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aforrestofstuff · 4 years

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What type of kid do you think the OPM characters were at school? I know not all of them went to school, but what if....

Thanks for the request anon! I’ve basically just written a handy-dandy little high school au for y’all lmfao.

OPM Characters in High School

Tornado of Terror: Absolutely 0 respect for authority. She’s tiny, but she can fucking fight and everyone knows it. For that reason, she’s feared and avoided at all costs. She often feels lonely because of this and finds it hard to make new friends, but she’d rather go through high school suffering alone before she dare let anyone get close.

Silverfang: Tries to recruit his peers into this little club he’s made where he tries to teach martial arts but the only kid that joins is this little shit named Charanko that doesn’t really care at all about what’s being taught. He’s really reliable in group projects and is overall a good student, albeit a little wise beyond his years.

Atomic Samurai: The kid that drinks alcohol under the bleachers during transition periods. He fails almost every class except one. However, in that one class, he is an absolute genius. His talents are few and niche but he really soars when given the chance to embrace his full potential. He’s really dogmatic and almost rude at times, but he’s managed to get himself a small group of friends that are keen on following him ‘till the end.

Child Emperor: Prodigy student. Straight A’s, extracurriculars, extra credit, you name it. He aces it all. Everyone wants to get a peek at his homework and he obliges kindly almost all of the time out of pure politeness. He’s also in marching band because he gets a thrill out of dooting a trumpet (is that an instrument in band? I can’t fucking remember). Overall, he’s very well-liked, although not respected. People kind of walk all over him because they know he’s all-too-eager to lend a helping hand.

Metal Knight: Polar opposite to Child Emperor. He’s a prodigy student as well, but he will NEVER lend a helping hand to anyone. If you’re paired with him in a group project, he’ll just brush you off and do the whole thing himself because he doesn’t trust anyone else with his grade. Teachers get pissed off at him because he’s always correcting them during class. He pushes people around and treats his peers as if they were lesser than him based solely on their intelligence, and thus doesn’t have many (if any) friends.

King: Doesn’t study at all but still gets A’s somehow. He’s got the teachers fooled thinking he’s some sort of prodigy kid, when really he just finds ways to copy off of other people’s work. He’s got a PSP under the table at all times during lectures and sits alone during lunch. People think he’s mysterious and cool but he’s really just an anxious kid trying to get by.

Zombieman: The cool, mysterious kid that skips class and smokes outside. The teachers don’t mind him because he doesn’t cause any trouble. He’s only got a handful of friends, one of those being Child Emperor (whom he’s really close to) and people think he’s just trying to cheese himself out of a failing grade by copying off of CE when he’s really fine all on his own. He’s surprisingly smart and quick-witted, just not in the way that report cards show. Still though, he passes with solid Bs and Cs.

Drive Knight: Set the school on fire once. Blackmailed a principal on the basis that they were having an affair and threatened to release this information unless they extended lunch period. Studies hard and gets good grades only to compete with Metal Knight. Their rivalry is well-known in school and everyone thinks it’s just a joke but Drive Knight is dead serious.

Pig God: The lunch ladies have second servings ready the minute he walks into the cafeteria because they know he eats like a horse. He doesn’t say shit in class and is overall just really quiet and shy. People bully him because he’s the fat kid with no social skills, but he’s really nice to the few friends that he has. Teachers either pity him or join the bullies in picking on him. It’s kind of sad.

Superalloy Darkshine: Football jock. He’s a little dumb but he’s actually the sweetest person ever. People often try to take advantage of him because he’s always ready to help, but he’s got a lot of friends that warn him when that happens. He’s overall just the most supportive, warm-hearted, social butterfly in school and he brightens up every room he walks in to. Nobody dislikes him. The coaches all put their faith in him during the season and he always delivers with winning scores (I don’t know shit about football lol).

Watchdog Man: Does absolutely buttfuck nothing in school. He only does the bare minimum. Like, he’s so close to flunking out that he’s among the bottom 1% in the student body. Still, somehow, he always pulls through just before finals and comes out with a barely passing grade. Every. Single. Year. He has no friends, doesn’t talk to anyone, and never raises his hand in class. People wonder if he’s actually a student or a ghost that wandered in.

Flashy Flash: Track star. Fastest kid this side of the fuckin continent. He put the school on the map by winning so many championships. He’s ridiculously handsome and has a lot of secret admirers too, but he ignores all of that to focus on sports. Even the teachers kiss his ass because he’s kind of a legend. Although everyone wants to be his friend, however, he’s actually quite the loner. He spends his down time during school hours running on the track or sitting alone to read a good book.

Genos: Teacher’s pet. Absolute ass-kisser. He tries his absolute best to study and never wastes a single second not having his nose in a textbook but still only manages to get Bs. It frustrates the living hell out of him. He’s adopted a lot of unhealthy ways to stay awake during the school day because he spends all night going above and beyond on homework, like drinking a full pot of coffee or smuggling energy drinks into class. He follows Saitama around because he wants to learn the secret to getting good grades without actually trying.

Metal Bat: He’s intimidating and mean-looking. Upon first glance, you might think he was a bully but it’s actually the other way around. He doesn’t tolerate bullshit like that while he’s in the vicinity and is not afraid to cuss anyone out should they ever pick on another student, teachers included. He’s been reprimanded so many times for that exact reason and has gotten a plaque in the principal’s office for breaking the district record. He’s a pretty shit student, but it’s not because he’s dumb. He’s actually pretty witty, but due to his terrible dyslexia and devotion to his little sister, his grades have suffered.

Tanktop Master: Best friends with Superalloy. Together, they carry the football scene for the entire school. He’s a bit smarter and quieter, but he’s just as nice. He aces all of his classes and is the sole reason Superalloy isn’t failing because he allows this dumbass to copy his work. He has a crazy amount of secret admirers but disregards them to hang out with his homies on the football team instead (and he always wears tanktops to school lol).

Puri-Puri Prisoner: Theater kid with such a drastic flair for the dramatic that people have actually gotten hurt trying to act out his ridiculous ideas. He’s super huge for his age and people often mistake him as a teacher. He’s one of those kids that have a full-grown beard at age 17 and he doesn’t quite know how to take care of it or shave properly yet so it’s kind of gross and patchy. Also, he’s the resident gay kid. It’s embarrassing.

Amai Mask: Also a theater kid but he’s way better at it. On top of that, he’s a choir star. Whenever there’s an opening for a solo, it always goes to him. There’s an ongoing conspiracy that all of his teachers pick him as favorite despite him being a bit of a dick at times but it’s still up in the air. He’s ridiculously attractive and has an outrageous amount of secret admirers, but he actually makes an effort to humor them and “entertain the crowd”. He’s still single, however, and devotes all of his time to mastering his craft in the ✨fine arts✨ (and singing. Idk if that counts as a ✨fine art✨ but whatever).

Iaian: Kamikaze’s best friend. They do everything together. He’s a bit of a doormat, though. He’s always seen carrying Kami’s books or doing his homework. Despite all that, he still manages to maintain an A-B average. He’s very studious and studies hard while participating in sports, despite only having one arm. The other kids would bully him for it but nobody wants to be known as the dick that picks on a disabled person (and rightfully so. Shit’s fucked up). He’s pretty quiet, serious, and mostly keeps to himself. Teachers always trust him to turn his work in on time and set an example for the rest of the class.

Okamaitachi: Another one of Kami’s best friends. She doesn’t fall for his bullshit though. She’s always seen in ridiculously fashionable outfits and holds a separate bag just to carry her extra change of clothes (in addition to her gym outfit). She always looks her best and does her best, super high energy 24/7. She’s a social butterfly and makes friends easily, especially while doing theater. She’s not as exceptional as Amai Mask, but she’s still talented in her own right.

Bushidrill: Yet another best friend of Kami’s. He also doesn’t fall for his bullshit. Bushi is another one of those kids that has a full beard at age 17, but he actually knows how to take care of it. He’s weirdly wise beyond his years and is everyone’s go-to for advice when they find themselves in a bad situation. He drinks illegally as well but keeps it a secret because he’s not an idiot (unlike Kami). Overall, he just keeps to himself and minds his own damn business despite knowing everyone’s drama.

Fubuki: Networking queen. She was voted “most likely to be a CEO” in the school yearbook. She’s head of the student body and negotiates like a pro. She’ll organize events and get good grades all while still managing to find the time to hang out with her friends outside of school. She’s always go go go 24/7. Nobody knows her and Tatsu are sisters, though. She doesn’t go out of her way to keep it a secret, but she would feel pretty terrible if people found out because she doesn’t want to be compared with anyone else.

Saitama: Does buttfuck nothing in class and never studies but still gets As anyways because he remembers all of the material effortlessly. I’ve said this before in a previous hc, but he was one of those insanely gifted kids that never developed a work ethic because he’s never had to struggle to get by academic-wise. He minds his own damn business and stays out of everyone’s shit but still manages to get caught up in a ton of drama somehow. He shares his lunches with Genos because Genos often forgets to eat. Fubuki has tries to recruit him into student government but he refuses each time. All in all, just an average kid that is always in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Mumen Rider: Studies hard, is a teacher’s pet, and gets perfect grades. His mom packs him really nice, healthy lunches and she leaves little love notes in there so he knows he’s got a good family waiting for him back home. The reason for that being, he gets bullied a lot. There’s no real reason why. He’s a nice kid and there’s nothing wrong with him, but a lot of his peers see him as an easy target because he’s scrawny and wimpy. He does have a handful of friends though. One of those being Saitama, who stands up to those bullies on behalf of Mumen.

