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crit20art · 3 years

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fuck it. jmart kid fic preview

Somewhere Else, 2027

The walk between work and home is always longer going than it is coming. Maybe it’s the fatigue. Maybe it’s some subtle undulation of space. There are things like that here, shimmering at the edges of Jon’s perception, dewdrop-spangled webs catching stray slips of this reality’s sunlight. They aren’t Hilltop tears, just threadbare stretches, places where this world rubs up against the next. Made it a prime candidate for the invasion of Fear, Jon supposes.

The thought sends a shudder through the tension of his upper back, and his jaw clenches, and-- fuck, he’s bitten the goddamn cigarette in half. “Blast it,” he hisses, and spits unceremoniously into the street. He gets a look from a passerby, and has to swallow back the urge to return a much eviler eye.

He lights up as soon as he gets home. Leans out the window on his aching elbows, closes his eyes, and lets the smoke roll through him. The nicotine glitters around the crown of his skull, stimulating neural pathways that don’t get much exercise outside of this ritual. What did he used to do to feel alive?

Live, probably.

He’s just tipping a second cig into his palm when knocking begins to resound through his flat. He stands straight and frowns at the dead-bolted door. While he (understandably, he thinks) has some unpleasant associations with knocking, this is not the ominous sort that he might have once feared; it’s light and fast and won’t give it a rest. Monsters have more restraint than that, he thinks. Probably some kid harassing him.

Grumbling like the old man he’s quickly becoming, he grabs his cane and snaps, “Alright, alright,” as he approaches the door. The knocking falters. He opens the door.

His own eyes blink back at him.

Jon drops his cane. It clatters to his faux-wood floor. He’s swaying, then; he goes proper dizzy, and only snaps back to full lucidity when his shoulder crumples into the door frame. He leans there, mouth agape, and blinks stupidly as the child on his doorstep stoops to pick up his cane. She holds it out to him. He stares at her.

She’s tall for her age. (Nine, he knows without Knowing.) Her warm brown cheeks are still soft with baby fat, and freckles crowd her nose. Wild hair wreaths her head and shoulders, controlled only by glittery barrettes tucked into the curly black jungle.

“Uh hi,” she says, and then she smiles. It’s a smile he knows better than his own, captured somehow on this child’s lips. Jon’s knees waver.

“Holy fuck,” he says.

Her smile falls, and she scrunches her nose at him. The gesture is so familiar that Jon thinks he might pass out.

“Uh--” Jon tries to stand upright, but he just staggers and sinks back against the door jamb. “You-- How-- you’re--”

“Are you gonna fall down?” she asks.

“A-almost certainly,” says Jon. She stretches her arm and shakes it a bit, bringing his attention to the cane she’s still offering him. Finally, he makes himself take it. “You’re. I, uh. Um.”

“I’m Aamal,” she says.

Ah. There it is. Jon’s knees give.

He slumps to the floor, startling the child’s brown eyes saucer-large. Before she can react further, Jon gasps, “How- h-how are you here?”

“I followed the black ribbons,” she says.

Flashes of magnetic tape tangle across Jon’s memory, as clear to him today as they were nine years ago, when the noose of them cinched tight around everything he loved.

“They… ah. Right.” Jon lifts a shaking hand to his face, as if touching something real will steady him, and stares at his guest. His--

His daughter.

“Yes, um,” he whispers, shaking, “H-hello… Aamal.” Her name feels small and sacred on his tongue, fragile as a dissolving wafer. How unworthy he is, to say it. “You’re, uh. Y-you’re- you’re here.” His hand skitters up through his hair, displacing combed-back licks of grey over his forehead. “H-how- how- how did you find me?”

And Aamal says, very matter-of-factly, “I saw you in my dream.”

Jon inhales so sharply that he almost chokes. “Your--?”

“My dream,” Aamal confirms, and bounces on her heels. “I have it every night. I thought it was a bad dream at first, because it was so scary? Like, the world was angry and hungry and I knew it wanted to eat me up while the sky watched. But then I realised that wasn’t gonna happen, because my daddies were there with me, and they’d keep me safe.”

Jon covers his mouth again. Teardrops slip over his fingers.

“You are my daddy, right?” Aamal asks, her cheeriness shrinking to something timid, little hands fluttering together nervously. “That’s how it felt in the dreams.”

“Uh- y-yes? I-- yeah. Yeah.” Fingertips still trembling against his lips, it occurs distantly to Jon that it’s probably time for him to pull himself together and try to offer some kind of comfort to the child who, regardless of whatever uncertainties surround her, has definitely hopped dimensions to be here. Gritting his teeth, he gets his cane under him and forces himself to slide back up the doorframe, then takes a few moments to catch his breath.

“Yes,” he says, finally, when he knows the words will come out steadily. “I, uh. I-I’m your father. My name is, uh, it’s Jon. Jonathan Sims. Um. You can- just- you can call me that.”

“Okay, That.” Aamal grins very widely and looks at him with expectant eyes.

“Oh,” says Jon, after an embarrassingly long pause. “Ha. Yes, uh. Call me ‘That,’ right. Um.” He takes a deep breath, and it punches back out of him in a nervous, awkward chuckle that would make most adults uncomfortable. Aamal just beams, and seems proud to have got a laugh out of him. “Well- no sense having this discussion in the hall, is there? Uh, do- do come in.” He stands aside and gestures at the dim, sparse interior of his flat. He does not blame Aamal for the hesitation that precedes her entering. Reflexively, Jon leans out into the hall and squints one way, then the other. Satisfied, at least, that no one is lying in wait, he shuts and bolts the door.

He turns, and finds for the first time since he signed for this flat that he is not alone in it. His daughter stands in the middle of his thrifted rug, her hands buried in the pockets of her dungarees and her freckles pinched together by her scrunched nose.

She’s here. She’s right here.

“It stinks in here,” she says.

Jon laughs. It’s hoarse and stale, bitten back the moment he realises how wrong it sounds. He clears his throat. “Yes, ah. Smoking’s a nasty habit.” He glances at the pack of cigarettes abandoned on his windowsill, and feels an odd twinge of guilt in his longing for a puff to steady himself. He looks back at Aamal, who has begun to make a circle of the room, touching his shelves, poking at the clutter that always builds up despite his best efforts.

“Um,” says Jon. Aamal doesn’t look at him. She’s shuffling through his books, the little divot between her brows settling deeper as she considers each second-hand paperback.

Jon clears his throat. “Do you, uh, like to read?”

Aamal turns her frown on him, mouth a squiggle of confusion. “Did you cut out all the eyes?”

Ah.

“I, uh. Well- uh.” He picks at the ragged grip of his cane. “That’s-- it- it hardly matters right now,” he manages, exhaling raggedly. Aamal opens her mouth, but he seizes what momentum he’s collected and asks, “Are you here alone? Where’s- do you still know Georgie and Melanie?”

Aamal forgets the books instantly, her face lighting up at the names. “You know Mummy and Mellie?”

“Mum- and--? Oh! Oh, they.” His throat feels like it might close up. “They raised you, then.”

“Yeah, they’re my mums.” Aamal wanders past Jon and drops onto his couch, gasping a squeak when the cushion sinks lower than she was apparently expecting. She wriggles for a moment as if trying to get comfortable. “Do you have any snacks?”

Whiplash-stricken, Jon flounders for a few moments before saying, “Maybe?”

Aamal’s brow drops like she doesn’t find that very promising, but she hops up from the couch and makes a beeline for his tiny kitchen. She’s sticking her head into his fridge before he plucks up enough lucidity to follow her.

“Do you like, ah--” What do kids like? What did he like as a kid? “Uh, how about a sandwich?”

