#its only in the youth league apparently but its a Huge start! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

quincyhorst · 8 months

Text

HC Potpurri: Catalan People

First off, this post goes dedicated to @marmolao , given they requested headcanons about the Inazuma Areori Catalans (Barcelona Orb + the Catalonian Quartet from Muteki no Giant) as a bday gift. Originally I wasn't sure if I had enough content of them in my mind, but I did manage to compile lots of things I've written so far. Hope you like it Marmo!!! 💟

Keep on mind most info is still on proto-stage due to lack of focus and time working on these; so there's things that might change or not. PLUS, like always, I'm waiting for VROH to give profiles to the non-main characters as to know about them better.

Either way, let's go!

I think this is a given already, but I do like to see the Catalonian Quartet as the equivalent of the Red Matador Jocks on the AreOri timeline; just that the other group represents Navarre instead (At least 3/4 of them ig). If you really think about it, both groups have a huge keeper who's animal themed (Alonso / Fermín), a cocky striker that randomly goes challenging people (Luther / Samuel), another small forward that tends to be too confident (Bergamo / Davi) aaaand obviously the captain + emblem player of their respective teams (Clario / Querardo). I also like this comparison due to the Scar- I mean Red vs Violet motifs they have. 🍊🍇

Though if I had to say whose group is more united, I guess the catalonians win this round. I like the idea that Clario, Bergamo and Luther were close knit friends since infance, with Alonso joining the group by himself later on. Seriously. Since they first joined Barcelona Orb, the keeper straight up started to stick around for no apparent reason. The three were confused, but after seeing he meant no harm, they just let him in. But overall, their bond is very strong even overseas :)

Honestly though, I do see Alonso being a complete enigma most of the time. None even knows what is he cooking inside his head. It is even more unknown how does he even get to see his sorroundings given he's always with his eyes closed, but he won't ever tell his methods (?

About FC Barcelona Orb as a whole, I like to see it being as a branch of the actual famous team, containing a special squad for teens around Junior High age. So, its members come all from different parts of the city, from different schools and contexts.

They all train on Inazuma's own equivalent of the real life Camp Nou; which means they can also get some interactions with the actual adult representatives of Barcelona. In few occassions they themselves offered to help the teens train!

But what about this team on the OG timeline? Both the FC and the junior team DO exist, but their presence is less important. In Reloaded it is mentioned this team managed to win the Spanish Youth League, which happened either at the same time or before as Japan's FF. HOWEVER here's where the differences start: While Luther and Bergamo do play soccer in the OG, Clario nor Alonso DON'T. The fluffy keeper just couldn't develop any interest on soccer at all, and Clario never felt confident about himself as a player. He doesn't know about the potential and skills that lay dormant beneath him, of couse. But without these key players, BO sadly lost its chance to win.

After that they also participated on few matches as to decide the Catalonian represensatives for the prior Spanish Community Cup (Inexistant in AreOri, managing to get some BO players into the team. But then again, only Carlos would be choosen to represent Catalonia *worldwide*, so it was all a huge letdown.

When it comes to the actual spanish team over at Liocott, I think Alonso is the only one who supports it (Mainly because he just happens to find Fermín dreamy). The other three do not feel very fond of RM at all (And like we said, the poor catalonian representation does not help their case)

Now as for the other players...

...Okay, I'll be extremely self-indulgent here. I've joked many times about F. Dazzlo looking VERY closely to a certain paldean pokemon character, Arven; so I like to base my HCs on him. For now, I can picture Dazzlo making little sandwiches for everyone post practice :D He also has a pet dog,; but worry not, they're okay.

Also... While I do for now avoid developing too much anyone minor from BO / MNG, I DO admit I'm cooking something with Gregorio Habaro. He mainly remains a side character, obviously not joining the national selection but with his own side plot as he follows the spanish to Russia. I'd LOVE to explain more but it is HEAVILY tied with an OC and I haven't even told her story on the OG yet HELP!!!!!!!!!

Maybe one day we'll get there and I'll tell it all (Or I could share it by other methods); but for now: Remember his name, keep a pin on him, he's very important to someone.

At least on the meantime, I also see the BO defenders as friends. Imo Oscar seems very sweet, I have a feeling he could be the most upbeat player of BO (At least after Alonso, no one beats his ":3" vibes).

Well, guess that's all for now. As always, if you want something more on detail or request anything else, go on!

Aaaaalso last thing I've discovered while re-watching Reloaded again: Barcelona Orb has a coach....

#hc:ina11 #barcelona orb #muteki no giant #clario orvan #bergamo regult #luther fandam #alonso fibiano #federico dazzlo #gregorio habaro #...I really want to use more Tumblr's color feature #It's so fuuuuun #(In another note... I want to work more on OG vs AO spanish interactions........)#Plus BO is growing on me more and more #Unironically; ty for requesting them <3

4 notes · View notes

uwua3 · 3 years

Text

puppy love!

🌸💌 usui masumi

summary: masumi adopts a dog at the end

dedication: kmf anon 💍 — masumi loves you so much!

warnings: enemies to lovers (very light mention), falling, swearing

author’s note: i decided to write this adorable fluffy piece for my friend about masumi & reader volunteering at an animal shelter together~ (꒪ω꒪υ) please enjoy this puppy love ft. a very cute dog who plays matchmaker between you two!

word count: 3,859

music: this side of paradise – coyote theory

let’s make one thing clear: masumi didn’t like dogs

they were too loud, they ran around all the time, and they were way more trouble than they were worth. masumi didn’t like dogs, dogs didn’t like masumi, it was a mutual understanding

so how did masumi end up adopting a dog? well, it involved a park, a dog gone wild, and one veterinarian-to-be at an animal shelter

like every day after school, masumi took the shortest route to the mankai dorms: straight through veludo way’s park during its busiest hour

unfortunately, it was crowded nearly every time his acting sessions were finished. kids played silly childhood games before eventually crying about a boo-boo only a mother’s kiss could fix. teens masumi couldn’t relate to held picnics with their friends to savor the last fleeting memories of their youth. even grown elderly were practicing their afternoon yoga on decade-old mats. overall, every single age group was present right when masumi needed to head home

it was nothing soundproof headphones couldn’t fix with his volume turned up (it was no longer at maximum, he winced at the memory of how loud his music was as a moody teenager) (now, he was a moody young adult, but still)

but, maybe if he didn’t have such high quality headphones, he’d be able to hear a very alarmed voice call out to him and the sound of four paws running

“sir! watch out for—”

masumi quickly was knocked off-balance, his headphones flew off his ears and were replaced by the texture of a wet tongue. gross... masumi cringed as he tried to keep hold of a wriggling, fluffy mess and its wagging tail slapping his face

“oh my gosh, i’m so sorry for chocolate!” masumi tried to keep his eyes open as two black eyes and a happy grin greeted him. this... was chocolate?

“chocolate?” masumi murmured, to which the rather large chihuahua barked back a reply as if it understood. a figure blocked the sunlight streaming down upon the duo, a flash of a white coat momentarily distracting him from the constant panting from the dog in his arms

“ah... i’m sorry once again. she’s usually never like this, i promise.” you promised, bending down to reach for chocolate. yet, when you attempted to gather her entire being, you struggled as chocolate seemingly clung to masumi with a whine

masumi couldn’t even complain as he stared at you with wide eyes. who were you and how did he not know you yet? he was so distracted by your presence that he almost forgot there was a dog desperately attempting to lick his face all over

you were about to call for chocolate before you met masumi’s eyes, pausing before a light blush settled across your face. why was he looking at you like that?

“a-are you okay, sir? did you hit your head on the way down?” you waved your hand in front of masumi’s face before he snapped back to reality, blinking as he held out chocolate to you

“no, i’m fine. but... uh, your dog won’t let go of me.”

you held onto chocolate’s stubby legs and pulled. she didn’t even budge as she started growling at the mere threat of being removed from this stranger. you raised both of your hands defensively, trying to appear like you were totally okay with chocolate practically being attached at the hip with a random person in the park

“i... honestly don’t know why she’s doing this. she hates people, well, except me.”

masumi didn’t find that hard to believe. who wouldn’t like you? barely a few minutes into meeting you and he wanted to know everything about you

“she’s not my dog, by the way. i volunteer at the local animal shelter nearby.” when you introduced yourself, masumi barely registered he was suddenly holding your hand and hoisting himself off the ground (it seemed impossible, but chocolate cuddled into him even more)

“are you interested in adoption?” masumi was thinking anything but that

“it’s—” “she.” masumi blinked again, looking back down at chocolate then you. “uh... no but she, she’s... nice?”

you couldn’t help but laugh, successfully prying chocolate off in the meantime as you didn’t have it in you to be upset with his half-assed attempt. “you don’t like dogs, i assume?”

“they don’t usually like me, that’s all.” masumi lied smoothly, forgetting he just had an anti-social dog attack him like they were family. you raised an eyebrow at that obvious fib, but didn’t press anymore after getting a secure hold on the dog’s leash

“of course. well, i’m sorry again for chocolate, mr...?” you trailed off, half paying attention and half struggling to keep the dog from running towards masumi

“it’s masumi, usui masumi.” he said, subconsciously stepping away whenever chocolate lunged towards his ankles. you frowned at this but didn’t mention it, apologizing again before taking your leave

was this it? was this the last time he was going to see you?

masumi watched as chocolate kept looking back at him with her pleading eyes. why did that little dog like him so much? he didn’t even have any food on him...

maybe, dogs weren’t so bad after all... especially if you were there

“wait!” masumi called out this time, jogging up to the bench where you were gathering all the daily necessities when walking a dog. you almost let out a sigh of relief when chocolate became masumi’s issue to handle

masumi didn’t know what exactly made him detour his normal schedule even more, but here he was, taking up every excuse to talk to you. you, with the large chihuahua

“do you need any more volunteers at the shelter?”

you couldn’t believe what you were hearing, you almost let go of chocolate’s leash again! trying to figure out whether this was a revenge prank or not, you couldn’t tell based off masumi’s serious expression

“what? i thought you didn’t like dogs?”

“no. i love animals!”

masumi didn’t love animals, especially dogs

but, of course, an animal shelter always needed more volunteers. after getting a very hesitant reference from you, they didn’t even do a background check on masumi before taking him in. apparently, “corg-key to your heart!” had been understaffed. lucky him!

conveniently you and masumi were scheduled around the same times for training, meaning his impulsive commitment wasn’t a huge waste of time. except, there was one thing

chocolate wouldn’t leave his side ever since his first day of volunteering

it’s like masumi was made of every food possible and chocolate was a hungry person looking for a buffet. it was impossible to separate the two, even when you were there!

(you pretended it didn’t hurt when you were no longer chocolate’s favorite, but it was very obvious)

apparently, ever since you started volunteering years ago, chocolate had already been there. she was practically ancient now and was still looking for her forever home

but she had never grown to like anyone, making it hard for people to adopt her. she only liked you (and now masumi)

so volunteering at veludo way’s animal shelter, “corg-key to your heart”, wasn’t on his to-do list, but here he was. all because of you who he wanted to get to know more

but... that was becoming hard when you were suddenly competing against him for chocolate’s love & devotion

but, not only did he adopt a dog, but he had won the key to your heart as well. all it took was four simple steps!

#1 — clean the cages

masumi had never smelt anything worse in his entire life. walking into the back of an animal shelter made him stumble back from how awful the stench was. you strolled in, apron on, as if it was nothing, greeting the animals by name at the beginning of the day

“what are you doing?” masumi pinched his nose closed, narrowing his eyes at the sudden barking when they sensed there was a new person in the room. you rolled your eyes at how wimpish he was being, ruffling a dog’s fur as you gestured towards the cleaning gear in the back

“these cages won’t clean themselves, you know.” you tossed a sponge and bucket at masumi, who caught it easily, much to your dismay. when he glanced at both of them, you tilted your head as he seemed confused

“have you never scrubbed the floor before?” — “wh-of course i have!” — “doubt.”

masumi pressed himself to the wall as you let all the dogs out, letting them run out into the field so they could get their morning meal time in. he huffed as you laughed, knowing you didn’t warn him on purpose

“get to cleaning or we’ll have to smell this forever.” you didn’t have to tell masumi twice before he started scrubbing, holding his breath for a minute at a time

after making the beds, sweeping, and cleaning up any other messes, you turned around to ask about the floors before seeing masumi nudge chocolate away. she had somehow escaped from her pack to sit by his side, to which he ignored

this was so unfair! you love chocolate! she was your favorite but she was completely ignoring you for someone who didn’t even like dogs!

when masumi looked up, he tried to smile but you looked away, suddenly very annoyed. masumi frowned, glaring at chocolate and her giant eyes

damn it! he was almost going to have a moment with you, but chocolate blew it! why did she keep getting in between you two...

masumi quickly became the only person capable of floor duty since chocolate would trail after him obediently

you mumbled about how masumi didn’t even deserve that love! how could anyone even love him like that anyways?

#2 — dog walks

masumi by no means was inactive. he was the typical athlete; he could throw a ball, run a mile, swim laps, anything under the sun. but, walking multiple dogs at once was a whole different league of its own

no one told him he’d have to make sure ten different leashes didn’t wrap around his legs and cause him to fall over. nor did he think all these dogs had this much strength to drag him over every square inch of the park he frequented on the way home. unfortunately, he was beginning to spend way too much time outside

masumi didn’t know how, but he’s been getting better at remembering everyone’s names. the dogs had their own distinct personalities and appearances, with a coordinating rainbow of leashes

apparently, you found this very amusing. at first, masumi only walked chocolate to get practice in, but he’s unfortunately leveled up to even more dogs. you got back chocolate, but you began to understand why her attention always went back to masumi

even if he wouldn’t admit it, masumi was a natural with dogs. he remembered their favorite treats like it was nothing and had a guiding presence, making even the most hyperactive breeds calm down every now and then. masumi was fast enough to catch any rogue dog and threw every frisbee far enough to catch their breath

masumi figured out you weren’t as annoyed at him when you had chocolate, so he was 100% willing to manhandle hundred-pound dogs to get your satisfaction

even if it meant falling over in the middle of the field when the dogs decided to merry-go-round his legs

when you looked up from your spot underneath the tree, you tried your best to stifle your laughter seeing masumi fall for the second time in this lifetime

when masumi dug himself out of the pile of dogs happy to be with him, he was faced with an open hand and a teasing smile on your face

“having fun down there?” you joked, before masumi took your hand, about to pull himself up before freezing. you wish you weren’t so obvious with how much you stared at him right then and there

both of you caught each other’s gaze, seemingly lost in each other’s eyes before you realized there was one less leash in your possession

“wait... where’s chocolate?!” (after a moment of panic on your end, all masumi had to do was call her name and she ran over. it’s like she planned this whole thing on purpose...)

you two made sure not to touch again to avoid another distraction, even if your shoulders and hands kept brushing on the way back to the shelter. whenever you two exchanged leashes, all you two could remember was the accidental hand hold

walking the dogs with masumi became much more difficult all of a sudden. if you looked at him, you wouldn’t be able to look away. masumi didn’t question why you stopped meeting his eye

#3 — welcoming homes

chocolate had been at the “corg-key to your heart!” shelter for the past decade or so

but, you were allowed to take her home every weekend so she could get a break from everything. when it was your daily time with chocolate, you exited the break room only to find masumi already with her

masumi, who was always reluctant to get too close to any of the animals, seemed to throw caution to the wind as he slowly patted chocolate. she laid in his lap, her head propped up on his thigh as she sighed contentedly

you knew you were always jealous of masumi and chocolate’s instant connection but this time, you felt an indescribable amount of feelings seeing your best girl with your favorite co-volunteer (did you just think that? when did that happen?!)

masumi looked up from his seat on the floor, a red hue tinting his cheeks as he looked away, unsure of what to do next. “sorry, seems like she doesn’t want to move.” masumi looked anything but sorry but you let it slide

you sat next to the pair, reaching over to fondly massage chocolate’s ears. she leaned into your touch and your heart practically melted at the sight. you were so consumed by love you didn’t notice masumi’s small smile at your affection

“today’s my day to take her home. though, i don’t know how she’ll react without you.” you laughed, knowing it was going to be hell to separate these two

somehow, someway, masumi and chocolate had become the ultimate duo. after chocolate laying on masumi scrubbing all those floors, the park playtimes (which were the only time she moved more than a few feet ever), and everything in between, they began to become friends

(yes, it was cute. yes, you were still envious. though, this time, you didn’t know of who)

“then you should let me visit tomorrow.” masumi suddenly said, his words rushed as if he didn’t mean to say them. you paused, unable to comprehend the fact masumi wanted to come to your house

“u-uh... why?” you watched as masumi ducked his head, fiddling with chocolate’s collar as if embarrassed. you had never seen him react so physically, you wondered if you were reading too much into things

“chocolate will miss me. plus, i... i want to see you outside of work, too.”

ba-dump! your heart swelled up with love again, this time a very childish and innocent type that came with crushes. did you like masumi? was this okay to feel when you two were technically not even official friends?

