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dangermousie · 5 months

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2023 End of Year Post - cdrama edition

Yes, we have a lot of December left, but I don't think anything else I want to check out will air before 2024 hits (it's cdrama so caveat is - you never know.)

This is only going to cover cdramas that aired in 2023; if I watched it but it was made in a different year, it's not on the list. This was a pretty good cdrama year, all in all.

DRAMAS WATCHED

(In order of liking from least to most as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

30 legend of twin flower - Not dignifying that drama with capital letters, as the only capital that should be associated with this is capital punishment - which is what watching this feels like.

29 Dominator of Martial Gods - sounds like a bdsm gay porn title. Would probably be better acted and written if it was.

28 Beauty of Resilience - you'd need a lot of said resilience to sit through this incoherent, barely acted mess. The thing that I remember the most other than my annoyance is all the jingly-jangly head gear on JJY. Perhaps they could have sold some of them and spent the money on a better script.

27 Divine Destiny - if you think you have too many brain cells and want to get rid of some, boy do I have a drama for you!

26 Wanru’s Journey - honestly it's probably tied with SEL - I mean it's worse but it has actors who are nowhere as well known and a fraction of SEL's budget. Still, this is a big fat nope. I will not say what I think of Aoi Rupeng's "acting" or I'd have to put money in the curse jar.

25 Snow Eagle Lord - Gulinazha's stone face, nonsense plot, terrible CGI. Take your pick as to why this is terrible.

24 Scent of Time - it was uneven but fun but then that ending was dumb enough to destroy the whole thing. Show me on the doll where common sense hurt you, makers!

23 Royal Rumors - Jeremy Tsui and Meng Ziyi are utterly wasted in this nothing trifle of a drama.

22 Legend of Anle - I had high expectations but alas. This is the drama version of color beige. There is nothing offensive about it but nothing good either. Mediocre actors are mediocre, good actors become mediocre, this is just a waste of our finite time on planet earth.

21 Romance on the Farm - it's not you, it's me in action. I can see why people would like this wholesome slice of farming family life, but it's tailored to trigger every one of my "nope" opinions.

20 Back from the Brink - if I were 12, it would be my favorite thing. I am not 12.

19 Journey of Chong Zi - objectively a terrible drama with plot holes the size of Mars and a leading lady whose face has apparently frozen when the wind changed. But I am a total sucker for the trope of upright shizun falling for his demonic disciple and going mental so here we are. Objectively, garbage, subjectively my precious!

18 Love you Seven Times - just call poor Ding Yuxi "Atlas," he carried this mess so hard.

17 Blooming Days - trashy dogblood harem fight fun throwback. It's not that great (and the fact that it was shredded doesn't help) but it's probably the last gasp of that genre for the foreseeable future, so I am grading on a curve.

16 The Starry Love - a fun fantasy where the secondary OTP stole the thunder but overall a really solid fantasy xianxia romance.

15 The Longest Promise - it could have been better - the secondaries were unbearable and there was too much of them and what they did with Alen Fang's character still gives me rage fits, but the main couple was impeccable and lovely and I rooted so hard for them.

14 Chang Feng Du/Destined - visually gorgeous, solidly acted, impeccable first half. Bland as hell second half. Win some, lose some.

13 Circle of Love - this drama is a nonsense trash heap on fire. After a typhoon hit it. It was also the most entertaining, addicting drama on this whole list.

12 Hidden Love - the sole modern on this list, this story has barely any plot but it made me care about the young, decent lovers so hard.

11 Choice Husband - starts out wacky, continues with angst and blood and happy ending. I loved it, but I've always had a soft spot for melo and schemers turning devoted.

10 Pledge of Allegiance - bromance, super solid acting, visuals, a really dark take on officials and the world. Insanely underrated.

9 Provoke - a truly fun Republican revenge and love tale, showing that short format can be wonderful.

8 Gone with the Rain - some of the secondary characters are rage-inducing (hi there, cardboard boy!) but the scheming, ruthless, vulgar FL is amazing and her slowburn with her age gap general who is delighted by her out-there-ness is great!

7 Wonderland of Love - Fei Wo Si Cun goes wholesome and the result is surprisingly entertaining. Battle couple, glorious visuals, a fast paced plot. It's the first Xu Kai drama I enjoyed in years (and he plays a rare cdrama ML it would be pretty neat to pair up with in rl.)

6 My Journey to You - that ending is infuriating (and I am OK with open endings if done properly) but what a visual feast, probably the most gloriously shot drama on this list, and that's a tough competition. Also it packs a hell of a lot of couples and familial and adversarial relationships into its slim running time; assassin lady won over by a gentle man is my favorite trope and so this is extra great.

5. Till the End of the Moon - the ending is a rage-inducing disaster for me, but this drama was the most incredibly emotionally intense, visually eye popping experience. It was deeply flawed but when it was amazing, it was like nothing else in its visuals, its characters and its narratives. It took insane risks; some paid off and some did not, but it was glorious.

4. Story of Kunning Palace - I don't often care for reverse harem stories but this one was such fun - the main OTP was glorious (strong FL, unhinged ML) but honestly everything about this was just so excellently done.

3. The Ingenious One - the most adult drama on this list. Smart protagonists, intelligent plot, emotions that felt true, this is a revenge and a mystery and found family and goes into so many directions you do not expect (Su Mengyu's PTSD after his first kill - that is something you never see in dramas, definitely not prolonged and profound - not like this.) If I was to say which drama was objectively the best on this list, as opposed to favorite, it would be this.

1 (tie) Lost You Forever 1 - this is an exquisite emotional jewel of a story about damaged people moving forward, with damage always present - their past informs their present and always will. The narrative about Xiao Yao and three very different men in her life makes me think that it's an equivalent of a neutron bomb going off right before the main narrative starts and now we are watching the survivors wander in the wreckage. This is very high fantasy setting but it's one of the most emotionally human narratives out there.

1 A Journey to Love - everything I ever wanted - assassins, ride or die adult OTP with genuine believable conflicts, great and complex secondaries, beautiful fights. Oh, and yeah Liu Shi Shi domming the hell out of every man in a ten mile radius, as she should.

FAVORITE DRAMA

It's a tie between Lost You Forever Part 1 and A Journey to Love. LYF1 is a bona fide art piece but it's only part 1 and who knows if part 2 will be any good (seeing the huge ep number cut, I have my doubts) and so it's incomplete. AJTL is an old school wuxia romance with incredibly competent, adult people in love and great cast of secondaries. I can't pick.

