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axiomsofice · 3 years

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2021 Playoff Preview

WEST

1. Colorado: hitting their stride at the perfect time, key players are back from injury. Healthy goalies go a long way (as they found last year). Makar deserves Norris consideration. On top of all their riches Jost and Timmins have finally started to live up to their potential. Don’t forget Newhook and Byram are on the way up as well. This group should be a cup contender for the next 5 years or so. With all that being said it took Tampa quite some time to turn their talents into a cup, and only time will tell if the Avs are able to love up to their projection. 2. Vegas: this team is big and strong and feasted on the lower half of the west division just like the avalanche. One of the most undersold additions of this off-season is probably Pietrangelo, joining Theodore and a strong and young blueline that boasts some really good defenders in Whitecloud and Hague. Yes, Chandler Stevenson is not quite the flashiest name at 1C (he does a good job tho, don’t get it twisted), but even the bottom portion of the forward group has players who are strong, fast, and skilled, such as Roy, Tuch, and Kolesar. A cup win this year is very much in play, but the future is not without hope should Glass and/or Krebs ever blossom into what Stevenson is not. 3. Minnesota: Although a playoff berth without much of a chance to go all the way is not new for the Wild, the sense of ascension in a optimistic future is a welcome change. Even without a series win, the foundation of a strong performance could be a crucial step in their building. 4. St. Louis: letting your captain and best defencemen (player?) walk is certainly a choice. Reminds me a little of Washington letting Trotz walk. I must also admit I’m not a huge believer in Binnington. They’ll need Kyrou and Thomas to continue expanding their influence as the years go, but it’s hard to see this group replicating their success from 2019. Shout outs to Perron for aging like fine wine.

Final four pick: Vegas over Colorado

EAST

1. Pittsburgh: Yes, the goaltending is more stable than last year, but another huge aspect in what looks to be a much stronger iteration of the Penguins is the success of Matheson-Ceci. The duos play has definitely helped Marino-Pettersson to develop at their own pace, not to mention Dumolin-Letang to round out an understated but very strong blueline. Carter has been a great addition and has still got game, people sleep on you when your team isn’t good (I see you Anze Kopitar). Between their cups wins the Pens looked like an easy out at times, but I see that more as a testament to Crosby and Malkin being able to cruise into the playoffs. When they are on they could easily go all the way. 2. Washington: Some have been waiting for the bottom to fall out with this aging group, although they managed to pace the division for large parts of the season. Although Chara joins a defence group that is probably at its best since the Cup win, there are questions up front and in net. Mantha is a nice addition (maybe not worth the price) but there are a lot of injuries heading into the post season. Samsonov and Vanecek have been alright in net, but it is a lot to ask of two young goalies. In 3 years that tandem could be really strong but to this point it hasn’t been elite level. 3. Boston: finally the blueline is healthy. The second line, rather the forward group in general is as strong as it’s been in years. Swayman and Vladar provide some post Rask optimism, but for now there’s not much to be critical about throughout this lineup. 4. NY Islanders: This team is not exciting but they get the job done. They ended Pittsburgh’s 8 series winning streak a few years ago. Barzal/Nelson/Pageau is really solid down the middle. The defence would look a lot better with Toews. I might pick them to beat Washington in a series but that’s about it.

Final four pick: Boston over Pittsburgh

CENTRAL

1. Carolina: This team is stacked. The blueline is very deep. The goalies have all been good in large part thanks to their overall team structure (I’d go Mrazek/Nedeljkovic/Riemer FWIW). Trocheck has fit in so nicely and really shine with Necas, who is big, fast, and skilled, and often looks like he can do anything on the ice. Svechnikov is still coming into his own, but is not being relied on more than he can handle at this point. 2. Florida: This has been the most surprising and fun team of the season. It’s nice to see players like Duclair, Verhaeghe, and Bennett excel when given the opportunity. Splitting Barkov and Huberdeau was huge, and adding lots of sandpaper with the likes of Hornqvist, Wennberg, Gudas, and Nutivaara has helped solidify the bottom of the roster. It sucks that Ekblad is out for sure, although hopefully both he and the Panthers can carry their success into next year, regardless of how a very tough opening round in the battle of Florida unfolds. They really got pooched in the last expansion draft so hopefully that does not repeat itself, although youngsters like Tippett, Denisenko, and down the road Noel and Lundell should help prevent too much of a regression. 3. Tampa Bay: What to say? The defending champs hitting the post season in a return to full health. A roster with no holes, lots of continuity and the best goalie in the world (?) at this point. There’s not much reason to pick against them besides hockey is strange and random and Florida is more fun. Big shout outs to the NHL’s first all Black line, as Mathieu Joseph, Daniel Walcott, and Gemel Smith got the opportunity to start late in the season. In particular Joseph and Smith are players who have had really strong results in short stints fighting for a regular spot in this loaded Tampa lineup (also, shout out to their brothers, Givani Smith and P.O. Joseph who should have a shot at being NHL regulars next season). 4. Nashville: The Preds have the goaltending and defensive structure to pull off an upset. Both the 1st round matchups in this division embody why I really enjoyed this division, as geographical rivals have the chance to square off. In all, this division could provide the most entertainment of round 1.