“fine. but, make sure to bring something as a gift for chocolate or i’ll kick you out.”

“i’ll bring her favorite treat, promise.”

when you brought chocolate home, you stared at her as she lounged around

“i don’t like him... right?”

even chocolate seemed unconvinced, and she was a dog

masumi somehow knew chocolate’s favorite treat, believe it or not

when he showed up with that premium type of ham, it made you feel some type of way. how much did he know about chocolate? about you? just how perceptive was masumi actually?

“i know we weren’t apart long, but... here, take this.” when masumi gave you a box of your own favorite food as well, you felt everything in your system shut down as you tried to comprehend how he knew this. when you thought about it some more and realized you also knew masumi’s favorites, you blanked

did you two just skip the friends part completely? how did you already know this much about a total stranger?

“t-thank you, come in!” when you invited masumi in, he seemed to fit right in. it didn’t take long before chocolate was all over him, immediately leaping into his arms and ignoring the ham completely (until she came face to face with it, then she couldn’t resist)

you two spent the majority of saturday’s afternoon together, retelling horror stories and all the craziness that came with the week’s volunteer work. unlike before when masumi was disinterested, his eyes lit up as he recounted his encounters with the animals

you leaned forward, eager to see him talk so enthusiastically about a subject you loved. when masumi finished questioning how active the dogs were, he did a double take when he noticed your stare

were you looking at him the same way he looked at you? masumi held in his breath, eyes flickering down to your lips then back up. before you two could move, chocolate barked, demanding more attention from both her closest workers

you two quickly snapped out of it, going back to coddling chocolate and making sure she was taken care of

next, you two decided it was time for her walk. as you held the leash, masumi walked ahead to make sure there were no sticks or stones in her path. chocolate trotted happily, enjoying the views of the quieter parts of veludo way

you two held easy conversation, the words flowing naturally and the tension that came with work faded away. you almost forgot why you were always irritated with one another at the beginning. as you were about to say something, chocolate stopped

you lost your footing and tripped over chocolate, about to crash land before a pair of strong arms caught you. you understood how all those dogs didn’t get away as masumi made sure you were okay, holding you up as you stared up at him

(chocolate sat there satisfied, looking at her two favorites and making sure to hide her smug face)

“be careful next time, i don’t want to see you hurt.” masumi revealed almost in a whisper, his voice soft as you nodded meekly. unlike before, you two didn’t separate in a flustered rush. instead, when you forced yourself off his chest, masumi took your free hand like it was second nature

“i’ll make sure you don’t fall again so don’t let go.”

when you looked down at your conjoined hands, you were certain you had fallen without him noticing

if only you knew masumi had fallen for you the moment chocolate knocked him over

#4 — fundraiser

you and masumi were workers at the animal shelter’s fundraiser of the month. each month, “corg-key to your heart!” promoted their animals to the public in order to raise adoption rates

you two arrived to find yourselves where it all started: the park. at the center of it all were colorful posters advertising the pets and a pristine white booth guaranteed to be stained by grass in a few hours

for the past few weeks, you both have been passing out flyers and posting news on social media to attract potential adopters. not only did that, but the funds would be helpful for the electricity and food bill coming up

turning up to a forming crowd was nothing short of excitement. you both sat down at the booth, clipboards ready and energy buzzing in the air over the possibility of the pets finding their forever homes

as the blue sky passed by and the conversation in veludo way’s park grew, you and masumi worked together to make sure this fundraiser would be better than the last

“come meet our furry friends! you’ll find your best friend here at ‘corg-key to your heart!’” — “you’ll love these dogs and cats! come meet them today!”

although both of you were typically more on the quiet side, you and masumi made sure to attract as much attention as possible for the animals. slowly but surely, people began stepping up and asking questions about the pets

everything was going smoothly. you and masumi went on & on about all the traits about each animal you both have grown to know and love, donations were coming in at a consistent rate, and the staff were managing the excited dogs well. everything was great, until...

“how about this one?” a man had come up to the pair, gesturing towards one of the few dogs who wasn’t receiving that much attention. chocolate pouted in her cage, eagerly looking for someone to play with as she wagged her tail

masumi stopped himself from frowning, instead crossing his arms and forcing his voice to remain neutral. he couldn’t let down the animal shelter like this

“her name is chocolate. she’s a 13-year-old chihuahua who loves food and sleeping more than anything.” after going into a whole spiel about how wonderful chocolate was, the man seemed even more convinced that she was the one

“well, is she up for adoption?” you were about to respond with an enthusiastic ‘yes!’ before masumi shook his head, putting on fake sympathy as he shrugged

“no, she’s not. you just missed her, sorry.”

when the man went away, you dropped your customer service smile and slapped masumi’s arm. “hey!” masumi quickly lowered his tone, looking around to make sure no one was disturbed

“why did you say that?! chocolate has been looking for a home for so long now. she could’ve had an owner!”

“but, i want to be her owner.”

you couldn’t believe it, you were unsure of how to respond. was this real life? did masumi actually just say he wanted to adopt chocolate—

“yes, i am interested in adoption. i know if she went away with him, we’d never see her again. i always want to be with her, i’ll adopt her.”

you threw your arms around him, pulling masumi into a tight hug. a part of you was sad you’d see chocolate off, but now this meant you two would be able to see one another even more! this was the best-case scenario!

“masumi, thank you so much! i’m so happy, i could kiss you right now!”

silence (even if the park was crowded). then, masumi leaned back just like that saturday walk back then

“then, kiss me.”

when you met him halfway, masumi realized maybe he didn’t dislike dogs as much as he thought

you were too loud, you ran around with the dogs all the time, and you were way more trouble than you were worth. but, masumi likes you, you like him, it was a mutual understanding now

dogs weren’t so bad. after all, masumi had to thank a certain dog for making him fall for you at the park

#usui masumi #masumi usui #a3! act! addict! actors!#a3!#act! addict! actors!#a3! actor training game #a3! headcanons #act! addict! actors! headcanons #mankai a3!#mankai company #a3! x reader #a3 x reader #masumi x reader #a3! masumi #a3 masumi

108 notes · View notes

alistonjdrake · 4 years

Text

Of Vipers and Saints Excerpts: Two Princes & A Wolf

The story started with a question.

“Did your father ever tell you about Vanya?”

Argus hugged himself, folding his legs underneath him on the chair to bring in more body heat. In one hand, Aayden held the latest stack of letters to read through, in the other a reading glass while the small, round table between them barely held the single crooked candle that offered light in the wake of shadows.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Vanya was the first wolf our fathers killed together.”

“You name wolves?” And horses, apparently. After the annoyances caused by their childhood friends.

“You have to. In Oskya, you cannot take a wolf’s life without knowing its name. I think we Ponsonbys stole that belief from the mountain people.”

“Don’t speak of mountains.” His fingers felt brittle as he shoved them into the warm troves of the creases in his arms. If it got this cold just a few leaps over the border from Escan, how much colder would it be in Oskya? Aayden didn’t so much as shiver, the glass glided over the bumpy page. The sound of scratchy parchment itched the insides of his ears.

“The mountain tribes do not kill wolves, however. I think they train them.”

Argus hummed, trying to sound as if he was listening as he rested his head on the cushioned back of the chair. Wood popped and crackled, spitting the last flickers of life as the fire continued to die. The castle was eerily silent. Gone were the footsteps from the Royal Guard and Aayden’s scouts. They were either outside, sleeping in the tents set up in the back garden or a choice few keeping watch of their involuntary hosts. The servants were all gone, the moon crawled above the high, thin windows of the tower they resided in, and Argus heard nothing else but chirping crickets.

Aayden seemed to be waiting. After a few minutes, Argus gave in.

“How did Vanya die?” His father had never mentioned it, or if he had, Argus hadn’t been paying attention. Or perhaps he didn’t remember because the stories of his father’s youth had not been of great interest at the time.

“All Ponsonbys must kill a wolf. We must prove we can, especially if we ever expect to wear a crown. My father, he’d tell me, his father never could. It shamed him. It’s why when his uncle died, the inheritance skipped my grandfather completely.”

Argus crossed his legs, ducking his chin towards his chest. The tighter he coiled, the more his own body heat burned. “Sounds like a needlessly dangerous tradition.”

“It’s a rite of passage. You bathe in its blood, wear it’s fur, and it becomes a part of you. My father still has Vanya’s hide. He would wear a stole whenever he went riding and he’d paint his face red.”

“That doesn’t sound very Santivian.”

Aayden scoffed. “As I said, we likely took it from the mountain people.” He continued, “They were hunting one day. My father told me Vanya and his pack pounced on their kill. Your father shot a round to scare them off. Oskyan wolves are huge and fearless. I’m told Vanya went in for the attack and my father fought him off yours before he cut him open.”

“I suppose that story does not make Frederick the Conqueror look very good.” Although, in Argus’ memory his father sometimes had leg pain before his illness and would rub at a spot on his upper thigh whenever he descended into a slight limp. There used to be inquiries, and a joke that when people claimed to be a paramour of King Frederick’s the way to tell who was lying and who wasn’t was who could accurately describe the scar on his leg.

“Does it?” Aayden turned over a page and started reading the back. “He had someone willing to fight off a pack of wolves for him.”

Argus shrugged, but he scooted closer until he could almost perch his chin on Aayden’s shoulder if he wanted to. The words on the page still remained in the wavering shadows out of the candle’s reach. Aayden’s eyes were sharply squinted and his reading glass shaded by his hand.

“Have you killed a wolf, then?”

“No. This will be mine.”

For a moment, he was confused. Only for a moment. Argus only had to remember where they were and where they were going. Ile lupos ross’ war. The Red Wolf. Duchess Benedetta. Argus usually didn’t linger his thoughts on the one moment he’d seen her when she couldn’t have been a day older than thirteen, but she’d been trussed up in fine clothing with a league of Dtieri soldiers behind her. A thorny figure even as a child.

#writeblr #writing excerpt #fantasy WIP #fantasy writeblr #my writing #tss trilogy #LGBT characters #I just remembered I said I would share something and now I have to write all night to finish the chapter that comes before this by tomorrow #lol hate my poor time management

27 notes · View notes

junker-town · 3 years

Text

Sharife Cooper is the 2021 NBA Draft’s Point God in training

How Sharife Cooper grew into the 2021 NBA Draft’s most electric playmaker.

Sharife Cooper spent the longest 72 days of his life wondering when he’d finally be able to get back on the basketball court. He had just started playing five-on-five again upon arriving at Auburn after being locked out of gyms as the pandemic swept through the country in the months following his legendary high school career. Now days before the Tigers were set to open the season, he got word the NCAA was investigating his eligibility.

Cooper sat on the sideline unable to practice as his teammates beat St. Joe’s in overtime in the opener and then got blown out by Gonzaga in a showcase game the next day. A month went by and he was still in the dark. As the calendar flipped to 2021 and Auburn began SEC play, Cooper wondered if he’d ever be cleared. Hours before Auburn was set to host Alabama, the message he was waiting for finally came through: Cooper was eligible to make his college debut.

“When I got to college, I got off to a good start, practice was flowing, and then I happened to be ineligible for something that was far out of my control,” Cooper told SB Nation. “That put a huge stop in my progress. But I think I made the most out of it.”

Cooper still hadn’t practiced, and was told he should only expect to play about 10 minutes. Instead, it became immediately evident the Tigers couldn’t afford to take him off the floor. Cooper shredded the nation’s No. 3 defense in the pick-and-roll, completed four beautiful alley-oop passes, and consistently forced his way to the foul line.

He ended the game with 26 points, nine assists, and a slew of highlight reel plays that put his incredible playmaking gifts on full display in a narrow Auburn loss. A long layoff, an elite opponent, and zero time to build chemistry with his teammates didn’t matter: Cooper still proved he could be the most dynamic creator in the country from day one.

Cooper’s college career came and went like a shooting star. He packed four years of highlights into 12 games, and ran up gaudy numbers on a young team with zero returning starters from the year before. He ended the season as one of only two freshmen in the past 30 years to average 20 points and eight assists per game, with the other being Trae Young. His 51.5 percent assist rate would have led America if he played enough games. He would have finished second in the country in fouls draw per 40 minutes if he qualified for the leaderboard.

While impressive, Cooper’s statistical profile also failed to capture the breathtaking nature of his game. This is a young point guard who plays with a raw electricity that can’t be measured. Cooper bent defenses off the dribble and broke them with his passing. His blazing quick first-step and endless combination of dribble crossovers put opposing guards into a blender all season. His panoramic vision and remarkable touch with either hand makes him an elite passer off the dribble against any competition. He seems to think a step ahead of the defense’s next adjustment, daring them with lobs to the rim and skips to the corner that feel more audacious with each attempt.

Cooper did it all while being the smallest guy on the court in almost every game he played. After one truncated year at Auburn, he’s now off to the 2021 NBA Draft. At 6’1 and 180 pounds, Cooper will immediately be one of the smaller players in the league. He also might already be one of its shiftiest ball handlers and most talented live dribble passers, too.

“I’ve played against 7-foot guys all my life,” Cooper said. “I don’t feel like it will be that much of a difference.”

Discount Cooper because of his size at your own peril. He’s been in complete control of almost every game from the moment he started in the sport.

Arden Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Omar Cooper Sr. never had trouble finding a team for his daughter Te’a, who was recognized as one of the best players in the country from a young age and currently plays for the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. Sharife was a different story. When he wasn’t competing against his twin brother Omar Jr. at the house, Sharife and his friend from down the street would pile into his dad’s car trying to find an AAU program that would take them.

Cooper took the boys to tryout after tryout around Atlanta, but they kept getting rejected by programs that already had their rosters in place. Little did they know Cooper was bringing two future NBA players with him to each stop: Sharife’s friend, one year ahead of him in school, was current Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro.

The elder Cooper instead coached the boys in a local rec league with other kids from the neighborhood. During halftime of a local All-Star Game, the upstart coach got desperate. Down 18 at the break to a team that featured a young Anthony ‘Ant-Man’ Edwards, Cooper issued an ultimatum.

“I told them if they win the game, I would start an AAU program with this team,” Cooper Sr. said. “They came back and won the game. I had to honor my word. That’s how Athletes of Tomorrow got started.”

Sharife and his friends finally had their own team. The majority of the group would stick together throughout their youth careers and into high school by enrolling at McEachern High. McEachern had never won a state championship when Sharife enrolled but it quickly became apparent the Powder Springs, GA school suddenly had a pair of special talents on their hands.

With Cooper at point guard and Okoro as an athletic wing who shined on the defensive end, McEachern quickly turned into an area powerhouse. In Cooper’s freshman year, with Okoro as a sophomore, McEachern didn’t suffer its first loss of the season until the Final Four of the state playoffs. The next year, the team ran up another gaudy record but was upset in the state quarterfinals. After each season, Cooper, Okoro, and most of their teammates would head to the prestigious Nike EYBL circuit playing for the same team Cooper’s father started back when they were children.

Eight of the players on Athletes of Tomorrow were from McEachern. One of the only imports was Brandon Boston Jr., a product of nearby Norcross High, who would eventually attend Kentucky as a consensus top-five recruit and possible first round pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Atlanta’s recent basketball lineage — Jaylen Brown, Collin Sexton, and Edwards included — was suddenly getting a big boost from the same kids the rest of the city passed on.

Cooper had his coming out party on the national level after the sophomore season that ended in disappointment. He tore up the EYBL by averaging 28.2 points and 8.6 assists per game, a pair of a league-leading numbers that earned him EYBL Offensive Player of the Year honors. Suddenly, Cooper was a no doubt five-star with a growing list of offers from every important college basketball program in America.

Okoro gave his commitment to Auburn ahead of the next season to set the scene for his final year in high school. With Cooper now a junior and a talented cast of teammates maturing around them, something special was brewing at McEachern. Anything less than a state title was going to be considered a disappointment.

Despite massive expectations on their shoulders, McEachern was flawless. They beat prep powerhouses on the national level including Nevada’s Findlay Prep, Kansas’ Sunrise Christian, and California’s Rancho Christian on a team that featured Evan and Isaiah Mobley. The Indians also dominated locally. The school finished a perfect season at 32-0 in the state championship game with Cooper scoring 20 points and Okoro chipping in 16 points. McEachern had its first title.

Cooper and Okoro complemented each other perfectly as teammates, but it was the long hours guarding each other in practice that took each of their games to the next level. Okoro was the 6’6 wing with immense strength who was arguably the best defensive prospect in the country. Cooper was the tiny playmaker who kept the ball on a string, threw every pass, and consistently found a way to score. Each day, they went at each other to hone with own unique talents.

“That’s the only person that would guard me at practice,” Cooper said of Okoro. “Me and him would go at it every single day. That helped me a lot. That’s the best defender I’ve ever gone up against. Going up against someone like that gets you better.”

Cooper decided to follow Okoro once again when it was time to make his college decision. He committed to Auburn over offers from Kentucky and others. He was the highest-rated recruit in program history at the time of his commitment.