WORST DRAMA

romance of twin flower - this is a drama that should not exist. If I could hex everyone involved with it, I would. It's a terrible, stupid, shrill, badly acted drama to start with, but where it really is catapulted into stratosphere of horror is that is took my very favorite non-danmei web novel of all time, a smart and complicated tale with incredible protagonists and turned it into that barftastic abomination. Peng Xiao Ran kept making horrible drama after horrible drama but I kept giving her a chance because of Goodbye My Princess but after this disaster, I've had to accept GMP was a fluke and she is on my "if she's in it, I am out” list. Ding Yuxi is not that far yet (his performance in Seven Lifetimes was the one thing carrying that mess afloat) but he's on freaking thin ice. Anyway, I like to pretend this drama does not exist.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

It was hard because there were so many I loved this year - Deng Wei's traumatized, gentle Seventeen from LYF1 (if someone told me I'd swoon and weep for a character played by Deng Wei, I'd have told them to examine their brains asap), Liu Yuning's incredibly capable, deadly, contained Ning Yuanzhou from AJTL, Zhang Linghe's unhinged Xie Wei from SoKP, Chen Xiao's schemer with a heart Yun Xiang from TIO.

But ultimately, it couldn't be anyone else but Luo Yunxi as Tantai Jin/Demon God/Ming Ye/Cang Jiumin in Till the End of the Moon. He was everything - a demon, a saint, a martyr, a monster, a tormented abuse victim, a savior, joyful, unhinged, smart, pitiable. It was the cdrama performance of the year for me. Luo Yunxi even in a mediocre role is impressive but in a complex (series of) role(s) designed for his strengths, he is a force of nature.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Xiao Yao (Lost You Forever Part 1). Once again, there were runner ups - Bai Lu's smart a little evil FL in Kunning, the gloriously unhinged assassin domme Liu Shi Shi in AJTL, Esther Yu's assassin longing for a different life in MJTY etc etc etc. But Xiao Yao's damaged, difficult, very self-aware woman stole my heart. I was skeptical going in because I haven't enjoyed a Yang Zi performance in a long time, but she was the wounded beating soul of this incredible drama.

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Where do we start? How about all of Seventeen's (LYF1) monster family? His brother, who tortured him for years physically and emotionally to such a degree his body is a horror map and his personality is permanently altered because "mommy liked you better." Psycho mother who created a situation where the kids were going to turn on each other and "let's get my grandson raped" grandma. Where is a well-placed meteorite when you need one.

FAVORITE SHIP

Xiao Yao/Seventeen, LYF1. Yes, a ship of characters played by Yang Zi and Deng Wei is my favorite. Leave me alone, I am on my tenth helping of crow already. They are both incredibly damaged, barely functioning survivors who find what they need in the other - he finds a savior and someone who sees him as a man and rebuilds himself around her and she finds someone who will always put her first and only, and subsume himself in her. Is it healthy? No. Does it make sense for them and is it making them slowly functional? Yes.

Runner up: Ren Ruyi/Ning Yuanzhou, AJTL - two adults, so competent, so chemistry full. She has so much damage and so little normalcy but is so strong and he is oddly gentle (in between murders) and incredibly self-reflective. They are each other's mirrors and I love them.

FAVORITE SECONDARY OTP

Su Mingyu/Ke Menglan, The Ingenious One - the idealistic merchant who wants to join jianghu until he sees its horrors firsthand and a slave entertainer who wants security but decides she wants him more. They are gorgeous and glorious and wholesome and I adore them.

Runner up: Liu Gong Quan/Ming Zhu, The Ingenious One - that drama was a shippy gift, especially impressive considering it wasn't even romance-centric. He's the officer who has to bring down her treasonous father but loves her. Delicious.

Another runner up is Chao Feng/Qian Kui, the angelic good girl and the scheming bad boy in The Starry Love. They stole the drama from the main OTP for me.

NOTP

Scent of Time endgame. What the hell was even that. It made NO sense.

FAVORITE SCENE

So many good scenes this year - Tantai Jin taking apart Li Susu in prison in TTEOTM, the OTP fighting in perfect sync and insane rhythm in the gorge battle in AJTL, Chen Ruoxuan's character stopping the execution in Pledge, Yan Lin's coming of age in Kunning, the poison/antidote "gamble" in MJTY, Cang Xuan detoxing in LYF1. But I think ultimately, me being who I am, my favorite scene is Xiao Yao kissing Seventeen's damaged, scarred knee to show he is in no way inferior for her. AAAAA!

In terms of pure jaw dropping visuals tho nothing will ever beat Ming Ye’s battle against the Devil God in TTEOTM.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Ning Yuanzhou, AJTL. He's sexy as hell (that height, that way he moves in battle) but he's also so incredibly competent, so adult, so self-reflective and so attracted to a woman for her strength. He also gets whumped on the reg. Anyway, my hormones are ready.

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Gong Yuanzhi (My Journey to You) - I loved the unhinged, brocon poison boy. He was everything. Also Yan Lin (Kunning) - talk about sunshine; I totally got why all these people felt they needed to save him.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

My Journey to You - what the HELL was that ending?

NEEDS SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

legend of twin flower - that is, stab it with scissors like it stabbed the novel until it's dead.

TOO MANY SCISSORS TAKEN TO IT

Till the End of the Moon - they clearly cut stuff to fit into the new regs about runtime and it made the last 1/5 rather abrupt. Gimme!

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

The emperor cannot be irredeemable. WTF, China, you are a communist country!

FAVORITE TROPE WE’VE SEEN A LOT OF

This is the year of a ML who yearns to be dommed by his FL. Long may it continue.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

The Legend of Anle - the novel had a great plot, the cast were all actors I either enjoy a lot or somewhat and we got - whatever that soggy piece of wonderbread toast was.

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

LYF1 - I only checked out to mock because nobody could explain the story to me and nobody in the cast did anything I like either ever or in years. And then I fell utterly and completely in love and had to eat so much delicious crow.

2023 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

Ancient Love Song is the only one on that list. It looks really good, I just need to brace myself.

BEST NON-2023 DRAMA I’VE WATCHED IN 2023

The Imperial Doctoress - best slowburn and pining and glorious character development and adult leads.

MOST ANTICIPATED

Anticipating any nonaired cdrama is a mug's game but if they air, I will definitely check out all the Fox Matchmaker dramas, LYF2, JoL2 and The Last Immortal. If Prisoner of Beauty ever is allowed out of the vault (dubious), it goes on the list too.

#cdrama #lost you forever #a journey to love #till the end of the moon #my journey to you #choice husband #provoke #the starry love #the ingenious one #wonderland of love #story of kunning palace #gone with the rain

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ussjellyfish · 4 years

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sightseeing pt 1 | philinda | AoS | explicit

Forgive me for the first chapter being foreplay...it’s not after this. (whisky help me).

Post-Finale fic, because I wanted one where she finds him.

No longer quite an agent, Phil Coulson went off to see the world. Professor Melinda May knows the kinds of places he likes. The rest isn't quite parasailing, but it's certainly classified.

It's his kind of place. Homey, old, with a scuffed, well worn floor and walls covered in history. Melinda isn't sure if seafood is something this version of Phil enjoys, but he's always been excited by good food and the scallops are divine here. Luckily the seagood is different enough from Tahiti to not dredge up her own longings. She won't be able to sit on a tropical beach without her chest aching but the stones and the Loch are pleasantly different.

