#I also have a drawing of the party celebrating their promotion to captains and like 3-4 sketches and one other big scene | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

heybeybey · 3 years

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Ready, Set, Don't Go

Words: 1,833

Genre: Angst/Family

Rating: G Summary: Levi may have resigned from the military, but he'd underestimated how much his daughter is as much of a fighter as him and Petra. (Set almost 2 decades after canon events)

Happy Father's Day, folks!

I'm sorry for contributing slight angst today but don't worry, nobody dies. 👍 Also here, have some wheelchair Levi and a teenage Ackerbaby.

And thank you to @levis-petras for being my beta for this fic 💖

- - - -

Levi wasn't much for celebrations ever since he was young. In fact, he only recognizes five dates that are worth commemorating:

His wife's birthday.

His daughter's birthday.

His twins' birthday.

His and Petra's wedding anniversary.

And Mother's Day, but that one wasn't just for Petra. Truthfully, it was also the only way he gets to celebrate his late mother. He barely remembers her birthday, and he wasn't even sure he knew in the first place.

So, you see, he only celebrates when it's all about the people he holds dear. He doesn't really see the point in All Hearts Day or even his birthday. A more cost-efficient option too.

However, it still hurts that he's spending Father's Day this way.

The day started off normally. He woke up to Petra peppering kisses down his neck, greeting him a Happy Father's Day. The twins—Luke and Philip—then came bouncing in, both boys eager to show him the cards they drew for him.

He came down to Izzy brewing tea—a blend his daughter bought for him as a gift—and greeting him with a hug. He'd have to admit that it's been nice to be coddled by his family.

Then came dinner time.

He noticed that Izzy had been uneasy the past few days, and all those nerves seemed to have culminated during dinner. The brat had been on edge the whole day that he had to snap at her to just spill it.

It first started with an off-hand comment about how there will be a ceremony the next day for new military recruits. He sees his wife give Izzy an encouraging look from the corner of his eyes as she stumbles through her words.

Izzy, who's not much of a great liar to begin with, quickly muttered 'I signed up for the military.' and refused to meet his eyes.

"What?"

"I know that you might not agree now and that you and mom had been through a lot," Izzy starts to explain in a rush. "But I know this is what I'm meant for dad! I think there's not going to be a lot of battles to fight and it's more just—"

"No," he cuts off.

Her squeaking words quickly turned into a hiss, and it only got worse when he demanded that he drop her spot.

Soon, Petra was ushering their twins up to the second floor, knowing how arguments between father and daughter can get nasty.

"This is not fair!"

"The answer is no, Izzy," he said, matching his teenage daughter's tone. He rolls his wheelchair to follow her all the way to their house's front door, hearing her rage around the house. "Oi brat, what did I say about banging on the fucking furniture?"

He distinctly hears Petra scold, "Language, Levi!" from upstairs, but both father and daughter ignores her.

"I'm 16 now, dad," she snaps back, ignoring his last comment. "You can't tell me what to do."

Izzy finally turns around to face him, never one to back down. She's looking at him now with fury in her eyes and a retort ready on her lips.

Definitely her father's daughter.

"Do you even know what you're doing, Izzy?" He said, voice finally softening as he takes in the loaded backpack on her back. He feels the weight of her decision then.

"I wouldn't have signed if I didn't."

He'd always had a hunch that Izzy was fond of the military. Too fond for his taste, if he's going to be honest about it.

Guilt pinches him a bit whenever he thinks back to his promise that he would stand by his children no matter the choices they make. Even at the age of 56, he remains steadfast to his belief to live a life with no regrets.

But he'd be damned before he even allows any of his children to enlist.

So the first time she daydreamed of becoming a soldier at the tender age of eight, he had quickly shut down the idea.

"Here, girls like dolls right?" he had said as he pushed the plushie to her arms. He doesn't really give a damn whether she likes toys that are meant more for girls or boys. He'd buy her anything she asks for, budget permitting. But for some reason, that moment had settled uneasily in his gut. "I bought this for you today."

"But I want that one!" she'd screech, pointing at the display of two toy dual broadswords.

Petra had reprimanded him, telling him that he shouldn't discourage their child just because of their experiences. He could only give his wife a worried look in return.

Izzy was 11 the next time she approached the topic, asking him about his time as Captain Levi Ackerman. While he and Petra had moved out of Paradis since the Battle of Heaven and Earth, never even thinking of looking back, Petra was able to keep a few portraits of their team and the other Scout veterans.

Izzy, the curious young teen that she was, found them.

"See, it says here that you were a captain!" Izzy exclaims, eyes sparkling with excitement and reverence. She'd been bouncing to and from the box with the portraits and other memorabilia during his and Petra's time in the Scouts. She then settled down, looking from the portrait of a younger version of Levi with Erwin to her father's scarred face now. Levi feels his hands clenching on the armrests of his wheelchair, his vision starting to blur the more he looks at his former commander's face.

"It's so cool that you were in the military. And that you even had a high position! Do you think I'll also become a captain in the future? Maybe you can train me so I can reach that level! Please dad, can you tell me more? Is that why you have that badass scar? Mom won't tell me anything—"

Brat didn't know that he was there until the end. He doesn't know what they teach in history classes to children nowadays, but he and Petra had agreed that there's no sense in mentioning their time as soldiers and the literal hell they've been through to any of their children.

Not really a good bedtime story for kids.

The thought of his own child witnessing the same shit he and Petra went through was enough to give him a new set of nightmares every night.

"She's young, Levi," Petra consoles him after he sat up sweating from a nightmare. Tears were also streaming down her cheeks as she clings on to his bare shoulder. "She might still change her mind."

The last time Izzy mentioned it, she was 14. Everything was starting to pick up again during that time. Paradis' military, unsurprisingly, was the strongest.

Armin came over to tell them that a new order will be established—a neutral party from different nations that they all hope would promote and retain the fragile facade of peace they all had before one side goes batshit crazy. Arlert had been the same level-headed young man that he was since Levi had to revive his charred ass back in Shiganshina as he explained everything to the former captain.

With this change came a new branch of military for implementation.

Izzy had been starry eyed since then.

"This might be the world's chance to truly fix things," she babbled on that whole day—a mixture of rants about the current state and how everything is being handled, and reverence at the possible future this change might bring.

"Imagine... Imagine being a part of that..." Izzy had trailed off then, eyes faraway but lit up with optimism.

All Levi can hear and see is another Isabel from years past.

Back then, he'd chalked it all up to the fanciful thinking of a child who doesn't know any better. Now, Levi desperately wants to believe that maybe this is just a rebellious teenage phase. He'd been around a lot of teenagers during his time and he'd witnessed how crazy they can get.

Like Eren and—

He tears himself away from the memory before his mind fucks him up further. He and Petra already deals with it on an almost nightly basis, and it's a thought he'd rather not dwell on during his waking hours.

The living room was quiet for a moment as both father and daughter stare each other down. Levi looks at his first-born now—committed and kind like Petra, blunt and fearless like him. The best of his and his wife's qualities mixed together.

But who knows when shit will go down again? Things were shaky enough in this damned world as it is. While he and Petra were able to find their own safe spot to raise their children in, one can never be too complacent.

He'd already lost too much, and most days he wakes up thinking that even his family is temporary. There one day, gone the next.

"I can do my part this way, dad," Izzy finally replies, drawing her father back to the present. She sighs, dropping down her bag and kneels on one side of his wheelchair so they'd be at the same level. "Like what you did. Like what you and mom did."

He remains quiet as he takes in the determination in her eyes. It's the same look Petra would have more than two decades ago when she saves another soldier from being titan shit. The same look his daughter would have whenever she refuses to let go of a toy before bath time back when she was a toddler.

He knows then that there's no swaying her from her decision.

"You're too much like your mother," Levi says, resigned. They even have the same strawberry-blonde bob, he notes. Izzy gives him a sad smile then.

"You're just too old to 'deal with my teenage bullshit', dad," Izzy retorts to lighten the mood, doing her best to imitate her father's previous rants.

He doesn't tell her that maybe what he's too old for is the possibility of losing another person he holds dear.

- - - -

When he sees her off the next morning, already in the uniform issued by the military, he decides that he'd rest easier at night knowing that Izzy believes he's there to support her. He fought for Paradis' freedom for half his life. Why would he rob his daughter from her freedom to choose the path she wants?

"I'm proud of you, Izzy," Levi whispers against her ear as she hugs him tightly, fighting against his desire to beg her to not to go. It may be uncharacteristic of him to want to sob out and cling further to her but damn it, this is his daughter.

But Izzy's breath hitches at his words, and tears soon started to fall. His own arm encircles tightly around her while he supports himself with a crutch. She looks at him gratefully, true joy in her eyes, and that was enough to stop him from forbidding her further.

"You're not allowed to die," he mutters instead—so similar to the 'encouraging words' he gave the young recruits he guided before.

Izzy laughs through her sobs and teases him, "Is that an order, 'captain'?"

"Damn right it is, brat," he replies, fondly ruffling her hair.

#rivetra #levi ackerman x petra ral #wheelchair levi #ACKERBABY #TEENAGE ACKERBABY #levi x petra #rivetra fic #rivetra au

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indifferent-century · 4 years

Photo

James Clark Ross and Francis Crozier in John Davis’s Watercolors?

A Theory After my post about New Year’s celebrations on the Ross Antarctic Expedition, I’ve been thinking a lot about John Edward Davis’s painting of the 1842 party in the ice. I love this image because it gives a personal dimension to the expedition, and has a sense of emotion that official accounts often can’t convey. We have officers in their blue coats and sailors in their festive costumes, people making music and dancing -- and all having a demonstrably joyous time, regardless of rank.

The best thing about this painting, though, is that we have a written description to the event to go with it, penned by the artist himself. In a letter to his sister, Davis wrote about many of the things we can see in the image - assembly rooms carved out of ice, handmade decorations including a snow sculpture of the “Venus de Medici,” sailors dressed up as caricatured “soldiers” on parade. In the background some of the men are playing “Bell the Cat” (called a “jingling match” by another officer from the expedition), which is much like modern Marco Polo and involves a group of blindfolded players trying to catch a non-blindfolded player who is ringing a bell.

And if the written accompaniment wasn’t already enough to make this painting unique, Davis even mentions the painting in his letter. “I afterwards did a bit of a picture of the scene,” he writes, “which has been greatly praised, and I have been asked to get it engraved and so ensured against loss, but there are two people to give their consent to that.”

Presumably, the two people who must give their consent are the leaders of the expedition, Crozier and Ross.

Davis did go on to get many of his drawings lithographed when he returned to England, and several appear as illustrations in Ross’s published account of the expedition. I suspect that any drawing would need the captains’ permission for publication, because they would want to control what the public saw and thus thought about the expedition. But Davis might have had special concerns about this image of merry-making, since it is not exactly the image of heroism and rank-based hierarchy the navy usually promoted for itself. Everyone in Britain knew the stereotype that sailors were the partying type, but when officers were involved, things might get more complicated.

And what might have made Davis even more cautious to ask the captains’ permission, I believe, is the fact that the two men might be IN the painting.

When describing the festivities, Davis mentions that after a signal gun was fired from Erebus, “the two captains made their appearance (under a rather irregular salute of musketry from a party of the men rigged as a guard of honour) and took their seats on a raised snow sofa, and soon after the ball commenced.” All of this seems to be in the painting -- at the left we can see a group of men gathered on deck, possibly having just fired the gun. Some of the men dressed as “soldiers” also to the left are carrying muskets. And in the center we have two blue-coated and hat-wearing figures sitting seated on a high platform of snow.

I’m not sure which figure is Ross and which is Crozier, and given the rough nature of the drawing it’s likely that Davis didn’t intend the identities to much matter. But both seem to be relaxed and having a fun time of it, which certainly points to Ross’s later assertion that “if our friends in England could have witnessed the scene, they would have thought, what I am sure was truly the case, that we were a very happy party.” Given the rarity of portraits of Crozier, and the equal rarity of images of the Two Captains together, I think even this rough image is exciting!

With this all in mind, a comparison of the New Years painting with some of Davis’s other works suggests that we might have two other depictions of the captains together. In this image of men walking in the ice on the Ross Sea, two identically-dressed figures are standing and conversing to the left of the painting, where another figure is making scientific observations.

They appear again in the center of Davis’s painting of the planting of a Union Jack on Possession Island, surrounded by the crew as well as thousands of penguins.

It is still very possible that the figures are just two ambiguous officers in all of these paintings. But given their repeated appearances, I am given to suppose that they are intended to be not only important, but recognizable. If you’re still with me here at the end of this post, thanks for sticking around! Here is a known image of the Two Captains, along with John Franklin, at Rossbank Observatory in Hobart, Tasmania. It’s not painted by John Davis, but as a fun fact - Davis was the original artist of the scene. Crozier asked him to draw it as a gift for Lady Franklin, and it was later redone as an oil painting by Thomas Bock.

#long post #sorry for my art-based conspiracy theories #Ross Antarctic Expedition #antarctic exploration #John Edward Davis #James Clark Ross #Francis Crozier #polar art #The Two Captains #JCRAppreciationMonth

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mymarvelbunch · 4 years

Text

Be Your Own Hero - Steve Rogers x Reader (epilogue)

Masterlist

Summary: You’ve lost all your family and most friends in The Decimation. Refusing to believe their deaths are permanent, you dedicate years to find a way to reverse it. Upon finding something that might help, you search for the Avengers’ help. It’s Steve Rogers x Reader, but in reality it’s mostly Badass!Reader. Also, Non-American!Reader.

