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#the story i have in mind for them takes place in 2007.. it starts w giorno sending fugo & sheila after torrone to give him a talking to abt
Thoughts about each TDI Reboot episode, starting at 1. SPOILERS UNDER THE READMORE.
Chris' new voice is certainly... a change. I don't mind it, and I think Terry is getting his acting and emotes for him right, but it's definitely gonna take some time to adjust and not immediately think it's Don.
"Hey, what's up I'm here to slay" from the intro is killing me in the best and worst ways. Rip the old intro song.
Also there's a very VERY small detail for the campfire. When Raj looks back to the screen, only one of his eyes follow. Either an animation error, or he has a lazy eye.
It's been 15 years since the beginning of the show in canon?? That means the gen 1 and 2 casts are roughly between 28-31 I think?? And yet Chris and Chef Hatchet don't look any different. Also since og Island premiered in 2007, this one is taking place in 2022 and NOT 2023.
Either way this gives me a good excuse to practice character design with a 15 years timeskip and make adult designs for the gen 1 and 2 casts.
Priya. WHAT. GIRL GO TO THERAPY AND GET AWAY FROM YOUR PARENTS. Also Owen cameo.
Bowie is gay like I thought he'd be. Now way he wasn't a reference to David Bowie. Getting some vibes of him being the new Heather tbh.
I, like many others, thought Ripper was going to be the new Owen. He's only a small bit Owen with a dash of Duncan, and a whole lot of Scott. Respect to Ripper for how spicy he likes his food, tho lol.
Chase and Emma are exes. Chase is a YouTube/Twitch personality T-T. Here's hoping that Emma broke up with him bc she's a lesbian. Really want her and Bowie to be besties.
Scary Girl's real name is Lauren >:(
Zee is both the smartest and dumbest character. I want him to be the blorbo of the season, but I'm getting the feeling it's gonna be Bowie.
Wayne: "What'd you think, Rajey?" 🥺
Nichelle is the only one to not get an audition tape. Interesting. Also a Madonna reference?
Julia called herself an influencer. She better be an early boot for that.
MK, Axel, Caleb and Damien are the only ones I don't have any comments about. Sucks 'cause I was hoping I'd really like MK and Axel.
Drone of Dispair. Somehow the worst idea yet lol. Can't wait for a joke about one of the contestants flying over private airspace and getting shot.
Ripper called himself the alpha male nooooo
EVEN BOWIE IS CALLING WAYNE AND RAJ GAY LMAO
And Bowie immediately goes to the girls' side of the cabin to talk shit about Chase with Emma. Love them sm.
Ripper: "Where'd you get the soda from??"
Zee: "...I have no idea."
Rip Bowie's heart glasses, hope cartoon logic kicks in and he has a million of then.
If Damien thinks they can't show Ripper's censored ass on TV, then I wonder what his reaction would be to a show like Naked and Afraid.
Emma and Chase didn't break up over lesbianisms unfortunately. But messing up her car's breaks and causing her to crash is still a valid reason for her to break up with him and be incredibly upset. Like, he could have killed her, other bystanders, or any of the puppies at the shop she crashed into. Yet I think the show is treating Emma as being unreasonable? It's just a prank bro.
Also MK calling Emma out for saying 25% of the money instead of half like she did when talking to Bowie earlier. Maybe there's more to the break up story?? Like she's lying?? But that still wouldn't make sense if the show is already treating her as unreasonable beforehand. Idk.
Bowie really do be like "are the straights okay? 🙄"
Raj: "Wayners" 😭
Also Wayne and Raj both have the same accent as Ezekiel.
Goodbye Caleb, we barely knew ya. Have fun hanging out with Staci and getting no character development like her. Maybe one day he can come back like Justin.
BOWIE IS THE NEW HEATHER, I WAS RIGHT AND HE IS GONNA BE THE BLORBO
Overall, fun first episode. Not a smash hit or anything, but a pretty good hook. Also the animation and character design is such an upgrade. I was hesitant about the new cast's designs, but actually seeing them in the show and moving makes it work so much better to me. After rewatching the first half of og Island, it is amazing to see how far this show and its animators have come from 2007.
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comrade-meow · 3 years
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The commodification of women and “enclosure” of sexuality through prostitution, widespread porn and the resulting fallout led to the next frontier: biology itself, womanhood itself. Transgenderism leverages the mind/body split that rape culture promotes by introducing a new form of biological enclosure. With transgenderism, the reality of sex is no longer something natural that we simply share in common, but a place for Big Pharma to set up shop in the name of “identity.”
I have a “big picture” brain. I’m unsatisfied with superficial explanations of current events and political trends, and only understand them once I’ve placed them in the context of deeper historic trajectories, social patterns and human drives. Without these explanations, I remain unsatisfied and questioning (and can’t be sold on false solutions either).
Transgenderism is one contemporary political trend that requires big picture thinking to comprehend—because there are no casual explanations for why, in less than a decade, people all over the world have started to accept a set of bizarre and contradictory ideas: that sex is a spectrum, that sex can be changed, and/or that sex is not real at all, only gender identity is—all to justify the political mantra, “transwomen are women.” This mantra is simply an assertion of male privilege, that men should be able to claim female identity if they want to, without needing sound justification. How did it spread so fast?
I have just finished writing a series of books called the Brief, Complete Herstory (2021) which offers a continuous narrative of history from the Big Bang to neoliberalism. It discusses pre-patriarchal cultures around the world, and the creation of patriarchy, church and state, capitalism, and neoliberalism. Only the last volume mentions transgenderism, but writing these books has helped me put the transgender trend, among others, in context.
One thing that is clear to me is that the idea that men can become women is not new—it began when patriarchal religions insisted that God, the creator of life, is male. Before this, if “god” had a sex, it was commonly female: she who birthed the world. The idea of god as male-produced all sorts of weird stories and myths to capture the imagination: like the one about Aphrodite being born out of Zeus’ head, and Jesus being born after an “immaculate conception” involving a male sky god and Mary, a sexless virgin (trans activists might call her an “incubator”).
Another thing that strikes me, taking this long view of history, is a succession of waves of “enclosure” or colonisation that cause enough social and economic fallout to prepare the ground for the next, more intimate, “enclosure.” The pattern begins earlier, but if we start with the enclosure movement of the 15th and 16th centuries, also called the “privatisation of the commons,” it is easy to place transgenderism in the context of a historic trajectory. I’ve discussed this before, in a talk on YouTube, but here I want to cast a wider net.
The 16th century saw the Protestant Reformation and the rise of modern capitalism while the Tudors reigned in England. The Tudors used the Reformation as a way of breaking from the Catholic church in order to act without, or against, the pope’s approval. After breaking from Rome, they seized church property, privatised the commons, and colonised Ireland. For centuries, peasants had used common lands to graze milk cows and gather water, edible and medicinal plants, and wood for construction and making fires.
The simultaneous confiscation of the commons and church property cast many people into poverty because the lands were a source of sustenance and, under feudalism, it was the church that had given aid and shelter to the poor. Women were especially affected by the double whammy of enclosure and lack of poverty alleviation. In her biography My Own Story, British suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst traces her feminist awakening to witnessing women in the homeless shelters and workhouses that queen Elizabeth I eventually established to address the crisis.
Looking back, we can see that the enclosure movement provided the preconditions for Britain’s industrialisation. When common lands were privatised, they largely became lands for grazing sheep used for wool in the textile industry, the biggest industry of the early industrial revolution; and it created a class of people desperate enough to work up to 18 hours a day for a pittance in dismal conditions, in the factories or “satanic mills,” as the poet William Blake called them. Most textile workers were women. Urbanisation also took place in tandem with the rise of prostitution, with many women forced to choose between that, factory work or domesticity.
In her book, Witches, Witch-Hunting and Women(2018), Silvia Federici connects the 16th- and 17th-century witch hunts in England with the rise of capitalism and the privatisation of the commons. She writes that “women were the most likely to be victimised” by enclosure, pauperisation, and the “disintegration of communal forms of agriculture that had prevailed in feudal Europe,” because they were “the most disempowered by these changes, especially older women, who often rebelled against their impoverishment and social exclusion.” She notes that some women participated in protests, pulling up fences enclosing the commons, and explains:
[W]omen were charged with witchcraft because the restructuring of rural Europe at the dawn of capitalism destroyed the means of livelihood and the basis of their social power, leaving them with no resort but dependence on the charity of the better off, at a time when communal bonds were disintegrating, a new morality was taking hold that criminalised begging and looked down upon charity.
The premise of Federici’s book is that this very same correlation between privatisation and “witch” hunting can be seen with neoliberal privatisation. She shows how witch hunts have escalated dramatically following the neoliberalisation (or “re-colonisation”) of the African continent and the privatisation of lands there, for instance in Tanzania, where more than 5,000 women per year are murdered as witches and in the Central African Republic, where “prisons are full of accused witches.” In Indian tribal lands, “where large scale processes of land privatisation are underway,” witch hunts are also increasing, as they are in Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Saudi Arabia. Describing the way witch-hunting frames the female sex, Federici argues that, “we have to think of the enclosures as a broader phenomenon than simply the fencing off of land. We must think of an enclosure of knowledge, of our bodies, and of our relationship to other people, and nature.”
Federici considers her analysis of the correlation between privatisation and witch-hunting to be ongoing, a work in progress—but I think her project is hamstrung. Her conclusions will remain sorely limited as long as she maintains the position that there is such a thing as a “sex worker” and a “transwoman,” because these ideas are central to the neoliberal “enclosure of knowledge, of our bodies, and of our relationship to other people, and nature” today. The term “sex worker” was coined by the global sex trade lobby on the back of women’s poverty and the normalisation of prostitution under neoliberalism.
In his book Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery (2010), human trafficking expert Siddharth Kara shows that neoliberalisation leaves indigenous women especially vulnerable. He unveils a pattern of neoliberal government reform followed by land confiscation, leading to domestic poverty, and then prostitution in Asia, Europe and the United States. His book covers the period of the 1980s and 90s when the International Monetary Fund and World Bank were handing out “structural adjustment packages” all over the world. These are financial loans conditional on land and infrastructure privatisation, cutbacks to health and welfare spending, and removal of legislation protecting workers and obstructing profit.
In The Shock Doctrine(2007), Naomi Klein argues that this neoliberalisation requires disaster to disorient people and render them sufficiently immobilised to have their rights stripped. Once implemented, just like enclosure and colonisation, neoliberalism creates its own fallout. As Klein explains, neoliberalism began to enter more intimate territory after September 11, 2001, when surveillance culture began to “enclose” our privacy in unprecedented ways. This led to an age where internet companies, which are best positioned to track and collect data, reign.
History shows us a continuous pattern that goes all the way back to the Tudors and before: disaster followed by enclosure creates more disaster that allows for further, more intimate, enclosure. This is precisely why Federici’s argument that we need to define enclosure more deeply and broadly, is so important: otherwise we cannot properly track the pattern and we will fail to notice when neoliberalisation starts claiming new frontiers.
Combine the internet age with prostitution and you have today’s growing porn industry—and porn creates its own fallout. As feminist author Gail Dines points out in Pornland(2010), the average age boys start watching pornography is at eleven years, and porn brainwashes them into objectifying women by linking the image of rape to orgasm. There is hardly a more efficient way to condition somebody than through orgasm. Social conditioning normally involves a system of punishment and reward by some external body—but when men learn to objectify women by watching porn, their own penises dispense the rewards. After that, nobody needs to offer them any other incentives to keep repeating the behaviour.
The fact that porn not only depicts rape but drives it is well established. We can see the link in high profile rape cases like those involving Brock Turner and Larry Nassar. Turner took photos during his assault, and shared them with friends; Nassar was found to be in possession of at least 37,000 child pornography videos and images. New Zealand women’s organisation the Backbone Collective’s report on child abuse "Seen and Not Heard" shows that for 54% of abusive fathers, pornography is a factor in the abuse of their children.
The fallout from rape is dissociation. The human stress response is designed to allow us to run from predators, or to overpower them if we judge ourselves as capable. It is not designed to deal with entrapment and cruelty, and when faced with these situations, women often freeze, our minds shutting off conscious awareness of what is happening, whilst the subconscious absorbs it for dealing with later. This mind/body split is at the root of patriarchy and patriarchal religion because patriarchy relies on it: it requires men to detach from their own humanity and cultivate the dissociation, body hatred and dysphoria that rape culture fosters.
The commodification of women and “enclosure” of sexuality through prostitution, widespread porn and the resulting fallout led to the next frontier: biology itself, womanhood itself. Transgenderism leverages the mind/body split that rape culture promotes by introducing a new form of biological enclosure. With transgenderism, the reality of sex is no longer something natural that we simply share in common, but a place for Big Pharma to set up shop in the name of “identity.”
Trans activists assist this commodification of sex by excitedly censoring, blacklisting, firing, harassing and abusing women as “TERFs” (“trans-exclusionary radical feminists”). “TERF” is a now well-known misnomer for feminists who have not forgotten what sex is, and, whilst trying to tear down the fences transgenderism erects around it, get in the way of the rollout of this new form of enclosure. With respect to her work, it is almost mind-boggling that Federici does not take into account this neoliberal “witch-hunting” that trans activists participate in.
If this terrifying trend exists as part of a broader trajectory—how far can it go?
The first volume in my Brief Complete Herstory argues that the most basic quality of life is sensitivity. Water has a miraculous capacity for storing information, for picking up the qualities of all it encounters. Even the smallest, single-celled organisms share with human beings the capacity to sense and respond to light, movement, and other environmental patterns and changes. Yet the more people are tethered to our phones and smart devices, our behaviour mined as “data” and sold to those who profit from predicting and manipulating our movements, the more numb and desensitised we become. I sometimes worry that as privatisation and dispossession advance in what Shoshana Zuboff calls the Age of Surveillance Capitalism(2019), this is the current frontier: our very sensitivity.