Cooper and Okoro never played together at Auburn after Okoro became a one-and-done and was eventually drafted No. 5 overall. Maybe that was the first hint Cooper’s college days would feel star-crossed and unfulfilled. If Cooper has it his way, that will only be a minor note in a much bigger story.

youtube

There are not many players in the NBA as small as Cooper. There also aren’t many who can cut up an opposing defense as ruthlessly off the dribble.

The NBA currently has 25 players listed at 6’1 or smaller by the league’s official measurements. Exactly 13 of them weigh 180 pounds or less. It’s a group that includes every walk of life in the NBA. There players on the fringes of the league (Yogi Ferrell, Mike James), change-of-pace guards who have carved out long careers off the bench (Ish Smith, Patrick Beverley), All-Star caliber starters (Kemba Walker, Mike Conley), and two players near and dear to Cooper’s heart: Chris Paul and Trae Young.

Cooper has been watching Paul in the NBA for almost his entire life — CP3 made his debut when Cooper was four years old — and credits him for helping ‘build (his) basketball mind.’ Young is more a recent favorite who followed a similar path. Both were McDonald’s All-Americans ranked outside of the top-15 in their class who rejected offers from Kentucky and other blue bloods to stay in-state before becoming a one-and-done. While Young was a freshman phenom at Oklahoma who made daily appearances on ESPN, Cooper’s long eligibility battle stopped the hype before it started.

“I feel like my whole life has revolved around basketball for so long,” Cooper said. “Whether it was playing it, watching it, or playing 2K. That’s where my basketball IQ comes from. I recognize how much thinking the game goes into it. Thinking the game is what separates good from great.”

Paul and Young each had one notable advantage over Cooper when they entered the draft: both were considered dangerous shooters. That’s still something Cooper is still looking to prove after shooting only 13-of-57 (22.8 percent) from three-point range at Auburn.

Cooper certainly isn’t lacking confidence in his shooting stroke. He was excellent from the foul line, making 82.5 percent of his free throws. There were moments when he hit nasty step-back threes, and even a few contested spot-ups. Those around him said it seemed like he didn’t have his legs under him early in the season after the long NCAA investigation kept him off the practice floor.

“I’ve always been able to shoot,” Cooper said. “I didn’t shoot it well this year, but when you come off almost a year and a half of not playing five-on-five basketball, it was tough for me to make that adjustment. I’ve proven a lot of people wrong in these workouts, and the combine. It’s going to be a long process, and I’m fine with getting it the hard way.”

If Cooper’s size and shooting are obvious shortcomings from a scouting perspective, his strengths are equally pronounced. His standstill burst and live dribble passing grade out extremely well on any scale. He sees angles other point guards would miss, and plays with a unique rhythm to his game that allows him to capitalize on his immaculate vision. For now, his best avenue for scoring the ball might be forcing his way to the foul line. He has the deception to beat his man off the dribble and fool a defender into fouling him around the basket.

Cooper may be small, but he’s never been afraid of contact.

“Growing up, I never played with fouls,” Cooper said. “We’ll play five-on-five and you can’t call a foul. I just got used to contact. I feel like the contact I get all the time in practice helps me go through it in games.”

Given his immense production during his short college career, it certainly doesn’t feel like a stretch to think there’s an alternate timeline where Cooper became a college basketball hero not dissimilar to Young at Oklahoma. Unfortunately, he was the victim of an NCAA investigation and postseason tournament ban that were completely outside of his control.

Instead, Cooper enters this draft as something of a high-upside swing in the mid-to-late first round. Every NBA team needs shot creation, and Cooper has a case that he offers more of it than any player in the class aside from presumptive top pick Cade Cunningham. Omar Cooper Sr. will represent him as the founder of LifeStyle Sports Agency, just as he represents Okoro and his daughter Te’a.

Top NBA prospects aren’t born overnight when they walk onto a college campus. Cooper has a body of work that includes spectacular offensive production and winning at a high level over the course of multiple years. His lack of size shouldn’t be so scary to a league that just watched Paul and Young thrive in the playoffs.

Cooper’s long wait is finally about over. He can’t wait to show you what comes next.

0 notes

arplis · 4 years

Text

Arplis - News: Glamorous Kids Bathroom Sets

2018. 5. 1. When it comes to bathroom design, weve got inspiration in droves. From petite powder rooms to palatial master baths, weve seen it all. Take a. 2018. 8. 21. Looking to update your bathroom? Feast your eyes on these beautiful bathroom inspiration pictures for fresh ideas. 3 Oct 2018- Ideas, suggestions and stylish inspiration for family bathroom decor. See more ideas about Bathroom ideas, Bathroom and Bathroom inspiration. Nov 20, 2018- We offer a huge variety of bathroom remodel ideas to make your bathroom as beautiful as it is functional. See more ideas about Bathrooms, Bath. The best bathroom design ideas. Create your perfect bathroom whatever your style, budget and room size. Shower fan? Weve got that covered, too. 2018. 10. 11. Whether you have a powder room, master bath, or ensuite, these bathroom design pictures will inspire you when you spruce up your own. Sep 7, 2018- Explore Brooke Giannettis board Bathroom Inspiration on Pinterest. See more ideas about Bathtub, Bathroom and Bathroom inspiration. Jan 14, 2018- scenes from favorite baths See more ideas about Bathroom, Bathtub and Home decor. Renovating or building a bathroom? Reece is your online destination for ideas, inspiration, tips, trends and more. Discover over 100 bathrooms in our gallery or.

Explore more than 100 ideas for help with configuring your new bathroom space. Take a look at these great bathroom layouts, and make sure you avoid bathroom design mistakes. RoomSketcher shows you how to plan and design your dream bathroom! . the size of your fixtures as needed to match your bathroom layout in Properties. Create floor plans and see your bathroom design ideas in 3D. . Create bathroom layouts and floor plans, try different fixtures and finishes, and see your. Regardless of the type of bathroom layout design you choose, it is always important to stick with the basic necessities. The amount of space you want. Explore nicki eggimans board bathroom layout on Pinterest. See more ideas about Bathroom, Bathroom remodeling and Bath room. 2018. 2. 16. While it might seem daunting, getting your bathroom layout right from the start will make the difference between an adequate design and one. HGTVRemodels Bathroom Planning Guide offers tips on how to design a bathroom layout around functional zones, such as the vanity and shower-tub area. Plan your bathroom easily & free of charge from your own home 5 simple steps to your dream bathroom Planning templates and bathroom trends for.

We offer a huge range of Bathroom Suites, Showers and Radiators at the best . Service rating : We chose the Bathroom Takeaway as the price was good and. The latest Tweets from Bathroom Takeaway UK (@bathtakeaway). . Dark nights and frosty mornings are making us want to sink into a nice hot bath more often. Bathroom Takeaway Reviews. . a bathroom should be as easy as 1, 2, 3 thats why at Bathroom Takeaway you . Just as stated good value and fast service. Learn about working at Bathroom Takeaway Limited. Join LinkedIn today for free. See who you know at Bathroom Takeaway Limited, leverage your professional. Bathroom Takeaway Hi! Pinterest is our home for our thoughts and the inspiration we love! Why dont you join us? Follow us for a regular stream of beautiful. Bathroom Takeaway UK. 4.6K likes. The home of fantastic bathroom products at internet only prices ! All as easy as 1-2-3 ! . Good luck! Competition closes. Welcome to the official YouTube Channel for Bathroom Takeaway UK! Subscribe for the latest news, offers and bathroom inspiration for your home. Were proud. 2018. 3. 14. With a name like Bathroom Takeaway, I almost expect to be greeted by . and we do it very well with good-quality products and great service.. What do you think about Bathroom Takeaway UK? . the guys in the branch are good , the after care service is pretty poor , i have had an issue with basin uinit i.

Viele bersetzte Beispielstze mit shared bathroom Deutsch-Englisch . a room with a private or shared bathroom, depending on your needs or budget. Viele bersetzte Beispielstze mit bathroom Deutsch-Englisch Wrterbuch und Suchmaschine fr Millionen von Deutsch-bersetzungen. Englisch-Deutsch-bersetzungen fr bathroom im Online-Wrterbuch dict.cc (Deutschwrterbuch). 2018. 3. 2. But theres no need to completely overhaul your bathroom in order to give it a new lease of life: here are some quick, budget-friendly decorating. 428 Bath budget hostels. Good availability and cheap hotels and youth hostels in Bath, United Kingdom. Read real reviews and choose the best deal for your. Room Details. This room has a TV and a sink. The shower and toilet are shared. Max guests 2. Bed size(s) 1 full bed. Room size 12 m. The majority of hostels, in fact, provide both shared bathrooms and ensuite . Excellent accommodation to sleep in Amsterdam at budget rates, this hostel is. We keep to the agreed budget and we work fast to the highest standards in . Or you can visit Berlins most beautiful bathroom showroom at Bergmann & Franz. 2 . friendly & well-trained professionals with solid knowledge of German, clean. You will be able to relax completely in our bubble bath rooms. This room does not only contain a bubble bath, it also offers comfortable beds, a spacious.

For over 30 years, All Partitions has brought to you the lowest prices on bathroom partition stalls and parts. We Carry full kits in stock, 5 materials to choose from. Panels are 1 thick x 55 high. Panels are available in widths from 12 to 78. Actual panel width is 1/2 smaller than stated size to allow for hardware. Made of. For 40 years All Partitions has provided durable toilet partitions and hardware for restroom bathroom stalls at the lowest prices. Shop online and contact us for a. Commercial bathroom stall, toilet partition, & urinal screen dividers from leading . that fits your unique space in the best material for your situation and budget. Creating a walk in shower on a low budget Bathroom Remodeling, Basement . The Mesmerizing Dimensions Of Shower Stall 54 For Your Small Home. Our bathroom stalls are the ideal partitions for schools, churches, restaurants & other commercial . Affordable Toilet Partitions For Commercial Bathrooms. -Average price per stall $369.00. When you need a toilet compartment that can be multi-purpose but also friendly to ones budget, take a look at High Pressure. Choosing the right toilet partition material for your application is crucial to the success and longevity of your restroom project. While budget is always a major. 7 results When it comes to Bathroom Partitions, Graingers got your back. Effortless ordering and convenient delivery. Log-in or register for your pricing.

Unclog a bathroom sink drain with two skewers. I was surprised and disgusted at how effective this was! Just take two cheap wooden skewers and put them. Why not try a bent wire hanger? You may be surprised that this is quite a simple but effective technique in unclogging bathroom sinks. The small hook at the end. LOL Surprise Dolls finally get a new bathroom in their house! How will it look like? . Who will be using the . 2016. 12. 21. A slow-draining tub or bathroom sink is an inconvenience many . or sink. You might be surprised to learn that the hair you shed naturally when. The Portrait collection captures the understated sophistication of French Provincial design, yet is versatile enough to fit many bathroom styles. The sculpted lines. The included VIGO Niko Vessel Bathroom Faucet features a trough-style spout, . I was surprised at the quality of the faucet and how easy it was to install, even. The VIGO Jasmine Matte Stone Vessel Bathroom Sink is the perfect addition to any . I was surprised at the quality of the faucet and how easy it was to install,. Online shopping for Bathroom Sink Taps from a great selection at DIY & Tools Store. Basong Above Counter Bathroom Sink Oval Porcelain Ceramic Vessel . We were surprised at the excellent price, high quality, perfect depth and drain included!

nice subway tiles thinking this style in the kitchen like the gray, bath or . The South Downs Bathroom uses beautiful furniture from our Classic English range. Country bathroom pictures and photos for your next decorating project. . Traditional English Cottage bathroom with freestanding bathtub . with wood beams, panelling and an attractive encaustic tiled floor, which sets off the rolltop bath. Bath This is one of the most important things you need to know how to ask in English. Imagine needing the toilet and unable to ask for directions to one! 2017. 9. 20. See our favorite white bathrooms and browse through our favorite white bathroom . Use white to create a clean, relaxing and bright look for your bathroom. house, and a white-painted 19th-century English spool chair with an upholstered seat and arms. . The 6 Best Colors for Painting Hardwood Floors. 2016. 8. 30. Colour, texture and pattern all do their bit for style underfoot. . home such as wide oak boards, English elm, pitch pine or herringbone parquet. . works with underfloor heating and is a good choice for kitchens and bathrooms,. 2014. 10. 21. In English the bathroom can also be called: the mens room (for . Now, it is time to look at some vocabulary to talk about what happens in the bathroom, . (especially native speakers) use these words and so it is good to. The most thoughtfully arranged rooms look good without any dressings or Casual and comfortable, English cottage style is a perfect fit for a bathroom. See the. Wellness in your own bathroom with high quality bathroom furniture by Duravit. . bring together apparent contradictions whilst also looking incredibly good. 2015. 12. 8. Im American, and Ive never heard the bathroom referred to as St. Johns. Its colloquially referred to as the john, but not politely. Usually this room is referred to.

Its 2015bathroom simulators have joined the big leagues now. Watch as Brian and Nick from http . Whoever made this has a SERIOUS problem with public restrooms/toilets Twitter: //onbedroom.website . Gay pee in public bathroom and collect guns down the game //onbedroom.website/the-tearoom. The Bathroom Simulator by Big Fat Simulations Choose the most appropriate stall in a variety of situations. Play The Bathroom Simulator. Take this test and see if you can choose the right urinal. Share it with your friends! 2017. 6. 29. The Tearoom [itch.io page] is a historical public bathroom simulator about And truly, this does have some incredible water effects, which are. Complete your bathroom planning conveniently and at no cost from home 5 easy steps to your dream bathroom Planning templates and bathroom trends to. Sep 14, 2018- when you have to go, you will want to go here See more ideas about Home decor, Bathroom and Toilet room. See more ideas about Amazing bathrooms, Bathroom wall decor and Powder . Browse new photos about *Door opens* Welcome to the faygag simulator .

Minimalist bathrooms dont have to be plain & devoid of design or niceties. See how the minimalism aesthetic is a base upon which to build a cool modern. Ive also written a book on minimalist living, The Joy of Less, available at . See more ideas about Bathroom, Decorating bathrooms and Bathroom ideas. Nov 24, 2018- Explore Jason Hudsons board Minimal Bathrooms on Pinterest. See more ideas about Washroom, Minimalist bathroom and Bathroom. May 11, 2018- The best examples of minimalist bath design featuring modern . See more ideas about Wash room, Washroom and City bathroom inspiration. 2016. 3. 23. well as a minimalist bathroom is a perfect example of the interior perfection of optimizing the space and maximize the appearance with a. 2017. 3. 3. If youre a fan of the concept of less is more, minimalist design may be right up your alley. If youre planning a bathroom revamp, and youre. 2016. 8. 26. Here are six ideas to inspire you to create your own minimalist bathroom oasis. 2014. 3. 4. And I got some great ideas for how to make a big statement in my powder rooms while still honoring a minimalist approach. Check out the. Minimalism in interior design gives the impression of a room neat and clean, so this style is perfect for the design of a modern bathroom. Room bathroom design.

Winsome Bathroom Traditional design ideas for Tile Shower Shelf Ideas Image Gallery. Winsome Subway Tile Shower Floor Image Decor in Bathroom Traditional design ideas with Winsome beadboard Benjamin Moore blue bathroom Cape Cod. winsome bathroom accessories vanity wall bathroom tile small bathroom bathroom color bathroom designs shower bathroom ideas charming bathroo. Winsome Slate Place Cards Decor Ideas Stone Bathroom, White Bathroom, Metro . Slate bathroom floor bathroom modern with white subway tile wall zebra. white bathroom tiles b&q.white bathroom tiles cheap.square white bathroom tiles.white bathroom tiles with border.white bathroom tiles 600 x 300.large white. Winsome Wall Small Bathroom Tile Ideas Wall Small Bathroom Tile Ideas Bathroom Small Bathroom Tile Small Bathroom Tile Ideas Pinterest Small Bathroom. Change your Living Style with our wide range of floor tiles, wall tiles, bathroom tiles, kitchen tiles. Bathroom : Subway Tile 4 Bathroom Winsome Picture Tiles 45+ New Subway Bathroom Tiles Subway Tiles Bathroom Design White Subway Tile Bathroom. 2018. 7. 30. Winsome bath tiles design 24 stunning beautiful bathroom wall designs ideas for modern about tile dining room software photos shower.

Offering the Finest Choice of Bathrooms in Malta, Bathroom Design Supplies . Spacious free standing baths for versatile and comfortable bathing possibilities. Bathroom Design has cultivated a reputation as one of the leading companies in Maltas Bathroom Supply sector and has been importing and selling sanitary. Bathroom Design Offers a Range of Luxurious Bathroom Furniture . Squaro. Spacious free standing baths for versatile and comfortable bathing possibilities. You Can Find All Contact Information of the Company: Phone, Fax, Email & Opening Hours. Also, You Can Send a Message Directly on the Website. Bring your own design for vanity units, whether free standing or wall hung, wood finish or solid colour, having a combination of flap doors, drawers or cabinets,. Welcome to Bilom Tiles & Decor. Welcoming you to Bilom Tiles & Dcor, where you are . Bilom Tiles & Dcor Creating Your Comfort. Bilom Tiles & Decor. Bathroom Remodel on Your New Year To-Do List. Turn your dream bathroom into a reality . from Villeroy & Boch transform a functional place into an individual comfort zone. . Villeroy & Boch stands for timeless elegance, innovative design 2017. 1. 23. The most popular amenities for the bathroom are in the arena of safety and comfort: e.g., comfort heights, shower seats, lighting in showers and. Great guest bathroom design is not a question of the space available . Theres no reason why comfort should not be synonymous with elegance as highlighted.