“Sure,” says Aamal. She pulls her preferred makings, then rests her elbows on the counter and her chin in her hands, and watches Jon assemble. A long-lost hope flutters at the edge of Jon’s memory, a future he’d once imagined: a little face looking up at him, a meal to be prepared, a solid presence at his side, stolen kisses that might make their daughter stick out her tongue and make gross-out noises in the way of children too young to know how rare and precious it is for their parents to love each other so easily.

“Does your hand hurt?” Aamal asks.

Jon comes back to himself. He blinks down at his hands; habitually, he’s only using the one, letting the other rest half-curled on the counter. “Ah. No, n-not today.”

Aamal stares for a moment, then draws a sharp breath and looks Jon in the eye. “Sorry!”

Jon lifts a brow. “What? Why?”

“It’s rude to ask about scars,” Aamal informs him, and something in her intonation sounds so like Georgie that it twists up Jon’s stomach in an odd amalgamation of fondness and loss.

“Ah- well, as a general rule, maybe. But it’s alright.” He clears his throat, then stretches his burned hand with a small wince at its stiffness. Aamal watches his shaky fingers unfurl, and her eyes are intent, and maybe he’s imagining it, but… there’s a kindness there, he thinks. He tries not to think of other kind brown eyes, of other gazes falling so gently on his scars. “It hurts less than it used to,” he says softly. “I’ve had it since… lord, about a year before you were born, actually. Eleven months, almost to the day.”

At that, Aamal’s eyes grow wide. “Oh! Did you have me? Like, when I was born?”

“Oh! Uh, n-no, that wasn’t me.” Jon pulls his hand back, feeling very suddenly out of his depth. “Your, uh- did Geo-- did your mums tell you about that?”

“Yeah. They told me that before they adopted me, my parents were two boys, but I wasn’t confused or anything. I know all about genders,” she says, with all the confidence of a tenured professor. Then she looks around, as if suddenly noticing an absence. “Wait, where’s my other daddy?” She turns back to Jon, and he’s struck by the worst urge to look away. “Will he be back soon?”

Jon meets her hopeful eyes, and for the first time in years, actually feels the wound yawning wide in his chest, deeper and bloodier than the scar through his heart has ever been.

“No,” he says, very softly. Aamal’s face falls, her brows drawn in question. Jon can’t look at her. He stares at his good hand, knuckles yellowed by his grip on the edge of the counter.

“He, uh.” He swallows. It goes down like rocks. “He’s not coming back.”

“Why?” Her voice is high, pinched with a note of anger. Unbidden, Jon chokes out a small, miserable laugh.

She sounds just like Martin.

“Because,” he says, raw, both hands shaking now, “I messed up very, very badly.”

thanks for reading this lil preview!! i’m almost finished with ch 1 and planning to publish on ao3 next week. it’s gonna alternate between the present and the past, told through Jon’s POV post-200, and Martin’s POV throughout season 4/5.

#tma fic #jonmartin #jonmartin fic #the magnus archives fic #tma #the magnus archives #i promise i'm not abandoning my gbbo fic (or my zukka one for that matter) i'm just fucking possessed by this idea #trying to write other stuff has been torment and. yknow fanfiction is supposed to be fun so. i'm switching active projects lmao

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luuxxart · 4 years

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i made like four pieces of concept art for a stranger things/star wars AU so as promised here’s the actual notes behind them (+ like a small stoncy sketch at the end)

whats the plan?

Originally, it was gonna be a fanfic(might still be) but im considering a comic format? but moreso in the style of Homestuck/MSPA bc im shit at keeping up w a background

so if i did that itd probably be a side blog

but i have like

so many projects on backburners and idk enough abt star wars to even pull it off

i watched uhhhhhh 1,3,4,5,6,7, and 9, solo, and the mandalorian

so like what the hell is the plot anyway?

when it was going to be in a fanfiction format, i was going to make it revolve around Robin(naturally, she’s my favorite character) and Steve(who is my second favorite) so it revolves around them, but i might change that

anyway

Missions start flooding a local bounty hunter guild concerning reports of kids being taken from planets by a group of people nicknamed “Scoopers” to be pitted against one another in an underground fight club. The mission to uncover the operation falls on the head of the guild, Hopper(who’s a washed-up Mandalorian bc i said so). Robin, a rookie bounty hunter, catches wind of the operation and persuades Hopper to take her with him on the mission.

Meanwhile, Steve(a spice runner) is on his way to his next client, who just so happen to be the “Scoopers”.

they all meet at the base and things happen. cant spoil jic this is something i end up pursuing

so what are the robin notes

ngl fam i got shit for robin haha shes just the everyman trope for the story

probably an orphan in this story? but def not a Mandalorian of any sort

her suit is a combo of Samus’ light suit and Valkyrie’s costume from Ragnarok. (and in a way, metal sonic and mega man bc im trash)

she really wants a T4-M33 navigator droid

you got any steve notes?

BOY DO I EVER!

you’re just in luck bc *slaps the roof of this post* this baby can fit so many steve notes in it

on his homeplanet(its probably named Hawkins), he underwent knight training along w Nancy and Jonathan.

(you might notice some similarities between his outfit and the ones Mike and the other kids wear in the previous post)

Steve and Nancy were very much together, and they were the top knights in the program. Both were up for the position of the prince’s personal knight. The identity of the prince, until coronation, was unknown to the public, and so when Jonathan selected Nancy for his personal knight, Steve skipped town, and eventually, skipped planet altogether.

but he didnt plan ahead, almost got his ass handed to him by some ex-hutts, and scrambled back to Hawkins. Joyce, who i think would be accurate to describe as the Queen Matron of Hawkins, gave him a chance to work at least as a top officer.

during his return to Hawkins, Nancy gave him a pretty cold shoulder, only adding to Steve’s sense of displacement.

he was given the task of hunting down some spice runners who’d stolen a bounty from one of their quarries, and fueled by resentment, he joined them instead.

on one of his spice runs, he came across a rather wealthy Wookie family. he noticed, however, their son was rather sheltered, and took a keen interest in the business Steve had come into

it took him exactly three weeks for him to realize the kid had snuck onto his ship. the disappearing rations didnt occur to him until the packs were near empty.

he decided to take him with him on his spice run when the kid expressed extreme turmoil at home with his magnate family. but Steve sees himself more as the babysitter friend than the mom friend, having made a silent vow to return the kid(which was promised to himself after one adventure, which turned into five, and now they’re up to fifty. It’s been a couple years.)

so now he just does spice runs w dustin bc every story needs a lone star and a barf— i mean a han solo and chewie

god will anyone ever think of the children

no bc the teens are more interesting in s2-3 imo

except eleven, she’s always great

but since u asked

Mike, Will, Lucas, and Max are all going through knight training on Hawkins. Lumax is a thing, and Byler is starting to be.

i dont get caught up in those ships too much and just try to go w whats canon since they’re kids for the most part

the whole plot kicks off w Mike and Will getting kidnapped(well, mostly Will and Mike just so happens to be there so he’s taken too)

and Lucas and Max go after them.

At the underground fight club they’re taken to, Mike befriends the top fighter who’s named Eleven because she’s the 11th force user they’ve managed to find. and eleven is,, dare i say,, unusually strong in the force

Nancy can use the force, Jonathan and Mike can’t. Will is force sensitive.

i guess i should mention if its not already obvious but Lucas is a Rodian and Max is a Twi-lek

ok yeah thats cool but what about billy

nothing about billy. or kali. for now

or barb

but they do exist in this au.

theyre also wips tho haha

so what now

nothing. for now

if u wanna know more drop me an ask and i’ll elaborate

until then i’ll probably do something for this once my robali fic on ao3 is finished.

anyway thanks for readin my nonsense heres a stoncy sketch for ur troubles

#stranger things #star wars #milven #byler #stoncy #lumax #im not tagging all these names again im too lazy #stswau #<-- thats my tag for this in case i do something more in the future for it

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dreamwreaver · 5 years

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The Price

So... the Gabenath Server on Discord did a Secret Santa exchange and I got the ever so wonderful @auroralynne as my giftee. No pressure at all right ;). Hope you like it sweets!

