to be interaction between them and their coaches. Now that being said, there’s a discipline to this game, and that’s where all that stuff kicks in.

“But the discipline — go to a baking analogy — discipline is in the cake. It doesn’t have to be in the icing. All that baking you do — the cake, ‘Oh, what kinda icing you gonna put on there?’ — it doesn’t matter what you put on it if the cake’s no doggone good. You bake the cake.”

(Babers can bake, although he doesn’t eat chocolate.)

As you develop the screenplay, you’d have to channel the most theatrical moment of his career so far, the speech after last year’s 31-17 victory over Virginia Tech. Appropriately, it looks ripped from a sports movie.

That moment was close to the vision he’d promised. In his introductory press conference, Babers asked those in attendance — even the media — to close their eyes and envision a team that could win in all three phases and bring a din to the Carrier Dome.

“I think that defensively, that was probably the closest that it came,” Babers said in his office about the win. “I would say offensively, I’d probably go more to the Pittsburgh game [a 76-61 loss]. I think [the VT game] was a fabulous defensive game by us. We did some things on offense and we made some plays, but I really believe that game was a defensive win.”

You probably don’t associate Babers with defense.

Babers has been a product of many systems during a career that goes back to 1984, when he was a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Hawaii. But this system is an air raid variation that can be categorized as the veer and shoot.

“It absolutely strikes fear, in my opinion, into the defensive coordinators the night before the game,” he says.

The system was honed at Baylor, where Babers coached wide receivers from 2008 to 2011. It was borne out of necessity when former BU head coach Art Briles was a high school coach during the 1990s in Stephenville, Texas. Briles pushed for Babers to go to Eastern Illinois and told him to bet on himself.

“We’re not big phone guys,” Babers said of his contact with Briles. “But we text every blue moon. Recently. I’ll say that.“

The events and reporting most frequently associated with the sexual assault scandal that rocked Baylor and resulted in Briles’ 2015 firing occurred mostly after Babers left for Eastern Illinois in December 2011.

Babers was on staff while Tevin Elliot was a member of the Bears. Four months after Babers left, the defensive end was arrested on two counts of sexual assault and removed from the team. He was sentenced in 2014 to 20 years in prison. Baylor was later sued by five women who say Elliot raped them from 2009 to 2012, four of them testifying against him.

When asked about the scandal, Babers said:

“I can talk about from 2008 to 2011, and Tevin Elliot was there. Heard he did bad, heard he got kicked off the team. And I became a head coach. And that’s not, how do I say this? That’s not to cover me. It’s just what happened.

“I’m military. Boom, boom, next. There are certain things that you don’t get second chances for. I got four daughters. I’m down with that.”

If you made the Babers biopic, you’d have a ready-made heart-stopping moment.

The car crash nine years ago, on a recruiting trip for Baylor, should have killed him. A tire blew out, and a panicked Babers hit the brakes at 80 miles per hour. His car spun, and he ended up facing oncoming traffic on an interstate near Houston. Babers recalled in detail the face of the semi driver who swerved to miss him.

“I don’t use the word s-c-a-r-e-d anymore either, because I nearly died nine years ago. Since then, I don’t use that word,” Babers said.

He was content to stay at Eastern Illinois for 25 years like his predecessor, Bob Spoo, who gave Babers his first full-time job as a running backs coach in 1987. Both started their head coaching careers at Eastern at age 50.

But with experience playing DB in college and so much time as a WR coach, Babers brings a WR’s sensibility to teaching the system he took from Baylor. Despite his background, he’ll tell you the QB is still the most important part.

“When a quarterback throws a receiver a ball, a receiver should be able to throw that same ball back to that quarterback,” Babers said. “And that is what’s been missing. What that means is that you and I have played catch so much that you’re the pitcher and I’m the catcher. You throw me a ball, I throw you a ball, you throw me a ball, I throw you a ball. We take our mitts off, and you’d have to say, ‘Which one’s the catcher, and which one’s the pitcher?’ because we’ve exercised that skill so many times.”

He calls plays without a sheet, takes calculated risks on fourth downs, and recalls the little things, like the fact that his quarterback got hurt on play No. 14 of the Clemson game. I checked, and he’s right, if you don’t count punts as offensive plays, which many coaches don’t.

“Our quarterback has to be a thrower, not a runner,” Babers said. “It’s not a wishbone offense. It’s not Navy’s offense. We do want to run the football, but our quarterbacks need to be NFL quarterbacks. They need to be guys that, after they have a fantastic college career, they go to the pros and they have a pro career.”

Under Babers, EIU’s Jimmy Garoppolo threw for over 5,000 yards and 53 touchdowns as a senior against only nine interceptions. He would finish in the top three of FCS’ most meaningful statistical categories and lead the Panthers to FCS’ most prolific offense. Garoppolo now backs up Tom Brady and appears in major NFL trade rumors, with the assumption he could be a franchise QB.

“Now, all that being said, if they do have legs that can get them out of trouble, that’s an advantage. But that’s the No. 1 thing. The No. 1 thing: has to be able to touch the entire football field; 53 and a third wide, 120 yards long. They’ve got to be able touch it all.”

Since Babers’ relocation to New York, he’s been able to see Broadway shows for the first time.

He wanted to see Hamilton last offseason, but there was a problem: his whole family wanted to go too.

“They were so fricking expensive,” Babers said. “This was like in the last two weeks of the original cast before they were about to close down. I’m like, the heck? One I mighta saw, me, but they were all like, ‘We wanna go.’ We’re talkin’ about six big ones. I’m like, ‘oh heck no.’ Because I know it’s supposed to be good, but to me the best Broadway show is West Side Story, which is my favorite movie. So I’m like, I’m not gonna go see this Hamilton thing.”

Tickets for that performance were going anywhere from $5-$20,000 each on the resale market, but he did enjoy the cast’s parody of Garoppolo.

Babers did see The Lion King and Jersey Boys with his family. In the latter, he saw the future of his program.

“The thing that cracked me up was the opening line of Jersey Boys. Now I’m sitting here, first and second Broadway show, never been to one live,” Babers said, “and in the Jersey Boys, the opening line says — they’re singing — but the first time the guy talks, he goes, ‘Hi, my name’s Tommy DeVito, and I put New Jersey on the map.’”

Babers was recruiting a young quarterback by the same name from the same state.

“And I’m sitting there going, ‘Are you sending me a message?’”

One "Jersey Boys" name sounded familiar,but I can't put my finger on it... #TheyPutJerseyOnTheMap #Broadway #AWEsome http://pic.twitter.com/rhqarrTQG3

— Dino Babers (@CoachBabersCuse) July 6, 2016

DeVito ended up signing with the Orange, an Elite 11 participant and the No. 15 pro-style QB in his class, per the 247Sports Composite. He’ll arrive in the summer.

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QB recruit Tommy DeVito believes Syracuse can return to greatness

Our partners with SB Nation College Football spoke to QB recruit Tommy DeVito, who is all-in with the Syracuse Orange. He explains why and what his future plans are in this video.

Posted by Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician on Thursday, July 7, 2016

For now, Eric Dungey leads the team through spring. Dungey ran Syracuse’s option system in 2015, then shifted to Babers’ system and improved his completion percentage while more than doubling his pass attempts.

Babers told his future QB to go see Jersey Boys. He’s not sure if that’s happened yet, but they can see it together later this offseason.