Arplis - News source https://arplis.com/blogs/news/glamorous-kids-bathroom-sets

0 notes

real-life-pine-tree · 6 years

Text

Seed of Darkness: A Brand New Invasion (4/?)

All it takes it one bad seed to spoil the whole bunch. An AU collab with @violetganache42.

Elsewhere, Dipper was in an alleyway with a cloaked person. They had just finished a duel and a dark red aura was forming around him. However, a glimpse of the clocked person's face alarmed him.

"You're-" Dipper started to say.

"Shh..." the cloaked person said, putting a finger to her own lips. "Don't be afraid," she said. "Embrace the gift of the Reverse."

A horrified Dipper couldn’t find the right words to help convey his reaction on what was happening. What is this Reverse that she speaks of? Who was this cloaked person? She looked so much like her, but she wasn’t here, so…why does she strongly resemble Zuzu? Right as he was about to muster up strength to respond, he could feel the power overtake him as his vision began to blur due to his blue eyes becoming soulless. He then fell down to his knees, which satisfied the cloaked Zuzu lookalike.

"See?" the lookalike asked. "That wasn't hard, was it?"

"Of course not," Dipper answered as he stood back up. "Now to spread the will of the Void."

"Yes," the lookalike agreed. "It will be pleased with the progress I have made."

Dipper raised his head up to look directly at the cloaked Zuzu-like girl with a whole new expression on his face along with the red markings given to him from the Void. Another person had fallen victim to the gift of the Reverse, pleasing her because this will help speed up the process of her plan.

"It won't be long now," the lookalike said. "I have already Reversed everyone in Duel Academy. It won't be long until everyone in this dimension also joins us."

Meanwhile, at the optometry clinic, Yoko and Yuto had already arrived and were both sitting in the waiting room. With everyone else ahead of them, they had to wait for their turn, so they decided to watch the live broadcast of the Arc League Championship on Yuto’s Duel Disk. They saw the full duel between Yuya and Iggy, and needless to say, they were just as confused and scared as the audience about what happened.

"I don't understand," Yoko said, voicing concern. "Yuya never acted that vicious before. What got into him?"

"It must have been that virus," Yuto realized. "What if it caused something to possess him?"

"Like a demon?" Yoko asked.

"Probably," Yuto answered. "His dragon didn't look normal."

At that point, a clinic employee entered the waiting room. "Mr. Osaku?" she asked.

Yuto tensed up. "Don't worry," Yoko said. "It will only take a few minutes."

"Alright," Yuto said. He took a deep breath. "I just hope Yuya is okay."

Meanwhile, back at the Center Duel Field, Yuya was off in the sidelines and wasn’t okay at all. A few hours had passed and he couldn’t get his duel against Iggy out of his head, but could you blame him? All he wanted was to make him feel better and not use violence towards his opponents, but he ended up making things worse for him instead. According to Zuzu and Gong, he got those weird markings and his tone sounded more cynical. It also didn’t help that everyone was horrified by what they all witnessed, so he wasn’t in the mood to come out in public where they could see him, especially since Zuzu’s duel was coming up.

As Nico announced the introduction of Micky Starlett of Dueling Dynamos as Zuzu's opponent, Yuya simply looked at Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. He let out a sob, horrified with what apparently happened to him. "Oh Odd-Eyes..." he said. "What's happening to me?"

Meanwhile, Zuzu stepped onto the dueling field, ready for her duel. Even though Micky was hogging the spotlight, she wouldn't let that bother her. "Before this duel is over, I'll win 'em over to my side!" she vowed.

Elsewhere, inside the back area of the stadium, the cloaked Zuzu lookalike, her associate, and Dipper all walked down the hallways in search for more people to give them the gift of Reverse. The more victims they can hunt down, the more vulnerable this dimension will be for a takeover. Not far away from them was a young man walking in the opposite direction of where they were heading. He was fair-skinned with lavender hair and green eyes and wore a dark violet, button-up shirt with dark yellow linings and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a red tie, a white short-sleeved jacket with an LID pin attached to it, dark pants, a tucked red and black checkered pattern handkerchief, and dark maroon shoes. He was known as Kev Ravenwood, a student of LID’s XYZ Summon course, winner of last year’s Junior Youth division and currently a participant of the Senior division. He had already won his duel and was taking a break before heading off to the finals when he spotted the trio.

"Hey, backstage is only for competitors still in the tournament!" Kev pointed out.

"Are you...a strong Duelist?" the lookalike asked.

Kev was surprised upon seeing the lookalike's face. "Aren't you-"

"Correct you are, Ravenwood."

Upon hearing Declan's voice, the lookalike threw off her cloak to reveal her identity to Kev. She had a ponytail consisting of indigo hair and light blue side tails that were the same length as Zuzu’s and light green eyes. Her clothes were a variant of Duel Academy’s female Slifer Red uniform: a three-quarter-sleeved red jacket with two black buckles and a yellow stripe with a green-and-yellow star on each sleeve, a black shirt with a purple-brown collar, a red skirt with a brown belt, silver buckle ring with two brown straps going over her torso, black biker shorts, and brown boots. Her accessories included an orange handkerchief used to tie her hair up, and a brown glove on her left hand. Her most defining physical traits were her facial appearance looking exactly like Zuzu’s; additionally, she also had the same terrifying features as Dipper and her associate, meaning that she was Reversed too. The combination of the two made Kev more concerned than he initially was.

"Declan?" Kev asked.

"You may leave now, Ravenwood," Declan said.

"But..." Kev started to say.

"The way you won today was quite impressive," Declan said. "I look forward to your next match."

Kev nodded in understanding. "You won't be disappointed," he said.

But as Kev turned to leave, the lookalike looked rather unhappy. "Don't move!" she exclaimed as she ran forward.

However, Declan quickly grabbed her wrist, halting her. "Lay off!" she exclaimed.

"Get going now," Declan told Kev, prompting the Senior division Duelist to run off.

The lookalike pulled away from Declan. "Get out of my way!" she exclaimed. "Just who do you think you are?!"

The lookalike's associate stepped forward. "Let me take care of him," he said.

He also removed his cloak to give Declan an idea on who he will be dueling against. He was a tall, tan-skinned man with a buff body build, grayish-teal, spiky hair swept backwards, and crimson eyes. He wore a long-sleeved, dark green jacket with four pouches and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows to reveal his wrapped bandages on his forearms, a black shirt that partially covers his X-shaped scar, gray pants with a black belt, and black shoes. He also adorned with a silver pendant around his neck and an eyepatch on his left eye, which barely conceals his huge scar.

However, the lookalike looked at Declan, causing her eyes to widen in surprise. "No," she said. "You can't duel him."

"But the Void wants us to spread its gift," the associate pointed out.

"Not him," the lookalike said. "I can sense the dueling energy of his deck. He has Pendulum cards."

Declan raised his eyebrows out of surprise by what she just stated. She was aware of him containing Pendulum cards and told her associate not to duel him. Could it be that she may have given the former an advantage to this dueling viral outbreak? He closed his eyes and adjusted his red glasses while having his mouth form a smirk. It seems that the usage of Pendulum cards may be their weakness, Declan thought to himself. By glancing at or sensing someone’s deck, they can tell if that Duelist can Pendulum Summon or not, so they must have decided to spread their disease onto the Ritual, Fusion, Synchro, and XYZ users and avoid the Pendulum users. Seems the creation of the Pendulum cards proved to be more beneficial than I thought.

With Declan currently focused on his thoughts, the Reversed trio read his body emotion differently than him. They could tell he was fine with him not dueling with the associate at the moment and he had other plans in mind. Plans to try and thwart the Void. Not that it matters anyways. Try as he might, whatever he’s got cooking up will be nothing but feeble attempts to delay the inevitable.

Declan's glance shifted to Dipper. "So that's why Dipper failed to show up for his duel with Reed," he commented, changing topics.

"Precisely," the lookalike said. "He was chosen to carry out the will of the Void. His Constellar cards will be of great use to spread its power."

"What exactly is this Void?" Declan asked. "And why would you side with it?"

The lookalike let out a dark laugh. "I know you tend to sell your soul during duels," she said, referring to the Dark Contract cards. "Surely you would understand."

"Except I know this is not you, Celina," Declan said, addressing the lookalike by name. "We met two years ago. What made you fall into darkness since then?"

A few seconds later, Celina finally spoke. "Picture it," she said. "You are a soldier-in-training in Duel Academy. You spent your whole life wanting to prove yourself to the head of the school. But no matter how many times you prove your strength, all he wants to do is keep you locked up, not being able to rank up into the class of elite soldiers.

"So one day, after an encounter with a mysterious young teen, you finally decide to snoop around and figure out what the ultimate goal of Duel Academy is. But after finally hacking into the computer system, you learn the truth. If the dimensions were all merged together successfully, the results would include your own death. Then it hits you: the person you looked up to all these years was merely using you as a tool to further his goals!

"But just as you're about to give up, just as you hear people approach the room to probably erase your memories of what you discovered, you come across a mysterious entity that strongly resembles the Devil himself. This entity promises to free you from that fate of death. It will give you the power you need to fight back in exchange for you helping it spread its power. So, realizing there's no other option, you accept this entity's offer, letting it give you a portion of its power to defy your destined death.

"With this new power, you are finally able to fight back. But for now, upon the entity's orders, you wait, not wanting anyone else to know about the change you went through. Even after two years, you still wait. It wasn't time yet. You knew the cue was the disappearance of your chains.

"Ultimately the plan to fuse all the dimensions starts to take shape. That's when you strike in the shadows, wanting to free the other ones who wear similar chains. You manage to liberate two of them, freeing them from the same fate of death. Then one day, it finally happens."

Celina lifted up her right arm to reveal her bare wrist. "The chains you wore your whole life are finally gone," she continued. "That was your cue. You know the man who held you hostage this whole time is now powerless. So you finally confront him, making sure he would never interfere with your life ever again.

"With the grand manipulator out of the way, you proceed to destroy all of his progress. You even free everyone who was imprisoned. But while you send some people back to their home dimensions, the others stay as part of your own personal army. And with this new army, you are able to take control of all of Duel Academy. Every defeated Duelist becomes part of your army, so you keep repeating this process until you finally convert everyone in the school over to your side."

Declan was rendered speechless all of the information Celina revealed and had to process what he heard. This Void entity came to her because she found out about the Professor planning to fuse all four dimensions by apparently using herself, Zuzu, and their other two counterparts to fuel the merge at the cost of all their lives. Because of that, she freed her imprisoned counterparts and the non-Duelists of Heartland City, but the XYZ Duelists and the students of Duel Academy were now part of its army right after she ended her “idol’s” life before he could end hers. But that meant… Declan’s jaw dropped out of pure shock when he realized what she had done to the Professor. He was no ordinary professor. He was the same man who abandoned his family to head off to the Fusion Dimension. The same man who brought Action Duels to the Standard Dimension alongside Yusho Sakaki. The man known as Leo Akaba. His father…was dead.

"You murdered Leo Akaba?" Declan asked.

"Correct," Celina answered. She took out a card from her deck. "But it wasn't that hard. All I did was summon my ace and ordered her to attack him."

"With your Duel Disk?" Declan asked.

"No need," Celina said, the card now producing a dark red aura. "With the power of the Reverse, I can bring her to life without Solid Vision. Care for a little demonstration, Cat Dancer - Reverse?"

The card flashed a bright white light that sent out a black beam of energy into the real world. Upon impact, it exploded on the ground before materializing into what resembled the silhouette of a female duel monster with notable feline traits. The black energy vanished to uncover Celina’s ace monster coated in dark red aura: Cat Dancer - Reverse. Much like Odd-Eyes Joker Dragon, she also had a similar appearance to her incarnation Lunalight Cat Dancer but with some alterations. Her hair was white with long, luscious strands and locks of hair, her eyes were golden yellow underneath her black and magenta mask, and the colors of her clothes consisted of a black dress with long pieces of gray silk sewn all over the dress, a magenta cloth covering her breasts, a large, light and dark blue, crescent-shaped headpiece, and black barefoot stockings and arm sleeves. Instead of gold crescent moons and gold rings on her hands and feet, she had blood red Link Joker emblems and the rings were replaced with the black halos surrounded by the red light.

Declan took a few steps back in alarm. "What kind of demon is that thing?" he demanded.

"She's not a demon," Celina explained. "Cat Dancer - Reverse is a Fusion-Joker monster, the combination of a Duel Monster and a Unit. All of her stats remain the same, but she now has the traits of a Unit, specifically a Unit's Grade and skill in combination with her new special ability."

"A Unit?" Declan repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, that's right," Celina said. "Didn't anyone tell you that the Void is actually from another planet?"

Declan questioned her on what she meant by the Void being from another planet and she took it as a sign that no one ever bothered to explain to him about what the Void is because it was all new to him. To put it simply, it was his way of telling her “no”.

"And that's why the Void chose to target Duelists," Celina continued. "You clueless people have no idea what it actually is. What better way to invade a planet than infect itself into the unfamiliar?"

"Celina, please listen to me," Declan said. "I understand how upset you probably felt two years ago, but you must stop. Can't you see how this could backfire?"

"You should be thanking me," Celina said. "Without the Void, Leo would still be alive. Now that I killed him, I ended the Interdimensional War before it could spread to other dimensions. I even liberated two of my other selves from their destined deaths, so they're much safer in my care."

"I beg your pardon?" Declan asked.

"Relax," Celina said. "I'll return them to their home dimensions once the Void is satisfied with my work."

Declan began thinking to himself again. Her counterparts are no longer imprisoned by my father yet they’re still at Duel Academy. She ended the war to prevent the dimensions from fusing, but she’s putting them all in great danger by successfully Reversing everyone at the Academy. Does that mean she managed to Reverse her counterparts as well before setting her sights on the students?

"Then from this point forward, I will change my priorities towards stopping the Void," Declan ultimately decided.

Celina frowned. "You dare make yourself an enemy of the Reverse?" she challenged.

"You're spreading the Reverse to everyone in all of the dimensions," Declan pointed out. "You didn't end the Interdimensional War. You only changed my opposition."

"Very well," Celina said. She retreated her ace back into her card before taking out a different card; a Spell card called Lunar Eclipse. "You have made a grave mistake, Declan Akaba. There's no stopping the will of the Void. This planet will be shrouded in darkness, and there's not a thing you can do to stop us."

A thick layer of black, cloudy fog faded in and covered Celina, her associate named Barrett, and Dipper. Declan ran towards them, but he stopped before he could reach them because the fog and the Reversed trio were all gone. With nothing else left to do, he grabbed his Duel Disk and contacted his mother Henrietta to warn her about a far more dangerous threat than the Interdimensional War.

At the same time, a young teen had just finished winning his duel not long after Zuzu’s and was walking inside the stadium. He had fair skin, gingery, spike-shaped, curly hair, green eyes, and a beauty mark underneath his right eye. He wore a long-sleeved, light blue, button-up collared shirt with a fuchsia ribbon tie around his neck, an orange jacket with an orange-yellow-black pocket on the left side no right sleeve, and a shorter right hang, gray pants, reddish-brown shoes, and a black glove on his left hand. The name of this teen was Dennis McField, an LID exchange student in Performing Arts and part of the XYZ Summon course, as well as one of the 16 Junior Youth Duelists advancing to the finals. Unbeknownst to everyone, he was actually an Obelisk Blue student and double agent from Duel Academy tasked with spying on the Standard Dimension to help the Professor retrieve Zuzu and Celina. As he idled in the halls of the stadium, his Duel Disk received a notification and sounded a ringtone; when he went to grab it, he saw that it was Yuri and Sora calling him to deliver the bad news and a warning. Curious, he answered the call.

"Oh, hey guys," Dennis said. "I was just about to call you. I saw Zuzu in the stadium, so-"

"Forget about the mission, Red!" Sora interrupted. "You've gotta protect Zuzu now!"

"I'm sorry, what?" Dennis asked.

"What Sora is trying to say is that there has been a change in plans," Yuri explained. "You see, the Professor was murdered."

Dennis nearly dropped his Duel Disk in alarm. "Please tell me that's one of your silly pranks, Yuri," he said.

"This is not a joke, my second-in-command and closest ally," Yuri said. "I found his corpse covered in bloody slash marks. There's not doubt that it's the work of Celina."

"Celina?" Dennis repeated. "But I thought she escaped to this dimension."

"I'm afraid not," Sora said. "Worse, she has formed an alliance with a demonic entity, spreading its power to everyone she encounters. She's probably taken over all of Duel Academy at this point."

"Oh dear..." Dennis said.