If we listen to spiritual teachers and visionaries throughout the ages, the seat of human sensitivity is the heart. Indigenous cultures have always recognised this, and herbalist Stephen Buhner taught me that this is not a metaphor: our bodies are surrounded by an electromagnetic field generated by the heart, and this field is five thousand times more powerful than that created by the brain. In The Secret Teachings of Plants(2004), Buhner writes that this means that the “[a]nalysis of information flow into the human body has shown that much of it impacts the heart first, flowing to the brain only after it has been perceived by the heart.”
If this is true, then in an era of desensitisation, the heart is the new frontier of enclosure. Can it be captured and domesticated? Or is there a freedom in the heart that simply cannot be enclosed?
One thing the long view of history shows us is that freedom does not exist in the hands of politicians who will deliver it after they tidy up the aftermath of the latest crisis, as they like to promise. I would also suggest it shows us that not only is the very idea of a patriarchal state incompatible with human freedom by definition—the tactic of negotiating with governments to have our “rights” and freedoms delivered has proven ineffective through centuries of trial and error. History shows us that governments are irredeemably deaf to the voices of women, and when they appear not to be, it is short-lived. Between the era of enclosure and the present day, women won the right to vote. Today, we may officially still have that right, but as womanhood is redefined beyond meaning, so has the relevance of the vote to our lives.
I am not saying that people should not lobby governments to promote the recognition of their rights, or that changes in the law have never benefited those who fought for them. I am also not suggesting that you can save the world by sitting under a tree and searching your heart. What I am saying is that in an era characterised by noise and desensitisation, there is no better time to tune out for long enough to discover whether you do carry within you a freedom immune to enclosure—because if you do, if this is part of our make up, surely there could be no better advisor in the decisions you, and we, need to make from here. There cannot be a better guide in the defence of freedom than freedom itself.
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crystalninjaphoenix · 4 years
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Flashbacks & Forewarnings
A JSE Fanfic
There are a lot of different scenes in this one, but don’t worry, it’s not too long. About medium length for my fics, I’d say. First of all, we get a peek into one of JJ’s memories. Then we check in on Dr. Laurens and Schneep, see how they’re doing since it’s been a while. And there’s some minor other stuff as well. I know it seems like it’s a day late, but that’s because I’m moving my fic-posting day to Monday. Hope you guys like this one!
You can find the other stories under the pw timeline tag!
Midafternoon sunlight was streaming through the window. Jameson leaned over to look out the window, glancing downward at the street a few stories below. Then he took his watch out of his pocket and checked the time. Almost four o’clock already? It was almost time to leave. JJ began tidying up, starting the process of going home and getting things ready for the next person to man the desk.
“Hmm? Oh, are you leaving, Mr. Jackson?” Claire, the intern, noticed his cleaning up. 
JJ nodded. He paused for a moment, grabbing his notebook and pen from the surface of the desk nearby. Do you know who’s on the next shift?
Claire paused for a moment to read the question; though she was trying to learn BSL, she wasn’t able to hold a conversation yet. “Uhh...I think it’s Mr. Haddock,” she said.
That was what he suspected. Do you think you can handle things until he arrives? JJ asked. He didn’t want to put too much pressure on Claire—she was only sixteen, after all.
“Yeah, no problem,” she said. “Uhh...I just have to monitor the phone, right?”
JJ nodded again. Accepting phone calls was the highest priority part of the job, and also the only thing he couldn’t do. Sending emails, making sure things were filed correctly, getting things from the supply room, all that was alright. But not the phone, for obvious reasons. Luckily, answering phone calls usually fell to the interns. Don’t be afraid to ask Mr. Patterson for help. It should only be ten minutes or so until Timothy arrives, but just to be sure.
“Thanks, Mr. Jackson. Oh! Uh, wait.” Claire made a simple gesture. Thank you.
JJ smiled encouragingly. You’re picking that up quick!
“Really?” Claire brightened up. “Thanks!” She repeated the sign.
JJ stood up, gathering his stuff. I’ll see you tomorrow, he signed, edging around the desk and heading towards the elevator.
“See you.”
Now heading on his way down, Jameson checked his bag, pulling out his phone. Huh...it seemed he had quite a few texts from Chase. He scrolled through the notifications, ending up at the first one, which read: Hey J, remember that thing the detectives called me about ths morning? About Jackie? The second one read: Did you get my last text? The third one read: JJ i really have to talk to you about this. Should i call Marv first? And so on with increasing urgency.
Reading through the messages, Jameson could feel his pulse rising, tense. He’d almost forgotten about the events of that morning. A long day at work was bound to do that. The question had always sort of been lingering in his mind, though. They’d found some sort of break in Jackie’s case. That had to be a good thing, right? A pessimistic part of him pointed out that a “break in the case” didn’t always mean they’d found the missing person. Sometimes it meant they’d found the missing person’s body—
Jameson stepped out of the elevator, forcibly leaving that thought behind. It wasn’t the case this time. It couldn’t be. Even though he hadn’t known Jackie as long as Chase or Marvin had, he still knew him. And he knew he wasn’t the type to go down easily. Quickly, he opened up his texts and started replying to Chase. Sorry I didn’t see any of this, I was at work :( Just got off the lift now. What happened?
Chase didn’t respond for a minute or so, long enough for JJ to walk out of the building and into the crisp October air. But his reply came soon. Oh I forgot about that! Im so sorry.
No no, it’s not your fault. But do tell what happened. What did the detectives say?
The little typing bubble stayed up for a long time. JJ had arrived at the close-by bus stop by the time Chase finally said what he was planning. Uh...actually, can i call you about this? I know you cant answer, and you can say no, i just think itll be easier to say instead of type.
That...wasn’t a good sign. Sure? Jameson typed slowly. I can whistle or something if you need a response.
Immediately, his phone started ringing. JJ almost instinctively declined the call, but caught himself just in time and picked it up. Chase’s voice came through easily from the other side. “JJ? You there, bro?” JJ whistled a yes. “Okay good. Okay. Uhh...this is weird, not being able to see you. But anyway. The thing this morning. The good news is that Schneep’s first doctor showed up! So now he’s gonna have one that doesn’t hate him.” Chase laughed, a bit nervously. “But, uh, I dunno if she’ll go back right away. Because, uh...that’s the bad news. She disappeared because she got kidnapped. By the same person who kidnapped Jackie. And kidnapped Schneep before that. And...” Chase sighed. “You were right. The person who did that is this Anti.” He paused. “Are...are you still there?”
Jameson took a moment to react. And when he did, he hung up. So...it was him.
God, what were the odds? What were the goddamn odds that the two of them would end up in the same place once again?! True, this city wasn’t too far away from the town they lived in before. But he’d always thought Aneirin was the type to stay in a town like that.
Well, at least he didn’t know Jameson was here...
——————
Jameson set down his book, checking the clock. It was a little past eight at night. Naturally, his eyes drifted over to the calendar afterwards. It was a month behind, still reading June 2007.
The front door slammed open downstairs. JJ jumped, then slid a bookmark into the pages of his novel and stood up, heading out the door and down the stairs.
“Hey, Jamie.” Aneirin smiled at him as he came downstairs. “Picked up dinner real quick. Sorry for being late.” He set a bag of McDonald’s down on the nearby coffee table and sighed, reaching upward to make sure his eye-patch was in place.
It’s fine, JJ signed. You’ve been busy lately.
“Yeah, uh...speaking of which.” Aneirin cleared his throat. “I have to go out again later tonight.”
JJ slumped a bit. You sure?
“Yeah...work shit, you know how it is.” Aneirin shook his head. “But hey, I mean, without my work, we wouldn’t have a house, so I’ll take it.”
That was true. Though...Jameson still wasn’t sure what exactly Aneirin did for work. It had odd hours, and Aneirin was hesitant to talk about it, in a way that JJ had initially shrugged off, but was now starting to seem a bit odd. He’d been living with him for a year now, wasn’t it weird that he didn’t know what his brother did? Alright, JJ signed hesitantly. But you owe me.
Aneirin smiled. “I’ll buy you another book.”
I have a lot of books, Aneirin. I haven’t even read them all.
“Something else, then. Whatever you want. Within reason, of course.” Chuckling, Aneirin headed through the doorway into the kitchen. Inside, JJ heard the sound of the coffeemaker—a new addition—starting up.
Frowning, Jameson poked his head into the kitchen doorway. He knocked on the wood, but Aneirin didsn’t turn around, focused on the coffeemaker. “Aan...?” JJ called.
“Hmm?” Aneirin looked over at him.
You aren’t supposed to be holding hot things.
“Jesus christ, I’m not a baby, Jamie.”
Just...remember what happened last time? Jameson pointed out at him. You burned yourself. I’m just worried.
“Yes, but now I know what not to do.” Aneirin shrugged, and turned around. “Besides, the mug will stay on the counter most of the time. So no need to overreact.”
JJ frowned, but left anyway, heading back upstairs to grab his book. He’d move downstairs to finish it, just in case Aneirin ended up needing help.
A couple hours passed. If the past was any indicator, Aneirin would be leaving around this time. JJ made a big show of yawning, and glancing over to the couch where Aneirin was sitting, eyes fixed to the TV but not really paying any attention to the show that was on. Standing up and grabbing his book, JJ signed, I think I’ll go to bed now.
Aneirin responded, “Alright.” without looking away from the screen. Go to bed was one of the sign phrases he could understand even out of the corner of his eyes.
JJ headed up the stairs, slowing down once he reached the second story. He walked over to his room, opening the door and closing it without going inside, instead just waiting in the hall. Immediately, he heard the television downstairs turn off. Footsteps crossed the living room and headed outside. The front door opened and shut. Jameson put his book on the floor next to his room and carefully crept down the stairs, sticking near the walls to avoid the creaks. He made a slight detour to grab his cell phone from the kitchen drawer where it was kept. Then once back in the living room, he crouched close to the ground and crawled over to the front window, peeking outside.
In the driveway, Aneirin was checking something in the trunk of his car. Well, technically, Aneirin always called it “our car,” but he was the only one who drove it. JJ didn’t know how to drive yet. And even if he did, he didn’t have a job and it was the middle of summer vacation, so where would he even need to go? Or at least, those were some of the reasons Aneirin listed when explaining why he wouldn’t teach Jameson how to drive. JJ watched as Aneirin closed the car trunk, and started walking down the block, as he always did when he went out working late at night.
After making sure Aneirin was far enough away, JJ rushed out the front door and over to the car. He opened the door to the back seat and climbed inside, squeezing into the space between the seats where you would normally put your feet. They kept a spare blanket in the car, and Jameson reached over and tried to cover himself, attempting to make it look like the blanket was naturally falling off the seat. Then he waited.
Just a few minutes later, the driver’s side door opened, and he heard Aneirin get inside. The car soon started, and headed out, with Aneirin having no idea Jameson was in the back seat.
He was tired of not knowing anything about where Aneirin went. And if he wouldn’t tell him, JJ would find out by himself.
They drove for a surprisingly long time, long enough for Jameson to start aching from being in this uncomfortable twisted position. He couldn’t exactly tell where they were going from his hiding spot, but he didn’t hear anything unusual, apart from the occasional strange commercial on the radio channel Aneirin was listening to. But of course, the car eventually stopped, and Aneirin climbed out. The locks thunked shut after he left.
Jameson waited a few minutes before sitting up and pushing the blanket aside. Looking out the car windows, he blinked in surprise. This...wasn’t what he was expecting. Instead of being parked outside some building on the outskirts of town, the car was pulled into a small gap in between two large, looming buildings. There was no light coming from them, and only the faint, watery street lamp beams to illuminate anything. Why would Aneirin have driven here...?
After a moment’s hesitation, Jameson unlocked the car door and stepped out. He walked out onto the street, finding it lined with similar tall, wide buildings. Where was this place? Some sort of storage? Why wasn’t anything lit up? JJ shivered, reaching into his pocket to double-check that his cell phone was there. He should find Aneirin, make sure that he was okay.
He looked left down the street, saw nothing, and looked right. There was a group of three people standing beneath one of the weak street lights. With them being the only people in sight, JJ headed in their direction. Eventually, he started picking up voices.
“—kid’s been a runner for three years, cut him some slack.” An unfamiliar female voice.
“No one gets slack at all.” An unfamiliar male voice. “Not even us, Kelly.”
“Still, he does his job.”
“Yeah, that’s right.” And that...that was Aneirin’s voice. Though strangely, his accent, a bit Irish from the years he’d spent being a foster kid in that country, had thickened. “Just give me the green.”
Jameson ducked around a corner of a building, peering out at the group of three. A man, a woman, and Aneirin. He watched as Aneirin handed over a backpack, and the man handed him a case. What was this? It seemed...shady. Aneirin couldn’t really be involved in something like this, right? 
The woman leaned closer to Aneirin, lowering her voice so it couldn’t be heard from where Jameson was watching. But judging from the way Aneirin tensed, whatever she was saying wasn’t good news. Aneirin responded in an equally low tone, and the man suddenly laughed. “You?! Tiny thing like you? Obvious blind spot and likely to collapse at any time? Nah, lad, we’ll go with the professionals.”
That was exactly the wrong thing to say. Aneirin bristled, and even from here Jameson could see the anger in his expression. “Easy there,” the woman said, her tone patronizing. “You wouldn’t want to fall down, would you?”
Aneirin lunged at her, and a scream rang out through the empty street. The woman stumbled back, turning enough so that Jameson could see the way her front was stained red. “You little—!” The man grabbed Aneirin by his jacket, and JJ couldn’t help but cry out.
He didn’t think it would be audible to the group, but both the man and Aneirin looked over toward him. JJ’s eyes widened, and he ducked behind the building. “Oh, you brought a friend, didn’t you, you little bastard?!” The man yelled. “Looks like you, too! Family field trip, is it?”
“Hey! Back off!” Aneirin snarled. It would’ve been intimidating, if not for the nervous crack in the middle.
“Oh no, I don’t think so!”
Jameson heard footsteps running towards him, and instantly took off, running down the gap between the buildings. But the man was much faster, and the footsteps grew louder. Jameson glanced over his shoulder, and the man was just a few feet away. He gasped, and pushed himself farther, turning onto another street, then running into another gap in an attempt to shake the man off.
“Don’t you run, you—AAARGK!”