Thunder, she remembered thunder. The booming sound and the momentous crackling of light as it struck at the poor vessel. Nathalie remembered smoke, thick and heavy settling around the ship like a blanket as the flames made quick work of the wood. She had never felt so powerful and yet powerless. While the men had floundered around on the deck as though they’d never felt a rocking wave before in their life Nathalie had felt an eerie calm. A sort of displacement from the rest of the world around her, still tethered to her universe but simultaneously present and removed. The colors, the crackling flames… she knew powerlessness, and yet to see the men panic in the face of it, there was a sort of cold condescension now.

They had left from the southern coast of France, bound for the Americas, Nathalie was supposed to have gone and met her new fiance Jonathan Stone, a wealthy American heir who had a penchant for music. It had been arranged by their parents since their births practically. But once the revolution had begun… Nathalie had no other choice. Her parents had willingly stripped themselves of their wealth and titles in order to save their own necks from the cold blade of the guillotine. The only way to get it back was to marry her off before the Stones realized what they had done.

Except, now; now she remembered water, bitter and salty on her tongue. She remembered rolling waves thrashing her about. A tempest just as had been spoken of by the sailors. They’d been caught right in the middle of it. Nathalie remembered kicking, and ripping, trying to free her body of the waves’ weight as they persisted in trying to drag her down into the fathomless depths below. Of course, she’d had no way of knowing which way was up at the time, and it was only due to sheer luck she’d been able to break the surface, swallowing the by comparison fresh water as it fell in deluges from the sky. Some barely coherent part of her, clinging to life grabbed a floating piece that passed by and she held onto it for dear life. The current began to gently push her away, though in what direction Nathalie couldn’t be sure. Tired, she’d been so tired after that fight to the surface, after the fire, after falling into the water. There was no telling if she would slip from the boards in her sleep, but she had not the strength to remain awake any longer. She drifted, in the water and off to sleep.

When she awoke it was to the sound of gentle lapping. The kind one heard as they strolled along the shoreline of the coast. Nathalie herself woke up still clinging to the board even as she rested on the sand in the shallows of the water. She was cold, and indecently dressed all things considered, but she was alive for right now. And that was the most important thing. Providence had definitely smiled on her since not only was she alive, but relatively unharmed. Her clothing had been ripped, and her glasses were gone, but she was otherwise intact. The coastline looked unfamiliar, but then she’d never traveled outside of Paris and she could barely see three feet in front of her. She could be in France, she could have been in Spain or Portugal for all she would have recognized anything. The only thing that occupied her field of vision was the large cliff, sprouting from which was some sort of massive edifice, unmistakable even through her hazy sight. As for what it was, however, she couldn’t tell. Unsteadily Nathalie rose to her feet. She’d lost her shoes, a good chunk of her skirts, and everything she’d owned that had been placed on that ship; which, all things considered, wasn’t much. What the rebels hadn’t taken had left them with very little she cared for, and those things she’d purposefully left behind to be sent for later. She left the discarded piece of driftwood on the sand as she made her way across the terrain in the same manner as an infant deer learning how to walk, the board was no longer needed.

She had just risen over the first bluff when someone spotted her. Unfortunately, that someone was not someone who looked even remotely trustworthy. Instead he was a great, hulking, bear of a man. And even bear didn’t seem like the right descriptor. He was bigger than that. Still, she had no one else. And even from this distance she knew it would be folly to run away. Given that his size made him a discernable lump Nathalie knew unless she could outmaneuver him there would be no escape. And without her glasses that was an absolute impossibility. The best thing to do would be to try and placate him, and hope like hell she wouldn’t be despoiled on site.

“Excuse me?” her voice was hoarse, likely from all the seawater she’d swallowed, and also the reason for her sudden dizziness. Nevertheless, she’d caught the man’s attention. He began striding towards her, looking bigger than ever. Nathalie dry-swallowed, “Um… Do you speak French?” she tried in her native language. The man stopped, but did not answered, “Um… English?” she tried again, this time in the language she’d been learning in preparation for her new life. Still no response. Well, those were the only two languages she knew, and if he didn’t respond, she must not have been in a place that used either of them.

Dwarfed by the man as he stood before her, Nathalie had to mentally reprimand herself for allowing her knees to shake. But she couldn’t help it, she’d just been through such an ordeal and he was an intimidating man. But by some small mercy, the way he looked at her was in a detached and clinical way, like she was being visited by a physician looking to see what was wrong with her. There was no lust in his gaze, no fire, no anything. Just a cold detachment, but even so Nathalie began to shiver, likely because she was still cold from the night spent in the freezing waters.

He grunted after a moment and scooped her up in his arms. Nathalie yelped in surprise and fear but really didn’t have the strength to fight back. He took her to a large sprawling mansion which resided perhaps a mile from the cliffside where the gray lump kept vigil. Through the front door he took her, and watched as an almost nervous looking man stopped what he was doing.

“Pierce?” he tilted his head to the side, “What happened? Why is there a girl in your arms and… why is she so immodestly dressed?”

Read the rest on AO3

#miraculous ladybug #gabenath #gabriel agreste #nathalie sancoeur #nooroo #duusu #my fics #gift fics #gabenath secret Santa #ilu so much #i hope you like it

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phooll123 · 4 years

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New top story from Time: At Least 4 Killed as Tropical Storm Isaias Whips Up Eastern U.S.

(WINDSOR, N.C.) — At least four people were killed as Tropical Storm Isaias spawned tornadoes and dumped rain Tuesday along the U.S. East Coast after making landfall as a hurricane in North Carolina, where it caused floods and fires that displaced dozens of people.

Two people died when Isaias spun off a tornado that struck a North Carolina mobile home park. Authorities said two others were killed by falling trees toppled by the storm in Maryland and New York City.

Isaias sustained top winds of up to 65 mph (105 kph) more than 18 hours after coming ashore, but it was down to 50 mph max winds as of 8 p.m. EDT Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm’s center was passing through the middle of Vermont, moving north-northeast at about 40 mph (65 kph).

As Isaias sped northward, the hurricane center warned of flash flood threats in New York’s Hudson River Valley and the potential for severe river flooding elsewhere in the mid-Atlantic region.

National Hurricane CenterTropical Storm Isaias had sustained top winds of up to 65 mph more than 18 hours after coming ashore, but it was down to 50 mph max winds as of 8 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020, according to the National Hurricane Center.

In Philadelphia, the Schuylkill River was projected to crest early Wednesday at 15.4 feet (4.7 meters), its highest level in more than 150 years. By Tuesday night, the river had already overtopped its banks in low-lying Manayunk, turning bar-lined Main Street into a coffee-colored canal.

Two people died after a tornado demolished several mobile homes in Windsor, North Carolina. Emergency responders finished searching the wreckage Tuesday afternoon. They found no other casualties, and several people initially feared missing had all been accounted for, said Ron Wesson, chairman of the Bertie County Board of Commissioners. He said about 12 people were hospitalized.

Sharee and Jeffrey Stilwell took shelter in their living room about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday as the tornado tore through Windsor. Sharee Stillwell said their home shook “like a freight train.”

“I felt like the house was going to cave in,” said Jeffrey Stillwell, 65, though once the storm passed, the couple found only a few damaged shingles and fallen tree branches in the yard.

The mobile home park less than 2 miles (3 kilometers) away wasn’t so fortunate. Aerial video by WRAL-TV showed fields of debris where rescue workers in brightly colored shirts picked through splintered boards and other wreckage. Nearby, a vehicle was flipped onto its roof.

