#the nice thing about this subject matter is that it caps out at 22 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

doyoufancyathought · 3 years

Text

Through The Utility Closet Part 3: Get Tested

Y/N had never been a fan of hospitals. In fact, she had gone above and beyond in her efforts to avoid going to them. She thought she could probably count all of her hospital visits on her fingers. Thankfully, she was a fairly healthy individual, so it wasn't hard for her to stay out of the Emergency room. They were too sterile, too clean, and everyone was always bustling and grumping around, and poking and prodding all the time. Y/N knew that the hospital wasn't supposed to be an enjoyable place to spend time, but she definitely was of the opinion that steps could be made to make it at least comfortable. Or hospitable, if you'll excuse the joke.

Still, she was in a new dimension, apparently, and so exceptions must be made when it comes to personal dislikes against institutions. She wanted to get home, after all, and this was a necessary step. In order for these scientists to send her back home, they must figure out where exactly she is from, otherwise they could end up sending her to a completely wrong place or time or what have you, and that would just be a disaster.

Once she was up on the exam table, Y/N did her best to appear friendly to the business-like nurse. She was quick and efficient as she hooked Y/N up to at least different machines, and tied a rubber band around her upper arm. For a moment, Y/N was worried that these strangers might be shooting her full of drugs, but then she remembered that this was simply routine for drawing blood. She hoped that medical procedures weren't too different in this world from her own.

Y/N was relieved when the nurse brought in a tray of empty vials and begin to explain what she was doing.

"I'm going to draw some blood so we can do some tests. I'll also need a hair sample, and I'm going to do a saliva swab as well, just so we can take a look at your DNA. How's that sound?"

"Invasive."

The nurse smiled. "I promise you'll barely feel a thing. The swab will be oral, same as checking for strep."

The nurse did her tests, and then let a few scientists in lab coats in. They pulled up chairs in front of the exam table and introduced themselves, although Y/N forgot their names as soon as she heard them.

"Okay, so I guess the first question is for you to introduce yourself and where you're from."

"My name is Y/N Y/L/N, and I'm from (hometown) in (country). I was working at one of my jobs when I fell through an inter dimensional portal and ended up here."

"Good start. Can you tell me about the planetary system from your home world?"

"I guess so." Y/N thought about it for a second, trying to remember those astronomy lessons from many years ago. "Earth is the third planet from the Sun, which is the centre of the system. Then there's Mercury, Mars, Earth, Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, Pluto, and I think I'm missing some. I can't remember the order, sorry, I've never been good at planets."

"That's all right. Can you tell me how many days in a year?"

"365."

"And how old are you?"

"22."

"And how old do people usually live to be?"

"Uh, I don't know. Maybe anywhere from 70 to 90 years?" Should have paid for attention in stats class.

"How big are spiders in your world?"

"Some of them are super tiny, like you can barely see them. And then some of them are huge, like a dinner plate."

"I see. And how big are chickens?"

"What?"

"How big are chicken? I know it's a weird question, but some worlds have gigantic chickens that actually prey on humans."

"Thats, um, disturbing. But my chickens are normal size? Like small enough to fit in an oven."

"Ok, well that's good. "

There where more questions like this, some about history and some about geography and flora and fauna. When they were all done, the scientists discussed for a minute by themselves.

"Okay, well, from what we can tell, your world is incredibly similar to our own, with the major differences likely being social development. You say you don't have the Avengers in your world?"

"No, we don't have any superheroes or superpowers at all. I wish, though."

"Yeah, that makes sense. How much do you know about inter-dimensional portals?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"Ok, well that's fair, it's a tough subject. So pretty much, each dimension has kind of bridges to reach out to other dimensions. When two bridges line up, there's a chance for people or things to cross over."

"Okay, that makes sense I guess."

"A lot of the time, these bridges go unnoticed. Some dimensions are connected permanently, some are connected cyclicly, and some are connected for less than a second at a time, which makes them extra hard to track. You with me so far?"

Y/N nodded.

"Don't worry if you don't get it. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that we might have a hard time tracking down your world."

"Okay, but how long do you think it'll take? How long does it normally take?"

The scientists shifted uncomfortably. "Well that's the thing. There is an infinite amount of universes you could be from, and it'll take a while to narrow it down to just the most likely. From there, we would have to figure out what kind of bridges they all have, and figure out how to predict it, and then figure out a way to send you back."

"Oh, that does sound complicated. So like a month?"

They glanced at each other. "We've never done this before, and we've never sent anyone back through a bridge."

"Two months?"

"Maybe a year."

"What?"

"I said, maybe a year?"

"I'm going to be here for a year."

"Maybe, like I said we've never done this before so we can't really give you an idea of how long it will take."

"Oh my God."

"We're very sorry. We'll give you some space."

The scientists left, and the nurse from before came back in and started unhooking Y/N from the monitors.

"We've run all the tests we need to, dear. Do you have any questions?"

"I have so many questions, I don't even know where to begin."

"That's understandable. We'll have your results back in a few hours, and that'll help the scientists get a head start on where you're from. I've got your clothes here, if you step through that door you'll be able to change in privacy."

Y/N nodded and jumped off of the table, gathering her clothes in her rooms and she quickly walked across the cold floor to the changing room. She pulled on her work clothes, which consisted of jeans and a black t-shirt, but opted to leave the apron and baseball cap off. There was no need to wear them here. Y/N put her shoes back on, simple canvas slip-ons, and reflected on what she had just learned. Here are the facts.

1. She had magically teleported through a door.

2. She was now stuck in a world that apparently had superheroes.

3. The superheroes had no idea how to get her back, or how long it would take to figure it out.

4. She was stuck.

Now, a normal person might cry when they considered this situation. But, Y/N was not a normal person. She had the fun meal-deal of anxiety and depression, and at this moment, she thanked her ill little brain for causing her to overthink every little scenario so she would be prepared for the worst to happen. Of course, none of those thoughts covered time and dimension travel, but they had covered a sudden zombie apocalypse, so it was just a matter of adjusting the survival strategy. Find shelter, find friends, and fight to live.

So far, Y/N had maybe found friends. The Avengers seemed like a friendly bunch, if oddly beautiful, and Sam had offered his basement as shelter. Now, all she had to do was figure out the day to day stuff. Get a job, live a life, and get back to her world.

So she stepped out of the changing room back into the hallway, and say the Avengers gathered around. They all turned to her as the door closed behind her.

"And what did you find out from the scientists, Y/N?" Vision asked.

"Well, they tried explaining how inter-dimensional portals work. That went way over my head. But basically, I'm gonna be stuck here for a while until they can figure out where I'm from and figure out how to get me back. So, I guess I'm going to need to find a job or something pretty quick."

Tony shook his head and stepped to the front of the group. "That won't be necessary. I'm loaded, and I'll make sure you're set up to not need anything."

"Why?"

"Because I want to? You just flew through outer space into a whole new world, and you're worried about getting a job? Come on, live a little! You look like you work too hard. What work do you do?"

"At which job?"

"Well how many do you have?"

"Three."

"Holy moly."

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Y/N shrugged. "I get bored."

"So you work?"

"Beats sitting around on my ass."

"Fair point. Well anyways, enjoy the vacation for now, and in the future if you still want a job, we'll have to figure out the proper documents. For now, enjoy your vacation! I'm loaded, and this is the perfect opportunity to share, okay?"

"If you really want to, I mean, I don't mind working."

"Clearly, you have three jobs. Psycho. But no, I don't mind. In fact, I would be offended if you didn't accept my offer."

"Okay, well, then, thanks!"

"No problem. I already gave Sam a credit card for you, so you can go shopping on your way to his house. You do know how to work a credit card, right?"

Y/N grinned. "Yes, Tony, I know how to work a credit card. My world apparently isn't that different from this one, just a few small differences I guess."

"Good. Alright, well, roll out, team."

The Avengers dissipated until it was just Sam, Steve, and James standing around with Y/N.

"So you're still coming with us, right?" Sam asked.

Y/N shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. If you don't mind, of course."

"Not at all. It'll be nice having a girl in the house, for once."

The group of four started walking down the long hallway.

"So do you just collect strays, Sam?" Y/N asked, curious of why he was so eager to offer his spare room to a total stranger.

Before he could answer, Steve cut in. "Yeah, I mean, why else did you think we lived with him?"

"I don't know. I thought maybe you were in a band, or really good gym buddies, or maybe even a throuple."

Sam choked on a laugh, but Bucky and Steve looked confused. "What's a throuple?" James asked.

"It's like a couple, but instead of it being two people, it's three." Y/N explained.

"And you thought?" Steve almost looked offended.

"Look, sorry, I don't know what's normal for you here, and I didn't want to assume it was all platonic!"

Sam was dying laughing. "You thought -" he had to lean on a wall to keep standing upright. "Man, we're just good friends, and these two have absolutely no credit, so it's hard for them to find places to stay."

"Ah. I guess being a superhero might not pay well."

"Well, I mean there are other reasons too, but yeah let's go with that." Steve didn't exactly want to jump this poor girl with the fact that he was also over 100 years old and had been frozen for a while. She had enough to worry about.

Y/N didn't pursue the other reasons, because they had finally exited the building and she was looking around, comparing this new world to her own. It was dark out, because it was night. She looked down the street and saw a McDonalds sign, which made her smile. At least she could have her chicky nugs if things got too tough. Turns out this world was just like hers, just with a bit of a different history. A lot more violence, hence the need for superheroes.

They got into the car, and Sam drove them to a mall, where they spent an hour and a half hopping around to different stores to get stuff. Y/N got used to spending someone else's money, and she definitely took advantage of the three guys following her around who offered, nay, insisted on carrying her bags. However, she insisted on going into the drugstore alone so she could collect toiletries.

She grabbed a cart (and honestly who uses a cart in a drugstore unless you have serious money to spend) and spent about 45 minutes going up and down most of the aisles to find what she needed. Luckily, the products were exactly the same as she was used to, so it was only a matter of finding exactly what she needed.

When Y/N finally walked out, she spotted her new companions sitting down on one of those middle-of-the-mall benches that are intended for senior citizens and mothers with rowdy children and men waiting for women to finish their shopping.

"Got everything you need?" Sam asked as he stood up and stretched.

"Yup."

"Alright, let's head home. You feel like pizza for dinner?"

"What's pizza?" Y/N deadpanned, and the three guys looked shocked.

"You don't know what pizza is?" Steve asked.

"Nope, never heard that word before in my life."

"Seriously?"

"Why would I joke about it?"

"You've never had pizza before." James reiterated.

"Nope. What is it?"

"No, you gotta experience it." Sam smiled and started walking back the way they had come.

Steve and James were perfect gentleman, and oddly strong as well, but Y/N again did not complain when they grabbed her bags from the drugstore. She opened doors for them as they went out to the parking lot.

Once they were back in the car, Sam got on his phone and ordered pizza that would be delivered right as they got home, provided traffic cooperated. Y/N spent the drive looking out the window at all the lights and people she saw, and didn't pay much attention to the conversation the guys were having. Nothing looked too out of the ordinary, except for the whole superhero thing.

Once they got to Sam's house, a tidy little bungalow in a quiet neighbourhood, they unloaded the car and headed inside. Steve and James ran downstairs to put Y/N's bags in her room, while Sam gave her a tour.

As they were walking down a hallway, Y/N stopped to look at family pictures hanging on the wall.

"Is this your family?" She asked.

"Yeah, that's my sister and her two boys. They've grown a lot since that picture was taken though."

"They look like lots of fun."

"They're a handful, that's for sure."

"And these are your parents?"

"Yeah," Sam said quietly. "They passed a few years ago, that's the last picture we ever took of them both together."

"Oh I'm so sorry." Sam shook his head as Y/N reached out to touch his arm. "They have really kind eyes." She said, her gaze returning to the picture.

"They were the kindest people I've ever known." Sam said, and just then, the doorbell rang. "Sounds like the pizzas here."

Y/N could hear the two boys thundering back up the stairs as she followed Sam to the front door. She expected that he would need help carrying all the food in.

She was right. The delivery driver had to go back to his car to get a second load of pizza. Y/N brought the first load into the kitchen and got a few plates down from the cupboard.

"Oh, good, you found the plates!" Sam said as he walked into the kitchen a few minutes later.

"Yeah, lucky guess."

They set the table in silence as Steve and James washed up, and then they sat down for dinner.

Sam decided he wanted to know more about Y/N. "So, Y/N, tell us a little bit about yourself."

"Ok, well," Y/N hated this questions, because how do you boil yourself down to just a few facts? She just wished people would ask direct questions, because she could answer questions if they were clear. She hated vagueness. "I'm 22, I still live, or lived, with my parents. I like dogs. My favourite colour is yellow. I have three jobs, as a nanny, in retail, and also at a Bubble Tea shop in my hometown. What else do you want to know?"

"Well that's a lot. Why do you have three jobs?" Steve asked.

Y/N shrugged, having to explain her workaholic tendencies twice in a day. "I get bored. And I like working, keeps life interesting."

"I'll bet. What do you do for fun?"

"I read a lot. And I like to go to the lake. And crochet."

"What kind of books do you read?" Steve asked.

"It depends. Sometimes fantasy, sometimes mystery. I read a lot of those cheap drugstore romances."

"Wait, you crochet?" Sam asked. "What are you, a grandma?"

"Like a crazy, chaotic grandma, kinda. I drink a lot of tea and wear a lot of sweaters, sorry for being comfy!"

They went back and forth for a few minutes. "How do you like the pizza?" Sam asked.

"Well," Y/N waggled her head back and forth, debating how to break the ruse. "Not the best I've ever had, but it's close."

"Wait, you've had pizza before?"

"Yes."

"You said before though-"

"And you believed me?Rookie move, gentlemen."

"Why would you trick us?" They weren't mad, just a little confused. And amused. James hadn't really said much since they sat down for dinner, but he grinned and chuckled at the confused looks on his friends faces.