The strange noise wasn’t enough to stop JJ from running. He continued to weave around the gaps in the buildings, until he arrived back at the one the car was parked in. He tore open the backseat door and practically threw himself inside, locking it behind him. He fell onto the floor of the car and stayed there, sitting, knees pulled to his chest and his heart pounding in his throat. His eyes were fixed on staring through the dirty glass of the car window.
A figure appeared there. Jameson made a strangled sort of sound, backing up. The figure knocked on the glass, then a flashlight turned on, shining into the car. Jameson blinked in the light, then squinted through it, recognizing Aneirin as the one holding the flashlight.
Aneirin pointed towards the driver’s side door, and disappeared, rounding around the car. The locks thunked, and Aneirin opened the door and climbed inside. “Jamie?” he called.
Jameson didn’t relax, but leaned forward, into the spot between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat.
“Oh my god!” Aneirin grabbed JJ’s head, one hand on either side, and pulled him even closer. “What were you thinking?! What are you even doing here?! Did you follow me? Why the fuck would you do that?! There’s a reason I don’t tell you what I do!”
Jameson was stunned into silence for a moment. He let Aneirin continue on in a similar vein for a while, then slowly signed, I was just curious.
“Curious?! I—” Aneirin leaned back, burying his face in his hands and taking a few deep breaths. “You can’t...do stuff like that, Jamie,” he said. 
...I’m sorry, JJ signed hesitantly.
“It’s...fine, Jamie, just...just don’t do that again.” Aneirin sighed, looking out the windshield. “Who knows what could’ve happened to you?”
Jameson fell silent for a moment, then awkwardly climbed into the passenger seat, settling into it. What happened to the man? And the woman?
“They’re...dead,” Aneirin said slowly.
Did you kill them? Jameson asked, eyes wide and disbelieving.
“...yes,” Aneirin’s voice was barely audible.
Why?!
Aneirin opened the car door and leaned over outside, picking up something on the ground. He pulled the case from earlier into the car and threw it into the backseat. “Because we need money to live and shit, Jamie, that’s why. Someone offers you a lot, and all you need to do is...go back on your word, then you take it.”
JJ shook his head silently, shocked. Aneirin...have you done this before?
Aneirin shifted in his seat. “What, go to a regular drop-off then walk away with two people dead? No.”
Silence fell. Jameson dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
“What’re you doing?” Aneirin said, sitting up straight.
Calling 999, Jameson answered.
“Wh—no! You can’t do that!” Aneirin grabbed Jameson’s wrist, pulling it, and the phone he was holding, away. “Look, I know it looks bad, but there’s absolutely nothing to connect us to this. See? I’m wearing gloves, no fingerprints.”
Jameson stared at him, absolutely stunned. We can’t just let— he started to sign one-handedly.
“No, we have to. Jameson, if the police hear about this, they’re going to judge my place an unfit home, and me an unfit guardian, and they’re going to put you back in the system.” Aneirin tightened his grip on Jameson’s wrist. “I-I can’t let that happen! I can’t let you go back there! Who knows what’ll happen?!”
Jameson managed to pull his wrist away from Aneirin’s grip. They’re not going to put a seventeen-year-old into the foster system. I’m practically an adult.
“As someone who was recently seventeen, that’s debatable. And legally, you’re still a child. It doesn’t matter how close to eighteen you are, until your actual birthday, they’re not gonna let you go.” There was a strong bitter note in Aneirin’s voice. “I can’t...I’ve only had you back for a year, Jamie. After ten fucking years of wondering what happened to you. Please don’t...don’t leave.”
Jameson hesitated. Aneirin’s eyes were shining with a desperate light that could be seen even in the shadows the car was hiding in. And he had to admit, he didn’t want to leave his brother, either. He sighed gently, and put his cell phone down on the dashboard of the car. Alright, fine.
Aneirin practically wilted with relief. “Thank you so much, Jamie.” He twisted in his seat, starting the car. “I promise you won’t regret it.”
The car headed out, with Jameson and Aneirin sitting in silence. Jameson stared out the window, watching as they gradually traveled to a more well-lit part of the town. He expected them to head home. But instead, Aneirin headed to the town center, and parked outside a lit-up building. “Look,” he said, glancing in JJ’s direction. “I’m sorry about...the yelling, earlier. I was just stressed and worried. I’m sorry if I made you feel like I was angry with you.”
Jameson exhaled slowly. It’s okay, Aneirin.
“I’ll make it up to you,” Aneirin promised. “Look.” He nodded at the building they were parked outside.
Wait...JJ’s eyes widened. We’re going to Tompson’s?
“Yep.” Aneirin smiled. “Ice cream sounds good after tonight. Luckily they’re open late. You can get whatever you want, whatever size.”
Really? Anything? JJ asked doubtfully. Tompson’s was known for being relatively expensive, but also delicious. They usually saved it for special occasions.
“Of course. It’s on me.”
JJ looked back out the window. He started nodding, slowly at first, then faster. Well, alright then. Can’t do that in the car.
Aneirin laughed. “Course not. Hey, not even gonna say thank you?”
Jameson exhaled softly, and rolled his eyes. Aneirin was always like this. “Thhnk yu-yuh. Annn.” He could’ve signed it, but if Aneirin wanted that, he would’ve said ‘sign.’
“You’re welcome,” Aneirin smiled. “Now let’s go.”
The rest of the night was rather nice. Jameson almost forgot what had happened earlier. Almost. It turns out, these events would not be forgotten easily.
——————
...Jameson was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of his text alert going off. Jameson?? Are you oaky?? Whyd you hang up? Chase asked. It was quickly followed by a *okay
I’m fine, Chase, JJ replied. I just had to think for a moment.
Are you actually fine or just saying that?
Jameson thought hard about this question. I won’t lie. I’m a little...He paused, wanting to type out ‘scared,’ but that might be a bit too far. That was probably something he should talk over with his therapist on Monday; now was not the time to unload everything. ...shaken, hearing about this. But I’ll be okay, I promise.
Alright, if your sure, Chase said. But if you ever need anyone, Im right here.
Thank you, Chase.
The city bus finally pulled up to the station, and JJ hopped aboard, pressing his bus pass to the card reader before taking a seat. He stared out the window as the bus started rolling again. He couldn’t help but glance behind him, even knowing that nobody would be there.
——————
A few days passed, and Monday morning dawned cold and rainy. Dr. Laurens opened her umbrella as soon as she got off the bus, holding it with her unbroken arm. She sighed quietly. Well, looked like she had to walk to work today. And for a while, actually, until her arm was healed enough for her to drive again. She’d better get used to it.
A few drizzly moments later, Laurens stepped inside the main doors of Silver Hills. Awkwardly closing her umbrella, she walked up to the front desk. “Hi, I need to see Dr. Newson, is she in?”
The orderly at the desk looked up, and her eyes widened. “Oh my god, Rya?!”
“Hey, Theresa,” Laurens said, smiling tiredly. “Is Newson in?”
“Yes, I-I can page her—mother of god, what happened to you?” Theresa asked as she started messing with her pager. “You disappeared! Are you alright?”
‘Alright’? Well, that was debatable. The broken arm was not ‘alright,’ and Laurens was pretty sure there was a lot else that would not fit into ‘alright.’ But she’d waited this long. She’d spent time in the hospital, then practically begged to go home so she could get used to being on her own, without having to worry about threats to her life. But still, she couldn’t stop thinking about getting back to work. She knew Newson had taken over Schneep’s case, and she knew Newson hated him. How could she just stand by and leave this situation alone? So, if by ‘alright’ you meant ‘functional and willing to help others,’ then yes, she was alright. “I’m fine, thanks,” Laurens said. “Should I just wait for Newson here?”
“Uh...yeah, that would be great.”
Laurens took a seat in the reception area, looking around. It seemed a bit surreal to be back here after...everything with Anti and Jackie. Like she was last here years ago, instead of just a few months.
About five minutes later, footsteps came down the hall, and Laurens stood up as Newson appeared. Newson’s eyes immediately locked onto her, and she froze. “Wh—Rya?”
“Yes, it’s me,” Laurens stated.
Newson gaped at her, then rushed over to stand in front of her. “You’re okay! Oh my god, I—we were so worried!”
“Really?” Laurens asked, not bothering to hide the surprise in her voice. “I mean...from what I remembered, you were probably going to fire me—”
“No! I mean—I—” Newson stammered. “I didn’t want you to—look, I may have made a bit of a rushed judgement that day, and I...would hate for that to be the last thing I ever said to you. You truly are great at your job, a-and a great person as well. And I’m not going to fire you.”
“Great,” Laurens nodded. “In that case, can I take my patient back please?”
“Wh—” Newson seemed taken aback by the question stated so clearly. “I...mean...”
“Because I don’t believe that your methods work well with him,” Laurens said, voice and expression deadpan. “Unless something has changed in the two months I’ve been gone.”
“I...” Newson cleared her throat, collecting herself. “Of course you can take the case again. Do understand that I—hello, can I help you?”
Laurens turned around. A tall woman in a black raincoat had just entered the reception area, carrying a briefcase. “Actually, yes,” the woman said. “I’m looking for Dr. Jennifer Newson.”
“That would be me,” Newson said, patting down her coat and smiling cordially. “Do you need something?”
“Ah. My name is Aja Bakshi, I am from Henson & Singh At Law.” Bakshi set her briefcase on the reception desk, opening it up and slapping a piece of paper covered in type down on the surface. “My client wishes to sue you for malpractice, negligence, and abuse of power with your position. This is the notice, details are included on it, as well as my phone number.”
Newson was left speechless. She just stared at Bakshi, absolutely shocked, her wide-eyed gaping expression somewhat reminiscent of a fish. Laurens had to bite back a smile as the thought occurred to her. “Uh...” Newson finally said. “Who...who’s suing me?”
“Details are on the notice, Dr. Newson,” Bakshi said calmly. “We have scheduled a court hearing for the 23rd. We expect to see you there.” And with that, Bakshi snapped the briefcase closed, and turned on her heel and left, door swinging closed behind her.
“Uh...Dr. Newson, are you alright?” Theresa asked.
Newson didn’t answer, instead picking up the paper and scanning it over. “Maher...?” she muttered. “I know that name...”
“Well, I’ll leave you to that,” Dr. Laurens said. “For now, I’d like to see my patient. But I seem to have lost my keycard.”
Newson looked up sharply. “Uh...right. I’ll call Oliver Hopkins, he can take you to the room. Can you get a coat on with your arm like that? Dress code, and all. We have some in—”
“In the back room, I know,” Laurens said. “I’ll meet Oliver there, then.”
About ten minutes later, Laurens had made her way to the back room and pulled on a white coat over her cast before replacing her arm in her sling.
“...Doc?”
Laurens glanced over, watching as Oliver rounded the corner. She smiled. “Hello, Oliver. Your phone is poking out of your pocket, by the way. Be careful.”
Oliver laughed, and wiped his eyes. “Holy shit, you’re okay. I mean, your arm, but. You know.”
“I do know, thank you,” Laurens chuckled. She then sighed. “Anyway, I wanted to check on Schneep. I don’t think I’ll be able to start a session until tomorrow, after I get all the stuff sorted out for coming back, but I...just want to see if he’s alright.”
Oliver winced. “That’s a...that’s a good idea.”
Listening to his tone, Laurens was suddenly shot through with worry. Part of her had wondered if her concern was a bit strange, especially for a therapist-patient relationship, but that one sentence was proof she was justified. “Alright...let’s go down to his room, then.” Laurens turned and started down the hall.
“Uh, Doc?” Oliver called. “He’s not in his room. He’s in the quiet room.”
Laurens stopped, turning around to look at him. “...well,” she said. “Let’s get him out of there, then.”
“Yeah, uh. Good idea,” Oliver muttered. “I should probably tell you that he’s been in there a couple times, and he...doesn’t react well to it.”
“Of course he doesn’t,” Laurens muttered, already heading down the hall in the other direction. Honestly, they should just call the room what it actually was: solitary. She supposed it wasn’t a bad idea in principle; sometimes the more hostile patients needed a place to cool down where they couldn’t hurt anyone or themselves. But in situations like this, locking someone in a room alone did more harm than good. Especially now that she knew what had actually happened to Schneep in the nine months he disappeared.
The door to the quiet room looked identical to all the other rooms in the older wing of the hospital, with the only exception being that it didn’t have a room number. But once Oliver opened the door, it became clear what made this room so different. It was the only place in the entire building that had its walls padded, and there was no furniture inside except for a bedframe with a mattress but nothing else. Laurens stepped into the room, looking around. She quickly spotted the figure curled up on the floor in the corner. “Schneep?” She called softly.
Schneep had his arms wrapped around his head, but upon hearing his name, he flinched and moved them enough to see out at her.
“Hey, it’s me,” Laurens said, keeping her voice friendly. “Remember me?”
“Hm.” The small sound wasn’t a confirmation or a denial. Schneep’s eyes darted towards the doorway, with Oliver standing in it.
Laurens looked back towards the doorway as well. Get out of sight, she mouthed. Oliver looked hesitant, but stepped to the side, out of view. Laurens looked back towards Schneep, taking a few steps forward. “Schneep, I need you to answer me. Do you remember me?”
“...Jackie?” Schneep said, his voice hoarse.
“No, I’m not Jackie,” Laurens said. She took a few more steps forward, then got down to kneel on the floor. “You’re not with Jackie right now. You’re in the hospital, remember?”
This seemed to confused Schneep for a bit, but he loosened up, uncovering his head as he realized Laurens wasn’t a threat. “Hospital...” he muttered. “Which one?”
“Silver Hills,” Laurens said.
A short pause. “You are...not lying?” Immediately after asking the question, Schneep laughed. “You would say you are not, either way.”
“I wouldn’t lie about where you are, Schneep,” Laurens said quietly. “I wouldn’t trick you like that.” She paused for a moment, gauging Schneep’s reaction. “Do you need anything?”
“Do I...?” The question threw him off for a bit. “I...I do not want to be here. No, no. Not here.”
“Alright, then let’s go.” Laurens held out her hand, palm-up. Schneep flinched away for a moment, but then reached out and grabbed it. “We’re going to stand up now, okay?”