Warnings: none!

Note: Y/Co = your country. Y/Ci = your city; Y/N/L = your native language.

Previously: When you stopped talking to take a breath, he asked, “May I kiss you? You didn’t gave me the opportunity to kiss you back in Morag, and I really, really want to show you how mad you were to think I’d leave you for Peggy.” Unable to answer that with words, you nodded. His lips reached yours, and everything else faded away.

Epilogue

Two years later

Sam Wilson was a great Captain America. Not only he was good at his job, the fact that the mantle that once belonged to Steve was now in a black man’s shoulders gave everyone hope for a better future.

“You must be really proud of him”, you said over coffee.

He smiled and nodded. Despite having moved to Y/Ci, Steve and you weren’t living together. He rented his own apartment near yours. You still saw each other everyday, though. You kept teaching him to speak Y/N/L [A/N: ignore this if you speak English], and all about your country’s culture and habits.

You were welcomed back as a hero. Later, you found videos where Steve told the international press that, without you, they would have never been able to reverse the Decimation. There weren’t many details, since no one wanted to make public the fact that they discovered time travel, but enough to make it clear your role was essential in bringing everyone back.

You received many invitations to join psychiatric residency in many big cities. Invitations. No one had ever heard of such a thing before. In the end, you stayed in your home city; its residency program was one of the best in the country anyway, and you missed your family too much to leave them behind.

Steve, on his part, thrived as an artist. His history as former hero gave him celebrity-like status, which helped him greatly. Of course, Steve being Steve, he helped promoting other artists of all kinds, from drawing/painting to writing, acting, dancing... everyone loved him. Who wouldn’t?

Moments like these reminded you how lucky you were. Everyone loved Steve, but he chose you. Out of millions, he chose to love you and be with you. Sometimes it was still hard to believe that.

But he always did his best to remind that no, this wasn’t a dream, and yes, you were worth his love and affection, and you loved him for it. You talked about the subject a few times after the day you confessed to each other. He knew you had trouble adjusting to your hero status, and given you kind of retired with him, this situation was unlikely to change. You still saw yourself as an ordinary woman who did what she had to do, and there were days you forgot how much effort you made to get there - the years you gave up to achieve your goal, the lack of self-care - so Steve would often remind you of them.

Your family and friends also played a part in that. Whenever you felt down (usually because of something regarding your job) and thinking you weren’t capable, they’d remind you of what you’ve done two years ago. Being a doctor couldn’t possibly be harder than that, right?

Right. You just had to remind yourself of that sometimes. It was easy to fall into a routine and forget the path you took to get there.

Steve suddenly spoke up, interrupting your train of thought. “Hey, Tony invited us to Morgan’s birthday next Saturday. Are you busy in any way?”

You frowned, trying to remember any commitment. “No, I’m free”, you finally answered. “But he should have invited us sooner. I’m not sure we’ll be able to find plane tickets to New York in such short notice.”

He smiled. “Oh, that won’t be a problem”, he said. “He convinced Strange to teleport us if needed.”

Your eyebrows arched at that. “Well, if that’s the case, you can tell him we’ll need it.”

Steve’s smile widened in an odd way. “Great. I’ll tell him.” He stood up and went to get his phone at his room. You took the time to get yours and message your mother friends. What to get for a 5-year-old rich girl?

For some reason, you had expected the passage through Strange’s sling ring to bring you some nausea or dizziness, but you felt nothing as you crossed the minimally small path between Steve’s apartment and Stark’s home.

It was themed birthday party, but you couldn’t recognize which cartoon it was. Pepper told you, but since you had never heard of it before (it was possible it didn’t even air in Y/Co), you forgot it pretty fast.

Everyone was there, even the Guardians of the Galaxy. Apparently, Tony and Nebula had bonded in the three years of the Decimation, to the point Morgan called the blue alien ‘Aunt Neb’. Thor, Loki, Valkyrie and Sif were also there, and Thor/Sif and Loki/Valkyrie seemed to be the couples. “Wasn’t Valkyrie lesbian?”, you whispered to Steve.

“I don’t think Asgardians view sexuality the way we do”, he whispered back. Fair enough, you thought, and proceeded to greet Clint, who brought his entire family to the party. There were many kids, presumably from Morgan’s school. Parker seemed to like to play with them, while the girl who looked like his girlfriend stayed far from the children.

Carol had showed up with a woman and a teenage girl. She introduced the woman, Maria Rambeau, as her girlfriend, and the girl as her goddaughter. Apparently she had been staying more on Earth than outside it, even though she still had missions on space every and then.

Bucky, Natasha and Sam seemed to be a trio, now that Clint and Steve were retired. Tony settled down as well, leaving the ‘superheroing’ to his friend Rhodes and to Parker. He still spent quite some time on his workshop, though, and his works included a new Vision. Wanda was happier with that than she probably should, but who were you to judge?

King T’Challa (and his wife, Queen Nakia), Princess Shuri and General Okoye (along with her husband you had never heard of until today) had come as well. Wakanda had gotten a lot of spotlight over the years, since they revealed to be the most technologically advanced nation in the world. T’Challa’s decision to share of their knowledge to the world was source of many polemics, because everyone had an opinion on how much he should share. He seemed to be handling everything gracefully, though.

Overall, the party was great. You caught up a lot with the friend you hadn’t seen in a year, and had fun. There were many times you forgot that you were among heroes, and that you were considered one.

Near sunset, most of Morgan’s classmates had gone home, and most guests were Avengers. You were talking with Loki about Asgardian medicine (of which he had a great knowledge than you expected a royal to have) when Steve called you. “I wanted to show you something”, he said.

You excused yourself and followed Steve to the riverside (the Starks lived near a river, how cool was that?). “It’s beautiful at sunset”, you said truthfully. “Is that what you wanted to show me?”

“Not really”, he replied, “though it’s a nice bonus. Actually, it’s a gift. Mind if you close your eyes?”

You shook your heard and did as told. When he told you to open them, you were greeted by the sight of Steve on one knee, holding a small velvet box.

Oh. My. God.

“Y/N, you should know by now how much I love you”, he began. You found yourself suddenly unable to breathe. “You are, without a doubt, the best that has happened to me after I came back from the ice. You came into my life in one of the craziest ways possible, and wormed into my hear without even noticing. You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, and you deserve all happiness and love in this world. And all I want to do is to give you exactly that. I want you to be the first thing I see in the morning and your voice to be last sound I hear before falling asleep. I want to show you every day how special you are. Please, allow me to love you for the rest of our lives, the way you’ve always dreamed of. Y/N Y/L/N, will you marry me?”

Your legs were shaking. Actually, your entire body was shaking, and you found you couldn’t speak. Was this truly happening?

Slowly so you wouldn’t fall flat on the grass, you crouched down and grabbed his face. You felt tears in your eyes as you finally managed to whisper, “Yes.”

His smile was so bright it nearly blinded you. He carefully opened the box and slipped the silvery ring on your finger. You barely had time to admire it before he grabbed you by the wait, stood up and lifted you, kissing you right after. You smiled into the kiss, remembering an early interview when you went back to Y/Co.

“If you could go back in time, would you have changed anything about the past three years?”

You had wanted to giggle at that - you were able to go back in time if you wanted to. But you restrained yourself.

“I don’t see anything worth changing, ma’am”, you replied instead. “Our mission was successful in every possible way.”

You had brought your family and friends back. You were about to make your dream of becoming a psychiatric come true, you had great heroes as true friends. And now you were about to marry the love of your life, Steve Rogers.

Yes, your mission was successful in every possible way, indeed.

------------------------------------

Aaaand it’s a wrap! Thank you for everyone who liked, reblogged and followed this story. This AU was a concept I had thought of for some time, and it seemed perfect for an imagine - a genre I’ve wanted to try for a long time. Feedback is always welcome.

If any of you wants to see more of this AU, you can ask for drabble suggestions! I’m always open to new ideas.

Taglist: @autobotgirl15-blog @starstrucknature @cheeseburgersstuff @aamzter2013

#steve rogers imagine #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x you #marvel imagine #marvel #Steve Rogers #morgan stark #avengers: endgame

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theheadlessgroom · 4 years

Note

(1, 10, 13, 14, 22 and 24, please!)

Thank you!

1. Aside from the enigmatic status Ol’ Hatty maintained for several decades, being built up into a larger-than-life legend among parkgoers, before being revealed to be real after all and making a triumphant return to the Mansion, I was really enthralled by the idea of him being the intended of the Beating-Heart Bride, especially given his head and her heart being in sync, not to mention all the promotional and tie-in materials that seemed to make it pretty clear that she was ‘his bride’. That, combined with the open-for-interpretation nature of the ride, led me to start drawing my own conclusions, and I felt he’d make a great character to RP, once I had a solid history down for him!

10. I feel like there’s a lot of overlap between the fandom’s interpretation and my own: A lot of other fans, at least as far as I’ve seen, tend to interpret Hatty as being from the lower-class, not to mention being predisposed to being generally cranky and cantankerous, not exactly a social butterfly, but at the same being good-natured at heart, and being absolutely head over heels (pun fully intended) for the Bride. Obviously, there are exceptions to these examples, but those are the most common tropes I’ve seen crop up.

13. Some of my favorite threads include...

1. Family Reunion/Baby Boos - Maybe I’m cheating by including two RP’s here, but the two are so inextricably linked that I can’t list one without the other! The characters of Randall’s parents, Wilhelm and June Pace, have really grown into their own since I started this blog, stepping out of the background to become vastly more front and center as fully-fleshed characters, and they were defidently front and center in these two RP’s with @beatingheart-bride, in which the Pace parents arrive at the Mansion and not only reunite with their only son, but also meet their daughter-in-law and lend a hand in Randall and Emily’s graduation to parenthood. They’re both warm and fuzzy RP’s (in particular the latter), and I love going back and reading through them.

2. From Beyond The Grave - Keeping with the theme of Randall’s parents becoming a larger part of both his mythos and the RP’s, June showed up in this RP with @askthebrokenones-fm, reuniting with her son as well as getting to know his friends, up to and including a fellow ‘Hatty’, the demonic Egore, whom she’s quickly become very motherly to in follow-up RP’s (such as Motherly Instinct). It’s a relatively short but nonetheless RP, I love watching Randall’s parents interact with other characters in the Mansion, and June’s interactions with both Sinclair and Egore makes me smile, as well as makes me really look forward to what future RP’s hold for her, Randall, the Sentient Staircase, and the Ghost Demon!

3. Videodrome - I never expected to see an RP blog based around any children Hatty and the Bride would have, but @erika-de-claire has taken the concept and run with it, and we’ve had some very entertaining RP’s because of it. While it was sorely tempting to put the more recent ExtraTerrorestrial Alien Encounter (mostly because of Erika’s adorable interactions with Skippy, her new alien pal), I just had to put this modern AU one, involving Randall and his daughter being trapped in a video store on a rainy night, trying to avoid becoming the prey for a fear-hungry monster in the vein of John Carpenter’s The Thing and Poltergiest’s Reverend Henry Kane. It’s such a creepy and atmospheric RP, and I do wonder if that monster will ever crop up again in the future-it’s possible the flaming nitrate didn’t kill him...

14. I think Randall and I would get along pretty well: We do have similar interests (nominally being classic horror literature and film, including those starring Lon Chaney Sr.) and are artistically-inclined (him being passionate about millinery and tailoring; while I’m passionate about writing and film), so I think we could find a lot to talk about!

22. Three interesting facts about Randall include...

-He and Emily would always bake a cake for Mardi Gras: A tradition of Mardi Gras is the king cake, a braided brioche dough laced with cinnamon, filled with a flavored filling (Randall’s favorite, unsurprisingly, is strawberry filling) and smothered in a glaze or colorful frosting, and usually has a little figure of a baby inside of it. When the two married, each year they would celebrate the holiday by baking this cake together, and seeing who would get the figure first (usually, the tradition is that the one who finds it has to provide the cake or host the party next Mardi Gras, but as it would usually be just the two of them, they ignored it). It took them a few tries to get the cake right (the first few years they tried it, something always seemed to go wrong), but they eventually mastered it, and when it was their turn to bake the cake when they celebrated Mardi Gras at the Mansion, they did it with aplomb.

-His favorite New Orleans dish is a crawfish boil: Although Randall ate his fair share of Irish dishes in his youth (on account of his mother preparing the recipes her husband brought with him from the Emerald Isle), he naturally grew up eating plenty of Louisiana cuisine, including po’boys (which could be made with just about anything on hand and made a quick, easy meal that could be taken on the go) and dirty rice (another simple but filling dish that he ate a lot of, since it was relatively cheap and made plenty of helpings). By and large, his favorite was a good crawfish boil: He would catch them down at the river and bring them back to his mother, who would cook them up, usually along with a small tray of biscuits or potatoes. The Mansion’s cooks still prepare plenty of New Orleans dishes (given their master is a New Orleans native as well), and so Randall still gets to enjoy these boils every now and again, particularly during the summer.