Y/N shrugged. "Gotta keep you guys on your toes, yaknow?" They all laughed. "But hey, tell me more about you guys. You're super soldiers? What does that even mean?"

Sam and Steve took turns explaining who they were, and how the Avengers came to be. They didn't touch too much on James, who excused himself fairly into the evening. He was a little shy and quiet around newcomers, apparently, but Y/N wasn't bothered. She had bigger things to worry about than someone being shy around her.

When the talking turned to yawns, Sam offered to show Y/N to her room. He took her down the stairs into the basement, which opened up into a spacious rec room. There was a massive TV and a pool table. Down a short hallway were the two previously spare rooms, both of which were now occupied by strays that Sam had picked up. The only bathroom was unfortunately across the basement, but Y/N didn't foresee any problems with that.

Sam explained how every room had it's own colours for sheets and towels and stuff, and Y/N was very impressed with how domestically organized he was turning out to be.

Sam went back upstairs, and Y/N took a few minutes to settle in. She would unpack and run her new clothes through the laundry tomorrow, but for now all she wanted was a hot shower and a good long nights sleep.

She went into the bathroom, and saw that James had already made space for her stuff in the shower caddy, on the towel rack, and in the medicine cabinet above the sink. With a smile on her face, she put her few new belongings in those empty spaces, then drug herself through the shower and fell into her bed, exhausted.

Before her eyes closed, Y/N considered what had happened to her today. In a new dimension, living with three strange yet wonderful men, something that would be sure to give her mother a heart attack. And yet, she was excited for the morning to come. Part of her hoped that when she opened her eyes again, she would wake up in her home world, and she would be surrounded by people she knew and recognized. That's what a normal person would hope for in this situation, right?

But as I've told you before, Y/N is no normal person, and the other part of her was wishing that when she woke up, she would still be here, in Sam's house. She wanted to opportunity to explore, so see what else was out there. Maybe she'd discover a new life, a new chance to be the person she had wished to be but never got the chance. Whatever happened, she knew that tomorrow would be full questions, and hopefully a few answers. She hoped, anyways.

6 notes · View notes

tjkiahgb · 5 years

Text

Listen, I got so caught up in Tyrus Week, spending hours and hours going through tags and liking posts and queuing reblogs, that I pretty much pushed everything else to the side. (Plus I’ve also been working on the next thing I’ll tell you guys about in the next few days.)

All that is to say, I got a lot of stuff in my inbox this last week, so I’m just going to tackle a bunch of them in... A LIGHTNING ROUND.

Let’s go.

And before you ask, yes, I made a graphic for it.

Looks like this Andi Mack finale party has turned into... a death party.

Would’ve been a strange choice for Terri Minsky to turn the finale of Andi Mack into a murder mystery, but if that’s what she wanted, I’d trust her.

I don’t watch that show but I know some people who do and they’ve told me it’s just light and airy and pleasant, so, yeah, sounds right up Cyrus’s alley.

You guys are shouting Lightning Round! every time the graphic comes up, right?

I, like TJ, am just some guy. I tell everyone who asks to call me Jay. Jay is long for “J”, which is short for another name that I, also like TJ, only let people related to me by blood or my soulmate know about. I will say it’s not Jagger, though. I wish.

That wasn’t my intention while writing TJ and the Gals, but as with all art, or whatever TJ and the Gals was, once it’s out of the creator’s hands, it belongs to the people.

No.

Thelonious Jagger Kippen Is A Hashtag Good Boi.

Shoutout to my FAQ page, where you can find information like this and more. Not blaming you, anon, I’ve gotten this a lot and the FAQ page is hard to find. I mostly just delete the question and let the anon live in mystery because I’m chaotic something. I’m only answering this now because it’s the

You know the shook_bitch? Thank them from me for getting Disney Channel to respond to them, and congratulate them on being the subject of the best comment the Disney Channel Instagram account ever made.

Yeah, I went back and checked and Jonah only says in 3x12 that his dad made a bad investment, not lost a job or anything.

It really seems like he’s been managing the Judy Bartholomew fortune all these years. We don’t know anything else of him other than he was once a background workout video guy and he has at least enough knowledge about baseball to coach little league.

Hopefully the new job is providing him with a solid salary, but if not, I think the world is ready for a Judy Bartholomew comeback.

Judy Bartholomew: Still Trottin’ After All These Years

I’m not entirely sure exactly which girl we’re talking about here. I think this one:

I will say, she does seem into it. She’s like, oh, things are about to get gay in here.

Honestly, there were so many background actors killing it in this scene.

You’ve got this guy...

...who hears the beginning of “Born This Way” and reacts like it’s ruined his evening. I mean, I was a little tired of it, too, when it was being played on the radio over and over and over, but it’s been some years. It’s not overplayed as much anymore and it definitely wouldn’t make me this upset. (He pops up later in the song and is happily dancing, so maybe he thought it was the beginning of a different song?)

Then there’s this girl...

...who is feeling it. She’s like, hell yeah, this is my jam!

And there’s this girl in the goggles...

...who, after TJ and Cyrus sing the “be myself, respect my youth” part, is like, okayyyy. I see you.

Here’s a fun(?) behind-the-scenes thing for this blog. A few months back, I was thinking about ways to replace “Moments” if we had, by some miracle, gotten a season four, since I would’ve run out of moments weeks after the finale. What I came up with was “The Random Andi Mack Extra of the Day.” It would’ve just been screenshots of random extras throughout the show’s run. Upon some reflection, this was a bad idea.

The first problem here is that I get the feeling those posts would’ve gotten, at most, 20-30 notes each, because no one really cares about random, out of context extras and it doesn’t seem like a thing people would want to reblog.

The second problem is, knowing myself, I probably would’ve spent hundreds of hours during the hiatus between s3 and s4 making 1000 of them in the first place, just so I could have them ready to go. I would’ve absolutely done this without testing the waters first to see if there was any interest. (Just like with the “Moments.” I made like 300 of them before I made the first post about them.)

So, the most likely scenario was going to be me, two weeks into “The RAMEotD,” looking at flopping posts, then looking at my folder of 800 screenshots of Andi Mack extras and going, “Well, what am I going to do, not post them? I already did all the work!” And I would keeping queuing them up, and they would keep appearing on this blog every day, and they would taunt me with their 22 notes. You remember the work you did? IT WAS FOR BUT A PITTANCE!

So I guess what I’m saying is maybe it’s for the best. The cancellation saves me from myself.

Hey, though, heads up. If and when you go back and watch the series again, pay attention to the extras -- the unsung heroes of the entertainment industry. There are some extras reallllly putting in work on this show. It absolutely adds to the delightful quality of Andi Mack. Every time I would spot someone in the background being goofy or really overselling whatever they were supposed to be experiencing, it filled me with joy.

It’s a fun show. Everything about it is fun, including the little details.

Ooh, a serious one. This is going to be my first ever hybrid Discussion/Analysis post.

Okay, so I think we’re talking about two different things here.

I won’t argue that I think Tyrus could have absolutely happened sooner and been explored more.

I obviously can’t say with certainty, but I assume that was at least somewhat the plan leading out of season two. The setup for their relationship was all already there by the end of it. They’d met, they had bumps, they grew really close, and they capped the whole season off with TJ looking back at Cyrus. All the elements were in place that you could jump right into this storyline in TJ’s next appearance. (Not necessarily them canoning, but at least the exploration of TJ’s feelings or some movement towards canoning.)

When Cyrus’s lookback happened, it was addressed in the very next episode (granted following a break in seasons). I don’t know that TJ’s would’ve been as immediate, but I don’t think you have him look back in the season two finale if you don’t intend on truly paying it off for 21 episodes. (Or, at least 13, if you want to say 3x13 was the real start of a storyline involving TJ’s homosexuality.)

So, yeah, look, I’m speculating wildly, but I would imagine the original creative idea was to address TJ’s lookback early in season three and start getting into it, and that, yes, that idea was likely kiboshed from above.

What I will argue is that the bench scene is subtle but not ambiguous. We’ve made the semi-joke constantly around here that there’s “No heterosexual explanation for this!” but, truly, there is no heterosexual explanation for the bench scene: two boys, one of whom has already explicitly stated he’s gay, slowly reaching for and holding each other’s hands, intertwining their fingers while they sit by the fire and stare into each other’s eyes, nervously smiling. This is something that has been built towards for multiple seasons. If you’ve been watching the show, if you’ve been paying attention to it, if you care about the characters, especially TJ and Cyrus, it’s very clear what’s happening here.

This feels like talking about people who weren’t sure Cyrus was gay after the first two times he came out because he didn’t use the word. Or people who thought Cyrus wasn’t gay anymore after he said his crush on Jonah was gone. I sympathize with some of the younger set who maybe don’t have the world sense to follow along with this, but, come on, at some point, we’re three seasons in and you have to keep up with the level of the storytelling. I don’t mean this in an insulting way, but if someone can’t get what’s happening here, then maybe this whole thing isn’t for them. Maybe if all they know right now is that Cyrus is gay and accepted and happy, then that’s good enough, and they can hold onto that idea and grow with that and catch the next train, whenever it comes along. Maybe this moment is for all the people who get it.

That’s about the kids in the casual audience. Now, if we’re talking about an adult homophobe -- one who would express the kind of outrage that we believe Disney fears -- it’s a different story. If an adult homophobe is really watching that scene and thinking, “Seems pretty straight to me” then it feels like it doesn’t matter what they would’ve done in the finale. They could’ve said “gay,” they could’ve said “boyfriend,” Cyrus and TJ could’ve lead a pride parade down the street outside Celia’s house while blasting -- well, I was going to pick a gay song here for the joke, but probably “Born This Way” would be the most appropriate one, so -- “Born This Way” from loud speakers, and that homophobe would’ve been like, “Nice parade.” As ignorant as homophobes are, even they are not that dense. An adult pretending Tyrus isn’t a couple after the bench scene requires a level of impenetrably willful ignorance.

Anyway, the truth is that angry homophobes aren’t watching the show. They never do. They like to read headlines and get mad, but they’re cowardly and, most of all, lazy, and they don’t like to put in the actual footwork. They like to leave comments on articles they haven’t read, about shows they haven’t watched. They like to post reactions to stuff they see in their Facebook feed or send one sentence responses like, “There goes Disney Channel!!!” or “What is happening to our country?!?!” And then they like to scroll on to the next thing that will feed their sad rage about how the world is changing around them.

If you want to think about Disney censorship as a way of preventing those homophobes from being outraged, it’s not the textuality of the scene itself, it’s the placement at the end. Delaying them canoning until the finale just makes for less work. Show’s over. There’s nothing to defend. No one’s signing a petition to get a show off the air that’s just aired its last episode. Most of the articles written will be about everything happening in the finale, and Tyrus would just be a part of it.

And that is more or less what’s happened. Just about every major article I’ve seen about the finale has discussed Tyrus, and discussed them as textually getting together -- again, there’s no ambiguity there -- but has also brought them up in conjunction with what happened with Andi and Jonah, with Muffy getting together, and with Andi getting into SAVA. And the articles themselves tend to largely be about the show ending as a whole and its impact. (No one needs to send me articles trying to prove or disprove this. I’ve been over a lot of them. Some are more Tyrus focused -- the ones in the gay media for sure -- and some just mention it -- more traditional media sources. This is the general gist of most of them.)

So the article headlines mostly read “Andi Mack Finale” or “Andi Mack Ends Run” or something like that. The homophobes -- who, again, aren’t watching the show and are getting all their information about it via article headlines -- see those headlines and don’t even remember Andi Mack was the show they hated from two years ago because their rage is mostly performative and short-lived. They get mad in the minute but forget about the specifics of the stuff within a day.

Like I said in the recap, I won’t argue that there’s a scene with more that wouldn’t work, but I personally don’t see the bench scene as not having accomplished everything it needed to.

Oh, that went longer than I thought it was going to be. Not very lightning round of me.

This actually got sent a while back but it was still in my inbox and I figured I’d throw it in here in case the anon saw it. Lightning round!

Sorry, anon, I wasn’t ignoring you and I appreciate you reading my old recaps, but you were the second anon to piece together that I am actually blessed with psychic powers.

I don’t really have any plans to, sorry.

I had only planned to do one set before and after the finale for Tyrus Week, but I will point you and anyone else interested in making their own TJ and Cyrus texts to this post I made that should give you the basic tools needed for the job. (Use them! You wouldn’t believe what a pain in the butt it was to get that background clean like that!)

Thank you, honestly. That’s so, so sweet. But I have no plans to do that.

Like I mentioned at the start of this post, I’m working on something now that I’ll tell you guys about shortly that’s look-backy and will hit on some stuff from those seasons. (Though not in the same vein as the recaps.)

The recaps take a long time to produce, and as much as I’ve loved this show and this fandom, I will be honest and tell you guys I am sort of planning my exit.

This blog has become something of a part-time job for me. Not in the work sense because I have truly enjoyed all this, but just in the time sense. I’ve put a lot of time in and I would like to rededicate that time back toward other things I’ve put on hold for the last year and a half.

It’s starting to feel like making you shout Lightning Round! each time was a mistake now that I’m answering stuff seriously or sadly.

I was getting emotional multiple times while writing it, because of the show, because of the fandom, because of this whole journey we’ve all been on together.

I appreciate you saying this so much because that’s what I’ve always hoped has come through in the things I’ve written about this show. That I’ll make jokes or point out holes or goofy details or whatever, but that I couldn’t do this -- I couldn’t commit myself to this as much as I have -- if I truly didn’t love the show. That everything I’m doing here comes from a place of love and celebrating the show and embracing it for its good stuff and its silly stuff.

It wasn’t a perfect show, but that was always what made it kind of perfect.

Thanks for the asks. Thus ends the lightning round.

#Andi Mack #analysis #discussion #blog stuff #LIGHTNING ROUND!