Schneep nodded, and Laurens unfolded herself from her kneeling position, awkwardly doing her best to stand up without using her arms. After a few moments of trying, she succeeded, and helped pull Schneep to his feet. He immediately stumbled, leaning against her. Laurens gasped slightly, noting the cloudy look in Schneep’s eyes and the way he was shaking a bit. There was no reason for him to be this heavily sedated. “How’re you feeling?” Laurens asked.
“Hmm...cotton,” Schneep said.
“I see. Can you walk?”
“I...I think so, yes.” Despite this assertion, when Laurens started to walk, Schneep only stumbled and almost fell.
“Whoa, take it easy,” Laurens said. “I’m going to call someone who can help, alright?”
“Al...yes.”
Laurens looked toward the doorway. Oliver had poked his head into view, making eye contact with her. She nodded, and he came into the room, silently lifting Schneep into a carrying position. Schneep didn’t protest. “We’re going back to your room, Schneep,” Laurens said. “Okay?”
Schneep paused. Then: “You are the doctor.”
“Yes, I am a doctor. So are you.”
“I know. I mean, you are...you stopped coming,” Schneep mumbled.
Laurens nodded. “Yes, but I didn’t want to. I would’ve kept coming if I could. But now I’m back.”
“Very good. Good that you are alright.” Schneep sighed. “Can we please leave here?”
“Yes, we’re leaving right now,” Laurens said. She started heading to the door, glancing back to make sure Oliver and Schneep were following her. They were.
She sighed gently. This was Newson’s fault, she knew it. But now, hopefully, they wouldn’t have to struggle with that for much longer.
—————— 
“Siri, what does GCS stand for?”
Jackie suddenly snapped to attention, almost hitting his head on the corner of the table. God, he hadn’t even heard Anti come into the room; he must’ve been buried deep in a daydream. Though, honestly, he couldn’t blame himself for that. It was much preferable to be in a daydream world than reality right now. In a daydream, he was able to forget about the cotton taste of the gag in his mouth, and the awkward angle his arms were handcuffed behind his back and around a table leg.
“Okay, I found this on the web,” said the robotic voice of Siri.
Anti was lounging on one of the apartment’s armchairs, dressed in an outfit that...wasn’t exactly his usual style. Jackie was oddly reminded of the way Chase dressed. Anti’s green glass eye had been replaced with a blue one, but he still had the old watch around his neck. “Three to five is good, then,” he muttered to himself. Anti glanced up, noticing Jackie staring at him. “Expecting something, hoodie man?”
Jackie flinched, and looked away, fixing his eyes on a water stain on the wall. He heard the sound of Anti shifting position, but didn’t look back.
Thwack!
A silver blade embedded itself in the wall inches from Jackie’s nose. Jackie cried out, flinging himself backwards and hitting his head against the table leg. Anti laughed. “God, you look like you just had a heart attack!” He paused. “Actually...Hey Siri, what do I do if someone has a heart attack?”
“Okay, I found this on the web.”
Jackie squeezed his eyes shut, trying to take deep, calm breaths. It was difficult, to say the least. Part of him wanted to shout at Anti, ask him what he wanted with him. The rest of him knew that would be a terrible idea, even if he could speak.
This wouldn’t last forever, would it? Something had to change. Or at least, that’s what he told himself.
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Where Have They Gone Now: Axl Rose
Born William Bailey originally in Lafayette, Indiana in 1962. His mother was still in high school when she had him, while his juvenile delinquent father was 20 years old. They would divorce when he was two years old, which led his father William Rose abducting him and reportedly molesting the young boy. His mother remarried to a man named Steven Bailey, who was not much better than his birth father. Axl and his siblings were beaten on a regular basis and once again reportedly molested as well. Led by his stepfather, the Rose household was very strict religiously growing up in the Pentecostal faith. He was required to attend church 7 to 8 times a week, and even taught Sunday school on occasion. This seems to be in stark contrast to the Axl Rose we will see later. Axl would comment on his upbringing. “We'd have televisions one week, then my stepdad would throw them out because they were Satanic. I wasn't allowed to listen to music. Women were evil. Everything was evil." Music became a source of solace from an early age as he began singing in the church choir at the age of five. Rose began as a natural baritone, but decided to change his pitch consistently during practice just to anger the teacher. The future Guns N’ Roses lead singer also began to study piano at Jefferson High School, as well as participating in high school musicals. At the age of 17, Axl was going through some insurance papers when he discovered the existence of his biological father. At that time, he unofficially adopted his real father‘s last name of Rose, but told everyone he would not share a first name with him only referring to himself as W. Rose. After this discovery, the young man began to completely act out leading to at least 20 misdemeanor arrests from public intoxication to assault. Lafayette police were trying to charge him as a habitual criminal when he moved to LA in 1982 at the age of 20.
Almost immediately upon arrival, Rose joined the band Rapidfire with guitarist Kevin Lawrence. He had met him just outside the Troubadour in West Hollywood. They recorded a five song demo, but due to legal actions was not released until 2014. The EP was entitled Ready To Rumble. His next band included childhood friend and guitarist Izzy Stradlin, which they named Hollywood Rose. They recorded a demo featuring songs like “Shadow of Your Love,” “Anything Goes,” and “Reckless Life.” These songs would appear on various releases throughout the years including 2004’s, The Roots of Guns N’ Roses. The band would break up just after the hiring of Slash and Steven Adler. The biggest reason for this was that Rose decided to join LA Guns led by guitarist Tracii Guns. As he struggled for musical success, the young Axl continued to work to make any sort of money including night manager of Tower Records and even smoking cigarettes for a scientific study at UCLA with Izzy Stradlin. By 1985, Rose had restarted Hollywood Rose, so this band and LA Guns could merge their members. Guns N’ Roses was finally born, but almost immediately Tracii Guns and two other members left the band. Essentially, Guns N’ Roses became an expanded version of Hollywood Rose rather than any connection to LA Guns. They simply liked the name, so they kept it. Yet, there is absolutely no Guns in the band.
One thing to understand about Rose and his prima donna behavior that eventually led to the disintegration of the band was that every band in Los Angeles wanted him to be their lead singer in the mid-1980s. Axl had a certain buzz about the energy and intensity he brought every night on stage that could not be replicated. He represented the shining star of the Sunset Strip at that time; he could pick any group that was not signed to a record contract. The band would sign with Geffen Records in 1986, but one thing to note was that right before he changed his name officially to W. Axl Rose. The name originated when he was playing in a band called the Axls, so one of his bandmates suggested that he change his name to Axl. Rose thought it was a cool idea and never changed it. As the band began their sudden rise to the top of the music world, people began to realize that Rose was much different than any other singer before him. He began to single people out in the crowd, who were causing problems after two people died at the Monsters of Rock Festival in 1988. Most times previously singers would tell roadies to take care of it without publicly calling out anyone in the crowd. If you listen to their live compilation album, there are a couple of tracks where you can hear him actually doing this. Axl would say this in a 1992 interview. “Most performers would go to a security person in their organization, and it would just be done very quietly. I'll confront the person, stop the song: 'Guess what: You wasted your money, you get to leave.'" Upon the release of their EP Lies, Rose ran into quite a bit of controversy for his use of racial and homophobic slurs in the song, “One in a Million.” His explanation and defense of the use of the terms at the time was he meant it to be a joke about people that are a pain in your ass in your life. If that had occurred in our present times, he would have been canceled immediately. In 1992, the singer tried to explain the use of the lyrics once again relating some personal experiences he had with blacks and gays that had formed this negative connotation in his mind. For all the controversy, the group was dropped from a 1992 AIDS benefit show. By 1989, most rock writers had begun to see him as one of the top frontmen in rock and roll at the time. Rolling Stone had such respect for him as a singer that they allowed him to use his personal photographer for their story on him, instead of someone on their staff. During the recording of Use Your Illusion, Rose began to impose his will upon the band in a variety of ways. He forced the band to accept his friend Dizzy Reed as a keyboardist. Axl then wanted to fire their longtime manager Alan Nevin, which the band had to go along with because the singer threatened to not perform on the album if he was allowed to stay.
The Use Your Illusion tour began in May 1991 highlighted by concerts that started hours late, rants of his on stage, and even a riot in St. Louis. He tried to jump into the crowd during that show to take away a fan’s video camera, so after he got back on stage Rose quit the concert. Upon seeing an empty stage, the 25,000 people there started a riot. The damage bill came out to be just around $200,000. The friendships between the band members and Rose were gradually imploding throughout the tour. At one point, Axl demanded and received legal ownership of the Guns N’ Roses brand name. He had supposedly issued an ultimatum either give me legal ownership or I will not perform. Axl would later deny these reports saying the contract would not have been legally binding if he had done such a thing. Who knows what the truth is when it comes to this band sometimes? The singer helped to start another riot in Montreal at a concert co-headlined by Metallica. The heavy metal band had their concert cut short because pyrotechnics severely burned lead singer James Hetfield. Once again, Rose was nowhere near the venue to go on early coming on stage very late. The group needed to do an extensive set to make up for the short one by Metallica, but Rose cut his set short claiming voice problems. Once again, the fans rioted leading to some extensive fines directed towards the singer by Canadian authorities.
In 1994, the band released the covers album The Spaghetti Incident, which included a hidden track originally written by Charles Manson. Axl had intended the song to be a message to his ex-girlfriend Stephanie Seymour. The controversy that followed this song meant that the band needed to donate money for the son of one of the victims of those murders. In 1994, Rose also decided to terminate guitarist Gilby Clarke as a member of the band without consulting any of the other members. This decision was made so that Axl could bring in the controversial guitar replacement, Paul Tobias, which eventually led to Slash leaving the band. By 1997, the only original member of Guns N’ Roses was one Axl Rose. He had started to fade from any public view becoming essentially a rock and roll hermit. The media had dubbed him either Rock and Roll’s Greatest Recluse or the Howard Hughes of Rock and Roll. By the late 1990’s, rumors began to spread that Rose was forming a new lineup of Guns N’ Roses for an album entitled Chinese Democracy.
The absolute insanity that was Chinese Democracy took place from 2001 to 2011. The album would be officially released in 2008, but not after several starts and stops over and over again. A tour of the new album had been scheduled from 2001 to 2002, but almost all of the shows were either cut short or canceled because Rose was either a no-show or would quit very quickly. Finally, in 2006 and 2007, he actually toured as Guns N’ Roses promising new music. The concert offered very little in Chinese Democracy, but only concentrated on their hit songs. Around this time, he had changed his hair into cornrows, which got a laugh from music fans everywhere. One should note that Izzy Stradlin actually made a few guest appearances during that tour. Fans had hoped that a reunion collaboration might occur, but there was no such luck. Upon the release of Chinese Democracy, the singer did everything he could to sabotage any possible success the album might have overall. He refused to promote the album, would not return phone calls, or give interviews for three months after the release of the album. By the time he actually did say something about the album, the reclusive Rose complained that Interscope Records did not help them very much in promoting the album. In 2009, Axl and GNR went on a 2 1/2 year long tour, which included a headlining appearance at Rock in Rio 4. Around that time, he was sued by former band manager Irving Azhoff for $1.87 million. Of course, Axl countersued him claiming that he was forced to do a reunion tour because Azhoff had completely mismanaged the release, promotion, and tour of Chinese Democracy. In 2010, he sued Activision for their game Guitar Hero. Axl claimed that he had an oral agreement with the company that if “Welcome to the Jungle” was allowed on the game, then Slash nor any Velvet Revolver would not be included in any release of it. Not only was Slash’s music included in the game, but he ended up on the cover. A judge threw out the lawsuit in 2013 saying that Rose could not prove the oral agreement and the statute of limitations had run out anyway. In 2012, the Guns N’ Roses singer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but he declined to appear. In an open letter published on the Internet, Rose stated that due to the tensions between his former bandmates, he did not want to be where he was not wanted or respected. Yet, slowly but surely Guns N’ Roses began to tour with some of the original members culminating with the inclusion of Slash in 2016.
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littleeyesofpallas · 4 years
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Batman shenanigans...
So, I’m the type of would-be writer that gets easily bogged down in plotting and planning and researching minutia more than writing actual moment to moment scenes and dialog, and the rabbit hole I’ve found myself tumbling down most recently has been this…
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I wanted to rewrite Jason’s Red Hood origin story; from his death and resurrection, up until his big return.  Under the Hood has a great finale and a memorable confrontation scene between Jason and Bruce, but in all honesty, the plot surrounding it is pretty blase.  And granted, that’s mostly because there were no real long term plans for Jason as Red Hood beyond the big twist, so the initial story wasn’t really written with any solid themes, overarching direction, or character integrity in mind.  But then on top of that things attempting to elaborate on the intervening years (Lost Days, and that weird thing they did in the first Red Hood & The Outlaws) also just aren’t especially well handled.  They tend to be narrow in scope, isolated within continuity, and not especially thematically substantive.
But here we are, at a point in Jason’s character and publication history, where I think there’s just a lot that can be done with revisiting the idea of his Red Hood debut, as well as the events leading up to it, that could better incorporate his character’s themes and personal history.  Something that until somewhat recently had all just felt a little too fresh, still, to really warrant any kind of rewrite and retcon.
The first big question I had to ask myself was, “How long was Jason dead/gone?” because to have gone from a somewhat under accomplished Robin to a credible threat to Batman himself, needs time, even with remarkable circumstances surrounding his training.  So, I needed to figure out how long I really needed/had available to work with for his training, as well as what that training would entail; and part of figuring that out also meant taking stock of all the Batfam events Jason missed while gone.  Basically, I had to figure out what Batfam events I wanted to keep in my new continuity, and draw up a timeline to keep track of them all…
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So, taking a cue from the old Superman & Batman: Generations elseworlds comic —in which John Byrne re-envisions the World’s Finest’s superhero careers as if they had debuted in the year of their first issues, and aged in sync with the real world ever since— I anchored my timeline around Jason’s death in 1988 and just started working out fixed measurements from there…
For example, When Jason becomes Robin, Dick had recently retired the costume and gone to college, putting something of a finite age range on Dick, which helps orient his and Jason’s relative ages, and in turn lets me pinpoint their years of birth, and by proxy nail down Bruce’s age if we consider he adopts Dick in Year Two as Batman.  And going off Batman: Year One’s premise of Bruce starting his vigilante career at age 25, it gives me a solid grasp of his age as well.