"Now do you understand what we must do?" Yuri asked. "At the moment, it seems we're the last followers of the Professor. We have to gather as many allies as possible to warn them about this."

"Well at least the people we carded aren't going to waste," Dennis hoped.

"Except Celina had freed every single one of them," Yuri added.

"And since she already stopped Yuri from capturing Lulu and Rin, I've got a bad feeling she's after Zuzu next," Sora said.

"So that's why you want me to protect her," Dennis realized. "But how could I get her to trust me?"

"Tell her you know me," Sora said. "I already earned her trust, so using me as a reference should make things easier."

"Alright," Dennis said. "For the good of Duel Academy, the true Duel Academy, I'll keep Zuzu safe."

"Thank you," Yuri said. "We will join you some time today. Hopefully Violet Flash won't transport Sora and myself to another country this time."

Dennis couldn’t help but wonder what he meant by that and Yuri explained that Violet Flash teleported him and Sora to halfway in Paradise City. He was kind of hoping they would actually end up in LID in no time, but it never hurts to try again; worst case scenario is they end up using it over and over again until they make it to their destination right in the nick of time.

Meanwhile, at LID, Henrietta was currently speaking to the Senior Division Lancers. Declan had just told her about the change in enemy, so she had to adjust the company's plan to form the Lancers.

"I'm terribly sorry for the sudden news, but I strongly urge all of you to stay home until further notice," Henrietta explained.

"What?" Kev asked. "But why?"

"There is a terrible outbreak going on," Henrietta explained. "If our strongest allies are infected over to their side, the battle will turn in the enemy's favor. You must let the decided Lancers take care of this from this point forward."

"Don't you mean 'defected over to their side'?" a purple-haired teen dressed in pink asked.

"No, I mean infected," Henrietta clarified. "The virus spreads to whoever loses to the enemy. I cannot let any of you fall victim to them, so you must stay out of this war."

Kev and the rest of the Senior Division Lancers all stared at each other from the news of the viral outbreak taking place. A pathogen capable of turning others into servers of the enemy? This kind of sounds similar to a zombie apocalypse but with it targeting Duelists instead of the entire human population. Just then, the brown-haired teen dressed in blue realized something; his head turned to his right where he saw the room’s clock and saw that it was almost noon. The finals of the Junior Youth Division were starting any minute, meaning they will most likely be vulnerable victims ripe for the taking.

But as the finalists were lined up to begin the Battle Royale, Yuya's mind was occupied. He had used his goggles to cover his eyes, still feeling upset about how he apparently attacked Iggy. Could this be related to him having bradycardia?

While Nico was going over the Battle Royale rules, Zuzu noticed Yuya's upset expression. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked.

"Do I look alright to you?" Yuya asked in response, a coldness in his voice.

Zuzu was taken back by the blunt response. "Is this about what happened with Iggy?" she asked.

"You and Gong said I was using a card called Odd-Eyes Joker Dragon," Yuya recalled as he sobbed. "But I checked my deck multiple times and there's no sign of that card." He took out his deck, which had Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon on top. "Are you sure that's what happened?"

"I'm sure," Zuzu replied. She gave Yuya's hand a gentle squeeze. "I don't understand what's going on either, but you can't let that bother you."

Yuya put his deck back in his Duel Disk. "How can I?" he asked. "What if that...thing happens again? What if I end up losing control?"

"Yuya..." Zuzu said.

"I'm sorry Zuzu," Yuya said, his body shaking. "But I don't think I can ever duel again."

Zuzu felt saddened by Yuya’s claim of not wanting to duel anymore. It was his number one dream of being a Dueltainer just like his father, so seeing this demonic event take place crushed any hopes of having his dream become a reality. He doesn’t want to end up becoming a monster again, but the fear of the unknown kept lingering in his mind. Right as Zuzu was about to comfort her friend, a trembling Yuya bolted from the row of the Junior Youth finalists and out of the Center Duel Field. Nico spotted him running away and misinterpreted it as him getting too eager to wait any longer and gave himself a head start; coincidentally, there was less than a minute left until noon, and with the ARC System deployed all over the city and preparing to project the four Action Fields, he carried on with finishing his announcements regarding the Battle Royale.

"Well it seems Yuya Sakaki couldn't wait any longer," Nico said. "So without further ado, let the Arc League Championship finals begin!"

With a snap of his fingers, Action and Pendulum cards were scattered all over Paradise City and the gates opened up, leading to the remaining 15 Duelists to head out onto the fields to begin their Battle Royale. In Zuzu’s case, she diverted herself from the group to find Yuya since he took a different way out of the Center Duel Field. Everyone else split apart to search for the Pendulum cards in order to aide them in their duels, especially Dennis because he, Yuri, and Sora have to do whatever it takes to protect Zuzu from this new threat. He was hoping they do get here on time before it’s too late. All 16 Duelists were now all over the city, but none of them were aware of the presence of three beings because they were hiding themselves away in an alleyway shortly after teleporting and waiting for the opportunity to strike.

#Seed of Darkness #yugioh arc v #Yuya Sakaki #cardfight!! vanguard #Link Joker

4 notes · View notes

ffrandomrpg · 5 years

Text

The Beginning

I’ve been toying with this idea for a long time. Soccer has been a part of my gaming library since my parents bought me International Superstar Soccer 64. I used to put Sol Campbell at forward and thunder goals in on the easiest difficulty because he was inexplicably my favorite player simply because his first name was Sol.

Fast forward a little later and I started back up with my soccer playing obsession when I finally scrounged up the money for Fifa 2002 (with my boy Henry on the cover) and a PS2, learning to love the game more and more with each annual release.

I’ve come to expect certain things from the series, and though I flirted with other competitors like PES briefly and even gave Football Manager a go, it always comes back to Fifa.

Still, I always wished there was more involvement and immersion in the Manager mode the game offers. There’s the expected features every year, but very little in the way of expanding the ideas present within.

Other offerings in EA Sports’ repertoire put tweaks on the Career mode here and there and some are pretty interesting. Briefly, Live the Life in whatever NHL that was even had some more fun text-based RPG elements but the shine really wore off quickly when it became apparent there was little to no depth and it was horrifyingly repetitive.

This is my attempt to inject the monotonous year-in year-out sameness that we’re sure to endure for the foreseeable future since FUT has proven to be a huge cash cow for them. Why would they bother expanding other modes?

So! Let’s get started.

Manager Mode with a Twist

One of the older Fifa’s used to limit your manager offerings at the start of your career mode and I always thought that was interesting. Sure, players may be disappointed they can’t immediately helm their beloved Chelsea or Barcelona, but there’s little challenge in that.

Instead, I wanted this to be the first randomized element to one’s career. Since we can’t simulate a smattering of job offerings from smaller clubs, I instead use Random’s List Feature to get myself a job from one of these areas:

Australian League MLS Liga MX Chile China PR Colombia Denmark League 2 Germany’s 3. liga Japan K league korea Norway Ireland Saudi arabia Turkey

I hit the randomizer and it spits out China PR for my destination. I go into a Kick Off to randomize my team assignment and get Heibei CFFC.

I name myself with a Star Wars name generator and become Jorgunn Pitfar. The name sounds vaguely Scandinavian so I select my country of origin as Denmark for no real reason and then pack my bags to head off to China.

I barely keep up with soccer news, but I have seem some news of older prominent players packing their bags for huge wages in China. It doesn’t necessarily directly fit with my ‘small club’ objective considering I have over 20mil to spend on transfers if I wanted, but it isn’t one of the biggest leagues and the Star Rating given to the teams by Fifa seems rather low so we’ll go with it.

Heibei China Fortune F.C. was founded in 2010, playing their games in Langfang somewhere about halfway between Beijing and Tianjin. Their stadium houses a modest 30,000 despite the city being home to over 4 million residents and those playing on the ground are lucky to experience the air pollution ranked among the 10 worst in all of China.

As Jorgunn Pitfar makes his way to Langfang (not by plane since the city doesn’t have an airport), perhaps he mulls over what his goals for his career as a manager will be. It’s the first of what may be many jobs at the helm of various clubs and it couldn’t have been farther removed from what he’s probably used to in Denmark.

I again turn to the Random List to decide what Pitfar’s objective is, pulling from this list. You could, of course, add more.

Finish career at home country Promotion master Finish w/ prem/seria a/liga/bundes job Finish with starting club Grow game journeyman

There’s little explanation needed for the options. Do I want to return home once my career is in its twilight years? Do I shoot for the moon and hope to get a shot at Champions League football, or specialize in helping lower level clubs climb to great heights?

I hit randomize and Pitfar’s fate is sealed; he will finish his career in his native Denmark. Depending on how long the career mode goes, this may be impossible but we can get creative with a solution.

Now, the last bit of setup we need to do involves our transfer policy. Club expectations be damned, what does Pitfar want to do with the assets at his disposal? What sort of club does he aspire to run?

I make another list and plug it into the randomizer:

High Profile Signings Sign from Club Nation Sign Young Players (<23 yr old) Develop from Youth Team Sign from competitors in same league Focus on Asia focus on North America focus on Central America focus on South America Focus on Euro continent Focus on British Isles

I hit randomize and get Develop from Youth Team. Not bad considering the average OVR rating of the team is low enough that some promotions from the Youth Team might be able to slot right into the matchday squad.

I use some of my transfer money to buy 3 scouts and they are sent out on their journeys immediately. Ito will spend 9 months in Japan finding me Wingers, Fang for a 9 month stint to find anything he can in Brazil, and Brown to England to find me a (hopefully) big Playmaker for 9 months. They better get comfy out there cuz they won’t be coming back for some time.

Pitfar looks ahead to the preseason Invitational Cup held domestically in China this year. The prize money is the best of the lot, at 2.9m, but that really matters very little considering Heibei won’t be seeing any real marquee signings as long as the Danish manager is at the helm.

Still, it offers a good opportunity to see what the squad depth is like. Two team sheets are assembled: the through-and-through first team selections and the rotational, fringe players starting. Since there’s little importance to this competition, the fringe will receive all the playing time.

We advance to the first game against Wellington Phoenix FC and sim it. I’m pleased to find Huaze and Tianyuan both make their way onto the score sheet and the fringe boys manage a 3-0 win.

As if this performance sparks interest in Heibei, teams start to come knocking. I loan out the wonderfully-named YangYang for the year and counter an initial offer for Hongbo and sell him away for over his value at 950k. I don’t need the money, but the thrill of getting more than I should from Necaxa for him is all the satisfaction I need.

I sim the next two games, losing to Dalian Yifang 2-0 which is to be expected considering the low OVR of my squad, and then draw with TEDA 0-0. Somehow, maybe, we’ve used up all our good luck on the first game.

Looking ahead, a loss spells elimination for Heibei in this tournament and we can kiss that 2.9m goodbye. Al Hazem Sports Club waits on matchday, and perhaps because I have little knowledge of this club, I don’t rotate any players despite all the down-arrows denoting poor form trends among almost all the players.

We lose 2-0. No goals save the first game, but also no injuries to any of the players so there is some silver lining. As if to drive home the idea that Chinese clubs have more money than they know what to do with, the club rewards Pitfar’s efforts with 1.45m just for performance which (obviously) was quite poor outside the first win.

Moving forward to deadline day and there’s very little that needs to be done by the club considering our randomly-assigned position on transfers. Still, not all of it is bad. First, I sell off my starting GK for 670k. He’s 32 and though GK’s have a pretty good career length generally, I don’t really care. I can sign someone near to his OVR or grow a prospect from the youth team into the mid-60s quite easily.

I take my prize money to drop on a release clause for an 18 year old GK named Rebollo. For some reason, these younger players are afraid of a Crucial team role so I offer Sporadic and they like that far more even though they’ll immediately go into the starting 11.

They do, however, seem to want a 1.9k wage and when I offer a young winger named Keelan O’Connell only a thousand, he and his agent immediately walk. So, then, Keanan Bennetts is offered 1.9k and Sporadic and he and his agent immediately agree. Little does he know he’ll go right into my starting 11 and play every game so long as his stamina allows.

A couple low rated players in my rotational squad are sent out on loan and there’s very little action for Heibei on the rest of deadline day. Once my scouts come back in for their monthly check-in, I weed out the sub-60 OVR projected prospects and they go back out. A fleeting taste of ‘home’ for them before they have to return to the far reaches of the globe. Though I’m not sure if Langfang is more desirable than ending up in Japan or England.

The first two games of the Asian Continental Cup arrive, and perhaps this is Heibei’s equivalent to the Champions League so I put my first team in play and am greeted with a 2-1 win from the main boys only to have them crumble against Australia’s Newcastle United Jets somehow. Lavezzi and Mascherano have never before seemed so fallible.

As if to cheer myself up, I sign a young scouted player named Onishi to the Youth Team since his projected rating is relatively high even given the early stages of the process. Is it a gamble? Yes. Does Jorgunn Pitfar’s interest in management end at Heibei? Definitely not.

Moving forward, we will play out the month of March as standard Fifa Career mode before implementing the final Random aspect of this journey. More on that later.

#Fifa #Career #Career Mode #Manager #Gaming #Video Games #Journal

0 notes

gadgetsrevv · 5 years

Text

Neymar returning to Spain would be an ego trip by Barca or Real. PLUS: Chelsea exposed at Man United

It’s back! After a summer of international soccer, Gab Marcotti returns with his weekly column reflecting on the big talking points. It’s the first edition of Monday Musings for the 2019-20 season.

The latest on Neymar’s transfer saga

So now it’s apparently just a question of making the numbers work. PSG sporting director Leonardo confirmed that the club are in talks to sell Neymar, with Real Madrid and (possibly) Barcelona the likeliest destinations. But when you put a $210m Euro price tag on a guy, it’s far from straightforward. Particularly since whoever signs Neymar will also be on the hook for some $300m+ in wages over the next five years.

The depressing thing here is that this seems to be driven more by ego than footballing logic on all sides. Sure, Neymar is a hugely talented player and, possibly, still one of the heirs apparent to the Cristiano Ronaldo/Messi duopoly. But Barcelona have just added Antoine Griezmann to a front line that includes Messi and Luis Suarez (not to mention Ousmane Dembele). Real Madrid have just spent $110m on Eden Hazard and have big plans for Vinicius and Rodrygo, plus Marco Asensio won’t be injured in perpetuity. (And that’s before we get into Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez).

Where does he fit at either club, except as a an ego-trip and commercial roll of the dice?

The answer is he doesn’t. Signing Neymar would require a dismantling of the team that has been built (and, presumably, planned, though with Real Madrid you’re never quite sure how much planning is involved). And is his contribution, especially at that price, big enough to justify tearing up the blueprint?

I’d suggest the answer is a resounding “no,” not to mention the numbers. I know some treat Financial Fair Play as a joke but hey, it’s real and it’s still around. Barcelona can’t find a few extra million to land Matthijs De Ligt but they can commit half a billion to bring back Neymar, the guy who left so he could write his own story away from Messi’s shadow? Really?

Real Madrid, already stuck with two guys (Bale and James) whom they’re struggling to sell because of the absurdly onerous contracts they gave them, happily go and lavish another mega-deal on a guy who started less than half of his league games at PSG in the past two years? You sure?

Neymar’s time at PSG has failed to live up to expectations but it’s not stopped Spain’s two biggest clubs from trying to get him back in La Liga. Why?

It’s a sign of the modern game, and the way big clubs are straitjacketed by massive contracts, that if this deal happens, it won’t be a cash deal. The only way it works is by throwing in makeweights, which is why you’re likely to hear plenty of talk of Philippe Coutinho or Nelson Semedo, or James or Isco going the other way. Sticking a player in as part exchange not only saves you cash, but it allows for some neat accounting slight of hand because you can put almost whatever valuation you like on him and then let the magic of amortisation do the rest.

Stay tuned.

There’s also the distinct possibility that he doesn’t move at all, which would mean that sanity prevailed. Thomas Tuchel hinted at it after Sunday’s Ligue 1 opener for PSG. Of course, if he stays it will be curious to see what the reaction of the PSG fans will be. On Sunday night, during the 3-0 win over Nimes (Neymar was nowhere to be seen), he was invited — via banners and chanting — to get the hell out of the club.

Will it be the sort of thing that gets forgotten after a few good performances and some winning runs? You hope not, but you fear yes, just as you hope that if Florentino Perez or Josep Bartomeu break the bank one more time for this guy, they will be held to account.

There’s nothing wrong with spending big if you think you have the right guy: Kylian Mbappe is Exhibit A, B and C here. But to do it out of ego, in the waning weeks of the transfer window, while ripping up the script, smacks of irresponsibility. This is a good time as any to remind Florentino and Bartomeu that they don’t own their clubs. They are presidents with a responsibility for stewardship.

Breaking down Man United vs. Chelsea

Frank Lampard is playing with house money this season. As one of the more analytical and reflective football men out there, you could picture him in the summer playing the scenario game.

Best (realistic) case?

The combination of youngsters, loan diaspora and holdovers coalesce around his brand of football (which, lest we forget, is far closer to his predecessor’s than any Chelsea manager since Andre Villas Boas), Chelsea break into the top three, go deep in the Champions League and he gets a big, fat transfer budget next summer.