-His least favorite story is Peter Pan: I’ve made very clear Randall’s fear of the Fae (mostly spurned on by the stories he heard in his youth of their turning foolish mortals into all sorts of unnatural things), and as a result of this, his least favorite story is J.M. Barrie’s famous story about the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. Randall finds nothing whimsical or fun about fairies stealing innocent children away from their parents, feeling that’s the start of a horror story than a fairy tale, and as a result, has not read the original story, nor has he watched Disney’s famous adaptation. At the most, he’s at least quite sympathetic towards Captain Hook-being continually terrorized by a Fae child sounds awful, and he can relate to the struggle of having lost an appendage: If a fairy cut off his hand and fed it to a crocodile, he’d be pretty cross too.

24. “Are you sure you don’t wanna watch Peter Pan with me?”

“Absolutely not!”

“Oh, come on, Randall! It’s still a fun movie, it’s cute, fairies aside!”

“Child, they steal three children from their bedroom, and whisk them away to a far-away world where the elder sister is terrorized by an angry fairy and is nearly drowned by mermaids! That does not sound like fun!”

“It’s not Tink’s fault, she’s only got room for one emotion at a time on account of her size!”

“And the murderous mermaids?”

“...okay, I don’t have anything to say about them, but c’mon! Can’t you put aside your fear of the Fae for just one night?”

“How about you put aside your fear of spiders, and we watch Arachnophobia instead? What do you say to that, lass?”

“...never mind.”

#OOC: Mun Talk #About The Groom #beatingheart-bride

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blackkudos · 4 years

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Todrick Hall

Todrick Hall (born April 4, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, director, choreographer and YouTuber. He first gained national attention on the 9th season of the reality singing competition American Idol, where he made it to the semi-finals. Following this, he amassed a following on YouTube with multiple viral videos including original songs, parodies, and skits. A documentary series about his video-making process titled Todrick aired on MTV in 2015.

Starting with season 8, Hall became a resident choreographer on RuPaul's Drag Race, and occasional judge. From 2016 to 2017, Hall starred as Lola in Kinky Boots on Broadway. Later in 2017, he began appearances as Billy Flynn in Chicago on Broadway and the West End.

As a singer-songwriter he has released three studio albums, including the visual albums Straight Outta Oz (2016) and Forbidden (2018).

Early life

Todrick Hall was born in Plainview, Texas, on April 4, 1985. His family consists of his mother, father, one brother, and a stepfather. He knew he was different, he liked playing with dolls, and worried if they would still accept him if he turned out to be one of those gay people they made fun of on television. Hall began studying ballet at nine-years-old, and later worked with Fantasia in The Color Purple. He came out as gay to his family when he was fifteen; it took them a few years to accept. He also appeared in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and performed with Royal Caribbean, Holland America Line, and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

Career

2009–2010: American Idol

On August 24, 2009, Hall auditioned to the ninth season of American Idol in Dallas, Texas. He sang a self-composed song mentioning the judges – Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara DioGuardi, and guest judge Joe Jonas – to plead his case for inclusion in the program. All four judges approved of his participation; he went into Hollywood week and eventually the semi-finals. In the Top 24, he sang Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" and in the Top 20, he performed Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do with It". He was eliminated in the Top 16 on 11 March 2010 after his rendition of Queen's "Somebody to Love;" he was one of four contestants eliminated in that round, and thus ranked between 13th and 16th overall.

2011–2013: Career growth and YouTube fame

Hall joined YouTube on May 27, 2006, and posted his first video to the site, a performance of "It's Hard to Say Goodbye", in 2008. In following years, his audience has grown considerably: as of June, 2019, Hall currently has 3.1 million subscribers on YouTube, and as of March 2018, his videos have been viewed 531.9 million times. Hall's videos include several of his own original songs and music videos, choreographed flash mobs for Ariana Grande and Beyoncé performed in an actual Target store, (the latter of which Beyoncé personally recognized Hall for), musical collaborations with Pentatonix, and personal updates.

In May 2011, he released a video audition for the third season of Glee titled "I Wanna Be on Glee", for possible inclusion in the show. Though the video was popular, Hall was not cast in the program.In November 2013, Virgin America produced a pop-music safety video directed by Jon M. Chu with music by Jean-Yves Decornet. Hall wrote the song and lyrics and starred in the video.

In December 2013, Hall released a Christmas album entitled Dear Santa, with covers of "This Christmas" and "Sleigh Bells", produced by wiidope as well as original songs "So Cold" and "SplitsOnXmasTrees".

2014–2015: Pop Star High and Todrick docuseries

From April 1 to May 13, 2014, Hall released an eight episode web series on his YouTube channel called Pop Star High. The series takes place in a world where all of the most famous Pop Stars of our day all went to high school together. The series portrays and parodies pop stars like Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift, Ne-Yo, Kanye West, Eminem, Jay-Z, and Tyga, and draws on the tropes of high school comedy movies. The soundtrack for the series was released on April 1, 2014.

On October 22, 2014, MTV announced Todrick, a docuseries following Hall, would premiere in 2015. On 20 December 2014, Hall produced and appeared in a commercial for the series and featured other celebrities' holiday wishes. Eight episodes of the docuseries were ordered and aired throughout 2015. The soundtrack for the show was released on October 13, 2015.

In October 2015, he was picked as Elvis Duran's Artist of the Month and was featured on NBC's Today show hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb and broadcast nationally where he performed live his single "Wind It Up".

2016–2017: Straight Outta Oz, Broadway, and RuPaul's Drag Race

Hall appeared as a guest judge on the eighth season of RuPaul's Drag Race; the episode, which featured a Wizard of Oz-inspired challenge, first aired on April 11, 2016. Hall reappeared as a full-time judge for RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars 2 later in 2016 and again for the ninth season aired throughout 2017.

Along with Drag Race, Hall frequently appeared on Logo TV's game show Gay for Play Game Show Starring RuPaul alongside other celebrities. A second Season of Gay for Play is expected.

On June 23, 2016, Todrick self-released his second album, Straight Outta Oz. Straight Outta Oz is a visual concept album that uses the imagery of The Wizard of Oz to explore Todrick's own life and rise to fame. The project's first video was posted to YouTube on June 23, 2016 as well. Shortly thereafter, Hall announced the Straight Outta Oz Tour to promote the album. The tour originally ran between July 7, and August 12, 2016 in the United States and Canada.

The Straight Outta Oz Tour was interrupted by Hall's casting in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots. Hall starred as Lola, a drag queen cabaret performer. Hall's performance was well received by critics. He performed as Lola from November 1, 2016, to March 1, 2017.

The Straight Outta Oz Tour was revived in 2017 and ran between March 30, and June 5, in various North American, European, and Australian locations. It was accompanied by an expanded deluxe edition that included songs that were featured on the tour but not on the original version of the album. Additionally, the album included an extended version and new video for "Wrong Bitch" featuring Bob the Drag Queen, and a rerecorded version of Todrick's previous single "Low" featuring RuPaul.

In August 2017, he had a cameo as a back-up dancer in the music video for Taylor Swift's song, "Look What You Made Me Do".

From November 30, 2017, to January 14, 2018, played Billy Flynn in a limited engagement role in Chicago. During his tenure, the show had its best-grossing week in its 21-year Broadway history.

In December he released the documentary film Behind the Curtain about the production behind Straight Outta Oz. It was screened in select theatres and later released on home video. Later that month he had a guest appearance in the Bob's Burgers Season 8 episode "The Bleakening" as drag queen Miss Triple-Xmas (or Cleavage to Beaver) performing the song "Twinkly Lights". He also released a medley of covers of songs from the Pitch Perfect film series that was featured on the Pitch Perfect 3 Special Edition soundtrack.

2018–present: Forbidden, Haus Party & The Greatest Dancer

In March 2018 he announced his new visual album follow-up to Straight Outta Oz called Forbidden. It was released on March 27, 2018. To promote the album, Hall embarked on Forbidden: The Tour across the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

On May 15, 2019, Hall revealed that he will be releasing a trilogy of extended plays to be released across the next six months. The first EP, Haus Party, Pt. 1, was released on May 23, 2019. The first single "Glitter" was released with the album pre-order on May 16, 2019. It also featured Hall's first big hit "Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels." The EPs will be supported by the Haus Party World Tour. While it was originally announced that Part Two would be released in July followed by Party Three in September 2019, the release of Haus Party, Pt. 2 was delayed to September 19, 2019.. It was supported by the singles "Wig", "Fag", and "Dripeesha" (featuring Tiffany Haddish). Part Three was originally announced to be released on October 30, 2019, then November 27. It was put up for pre-order on January 10, 2020 with two singles available, "Blue" and "Pink Dreams", and an announced release date of February 14, 2020. However, this was later pushed back to May 1, 2020.

On June 17, 2019, Hall appeared in the music video for singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's song "You Need to Calm Down"; he co-executive produced the video with Swift. On June 19, 2019, Hall announced that he will be returning to Broadway to play Ogie Anhorn in the musical Waitress opposite friend Colleen Ballinger, who will be making her Broadway debut as Dawn Williams from August 20 until September 15.

In August 2019 he joined the panel of Dance Captains for the second series of The Greatest Dancer alongside the other Dance Captains Cheryl, Oti Mabuse and Matthew Morrison. The series aired on BBC One in January 2020.

Artistry

Hall is a baritenor with a soulful, expressive voice, including falsetto; in addition to a singer, Hall is also a rapper. The genre of his works include R&B, pop, hip hop, neo-soul, funk, and musical theatre. Many of his lyrics include elements of social commentary, such as gun violence in and against black communities in "Water Guns" (featuring Jordin Sparks), acceptance of interracial relationships in "Color" (featuring Jay Armstrong Johnson) and queer culture; Hall writes and produces much of his own music with Jeeve Ducornet and wiidope. Hall also posts musical tributes to his favorite musical artists such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift. These tributes feature elaborately-produced mashups of the artists' songs sung by Hall.

Hall's music videos often feature extravagant production value not typically associated with artists outside major labels. Hall's videos often include bespoke costumes and urban fashion, elaborate sets, and extensive choreography, much of which is designed or created by Hall himself. He frequently directs his own videos as well. As part of his style, many of Hall's music videos include drag as a central component, either featuring Hall in drag himself or famous drag queens including RuPaul, Bob the Drag Queen, Willam Belli, and Alaska Thunderfuck, among others.

Personal life

He came out as gay at the age of fifteen.

#04/04

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magdalenes · 7 years

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actually okay no i know i just made a post about how i love her but let’s talk about michelle, really talk about her, because she was incredible in spider-man: homecoming (bless you zendaya, you slayed and our cinema — four hundred people full — loved you and the whole film. we applauded at the end, i shit you not, with some even giving it a standing ovation)

okay so peter obviously has the main arc in this film and i love it, the kid was endearing and wonderful and lovable and hilarious and always tried to do the right thing and i love him, but he’s not the only one with an arc. michelle’s admittedly comes off as pretty minor when considered against some others, like peter’s, but it exists. it’s there. and that’s a pretty important thing to acknowledge, when you consider what her arc’s about: friends. more importantly, having them. let’s start with who she is. by the way, if you haven’t seen the film, i would stop reading now if you’re avoiding spoilers, because i can’t promise i’ll be avoiding them. also heads up for probably confusing parentheses bc i go off on tangents so!! michelle. michelle who we first see calling out peter and ned for “we should probably stop staring before it gets creepy” — “too late, you guys are losers”. that was in the first trailer and don’t get me wrong, it was the perfect timing for that comment, and definitely introduced us, in one line, to who michelle is. but it’s the next thing she says that i want to focus on. i feel like it may have made it’s way into promotional material for the film but i don’t remember; either way, it was the moment, for me, that highlighted an important trait about michelle (her honesty, though that’s not really all it is — it’s something that would be self-deprecating in almost anyone else’s mouth, but doesn’t quite hit that note here. it’s raw, i guess, like a punch in the face, because you don’t expect anyone to say something like “i don’t have any friends” without some emotion being attached, and while there are the barest hints of emotion there, it exists as something different entirely and i just really wanna applaud zendaya on a job really well done), as well as set up her arc’s key words. “i don’t have any friends.” whilst it’s subtly hinted as the film goes on that it’s not the only reason she’s sitting with them, it’s definitely the strongest contender. (also, bless ned; i don’t know anyone else who would consider someone sitting at the opposite end of your table ‘sitting with us’ and i love you for it. ned was a blessing) anyway! michelle is this wonderful, observant girl (“i’m not obsessed with him, i’m just very observant” was wonderfully-delivered as a line, and i love michelle for managing to inject dignity in that statement when everyone is staring at her after she reveals her observation of peter (and also how many of the same extra-curriculars she and peter have lol), even if it’s perhaps not entirely true; not that i’m positing that michelle is obsessed with peter, because definitely not, but there is definitely the subtle hints of a crush and this is tangential kinda but I REALLY LOVE HOW THEY DID THAT, like she’s not the love interest in this film and it’s subtle and definitely is not the defining aspect of her character and i just love her and i love this movie) who fits in protesting around the academic decathlon (after WINNING it, my GIRL) and seems to eat toast at parties hosted by the most-popular senior in the school (seriously i’m probably seeing this again next week but if anyone sees it before me or can remember: was she making toast at liz’s house lmao). she’s dry and clever and sits in detention when she doesn’t have it because she likes drawing people in their crisis points and shows them the pictures i cannot even express to you how much i love this girl also i don’t want to understate the washington monument moment. i never actually caught their teacher’s name but to me he will always be professor cligoris from community. anyway, when prof clig turns to her, because the rest of them are heading up to washington monument, and she realises what she’s getting at and informs him she doesn’t really want to celebrate or be involved with (i can’t remember exact phrasing so if anyone does please shout out) something slaves built, and then when prof clig is like “oh i’m sure slaves didn’t—” and then the guard in the background is just shaking his head a little in the background and michelle’s matching expression, i just. i think it’s a really good highlight of a particular way race dynamics can play out: prof clig doesn’t know slaves built the monument, doesn’t even think about it, because he’s never felt he’s needed to. even though he is the adult, the educator, he is coming from a place of historical (and modern day) privilege; it’s not something he’s thought about because it’s not his historical oppression, it’s not emblematic of historical atrocities that have ramifications on his culture today — or, it is, but those ramifications don’t actively work against him, so he doesn’t have to think about it. and liz goes up, and michelle stays down; both legitimate choices, both incredible girls. i’m just still buzzing that they showed us a character making that choice.