81 notes · View notes

reddieloserz · 6 years

Photo

As Long As We’re Together

IT 2017 - Reddie - WIP StreetPerformer!Richie and Bookstore!Eddie Slow Burn, Slice of Life

“When the end of high school began to gang up on the six of them, they each promised the other that the moment graduation happened they would leave Derry for good. Now each of them were 21 (Bill was 22), and so far they have kept that promise.

They had found an old Victorian Townhouse up for rent right off of Main St. They had all agreed on Portland, Maine. They all knew they would be okay as long as they’re together.”

An AU where The Losers are all roommates in a huge house just off of Main St, where they all work. Eddie is a college student working in a bookstore. Richie is a homeless street performer who relies on his guitar and Voices to make money. Trashmouth soon walks into their lives and turns everything upside down.

Chapter 2 Below Cut

Also on AO3

(((I just wanted to say real fast, THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone that left a kudos and comment on Chapter 1! It means so much to me to get feedback from you guys and it made me so excited to write! So, as a reward, here is Chapter 2 already!!

I don’t have a beta so I apologize for any mistakes lol I tried to edit!

Beverly’s Song - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths Eddie’s Song - I Want To Break Free by Queen)))

Ben Hanscom is standing on the street corner right next to Eddie’s Bookstore. He is a heavy set man with wide cheeks and an even wider belly. He was beautifully fat and his cheeks always shown a pretty pink. He was working on a beard lately, and it was growing in pretty nicely. He wore thick pants and a green hoodie that said “Save the Rainforest!” He has been standing there for nearly five hours, trying (in vain) to catch the attention of a passer by or stranger.

“Excuse me, Ma’am, would you be interested in- Okay, well, then have a nice day…”

“If you aren’t busy, Sir, I would love to go over some articles with you- Okay, have a good day then.”

He was currently volunteering for a non-profit that was based around the melting of the ice caps. Already becoming vegan with Mike, Ben had heard about the decline of habitats for polar bears and other Antarctic wildlife. After that he had almost immediately went online and hunted down for any way he could serve his time to prevent anymore loss of life. It turns out that the biggest and only reason for the loss of life is- you guessed it- global warming. Something that not many have even admitted was real.

You can see how Ben was having a very hard time getting people to donate or even just sign his petition. He tried giving out newsletters as well, but no one seemed to care about what he had to say- no matter how urgent or important he assured it was.

“Hey, guys! Could I steal your attention for a few moments? Oh? No, it’s okay. Have a good one.”

It really was starting to wear down on him, too. He had only started working for the non-profit two days ago. He hadn’t even been able to reel one person in to hear what he has to say. Having so many ignore and blatantly not make eye contact with him was having him nearly losing his faith in humanity itself. He was tired and his passion for this subject was going painfully unheard.

The only thing that has helped Ben manage to keep his sanity is the soft serenade of the Guitar Player across the street, at the other corner on Main St. Throughout the day they had both awkwardly made eye contact with each other. Everytime they did Ben gave a friendly wave while the man played his guitar, who gave an curt nod in return. They had done that almost a dozen times by the end of the night and Ben considered it to be the nicest thing to happen to him all day.

The tall stranger had only a water bottle, a large backpack, and a guitar case propped open with a little sign that said “Like what you hear? Almost shed a tear? If you want, You can donate right here!” Even his sign was a little tune, Ben thought in amusement. If Ben had literally a dollar to spare, he would definitely leave a donation of his own after listening to the Performer’s music for the past few days.

Ben suddenly realizes he is staring again and chances a look up at the Performer. The stranger is already looking back at him, a little smirk on his lips as he tunes his guitar. He gives Ben a little wink and nod. This makes Ben blush, face becoming somewhat hot, and he promptly decides that that is enough of him embarrassing himself for the day.

Turning around, Ben gets into his backpack that he has propped up against a stop sign and starts packing up his things. Before he can stow away his pens and clipboard, though, he feels a finger poke his shoulder. He hadn’t even noticed that the music had stopped across the street until he comes face to face with the music player himself.

“Uh, hi.” Ben says, eloquently.

“Hi.” The man replies. Now that he was up close Ben saw that his eyes were a dark onyx that were contrasted nicely by his light brown freckles. His black hair came down to his shoulders and his curls were nothing if not unruly. He wore a light blue dress that buttoned all the way up and fell just above his shoes, which were red vans. He also had a small beard beginning to grow on his face. He looked as outlandish as you can imagine, and the stranger’s get up made Ben try his best to resist the smile that was creeping on to his face.

“What’s your name?” The friendly stranger asks, a small smirk still playing on his lips. He was really beautiful, in a completely feminine dueling masculine way. Ben couldn’t decide truly what he thought the stranger was.

“Ben- Ben Hanscom.” He replies easily enough, trying his best to stay calm even though every part of him for some reason was completely elated that this strange person was striking up a conversation with him. Ben was going to blame it on not being able to talk to anyone else all day.

“People call me Trashmouth!” Before Ben can even react to the weird nickname, he immediately grabs Ben’s hand and lifts it to his lips, giving it a quick peck. “Nice to meet you, Ma Cherie!” Trashmouth says, in a funny and poor French accent.

This makes Ben laugh out loud and Trashmouth drops his hand just as quickly as he had kissed it. Who is this guy?

“So what are you petitioning for over here, Mr. Handsome?” Trashmouth asks, accent gone, and softly strumming the strings of his guitar now. It was as if he constantly had to be doing something with his hands, Trashmouth was almost jittery with his movements.

“Oh, uh, I have been trying to educate people on some of the issues our planet is having because of global warming. I have been wanting to talk about landfills, depleting ice caps… Stuff like that.” Ben says, ending his sentence flatly. He was still pretty discouraged from his long day of no luck.

“I’d love to listen to what you have to say, Ben Handsome. Why don’t you give me a lecture and I can sign that clipboard of yours?” Trashmouth offers, a considerate smile painted across his face.

Ben light up at the offer, his own smile growing even wider. “What, really?! You’ll be the first person I have gotten to sign! You really sure you want the whole spiel?”

“Ab-so-lutely. I’m not doing anything else of importance. Why don’t I try to help save the world with Benny over here?” Trashmouth says, patting Ben on the shoulder.

Ben quickly goes into a short lecture, obviously rehearsed, and he stumbles over his words a few times but overall gets it perfectly. He is so excited he is nearly winded by the time he is done with his short rant on the rainforests and the o-zone. Trashmouth just nods and has a serious look on his face the whole time, trying his best to indicate to Ben that, yes, this is interesting and important. Just as Ben is about to lead into another lecture, Trashmouth cuts him off.

“Nerd Alert.” He says slyly, but winks at Ben again, letting him know he is just teasing.

“Well, no… It’s actually pretty interesting.”

“Ben, in total honesty, do you know how cool this is? That you actually give enough of a shit about our planet to spend your whole day standing out here in the off-chance you can talk about it? You got my signature, for sure, Handsome.” And with that, Trashmouth takes away the pen and clipboard in Ben’s hands and goes to filling out his information.

“Honestly, thank you- Thank you so much. I was under the impression that more people would want to be educated on this, but I just have the sneaking suspicion that people think I am trying to sell them something.” Ben says, voice a little forlorn.

“Well, you don’t look like a vacuum salesman to me. People’ll come around.” Trashmouth says, handing him back his things. Next thing Ben knows, Trashmouth is walking across the street to his pile of belongings. The sun is beginning to set now, and they both should be packing up for the night.

Ben is smiling a grin that hurts and begins looking over everything that Trashmouth had filled out. He did everything perfectly, but left out a few major details.

“You forgot your phone number and your address!” Ben hollers from across the way, waving the piece of paper in the air. “Don’t have either of those, Handsome!” Trashmouth replies easily, zipping up his guitar and throwing the case strap over his shoulder. “Sorry!” And with that, Trashmouth begins walking down Main St. and slowly disappears out of Ben’s sight.

Who is that guy? Ben thinks again, this time in awe.

Beverly’s work week, on the other hand, had passed by incredibly quickly. It was just past 7 o’clock now and she was already late for Friday Night Dinner. She wipes her flour-covered hands all over her soiled apron from the mixing she had done that day. Grabbing the broom to sweep the small shop, she begins humming to herself.

It was basically closing time and the whole bakery was deserted. It had been an overall slow day, but it always passed by in a flash for Bev just because she enjoyed her work. Baking was a science, after all, she would always say. It took brain power. She was enthralled with it all. The cookies, the cakes, especially the breads. That was her specialty. You could ask any locals and regular and they would say that her italian cheese and herb bread was to die for.

She took incredible pride in her work, as well as the shop she worked in, so staying after closing to clean and tidy up was never an issue. She let the other girls go home early while she shut everything off, sweeping as she goes along.

Right as she is about to turn the neon OPEN sign off, however, the front door bell rings and a tall figure walks on in. She turns around to see who is actually is before she gets swept up in a large hug, nearly lifted off the ground with the force of their affections.

“Trashmouth, put me down!” Bev giggled, identifying her hug-attacker immediately. The broom drops to the ground as she releases her hold to pound soft fists into Trashmouth’s shoulders.

“Sorry, Ms. Marsh, I couldn’t resists sneaking some snuggles in.” He says smoothy, setting her down. He then gives her an adorable crooked-toothed smile and scratches the back of his head bashfully. Bev just stares at him with a cheery expression, not being able to hold back the small giggles as she looks over his outfit.

“A button-up dress is trendy in men’s fashion nowadays, I’m assuming?” Beverly asks, not at all unfriendly in her questioning. This makes Trashmouth laugh as he looks down at himself, wiping invisible dirt off of the bottom of his dress.

“I think I’m the last person who would know what was trending in fashion, to be honest. Dresses are just so much more comfortable than pantaloons, you know?” Trashmouth says, giving a little twirl so that the dress billows out for a moment.

Bev gives him a big nod, “Ooh yes, I definitely know.” She says, gesturing to her own little sun dress. She is wearing little leg warmers too, of course, because of the cold weather.

“So what brings you back to my humble little shop?”

“Oh, I just wanted to see you. Say hi, walk you home. I haven’t seen you in the last few days, I was starting to think you had forgotten about little ol’ me.” he says, raising his eyebrows at her and pouting out his bottom lip. She gives him a playful shove as she rolls her eyes.

“Oh, of course not. I’ve actually just been sleeping in late before my morning shifts, I’m sorry if I haven’t been able to catch up with you lately.” Bev replies, picking up the broom again and continuing her sweeping. Trashmouth sits on top one of the small tables with his legs criss-cross so she can clean.

Trashmouth and Beverly had first met on one of her evening walks home from work. A large man had happened upon her, and had gotten extremely predatory. Long story short, Trashmouth came to the rescue. Now, whenever he gets the chance, he makes sure to stop by Beverly’s Bakery and walk her straight home from work. Her “Friendly Neighborhood Trashmouth” he once said.

“Oh, don’t be sorry. I just miss seeing my favorite little red head.” he says, running a hand through her hair, making her thick curls frizz up in an endearing way.

“Hands off the merchandise, wise guy. You break it you buy it.” She was giving him such a wide smile her cheeks were pink. Her blush plus the golden light from the sun setting hitting her freckled face made his heart nearly melt. What a sight it was. She was radiant in the sun. Her green eyes in full glory.

“Hey, I don’t know if I told you, but I work on Main St. too. At the corner on Neibolt. I play music. A guitar, mostly. You should come hang out and listen sometime.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you played! That’s fucking awesome. For sure. You should come audition at my friend Bill’s bar, it’s just a few businesses away from here actually. It’s called The Gallery. They have musicians come and play for free drinks every weekend. If you’re actually any good, that is.” She gives him a teasing wink.

“Oh, fuck off.” He chuckles. “I might have to go check it out tonight, then. If I’m actually any good, that is-”

“I’d actually love to hear you play something sometime.” She says, cutting him off softly. She finishes up her sweeping and stows the broom away.

“Why not right now? You have to sing with me though…” Trashmouth quickly unzips his guitar case and busts out his acoustic. He slings it over his shoulder, strumming a few times before pointedly looking at Beverly. “What are we singing tonight, Marsh? Give me a good one.”

Beverly is just laughing at him as she takes off her apron, throwing it in the dirty washcloth bin behind the counter. “Oooh no, you are not making me sing, absolutely not!”

“You have to do it, Marsh! This isn’t going to be my typical one man show, I need my back up singer.”

“Fine, fine. Only if we do The Smiths.” She challenges, giving him a pointed look and grinning wide with her arms crossed. She walks over to the shop doors, motioning for him to follow her outside.

They both walk out onto the sidewalk, air crisp with cold wind. She turns around and locks the doors to her bakery before finally turning back to Trashmouth. “Walk me home?”

Trashmouth doesn’t reply, only follows behind her while he begins strumming his guitar, starting to sing right in the middle of the song. His singing voice is strangely high compared to his talking voice, so replicating Morrisey’s deep tone strains his vocals in a few places.

Driving in your car

I never never want to go home

Because I haven’t got one…

Anymore.

Beverly laughs out loud, shaking her head at him. He just keeps strumming the same tune, nodding along, before he raises his eyebrows at her as if to say Well? Your turn. Beverly obliges and continues into the next verse.

Take me out tonight.

Where there’s music and there’s people,

And they’re young and alive!

The sun is almost completely set now, the only thing illuminating the both of them is the lamp posts shining down on the sidewalk as they stroll. They continue to sing and skip and dance next to one another, serenading each other all the way to Beverly’s home.

Right as they are about to walk up The House’s porch, they finish their song pretty poorly. Neither of them can reach the deep and low tones of Morrisey’s voice, so when they sing their voices crack and give way. It doesn’t stop them from singing their hearts out, though.

If a double-decker bus,

Crashes into us,

To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die!