If he doesn't show, she'll get plenty of work done. Her stack of provisional field reports is much smaller than it was when she arrived on the ferry two days ago. She walks along the water in the morning, and does her tai chi between the trees and the shore. The locals are polite, and accustomed enough to tourists that they're neither curious or too chatty.

The Old Forge pub's lively tonight with a sizeable group at the bar and a group playing something that's not pool. Phil would know what it is, and the rules, though he'd lose his shirt before he'd admit he wasn't that good at it. Maybe now he is. Maybe part of the upgrades are a passing skill with games. She hasn't got to play poker with him yet, but maybe now he finally has game.

That thought makes her smile, and she sets down her pen. She should correct the papers on her laptop, but it feels wrong to sit in a place with history and type. The pen is Phil's, one of his exquisite collection of fountain pens and every once in awhile she gets ink all over her fingers. It feels like part of the job, so she lets it happen. The stains remind her of him.

Everything does. Phil's in the scent of whisky, men unbuttoning their suit coats before they sit down, blue ties, red ties, and the feel of leather. She hasn't stayed in a hotel without him, not in years, and the little cottage she's rented is designed to be shared, but it's easy enough to ignore the other bathrobe and the other towel. He'll be here.

Or he won't.

She's rarely wrong about him: what he likes, the kinds of places he finds interesting. He'd have a hard time resisting the most remote pub in the UK and he'd sit in the corner table and read his book.

Melinda finishes her soup and sets the bowl aside. She's drunk half of her beer, and when it's gone she will allow herself one shot of whisky before she retreats to her cottage and the hot tub hidden in the trees.

She's deep in her work, nearing the end of her pint when he walks in. It's him by the sound of his feet, even in hiking boots instead of derby shoes. Her reading glasses slip and she forces them up the bridge of her nose. Working without them ends in headaches and that's not how she wants tonight to end.

Not that they--

Of course not.

Phil orders a drink and searches the pub, his eyes fall on her and she doesn't look up. She can't, she's not ready to look at him, not if--

"Is this seat taken?"

"All yours."

He sits, setting down his pint next to hers. "These are new."

"Getting old."

"Not you," he teases. "Melinda May is an ageless goddess."

"Professor May gets fairly nasty headaches if she reads papers all day without them."

He smiles. "Are you sure that it's not the papers?"

Chuckling, she sets down her pen. His pen. Another him, another lifetime ago. Removing her glasses, she sets them down. "They're not that bad. Apparently it's too much time in a cockpit."

"They suit you."

"Thanks."

"This suits you." He lifts his glass, taking a sip as he looks over her sweater. "You seem relaxed."

"Nowhere to be."

He takes a longer drink, rolling the ale over his tongue before he swallows. What different parts of it can he taste now? Does his tongue disect the molecules or does he taste it like she does? "How did you know I'd come here?"

"The most remote pub in Scotland is definitely your thing."

"I wanted to go to Ireland." The server sets his plate in front of him. Fish and chips. Of course.

She reaches across, stealing a chip. "You wouldn't go without me."

He raises his eyebrows in mock indigence at her theft. "You already ate."

"You never finish your chips."

"Because you do." Phil reaches for the vinegar and his fingers brush her wrist. Her heart thuds, too loud and too needy.

"I missed you."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"No, let me apologize." He holds up a chip as a peace offering. "I wasn't ready."

"You don't have to be."

"I am."

She eats the chip, trying to concentrate on the salt and crispy potato. Pay attention to her body, find the horizon, find her center. She can't slow her heartbeat, but she can ignore it. Pretend she can't taste the need in her chest.

"Ready for?"

"Whatever comes next." He smiles, really smiles, and they could be back at the Academy, studying in the cafeteria, decades ago. "You came all this way."

"It's spring break, I had the time."

"What if I didn't come?"

"You did."

"I did."

He finishes his pint and she tucks her papers into her briefcase.

"What are we drinking? Islay or Speyside?"

"Not that peated one."

Phil laughs, shaking his head. "I like that."

"I do too, but not tonight."

"All right, something sweeter." He stands, heading back to the bar. "Don't eat all my chips."

"I'll leave one."

She leaves three, just to be kind.

Phil returns with whiskies, doubles, and slides hers across. Can he get drunk? Is it all about the taste, the ritual?

"What are we drinking too?"

"A wild spring break?"

She raises an eyebrow.

"Had to try." Those crinkles around his eyes are perfect, and him. So is the way she's not sure if his eyes are blue, hazel or brown. Must be the lighting.

"Thank you."

"I left you three, you should be grateful."

He eats one of the chips and chuckles. "That you found me?"

"Well, you weren't visiting."

"I--"

"It's all right."

"It's not. I should have visited, you asked and I- I left you."

"You do that a lot." She didn't mean to say it, it's too harsh, but he nods all the same.

"Sorry about that."

"Maybe this you sticks around."

"Would be nice."

"Yeah?"

"I'm enjoying it. Seeing the world, sitting in pubs., reading, watching...never had time for most of it. Couldn't take a day and read a book and now I can just flip through them."

"Must be nice."

"Just say the word and I'll help you with your essays." He reaches out, hand open on the table.

"They're not bad."

"Solidly mediocre?"

"There's promise. Some will be good agents in a few years."

"Some dreadful ones."

"Always a few."

They lift their glasses, eyes locked. "What are we drinking to?"

"Seeing the world?"

"Having our feet the ground for once."

"Well, Lola is out back." He clinks his glass against hers. "To seeing it slowly."

"To taking time."

Phil grins at that, his eyes softening as the little lines around them deepen. "That's not something we do."

"Maybe we start."

His eyes won't leave her lips. The whisky starts sweet, then warms her throat. The last time he kissed her, he was dying, now death is a thousand years away.

Phil sets his glass down on the table. "I'm not sure I know how."

"All that time wandering the world, reassessing, and you didn't figure out how to take your time?" Her cheeks flush, and it's not the whisky. His gaze has always been able to do that to her.

"Never been good at it."

"Maybe it's time to learn some new skills."

He waves over the bartender and she refills their glasses without a word. Amber whisky glows in the weak light of the sunset through the window.

"You think it's possible to teach new tech new tricks?"

"Isn't that one of the benefits of all your circuits?"

"Perhaps." He drinks without a toast, almost as if he has to fortify himself for what's to come. "I'm sorry, Melinda."

"For what?"

"So many things."

"Dying?"

"Not staying dead."

Shaking her head, she finishes her own whisky, barely tasting it this time. "The world's better with you in it, you know that."

"Even for you?"

"Of course it is, you're my best friend."

"I've been more than that."

She traces the rim of the glass with her finger. "You could be again."

"Is that what you want?"

Want isn't even the right word. Want is too simple.

"I love you."

"Loved," he corrects her. "He's gone."

"No, Phil, I love you. This you, the last you, the nerdy you before who used to stop by my cubicle on your coffee break just to make me laugh."

"It's not--"

She reaches across the table and squeezes his hand, making sure to have all his attention. "It is that easy."