“It doesn’t look real; it looks like something on TV. Nothing is there,” Bertie County Sheriff John Holley told reporters, saying 10 mobile homes had been destroyed. “All my officers are down there at this time. Pretty much the entire trailer park is gone.”

In New York City, a massive tree fell and crushed a van in the Briarwood section of Queens, killing Mario Siles, a 60-year-old construction contractor who was inside the vehicle, police said. A woman in Mechanicsville, Maryland, died when a tree crashed onto her car during stormy conditions, said Cpl. Julie Yingling of the St. Mary’s County sheriff’s office.

Isaias toggled between hurricane and tropical storm strength as it churned toward the East Coast. Fueled by warm ocean waters, the storm got a late burst of strength as a rejuvenated hurricane with top sustained winds of 85 mph (136 km/h) before coming ashore late Monday near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. Its tropical storm status was sustained, but weakened, as it headed north toward Canada early Tuesday night.

Many homes flooded in Ocean Isle Beach, and at least five caught fire, Mayor Debbie Smith told WECT-TV.

Before making landfall late Monday, Isaias killed two people in the Caribbean and battered the Bahamas before brushing past Florida.

Tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. Power outages also spread as trees fell, with more than 3.7 million customers losing electricity across multiple states as of 8:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday, according to PowerOutage.US, which tracks utility reports. New Jersey had the most outages of any state, with more than 1.3 million earlier in the day. New York City’s power utility said it saw more outages from Isaias than from any storm except Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

In Doylestown, Pennsylvania, officials said four children were treated for minor injuries after high winds partially tore the roof off a day care center. Also in the Philadelphia suburbs, rescue workers in Delaware County were searching for a young person who fell or jumped into the fast-moving water of a swollen creek, said Timothy Boyce, the county emergency services director.

In New York City, fierce wind and rain forced the Staten Island ferry and outdoor subway lines to shut down. The New Jersey Turnpike banned car-pulled trailers and motorcycles.

Some of the worst damage Tuesday seemed to be east and north of where the hurricane’s eye struck land in North Carolina.

“Fortunately, this storm was fast-moving and has already left our state,” Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday afternoon.

In North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the storm sent waves crashing over the Sea Cabin Pier late Monday, causing a big section to collapse into the water as startled bystanders taking photos from the pier scrambled back to land.

“I’m shocked it’s still standing,” said Dean Burris, who watched from the balcony of a vacation rental.

The Hurricane Center had warned oceanside dwellers near the North Carolina-South Carolina state line to brace for storm surge up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) and up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain.

Eileen and David Hubler were out early Tuesday cleaning up in North Myrtle Beach, where 4 feet (1.2 meters) of storm surge flooded cars, unhinged docks and etched a water line into the side of their home.

“When the water started coming, it did not stop,” Eileen Hubler said. They had moved most items of value to their second floor, but a mattress and washing machine were unexpected storm casualties.

“We keep thinking we’ve learned our lesson,” she said. “And each time there’s a hurricane, we learn a new lesson.”

___

Morgan reported from North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Associated Press contributors include science writer Seth Borenstein in Kensington, Maryland; Gerry Broome in Southport, North Carolina; Jonathan Drew in Durham, North Carolina; Michelle Liu in Columbia, South Carolina; Michael Kunzelman in College Park, Maryland; Bruce Shipkowski in Toms River, New Jersey; Shawn Marsh in Trenton, New Jersey; and Michael Sisak in New York.

___

Bryan Anderson is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.”

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elizaslegacy · 7 years

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when i look at you

Request: linxreader where the reader is a a member of the hamilcast. Lin and reader have grown close over the course of the show. reader gets nervous every night before the show, and lin knows this, so he goes out of his way to make her smile and laugh and relax before the show. Little does she know that lin does this because he is in love with her. In fact everyone in the cast thinks it's completely obvious!

Pairing: Lin x reader

Summary: Fluff!!

Warnings: Cursing

You tugged at your corset anxiously, rapidly drumming you fingers on any surface you could find. Your bottom lip twitched and your foot was tapping at a mile a minute. It was just about 10 minutes until you would be called to your places - just about 11 minutes until you threw up on the stage of the Richard Rogers theater.

Makeup was putting the final touches on your look, officially transforming you into Angelica Schuyler. You closed your eyes and began to shift into your character; you always attempted to fake at least a bit of the female revolutionary genius’s confidence. The only thing that got you through the shows without dying from your nerves was pretending you were someone else. Well, that and -

A soft, warm voice interrupted your train of thought and a pair of arms wrapped around your waist from behind. You immediately knew who it was. Lin. The Hamilton writer and well, Hamilton himself had always intimidated you from your first audition. You were in awe of his insane talent, and you often had felt too stupid to even speak in his presence. One night, Phillipa had encouraged you to let loose, claiming that she would take care of you and get you home. Not an hour later, you were wasted and Phillipa had already gone home with some guy she met. So much for looking out for you. Lin had immediately come to your aid; he dutifully brought you to his own apartment and let you sleep on his bed while he took the couch. Since then, the two of you had been inseparable. You no longer felt awkward or inferior around Lin, and were able to talk about literally anything.

You happened to get extreme stage fright before every show. It was like clockwork - as soon as you got into costume, your stomach would begin to churn and you’d lose feeling in your hands and feet. Lin, being the amazing person he is, noticed your feet incessantly bouncing and your eyes darting back and forth nervously eventually. Now, he considered it his duty to distract you before the show every night. He’d tell stupid jokes, hug you, have deep conversations - anything to get your mind off your nerves. Lin would also dramatically improvise his blocking and dancing in order to get close to you on stage. You’d feel a hand caressing your arm or a quick squeeze on your hand, and you’d know that it was Lin. The cast had learned to adjust to Lin’s little improvised adjustments, but he’d occasionally cause a huge mess on stage in the process of going to you. Tommy wanted to kill him.

Your attention shifted back to the strong arms that were encircling your waist. You threw a glance over your shoulder, where Lin’s chin was situated. You could feel his stubble grazing over your neck, sending shivers down your spine.

“God, (Y/N)! You’re shaking,” Lin murmured; a pout appeared on his face. You shrugged lightly, careful not to displace the head resting on your shoulder.

A small sigh escaped you. “I know, I know...” you grumbled. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t rid yourself of the queasy pre-show feeling. “I don’t know what it is.”

Lin responded by tightening his grip around your waist; you leaned into his embrace. The two of you stood like that, Lin’s chest pressed up against your back, for a few minutes. The loudspeaker called out “Places, everyone! Get in your places,” and shattered the peaceful feeling you had finally developed. You gulped, feeling like the floor had dropped out from under you.

Lin’s arms slid off of your waist; you longed for the warm contact as soon as his skin left yours. “C’mere,” he voiced gently. His hand found it’s way onto the small of your back as you moved closer to him. Suddenly, the ground really did disappear from underneath you. Panic shot up in your chest before you realized that you were being cradled in Lin’s muscular arms, pressed against his broad chest. The sensation forced a smile onto your face. You gazed up at Lin, who was dutifully carrying you to your starting place, and grinned.

Lin placed you next to Phillipa and Jasmine, your fellow Schuyler sisters, and whispered a quick “good luck, you’ll do great” before heading off. You attempted to wipe the dopey grin off your face before turning to face the two women behind you. Both had their arms crossed and eyebrows cocked, incredulous looks directed at you. “Um, hello to you both as well,” you laughed gently. “Have I missed something?”

Jasmine scoffed dramatically and Pippa wrinkled her nose. “Have you missed something?” Pippa repeated. “Have you missed something? Oh, I don’t know. Just maybe the fact that Lin looks at you like the sun shines out of your ass and you’ve never realized it. Not once.” Your mouth dropped open a little bit in shock; you stammered as you scrambled for the words to say, but they didn’t come.