They break off there poor rendition of the classic song with their laughter. Both of them are nearly gasping with the effort and rever that they put into their performance, and he gives her some applause. She bows a few times, her hair wild and tangled.

Before she leaves, Bev pulls him into a firm hug, smooshing the guitar in between the two of them. It is kind of painful, but neither of them complain one bit.

Beverly waves at him and begins to walk up her porch steps before she stops and turns again, running back over to him.

“Oh, T, I almost forgot! I snagged these out of our pantry before I closed up. They are for you.” She gingerly hands him a little box. Trashmouth opens it, and it is full of beautifully decorated pastries and breads.

“Made em myself.” His mouth waters just looking at them, some of the small granules of sugar glimmering in the moonlight. They looks delicious.

“Aw, Marsh! You didn’t have to do this for ol’ Trashmouth!” He nearly yells, slinging one arm over her shoulder. “I’m honored. I can not wait to eat the artistry that is Beverly Marsh’s baking. Thank you.” he says earnestly, tossing around her amber hair around again. She wiggles out from under his arm and shrugs.

“Don’t sweat it, T. If you ever find yourself in a crunch and are looking for some food, you just let me know. I know sleeping in a tent is your preferred resting place, but you don’t ever have to go hungry. Just let me know.” She says casually, like its nothing. Because it isn’t for her. She is just helping out a friend. A friend who just so happens to be homeless, but a friend nonetheless.

She squeezes his arm one last time before walking away again, vanishing into The House.

Trashmouth smiles his entire walk back to his campsite.

Beverly pushes open the front door to the Losers’ home and walks straight into the dining room. She can already hear bickering going on in the kitchen, yelling and the tossing of kitchen utensils. Their usual goofball debauchery. Suddenly, Ben is being shoved out of the kitchen doorway by Mike’s strong hands while Stan stands behind him, sassily telling Ben how poor his cooking skills really are.

“Ben, you’re never going to work in this town again! Did you seriously just dump a cup of fucking SUGAR instead of FLOUR into that bowl?!” Stan’s critical voice came, followed by a dramatic sigh.

“Yeah, well, that’s why I keep Bev around! So I don’t have to do stuff like this!” Ben hollers back, pulling a chair out so he can sit at the dining table.

“Oh yeah, THAT’S why you keep me around, Ben? To do the cooking?” Beverly pipes up, finally catching all the boys attention. Ben whirls around to face her, mouth opening and closing like a fish.

“N-no! Of course not, Beverly! I was just- Stan had just- They kicked me out and I just-” Ben stutters and fumbles over his words. It wasn’t the first time he was caught putting his foot in his mouth.

“Hey Bev!” Greeted Stan and Mike, before they both strategically avoided the confrontation by going back to the kitchen.

Beverly can’t pretend to be mad at Ben for long, though. He looks absolutely mortified and affronted. His cheeks are a three shades darker pink than they usually are, and she feels bad for putting him on the spot.

She finally relents and lets out a chuckle at his expense. She walks over, resting a hand on his shoulder and giving him a fat smooch on the cheek.

“I’m just giving you shit, Benny. I’m sorry. I love you, too. How was your day on the corner?” Bev says, running her hands through his hair reassuringly before she takes a seat at the table herself.

He talks a little bit more about the non-profit, global awareness, all the shit Ben normally talks about. Difference is, even though he has repeated the same facts and studies to her a thousand times, she didn’t mind hearing him repeat himself. She lets him ramble on and on, and just smiles at the passion that pours out of him.

While they are quietly talking and the other boys are getting dinner prepared, Eddie finally makes his appearance. It wasn’t normal for him to come home last, especially not after the sun has down. Beverly looks over at him and he looks completely deflated. Back hunched, hair falling in his face, and a big frown plastered on his lips.

He definitely seems irritable, Ben notices. Ben gets up out of his seat, takes Eddie’s bags out of his hands and sets them on the couch beside them. He leans down and gives the top of Eddie’s head a kiss, motioning for him to join Bev and him.

“Hey sweets, what’s up? Something happen?” Beverly asks, opening her arms. Eddie doesn’t fight it and walks right into her waiting embrace, sitting on her lap and leaning his head on top of hers.

Eddie opens his mouth to speak, but he is interrupted immediately by Stan yelling abruptly and throwing something loudly in the kitchen. This is followed by obnoxious laughter, mainly from Mikey.

“I’ll go tell them to pipe down.” Ben says sweetly, patting Eddie’s hand and getting up from the table.

Eddie and Beverly speak in hushed tones. The boys had quieted down in the kitchen, but they whispered. Even when they were just having a simple conversation they always acted as if they were trading secrets. Maybe they were. They imitated a pair of twins closeness with ease.

“I talked to my mom today.” Eddie says simply. This makes Beverly raise her eyes, turning her head to look at him directly.

“Was she nice to you?” She asks. Eddie just shrugs, looking down at the floor where both of their feet are touching.

“She told me what she always tells me. That I shouldn’t be so far from my true home, that I am wasting my time and money with school. That I need to come back to her. That I’m took delicate to take care of myself.” The more Eddie speaks his eyebrows furrow deeper and deeper. He is almost hot in the face by the end of his small rant. He looks back to Beverly, a look of determination in his eyes.

“I don’t need her.”

“You don’t need her.”

“I’m not delicate.”

“You’re not.”

“And I can take care myself. I don’t need anyone telling me what I can and can’t do anymore.” He says with finality. Ever since the shackles of being a minor were released, he finally felt freedom. He could speak his mind. Make his own money. Set his own rules. He didn’t think he could ever let it go.

Beverly just nods reassuringly, hugging him a little tighter. It wasn’t often that Sonia Kaspbrak called Eddie, but when she did, it was always to undermine him. Beverly, as well as the rest of the Losers, thought that her bi-monthly calls always just set Eddie back a step or two. His self esteem was fragile already, he didn’t need the extra help from his mother to send him into a whirlpool of insecurity and uncertainty. His anxiety helped do that for him.

Eddie doesn’t tell Beverly everything, though. Of course he doesn’t. He keeps the deepest of his feelings to himself.

In all honesty, it wasn’t just the phone call from his mom that had upset him. It was his whole day. It was unbearably slow, he had no homework he could work on, and it was a beautiful day out. He was stuck inside organizing books and relabeling the shelves.

Eddie also felt incredibly lonely. So much of his time was spent alone, and it was getting harder and harder to take. But he needed this job. They all needed him to have this job. He had thought about quitting multiple times this past year, but no other positions across Main St. had opened up. What he really wanted was to work for the Flower Shop next door to Bev’s bakery. But they were an even small building than his bookstore, and he knew that if they needed an extra hand the position could be filled quickly.

He wished that he had someone. He felt the aching sadness for it all day.

He did have Beverly. But Beverly also had Ben. Eddie didn’t have someone like that, someone to hold him when he cried at night. Someone to kiss his eyelids in the morning. Someone to tangle limbs with. He just wanted intimacy. And while he had the Losers, and a long-time crush on Bill he only recently got over, he just never got the butterflies for any of them like he knew he could have. He was in love with them… But they didn’t fill that romantic gap like he needed. Sure, he had had a few ‘boyfriends’ before, but they were mostly used for his sexual awakening more than for settling down.

Eddie wanted someone to call his.

Just then, Big Bill come bounding down the stairs. He is in a red button up and dark jeans. He is finishing up tying a skinny black tie around his neck when he smiles over at Bev and Eddie, little hearts dancing in his eyes as he sees his friends for the first time today.

“Good morning.” Bill says, patting his tie against his chest.

“Bill, it is eight at night.” Beverly giggles, patting his arm while he gives a quick hug to a pouting Eddie.

“Well, it’s my morning! These overnight shifts have been killing me lately. I hate not being able to see any of you, and I have to go to work literally right now .” Bill sighs.

This makes Stan crane his long neck around the kitchen doorway, giving Bill a disbelieving look.

“You’re not staying for Friday Night Dinner?!” He asks snappily.

“Nope, sorry Stanny, not tonight. I got called in early because Shelly couldn’t make her shift. And to top it all off, tonight is the big 80s dance party, it it is going to get fucking crazy. I have to get there early before everyone shows up to the bar to prepare.” Bill is already walking towards the door, grabbing his jacket off of their coat rack.

“But please do save me a plate, Stan. I wouldn’t miss your cooking for the world.” Bill says, giving Stan a cute little smirk and Stan just smiles right back at him. “Okay, Billy.”

Before Bill puts his hand on the doorknob, however, Beverly basically lights up like a Christmas tree, throwing her hands up in and air and yelling an “AHA!”

Eddie jumps, putting his small hand over his heart before glaring over at her. “Jesus, Bev, you are going to give me a heart attack, what is it?”

“Eddie! Sweets! Let’s go the fuck out tonight! That will cheer you up, right?!” She says the statement like its a question but Eddie knows she isn’t looking for an answer. Her mind is completely made up. They’re going.

“Ugh, Bev, no. I’m really not in the mood. I feel like I had the life sucked out of me by an energy vampire or something.” Eddie pleads, his head hung low. The literal last thing that Eddie wanted to do right now was go see other people have fun while he wallowed in his loneliness and drank a vodka tonic.

“AS SOON AS WE ARE DONE WITH DINNER WE ARE GOING OUT, BIITCH!” Beverly yelled. “HEY, BOYS, ARE YOU COMING TOO OR WHAT?”

Bill’s face split open into an incredibly large smile. He would get to hang out with his best friends after all. He knew they would just loiter around the counter while he bartends, like they always do.

“Nope!” “Me either!” Come the voices of Stan and Mike, both of them obviously wrapped up in whatever tomfoolery they were usually pulling together. “It’s Saturday tomorrow, we have to open the tea shop early anyway!”

Ben finally comes walking back out of the kitchen, setting a few plates of food on the dining room table. “I’m in. I’d love to come with you guys, Beverly.”

“Alright, it’s final! Ben, Eddie, and Bev out on the town. It isn’t going to know what hit it.” She cheered, spinning around to shoot Eddie a gorgeous full-toothed smile. He couldn’t resist her.

“Okay, Bev. But only or a few hours-”

“Victory! Stan, Mike, hurry up with the grub so I can get Eddie’s gay ass to The Gallery!”

Eddie was definitely in over his head. Definitely.

After dinner, Eddie and Beverly took a few minutes trying on different outfits, and then the three of them were walking down Main St towards Bill’s bar. Eddie was wearing tight black jeans and a white polo. Inconspicuous, simple, and would hopefully help him blend into the background. The last thing he need tonight was unwanted attention.

Beverly and Ben were holding hands, swinging their arms in between one another. Eddie smiles at them, walking a little bit slower and trailing just behind.

Ben and Bev’s relationship was a strange one. She knew how much Ben adored her. Loved her, even. And more than the usual Loser Love for one another. He had since he was 13 years old. His love was endlessly deep and ragefully romantic. She knew. But it never stopped her from dating other men, or women, and keeping an open invitation for anyone who wished to flirt with her.

And Ben let her. Sure, they shared a room and bed together, but Ben grew up with Beverly and knew just how stifling and abusive her father was. Ben wasn’t here to keep Beverly on a leash, and certainly didn’t want to smother any of the radiance she exuded. She always came home to him, and that is what mattered to him. That he was the favorite. (And he was.)

Their relationship just worked, and that is what mattered to them. They were both incredibly happy.

It made Eddie only half jealous.

They eventually made it to The Gallery, and Eddie quickly took a seat right smack center of the bar counter. Bill walked over to him immediately, giving him a large smile.

“What’ll it be tonight, Kaspbrak?” He teased.

“Vodka soda, Bill, you already know my order, you dork.” Eddie laughs, his eyes and nose crinkling. Ben and Bev walk up behind him, giving their orders to the other bartender.

“I know, I just love asking.” Bill slides the drink over to him and winks. Ben and Bev receive their drinks and immediately hit the dance floor. The bar is pumping Heart of Glass by Blondie and the crowd it singing along.

“Aren’t you going to do dance?” Bill asks, wiping up a spill on the counter.

“No. I really didn’t feel like coming, but you know Beverly. Once she thinks she comes up with a great idea…”

“… She sticks to it.” Bill finishes knowingly. “Well alright, sweetheart. Let me know if you need anything.” And with that, Bill walks to the other end of the bar counter.

Eddie spends the few half hour just people watching. A lot of the people dancing had dressed for the occasion and were dressed in ridiculous neon clothing and legwarmers. 80s music blasted from the speakers, and Eddie could barely hear himself speak. It was the exact opposite of his entire work day earlier that evening, and he felt like he was almost getting whiplash.

He eventually finishes his drink and gets another from Bill. Just as he is about to get his drink handed to him, another body walks up to the counter, their arm brushing Eddie’s.

And what Eddie sees nearly takes his breathe away.

Just in front of him is a tall man with unruly black curls tied up into a loose bun on the top of his head. His thick eyebrows perfectly match a pair of dark black irises. The man is wearing a long blue button-up dress that had small little white flowers all over it. It rested just above his shoes.

Eddie had never seen anyone who looked so peculiar, yet so undeniably beautiful. The man’s jaw was strict and square, but it was matched perfectly with a feminine and full pair of lips. Lips that were talking.

To him.

“Uh- w-what?” Eddie says, blinking a few times before looking up to meet the man’s eyes.

“I said, hi! What’re you doing here all on your own, gorgeous?” The stranger asks, voice nearly yelling over the music from the dance floor.

“W-what?” Was Eddie hearing this gorgeous creature correctly?

“I said, you’re quite a sight for sore eyes. I was wondering if I could keep you company?” The man flirted, lowering his head so that he was at eye-level with Eddie.

“If… You want to…” Eddie was at a loss for words at first, but quickly caught back up with himself. He couldn’t stop the nervous twitch of his hands around his drink, however.

“What’s your name, Stranger?” He flirted. Was this flirting? Was he doing this right?