Sonic: Wild card. He’s also on the track team and it’s just as good as Flash. They’re rivals and everyone knows it. He and Flash were childhood best friends until they drifted apart sometime before junior high, only to meet again while doing sports at the beginning of freshman year. Coaches often pit them against each other because it’s fun to watch the top two go at it. Academic-wise, he sucks. He’s the dumbest motherfucker in all of his classes and manages to get by solely because he uses his status as track star to get everyone to let him copy their work.

Garou: Another wild card. Teachers absolutely hate him. He’s loud-mouthed, awkward, and doesn’t really fit in. He has a lot of interests and wishes to get into some extracurriculars or clubs but he’s too worried about getting bullied. Like Mumen, there’s nothing really wrong with him. He’s not a dick for no reason, but people just see him as an easy target somehow and decide to pick on him relentlessly. He and Silverfang were once friends, but Silverfang betrayed him sometime before the start of the new year. His grades are atrocious because he can’t focus during class. Someone help this boy.

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roseate7 · 5 years

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(my no good utterly pretentious reaction to Geno’s interview in Russian wherein he expresses himself in a way we non-Russian-speaking fans rarely get to see and I go into an absolute asjafjsaghjas)

I just think about how lonely Geno has been in with such a hostile spotlight so young, the kind of thing I haven’t seen since the first defectors. Growing and maturing and then attending a draft alongside another Russian phenom bred to be lauded along his journey from league to league, by comparison Geno’s own hype and success ended up on a journey that paralleled those first Russian pioneers to NHL hockey more than any other player of his generation. In particular, a stark almost flip-opposite to the one his fellow draft alumnus experienced.

The NHL that Geno had begun to dream about joining in his teens had developed a different relationship to Russian players since his very early childhood. It was a stage set almost perfectly for the star rising elsewhere who would one day become The Russian Superstar in commercial terms and popularity that not even the Russian greats before him had managed to be. What’s relevant in particular is that Ove is famously known as an un-Russian type player, and was made so more or less by design. His destiny was patently to go out and “conquer” (to use his and his press’ patter) the NHL. His playing style is much more that of a North American power forward and the C*pitals’ hierarchy that places his scoring chances as top priority is the perfect environment for his style to flourish. He is the THE superstar, even having been mentored by Fedorov during his tenure with Washington. All and sundry around Ove have been driven toward his accomplishments. (Fed himself called Ove’s style not at all typical for a Russian. Ove’s falling out with his Russian coach at Sochi in some part to this.) Btw I know tumblr tends to be hyper sensitive and reactionary about this kind of thing, so just a reminder that these are facts that are *constantly* corroborated every year by every sports pundit and player, including respected colleagues and friends of Ove’s. The overwhelming majority of C*ps fans, and the entirety of the franchise, are perfectly happy with it! And thanks to getting a Cup into the bargain, very proud to continue it. To paraphrase him, if it never breaks then don’t “fix” it!

I bring it up with regards to How Very Russian Indeed Geno is by contrast, and now especially amid the many Ov*chkin-ized Russian NHLers. It marks a turning point in how Russian players in the NHL are presented and interact.

Geno in no small way represents the Old Gods. He’s got far more in common with Alexander Nevsky than Alexander Ov*chkin, if I can be allowed to be so pretentious and very historically loose. His choice to keep the A on another C’s team rather than seek out his own personal superstardom elsewhere - which would absolutely have been the parallel to Ove’s, as their close draft class status has proven repeatedly through the years - is Russian to the core. The desire to reflect on his own position in a club in terms of broader, collective success is - albeit to a North American anyway! - achingly Russian.

The many old world fables his story resonates with come right out of Russian stories: rags-to-riches; daring defection from his home country; from “jewel in the crown” of home to persecution as a perceived traitor; dramatic arrival to his new foreign city, including the first meeting with the young phenom he had followed since their childhood; the cruel and abrupt challenge of faith in himself at his first appearance on NHL ice; from cultural and linguistic isolation to half of a dual leadership with one of hockey’s greatest players on a three-time Cup winning team. It’s all there in fascinating, ever-revealing detail.

The Russian Five were my personal fascination when I was a teen early in my hockey fan days and the mention of them in this interview reminds me of how, in just one player, I have seen that same Old Russian magic revive again. The fierce loyalty to the new guard he belongs to but that unmistakable, slightly haunted aura of traveling with his heritage in everything he does is a lot more of what I was used to seeing in Russian NHLers than the more casual, comfortable relationships Russian players have with North American media and fans nowadays. I know we all have to be cautious about the Russian Bear analogies, especially as they relate to the media- and opposition-feeding frenzy that seeks to vilify him as having some sort of pathological level of rage and lack of control. Especially when spoken at the same time as North American players with blatant anger issues are coddled into fantasies of ‘simply doing their job’ good guys or flat out victims themselves. Geno has pride and a hockey temper, but it only looks out of proportion to the average pride and pugilism of any other player targeted for aggression, by those who don’t feel that he’s presenting himself in a way that is palatable to them. Most modern Russian NHLers return home and relax into very different personalities than the big smiles, laugh-along, don’t-talk-about-anything-serious versions of themselves that keep NW fans and media happy. Even if they find themselves in the box far more often or just as much as Geno, if the public already considers them a friend then much is forgiven. No armchair psychology of “anger issues” needed, no matter how bad the high stick or how many PIM. (and I won’t even get started on who ends up staying on referees radars more often than others, because it absolutely happens but most folks stay in denial unless it serves their own purpose)

As for the nature of his pride, Geno himself says that staying on a team he believes in is worth more than his own C. It’s worth taking a cut in money to help cap space. It’s worth being on the second line, and using his intelligence and vision to work with who he’s given to form his own leadership. And that leadership becoming seen by all as an equal and vital part of the captaincy - no “alternate”. With any other captaincy than Sid’s, Geno would absolutely have left to find his own rightful dominion. But for the grace of Sid being born and made with “hockey is a team-first and team-only effort” as his defining characteristic, Pittsburgh would have lost 71 and seen him become number one elsewhere… and very likely winning his own Cups. Geno’s loyalty to the city and franchise does not at all end or limit itself to Sid, but it absolutely begins with him. One superstar’s personality kept the other on his team, and that other’s personality is why he stayed on the other’s.

The Russian Five felt like “fish put back in the water” when put together. Geno has used his own tenacity, bravery and ingenuity as a generational superstar to find a swift current with that most Canadian of archetypes, Sidney Crosby. The combined effort is perfectly fluid, perfectly aligned, with not even a faint whisper of friction or disturbance in thirteen years. There have been and will continue to be many dynamic duos in hockey: there’s a reason why this one is called unique. They’re both natural born captains and each chasing each other within a delicate margin along the record books. They absolutely work well together on the ice, but genuinely operate best when leading their own lines. Maybe psychologically there’s an argument about how much they lean on each other, but I think it’s much more to their credit to point out that Geno found himself in familiar waters with a fellow leader who shares exactly the same principles as him. Side by side, and more than once proving capable of taking the team on their own back when one is out injured.

It’s a big part of why a major club like Pittsburgh has made the often baffling decisions throughout these thirteen years to take on hard-luck cases or players nearing the back end of their careers. A team whose leadership is founded and successful on load-sharing and listening is the perfect environment for players who still have the fight and/or the skill but who have lost their way. Or perhaps aged out of their old club. All you have to do is your best and the Pens will try to find you. But if you want to be the superstar or leap ahead of the guys who’ve done more time, you won’t find any sympathy in Crosby and Malkin.

And it’s just so poetic that Geno’s story, told by himself so beautifully by himself in this interview, is one of heart and good faith overcoming adversity after adversity. And that he did it by making wise decisions for himself, while holding himself unnervingly well in response to his own feelings of guilt and responsibility. And how his success in Pittsburgh has been to make the smart decision about staying with a club because of his faith in it. And that his personal successes and pride are the result of endurance and patience rather than a succession of fireworks, or even getting the credit he deserves.

Sid absolutely represents the ‘anything is possible through hard work’ and the more nurturing side of the Pens’ leadership. But Geno is the steely resolve and quiet rumble leading to powerful force that bears aloft even unlikely rosters to their absolute best.

(asterisks and spelling changes used because I don’t know how tumblr searches tags anymore and I’m being careful - if you still somehow found this and get huffy about what I said wrt Ove then swallow it down and move along. Nothing I said is untrue or considered an insult even by Caps hockey pundits. It’s all factual and highly relevant in terms of how NHL hockey has changed for Russian players. Don’t blame me for watching hockey for decades and stating what absolutely everyone else does, including the Caps coaching and management! Their style is not under my control lol.)

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second-chance-au · 5 years

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UTSS Gift

Hey there @glacierkato, I was your secret santa this year!

Apologies for the wait, but I made this the best I could.

You said you weren’t picky about which Sans you wanted... so instead of having just ONE Sans...

I WROTE A FIC WITH FIVE!

Hope you enjoy!

@undertalesecretsanta

”alright, are we ready to have some fun?”

Sans was still a bit confused over how he was talking to himself, but nevertheless, he felt ok. They all showed up rather unexpectedly. He had been getting a bag of Popato Chisps from the fridge when he heard a huge crash from his room. Hurrying up there, he saw 4 other versions of himself piled on top of one another. But he’d seen weirder, that’s for sure. How he got the others to even go mini golfing was an even bigger mystery. Maybe a bit of reverse psychology did the trick.