He gulps and stares, dumbfounded. It's pretty cute when he gets like this. "Okay."

"Do you want to wait five minutes and follow me to the cottage or come now?"

Phil smirks. "Is someone following us?"

"Would it matter?"

"Could be fun."

Laughing, she picks up her briefcase, tucking her glasses away. "Maybe for you."

"Fighting off the bad guys isn't foreplay anymore?" He grabs her jacket, opening it up so she can step in.

Melinda reaches up to fix her hair, but he does, gently letting it fall onto her shoulders. "It's not as fun as it used to be."

"So you need a new hobby?"

"The vacation might be enough."

"It's not a vacation if you're working." He rests his hand on her back as they leave the pub for the tiny street that goes nowhere.

"I needed to pass the time until you got here."

"So I'm late?"

"Aren't you always?"

His fake wounded face hasn't changed in decades. "Hey."

"I don't mind waiting."

"Maybe you should." He touches her chin, stopping them in the street. No one's coming, there's nowhere to go.

"What are you going to do about that?"

Phil glances down the street, then at his feet. "I guess I'll find some guys to shoot at us, seemed to help last time."

"So romantic." She stands on her tiptoes, reaching up for his shoulder. He leans down, just a little, and they're close. Melinda tilts her head, tugs, and he laughs before they kiss. Her lips tingle from the drink and he tastes like whisky. At first he's tentative, gentle, so she deepens the kiss, opening her mouth, teasing- offering- and he takes.

His fingers slip into her hair, pulling her closer as his tongue tastes her. Does he remember kissing on the beach? Can he know what those weeks were like? Does he only remember the kiss behind the shield?

Does it matter? He's here. They're here. They have now; they've never been good at seizing their moments. Maybe that's something they can reassess together.

#philinda #agents of shield #post-finale fic #professor may in glasses is really too adorable #lmd phil coulson

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skeletonwoman · 7 years

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AU #1: Hear Me (13)

my baseball knowledge is mediocre at best (even though i think the game is very interesting and would like to see more) and what i have written is with the minutest googling and things ive learned from books. So there.

Hear Me Masterlist

Also, thanks guys, for reading this far and maybe even enjoying it (i understand if you’ve read this far and haven’t but know you’re going to keep reading cause you want to know what happens in the end (i get like that sometimes))

Obviously sharing isn’t my middle name. I’m rich. And what kind of stupid middle name is Sharing anyway?

“Wanna play baseball?” Ororo shouts through the door and you frown at your covers. Warren is nearby, likely with her, but you can’t bring yourself to move. You never realized how much sound affected your daily life. The ticking of your clock, the scuffling of feet outside the door, the ringing of the school bells.

“Babe.” Warren says, his head ducking in and your gaze jerks to his, blinking at him. “Come play baseball.”

You hum hesitantly, about to wave him off, when he steps through the door and says something soft to Ororo before closing it behind himself.

“Y/N.” He sighs softly, crossing the room and settling beside you on the bed. His hand catches yours and interlaces your fingers and you shrug weakly.

“I just… I’m not useful, I’m barely special.”

“You’re plenty special.” He scoffs and you glare at him, your expression sad.

“I know that, because my mutation is ruining my life. And my boyfriend has wings.”

“Hey now… Who said anything about boyfriend?” Warren baits and you can’t help yourself from grabbing onto the words with both hands.

“Dick.” You growl and he snickers, shuffling closer.

“What? I know we’re soulmates and all that but… Uh, I hate to break this to you but I can’t be tied down… Prime of my youth, and whatnot.” He teases and you shove him, rolling your eyes even as you smile. Just a little.

“And look, your mutation sucks-”

“Screw you.”

“But it’s just baseball. You know the rules.” He pauses, glancing out your window into the sunshine. “Well, we’ll explain the rules that need explaining. And I can’t keep you to myself much longer. Since I’m expected to rejoin the world, you have to as well.”

“The world’s mean to me.” You mutter sourly and he chuckles, shuffling off the bed and holding out both hands for you.

“If it comes to it, you can sit out and play referee. Put those vocal cords to the test, hey?” He offers cheerily and you reluctantly set your hands in his. He beams as he pulls you to your feet, pulling slightly to hard and you go crashing into his chest, or perhaps that was the plan. His fingers find your chin and you tilt your face up to him, smiling as his lips press to yours.

Are you two coming or what?

The voice makes you jump and your nails dig into Warrens arm where you’d been holding it.

“That’s Jean. She’s freaking awful sometimes.” He mutters bitterly, forehead bumping yours. “She’s right though, c’mon.”

You stare at the group around you and try not to swallow hard. You know everyones names, had heard Warren speak of them during and after the battle, but you hadn’t really met any of them.

“Everyone knows who everyone is, but to make it official, Y/N, this is half of the X-Men.” Ororo smiles and you frown, tilting your head. “Yeah, I know. You just wait, in five years, we’re going to be saving the world.”

“Some of us have already done that.” Scott mutters and you watch Ororos back straighten.

“When?” You blink dumbly, and Scott flushes but meets your eyes steadily.

“When these two tried to end it.” He mutters, jerking his head at Ororo and Warren. Ororo’s lips press together and her fists clench at her side, but Warren stands relaxed, trying not to grin.

“I’m sorry, I’m going deaf.” You wince, your cheeks flushing and Scott’s tight expression melts into one of concern. “Did you say you tried to end the world?”

The concern washes away, replaced by a furious scowl. “No, I said they did.”

“You did?”

“No, they did.”

“I keep hearing “I did”, I’m sorry, is there something to do with those two that I’m missing here?” You mumble confusedly, glancing between the three of them, a snicker flitting to your ears.

“Scott.” Jean says with a small smile and he turns on her, expression furious, only to melt into resignation.

“Whatever.” He mutters, before shaking off the sourness and waving his hand in a circle. “Let’s circle up and pick captains. Warren can explain the rules to Y/N.”

“Powers are allowed and you have to run at least half of the distance between bases. So Kurt can teleport halfway and run the other distance.” Warren quickly whispers, his eyes glued to the same conversation you’re watching.

“Got it.” You nod, grinning as Ororo claims a captaincy, Jean taking the other.

“Peter.” Ororo says instantly and Jean hisses, shooting the dark skinned girl a playful scowl.

“Fine, Kurt.” She sighs loudly, grinning wickedly at Scotts offended expression.

“Warren.” Ororo orders and he barely makes it to Ororos side before Jean is calling out Scotts name.

“This seems pretty clear cut.” You shrug, smiling at Jubilee who grins and nods, only for your head to whip back around in surprise.

“C’mon, Y/N.” Jean orders and you nod slowly, trotting to her side and smiling at Kurt, who grins at you.

“I forgot to add that the captain who picks second gets their pick of the last two.” Warren mouths to you and you wrinkle your nose at him, poking out your tongue.

“Prepare for your doom.” You shrug, smiling sweetly as Jean points to centerfield, Ororo taking her team toward home plate.