“Richie.” He says, taking a quick sip of his drink, not breaking eye-contact with Eddie. “What’s yours, jitterbug?”

“E-Eddie. Eddie Kaspbrak.”

“Eddie, huh? Well, Eddie Spaghetti, what do you say to dancing with me? I have been watching you, and you haven’t gotten up from this stool. Are you with anyone?” Richie asks, quirking his head to the side while his eyes smoldered into Eddie’s.

“O-oh. Yeah, I’m here with my friends Ben and Be-” Just as Eddie is about to finish his sentence, a song comes on slowly over the speakers.

Richie’s eyes go wide, and an enormous grin takes over his features. He grabs Eddie’s hand away from his vodka soda and pulls him off of his stool.

“What are you doing?!” Eddie nearly shrieks, his anxiety through the roof despite the two drinks in his system. Richie was pulling him towards the dance floor.

Richie took him towards the crowd, but didn’t take them into the ocean of bodies. He stopped just short of the actual dance floor and took both of Eddie’s hands in his. Richie started swaying his arms, happy to dance just outside of the gaggle of people.

“I love this song! Dance with me, Eddie!” Queen’s I Want To Break Free was absolutely blasting through the speakers, and Richie looked elated.

Eddie had never actually danced before. I mean, he had, but not really. He would bob his head up and down to a song he liked, or shimmy his shoulders while he sat in one place, but he had never actually… Gotten up and danced before.

Richie’s long hair quickly escaped from its hair-tie capture so that when he moved his head back and forth it swished and swayed under the powerful and colorful lights. Eddie was simply captivated.

“Dance, Eddie Spaghetti! Like this!” Richie released his hands then, and began to dance wildly all on his own. His chest was heaving with the effort, and in Eddie’s opinion, he looked absolutely adorable and ridiculous. This guy didn’t have one actual dancer bone in his body and he was going bananas. His blue dress swished around as he moved. Eddie laughed out loud at him, and it just made Richie smile wider.

“You look crazy!” Eddie yells. Eddie still doesn’t dance though, only awkwardly keeping his arms cross against his stomach as he looks around nervously. Richie was going to have to use another tactic.

“I want to break free! I want to breaaakkk freee!” Richie sings at him, grabbing both of his hands again and looking him deep in the eyes. “Sing with me instead, Eds!”

Eddie looks around sheepishly again, still very self conscious. He does start to relax though, because even after Richie did his strange and hilarious dance performance, nobody was looking at them or paying them any mind. Eddie let a little smile play on his lips before he finally gives into Richie entirely, and belts out the next few lines with him as the lights dance on their faces.

“I have got to break freee! God knows, God knows I want to break free! ” Eddie really loved this song too know, if he was being honest. Richie laughs out loud, and they both sing to each other with huge smiles on their faces as they lightly swing their arms back and forth, not unlike Ben and Beverly did on their walk here.

I Want To Break Free slowly melts into the next song, Talking Head’s This Must Be The Place. Eddie thinks that now the song is finished that Richie will pull away, but he does the opposite. He pulls Eddie close and places his hands on his hips. Eddie reciprocates by placing both of his arms on Richie’s shoulders, lightly swaying back and forth as the music plays.

“Have I met you before? I’m getting crazy deja vu. Like I was meant to meet you here.” Richie admits, a playful dance in his eyes and a crooked-toothed grin glued to his face.

“Well, I work at Eddie’s Bookstore on the end of Main…” Eddie begins, still a little bashful.

“That’s it! I work on Main St. too! Right across the street from there!” Richie says brightly, like this is the best news he has ever heard.

They don’t talk for almost the entirety of the song, just glancing at each other while the music continues to play boomingly around them. Richie sings along to a few of the more ridiculous lines, and Eddie can’t help but keep laughing at his absurdity. Eventually though, the music ends, and Eddie comes back to reality

“I have to be getting home now, Eddie Spaghetti.” Richie says, lightly pulling away from Eddie’s embrace. But Eddie doesn’t want him to go yet.

Eddie pulls him closer for a moment longer, putting his lips up to Richie’s ear.

“I want to see you again.” He says urgently and breathlessly, hoping that he whispered it loud enough in the taller man’s ear.

“I’m sure you’ll see me around, Spaghetti Man.” Richie says with a grin. Just then, Richie smooshes a soft kiss to his cheek and unwraps himself out of Eddie’s arms.

Eddie is almost disappointed, watching Richie’s back walk away from him. Before finally coming back to his wits.

“Hey, Richie! Don’t call me that!” He yells, cupping his mouth with his hands.

Richie just laughs, giving Eddie a little wave and salute, and then he is out the bar doors.

Notes:

Poor Eddie is already so fond of Rich and its like,,,, buddy,,, ily buddy but seriously

A few headcannons: -Bill is literally head over heels for each of the Losers and kisses them at any given opportunity like a lovesick dad -Ben is the most understanding and giving and is relentlessly picking up after the other Losers messes around the house and never complains he just wants to help ugh -Beverly is the glue to the group. She holds them all together, she is the absolute center of attention. Shes like the Sun to their Solar System and I love her -Richie is honestly the weirdest little shit and I can’t believe he is real -Without Richie growing up with him, I imagine it took Eddie much much longer to stand up to his mother and his other bullies. I feel like Richie’s constant compliments and bickering with Eddie really helped him get a backbone and grow a self esteem, so without Rich, Eddie is just a little bubble of self conscious anxiety -Without growing up with Eds though, Rich is this honest to god weirdo that just can’t figure out how to fit into society (hence the homelessness and overall tomfoolery)

#my writing #reddie #as long as we're together #chapter 2 #reddie fanfic #reddie fanfiction #reddie fic #richie tozier #edward kaspbrak #it 2017 #it (2017)#it stephen king

29 notes · View notes

scientifically-strange · 6 years

Note

I'm daring you. 1. - 47.

1.Do you want a boyfriend or girlfriend?

I mean, that would be nice. I mean, I’m not actively looking for one right now, but if someone comes my way I’m not exactly going to get in the way of my own happiness, you know?

2.When did your last hug take place?

A few hours ago. My stepdad was saying goodnight to me

3.Are you a jealous person?

No, not really. I’m a pretty laid back person

4.Are you tired right now?

Bro, that’s like my default mode, alright. I’m always tired, 24/7

5.Do you chew on your straws?

Sometimes. Not recently though since I just got my retainer like a week ago

6.Have you ever been called a tease?

No? I mean, in bed sure a couple times, but in general like ‘hey you’re leading me on’ kind of tease, never. I’m a very blunt, straightforward person sometimes

7.Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?

Listen, I know sometimes I make jokes about hating myself, but I don’t hate myself that much.

8.Do you cry easily?

I do, but not often. Usually when I cry it’s from an intense emotional buildup over a long period of time because I subconsciously bottle things up without realizing it until it’s too late so

9.What should you be doing right now?

Math homework, sleeping, mentally preparing myself for having to work on Thanksgiving

10.Are you a heavy sleeper?

I live in a house with four dogs, a noisy younger brother, an older brother with noisy friends, and my dog’s snoring and godawful farts, so yeah, I am. If I wasn’t I would literally just be awake the whole time

11.Do you think you can last in a relationship for 6 months?

My last big relationship lasted almost 3 years, so yeah, I think I can do that

12.Are you mad at someone right now?

Yeah, but only in the sense that if the subject is brought up I’ll rant big time and talk some major shit, but I’m not like outright looking for someone to be angry at, it just sort of happens

13.Do you believe in love?

Yes.

14.What makes you laugh no matter what?

There’s this comic floating around on this site somewhere where Captain America sneezes and Tony says god bless america and the last panel is like this closeup of Cap’s face and he looks just like Kermit the Frog and it makes me lose my fucking shit every time I see it

15.Who was the last person you talked to?

My stepdad

16.Do you get butterflies around the person you like?

Platonically? No, but with people I have a sort of crush on, yeah, sometimes.

17.Will you get married?

Hopefully one day. I can’t really see myself with a husband though, so I’m gonna be searching for that soft wife of mine who can crush my skull with her thighs

18.When was the last time you smiled?

When I was answering question 14

19.Does anyone like you?

Yeah, but the feeling is not returned. He’s 14 and in the tae kwon do class before mine, and I’m 18 and don’t do that so

20.Do you secretly like someone?

Um...Idk? Maybe? I’m pretty clueless with my own feelings sometimes, so if I like someone it’ll take me a cool minute to realize it. So in short, TBD

21.Who was the first person you talked to today?

Does my dog count

22.Who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything?

A close friend of mine who I’ve known for almost ten years, a new internet friend of mine, and one of my friends from high school who I still talk to regularly

23.What are you NOT looking forward to?

The holiday season and fucking Star Wars. Listen, okay, FUCK Star Wars (I work at a fucking movie theater literally shoot me)

24.What ARE you looking forward to?

I got the job to this dance place the next town over from mine. They teach ballroom dancing, and for the next three months I’m gonna be training with them to become an official instructor. My training for it starts next week, and I’m really excited about it

25.Has someone of the opposite sex ever told you they loved you, and meant it?

Yeah, plenty of times

26.Suppose you see your ex kissing another person what would you do?

Listen, I wouldn't care. We’re not together anymore, so why should it matter? It shows me that they’ve moved on to a hopefully happier, healthier relationship, and even if I didn’t leave on best terms with someone, I still want them to be happy

27.Do you plan on moving out within the next year?

No, I can;t afford that. College is expensive my dudes

28.Are you a forgiving person?

Yeah, I like to think so. What happened then is water under the bridge now, and there’s way to much time wasted on hate where I could be doing other things, like sleeping or talking to my dog like she’s my therapist

29.How many TRUE friends do you have?

Six

30.Do you fall for people easily?

I don;t think I do? Like, usually I would like to know the person for years befroe we start going out. With my last relationship we knew each other for six going on seven years before we dated for a couple months, and before that I had known my ex for three years before we started dating. So no, not really. It makes it kind of hard to get a girlfriend of a boyfriend because I want to be with someone but I don;t want to settle for just anybody who I have no emotional connection with

31.Have you ever fallen for your ex’s best friend?

No, those are strictly platonic relationships

32.What’s the last thing you put in your mouth?

My retainer

33.Who was the last person you drove with?

My younger brother. As stated above I work at a movie theater, so I took him there and we watched the new Thor movie and Justice League (which are both amazing btw)

34.How late did you stay up last night and why?

I stayed up until about 1:30 am because I was at work

35.If you could move somewhere else, would you?

Probably. I live in midwestern America right now, so the economy isn’t all that great and some people are overly conservative (If you’re a conservative idgaf, i’m talking about the ones that think I should have the gay electrocuted out of me, or the ones that think cutting school funding is a legit smart idea)(Because it’s fucking not but that’s a whole other story I’m not going to get into)

36.Who was the last person you took a picture of?

Me, because I’m amazing (And was trying out a new lipstick)

37.Can you live a day without TV?

I already do that lmao

38.When was the last time you were extremely disappointed?

A couple of weeks ago. My biological father didn’t call or text for almost two months, and didn’t go to my younger brother’s big football tournament down in Dallas. When he did finally text me, the conversation was four messages long and there was no apology or explanation. He acted like it was able to be swept under the rug so yeah, I’m kind of disappointed. I thought he would finally stop doing that

39.Three names you go by..

My birth name, JoAnn, and then there’s Joan and Joananana (and only one person is allowed to call me that)

40.Are you currently in a relationship?

With a person, no, but with my new OCs, god I wish

41.What is your all-time favorite romance movie?

Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and no, I don’t mean Steggy/Steve x Sharon

42.Do you believe that everyone has a soul-mate?

No. I mean, there are people who don’t like romantic/sexual stuff so no. Unless you mean in a platonic way, because sure, everybody has that best friend soul mate.

43.What’s your current problem?

Everything

44.Have you ever had your heart broken?

Yeah, a few times. I don’t want to talk about that unless it’s through dms though, it’s too personal

45.Your thoughts of long distance relationships?

If you can make it work than good on you, but I personally do not care for them

46.How many kids do you want to have?