“gee, i love golfing. thanks for taking us here, dumbass.”

Fell was less than enthused over having actual fun for once. However, he was dragged out of the house by the others, and he didn’t really have much of a choice, so he came along.

“FELL! PROFANITY, PLEASE!”

Swap berated Fell for his improper use of language, but Fell ignored him. He’d already been tired out by Swap constantly talking about whatever he had on his mind the whole way to the mini-golfing course. And, considering how hyper Swap is, he was less than enthused to continue to hear his voice.

“more? alright, then. if you say so…”

“NO! STOP SAYING THOSE WORDS! THOSE ARE NOT NICE WORDS TO SAY AROUND PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW.”

“can we just get this over with?”

Geno was more than ready to go home.

“alright, you all, settle down. now, role call…”

Sans began to say the nicknames of everyone who came along. They had come up with them back at the house, and he was a bit proud of them.

“fell?”

“already told you.”

“swap?”

“HERE!”

“geno?”

“...here.”

“outer?”

...no reply. Sans repeated his call.

“outer?”

“oh, up here!”

Sans looked up. Floating across the sky, Outer had decided to have some fun.

“good, you’re here. we’re all here. let’s start then.”

Sans teed up, looked down the course at the hole in the ground, and took a shot. Barreling down the course, the ball shot over the hole, and completely out of play.

“nice going, dumbass. maybe hit the ball a bit less hard next time?”

“yeah yeah, whatever. fell, you take your shot while i get that.”

Fell sighed, teed up, aimed, and shot. The ball shot straight for the hole… then suddenly veered left, out of play.

“...alright, very funny. who did it.”

Outer chuckled a bit.

“hey smartass, let’s play the game fair, shall we?”

A small argument ensued. Geno decided to take his shot. Hitting the ball, it rolled down the path, and right into the hole.

“...ha. hole in one.”

Geno gave a slight smile.

Swap decided to go next while Fell and Outer still argued.

“GO IN THE HOLE, BALL!”

Winding up way too much, Swap struck the ball. Flying out of the course, it careened into the main building window, shattering it.

Fell and Outer stopped, looked at the damage, then at Swap. They broke out into laughter.

“damn, that has to be the worst shot i’ve ever seen in my life!” Fell remarked.

“nice one, swap.”

Swap scratched his skull.

“THE HIGHEST SCORE WINS IN THIS GAME, RIGHT?”

The other Sans-es stopped to look at Swap. Classic Sans replied.

“yup. that’s how you win.”

“GOOD! THAT MEANS I’M WINNING SO FAR! MWEH HEH HEH!”

The rest of the game continued in this odd circus act of manipulation, jokes, and a whole lot of yelling.

“can you not, you insignificant slimeball?” Fell grumbled on the last hole, after his ball went off the course for the 10th time that day.

Geno decided to take his shot. He’d been winning for the whole game, and while he didn’t want to come here at first, he actually had a lot of fun. Winding up, he swung. The ball bounced back and forth around the obstacles, and ended extremely close to the hole.

“...im pretty good at this game, heh.”

Swap wound up and shot his ball off the course again.

“YES! 130 POINTS!”

Outer took a nice and easy shot, which swerved impossibly around all the obstacles and into the hole. It was painfully obvious something fishy was going on here.

“you cheating bastard!” Fell exclaimed.

“i think im just good at this game.”

“...why i oughta…”

“hey you two, calm down. let’s just get this over with, mr. edge lord.”

Finishing off the round, the scores went down in the books.

The par was 36, and most of them did rather ok. Geno finished with 25 strokes. Outer with 34. Classic with 45. Fell had 61, but for someone who had no fun whatsoever, it wasn’t a bad score. But Swap…

...he finished with 145.

“I WON! I KNEW I WOULD BEAT YOU ALL! MWEH HEH HEH!”

After leaving the golfing course (and paying for the broken window), the sans pack went back to the home of Classic. They had to say their goodbyes.

“thanks for torturing me all day. had a lot of fun,” Fell snarked.

“i had fun today, i won’t lie. it’s been a pleasure.” Outer smiled.

Swap grinned.

“I HAD A LOT OF FUN BESTING YOU ALL IN MINIATURE GOLF! BUT I MUST GO NOW! ENJOY YOUR LIFE! MWEH HEH HEH!”

Geno sighed.

“...you know, i thought this would be boring and painful to do… but it was fun. i don’t think i’ve had that in a long time. thank you.”

Classic winked.

“anytime, pal.”

After they had all left through some sort of time-space manipulation magic from Geno, Sans went back to do the only thing he knew how to do best.

He took a nice long nap.

#UTSS 2018 #undertale #glacierkato #sans #enjoy the fic!#i gave them a Florida wintertime thing to do #because im from there

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eggoreviews · 5 years

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Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC Rate Their Chances #1

Hi! This is a new thingy I’m trying based on the RTC series by Smash youtuber Billybo10k where I’m gonna take 5 characters, weigh up whether or not they’d potentially make into Smash as DLC and then give them a chance and a want score out of 100. Hoping to make this a regular thing so if you’re reading this and want me to rate a character, drop me a comment!

The characters I’ll be rating in this post are:

Geno (Super Mario RPG)

Sora (Kingdom Hearts)

Bandana Waddle Dee (Kirby series)

Rex (Xenoblade Chronicles 2)

Rayman (Rayman series)

Hope u enjoy!

Geno

Okay so, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months (or depending how long you’ve been into Smash, the past 12 years or so), you probably know all about Geno by now. Geno is a character who gained an unprecedented amount of fan support after only appearing and having a major role in one game that was made over 20 years ago, Super Mario RPG.

In terms of his moveset, Geno, as far as I’m aware, is a puppet who ended up harnessing the power of a star. His main sort of ‘thing’ in his home game is the gun on the end of his hand, so Geno would likely end up being similar to Mega Man in some regards, though obviously not with the powers Mega Man uses from the various bosses in his home series.

And I won’t beat around the bush. Geno has a very, very good shot of making it in. For lots of reasons. First off, we’re now aware that the Smash ballot from Smash 4′s DLC had a direct influence on the newcomers for this game, with the likes of Ridley and King K. Rool, both major fan requests, joining the roster. There is no doubt in my mind that Geno did extremely well on the ballot and, on top of this, Sakurai has actively tried to negotiate Geno into the game before back in Brawl, but Square Enix (the current owners of Geno, considering they were the developers of Super Mario RPG) were unwilling to play ball. But now? We have CLOUD from Final Fantasy in Smash, not to mention Geno’s mii costume from Smash 4, who was the only mii costume to get his own splash screen. Sakurai knows how much people want Geno.

The only potential sticking points for Geno I can see are more on Square’s end than Nintendo’s. Geno’s inclusion all hinges on whether or not Square is going to want to hand over the rights to a dead character. That is, Square Enix could be so unwilling to hand over Geno because they want to include more marketable characters that still have relevance. For example, Sora, as Kingdom Hearts III is just around the corner. And if Ultimate is all about the most requested characters making the cut, why wasn’t Geno in the base roster? Not saying this drops his chances hugely, it’s just a thing to note, as it’s not as if Geno had the problem other characters such as Spring Man had where they came into existence too late to be considered.

With all of this in mind, I’m going to give Geno a 65% chance of making it into DLC. All of the factors in Geno’s favour, as well as credible leaker Vergeben repeatedly mentioning a new Square Enix rep, put Geno in a very good position. But hey, nothing’s certain. And Sakurai has confirmed on Twitter that Nintendo made the selections for this game’s DLC line-up, so it’s really down to both Nintendo and Square whether or not they’d want to include a character that isn’t marketable to people outside of the core Smash fanbase. But as for a want score, I’m going to give Geno a 35%. Nothing against this wooden boi, I’d just rather see Sora or a Dragon Quest character make it over Geno in terms of Square reps. Plus, I have no real attachment to the character.

Sora

Now onto the other Square Enix rep in this post, as well as my third most wanted character, Sora from Kingdom Hearts, the big strange crossover between Disney and Final Fantasy. Is he a good fit for Smash? Well, he’s got his huge freakin keyblade and a whole host of spells he could utilise in his moveset, so the answer is very easily a yes. And the thing is that Sora has one big leg up over Geno in terms of chances; relevancy. But I suppose it all depends on what is being taken into consideration when characters are chosen for DLC. For the base roster, it seemed to be all about fan demand, specifically drawing popular picks from the Smash ballot. But now that Nintendo as a whole is choosing who joins the fight, I’d say we’re much more likely to get marketable characters such as Sora (Basically what I’m saying here is, don’t expect another character like Piranha Plant. As much as I love Piranha Plant). And in terms of Nintendo history, Sora’s home series has made its way onto several of Nintendo’s handhelds over the years in the form of spin-off titles.

Sora, like every character, has a couple of hurdles though. The moveset potential, the Nintendo history and the fan demand are all there, but at the end of the day, it’s all down to whether or not Disney want to play ball. Because, contrary to what some people are saying, Sora is in fact owned by Disney and not Square Enix, as Disney hold the rights to all Kingdom Hearts characters that are original to the series. While Disney are notoriously stingy when it comes to their properties, I have little doubt that they would hand over Sora if it benefited them directly. Right now, we know that Kingdom Hearts III is not scheduled to appear on the Switch, but with a sort of ‘Switch Pro’ rumoured to be around the corner, KH3 could feasibly be ported over. And with Sora being exclusively a video game character, they really aren’t going to be saving him for anything else, are they?