“Kurt, you’re good with short stop?” Jean asks instantly and the blue boy nods, his expression serious and you can’t help but blush.

“Hey!” Warren shouts across the field and you roll your eyes at him.

“Idiot.” You mouth and he laughs.

“What position do you normally play, Y/N?” Jean asks politely, drawing you back to the conversation and you hum, glancing around the field.

“Ah, I usually just go wherever.” You shrug, a sudden shyness filling you under the three sets of eyes. Or four eyes if you count four eyes across from you.

“You’re a pitcher, aren’t you?” She asks, and you shoot her a half-hearted look.

“Yeah.” You mumble and she grins happily. Scott’s forehead wrinkles, but Jean grins at him, shaking her head and he stays silent.

“Scott can take his usual position and I will… Right field, I suppose.” She says, glancing around the grassy space. “Okay, break.”

The ball weight of the ball in your palm makes your stomach flip, the familiarity of it bringing back memories as sun drenched as today.

Reeling back your arm, you throw the ball, releasing it half a second too late to ensure Peter doesn’t accidentally hit it. The ball thumps into the dirt at his feet and he shoots you a droll look.

“We playing?” He smirks and you scoff.

“I can’t remember how to throw right.” You bluff, bouncing from foot to foot. Peter smiles at you indulgently, and you beam at him. Idiot. Inhaling a soft breath, you feel your mutation roll through you as you speak. “You’ll probably want to stop and watch where the ball flies, it’s bound to be somewhere interesting with my throwing.”

Peter shakes his head hard, before shaking his whole body and blinking at you.

“Sure, whatever. Just throw the ball.” He orders, his voice strange and you can see Ororo staring at him hard, a questioning worry in her eyes. Warren pushes against your mind, his delighted offense brushing up against your smugness. Rolling your shoulder, you wind back your arm and let fly, watching the bat swing and connect, hearing the dull thud, and watching Peter gaze at the ball as it soars across the field. The ball lands but slips from Scotts mitt, only for it to fly toward Peter without touching the ground. Kurt appears beside the shirt they’d set down as first base, who’s eyes clear of the fog, only for the ball to land solidly in Kurts hand.

“Out!” Jean shouts, clapping happily and Ororo waves her acceptance. Glancing over at the red head, she shoots you a thumbs up, Scott even offering you a begrudging smile.

“Go team.” You snicker, Kurt suddenly laughing loudly and you jump. Right. Your words carry.

“You’re a cheat.” Warren scoffs, glaring at the flames as they lick against the walls of the fireplace. You lie against him, his back pressed into the corner of the loveseat the two of you are currently sharing.

“You’re a sore loser.” You shrug, smiling at Jean who won’t stop glancing over at you to smile happily. You take it they hadn’t won the past few games.

“You’re a sore player.” Ororo mutters and you laugh, stretching out and settling back against Warren. His eyes fall closed for a moment as you curl yourself against him, his face momentarily burying itself in your hair before he leans back and wraps his arms around your waist.

“You’ve got a sore attitude.” Kurt pipes up, smiling happily and you can’t help gazing at him. What about him is so entrancing, you can’t decide, but he’s just amazing to look at. Warren bumps your hip with his knee and you scoff softly.

“My ass is sore.” Jubilee adds, pouting and you can’t help snorting loudly. The moment had been perfect, she’d hit the ball beautifully, her path was filled with blasting fireworks so no one could tell where first was, or where she was, until suddenly she’d yelped and the fireworks had dissipated. There she lay, covered in mud and scowling at the sky.

“No one help me.” She’d snapped, grumbling as she clambered to her feet and limped back into the house to clean off. You’d ended up refereeing after that, to make the teams even, but it was good fun all the same.

You yawned, smiling at nothing in particular.

“We’re going to bed.” Warren pipes up behind you and you make a soft noise of questioning that has him rolling his eyes. “Night guys.”

“Night.” The group choruses, and you bump fists with Scott and Peter before you’ve made it to the door, much to Warrens amusement.

“I love you.” He whispers against your lips, the darkness a quiet blanket over the room and you hum softly, trying to wiggle closer to him than you already are.

“I love you too.” You answer, your palm finding his jaw as you pull him in for a slow kiss.

@themortallife (thanks for liking it so much you wanted to be tagged)

sorry this is late, i had uni that day (like my third day) and so i was all tuckered out

#warren worthington fic #warren worthington imagine #warren worthington fanfic #warren worthington x reader #warren worthington fanfiction #marvel #xmen fic #x men fic #x-men fic

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hermanwatts · 4 years

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SUPERVERSIVE: The Best Anime of the Year Mega Post

Giorno Giovanna, a holdover from Winter 2018

Outside of the horrendous and tragic Kyoto Animation fire, this was an amazing year for anime. The fire is a terrible loss to the community; there is no softening that blow. But as far as the quality of the shows that came out – WOW!

This is going to be a pretty long post, because there’s so much to get to. Before we start, here’s the structure:

I will be naming one show per season as the “Winner”, and then pick a runner-up.

Only new shows will be counted – if a show from a previous season is continuing or a season 2 is airing, that won’t count.

That said, best continuing show/sequel will be its own category.

An anime of the year will be named as one of the winners at the end.

Without further ado…Let’s begin!

Winter Season Winner: The Promised Neverland

Overview/Review: I remember when the winter season was ongoing it was thought of as a truly incredible season. And…yeah, but not necessarily because of the huge variety of new shows. It’s because between the new shows and continuations of previous shows, there was a ton of FANTASTIC content. We have the incredible season 2 of “Mob Psycho 100” airing as well as the back half of part 5 of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, “Golden Wind”, arguably the best one yet. “Dororo” started airing as well; I only saw it later on (and honestly it came off mostly as a bargain bin “Demon Slayer” with worse action choreography, animation, and music – yes, I know it came first), but it was still pretty good.

Without a doubt though, of the new shows, the season came down to two: “The Promised Neverland” and “Kaguya-Sama: Love is War”.

(“Wait, you’re not even going to talk about ‘Shield Hero’?” NO.)

Both shows were very good, but I think everybody knows the clear winner has to be “The Promised Neverland”

Okay, I know I already outed myself as a loyal shonen guy, and yes, this year’s list will have multiple. And yes, “The Promised Neverland” is a shonen. But it’s not a normal shonen. “The Promised Neverland” is a horror story. A really intense horror story about adorable children being raised on a farm and fed to demons.

I just spoiled something for the first episode, but I don’t know how to recommend it to people without talking about the premise. And MAN is that some premise, and some first episode. The show doesn’t shy away from some truly horrific imagery, and the direction and character animations are tremendous.

Most importantly though…the damn thing is scary. Really scary. It isn’t nihilistic, it isn’t gory or gross or full of jump scares, but the way it expertly maintains an atmosphere of slowly creeping dread is masterful. And yet, it is also undoubtedly superversive, an impressive feat.

I can’t talk about much more because spoilers really do matter in a story like this. The villain is great, the leads are likable, and the soundtrack is solidly atmospheric. It’s an excellent show.