One problem of course came from the early days of The Dynamic Duo; namely Robin’s time between the ages of 8 and ~17(leaving for college) which lasted the awkward 40-odd years of publication.  My solution was to scale the years in publication to his two confirmable ages at the time of The Flying Graysons’ deaths(8yo) and his leave for college(age 17); resulting in a ratio of 1 in-world year:~4.44 publication years.
Applying this to the years before 1980(when Dick leaves for college) in turn pinpoints Babs’ debut as Batgirl, which ironically ends up scaling down to the same year Jason first appears as part of The Flying Todds. (I kept the date of his appearance, but opted to keep his later origin story)
Anyway, while this process was fun and all (and hopefully leads to something a little more productive in the future) the bottom line here is that I just wanted to share the timeline I’ve constructed, because it paints a somewhat jarring picture of everyone’s ages, relative to one another and at the time of certain major events.
Now!  Enjoy this harrowing examination of the relative ages of all your favorite Batfam characters, if they didn’t all just hover around the ages of 18-30!
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1970: YEAR ONE 
Bruce Wayne is 25 - becomes Batman (parents died 17y ago)
Barbara Gordon is 15 (just entering High school
Jean-Paul Valley is 1
In 1 year…
8yo Dick Grayson will watch his parents will die
1976: BATMAN & ROBIN - THE DYNAMIC DUO
Bruce is 31, Barbara is 21 (graduating with her Bachelors)
Dick is 13 - becomes Robin
Helena Bertinelli is 8 - watches her parents die
1979: BATGIRL
Bruce is 34, Dick is 16 (has been Robin for 3 years)
Babs is 24 - becomes Batgirl
already completed a PhD in Library Science
Jason Todd is 8 - watches parents die
in 1 year…
35yo Bruce will have been Batman for 10 years
17yo Dick will be shot, fake death, & go to college
join the New Teen Titans(?)
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1983:  JUST ANOTHER KID ON CRIME ALLEY
Bruce is 38, Dick is 20, Babs is 28
Jason is 12 - becomes the 2nd Robin 
Stephanie Brown & Cassandra Cain are both 1yo
In 1 year…
21yo Dick becomes Nightwing
1988: DEATH IN THE FAMILY & KILLING JOKE
Bruce is 43, Dick is 25
Jason is 17 - murdered
Babs is 33 - shot and paralyzed
Lucas Fox is born
In 1 year…
Babs becomes Oracle
21yo Helena becomes Huntress
12yo Kate Kane watches her mother and sister die
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1990: A LONELY PLACE OF DYING
Bruce is 45, Dick is 27, Babs is 35
Tim Drake is 13yo - becomes the 3rd Robin
Tim Drake & Kate Kane are the same age
Cassandra Cain is 8yo -  just killed her first man
1992: KNIGHT FALL
Bruce is 47, Dick is 29, Babs is 37, Tim & Kate are 15
Stephanie Brown is 10 - becomes Spoiler
Jean-Paul Valley is 23 - becomes Azrael
Renee Montoya is 21 - joins GCPD, partnered with Harvey Bullock
In 1 year…
48yo Bruce will have back broken by Bane
24yo Jean-Paul will become Batman
1995: LOST DAYS
Bruce is 50, Dick is 32, Helena is 27, Kate is 18, Cass is 13
Babs is 40 - forms Birds of Prey
Tim is 18 - retires as Robin, goes to college
based on Unmasked happening while Tim is in high school, but pushing to senior year to accommodate Spoiler’s age
Steph is 13 - becomes the 4th Robin
keeping War Games in ‘04, Steph gets more time as Robin
Calvin Rose is 8 - locked in kennel by his father
In 1 year…
Jason will rise from the dead (with the body of a 17yo)
33yo Dick will relocate to Bludhaven
51 yo Bruce and ??yo Talia will conceive Damian
1999: NO MAN’S LAND
Bruce is 54, Dick is 36, Babs is 44, Jason is “20,” Kate is 22
Tim is 22 - returns as Robin
Steph is 17 - pregnant
Helena is 31, Cass is 17 - sequence of Batgirls
Duke Thomas and Harper Row are 1 
Steph being 10 when she starts as Spoiler is also a little hard to believe, I know.  And her having a thing with Tim 5 years her senior is pretty squicky. (It’s not a big age gap for adults, but the fact that Tim would be 20 when she’s 15 is pretty, bleugh!)
But the problem is that I anchored her to her teen pregnancy in 1999, and a pregnancy scare at 18 or 19 doesn’t really feel like a big deal, (I mean, it is as a personal thing, but not so much as a publication thing*, if that makes sense?) which made 17 about as old as I could make her at that time.
*Pregnant at 18 or 19 is just, “wow, you’re young, and this was probably a bad idea, and you’re not ready… but you’re also a legal consenting adult and this isn’t some kind of cause for moral panic, just kinda trashy…” territory, and not like a big controversial, 90s-dark-age, comic-selling gimmick, you know?
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2001: JOKER’S LAST LAUGH
Joker dies of cancer (not featured on this timeline)
2003: UNDER THE RED HOOD, & WAR GAMES
Bruce is 58, Dick is 40, Babs is 48, Tim is 26
Helena is 35, Steph & Cass are 21
Jason is “24″ - returns in Hush plot
Jean-Paul is 34 - “dies”
Ra’s al Ghul killed by Nyssa ah Ghul (not featured on this timeline)
In 1 year…
22yo Steph will be “murdered”
25yo Jason will return as Red Hood
2006: ROBIN: WANTED
Cass is 24 - begins long process of beating up her family
kills Nyssa al Ghul (not featured on this timeline)
In 1 year...
Cass will take over the League of Assassins
2007: BATMAN AND SON
Bruce is 62, Dick is 44, Babs is 52, Jason is “28,″ Tim & Kate are 30
Damian is 11 - becomes the 5th Robin
Renee is 37 - becomes The Question
In 1 year…
63yo Bruce Wayne will “die”
29yo Jason will don the Red Robin mantle w/Challengers
Kind of like in Arkham Knight, I LOVE the idea of Jason returning to a Gotham where the Joker has been confirmed dead.  So, instead of just going to Arkham and asking Joker what’s up with the new copycat Red Hood, everyone has to legit wonder: Did he just fake his death?/Was he resurrected?  Is Joker back?
I made Jason’s return at age 25 because it mirrored Bruce’s start as Batman. There wasn’t really a good anchor otherwise, but I might nudge that date around, if only because resurrected Jason being “younger” than Tim is super weird.  My other angle here was to determine how long Jason was training for his return, and determine his resurrection that way.  (Comics have made it that he was resurrected within the same year he died, but that feels frivolous to me, so whatever my final version, I’ve opted to let Jason stay dead for at least a full year.)
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There’s also the whole 2010s decade, but that’s less relevant to my Jason story’s timeline.  But, yeah... this has highlighted some interesting points for me to play with!  Like that fact that Jason…
…is almost the same age as the Dynamic Duo itself
He’s never known a world without Batman & Robin in it
…is the version of Robin Tim, Kate, Steph & Cass all think of first, since he was Robin when they were kids, not Dick.
And in fact they all would only ever know of Dick as Nightwing.
…got captured and killed by Joker right after Barbara got shot
He DEFINITELY should’ve been motivated to kill Joker by that, instead of the random biological mom smuggling drugs in Iran plot
…was resurrected right around the same time that Damian was conceived, and that Calvin began training as a Talon prospect
makes interesting parallels about different plans to replace Batman all forming right around the same time; with Bruce entering his 50s and having just lost to Bane
…showed back up in the same year that Azrael died
I think it’d be cool if those were more closely linked, instead of Azrael just being shot by a couple of C-listers
…comes back to start a gang war with Blackmask and yell at Bruce about dead Robin issues at the same time Steph gets killed by Blackmask while trying to execute Bruce’s plan to take over the mob.
How can I not take advantage of that for more drama?
Also, not part of my fic, but how cool that Duke and Harper were born in the middle of the Gotham earthquake in Cataclysm?  And with Damian having lost a year to being dead, he’s the same age as Duke, which kinda makes Duke not wanting the Robin mantle a little more interesting.
I find it funny that kids in Gotham are really consistently traumatized at the age of 8 for some reason: Bruce, Dick, Jason, Helena, Cassandra, Calvin...
Half the Batgirls were in fact grown ass women and not “girls,” when they started in on the vigilante racket and I’m tempted to just combine them with the Batwoman legacy a ditch the weird nubile/infantilism fixation comic creators have on forcing them to hover around 18-20 while all the guys hover closer to 30.
And I’m trying will all my might to fight the compulsion to do a timeline for the Teen Titans, because knowing the Robins’ ages puts a pretty narrow frame on the other Teen Titans’ ages at any given time, but by god the fact that they keep reusing the New Teen Titans roster but for EVERY new Robin is a maddening paradox...
Don’t even get me started on that fact that now I get to go map all the Gotham Rogues and figure out just how long they’ve each been up to their bullshit, and who’s still rolling around Gotham in, like, a wheelchair at age 80, menacing the Bat...
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aion-rsa · 4 years
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Wheel of Time Amazon TV Series: Everything You Need to Know
https://ift.tt/30p6YSh
The Wheel of Time, the sprawling fantasy novel mythology by Robert Jordan, is heading to Amazon Prime as a series.
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One of the most popular fantasy franchises of the literary world, The Wheel of Time, is getting a live-action television adaptation. Originally authored by Robert Jordan, the 80 million-selling 1990-2013 book series depicts a sprawling mythology, amalgamating feudal and magical tropes with elements of Eastern mysticism. Indeed, the books bear philosophical influences from European and Asian culture, notably Buddhism and Hinduism, centered on the idea of time being cyclical in nature.
Amazon gave a series order to The Wheel of Time back in October 2018, setting the project as an hour-long series that will stream on Amazon Prime Video, as reported by Deadline and confirmed by an APV retweet. The move was the culmination of what had been a year-and-a-half process, going back to April 2017, when it was first reported that Sony Pictures Television was moving forward with the TV project.
The Wheel of Time Cast
Amazon continues to fill out the cast of its upcoming Wheel of Time series. This round of casting features four relatively new faces (at least to American audiences). Veteran Spanish actor Alvaro Morte will play Logain Ablar of the Black Tower. Hammed Animashaun (Black Mirror) will play Loial, an Ogier from Shangtai. Alexandre Willaume will be Thom Merrilin, a former bard. Johann Myers will portray the darkfiend Padan Fain.
Amazon recently released this footage featuring The Wheel of Time cast in a table read of the script, which also reveals the presence of Naana Agyei-Ampadu (GameFace), whose role is unknown at this time.
On September 10th, the cast and crew of #WOTonPrime got together to read the first episode of The Wheel Of Time. Production is now on its way and we are VERY excited to see this show come to life! #TwitterOfTime, this is for you. pic.twitter.com/FmWA4zeh2r
— The Wheel of Time on Prime (@WoTonPrime) October 2, 2019
As for the rest of the cast...
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Daniel Henney was recently added to The Wheel of Time cast. He will play al’Lan Mandragoran, a.k.a. Lan, the stoic warder (essentially a protector,) of Moraine (Rosamund Pike). However, Lan happens to be the lone survivor of a royal bloodline, and is the uncrowned king of Malkier, a province that was overrun by forces of the Shadow. Henney's announced casting as Lan was accompanied by the following quote: "I swear to stand against the Shadow so long as iron is hard and stone abides - to defend the Malkieri while one drop of blood remains. I swear to avenge what cannot be defended."
Henney, an American actor, can be currently seen on CBS’s Criminal Minds, which he joined in 2015’s Season 10, and is also known as the voice of Tadashi in 2014 feature Big Hero 6 and its current animated series. Besides TV runs on Revolution, Hawaii Five-0 and Three Rivers, he appeared in the 2009 Fox-Marvel solo spinoff movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, as Agent Zero, the character known in the comic book mythology as assassin Maverick.
The series recently revealed a quintet of main cast members. The show’s official social media also provides pertinent quoted descriptions for each of the characters, culminating with the message, "It was about them all." The cast members consist of the following (pictured directly below from the left):
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Madeleine Madden (Picnic at Hanging Rock, Tidelands) as Egwene Al’Vere. – “It was about a woman who would not bend her back while she was beaten, and who shown with a light for all who watched.”
Josha Stradowski (Instinct, Spangas) as Rand Al’Thor. – “It was not about me. It’s never been about me.”
Marcus Rutherford (Obey, Shakespeare & Hathaway) as Perrin Aybara. – “It was about a man whose family was taken from him, but who stood tall in his sorrow and protected those he could.”
Zoë Robins (Power Rangers Ninja Steel, The Shannara Chronicles) as Nynaeve. – “It was about a woman who refused to believe that she could not help, could not heal those who had been harmed.”
Barney Harris (Clique, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk) as Mat Cauthon. – “It was about a hero who insisted with every breath that he was anything but a hero.”
They will, of course, join the show’s June-announced headliner...
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Rosamund Pike officially landed the lead role in The Wheel of Time as Moiraine. A member of an all-female secret society of magic users, called the Blue Ajah of the Aes Sedai, Moiraine embarks on a dangerous journey with five young people she comes to mentor, one of whom she believes could be the reincarnation of someone prophesized to either save or destroy humanity.
Pike, an Oscar-nominated actress for her role as Amy Dunne in 2014’s Gone Girl, is also known from 2005’s Pride & Prejudice and as a Bond villainess in 2002’s Die Another Day. She recently fielded a small screen starring run on SundanceTV comedy State of the Union, and appeared in films such as A Private War, 7 Days in Entebbe, Beirut, Hostiles and The Man with the Iron Heart. She’ll next be seen in the August-scheduled crime drama, The Informer, and, amongst other projects, will co-star as Marie Curie in the fact-based 2020 romance drama, Radioactive.
