Day 12: I mean as far as diseases go, at least its name's kind of cute
So, as I've mentioned, the NHL has been dealing with an outbreak of the mumps. It started in California, transferred to Minnesota, New York, and the latest, New Jersey. I have no idea what the NHL is actually doing in order to prevent the spread of the disease, but its questionable secrecy regarding player injuries is becoming more than ridiculous.
Exhibit everything:
Sidney Crosby, the biggest superstar in the league at the moment, has:
(1) skipped out on 1-2 practices recently due to health
(2) recently played against both New York and New Jersey
(3) been on the worst scoring slump of his career (possibly unrelated)
(4) met the press this morning with a swollen jaw the size of Mt. Rushmore
...and the NHL were just like, pffft no, mumps, what mumps, what's a mump.
They ACTUALLY LET HIM GO OUT AND MEET THE PRESS LOOKING LIKE THIS --
vs his normal
--while saying NOPE he's practicing and playing the whole team's been checked soooo lalala I can't hear you. In front of reporters. Like... that would somehow fly? Like - hey, I don't know. Maybe he had his wisdom teeth pulled. Maybe he was stung by a bee. Maybe he was punched in the face. But when you have mumps going around the NHL - and one of the main symptoms is gigantic swollen jaws - you can't put him out there like that and say everything's okay, wtf, and I'm not even talking about letting him play and having him around the other players.
Anyway basically an hour goes by when the team releases a new statement:
Sidney Crosby will be held out of the Pittsburgh Penguins' next two games as a precautionary measure. Crosby has not been feeling well. Medical specialists made the recommendation after further test results came back today. "There is no indication at this time that this is the mumps, but we are going to hold him out as a precaution," Rutherford said. "We'll have additional test results in a few days."
Uh okey-doke then. At least he's not playing with that... thing growing on his face.
/o\
(This wasn't even the most worrying medical decision NHL doctors made today, ugh. I'd just rather not think about the other.)
*
Day 11, Day 12 recs - both hockey RPF, post retirement-from-the-NHL futurefics:
Generation by altri_uccelli (PG-13, 30,085 words, Kane/Toews)
Additional Tags: 2010 Stanley Cup team, Divorce, Future Fic, original characters
In which Patrick’s daughter and Jonny’s son are discovered making out under Seabs’ dock at a 2010 Cup team reunion, and become a catalyst for other discoveries.
I love second generation fics. I love them. The first three fics I ever wrote were BtVS second generation fics, uh, not to make this about me. But anyway, this fic is - I call it second generation and not kidfic because the kids are older, that's all, teenagers bordering on college, but in the end this fic is absolutely told from Kaner and Tazer's point of view and is about their relationship. altri_uccelli fleshes out wonderful backstories for the paths both their lives took over the years, their respective marriages, and, as we discover throughout the fic, their respective queer identities, which are differently handled at this point in time. Their interactions with their kids are so well done (slash adorable), and this fic is never rushed - it's slow and warm and cozy and smart, with this underlying thrill of the potential of something new.
Take You There by hazel, ellievolia (Mature, 11,006 words, Kane/Toews)
Additional Tags: Recreational Drug Use, post-career, Podfic Available
It’s Kaner at the door. Balding, short, slightly paunchy Kaner, standing there with a duffel and a suitcase, looking obstinate and cranky and like the ground’s been taken out from under him. “We’re getting divorced. Let me in.”
This is slow and atmospheric and quiet and a little sad; years down the line, Kaner shows up at Tazer's cabin with an unspoken request for friendship as he deals with his divorce. There's solid backstory, and the story is lovely and subtle, and one of those stories that make you yearn for the Canadian wilderness.
A few weeks ago, a sequel was posted by a different author:
Catching an Edge by MJBadger (Explicit, 11,965 words, Kane/Toews) (the author labeled it mature, but it's explicit in my book)
Additional Tags: Recreational Drug Use, post-career.