Jasmine snickered at your baffled, silent response. “Girl, he’s head over heels. There’s no doubt about it,” she added gleefully. “You’ve seriously never noticed the way he acts around you?” You shook your head in earnest. “I mean, Lin’s a happy guy in general, but it’s like he’s on steroids when he’s around you. I’ve never seen him so...blissful.”

Your eyebrows furrowed as you attempted to piece together this newfound information. Lin was interested in you? “How do you guys know?” you asked suspiciously. “I’m not gonna act off some hunch the two of you have.”

Jasmine and Pippa began to laugh heartily. “Some hunch?” Jasmine repeated in disbelief. “Oh, hon. It’s a confirmed fact. Ask anyone else in the cast.” With that, the music to Alexander Hamilton began and the three of you were forced to fall silent. You began the show feeling more confused than ever.

After Yorktown, you decided to catch Daveed before he began the change into his Jefferson costume. He immediately welcomed you in his dressing room after you knocked, offering you a seat on the couch. The man proceeded to busy himself with navigating the dozens of buttons on the bright magenta outfit. “I have a question,” you began slowly, considering how you’d state your inquiry. Daveed nodded, his eyes trained downwards on his vest. You decided on being candid with your costar, opting for the complete truth. You asked, “Is Lin in love with me?”

“Yes,” Daveed replied without hesitation, his tone casual. He hadn’t even looked up from his task. He had answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. You spluttered incoherently in shock, causing the man in front of you to look at you. “What?” he asked with a grin. “Is this news to you?”

Next victim was Anthony. You stopped the curly haired man immediately after his exit following Laurens’s death. The two of you walked to his dressing room together and you asked the question - “Is Lin in love with me?” Your inquiry made the freckle-faced boy burst into howling laughter.

When he finally calmed down, he turned to look at your genuinely worried face and began cackling once again. “You’re too funny, (Y/N),” he jested. “I’ve been waiting for this day for so long.”

You looked at Anthony in surprise. “About how long? Just out of curiosity,” you implored. The mischievous green eyes met yours. “It’s difficult to remember. Maybe 4 or 5 months now.”

For your third target, you decided on Chris. You entered his room during intermission, ready to ask, when he interrupted you. “Yes, Lin is truly, insanely in love with you. He’s got it bad,” the man informed you before ushering you out of the door.

“But how did you-”

“If you don’t mind, I have to get changed.”

The door was slammed behind you and you were left in the hallway alone.

You asked anyone you could find - Oak, Tommy, Ariana, Andrew, Thayne, Jonathan, Morgan, and more. You even asked Carleigh, who had left the show last month and was visiting that night. All of the answers you got confirmed what Jasmine and Pippa had said - Lin was extremely, and obviously, in love with you. It seemed to be apparent to everyone. Everyone except you, that was.

After bows, you paced in your dressing room nervously. You contemplated how, or if, you’d ever discuss this revelation with Lin. What were you supposed to do when you found out your best friend was in love with you?

Suddenly, you heard a rapid knock at the door. You hesitantly called, “Come in!” Just as you had expected, a smiling and excited Lin burst in the room. His eyes settled on you, and that’s when you saw it. You witnessed his eyes fill with light and wonder and joy and all things good and pure. You really took in how his entire face softened, how the sleep deprivation immediately disappeared and youth was restored to his features. You observed how his grin multiplied in size, and you knew. That was the look they were talking about. Lin was looking at you as if the sun shone out of your ass, and you had never noticed it before.

“Tell me,” you murmured, a puzzled looked working its way onto Lin’s features. “Tell me how you feel about me.” He looked as though he was about to crack and reveal himself, but he kept his cool.

“Well, you’re my best friend and I think you’re really gr-”

“Lin. Tell me how you feel about me.”

“I was, you-”

“Stop that!”

Lin looked startled; that might have been the most aggressively you had ever spoken in front of him. Hell, that might have been the most aggressively you had ever spoken in your life. “The way you look at me,” you began shakily. “T-that’s not a friendly look. That’s a ‘i love you more than anything’ look. A ‘i want you to be mine’ look. Sometimes a ‘i want to bend you over that and have my way’ look, but mostly the other two. I didn’t realize it before, but it’s been pointed out to me and I can’t ignore it. Don’t fucking tell me I’m your best friend.”

He stood there, mouth agape, shocked into silence. You peered up into his big, brown eyes, which were now growing wet. Lin’s eyes never left your face. “W-well...the things you’ve perceived from my gazes are all true facts,” he gulped, his fingers fumbling with the hem of his jacket nervously.

You began to walk briskly towards him and before you knew it, your mouth was on his. Your lips collided passionately; his hands found their way to his favorite spot on your hips. His eyes fluttered closed in the most content way. Your arms snaked around his neck, pulling him closer to you. You eventually pulled away reluctantly, Lin’s lips following yours as if they were searching for contact.

You looked up at Lin, suppressing a smile, and he gazed back down at you adoringly. “I am absolutely, one hundred percent in love with you. God, I thought you’d never notice, but I’d wait forever for you.”

“I love you too, Lin. I’m sorry it took so long for this to happen.”

The two of you were interrupted by a wolf whistle from the hallway, where you noticed the door was slightly ajar. Standing in the corridor with an uncontrollable grin was Anthony. “Yes! Yes!” he shouted before sprinting down the hallway. Seconds later, after incoherent yelps from the freckled man, the two of you heard a chorus of screams from down the hall. Your phone was flooded with texts.

Pips: HAH!

Jazzy: So, might be a bad time....but i told you so

Ant: *10 different bitmojis depicting his excitement* By the way!! My man has a thing for spanking. You didn’t hear it from me ;)

Chris: I find a boastful text a bit untasteful, so congratulations

Daveed: Our little babies have finally found their ways! :’)

The Incredible Oak: Cuties

Leslie: It’s about fucking time.

The next morning, you woke up to golden rays of sunlight washing over Lin’s sleeping figure. You knew you would never be happier than you were in that moment.

#lin fic #lin imagine #lin #lin manuel miranda #lin manuel #lin manuel miranda fic #imagine #imagine request #imagine rq #when i look at you #hamilton imagine #hamilcast

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dangeroussheepbread-blog · 6 years

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Abortions in Nigeria are legally restricted unsafe вЂ“ and common Al Jazeera America

Abortions in Nigeria are legally restricted, unsafe вЂ“ and common

In the West African country, unsafe abortions are a major cause of maternal death

LAGOS, Nigeria вЂ” Bunmi Aiyenuro slips through the cramped alleys and crowded marketplaces that twist through her neighborhood. Mostly, her impeccable manners and quiet demeanor help her fade into the mass of vendors and pedestrians. But every so often, she runs into teenage boys catcalling her or clashes with an uncle, her evening walk devolving into a screaming match next to the train tracks.

Aiyenuro grew up in Badia East, a crowded slum tucked off a Lagos highway, hugging a rail line. The neighborhood is dense and urban, and Aiyenuro has learned to negotiate the frenetic scene. But at 23, she is still learning to juggle the conflicting expectations for her as a young woman.

At 16, she fell in love with her second boyfriend, a student. They spent seven years together. Over the course of the relationship, she had seven abortions.

In Nigeria abortion is legally restricted, permitted only to save the life of the mother. But at least 760,000 abortions happen every year, mostly outside the legal parameters, and from 3,000 to 34,000 women die annually from unsafe abortions, according to reports by the Guttmacher Institute and the government of Nigeria. (The numbers range widely because of the difficulty tallying the secret procedures.) While safe abortions have a very low complication rate, unsafe ones вЂ” those performed by providers without adequate training or in a setting that does not meet medical standards вЂ” can lead to hemorrhaging, infection and perforation of the bowels or uterus and death.

Abortion providers here are part of a shadowy economy. Many are poorly trained, and the market is unregulated. But while abortions are secret, they happen all the time and across the social spectrum. Some wealthy Nigerians can access and afford skilled doctors; many poor women like Aiyenuro are left with dangerous, cut-rate quacks.