For me, there’s a hell of a lot of factors going either way for Sora for me to be convinced either way, as Sora is a very difficult character to speculate on when Disney is involved. But he has a good chance. Right now, with things as they stand, I’m going to give Sora a 50% chance of appearing in DLC. It honestly could go either way. But as my third most wanted character, Sora gets a 95% want score. Kingdom Hearts made up a lot of my childhood and I’d love to see him included.

Bandana Waddle Dee

The bias is alive and well in this post as we take a look at our third character, and my second most wanted character, Bandana Waddle Dee from the Kirby series. At first glance, Bandana Dee could be dismissed as a weird side character or generic ‘mook’ character that has no place in Smash among the other iconic characters in the series. But this is very, very wrong. Bandana Dee has cemented himself in the Kirby series as the fundamental player 4 in the series, making regular appearances as the fourth protagonist of most of the modern Kirby games, most recently appearing as one of the three main dream friends in Kirby Star Allies alongside King Dedede and Meta Knight. And boy, does he have a lot of fan support. In Japan especially, Bandana Dee has an INSANE amount of support and this undoubtedly would’ve shown up on the ballot. And I have no doubt that Sakurai would be able to create a moveset for this perfect boi, especially considering we’ve never had a spear user in Smash before.

However, Bandana Dee’s issues come with what Nintendo’s priorities are in this latest cycle of DLC. We aren’t sure on what goes into consideration when picking these characters but my best guess, as I have stated above, is how marketable the character is, not just to the hardcore Smash fans, but to the casual players as well. Nintendo are likely going to be looking at what characters are most likely to sell as DLC, as well as what characters are going to promote their other titles. And I’m not entirely sure Bandana Dee fits this. Sure, Kirby Star Allies recently was released and, if he came with a Star Allies stage (yes pls), this could be a good promotional push for that game and there’s no doubt that Bandana Dee would sell well as DLC considering how many people love him. But with a new Fire Emblem game coming next year, alongside other potential first party reps Nintendo could’ve prioritised, it could be that my poor lil Bandana boy fell by the wayside this time.

Overall, I’m giving Bandana Dee a 60% chance of appearing. I’m fairly confident in his chances, as he’s a well-loved first party rep with a unique moveset potential and unquestionable marketability (I mean come on, tell me you wouldn’t buy him). But it’s all down to what Nintendo wants to promote in this cycle of DLC and whether they’ll want to keep their focus on upcoming titles or try and sell more of preexisting ones. But my want score for Bandana Dee is honestly a 100%. I love Bandana Dee and his design so, so much and I really want to see the Kirby set completed. Pls let it happen Nintnondo.

Rex

Rex is the main protagonist of the recent and extremely popular Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The character has a lot of fan support, is from a relevant franchise and is a Nintendo owned series that they’re going to want to promote. So why don’t I think he’s getting in?

Let’s break it down. I can see Rex being an obvious choice for DLC, especially if Nintendo themselves are choosing who gets in this time, as first party reps with a good amount of relevancy are more likely to take precedence. But after this last Smash direct, his chances are slim to say the least. Sakurai stated during this direct’s reveal of Rex’s mii costume: ‘We decided which fighters to include when we started planning, so we couldn’t add characters from titles like Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which was announced after planning had started. I hope this outfit will help you feel like you’re playing as Rex.’ So basically, I think this is an instant death sentence for Rex. Sakurai recognised how popular Rex was, so wanted to make sure the Xenoblade fans knew he wasn’t getting in so they wouldn’t be disappointed further down the line. And yet, I’ve still seen people all over the internet saying that Rex is a ‘guaranteed lock’ and he’s the most likely character n everything. And I don’t wanna kill these people’s hype but the proof is right there in that sentence. I feel like the people who are still predicting and asking for Rex didn’t see that part of the direct, or at least didn’t fully understand what Sakurai was saying. Rex isn’t getting in.

So with this in mind, Rex gets a 1% chance of appearing in DLC. While I’m confident he won’t be one of the 5 announced, the 1% is on the slim offchance we get a second season of DLC, which I don’t see happening either, as this cycle would bring us up to early 2020, which is almost exactly how long Smash 4′s DLC cycle lasted, as the game released 2014 and the last two DLC characters, Corrin and Bayonetta, were added in early 2016. On top of this, I’d say 5 more characters is plausibly our final roster for this game, considering Smash 4 had 7 DLC fighters and three of those were returning veterans. So yeah, I’m really not holding out hope for a season 2 and, in turn, Rex. But for a want score, Rex gets a 70%. Shulk is one of my mains and I love the look of the Xenoblade series, even though I haven’t gotten around to playing it yet. Rex is someone I’d like to see, though there’s another Xenoblade character I would much prefer that I’ll cover in a future post.

Rayman

And here we are, at my most wanted character, Rayman. With Rayman at the top of my want list, I have put a lot more research into him than I would other characters, but I promise I will avoid bias in my final rating. Lessgo.

Rayman is an iconic third party gaming mascot owned by Ubisoft. And bias aside, he has a hell of a lot going for him. His moveset basically writes itself, as he could utilise items and attacks from his various mainline games and, as much as I wouldn’t be too hot on this, the Rabbid spin-off games too. I have no doubt in my mind that Rayman would be a perfect fit for Smash and would blend in well among the other third party mascots in the game, as he has a notable Nintendo history considering the majority of his games have appeared on Nintendo consoles. On top of this, he’s been a fan request for some time. After the infamous ArtsyOmni leak during Smash 4′s development cycle that falsely revealed Rayman would be in the game, he surely would’ve received a huge boost in support that definitely would show up on the ballot. While this is just speculation on my part, I think it’s pretty safe speculation. But would Nintendo and Ubisoft be able to negotiate Rayman for the game? I think the answer is very easily a yes. Nintendo and Ubisoft were already working on Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle back in 2015, showing a partnership between the two companies that has continued all the way through Ultimate’s development cycle. As well as this, Nintendo recently lended Ubisoft one of their characters, Fox from Star Fox, to appear in the Switch edition of Starlink: Battle For Atlas. Nintendo lending characters like this isn’t exactly common and I think it’s extremely likely that Ubisoft will return the favour by lending one of their characters to a Nintendo IP. And where better to put him than Smash? As a final lil thing, the Rabbids have been included in Smash Ultimate as spirits, while Rayman himself appeared in Smash 4 as a trophy when he had no other content in the game. So Ubisoft already have a presence in Smash.

As for what’s standing in Rayman’s way, a lot of his hurdles can be very easily worked around. Some people have been citing Rayman’s recent inclusion into Brawlhalla as a reason why he won’t make it into Smash. But Ubisoft bought out the company that makes Brawlhalla, Blue Mammoth Games, making Brawlhalla their property. So of course they’re going to put their own character into their own game. And if Ryu can be in Marvel vs Capcom whilst also joining Smash 4 in DLC, Rayman can likely do the same. And it isn’t as if his inclusion would ‘sabotage’ Brawlhalla, as he likely wouldn’t even be announced until 2019, giving Ubisoft an ample amount of time to build hype for Brawlhalla. But now we know Nintendo are choosing who joins the fight in DLC this time around, is it likely that they’d have chosen Rayman? Honestly, it could go either way. We have no way of knowing if there will even be third party characters in DLC, though my best guess is that there will be, as I think Nintendo is well aware that characters like Rayman would sell extremely well. And like I’ve already stated, Nintendo and Ubisoft are on really good terms and Ubisoft have yet to lend a character to Nintendo in the same way that Nintendo lended Fox. So with this in mind, Rayman could very easily be one of the five characters negotiated.

I promised I’d keep my bias aside for my final rating, but without considering what I want, the amount of evidence for Rayman’s inclusion is compelling. However, nothing is certain and it’s just as likely that Rayman could’ve been skipped over altogether. We have no idea how these negotiations take place or what Nintendo is looking for in bringing new characters to the roster. But taking all of this into consideration, Rayman gets a 70% chance of joining the roster. I know that’s high, but I’m confident in this rating. He’s got everything lined up in his favour, so it all depends on how the chips fall. But as for a want score, Rayman of course gets a 100%. Nothing really matches Rayman in terms of wanted characters for me so here’s hoping he makes the cut.

Thanks so much for reading! As I said, if you’d like me to rate a character, go ahead and drop a suggestion in the comments and I’ll rate them in the next post that should go out within a week or so. I’ll also be logging each character that I rate in a lil spreadsheet that you can check out here to keep track of all the ratings or whatever. Stay hydrated my dudes.

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personuhh · 5 years

Text

Oh btw, in the last few days I've been bingeing anime like crazy so here are super loose & dum scores that mean absolutely nothing

Violet Evergarden - 7/10

Great show, beautiful animation. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I was rather uncomfortable with the way they portrayed a relationship with a 10 year age gap. Other than that, fucking incredible.

One Punch Man - 5/10

Kind of boring. I was definitely disappointed with it. Had potential, great animation and fight scenes, I loved Saitama and Genos... But it felt pretty lacklustre most of the time. Hopefully a second season clears most of those issues?

Aggretsuko - 8/10

I thoroughly it. It was slightly boring, and I felt it lacked direction in the first few episodes but all the characters really grew on me, and I can't wait to see more (especially after that Christmas special)!

Mob Psycho 100 - 8.5/10

Man, again with the boring beginnings... I feel like I would have enjoyed this a lot more had I not seen OPM first? The two can be rather similar at times and I hate to compare them, even if its justified; either way, without a doubt, MP100 is a million times more my style. I LOVED this shit, and it was really nice to have some character development happening throughout the season. I loved every character, loved the action, animation, style... Can't wait for the next season to start airing!!! Mob and Ritsu got some really great brotherly moments which was actually quite refreshing to see, and I ended up liking Reigen a hell of a lot more than I expected to.

