We all know Mike likes to be bitchy towards Steve who's basically the party's mom at this point.
I like to think Mike was jealous of the attention Steve got from his sister, but that he also was a little jealous of Nancy because of how nice of a boyfriend Steve was. Like, Steve was affectionate and caring and he baked fucking cookies.
Then Mike goes to high-school and he hears rumors about Nancy cheating on Steve with Jonathan.
He tries not to let it get to him, but he starts giving Nancy the cold shoulder and giving more extra hurtful remarks than usual. He's agitated around the party and upset but he can't really explain why.
The more Mike observes and sees how Steve takes care of them all and how selfless he is, the angrier he gets about Nancy choosing Jonathan over Steve.
He starts defending Steve from the other party members whenever they make a negative comment about him, even if it's in good faith.
Then he realises he used to do the same thing and he feels guilty.
Eventually, he blows up and has a huge fight with Nancy about it while the others are right there. Maybe Nancy said something to Steve that sounded mean and Mike's had enough?
Steve just can't believe the first person to finally defend him is Mike "I hate Steve" Wheeler.
(And then one day Steve starts dating Eddie and Mike is the first one to give Eddie the shovel talk.)
-the first baseman had no reason to chase Baéz, if he just stepped on the bag he was automatically out
-theres two outs, so if hes out, the inning is over. even if the runner on second base gets home, the run doesnt count. its not until hes safe at first that the run scores
-theres no specific rule in baseball about running backwards from first, just that you “cannot retreat to home base” meaning so long as if you dont touch the plate, its fine
-Baéz ran backwards to kill enough to get the run to score, and then stole and extra base on the base on the bad throw
-HE TOOK THE TIME TO UMPIRE HIS OWN PLAY AND CALL SAFE
Let me see if I can break this down a little more.
Javier Báez (the batter, a Chicago Cub, wearing blue) has just hit the ball. His job is now to run around the bases - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, back to where he started (“home”), at which point he will have scored a point. In practice, he will probably stop partway, wait for the next batter to get a hit, and try to make it home from there.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (in white) are fielding. Their job is to stop the Cubs from scoring by getting them out, by various combinations of catching the ball and tagging people or bases with it.
The scoreboard (top left) shows that one Cub has already made it to second base, so he will resume running now that Javy has a hit. It also shows that two Cubs are out. If a third Cub gets out, their turn to bat will be over, it will be the Pirates’ turn to bat, and the Cubs can’t score anymore (for now, but that’s not relevant).
The Pirate at first base (the first baseman) has the ball. All he needs to do is step on first base while holding it before Javy gets there, and Javy is out. This is probably the number one most common thing a first baseman has to do.
He does not do it.
For some reason he starts chasing Javy, presumably trying to tag him with the ball directly. This is a perfectly legitimate way of getting him out, but also completely unnecessary.
This has never happened to Javy before. Unsure what else to do, he just kind of… jogs backwards away from him.
Meanwhile, the Cub who was at second base (Contreras) has made it all the way back to home. Because the Pirates’ first baseman has helpfully walked the ball back home, he can easily toss it to the Pirate at home (the catcher) who will tag Contreras out.
The catcher doesn’t tag him in time.
The umpire signals that Contreras is safe (not out).
Javy also signals that Contreras is safe, just for fun. He’s never been nearby when a teammate makes it home before, and he’s enjoying himself.
Notice that the score has not changed, even though Contreras made it home. That’s because Javy is still technically running to first base. If he gets out before he reaches it, the Cubs’ turn to bat is over, and nothing else that’s happened since he hit the ball matters.
Javy remembers this, and heads back to first base. The catcher throws the ball to another Pirates fielder, who is frantically running to do the first baseman’s job.
He doesn’t catch it.
Javy is safe at first. Contreras scores (although the scoreboard won’t change for a second).
Javy notices how far away that ball landed, and decides he can make it to second base before anyone picks it up and tags him out.