In the United States, where abortions are legal, there are 0.6 deaths for every 100,000 procedures; in sub-Saharan Africa, the rate is 460 deaths per 100,000 procedures, according to Guttmacher. Africa has a higher abortion rate than the U.S., despite restrictive laws in most countries. Across the continent there were 29 abortions per 1,000 women in 2008, compared with 19 in the U.S., Guttmacher figures show.

Nigeria has one of the highest rates of maternal death in the world, with 545 per 100,000 live births in 2008, though estimates vary. In Lagos, abortions cause half of the deaths of pregnant women, according to the Campaign Against Unwanted Pregnancy, an advocacy group.

"We all know that septic abortion precisely has a lot of impact on maternal mortality in Nigeria," said Dr. Bose Adeniron, head of the reproductive-health division at the Federal Ministry of Health.В

Abiodun Ibrahim lives in Badia East, a slum built on a marshy landfill. She is four months pregnant and newly homeless. The man she calls her husband is in prison. In a country where abortions are legally restricted and often unsafe, dealing with an unwanted pregnancy is particularly difficult.В

Watch a slideshow of women in Badia East and read more here.В

But aside from a few abortion-rights activists who are pressing to promote safer conditions and to liberalize laws state by state, abortion remains taboo. Reproductive-health activists are reluctant to discuss the issue for fear of undermining progress in other areas, such as access to contraception.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan last year pledged $33 million to increase funding for contraceptives and push states to provide free contraception in public clinics. But that program generated controversy, with Catholic organizations calling for the money to be redirected to education and other health issues.

This summer, meanwhile, the southern state of Imo passed a law that would have permitted abortion in cases of rape, incest or mental or physical health consequences for the mother. Abortion-rights activists considered this policy a victory. But after intense lobbying by the Catholic Medical Practitioners Association, the state assembly repealed the law.

Along with national and state laws, cultural perceptions of fertility, morality and religious obligation вЂ” Nigeria is the second-most religious country in the world, according to a 2012 Gallup poll вЂ” have created a deep stigma around abortion.

Clinics and pharmacies provide abortions that are paid for under the table. In Badia East, women can buy abortifacients from herbalists hawking homemade remedies or from drug vendors with pharmacies crammed into baskets on their heads. Women also go to clinics, but the low price they pay there (typically $12.64 to $31.64) is an indication that the service will be substandard and may lead to long-term pain, infertility or other complications.

"The one person who will do it for really cheap is the quack, and he will cause the abortion complications," says Olasurubomi Ogedengbe, a professor and consultant ob-gyn at the public Lagos University Teaching Hospital.

Aiyenuro has been living in a clinic вЂ” an open-air concrete structure run as an informal community center called Better Life вЂ” since she and nearly 9,000 of her neighbors were evicted from their homes to make way for a new housing project. She unrolls her mattress and lies down with dozens of other displaced people. She tries for privacy in hallways and corners, so when she speaks of her abortions, her voice and gaze drop in secrecy.

Both of her parents died when she was young, she says, so she depends on an unstable tapestry of friends and extended family. Before that, she depended on her boyfriend, who supported her and made the decisions in their relationship, including when to have her abortions and where she would go.

He paid $18.87 for each of her procedures, on the lower end of the scale. She declined to say where she got them done but described it as a clinic. The health worker suspended her legs, then, she said, "pumped" out her uterus and gave injections for the pain and antibiotics. Aiyenuro most likely had a manual vacuum-aspiration procedure, which is a suctioning of the uterus and, from the rate she paid, most likely was not seen by a doctor.

She said that, in between her abortions, she never used contraceptives. In fact, she said she didn't know what contraception was. While it seems implausible that an urban woman who studied to sixth grade, speaks English and styles hair around the city wouldn't know about birth control, only half of young Nigerian women surveyed in a 2005 study had heard of contraception. While almost two-thirds had had sex, only 11 percent had ever used contraceptives. Contraceptives are free at government health centers, and the rate of contraceptive use has crept upward, but it remains in the midteens.

After Aiyenuro's seven abortions, her boyfriend decided he was finally ready to have a baby with her. But after two miscarriages, he lost patience. "After the miscarriage, he started hating me, beating me, talking to me anyhow because I didn't have the pregnancy," she said. He left her and started dating her best friend.

Terminating her pregnancies was never her idea, Aiyenuro said. "I wanted the baby, but my boyfriend didn't want it. We had a big quarrel about it. He said if I don't go remove it, I would raise the baby by myself."

For many Nigerian women, providing their partner with children is a central role in their lives. Fear of long-term infertility, meanwhile, surfaces regularly in family-planning and abortion debates.

Adeniron said this is a key reason abortions are controversial and secret. "If a woman continues to do that, eventually when she gets married legally, she may not be able to have children, so there is a lot of stigma attached to it," she said.

"It's the cultural setting," she said. And a huge part of the culture is the country's boisterous religiosity.

In Lagos, churches and mosques dot almost every street, and services can be heard every day of the week. In addition to influencing politics, religion plays a central role in Nigerians' daily life. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the abortion debates. One former provider, who requested anonymity, said that he quit his practice after being hounded by Pentecostal Christians, who would call and tell him he was headed to hell.

Aiyenuro has attended church for many years, if not with perfect consistency; her evangelical faith has left her with regrets about her abortions. "They say in church, 'Don't do it. Anyone who does it is a sinner,'" Aiyenuro said. She was vehement, a sense of guilt evident in her voice as she said, "I've killed an innocent soul."

Walking through the bustle of sunset in Badia, she looked fresh in her pink plaid shirt, ready for church. But when https://www.the-essays.com/professional-writing-service arrived for a prayer service, she wilted next to Kudi Okere, the pastor's wife, clad in pumps, a fitted blazer, business pants and pearls. Okere has been leading services for several years and saw Badia as a neighborhood ripe for revival. "We used to call this neighborhood Sodom and Gomorrah," Okere told Aiyenuro. "Now we call it Jesus City. We go inside there and minister to them, and some of them, their lives have changed, through the word of God." Aiyenuro listened politely.

They were chatting on a balcony just over the busy paved avenue as the sun set. The sidewalk market spilled onto the road, competing with pedestrians, SUVs and rickshaws for space.

Later, after the service started, Aiyenuro prayed in an empty row. The six rows of plastic chairs, stamped with "I love God" on their backs, were more than enough to seat the small congregation, composed of three adults, three lounging toddlers and five organizers from the Christ Embassy Church. "Abortion is no good. If you abort, you are going to hellfire," she said later. "So I'm thinking when he's praying, I'm begging God for forgiveness for my sins."

Adeniron said she felt the country would not shift its approach to abortion.

"In the life of any country there are stages," she said. "The stage (where) we are now is that, for us, abortion is illegal, although we know that a lot of abortions do occur." She said she did not think Nigeria was ready to move past that yet, though she had faith that eventually change would come and policies would liberalize. "The next stage is вЂ¦ (to) review the existing policy on (the) ground so that we will be on the same page with other countries of the world."

But not, she added, anytime soon.

The reporting of this story was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

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thrashermaxey · 6 years

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Ramblings: Whack-A-Duck (Dec 12)

Ryan Getzlaf made his return to the Duck lineup sooner than I had anticipated, but it was a pleasant surprise. The Ducks also got Jakob Silfverberg back last night. Suddenly, their lineup wasn’t looking so bad, but then of course another injury, this time to Corey Perry:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Perry has his knee buckled, hobbled off. <a href="https://t.co/9HB2bpcq38">pic.twitter.com/9HB2bpcq38</a></p>— Stephen Laidlaw (@SteveLaidlaw) <a href="https://twitter.com/SteveLaidlaw/status/940425314131431424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2017</a></blockquote>

The Ducks had put Rickard Rakell, Getzlaf and Perry together, but there’s an opening on the right side should Perry miss much time. The first assumption would be that Silfverberg would benefit, but he is locked in on the second line with Andrew Cogliano and Adam Henrique. Silfverberg did see use on the top power play unit, however. That unit:

Getzlaf – Rakell – Silfverberg – Henrique – Cam Fowler

I thought we were done with this, but the never-ending game of whack-a-mole with Brandon Montour goes on. Once again on PP2 for Montour.