Tsurune - still watching

So far it's promising! I'm a fan of Archery and Kyoani, so having Free! with bows another Kyoani sports anime seemed like it's be right up my alley. It's been on my watch list since it was announced, but I never got around to watching it until now. It's good, a little bit of a rough start compared to Free!, I do think the plot is a bit shaky so far, but I'm only on episode 3, so we'll see how it plays out. If nothing else, I get to admire the gorgeous animation lol

I've got a billion more animes on my watch list but tomorow is my last (consecutive) day off, so I doubt I'll have too much to add. Anyways, I still recommend every one of these animes; all super solid and pretty readily available if you have netflix (except the last 2, unfortunately).

#anime #anime recommendations #good shit #ada speaks

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fanforthefics · 6 years

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Sid/Geno, modern mythology au

1) It becomes clear early that Sid is gods-chosen. It’s not just his skill on the ice, it’s the way it encompasses him. The way he can see things no one else can. It doesn’t mean he can’t play; it’s like the throw of the dice of genetics–an advantage no one chose, and no one controls for. He’s not the only one, anyway. There are always gods-chosen, in every walk of life. They are always great.

2) There are things Sid doesn’t tell anyone. The way he sometimes he sets foot on the ice and knows how it will go. The things he can see no one else can. The way he dreams, of ice and iron and a presence that is infinitely large and too other to be kind but that likes him, in its way. Of blood, and war, and other lives where the battles he fights for his god are real, where he stands alone against the dark.

He does tell people, because they ask, about how he can know when someone’s important. When the hand of his god, or fate, or something, has landed on him. He knows when he picks up a stick. He knows when he’s drafted. And he knows, when Mario tells him about Evgeni Malkin’s situation, that this matters. “He’ll get here,” Sid tells Mario, calm and sure. Mario doesn’t ask. Like he doesn’t ask when Evgeni makes it to Pittsburgh at last, and Sid greets him with a smile and without surprise. This is important, Sid knows. This boy, standing there exhausted, gone through his trials.

The hand of his god is on him, and Sid smiles at Evgeni, holds out his hand. “Welcome,” he says, and feels fate close around them.

3) Geno is not gods-chosen, and he has spent much of his life bitter about it. Or, not bitter–envious. Geno is always good, always great, and never noticed as the best; he can fight all he wants, work all he wants, and he will never get the notice of the gods. They know all, after all; if Geno wasn’t chosen in the womb, he won’t be now, and so he’ll never be great.

It makes him wary, at first, of Sid. Everyone knows that the hand of the gods is heavy on Sid, heavier than anyone else in their generation; his hockey is gorgeous, the best Geno’s ever seen. What would it be, part of him can’t help but ask though, if the gods had never chosen? Would he still be as good? Or is this all the favor of the gods, which Geno was never given?

But then–then, slowly, it’s just Sid. Sid who is awkward and earnest and works so hard, despite being gods-chosen. Who carries the weight of the hand of his god with him wherever he goes, and makes it look easy. Who fits next to Geno on the ice, and when they score, Geno doesn’t think of gods or their gifts, just joy and the two of them.

4) “What it like?” Geno asks once, on a plane high above the middle of the continent, everyone else asleep. Geno had been too, until he woke from turbulence to find Sid awake, staring unseeing at the seat in front of him. Geno put his hand on Sid’s knee, to draw him out of it; Sid started, and looked at him like he was coming back from somewhere very far away.

“What?”

“The gods,” Geno clarifies. No one talks about it. They all know, and they’re all fiercely proud of their captain, but no one asks.

Sid shakes his head. “I can’t…there aren’t words, to explain.” It sounds lonely.

The plane is very quiet. “I’m always want. To be chosen,” Geno confesses. “Think…it make me special.”

Sid blinks, and looks at Geno in confusion. “You are special,” he says, like it’s obvious.

Geno has to smile at that, and feels something turn over in his stomach, in his heart–something he’s been trying to ignore for years. “Not the same.”

“No,” Sid agrees. “It’s better. You earned everything you have. I…” he shakes his head, and that faraway look is back. “It’s been chosen for me.”

“You earn too,” Geno retorts, as sure as Sid. “Not because of gods. Because of you.”

Sid smiles, slow and bright, and there’s that thing in Geno’s heart again. “Thanks,” he says, and then his hand is resting on Geno’s hand on Sid’s knee.

5) There are stories about the gods-chosen. It’s not a blessing. The gods-chosen have great gifts, but no gift comes without a price.

And for those they love…sometimes their price can be higher.

6) Sid dreams, of ice and steel and blood, and the glinting silver of the Cup, and he’s raising it and so is Geno and they’re grinning at each other and then Geno’s melting away, dissolving into nothingness, and Sid grabs at him but there’s nothing there, no one left to hold, and Sid’s alone except for the presence of his god. What can you do alone? he’s asked, and Sid wants to scream, because that’s never mattered.

He wakes, tears on his cheeks, and scrambles for his phone. Geno doesn’t pick up; he calls again. “What?” Geno snaps, when he finally answers. “Is three in the morning, Sid.”

“Be careful,” Sid pants. Orders. Fate is building around him, and it hurts to touch. “Don’t–you’re okay?”

“Yes, am fine. Less now I’m awake. What’s wrong?” Geno asks, softer now that it’s clear Sid’s really worked up.

Sid forces himself to breathe. “I’m sorry,” he says, and hangs up before Geno can ask what for. It’s not Geno’s fault Sid fell in love.

7) Sid goes down, and stay down. Geno doesn’t understand. What use is Sid’s god–what use is any god–if this can happen? If Sid’s head betrays him like this? All of Sid’s dire warnings, the way he’s been watching Geno–what use is any of it?

It doesn’t matter. The gods don’t listen to Geno. Geno can just watch Sid’s pale face and the way he curls into himself in his dark, empty house, all alone, unable to handle anything for long. Can only try to be there, as the months stretch on, as the rumblings start about Sid losing the favor of his god, of them replacing him, until–

“You’ll be a great captain,” Sid says, one day when Geno’s over, trying to cheer him up, “It should be you.” He’s serious, and when he looks at Geno he seems to mean it, and it’s so wrong, so not Sid, that Geno breaks.

“No,” he says, once, and gets up. The gods have never listened to him. Not like they listen to Sid. But Geno has fought his way to everything he got, and he can fight for this too. Fight for Sid.

8) Geno dreams. He’s on the ice, not a rink just–the ice, in his pads. Sid is there, at the other end of it. He’s in the gym short and t-shirt that Geno last saw him in, looking small and alone. Geno tries to skate towards him, but he can’t move.

Then there’s something–Geno can’t quite understand. Sid has a stick or maybe a sword, and there’s someone or maybe a ghost or maybe nothing, and they’re fighting, and Geno doesn’t know what’s happening but he can see that Sid’s bleeding. He pushes harder, but he can’t get towards Sid.

And then there’s something there, infinitely large and unfathomable, watching Sid fight. Amused, Geno thinks. Invested, but amused. Like a fan watching a game. Sid is bleeding, Sid’s drained, and it’s amused.

Geno tries, and tries again. Let me help, he rages. Let me go. You’re killing him. I can help. No, he thinks, like he did at Sid’s. This isn’t right. Sid doesn’t stand alone.

And then–impossibly heavy, the presence of a god. Geno’s knees almost buckle. Is this what Sid feels, every day of his life? The weight of the hand of his god?

What would you give? is asked, and Geno refuses to fall. He straightens. Glares back. Who are you, to give?

And Geno–he thinks of the rink in Russia and the bathroom in Finland and his skates on the ice and the smug satisfaction of a puck hitting twine and the Calder and the Conn Smythe and everything he’s done without the gods and he thinks of Sid’s sure eyes the first time they met and Sid next to him on the rink and in the locker room and on the plane and at team parties and lifting the cup together and Sid’s laugh and the quiet joy of him at a bar with the team and how he smiles at Geno sometimes, like there’s nowhere he’d rather be, and he thinks of Sid bleeding right now and the only thing he knows is that he needs to help. That Sid shouldn’t be alone. That he loves Sid, and he won’t let him be alone.

More amusement, then–then Geno is there, and Sid blinks at him, confused, the fight frozen. Geno? he asks, reaching out, and Geno touches the blood on his skin, wipes it away.

You’re not alone, Geno tells him, the weight still on him. You’re never alone.

You’ll get hurt. This hurts. It’ll hurt you.

Then it hurts. Geno’s thumb runs over Sid’s lips. Worth it.

Sid looks unconvinced, even in this nothing-place, and here it’s as easy as leaning down to kiss him before taking his place beside him in the fight.

9) Sid drives to Geno’s. He doesn’t think about it, about what it might do to his head. His head is better. It will be better. He needs to be there.

Geno lets him in. He’s pale, and Sid’s hands are on him before the door is closed, trying to make sure he’s whole. “What’s that?” Geno asks. “That–real?”

“It’s what I couldn’t explain,” Sid tells him, “Or part of it, but Geno, you aren’t–”

He’s not. He’s still not, Sid knows, because he can tell the gods-chosen, and that doesn’t change. Geno’s not gods-chosen, and he was there, in Sid’s dreams, fighting against the monsters. That’s never happened. Sid doesn’t know how.

“That what it like, all the time?” Geno catches Sid’s hand, pulls it to his chest. “You alone there, always?”