That said, to my eyes it is far from perfect. The pacing is totally janked in the middle, with certain plot points being hyperfocused on to an almost laughable degree and others sped by so fast you’re left scratching your head trying to figure out how you got here. And outside the villains, while the characters are solidly likable they don’t particularly stand out. This makes sense in a story like this – too competent and you lose some of the tension as it becomes less likely they’ll lose – but it does nevertheless leave you occasionally waiting for somebody to do something really interesting, and while it DOES happen it can take awhile. It often feels like lots of chess pieces are being pushed around with few captures.

But in the end the show has such a great atmosphere and executes its terrific premise so well it is the easy pick for the anime of the spring season. Highly recommended.

Runner-up: Kaguya-Sama: Love is War is a neat twist on high school rom-coms starring two characters who both obviously like each other but instead of talking it out engage in escalating battles of hyperbolic 3-D chess as each tries to get the other to confess. The show honestly starts off slow but as it starts to peel back the layers surrounding its characters it grows beyond being a collection of memes and becomes a funny and satisfying rom-com in its own right, more like “Toradora” than not. Recommended.

Spring Season Winner: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Review/Overview: The spring season was nowhere near as strong as the winter season, with no real standout sequels to pad out the numbers. But one show stood out, and not only stood out, is in my opinion superior to “The Promised Neverland”, and that show is “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”.

Let’s be honest here: Demon Slayer is about as generic a shonen as you can get. A teenager from the Taisho period of Japan named Tanjiro comes home to find his entire family murdered by demons, save one: his sister Nezuko, but unfortunately she’s no luckier – she’s been transformed into a demon herself. Despite this Tanjiro refuses to believe that her humanity is completely gone, and searches desperately for help. After a chance encounter with a demon slayer proves that her familial loyalty has not been completely lost the slayer spares her life and recommends Tanjiro train to join the Demon Slayer Corps, with the hope that with their training and resources on his side he can somehow find a cure.

The characters are fine – nothing special. The plot is fine – nothing special. So what makes this show so great?

Quite simply, this show has arguably the greatest production values a TV anime has ever had. Demon Slayer paces itself well, and every action scene is better than the last, culminating in the remarkable Demon Mountain arc and the stunning episode 19 fight between Tanjiro and one of the villainous twelve Kizuki, super-powerful demons working for the most powerful demon of all, Muzan.

So essentially we have a show with solid characters (except Zenitsu, who at times nearly ruins the show, though people have promised me with solemn assurance that he gets better), pacing, and writing and incredible action, animation, sound design, and soundtrack. For a shonen to break its way into the popular consciousness I think it needs to do one thing particularly well; for “My Hero Academia” it’s the characters and for “Demon Slayer” it’s the production values. For that reason I doubt it will age as well, but that doesn’t make what we have any less excellent.

Runner-up: None. I didn’t particularly like the rest of the offerings this season. I suppose I should note “Fruits Basket” is supposed to be good even if it isn’t really my thing.

Summer Season Winner: Dr. Stone

Review/Overview: Summer was a much stronger season than the spring season, though often for a lot of its sequels. We have the fun, if slight, sequel to “Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?” which is the sort of light feel good show I think the lame Slime Isekai was supposed to be, and some well-regarded spinoffs I have been assured are good even though I didn’t watch them, such as “A Certain Scientific Accelerator” and “Lord El-Melloi’s Case Files”. We also have mediocre-but-not-terrible disappointments like “Fire Force”, which at least has decent animation sometimes. “Vinland Saga” I haven’t had the opportunity to watch yet; I’ve heard it’s…pretty fine.

But by far, and I mean by far, the best anime of the summer is “Dr. Stone”. Holy crap do I love this show. “Dr. Stone’s” premise is as simple as it is awesome: One day all of humanity turns to stone. Over 3,000 years later Senku Ishigami, a genius high schooler with a passion for science, wakes up along with his dim-witted but physically adept friend Taiju, and together they set about rebuilding civilization and reviving the stone world.

The show starts off with a bang, leaning into the horror of the premise and introducing an unforgettable character in Senku, then steadily improves as it goes along. “Dr. Stone” is not a battle anime, but that doesn’t mean it’s not hype. “Dr. Stone” is an anime about science, yes, but more importantly it’s an anime about how humanity is awesome and how we take for granted all of the wonders of the modern world that people of the past could only dream of.

The hype moments take place in the form of technological and scientific achievements, as Senku slowly reintroduces modern technology to a lovable cast of characters. It also features what is absolutely my scene of the year, even over “Demon Slayer’s” epic episode 19 fight, in the final minutes of episode 9, an utterly awe-inspiring moment that needs to be seen for itself to be fully appreciated.

Imagine you have never seen a light bulb, a record, a generator, antibiotics, or even pasta before. What would it be like to see it for the first time? To watch the modern world come into being? The answer to that question is the true appeal of “Dr. Stone” (not to mention its gorgeous backgrounds and hilarious facial expressions), and I can’t recommend it enough.

Runner-up: Despite some good sequels no new shows really stood out to me, but for what its worth I’ve heard “Vinland Saga” is pretty decent, if a bit divisive. As far as sequels I do recommend “Is it Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon?” for a fun time.

Fall Season Winner: No Guns Life

Review/Overview: The Fall season has been insanely good, both in new shows and sequels. Though stuffed with isekai not even all of them are disasters for once. What I’m just going to call “Pro Wrestler Isekai” and “Cautious Hero Isekai” are okay, if not hilarious, comedies; ultimately I think if Pro Wrestler Isekai – written by the Konosuba author – had the animation quality of “Cautious Hero Isekai”, it would probably be great, but as is one is written very well but has bland animation and one is animated hilariously but feels more like a knock-off “Konosuba” then the anime by the “Konosuba” guy. Still, both can be an okay time.

“Ascendance of a Bookworm” is a very, very slow burn, and I’m getting tired of medieval European-style settings, but the characters are lovely, the ideas behind it are interesting, and it looks great. If you are okay with the snail’s pace there’s a lot to love about it. Even a show like “Assassin’s Pride”, which is generic light novel trash, is really, really well animated and well drawn with an interesting world and terrific visuals. I can’t and won’t recommend it, but we’re in a season where even the bad shows actually have effort put into them.

To say nothing of the sequels, season 4 of “My Hero Academia” and even season 3 of “Chihayafiuru”, which is a surprisingly fun little show about a girl obsessed with the Japanese card game Karuta and the relationships that have been formed around it.

That said, two new shows this season were both absolutely outstanding, “No Guns Life” and “Beastars”, but while I absolutely love “Beastars” and unreservedly recommend it I have to give “No Guns Life” the nod as anime of the season. In a dystopian future Juzo Inui is a private eye working as a “Resolver” where he takes on cases specifically related to “extended”, humans who have augmented their body with cybernetic extensions. In fact, Juzo is an extended himself, a particularly dramatic one, in fact. You see, his head is a gun.

Yeah. His head. Is a gun. Straight up, just a gun.