also, marvel’s never been the best with diversity amongst its cast, and i’m not going to suggest that this movie somehow makes up for it, because it doesn’t. i’m constantly frustrated as a biracial pasifika woman that i never see anyone who looks like me in these movies i love (i’ve long since given up on seeing someone pasifika in marvel films (though i am unbelievably excited for taika waititi’s thor), but just in general, it’s so important to see more poc in these movies) but this is the first marvel movie i’ve seen set in new york that is actually populated with enough diversity to look like it could actually be new york. also, the high schoolers actually look like teenagers! i’m in awe! i fucking love this cast anyway i’m getting really distracted. all right, so we have michelle in all her blunt, smart, politically active, toast-eating, cool outsider glory. and we have her arc words: “i don’t have any friends.”

and then we have the washington monument scene, a moment that only peter is privy to, though michelle doesn’t know it’s peter. michelle, on the ground — michelle who says “can’t believe you guys are at this lame party”, michelle who is involved in several extra-curricular groups but is usually alone outside of them, michelle who voluntarily attends detention, michelle who says “i don’t have any friends” — michelle points up at the monument that’s cracking and cries out, worriedly (it’s literally the most earnest emotion we’ve heard from her all film; generally she’s dry and fly af), “my friends are up there!”

honestly, it didn’t occur to me until after, because i was so swept away in the moment, but she says it. my friends. and peter — peter hears it. spider-man does this odd stumbling double-take at her words, and at the time i thought it might be his surprise at seeing her there, or his concern at what she said regarding the whereabouts of their team, or just his general panic. and honestly, i still think that. peter parker is smarter than me, but i think even he would be too caught up in everything to realise what she said. but she still said it. i don’t know if peter would click or remember later — honestly, he had a lot of stuff going on. but she still said it, and he does know that, even if she doesn’t know he does.

we see michelle with the gang other times, of course — with peter in detention, with ned and the others at the dance, etc. — but it’s her final scene i want to draw you to, the academic decathlon meeting after liz leaves. michelle is named captain, and they’re all clapping for her and it’s so pure and ned looks honestly excited for her and peter looks earnest and it’s just so pure — and then she says, “my friends call me mj”. (i’m gonna revisit that in a moment, but i need to finish the scene). ned turns to her, like, “i thought you don’t have any friends” and she pauses, then says, “i didn’t” and i fucking died.

we go from michelle at the beginning, on the very end of the table, alone and away from even losers peter and ned — because they may be losers, but they’re together. michelle is alone. we go from that michelle, saying “i don’t have any friends”, to michelle at the end, surrounded by her decathlon team, clapping for her, happy for her, acknowledging her deserved captaincy, saying “my friends call me mj”, saying “i didn’t [have any friends]” but now i do.

i just !!! i love michelle so much and maybe it’s not a hero arc, or learning about the importance of looking out for the little guy, or even learning to listen (which was probably happy’s), but it’s still important. it’s still meaningful. i went into that film being sure i’d love zendaya’s character. i came out of that film not only loving her, but rooting for michelle “mj” jones.

aaaaaand let’s talk real quick about the mj thing, because it’s not the point of this post but i still want to. personally, i love mary-jane in the comics, but her film presence has been pretty lacklustre, and michelle is quite different to her but i also really really love michelle, like holy shit, and i think she’s an incredible mj. i don’t know what role she’ll occupy going forward. they said she’s not mary-jane watson, that she’s a completely new character, and technically, that’s true. she’s mj, but she’s not mary-jane. they also said she wasn’t a love interest this movie; that’s also true. liz was. however. she’s not mary-jane, but she is mj. she wasn’t a love interest this movie, but she was nursing a well-hidden crush on peter. so maybe in spider-man 2, who knows? personally, i’m rooting for it, but more than that, i’m rooting for her. as a character. spider-man: homecoming gave me so many wonderful things, like a wonderful cast, the best use of donald glover since community (”i like bread”) which also snuck in a miles morales reference, a great ferris bueller’s day off homage, my favourite film incarnation of peter parker, the wonder that is liz allen, an a.i. named karen who is more supportive of peter than most adults are in general, high schoolers that looked like high schoolers, an updated version of a bully instead of a jock meathead and ned wearing an awesome cowboy hat because it gives him confidence (ned is such a fucking blessing) (also i hope he one day meets groot wearing that because groot’s reason for not liking hats gives me life), but michelle “mj” jones might be the gift i appreciate most.

#spider-man: homecoming #mj #michelle jones #spider-man homecoming #spiderman #mcu #marvel #spider-man #spider-man spoilers /#m #marvel meta #i guess #i love michelle so much oh my god #i also love her as mj like i love mj watson in the comics but her film presence has been p lacklustre #and i loVE MICHELLE JONES as a character and i think shes a fucking epic mj #this wouldnt post earlier so ive queued it in case tumblr's just being annoying lol

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stillness-in-green · 7 years

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On Meeting the Bauduin Heir (Before)

Hey, I don’t know about you guys, but I think Rustal Elion and his relationship with his subordinates is SUPER INTERESTING. Also SUPER INTERESTING: Gaelio’s Ideals: Before and After. So here, have a bit of speculative fic on where the two (three) of them stood, back in the days before the season one finale was on anyone’s radar. There will eventually be a Part Two of this, I hope.

As celebrations went, Rustal decided, he preferred the ones that weren’t dedicated to him. When you were the belle of the ball, as it were, you didn’t hear any useful gossip; everyone was far too busy currying favor with you instead. So it was a tremendous relief when the thread of a more interesting conversation reached his ears.

“He’ll change some things. New commanders always do, for one reason or another.”

“I bet he won’t change any of what needs changing, though. I mean, why would he?”

He knew the first voice, and it suggested the identity of the second. Rustal smiled to himself, then returned his focus to the man he’d been talking with.

“You make a good point, Captain Ydris.” he said, though the man had made nothing of the sort, “and I’ll give the matter some thought. But if you’ll excuse me, I’ve spotted a few guests I should greet.”

“Of course, of course!” The man brightened, the color high in his face where he had, perhaps, been imbibing a bit too deeply of Rustal’s mother’s very carefully curated wine selection. “Another time, then. Congratulations again, Admiral.”

Rustal nodded to the captain and turned in an easy, considered circle, eyes scanning the crowd. Blonde hair wasn’t so uncommon, but the other…

Ah. There they were, lurking in a corner beyond the buffet table. Goodness, they’d grown since he last saw them, hadn’t they?

The Fareed heir, perceptive as Rustal had heard, glanced up and met his gaze. One corner of his mouth twitched up as Rustal headed in their direction, and he murmured something to his companion, too low to overhear. Gaelio Bauduin—even with his back to Rustal, hair that shade, on a boy that age, could belong no one else—stiffened.

“Lord Elion!” The boy turned to face him with a smile so absolutely sopping with false cheer that Rustal could probably file charges for intent to deceive. “Congratulations on the promotion.” Behind him, Iznario’s boy made a game attempt at burying a smirk in the rim of his wine glass.

“Gaelio. McGillis.” Rustal smoothed an urbane smile across his features, nodding to each of them in turn. “I’m glad to see you both made it. I suppose you’re home from school for the term, then?”

“That’s right.” Gaelio’s eyes glinted, and he smoothed back a lock of hair clipped short enough to brush his cheek. Rustal spared a moment to internally thank his late father for his sense of military propriety—stylish or not, it really was a terrible haircut. “We’ve been learning about the Maunder Uprising. The Arianrhod Fleet helped out with that, right?”

Ah, youth. If Gallus were in earshot, he’d probably cuff the boy for impertinence, but the last Rustal had seen of him, he’d been hovering just inside a balcony, showing off the latest round of pictures of his newborn daughter. But that was all right—Rustal hadn’t been raised to shy away from conflict.

“You must have Carnisle,” he said as he nodded confirmation. With just a breath of a chuckle, he went on, “Does he still teach that conspiracy theory about Gjallarhorn counterinsurgents like fact?”

Gaelio faltered, the conversation having skipped ahead by an exchange or two without warning. He shot a glance over his shoulder at McGillis.

McGillis, no less inscrutable than he’d been as a child—though his social graces had improved dramatically—hitched up one shoulder in a shrug. “Professor Carnisle teaches his students to consider all the evidence. The protesters were never proven to have been promoting violence as a potential solution to their grievances. Rather the opposite, in fact.”

“But the stalemate with the Federation’s representatives had gone on for nearly a month,” Rustal countered. “Tempers would have been running short by then—and funds, too. It isn’t a stretch to suggest that some of their number were getting desperate.”

“Still, wasn’t the response disproportionate?” Gaelio jumped back in. “There were more than three hundred people in the square when Gjallarhorn opened fire. Not even a quarter of them survived.”

“Perhaps that’s so,” Rustal conceded. “But other groups had been organizing protests of their own—including the agricultural plant workers. If a strike from them had gone on as long, it would have lead to food shortages—riots, death, people already on the brink of poverty and starvation forced over the edge by the choices of people living millions of miles away from them. Would allowing that have been just?”

“But that kind of reasoning is—!” The boy paused, glance flickering to his friend again. McGillis wasn’t looking at him, though, his calm gaze weighing on Rustal instead. Gaelio’s jaw tightened, and he turned back to the conversation with a determined eye. “It’s outside Gjallarhorn’s jurisdiction to make decisions based on reasoning like that.”

McGillis nodded his agreement, a lone, shallow dip of his chin. “Gjallarhorn’s responsibility is to keep the peace, not do the economic bloc’s strike-breaking for them. Regardless of what the strikes would have lead to.”

“Right.” Gaelio grinned at the reinforcement, chest swelling visibly. “No one can see the future.”

Goodness. Adopted or not, McGillis was certainly a quick study in his father’s ability to build alliances. How much attention were the other lords paying, Rustal wondered, letting his expression ease into due solemnity. He sipped his wine as he gathered his thoughts. It had been years since his last poli-sci course.

“You’re right, of course—no one can see the future. And in the case of the Maunder Uprising, there were over a hundred temporary workers inside the facility. I think the car bomb showed exactly what the protesters thought of them. So when they broke through the gates…” He looked down at his glass and turned it idly in his hand. “The commanding officer had to make a decision, and he chose to protect the lives of those who were clearly innocent. An unfortunate incident, but making those choices is a part of a commander’s responsibility.”

The two boys were silent for a moment. Rustal kept his gaze on the shine of reflected candlelight on the surface of his wine; in his peripheral vision, Gaelio’s smile had faded, and McGillis’s eyes narrowed. The hum of the party carried on around them; across the room, someone laughed, overloud and with a harsh edge of derision.

When he looked back up, McGillis’s smile had returned, as placid as though it had never left, his eyebrows angling downward in rueful lines.

“Apologies, Lord Elion,” the boy said, his voice smooth and low. “This is hardly an appropriate topic for the occasion.”

Rustal dipped his head in acknowledgement and smiled, a measured quirk of his lips. “No need to apologize. It’s a valuable thing, to have peers who can speak to you so freely.”

Gaelio tipped his head to the side, skeptical gaze lingering on McGillis. “Well,” he allowed, looking back at Rustal, “we’re hardly there yet.”

“Give it time,” Rustal assured him, and let his smile widen back into a more sociable expression. “But speaking of your positions, have you decided what branch you’ll be enlisting in?”

“The Regulatory Bureau.”

They answered him in perfect unison, and wore mirrored expression of confusion and uncertain disapproval when Rustal, caught off-guard despite himself, began to laugh, loud and genuine enough to draw curious glances from partygoers nearby.

“What’s so funny?” the Bauduin heir demanded, one hand settling in prim annoyance on his hip.

Rustal covered his mouth with one hand, unable to fully hide his grin. He turned the hand out to face them, shaking his head.

“Sorry, sorry. Just—they’re never going to see you coming, are they?” He lifted his chin and met their gaze firmly, each in turn, and said, in a firm voice, “You’ll do good work there, I’m sure of it. I’ll look forward to seeing you on my ships any time.”

That drew a snort and a laugh out of Gaelio, who gave him an insolent, schoolboy’s grin. “We won’t go easy on you just because of your family name.”

“I certainly hope not!” Rustal tipped his wine glass in their direction. “Enjoy the rest of your evening, both of you.”

“You as well, Admiral.”

He could see his reflection in McGillis Fareed’s unblinking eyes.

Rustal smiled at the boy with unbroken confidence, and turned away, heading back out into the crowd at large.

Yes, the council room would definitely be getting more interesting in the future.