“Yeah. But–you’re okay? Really?” There’s always a price, and Sid won’t let Geno pay it.

“Feel fine, Sid.” Geno grabs at Sid’s other hand. The way he’s looking at Sid is as heavy in its way as the presence of the god, but totally different too. Like he’d looked at Sid in the other world, when he’d melted out of nothing. “Sid…”

“It’ll hurt,” Sid warns. He can feel fate building. He’ll fight it, though. For Geno. “You know what happens, to those close to people like me.”

Geno tugs. Sid does’t move. Geno sighs, and steps closer. “Then it hurts. Already hurting you.”

“You shouldn’t have been able to be there.” Sid looks at Geno, mostly in awe. “How did you–”

“I’m special,” Geno tells him, smug, and leans down to kiss him, and there’s no fate, no hand of the gods. Just Geno, and Sid, and their very human hearts.

#pens fic #my fic #i have no idea what this is #but #i think it hit the prompt?#enjoy?#dearparentheses #pens tumblr fic

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burning-up-ao3 · 5 years

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20 Penguins Thoughts: The best trade-deadline approach is simple

February 12, 2019 8:13 AMBy Jason Mackey / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Enough already.

Enough screwing around with Patric Hornqvist on the fourth line, splitting up the No. 1 power play or starting Casey DeSmith over Matt Murray against NHL heavyweights.

Enough with these wonky defense pairings and forget trying to swing some sort of trade, which may or may not be the 73rd move of the season for general manager Jim Rutherford.

Roll with the guys you got. Let them jell and build some chemistry.

The Penguins will return home with three of a possible six points on this three-game road trip, at least one fewer than they probably should have had.

But they’re lucky in the sense that Monday’s 4-1 victory over the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center should’ve delivered a key message: While the Penguins need work in certain areas, they do have enough key elements to compete. They just need to iron out a few wrinkles.

2. The only exception here, I suppose, is if Olli Maatta winds up missing a bunch of time … and boy does it look like that’s possible.

Watching postgame, it looked like coach Mike Sullivan knew something; he just didn’t want to say it. I wouldn’t be surprised to soon hear that Maatta has a separated shoulder, the only question, of course, being how severe?

If it’s bad, maybe Rutherford should grab a Mark Streit-type depth defenseman, but that should be it. Put Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang together, then see who works best alongside Justin Schultz. Shelter the remaining two with a metal roof.

3. Why didn’t Murray start Saturday in Tampa? Why didn’t Murray start Jan. 19 in Vegas?

Nothing against DeSmith, who’s a fine backup, but the Penguins literally chose Murray over Marc-Andre Fleury.

We can sit here and talk about DeSmith’s top-10 save percentage or debate the merits of showing Murray twice to Tampa in a 10-day span, but Murray is the proud owner of a pair of Stanley Cup rings. Per the Penguins decision-making, he’s the guy.

What his 50-save performance Monday told me was this: Here’s a guy who wants to be in the nets for big games, who thrives in them and who deserves to play every one of them the rest of the way.

4. The next time separating your top talent on the power play works, it’ll be the first.

I guess I understand why Sullivan did what he did for Monday’s game — putting Phil Kessel on what amounted to the second unit and using two defensemen with each group — but it didn’t work.

This power play runs through Kessel, although it’s unfortunate that path occasionally leads to odd-man rushes the other way. But using him less in favor of a third-pair defenseman (Marcus Pettersson) makes zero sense to me.

Figure out how to allow fewer short-handed goals or don’t. But removing Kessel shouldn’t be considered a viable solution here.

5. I can’t say I’m surprised that Evgeni Malkin will have a phone hearing Tuesday for high-sticking/slashing Philadelphia’s Michael Raffl.

It was dangerous, dirty and dumb, and it could turn out to be costly, if Malkin is suspended.

I just hope the NHL sticks with this precedent, where it’s seemingly addressing the act rather than the result. Far too often, that hasn’t been the case.

That said, Raffl punching Malkin in the back of the head was also dangerous, dirty and dumb. He should have gotten something. But whether Malkin missed his target — his explanation — you can’t let a stick-swinging incident like that go.

6. I don’t understand the decision to healthy scratch Teddy Blueger on Monday.

The rookie forward had two goals and three points in six games, plus a pretty solid fight in Tampa and plus-2 rating. I would’ve much rather seen Blueger stay in the lineup and either Dominik Simon or Tanner Pearson sit.

Blueger, by the way, has as many goals as those two combined over the past dozen games — of which Blueger, of course, has only played half.

I also don’t understand playing Patric Hornqvist just 9:10, which I believe is the lowest ice time for him in a game that he started and finished. Is he healthy? He certainly doesn’t look limited.

The effort with Hornqvist isn’t the issue, but he does need to be with people who create some of the trash that he’s so good at cleaning up. It’s a hard sell for me to be OK with him in the bottom-six.

7. To conclude this opening point, I don’t think the Penguins are a perfect team. They still have plenty to work on — role definition, depth scoring, defensive issues and the short-handed goals, to name a few.

But given their cap situation and what assets they would be dangling, I have a tough time seeing how one trade could be seen as the answer. Tell these guys that this is your team, now go work it out.

8. Moving on …

“I feel like if we keep playing that way, we’re going to get rewarded. We had some looks. I liked our line a lot.”

That was Derick Brassard after the Penguins’ 3-2 overtime win at Arizona on Jan. 18, talking about a line he centered with Pearson on the left and Simon on the right. By the next night, in Vegas, that line was history, separated as the Penguins faced a 3-1 deficit after the first period.

In talking to Brassard last week about why things didn’t work out in Pittsburgh, he brought up that succession of events as an example.

“Over the last year, you guys would ask me all the time, ‘Is it going to be good to have a few games and try to find some chemistry with your wingers?’ ” Brassard began.

“Me, Pearson and Simon in Phoenix, we had a strong game; we had a really good game as a line. The next game, it wasn’t clicking with [Sidney Crosby], [Jake Guentzel] and [Bryan Rust].

“Right away, you flip-flop Rusty and Dom. We just had a good game. We were thinking about that. It’s just the way it was.

“The lines were always switching. It felt like it was hard to get some timing and chemistry.”

9. Is that an excuse? Absolutely. Did Brassard make too many of them during our first one-on-one conversation last week? Yeah, probably.

But to his credit, Brassard did offer a few things I never thought about with the line switching.

“If Jake is set with Sid, that right side was switching all the time,” Brassard said of when things would dry up on the top line. “Sometimes it wasn’t working with Geno and Phil, and the left wing on that line was changing all the time.”

Brassard’s point, whether you agree or not, was that he wound up receiving the leftovers of whatever didn’t work with Crosby or Malkin.

10. Which, if you think about it, is exactly what should happen, right?

They’re the team’s highest-paid players, the big boys, the organization’s franchise centers … and Brassard doesn’t disagree.

“Sully was managing that right,” Brassard said. “He was just trying to get those two guys to always be producing and be on the top of their game. Like everyone knows, when those two guys are on, it’s hard to stop.”

Again, I see what Brassard is saying, but there comes a time when the player simply has to do what he’s being paid to do and that’s produce.

No matter the reason, Brassard wasn’t able to do that as much as he should have in Pittsburgh.

11. Funny anecdote from our second chat.

So Brassard did a scrum after Florida’s morning skate at BB&T Center. After the crowd dispersed, we chatted a little bit about the previous night’s interview and how the article came out. (Brassard said he doesn’t read but did receive some positive feedback on his end.)

After that, I said I had a couple more questions and wanted to ask him about why things never worked with Kessel.

“Oh, no,” Brassard said with a smile.

He never did answer the question. He pivoted to what I used above about the lines changing all the time.

12. We asked Rutherford a lot about Brassard, and he was always very honest with his answers.

In late December, Rutherford told me he thought Brassard “had more to offer” and it was close to decision time on whether or not he would remain the Penguins’ third-line center.

Last week I asked Brassard if he ever heard any of the GM’s criticism and whether he was OK with it.

Brassard said he had but that he didn’t have any problem with it because Rutherford said it to his face first.

“He has every right to criticize me,” Brassard said. “It’s his team. He’s the manager.”

I’ve tried to put myself in Brassard’s spot. I think I’d feel the exact same way … again, as long as Rutherford said it to me first.

13. One final nugget on the trade: Sullivan, not Rutherford, called Brassard and Sheahan to tell them they were traded.

Don’t know what to make of that. It’s honestly the first time I’ve heard such a thing mentioned; Brassard brought it up unprompted.

Hard to ascertain much more without context, but I do think it speaks to how involved Sullivan is in a lot of moves like this.

14. I spent some time in Florida chatting with Upper St. Clair native Vince Trocheck and J.T. Miller (Coraopolis) about the youth hockey teams they played on together along with Brandon Saad (Pine), Stephen Johns (Wampum) John Gibson (Whitehall) and others.

Miller had some fun with it last Saturday morning.

“There was this time,” Miller said, “when Vince had a turnover, and we lost to the Valley Junior Warriors. We were 12. Lost in overtime to Ottawa. It was the Bell Cup.

“Ask Vince about that.”

15. I didn’t, of course, since I had just come from South Florida and figured Trocheck probably didn’t need that text on the day of a game, but the insane amount of talent on those teams does amaze me.

“We didn’t know at the time,” Trocheck said, “but looking back, we had a pretty good squad.”

It was also small numbers-wise: just six forwards, four defensemen and a goalie, Miller said.

“We were, I think, fifth in the country,” Miller said. “We were really good. Plus, you never had to worry about ice time.”