Three. That way they can entertain themselves and I can have more grandchildren to spoil

47.Have you ever found it hard to tell someone you like them

I feel like that’s gonna be a situation that’s always going to be hard no matter how many times you do it. It’s because you’re opening yourself up and exposing your most vulnerable parts , therefore making you open to rejection. So yeah, I have, but luckily those people have shared the same feelings. At least for a little while

7 notes · View notes

charlieharry1 · 4 years

Text

Email advertising: the way to maximise deliverability & engagement

We on occasion use affiliate links this means that that, at zero value to you, we can also earn a fee in case you buy something thru our links. Attaining excessive deliverability and engagement quotes is one in every of the largest e-mail advertising demanding situations you face. It doesn’t depend how wonderful your campaigns are if no person gets to peer them or have interaction with them. In case you want to maximise your e-mail advertising returns, you want to start through maximising deliverability and Digital Marketing Companies Edinburgh engagement. In this text, we’re going to examine why each of those overall performance indicators are so critical and step-by way of-step techniques to get the first-rate out of them. What do deliverability & engagement mean in email advertising? Permit’s start by means of quickly explaining what deliverability and engagement are in e-mail advertising and marketing and why they’re both critical. What is electronic mail deliverability & why is it crucial? E-mail deliverability refers to the percentage of your emails that arrive on your recipients’ inboxes. There are numerous reasons why your emails may not turn out to be wherein you intend them to:

your e-mail finally ends up of their junk mail folder

their email cope with is not in use

customers mistyped their electronic mail address at the same time as signing up

customers intentionally gave an wrong electronic mail cope with

manifestly, low deliverability costs mean a large chunk of your electronic mail recipients aren’t getting to see your emails. Humans can’t open emails they never see and that they clearly can’t complete the subsequent conversion goal you’re targeting – none of which is ideal for overall performance. The largest deliverability problem is ending up in customers’ junk mail folders due to the fact this takes place whilst net service carriers (isps) keep in mind yo or your e mail untrustworthy. If that is happening a lot, you’ve got your self a deliverability trouble that’s going to require a bit of labor to restore. What's e-mail engagement & why is it crucial? Email engagement refers to how/if recipients engage with the emails you send them. Assuming your emails clearly land in customers’ inboxes, open fees are the primary indication of e mail engagement and you then’re going to begin looking at click-thru quotes as an indicator that human beings are interacting along with your e mail content. Ultimately, the maximum essential engagement metric is conversion quotes (after the preliminary click on via to your site) however you’ll analyze lots about e-mail engagement by the use of heatmaps to look what customers are doing when they open your mails – a crucial tactic for optimising your manner to multiplied engagement. Why are we searching at deliverability and engagement in this text? It’s important to understand that isps study engagement factors when they’re assessing the trustworthiness of your emails. Essentially, if you’ve got a records of low electronic mail engagement, this indicates your destiny emails are more likely to come to be within the spam folder, lowering deliverability even further. This consequences in a boomerang negative impact because reduced deliverability then means fewer recipients are able to interact along with your emails, which is going directly to cause even extra harm to deliverability – and so forth. That is why it’s essential to optimise for each deliverability and engagement. The way to maximise email deliverability

Read Also:- Some tips to make your visitors spend more time on your website during pandemic?

deliverability is all about getting your e mail into customers’ inboxes, no longer their unsolicited mail folders. Optimistically, it is going with out announcing which you need to avoid electronic mail spam approaches, which include cold emailing and buying e-mail lists. But there’s a lot more you can do to maximize electronic mail deliverability. Optimise your problem lines for deliverability

the first element you want to master is developing electronic mail situation lines that keep away from spam filters and convince human beings to open your emails. Right here are a few key matters to keep away from:

using unsolicited mail trigger phrases

the usage of all caps

overusing exclamation factors

deceptive issue lines

using “re:” or “fwd:”

overly lengthy subject strains

key-word stuffing

hubspot has this useful list of spam trigger phrases to avoid on your difficulty traces, that is a handy resource to get acquainted with. Apart from that, ensure your situation strains are honest, relevant to the content to your emails and avoid the commonplace spam triggers. Keep away from unsolicited mail triggers to your e mail content

there are also some of unsolicited mail triggers you need to keep away from inside the essential body of your electronic mail content material as well:

content doesn’t suit your concern line

the usage of attachments

excessive photo-to-textual content ratio

excessive use of font, font patterns and shade variations

lack of business/touch details (commercial enterprise name, cope with, smartphone variety, and many others.)

no unsubscribe link

terrible html markup

thankfully, with so many e-mail layout tools to be had these days, you've got get admission to to all sorts of email templates that provide practical examples of what your own emails have to look like. Above all, heading off misleading techniques and following e mail design excellent practices need to have you ever blanketed. However, it’s a good concept to create an in-house style guide of dos and don’ts for all people worried in your e-mail advertising and marketing strategy. Use exceptional e mail advertising software program

nice e mail advertising software program will assist you create emails and campaigns that land in customers’ inboxes. You want a platform that incorporates lots of electronic mail templates, a stable email builder and an awesome set of electronic mail automation functions will assist you reap the best deliverability and other kpis. It’s also essential to go along with a good e-mail marketing platform because isps choose up in this, that may cause those pesky junk mail filters. We use activecampaign for its top notch e-mail automation functions and you could discover extra about the pinnacle 10 e-mail advertising systems in our guide. On a associated note, you can enjoy a drop in deliverability in case you trade to a new e mail marketing company, so it’s well worth seeking to select the right device from day one. Increase your ip popularity

net service companies (isps) study the ip of every incoming e mail to evaluate how straightforward they're. This technique considers your historic performance as an email sender, this means that you can be published for beyond errors. It additionally method you may building up your ip popularity over time and step by step growth deliverability with the aid of following best practices. Start through checking your sending recognition by using gear like google’s postmaster gear, trustedsource. Org or sender score and follow the other steps we’re searching at in this text to enhance your reputation. Use a double opt-in device

a double opt-in device sends an email to subscribers, asking them to verify their e-mail cope with and this could assist deliverability in a number of methods. To begin with, it confirms you’ve were given a actual email deal with from users, in place of a fake or misleading address that would in any other case hurt your deliverability efforts. Double opt-in also increase your engagement possibilities (which, in flip, boosts deliverability) as it calls for humans to verify their hobby and preference to have interaction with your brand. Your electronic mail lists may be shorter than they will be by using a unmarried decide-in system but they’ll be full of extra treasured leads. Crucially, double choose-ins are compliant with european anti-unsolicited mail legal guidelines and the can-junk mail act inside the us. Make unsubscribing easy

gdpr calls for you to put in force an easy unsubscribe option in your emails and isps also need to peer an unsubscribe link for your mails. Additionally, for the sake of your users, it’s critical to have an reachable unsubscribe button. While it might be tempting to try and cover those buttons or location tiny unsubscribe links at the bottom of your emails, it’s without a doubt useful to make them greater distinguished. It’s a good deal higher to have human beings unsubscribing from your email lists than them flagging your emails as spam. The important thing aspect is to determine why human beings unsubscribe (generally irrelevant or unengaging e mail content) and enhance your campaigns to lessen unsubscribes quotes in addition down the line. Be steady along with your sender information

this one is exceptionally easy: be honest, correct and steady along with your sender data. This not most effective helps isps verify your id and verify your trustworthiness, but also builds accept as true with with your recipients. Create an exclusion list

an exclusion listing is a segmented electronic mail listing where you could area inactive recipients so that you don’t maintain sending them emails. If you hold sending emails to those human beings and they preserve to disregard them, you’re going to hurt your engage and deliverability performance – a nasty seize-22 to get involved in. So, create an exclusion listing and location inactive users here. You could send a low extent of re-engagement emails to try and get them returned on board in case you need, but you don’t want to be sending those humans emails at the same fee as your engaged recipients. Maximise email engagement

despite the fact that this segment is geared closer to deliverability, i’ve referred to engagement a few instances and this is because the 2 intrinsically linked. People can’t have interaction with emails they never see and isps have a look at electronic mail engagement as a warning sign that your emails can be spam. So low engagement fees harm deliverability and bad deliverability hurts engagement. Which leads us nicely into our next section of this text. The way to maximise email engagement

with email deliverability protected, it’s time to take a look at maximising engagement. Not most effective is this an important component in deliverability, it’s additionally important if you’re going to get profitable effects out of your e-mail advertising outcomes. Optimise for open fees – a crucial kpi

the maximum essential engagement for isps is open fees and those are quite rattling vital for your campaigns too. Humans aren’t going to look your messages in the event that they don’t open your email first of all and occasional open prices are going to harm your deliverability possibilities. Low open charges normally imply one in every of matters: the content for your emails isn’t of interest to recipients or your challenge traces aren’t compelling them to open – perhaps both. There are four things you want to cowl here:

e mail content material: your e mail content wishes to applicable, useful and treasured sufficient for recipients to need to open and interact with. Focused on: extraordinary recipients have one of a kind hobbies and also you want a good way to target them with content material that captures their precise pursuits. Subject lines: your concern lines want to convince recipients that your emails are well worth commencing. Preheader textual content: this is the snippet of textual content customers see in preview containers and notifications, which has a major affect on open costs. Optimising for open rates must certainly cowl a variety of the e-mail marketing necessities and things will get easier as time goes with the aid of. Once recipients know that you’re a dependable supply of exceptional email content, they’ll maintain to open with little resistance – as long as you could keep your popularity. Section your campaigns

in phrases of concentrated on, segmenting your campaigns is vital for maximising open fees and different engagement kpis – no longer to say conversions and everything else that subjects in electronic mail advertising. As quickly as prospects sign up in your lead era strategies, they must be placed on a applicable segmented list and moved along as you advantage greater statistics approximately their desires and purchase hobbies. Commonly speaking, the more relevant you could be together with your segmented campaigns, the stringer your engagement metrics can be. Create computerized workflows

your prospects’ interests exchange over the years and high-quality electronic mail advertising and marketing techniques react to person movements that imply those changes in pastimes. For instance, considered one of your leads might begin filling out one of your net paperwork but fail to complete it, which prevents them from that next conversion aim. Or, one in all your present customers might start searching at some other product web page repeatedly and studying blog content material related to it, suggesting they’re interested by making an additional purchase. Via creating computerized email workflows, you can ship relevant emails to these customers once they whole movements that confirm their hobby, in preference to simply sending them out to vast audiences and hoping for the satisfactory. This shape of behavioural concentrated on will sincerely assist you maximise engagement and conversions. For extra ideas on what type of email advertising workflow s you can put into effect, check our list of 30+ automation workflows that you could use right now. Create surprisingly-attractive emails

we currently published an article searching at eleven secrets and techniques of designing emails that convert and all the standards we included in that article will assist you layout exceptionally-attractive emails:

compelling messages

robust layouts

high-converting ctas

deliverability

design and e mail advertising gear

maximising incentive

check that article and bookmark it for later reference whilst growing new e mail marketing campaigns. Use personalisation to boost relevance

personalisation is a effective tool for maximising each deliverability and engagement. Excessive-end electronic mail marketing structures like activecampaign assist you to personalise difficulty lines, preheader textual content, e-mail content and internet site messages after users click thru to your internet site. Test out distinctive applications of personalisation to discover the proper stability between most engagement and being too private. Maximising deliverability and engagement makes all of the distinction

through maximising deliverability and engagement on your email advertising campaigns, you’re giving your content the high-quality danger of encouraging recipients to take the next step along the customer journey. Those two kpis are without delay related but optimising for them will even take care of most of your different email marketing priorities by means of default – eg: segmenting campaigns, optimising your content, etc. Amazing email advertising and marketing techniques start with Digital Marketing Company Brighton maximising deliverability and engagement and getting on top of these performance necessities will remodel the consequences you get.

Follow On: Facebook & Twitter

Connect With: Linkedin

Subscribe On: Youtube

#Digital Marketing Company in Edinburgh

0 notes

davidastbury · 4 years

Text

August 2018 Summer 1958

A hot afternoon. Unable to decide whether to stay or go. Russell looking at me - those eyes - as biologically close to Caroline’s as it was possible to be. And she was in the next room practicing at the piano. I could actually hear the thud of her thumbs and imagined her splayed fingers - stabbing through the octaves - wrists arched, skin stretched. And the noise - it couldn’t be called music - the noise made my head spin until I had no thoughts at all - just the start of a strange, painless ache that would never get any worse - and would never go away.

Then

She had been his girlfriend for a few weeks and the boy decided to introduce her to his parents. They liked her instantly and soon she was frequently calling at the family home. More than that, they got along so well with her that the girl visited when her boyfriend was away - working in other cities and sometimes overseas.

When he was home, he invited his dad to meet up with the two of them in a nearby bar. They spent the evening talking - talking about everything. And then, this became a fairly regular thing; the three of them at a little table, drinking and endlessly talking.

Once, he said to his dad that we’ll - ‘see you later as usual’ - and his dad replied - ‘No, you don’t want me around. Let it be the two of you’.

The son replied - ‘Of course we want you to be with us!’

And so the dad did as he was told.

Something Wrong

I once saw a rabbit hit by a speeding car - it was thrown up in the air; then rolled; then settled at the side of the road. A few seconds later I saw his/her mate - ears raised, looking back, confused, aware something was wrong.

And then the realisation that he could not get up, or move - and their was world broken, as broken as the sharp bones in that scrap of warm fur.

On The Train

Nice young couple. He makes comments and she smiles - doesn’t actually laugh because that might be too much encouragement. Probably an embryonic relationship; they look at each other with affectionate curiosity and open minded interest. All nice and pleasant - before the elephantine looming of practical matters ... money, families and the seething smorgasbord of desires.

City Block Story ... #22

I had a friend who lived on the 28th floor of a block in town. I used to call on him from time to time and particularly enjoyed the views from his floor to ceiling windows. One day I shared the lift with two female students and a maintenance engineer. The students were enjoying some sort of joke - I picked up the last line - which the dark-haired one, choking with laughter, had difficulty saying - ‘ ... and I won’t have any student debt!’

I tried to figure out the bit that had gone before - the bit I’d missed - but of course couldn’t figure it. The two students, still giggling got out of the 28th and followed me along the short corridor. The dark haired one fumbled with her keys and went into the flat next-door but one, to my friend.

So there I was, sitting on my friend’s sofa, looking out of his window at the clear blue sky as if in some sort of strange aircraft. I told him about the two students and he understood who I was talking about - ‘The dark haired one is the tenant; the other is her pal. I don’t know anything about her other than that she’s studying architecture. She needed to borrow my phone once. That was our only contact. But there is something about her - she goes out quite late in night.’

‘What do you mean, “goes out”’? I asked.

‘I don’t know. She goes out most nights. A car comes for her.’

‘A taxi?’ I asked.

‘No, it isn’t a marked taxi, but she gets in the back seat as if it’s a taxi.’

‘So, she’s going somewhere?’

My friend was amused. ‘Look - I don’t know! Stop asking me questions. You know where she lives - go and ask her!’

He knew he had to be careful with sadness - you have to keep it at arms length. Sadness isn’t ever sorted out and put on the shelf; instead it hangs around in the shallows, watches you, looks forward to new additions, new griefs, new disappointments. It will leap into flame just when you aren’t expect it - when you are low over something, something in itself a bit trivial - but it is enough let loose a build up of sadness - a flood of misery.

So he was careful with sadness - always on his guard - always watchful - and never, repeat never, alone.

Britain and Europe. #1

I used to attend the biannual Oil Industry jamborees in Aberdeen. It wasn’t just European, oilmen came from all over the world, it was international - Arabs, Persians, Texans, Venezuelans, Norwegians - the lot. They looked like oilmen too - men who could cap a blazing wellhead or drill miles out at sea. Men who survive in the toughest conditions - all wearing expensive ‘outdoor’ clothes and the ubiquitous Rolex watch.