#gundam ibo #mobile suit gundam: iron-blooded orphans #g tekketsu #rustal elion #gaelio bauduin #mcgillis fareed #my writing #ficcing

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dechantsam · 3 years

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Manchester United vs Liverpool Head To Head Results & Records (H2H)

Man v liverpool score - Manchester United football club: record v Liverpool

Find here 84 Mins Marcus Rashford Livetpool Off. Anthony Man v liverpool score Substitution On. Goal 85 Mins Adam Lallana Ast. Andrew Robertson. Andreas Msn Substitution Off. Brandon Williams Substitution On. KO Mins. HT Mins. FT Mins. Liverpool Total Wins.

Played 57 Draws W H v West Ham. W A v Ligerpool City. D A v Crystal Palace. D A v Chelsea. Liverpool W A v Arsenal. W A v Wolves. L H v Fulham.

L H v Chelsea. W A v Sheffield Utd. SofaScore's rating system assigns each player a specific rating based on numerous data factors. SofaScore also provides the best way acore follow the live score of this game with various sports features. Therefore, you can:. All of these features can help you decide on Manchester United vs.

Liverpool game prediction. Their continued importance to the UK economy has been reflected with the awarding of the Commonwealth Games to Manchester, while Liverpool was awarded the man v liverpool score of European Capital of Ligerpool as part of its ongoing regeneration.

More recent projects by Peel Ports have sought to re-establish the economic links between the Port of Liverpool and Port of Manchester, including re-developing trade links via the Man v liverpool score Ship Canal. Manchester United F. Liverpool F. The disagreement between the two parties over rent resulted in Everton moving to Goodison Park from Anfield, and Houlding founded Liverpool F. Liverpool supporters often sing the chant ' You should have paid the rent' to Everton fans during matches between the two sides, to reflect this.

Liverpool's first season was ilverpool the Second Division in The team went undefeated all season, winning the title and being put up for election to the First Divisionwhich would see them play a one-off test match against the bottom side of the First Man v liverpool score for their place. The team that Liverpool were to face was Newton Heath, whom they beat 2—0 to take their place in the first tier.

Manchester United - Liverpool Live Score, video stream and H2H results

Liverpool won their first Football League Championship trophy in and followed it up inthe same season that saw the newly-renamed Manchester United promoted to the top flight after finishing as Second Division runners-up behind Bristol City. Two seasons later, by which time Liverpool had fallen into mid-table, Manchester United secured their first league titlewinning the —08 Football League by nine points from Aston Villa and Manchester City.

The outbreak of the First World War disrupted domestic football, and following the resumption of competitions in Liverpool asserted themselves on domestic football with a brace of league Championships while United found themselves in steep decline that saw them relegated in Between and the outbreak of the Second World War, neither team won any more competitive trophies outside of local regional trophies, with Manchester United spending three separate periods in the Second Division.

After the Second World War, Liverpool again became English champions in before the clubs' roles reversed once more, with the Merseysiders dropping into the second tier as Manchester United found stability under the management of former Liverpool captain Matt Busby, winning the FA Cup in and then three league titles and Charity Shields apiece in the s. During this time, future Liverpool manager Bill Shankly was approached by then Liverpool chairman Tom Williams and asked, man v liverpool score would you like to manage the best club in the country?

Shankly replied, "Why? Is Matt Busby packing it in? Following Liverpool's promotion under Shankly inthe two clubs found themselves in direct competition with each other for the first time, sharing four league titles between andas well as the FA Charity Shield. Following this, though, the two sides began to drift in opposite directions once more. United's title victory of would be their last for 26 years, [42] while Liverpool would enjoy nearly 20 years of sustained success, winning 11 league titles, 19 domestic cups and seven European trophies from to It was during this period, in the late 70s and early 80s, man v liverpool score the modern-day rivalry between the two clubs truly began to get heated.

According to football sociologist John Williams, United had developed a "glamour and media profile" but didn't have the success to match it and Liverpool fans felt the Red Devils were "media darlings who got far too much publicity". There was a perception in Liverpool that their hugely successful but "professional" and "workmanlike" teams were always somehow in the shadow of the stars at Old Trafford.

This led to a derisory United nickname in Liverpool: "The Glams". Manchester United's year spell without a league title was replicated and exceeded by Liverpool from toduring which time United dominated English football and won 13 league titles, 23 domestic cups and five European trophies.

Despite their contrasting fortunes, only six times since have neither Liverpool nor United finished in the top two of the league table — in —81—04—05—15—16 and —17 — and in five of those extra resources campaigns, silverware was still taken home by one of the two clubs; Liverpool paraded the European Cup and League Cup inwhile Manchester United lifted the FA Community Shield and FA Cup in the season and Liverpool claimed the Champions League in While Liverpool and Manchester United's successes are almost identical man v liverpool score number, their systems of achieving these successes vary considerably.

Liverpool built their dominance on a dynasty known as the Anfield Boot Room. The boot room itself was where strategy for future matches was planned, however, it became a breeding ground man v liverpool score future Liverpool managers following the arrival of Bill Shankly in Following Shankly's retirement inhaving secured eight trophies in 15 years, Bob Paisley stepped into the vacant manager's position and amassed 20 trophies in nine seasons. Kenny Dalglish, while not an original member, was accepted into the group as the next in line for the role of manager, and he combined it with his playing duties to win Liverpool 10 trophies.

The boot room connection was finally broken in32 years after Shankly's arrival, with the appointment of Graeme Sounesswho demolished the boot room itself to make way for a press room. Liverpool have however gone on to achieve success with managers outside of the dynasty since then, most notably under Rafael Benitezwho won the UEFA Champions League inand Jurgen Kloppwho won it in before going on man v liverpool score win the club's first league title in 30 years in — My greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right man v liverpool score their fucking perch, and man v liverpool score can print that.

By contrast, the vast majority of Manchester United's success has come in three separate eras in the club's history, under three different managers. Mangnall was the club's first great manager, securing five trophies within three years in — Man v liverpool score became United's second most decorated manager of all time ironically as an ex-Liverpool player and captainwinning 13 trophies at the club, including the European Cup, which saw an English team secure European football's man v liverpool score prize for the first time.

It was only under Ferguson that United regained man v liverpool score glory days, winning 38 trophies during his year tenure man v liverpool score scale the pinnacles of both English and European football. We were kicking about, and I asked if I could be Robbo for a while.

My dad looked out and went ballistic. He wasn't having his kid dragging the Gerrard name through the gutter. I thought we'd have to move! The rivalry has extended to the players as well: Wayne Rooneya product of Liverpool's city rivals Everton who played for United from todescribed how he grew up hating the Reds Liverpool[56] while Liverpool's Steven Gerrard took a film crew on tour of his home where man v liverpool score showed off a collection of football shirts he had swapped with opposing players as part of the after-match routine; he pointed out that there were no Manchester United shirts in there and man v liverpool score would never have one of them in his house.

But the rivalry became a habit, I suppose; on England trips Liverpool lads would eat at one table, United boys at another. There was tension there and we avoided one other". I absolutely destroyed him I know it's not big and it's not clever but it was great". He notably drew the ire of Liverpool fans during the match at Old Trafford during which he celebrated Rio Ferdinand 's last-gasp winner [58] by running to the stand where the away fans were seated while kissing the crest on his jersey recommended reading appearing to shout angrily towards them; he was fined and given a two-match ban by The Football Association but has stated on multiple occasions that he has never regretted his actions.

Previously in a Manchester derby during the —04 season, Man v liverpool score was sent off after attempting to headbutt Manchester City's ex-Liverpool midfielder Steve McManaman ; as Paul Scholes commented, "It's fair to say the pair of them never got on too well together". In a retrospective special leading up to the January matchup at Man v liverpool score Trafford, Neville and his fellow Monday Night Football pundit and retired Liverpool one-club man Jamie Carragher both acknowledged that it was not uncommon for both United man v liverpool score Liverpool players, particularly locally-born youth academy graduates such as Bury -born Neville and Merseyside source Gerrard and Robbie Fowlerto celebrate in front of rival fans and that "you just got to take it on the chin".

This included the This post Cup fourth-round tie between the two clubs again at Anfieldwhich Liverpool won. Kenny Dalglish denied having seen the missed handshake. Since the transfer of Phil Chisnall from United to Liverpool, no player has been transferred directly between the two clubs. Inthere was a bid from Liverpool to sign Gabriel Heinze from United, but United refused to allow him to join their biggest rivals due to the ongoing feud.

United claimed that it was agreed Heinze would only join a foreign club if he chose to leave. The Manchester United fans who once chanted "Argentina" in honour of visit player then turned their backs on him.

Heinze was eventually sold to Real Madrid instead. Both Manchester United and Man v liverpool score are among the most popular football clubs and sporting organisations globally.

Both are in the top 10 in Europe. The club states that its worldwide fan base includes more than officially recognised branches of the Manchester United Supporters Club MUSCman v liverpool score at least 24 countries. The leveraged takeover of Manchester Man v liverpool score by the Glazer family created a schism amongst Manchester fans, directly causing the creation of F.

With the rise of football hooliganism across English football during the s and s, matches between the two clubs brought some minor and major incidents of hooliganism. This is more likely due to an increase in Police presence and CCTV with huge steps taken to keep the fans separated.

To this day, both sets of fans still hold resentment toward each other. As well as physical violence, sections of the clubs' fan bases often taunt each other with unsavoury chants about the Munich air disaster and the Hillsborough disaster respectively.

The FA Cup match at Anfield featured foreign objects thrown at United fans by Liverpool supporters, including human excrement. Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge was at the game and told the Liverpool Echo that "the level of abuse was absolutely sickening".

In Marchbefore Liverpool's first leg tie at Anfield against Manchester United, it was additional info that a group of Liverpool fans hung a "Manc Bastards" banner on the M62, as 2, Manchester United supporters made the trip to Anfield. Liverpool won the match 2—0. Before the second leg tie at Old Trafford, Liverpool fans were greeted with a banner on the M62 motorway in Salford that said 'murderers' and also had the Hillsborough disaster date on it.

The match was drawn 1—1 and Liverpool progressed to the quarter-finals against Borussia Dortmund. The man v liverpool score meeting between both clubs came in a Football League test match man v liverpool scorea post-season series to determine who will receive First Division membership man v liverpool score — Well, we will soon find out when the teams face off.

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torentialtribute · 5 years

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Bundesliga Week 3 Preview: Philippe Coutinho has perfect chance to endear himself to Bayern Munich

It may be just a week of the new Bundesliga season, but some of the usual suspects are al

Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig have registered a perfect start for the 2019-20 campaign and achieved maximum points with a few booming victories. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich are drifting two points and are still repairing an opening date.

Here, Sportsmail gives an example of their upcoming matches, as well as any other collision from the third round as the Bundesliga campaign begins to accelerate …

Philippe Coutinho will make his first Bundesliga start for Bayern Munich vs Mainz

FRIDAY

Borussia Mönchengladbach vs RB Leipzig – 7:30 PM, BT Sport 2

Leipzig kicked off their Bundesliga campaign in an emphatic way, Union Berlin lashes out with 4 -0 on the opening day of the season before them Eintracht Frankfurt home conquered.

However, they face a very difficult test in Monchengladbach, who have four points from their first two games and finished fifth in the season. The victory on Friday evening would be a major declaration of intent by Julian Nagelsmann.

And they will look at the captain Timo Werner, who was previously associated with Liverpool and Bayern Munich, again after scoring twice in many games.

But Leipzig will have problems coping with it despite the departure of Monchengladbach & # 39; s Sterman Thorgan Hazard to Dortmund. And one of them is last season's top scorer Alassane Plea – who wants to play the lead this season.

The French attacker scored eight goals in his first 11 Bundesliga games, before finishing with a total of 12 Gladbach just missed the Champions League qualification on the final day.

Gladbach started in solid form under the new manager Marco Rose and the victory over title challengers Leipzig would send a big message that they are ready for Champions League football.

Timo Werner celebrates scoring his opening goal in the victory at Frankfurt

SATURDAY

Bayer Leverkusen vs Hoffenheim – 2.30 pm

After a disappointing campaign last match, this match represents the opportunity for Hoffenheim to prove that they deserve to play European football again.

Hoffenheim missed Europe for the first time in three seasons and on Saturday they come across a Leverkusen side in formidable form – only Bayern and Leipzig have collected more points since Peter Bosz took over in December last year

And Leverkusen started this campaign in great shape, achieving maximum points and scoring six goals in two games without even the creativity and magic of Julian Brandt, who left for Dortmund this summer.

Meanwhile, Hoffenheim has four points so far, jumping back from defeat to Frankfurt by beating Werder Bremen under new manager Alfred Schreuder.

Only Bayern and Leipzig have earned more points since Peter Bosz in Leverkusen

Bayern Munich vs Mainz – 2.30 pm

This match could become ugly for Mainz, who are rooted at the bottom of the table after having awarded six goals against Freiburg and Mönchengladbach.

And with that, Bayern manager Niko Kovac will have extreme confidence in achieving back-to-back victories after a disappointing opener to the campaign.

It is also the perfect opportunity to throw new signed Coutinho in the starting XI in the Allianz Arena after being loaned to European rivals Barcelona.

Despite his nightmare in Spain, Coutinho is still considered. as one of the best players in world football and Bayern will hope that his arrival can help them in their search for the Champions League glory.

Meanwhile, Ivan Perisic will also be looking for his first start after putting pen on paper at an Inter Milan deal. The new Bayern duo both came as substitutes for the second half in the routine 3-0 win at Schalke.