Ondrej Kase was elevated to the top line after Perry went out and is easily the most interesting option. Not sure we can jump to him yet, however, especially not without top unit PP time.

Henrique’s value has taken a small hit with Getzlaf soaking up the top line duties, but if he sticks on PP1 he should remain relevant in most formats.

Dustin Byfuglien is out week-to-week after an injury this weekend. This only exacerbates what has already been a frustrating season for fantasy owners.

Tyler Myers was tops on the Jets with 23:24 of ice time and 2:40 of power play time, but it’s worth noting that the Jets’ second unit got more of the power play action last night. Myers remained on that second unit, instead Jacob Trouba up on the top unit with Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, etc.

Trouba’s spot is the place to be. He has spent much of the season used in a shutdown role barely seeing any power play time. Now we are going to see Trouba stretched into a role where he can be productive. He is widely owned so you may not be able to pounce on this opportunity, but those hanging onto him are in for a big-time boost.

Trouba has double-digit goal potential and the skills to score at a 50-point pace. It’s worth mentioning that the Jets are not having their defensemen as active in the rush this season, so perhaps lower your expectations for all of them, including Byfuglien when he returns, but assists should flow considering their loaded set of forwards.

The Jets also got Steve Mason back from the IR, sending Eric Comrie back to the AHL. At this point Mason has little relevance, Connor Hellebuyck is rolling as the starter.

The Rangers were without Mika Zibanejad once again. He has been back in practice, but has not been cleared for contact. Timelines with concussions are always blurry, but it seems like we are getting close to a return for the top line centerman. Zibanejad has been dropped in a third of Yahoo leagues, so jumping back in a little early could pay off in the long run.

Are we within range of a goalie controversy in Dallas? I’m not there yet, mostly because Kari Lehtonen hasn’t put together a consistent run in years. Lehtonen has started three of the last five games, and performed well in each of them, even winning two of them.

Meanwhile, Ben Bishop has fallen back to earth after a hot start. His save percentage in October: .920. His save percentage since: .901. It’s not that I think Lehtonen is good, it’s that I think Bishop isn’t much better. Bishop also has injuries to contend with. The irony of the Bishop signing was that he was unlikely to offer a large improvement on the already overpaid, underwhelming and injury-prone duo of Lehtonen and Niemi.

Line changes for the Stars spreading their top forwards across three lines:

#1 21.9% JANMARK,MATTIAS – RADULOV,ALEXANDER – SPEZZA,JASON

#2 18.2% ELIE,REMI – SEGUIN,TYLER – SHORE,DEVIN

#3 16.4% BENN,JAMIE – FAKSA,RADEK – PITLICK,TYLER

#4 11.5% DICKINSON,JASON – RITCHIE,BRETT – SMITH,GEMEL

Radek Faksa remains interesting, but probably not much more than that since he still can’t get a regular power play shift. He’s entering early-career Brad Marchand territory.

We also saw Jason Spezza displace Devin Shore on the top power play unit, which makes him interesting. Spezza skated a season-high 17:28 last night. No points, but we could see him creep back into our lives with continued exposure to Dallas’ top options.

Matt Murray has been back in practice, but Tristan Jarry started again last night. It is only a matter of time before Murray reclaims the reins, however Jarry has acquitted himself quite well. Had the Murray injury lingered longer we might have seen Jarry stake out a larger claim to the crease. As it stands now, the Penguins will likely continue shopping for a veteran backup in order to allow Jarry to get more work in the minors.

Aleksander Barkov got back into the lineup for the Panthers after missing only one game. The real question is if this injury lingers. Barkov is spectacular, but has consistently missed 15+ games a year.

Barkov was back on the top line with Nick Bjugstad and Jonathan Huberdeau. They have recently shuffled their PP going with a two-defenseman look with Aaron Ekblad and Keith Yandle both out there. Yandle has sizzled since displacing Ekblad with 12 points in the last 14 games.

Ekblad is sneaking back into relevance. He had gone 10 straight games without a point before a recent four-game scoring streak, which ended last night. Without top unit PP usage I don’t have time for Ekblad, even as his shot production remains massive. I would consider this run without Evgenii Dadonov in the lineup a chance to try and sell high.

Sven Baertschi has now been ruled out for 4-6 weeks with a broken jaw. That puts two-thirds of their best line on the shelf, with Bo Horvat already out with a broken ankle. Only the Brock Boes Monster remains. Mind you, Baertschi was easily the third wheel on that line and had recently been displaced by Nikolay Goldobin.

With both Baertschi and Horvat out, Boeser joined the Sedins, who may be becoming more relevant. The Sedins have averaged less than 15 minutes per game this season, but with further exposure to Boeser and more run with these injuries I could see them having a few weeks of universal relevance. This line combined for the lone Canuck goal last night.

Tom Wilson’s scoring streak ended last night, but he remains on the Caps’ top line so the potential for scoring lingers for now.

Good news on Ryan Johansen:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ryan Johansen is practicing today. He’s eligible to return from IR at any time.</p>— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamVingan/status/940265859725123584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2017</a></blockquote>

The Predators’ next game is Wednesday night, I’d look for Johansen to be back with the lines reset to what they looked like before he went out:

#1 25.1% FIALA,KEVIN – SMITH,CRAIG – TURRIS,KYLE

#2 14% ARVIDSSON,VIKTOR – FORSBERG,FILIP – JOHANSEN,RYAN

#3 9.5% BONINO,NICK – JARNKROK,CALLE – SISSONS,COLTON

#4 9.1% JARNKROK,CALLE – SISSONS,COLTON – WATSON,AUSTIN

Jaromir Jagr remains day-to-day and will apparently miss tonight’s game.

As always, great stuff in Elliotte Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts:

3. With Kris Versteeg out a long time, Calgary may look for a power-play specialist and someone who brings edge to their game. They feel a little “too nice,” outside of Travis Hamonic, Micheal Ferland, Mike Smith and Matthew Tkachuk. I could see the Flames part of a growing group eying Buffalo’s Evander Kane.

It is going to be extremely interesting to see where Kane lands. It is hard to see him getting a better opportunity than the one he has now riding shotgun with Jack Eichel. Kane is one of just 22 forwards skating over 20 minutes per game. I’d imagine that whatever team gets him will use him as more of a second- or third-line offensive specialist in order to limit the damage he can inflict defensively, which could mean he’d go back to playing 14-15 minutes per game, hindering his fantasy value.

Of course, it is possible Kane could remain in Buffalo all season, or perhaps find himself on a team where he could continue to chew up big minutes. These scenarios seem less likely. Do consider selling high on Kane while he is pacing for 71 points and 355 SOG.

Some World Junior news:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hearing MON will send Victor Mete to Canada's World Junior camp. That's a big get for them.</p>— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) <a href="https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/940258484125184001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2017</a></blockquote>

I wouldn’t be shocked if Mete is returned to junior after this tournament. He has barely been playing. Very good prospect, but not one that I consider having much fantasy relevance.

It doesn’t sound like any of Tyson Jost, Nolan Patrick or Samuel Girard will be similarly released by their NHL clubs.

I totally get Girard not being available since he is skating 20 minutes a night, although he has recently seen his ice time heavily clipped.