The Wheel of Time Director
Uta Briesewitz is set to direct the first two episodes of The Wheel of Time, reports Deadline. This should be great news for genre fans, seeing as the German director and cinematographer, Brieswitz, brings small screen experience from directorial runs on shows like Netflix’s Stranger Things (in the recent Season 3), HBO’s The Deuce and Westworld, AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, Starz’s Black Sails and Netflix-Marvel shows such as (the just cancelled) Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and The Defenders, as well as streaming giant offerings Orange is the New Black and the returning Altered Carbon. Plus, she’s fielded runs on Fox’s Lethal Weapon and The CW shows The 100 and Jane the Virgin. Indeed, with a peak television CV like that, The Wheel of Time should be in good hands for its launch.
The Wheel of Time series buck stops with Rafe Judkins, who assumes duties as writer, executive producer and showrunner. Judkins is no stranger to genre television, serving as a producer and writer on ABC’s Marvel series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Netflix horror series, Hemlock Grove. He was also a story editor for NBC’s beloved geek-wish-fulfillment spy series, Chuck. Judkins will be joined by executive producers Rick Selvage and Larry Mondragon of Red Eagle and producers Ted Field and Mike Weber of Radar Pictures. Additionally, the property’s authorial legacy is in place with Jordan’s widow, Harriet McDougal, onboard as a consulting producer.
As Sharon Tal Yguado, Head of Event Series, Amazon Originals states:
“Developing and producing Robert Jordan’s beloved fourteen-books-series for TV is a big undertaking, and we don’t take it lightly. We believe that Rafe’s personal connection to the material and soulful writing will resonate with the book’s passionate fans.”
The Wheel of Time Release Date
The Wheel of Time has yet to announce a release date. However, a production timeframe was recently spotted in trade magazine Production Weekly, via fan site The Daily Trolloc. The excerpt claims that the series is set to begin rolling cameras in Prague, Czech Republic sometime in September 2019.
The Wheel of Time Details
The Wheel of Time TV series is moving along swiftly, with production having started on September 16, a bittersweet date, since it also marked the 12-year anniversary of author Robert Jordan's passing.
#ThankYouRobertJordan pic.twitter.com/B5MF5LO5aU
— The Wheel of Time on Prime (@WoTonPrime) September 16, 2019
Of course, The Wheel of Time is a large-scale endeavor, since the novels of Robert Jordan (nom de plume of James O. Rigney Jr.), three of which were completed by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan passed away in 2007, build an intricate mythology governed by the titular seven-spoke Wheel of Time powered by an incorporeal celestial source of power. Like the Force in Star Wars, it is a binary power utilized by gifted people, here called “channelers.” The story is spread across epochs in the continuing battle against Shai’tan (or, the Dark One,) who, upon breaking free of imprisonment from the Creator, exerts influence on the malleable to lead the source toward evil.
Amazon's series order for The Wheel of Time arrives after several years of starts and stops, going back to 2000 when author Jordan was still alive. A pilot called Winter Dragon, starring Billy Zane and Max Ryan, aired on FXX on February 8, 2015 (at 1:30 a.m.) to no fanfare or fruition (it was essentially a move by Red Eagle to prevent the rights from expiring). However, McDougal herself made media ripples in April 2016 when she announced “exciting news” about the property; something that required the clearing of some legal issues before moving forward. After the resolution of said legal issues, McDougal speculated that The Wheel of Time would become a “cutting edge TV series.”
We’ll keep you updated on Amazon’s The Wheel of Time as things develop.
Read and download the Den of Geek NYCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!
Joseph Baxter is a contributor for Den of Geek and Syfy Wire. You can find his work here. Follow him on Twitter @josbaxter.
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Joseph Baxter
Dec 4, 2019
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thenorthreport · 4 years
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Have the Los Angles Lakers uncovered “The Secret”?
The date was November 5th, 2019, The Lakers were visiting Chicago Bulls in the United Center at the tail end of a three-game road trip. The Lakers were the hottest team in the league  coming off 5 straight wins since losing Los Angeles Clipper's opening night of the and are now sitting on top of the NBA rankings. Coming into this game I thought it was a no-brainer to who was going to win. So confident in the fact that I put a bet on them to come out with the “W”.
 All thought the first 75% of the game all I was able to think about was how much money I was going to lose. In the first three-quarters of this game, this Lakers team looked like they smoked one too many bowls. The turnovers kept raking up, the team looked lost offensively with Anthony Davis only being able to score four points in the first half and eight by the end of the third quarter (which he left early in because he got into foul trouble), and Kyle Kuzma looking like a deer in the headlights ever since coming back from an ankle injury. Also had to give a shout out to JaVale McGee for the pass in the third quarter to Otto Porter Jr. for this open three (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPjTfIdF7eU from 6:00-6:08). It looked like one of those games where the team trailing behind could not for the life of them make a push back into the game and all looked lost when the team failed to bring it back into single digits at the end of the third quarter.
 But then it happened,
 In a situation like this one, there are two types of teams: the ones that will pull their pants down and take what they deserve and the ones who will fight back with BDE. This Lakers team was the latter. Surprisingly a 5-man unit of Alex Caruso, Quinn Cook, Troy Daniels, Kyle Kuzma and Dwight Howard were the ones to score 24 consecutive points for this team starting from the end of the third quarter into the mid-way point of the fourth quarter and it was unbelievable. For starters, Kuzma played aggressively for the limited amount of time he was given to l play in that fourth quarter and was able to put up 11 points on 5/7 shooting in the fourth alone including this sweet off the dribble pull up jumper from the top of the key (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO798fl-uLo 10:04-10:12). Dwight "The Purpose" Howard was at the right place at the right time on the court coming up with big blocks and bigger rebounds throughout their fourth-quarter run. Caruso played solid on both sides on the ball including a huge steal which led to an and-one. Cook was doing his best Curry impression out there with all the backdoor cuts and off-ball screen including a potential four-point play. Finally, Troy Daniels, the fifth guy on the court who had the opportunity to watch this 14-0 run happen before being taken off for LeBron James. In the end, the Lakers took a cushioning 10-point lead in the last five minutes and didn’t look back and in the end, I won some money.
 After this game two thoughts occurred to me: 1. The bench actually resembled some NBA talent and 2. This Lakers team looked professional for the first time in almost 10 years. Now I know what some people might be saying: "This was a win against one of the worst teams in the league considering they are producing bottom 10 in the league in both offensive and defensive efficiency" and "It's too early to be saying nonsense like that" or even "Wait till January or February when Lebron is worn out, Anthony Davis is packing his bags for Chicago and Dwight is already two months released posting workouts videos on Instagram". I'm not saying this team is a favorite for the 2020 NBA finals just yet. The sports season is a long and treacherous journey with many bumps and obstacles on the way. This team will for sure be tested and will have nights where they will feel unstoppable and times where they will feel as if they hit rock bottom. I am not writing this article to jump to conclusions but to simply state facts and the fact here is the Lakers seem to have stumbled upon "The Secret".
 Know you may be asking yourselves: "What the hell is this hot shot up-and-coming sportswriter talking about and what secret is he is alluding to?" well person reading this article “The Secret” is something that has been around this league ever since it started and has been the driving force for every single NBA championship team. “The Secret” was first introduced to the general public by Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons in the finals of 1989 where he offers to multiple reporters that he was going to offer the "secret to basketball". In short, he never really gave the answer to the question rather dodges it by telling stories and talking about team basketball. No one seems to mind this and for years “The Secret” isn't brought up again until the summer of 2007 by a writer by the name of Bill Simmons. There is a whole story about him meeting Isiah Thomas in his book "The Book of Basketball" which I highly recommend everyone read at some point in their lives. Back to "The Secret", this idea was eating up Bill Simmons on the inside ever since he was told the concept so when he finally got to meet him, he asked Isiah this question. Isiah impressed with Bill answered as follows: "The secret of basketball is that it's not about basketball".
  What the hell does that mean?  Well, the short answer to this is that teams were successful because teammates liked each other, knew their roles, ignored statistics and finally, put winning over everything else.
 This Lakers team is on a mission whether its LeBron writing off the haters in his 17th season in the NBA, Anthony Davis proving he can make a deep playoff run without any major injury or Howard trying to stay afloat in an NBA Which had turned their back on him. This squad is filled with veteran players who are at a point in their career where all they care about is winning a championship and/or are trying to prove they still belong in this league. This Lakers team seems to have boughten into a culture and the stats back it up.
 Something that LeBron James has been known for this past couple of years other than his bigger than basketball mentality is the lack of attention defensive end no joke the guy looks like he’s in dire need of some Adderall. Ever since his last season in Miami, LeBron’s defensive intensity and engagement dropped off a cliff which is understandable considering the offensive load this mans must carry not only day in, day out but by the season. Defense is his cruise control or self-drive (for all the tesla owners out there).
 But something changed,
 During an interview in training camp, Anthony Davis came out and told reporters he expected himself and (called out) LeBron to make All-Defensive team which at first seemed like a joke considering LeBron hasn’t been seen on the defensive end since Barak Obama was starting his second term as president. But now seven games into this season LeBron has been refreshing on that the end of the floor. LeBron’s defensive starts thus far are his best in years with his defensive win shares already almost one third he contributed in his last season in Cleveland according to Basketball Reference­—and we are only seven games into the season(note: I did not want to use his first season in LA as an example because he sat out for around a quarter of the season last year). As well he just looks like he gives more of a s--t on that side of the ball which is encouraging.  
 On a greater scale like Kanye West, this Lakers defense is going through a rebirth thanks to the coaching of 1A (Frank Vogel, 1B is Jason Kidd) and his defensive-minded attitude towards the game. This Lakers team looks poised on the side of the court everyone seems to have forgotten how to play in 2019. honors. Vogel’s defense is designed for a team like this, a squad of veteran players who know their role on the defensive end with one player who is a gifted player running or anchoring the whole thing which is Anthony Davis, and it is built beautifully for him. In the rotations alone there are six different players who at some point in their careers got All-Defensive team honors. The best example of their new defensive style can be seen when the Lakers were playing the Jazz in their second game in the season. During this game the Lakers game plan for Mike Conley was to weak high ball screen which is when you force the player the same direction every time, he is given a screen it contained him for being 3-11 from the field and 1-5 from three.
Some of the reason for this improvement from 13th in defensive efficiency rating (and before you say that isn’t so bad this teamed ranked bottom three in points allowed off turnovers and bottom ten in second point opportunity identifying these teams hustle was … sorry that was needed to be said) to 2nd is thanks to the likes of Danny Green’s “doing the little things” mentality whether that be closing out shooters, constantly being in help, or boxing out opposing big (yes this is done more than you think) and Dwight’s new “the purpose” role (I must say this is the second time I have made this joke now but can we please start calling Dwight Howard “The Purpose”?). Shout out to coach 1A for using the “no roll man left behind” scheme for Dwight Howard when he is on the floor. For those who don’t know the “no roll man left behind” is a scheme they have been using for Dwight Howard on defense where his job on a screen and roll is to make sure he stays under on screens and not to let the roller get past him to the basket as well not giving the ball handler a clear way to the basket. Other than that Dwight seems to be lighter and more active this year than in the past three seasons and is ranked second in blocks per game on the team at 2.1 behind Anthony Davis’s league-leading 3.0. Finally, the key reason behind this defensive rejuvenation is because of AD. The best way to describe Anthony Davis is a bigger, longer more athletic Draymond Green. The thing about AD on the defensive end is that he’s so gifted at reading the offense and being able to see things before they happen which is crazy to think and with his athleticism and length, he can easily tip passes, block shots and keep up with players on the perimeter. His help defense whether that is in the pick-and-roll or under the basket are elite.
As good as this defense has been there are still a couple of problems that need to be resolved if this team wants to take a deep playoff run. I still believe this team is missing a good on-ball defender to match up with bigger, more athletic wings and the Clippers have two of those. The only player matching up well with players like these is LeBron James and considering his offensive contribution and his mileage I doubt he has the energy to be able to guard a player like that and do what he does on offense. The solution to this would be to sign or trade for a defensive-minded wing-like Iggy (duh) or low-key Andre Robertson or Trevor Ariza (even though he looks like horse s—t thus far). Second, even though their defensive RTG has risen they still rank second-worst in the NBA in points off fast breaks which means they still need to improve on their hustle back to the other end of the floor. For more on this Laker's defense and to see how well they are performing, I suggest watching Laker Film Room on YouTube who do an excellent job breaking this stuff down.
 The bench productivity so far surprisingly been key to this Lakers team's success. A couple things that are needed to be improved on is their offensive efficiency off the bench which ranks in the bottom ten in the league but I also believe with Kyle Kuzma back in the rotation and staying on the bench this should improve their rating significantly. This benches defense has been their recipe to success so far so much so that their bench plus/minus is ranked second in the league only behind Dallas according to NBA.com. You can say this bench mob has put MUD to shame (only real Laker/NBA fans should get this). As long as this bench finds their groove on the offensive end and get to the middle of the pack efficiency-wise this bench has the potential to be one of the leagues best and be the key to keeping an aging LeBron and a injury-riddled Davis off the court and not needing them to play high 30’s, low 40’s minutes a night.
 After this win against this Bulls team the Lakers have shown their identity and their potential of what they are and maybe— what they can be.
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stainedglassgardens · 5 years
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Favourite woman-directed films I saw in 2018
It’s funny because when the year started I thought I could never watch 52 films by women, considering that I usually barely watch fifty films a year, total. Then I watched 306 new-to-me films, out of which 105 were directed by women.
I saw so many good woman-directed films that I thought it would be hard to choose ten to make this list, but then I realised that I only had to include those films that absolutely blew my mind, and bam! Ten already.
Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik, 2010)
On Body and Soul (Testről és lélekről, Ildikó Enyedi, 2017)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)
River of Grass (Kelly Reichardt, 1994)
The Midnight Swim (Sarah Adina Smith, 2014)
Raw (Grave, Julia Ducournau, 2016)
M.F.A. (Natalia Leite, 2017)
Daisies (Sedmikrásky, Věra Chytilová, 1966)
Always Shine (Sophia Takal, 2016)
Revenge (Coralie Fargeat, 2017)
Very broadly speaking, these ten can be divided into three categories. There’s gorey, imaginative, feminist genre -- Revenge, M.F.A., Raw; there’s visually and/or narratively boundary-expanding cinema -- Daisies, Always Shine, The Midnight Swim, We Need to Talk About Kevin, On Body and Soul; and then there are the indie stories about marginalised people, which might be my favourites of all -- here, River of Grass and Winter’s Bone.
When 2018 started I had only seen one film by Kelly Reichardt, and none by Debra Granik. Now they’re both among my favourite filmmakers. When I saw my first Kelly Reichardt film, years ago, I thought Wow, some people do make films about actual people. I’ve seen all of them now, and I liked all of them, but it wasn’t that hard picking River of Grass for this list -- there’s something so Carson McCullers, so Flannery O’Connor about the story, and visually it is so dreamlike.
I put Debra Granik together with Kelly Reichardt because their stories feel similar in many ways (and both feel similar to Agnès Varda’s), and seeing Winter’s Bone I was just completely blown away. It’s one of those films I would unreservedly call a masterpiece, and recommend to absolutely everyone. What places it above Leave No Trace (which I put as my number one new release of 2018) is the plot, and the ending especially, both completely surreal and mundane, like a cherry on top of spectacular acting and visuals worthy of Dorothea Lange .
Another slap in the face was We Need to Talk About Kevin. Together with a few other films in this list, it made me ponder what film can really do in terms of creating intricate, media-specific experiences that ultimately serve to provide a more rounded understanding of reality and what it means to be a person. We Need to Talk About Kevin was the first of these and probably had the biggest impact on me. Lynne Ramsay really is one of the few people with a completely unique vision.
I put Daisies, Always Shine, The Midnight Swim and On Body and Soul in the same category, although they don’t have a lot in common with each other, because they all have this aspect of visual and/or narrative boundary-pushing. It is so incredible that Daisies still feels like that to a first-time viewer today, even though it came out more than fifty years ago.
I saw Always Shine and The Midnight Swim around the same time and keep associating them in my mind for the nods to David Lynch, indie feel, and non-linear storytelling. Probably The Midnight Swim impressed me more, because it was the first time (and only, so far) that I saw a first-person narrative that looked quite like that.
On Body and Soul belongs in the same area of this mental map mainly because of the dream sequences. Before I saw it I probably would have found it impossible to talk about dreams in a way that didn’t feel recycled, but this managed just that. The juxtaposition of the wild forest animals at night with the cattle in the slaughterhouse during the day walks such a fine line between surrealism and social commentary, and the slaughterhouse sequences are all filmed with such incredible tact -- which only serves to make them more shocking.
Then there are the great genre films. Raw was fantastic, in part because it is so rare for a French person such as myself to find a French film to her liking, but also because everything about it felt so different -- it is firmly set in the horror genre, but it also draws from such a wide range of influences. M.F.A. and Revenge mirror each other in many ways, because they’re both rape-revenge films, a sub-genre I am incredibly glad and grateful that women are tackling in such interesting and challenging ways. I liked M.F.A. better, maybe, because it felt more real, and the ending better-thought-out, but if anything, I’d recommend a double-feature night to watch both.
Great films that didn’t quite make the cut, in no particular order:
Addicted to Fresno (Jamie Babbit, 2015): best sex comedy about actual grown-ups
I Think We’re Alone Now (Reed Morano, 2018): best post-apocalyptic “everyone is gone from the surface of the Earth but us” film
Ginger & Rosa (Sally Potter, 2012): best Cold-War England drama
Meek’s Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt, 2010) : best contemplative Western
Into the Forest (Patricia Rozema, 2015): best post-apocalyptic survivalist feminist film
Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi, Agnès Varda, 1984) : best film shot in my area of France
Khadak (Peter Brosens and Jessica Hope Woodworth, 2006): best science fiction film that takes place in Mongolia
Over time, I’m finding it easier and easier to watch more woman-directed films, both because I know where to look and because I’ll find it easier to relax and get into any genre at all when I know there’ll be infinitely less chance of rampant misogyny ruining an otherwise perfectly good film. It seems barely believable, now, to think that five years ago I didn’t know one single woman director, when clearly the quality and the variety are there, the work is there, and it stands so tall on its own.
Full 105-film list under the cut!
The Bad Batch (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2016)
Gas Food Lodging (Allison Anders, 1992)
Red Road (Andrea Arnold, 2006)
American Honey (Andrea Arnold, 2016)
A United Kingdom (Amma Asante, 2016)
Addicted to Fresno (Jamie Babbit, 2015)
The Selfish Giant (Clio Barnard, 2013)
Novitiate (Maggie Betts, 2017)
Bird Box (Susanne Bier, 2018)
Blue My Mind (Lisa Brühlmann, 2017)
Daisies (Sedmikrásky, Věra Chytilová, 1966)
The Kindergarten Teacher (Sara Colangelo, 2018)
Valley Girl (Martha Coolidge, 1983)
Palo Alto (Gia Coppola, 2013)
Lick the Star (Sofia Coppola, 1998)
The Beguiled (Sofia Coppola, 2017)
17 GIrls (17 Filles, Delphine Coulin and Muriel Coulin, 2011)
The Edge of Seventeen (Kelly Fremon Craig, 2016)
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (Alexandra Dean, 2017)
Madeline’s Madeline (Josephine Decker, 2018)
Desert Hearts (Donna Deitch, 1985)
Raw (Grave, Julia Ducournau, 2016)
On Body and Soul (Testről és lélekről, Ildikó Enyedi, 2017)
Mustang (Deniz Gamze Ergüven, 2015)
Revenge (Coralie Fargeat, 2017)
The Spy Who Dumped Me (Susanna Fogel, 2018)
Deidra and Laney Rob a Train (Sydney Freeland, 2017)
Twinsters (Samantha Futerman and Ryan Miyamoto, 2015)
The Trader (Sovdagari, Tamta Gabrichidze, 2018)
The Lifeguard (Liz W. Garcia, 2013)
Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig, 2017)
They (Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, 2017)
Tig (Kristina Goolsby and Ashley York, 2015)
The Deuce of Spades (Faith Granger, 2011)
Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik, 2010)
Leave No Trace (Debra Granik, 2018)
Casting JonBenet (Kitty Green, 2017)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Amy Heckerling, 1982)
Axolotl Overkill (Helene Hegemann, 2017)
The Firefly (La Luciérnaga, Ana Maria Hermida, 2015)
Beach Rats (Eliza Hittman, 2017)
The Fits (Anna Rose Holmer, 2015)
The Land of Steady Habits (Nicole Holofcener, 2018)
Slums of Beverly Hills (Tamara Jenkins, 1998)
Private Life (Tamara Jenkins, 2018)
The Quiet Hour (Stéphanie Joalland, 2014)
Cameraperson (Kirsten Johnson, 2016)
By the Sea (Angelina Jolie, 2015)
Sweet Bean (あん, An, Naomi Kawase, 2015)
Lovesong (So Yong Kim, 2016)
I Feel Pretty (Abby Kohn, 2018)
Radius (Caroline Labrèche and Steeve Léonard, 2017)
Irreplaceable You (Stephanie Laing, 2018)
The Feels (Jenée LaMarque, 2017)
Breathe (Respire, Mélanie Laurent, 2014)
Galveston (Mélanie Laurent, 2018)
Octavio is Dead! (Sook-Yin Lee, 2018)
M.F.A. (Natalia Leite, 2017)
Aloft (Claudia Llosa, 2014)
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (Jodie Markell, 2008)
A New Leaf (Elaine May, 1971)
Dude (Olivia Milch, 2018)
The Dressmaker (Jocelyn Moorhouse, 2015)
I Think We’re Alone Now (Reed Morano, 2018)
Woodshock (Kate and Laura Mulleavy, 2017)
Girl Asleep (Rosemary Myers, 2015)
Tout ce qui brille (Géraldine Nakache and Hervé Mimran, 2010)
I Am Not a Witch (Rungano Nyoni, 2017)
Ginger & Rosa (Sally Potter, 2012)
Beneath the Harvest Sky (Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, 2013)
Angels Wear White (嘉年华, Vivian Qu, 2017)
Cargo (Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke, 2017)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)
You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay, 2017)
River of Grass (Kelly Reichardt, 1994)
Old Joy (Kelly Reichardt, 2006)
Meek’s Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt, 2010)
Night Moves (Kelly Reichardt, 2013)
Certain Women (Kelly Reichardt, 2016)
Into the Forest (Patricia Rozema, 2015)
Before I Fall (Ry Russo-Young, 2017)
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (Lorene Scafaria, 2012)
The Riot Club (Lone Scherfig, 2014)
Cracks (Jordan Scott, 2009)
Everything Beautiful is Far Away (Pete Ohs and Andrea Sisson, 2017)
Waitress (Adrienne Shelly, 2007)
Laggies (Lynn Shelton, 2014)
Outside In (Lynn Shelton, 2017)
Berlin Syndrome (Cate Shortland, 2017)
Lipstick Under My Burkha (Alankrita Shrivastava, 2016)
The Midnight Swim (Sarah Adina Smith, 2014)
Buster’s Mal Heart (Sarah Adina Smith, 2016)
The Lure (Córki dancingu, Agnieszka Smoczyńska, 2015)
Always Shine (Sophia Takal, 2016)
Shirkers (Sandi Tan, 2018)
Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong (Emily Ting, 2015)
Kedi (Ceyda Torun, 2016)
Cléo from 5 to 7 (Cléo de 5 à 7, Agnès Varda, 1962)
Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi, Agnès Varda, 1984)
Love, Cecil (Lisa Immordino Vreeland, 2018)
Jupiter Ascending (The Wachowskis, 2015)
Mr. Roosevelt (Noël Wells, 2017)
Woman Walks Ahead (Susanna White, 2017)
Khadak (Peter Brosens and Jessica Hope Woodworth, 2006)
Salesman (Albert Maysles, David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, 1969)
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A to Z favourite TV show challenge! Or # to Z?
# - 30 Rock (Liz Lemmon! This is just all kinds of hilarity).
A - Ally McBeal (there's not enough of this on Tumblr btw. I loved it before I understood it - my brother watched and I followed. And then I watched again and I loved it more) / Arrow (so years ago I started watching this because of Tumblr. You guys were obsessed with Olicity and I was too even though I hadn't watched the show. So I watched it. Thank you for ruining my life btw) / Accidentally in Love (Asian Series, sup, @netflix - thanks for getting me addicted to Asian series - I liked them before but now it's just there and begging to be watched AND I CAN'T HELP MYSELF - YOU'VE ADDICTED MY MOTHER TOO).
B - Brooklyn Nine Nine (best thing to happen to me, thank you Tumblr - the nine nine fandom. Also started it a couple years ago and fell in love hard. This show makes me laugh no matter what and it's pure and I love it so much. It's really a show I needed because when I watch series I get really emotionally involved and certain shows leave me so stressed that I have to take a break and all I can watch is comedies for a few weeks. Or months. Depends on how big my heart break was. B99 always makes me laugh and feel lighter). / Buffy the Vampire Slayer (another one from my childhood, you know when you're too young to really understand but old enough to remember it? So yeah, my brother got me hooked at a young age and the addiction stuck. Because I've never been able to forget Buffy. And I've recently been rewatching it with my mother - she too is a bit addicted).
C - Charmed (Original series, not reboot - I haven't even watched the reboot. But yes, Charmed. I remember being up til 10PM on a Monday while I was in primary (middle) school just to watch it. Halliwell sisters are another drug I never could kick - Leo was one of my first ever crushes - my very first crush was Shahrukh Khan and if we're ever talking Bollywood movies he'll be all over that post).
D - Doctor Who (Okay! I only started watching from season 5, again cos NETFLIX - the Doctor and Amy Pond - man, just lock me up in the TARDIS and take me away already. ALSO one of the series that broke my heart enough that rendered me incapable of watching any other series except comedy).
E - Ek Hazaroon Mein Meri Behna Hai (Hindi series; my sister is one in a thousand - I assume it's the name because that sounds better in Hindi than one in a million or billion. There's something about Hindi series that sucks you in and tortures you until you're on the brick of exploding from suspense - the build up is both infuriating and renders you unable to tear your eyes away).
F - Friends ('Cause it's been there for me and how can I not? Again, childhood. Also. Heroes get remembered but legends never die. And I've watched every episode like a gazillion times and laugh just the same - I think even more 'cause I know what's gonna happen. I'm one of those people). / Fairy Tail (Anime. Magic. Friendship. Friendship. Friendship. It's one of those rare shows that has a lot of characters and manages to make you love each one of them. I found it after high school but I love it to bits).
G - Gilmore Girls (I remember the first time I watched this as a kid, Rory and Lorelei were sitting at Luke's diner and chatting about something and I though they were sisters. I was at my cousin's house and I just couldn't stop watching them. Loved it ever since. And it's strange how a randomly watching TV can just change your life - 'cause you know, I obsess) / Gossip Girl (at first, I'd watched it because Kristen Bell was the voice of Gossip Girl. And I needed anything related to anything Veronica Mars. And then I naturally loved it like everybody else. Also disappointed at who GG really was. So yeah.)
H - How I Met Your Mother (At first I really, really loved it, now though it's not so high on my favourite list but it does still make me laugh - cos Barney. The final episode was so disappointing). / Hannah Montana (because if I was 13 or 16 this would have made the list. And I still love the show. My heart swells everytime my bestie sings True Friend to me. I still love Hannah Montana music okay).
I - iZombie (Rob Thomas. He's the reason I tried it out. Liv is the reason I stayed. Also Ravi. And also Major. Okay, dude, characters and plot is right on point) / Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon (Hindi series; what name do I give to this love? Its unnecessarily complicated but gosh those complications kept me on edge, staring at the screen, waiting for those idiots to realise the truth. Opposites attract. Hate to love to hate to love. They did it so well).
J - Joan of Arcadia (okay so I remember really loving this when I was younger - I haven't rewatched it as an adult but I feel like I'll still love it. I mean, come on, what if God was one of us?)