– Ogden: Pulisic must hit ground running at Chelsea

Worst (realistic) case? The kids’ inexperience costs Chelsea dear, the likes of Mason Mount, Reece James and Tammy Abraham offer further evidence of the gulf between the Premier League and the Football League, there’s a massive Eden Hazard-shaped hole that Christian Pulisic can’t come close to filling and they slip down the table, missing out on the Europa League.

But guess what? Between the transfer ban, the Hazard departure and the fact that he finally tapped into Chelsea’s vaunted Academy, there are enough mitigating circumstances there that he gets a pass. And he has another go in 2020-21, except with a full year of Premier League experience under his belt and a chance to actually acquire players next summer.

Frank Lampard, left, and Chelsea have a lot of work to do following Sunday’s heavy defeat at Man United. That said, it’s not all smooth sailing for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, right, either.

It’s worth bearing all of this in mind when evaluating Chelsea this season, in particular the opening 4-0 smackdown at Old Trafford. Despite leaving N’Golo Kante (who was unfit) on the bench and being without Antonio Rudiger, not to mention the long-term injuries to Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi, they hit the woodwork twice and looked bright and sharp on the ball for most of the first half. But Kurt Zouma‘s sloppy tackle gave United a penalty, which Marcus Rashford converted, and as the saying goes, goals change games.

United were able to play on the counter and they did it very well, though, again the second and third goals were the result of individual errors by Cesar Azpilicueta (not something you can chalk up to youthful inexperience) and the fourth was a deflected effort to crown a fast break that began with Zouma on his back and Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire asking the referee to stop the game for what they thought was a head injury.

In other words, a healthy dose of misfortune, individual errors and happenstance, though that doesn’t gloss over the fact that there is plenty of work for Lampard and Chelsea to do. The individual blunders loomed large but there was also a serious lack of balance in the side, which isn’t surprising when it’s the first game of the season and more than half your starting XI were either elsewhere or on the bench last season.

As for United, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire hit the ground running and gave Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the perfect platform upon which to counter-attack. For all the venom he gets from some quarters, Paul Pogba popped up with two assists (one of them, as delightful as you’re likely to see this weekend). And yes: when it comes to flat-out pace, United have plenty.

The test, of course, will come later, as Jose Mourinho (not that he has an axe to grind or anything) pointed out on TV: what happens when they face teams who park the bus? Speedy strikers are great if they have space in which to run but when the opposition sit deep, you need either creativity (that’s on you, Paul) or the physicality to punch it in (and both big Belgians are gone).

That’s where Solskjaer will earn his bacon and in that sense, he faces a far more daunting task — at least as far as 2019-20 is concerned — than Lampard.

Can Juve resolve squad issues before it’s too late?

It’s rare that you get a manager speaking with the sort of honesty we heard from Maurizio Sarri over the weekend, when he admitted Juventus need to shift six players between now and the end of the transfer window or risk having to cut them from their Champions League squad. A lot of the focus has been driven by the transfer window, with speculation about the likes of Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain and/or Mario Mandzukic moving or, in midfield, Sami Khedira or Blaise Matuidi. But there ought to be a bigger concern: how did we get here?

Juventus can count and they knew that because they have just one homegrown player in the squad, perpetual third keeper Marco Pinsoglio, they can only register 22 players. So what kind of planning is it to find yourself in mid-August being forced to give guys away?

This situation is aggravated by the fact that most of the players they want to shift are older and with hefty contracts. What’s more, with the Premier League window closed, there are only so many potential destinations and there won’t be any late-August panic buys from mid-table English sides.

It’s pretty basic stuff. You hope that sporting director Fabio Paratici has some sort of plan up his sleeve, one that won’t cost the club too much money. Otherwise, for all his success in landing the likes of Matthijs de Ligt, Adrien Rabbit and Aaron Ramsey, he will have dropped the ball big time.

Enough complaining about VAR already!

There were no VAR screw-ups in its first weekend of Premier League life. Of course, this doesn’t mean there was no controversy, mainly because — despite the fact that it has been around for nearly three seasons and fans, players and media would have seen it in the World Cup, Champions League knockouts and FA Cup — some observers seemed to act as if they were seeing it for the first time (witness the Raheem Sterling offside) and others seemed unaware of the changes to the Laws of the Game that came into effect on June 1 (Philippe Dendoncker’s disallowed goal in Wolves’ win over Leicester).

– VAR in the Premier League: Big decisions explained

My colleague Dale Johnson has written about this at length if you want to go granular but put in its simplest form: offside is offside and it doesn’t matter how close it is. It’s frustrating to have to repeat this. And while, I’ll grant you, offside VAR is more of a by-product of why video replay was brought in to begin with (which was to correct major, aka clear and obvious, errors), the fact that we have the technology to apply it to offside calls more accurately than human assistants means there’s no reason not to use it.

Whatever you think of the margin of error that exists at the junction of frame velocity, human velocity and the brains of VAR operators, it surely is more accurate than a sprinting linesman asked to look in two directions at once while determining the exact moment boot strikes ball.

I’ve heard some suggestions that it would be better to only use VAR on blatant offside errors. OK, fine. So how do you judge what is blatant? And, while we’re at it, when it’s that close, even the very best human assistant referees are left to guess. With no VAR, Sterling might have been flagged offside or he might not. It would have been a coin flip.

Does that really sound more reasonable?

The Wolves incident actually has nothing to do with VAR but simply with a rule change that came into effect on June 1. If you handle the ball, even accidentally, and then gain an advantage from it that allows you to score a goal, that goal gets disallowed. Why? Because IFAB figured it’s against the spirit of the game to score with the help of an arm or hand and they want to standardize officiating, with more consistency. Making refs decide on the spot what is accidental and what is not when a goal is scored is, according to them, unnecessary. Which sounds reasonable enough, though it was somewhat jarring for Wolves fans on Sunday.

In the Dendoncker goal, the Belgian midfielder struck a ball that hit his teammate, Willie Boly on the arm. It was clearly accidental and had it just rolled away, everything would have been fine. But the ball sat up for Dendoncker to hit cleanly into the back of the net, and that’s why it was disallowed.

Would the goal have stood if there had been no VAR? Not unless the referee didn’t see the ball hit Boly’s arm. In which case, it’s a good thing there is VAR.

There will undoubtedly be mistakes and blunders, either with the VAR protocol or technology or implementation this season. But Week One went smoothly and whatever “controversy” arose feels mostly down to folks needing something to talk about.

Once the VAR novelty wears off, hopefully by the start of September, we can all move on.

Is Man City’s squad deep enough?

Manchester City raced out to a resounding 5-0 victory at West Ham in week one of the Premier League season and most have them as favourites to three-peat as champions. Rightly so, perhaps, but you wonder if they aren’t a little bit thinner than you’d like them to be in central defence.

In central defence, Vincent Kompany is gone and, effectively, City’s fourth central defender is Eliaquim Mangala, who hasn’t actually played at all in 18 months (and was nothing to write home about before that) and won’t be stopped from leaving should the right offer appear. Nicolas Otamendi is a year older and coming off a Copa America. John Stones had a poor season last year. He may bounce back, he may not.

The next option, presumably, is dropping Fernandinho into defense, but he’s 34 and has had injuries. Plus, if he’s at the back, he’s not in defensive midfield, which leaves only Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan (whose injury record isn’t great) in the middle of the park.

You can only assume Guardiola has a ton of faith in some of the teenagers populating the development squad, like Eric Garcia and Joel Latibeaudiere. Otherwise, a rough patch of injuries and suspensions could cost them dear.

Bayern get their man (and it’s not Sane)

Having missed out on Leroy Sane, Bayern seem set for a band-aid solution to the wing by bringing in Ivan Perisic from Inter on loan. If the reported numbers are correct — $5m loan fee, plus a $25m option to buy — it’s a cheap-and-cheerful way of adding some experience and quality in a guy who already knows the Bundesliga well.

It may be one of those rare moves that helps all those concerned.

Perisic wasn’t part of Antonio Conte’s plans at Inter and from their perspective, getting his wages off the bill and a little bit of money back makes sense. He’s been frighteningly inconsistent but has his moments and perhaps Bayern, a far more stable club than Inter, can ensure he gets some continuity to his performances. He ought to his seize this opportunity with both hands, because this is what you call landing on your feet after falling off a skyscraper.

As for Bayern, if he performs the way he did most of last season, no biggie: they can just send him back in the summer.

//due to VPPA compliance we can not send keywords through URLs implicitly in the US var countryValue = $.cookie("country"); if(!!countryValue && countryValue !== "us") {

$.ajax({ url: '//pixel.mathtag.com/event/js?mt_id=694557&mt_adid=137010&v1=&v2=&v3=&s1=&s2=&s3=', dataType: 'script', cache: true }); } (function(d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if (d.getElementById(id)) return;js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_GB/all.js#xfbml=1&appId=116656161708917";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, "script", "facebook-jssdk")); Source link

via wordpress https://ift.tt/2H27Aqe

#Uncategorized #Neymar returning to Spain would be an ego trip by Barca or Real. PLUS: Chelsea expose

0 notes

sweetlifetownsville · 5 years

Text

The Blather Storm Gathers Strength: The Astonisher Is So Desperate For Love, Is Tinder Next?

BLAM! The Astonishers iditor scores another bullseye on her tootsie, while penning a paean of self-praise making the floods all about THEM, not YOU. For comic relief, it cant be bettered. Whats our deputy Doo Dah, Messagebank Walker not telling us? ThePie hears he is so upset with some Facebook jibes, that hes seeking legal advice. Also, the (old) gangs all here Townsville gets another council CEO with a chequered history. And THAT photograph of a female footy player to revert to a dismissive saying of his youth, The Magpie asks whats the hairy deal? And motor scooters dont usually make us laugh, but this one does. But first In these days of whine and posers, few things are hard to imagine as being impossible but The Magpie being genuinely indignant ON BEHALF of Pauline Hanson would be up there until this week. This screechy harridan is truly an ill-educated, blinkered ignoramus, but the set piece public bullying ambush on national TV during the week successfully cast her as a victim deserving sympathy and thats a role she doesnt really deserve. So David Koch and Derryn Hinch have more than their unprofessional behaviour to be ashamed of, but also the fact that it immediately gave Hanson the undeserved role of a victim of misogyny. The is a deplorable trend in pop media to mistake shouty bullyboy ranting as a justified replacement for clever and reasoned questioning. The smug stand-over tactics of the hugely self-satisfied talent-cipher David Koch was reinforced by a swearing and blaspheming Hinch. Any moral point they were trying to make on Sunrise i.e. that Hansons track record of anti-Islamic rhetoric played more than a totally speculative role in the Christchurch massacre was completely lost by their behaviour. Bentley was totally unimpressed.

These two dunderheads quickly learnt that their ranting was self-defeating, with viewers generally sympathetic to Hanson and making widespread calls for Koch to be sacked and Hinch well, well just have to wait on the ballot box for him to get his. The ABC Tries Its Hand At Soft Porn It was the week of THAT photograph of THAT kick. The image that dominated the public chatterati this week was this one AFL footballer Tayla Harris.

And the young lady can thank Channel 7 for the publicity she is now enjoying (well, she indicates she quite OK with the attention.) The pic was put up by 7 on their FB page earlier in the week, but when it attracted some totally predictable low comments from some pimply near-illiterate trolls, the station made the bizarre decision to remove the image instead of just the comments. This skewed logic suggested they agreed that the trolls had some sort of point with their totally unacceptable view of things. Cue predictable outcry over this sort of flinching management oafishness and back up it went sans comments of course. As is the world these days, this attracted a great deal of notoriety for the picture and for Ms Harris, and various members of the professional huffnpuff brigade. Now, you may find this hard to believe, but The Pie has looked and looked and looked examined this photograph at least a dozen if not 20 times, and was nonplussed as to what the whole thing was about. But then the awful truth dawned, courtesy of ABC TV news on Wednesday night. It was what was NOT being said that was the problem. The ABCs lengthy tut-tutting report showed, for reasons known only to themselves, a series of stop-motion pics of the entire Harris kick. Not once, but TWICE (roll through to 16.38 and 17.39 if the link is still up). The relevance or necessity of the extra pics is not immediately apparent. This very un-ABCish display hit like a freight train to the senses the lovingly slowed, later zoom, double dose started to take on the semblance of soft porn for the trolls and talk about the Streisand Effect (decrying the publishing of something magnifies its exposure tenfold). Because the one thing absolutely no one was saying was that the picture was undeniably sexy. And anyone who indignantly says otherwise is simply lying. Or dead. The athletic female form is every bit as sexy as that of a male perhaps more so, but it seemed everyone was tip-toeing around this fact. But The Pie let it all pass until the following night, when a further ABC TV report on the issue again featured the same series of photographs (scroll to 25.14), which started to look like an excuse to run the pics again and again. This was now beyond ingenuous. And it was dishonest, close up zooms and the like also making it clearly prurient. Of course, the whole thing was clothed in a finger-wagging moral tale, with the photographer wittering on about a beautiful, graceful, powerful image - which it is and some other thundering gorgon calling for detection and expulsion of the trolls if they were found to be gasp members of an AFL club. Speaking your mind on social media nowadays requires awareness, common sense and an understanding that private thoughts and grubby unattainable ambitions should remain just that, private. But the medias prissy denial of the reality in this instance, pretending that an obviously sexy image should not be seen as such, just aggravates the situation instead of taking a sober look at the issue. And an image like this can bring out the wrong reaction in the emotionally immature. Sport has always been inextricably linked with sex, indeed, born of it, the first instances of ancient games were devised to advertise the best genes available for breeding purposes and thats not a million miles away from the way sports like tennis, swimming, gymnastics and athletics are subliminally marketed today. And, like the seasoned exponents of other, established sports, Ms Harris and the other women who play AFL will soon get comfortable with the new reality and no doubt flaunt their new image for fun and profit. (As an AFL die hard, The Pie might be unkind enough to suggest the photograph was the only thing worth watching of the new womens league.) But even after rocking that vision back and forward a score of times, The Magpie admits he is stumped try as he might, he just cant see it what all the fuzz is about. The Bulletins New Slogan Its All About Us Well, thats what they meant, and at least thats a refreshing burst of honesty and hilarity. In what in The Magpies experience is an unfortunate first, Bulletin iditor Jenna Cairney has used a prominent two page spread (about $10,000s worth to punters) to tell us how wonderful she and her team have been for doing their jobs. Like hundreds of others, continuing to do their jobs despite suffering flood damage to property . And what tough times she and her battling journos had of it. Suddenly it was Were For Us ,and not Were For You.

Self praise is never any recommendation. But in this virtue-signally fest, a desperate bid to establish that the turnstile staff door at the Astonisher doesnt exist and everybody is here forever, Jenna comes spectacularly undone. First, theres this laugh-your-arse-off clanger

Despite in itself the highly questionable claim of who does what and where, (certainly much of the advertising layout is done in The Phillippines) the boast doesnt say much about the papers writing or subbing or local knowledge when it is featured above a picture carrying an incorrect caption. There is no intersection or corner of Norris Street and Queens Road, these streets run parallel and dont intersect, they are two blocks apart. The initial error could be forgiven, formed under trying circumstances but that was back then, now is now, where any sub with local knowledge wouldve picked it up, or at least checked. And real papers keep the archives updated. But thats not the only dubious claim when we read on.

Just love that line much of what they say will be true; much will be their version of the truth, and lets be blunt, some may be downright lies. That would make a much more accurate description of the Townsville Bulletin instead ofnthe mimsy Were For You, which by the way, is a News Corpse company-wide slogan for all mastheads across the country. So we are to trust you when you tell us 77% of locals read our content. As the Hotels Combined bear keeps saying Really? Lets see, total population of the immediate Townsville local area i.e. possible circulation, is, in round figures, about 250,000, 77% of which is 179,000. Yet the latest Roy Morgan readership figures show that on an average weekday, 43,000 see a Bulletin and on the weekends, 52,000 and almost all these readers are the same repeat readers, the Bulletin is not a destination for casual browsing. Nice try at creative accounting, Jenna, hope you dont do your books with this method. And your risible claim that we can trust the Townsville Bulletin is as believable as this little bit self-praise bollocks.

Pure and utter tosh, and the city knows it. But good job on youth crime, though, mate, herograms all round to your tough journalists. And boy, is your closing going to come back and bite you on the bum sometime soon.

Like they say in Hollywood, Jenna, when you can fake sincerity, youve got it made. It seems appropriate to follow those sentiments with this ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL WITH JENNY AND JENNA Make no mistake folks, were on the campaign trail, and its the Jenny and Jenna show from now until next March. Get used to it.The blizzard of bent bullshit is gathering force down at the Astonisher. We could have been excused for alarm and panic when we read the suggestion that our new council Chief Excecutive Officer is yikes!! Mayor Mullet herself!! Isnt that how anyone would see this at a glance?

But hang on, thats obviously an error in putting the story together, so lets ignore the click bait come on, and click through to the real story as it appears in the online Bulletin.