16. Here’s something else Trocheck said that I really liked: They remain super competitive with each other.

Right now I think you could say Gibson is the best of the bunch, even though the Ducks are a mess. But not long ago Saad was a huge part of two Stanley Cup-winning teams, and last year Trocheck held the title with 31 goals and 75 points.

“We all grew up together,” Trocheck said. “We’re friends in the summer. We all hang out, work out together. It’s nice to see those guys doing well. But we’re definitely in a bit of a competition out there.”

17. This season has been a tough one for Trocheck, who broke his right ankle on a gruesome sequence back on Nov. 19. He returned on Jan. 18 and has five goals and 19 points in the 27 games that he’s played.

The injury was every bit as ugly as the one that Schultz endured, with Trocheck’s leg buckling underneath. But as nasty as I thought it was, Trocheck didn’t think it was that big of a deal.

“I’ve broken that leg before,” Trocheck said. “A little bit more severe this time. But I recovered from it. I’m just kind of looking forward now.”

18. One other leftover nugget from Florida: When Jared McCann was with the Panthers, he once shared a line with Jaromir Jagr.

McCann said that, without a doubt, it was one of the most intimidating things he’s done in the NHL.

“I was so nervous,” McCann said. “That was the main thing. He said to try and feed him the puck as much as possible. I tried to do that.

“Playing with a guy like that, it was incredible, something you’re going to be able to share with your kids.”

Man, I miss having Jagr in the NHL.

19. Stat of the week: 917

It’s too bad, huh? Had Crosby missed one more game in his career, Monday in Philly — when he had a goal and three points — would’ve been the night where he passed Mario Lemieux for the Penguins franchise mark.

So, so close.

20. Non-hockey thought of the week: Because colleague Matt Vensel covered Monday’s Flyers game, I spent Sunday visiting my mom in The Villages, Fla., and one of the things we did was go to the Orange Blossom Opry to see bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs.

If you are at all into that type of music or just enjoy terrific live performances, I can’t possibly recommend seeing Ricky Skaggs enough.

I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better musician/vocalist live, he was that good. Here’s a little clip. Hopefully it’s not too painful for anyone who dislikes this type of music:

Spending an extra day in Florida visiting my mom in The Villages. Seeing Ricky Skaggs, who is just incredible live:

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First Published February 12, 2019 8:00 AM

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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Can One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows Punch its Way to the Top?

One-Punch Man is a creative take on the superhero genre: what if the hero was so strong, nothing was a challenge to him? Saitama’s antics of always being disappointed in his world shattering powers being wasted on villains other heroes can barely touch gives the show most of its heart and character, but how do you translate that sense of apathy to a video game? Since fighting games are all about flashy action and pulling off cool combos, moves, and comebacks, playing as Saitama against other heroes and villains seems pretty silly; after all, he’s just going to win in a single punch! Bandai Namco have come up with an interesting twist to this: you have to survive long enough for Saitama to show up before you can see his awesome power on display in One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows! While an intriguing idea, how well did it play? Well, I got to play the multiplayer beta of the game on the XBox One, and I’ll let you know… It’s complicated!

The multiplayer beta offered players three options: a local mode against the computer, a Saitama version of multiplayer, and a non-Saitama version. Regardless of the version you select, you’re given the choice of building a team of 3 characters, with the restriction being that modes that include Saitama force him to be your 3rd and final choice, and that he will only arrive in battle after 250 seconds have elapsed. If that seems like a really long time, it is! After selecting, players are taken to the battlefield, where they fight in 3D combat arenas with free movement, being able to swap between the fighters they’ve selected, giving players some options towards team composition, styles, and knowing when to swap characters in and out to protect them or push an advantage.

Controls are fairly simple: characters move with the left analog stick, and the rest of the controls are based on simple button inputs. There are no complex commands for special moves, and instead characters can perform moves by consuming the “Move Meter” by holding Left Trigger and combining it with a face button for various types of attacks. When the meter is high enough, characters can enter an enhanced state or stance change by pressing R3, and pressing it again for most characters executes an impressively cinematic super move. Characters can also dash freely by holding Right Trigger, or directly towards their opponent with L3, giving them a boost of speed to close gaps or take advantage of knockdowns and wallbounces.

In terms of control, the game felt fine and functional. There was never anything overly flashy in the gameplay, and the control scheme is simplistic and allows players to learn the rules fairly quickly. There are only four buttons in the game: a weak attack, a strong attack, a block, and a jump, and combined with the more specific buttons mentioned above, creates the entire toolkit you have to work with as you play. Simplistic controls don’t always mean bad, and many fighting games take advantage of simple controls to hide a lot of depth.

In my time with A Hero Nobody Knows, I was left thinking that the game has some interesting systems, such as timed perfect dodges, combos based on juggling and wall/zone bounces, and finding ways to make various moves flow into one another. But there are some places where the game seems fairly as simple as it presents itself, without many hidden systems or unique quirks that you might expect in other anime based fighting games.

Since the beta was only multiplayer, I can’t speak to any campaign or single-player based content, but it does seem as though players will be able to create a character of their own to take into battle; when the beta started, we were offered two heroes, one a ‘speed’ based one, and the other a ‘power’ based one, who borrowed various moves from other heroes to create a mixture of unique moves. In practice, it felt somewhat odd to play as a generic character when the One-Punch Man characters were also readily available, except in the sense that they had a combination of moves from other characters that would otherwise not be seen together. I found myself choosing the avatar character a lot during my time playing, mostly because I found them easy to use and somewhat simple to play compared to characters like Tatsumaki, although I would hesitate to say any character is really difficult to play as.

Instead, I just found that most characters played somewhat the same, with certain extremes like Sea King, Silverfang and Tatsumaki being the most different. Otherwise, Genos, the avatar, Sonic, Mumen Rider, and Atomic Samurai all felt fairly interchangeable, and despite the game listing their hero ranks, they didn’t seem to matter at all in gameplay. When my player character C rank avatar took out Sea King with a set of consistent wallbounce combos, I knew that there might be something… off about the game. The issue is really not one of gameplay (it plays great!), but theme.

During my time playing the beta, I actually only got to play as Saitama twice. Once was during my first match against the CPU, in which I was mostly just figuring the game out and doing very little, which allowed the timer to run out and Saitama to appear. The second time, I had to specifically go out of my way to not win the match too quickly for him to show up again, meaning that I spent the tail end of the match purposefully avoiding my opponent simply to get Saitama to appear, rejecting the CPU’s attempts to have me defeat it by rushing right up to me and doing nothing, daring me to just end the fight. The problem isn’t even that Saitama takes too long to show up; you can actually shorten his timer by doing successful combos, perfect guard dodges, and special moves, but what this ended up resulting in was a type of score: how low could you get Saitama’s timer before you defeated your opponent?

The closest I came against another player was 15 seconds, and they had a single character with a sliver of health left, meaning Saitama would have simply been a cruel joke more than a reward at that point. Playing in ‘Saitama’ mode and not selecting him makes the imbalance even more obvious, as you end up with one player with 3 available full power characters against someone who has more or less handicapped themselves, with the promise that they may be rewarded for it if they can survive. Against everyone I played while doing this, none of them even came close to summoning him, let alone winning.

For a series about such an interesting protagonist and lots of cool heroes and villains, the themes of One-Punch Man actively work against it being a compelling fighting game, which is most visible in the sense that Saitama is perhaps the biggest problem in the entire game. While Saitama is fun to see on the screen, he doesn’t actually “work” in the game. Saitama is obviously impossible to defeat, and a simple light attack instantly defeats every opponent. While he can perform a super, it’s mostly just to see the impressive cinematic rather than needing to pull it off for any reason. In some sense, this is a fighting game based on an anime that is actively hampered by its protagonist: everyone wants to play as Saitama, but playing as Saitama isn’t actually all that fun, and the other characters are entertaining but they aren’t Saitama, a point the show and manga have made numerous times. I think this might be why I didn’t care about playing the generic player character: none of the other characters were Saitama, so did it really matter who I was playing as?

A Hero Nobody Knows feels like it has reverse Poochie syndrome: when Saitama isn’t on screen, everyone’s asking where Saitama is, but they also actually WANT him to be there. When playing modes without Saitama, the game works quite well as a fun, punchy fighting game, but the characters feel oddly generic in these circumstances. While it lets you do the ultimate anime game pleasure of “what would happen if Mumen Rider fought Speed of Sound Sonic,” characters that are obviously more powerful than others never really FEEL more powerful than others. Mumen Rider should, obviously, be the weakest character in the game, but he’s more than capable of taking down any character with ease, which somewhat breaks the fantasy the game is trying to sell.

Thematic issues aside, the game looks fantastic! Character models are well rendered and look like they should, voices are well done, and the game even has fun little pre-battle dialogues where characters that have some sort of history will trade verbal barbs, even if they aren’t on the same team. Mumen Rider and Sea King will trade words, and you can even recreate the “Sassy child” scene if Saitama is against Tatsumaki. Entire team scenes can play out in various circumstances as well, such as a team of Saitama, Genos, and Silverfang that has the older martial artist trying to recruit the two of them to his dojo.

While the game’s main thematic draw is somewhat dissonant, you absolutely get what you bargained for in terms of character theme and interaction, and we can only assume that the singleplayer components missing from the beta will take full advantage of these features. Frankly, A Hero Nobody Knows almost seems like a better single player experience than multiplayer, letting players explore the One-Punch Man story and engage in some video game exclusive content and scenes, than it is as a competitive versus fighter. Players can expect to have fun duking it out, and if you’re a big One-Punch Man fan, you’ll probably find stuff to love here, but the game system isn’t deep enough to draw in non-fans or curious fighting game players.