I used to attended some of the workshops - one I particularly remember was given by the sales manager of a British component manufacturer. We knew each other from previous industry exhibitions and trade shows. After he’d done his stuff the two of us went to the bar. I asked how he was getting on in his firm - I’d read that it had been ‘acquired’ by a French conglomerate - and his reply, given with sincerity, really shook me. There he stood, on the foothills of senior management within a European giant; who mixed with the best of the best....

‘Listen David - between you and me - if I could get a job on the bins, I’d leave tomorrow.’

After living in the flat for a few years we decided to make some changes. We started by smashing down an interior wall and when the dust settled we were amazed to find a secret room! It was really weird - fully furnished and very neat.

Then we remembered that we lived in a duplex.

We knew each other for a few short weeks - right up to the time she left out little town forever. London was the magnet and I understood her reasons for going - I didn’t question any of it - I let the day come round and carried her bags and cases to the station - and I watched the bus take her away.

That was a long time ago. I heard nothing from her in the first few weeks and months - and then the months became years - in fact, nearly sixty years. And now others will have filled her life and they will see her as she is - but for me it is entirely different - I hold a gleaming fragment - fixed forever at that moment; how she had panicked over a last-minute confusion with her ticket - how she was cheerful and tried not to look at me - how she was heartbreakingly soulful - how she tried to smile and how hard she tried not to cry.

The Immortal Story

Once upon a time sailors were great storytellers - it was probably a way of getting through the boredom of long voyages. The stories themselves were usually fantastic and subject to the imagination and personal embellishments of the teller. One story was so popular that it was given the title ‘The Immortal Story’. It goes something like this ...

There was once a young sailor, his ship was docked for a few days in harbour somewhere in the Far East. He was alone one sticky, sweltering night - alone and getting drunk on the strong local brew - outside, he could hear the night chorus of tree frogs and monkeys. He was near a rickety bamboo screen, behind which the establishment’s girls waited for customers. He then looked up and saw a beautiful woman standing in front of him - she put a finger to his mouth and taking him by the hand led him outside and into her carriage. A servant took them to the woman’s luxurious home.

She said to the young sailor - ‘You must not speak’ - and he simply nodded his head. She gave him a night of extraordinary pleasures - leaving him weak and heavy-eyed. In the morning a set of clean clothing is laid on the bed and the woman told him that her servant had the horses ready to take him back to his ship - and that he must not speak or try to see her again.

The person telling this story must pretend that this really happened to him. He can dress it all up in anyway he likes, as long as he is convincing.

But somewhere, there would have been a sailor telling the Immortal Story, and in his case it would true.

The school bag.

The hotel allocates a space where departing guests can leave items for which they have no further use. Four or five shelves brimming with things like deluxe swimming goggles, piles of books and magazines, inflatable alligators, straw hats, sun creams, flip flops etc. Anyone can take what they want.

I saw a girls school bag; lots of pockets, pink shoulder straps - a bit knocked about - ‘well used’ is the phrase. The interior was scuffed and marked by felt-tip pens, which the owner had not capped - and traces of stickers, unsuccessfully scratched away by her thumbnail. I held it upside down to shake out the sand and the flap swung open revealing a drawing on the underside - a childish image of a kitten in a bow tie, surrounded by bunches of marijuana leaves. I had to smile.

And then, under the picture of the unfeasibly cute kitten, she had neatly stencilled her name ... Lucie Wider.

I put it back on the shelf.

‘O Master of the Universe!

God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Unfurl the canopy of Your protection

And Bless the life of Lucie Wider.

Lucie Wider

Lucie Wider.’

0 notes

junker-town · 6 years

Text

Keeping Odell Beckham Jr. happy needs to be a priority for the Giants

Beckham, not Eli Manning, is the Giants’ future. They need to make sure they’re doing right by their receiver.

There’s no “I” in team.

No individual is bigger than the whole.

The clichés are grounded in truth, but there’s also the simple reality that certain players are afforded more leeway than others. If Aaron Rodgers takes subtle shots at the Packers’ playcalling, it’s bad news for Mike McCarthy, not Rodgers. It wouldn’t be smart if DeShone Kizer did it, though.

The difference between Rodgers and Kizer is obvious. Rodgers is a superstar the Packers can’t live without. Kizer is a backup quarterback, a replaceable cog in the machine.

That’s why the New York Giants’ hands are tied after Odell Beckham Jr. opted to criticize the team’s offense and quarterback Eli Manning. If there’s one player on the Giants who can get away with that, it’s Beckham.

Beckham has 39 receiving touchdowns and 4,886 yards in just 52 career games. He was the fastest receiver ever to reach 100 receptions, 200 receptions, and 300 receptions. Given his torrid pace and the fact he’s still just 25, Beckham has a real chance at making a dent in the record books. Those prolific stats are the reason he can get away with speaking his mind about a two-time Super Bowl champ like Manning.

The Giants have to know what they have in Beckham

The team can’t be that surprised Beckham chose to be a little too truthful in an interview. Since he arrived in 2014, Beckham has been unafraid of expressing himself.

All things considered, he didn’t say anything that inflammatory in the ESPN interview that caused a stir:

“I don’t feel like I’m being given the opportunity to be the very best that I can, to bring that every single day — and that’s really all I want to do, to bring that every single day. I don’t want to be held back anymore. Since I’ve been here I’ve put up numbers, records have been broken and all those good things, not to say mean nothing to me, but I know they could have been double, or triple whatever they are now. That’s the part that bothers me. I want to win. I want to be great at what I do.”

He questioned why the Giants don’t throw passes farther than 20 yards, and the only interesting thing about his comments about Manning was he didn’t immediately deny the quarterback is part of the issue.

Publicly complaining about others dragging your stats down isn’t the greatest look. On the other hand, Beckham’s comments paint a picture of a hungry player with lofty goals and a desire to be an all-time great. There are worse problems to have than that.

It’s also not atypical of the position. Many of the greatest receivers in history have wanted more targets. Keyshawn Johnson even wrote a book called Just Give Me the Damn Ball! a couple years into his NFL career.

On the field, Beckham has been a little too passionate, at times. He’s been fined 11 times in his NFL career for a total of $221,546. He also received a one-game suspension for a wild battle with Josh Norman in 2015 that crossed the line into dangerous territory.

Away from the gridiron, Beckham has been one of the NFL’s most recognizable figures and that has put him under the microscope. While he’s stayed out of any serious trouble, the extra attention has created a few headaches for the Giants.

In March, a viral video showed the receiver with a model, some pizza, and a couple substances that looked illegal.

“It’s too often he allows himself to be put in bad situations and uses bad judgment,” Giants owner John Mara said a couple weeks later, via USA Today.

In January 2017, there was hand-wringing about a photo that showed Beckham and other Giants receivers on a boat with singer Trey Songz days before a playoff game against the Packers. The photo dominated headlines leading up to the game — a 38-13 loss in which Beckham had three drops, although he said there was no connection between the photo and his performance.

New York knew all of this when it gave him a five-year, $90 million extension that made him the highest-paid receiver ever and keeps him under contract through the 2023 season.

The Giants hitched their trailer to Beckham

If things go really south between Beckham and the Giants for some reason, cutting him before the end of the 2020 season would be difficult. They could recoup $11.75 million in cap space by releasing him in 2021 and $15 million in 2022 or 2023.

But realistically, they decided in August that the future of their franchise has Beckham center stage. The same can’t be said for Manning, or just about any other player on the roster aside from Saquon Barkley.

It’s difficult to imagine Manning, 37, as the starting quarterback for the Giants in 2020. His numbers tailed off in 2016 and 2017, and while they’ve bounced back so far in 2018, there are still 22 quarterbacks with more touchdowns this season.

Even making it to 2019 would be an accomplishment for Manning, who has a $23.2 cap hit next season, the final year of his contract with the team. The Giants can save $17 million of that by cutting the quarterback by the middle of March.

Either way, Beckham is a piece for the Giants’ long-term future and Manning isn’t anymore. And that’s not a bad thing, considering Beckham has been a fan-friendly, fashion-forward ambassador for the sport. The reality is that New York has to do right by its young receiver rather than foster discontent.

So what’s the right way to handle Beckham?

That’s the tough question. It would be unwise for the Giants to either:

Let Beckham do and say whatever he wants, unchecked

Throw Beckham under the bus

Finding the balancing act falls on the shoulders of Pat Shurmur, a coach with 20 years of NFL experience, who was hired by the Giants in January. The head coach didn’t say much when reporters asked about Beckham, telling them he was “not gonna give the public a pound of flesh” on the subject.

But what really matters is how he handled it behind closed doors:

Pat Shurmur was "livid" with Odell Beckham after the first part of his interview came out on Friday, according to Fox's @JayGlazer , and made Beckham apologize to the team. ... Shurmur's public reaction did not indicate any anger at all. Wonder if that'll change post-game today.

— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoSNY) October 7, 2018

It didn’t seem to discourage Beckham. He had eight receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown, and he threw a 57-yard touchdown pass too. But his throw was also a reminder that Beckham may be right about some of his criticisms of the Giants’ offense:

Odell Beckham Jr's TD pass to Saquon Barkley traveled 24 yards in the air. Eli Manning hasn't had a TD pass travel that far since Week 5 last season, a TD pass to Odell Beckham Jr. pic.twitter.com/xUZefP2w0m

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 7, 2018

So is the fallout from the interview now in the past? Maybe. It’s inspired a mini-beef between Lil Wayne and Eli Manning, but his teammates — namely, Manning — have brushed it off as no big deal.

Maybe the bigger question is whether frustrations will bubble up if the Giants’ offense continues to struggle and the losses keep piling up. Beckham’s 94 receiving yards per game are second all-time behind only Julio Jones, but that number has continued to fall for Beckham since his rookie year.

It’d be nice for the Giants if Beckham quietly went about his business and didn’t say much to the media. But that’s not the player they gave $90 million to. He’s the Giants’ future now — that’s the choice they made — and they have to do what they can to make sure that relationship is positive one.

0 notes

usatrendingsports · 6 years

Text

Friday 5: Most overrated, underrated school soccer groups at season’s finish

We launched the ultimate CBS 130 of the season on Thursday, rating each one of many 130 FBS groups for the 2017 season. The rankings are compiled by way of ballots from a bunch of our school soccer writers right here at CBS Sports activities in addition to just a few colleagues from 247Sports activities. I’m one of many voters, however my poll is a bit totally different from the remaining.

I flip in my rankings of all 130 groups each week primarily based not on my opinion, however the identical method I exploit for the Fornelli 50 and Backside 25 in the course of the season.

I desire doing it this fashion as a result of I supply my opinion on loads of issues right here at CBS Sports activities — significantly on this house with the Friday 5 — and in relation to rating groups, I desire goal knowledge to my subjective opinions. Additionally, having a mathematical method to make use of for rating groups makes rating 130 groups rather a lot easier!

But it surely additionally provides what I imagine to be a extra correct portrayal of a group’s high quality. Irrespective of how laborious we attempt to not, all of us have preconceived notions a few group. If a group’s been dangerous prior to now, we’re hesitant to think about it good and vice versa. If a group’s from a Energy 5 convention, we’d give it the good thing about the doubt a bit extra simply than we might a Group of 5 group.

My rankings take away all of this from the equation and choose groups primarily based on nothing however what they’ve completed within the present season. So with that in thoughts, I’ve determined that for this week’s Friday 5 we’re getting a double-shot. I am rating the 5 most overrated and underrated groups within the CBS 130 when in comparison with my rankings.

Now, I did make a small adjustment. I am sticking to groups ranked within the high 50 of the CBS 130 as a result of the truth is that the distinction between the No. 70 group and No. 90 group is not important, so we would be choosing nits.

We’ll begin with the overrated.

Most overrated groups

Oregon — Fornelli: 49 | CBS 130: 41 I am undecided what there was about Oregon this yr that might particularly lead my fellow voters to overvalue the Geese. Our final glimpse of the group this season was its 38-28 loss to Boise State within the Las Vegas Bowl, and in the course of the common season, it misplaced to Washington State by 23, Stanford by 42 and Washington by 35. Accidents at quarterback performed a task right here, however that is nonetheless a 7-6 group we’re speaking about, and if I had it at 49, then anyone needed to have this group ranked within the 30s to get it as much as 41.

Utah — Fornelli: 56 | CBS 130: 46 One other Pac-12 group? That rattling West Coast Bias is at it once more! This Utah group completed the common season at 6-6, dropping six of its final eight video games. Its finest win was possible its 30-14 Coronary heart of Dallas Bowl victory over West Virginia. Apparently, that end impressed my fellow voters fairly a bit.

Boston Faculty — Fornelli: 51 | CBS 130: 39 I’ll blame this one solely on Chip Patterson. He most likely had Boston Faculty in his high 10. The Eagles misplaced the Pinstripe Bowl to Iowa 27-20 to complete 7-6 on the season. Of their seven wins, 5 got here in opposition to bowl groups, however the very best of the bunch was possible Eight-5 Louisville. It was a decent season, however not one that ought to have acquired top-40 recognition.

Texas A&M — Fornelli: 63 | CBS 130: 49 We lastly have ourselves a few of that well-known SEC Bias. Like Oregon, Utah, and BC, A&M was a 7-6 group this season. Its finest win was a 24-17 victory over 9-Four South Carolina. Its different 5 FBS wins got here in opposition to groups with a mixed document of 22-37. It completed the season with an thrilling 55-52 loss to Wake Forest within the Belk Bowl. If I had this group at No. 63 then fairly just a few of my colleagues needed to have the Aggies a lot greater to complete at No. 49. I’ve no rationalization for this aside from its Texas A&M.