This is such a gorgeous fic. It fits perfectly in tone with the original, and continues with Kaner and Tazer living together, for now secluded from the world, relearning each other and exploring their relationship. Once again, it's slow and quiet, with this emotional tide just kind of subtly building in the background, and when it crests it's such a satisfying payoff (see also: me flailing about my feelings all over the place.)
comments on Dreamwidth.
Exhibit everything:
Sidney Crosby, the biggest superstar in the league at the moment, has:
(1) skipped out on 1-2 practices recently due to health
(2) recently played against both New York and New Jersey
(3) been on the worst scoring slump of his career (possibly unrelated)
(4) met the press this morning with a swollen jaw the size of Mt. Rushmore
...and the NHL were just like, pffft no, mumps, what mumps, what's a mump.
They ACTUALLY LET HIM GO OUT AND MEET THE PRESS LOOKING LIKE THIS --
vs his normal
--while saying NOPE he's practicing and playing the whole team's been checked soooo lalala I can't hear you. In front of reporters. Like... that would somehow fly? Like - hey, I don't know. Maybe he had his wisdom teeth pulled. Maybe he was stung by a bee. Maybe he was punched in the face. But when you have mumps going around the NHL - and one of the main symptoms is gigantic swollen jaws - you can't put him out there like that and say everything's okay, wtf, and I'm not even talking about letting him play and having him around the other players.
Anyway basically an hour goes by when the team releases a new statement:
Sidney Crosby will be held out of the Pittsburgh Penguins' next two games as a precautionary measure. Crosby has not been feeling well. Medical specialists made the recommendation after further test results came back today. "There is no indication at this time that this is the mumps, but we are going to hold him out as a precaution," Rutherford said. "We'll have additional test results in a few days."
Uh okey-doke then. At least he's not playing with that... thing growing on his face.
/o\
(This wasn't even the most worrying medical decision NHL doctors made today, ugh. I'd just rather not think about the other.)
*
Day 11, Day 12 recs - both hockey RPF, post retirement-from-the-NHL futurefics:
Generation by altri_uccelli (PG-13, 30,085 words, Kane/Toews)
Additional Tags: 2010 Stanley Cup team, Divorce, Future Fic, original characters
In which Patrick’s daughter and Jonny’s son are discovered making out under Seabs’ dock at a 2010 Cup team reunion, and become a catalyst for other discoveries.
I love second generation fics. I love them. The first three fics I ever wrote were BtVS second generation fics, uh, not to make this about me. But anyway, this fic is - I call it second generation and not kidfic because the kids are older, that's all, teenagers bordering on college, but in the end this fic is absolutely told from Kaner and Tazer's point of view and is about their relationship. altri_uccelli fleshes out wonderful backstories for the paths both their lives took over the years, their respective marriages, and, as we discover throughout the fic, their respective queer identities, which are differently handled at this point in time. Their interactions with their kids are so well done (slash adorable), and this fic is never rushed - it's slow and warm and cozy and smart, with this underlying thrill of the potential of something new.
Take You There by hazel, ellievolia (Mature, 11,006 words, Kane/Toews)
Additional Tags: Recreational Drug Use, post-career, Podfic Available
It’s Kaner at the door. Balding, short, slightly paunchy Kaner, standing there with a duffel and a suitcase, looking obstinate and cranky and like the ground’s been taken out from under him. “We’re getting divorced. Let me in.”
This is slow and atmospheric and quiet and a little sad; years down the line, Kaner shows up at Tazer's cabin with an unspoken request for friendship as he deals with his divorce. There's solid backstory, and the story is lovely and subtle, and one of those stories that make you yearn for the Canadian wilderness.
A few weeks ago, a sequel was posted by a different author:
Catching an Edge by MJBadger (Explicit, 11,965 words, Kane/Toews) (the author labeled it mature, but it's explicit in my book)
Additional Tags: Recreational Drug Use, post-career.
This is such a gorgeous fic. It fits perfectly in tone with the original, and continues with Kaner and Tazer living together, for now secluded from the world, relearning each other and exploring their relationship. Once again, it's slow and quiet, with this emotional tide just kind of subtly building in the background, and when it crests it's such a satisfying payoff (see also: me flailing about my feelings all over the place.)
comments on Dreamwidth.