K - Kim Possible (Call me, beep me, if you wanna reach me? Ultimate cartoon. Hands down. Second best is The Life and Times of Juniper Lee - she's basically the cartoon Buffy - the Chosen One - though it's hereditary instead of random? And also more fun and less heartache 'cause it's a cartoon).
L - Lucifer (Man, Lucifer. You got the guy telling everyone he's the devil and they think he's talking in metaphors? It's just hilarious to me. Detective. Romance. Snark. Supernatural. Also, Hello, Adult Tom Welling - can I even describe how excited I was to see him? Smallville, man).
M - Miraculous Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir (One of the few new cartoons that I watch and love. This is just so cute and the love square is just so cute and everything is just so cute. And like we need cute stuff in our lives. Frustrating cos how oblivious can one be but also why you so cute Marinette Dupain Chang and Adrian Agreste aka Ladybug and Cat Noir)/ Malcolm in the Middle (Childhood. Childhood. Childhood. I'm not the middle child but I relate).
N - Naruto (Anime. Okay, childhood yes, also teenagehood and adulthood. Guy's been with me through everything, believe it. This show just means so much to me and I'm thankful that I got to grow up with him. Thank you, Kishimoto).
O - One Day At a Time (THANK YOU, NETFLIX! This is just one of the greatest shows on right now. I love comedy. I didn't expect it to be so emotional too. But damn it gets you right in the feels. My brother claims I'm exactly like Elena and our nephew is like Alex. I honestly don't mind. Elena is badass and strong as hell.)
P - Psych (It's just awesome? It's clever, it's funny, Shawn and Gus. The dramatics in extremely serious situations will never not make grin like a mad woman. Also private investigation shows seem to a weakness of mine. ) / Parks and Recreation (okay I never thought I'd like a mockumentary kind of series but this happened and proved me wrong and I just love this show and it's characters). / Pyaar Ka Dard Hai Meetha Meetha Pyara Pyara (Hindi Series; the pain of love is sweet and loveable. When your parents set you up with someone and you're like no way in hell and they're like okay but they you become best friends and fall in love and yeah. The name says it all, really). / Pinocchio (Asian series - one of the more complicated ones but I simply just loved these characters and actors to bits after watching it).
Q - Quantico (it's not really one of my favourites but I couldn't think of anything else and I do enjoy it. Priyanka Chopra has always been a fav since forever - Bollywood was life before I was even old enough to understand English - but it's because of this that I can understand Hindi without needing subtitles).
R - Rizzoli & Isles (who wouldn't love a show with two best friends kicking ass in the work place). / Revenge (I watched it cos I liked Emily from Everwood but the story was so intriguing and I just got addicted. It wasn't like anything I've ever seen). / Refresh Man (Asian series - officially my favourite Asian series of all time - again, thank you Netflix. Also ever since I've loved both Aaron Yan and Joanna Tseng and I'm on a mission to watch everything they've ever acted in - do you see my obsessing tenancies?).
S - Supergirl / Supernatural / Suits / Smallville (Okay! There's too many shows that start with an S. Smallville was my gateway into the superhero show - movie - comic obsession. And also I'm getting tired of commenting on everything).
T - The Good Place / The Office (US) / The Flash/ Teen Wolf (also too many with a T!)
U - Ugly Betty
V - Veronica Mars (of all time!! Man, again, random TV viewing = life changing TV show that sticks with you forever and Veronica Mars has definitely affected me way more than any other show. I couldn't get it out of my head ever since 2007! I waited for every Thursday just to watch it and naturally Thursday became my favourite day of the week - not Friday like normal scholars - nope. I think it's the way that it ended that contributed to my obsession - so much questions left unanswered and to a 12 year old girl the most important thing is of course that LoVe hadn't officially gotten back together. My mind wrote and rewrote endings and scenarios. Then I discovered fanfiction. And then I started writing. Veronica Mars made me a junkie but also helped me discover my passion. It's not just the show that makes it my #1 but the journey it's taken me on while it was on air and especially when it was off air. ALSO THE SHOW IS SIMPLY AMAZING EVEN WITHOUT ALL MY EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT - also one of the shows that I started watching and then my brother got hooked onto it).
W - What's Wrong With Secretary Kim? / Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo/ W: two worlds apart (all Asian series - OKAY, NETFLIX IS BLAMED FOR ALL OF THIS)
X - Is there anything but X-Men? I wouldn't really put the series on my favourite list but I do watch the X-Men cartoons and I have enjoyed it so imma let it be.
Y - Young Sheldon (Too smart for his own good Cooper.) / Yankee-kun to Megane-chan (Asian series - okay, this one can't be put on Netflix. It's the first Asian drama series I'd watched because of a manga that I loved).
Z - Zoey101 ('Cause there's nothing else I can think off and I enjoyed it when I was younger. I remember putting 101 after all of my usernames for everything).
So when I thought of this I thought I'd put one name for each alphabet but it didn't work out that way 'cause I obsess over everything.
I would love to get to know more about everyone's favourite shows. I'm tagging based on the Tumblr likes thing (also on my @marshmallowatheart account) and also urls I remember seeing often on the activity cos I wanted to tag as much people as possible. I'd have been cool if I could have went with the a - z for tagging but it's not working out like I wanted so next best. (Also if I didn't tag you and you wanna do it, please go for it, I'm really into this).
Anyone who wants to do this can and whoever doesn't want to it's cool! It takes time to think especially when you have to pick between things so if you want to, add as many as you like. You don't have to add comments on it if you don't want to, I just got carried away! And then got tired.
@poppy-in-the-woods @risssaar @stephaniecatlover @ihaveathingformeninwaistcoats @write-to-feel @mediocre-mee @jenilyn2000 @lalacristina18 @cainc3 @mrskissytaylor @anilcadz91 @elliebear75 @troublescout @hanitjemars @susanmichelin @cheshirecatstrut @firedragonmon
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orbemnews · 3 years
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Why Buy a Yacht When You Can Buy a Newspaper? Billionaires have had a pretty good pandemic. There are more of them than there were a year ago, even as the crisis has exacerbated inequality. But scrutiny has followed these ballooning fortunes. Policymakers are debating new taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals. Even their philanthropy has come under increasing criticism as an exercise of power as much as generosity. One arena in which the billionaires can still win plaudits as civic-minded saviors is buying the metropolitan daily newspaper. The local business leader might not have seemed like such a salvation a quarter century ago, before Craigslist, Google and Facebook began divvying up newspapers’ fat ad revenues. Generally, the neighborhood billionaires are considered worth a careful look by the paper’s investigative unit. But a lot of papers don’t even have an investigative unit anymore, and the priority is survival. This media landscape nudged newspaper ownership from the vanity column toward the philanthropy side of the ledger. Paying for a few more reporters and to fix the coffee machine can earn you acclaim for a lot less effort than, say, spending two decades building the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The latest example comes in the form of a $680 million bid by Hansjörg Wyss, a little-known Swiss billionaire, and Stewart W. Bainum Jr., a Maryland hotel magnate, for Tribune Publishing and its roster of storied broadsheets and tabloids like The Chicago Tribune, The Daily News and The Baltimore Sun. Should Mr. Wyss and Mr. Bainum succeed in snatching Tribune away from Alden Global Capital, whose bid for the company had already won the backing of Tribune’s board, the purchase will represent the latest example of a more than decade-long quest by some of America’s ultrawealthy to prop up a crumbling pillar of democracy. If there was a signal year in this development, it came in 2013. That is when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post and the Red Sox’ owner, John Henry, bought The Boston Globe. “I invested in The Globe because I believe deeply in the future of this great community, and The Globe should play a vital role in determining that future,” Mr. Henry wrote at the time. Mr. Bezos and Marty Baron, the recently retired editor of The Post, famously led a revival of the paper to its former glory. And after a somewhat rockier start, experts said that Mr. Henry and his wife, Linda Pizzuti Henry, the chief executive officer of Boston Globe Media Partners, have gone a long way toward restoring that paper as well. Across the country, for Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the physician and billionaire who bought The Los Angeles Times in 2018, it hasn’t always gone smoothly. But few prefer the alternative of hedge-fund ownership. “There’s not a doubt in my mind that The Los Angeles Times is in a better place today than if Tribune had held on to it these last three years or so,” said Norman Pearlstine, who served as executive editor for two years after Dr. Soon-Shiong’s purchase and still serves as a senior adviser. “I don’t think that’s open to debate or dispute.” From Utah to Minnesota and from Long Island to the Berkshires, local grandees have decided that a newspaper is an essential part of the civic fabric. Their track records as owners are somewhat mixed, but mixed in this case is better than the alternative. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill released a report last year showing that in the previous 15 years, more than a quarter of American newspapers disappeared, leaving behind what they called “news deserts.” The 2020 report was an update of a similar one from 2018, but just in those two years another 300 newspapers died, taking 6,000 journalism jobs with them. “I don’t think anybody in the news business even has rose colored glasses anymore,” said Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute, a nonprofit journalism advocacy group. “They took them off a few years ago, and they don’t know where they are.” “The advantage of a local owner who cares about the community is that they in theory can give you runway and also say, ‘Operate at break-even on a cash-flow basis and you’re good,’” said Mr. Rosenstiel. For instance, Glen Taylor, a Minnesota billionaire who owns the Minneapolis Star Tribune, is not showering the newsroom with money, said Michael Klingensmith, publisher and chief executive of the paper. “The understanding we have with Glen is that if we generate cash, it’s ours to keep but he’s not interested in investing more,” he said. “He expects the business to be completely self-sufficient.” Today in Business Updated  April 9, 2021, 3:29 p.m. ET But at 240 staffers, the newsroom is as big as it was when Mr. Klingensmith arrived in 2010, something relatively few papers can boast of over the same period. The Star Tribune’s goal was to reach 100,000 digital subscribers by the end of last year, and it hit that mark by May. And the paper just won a prestigious Polk Award for its coverage of the killing of George Floyd and the aftermath. “The communities that have papers owned by very wealthy people in general have fared much better because they stayed the course with large newsrooms,” said Ken Doctor, on hiatus as a media industry analyst to work as C.E.O. and founder of Lookout Local, which is trying to revive the local news business in smaller markets, starting in Santa Cruz, Calif. Hedge funds, by contrast, have expected as much as 20 percent of revenue a year from their properties, which can often be achieved only by stripping papers of reporters and editors for short-term gain. Alden has made deep cuts at many of its MediaNews Group publications, including The Denver Post and The San Jose Mercury News. Alden argues that it is rescuing papers that might otherwise have gone out of business in the past two decades. And a billionaire buyer is far from a panacea for the industry’s ills. “It’s not just, go find yourself a rich guy. It’s the right rich person. There are lots of people with lots of money. A lot of them shouldn’t run newspaper companies,” said Ann Marie Lipinski, curator of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard and the former editor of The Chicago Tribune. “Sam Zell is Exhibit A. So be careful who you ask.” Mr. Zell, the real estate maverick and billionaire whose nickname is “the grave dancer,” took Tribune Publishing private in a leveraged buyout in 2007. The company filed for bankruptcy the next year. His brief tenure helped set in motion the events leading to the Alden Capital bid. Other rescuers have come and gone. There was a time when Warren Buffett looked like a potential savior for newspapers, investing in them through his company, Berkshire Hathaway. He has since beaten a retreat from the industry. And there have even been reports that Dr. Soon-Shiong has explored a sale of The Los Angeles Times (which he has denied). “The great fear of every billionaire is that by owning a newspaper they will become a millionaire,” said Mr. Rosenstiel. Elizabeth Green, co-founder and chief executive at Chalkbeat, a nonprofit education news organization with 30 reporters in eight cities around the country, said that rescuing a dozen metro dailies that are “obviously shells of their former selves” was never going to be enough to turn around the local news business. “Even these attempts are still preserving institutions that were always flawed and not leaning into the new information economy and how we all consume and learn and pay for things,” said Ms. Green, who also co-founded the American Journalism Project, which is working to create a network of nonprofit outlets. Ms. Green is not alone in her belief that the future of American journalism lies in new forms of journalism, often as nonprofits. The American Journalism Project received funding from the Houston philanthropists Laura and John Arnold, the Craigslist founder Craig Newmark and Laurene Powell Jobs’s Emerson Collective, which also bought The Atlantic. Herbert and Marion Sandler, who built one of the country’s largest savings and loans, gave money to start ProPublica. “We’re seeing a lot of growth of relatively small nonprofits that are now part of what I would call the philanthropic journalistic complex,” said Mr. Doctor. “The question really isn’t corporate structure, nonprofit or profit, the question is money and time.” The scion of a wealthy Utah family, Paul Huntsman, bought The Salt Lake Tribune in Utah from a hedge fund in 2016. Circulation fell by half, ad revenue plummeted and he cut more than a third of the journalists. He has since turned it into the first metropolitan daily operating as a nonprofit. After the cable television entrepreneur H.F. (Gerry) Lenfest bought The Philadelphia Inquirer, he set up a hybrid structure. The paper is run as a for-profit, public benefit corporation, but it belongs to a nonprofit called the Lenfest Institute. The complex structure is meant to maintain editorial independence and maximum flexibility to run as a business while also encouraging philanthropic support. Of the $7 million that Lenfest gave to supplement The Inquirer’s revenue from subscribers and advertisers in 2020, only $2 million of it came from the institute, while the remaining $5 million came from a broad array of national, local, institutional and independent donors, said Jim Friedlich, executive director and chief executive of Lenfest. “I think philosophically, we’ve long accepted that we have no museums or opera houses without philanthropic support,” said Ms. Lipinski. “I think journalism deserves the same consideration.” Mr. Bainum has said he plans to establish a nonprofit group that would buy The Sun and two other Tribune-owned Maryland newspapers if he and Mr. Wyss succeed in their bid. “These buyers range across the political spectrum, and on the surface have little in common except their wealth,” said Mr. Friedlich. “Each seems to feel that American democracy is sailing through choppy waters, and they’ve decided to buy a newspaper instead of a yacht.” Source link Orbem News #buy #Newspaper #yacht
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