Wake Forest — Fornelli: 41 | CBS 130: 27 Talking of the Belk Bowl, our most overrated group is Wake Forest. After all, you knew that was coming. The media has lengthy had a historical past of propping up their beloved Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Now, of the 5 overrated groups listed right here, Wake had the very best season. It completed Eight-5 and picked up good wins in opposition to Louisville and a ranked NC State. However are these the sort of wins that put a group within the high 30? I do not suppose so. My guess right here is that a few of my colleagues had been nonetheless a bit drunk on that Belk Bowl.

Most underrated groups

Military — Fornelli: 31 | CBS 130: 36 Military gained 10 video games this season. Now, you may argue that these 10 wins got here in opposition to a schedule that does not stack up with different groups with fewer wins, and also you would not be incorrect. Nonetheless, Military — a group that is allergic to the ahead go — managed to win 10 video games, together with a thriller in opposition to San Diego State within the Armed Forces Bowl.

Toledo — Fornelli: 29 | CBS 130: 35 With Toledo, we’ve a group that gained 11 video games and its convention in 2017. That is adequate for the highest 30 in my rankings, however it wasn’t value of a high 40 spot from some colleagues. Hell, one or two might not have had it in its high 50. As an alternative, they selected a 7-6 Boston Faculty or Texas A&M over the 11-win Rockets.

Ohio — Fornelli 35: | CBS 130: 43 I perceive the skepticism with Ohio greater than I do Toledo. The Bobcats did not even win their division within the MAC, not to mention the convention, however they nonetheless completed 9-Four and had been the very best group of their division whether or not they gained it or not. Sorry, Akron.

San Diego State — Fornelli: 28 | CBS 130: 38 San Diego State gained 10 video games this season. It is the third-straight season through which the Aztecs have gained a minimum of 10 video games. Clearly, that does not carry a lot weight with my fellow voters. Whereas my method had this group pegged at No. 28, the composite left it at No. 38. In different phrases, some voters had this group means too low on their poll.

Troy – Fornelli: 19 | CBS 130: 33 Do you keep in mind Troy? LSU definitely does. In any case, the Trojans beat LSU in Baton Rouge 24-21 earlier this season. They then went on to complete the season at 11-2, capping it off with a 20-point trouncing of North Texas (a C-USA division winner) within the New Orleans Bowl. My method, which does not care what convention you come from, thought-about Troy to have had the 19th-best season within the nation this yr. My fellow voters noticed a Solar Belt champion and felt that was value of inclusion of their high 50 or so.

Now, do you discover a development with the groups on these lists? The 5 most overrated groups all come from Energy 5 conferences, the underrated groups from the Group of 5.

That is exactly why I felt the necessity to create my method as a result of, if I hadn’t and I simply despatched in a poll primarily based on my opinion, I would have little question proven the identical sort of bias towards the larger colleges that my colleagues did.

Now, I do not write this to name anyone out, as a result of as I simply stated, I am as responsible of it as anyone else. I simply hope that by writing about this matter it perhaps leads some individuals to query their conceptions about who is nice and who is not. I do know that I disagree with my rankings typically, however additionally they trigger me to have a look at issues from a unique angle and query my very own opinions.

That is a superb factor.

require.config();

from Usa Trending Sports – NFL | NCAA | NBA | MLB | NASCAR | UFC | WWE http://ift.tt/2AWb4EZ

0 notes

thrashermaxey · 6 years

Text

Ramblings: Islanders Injuries; Timo Meier Breakout Potential; Oshie; Hartman – January 8

With bye weeks arriving, the NHL loaded up Sunday’s schedule with 10 games. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, be sure to check which teams are taking the week off and adjust lineups accordingly. Maxing out (or close to maxing out) games played is important, even more so when there are fewer games to pick from.

Both Josh Bailey and Andrew Ladd missed the Islanders game on Sunday with injuries. We didn’t really get much of an update on either:

Weight on Bailey injury: “Wasn’t horrific news but certainly not good news.” Ladd not long term but out today.

— Arthur Staple (@StapeNewsday) January 7, 2018

I guess it’s good news that Ladd shouldn’t be out long, though there isn’t much for clarity on Bailey. As soon as we learn anything we will pass it on but with the team off until Saturday, it’s doubtful we get much from the team until then.

For Sunday’s game, Ladd was replaced by Anthony Beauvillier and Alan Quine took Bailey’s spot on the top line. Jordan Eberle took Bailey’s spot on the top PP unit.

Sebastian Aho (Islanders defenceman) got his first two career points on Sunday including his first career goal. He was also paired with Nick Leddy at five-on-five for the entire game and even got some power-play minutes on the second unit. He didn’t crack the 20-minute mark but it’s worth tracking his usage once the Islanders come off the bye. They need all the defensive help they can get and with the team fighting for a playoff spot, maybe they rely on Aho more than they had anticipated initially.

He was sent down to the AHL but it’s due to the bye week. I suspect he’ll be back up when the team returns to action this weekend.

Quick update on the other Sebastian Aho:

Canes GM Ron Francis says Aho is day-to-day with lower body injury.

— Chip Alexander (@ice_chip) January 7, 2018

As far as rookies go, I don’t think too much was expected of Nolan Patrick. Unlike Nico Hischier, who was given (you could say earned) the top-line role once Adam Henrique was traded, or Clayton Keller, who is probably the best offensive player Arizona has, or Brock Boeser, whose shooting was lauded by some, Patrick seemed destined to not be featured on this particular roster in this particular season. Maybe he could slot in as the second-line centre, but that wasn’t a given.

All that said, it’s hard not to be disappointed with his season. Going into Sunday afternoon’s game, he had just eight points on the year and at times had been a healthy scratch. His shot rate isn’t very good though that should improve over the years. He’s also last among the team’s forwards in adjusted shot share by a pretty wide margin. Again, that’s not too surprising for a rookie, but you’d think with sheltered competition and favourable zone starts that he’d be a little better in this regard. He hasn’t been.

We know that not all young players develop in a straight line. Some guys like Keller come out guns blazing. Some guys like Victor Hedman can take a few years to really hit their stride. There hasn’t been too much good to come out of Patrick’s rookie season, though. I want to ask his dynasty owners: is there any sort of panic setting in, and for those who don’t own him, are you trying to trade for him?

While on the subject of Flyers centres, Sean Couturier scored goals 22 and 23 of the season for him in the team’s 4-1 win against Buffalo. He’s on pace for more goals this year (45) than his previous career-high in points (39).

It has been a remarkable offensive season from Couturier, but please exercise some caution. He’s now shooting an even 18 percent on the year. His previous career-high was 11.7 percent, and was a career 9.4 percent shooter coming into 2017-18. Yes, he’s shooting nearly double what his career rate was. I am not saying that with better line mates and more ice time (he’s well over 21 minutes a game) that he can’t be a good offensive player. I am definitely saying that I wouldn’t rely on him to push, or break, the 40-goal barrier on a regular basis.

Don’t forget the Dobber Hockey Mid-Season Guide will be out later this week! Grab the information you need for the home stretch in your fantasy hockey leagues. Just follow this link here.

Andre Burakovsky was back in the lineup for the Caps after being scratched for a couple games. He was slotted on the fourth line with Jay Beagle and Alex Chiasson where he stayed for the game, playing under 11 minutes.

The Caps have three games this week and then their bye week comes. Maybe Burakovsky can work his way up the lineup, but if it takes him a couple games to do so, he won’t have much use on redraft fantasy hockey rosters for the next couple weeks. I wouldn’t be running to the waiver wire to add him unless you don’t really need production from a roster spot for a few weeks.

Now that Timo Meier is seemingly sticking around the top line for San Jose, it’s probably time to start taking his value in redraft leagues seriously. Over his past 20 games, before Sunday afternoon’s tilt – which haven’t all been on the top line, mind you – he’s managed 51 shots and is playing about 15:30 per game.

The following chart from Hockeyviz.com should be taken with a little grain of salt. He’s played nearly one-third of his ice time with Joe Thornton and that’s going to skew things a little. All the same, it’s pretty crazy how good this team has been offensively from dangerous areas with Meier on the ice (red is good):

Since being a top-10 pick a few years ago, Sharks fans have been waiting for Meier to be part of the next generation of top-end scorers the team needs. It looks like it’s finally starting to happen. If you were going to try and buy him in deep keepers, or dynasties, then time is running out. It seems a matter of time before a full-blown breakout hits (even without top PP minutes).

Jack Roslovic suited up for his second career game, first this season, in Sunday’s game against San Jose. He was on the fourth line with Marko Dano and Matt Hendricks.

It’s nice to see Roslovic get in the lineup, and he did take Adam Lowry’s spot on the top PP unit as well, but it’ll be hard to have a lot of value playing in the bottom-six with the minutes he got (under eight). We’ll see if his role changes this week but like Burakovsky, the Jets have three games and then hit their bye, so I wouldn’t pull a hamstring running to the waiver wire to grab him in one-year leagues.

St. Louis was in Washington on Sunday afternoon and Brayden Schenn was split away from Vladimir Tarasenko. We’ve seen this happen in sporadic spurts this year, but this seemed inevitable. The team hadn’t scored more than three goals in any one contest for 13 straight games.

This kind of sucks for Schenn, but keep in mind that Tarasenko can produced with just about anyone; he scored 40 goals in 2015-16 playing about half his minutes with Jori Lehtera. I wouldn’t be too concerned about Tarasenko’s production outside of the concerns we already had (namely shooting percentage). In fact, both he and Schenn scored in the team’s overtime loss.

Florida may have lost in the shootout, but we got this goal from Sasha Barkov, so maybe it was worth it?

Barkov shootout goal: pic.twitter.com/FP5ySXif69

— Cats On The Prowl (@Cats0ntheprowl) January 8, 2018

TJ Oshie was taken off the top line for the Caps early in the second period in their game against St. Louis and replaced by Devante Smith-Pelly. Oshie was moved to the third line with Lars Eller and Brett Connolly.

It has been a rough year for Oshie production-wise. His 82-game pace for goals this year is 26, which isn’t bad out-and-out bad, but there are red flags. His shots per game is down to 1.86, the lowest for him since his rookie year, and that’s despite playing slightly more per game (18:47) than his career average (18:37). It’s not that his shots aren’t just finding the net, either: his 8.99 shot attempts per 60 minutes at five-on-five (before Sunday’s game) is by far the lowest of his career (10.75 last year and 10.78 in 2013-14). In fact, of out 247 forwards with at least 400 minutes played, he’s 232nd in shot rate. He was never a volume shooter, but he was 169th out of 234 forwards last year. Not great, but a lot better than 2017-18. The names at the bottom of the list with Oshie this campaign are basically passers and grinders. Oshie is neither, so this is a problem.

There have been talks of injuries and he did suffer a concussion last month. Maybe there’s something wrong that we don’t know about. All I know is that playing nearly 19 minutes a game, shooting nearly 17 percent, and having an 82-game pace of 26 goals as a goal scorer isn’t great. Shooting percentage regression was inevitable, but his shot rate is becoming a real problem.

Ryan Hartman remained on the second line in Chicago’s 4-1 win against Edmonton while also sticking on the top PP unit. He had an assist, three shots on goal, and played a whopping 20:58. His previous single-game high for minutes this year was 18:36 on New Year’s Eve.

He's not shooting as much as he has in prior seasons, but he’s still at a very healthy 15.85 attempts per 60 minutes at five-on-five, in the same neighbourhood has guys like Auston Matthews, Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Seguin, and Mike Hoffman. Remember, he scored 19 goals in 76 games last year playing fewer than 13 minutes a game. If he can play anywhere from 17-18 minutes a game, in the role he’s being given, there is very good offensive upside here. With a top-six spot and top power-play minutes, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be rostered in 12-team leagues by now, especially now that we’re hitting bye weeks.

There was a scary situation in the Tampa Bay game as Lightning defenceman Dan Girardi went down to a knee to block a one-timer and took it straight off the back of his head:

A better look at Girardi trying to block a Frk shot pic.twitter.com/uvZoay8vve

— Prashanth Iyer (@iyer_prashanth) January 8, 2018

He was down for a few minutes but skated off the ice under his own power. He did not return to the game but the Lightning indicated that he would be ok. Let’s hope it’s nothing serious.

Boone Jenner had seven shots on goal in Columbus’s 3-2 shootout win over Florida, but failed to hit the scoresheet. He’s now shooting 4.4 percent on the season.

Jenner was a career 11.3 percent shooter before this season so there is clearly a lot of bad luck going on here. He’s still usually getting 18 minutes of ice time so John Tortorella still trusts him. He’s very valuable in multi-cat leagues and he should be able to turn around that shooting percentage in the second half.

Pavel Buchnevich was a healthy scratch for the Rangers in their game against the Golden Knights. I don’t know how to explain this, honestly, and can’t properly express myself without a string of expletives so I’ll just let it go for now.

Hey, Karl Alzner had a multi-point game! He scored his first of the year against Vancouver and assisted on Brendan Gallagher’s game-winner in the third. It was Alzner’s first multi-point game in which he scored since March of 2015. His contract is an utter disaster but this was a nice game for him. So, silver linings and all.

Boston’s top line is seriously rolling right now. David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand both scored for Boston in their 6-5 overtime loss to the Penguins on Sunday night, each their 17th goal of the season. I guess they were tired of being tired with Patrice Bergeron at 16 goals. The three of them have 10 goals combined over the last four games.

A couple games ago they were on the ice for their first goal against at five-on-five this year but it’s incredible how good they are.

Sidney Crosby had three assists in that win, bringing his season up to 15 goals and 43 points in 44 games. It wasn’t long ago – literally like four days – that people were still freaking out about his season. There’s still half a season left and a lot of regression to go. Buckle up.

from All About Sports http://www.dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-islanders-injuries-timo-meier-breakout-potential-oshie-hartman-january-8/

0 notes