Nope, still looks like Mayor Mullet. But then we get to the story which is by established practice, usually summarised in photograph and headline and we find that the familiar-sounding Mike Chiodo has been bumped up from acting CEO to the full time gig. So lets look down through the story, see what this Chiodo bloke looks like. No luck! Seems the Bulletin hasnt got a pic of him to inform us what our new CEO looks like. So let The Pie help out here this is our man an why his bname souns familiar AS REPORTED IN THE MAGPIE JULY 15, 2017 EDITION.

New TCC CEO MIke Chiodo Back in 2017, that same article included this .

The mystery resignation was never publicly cleared up, but again, in July 2017, The Pie reported this interesting tidbit about Adele The Impaler Youngs NT chum and now successor.

Seems Mr Chiodo has hit on another sweet little earner in yet another city he is passing through. Look, he may be a fine administrator Christ knows, anybody will do after Adele Young but a bit more transparency at how the choice was made, and what other interest was shown in the position would have been well in order. But of course, Mayor Mullet is like Jenna, and just wants us to trust her. OK, Big Mama, we trust you yeah, right. A Little Messagebank Mystery

Deputy Doo Dah Les Messagebank Walker This floated into The Nest during the week from a Magpie contact (trust The Pie, please ). I read with interest an article you put together some while ago with respect to Wellards possible involvement with certain councillors and some unusual behaviour with feed lots and land. Step forward to our dispute in relation to the Cattle holding yards near Oak Valley. Plenty of opposition from the locals, and for good reason, the submission by the developer (Gary Dixon & Co aka Ronmar Rural Pty Ltd) was an absolute shambles. I suspect they have been trying to strong-arm the planners at the TCC to get their way. Regardless, I thought that you may find it interesting that Les Walker excused himself from chairing the Planning Committee meeting that heard the case. He alleges that posts on social media (I presume the private Oak Valley Facebook page) indicate that he has a relationship with the developer. There certainly have been some comments, but none that anyone who has a thick skin but is innocent wouldnt deflect with a chuckle. Therefore, quite curious behavior from our deputy mayor who he is apparently seeking legal advice on the matter. Thats now on The Magpie watch list. An Historical Bit Of Doggerel For Our Coming Federal Election Season. Some observations defy time and changing fashion, never to lose their core truth. This from Jonathan Swift 250 years ago. Let them, when they once get in, Sell the nation for a pin; While they sit a-picking straws, Let them rave at making laws; While they never hold their tongue, Let them dabble in their dung We may, while they strain their throats Wipeour arses with their votes. And Another Timely Reminder Of These Political Times It applies just about everywhere.

This Is Just Fall-About Funny Motorbike fanciers, cant yet afford that souped-up, scream machine youve always dreamed of? Heres your answer in the meantime. This Week In Trumpistan

Just when you think Americas Chump In Chief cant sink any lower in his increasingly demented ramblings, this week was dominated by his attack on much-loved war hero Senator John McCain. While a young Donald dodged Vietnam because of alleged bone spurs made him unsuitable for the armed forces, pilot McCain was captured by the Viet Cong but remained loyal and unbreakable through years of imprisonment, deprivation and torture. Of course, McCain couldnt reply to Trumps barbs, hes been dead some months now. Trump denigrated McCain viciously, and for no real apparent reason except McCain wouldnt go along with his loopy policies the response to the attack came from across America and was instantaneous, as reflected by cartoonists on all side of the political divide.

Another ridiculous week has gone by, and somehow, were still here. Hit the comments page with your thoughts or just for silly fun. And sincere thanks to those who have supported this blog with a donation, times are a bit skinny at the moment, funds are always needed to defray costs; if you can help out, the how to donate button is below, it will be greatly appreciated.. http://www.townsvillemagpie.com.au/the-blather-storm-gathers-strength-the-astonisher-is-so-desperate-for-love-is-tinder-next/

0 notes

dfsdf23234-blog · 4 years

Text

Our team is here and standing by to counsel you

Our team is here and standing by to counsel you on the most up-to-date Peugeot 2008 price, and they'd be pleased to answer any further questions that you might have. All teams playing a specific game have various uniforms in order to identify a single team from another. Far before both teams were known, but the belt tightening was evident. You make your own group of eleven players.

MLB Major League Baseball, on the flip side, seems to have an extremely liberal policy in regards to jewelry. Everyone thinks football is so crucial. In conclusion quarterback training on the best way to grip the football is a significant fundamental in turning into a thriving passer. Football isn't just wearing football boots and learning all the advice and tricks and you're going to be a terrific player. Football after all is among the many physical contact sports. The Football Betting World The sports football that's better known as soccer in the usa is among the most well-known sports on the planet. Walkahead Sports Walkahead Sports was born with a passion to build sports lovers for a nutritious Life-Style when providing effective and higher performance coaching for those youngsters to compete in sports around the world.

It's possible to find even more sports explained in the section about unusual sports, and there are lots of sports which are no longer played, which we've listed as extinct sports. Winter sports are obviously also an excellent method to get fit. It give children and teens an enjoyable platform to exercise and move around. From a business perspective, fantasy sport is an excellent start-up concept to put money into India. In the current era, sports are commonly thought of as a career in many nations. Sports on the whole, are a really healthy means of expressing one's individuality and receiving physically fit.

Sports falling into a couple of categories. So, they are not only great for the body, but also for children's mind. Organized sports are only a single portion of the equation. For kids, they play an extremely important part in their lives by providing all round development of the child, physically, mentally and emotionally. It is normal for popular sports to pull large broadcast audiences, resulting in rival broadcasters bidding large quantities money for those rights to show certain fixtures. With it being a required portion of some sports (for example, motorsport), it's employed in other people to increase performance.

If you're a neophyte in the game, you should concentrate on your accuracy. It's incredibly annoying to awaken early before the game only to understand the app isn't working and you miss a considerable chunk of the start. With the assistance of newer technologies, it is now very simple to relish live games on gadgets.

Individuals who wish to improve their game may also get trained here. What also fascinated me in regards to the game was the sum that every one of the players truly delight in playing. Getting your very first aid kit well stocked with these kinds of items will therefore signify that the correct players may play the games you need them to, and play the entire game without worrying they will be unnecessarily hurt. Once you determine that, you are going to understand their game. When some games, like League of Legends, have existed for some time, and appear to have cemented themselves as an esports staple, the business is very volatile.

For the very first time, players were subject to prospective suspensions for crimes. Don't allow the player realize that you are affected by what they're doing. Actually lots of people are aspiring to be a professional football player they start training when they continue to be very young.

You're able to find team related products for almost any team on the internet, and since the net has increased competitiveness, you can acquire excellent deals in varying styles from casual to dressy alternatives. Due to its popularity, the autographed sports memorabilia market has turned into a huge and productive enterprise. The sports technology market growth is anticipated to be significant over the next few years. Moreover, activities are supervised, helping to make sure the protection of your kid. Most activities permit you to choose the days and times you play, together with the people on your team. While there are lots of sporting activities and games for youngsters, there are a few sports that are best for children with ADHD.

Excelling in the sphere of professional sports needs a robust mixture of talent, discipline, and determination. There are varied choices easily available from person to team games. Take a look at our guide to the very best Kodi add-ons for sports to get the best options.

The most apparent advantage of involvement in sports is a much healthier body. Inside my opinion, our regional i9 Sports programs are much superior to other organizations. Don't think that organized youth sports programs are the whole answer or that you're 파워볼자판기사이트 a bad parent for not placing your son or daughter in every available program.

0 notes

rephaela-blog · 5 years

Text

The Huge Misconception

The biggest misconception is that Juvenile Detention Facilities and group homes are the best options for kids who are headed down the wrong road in life. They are in place, to help get them back on track and become productive adults. I too believed this, until I met Brendon. This child was unique, very intelligent talking to him was like talking to a Professor who works at an Ivy League school he was full of knowledge. Brendon was also very talented, all this child had to do was look at an image and he drew it. It was impressive, he was also well mannered and respectful. I thought Brendon was one of those kids, who made a slight mistake like robbing a convenient store. Little did I know...Brendon was a sex offender. We weren't supposed to know the children offenses, to prevent biases but case managers love to run their mouths (remember this for a later blog). Sadly one of them ran their mouth to the wrong staff who leaked this information not only to other Residential Advisors but also to Residents. Just like adult prisons, Residents did not tolerate sex offenders. Out of fear, Brendon threatened to kill himself so he would be put on suicide watch. The staff has to be within arms distance of a resident on suicide watch, where ever the child went a staff had to be there. Due to sexism, most of the time, women were assigned to be Brendon’s one-on-one, until Brendon exposed himself to the mental health staff. Being around women was a trigger for Brendon, although he was a known sex offender some female staff felt it was appropriate to touch him(not sexually). Something as slight as a tap on the shoulder aroused Brendon. The Psychologist wrote in Brendon’s plan that he is not to be left alone with any female staff. Furthermore, his one-on-ones should only be administered by male staff. Of course to Shift Commanders at Cheltenham this was only a recommendation. It was not that the doctor orders could not be accommodated, remember earlier when I bought up sexism? Shift Commanders preferred men running the unit versus females, they were stronger and more equipped to deal with the boys. A male staff cannot run the unit while on a suicide watch, it was too risky. So why not, have one Male and one female run the unit, and have another male administer Brendon’s one-on-one? We had enough staff...I’ll tell you why. Due to favoritism, all it took is for a male staff to cry and complain about having to do his suicide watch and forget about the safety of the female staff or Brendon’s recovery. How do I know? Well, I was put on duty with 2 male staff, as soon as the Shift Commanders changed shifts one of my male coworkers, called and complained about being on Brendon’s one-on-one and I was ordered to take over. I refused, but I was threatened with a write-up. Thinking about it now, I should have taken that write up and appealed it. I was not surprised when Brendon decided to pull out his penis and start masturbating to me. I immediately called the Shift Commander, thankfully it was a different shift commander on duty, who was confused about why I was on his one-on-one and immediately swapped me out with a male staff. That shift commander reported it, I had to write a report on what happened. I just knew I wouldn’t be put in this position again. Silly me, the next day I was put on Brendon’s one-on-one again…by the same shift commander who assigned me to him the day before. I asked her did she know what happened yesterday, she told me she was aware but for the needs of the facility, I needed to do his one-on-one. I was on shift once again with 2 males, but I did as I was told. No surprise, during gym Brendon pulled out his penis and began to masturbate to me again. This time, I was not swapped out. For those that are aware, in 2012 Cheltenham was on the news because a youth not only killed but rapped a teacher. This puzzled the public, how could this have happened? Brendon was capable of repeating the same crime, the resident committed in 2012. Instead of enforcing the doctor's order they instead decided to grant Brendon a blue card. An actual blue index card, so whenever he felt the need to masturbate all he had to do is hand it to his staff and he can go in the bathroom and masturbate. Its apparent Safety, Security is not a concern for Cheltenham Youth Facility. Neither is the rehabilitation of the residents that are sent here.

0 notes

torentialtribute · 5 years

Text

Man Utd’s slow start a concern and there’s no place like home for Aguero – 10 things we learned

Another weekend with Premier League action resulted in another round of important discussion points, with many question marks around the form from some of the Big Six.

Chelsea Manchester United Tottenham and Arsenal failed to win – albeit with the last two playing an engaging 2-2 draw in The Emirates on Sunday afternoon.

There was also enough to draw more attention to the table, with both West Ham and Leicester achieving impressive victories in their attempt to break the monopoly at the top of the tree.

Here HARRY SLAVIN of Sportsmail gets 10 things out of the last round of competitions …

Arsenal pays the fine with Xhaka

Exactly what is it with Granit Xhaka and crazy challenges?

The Arsenal midfielder made another one in his own area on Sunday afternoon to give Harry Kane the chance to score from the spot after catching Son Heung-min with a reckless outburst.

It is something Gunners fans should get used to. Since its debut in the Premier League in August 2016, no player has given away more spot-kicks than the Swiss international.

That mistake on Sunday made it five awarded in three years. So far, only Crystal Palace & # 39; s Luka Milivojevic has given away more errors.

Tammy & # 39; s king of England strikers

Frank Lampard may be a bit under pressure after a less than convincing start to the season, but his youngsters seem to flourish positively in the top flight.

No one has had a better chance under the new Chelsea boss than Tammy Abraham, who took his third and fourth goal against Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon.

It is a huge boost for a young striker whose ability to crack the top flight has been questioned after his disappointing spell in Swansea two seasons ago.

Really, although its shape should not come as a surprise. Following his loan period in the championship last season at Aston Villa, Abraham has scored more goals than any other English player who has been in the top two flights of English football since the start of the 2018-1919 season.

Take that form in Europe, and Gareth Southgate can even shatter his Euro 2020 plans.

No English striker in the upper two layers of England has had more goals than Abraham since August 2018

Villa must take away the misery of the day

There was a general agreement between penalties and fans that Aston Villa might be heavily burdened on Saturday afternoon.

Seeing Henri Lansbury's last-minute strike for an observed dive by Jack Grealish was a difficult decision to swallow for Dean Smith and his side, but they really can't afford to engage in self-pity to roll over.

Tha goal deprived them of a valuable point of view, something that Villa desperately found difficult to come along in the top flight.

In fact, after their inverted Selhurst Park, they have now disappeared 20 Premier League away games without registering a single win, with only three draws in the process.

Red pair not only combines defensive dynamos on Merseyside

We now all know the devastating duo of full-backs that Liverpool has in the form of Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold .

But across the road to Goodison Park, with their own defensive dynamo.

Lucas Digne founded the winner of Richarlison in a pulsating collision between Everton and Wolves on Sunday afternoon, doing his sixth assist since the start of last season.

The Frenchman is now directly involved in 10 Premier League goals at that time – when you add his four goals to the comparison.

Alexander-Arnold (15) and Robertson (11) are still at the forefront, but Digne proves that attack-focused defenders do not live purely in Anfield.

Lucas Digne has been involved in more goals than all two Premier League Defenders

Cherries are still being picked too often

It is safe to say that watching Bournemouth in the top flight over the last 12 months has been value for money. Not that Eddie Howe will feel that he gets a lot for his money.

Premier League goals in their games since the start of the previous campaign. The only problem for the Cherries is that most of them are at the end of their performance.

Saturday provider is no exception to the rule, as Howe & # 39; s men participated in a pulsating collision with Leicester City and eventually dropped 3-1 at the King Power Stadium.

Those four strikes brought the total number of goals in Bournemouth games to 139 since August 2018.

However, with 78 of them wrong, at least as far as they are concerned, rediscovering the art from a cleansheet will be the priority of the international break.

There is no place as home for Sergio

There are no two ways; Sergio Aguero loves the Etihad

From the moment he landed the title with the most famous goal in the history of the Premier League, the Argentinian has affinity with the place where he is rarely matched by players and stadium.

On Saturday afternoon, he took a few steps in the direction of another piece of history thanks to his two attacks on Brighton, bringing his 98th and 99th top strikes to the ground. He only needs one more for a very special milestone.

Only Thierry Henry and Wayne Rooney have better records on one ground, with the pair 114 and 101 on Highbury and Old Trafford respectively.

Aguero will view the century against Watford on September 21.

Sergio Aguero is just a goal away from a century of home strikes for Manchester City

Goals of the back of a Schar thing in Newcastle

With Salomon Rondon and Ayoze Perez both left St. James & Park this summer, fans wondered where on earth the goals would come from.

It appears that they did not have to worry.

The answer has apparently been under their noses all the time, apparently in the form of Fabian Schar.

T he internatinal Switzerland drove forward from the center on Saturday afternoon to grab the most important equalizer against Watford to give Steve Bruce his first home point as Toon boss.

It was Schar & # 39; s fifth Premier League strike in 2019 – more than any current member of the Newcastle team.

Fabian Schar scored more goals for Newcastle in 2019 than any current Team member

Hamers finally made a quick start

At this stage last season, West Ham fans remained scared of a rotten season.

Four Premier League games had come and disappeared, defeat each of them and left West Ham on the table.

Some fans may fear a repeat after the disastrous opening day defeat by Manchester City, but things seem to have changed for the better at London Stadium.

A 2-0 w in more than Norwich City has left the side of Manuel Pellegrini with seven points from four games and dreamed of a challenge for Europe.

Given that they needed seven games last season to reach the same number, you can see where the new optimism comes from.

Slow start of concern for Solskjaer

A month is a long time in football. Manchester United started the season as a house on fire against Chelsea. Now it already looks buzzy.

Saturday's draw against Southampton revealed the problems of a worn-out team and the difficulty of relying on youth.

Like the United season as a whole, the strong start at St Mary & # 39; s Stadium faded quickly and Southampton did not flatter in the least.

Ole Gunnar left that stalemate in Solskjaer with only five points and a record that you would rather not have.

The five points represent one of the poorest starts of Manchester United for a Premier League campaign. Not since 1992-93, the inaugural year of the competition, United has collected fewer points after four games.

Next, Sir Alex Ferguson's side had only four points after their opening quartet of collisions. Of course United won the title that season.