The signs are certainly not good for the visitors. The Bundesliga giants have won each of their last four games against Mainz, scored a total of 14 goals and only gave in once.

Robert Lewandowski scored a hat trick in the comfortable victory over Schalke last weekend

Freiburg vs Cologne – 2.30 p.m.

They may have finished 13th last season, admitted 61 times, but Freiburg has started this term in brilliant style, achieving maximum points and scoring six goals against Mainz and Paderborn.

They represent a very difficult task for newly promoted Cologne, who have found difficult lives since their promotion back to the top flight – they remain meaningless after two games.

And things don't seem to get any easi for Cologne after Jhon Cordoba left injured after last weekend's defeat to Dortmund. That is why Simon Terodde, who was the club's top scorer last season, must take his place in the attack.

Luca Waldschmidt is in great shape to compete for Freiburg and scored each of their three competitive games this season. . The International Under 21 International now has 11 in its last nine games for both club and country. So he will try to put the defense of the Billy Goats in the sword.

Cologne led against Dortmund before being admitted three times at home in the second half

Schalke vs Hertha Berlin – 2.30 pm

Former Huddersfield manager David Wagner is still looking for his first victory under the leadership of Schalke after being undone last time by a hat-trick from Robert Lewandowski . They also have to score this season, which will be worrying.

But it was not too easy for their upcoming opponents Hertha Berlin, who, after holding Bayern in the opening game, had drawn the season, fell home to a damaging 3-0 defeat to Wolfsburg.

A positive note for Wagner before the kick-off is that Schalke Hertha has beaten 20 teams in the Bundesliga since the turn of the millennium –

Wagner will look to Weston McKennie for some inspiration, standing in line for his 50th Bundesligsa appearance, while Hertha boss Ante Covic will probably give the same XI a chance to cash himself in after a strong start against Wolfsburg. Former Chelsea and Ajax-younger Daishawn Redan made his league debut last weekend and could perform for the visitors on Saturday.

Former Huddersfield manager David Wagner is still looking to his first win with Schalke

Wolfsburg vs Paderborn – 2.30 pm

Huge contrasting fortunes for both teams, with Wolfsburg getting out of a flyer with maximum points while recently promoting Paderborn, who the last time was on a roller coaster journey, remain meaningless.

The Wolves have never won their opening three Bundesliga games before and will once again turn to Wout Weghorst for the goals. The striker, who was their top scorer last year, has so far scored all three competitive games.

It seems like an ominous task for Paderborn, who has already shipped six goals in the top flight, but the attack is the best form of defense and in Streli Mamba, they can threaten the striker this season has scored every match.

There will be a familiar environment for Paderborn head coach, Steffen Baumgart. He played 32 of his 225 Bundesliga games for Wolfsburg, where he scored five of his 29 top goals.

Wout Weghorst has so far scored all three competitive matches for the impressive Wolfsburg

Union Berlin vs Borussia Dortmund – 5:30 PM, BT Sport 2

After picking up a brave draw from home against Augsburg and getting their first points on the board, Dortmund is not immediately after most ideal match if Union Berlin wants to grow after his promotion.

They have to come up with something special to stop the English Jadon Sancho, who became the youngest player to reach 15 Bundesliga goals during the 3 of Dortmund 1 win in Cologne last week.

Dortmund is already in the league's top scorers after he had scored an emphatic net eight times in two games, with five different players sharing the goals – Paco Alcacer (three), Sancho (two), Marco Reus , Julian Brandt and Achraf Hakimi (all of them)

One man who wants to stop the formidable attack of Dortmund is Neven Subotic, who made 196 Bundesliga performances for the visitors of Saturday between 2008-2018 – back-to- win back titles under Jurgen Klopp in 2011 and 2012.

Although defending will be a priority for the hosts, Swedish striker Sebastian Andersson will try to solve problems for the Dortmund backline after taking the equalizer against Augsburg as substitute last time.

Jadon Sancho became the youngest player to achieve 15 Bundesliga goals for Dortmund

[1945902] reached SUNDAY

Werder Bremen vs Augsburg – 2:30 PM, BT Sport 1

Although there is no launch for Bremen in the Bundesliga this season There have been many encouraging signs for Florian Kohfeldt on the way to this weekend's promotion.

They may have lost their first two league games against Hoffenheim and Dusseldorf, but their 43 shots on goal have so far been the Bundesliga high – five more than pacemakers Dortmund have succeeded.

Augsburg are also watching for their first campaign victory and the omens are good for them, with the best recent record of the competition at the House of Bremen with four wins, one draw and three defeats.

And expect this to be an exciting competition. None of the last 14 league games between the two parties ended in a stalemate.

The Werder Bremen side of Florian Kohfeldt is impressive in their two defeats this season

Eintracht Frankfurt vs Fortuna Düsseldorf – 5:00 PM, BT Sport 1

The narrow defeat road to Leipzig last time indicated a mixed start for Frankfurt, but last season's Europa League semi-finalists will be sure to bounce back in style against Düsseldorf

Frankfurt won both games last season, with Luka Jovic – now at Real Madrid – scoring five times in a remarkable ove rwinning at home in October 2018. But now they have an attack with a new look.

Bas Dost, who arrived again Sporting Lisbon earlier in the week, could make his debut on Sunday, but the in-form Goncalo Paciencia would have something to say about that, while Ante Rebic could return to the side after serving the defeat to Leipzig.

Düsseldorf, like their opponents, have picked up three points so far and their American goalkeeper Zack Steffen – on loan from Manchester City – can look to help them again after making a league high 10 rescue on his debut against Werder Bremen.

Zack Steffen made the Bundesliga league-high 10 saves on his debut against Werder Bremen

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#Bundesliga Week 3 Preview: Philippe Coutinho has perfect chance to endear himself to Bayern Munich"

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junker-town · 7 years

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Tiger Woods is now 'Golf Saban' and other things we learned at the USA's Presidents Cup win

The 2017 Presidents Cup was another uncompetitive bore but it wasn't completely uninteresting. Some observations beyond just the golf shots and match results.

You've already digested a full meal of content on how uncompetitive the 2017 Presidents Cup was and how this American team was one of the best ever and just getting started on what could be a decade of dominance. While the competition was a bore, watching the U.S. team light it up, really from the top of the roster to the bottom, was impressive and worth watching.

We don't need to re-hash all the specifics of a lopsided four-day match play event, but here are some notes beyond the actual golf shots and matches that I gathered from a few days at Liberty National.

These matches feel different with Tiger roaming

Watching Tiger was the most enjoyable and entertaining part of the Presidents Cup. If I'm being honest, I probably never appropriately appreciated watching Tiger play when we had him at his peak. I was younger, dumber, and could not put things in context all that well. Now with him mostly out of public view in the sport, the rare occasions where he does pop up seem so special and carry a certain weight. And that includes when he never swings a damn club.

In all contexts, it was a entertaining to watch him and listen to him and just see him.

It's fun to see all our shitty little jokes on the fantasies of Tiger leading SEAL missions in some remote corner of the globe looking a little closer to reality with him marching the course wired up with comms line earpieces and carrying a TrackMan briefcase that could be some sort of mobile command unit. This will never not be funny or get old.

It's cool to see him become this sherpa guide to what is clearly a superpower of a 20-something group of players coming up in these events. Tiger has likely the greatest golf brain in the history of the game, and has to feel less threatened leaking some of that brilliance to players who can't use it against him in his prime. On Saturday, I called him Golf Saban: he's got the best 'croots, puts in an obsessive attention to every single detail, has no real time for all the media and promotional nonsense that comes with these exhibitions, and is the driving captaincy force behind what is now two straight methodical blowouts (and even mixed it up with an official after what he thought was a bad call). We already knew "process" was one of his go-to words and from all accounts, the way he prepared the team and himself as a captain for last year's Ryder Cup was nonpareil. The way he threw himself into the role was a motivating and contributing factor to the team's success at Hazeltine, and that appeared to be the case again this year. Process and preparation.

He seems to love it too -- US captain Steve Stricker hinted that Tiger was getting as much out of it as the team, telling the New York Times, "This is a two-way street." Tiger having a real purpose in this game, both for him and us, is something we need for the next 20, 30, or 40 years.

It's moving to see him celebrate with colleagues and competitors, so many of whom he was often trying to destroy on the golf course. We're thinking mostly of Phil Mickelson here, with whom Tiger had a ... we'll use ... contentious relationship. Tiger did not have a particularly strong desire to be friends with anyone on Tour, but especially someone hailed as a potential all-time great. Phil played a role in the two being frosty at times too. Now we're in the sunset of both careers, and the two seem legitimately happy to be paired up as the brain trust reformatting how American team golf is organized and outfitted for the next decade or two. I don't care if this is soft as hell, but it's moving giving all the history and scar tissue we have with these guys and they have with themselves.

I'll take "Things I never thought we'd see" for $500, Alex. #PresidentsCup http://pic.twitter.com/dcJiRs9xrZ

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) October 1, 2017

Tiger Woods fist pump for Phil Mickelson at President’s Cup http://pic.twitter.com/DZvpTfXHLa

— Tiger Woods Fans (@TigerQuestfor19) September 29, 2017

A business convention

The location, a short ferry ride from Wall Street, may have had something to do with it. But walking around Liberty National was an entirely different experience from the Ryder Cup, and really any major championship or golf tournament I've been to.

This felt like more like a convention for "important looking" people to entertain each other or network about "important" things. The amount of finely pressed slacks and button-down shirts exceeded anything I've seen at any other golf tournament. The point felt more like an arena for corporate schmoozing and the attendant golf event was simply an outlet to congregate and for it to happen at this place.

With that kind of vibe permeating the grounds, it's hard to hype the crowds as having some sort of impact in a way we might thought when it was announced this was coming to New York. That kind of scene may be reserved for Bethpage and the 2024 Ryder Cup. The first tee scene was fun, but the crowds tapered off throughout the course. It may have just been the difficulty of navigating this particular venue. But at the Ryder Cup, every match is five to 10 deep along the ropes. Here, that happened maybe around just one or two marquee matches, and sometimes not even at those bigger matches.

When Justin Thomas holed out from the bunker at the 14th on Friday afternoon, he exhorted the crowd to get into it and the response felt, to be honest, subdued. The 14th hole this week, which is the 18th during normal club play, was supposed to be the highlight hole, an arena running up into the clubhouse with captivating views. But the hospitality suites lining the hole and surrounding the green just muted the atmosphere a bit and the response to Thomas' hole-out was a bit flat.

Have. A. Day. @JustinThomas34 from the sand to the bottom of the cup #PresidentsCup http://pic.twitter.com/YjdxMgNU9O

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) September 29, 2017

There were crescendoes here and there, but that flatness existed across the course in my observation.

The Ryder Cup certainly has a corporate schmoozing element to it too, with brand partners and hospitality on the course. But it also has the massive livewire crowds and grandstands enveloping each match. The Prez cup was not that and this is, of course, fine. The purpose of the Presidents Cup can be more business-centered, and it doesn't have to be a same as the Ryder Cup. Just don't oblige the hype about the "rowdy NYC crowds" making this unlike any scene in golf. Maybe that changes in Australia in 2019 or Charlotte in 2021.

Epcot National

Again, critiquing or praising the venue of Liberty National needs to be done with an understanding of this event's purpose. The cup is a largely made-for-TV exhibition and this course was great for TV. You saw the hundreds of pictures and videos all week already, but I really cannot overstate how stunning the vista is from Liberty National.

As a course, it felt inauthentic. One colleague compared it to Disney World and there was definitely an amusement park, albeit an extremely high-class one, feel to it. This was a dump that they filled up, tarped over, and built an emerald golf course, man-made lakes, and a glistening glass clubhouse on top of for $250 million, among the most expensive courses ever built. There are towering walls of concrete, a din of sirens, shipping and truck fumes, and then there's a lush green shade of a perfectly manicured golf course. Nothing about this feels like it was cut and shaped out of the natural land provided and that's how you end up with the inauthentic feel.

It worked just fine for match play, although I'd argue there's way too much water on the course. Red paint hazard lines are running everywhere and indeed, there were stretches were it felt like every other highlight on the broadcast was of a world-class player dumping one in the drink. There were some complaints about the routing leaving us with two par-3s in the final three holes, but I thought that added a funky element I didn't mind.

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

The views of the Statue of Liberty and downtown Manhattan cannot be oversold.

Again, this comes back to the purpose of this thing — it's not the Walker Cup at a classic LACC. It's big business and TV entertainment. The views were inspiring and stunning and I think the course worked fine for these purposes.

Irreconcilable differences?

The tones of the winning and losing press conferences at these team events are always so fascinating to watch. Press conferences usually don't matter in golf, but they're entertaining and enlightening at these match play contests. Aside from the usual lighthearted partying in the USA winner's press conference (gasp, even Jordan Spieth cursed!), I thought the most notable aspect was the contrast in captain's comments on just where this event may be going.

First came Ernie Els, a veteran of these events, assistant captain this year, and rumored to be the next head captain of the International team in 2019 at Royal Melbourne. On multiple occasions, Els used the phrase "going back to the drawing board" with the PGA Tour. It's clear the International side does not feel like the current arrangement, in which the PGA Tour owns and operates the entire event, is setting up most equitably for them. "We just want to feel that we are being treated fairly and that we get something going our way a little bit," Els said.

We heard repeated refrains about how the Internationals feel they're at a disadvantage not getting to play every year, or less often, as the American team. They also want more control from the PGA Tour, and Els cited scheduling, golf course setup, and team selection process as areas where that could be taken.