Final four pick: Carolina over Florida

NORTH

1. Toronto: I will probably be writing more Toronto centric pieces so I’ll keep it short. In three short (actually painfully long) years as GM, Dubas has kept the “can and will” big four and changed the rest of the team to compliment their skill sets and short comings. This team is easily the favourite to come out of the North Division. 2. Edmonton: McDavid is on another level. Seeing some clips in the fall (off-season) it’s as if my eyes forgot how fast he really was, as upon seeing some clips of his I could’ve sworn were playing in fast forward. Draisaitl is really good too. Similar to Dubas, GM Holland has built a roster that compliments his offensive stars, although his route there has involved more patience than anything. Tippett and Smith have been the forefront of their defensive prowess, it’s hard to overlook the effect that defenders like Nurse and Bear have contributed to this new facet of their identity. 3. Winnipeg: the Jets are very much limping into the post season, although they do have the goaltending to pull off upsets, and the talent up front to score opportunistically. In all their blueline and defensive play in general is underwhelming. 4. Montreal: The Habs successfully outlasted the mediocrity in the lower portion of the division to hold onto the last spot. They do have the physicality and depth to outperform their talents in the playoffs as we saw last year, although a lot will have to go right for them to pull off an upset or two, including a vintage Price performance in net should he be available.

Final four pick: Toronto over Edmonton

#nhl playoffs #montreal canadiens #Toronto Maple Leafs #winnipeg jets #edmonton oilers #Nashville Predators #tampa bay lightning #Florida Panthers #Carolina Hurricanes #New York Islanders #boston bruins #washington capitals #pittsburg penguins #st. louis blues #Minnesota Wild #vegas golden knights #Colorado Avalanche

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floatingcatacombs · 4 years

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In Praise of the Blonde Twink who May or May Not be a Trans Girl

12 Days of Aniblogging, Day 3

There’s been something in the air recently. Last year, the New York Times’ fashion magazine published an article titled “Welcome to the Age of the Twink”, a 600-word LGBT hitpiece arguing that a new wave of “art twinks” are redefining what it means to be an ideal male. The author argues that the term “twink” is being broadened past just gay culture and we should slap it on every slim attractive straight white dude that we see in order to overturn toxic masculinity. Because there’s nothing more revolutionary than, er, fairly conventional western beauty standards.

The internet promptly responded by shitting on the author’s brazen attempt to export twinkness to the straight world. I too think it’s an awful take, but I get the feeling there was a satirical bend to the article that got edited out or otherwise miscommunicated. After all, the author is a gay man; why would he misrepresent and diminish his own community like that?

The broadening and appropriation of LGBT terminology is a touchy subject, so I’ll save it for another day. If taking gay terminology and morphing it into new definitions is en vogue nowadays, I’m happy to join ranks with Nick Haramis and add new meanings to “twink”. Let’s talk about twinks as Schrodinger’s trans girls.

Unfortunately, I have a type when it comes to media, and it’s twinks who I can project transness onto if I desire it. These characters are beacons of androgyny, male-at-birth characters with some connection to femininity via their appearance or their actions. Often, this connection is left unclear by the end of their series, leaving plenty of room for me to imagine “OK so they’re totally gonna be a girl for real now”. This archetype has proven a very useful crutch for me over the years. For so long, media about cis femininity was too intimidating and distant for me to even dream of consuming. During that time, I read lots of manga and played lots of games starring androgynes, allowing myself to project onto them as well as project their character onto girlhood. (see where this leads by transitive property?) Also, a lot of them were blonde (I’m not gonna read into this! My hair is closer to brown tho). With that out of the way, let me rip my heart open and highlight some of those twinks that I’ve latched so strongly onto throughout the years.