When our time with the beta came to a close, we found ourselves feeling a bit like Saitama: unfulfilled. The game plays great, and online versus other people was smooth and had very few hiccups, and everything about it shouts “solid but not game changing fighter.” The biggest problem, though, is that the theme—and Saitama—don’t work the way it should. Perhaps we’ll see what the full game has to offer, but for now we’re cautiously optimistic, hoping we can find a game worthy of our abilities and powers to use. We’re looking for a game that offers us a challenge and allows us to feel amazing when Saitama shows up to save the day. As it is, right now we mostly just feel like he does: Ok.

Are you curious to play One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows? Any characters you’d like to see in the game? Let us know what you think of the game in the comments!

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Nicole is a features writer and editor for Crunchyroll. Known for punching dudes in Yakuza games on her Twitch channel while professing her love for Majima. She also has a blog, Figuratively Speaking. Follow her on Twitter: @ellyberries

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

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footballleague0 · 7 years

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Eli Manning on empty? New York Giants QB might be running on fumes – New York Giants Blog

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Eli Manning walked off the field in the third quarter of Sunday night’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys as television cameras zoomed in on his face. The look was eerily reminiscent to what New York Giants fans had seen countless times before, especially early in his career.

“Manning Face,” as it is known, is a mix of disgust and bewilderment. It was there on more than a few occasions Sunday night and has become more common to see over the past few years, including during Sunday’s 19-3 loss to the rival Cowboys.

Manning had just thrown an off-target pass to wide receiver Roger Lewis on third-and-goal from the 13-yard line that was 7 yards short of the end zone and off target. Lewis made the catch on the ground but had no chance of scoring a touchdown. The Giants settled for a field goal and didn’t score again, with star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. out of the lineup. “No part of the offense was functional,” according to coach Ben McAdoo.

Manning finished 29-of-38 for a hollow 220 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.

The quarterback play was far from the only offender, but it wasn’t good. McAdoo angrily barked at a reporter this week who asked how Manning graded out in the contest and failed to provide an answer. Offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan said Manning didn’t play well.

It’s more than Sunday night that has spawned legitimate questions about Manning and the Giants. A game here or there has morphed into a full season and now a trend.

Manning didn’t play particularly well by any standard last season, even if it was somewhat masked by an 11-5 record. The Giants averaged 19.4 points per game last season. The six teams that averaged fewer points had Case Keenum, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Blaine Gabbert, Jay Cutler, Brock Osweiler and Robert Griffin III as their starting quarterbacks at the beginning of the season.

The Giants had Manning, considered head and shoulders above that class of quarterbacks.

But Manning’s 44.6 QBR ranked 27th among quarterbacks last year and tied for the worst of his career. He was also 27th in QBR in 2013, when he threw 27 interceptions. McAdoo arrived the next season with his offense from Green Bay.

QBR is a metric that accounts for his teammates’ contributions — such as Beckham’s taking a 6-yard pass and turning it into a 61-yard touchdown — and gives credit or a lessened penalty based on the position he was put in by the blocking. It accounts, to some degree, for the Giants’ subpar offensive line that makes life difficult for its immobile quarterback.

Manning is 36 years old and not playing well. It’s possible the inevitable decline is happening before our eyes, only to be masked by his résumé and the line’s poor blocking.

“Combination of age and questionable offensive line isn’t a favorable pairing for Eli,” one NFL executive said prior to the season. “No one seems to think of their [quarterback] situation as a potential weakness. I do.”

Three executives or scouts were surveyed prior to Week 1 about whether they would rather have Manning or Dallas’ Dak Prescott as their quarterback for this season. All three chose Prescott, the Cowboys’ second-year signal-caller. That might be indicative of where Manning stands at this point of his career.

Cause for concern

The past few years have seen steady decline, even though Manning did compile some impressive touchdown numbers — including a career-high 35 in 2015 — in McAdoo’s pass-heavy, quick-hitter offense.

2006-12 QBR: 61.0 (Rank: 16)

2013-15 QBR: 50.7 (Rank: 25)

2016-17 QBR: 44.6 (Rank: 27)

It isn’t just Manning’s QBR that indicates his play has slipped since 2011, when he carried the Giants through the playoffs and into the Super Bowl while facing constant pressure. Manning ranked 19th and 20th in Football Outsiders’ passing DVOA in 2015 and 2016. He ranked 10th and then 22nd in Pro-Football-Reference.com’s adjusted Net Yards Per Attempt (ANY/A) the past two seasons. His 44 interceptions put him third behind San Diego’s Philip Rivers and Jacksonville’s Blake Bortles for most interceptions in the past three seasons.

YearQBRRank200652.320th200754.618th200863.26th200969.87th201061.113th201164.010th201267.09th201339.327th201462.514th201560.516th201649.327thESPN

Nothing Manning did Sunday night against the Cowboys assuaged fears that he might be in the midst of his decline. He threw for 33 yards in the first half, and his longest completion, of 12 yards, came on a swing pass in the flat to Sterling Shepard.

Manning didn’t complete a difficult throw — under duress or not — throughout the entire half.

“I have to play better,” he conceded. “I think there were some opportunities to make some plays, to get some things going, get into a rhythm, and I can make some better decisions on some things. So, I can do my part to help us out, get things going. You have new players. When the guys get off to a slow start, that’s when the leader has to step up and do their part.”

Manning undoubtedly remains the Giants’ starting quarterback. That’s not going to change no matter how long the offensive struggles persist this season. He’s a four-time Pro Bowl quarterback and a two-time Super Bowl winner.

But he might be as much a problem with the Giants’ offense, which hasn’t topped 20 points in seven straight games, as the offensive line. They need their highest-paid player to overcome non-optimal situations, make plays and help their weakest link.

Manning has seven touchdown passes and eight interceptions in his past seven games and might have embarked on a late-career decline, which is no shame.

Legends such as Dan Marino, Joe Montana and Brett Favre all fell off dramatically by the time they were 37 years old. Only a select few all-time greats — led by Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees — excelled in the latter stages of their career. They are the exceptions, not the rule.

Eli Manning has said he would like to play into his 40s. He is signed through the 2019 season, but the Giants have also started preparing for the future. General manager Jerry Reese conceded Manning was “probably on the back nine” of his career earlier this year. Reese drafted Davis Webb, now serving as the team’s third-string quarterback, in the third round of the year’s draft.

Geno Smith is the backup. Webb isn’t ready. For better or worse, it’s still Manning’s show.

Giants coach Ben McAdoo has no great options behind Eli Manning if the veteran quarterback continues to falter, with Geno Smith as the backup and rookie Davis Webb in a developmental role. Brad Penner/USA TODAY SportsReasons for optimism

While there are considerable concerns about whether Manning’s best years are behind him, it would be a mistake to count him out during the final act of his career. There were similar thoughts about his inability to perform when he was in his early 20s and early 30s.

Manning has experienced more than his fair share of ups (two Super Bowl MVP runs) and downs (25- and 27-interception seasons). He’s also not showing signs of a player who appears mentally and physically done.

Former NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck played until he was 40, with his final three seasons as a backup in Indianapolis. Hasselbeck said there are usually signs a quarterback is on his way out. Are they still looking to improve in the offseason? Is the desire there? Is football what they love to do or is their golf handicap more important? It’s what Hasselbeck called life choices.

“It doesn’t have to be bad things,” he said. “Some guys are ready to say, ‘Hey, had a good run’ and move on.”

Manning doesn’t appear to fall into that category. He’s all-in on football and continues to be the first in the building and last to leave every day. He has been healthy, having never missed a start because of injury.

Other members of Manning’s 2004 draft class have shown signs of being closer to the end.

“[Manning] doesn’t at all. Ben Roethlisberger is in the opposite boat,” Hasselbeck said. “He’s talking about retirement; he doesn’t seem to ever have a season where this is not drama as a game-time decision, ‘Will he play?’ That is hard for a coaching staff to game plan. You don’t know if you have him Wednesday or you have somebody else.”

Manning’s commitment has never been questioned. He is a team captain, universally respected in the locker room and tasked with what one player recently described as “soooo much responsibility” because of what he’s asked to do on the field and at the line of scrimmage every single play. This is partly why the Giants coaches have confidence in their quarterback; he handles all the “other stuff” effortlessly.

Manning’s skills also don’t appear to have diminished much. He has never been mobile, and his arm strength isn’t an immediate concern.

“I still see him throwing the ball really well down the field,” said veteran Giants linebacker Jonathan Casillas, who has also played with Brady and Brees.

Manning has insisted his arm strength and velocity are the same now as they were earlier in his career, in part because of a throwing program he adopted several years ago. The Giants think, despite the slip in numbers and the poor performance in the opener, they will be just fine.

Their quarterback will be just fine.

“I would say Eli, like everyone else on the offensive side of the ball, had a bad night, had a night that was not up to our standards,” Sullivan said. “Seeing his work ethic and how he prepares and seeing the things he’s done out on the practice field and the communication that is continuing to get better and better with the receivers and the protection adjustments and so forth, that it is one bad night.

“To rush to conclusions where he’s at or [where] anybody is after one game would be premature.”

The post Eli Manning on empty? New York Giants QB might be running on fumes – New York Giants Blog appeared first on Daily Star Sports.

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giantsfootball0 · 7 years