The Big Easy also specifically cited "less matches and less points" as something that would be beneficial to the International side — the thinking goes that less points and less matches mitigates the International side's lack of depth compared to the USA.

This is where the contrast between captain's press conferences seemed most stark. The usually understated and diplomatic Stricker was pretty direct when asked if there should be format changes or points reduced.

No, we had the format change for South Korea, and I don't know how many points that we needed to reduce, but I think it's fair. I mean, we weren't really too happy with the reduction of points to start with. We wanted an event that kind of allowed all our players to go out there and play.

So yeah, I don't see anything changing.

Stricker added that they all voted against the reduction in Korea, "and the points system was still changed — ultimately, it doesn't seem like it would be up to us."

So it would appear that after this last blowout, we're headed for a showdown over the rules and format. It again puts the entire viability of the competition on trial, how it's run, and who runs it.

The Fanatics

It's great to have an International voice and superfan group involved in this thing, from Columbus to Korea to NYC. But I have serious questions about who is backing and underwriting this operation. Are you telling me this group spends thousands of dollars to travel the globe every two years to watch their team get its ass kicked? It seems like the people investigating George Soros paid protesters should spend their time digging into the Fanatics' operation.

I think they're a nice element to the competition and creative with their chants, but I need to know more of the why and how behind it.

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

A subsection of The Fanatics cohort watches their beloved International team at the Presidents Cup in Jersey.

Phil's brutal honesty

Standing on the green immediately following another Sunday singles match win, Phil Mickelson let loose this howitzer of a quote.

We have a dynamic here that is different than I've seen, and that is these young guys are not only great players, fiercely competitive, but they have a quality that's taken me decades to acquire, and that is they are genuinely happy for each other's success.

Piggybacking for the Phil-Tiger observations from above, I think that sheds light on why the USA struggled for so many years in the Ryder Cup and why they seem set up so well for the future now.

Creating a new identity

The blowout reignited all the takes about how the Presidents Cup is a useless competition and I've certainly hit some of the issues with it in the notes above. Maybe being on the ground up close for a couple days imbued me with some empathy I didn't know I had, but the PGA Tour does bust its ass at this thing and is hustling to make it as strong as possible (there are, of course, motivating economic interests too!).

I think it would be stupid to do away with it or completely overhaul it. Team golf is the best — this is an incontrovertible fact. Make some tweaks, give more power to a home team, figure out a temporary way to make it more competitive. The lack of International depth is always cited as the reason why it's not competitive, but their best players have not played well either at many of these, including this year with Hideki Matsuyama and Jason Day. This core group of USA 20-somethings looks dominant, but there will be a swing when the Internationals have a run.

The PGA Tour carving out an identity that's more than "not the one that's as good as the Ryder Cup" may be the biggest Prez Cup task. The Tour has done this really well with The Players, an event that now has the self-confidence beyond trying to force an identity as the "fifth major" into something that occupies its own totally unique space in the game. Maybe it means some format tweaks, or schedule tweaks, or qualification tweaks. But even after this past blowout, I'm hopeful there is a future for the Presidents Cup.

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markwatkinsconsumerguide · 7 years

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Consumer Guide / No.50 / Artist Ros Burgin MRBS with Mark Watkins.

MW : You're a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors. How does that work for you?

RB : I love it. When I first walked in to an event at 108 Old Brompton Road there was a palpable sense of being amongst my own kind of people namely sculptors. The RBS is an independent and artist led organisation that promotes high professional and creative standards among sculptors and members share skills and experience. It is committed to making the full range of contemporary practice accessible to all.

MW : What places and spaces do you source objects in order to create art?

RB : Anywhere and everywhere. I notice particular things that are part of everyday life and they stand out because of their inherent qualities and characteristics. What ends up in my hands is usually down to curiosity about the unfamiliar. The things that end up interesting me don’t always immediately suggest a piece of work. I will keep them around the house so they remain in sight and in mind until I get an idea for a piece of work.

MW : What makes an object potentially upscalable?

RB : Probably, the intent of the Artist governs whether to change the scale from life-size and almost anything is possible nowadays with advances in science, technology and materials. Perhaps the main limitation to realising larger pieces is the availability of a location and the necessary funds.

‘Stella V’ is an example of this. I received a commission from Amesbury , a local school with an age range of 5-13, to make a sculpture for their grounds. I worked with one year group and decided to focus on the part of the school day they spend in the playground and introduced them to the game of Jacks or 5 stones as it is universally known. We made multiple scaled models and scattered them outside to assess them collectively and chose a particular size that related in scale both to the location and the average height of the group.

MW : Tell me about 'Stays, Holds, Ties’ (2009)...

RB : ‘Stays, Holds, Ties ‘ literally reveals the shape of women at the beginning of the last century. Society changed the shape of women’s bodies imposing a desirable form and used the corset to achieve it. I combined it with the covers of romance novels because they are stories which end in marriage another way society proposed women’s lives should be lived and offered few alternative prospects. By revisiting this period and reviewing women’s history and the unenviable lot of previous generations in the light of contemporary society we can see how far we have come and consider how far we still have to go. I tend to find that the pace of change towards equality for women is excruciatingly slow. So I make pieces which comment and draw attention to issues surrounding equality and I am a founder member of the Women’s Equality Party.

MW : Tell me about 'Skylines' (2015)...

RB : I am a member of the Fawcett Society who published a blog about my project for the installation ‘Skylines https://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/Blog/female-pilots-flying-face-of-adversity which addresses very relevant issues of women in the workplace and their underrepresentation in certain professions. After 100 years of aeroplane flight women make up less than 5% of pilots and there are only 450 captains worldwide out of 130,000.This installation features the names of 301 female pilots who, I believe, are role models and an inspiration to others. As an artist I want to encourage dialogue and Skylines draws attention to the number of female pilots increasing the visibility of them as group of women in this workplace and by making them visible encouraging women into the profession …you have to see it to be it.

MW : Tell me about ‘Totally Thames’ (2016)...

RB : ‘Totally Thames’ is an annual celebration of the River Thames with a creative and diverse programme of events throughout September which is curated and managed by the Thames Festival Trust. I joined them as a partner for the first time in 2016 to launch another piece from my ongoing series of work called ‘Thames Drawings’, which all focus on a particular 42-mile stretch of the Tidal Thames flowing through Central London, from Teddington Lock in the west to the Thames Barrier in the east. “Thames Drawing #2” is a new map of the River made using names of boats that use the Thames woven into a continuous piece of text written in graphite on paper which exactly charts its twists and turns.

The exhibition was held at St Katherine Docks in Devon House which looks out onto Tower Bridge and they extended the show for 4 months. I made a second very similar drawing to exhibit along with Thames Drawing #3 – a gold leaf drawing and 2 other pieces, ‘Island’ and ‘Lifeline’, at Trinity Buoy Wharf in the Chainstore at an event organised by www.5x15stories.com commissioned a full sized print of the work to be made which is now on permanent display in Orchard Place at the entrance to the Wharf. It is 1m x 2.8m and looks great as an unbroken line of text. The print works really well anywhere between 50% - 100% of the original size. And the reduced scale is easier to place in a domestic setting.

MW : Away from your studio, what do you enjoy seeing / doing in and around Godalming, Surrey, where you live?

RB : I love getting out and exploring both towns and the countryside. We are never really far from a coastline on this island and I adore the sea so frequently head off to the shoreline wherever I go.

Sport is a regular thing for me, currently tennis and skiing - but I am about to focus more time on learning to surf.

MW : How aesthetically pleasing is your garden and what makes it so?

RB: I have a small garden, and a little borrowed landscape from my neighbours, and the Lammas Land edging the River Wey running through my hometown. It is south facing so I have planted and shaped a couple of olive trees, a fig and the local apple tree bramley to take advantage of the shadows they cast across the space as the sun moves from east to west. I enjoy a crisp shadow; mark making on a large scale with a light touch.

I have a friend who is a beekeeper, and so have come to learn more about bees’ patterns and needs. As a result, I have replanted my garden over the last few years with bee-friendly-plants and let them escape into the lawn, which now grows to full height for the spring and summer months. Incidentally, this brought an enormous variety of other insects, moths and butterflies into the space. They seem to fly at different heights and rather like pilots stick to their routes. Inadvertently, I created a habitat which suits all these different species.

MW : Earth, wind and fire. Discuss how these three elements are represented by design in your home and work spaces…

RB : Earth, wind and fire, powerful stuff. I have specifically played with fire and burnt materials to see what happens. I have a wood burner stove which allows me to sort of control the flames and burning time by choosing how much fuel, what matter to burn, and stopping the airflow to arrest the burning. I burnt animal and bird bones, saved from whatever I was eating, and they took on beautiful patinas and became fragile, reminiscent of porcelain sort of taking on the aspects of the plate from which they were eaten. They sounded quite different when strung up in the wind. I have learnt how to burn some pages of an open book and want to make a large piece like this. It will need to be done in the exhibition space and immediately covered with an acrylic case to preserve the delicate leaves. Fire will come up again in a future piece in Thames Drawings. I will be using wood from a burnt boat.

I engaged somewhat with air/wind through the Skylines work, by looking at and thinking about the marks made by pilots as they fly their planes to and from points on earth through the space above us. They are creating temporary traces and lines and these lines informed the shape of Skylines.

Earth comes into my work either as a fired substances, or, as a temporary vehicle for imprints and traces left by people and things such as bicycle tracks. The latter produced installations called Spin and Twist. I also carve stone now and again which is some of the oldest material I work with. There is a small piece on show until October at David Hartlands’ www.elementalsculpturepark.com near Cirencester along with a few installations of Spin.

MW : What was the last film you saw, and which one are you looking forward to seeing next?

RB : The last film was ‘Cloudstreet’ adapted from Tim Winton’s book of the same title. He wrote the script with Ellen Fontana and Matthew Saville directed it in Perth. It was shown as a mini-series and I was blown away by it. Not only a beautiful film but great observation through the language, pace and cinematography. I have now found many of his others books through the library and they have not disappointed. I look forward to catching up with this years film releases in the autumn when my current exhibition closes and daylight is shorter.

MW : Which TV programmes do you never miss, and why?

RB : I like series such as Spooks and heist movies, the twists in the plots appeal. I enjoy Scandinavian series too for many reasons not least they show women in roles other than decorative and victim and don’t flinch at showing women in positions of authority, lead roles and letting them keep their clothes on. I am now watching Montalbano set in Sicily and it helps keep my struggling Italian language in tune.

MW : What do you have ongoing, and planned for the rest of 2017, and beyond?

RB : My current exhibition is now open until 1st October and features ‘Thames Drawing 4’ which is a 4 meter long wall mounted sculpture made from wood salvaged from decommissioned boats that spent their lifetime on the Thames. The project is supported using public funding by Arts Council England and exhibited in partnership with Totally Thames 2017.

I worked with Mark Edwards MBE, a master boatbuilder and set up as an Artist in Residence (AIR) in one of his boathouses used by the Thames Wherry Trust. The AIR was open to the public to reveal and demystify an artist’s process. We adapted techniques specific to wooden boat building, and employed them to produce a piece of sculpture made from unique materials which pay tribute to their history. The work marks the points where the tributaries and ‘lost’ London rivers feed into the Thames . It was amazing working on the riverside and I documented the whole process which I will shortly publish as a blog. I am at the exhibition every Friday (12pm-6pm) and weekends (11am-6pm) in September for informal Q&A with the public. I share the space with ‘Working River’ a Thames Festival Trust project film and story boards about the remaining boatbuilders on the Thames.

For the rest of the year, I will be seeking permanent locations in buildings along the River for bespoke scaled commissions of my work in the Thames Drawings Series. There are additional pieces to be made from parts of wooden boats which suggested themselves during the AIR at Mark’s and he seems to have a bountiful supply of old boats to choose from.

A future project includes working with light in partnership with photographer Nick Joubinaux who is based at Trinity Buoy Wharf and photographed Thames Drawing 2 enabling it to be made into a print.

MW : Where can we find out more?

RB : www.rosburgin.co.uk current projects section of the website and via my newsletter if people send me their contact details I will add them to my mailing list.

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getseriouser · 7 years

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20 THOUGHTS: 2017 Get Serious Awards for Football

THIS column has become such a juggernaut we are dedicating an entire column to our own version of honours for the 2017 season.

That whilst all the other scribes and bloggers and twitter menaces have their say on who was the best, the worst, their highlights of the season, why would I begrudge this snowball of an audience by not chipping in with our own version.

So as we celebrate the home and away year in this chasm between the last round and the first week of finals, let’s look back and reminisce by calling it as we see it, who outperformed, underperformed and work out just who had the shitter year out of Damien Barrett and Mark Robinson.

Some of the following awards are cliché and obvious, some though are a bit different and unique to the Get Serious platform, so get on board, get yourself a cupper and a bicky, and prepare to be enlightened.

SURPRISE OF THE YEAR:

Nominees: Liam Jones (Carlton), Tom Mitchell (Hawthorn), Ben Brown (North Melbourne)

Winner: Ben Brown – Bloody hell, the once-third ruck option down at Arden St. almost won the Coleman in a team barely able to avoid the wooden spoon. And the crucial kicker to be as good as the season was, it won’t be a flash in the pan. Given he is only 24 Shinboner fans can expect him to build on his 63-goal season, which is a scary thought really.

DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE YEAR:

Nominees: Gold Coast, Western Bulldogs, AFL Senior Executives, the married ones, who should know better….

Winner: The Match Review Panel – stuff the nominees, we had to give it to the MRP. Do we need to explain this one, I mean Jack Redpath, Brodie Grundy, Toby Greene, the list goes on. Horrid, awful, un-Australian really…

GAME OF THE YEAR:

Nominees: Round 2 Geelong defeats North Melbourne by 1 point; Round 4 (Good Friday), Bulldogs defeats North Melbourne by 3 points; Round 14, Sydney defeats Essendon by 1 point; Round 19, Collingwood draw with Adelaide; Round 22, Adelaide defeats Sydney by 3 points.

Winner: Round 4 (Good Friday), Bulldogs defeats North Melbourne by 3 points – great game, great occasion. There were so many close, exciting, high standard games this year, it was the best season on record for close finishes, but we loved this game back in April. It was well promoted, it worked beautifully as an initiative, and on the fast track at Etihad the final term especially was pulsating.

COACH OF THE YEAR:

Nominees: Don Pyke (Adelaide), John Longmire (Sydney), Damien Hardwick (Richmond)

Winner: Don Pyke – Horse and Dimma are stiff but here’s why: Horse has got the Swans into great shape, but we’re going to knock a couple points off for the start of the year from a coaching standpoint, and Dimma, he would have yielded a similar result to last year if it wasn’t for two things, the soft draw and the turnover of assistants. Pyke has kept the Crows up all year and deserves the minor premiership.

TEAM OF THE YEAR:

Nominees: Adelaide Crows, Sydney Swans, Richmond

Winner: Sydney Swans – so we knocked points off Longmire in the previous award, but the best team for much of the year were the Swans, who almost knocked off the top of the ladder Crows in Adelaide. Yes, not a super start, but since Round Six no-one comes close, a phenomenal performance, scary, and given the Dogs saluted from 7th last year, the 6th placed Swans are a massive show to go one better in 2017.

THE ABEL TASMAN PERPETUAL PLATE (MISS OF THE YEAR)

Named after Dutch sailor Abel Tasman, who on his journeys centuries ago, discovered Tasmania, discovered New Zealand, but sailed straight past Australia, and instead of being a Commonwealth country under British rule, we so easily could have been pot-smoking tulip farmers. Bloody Abel.

Runner Up: Josh Bruce (St Kilda) for not one but two shockers in the goal square, down in Tassie against Hawthorn and against Richmond at Etihad.

Winner: Melbourne – when your marketing department comes up with the website banner for finals arrangements, you better do better than six first quarter tackles when Collingwood has already kicked six goals and stuff up the unmissable finals spot at the final hurdle.

THE LANCE ARMSTRONG AWARD FOR HONESTY (LIE OF THE YEAR)

Runner Up: Perth radio shock-jock Who-Cares McSomebody who had Nat Fyfe as a lock to St Kilda, weeks later the Dockers captain re-committed to the club for five years.

Winner: Jordan De Goey – blamed a broken hand on playing with the dog before eventually confessing he did it in a weekend scuffle at a watering hole. Now come on Jordan…

THE Y2K BUG GOLDEN JUG (WORST PREDICTION OF THE YEAR)

Winner: Me – for predicting West Coast will finish a strong third or that I had Fremantle improving resoundingly into eight spot. Yuck.

THE GET SERIOUS PREDICTION OF THE YEAR

Essendon – In the lead up to the season proper I was bullish about the Bombers in 2017, that the 2016 wooden spooner could do the unthinkable and ascend into a September appearance as early as a year later, and then March 30 suggested Dons fans get ready for finals, they are good enough now. Low and behold, they came through like a treat, well done to the club and the faithful alike, pretty amazing year.

FIRST YEAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Nominees: Andrew McGrath (Essendon), Sam Petrveski-Seton (Carlton), Sam Powell-Pepper (Port Adelaide)

Winner: Andrew McGrath (Essendon) – you don’t believe how much I wanted to award my pre-season Rising Star pick SPP but one must concede the Bombers defender did just enough to pip the bull from Alberton. Amazing poise and contribution, consistently over the entire year too, so whilst it’s closer than many think, especially those Victorians who don’t see enough of Port Adelaide, this one goes to McGrath.

THE CHER MEMORIAL TROPHY (“If I could turn back time” REGRET OF THE YEAR)

Winner – Chris Mayne (Collingwood) – Four years. And VFL track-watchers advise his form in the seconds as the year progressed was hardly progressing either, not good. Four. Years.

THE 1944 NORMANDY LANDINGS MEDAL (TACTICAL MOVE OF THE YEAR)

Winner: James Sicily (Hawthorn) – Sicily was an ‘ok’ key forward prospect in a club who started the season 3-6. Alastair Clarkson throws the magnets around, turns Sicily into a tall ranging midfielder and with great success it helps turn the Hawks season around. From that point, the Hawks lose only three of the next ten games and 22-year old averages 24 disposals and nine marks a game in that stretch – a superb positional move.

THE GET SERIOUS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Nominees: Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong), Dustin Martin (Richmond), Tom Mitchell (Hawthorn)

Winner: Dustin Martin (Richmond) – Geelong are annoying but somehow get the job done, and hosted a preliminary final as recently as last year. The Tigers meanwhile stunk so bad last year if their coach not had this year already on his contract he would have been booted. We award this to Martin over Danger because of the influence he has had on his side finishing where it has. We rate the Cats list a little better than the Tigers list, structurally, especially with tall stocks, the Cats do a lot better than the Tigers. But the games that Martin has single handedly won are mesmerising, and not to downplay Dangers’ 2017, he has been a jet, this column just acknowledges that in our view, Martin was a smidge more valuable, a smidge more influential, a smidge better.

And now the big one….

THE SEAN SPICER ‘SWINGERS PARTY KEYS IN THE BOWL’ PAPER MACHE BOWL FOR OUTSTANDING MEDIA PERFORMANCE IN FOOTBALL JOURNALISM

Nominees:

Damien Barrett – ‘breaking’ the Rod Butters story about his alcohol and drug issues as President of St Kilda on the Footy Show when the Herald Sun ran the same tale as a feature six years ago, and also for being very boring, more narcissistic as the year progressed, and for claiming on his own podcast St Kilda had double standards for criticising Sam Newman’s transgender comments when by doing so was double standards in itself.

Mark Stevens – late entry, but for following Dustin Martin to Auckland this week, chucking a microphone under his chin at the airport and expecting something. Martin is as introverted a footballer anyway, let alone the fact he was going to get nothing close to ‘hi Stevo, look, I can reveal to your audience exclusively, since you made the effort to make the trip over here, that I will be moving to North Melbourne next year”. And for ‘making up’ that the Pies want/need Jarrod Harbrow. Time to take a look in the mirror Stevo, average by you.

Mark Robinson – one thing to send out an insensitive tweet about a player with depression, but it’s another thing to reach out with an apology letter, after being told not to, which included an interview request at the same time to further feather your own nest. Seriously you can’t make this stuff up sometimes.

The Winner – Mark Robinson. Not a great year for the chiefy chief-chief of the sport’s biggest publisher. But the clincher for our friend Slobbo ‘Time to say no at the dinner table’ Robinson, was when he accused in the wake of Tom Boyd’s public battle with depression, that manager Liam Pickering or president Peter Gordon might be to blame for the illness, for not thinking of the psychological repercussions of the monster contract that Boyd signed in moving to the Dogs a couple years ago. Really? Very ordinary stuff. Time for a spell we think, maybe a ‘promotion’ to the classifieds section of the Colac Observer, or into photocopying for the Ovens Valley Bugle?

(originally published August 30)

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thecloserlook · 7 years

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Growing up, there was nothing more exciting that completing the last day of the school year and being freed from bondage for the summer. For our family, there was no better way to usher in that glorious experience than driving to Indiana, Pennsylvania, and spending four days with our dearest friends at Celebration. It was like the event itself was designed for us, as a massive, 4,000 person graduation party. I remember the puppet shows in the big theatre, leaving with glow sticks around our heads, lighting up our room on the last night. I remember Mark Altrogge’s crazy wild assembly, where we did everything from loud worship and passionate teaching to smelling rotten food, cleaning mud off each other’s feet, and epic dance battles. I remember Eric Chaz working himself out of a straight jacket in the strobe light. I remember singing until my voice was hoarse while we worshipped to As Long As I Have Breath, Refuge (Lord, I Have Found), Shout, Across The Great Divide, Jesus Thank You For The Cross, and Alas And Did My Savior Bleed. I remember crying my eyes out when The Gospel Song Compilation was performed, and laughing hysterically when Covenant Life performed parodies about pastors or other common church experiences (by the brilliant Kathy Spiro). I remember meeting friends from other churches, exchanging addresses, and writing to them throughout the summer. I remember chanting my Philippians verse proudly as I went to battle against the Romans or Galatians. I remember needing to be so quiet Captain Destiny could hear a pin drop, or giving the Officer of the Day a ROUND of applause and a BIG hand. I remember playing card games like Egyptian Rat Screw, Scum, and Spoons with my friends in the afternoons, in the common rooms or dorm rooms. I remember falling out of the top bunk in my room and waking up on the floor, which was basically a right of passage….to something. And of course I remember the special days I got to eat a meal at the cafeteria with my mom, when she served on the worship team, where I could have a warm meal (not the standard poptarts and cold bagels). Celebration was a big deal to our family. There were countless traditions and events that surrounded it, including just being there, which made it the epic beginning to our summer and inevitably the highlight of my year. Some of my earliest and most significant spiritual memories and milestones were born out of those four days spent at IUP, and it will always be meaningful to me. However, as I have gotten older, I realize that I didn’t truly understand the point of it. I always assumed it was just a way to get everyone together, to have fun, connect as friends, and experience a heavenly-taste of reunion. And it was that. But it was also something more. And I didn’t realize until we stopped doing it that it had other, more important purposes. Celebration was a unity-promoting-mission-maker. It took thousands of people, from their own small local churches, and gave them a chance to step back and get a bigger picture of what God was doing, and the broader work in the kingdom of Heaven going on in the world. And it allowed an eclectic variety of gifting and mission-expression to be encouraged and highlighted. Celebration was literally a celebration of all that God was doing in our movement and beyond, and it set the tone for another year of church-life, reminding everyone of the importance of their individual roles, in their own local churches. While we were away this year at the PC, I started to experience things I can only describe as dejavu, and I didn’t know why. It didn’t make sense. Nothing we were doing or seeing we had ever experienced before. But slowly, it started to click. I was having my Celebration-fire royally stoked. Just like I used to 13 years ago, I was taking a step outside of my relentlessly moving life to see the bigger picture. Like parachuting from a speeding jet, everything stopped moving, and I was hovering, looking at the giant landscape, taking in all that was happening, that I would never have had time or capacity to see otherwise. My (seemingly) large corner of the world was now just a tiny dot, surrounded by hundreds of such corners, all converging and coordinating with one another. And while my small piece of life was still beautiful to me, I was amazed at just how diversely beautiful the others were, and how, without them, my corner would not be flourishing. This past year at the PC, I was reminded of so many things I had allowed myself to forget. The passion for shared mission. That awe-inspiring feeling of being a part of something bigger. Something that makes all the little nothings in your day-to-day feel more significant. All the ways God is working in me, my own local church, and how that is inspiring and encouraging others. But also, seeing God move powerfully outside my limited worldview. It seemed only right, then, that we return from the PC and proceed so quickly to the first Celebration conference in 13 years. It wasn’t just a coincidence, it was providence. God’s timing is LEGENDARY, and I was totally cool with it. Was it everything it used to be? No. That’s not even a good question. Was it great? Yes. Resoundingly yes. Was it better? Yes. Why? Because Christ grows sweeter, heaven looks better, fellowship is deeper, and the Spirit is nearer every day we approach His return. I felt refreshed, reinvigorated, refined, and refueled. That wasn’t because Celebration was a nostalgia-fest. It’s because God was faithful, yet again, to draw near to His gathered people and meet with us. It can happen anywhere, with anyone, and He chose to pour out His presence on us this past week. Highlights? Too many to count. But listening/watching faithful followers of Christ sing passionately in worship was wonderful. Hugging dear friends who have served their local churches, without pomp or prestige, for many years, was humbling. Cheering for all the planned church plants in the coming years (most from men we now know and love from our PC class), and rejoicing in the ways the gospel is being preached to the lost and dying world, that was powerful. Praising God for the adjustments He is making, the humility pastors and leaders display in searching for them, and the joy of anticipating His ongoing refinement was moving. And above all, being reminded that you don’t need to be a large church to have a large impact. You don’t need to have a large capacity to have a large influence. You don’t need to have a large wallet to be considered a valuable contributor. We are saved to be sent, but not alone. We need each other. We need community. The God that is in eternal fellowship with Himself does not intend for His people to live in isolation. We are all joined into fellowship with Him, and in that, with one another. And it’s a beautiful, powerful, eternally wonderful privilege. And I don’t want to waste it. Do you?

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magdalenes · 7 years

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#spider-man: homecoming #mj #michelle jones #mcu #marvel #marvel meta #i guess #spider-man homecoming #spiderman #spider-man #spider-man spoilers /#m #i love michelle so much oh my god #i also love her as mj like i love mj watson in the comics but her film presence has been p lacklustre #and i loVE MICHELLE JONES as a character and i think shes a fucking epic mj

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