Kuranosuke from Princess Jellyfish

I’ve written a whole writeup on Kuranosuke, so if you’ve read that you should know where I’m coming from! Kuranosuke is graced with natural femininity and a desire to perform it, and lands himself into a situation where he must pass on a daily basis while designing fashion for the girls of the Amars house. Kuranosuke’s crossdressing is both effortless and extremely laborious, but it always pays off.

Kaito from Himegoto: Juukyuusai no Seifuku

Himegoto is one of the messiest mangas I’ve ever read. Three characters spiral around each other while desperately trying to negotiate their orientations, gender presentations, and livelihoods with each other and with themselves. Kaito is the standout for me – a ‘guy’ who crossdresses in a desperate attempt to ‘mirror’ his ideal image of femininity. Kaito radiates extremely eggy energies, and it’s increasingly obvious as the plot goes on that all his justification is elaborate smoke and mirrors for his desire to simply be a woman. He begins by projecting his feminine ideals onto his tomboyish friend, but by the end of the manga it all comes collapsing back onto himself. The epilogue leaves it rather ambiguous, but one can only hope that Kaito figured it all out by then.

Alucard from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Symphony of the Night is one of my favorite Castlevanias and maybe games of all time. I’ve always been in love with its hand-in-hand elegance and jankiness. Unlike Kaito and Kuranosuke, we’re going to have to stretch out of the canon to justify this placement, but I assure you it will be worth it. In Symphony of the Night, Alucard is a tall deep-voiced bishounen and that’s that. However, the eva problems classic “YOUR ASSHOLE DAD’S CASTLE IS BACK AGAIN” adds a sickening new twist onto the game: what if Alucard wanted to be a woman? This article retraces the full plot and route of SOTN, adding extra backstory and inner thoughts showing Alucard’s visceral bodily discomfort and twisted-up jealousy towards the female monsters of the castle. Eventually, she takes those terrifying first steps towards accepting oneself as a woman. It’s one of the most effective recontextualizations of a piece of media that I’ve ever read, and I’m not afraid to admit that it reassured and helped me with my own transition a few months down the line. Plus, the idea of Alucard But A Girl is somewhere near my ideal aesthetic.

Ryo Asuka from Devilman

--devilman spoilers--

Ryo is a bit of an oddity. A total weirdo, he doesn’t particularly demonstrate femininity throughout most of the series beyond just being kind of fluffy and cute in the 80s OVAs. However, this all changes in some of the final chapters, when Ryo is revealed to be Satan in disguise. Though every Devilman adaptation has a very different artstyle, Satan’s designed has remained the same: an androgynous fallen angel possessing both breasts and a penis. There’s a lot of associations and implications to unpack there, but I’m not going to do that in this article! While it doesn’t necessarily recontextualize Ryo’s human existence, he sure still is a twink with some Gender happening around him.

Venus from We Know The Devil

Ok, this one’s just a girl! No questions about it! Someone get her some hugs and a bottle of estradiol, stat!

Honorable Mentions:

Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 2

As much as I love slapping the “GIRL” label onto any blonde twink I can find, Raiden’s MGS2 arc of intense emasculation works way better if he's actually a guy. If there’s any further gender stuff happening with Raiden, it’s actually to be found in MGS4 and Metal Gear Rising, in which Raiden sheds his twinkish flesh to become a way more masc cyborg ninja. As The Cyborg Manifesto teaches us, cyborgs are one hell of a post-gender tool. Honestly, reading Raiden as FTM may work way better than parsing him as a trans girl, I just don’t have the specific background and ability to do that headcanon justice.

Lio Fotia from Promare

Promare was maybe the first time I saw a blonde twink character and didn’t immediately think it might be better if they were a girl. Amidst all its discussions of immigration, racism, and climate change, Promare finds time to be real gay, in a delightfully masc4fem way. Together, Lio and Galo stretch the full spectrum of male presentation, and I wouldn’t want to take that away from them.

So that’s that! I hope you enjoyed the lineup of twinks who are dear to my heart, and maybe learned a thing or two from my ramble at the start.

#12 days of anime #12daysofanime #twink

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