An offscreen Pirate throws the ball to second base, where another Pirate is ready and waiting to catch it, tag Javy out, and end the Cubs’ turn to bat.
He doesn’t catch it.
Javy is safe at second. The video doesn’t show it, but he will go on to score as well.
This should have been a very easy out for the Pirates, but through two dropped catches and one truly bizarre decision from the first baseman, they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and turned it into two points for the Cubs.
This is what I imagined the stain glass window to look like from the church of the doodler <3
Odyssey-san is pink, Glenn is blue, Ron is yellow, Henry is green, and Darryl is red. I have some meaning behind the colors but it’s very self explanatory.
sorry i took a break from requests to make this- im getting back to the requests now. Requests are open btw!!
Happy (Belated) Birthday to Mike Wheeler!! Sorry this was late, I was feeling a bit sick towards the end of the birthweek and for some reason I couldn't draw as well 💀
Anyway, here's Mike and The Party partying because they're his friends and they love him very much (yes he did get caked in the face by Max beforehand).
Thx for joining me in celebrating my boi. Mike Wheeler, my loser boyfailure son, you deserve the world 😤🫶🏽❤️️
“The medieval warrior, realizing the consequences of his impulsive act, immediately approached the owner of the drone and offered to pay for the damage.
The owner of the drone was so impressed by the brilliant attack that he suggested organizing a competition for bringing down “dragons” with short spears next year.
Drone owners have another year to develop a unique “dragon-like” design for their flying machines.” (x)
I am 100% cooler with this knowing that the spear-thrower realized “oops maybe I shouldn’t have done that” and tried to make it right, and that the guy who the drone belonged to was cool with it
The old school lack of transparency on tumblr is amazing because you assume the people you follow must all be equivalent to you and then you see someone write “I brought my youngest to college today” and someone else write “my mom wouldn’t let me listen to Ariana Grande when I was a kid” and then your head explodes
honestly one of the best things we can do for ourselves is realize that people of different ages than us can still be the same kind of person as us. it's humbling and it gives everyone involved a sense of continuity, and it busts those stupid generational stereotypes media is so fond of.
The joy I feel when at a con or something and I sprint over to someone 20 years older than me or someone 20 years younger runs over to me and we both start jumping and waving our hands like “SAME HAT!!!!!” is just delightful 💜
Just made myself so so sad thinking about Aang's marble trick because from a physics perspective, keeping dense spherical objects afloat on an airstream is not trivial, and he's doing it in a tiny little space without moving his hands. Bending is usually very gestural. So. Everyone in the era of the show is, at best, impressed THAT it is airbending. But Aang's an incredibly young master airbender. He wouldn't be acting like this was the bestest trick ever if it didn't take at least some skill; he's a goofy kid but he's also a prodigy. I bet other airbenders were absolutely blown away (pun fully intended) at the level of precision and force and minimalism of movement on display and now there's no one who understands at all why he expects accolades.
#qsfdsfsgs#i've been trying to think of a way to make this happen#because ozai doesn't actually have any honor to begin with#so he couldn't care less about it#but one day sokka visited his prison#because sokka would have an unlimited amount of jokes to humiliate him#but that particular day he'd just be messing around with the firelord#mention that zuko and aang were so desperate to find the guy#they might even give him his bending back if he could help#so ozai the idiot thinks he makes a smart move when he tells zuko he knows the blue spirit#and will catch him#but only if he gets his bending back#and zuko's like damn if you find this guy i will make sure to get your bending back#you can count on mee#and then they make sure 'a secret source' wants to 'help' him and gives him 'tips'#and they lead firelord ozai to the WORST places#i'm thinking of the swamp#and the desert#the serpent's pass#and he just has a bad time for the rest of his life#the end (source: @aboutiroh )
Occasionally after a particularly rough month Zuko takes a brief vacation to get his Blue Spirit gear back on and fuck around leading Ozai on another even wilder goose chase
What if Zuko and Sokka were bodyswapped as kids? Right around the time Hakoda and Ursa have both left. The Spirits of Authorial Convenience are at it again, I guess?