So this show is awesome, of course. With a premise like that, how could it not be? But it’s even better than that. “No Guns Life” is smart. Juzo’s (outstanding) character design can easily be played campily and over the top, but the show goes a different way and plays everything with total seriousness. As a result Juzo, while absolutely badass, comes off as a distinctly tragic figure. I think the most impressive part of this show is that once I started watching it I never thought to myself “Man does Juzo look silly”. He isn’t a silly character, he’s a sad one, his humanity forcibly taken away so he could be turned into a living weapon.

And yes, he is indeed super cool. Remember, only people Juzo accepts get to touch his trigger, and he doesn’t intend to accept anyone. The other main characters, a teenager rescued by Juzo from the evil Beruhren Corporation, who conducted human experimentation on children, and Mary, Juzo’s mechanic, are both immediately interesting to watch, to say nothing of the colorful cast of minor characters appearing regularly throughout the show. The plot is an engaging conspiracy mystery with plenty of twists and turns, and the studio in charge is the legendary Madhouse so of course the animation is great. It all feels like a 90’s throwback anime in the best possible way – mature storytelling for a slightly older audience with a serious-looking art style and color palette.

I should note that for the first time on this list it is questionable if the show is strictly speaking superversive. “No Guns Life” is a neo-noir, and the essence of noir is that the world of black and white, good and evil, is gone: We’re in a world of gray now. But inside this world of gray are men like Juzo, who hold onto the flame of integrity even though they know it has no value in a world like this – but that doesn’t matter, because sometimes something is still the right thing to do. Good isn’t always rewarded, evil isn’t always punished, but that’s no excuse for breaking your moral code, because in the world of gray it’s even more important than ever before. Is that superversive? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s certainly compelling. Highly recommended.

Runner-up: I can’t emphasize enough that “Beastars”, dark tale about the lives of herbivores and carnivores living in a society where they are forced to integrate as equals, is very nearly just as good a show as “No Guns Life”. Specifically, “Beastars” takes place in a school and follows the life of Legosi, a polite and mild-mannered wolf who is constantly swallowing down sudden urges of extreme bloodlust. After a murder takes place on campus and Legosi nearly loses control and kills a rabbit, tensions mount and conflicts start to arise not only between the herbivores and the carnivores but even between fellow carnivores with conflicting ideas about how to live their lives.

The show is animated in CGI but somehow it not only works, it has one of the coolest and most distinct visual styles of the year. The music has a jazzy feel vaguely reminiscent of “Cowboy Bebop”. While the OP, “Wild Side”, isn’t necessarily the best one (there are others with more going on visually), it’s terrific musically, has legitimately incredible stop motion animation, and tells a creepy little self-contained story. “Beastars” is an excellent show, and that I prefer “No Guns Life” is arguably only a matter of taste. Highly recommended.

Best continuing show/sequel of the year: Mob Psycho 100 season 2.

Review/Overview: With so many amazing sequels having come out this year, to say nothing of the continuing shows from Fall 2018, I want to say that this was a really difficult choice. We have the terrific second half of part 5 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, “Golden Wind”. We have the front half of season 4 of the always excellent “My Hero Academia” in its best story arc. We have the fun-if-slight shows “Is it Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon?” season 2 and “Chihayafuru” season 3. All of these shows ranged from good to outstanding and could easily win in any other year.

(Note: “My Hero Academia”, if the arc is executed well, would probably win if the FULL season was shown instead of just the first half.)

I want to say this was a really difficult choice, but it wasn’t difficult at all. Season 2 of “Mob Psycho 100” was somehow even better than the incredible season 1 of the show, and cements its status as an instant classic. It’s hilarious, it’s touching, the animation is insanely good, and the message that hard work and self-improvement is the key to making a fulfilling life for yourself is just as profound in the modern anime world landscape as ever. Despite airing all the way back in the winter season, and despite many other excellent shows up against it, there was never any other real contender. There’s no excuse not to be watching this one by now.

And now, last but not least…

New show of the year: Dr. Stone

youtube

This year really was insanely strong. It featured five – Five! – shows that easily could have been anime of the year in almost any other year in “The Promised Neverland”, “Demon Slayer”, “No Guns Life”, “Beastars”, and “Dr. Stone”. But I can’t in good conscience pick any show but “Dr. Stone” as new anime of the year. Like “The Promised Neverland” its premise is immediately eye-catching, but unlike that show it doesn’t have any weird pacing issues, and it has one of the most compelling protagonists ever.

The production values are not to the level of “Demon Slayer” and it doesn’t feature much action, but it explores ideas that are far more interesting and features moments that are just as hype as any fight scene. It doesn’t have the twisty plot or mature style of “No Guns Life” but it has an infectious enthusiasm for humanity that really makes you reflect on just how much our species has accomplished.

It’s a super optimistic show with a great premise, a great protagonist, great backgrounds, great character designs, great facial expressions, great ideas, and is overall the most fun I’ve had watching an anime this year. In a year of strengths, “Dr. Stone” stands out as the strongest. I am ten billion percent certain you’ll regret it if you miss it.

Bonus section – Disappointment of the year: “Carole and Tuesday”

This year featured in my opinion four contenders for the title. “Fire Force” was much hyped but ended up being mostly dull with bursts of action that were hard to be invested in thanks to the unmemorable characters and unimpressive plot. After an incredible season 1 “One Punch Man’s” second season was a dud that had none of the effort and passion that went into the original season of the show. “The Rising of the Shield Hero” was again much hyped but suffered from the same problems as every other isekai story even as it pretended it didn’t.

But while the easy pick for disappointment of the year is “One Punch Man”, I’m not going to pick that. Really, didn’t we all know it would be bad when we heard Madhouse wasn’t going to be handling it? Instead I’ll have to give the award to “Carole and Tuesday”, a Shinichiro Watanabe show about a rich girl in a sci-fi future who moves to the city to make it big in music, where she teams up with a poor waitress and they form a band. Watanabe, the legendary director of classics like “Cowboy Bebop”, “Samurai Champloo”, and “Space Dandy” putting out a show centered around music? How could it miss?

Alas, miss it did. The first episode was one of the most predictably trite first episodes I’ve ever seen for a show. It did absolutely nothing interesting. The characters weren’t interesting, the worldbuilding wasn’t interesting, the animation wasn’t interesting…nothing. It was just bland, bland, bland – the last thing I expected from a Watanabe show. Listen to the soundtrack and ignore the rest of it. It’ll save you some time.

SUPERVERSIVE: The Best Anime of the Year Mega Post published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

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auburnfamilynews · 7 years

Link

It’s one thing when John Q. Internet Blogger breaks out the b-word for Auburn men’s basketball team. It’s another when it’s astute CBS Sports writer Matt Norlander (emphasis 100% mine):

The Tigers (15-8) claw their way, barely, onto the surface of the BUBBLE!!! by winning at Alabama on Saturday night. Bruce Pearl’s team has swept the Tide, plus defeated Texas Tech, another bubble team. Tigers have a super steep climb, though.