The Flyers not making Patrick available makes less sense to me, but they would have a better idea of what is best for the player’s development. Also, we don’t even know if Patrick has any desire to leave the team. I’m sure he’d love to represent Canada, but he’s a rookie clinging to a roster spot in the NHL, skating less than 12 minutes per game. Can he afford to take a month away from the team?

For more World Junior talk check out Cam Robinson’s latest prospect ramblings, previewing Group A.

If you missed it, I jumped on Roto Hockey Show on Wednesday night to discuss some of this seasons surprises, both positive and negative. You can thank us for bashing the San Jose power play just in time for it to get jump started.

Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.

from All About Sports http://www.dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-whack-a-duck-dec-12/

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bikechatter · 7 years

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The Street Trust picks former TriMet planner and Charlie Hales staffer as new executive director

Jillian Detweiler. (Photo: The Street Trust)

Jillian Detweiler is the new leader of The Street Trust.

The 51-year-old northeast Portland resident who lives on the Going Street Neighborhood Greenway and tells us she “cheered” when its sharrows appeared in front of her house, is a new kind of leader for an organization in the midst of transformation.

Detweiler is currently the interim development manager for Prosper Portland (formerly the Portland Development Commission). Before that she served three years as a policy director for former Mayor Charlie Hales — her second stint on Hales’ team after working with him out of college in the mid 1990s.

After earning a Masters degree in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina in 1992, Detweiler worked on planning and permit issues for then Commissioner Hales from 1995 to 2002. After that she spent 12 years at TriMet — first as a planner and then as director of real estate. In that position she oversaw $240 million in property acquisitions as part of the MAX Orange Line project.

With her background of city hall politics, transit planning, and high-profile development work, the selection of Detweiler reflects The Street Trust’s goal of becoming a political powerhouse with an expansive portfolio and the funding streams to make it all possible. She has no experience in professional bicycle activism, and that’s likely part of the reason she was hired (we heard from sources that The Street Trust favored candidates with more political experience).

Detweiler’s past experience via Linkedin.

In a statement released this morning The Street Trust Board Chair Justin Yuen said he expects Detweiler to, “Continue the transformation of The Street Trust into an organization that recognizes that the benefits of active transportation need to be shared equitably and serve people displaced from neighborhoods across the region.”

Here’s more from Yuen:

“The choices our region’s leaders and citizens make over the next few years will determine what kind of transportation system we use for the next several decade. State and regional agencies are considering billions of dollars of investment in transportation infrastructure right now — we want that infrastructure to make a major difference on streets in neighborhoods across the region… The Board and staff of The Street Trust remain deeply committed to the long-term vision of building a place that embraces biking, walking and transit not just for some, but for all those that call our region home.”

Detweiler takes over an organization with 15 paid staff and an annual budget of $1.3 million. With a recent change to their name and mission, and major staff turnover in the past few years, The Street Trust is desparately in need of stable leadership. Gerik Kransky, The Street Trust’s policy director, recently told us that his efforts to balance the interests of cycling and secure funding in the statewide transportation package is the “toughest political challenge” he has faced in his seven-year tenure.

I chatted with Detweiler on the phone yesterday. The Q & A below has been edited for clarity:

What part of town do you live in?

“I live on the Going Street bikeway around 41st and Alberta Court. I cheered when the sharrows appeared in front of my house! The bikeway is my regular route and I just love it. I remember when there were stop signs every other block and it was hard to make progress. It felt safer to ride at night because at least you could see headlights coming toward you. I just love it now! For me, personally, it’s one of the best accomplishments made during the Sam Adams administration.”

What’s your relationship to cycling?

“I have two bikes… I’m a multimodaler and usually I take transit. I worked for TriMet and felt I ought to be using the service I was working to provide. My route was the 75 bus to Hollywood transit center than I’d switch to the MAX.

I’m a little more of a fair weather bike rider. I ride my bike a lot for errands, seeing friends… But I’ve had jobs that require nice clothes and I can’t always manage the changing of the [cycling] costume in harsh weather. My husband rides in any weather. He’s a mountain climber; but I say the most dangerous thing my husband does is ride to work and it shouldn’t be that way.”

Why did you apply for The Street Trust job?

“I’m maybe not the only person who, post-Trump election, wants to double-down on efforts to make our society a better place. And for me, transportation has always been a passion. I view The Street Trust’s evolution as a move to become inclusive and to address the equity gaps we see in the city and that is very important work to me. I love the size of the organization. It’s had staying power [founded in 1990]. And I’m at a point in my career where I felt I wanted to step up and lead an organiztion. I felt incredibliy luckundy that just as I was reaching that point, this position was open.”

Would you have applied if they were still the Bicycle Transportation Alliance?

“Maybe not… I might have applied, but would not have gotten the job.

I think my experience speaks to the broader agenda. I’m not just transit-focused; but the way I’ve been able to bring it together with affordable housing, inclusive public processes and that broader agenda, also speaks to where I have some depth of relationships in the community that has ties to funding that could support the The Street Trust.”

What part of their mission is most exciting to you?

“I’m not quite there yet in terms of understanding everything they do. As ED [executive director], there are some wonderful people at the organization and the thing I’m most excited about is making sure they are supported with the resources they need and there is stable funding. I love the encouragement work they do. Learning about the Safe Routes to School Work and encountering classes where The Street Trust gets kids onto bikes for the first time — that makes me weepy!”

Is there a part of the transportation debate advocates are missing? And can you bring it to the table?

“While I was in [Mayor] Hales’ office we felt there was a kind of void for how much community organizations were present in city hall. I think there’s room to get more attention on bike transportation and other transportation needs.

I mean, sadly, we’ve had some difficult politics in the city post-Trump election, and those have taken up a lot of oxygen. Housing has taken up a lot of oxygen; but transportation is the second largest housing cost for most households and I think we can help policymakers and people that make decisions about public investments understand that making it possible for people walk and bike and take transit can have real economic benefits for them.”

What do you think is the biggest transportation issue facing the Portland region today?

“I put safety first. I don’t know if the Vision Zero moniker has caught on enough; but it feels like every morning… there’s… wasn’t there just another pedestrian fatality at 122nd and Division? So yes, safety.

I also hear a hunger — especially among my cyclist friends — for, what’s it going to take to get us to the next level? I would love to see more mobilization around separated bikeways. I don’t claim to know all the details of the feasibility of them; but a Sullivan’s Gulch bikeway sounds terrific because of how it could link in the Gateway area.”

There’s a debate in the community about The Street Trust’s shift toward a more conservative activism style in recent years. Where do you fall on the spectrum of advocacy style from grassroots rallies and marches on street corners, to behind-the-scenes relationship building and political lobbying?

“I believe short-term wins are really important to keeping people motivated and keeping spirits high of those who support us doing good work. It’s much harder to do that on the long-term policy and funding projects. I would hope to get the resources and staffing necessary to define some discreet, short-term improvements to make happen and then celebrate those victories.”

For many people, The Street Trust is still “the bike group”. How do you respond to people concerned that you don’t have any experience in bike advocacy?

“I think the bike culture is a really distinguishing feature of Portland and would like to see it extended to the region. I had the opportunity to travel with Mayor Hales, the mayor of Austin [Texas] and former US DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx to look at cycling culture in three Scandinavian cities… Cycling is a real passion of mine. Cycling may not be for everyone; but we’ve got to expand the number of people who feel safe to meet all their transportation needs. It’s the healthiest and cheapest ways to get around. I in no way want to diminish the importance of cycling.”

Anything else you want to share?

“I’m really excited! The work couldn’t be more important to me. When I saw the job posted, literally my heart just soared! And i’m really looking forward to all of the people I expect to meet and enlisting their support to achieve our goals.”

Detweiler is the first woman to lead The Street Trust since 2005. Her first day on the job is August 7th.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and [email protected]

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phooll123 · 4 years

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