"Zuko" has somehow become even worse at firebending to the point he almost seems like a nonbender, downright disrespectful toward his dad, and - against all odds - wildly impressive. True, his bending is terrible, but he's going crazy over the libraries and universities and tutors that are now at his disposal. Bending is bullshit anyways, says he, without any trace of bitterness at all, and quite a few of the nobles secretly agree. Bending is very useful, but for the modern nobility, it's little better than a hobby. Best left for the soldiers. Of course we are honored that our royal family represents us on the battlefield. The war is absolutely necessary! But Prince Zuko's new sewer design halved disease. Which disease? All disease.
Meanwhile "Sokka" is now a serious and dutiful older brother who seems to have misplaced his sense of humor but kept the same general level of entitlement. Katara thinks it's Dad leaving that did it. He also keeps complaining about the cold, which is weird, because Sokka used to love rolling around in the snow naked and oh. Tui and La. Why is Sokka a Firebender?
"Zuko" has a weird sexist streak for like, two weeks, until he gets his ass kicked by Ty Lee (I want it to be Ty Lee!) and begs to learn from her.
"Sokka" is really sad about their mom again, which is weird, sad, and kind of nice. He's also changed his mind about bending... Well, at least partially. Of course he thinks that his stupid new firebending is better than Katara's waterbending. (Katara ends up learning to waterbend like a firebender. This will surely have no repercussions.)
"Prince Zuko" hasn't produced so much as a spark in months, but he keeps complaining about how hot it is all the time. He also keeps coming up with a lot of really useful shit and improving on the rest. Suddenly, a prophecy (ancient, most ancient!) is, ahem, rediscovered. It speaks of a dragon made flesh, who must keep his fire contained within his flesh, but who comes bringing a bright future for the Nation. Sokka is just appalled that not only do these people live in Armpit Climate but they also think it's weird if you point it out.
Prince Zuko is discreetly approached by a number of interested nobles. Your father is plotting to have you killed, my Prince. But a drop of this in his tea... perhaps we spice his komodo sausage with a special herb... Your Highness we can push him off a cliff... your highness if you invent the gun we can shoot him
(Internally, Sokka is intrigued, but he also remembers the time Bato hatched a scheme to steal Dad's stash of tuna-sturgeon roe. Bato promised that's he'd take the blame while Sokka hid the spoils, and they'd split it afterwards. Only he got Sokka to do the dirty work, found out his super secret hiding place and then weasel-ratted Sokka out. Of course by the time Sokka led his mildly annoyed Dad out to the stash, it was all gone (Bato helpfully suggested that animals probably carried it off) and Sokka had to wash every hide they and all their neighbors had while his now-furious father watched and Bato feasted in secret, the bastard.)
(Point being that "Prince" or not, Sokka knows better. And his life experiences are surprisingly applicable to navigating court politics. Huh.)
Azula is extremely unhappy. Zuko is gaining favor. They're already talking about his so-called inventions. She is going to end Zuko. And what's this? Zuko's meeting with anti-Ozai nobles in secret? Oh, how perfect. One word to Father, and -
Except that Sokka, who wouldn't even dream of not trusting his sister - and doesn't know Azula - immediately brings Azula on board (at least in regards to the political stuff.) Azula is not confused at all. She. Hm.
The Princess has decided to wait and assess the situation before proceeding.
Meanwhile, South Pole:
Zuko, dripping wet: How dare you! I am a prince!
Katara: Hah! Prince of what?
Zuko: ... a lot of things!
Because some things don't change, and some things stay the same even when they do.
Oh, and obviously Zuko and Sokka can communicate in their dreams. That goes without saying. I respect traditions.