The last time Auburn and that word were mentioned in the same sentence, Korvotney Barber was owning fools, Frankie Sullivan was our next big thing, and Tony Barbee was plumbing the mines of El Paso. It’s been a long, long while, y’all. Whether Auburn has any real shot at the NCAAs or not — SPOILER ALERT, the odds ain’t great, even after edging Mississippi State — that the Tigers are even the faintest blip on the radar is a meaningful step forward for Bruce Pearl’s program, especially given the whole “half the rotation started playing college basketball in October, or later” thing. Auburn should enjoy the crap out of the 2016-2017 season, regardless of where it finishes.

That said … if it’s February, and it’s in any way plausible Auburn’s season ends in an NCAA berth, it’s time to discuss exactly how plausible that NCAA berth is. I respect the don’t talk about it yet you’ll jinx it look the other way perspective, but it’s been too damn long since we’ve had the opportunity to break down an Auburn postseason résumé not to break down Auburn’s postseason résumé. Besides, Auburn’s not remotely a Tournament-or-bust program at this point. An NIT bid that would provide precious postseason experience and a possible trip to Madison Square Garden is a prize more than worth celebrating, and we need to start figuring out how likely that is, too. Also, it’s fun.

So, if we want to gauge Auburn’s potential to land a bid to either tournament, the place we want to start is right here, the National Statistical‘s* reproduction of the same RPI “team sheets” the selection committee uses as the foundation of its evaluations. Let’s take a look.

The Basics

RPI: 58

SOS/NonCon SOS: 70/62

Average RPI win: 149

Average RPI loss: 56

NonCon RPI: 33

vs. RPI Top-50: 1-5 (1-4 road/neutral)

vs. 50-100: 3-2 (2-0 road/neutral**)

vs. 100-200: 8-1 (3-1 road/neutral)

vs. 200 and above: 4-0 (1-0 road/neutral)

The good news

While Auburn’s youth has yielded the expected wild mood swings in terms of game-to-game or even half-to-half performance, the Tigers’ ability to pull out tight wins even when not operating at 100% efficiency has meant their actual results are, in fact, stunningly consistent. Against teams in the top 65 of the RPI, Auburn is 1-7. Against teams ranked 66th or lower, Auburn is 15-1. To reach this stage of the season with a single “bad loss” on the ledger is a major positive, as reflected in the Tigers’ solid (if not spectacular) average RPI loss figure. For comparison, the last team in the current Bracket Matrix composite field (Illinois State) and its first team out (Syracuse) both have weaker numbers than Auburn’s 56.

While the Tigers haven’t earned as much of a boost from their nonconference performance as they might have hoped — Texas Tech, Oklahoma and UConn weren’t supposed to be RPI Nos. 92, 155 and 136, respectively — the nonleague RPI and strength-of-schedule are both NCAA Tournament-caliber, as is the Tigers’ 5-2 mark in nonconference road/neutral games. To choose one example, Miami’s currently in the projected field with similar-but-slightly-inferior numbers.

The committee might also give Auburn the gentlest benefit-of-the-doubt on its poor top-50 record, since only one of those six games came at home.

The bad news

NCAA-wise, there’s just not enough meat on the résumé’s bones yet. A single win against the first 65 teams in the RPI won’t cut it unless there’s a lot of wins in the 65-100 range, and I’m skeptical three qualifies. If Auburn hasn’t yet had home opportunities against the best teams on its schedule, it did have those opportunities against Ole Miss, Georgia and Tennessee, and failed to take advantage of any of them. Until Auburn proves it’s capable of beating an NCAA-caliber team other than TCU, it’s hard to see it as an NCAA-caliber team itself.

It’s also hard to overlook that of those seven top-65 losses, only one has come by single digits, and that one came against the Rebels (No. 58) at home. Auburn’s average margin of defeat against the top-50 is a hideous 20.6 points, with the end result being that Auburn’s computer ranking numbers — 80th in Kenpom, 74th in Sagarin — lag well behind their RPI. The latter’s still far more important to the committee than the former, but we know the computers do have their say at selection time, too.

So where does Auburn stand?

As Norlander said: it’s a steep climb to serious NCAA consideration. It’s not enough to simply avoid bad losses to make the Tournament, and there’s no shortage of bubble teams — Seton Hall, Wake Forest, Tennessee, etc. — that have both done an even better job of avoiding a Boston College-type defeat and have better wins to boot. Is the foundation for an NCAA bid there if Auburn can beat Florida and Arkansas at home, win at least one of the roadies at Ole Miss and Georgia, and hold serve against A&M, LSU and Mizzou? Yes, it is. But asking Auburn to go 3-1 in the caliber of game it’s gone 1-7 in to date — while also not tipping over the bad-loss cliff it’s flirted with so many times — is clearly asking an awful lot.

So let’s ask just a little less, shall we? Auburn’s “middle-of-the-pack Power 5 team with respectable nonconference performance” résumé is the kind that’s screamed NIT for years, and current projections have the Tigers solidly — if not securely — in the field. The NIT bubble is never as forgiving as it looks (remember that every regular-season mid-major champion that fails to make the NCAAs gets an auto-bid), and I haven’t followed NIT projections closely enough over the years to make any guarantees. But the guess here is that a .500 SEC record would do the trick.

Prognosis

The real worry with Auburn’s below-NCAA Tournament-average computer rankings isn’t that they won’t impress the committee; it’s that they argue, vehemently, Auburn’s unlikely to pull off the victories that would. Personally, I think the Tigers are the rare team that’s legitimately better than Kenpom thinks, since they’ve played so many damn games in which they botched away a massive late lead to make the final score closer than it deserved to be. But it’s also true there’s only so many times Auburn can play with that particular fire without being burned — and at 9-2 in games decided by six points or fewer, Auburn’s already played with it an awful lot. Conversely, where the Florida game is concerned, it’s not as if Auburn’s performances against that caliber of opposition suggest they’re poised to get over the hump against the Gators, either. (Is the hump even in sight?)

So until proven otherwise, the question for me isn’t whether Auburn can make a run at an NCAA berth — though hope certainly springs eternal — but whether it can do enough to preserve its shot at the NIT. With Bryce Brown making up for lost time and Danjel Purifoy due for a few more high-impact games than we’ve seen of late, the guess here is that Auburn holds the “good, not great” line it’s established for itself throughout the season. That means beating one or two of the Razorbacks, Rebels or Dawgs, and holding just steady enough to get past assorted mediocre Tigers of uglier colors. Beat A&M in College Station, and the NIT should beckon. Fail there, and a win in the SEC tourney might be necessary.

Auburn should, yes, play in its first postseason since 2009. But other than beating Alabama, nothing’s been easy for them — and I wouldn’t expect breaking that drought to be, either.

*You might remember the National Statistical under its former moniker, BBState.com. If you’re a hoopshead or into bracketology, a site membership should be a strong consideration for you.

**NatStat doesn’t list the Texas Tech game as neutral-site, so its away record here is off by a game.

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