You suspect that Ole's goals for this season will be slightly more conservative.

Manchester United has only collected five points from the opening of the four top aircraft

Source link

#Man Utd’s slow start a concern and there’s no place like home for Aguero – 10 things we learned"

0 notes

policeslime35-blog · 5 years

Text

NFL Mock Draft Roundup: Defensive line is the obvious popular pick for the Eagles

The 2019 NFL Draft will be here before you know it. Mock draft season has already begun and there’s no shortage of opinion as to whom the Philadelphia Eagles might select with the No. 25 overall pick. Let’s take a look at which players the experts have the Eagles taking this week.

Defensive end is an obvious need with Brandon Graham and Chris Long potentially not returning to the Eagles in 2019. Polite was also the best player available on the board in this situation. Add in Howie Roseman’s #GatorBias and that checks all the boxes. The 20-year-old Polite finished his junior season with 45 total tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, six (!) forced fumbles, and four pass deflections. The Eagles’ defensive end rotation could look something like this in 2019: Derek Barnett, Michael Bennett, Josh Sweat, and Polite.

The Eagles could go in many directions here, but any time you can add a speedy edge rusher; you gotta do it. Brandon Graham is likely on the outs as a free agent, Derek Barnett is returning from injury and the team will need someone to rotate in with Michael Bennett at defensive end. Polite has sky high potential and instant impact ability. The Eagles might entertain getting a cornerback here, but with Polite on the board they should sprint to the podium.

Maybe this is too reactionary, but the Sunday’s playoff loss to the Saints showed that the Eagles need a true lead running back. Don’t forget that Jay Ajayi, who tore his ACL this season, is a free agent. If there’s a first-round back in the 2019 draft, it is Jacobs.

The storybook run of Philadelphia back through the playoffs was truly something to behold — but like all good things, it finally came to an end. And when it did, we noticed that, while DT Timmy Jernigan came back from a back injury to start meaningful reps, his quality of play decreased. His contract now non-guaranteed due to the non-football injury, and the depth behind him laughable, Jim Schwartz will look to add pass-rush juice with Wilkins, a 3-tech next to Fletcher Cox and a 1-tech stopgap when Cox isn’t on the field. In 2019, Philadelphia can now rush Cox, Wilkins, Michael Bennett, Derek Barnett, Josh Sweat, and Brandon Graham if he’s retained. That’s a whole lotta oomph.

With free agents Brandon Graham and Chris Long potentially moving on, Philadelphia could add some pass-rush help here. At 6-foot-6, 241 pounds, Sweat is a rangy prospect who is athletically gifted. And he produced, racking up 22 sacks the past two seasons. Receiver is also a position to watch, as Golden Tate and Mike Wallace are both on the free-agent market.

This would be the steal of the draft for the Eagles. Wilkins is a top-10 talent.

Polite had a breakout season for the Gators in 2018 with 45 tackles (19.5 for loss), 11 sacks, and best of all, 6 forced fumbles. He is one of the funnest prospects in this draft to watch, because of his combination of speed, pass rush feel, and relentlessness. Polite is a game-changing playmaker, and in any other draft, I would say there’s no way he could possibly make it to pick No. 25. However, in a draft that Howie Roseman called “historic” for it’s overabundance of defensive line prospects... maybe? I do also think that a trade up for a high-level, immediately-contributing defensive lineman prospect is possible, as the Eagles potentially have some outgoing pass rushers this offseason: Brandon Graham will be a free agent, and he is going to test the market. Michael Bennett was a good player in 2018, and he’ll be under contract in 2019 at a reasonable cost of $7 million, but he’s 33. Chris Long is also under contract, but he’ll be 34 in March, and he almost retired last year. Beyond that trio, the only defensive end on the roster with any legitimate NFL production is Derek Barnett. A defensive end in the first round is, in my opinion, by far the most likely position to be addressed. If there’s any concern with Polite, it’s that he’s undersized, at 6-foot-2, 242 pounds. If bigger offensive tackles get a hold of him, they can drive him back in the run game. That said, he plays with a violent, nasty demeanor, and is far from passive as a run defender. He’ll make his share of plays for loss, which is what Jim Schwartz prioritizes.

The Eagles’ safety group could use a youthful member. Thompson wasn’t a consistent play-maker for the Crimson Tide in 2018 ... but he’s very rangy and equally as impactful stopping the run as he is in coverage.

Adderley made a name for himself over the final months of the season and the FCS standout could find himself among the first 32 players taken. He’ll have a chance to prove himself at the Senior Bowl and the biggest question might be his size -- is he big enough to play safety over the course of an NFL season -- because every other aspect of his game checks all the boxes of what teams look for in a defensive back.

Harmon has the physicality to win at the catch point and over the middle, adding another outside weapon to the Eagles offense. He graded at 83.3 overall last season while winning 17 of his 30 contested catch opportunities.

The Philadelphia Eagles secondary is much better than most would assume given the lack of huge names on the depth chart, but there is still a need for cornerback upgrades and depth, as seen in the divisional round loss to the New Orleans Saints. Washington’s Byron Murphy is only around 5’11”, but he’s a feisty cover man with excellent instincts and closing speed. He showed off his ball skills all season for the Huskies and was a thorn in the side of Pac-12 quarterbacks. Some scouts might see Murphy as a slot cornerback, and that’s a possible destination for him in Philadelphia. But no matter where he’s lining up, he has the skills to make a major impact immediately.

Well, “The Magic Run” is over, Philly fans. Many Eagles’ faithful have moved to the stage of grief where they can accept this loss, and appreciate the good memories. Not me. My throat is still sore from screaming at the TV during the final drive, hoping Doug Pederson would hear me telling him there’s no need to rush or panic...that with a mere 27 yards to go, with two full minutes remaining, and time outs in your pocket, you could take your time, milk the clock, and get the winning TD with 20 seconds left. CERTAINLY there was no need to spaz out and inexplicably try to squeeze ONE MORE PLAY in before the two-minute warning when there was an eternity of time left and NO NEED to increase the chance of a mistake by rushing a play off when... OK wait: Serenity Now. As I was saying, the 2019 Eagles’ season has officially begun. There will be a lot of personnel decisions that will be made in the coming months. With OT Jason Peters likely retiring, the Achilles injury to OG Brandon Brooks, and even C Jason Kelce mentioning retirement...what will this O-Line look like next year? The D-Line, with the uncertain futures of Brandon Graham and Michael Bennett, has its own question marks. Multiple running backs may be needed. And, with all due respect to Nelson Agholor and Golden Tate, a field-stretching WR is also needed. The Eagles were a middling 16th in splash pass plays (20+ YDS) in 2018, and that needs to improve. Wolfpack WR Kelvin Harmon may not be a true burner, however he is very effective at all levels of the route tree. Coaches will love his attitude, work ethic, and the mean streak he brings to the table when blocking for the run. Harmon may not be the true complementary speedster the Eagles need right now, but he could be a legit #1 WR when Alshon Jeffery’s days are over in Philly. Plus, he’s just REALLY good at football.

Imagine how poorly a 30th-ranked pass defense would have fared without a capable line to mask its shortcomings. Dropping in the Jim Thorpe Award winner would be a step in the right direction.

Montgomery (5-11, 216 pounds) has emerged as a strong prospect because he finishes run strong and has shown some good hands and wiggle as a receiver. The Eagles have been a committee team under Doug Pederson, but injuries and ineffectiveness should make them consider one back who can do it all and complement Carson Wentz on every down.

There’s no question that the secondary needs some help, but there are a few promising pieces already in place that could turn into better players with a bit more patience and another season of development. The offensive tackle situation needs somewhat of a makeover. Jason Peters has been a staple of the front for nearly a decade, but injuries seem to slowly be taking a toll on his body. It’s unclear if the team will part ways with him this offseason, but an heir apparent needs to be in place due to his injury history. Cajuste is a very solid option to fill that void.

Protecting Carson Wentz has to be Philly’s primary objective, and finding a long-term replacement for Jason Peters should be a huge part of that. Cajuste is still smoothing out the rough edges in his game, but he’s got all the talent to be a stud blocker in the NFL.

It was a nightmare season for the Eagles secondary, with injuries and lackluster play equating to one of the leagues worst pass defenses. Needless to say that is not a good place to be in this pass-heavy age, so those issues on the backend must be resolved. Any plan to do that will likely include the addition of at least one high-quality cornerback or safety to the mix. Abram is a big, physical, aggressive safety with superb instincts who is at his best playing downhill, whether it’s against the run or even as a blitzer. Despite being an explosive athlete with decent ball skills who runs relatively well, Abram has some struggles in coverage but to his credit has made strides in this area. Abram also earns positive reviews for his intangibles such as toughness and leadership, showing the ability to anchor a secondary.

DE Jachai Polite - 3 DT Christian Wilkins - 2 OT Yodny Cajuste - 2 WR Kelvin Harmon - 2 S Deionte Thompson - 1 S Johnathan Abram - 1 S Nasir Adderley - 1 RB David Montgomery - 1 RB Josh Jacobs - 1 CB DeAndre Baker - 1 CB Byron Murphy - 1 DE Montez Sweat - 1

DE - 4 S - 3 DT - 2 OT - 2 RB - 2 CB - 2 WR - 2

Offense - 6 Defense - 11

We’re going to see a ton of mock drafts that have the Eagles taking defensive linemen this offseason. It’s a big need and the 2019 NFL Draft class is loaded with DL talent.

There’s a good chance Polite and/or Wilkins don’t even fall to the Eagles. Philly might luck out on the DL class being so deep, however, that someone unexpected falls in their laps at No. 25. Both of those players would be great additions to this defense.

Getting Cajuste would make me feel better about the Eagles’ offensive tackle situation. I really don’t love the idea of Halapoulivaati Vaitai entering the 2019 season as the undisputed starting left tackle if Jason Peters isn’t back. (Click here to read more about Cajuste).

I don’t really expect the Eagles to go with a wide receiver but maybe that changes depending on what happens with Nelson Agholor ($9.4 million cap hit in 2019, zero guaranteed), Mike Wallace (free agent), and Jordan Matthews (free agent).

I can’t see the Eagles taking a first-round running back. They haven’t done it in 34 years. I’ll believe it when I see it. With that said, the team does need to make some kind of significant addition(s) in the backfield.

I don’t see first-round cornerback happening, either. The Eagles have a lot of youth there already: Avonte Maddox (22), Sidney Jones (22), Rasul Douglas (23), Jalen Mills (24), and Cre’Von LeBlanc (24). We’ll also see what happens with Ronald Darby (25), who is set to be a free agent.

Safety is an underrated need with Rodney McLeod (9.9 million cap hit) coming off ACL/MCL injuries and Corey Graham (free agent) potentially retiring.

Who is your favorite for No. 25?

Source: https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2019/1/19/18189479/nfl-mock-draft-roundup-2019-defensive-line-eagles-jachai-polite-end-tackle-pass-rush-philadelphia

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

0 notes

arplis · 4 years

Text

Arplis - News: Glamorous Kids Bathroom Sets

Arplis - News source http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Arplis-News/~3/aYcB5ZVAvms/glamorous-kids-bathroom-sets

0 notes

drink-n-watch · 5 years

Text

Genre: Isekai, coming of age, thriller, drama, comedy, adventure, heart squeezes, friendship, potty humour, wow

Episodes: 7

Studio: Haoliners Animation League

Have you ever fallen in love with a dream? Not in that way you perv! True love. The type that sneaks up on you. The type that can be difficult and frustrating. When that other person is your best friend and your hero but also the one you absolutely need to protect at all costs! What would you do to see them again? And you know how dreams are. Tricky and fleeting. Before you know it, they flicker out of your mind without a trace. What if you missed someone from the very bottom of your heart, who you couldn’t remember at all? How far would you go to find them again? All the way to another world?

Do you know why I chose to watch this series? Because I liked the title. I liked the idea of an ensemble cast that had a heroine. That’s all. I knew nothing about it. I can say without hesitation that To Be A Heroine is the most surprising anime series I’ve seen in years. It caught me completely off guard and made quite the impression. Even now, it hovers on the edges of my brain. I decided to write this review because I just couldn’t concentrate on anything else.

I always suspected this would happen someday

Two little factoids to give you a bit of production background here. To Be A Heroine is a spiritual successor to the short program To Be A Hero (which I have not seen). It’s also a Chinese Japanese co-production and it’s not subtle about it.

What does that mean? For one, the art has a certain quality to it. It’s still very much an anime aesthetic but there seem to be some other influences in the mix. Something in the proportions and angles that makes it look like, well, a manhwa. Which is Korean so I’m not quite sure why this is. The animation is fine, but you can tell the budget wasn’t illimited. Not that this matters at all for the story. Some of the battle scenes could have been a touch more fluid or dynamic but again, I’m not sure that really would have been a plus. I’ll get back to it.

Where the mixed roots are most apparent though, is in the voice acting. That’s because half the series is in Japanese while the other half is in Chinese. And that is AWESOME! I strongly recommend you see this subtitled. They even throw in some French in there, and it’s the best French I’ve heard outside of an actual French movie. The constant back and forth between languages is such an interesting experience, especially since it brings with it a change in intonation and delivery style. It’s something that I had never seen done in any anime before. I loved it.

looks like my commute

However, this one is all about the story. It’s an isekai with a penchant for super childish blue humour, with some nice battle action, a surprisingly tender coming of age story and a tense criminal thriller set in the world of Big Pharmaceuticals. I’m not joking. I’ve tried to describe this over and over again without just simply telling the whole story (which would be a huge mistake as the reveals are amazing) and all I could come up with is imagine The Neverending Story (or the Wizard of Oz if you prefer), mashed with Kill la Kill and The Constant Gardener with just a hint of KHR. I’m not kidding. Oh, there are also some tongue in cheek BL jokes….

To not give anything away, I would say this is a story of tender youthful friendships, the hardship of growing older and growing apart, the beautiful bloom of love, the tragedy of jealousy and betrayal and the agony of loss. This cycle repeated across generations and realities. It’s about how greed can destroy entire worlds even if those worlds never quite existed.

This is a very weird show that starts off in a world where you can turn your clothing into warriors to fight for you and super powerful babies roam a land of perpetual darkness. And it made me cry. It hurt me in a pretty way. It still does.

of course

I would say this is the type of series that is likely to divide audiences. I adored it. It went directly to my list of favourites and I will now watch To Be A Hero just because of how amazing this show was. And if you watch it and tell me there’s something wrong with my head because this was a complete piece of trash – I will not be surprised either. It swings wildly form a poignant and visceral moment to a silly dad joke to innocently suggestive then tense and suspenseful. Sometimes in a single scene.

Moreover, I see that a lot of anime sites have this as a comedy/superpower show. Let me be clear. There are funny moments and silly moments, but this is a sad story. A very sad story. It deals with loss and pain in a direct way and when all is said and done, I would call it bittersweet at best. It’s also much stronger in its drama and thriller elements than its action or even comedy (which again, have some great moments). My point is that going by genre description I might have expected something like KonoSuba or the Disastrous Life of Saiki K and if that’s what I really wanted to see, then this would not have done the trick at all. I can imagine some of the audience may have felt rather cheated.

When looking at the MAL score you really can’t get much of an idea either. The total score is 7.2 (lowish but o.k.). There are only four written reviews though and the average of those scores is a slightly higher 7.5 still pretty average. What’s interesting though is that the actual scores are a 9, two 10s and a 1. This should give you a much better idea. It’s a love it or hate it sort of show. I loved it.

for friends like these – I would reshape reality as well

Aside from the originality of the production. Aspect ratios and colours are constantly being played with which is unusual, to say the least, and the genuinely visceral writing that had a completely unexpected emotional impact on me, it was also the sweetest example of friendship. It’s an almost indescribable show and I mean that as a compliment. I really think you should watch To Be A Heroine. You might hate it.

Favourite character: Moemoe – who am I kidding, everyone

What this anime taught me: Do not go gentle into that good night; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. (Dylan Thomas)

Every empty bottle is filled with stories

Suggested drink: Old Friend

Every time there’s a change in aspect ratio – take a sip

Every time anyone says “spicloth” – take a sip

Every time anyone ends up naked – take a sip

Every time there’s a flashback – get some tissues

Every time it’s raining – get some water

Every time anyone says “hero” – take a sip

Every time Hikaru hugs Super Oldguy – take a sip

Every time there’s a double entendre – just me?

Every time anyone pets Futaba – take a sip

Every time they mention “light” – sigh

I have pages and pages of notes on this show but I didn’t want to spoil it. If you want to chat about it with me, I would love to hear your thoughts…

nice glasses

The images of this series are very interesting and I would love it if you took a look at the gallery I put together but only AFTER you’ve seen the series. Here’s a little taste in the meantime:

What It Truly Takes To Be A Heroine Genre: Isekai, coming of age, thriller, drama, comedy, adventure, heart squeezes, friendship, potty humour, wow Episodes: 7…

#adventure #anime #comedy #coming of age #drama #fun!#isekai #sad #surreal #thriller #wow

0 notes